Dragon’s Mission (Dragon Blaze Ops Book 1) Read online

  When Fiona was awake again, she was discharged with a clean bill of health. She asked Patrick to meet her in Maura’s office; once there, she explained everything she’d been able to glean and ended with saying that the Blaze Ops needed to be sent in right away to save Senator Kinsman.

  Maura listened calmly, her hands clasped on her desk, until they were done. “We will have Cooper verify the information. In the meantime… I can’t in good conscience send the Blaze Ops back into the field. It was a stupid decision to send you after Fiona,” she continued as Patrick made a noise of protest in his throat, “And now that we know that the Pack is after dragons, it makes it even more dangerous. We have no idea if this is real or not.”

  “Maura, listen to me,” Fiona said urgently. “If we delay, it’s going to be too late. The Senator has been in the Pack’s clutches longer than I was and—”

  “We’re not doing anything until we know for certain that they have him. I know it’s not what you want to hear. But you need to be kept under observation and you,” Maura turned to Patrick. “You need to make sure your men recover. I won’t hear any more arguing about it. Not right now.”

  Fiona snarled, but Patrick recognized the signs. If they kept pushing, Maura was only going to shut down further. He tugged on Fiona’s hand, pulling her away.

  “We’ll let her cool down,” he murmured to her. “And we do need verification. Hopefully, Cooper will move fast. In any case, it’ll give Stephen and Evan time to get back on their feet.”

  Fiona snarled and growled all the way back to his apartment. Once there, she started pacing back and forth, hands clenching and relaxing like a cat unsheathing her claws. “I bet this is Cooper’s doing. He wanted to head the Blaze Ops from the start.”

  Patrick caught her by the arm, gently tugging her to a stop. Her indignation of behalf of him and his men was heartwarming. He grinned at her, his fires burning hotter with happiness as he looked at her. Part of him felt guilty for being happy while Evan was still injured, but how often did he get these feelings?

  To be honest, never. He’d never had this intense connection with another person before. And he didn’t even know where it came from. It just felt—fated.

  “You know, if Maura doesn’t give us the green light once the information is verified, we could always go off the books,” he suggested in a low murmur. “Completely covert, without any permissions. It’s what we’re supposed to be doing, isn’t it?”

  “Off the books, not out of command,” Fiona argued. She bit her lip as her brow furrowed. “But you’re right. After we get the verification, there will still be planning and prepping. No matter who is chosen. It’s just one delay after another. So we need to start planning off the books. I know where he’s being held. And I don’t think we should wait. We need to go in there, fires blazing, and get the senator back.”

  “We need more information that the Alpha may have planted.”

  Fiona shook her head hard. “He wasn’t the one who told me. There were these two women. Utopia and Karey. They didn’t want to be there, I know it. They’d talk sometimes. Not about the senator but about the experiments. Utopia especially, I’m sure she was dropping clues for me that the Alpha wouldn’t be able to pick up on.”

  “But they could have been playing you.”

  “No.” She grasped his shoulders and stared deep into his eyes. “Please, trust me on this. I am a good judge of character. We have to have this ready to go otherwise…”

  She trailed off. Patrick stared back into her determined eyes. Her grip was so tight on him. His fires flared with desire. Slowly, his hands moved to her hips. He started to lean in, intending for a gentle kiss like they’d had in the medical ward. Fiona, it seemed, had other ideas.

  With a growl of frustration or desire, she launched herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and her curvy, strong body pressed against his. His hands immediately roved over her, feeling her figure as though it was his first time touching a woman. And it might as well have been, with the bursts of excitement and novelty that wove through him.

  “God,” Patrick panted between kisses, “I thought I’d lost you. I thought you were going to be gone forever, and I didn’t know how to handle it.”

  “I knew you were going to save me.”

  Fiona unbuttoned his jacket, then tugged his shirt out of his pants. Her hands ran up beneath it, making his skin burn and tingle in her wake. He tightened at the feeling of her against him. Patrick’s eyes grew dark with lust as he gazed down at her. So perfect. So beautiful. Her figure was perfect, soft above her strong muscles. Skin like cream, perfect for him to kiss and lick, to suck and form little red circles.

