What Moira wanted to know was who the woman was. She wanted to know why Devin tore the car apart to get the woman out. The man across from her said this happened eight years ago. From the snow on the ground, Moira figured it had to have happened around the same time as her one-night stand with Devin.
Her heart thumped harder. And harder. She tried to catch her breath as her heart raced. She didn’t understand what this meant, or how these seemingly random events tied together. Here was the story she’d been searching for. She should have paid this man for his photos, but she pushed them toward him, so they were out of sight.
“I took the photos, that’s what I did. I didn’t think my rifle would do a damn thing to a monster like that, so I dug my phone out and got myself evidence.” He gathered his photos and tapped them against the table. “Even if you don’t think this is something to write about in your paper, you should definitely think twice about being alone with that man. He’s not safe to be around. I’ve seen him snatch up women with my own two eyes.”
Moira swallowed. When she sipped her coffee, it was tasteless. She wrinkled her nose, let out a sigh, and stood. She didn’t want to linger in the bookstore any longer, not while this man was here.
She stumbled out into the parking lot, forgot about the shopping she’d planned, and threw herself into her car. The pictures had been burned into her mind. Alone, she pulled out her phone and watched the video again. Devin the dragon looked directly into the camera. Her heart stuttered.
She could feel his hand around her throat again, but tighter. If he knew she’d recorded him, then he would want to invite her somewhere alone so he could deal with her. A part of her soul screamed that wasn’t true. It was the same part that relaxed in Devin’s hands.
Rationally, she knew she was wading into danger. She chewed her thumbnail before catching herself and forcing her hand back down to her lap. To distract herself, she opened her emails, but the co-worker hadn’t gotten back to her yet. She hadn’t shared the video with anyone.
She didn’t know what to do anymore. Ripped in half, Moira wanted to get to the bottom of this story and to protect Devin. Her conflicting feelings didn’t help her get anywhere. She tossed her phone into her bag and turned the key in the ignition.
***
Devin shouldn’t have invited her into his life. He knew better, but his greedy beast pushed him further and further every time. Meeting her at the bookshop hadn’t been in his plans, but he’d enjoyed it all the same.
Until the beast noticed her. When she explained that they’d slept together, years before, it explained how her scent haunted his memories at night. The young brunette he’d once kissed had turned into a woman with a sharp intellect. He loved how she managed to bite back with her wits, how she fearlessly stood in front of him.
That was only because she didn’t know what he was. She couldn’t tell that his beast wanted to close its claws around her and drag her deeper into his life. If he let it, the beast would keep her forever. All it wanted was Moira.
Usually, his beast reached for everything. It wanted more territory, more respect, more money. Since Moira strolled into his life, all the beast wanted was more of her. Devin feared fate had bound him to the human woman in a way that he could not protect her from. He didn’t want a mate, because no one should have to deal with him for the rest of their life.
He told himself that he and Moira had connected years ago, and no such bond had kept them together. The chances that Moira was his mate were slim. Perhaps he could try dating her for a while, and he would eventually scare her away. His beast would mourn her absence, and they would move on.
As long as she wasn’t his mate.
Devin flipped through the local food delivery options, scowling. This far north in New York, there wasn’t much to choose from. Nothing seemed good enough for Moira. He didn’t know what she would want or how he should treat her.
Devin had never dated. He didn’t know what expectations were involved. If he’d called Atticus or Frankie, they might have been able to help, but he didn’t want them to know. Not because he wanted to keep Moira a secret, but he didn’t want them to watch him fail. He figured he would scare her away by the end of the evening.
The beast growled in his mind. It didn’t quite agree. The beast had faith in Moira, even if Devin didn’t understand why. Devin might have slept with her once, almost a decade ago, but that didn’t mean she would be able to accept all of him. He couldn’t let her see everything that he was.
Especially not the beast.
