The Dragon Hunters' Temptation Read online

  The three humans glared at the dragons with undisguised hostility. The distrust and fear radiated off of them. The only one that seemed even halfway at ease was Antonio, and even he was clearly on edge. Jord tried to make himself relax. He knew he presented an intimidating figure to humans. Taller than any of the other men here, with shoulders as broad as an ax-handle and a fire that burned hot enough that people could feel it just by getting too close.

  He nodded towards the men. “So, we will be working together for the foreseeable future, then? We should get to know each other a bit better—”

  “I don’t know what you were told about this,” Antonio interrupted. “But this is my operation, do you understand? I haven’t busted my balls for ten years just for my first assignment to get overturned by a flying lizard.”

  Lizard. It was something that had been shouted at him several times now. For some reason, humans seemed to think that it was an insult. Technically they weren’t lizards, not even close, but Jord somehow doubted that it would make much of a difference to point that out. He frowned at Antonio, still on edge by his own team’s refusal to behave.

  “I understand that this is your operation,” he said, trying not to let it show how unhappy he was about it being the man’s first operation of this type, “and we’re not here to take over for you. We’re here because Hazel wanted us to be here.”

  A dissatisfied ripple went through the bond. The others weren’t happy with him deferring to the human. Jord wasn’t exactly thrilled, either, but he needed to keep the peace. From what Indulf had told him, Hazel was concerned that these humans were too biased against dragons to properly protect her. Being aggressive at this stage was only going to make the problem worse. It wouldn’t protect Hazel to antagonize the humans.

  Antonio glared at him for a moment and then nodded. His stance softened, and he let out a slow breath. “Good. Thank you for being understanding.”

  Jord returned the nod. Maybe this guy wasn’t as bad as first impressions… If their places were reversed, Jord would be pretty pissed off as well.

  A door opened and Hazel’s sweet strawberry scent washed over him. He turned, his eyes lighting up as a smile spread over his face. Hazel rubbed her eyes, looking like she had just woken. When she saw him and the others, a huge smile burst over her face. She dashed forward, then skidded to a stop only a few feet away. Her delicate porcelain skin tinged pink as she glanced at the humans, then cleared her throat.

  “I’m glad you four made it here safely,” she said, her voice a bit stiffer than normal.

  Jord found himself wanting to sweep her into his arms. He held himself back, but just barely. He couldn’t stop grinning, either. It hadn’t been too terribly long since they’d last seen each other, but now? It felt like it was forever. Part of him realized that he’d been worried, a nagging fear that she had been harmed in the time they’d been apart.

  “Let’s talk,” he suggested, gesturing toward the bedroom.

  “Oh.” She glanced at the humans again, who were all scowling. “Yeah. That’d be great.”

  The five of them filed into the bedroom. Jord’s gaze landed on the bed, and his fires flared as he imagined Hazel laying in it, wrapped in a sheet and nothing else. The bond echoed heat back at him and he cleared his throat, trying to dissuade more images. What use were his words if he couldn’t keep to them?

  “The walls are thin,” Hazel whispered. “So we’ll have to be quiet.”

  It took half a second for Jord to understand she wasn’t inviting ‘playtime’. He cleared his throat roughly, shaking his head to banish his thoughts, and took her hand. “Are you alright?”

  “I am now.”

  He wanted to pull her into his arms. A well of protectiveness rose up in his chest. He wanted to go back out there and beat the shit out of whoever it was that made her feel unsafe. He wanted to yell at Antonio to control his people, that he shouldn’t be letting them get distracted from their duties. He wanted to take her away from here, to some castle in the clouds where nobody could touch her. And there pull her to bed and make love to her for hours and days at a time, however much she could bear.

  Of course, he did none of that. Instead, he just nodded and returned her smile.

  Back when the Hunters were first bonded together, they had made the agreement that they’d always share their women. It was just natural for them. They could feel each other’s desires and had learned quickly that it was more enjoyable to share rather than trying to be clandestine about their affairs. True, not every woman was comfortable with it. Many were quite intimidated, in fact.