  Her head fell back, a moan of pleasure moving through her. He could feel it vibrate in his chest. Desire washed through him, hardening so that the closed space of his pants was almost painful. He delved into her neck, holding her close to him. He could hardly believe that this was happening, but he wasn’t going to question his good fortune.

  “God,” Patrick moaned again as he ripped open Fiona’s shirt, sending the buttons flying this way and that. “God!”

  “More like goddess, but I’ll take it.”

  Patrick laughed, giddy with excitement and lust. His hands quickly found Fiona’s sizable breasts, freeing them of their bra. Her nipples were already pink and hard, and he eagerly took one into his mouth. Fiona combed her fingers through his hair as they moved back and fell into the bed together. Patrick moved to her other breast, earning a cry of delight as she arched herself to him.

  “You like that, huh?” he asked, using one of his hands to snap open his fly. He sprang free from his pants and ground against her. The fabric of her jeans was coarse, but he thought he could feel her dampness despite them. “Should I do it again?”

  “Yeah. Please.”

  Patrick went back to his work, loving the way she moaned and twitched beneath him. He undid her pants, pulling them off before spreading her legs to either side of him. His fingers played about her clit as she took him in her hand. Her touch was soft but firm. He pulled back, panting, as he tightened even further. He was already hard, already prepared.

  “Wow,” Fiona murmured. “It’s been a while, has it?”

  Patrick nodded, slightly embarrassed. “Quite a while.”

  “Same. Not sure how well I’ll last.”

  Patrick shrugged and kissed her again, more gently this time. “At least we’re in the same boat.”

  He helped her finish undressing and removed his clothes before laying back next to her. They stroked one another for some time, swapping kisses. Patrick quickly found that he got the most reaction from kissing Fiona’s neck and breasts. Which was just fine. He could spend all day sucking at her beautiful, creamy skin.

  Her cheeks were flushed, eyes bright by the time he deemed her ready. He was already trembling with impatience but ground his teeth against his arousal. He wasn’t going to embarrass himself like it was his first time out of the gate. Her thighs embraced him as he sank slowly into her, making sure that he didn’t rush things; he didn’t want to hurt her.

  “God!” Fiona’s head fell back as she cried out.

  Patrick paused, making sure that she was adjusting to his size, then gave her a grin. “Bigger than you expected?”

  “Not exactly,” Fiona panted back. Her hands were tight on his biceps. “You’re forgetting, I’ve been training you. And you make the mistake of wearing bike shorts,” she laughed breathlessly. “Those don’t leave anything to the imagination. More like… more like bigger than I’ve had before.”

  A surge of jealousy swept through him. He didn’t like the idea of other men touching her. Other men kissing her. Other men inside of her. His hands caught her waist as he pulled back on his knees.

  “Put a pillow under your hips,” he ordered. “I am going to wipe all those men from your memory.”

  “Hardly ‘all those’,” Fiona muttered. “But I’m liking this jealous, need-to-prove-something side of
you.”

  She brought her hips up forcefully, sending shockwaves through him. Patrick gasped, his hands tightening on her as she pushed a pillow beneath her ass. He panted, waiting a couple of minutes for the sensations to pass. Then, looking down to her waiting eyes, he began to thrust.

  Soon, they were both crying out with pleasure. Patrick wouldn’t have been able to say what he was thinking, if he was thinking at all. Pleasure rushed through him, a desire for this never to end. He loved the way Fiona stared up at him, the way she panted and clawed at the sheets. The way her back arched, the way she clamped down on him. He could actually feel her fluttering around him.

  Then everything clenched and exploded. He filled her as he continued to thrust, his voice mingling with hers.

  When he collapsed down on her, he could do nothing but think, Fuck. So amazing.

  Eventually, he brought himself up to his elbows and smiled down at her. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes bright as she grinned back.

  “Wow,” she muttered, her voice somewhat hoarse.

