Asher

by Mel Teshco

  He put a hand on her thigh, enjoying the coolness of her flesh and wondering if she felt his internal heat. Even in his primary form his body temperature was warmer than any humans.

  “Don’t hold back on me now!” she warned into the silence, her muscles tensing beneath his touch.

  He resisted a groan. She wasn’t the only one affected. His blood was pooling in parts of his anatomy that hadn’t been put to use in five long months. Even his heart rate beat out of rhythm, indicating high emotion. He nodded and translated, “Meeting you was a gift from the gods.”

  Chapter Five

  Marissa did her best to concentrate on driving, but Asher was a distraction she couldn’t resist. Even in the ill-fitting clothes she’d given him he was sexy as hell, and far bigger than any human she’d ever met. With his huge size and hard, fit body he could easily be a pro wrestling star, earning the big bucks in the ring.

  “So where are we headed?” Asher asked in a deep voice she found almost as sexy as the rest of him.

  But she still had to swallow back a burst of anxiety as she concentrated on the highway ahead and said, “To Sydney ... to my father’s.”

  She felt his stare like a slow burn into her brain. Bloody hell, he couldn’t read minds or any shit like that could he?

  She cleared her throat. “But just to pick up supplies and change vehicles.”

  “It sounds as though seeing your father isn’t something you’re looking forward to.”

  She exhaled slowly, her fingers loosening ever so slightly on the steering wheel. Evidently he couldn’t read her thoughts or he’d know exactly how raw her feelings were on the subject. “Yeah, well, my father and I didn’t part on the best of terms.”

  He reached forward, touching her ring that gleamed golden on her work-roughened hand. “Was it your choice of husband?”

  She flicked him a cool glance, though her pulse thudded erratically. “You don’t miss much, do you?” She sighed and lifted her hand to glance at the plain jewelry. ”Except it’s not my wedding ring. Luke I never got married. We were engaged before he died.”

  “I’m sorry that you lost someone you loved.”

  She didn’t need to see Asher’s face to sense his own pain.

  “You lost someone too?” she asked.

  He nodded, his shoulders bowing. “Almost all of my people are now dead.”

  Her chest tightened, as though some of his pain had just become her own. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make this all about me.”

  She’d lost someone who’d been special to her while Asher had lost nearly everyone he knew.

  “Don’t be sorry.” He looked her way. “It wasn’t only Luke you lost, was it?”

  “No. How did you know?”

  “I’m trained to notice details.”

  She cleared her throat. “So what are you, a spy or something on your planet?”

  It was that same hyper-awareness that had her perceive his flash of pain. But the momentary lapse of emotion was quickly masked.

  “No, not a spy,” he murmured. “Although I was trained in all things, including self-protection.”

  Was that even an answer? She searched his impassive profile before speaking. “My mother took her own life, six years ago. I was sixteen. And almost one year ago now I lost Luke.”

  She didn’t even realize she’d shed a tear until Asher brushed the wetness away with his thumb. She resisted leaning into his touch, resisting totally melting for the alien.

  Did he have to be so damn understanding? From the very first she’d known he was a tough and uncompromising warrior, and yet he’d shown only kindness. She forced back a sniffle and took some calming breaths. “Luke’s death was a work accident. I’ve crept past the guilt now and live a little easier knowing there was nothing I could do to save him.”

  “But you still feel guilt over your mother?” he asked quietly.

  “Yes,” she admitted, feeling good somehow to get the truth out in the open. “I often wondered if I’d been there more for her, talked to her about her ... problems. Maybe she’d still be alive.”

  “You can’t blame yourself for loved ones not being around anymore. It’s not what they’d want, and it’s not a good emotion to carry around.”

  There was something in his voice that made her look at him again. She inhaled sharply. Going by his stark, pale face, he was a man loaded with guilt and responsibility. She turned back to the road. Her warrior was an honorable man. Did he blame himself for the catastrophic loss of his people?

  “What happened to your people?” she asked.

  “A war is what happened.”

  Something inside withered a little. She’d never experienced war and hoped she never would. She could only imagine the atrocities, the deaths. Not to mention the guilt he clearly carried that came with living while so many others died. “You can no more blame yourself for a war than you can for the sun rising at dawn.”

  “But I can,” he muttered, “at least in the former.”

  She frowned, trying to piece all the fragments together. “Were you a general, someone important in your army?”

  He exhaled slowly. “I was ruler of my people. It was my choice to stand and fight for our world, even knowing the Tantonics mass numbers and power.”

  He was a ruler of his world? Her chest tightened. Of course he was. His regal bearing and his selfless need to protect her was proof enough. Not to mention his integrity that radiated from him like a beacon.

  She slowed behind a SUV towing a caravan, before she asked, “So these ... Tantonics. Are they the same aliens who were in the craft chased by fighter jets?”

  “Yes.”

  Her mind racing, she added, “But your people are fire-breathing dragons, they must have had a chance at defeating your enemy.”

  “Our dragon form doesn’t come to us until many years of age. Even then most of my people won’t willingly go through the agony of change until the rising of the twin moons compels them.”

