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  She only started moving once she couldn’t stand it any longer. The friction that built up was erotic and tantalizing, but still not enough for either one of them. She slickened his cock between her thighs and commanded him to look down between them as the head of him continued to appear and disappear with every wave of her hips. He was mesmerized by the sight of it, and the friction it created was wreaking havoc on her own senses as he continued to rub against her clit.

  Ry finally paused, and Ari immediately looked back up into her face. She was flushed and breathing hard, ready to orgasm, but she had denied herself. Ry wondered what it must have been like for him to have gone for so long. Even a few minutes seemed to be torturous. Ry sat up on her knees and grasped him between them, standing him up. She gently eased herself back down onto his cock and felt him fill her up as she slowly worked him up into her.

  When he was fully inside her, she rested for a moment. The intensity and the pressure from this angle was almost too much. She leaned forward with her palms pressed flat on his chest, and he reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear that had fallen into her face.

  “Riley,” he whispered. “Riley, it’s okay to move.” He said her name again. She hadn’t realized that she had closed her eyes, just enjoying the feel of him pressed inside her. She opened her eyes and began to rock her hips. She imagined it was to the rhythm of jumping rope. She glanced down between him, and it was her turn to become transfixed by the way he disappeared up inside her.

  “Ry. Riley!” His moans were becoming more urgent and every time he said her name, she squeezed her muscles, milking him. She looked in his eyes and dared him to look away or close his own. She wanted him to see who was on top of him, working him this way.

  Ry felt his body jerk particularly hard with one of her thrusts and it was enough to kick off her orgasm. She squeezed around him, convulsing and crying his name as she came. Only when she had slumped against his chest did he seem to think it was alright to let go himself. Ry picked up her head and stared up at him as he lost himself inside her.

  “Riley!” he moaned as he came, and it was like music to her ears. He continued to whisper her name as he shivered from the intensity of his orgasm under her, and she lay back down on his chest and finally closed her eyes.

  Ry dozed lightly on Ari’s chest, and it wasn’t until she heard a knock on the door that she scrambled off him. Ari rose and went to the door, wrapping a bathrobe around himself as he answered. He nodded and murmured to someone, and then came back with a large tray with food on it.

  “Corey sends his regards,” Ari smiled when he saw her face. She hadn’t eaten all day, and dug into the bowls of fruits and pastries with glee.

  “I think I adore Corey,” she confessed after a mouthful of one of her bagels. She was enjoying their breakfast for dinner, and only realized the time when she looked at the clock on the bedside table.

  “Everyone does,” Ari admitted as he stretched out along the bed. He’d eaten his fill and turned his attention to her. She suddenly grew very self-conscious as she ate.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I enjoyed watching you,” he murmured.

  Her cheeks grew red at the memory. She wasn’t usually one to take control, but it had been necessary to stake her claim and let him know exactly who was there in bed with him. “Yeah, yeah,” she grinned and tossed a pillow at him. “I know I’m fabulous!” She struck a diva pose and he burst out laughing.

  “That’s one word for it.” He tackled her after he had removed the tray and set it on a table. She shrieked and tried to run, but he was on her before she could escape. She was laughing so hard that tears were running down her face and her sides ached even before he started to tickle her. His poor family probably thought he had gone completely mad and was torturing her.

  After their wrestling match, Ari rose from the bed. “Come, we need to shower and get ready for tonight. My brothers are joining us and I don’t want to be late.” He held out his hand and Ry took it. He led her into the bathroom and the shower spray felt heavenly against her skin. She didn’t have a toothbrush or any clean clothes with her, but when they finally emerged from the shower, she found some in a neat pile of Ari’s bed.

  When Ari and Ry made it downstairs, they came upon three very amused looking men, who were all dressed in sweatpants and t-shirts. Ry was greeted by Claire and Jennifer, who were also dressed casually. Claire handed Ry a light jacket.