  “Agreed.”

  Patrick eased out of her, wincing a little when he saw Fiona wince. “Shit. Was I too rough?”

  “No. I would have told you if you were. It’s just that I’m not used to it. As I said, it’s been a while.” Fiona stretched, her naked body glistening with sweat.

  Patrick nodded and rested his head on the pillow beside hers. “Usually I can last a lot longer than that. I’m just out of practice.”

  “Ooooh, so what you’re saying is you can give me multiple orgasms to your one?” Fiona wrapped her arm around his chest and nuzzled at his neck. “I’m looking forward to getting to know what you can do… that is, if this wasn’t a one-time thing.”

  “I don’t want it to be,” Patrick replied. “But things could get awkward. After all, you’re my trainer.”

  Fiona shrugged. “There are no rules against it. Just against you and someone in your command. I’m technically not a part of the Blaze Ops, after all, just a trainer. And we don’t have to tell anybody right away—”

  Before she could finish, the door opened. Adam strode in, a book in his hand. His head jerked up from where he was reading. He stopped dead, staring at the two of them while Patrick swore, and Fiona frantically tried to cover herself. The Sergeant Major’s jaw dropped, and his eyes went the size of dinner plates.

  “What are you doing in my room?” he shrieked.

  “My room,” Patrick roared back. He hurled a book at the other dragon.

  Adam fled, slamming the door behind him.

  Patrick groaned as he slumped back down. “You were saying?”

  “I was saying…” Fiona hid her face for a moment before she shook her head. “I was saying that we need to plan out how to get the senator back. So, let’s get started on that.”

  Chapter Ten

  Fiona and Patrick planned their secret mission for three days before Cooper reported back no evidence that the Pack actually had the senator and assumed he’d been killed. That wasn’t good enough for either Fiona or Patrick, and they spent many long nights pouring over every bit of information they had in order to plan their recovery mission.

  Adam never said anything about walking in on them in bed together, though he did blush every time one of them met his eye. Maura didn’t say anything, either, and Fiona could only assume that meant she didn’t know anything. Fiona wasn’t looking forward to telling her about her new relationship with Patrick, but that was hardly a top priority at the moment.

  “Alright, I’m into their security feeds,” Evan reported beside her. He was still a little pale from his injury, but his hands flew over the keyboard as he stared intently at the computer screens before them. “Initiating the loop… now. They’re blind to your movements now.”

  Fiona pressed the button on her headset, cutting off the sound of her mike so she could let out a noisy exhale of relief. Her heart pounded hard in her chest as she watched the feeds from the bodycams of the rest of the Blaze Ops. She had sat in on missions like this before but never had been so nervous about it. Maybe there was something to be said about not dating people she worked with…

  If we’re even dating.

  Fiona shook her head. There was no time to be caught up in angsty questions now. The team didn’t know that this was an unauthorized mission. If this all went to hell, she and Patrick would bear the consequences.

  Unfortunately, it also meant there would be no backup coming if anything went wrong.

  “Hey.” Evan glanced at her while the rest of the Blaze ops crept through a hole cut into the fence around the compound she was sure the senator was being held at. “You better turn your headset back on. Don’t know when we’ll have an emergency.”

  Fiona nodded and turned her headset back on.

  “Moving into position,” Patrick breathed. “Fan out.”

  Her hands clenched into fists.

  “Damn,” Evan murmured. “I wish I could be there with them instead of stuck here. Fucking spear.”

  “You’re computer support,” Fiona reminded him softly. “You’d be stuck in here anyway. Just like me. But I know what you mean. I’d like to be there, helping…”

  Evan gave her a half-smile. “Yeah, I can tell that. So, how’d you get so good at this, anyway?”

  The team got to the first doors, and Evan entered a few commands. “Alarms are off.”

  Liam started picking the lock. Stealth was essential, they couldn’t just break down the door.

  “Good at what?” she murmured.

  “All of this, I guess.”

