Deo hated the way her eyes glistened. Tears, she was crying. He hated it. Why would she cry? Nothing had happened. He hadn’t murdered the small male.
He squeezed his hands into fists at the memory. No, he hadn’t. But damn, he’d wanted to.
His dragon snarled within him. Yes. They wanted to kill him, but Deo was too smart to let the rage consume him.
Now, all Deo felt was a fierce need to protect her.
He lifted a hand to her face and rested his palm against her cheek. She nuzzled against his warmth, allowing him to brush the tears away with his thumb.
“Why do you cry?”
A small idea of a smile tried to push its way onto her lips, but it lost and she frowned.
“My father. He’s only been gone for six months and I’m still not over it.”
Deo nodded.
“I feel like if I had had more time I could have saved him. And now…” she trailed off.
Deo felt the pain of regrets, of failure. This was all too familiar.
“I have lost someone. We all have. And, being the healer for my brothers and those we serve with, I feel that every death has been my fault. At some point you need to forgive yourself before you break.”
Deo hadn’t talked about his past often. His brothers knew, because sometimes they were in his head even if he didn’t want them there. They were bound to each other in service, and sometimes you needed it. But, when you lost one, and it was your responsibility to stop the bleeding, the pain grew to be too much to forget.
He vowed he would never lose another of his brothers. Of course, that also meant he’d forgotten about himself. Until her.
Deo had fully expected coming to Earth would mean he would help each one of these idiots find their mates, and then fate had laughed in his face. How could he focus on them if his own dragon roared for its own mate? Her. This beautiful dark-haired beauty. His hands fucking ached with the need to grab her ass. He nearly moaned as he imagined kissing her full breasts.
Hell. At least she wasn’t crying over that stupid little male. Although, that may have been easier to make her forget.
His dragon roared and Deo fought to keep control. Shit, is this what Eadric and Kal had gone through? No wonder they dealt with the shit their mates gave them. There was no choice.
Breathe.
What was something he could do? Keep her talking? Talk about what? It was better to understand the enemy as well, so perhaps he could use this moment to solve a few issues.
“What of that male? Does he need your help too?” Deo asked.
She blinked. The tears drying. He watched her. Was she going to explode again? Or was that it? Did females just stop like that? He’d have to ask Kal about this later.
“What? Oh, you mean Tan?” she asked.
Deo nodded. His jaw ached as he clenched it. “Why did he call you his?”
Deo stepped closer. She hadn’t moved her face away from his touch, and his dragon was pushing the issue. Testing the boundaries.
He moved, but she did too. Aisha wouldn’t meet his eyes, not yet. Why? Was she embarrassed? She shouldn’t be. She stopped as her butt hit the counter behind them.
Good. He liked this.
“Look at me, Aisha,” he said.
Her breasts rose and fell, her breathing growing more rapid the closer he seemed to get.
“I-” she paused as her gaze met his.
Deo was now close enough he could see every lash on her eyelids. He breathed in her scent, and the storm within him calmed. This was not what he’d planned. Why was he here? He’d only wanted to be near her. Breathe her in. He hadn’t meant to corner her like prey, although truthfully, he enjoyed the hunt.
“Who is the male?” he asked, again.
“Tan is sort of my fiancé,” she whispered.
Deo racked his brain for the human term. Fiancé. This word meant little to him. Fiancé?
Dipping his head, he lowered his face to the crook of her neck. She smelled heavenly. Sure, there was a chemical smell of her lab mixed with her own scent of a flowery mix. A feast to his senses.
Her heart picked up speed as he listened to her breathing. The air scented with the sweet aroma of her female mating scent. A hum of desire reverberated within his chest and she moaned.
“What is this fiancé?” he asked, as he gave in to the desire to taste her. Deo flicked his tongue along the soft skin of her neck.
Her voice came out breathy.
“I’m supposed to marry him.”
Deo stopped and pulled away.
“Marry? As in you join your life with his?”
Her eyes opened. “What? Oh, yes. But-”
“No,” he said.
She looked at him.
“What do you mean no?”
He growled. “I mean no. No, you do not join anything with him. No.”
Her eyes grew wide. And perhaps this should have been a warning sign, but he didn’t give one fuck right now.
“You. Are. Mine,” he said.