  “Here, despite the heat of the city, we always end up cold.”

  “Yeah, they have this cool trick where they can direct heat towards their ridges. But it takes away from their focus, and there are a lot of taxi cabs to count!” Jennifer added.

  Ry put the jacket on and wondered, “why are they counting cabs?”

  “Who knows? They’re strange that way,” Claire grinned. “We aren’t complaining, though. With the Serpentina being quiet lately, we’re jumping on the chance to go out tonight. We haven’t been able to go in a while.”

  “Yeah, I’ve missed this,” Jennifer sighed as they all walked out the door. Corey rushed up to them all with baggies full of snacks.

  “Corey, my brother. Those will have to wait until after,” Drake said. Ry watched Corey’s face, which looked crestfallen.

  “Yes, my Lord.” He set the baggies down on the table beside the door.

  “It’s not that we don’t love your cooking,” Drake continued. “But we’d be more apt to accidently take your hand off if you tried feeding us snacks in dragon form.”

  “Yeah, then we’d feel bad about it.” Scyros grinned. The rest had a good chuckle, but Ry raised her hand.

  “I don’t know about you ladies, but I got a bit peckish last night and could use a midnight snack along the way.”

  Her words had the desired effect and Corey’s face brightened immediately. He gathered four of the bags, handed them around to the humans, and kept one for himself. Apparently he would be riding with Scyros. The party went out the door at last and made their way across the street to the park.

  Crylaine and Jennifer went first, so that when Drake shifted, he would have someone to back him up in case of an attack. Scyros shifted next, and a delighted Corey climbed on top of him. Finally, it was Ari’s turn. He turned to look at Ry before he shifted, and she watched as his body expanded and his scales erupted. When his wings formed, he had ridges and tips of white along his black body. She noticed the older dragons had more white streaks with their scales. Ari’s massive body looked like he had flown through a cloud and some of the fibrous looking material stuck to his scales like cotton strings from a cotton ball.

  After Ry climbed up, he took off quickly and she closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she saw the brilliance of the city lights sparkling below her. She felt like she had become one with Ari that night as he flew through the city. It was like they belonged together, hunting and counting taxi cabs, whipping through the streets on a nightly basis. She had the realization as she was sitting astride Ari that she had a connection with him that went much deeper than friendship, or friends with benefits. She wasn’t sure what that connection was forged of yet, but she knew there was no way she was ever going to walk away from it again. She didn’t dare say it out loud yet, because she was not even sure it was possible. Could the memory of their loved ones be powerful enough to tie them together?

  Ry could see how easy it was to fall in love with a dragon. She saw it all over the faces of Jennifer and Claire as they also wove in and out of the buildings on the backs of their dragon mates. Corey was exhibiting the same amount of pure joy as the rest of them. Ry wondered what his story was, but she figured he was family. What more could anyone want than the love and loyalty of a dragon?

  Ry was sad the ride was coming to an end that night. But as the dragons made their way back up toward Central Park, she was at peace with herself and her decision. As hasty as it may have been, she was falling for Ari. She rested her cheek against his ridge in front of her
. Then, the attack came.

  Chapter 9

  One of the Serpentina slammed into Ari’s side, causing him to falter mid-flight. He felt Ry jerk on his back and then grab at the ridge in front of her. She had grown accustomed to the flow of his movements. He was just glad she hadn’t been thrown off the side when the Serpentina hit him. Ari regained his balance and banked left with his brothers out toward the bay. This was not a fight they wanted to have above the city and Central Park. They learned that their fights were best kept out over the ocean, where they could destroy the Serpentina and send their bodies to the water below. It also offered less risk that anyone would see them as they fought.

