Dragons of Zalara Box Set, page 35
But Agnes could see it in Hoss’s and the man’s eyes. She was dying. The anguish was worth it. The killing was over.
She gripped Hoss’s hand. She gasped, choking on blood. “Before…I die, I need to tell you…before it’s too late. I…love…you.”
Hoss leaned his head back and roared. “No!”
She closed her eyes, glad the last person she’d see before she past on was Hoss. He let her go of her hand and emptiness soaked in her. He didn’t love her.
“Shit, a…a…dragon.”
The voice shook with fear and disbelief, but it sounded too far away. Agnes couldn’t make out whether it was male or female and didn’t care. Hoss was leaving her. Maybe he’d convince Topaz not to kill him.
That was the last thing Agnes thought before she felt air rushing over her as her soul lifted to heaven.
Hoss paced in the Centarus’s waiting area, nearly wearing out the floor. Agnes had been in surgery for the last eight hours and still no sign of Tryker or his doctors. When Hoss brought Agnes to the ship, he discovered Frank had made it through surgery and was sleeping comfortably. Topaz was furious he’d changed into a dragon in front of humans, but Hoss didn’t care.
Agnes had been dying. He could careless about his own skin. His heart nearly jumped out of his throat when she stabbed Daidhl in the chest, weakening him further. It was enough for him to yank out the bastard’s heart and suck out the last of the Mistonian into the cage. Daidhl was dead, but the Mistonian wasn’t. At least he couldn’t escape.
The foul creature would be handed over to the Confederation for sentencing. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was Agnes.
While he waited, Hoss couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep. His father had complained of the same symptoms before he hung himself. In that moment, Hoss finally understood what his father was going through. His father hadn’t been weak. He’d been brokenhearted.
Fates, Hoss would rather be wounded in battle then suffer like this.
The medical lab doors opened, and Tryker walked out wearing scrubs. He rubbed his blood-shot eyes.
“Tryker, is she alive? Can I see her?”
He hung his head. “I’m sorry.”
“No!” Hoss picked up a chair and hurled it across the room, jamming into a wall.
“Hoss, you need to calm down.” Tryker grabbed both of his arms. “Destroying the Centarus isn’t going to help Agnes.”
Anonghos broke his grip and flung his arm toward the room where the agent slept peacefully. “But you saved Frank, why the hell can’t you save her?”
Tryker folded his arms over his chest. “Because I’m not her mate. I’ve done all I can for her. The rest is up to you.”
Fear punched a whole in his tantrum. “What?”
“Don’t act surprised, Anonghos. If you want to save her, you need to claim her. That’s the only way she’ll survive.”
“Why do you think I haven’t claimed her?”
“Because she’s dying, you idiot.”
Tryker’s low voice smacked Hoss into motion. He’d been so afraid of ending up like his father, and giving up pride, that he’d left Agnes vulnerable. Even if she hadn’t been his mate, he’d want her. Her passion was as great as his was. He wasn’t going to lose her.
“Where is she?”
“I’ll take you to her.”
Agnes looked so small in her bed. She was breathing shallowly, and her face was ashen. Her blond hair flared out on her pillow.
Hoss couldn’t hold back the tears.
Tryker clasped his shoulder and squeezed. “You can do this, bro. I believe in you.”
He quietly exited, leaving Hoss alone with his half-dead mate. He leaned over and kissed her stiff lips. “I won’t lose you, Agnes. You belong to me. I claim you.” He was too terrified to tell her how he felt. Why was so it hard to utter those three little words?
Afraid he’d fall, he sat in a chair next to her bed. His shaking hand took out the red stone. He slowly turned over Agnes’s rigid wrist. Fates, this was all his fault. What had he’d done?
He placed the stone in her frozen palm. “Come back to me.” He kissed her wrist, then lay his head on her hand. His tears fell on her pale skin. His dragon roared. Fire burned in his chest, and passion swirled inside him like a shooting star. Madness unhinged inside him. She was his.
