by Meg Ripley
“It’s almost time,” Mitch announced, rising from his seat on the couch and pacing the room while he twirled a drumstick in his fingers. “I don’t think I’d be so freaking nervous if my girlfriend wasn’t going to be here tonight.”
“By the way, make sure you tell her that she has great taste,” Brianna told him. “I never would have known where to go for my clothes if it hadn’t been for her. It’s too bad she had to work and couldn’t join us for our shopping trip.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to hang out with her,” Joel said, tossing a guitar pick in the air and catching it repeatedly. “It’s only because of this new job of hers that we haven’t seen her every single day. She’s a real Yoko Ono.”
Brianna expected Mitch to get angry about the comment, but he sat back down and grinned. “You’re just jealous because you don’t have anyone in your bed besides a sticky old copy of Penthouse.”
The door opened, and a stagehand dressed in black peeked in. “You’re on in five. Time to go.”
The Mixups filed out of the green room, with Brianna at the back. She let the guys take the lead as they made their way to the backstage area just as the previous band finished up their set. She peeked through as they thanked the audience, waving the sign of the horns with their hands over their heads as the crowd screamed their approval. They looked like real pros, but from what Damien had told her, they weren’t even signed yet. It probably wouldn’t be long before they were.
Before she knew it, Brianna was trotting out on stage. She knew Damien was out there somewhere, watching, rooting for her. It brought her a small sense of comfort, but it wasn’t enough to combat the butterflies that had taken up residence inside her body. She tingled from her very center, radiating out to her extremities. Her fingers buzzed and tingled as she took the mic off the stand and the lights came up.
As Mitch tapped his drumsticks together, counting down the intro for the Mixups’ first song, Brianna closed her eyes. Damien had told her that morning to get lost in the song, and she intended to do just that. The pause in the music was her cue. She started singing, a soft verse that spoke of lost love while only a gentle drumbeat and a few strums of the guitar accompanied her. But the last line was strong and powerful, showing off her voice. She opened up her lungs and tipped her head up to the lights, belting it out with all the ferocity she had inside her.
As she headed into the first rendition of the chorus, she had completely forgotten who and where she was. She wasn’t Brianna, a simple dragon from Ireland who had come to America on the slim chance that she might make it. She wasn’t even Stephanie’s nanny or Cathy’s friend, but a completely new person who had something to say and knew just how she wanted to do it. She felt so comfortable, so bold, so ready for this.
At the end of the song, a dull roar sounded in her ears. It was faint, but as the last note from the synth faded away, the sound increased. It was the audience. They had gone wild, throwing their hands in the air, screaming and clapping. A few of them were even trying to get onstage. Brianna let her free hand drop to her side, unaware of even having raised it. They were doing it. They were absolutely doing it.
“All right!” she heard Joel say off to her left. “Straight into the next one, guys!” He wailed on his instrument, the others joining in.
Brianna was living the dream. Even if she never played another concert in her life, even if Damien suddenly decided he no longer wanted them on his label, she had done exactly what she had always wanted to do, and she had been a success. As worried as she had been about memorizing the lyrics or her cues, she found that it had all come naturally to her. If the rolling smoke from the fog machine just offstage could have lifted her up and carried her away, she wouldn’t have been surprised.
But just as she was starting in on the final refrain, something thumped into the stage. She felt the impact as it shuddered throughout her body, and a wave of heat washed over her skin. Brianna’s voice trailed off as she stumbled backwards, and the music quickly stopped.
“What the…” Mitch cried out.
The crowd surged, and the screams that were coming from them now were no longer from excitement and appreciation for the music. These were screams of terror, and Brianna quickly understood why. The dull dragon was difficult to see at first amongst the bright lights, but as it came swooping toward the stage, its faded brown form was quite visible.
Another fireball landed on the stage just as the oncoming dragon did. With its wings spread and hate in its eyes, it stepped toward Brianna. “There you are, you little slut. I guess you thought you could just step in and steal my life?”
Brianna dropped the mic and tossed her jean jacket to the floor. Scales rippled up along her spine and down her arms, shimmering in pale green. Her neck lengthened and stretched as the bones of her skull changed their shape, elongating to accommodate a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. With two bursts of pain from her shoulder blades, her wings were out. “How dare you interrupt us,” she hissed. “What do you want?”
“What do I want? I want you to fly your ass back to wherever you came from and leave my man alone!” the other dragon roared as shot another blast of fire and smoke.
Brianna dodged it. “You’ve got the wrong person. I think it’s time for you to be on your way.” In her peripheral vision, she could see the bouncers moving toward the stage.
The other dragon pounced, moving too quickly for Brianna to react. Tumbling backwards, Brianna landed on the stage with a thump. The brown dragon stood over her, one giant foot resting on her throat. Only a small movement of her claw and it could easily slip through Brianna’s scales to sever an artery. “Don’t act stupid, you bitch! You’ve moved into my house. You’ve taken my daughter from me. The social worker from the arbitrator’s office even said Stephanie wanted to be with you instead of me. And now you’re sleeping with my husband. I’m going to end you, and I’m going to take back what’s rightfully mine.”