  Hazel was a rare woman, though. He’d never longed for anyone the way he longed for her. Which was one reason he hoped that, when the time came and they explained to her what they wanted, she would refuse.

  He loved the way she laughed. He loved the way she tossed her fire-red hair over her shoulders when she was getting ready to argue. He loved the way her eyes sparkled when she spoke of things she was passionate about. He loved so many things about her.

  It would be far too easy for him to fall in love with her. Far too easy to get his heart broken.

  He and the Hunters had a strict policy. Never more than three months. It had never bothered Jord before because in the past it had always just been physical. But with Hazel? The physical desire was powerful, yes, but he also just enjoyed spending time with her. It would be easy to let himself fall for her and then get his heart broken when it was time to part ways.

  “Are you okay?” Hazel’s words broke through his thoughts. Her brow pinched with concern as she stared at him.

  Jord forced himself to smile. “Yeah. I’m fine. It was just a long flight.”

  Chapter Three

  Hyrr

  There was nothing to do in this place except play board games. Board games and talking. Which would have been pleasant, just a retreat from the noise of the human world, if it wasn’t for the FBI agents. They were constantly muttering to each other, glaring at both the dragons and Hazel and basically acting like they had sticks up their butts. The tension from them was enough that Hyrr was on edge, too, in case they tried anything.

  After the fifth time playing Betrayal at House on the Hill with the others, Hyrr noticed that Hazel wasn’t acting like her usual self. It was dark out, but not late enough to sleep, and she was fidgeting, glancing at the closed windows.

  Hyrr had checked to make sure silhouettes couldn’t be seen as soon as the sun went down, so he knew she wasn’t worried about snipers. He could almost taste her need to release energy. He had a few ideas on how to do that… and when Jord and Antonio started to discuss some mundane point about the guard, Hyrr took the opportunity to take Hazel’s hand and lead her to the bedroom.

  There, he tugged her to the bed and cuddled up beside her. Hazel relaxed into his embrace and he nuzzled into her neck, inhaling the sweet scent of strawberries. He wanted to nibble her neck, get a taste of that, but they hadn’t progressed there yet. Some gentle nuzzling was all they’d do at the moment.

  And maybe start to talk about what she liked.

  “Tell me your sexual fantasies.”

  Hazel stifled a giggle, throwing a look at the door. Her skin went bright red and he couldn’t help but grin at that. She was so damned cute when she got embarrassed! “You can’t ask me something like that right now.”

  “Why not?” Hyrr lifted a brow. “We talk about sex plenty over text.”

  “Because they can hear.” She jerked her chin toward the door, her voice hardly more than a whisper.

  Hyrr chuckled. “I was keeping my voice down. You don’t have to get all flustered.”

  Hazel squirmed as he tightened his arms around her waist until they were more facing each other. She put a finger on his lips as she stared hard at the door, as though waiting for someone to burst in and start scolding them… which was something Jord might actually do.

  She relaxed a little when the sound of normal conversation came through the door, but sti
ll hardly dared to keep her voice more than a whisper. “I know that dragons have better hearing than humans. What will the other Hunters think about this?”

  “Hmm…” Hyrr pulled a mock frown while he kissed her shoulder. “Jord might have a problem with it, but he’s the only one. But you haven’t answered me…”

  “About my sexual fantasies?” Hazel grinned at him as she ran her fingers down the front of his shirt. “Don’t you think that’s more of a question after things have progressed a little further? I mean…” Here she went bright red. “After all, we’ve only been texting for a few months now.”

  Hyrr opened his mouth to remind her that it was longer than that, but then he understood what she meant. It had only been in the past while that they’d started sending each other sexy text messages. It was all very tame and more innuendo than anything else. Hyrr had to be careful not to move it too quickly, not when Jord seemed to be dragging his feet. Hyrr got it. It was something they all went through, trying to decide what exactly it was they wanted from their relationships.

  Jord would figure it out sooner or later, though. In the meantime, Hyrr hated wasting any time that he could have Hazel.