Her creaky fingers moved beneath him. He jerked his head up. She was actually clasping the mating stone. Hope surged through him. He leaned over and kissed her hard, willing her to come back to him to live.
Nothing happened.
His heart sank to his toes. He push his tongue through her lips and her clenched teeth. He swirled his tongue, exploring the recesses of her mouth, hoping to ignite a spark amidst the darkness. He moved his hands up and down her arms, trying to provide warmth.
He thought he heard a groan. For a minute, he thought it was himself, but when he looked down, she stared up at him with smoky golden eyes.
“Hoss?” Her voice was so weak.
He knelt down and pushed her hair back. “Shhh.”
Confusion fluttered in her eyes. “What happened?”
“I claimed you.”
“I don’t…understand.”
He laughed. “No, I suppose you don’t. You were dying.”
“I was?”
“I love you Agnes Malloy. I want you with me always.”
“You do? Do I have a choice?”
An arrow pierced his lungs, cutting off his breath. Emptiness descended on him, and he could feel the noose tightening around his throat. “Yes.”
Her eyes fluttered shut, leaving him with a broken spirit.
He clutched her hand, refusing to let go.
“Then I choose to be with you.”
Her voice was so low he wasn’t sure he heard her, but he locked those words in his heart.
Chapter Twenty-One
Agnes woke to the sound of beeping. Her mind was hazy. The world spun around her and her stomach swished back and forth. She shut her eyes tight, then slowly opened them. The room stopped spinning. Blurriness left her vision. Empty beds were lined up neatly against the opposite wall. Binging and dinging dashboards, right out Star Trek, hung over each bed. Dull pain throbbed in her backside, and the horrible memories of Daidhl flooded over her. The hate in his eyes… His foul breath… His icy touch… Agnes shivered.
“Are you cold?”
She turned to see Hoss on a chair next to her bed. He peered down at her with blood-shot eyes. His hair stuck out all over.
She managed a smile. “You look terrible.”
“You look beautiful.” He clutched her hand with shaky fingers.
“Are you alright?”
He took a shuddering breath. “Now, that you’re awake I am.” He kissed her hand. “I thought… I thought… I was going to lose you.”
His gentle kiss sent warmth through her body, chasing away the nightmares. She smirked. “You won’t get rid of me that easy.”
“Good. I need you. I never thought I’d need a woman before, never wanted to.”
She frowned. The slight movement sent a shiver of pain through her forehead. “Why?”
“Because of my father.”
When they’d had sex, he’d woken up screaming. Guilt nestled in her gut for not pursuing this further, but Daidhl hadn’t given them a moment’s rest. “And?”
His eyes burned gold, and a shadow fell across his face. “I always thought he was a weak man, hated him for it…” His voice trailed off as if he were lost in his own thoughts.
She remained silent. Rushing people to tell their stories always ended badly.
He kissed her knuckles. “He hung himself when I was a kid.” Anguish echoed in his whisper.
She sucked in her breath. Her father had been many things, but he’d fought the bad, even when her mother died. Children remain scarred when parents abandoned them, but suicide was an ugly level she didn’t fully understand. “Oh, Hoss, I’m so sorry.” She moved to hug him and her pain jumped up ten octaves. She grimaced, hissing between her teeth.
“Agnes, are you okay? Do you want some pain medication?”
“No, I’m groggy as it is. I just want you at my side.”
“That you always will have.”
She drew on her determination not to let the throbbing consume her. Hoss needed to share his story, and she needed to hear it. “Why?” she croaked out.
“What? I didn’t understand you.”
She cleared her throat and a stronger voice asked, “Why did your father kill himself?”
“Because my mother left him.”
She frowned. “I thought they were mated.”
“Her first mate died, then she settled for my father and had me.” Bitterness crept into this voice. “I don’t think she loved either one of us.”
“I do.”
