by Aliyah Burke
“I can’t recall.” He handed the piece over to her and watched her stare at the toast as if she weren’t sure what he’d done, or why. He couldn’t say why, it had just seemed the thing to do for her. The second piece he did followed the first to the edge of her plate.
Black leather had never been so sexy to him. He couldn’t see any way to get the form-fitting item off her. The top molded to her figure, showing off her firm breasts—breasts he’d had pressed against him earlier. He wanted to touch them and suck them.
A flash of him sliding his cock between them to her waiting lips hit him so hard he nearly dropped the knife. He placed two pieces of toast on his own plate and watched her lift the fork. She was left-handed.
“Interesting.”
Luc didn’t believe her reply required a response from him so he ate. Why is she here? And alone? He didn’t see any ring on her hand, nor any sign there used to be one. She ate a bite of the toast and chewed slowly. If she were mine, there would be a ring on that finger letting everyone know she was taken.
“So no thoughts of a car anywhere? You may have crashed.” She sipped some coffee.
“Nothing. I don’t even have a phone.”
“What about in your wallet?”
“I checked after I put on pants. Nothing in there, which points me here, to this place.”
Her gaze jerked to his then away faster than he could breathe. She placed her fork down. “What about your unit?”
He chewed and swallowed slowly. “My unit?”
“You’re military. If out, it’s recent. Perhaps one of your old, or current, team called you up here.”
He pondered her words as he ate a few more bites. She didn’t press him, just waited. Like a predator. There was something dangerous about her, even sitting at a table eating breakfast he could see it. It swirled around her like silk, sliding sensuously along her skin before settling.
“Doesn’t ring a bell for me.”
She watched him, silent. “Okay,” she eventually said, before finishing her coffee. She wiped her mouth and pushed back from the table. “I have to bring in some more wood.”
That was it. She took her plates to the sink and left them there before swiping a long black leather coat and ducking outside. He saw the blowing snow when she opened the door and stepped out.
He ate swiftly after which he pushed back. His instincts told him that if she wanted to harm him, she would have done so by now. However, he hadn’t survived as long as he had by ignoring the training he’d received, either. Although, my instincts have kept me alive more often than not. Unsure of how much time he had until she returned, he hurried back to the bedroom she’d allowed him to stay in and rooted through her things, looking for a clue to this mystery woman who looked to die for in black leather.
When he heard the slam of the door, he left the room, disappointed he’d been unable to uncover anything. Not a single thing that would give him a bit more on this woman. He’d woken naked in bed with her, almost deep inside her. She’d saved his life. Cooked him food. Given him weapons.
And he still didn’t know her name.
She made three more trips before she removed her coat. He leaned against the wall and waited for her to look up at him from where she added more wood to the burning fire. Luc allowed himself an easy perusal of her figure. The leather molding to her body stirred a response in him for sure.
“Who are you?” he asked when they shared eye contact.
She pushed with a fluid move to her feet. “Dracen Lloyd.”
“And what are you doing up here, Dracen Lloyd?”
“Getting away from everything. Did you find what you looking for? Or is there a specific question I could answer for you that you didn’t find when you rooted through my things.”
How does she know? “I want to know more about you and what you’re planning on doing with me.”
Her curved lashes lowered before rising slowly. “I didn’t have plans on doing anything with you.”
The sparkle in her gaze intrigued him. “Is that so? You and me, alone in this cabin.” He shook his head, slightly unsure what had gotten into him. He typically had better behavior, especially toward women. “Sorry.”
She shrugged. “No need to. I have nothing to hide from you, so ask your questions.”
“Why did you bring me here?” Her straightforwardness was a breath of fresh air after coming from a world where the women he saw were full of false flattery and double meanings.
She blinked a few times as if seriously contemplating her response. “Was there somewhere else I should have taken you? It’s not like there were a lot of options. You want to leave, feel free. I’m not keeping you against your will.”
“Do you have a phone I could use?”
“Sure.” She reached into the front pocket of her pants—those ones that melded to her like butter—and tossed him the item she withdrew. “Reception works best by the sink.” That statement given, she moved away from the living room and he pivoted to watch her walk back into the bedroom.
He held the cell in his hand and swiped his finger across the screen to unlock it. If she had any concerns about him snooping, she didn’t show it. There had been no hesitation in her giving him the phone. He checked her history, but that came up blank. There were no preprogrammed numbers and no texts.
Burner phone.
He angled his head to the right and glanced down the hall where she’d vanished. What is she doing with a burner phone? Is she running? She didn’t act like a woman who was running, but then, nothing about Dracen fit how he typically perceived women.
He dialed the one number he knew by heart and put the device to his ear, ambling to the sink to—as she claimed—get the best reception.
“Hello?”
“Hello, sir,” he said when his father answered the phone.
“Lucas? My God, son, how are you? Where are you? Martha, pick up the phone, it’s Luc.”
“I’m fine, sir.”
“I don’t know where your mother is, but she’ll be so upset she missed your call. Now, tell me what happened. They said you vanished from an op after you’d finished it. Your unit has been keeping mum on the subject of where you went. Even to me.”