  “How old were you when you first shifted into your dragon form?”

  “I was almost a century when my body decided it was time, which is early compared to most of my race.”

  A century?

  She nearly missed the road sign ahead that revealed the Sydney turnoff. She flicked on the indicator and exited the road onto a much busier highway while her thoughts chased one another like a kitten would its tail.

  She pushed away thousand-and-one questions to ask, “So how old are you now?”

  “I’m a decade off two centuries.” At her unwitting gasp, he added, “Unless grievously injured, our species are immortal, so a century before shifting into dragon isn’t all that long a wait. It takes at least a hundred years to condition the body to pain in order to endure a shift, especially for the first time.”

  She shook her head. She’d just barely acknowledged he was an alien dragon shape shifter. Learning all this new information about him and his kind defied all laws of reason. “Did you deliberately inflict self-pain to prepare your body to shift?”

  He nodded. “Yes. My kind held monthly pain rituals just before our two moons rose. The older shifters who’d already endured the process, devised different practices in which to increase our pain threshold.”

  “That sounds...”

  “Barbaric? Torturous?”

  “Yes.”

  “Believe me, there is no alternative. The pain of shape shifting is beyond anything even an enemy could devise. And being dragon, even in our primary form, burning isn’t an option.”

  “Your flesh doesn’t burn?” she asked weakly, doing her best to take it all in and ignore all logic.

  He pressed a warm hand against her cool cheek. “Fully fire resistant.”

  Not that she was taking too much notice of his heat. It took everything she had and then some not to react to the flood of hormones bursting into life at his touch before flooding into far more intimate parts of her body. It made her achingly aware of how long it’d been since she’d a
llowed a man near her.

  “And for any of my people to first transition into dragon, they must find a compatible mate to induce the spark that ignites our inner dragon into existence.”

  She bit into her bottom lip, her belly tightening even before she asked, “So you found that mate?”

  “Yeah, for a short while I guess I did.”

  She wouldn’t dwell on the shaft of relief at hearing his mate had been short term. “Just how long is a short time in your world?”

  He sent her a wry smile. “I was with Rhyhana for three years.”

  She indicated once again, seemingly driving on automaton for the four hours it took to get to her father’s place in the city. “That’s quite some time. Was it the war that tore you apart?”

  “No. It was another man called Baron.” His voice roughened. “But it was eventually the war that tore him and Rhyhana apart. The Tantonics captured her. A fate worse than death.”

  “So Baron is still alive?” She caught his nod in her peripheral vision.

  “Yeah. He escaped our world together with me and three others, including my sister.”

  “Where are they now?”

  “Far away from here and the Tantonics with any luck.” He sighed. “No more questions. The less you know about everything to do with me the better.”

  She smiled grimly. “I don’t plan on being captured, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “Unfortunately very few plans work out how they’re expected.”

  “Like your war?”

  His mood visibly dimmed. “Yeah, like my war.”

  She bit into her bottom lip. “I didn’t mean to suggest it was your fault.”

  He shrugged. “It is what it is. I can’t change the past.”

  She glanced at him. “You know, you’re really starting to sound like a human.”

  “That is good. We learned a lot of human ways on our journey here.”

  A service station appeared ahead and she pulled into its turnoff and parked beside a bowser. She killed the engine and once again turned to Asher. “Then I guess you know our cars here need refueling. I guess you also know women need to use restrooms occasionally.”

  “As do the men and women on my world.”

  “So we’re not so different.”

  “If one took away our shape shifting ability and our tendency to run hot, we’d be pretty much the same.”

  “Just ... bigger versions.”

  His lips curled. “Yeah, bigger.” He leaned forward and cupped her chin, his thumb softly stroking. “Believe me, that’s not a bad thing.”

  Chapter Six

  Marissa stepped into the restroom with her emotions reeling. Even the smell of piss and mold barely infiltrated her senses as she splashed cold water on her face and wrists before peering into the spotty mirror.

  She looked the same, and yet she looked different. Her pale face was flushed, her eyes a more vivid green. Hell, even her already bright hair looked redder. But it was her animated expression that caused her to stare even harder.

  She looked more alive than she had in a very long time.

  She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, realizing it’d also been too long since her last haircut. Not to mention a manicure, pedicure or a massage. She released a breath. Though she’d once treated herself to weekly spa treatments, now she could barely imagine such self-indulgent bliss.

  How things could change in a just a few short years.

  Pushing back through the restroom door, she stepped outside, instantly aware of Asher’s stare. He was leaning against a lamp post, his arms crossed and his pose casual. But she knew right away he was on high alert.

  She walked toward him and arched a brow. “You know, you don’t need to watch my every move. I’m not the one with an enemy on my tail.”

  His face stayed impassive. “You’re with me, that makes you vulnerable.”

  She sighed. “So I guess you feel responsible for me now? Actually, don’t answer that.” She stalked past Asher and headed back to where her jeep was still parked. Unlike the frenetic pace of the city, out in the country there was no long waiting line of cars with impatient drivers. A pity Asher’s enemies meant there was no time to be leisurely.

