Page 65 of Blue Embers
“Ask him,” he pointed toward my cell.
Doubting a simple question would suffice, I replied to the stranger per Draven’s request and waited for an answer.
Meet us face to face,I demanded.We’ll talk.
Us?The stranger replied without delay.
I’m bringing a friend. He’s interested in your offer.
There was a short hesitation between messages as if he or she was thinking about it.
Fine, they finally responded.I suspect you know where your own bunker is. I’ll be waiting.
Mind telling us what you look like so we don’t shake hands with the wrong person?I said.
Nah, I’ll see you first :) I’ll introduce myself.
With that, the stranger disconnected from the conversation and I was stuck wondering who the hell would be so confident playing these games with Draak. Not any Draak, but the Archon and his close comrades. Once more, I looked up at Draven and delivered a subtle nod to let him know the meeting was on.
“Good,” he said with boredom. “We’ll leave tonight and use the dark to fly without detection.”
“What about the rest of us?” Everly asked.
“Stay here. We can’t afford to go into the cities right now. I have a feeling things are going to get stirred up very soon.”
Everly gave Draven a stern nod, her demeanor hardened as if she had just accepted responsibility for everyone’s safety. Glancing at Persephone, I could see that she was calculating the risks in silence. I reached over, taking her hand to grab her attention. When her eyes met mine, her expression softened and she smiled.
“Come,” I said. “Let’s get cleaned up.”
I led Persephone upstairs to one of the bedrooms. In it was a rustic, wooden bed with root-like carvings on the headboard and a large window on the far side. Through it, the morning light was streaming in and illuminating the polished wood floors. Across the bedroom was an attached bathroom. As I made my way toward it, I began removing articles of clothing and tossing them on the floor without a care. In truth, I was a little fatigued, but at the same time energized by Persephone’s presence.
Glancing back at her as I passed through the doorway into the bathroom, I saw her kicking off her shoes and shrugging off her coat with the same, somewhat tired motions. I continued to the shower and turned the water to a setting too hot for a typical human. I was Draak, however, and Persephone was my Ashling. Knowing the heat would comfort us both was invigorating.
Both undressed, we stepped under the hot stream of water, closing the shower curtain around the circular tub to conceal the steam and heat. Persephone stepped under the water first, letting it wet her fair skin. She let out a long breath, her muscles relaxing under the shower as she ran her fingers slowly through her now darkened locks of soaked hair. I watched her for a while, absorbing her presence as much as possible before she opened her bright eyes and looked at me. She wiped her hands over her cheeks, the corners of her mouth quirking.
“What?” she asked.
I couldn’t help gazing at her. As a human, she was a beauty. As an Ashling...myAshling, she was something beyond that. It was a terrifying feeling and at the same time one I didn’t ever want to lose. I reached out, clearing a strand of hair that had stuck to her forehead.
“I don’t want to leave you,” I confessed, taking in a deep breath of the steam, which was imbued with her scent now.
“We’ll be fine,” she said, stepping closer to me. “It’s you two that I’m worried about. This hacker could be anyone. It could be Haera for all we know.”
“It’s not her,” I shook my head. “If she had my data libraries she’d have done much worse things with it.”
“What exactly is it that you have in your database?”
“When I was part of the Draakir, I was a surveillance officer. It was my job to spy, for lack of a better term. I have a lot of sensitive information that even the Draakir doesn’t want me to have since I retired.” I smirked, stepping into the water to wet my body. “But I was very good at my job and they knew that.”
“Is that why they’ll clean up a parking lot full of dragon parts for you when you ask?”
I grinned, letting out a subtle laugh. “There are a lot of reasons they’ll help me when I need it, but having dirt on the higher ups definitely helps.”
“Dirt? Draak have dirt?”
“We have plenty of dirt,” I said, wrapping an arm around Persephone’s waist and pulling her close. “What creature wouldn’t after a certain amount of centuries?”
She chuckled, rolling her eyes at me before she turned around to lather herself with a soap bar. Gods, that body glistening in the water was so tantalizing my cock decided to ignore the purpose of the shower and grew rigid with want. Watching suds slide down Persephone’s back as she cleaned made my skin tingle with desire. As if she could sense it, she glanced toward her shoulder and smiled. I narrowed my eyes at the temptress and stepped into her, lowering my head toward the bend of her neck. She stretched to the side and rolled her head back onto my shoulder, inviting my kiss.