He laughed. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear you say that.” He stopped laughing, and his eyes turned serious. He gently kissed her forehead and stroked her hair. “Because you’re my life. I…love…you.”
She raised her eyebrow. “I bet that was hard for you to bust out.”
He ran his fingers through his messed up hair and slumped in his chair. “You have no idea. I never wanted to end up like my father, never thought I could trust a woman not to leave me…Until now.” He bent over and brushed his lips over hers.
Strangely, the throbbing pain lessened, not clouding her thoughts. “Hoss, how old were you when this happened?”
“I was six when my mother left and twelve when my father hung himself.” He put both his elbows on her bed and rested his head on the top of his knuckles. “Dad and I had a fight on my birthday. Mother sent me a card every year. It was the only time I ever heard from her. I blamed him for her leaving. I left angry and went over to Damon’s house.”
Agnes was at a loss on what to say to him. She rubbed his trembling arm.
He raised his head. Tears glistened in his eyes. “I found him in the garden, swinging from a rope. He didn’t even leave a note.”
Ignoring the pain, Agnes forced herself to sit up and drew him into her arms. He lay his head on her shoulder and held her close. His heart beat pounded next to hers. She stroked his hair.
“Mother didn’t send for me even after he died. Now, she’s dead, too.”
His voice was barely a whisper.
Anger cruised through Agnes at his mother for being so selfish. She wasn’t sorry that the Kamtrinians had killed her. His mother might not have loved Hoss’s father, but Hoss was her son. She kissed his wet cheek. “I’m here. And I won’t leave you.”
He took a deep breath and slowly released her. “Did I hurt you?”
“No. It seems every time I touch you or kiss you, the pain lessens.”
“Mates have the power to heal each other. Not necessarily cure, but heal faster.”
“Well, you’re doing a great job.”
He smiled.
“So, you pushed women away after this, didn’t you?”
“Yup. I just liked them to warm my bed. I never wanted to be mated.”
“Why did you agree to mate with me?”
“Didn’t have a choice. The Fates, our goddesses, had other plans. I said no, but King Greum ordered me, too. You don’t say no to the king unless you want to die a horrible death.”
“Smart king.”
The door opened and Tryker came inside pushing Frank in a wheelchair. Dark circles were underneath his eyes, but his color was better and his eyes brighter.
“Frank!” Anges smiled.
“Hello, sis. You’re looking a hundred percent better.”
“So, are you. How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by a Mack Truck, but Tryker says I’m healing.” A glint showed in his eyes. He gripped the arms of the wheelchair and stood. He tilted his head. “Thanks to him, I’ll be walking soon.”
“He’s been trying to walk everyday until he’s bone tired,” Tryker said. “He’s a man of steel.”
“Of course, he is. He’s a Malloy, and my hero.”
Tryker wheeled Frank over to the other side of her bed. Frank leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
“You scared ten years off me, sis. I’m glad you’re on the up and up.”
“He’s been visiting you everyday,” Hoss said. “Tryker had to force him to leave.”
Anges swelled with love. Her brother cared. He’d proven it to her. “I never thanked you for saving my life.”
“And I hear you went to hell and back to save me. I guess we’re even.” He sighed and looked around the room. “I wanted to apologize to you for giving you a hard time about your ability. Without it, we would have been in a world of hurt down there. Do you forgive me?”
She’d waited a lifetime to hear those words, gone over what she’d say, how she’d bawl him out, but all she could do through the tears brimming in her eyes was utter yes.
She wiped her eyes. “Okay, I think I’m done crying for one day.” She took a deep breath, looking at the two men who meant more to her than anything. She asked in her best cop voice, “I know this is a dumb question, but are we on Earth or in space?”
“Earth,” Tryker answered. “Our ships are still invisible, and the captain ordered us not to move you or Frank until you were completely healed.”
“I think he’s worried that if the space medicine didn’t work”––Frank smirked––“that they would need to rush us to a hospital.”