Brianna suddenly understood. This wasn’t just some random shifter. It was Linda. Damien had said she was losing the custody case, and she must have finally flipped her lid. She tried to strangle out a reply, but the other woman had cut off her air supply. Her vision began to darken around the edges. She barely saw the blur of black as it knocked Linda to the side.
The brown dragon tumbled into the audience. The bouncers, who had shifted now, tackled her to the ground before she could do any more harm.
Brianna blinked against the lights that now shone in her eyes, but they were blotted out a moment later. The sable dragon who stood over her looked down with concern. His wings were still spread wide, ready for any action that might be necessary, and he touched the backside of a claw to her jaw. Instantly recognizing the soft look in his dark eyes, she felt a stab of something in her chest. It wasn’t physical pain but the knowledge that Damien would do something like that for her when nobody else would.
“Are you all right?” he asked urgently.
Struggling to catch her breath, Brianna slowly morphed back into human form and quickly covered herself with her jacket and a few scraps of clothing nearby before slipping her shoes back on. “I think so,” she gasped.
Damien followed suit, his wings melting into his back and his face returning to the visage she had become so familiar with over the last two months. He wrapped a torn piece of drapery from the stage around his hips, then grabbed a tshirt left behind by the metal band and threw it over his head. “No. You’re wounded.” His brow creased as he looked her over. “I think it’s just superficial, though. Let’s get you home.”
The drive felt short, and Brianna was dizzy from the experience at the nightclub. Damien guided her into the house, his arms supporting her as they came in from the garage. He took her hand as they headed up the stairs, his fingers twining between hers. It was an intimate gesture that sent a shock up her arm even in her current condition.
On the landing, Damien turned and opened a door that Brianna had never gone through befor
e. The master suite was huge. Her heels sank into the lush gray carpet as she followed him, noticing the wall of windows that looked out over the city. They were just high enough that no one else could see in, but it offered a spectacular view of the stars. She tried to ignore the California king bed on the opposite wall with its gray comforter and large pillows, but she couldn’t when he guided her to the foot of it.
“Sit down. I’ll be right back.” Damien hustled into the bathroom at the opposite end of the room, and Brianna caught a glimpse of the jacuzzi tub in the corner through the open door.
She quickly looked away, not wanting to intrude on his life, but Damien was at her side again in a moment. His hands gently took the lapels of her jean jacket. “We’ve got to get this off so I can get to your arm.” He gave her a towel to cover her chest, then gently peeled the garment from her shoulders and nodded toward the cut on her biceps.
Brianna looked away from the blood. She felt him touch it with something cold, and it slowly took away the sting. “Thank you for what you did,” she said quietly.
“It was nothing.”
“No. You saved my life. She could have killed me in an instant. I was so caught up in the music, and I didn’t quiet understand what was happening until it was too late. She had me off-guard, and I was at her mercy.”
Damien set down the bloody cotton ball and picked up a tube of ointment. “You shouldn’t be thanking me. I should be apologizing to you.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” She quickly turned her head to look at him, and she felt a jolt of pain in her throat. She turned slowly away again. “Ugh, this hurts.”
“It was my fault,” he insisted. “If I hadn’t brought you here, then you never would have had to deal with Linda. Or maybe I should have handled her differently. However you want to look at it, it’s not fair that you had to get involved.” With gentle fingers, Damien applied a bandage over the wound on her arm. He moved in front of her, crouching as he touched a damp cotton ball to the slash just at the little curve in her collar bone from Linda’s claw.
“I don’t see what I had to do with it at all.” She couldn’t help herself. Brianna studied his face as he concentrated on his work. His gaze flicked to her for a moment, and she looked away quickly.
“I think I should be honest with you.” His wrist brushed her shoulder as he worked, his skin warm. “Apparently, there have been a lot of rumors about the two of us.”
“You mean, other than what Linda tried to say when I met her on the street?” She had been able to forget that day a little easier once she had told Damien about it, and even though she’d felt such a deep attraction to him, she didn’t think anyone else had been privy to that.
“Yeah, but I can understand why they’re saying it.” He finished with her throat and looked up, his eyes smoldering as they looked into hers. “I’ve tried to deny it, to tell myself that you and I are nothing more than employer and employee, but I’m wrong. I’m crazy about you, Brianna, and everyone can see it in the way I look at you. I can’t help it.”
His eyes held hers. Her lungs refused to move as she tried to find the words to reply. Electricity jolted through her veins. She knew exactly what he meant. There had been those glances, those little exchanges, the barest touch, that she could try to write off as no more than friendship, but in the end they both knew what was happening. “Maybe it’s a little bit my fault, too.”
He kissed her, those warm, generous lips covering hers as his arms went around her. She leaned into him, letting herself fall into him like she had wanted to so many times. His fingers were strong and determined as he raked the tips of them across her lower back, letting her know just how badly he wanted her. And Brianna knew that she wanted him, too.
The next thing she knew, she was pulling at the hem of his tshirt. Her hands shook, her fingers trembling as she touched the soft curls of dark hair that sprayed across his wide chest. He was just as glorious as she had imagined, with firm abs, strong thighs and the impressive package that was waiting for her in between them.