  The door opened as he continued to gently kiss her shoulders and neck. Hazel stiffened as Watn slipped in and shut the door. His eyes twinkled. Hazel shoved against Hyrr’s chest and he let her have some space but didn’t release her.

  “Can I join in?”

  A loud giggle burst from Hazel’s throat. She slapped both hands to her mouth as her face became roughly the same shade as her hair. She looked between them, her eyes wide as she did so. Eventually, she got control of herself again and lowered her hands.

  “What do you mean, join in?”

  Watn smirked at her. “I mean that while Hyrr kisses you and feels your figure, I also kiss and feel your figure.”

  More giggles. “Are you serious right now?”

  Hyrr propped himself on an elbow. “I told you that the four of us like to share.”

  “I didn’t think you were serious.” Hazel pulled away entirely. He could see the tension slipping up in her. Damn. They’d come on too strongly. “I can’t get involved in something like that… besides, you’re meant to be here to protect me, not seduce me.”

  “Now you sound like Jord.” Hyrr shook his head. “We can do both.”

  “All four of you,” Hazel said. She rubbed her arms, looking between the two of them as though she wasn’t certain what exactly was happening.

  Watn sat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah. That’s what we do all the time. You see, the magic bond between us lets us feel what the others are feeling. For instance, right now Vindr, Jord and Hyrr can feel that I want you… and that I’m also afraid that I’ve messed it up for all of us by putting too much on you right away.”

  Hazel glanced at Hyrr and he nodded. “We can also feel that Jord is annoyed with us. He thinks we’re being unprofessional, coming in here to be with you when there is a danger out there. And Vindr thinks that he’s overreacting but agrees that we shouldn’t be taking this too far.”

  “Right…” Hazel grabbed a pillow and hid half of her face in it. When she spoke again, her voice was muffled. “And they both… want this too?”

  Hyrr put a hand on her leg, wanting to touch her. She didn’t pull back, which was a good sign. “We made a promise to each other long ago. We don’t pursue women unless we all want them, and it has to be a relationship with all of us. Can you imagine it otherwise? If one of us were to fall in love, it would color the rest of us. It could end up with us in love with the same woman, but if she only loves one of us? It would tear us apart.”

  Hazel frowned but nodded. “I guess that makes sense… still, I thought Byrelmore was more conservative than that. I didn’t think that polyamorous relationships were a thing.”

  “They aren’t,” Watn told her slowly. “At least, not usually. There are plenty of people who think that we’re odd, and more who think what we do is disgusting. Just the fact that we sleep with women we have no intention of mating is enough. There are plenty of rumors that we’re mates with each other, which is ridiculous.”

  Hyrr barked out a laugh. “That it is. If we were, then we wouldn’t need a woman at all. Unfortunately, we’re all what you would call ‘straight’. It’d be a lot easier if we were gay for each other.”

  Hazel didn’t seem to be much appeased by that. She picked some lint off the blanket and glanced up again. “And how many women have you shared with all four of you?”

  “Uh…” Hyrr glanced at Watn, a questioning look on his face.

  Watn tapped his fingers together. “Well, let’s see. There was Madelina, Katerine, Vilma—”

  “I don’t need names.” Hazel’s brows pinched. “Just a number.”

  “I have to name them to remember them all.” Watn continued tapping, mouthing the names rather than saying them out loud. He continued sometime before he nodded. “Thirty-three.”

  Hazel’s eyes widened. Her jaw dropped as she stared first at one and then the other. Hyrr could feel her pulling away and flinched. What was he meant to say now? Was it that she was shocked at the number being high, or was it that she was afraid they didn’t have enough experience for her? It was difficult to say with Earth humans, whose ideas around sex were confusing and contradictory. On one hand, there were so many of them who said sex ought to happen only between married couples. On the other hand, nearly every bit of media oozed with sex and the implication that love and lust were the same damn thing.

  “We are many hundreds of years old,” Hyrr said slowly, thinking it was probably the volume that had her so shocked. “Honestly, that’s less than one woman per fifty years…”

  Hazel opened her mouth then closed it again. She thought for a moment before nodding. “When you say it like that, it doesn’t sound like too much. Still… Thirty-three? What could I have that you couldn’t get from any of those women?”