  It was going to be difficult, because the Serpentina had come out in full force. There were ten of them, all being led by the most ferocious of their kind. She had been one of the first to turn and would be the hardest to kill. Ari guessed this was the rest of the Serpentina; there were ten. Ari and his brothers were still vastly outnumbered. Ari looked around and found his brothers already engaging with the enemy. This time they were fighting dirty, not caring about the risked exposure. Ari could see jets of fire coming from the mouths of the Serpentina as they attempted to burn away the precious passengers that he and his brothers were carrying. He circled back to the park and quickly touched down, setting Ry on her feet and offering no explanation before shifting and taking off again. It took him a few moments to build up momentum and speed, but once he did, he plowed into the side of one of the Serpentina and caused her to begin falling from the sky. He used his claws and fangs to rip into her, and his brothers worked to hastily engage and return their mates and Corey to the park. Then they came back to the fight, one by one.

  By the time it was Drake’s turn to take Claire back, the Serpentina had grown accustomed to their tactics. They were making it hard for him to get away long enough to bring his mate home. Ry was infuriated with the way they kept sending fire at Drake, trying to burn Claire from the very place she sat. If Drake lost Claire, he would know the pain that Ari lived with every day. Ari was confident that he and Ry came to an understanding about Siesha; she was always going to be a part of his life. But Ari didn’t want any of his brothers to suffer the way he had. The loss practically ellipsed his will to live until Ry entered his life.

  He banked left, avoiding a narrow stream of fire that was intended for his head. What he really needed to worry about was his heart. Ripping it out of his chest was the only way the Serpentina could truly defeat him. Everything always seemed to come back to matters of the heart. He glanced down, hoping Ry and the others had run for the safety of the brownstone. He thought the Serpentina were beginning to get desperate; they might just attack the house if they figured out where the warriors were keeping their mates. His mate: Ry. Riley. Ari knew it before the thought finished forming in his head. She was his, and he would do anything he could to protect her.

  Ry banked back around and whipped his tail out at the small Serpentina who had taken the pot shot towards Claire. The spiked on his tail caught her belly, and he ripped upwards, slicing her from end to end as he dove past. She fell from the sky into the ocean below in a grisly scene of blood and fire. Ari checked on his other brothers. Scyros was holding his own against two of the Serpentina, Crylaine was engaged with at least three, and every spare was gunning for Drake and Claire.

  Ari dove in between Drake and the lead Serpentina. He was caught by her tail and felt the burn of it in his shoulder. He took the hit, but it gave Drake the opportunity to dive right and out of the way of the other three who were coming towards him, and he just missed their fire by inches. Claire was screaming, and Ari felt bad for her. She didn’t ask to go for rides much, mostly because she had been shocked when Drake first revealed himself to her. It was still a shock to her and she had to work up the courage to ask to go. Corey rarely went either. He was older and the cold wind on his joints made him stiff, so to have an attack on a rare day when the Serpentina had been so quiet recently was infuriating.

  Ari banked back around and flew straight at the oncoming trio. The lead Serpentina whom he had thwarted was regaining her speed and momentum flanked by two others, but he took the opportunity to break up the group. He split them two to one and their formation was forced apart. Drake dove for Central Park and dropped off Claire. He had enough of a head start that she was able to hide and then he darted back into the fray. Meanwhile, Ari was working on knocking the enemy down one by one. He managed to hit one with a face full of fire, temporarily blinding her while he used his claws to dig into her heart and end her like her sister. He barely glanced down to watch her fall from the sky before he turned around and split the other two. Drake was engaging with the lead Serpentina, Crylaine had finished two out of three he had been going head to head with, and Scyros wasn’t doing too bad, but he was bleeding from a nasty gash in his left side.

  Ari managed to finish one more of the two before the Serpentina began retreating. He and his brothers tried to pursue the few that were left, but the Serpentina were too fast. It made Ari irate. He wanted the war to be over so he and his brothers could experience peace, and not constantly live in fear of losing more loved ones. They managed to pull into a cloud cover, and he knew they would never find them in the early morning fog of the Hudson Valley. He turned back with his brothers and they flew hard and fast back to the city.