The dragon reminded him of the party the day before and how the woods held a trail of her scent that stretched from the grove to the road. Devin had ignored this fact, shoving it to the back of his mind any time it rose to the surface. Alone, he had to contemplate the possibility that she’d seen him.
He really doubted she’d seen anything. They’d spent too much time together after he’d shifted back to human form. Moira had stayed by his side almost all throughout the party. She could have run from him at the bookstore, but she didn’t.
There was no way she’d seen his dragon. If she had, there would have been a price to pay. Moira would have left his life completely. Instead, she’d agreed to a date.
Chapter Eight
Moira wanted to close her laptop and throw it across the room. This was supposed to be her day off, but she’d been trying to write an article for the past two hours. At first, she tried gathering her thoughts about Devin’s secret beast. Everything she’d written seemed foolish, as if whoever read it would scoff and tell her to write paranormal fiction instead of journalism.
She was a professional, not some fluff writer. So, she closed the document and buried it within a series of unmarked folders to keep anyone from easily finding it. No one would believe that she’d seen a dragon unless she could have the footage verified. Biting her lip, Moira debated sending it to the video editor at the newspaper. Maybe then the editor would get back to her. She reached for her phone, but hesitated.
Her date with Devin would start in three hours. If she sent the video to the editor, she wouldn’t be able to look Devin in the eye, and she couldn’t deny the fact that she wanted to see him again. Moira ached to feel Devin’s hands on her once more. She wanted to know if he’d learned more about pleasing women since the last time they slept together.
Crystal’s precocious voice entered her mind. The little girl wanted to see her uncle happy. Moira didn’t want to disappoint the little girl who loved her uncle, who saw something in the man that no one else wanted to see. Moira thought she could see a bit of that man, too, the goodness in him that he hid behind self-depreciation.
If Moira ran the story about the dragon inside Devin, she could ruin his life. That kind of bad press could leak into the lives of those around him, into Crystal’s life. Moira didn’t want to be that person. She told herself that she only wanted to protect a child. It had nothing to do with her feelings for Devin.
Not in the least.
Finally, Moira slammed her laptop closed. She cringed at the awful sound it made and cracked it open to make sure she hadn’t broken anything. When she saw that everything was as it should be, she threw back the last of her coffee and forced herself off the couch. The cold coffee didn’t taste quite as good as it had hot, but the caffeine in it was still good.
It should have given her a bit of a boost, but her indecision still weighed her down. Moira wanted a career. That was all she’d ever worked toward. Now that Devin stood between her and advancing that career, she found herself floundering.
Devin was unlike anyone she’d ever met before. He was even unlike the version of himself she’d met eight years ago. That man had been a bundle of tension, aggression that he’d poured into his lovemaking. The Devin she’d met this time was not the monster everyone kept saying he was. This Devin was patient and tender. He wanted to protect her.
She couldn’t remember the last person who stood up for her or tried to protect her. But this Dev
in was also the same person who ripped a woman from a car. Moira wanted to know what that was all about, but how did she go about asking that?
Devin probably wouldn’t appreciate it if she showed up to the date and immediately asked why he crushed a car and flew off with a woman. Then Moira would have to explain how she knew Devin was also a dragon. The date wouldn’t end well if she was straight forward.
There was no denying that she wanted this date to go well, either. Moira wanted it with a need she hadn’t felt since she was an eager teen, venturing into her wild hormones for the first time. This was more than that, too. It was more than lust. Her heart thumped wildly at the thought of Devin.
She sighed, tempted to throw herself onto the bed and cancel the whole thing altogether. Before she could do that, her phone vibrated in her hand. She glanced down, not sure what she was expecting. An email notification flashed at the top of the screen and her stomach plummeted.
Indecision held her in place. She didn’t open the email even though a part of her, the greedy part willing to sacrifice anyone to get ahead, hissed that this was her chance. A story like this could go viral across the internet. She could shake the world with news like this.