  Watn moved to her other side and put his hands on her hips, tracing her figure. “They’re not you.”

  “Oh, now look who’s being romantic.” Hazel pouted, but it was ruined by the smile tugging at her lips. She relaxed a bit and Hyrr smiled. Okay, maybe this wasn’t over yet. He sent a shot of gratitude toward Watn through their bond. She let out a small sigh and relaxed into Watn’s hands as he continued to touch her. “Are you for real, though? This isn’t some sort of cruel prank?”

  A surge of anger made Hyrr’s fires flare, but he choked down the reaction. If she thought it was a prank, did that mean that she had been ‘pranked’ like this before? Why would someone do that?

  “I assure you, it is no prank,” he said roughly, as he moved forward and started stroking her back. “You’re smart, sexy and we want you. Is that so hard to believe?”

  “Not when you say it that way.” Hazel smiled shyly.

  Watn smirked this time. The smirk grew to an all-out grin as a surge of surprise mingled with relief came through their bond from Jord. Hyrr wished he could see his leader’s face, but he’d rather see Hazel’s face right now. He leaned forward and kissed her shoulder again, triumph rising in him when she tilted her head toward him, inviting him to her lips. Once their kiss had left her red-faced and panting, Watn turned her gently toward him and captured her mouth. Her whole body leaned toward him, a small gasp of excitement coming from her throat.

  “I’m impressed,” Watn rumbled as he moved to Hazel’s neck and Hyrr started to kiss her other side. “I thought you’d need more time to come to terms with this arrangement… Jord thought you were going to completely freak out. He wanted to go so slow… But I was about ready to explode. I want you so bad.”

  Hazel moaned as both sets of hands explored her. Hyrr and Watn’s hands kept bumping into each other as they tried to touch the same places, but neither of them minded that. Hazel’s hands moved out, one wrapping around Watn’s bicep while the other stroked Hyrr’s chest.

  “I…” She pulled back and they stopped. Her face was flus
hed and her eyes bright. “I’m not sure I’m quite ready for that just yet. I might not be freaking out, but it’s still a rather big step, don’t you think? Besides… they can hear.”

  Hyrr leaned back, disappointed but not really surprised. He nodded to her. “We’ll take it at a pace you’re comfortable with.”

  “Thank you.” Hazel let out a shaky breath. “I’ve never been with more than one guy before… although I will admit, I have had the occasional fantasy about multiple men.”

  Hyrr grinned. That was the kind of fantasy he liked to hear. He brought her hand to his mouth. “Tell us exactly what these fantasies entailed.”

  Hazel’s blush deepened as she ducked her head, but she began to whisper. Hyrr had to lean forward to hear her. He listened intently, determined that he was going to help fulfill every one of those fantasies.

  Chapter Four

  Watn

  The first few days passed without incident. Jord pulled Hyrr outside and gave him a severe tongue-lashing, but every night Hyrr still went into Hazel and slept with her in the bed. The FBI agents gave them knowing sneers. Even though Watn wanted to lay in the bed with them, he decided that Jord had a point. They didn’t want to make this more difficult for Hazel. So, it was agreed that only Hyrr would spend the night in her bed. They all were frustrated by this, but Hyrr had assured them that he wasn’t even kissing Hazel, so as not to be tempted to do more.

  Watn wouldn’t have minded getting the second-hand sensations. He wouldn’t have minded Hyrr and Hazel enjoying themselves. The others wouldn’t have either. Well, except for Jord, but only because he was mad Hyrr was ignoring his instructions.

  What really bothered him was the way the humans were reacting to it all. As though there was something wrong with Hyrr and Hazel sleeping in the same room together. They swapped out every so often, and the one, Bruce, had the scent of a different woman on him every single time he came back. And yet he looked down on Hazel?

  “Damn dragons,” he grumbled one morning while Watn was making breakfast for everybody. “Think that they can just come in and take over everything.”