He scrambled through thoughts. His old man was a member of the upper brass in who’d spent a substantial number of years in Washington. If they weren’t telling him anything… What the fuck happened? “I’m okay, just had to take a bit of a detour. I’ll be in as touch as soon as I can. Tell Mom I’m not hurt and am fine, please.” Warning prickled up the back of his neck. “I have to go.”
“Be safe.”
The call ended and Luc ducked his head as he gripped the side of the counter. Lightheadedness swarmed over him and he tightened his hold, determined to keep upright. When the brunt of it had passed, he made his way back to the bedroom and slipped into the room.
Dracen was nowhere in sight. He frowned, sure he’d not seen her go by him out of the door, and the bathroom’s hadn’t been closed. Stepping back, he peeked into the second bedroom. Nothing. She was just gone.
Reaching for another shirt in the pile she’d brought for him, he drew it on then shoved into the heavy coat sitting there. The tanto back in his possession, he strode to the front door and stepped out. The wind had picked up tenfold since she’d carried in the wood.
He zipped the coat up the remainder of the way and turned up the collar. He didn’t find any tracks but with the way the wind whipped over the frozen landscape it made sense, the snow covering everything. Still, he looked, and held out some hope he would discover something guiding him in the direction she had gone.
His gut yelled at him to go into the wind so he listened and struck off. He periodically checked his position, but continued to press on. After a good trek, he found himself stepping out to a spot that had him hesitating.
He shook his head to clear his vision. I have to be seeing things. It was like the muddled vision he recalled from before. A woman with swords
battling. Only this time, he knew the woman and she wasn’t hazy. Dracen whirled and feinted like a ballet dancer as she fought a group of creatures he would have expected to find in a Dungeons & Dragons manual.
From around her shoulders a large dragon, created of mist, had its wings spread as it fought along with her. He swore the longer he looked, the more solidified it became.
“I need a fucking weapon with some kick,” he muttered as he ran toward her. “This knife ain’t going to cut it.” No way would he let her face this alone.
As he narrowed the distance, one creature screamed and struck from the sky.
“Dracen!” he called out as he neared. “Above you!”
If she heard him, she made no indication. She continued stabbing, slicing and dicing among the ones she confronted. Dracen pivoted to her left, allowing him to see more of her. He threw the knife at the one closest to him, sending the perfectly balanced blade into the creature’s neck.
Without slowing, she finished turning in his direction, and with a fluid movement, decapitated the creature. He drew up a fraction, hesitation pouring through him. The mist swirled around her, dragon like, its wings mirroring her arm motions as she fought.
I must be losing it. Their eyes met, and as he opened his mouth to yell about the one closing in from above, she dropped to one knee at the last second, so its striking dive skimmed the top of her head, and thrust her blades up, severing it into three parts, using its own momentum against it.
He heard the hiss of acid as droplets hit the snow and small tendrils of smoke wisped up. He looked at her face and saw some of the same liquid on her skin, but she made no move to brush it away.
Chapter Three
What is he doing out here? How the fuck did he find me and what am I supposed to do with him now? All questions she wanted answered, but as her sign flexed, the warning told her there wasn’t time for that currently.
“Can you use a sword? Mace?”
“Mace?”
She launched one of her katanas at a demon coming closer and called up a mace for him. Tossing the club in his direction, she immediately replaced it with another weapon. Her trepidation melted away as he hefted the metal object with a slight grin. Then the fight had resumed.
Dracen did what she’d been trained to do. Kill these things. Still, she kept an eye on the man battling beside her. In some ways he reminded her of Tiarnán—though those similarities ended with the fighting ability. However, Luc learned quickly, and after a few well-placed curses, figured out how best to avoid the acid they bled.
Moving, she exchanged weapons and soon had her dagger with chain in hand. Also created by Inaki, the chain was over six feet long and hooked to the dagger’s pommel. The blade itself was eight inches long and honed to a razor-sharp edge.
She whipped it around and sent the deadly weapon out, taking down the demons and keeping them at bay. The fury that seemed to thrive in her blood hummed with happiness as she continued battling. This settled the need a bit…not completely, but it helped.
Being around Luc also helps. Not something she needed to focus on at the current moment. As she yanked the final demon from the air with the chain and sent the blade into its neck, she allowed herself a small, feral grin.
She walked to the downed creature and stared at it. Ignoring the hiss, she called forth a kama with which she severed its ugly head. Then the weapon vanished and she coiled up the chain in her hands, not minding the blood because she was protected by her gloves.
With a breath, not too deep, because demons—especially dead ones—reeked of rotten eggs, she turned her attention to the man standing there with her, holding a bloody mace in one hand.
“I think I deserve an explanation now,” he said, walking to her side and brushing some tendrils of hair away from her face.
The bark of laughter surprised her. “That’s it, you think you deserve an explanation?” Why do I want to lean into his touch?