But she would also destroy lives. This should have been a simple task. Her assignment had been to write a simple dating profile, but Moira had gone and mucked it up to the point where even she didn’t know what to do.
To distract herself, she dove into her closet in search of the perfect outfit. Only moments later, she bemoaned the fact that she’d forgotten to shop for a new dress. She knew Devin liked the top that dipped low over her chest, but she didn’t want to be the kind of woman who wore the same thing over and over.
She wanted to blow his mind. She wanted him to drool over her.
Moira threw aside every dress until there were no other options. Annoyed with herself, she settled on a pair of leggings and an oversized sweater that would reveal her shoulders. Devin wouldn’t be bowled over by her look, but she was comfortable.
She wasn’t quite as comfortable when she stood on Devin’s doorstep and the cold wind blew through the holes in her knit sweater. The chill kissed her skin and filled her with shivers. She would have cursed herself, but when Devin opened the door and paused, pride warmed her.
The fire flickered in his eyes again. He licked his lips, slowly, like he anticipated making her the main course for the night. Moira hadn’t expected a simple sweater to make him react like this, but she felt his gaze on her as she walked past him.
“Leggings are a gift from the powers that be,” Devin told her once he caught up, “to every straight male and lesbian on the planet.”
Moira cocked her head, confused. Devin pulled her closer, his hands sliding down her hips and over her ass. Fire erupted inside her and filled her chest. His groan in her ear made the heat flare almost unbearably. He squeezed her ass once before letting go of her altogether.
She struggled to catch her breath as she fought back the inferno raging inside her. Devin winked and strolled forward as if what he’d done hadn’t riled him up, too. She could see, when he turned to the side, that he had enjoyed touching her as much as she enjoyed being touched.
“I still don’t get it,” she said. “Why are leggings a gift?”
Devin laughed, a husky sound that warmed her skin. “Not only do you look comfy as fuck, but I can see and feel every curve of that perfect ass. I will apologize now for every time I get distracted by your body tonight.”
“No apology necessary,” Moira said as her cheeks flushed.
She’d spent too much time worrying about wearing the perfect thing. Her desire to impress Devin had overpowered too much of her common sense. Devin wanted her; it didn’t matter what she was wrapped in.
“I didn’t know what you would like for dinner,” Devin began. Plastic bags from different restaurants filled the marble counter in the center of his kitchen. “So, I spent the afternoon driving around and picking up different options. Let’s see…I have smoked ribs from Ray’s barbeque. I grabbed Vietnamese eggrolls from the shop in the strip mall. If you’re interested in breakfast for dinner, I have cinnamon roll pancakes from the North Star diner.”
“You didn’t have to go through all this work,” Moira exclaimed.
For a moment, Devin seemed sheepish. The sight stole her breath and pulled her closer. When his heat licked her skin and he had to look down at her to meet her gaze, he gave her a small smile.
“I had to make up for the burnt pizza somehow.”
Moira imagined pushing all the food onto the floor so she could climb back onto the counter, right where Devin had put her last time she’d visited. The phone in her purse weighed on her mind. She hadn’t deleted the footage of Devin changing shapes. It felt wrong to bring it into his house, to think of making love on his counter while she had such damning evidence stored on her phone.
She stepped back and tried to think about the food. Guilt prickled her thoughts, staining them all until they became the same thing. She was a fake, a liar. Devin deserved better. He needed a woman who wouldn’t betray him just to get ahead. That’s what she’d planned.
Just because she hadn’t done it yet, didn’t mean she wouldn’t. Moira hadn’t made up her mind yet. If she had, then she would have either sent the video or deleted it. The fact that it still sat on her phone was damning.
Devin brushed his knuckles along her cheek. “Are you alright? You’re crying.”
Moira slapped her cheeks and her hands came away damp. She hadn’t even realized she’d started crying. “I’m overwhelmed by your hospitality,” she lied.
