Page 30 of Magpies & Mayhem
“Mm-hm.” I didn’t feel coherent.
“Sidney, I need a yes or no.” Was that amusement?
“Jordan, shut up and kiss me.” I couldn’t move my head to kiss him first, but I darted my tongue out to lick a playful line between his lips.
His quick intake of breath and the way he grabbed my upper arm told me he hadn’t been expecting that. He hauled me closer, angling my chin and molding his lips to mine almost hungrily. When I opened my mouth again, he met my tongue with his own, the hot slide of his mouth sending need spiraling into my core. I tried to press closer still, but his hands gripped me so tightly I couldn’t move. My hands found their way into his jacket, and I fisted his shirt, pulling him to me instead. His breaths were ragged, panting, as his tongue teased me, promising me things I intended to cash in on. I moaned into his mouth, and he nipped my lip gently, making heat spike between my thighs.
“You smell so good,” he groaned, chest heaving, clutching me against him.
I was too busy to breathe, personally, and stars started to light faintly behind my eyes. I pulled away just as I was starting to feel dizzy, just in time to smell smoke and hear the crackle of burning wood nearby.Verynearby.
“Shit.” Jordan snatched up the flaming stick Huck had dropped an inch from my lap and launched it into the night again, Huck bolting after it with glee. Little tufts of grass that had sprouted in the hard-pan soil next to me smoked and popped with small flares of fire.
I stared at Jordan as he watched to make sure Huck found the stick and that it didn’t catch anything else on fire, heaving oxygen into my lungs as I debated what to do next. One side of me screamed that I should jump his bones right here. He’d even proposed to me, so I was his mate now, whether he knew it or not. The other couldn’t believe how insane I was for making out with a vampire and knew that a nice stick didn’t mean anything to him. I wanted to punch the second side in the face. Why was I so conflicted about him? Why couldn’t things be easy?
He turned to look at me, his bedroom eyes pulling me firmly into ‘do what I want and worry about the rest later’territory. I was promptly interrupted by a spectral messenger flickering into a wispy existence in front of Jordan’s face. He slipped his hand into a jacket pocket to feed some magic into a calling stone and a deep voice reached us from the aether. “We’ve found some intel. I’ll fill you in next time you’re in.” The messenger disappeared, and all was dark and quiet.
“Come on,” Jordan murmured. “Your stomach is rumbling again. We can find out what they learned and get you some real food at the same time.”
I stuck my bottom lip out in a pout, causing him to huff a laugh and brush his thumb across my jaw. I nearly melted on the spot. “Do you think Huck will follow us back?” I asked as I stood up, wrapping his cowl around me more tightly. I felt a weird pang at the thought of him deciding he was happy out here all alone, but I shrugged it off. We would do what was best for him.
“I guess we’ll see,” Jordan answered, casting a glance at the dragon as he stood.
Chapter 19
Ididn’twanttowalk back to the cave barefoot, so I shifted forms and rode on Jordan’s arm instead, carrying my sticks in my beak the whole way. To my confused relief, Huck did follow us back, and after a momentary internal debate—I’m assuming, because he was just staring at the carrier silently—Jordan decided to wear the baby carrier. He put it on all wrong the first try, but I didn’t correct him because it was hilarious watching him try to figure out the straps and buckles. He finally got frustrated and asked for help.
“You’ve got it on inside out and upside down,” I squawked, scratching the back of my head with my foot. Nobody ever talks about how itchy feathers can be.
He spun the contraption around and held it out in front of himself. “Like this?”
“Yeah. Now put your arms in those loops. Buckle that big bottom thingy behind you.” I hoped he was flexible enough to reach the shoulder buckles because I wasn’t shifting again tonight. I’d decided on the ride back that I was the Queen of Bad Decisions, and I couldn’t be trusted around Jordan at all. Even in this form, I wanted to plaster myself against him and rub his scent all over me, but at least that wasn’t as bad as making out with him.I think.
“Okay, now what?” he asked.
I cocked my head and stared at Huck. “Grab the munchkin.” I’ll admit, I was hoping Huck would run so Jordan would chase him in circles like a cartoon character, but Huck recognized the carrier and was excited about it. The little traitor. His wings were quivering with excitement as Jordan picked him up.
Jordan grunted at him. “Huh. He’s getting kind of big for this, isn’t he? How much longer is he going to fit in here?” He stared at the pouch of the carrier while Huck dangled in the air from his hands, apparently stumped on how to get him in.
“Tail first, face out,” I instructed him. “Probably not much longer. He’s definitely on the large side for it, and he’s growing faster than I expected for a reptile.” It made sense, I guess, consideringhow bigdragons actually got—even the lesser dragons like Huck—but they were practically immortal, so they had averylong time to get that size.
Jordan finally got them both situated, and all the buckles closed. “If I run, will you be able to keep up?”
“Probably not.” Vampire speed was legendary for a reason. “But if Huck stress-poops in the baby carrier because you freak him out, I’m not helping you clean it up.”
“Fair point,” Jordan muttered, looking down at the top of Huck’s little horns. He bent to stuff my folded clothes and his two sticks into my backpack, making Huck flap his wings as he was jostled.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’ll ask if we can sleep at the office. I don’t like you having to sleep in the dirt like this,” he said as he slung my bag onto his back and grabbed his helmet.
“Why do you care where I sleep? I’m fine.”
He ignored my question and left the cave, starting down the trail into the open desert without me. “Come on, Sid,” he called.
I flapped along after him and caught up to land on his left forearm, which he had wrapped around his helmet. “Fine, but I’m not taking the blame if he burns your office down.”
“It’s made of mud, like all the other buildings around here. It’s not going to burn,” Jordan muttered as he lifted my body and placed me on his shoulder. I scooted closer to his arm, trying to keep away from his neck.