  She grabbed her purse from the backpack’s pocket as a convertible pulled into a bowser behind her jeep. The driver’s leering stare prickled at her awareness and she shook away the crawling sensation going up and down her spine as she added, “Just give me a minute to pay for the fuel so we can be on our way again.”

  “Hey baby, I’d be happy to pay for your fuel. I’d pay for a whole lot more ... if you know what I mean.”

  It was shock that caused her to freeze at the bold proposition. Bloody hell. Did her jeep and clothes make her look that down on her luck ... that desperate?

  “I have a real weakness for redheads,” the older man added.

  Marissa’s face burned. She slowly turned. “I’m not for sale you ass—“

  Her words cut off as she viewed the older man. “Jacob?”

  His ruddy complexion paled beneath his Akubra hat as recognition dawned. “Marissa.” He shook his head. “Jesus. I had no idea it was you ... you look so ... different.”

  She squeezed her eyes closed. To think her father had wanted to marry her off to this man so she’d be looked after. Then again she remembered Jacob as an idealistic man who’d put her on a pedestal and imagined she’d never do any wrong.

  It seemed things really did change, and not always for the better. She’d dodged a bullet. It was only lucky she hadn’t run into him earlier considering he’d retired from city life and bought a cattle station.

  When her eyes flicked back open they burned with disdain. His polished boots didn’t have a speck of dust on them and his station clothes looked straight off the rack. He was a cattleman who undoubtedly ruled his roost from behind a desk. “Guess you’re used to seeing me in haut couture. She swept her arms out. “Welcome to the real me!”

  Asher moved behind her, his hands a warm and possessive clasp on her shoulders. His head bent and his mouth brushed her ear as he murmured, “Let me take care of this.”

  Jacob’s face paled a little more at seeing she was with another man. But not just any man. Asher was big, lean and well-muscled. He looked every inch a warrior king.

  Her tension eased. She expelled a harsh breath and said in an undertone, “He was once a ... friend. Don’t hurt him.”

  Asher kissed the top of her head. “There are ways to hurt that don’t involve physical pain.”

  She frowned when he simply glanced at the older man once more before Asher then walked with her through the service station’s sliding door. He put a hand on her arm. “Is there anything else you need?”

  She frowned. Was this how he punished Jacob? Her bank account was already stretched to the limits without buying extras. “No, we only need fuel,” she said sharply.

  He drew her toward the booth seat of the service station’s fast food restaurant. “Wait here and relax for a bit.” At her deepening frown, he added with a smile, “Please.”

  She sat. “Fine.” Except she was anything but fine. Asher had too many enemies to evade and she didn’t want to be a sitting duck if the Tantonics or whatever the hell he’d called the aliens, came looking for him again.

  Her discomfit only grew as she watched Asher open a display fridge and grab some cans of coke and premade sandwiches. When he added a big bag of salt and vinegar crisps, she felt almost faint. Did he have any idea how much they charged for a few snacks in a place like this?

  He stalked to the counter and looked expectantly at the bored, overweight, console operator, who drawled, “Will that be all now?”

  Asher nodded. “Yes.” He nodded at Jacob who entered the service station and handed the operator his credit card. “This fine fellow is paying.” He grabbed his bag of snacks and then ended the conversation with, “Have a nice day.”

  Her eyes rounded when Asher strode away without payin
g one cent. He stopped at her table and she pushed numbly to her feet. Walking back with him to her jeep, she hissed, “How did you do that?”

  He shrugged. “I have the ability to plant a suggestion. It was simple enough to have your friend want to pay.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes.” He shrugged. “But it’s not foolproof. A suggestion only works with weak-minded people.”

  She put a hand to her mouth, not knowing what to think, what to feel, yet conversely relieved to hear Jacob was mentally deficient. A marriage to him would have been a disaster. “Please tell me you never planted anything in my mind.”

  He shook his head. “Even had I wanted to I couldn’t. Your will is far too strong.”

  She couldn’t deny that. Her father had often grumbled about her dogged determination. Even Luke had teased her for being headstrong. She frowned. Had Luke found those qualities admirable in his wife-to-be? Asher might commend those same attributes, but in her heart she knew her fiancée hadn’t been quite so charmed.

  She ignored a sick feeling in her belly as she climbed into the jeep and turned to Asher. He clipped on his seatbelt. When he reached over and clipped hers on too, she ignored the current of awareness at his closeness, his care, and instead gritted out, “So how exactly does this suggestion thing work?”

  He leaned back in his seat, but he kept his head tilted her way, his eyes not leaving hers. “It’s something that comes to us after our first dragon shift, a kind of extrasensory awareness that enables us to reach into someone’s mind and leave behind a thought or an idea.”

  “So I’m guessing you’ve never had someone plant a suggestion in your mind?”

  “No, in fact very few of my people are mentally weak, so it’s a wasted gift on our own species.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, well, if they’re all like you I can believe it.”

  His eyes burned, glowed, and she bit into her bottom lip, distantly aware she’d said too much, yet glad she had. Every cell felt magnetically pulled toward him, like he filled her entire visual and was all that mattered in the world.