  Fiona thought about it for a minute before contacting Patrick, telling him to take the next right up ahead. This would be far easier if they had a better idea of where the senator might be held. They’d managed to scrounge up blueprints, but Patrick and the others were only going to where they thought Kinsman was most likely being held. That wracked her nerves worse than anything. She breathed evenly, forcing herself to stay calm. Getting panicked would only mean they’d make mistakes.

  “Liam, Eugene, Adam, go left,” she ordered when they came to an intersection. “Evan?”

  “Clear ahead for both groups,” he replied, checking the security feeds again. “If I’d known their security systems sucked so bad, we wouldn’t have had such a time getting Dr. Fiona back.”

  Patrick chuckled at that as he led Stephen down the right corridor. “Keep your mind on the situation at hand, Specialist. We can talk about lax security measures later.”

  They watched in silence for several moments longer. Fiona almost wished something would happen, just for it to happen. The teams checked rooms to find nothing in each one. At one point, Liam thought they’d found a lab worker, but it turned out to be an empty coat.

  Fiona couldn’t decide if this was good or bad. If the Pack really didn’t expect them and this was a normal instance of their security, or if it was all an elaborate plan to lure them deep into the spider’s web until they could not escape. She chewed her nail while her tiger paced in her chest, growling and snorting. It wanted to leap out and attack her enemies, but that was pretty difficult to do when she was in a van several miles away, staring at TV monitors.

  Liam and Adam reached their location first. The room was clearly a holding cell, and it took Evan two minutes to crack the security code and get it to slide open. Inside were two women huddled together. Tears streaked their faces and they had a terrified, pale look to them. Liam swore softly, then entered the room to reassure them.

  “We’re going to get you out,” he promised.

  There was no argument to that, of course; they might be after the senator but that didn’t mean they were going to leave anybody they found. These two were clearly part of the Alpha’s experiments. Fiona dug her fingers into the leather seat, realizing only after she tore through it that her nails had become claws.

  “Still want an answer to your question?” she asked Evan after directing Liam how to get back out; he could take the two women
to the opening they’d made and go back to help Patrick and Stephen. As for Adam and Eugene, she directed them to join their teammates right away.

  “What question?” Evan asked as he mopped a bit of sweat from his forehead.

  “How I got so good at this.”

  “Oh. Sure.”

  Normally this wasn’t something Fiona liked talking about. She didn’t exactly shy away from it, knowing that her past was something that helped shape her present. It was just dark, and most people didn’t know how to handle it. After working with Evan for so long, though, she knew he could take it. Not to mention she needed something to do while they sat there, watching and waiting.

  “You ever heard of Charles Tadfield?”

  “Uh… Yeah, maybe. Sounds familiar. Was he in the news a few years back?”

  Fiona nodded. “He was a major drug lord. Pushed everything from weed to crack cocaine through New York, Chicago, and Denver, not to mention dozens of smaller centers. He had a massive empire. And I’m his daughter.”

  Evan glanced at her only briefly before opening a door Patrick had come to. “Huh.”

  “Yup. He was training me to take over the family business from the time I was five. Learned a lot of hard lessons. ‘Course, he also wanted a pretty princess for a daughter. Put me through all sorts of different classes to improve my breeding so I could work higher in respectable circles. Ballet, fencing, gymnastics. The only thing I actually liked was ballet.”

  “Sounds… weird. Not a normal childhood,” Evan offered. “So, what happened?”

  “I killed someone. And that is what woke me up to how fucked up it all was. I realized I didn’t want that life, so I left it.”

  Evan glanced at her again. “Way to drop a bombshell while we’re pulling a mission. If I’d known it was that complicated, I’d have waited until I could properly absorb it all.”

  Fiona chuckled, a strained sound. “Patrick, four hundred more meters and then you’re there. You shouldn’t have any more doorways… Evan, get started on breaking the code for the holding cell.”

  He nodded while Patrick gave Adam, Eugene, and Stephen their orders. Liam had just gotten the women out, telling them to stay low and quiet. He headed back in, and Fiona swallowed dryly.