Page 104 of Driven By Dragonblood
“No, but this town is conservative enough that my career could be ruined,” I hissed.
“Who gives a flying fuck what people think about you?” Jax grumbled beneath his breath.
“I do! Do you know how hard I’ve fought to hold onto my sanity, study the human brain, so I could prove myself of sound mind to myself and help others who struggle? Do you have any goddamn idea the emotional turmoil I’ve dealt with over the years?”
The ache in my chest knifed Primrose’s, and a sob caught in her throat.
“You’re not the only one dealing with emotional turmoil,Doc.”
Primrose’s thoughts shut down, overrun by anxiety. She slumped, heaviness owning her limbs. Chest sinking in, she hung her head and closed her eyes…her longing for reality to dissipate sweeping through me.
“Fuck.” I pulled her up into my arms and hugged her tight against me. “I’m so goddamn sorry, Primrose.”
Affection and the desire to ease her despair leaked warmth through our bond, attempting to break through the coldness closing her off.
Jaxon threw his arms around both of us. The intangible parts of our bond could only go so far in reminding us of how our souls had been brought together, but the physical connection among all three of us? As mates, we couldn’t become any more real to solidify the truth in my mind I had been on the verge of submitting to mere moments earlier.
Primrose sagged against me, the slowing of my heartbeat causing hers to sync with mine.
“We’re going to figure this out,” I stated, even though unrest over the confrontation ahead of us lay at the back of my mind.
Shift.
Take our mates from this mess we created.
“We didn’t create it, Prim,” Jax argued out loud with her inner beast attempting to sway her into shifting to her true form and stealing us away. “That bitch did.”
“And I can’t flee from my responsibilities,” I added. Fate had brought me back to Arizona—and not just to meet my mates. A deeper need to accomplish…somethingmoreseemed to root my feet in this dry soil where beauty abounded. “Arizona, this land, is our home.”
My beast purred in pleasure, curling up in contentment where I used to imprison him, but no more.
Primrose peered up at me, hope swelling over the last barrier that had kept us apart.
A siren sounded in the distance, not allowing for further reflection or conversation. “The cops are going to want proof you’re over the age of consent—please tell me you have IDs,” I said.
“Yeah—I’ll grab them.” Jaxon left us for the trash bags lying beside the garage door.
“When I turned sixteen, my grandmother insisted I get my license to drive our old truck out of the mountain,” Prim said as memories flitted through her mind, flooding me with her thankfulness and lingering grief.
I had so much to learn about my two young lovers—and I wanted their every joy and heartache to become my own.
Tears welled in Primrose’s eyes, and I rubbed my nose over hers, eyes closing briefly.
“Cops are coming, you sick fuck!” Jessie hollered through the front door, seeming pleased with herself, but I couldn’t be bothered to look away from amber eyes that overflowed with love when my gaze met Primrose’s once more.
Car doors slammed.
Jessie hollered more nonsense.
Regardless of the ruckus growing outside, our heartbeats slowed, love and passion swelling between us.
“Bring it—” Someone pounded on the door, cutting off Jaxon’s statement, loaded with dual meaning and cooling the instinctive need within us to mate.
“Weareconsenting adults,” I stated, setting Prim on her feet.
“Let’s go take care of this shit so we can get back to what that bitch so rudely interrupted.” Jaxon’s attempt at lightness fell short, but I ordered them to the living room and made for the front door.
A young cop stood on the porch, Jessie shrieking at the elder of the two officers who held her arm, escorting herdown the stairs toward the cruiser with flashing lights in front of my house.