Damien lifted the towel from her chest and pulled her into his arms once again. She untied her makeshift skirt and could now feel his hardness against her, and her core contracted with need. “I have to know,” he whispered, breaking their kiss just long enough to speak to her, “if this is truly what you want. I don’t want you to doubt this later.”
“I want you,” she replied heavily, feeling it in every inch of her body as she slipped her hands around his neck and kissed his lower lip. “I want you so badly, Damien. And I have for a while.” And she wanted to prove it to him. He deserved at least that, considering how much they had tortured each other.
Brianna slowly sank to her knees, taking her time on the way down to fully appreciate his body. He had always looked amazing in his clothes, but he was only more incredible as he stood before her. She let her fingers slide down his chest to his abs, smoothing down over his thighs as she took him into her mouth. Damien gasped as she ran the tip of her tongue down his shaft, allowing him to sink all the way in until his head touched the back of her throat. She pulled and sucked, her own arousal increasing as his did, enjoying the fact that she turned him on. His fingers pulled gently at her hair, which only encouraged her to suck harder. When she finally stood again, there was so much electricity between the two of them that she knew she could never be apart from him again.
They were on the bed then, his virile body on top of hers as he bent his head to tenderly kiss each of her breasts. Brianna instinctively arched her back, running her fingers through his hair. He brought one hand down between her legs, touching her, and she gave a shuddering sigh. His thumb moved in slow, concentric circles against her soft flesh, every movement sending bolts of lightning through her body.
“I can’t wait any longer,” he said huskily.
He pierced her, and Brianna moaned, instantly finding a sense of pleasure just in having him inside her. She moved her hips against him, loving the way their bodies fit together. She wrapped one leg around his, pulling him in deeper.
Her core had turned to molten metal, swirling and pulsing as she felt him move inside her walls. It had never been like this with anyone else. No one had ever made her want to climax with little more than a glance, and now she felt as though her body would shift if she didn’t let the buildup of energy go. Brianna cried out against his shoulder as she came, her chest heaving and her legs shaking as everything she felt for Damien came flooding forward.
When she finished riding out the ebbing waves of pleasure, he rolled over and brought her with him. She was already dizzy, intoxicated from her orgasm, and she giggled as she regained her balance. “What’s this for?”
He smiled up at her, still with that dulcet look in his eyes that she now knew was only for her. “I need you to do that again.”
“But I want you to be happy,” she argued as she rocked up and down on top of him, luxuriating in the length of him inside her.
“Knowing that you get yours is the only thing I need. I’ve got you, so trust me, I’m happy.” He rested his hand against her ribs, running it down to explore her waist and turning so that it rested on her behind.
Brianna reached back and covered her hand with his, willing him to keep it there as she moved. His grip tightened, pulling her down so that she ground against him. His shaft hit all the right spots as he pulled her breast into his mouth, and her body once again convulsed around him.
This time, she wasn’t alone. His girth expanded, and he pulsed his hips to drive himself up into her. She willed him to go as deep as he could, spreading her thighs as she straddled him. Their hands still layered on her bottom, he dug his fingers into her backside as she came, grunting his satisfaction.
When they lay together under the sheets, her body tucked under his arm, Brianna couldn’t remember ever feeling more comfortable. Even her time on the stage—before the other dragon had attacked—hadn’t been this good.
“I don’t have to pick up Stephanie unti
l tomorrow morning,” he murmured. “Say you’ll stay right here with me tonight. Say you’ll stay here with me forever.”
She smiled against his neck, whispering her reply. “I will.”
Chapter Eleven
Damien looked down at his open suitcase, trying to remember if he had everything. They would be gone for a long time, and while he could always buy an extra pair of socks or a toothbrush on the road, he wanted to be sure he had the essentials. “Are you ready to go?” he called into the bathroom.
Brianna stepped out, looking radiant in her designer jeans and a cropped t-shirt. He was glad to see that all the fame hadn’t gone to her head. She took her toothbrush out of her mouth. “I think so, but it’s even harder to pack for a world tour than for moving to a new country.” She shook her head and went back into the bathroom to finish up.
Damien zipped his suitcase. “You might as well get used to it. With the Mixups being as big as you are right now, it’s going to be a long time before the fans are tired of you.”
She came back out into the bedroom and picked up Stephanie, who had been playing with her dolls near the window. “It’s still so hard to believe. After that incident at Bliss, I thought we were done for. I figured no one would want to hear us again after that.”
Damien replayed the scene from that night one year earlier in his mind. Whatever Linda had been planning backfired fabulously. After being charged with attempted murder—along with a lengthy list of other infractions—she’d been sentenced to serve twenty-five years in a maximum-security women’s prison, with no hope of ever winning custody of little Stephanie.
“Well, they say there’s no such thing as bad publicity,” he reminded her. “The tape of that attack was played over and over in every part of the world, exposing your music to more people than I ever could have promoted it to in a year. You’re a star, Brianna, and you deserve it.”