Her stomach let a rumbling roar. The three men looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“Would you like something to eat, mate?” Hoss asked.
“Obviously. Can I get a cheeseburger and fries?”
“Definitely, my sister,” Frank quipped.
“Of course, you can.” Hoss kissed her forehead. “I’ll get you anything you want. You’re my mate.”
Two months later
Agnes snuggled next to Hoss, listening to his heartbeat. Her body still tingled from their love-making. He snored softly next to her. She never wanted to leave his side. It had been difficult to say good-bye to Frank, who had returned to the FBI. He was a different man, more open minded, and aware that humans weren’t the only ones in the universe. He’d be an excellent ally for the Zalarians.
The one who drew the death stick had been Kathy. She was devastated over her sister’s death and blamed herself. No matter what she or Hoss or Frank had told her, she said the death was her fault. If she’d believed… If she hadn’t gone out for Starbucks… Lisa would have been alive. Kathy was wrong. If she’d been with her sister, she’d be dead, too.
Agnes sighed, knowing she was helpless in changing Kathy’s mind. She wished she could be there for Kathy, but her place was with Hoss. He’d promised that she could visit Frank and Kathy whenever she wanted. She’d hold him to that. But as far as she could tell, her mate would deny her nothing.
She drew on his chest with her finger.
“You keep doing that, and I’m liable to take you again, mate,” he mumbled.
She looked up into his hooded eyes. “Promises, promises…”
“You’re such a tease.”
“I know. But we’re a team.”
“I don’t know what the captain was thinking putting you on my team.” He shook his head. “You could get killed.”
“He knows a good cop when he sees one. He was impressed with what I did on Earth.”
“Such a stubborn wench.”
He rolled on top of her and kissed her hard. He moved his hands all over her body, caressing her breasts. His thumbs brushed over her nipples, igniting a fire. She caressed his back, his muscles rippling underneath her fingers.
He left her hungry mouth and trailed kisses along her throat. He slowly edged down her body, kissing and suckling as he went until he captured a nipple. She gasped and threaded her fingers in his hair. He stroked the curls between her legs, teasing her with his strong fingers.
Another wave of passion built inside her. She wiggled beneath him as he brought her pleasure. She spread her legs, wanting to feel him pumping inside her.
He released her nipple, lifted himself up, and in one swift thrust, filled her with his cock. She gripped his shoulders as he rode her hard, stealing her breath and rushing her toward another orgasm. Her heart thundered, sending blood roaring through her, pooling between her legs. She met his rocking thrust each time, skin against skin, heat stirring heat.
She dug her nails into his shoulders, as the furious orgasm built inside her. She inhaled his fiery breath. Her dragon demanded to be satisfied, and she locked her legs around his hips, imprisoning him. Her orgasm burst through, sending her on a mountain high. She screamed out his name.
He pounded harder then followed, spilling his seed inside her. He collapsed, panting. “I’ll never get tired of hearing you scream out my name.”
She kissed his hot lips and broke away. “I’ll never get tired of saying it. I love you.”
He stared at her with possessive eyes. “And I you. You’ve unhinged the nightmares inside me and killed the madness. With you by my side, we can rebuild my world.”
She put her palms on his sleek cheeks. “And protect mine.” She caressed his buttocks with the back of her leg. “Claim me one more time.”
He ran his hand down her side. “Never satisfied.”
Shivers of desire pumped through her. “Not with you I’m not.”
Hoss claimed her again and again, leaving her little doubt that she’d captured the heart of a dragon.
If you loved Unhinged, then you’ll love Madness Unmasked
Part III
Madness Unmasked
Chapter One
Tash Galaxy
Stars whizzed on the main bridge screen, but the Kamtrinian ship was faster, leaving the Intrepid in the dust.
Nucl pressed flashing buttons rapidly on his navigation and security board. “Captain, the Kamtrinians are out of our phaser range. We’re losing them!” His panicked voice matched his shaking fingers.