Devin didn’t make a sound. His knuckles trailed down her spine and eased the knots tightening around it. She leaned into him and tried to forget the shame souring her stomach.
“Let’s start with the Vietnamese. Have you tried their eggrolls yet?”
She shook her head. Devin flashed her a wink, grabbed the bag handles, and led her to a dining table. It wasn’t what she expected. In this huge house with its modern architecture, she expected a long, glass table fit for twenty. Instead, Devin set the bags onto a round table. He pulled out her chair for her, then grabbed another chair and dragged it closer to her.
“You don’t have company often?” she asked.
He grunted. She waited for him to explain, but he busied himself by opening the many take-out containers.
“Do people not come over because they’re afraid of you or because you keep them away?”
Devin paused. Steam curled in the air, rising from the lusciously scented food in the Vietnamese take-out container. He stared at it, but she couldn’t read his gaze. His thoughts were his own, though she wished she could crawl into them to understand him better.
He had this huge house and so many people in his life. The quarry employees were more than just co-workers. To Moira, they seemed like a big family. If he opened up and invited them in, then he might be a little happier. She alone couldn’t brighten the shadows in the empty halls. She couldn’t fill the house with noise, with warmth.
“You and Crystal are the only ones who can seem to stand me for more than a handful of minutes,” Devin said with a low tone.
Moira didn’t believe that for a moment. She’d seen hesitance at the party, from the employees, but not from his family. And she figured much of the hesitance was born from the fact that Devin was so closed off.
The hunter’s photos flashed through her mind and she snapped her mouth shut. Her throat tightened as feelings clashed in her heart. It insisted that Moira understood Devin, but the logical part of her mind refused to accept that as fact. Not when she had seen the photos of Devin kidnapping a woman.
Moira stared at Devin so intently she thought she might be able to see through his thick skin to the stories hidden just under the surface. She couldn’t peel away his protective layers, though. No amount of glaring could prompt him to spill his secrets to her.
Smoke turned the air acrid. Moira startled and ca
ught Devin flinging his hand. The smoke came from whatever had been balled in his fist. She heard the faint sound of something hitting the floor but didn’t bend to peer under the table in an effort to see what it was.
“Wow, those ribs are smoky,” Devin muttered, like he wanted to cover up what he’d done.
It occurred to Moira that Devin must have kept his home nearly frigid because of the dragon’s fire inside him. Which also explained the intense heat she felt when he touched her. He didn’t burn her, though. Not once had he touched her with ill intent. Devin felt like warm sunlight on her skin or like the heat of a hearth on a winter night.
“You don’t think very highly of yourself,” Moira noted. “If no one else is rooting for you, then you should be, at the very least.”
“That’s easier said than done.” Devin kept his head lowered so shadows covered his eyes as he loaded her plate with an assortment of food.
“Why is that? Haven’t you ever heard of fake it till you make it? Everyone has to lean on that at least once in their lives. I paste a fake smile on my face for every fluff interview even though I hate doing them.” Moira split her eggroll in half and held it up for Devin to eat from her fingers.
He held her gaze and leaned forward. Her stomach flipped in anticipation. His lips grazed her fingertips as he pulled the eggroll from her grasp.
When he leaned back, chewing, he took a moment to muse on her words. “So, you’re telling me you’ve faked our interactions for your interview?”
“What? No. what made you…” She realized she’d said it herself. The dating profile was a fluff piece if she ever saw one. “This was different. Meeting you…again, well, I enjoyed it.”
He raised his head and fixed her with his gaze, suddenly open and vulnerable. “You didn’t come here for more to write in your article?”
Moira grabbed his hand and tugged it to her lips. She watched him draw a breath when she kissed his knuckles. His skin was so warm. She tilted his hand and kissed the next knuckle. That was when she heard the growl in his throat. The sound evoked heat in her core, a molten temperature that pooled between her legs and made her squirm in her seat.
Dragon Desire (Tooth & Claw Book 1) Page 7