  Corey had managed to get Jennifer and Ry into the house and Drake came in not long after carrying a sobbing Claire. None of them were hurt, but they were scared out of their wits.

  “No more rides until the war is over. I want it finished.” Drake was in a dark mood. Ari couldn’t blame him; no one could. He went over to Ry and pulled her into his arms, rocking her back and forth and saying her name over and over. She didn’t cry, but she was in a state of shock. Corey seemed to recover faster and was off looking for bandages. Once he got Scyros and himself patched up, he went in search of food to make them all feel better.

  He was just serving coffee when Ry seemed to come to. “My meeting!” she cried.

  “What?” Ari was alarmed.

  “With the agent. It’s in half an hour. I need to get there fast.”

  “You can’t go. The Serpentina…”

  “Arrlien, I am going to that meeting. It could make or break my career!” She hopped off his lap and stood glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

  “Ry, see reason,” he pleaded.

  “I am. I’m not hiding from my life just because another bad thing has happened, Ari. I can’t. If I did that, I would never come out of my apartment.” She looked around for her things.

  “Drake…” Ari looked at his brother for support. “She can’t possibly…” He looked between his brothers. Jennifer and Claire looked hesitant, but they had both stood up for their beliefs and their careers. Claire was a professor, and Jennifer was a civil rights activist. He didn’t think he was going to get any support from them.

  “I can’t force her to stay, Ari. She has a career, and it is important,” Drake asserted. “The Serpentina have been driven back to the Hudson Valley, and I think will stay there until they regroup.”

  “They could have sent one to double back and get the exact location of our home!” he protested.

  “Ari, I am going to that meeting. Come along if you want to, but do not try to stop me! It isn’t anyone’s decision but mine.”

  “So that’s it? You’re willing to risk walking out that door and potentially getting attacked again?” He could feel his temper rise, which was what got him in trouble to begin with.

  “Yes,” she shrugged. “Just because I was attacked in the subway doesn’t mean I am going to stop using public transportation all together. Life doesn’t stop because there are bad people or bad things in it, Ari.”

  “It did for me,” he said quietly.

  She had a look of guilt on her face as she answered softly, “I know. I’m sorry Siesha was taken from you. I know what it must mean to you that they have attacked again, not ju
st you and your brothers, but Corey, Jennifer, and Claire…”

  “And you: my mate. They attacked you, Ry.” The whole room was silent at Ari’s proclamation and then Scyros let out a whistle.

  “Man didn’t think he’d ever admit it.”

  “Shut up, Scyros,” Laine ordered.

  “What? I’m just saying.”

  “Last warning,” Drake growled. Claire and Jennifer hid behind smiles, but Ari didn’t give a damn what they all thought.

  “You think of me as your mate?” she asked.

  “Yes. I do. I should have seen it from the moment we met. Nothing could explain that level of protectiveness and comfort. Well, when I wasn’t being an ass, that is.”

  His heart warmed when the smile that formed on her face lit up the room. “That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me!” She launched herself at him and he caught her in his arms.

  “Well, it’s the truth,” he admitted. He couldn’t help but smile at everyone over her shoulder as she hugged him. Then he was kissing her. He kissed her like it was the first, last and only kiss he was ever going to have with her, because the attack that morning was too close for anyone’s comfort. He tried to express every ounce of love he had in his body, and some to spare from the love he felt from Siesha for finding happiness. He didn’t want to let Ry go, and he hoped the kiss was conveying every ounce of fear he felt since this morning.

  When he pulled away, her voice was soft. She was mildly embarrassed when she looked around at everyone. “Look, I know what it means to you about what happened. That’s why I offered for you to come with me. I am not usually one to play the damsel in distress, but it seems you have a penchant for saving my life lately, so I am just going to go with it. Either way, I am going to that meeting. If you try to stop me, I’m afraid things are going to get awkward around your family because you are still naked, and I need to go get my purse.”