“Yes. I knew I hadn’t been hallucinating before. It was you who battled that night you found me. All I could recall was seeing someone, but now, after this, I know it was you.” He gestured about, the ball of the mace sweeping easily through the crust of the snow. “What do we do about all this?”
“Nothing. We leave it here.”
“What if someone finds the bodies?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking why you followed me and what you’re doing out here in the first place?”
He shook his head, snowflakes landing on his eyelashes and hair. “No. You should just accept it.”
Accept her fate. Accept it. Accept him.
“Fair enough. Let’s go back and I’ll answer your questions on the way.” She turned from him and recalled the mace.
“What the fuck? Where’d the weapon go?”
“Things come and go,” she remarked as she struck out back to the cabin. Her sign worked at pushing free the toxins that had gotten inside her system. “Did you get cut?”
“A few times. I’m feeling weird,” he said and she spun around in time to see him waver on his feet.
She moved to his side, slipping her arm around his waist. “Explain.”
“Lightheaded. Did they poison me?”
“More than likely. I need to get you back to the cabin.”
“Didn’t this start us being naked in bed together?”
More laughter fell from her lips and his answering grin made her heart flutter a bit as it dislodged some of the ice covering it.
“Maybe this time,” he said, holding steadfast to her gaze, “it won’t be all because of delusion.”
She smiled and put her lips upon his. “Maybe that’s all this is. Perhaps you’re really back at the cabin sleeping.”
“In that case…” He kissed her. Took her mouth with his and slipped his tongue between her lips.
The surge that rocked her nearly took her to her knees. Nothing had felt so right before in her life. His taste mingled with hers, conquering all but thoughts of him. He wrapped his arms around her and plundered her mouth. She allowed him to dictate the pace he wanted.
In and out he stroked with his tongue, touching all he could and yet he seemed to be searching for more spots. She fisted his coat in her glove, anchoring them together as the exchange continued. Her head grew light and swam with thoughts she’d never had before. Happily ever after. Future. Kids.
As if it were a movie playing in slow motion in her head, she saw it unfolding. Her and Luc standing on the porch of a house, children running by, chasing each other. Four of them—two boys and two girls.
The image was so striking and so real, she stumbled a bit. His arm was there to keep her upright. He moved his mouth off hers.
“I saw it, too. You, me and kids at a house.”
She lost herself in his gaze for a moment. They were no longer strictly green, and she picked up on gray flakes in his eyes.
“We need to get you back.”
His firm lips kicked up in a grin that would have easily had her handing over her panties to him if he’d only asked. “Yes, I need this delusion to continue.”
She shook her head and began walking to the cabin, hoping whatever toxin poured through him moved slowly enough for her to get him some herbs to combat it.
“Where do those things come from and what are they?”
“Demons, and from hell. Or one of the levels of hell. Don’t usually ask them for their address when I run into them.”
“Woman battles demons and has jokes,” he uttered.
She cut her gaze to him and noted the sweat beading on his brow. Using some of her strength, she carried more of his weight and picked up the pace. If he noticed, he didn’t speak on it.
The snow had begun to fall again in earnest when they made it back to the small cabin. She pushed open the door and released him. Shrugging from her jacket, she also removed her gloves and put them in the pocket. As he took off his outerwear, she added a few more logs to the fire.
“Come,” she commanded.
/> “Time and place, baby,” he retorted, before heading to the bedroom, where he sat with a heavy grunt.
She followed and crouched before him. “This is the part you wanted. Getting naked.”
Her sign pushed against her, reminding her that she, too, needed to get some rest and heal. She ignored it for the moment, focusing on taking care of this man. Dracen tipped her head and stared at his boots before undoing the laces on both then removing them.
When she looked back up, her breath caught. He’d removed his shirts and sat there bare-chested. Her fingertips burned to explore all the ridges and definitions he had.
“Keep looking at me like that and I’m going to forget this burning in my blood may be poison.”
She held his gaze. “Hold on to that thought,” she told him, pushing to her feet.
At her bag, she dug for the herbs she never traveled without. She grabbed the bag she needed and put a pinch of the herb in her mouth, moistening it up to make a paste. Turning back to Luc, she found him lying on the bed, wriggling out of his jeans.
Good God! She almost swallowed the mixture and had to look away to gather herself. Then she made her way to his side and took over. She brushed his hands away from his pants and tugged them down the rest of the way.
His cock sprang free, long and hard. She swayed toward it before catching herself. Dropping his pants on the floor, she stared at him, doing her damnedest to remind herself this had to be done and it wasn’t the time to look her fill.
“Remember what I said about holding on to that thought?” she asked around the wet glob in her mouth.
“Yes?” He made no move to cover himself up, just lay there.
“Good. Hold onto that, because this is going to hurt like a bitch.” She dug two fingers into the ball in her cheek and withdrew some of the poultice, then slapped it on the cut along his ribs.
“Holyfuckingshitgoddamnittohell! That hurts like a motherfucker.” He jackknifed up from the bed at the contact.
She kept one hand in place and swung her leg over his waist so she straddled him. His gaze snapped to hers and he settled back even as desire replaced the shock in his eyes.