Her lips made a flat line.
Yes, these were female warning signs. But she was his, damn it.
“Just who do you think you are? Just because you have muscles on top of muscles, does not mean you get to tell me anything. Mine? What does that even mean?” she asked.
Deo stood tall, but his brain went blank. She was questioning him? He was offering himself, and she was asking what he meant? He’d said mine. Wasn’t that the word to end all words?
“Deo. Look. You seem nice and all.”
He tensed as she ran her hands over his stomach. She must have noticed or realized what she was doing wasn’t matching her words because she stopped.
“I’m not really in the market to get married. I’m really trying to get rid of that one. Tan just isn’t right for me, but I’m not exactly looking for someone macho either. I mean, well.”
She broke off and the scent of her arousal grew stronger. Maybe she said no, but her body called to him, saying something else entirely.
He leaned in again. This time he wouldn’t stop. Marriage wasn’t soul binding, it wasn’t even physically binding from what he understood. People left all the time. He sniffed her again, and she squirmed.
She was still unspoken for. He could smell as much. There was no scent of a man or dragon on her. Unclaimed, and he didn’t care if this wasn’t an Earth custom, he wasn’t going to be denied his soulmate.
She was his.
He bent and reached down, gripping the backs of her thighs and lifting her. He pressed Aisha against the unmistakable intent in his pants. Fucking pants. He liked the freedom of their battle kilts, but Earth required pants, or at least in this part of the world. Fine. He’d wear the things. But right now, he wanted to rip off her own clothing and bury himself deep within her.
She gave a surprised, “Oh” and he claimed her lips, cutting off anything else.
Slowly he released her lips, but not until her breathing was ragged and her body pressed into his in need.
Maybe he could get this mating thing done and move on to helping the rest of his brothers. This wasn’t so bad.
“Wait. Stop,” she panted.
He met her gaze. “Wait?”
Catching her breath, she finally spoke. “Wait. I might not want to marry him, but I don’t want a one-night stand either.”
He nuzzled her. “I am not asking for a one-night stand. I am offering you an eternity as my mate.”
She nibbled her lower lip. Cute and super-hot was all he could think.
“So, you’re a shifter then?”
Cocking his head, Deo once again found himself trying to remember what shifter meant. His brother, Kal, had told him about this Earth species. He preferred to be called a dragon warrior like he was, but if this is what made things easier. Fine.
“Yes. A dragon shifter. Much bigger than any of the Earth shifters you have.”
Her head was nodding. “So shifters compete over size too, then? Wow. Men are all programmed the
same.”
Odd response, he thought.
“Compete over size? I wasn’t. A dragon is simply larger than anything you have here. I am not aware of any land beasts that are larger. It’s a fact that a dragon is much larger than most species on Earth. I can introduce you to him, but not in your lab.”
She snorted a laugh.
“Are we still talking about this dragon?”
Scratching his head, Deo felt exactly the way his brothers had. Confused as all hell.
“Right. Yes. My dragon. He would like to meet his mate.”
The laughter came out stronger until he had to back away. She was nearly doubling over, almost falling off the counter.
“Why is this funny?” he asked.
She sucked in some air and sat up. Her face flushed and her eyes sparkling. He liked that part. Deo liked how beautiful she was when she laughed, much better than the tears.
“I basically asked if you were talking about your dragon or your penis, and yeah. The look on your face, priceless. But, right. Dragons aren’t real. So, what are you?”
He closed the gap.
“I am very real.”
Deo let his dragon show through enough to get his point across, his eyes shifting between human and reptile.
She gasped. “So strange.”
He smirked. “Is this a good strange?”
Lifting a hand to his face, she hesitated and then traced the soft skin along his temple down his cheek.
“I don’t know,” she said, studying him intently.
Deo nearly hummed in pleasure as she touched him.
A buzzing sound broke her concentration, and she peeked around. This was not going the way he’d hoped.
“Oh no. I promised Tan I’d meet him for dinner.”
He quickly stepped forward, locking her between him and the counter again as he gripped her hips, keeping her in place.
“No.” He shrank away as she glared.
“There’s that word again. No. No. You don’t own me, you do not tell me no,” she practically scolded.
Deo growled. Something in him strangely turned on and attracted to the strength in this woman.
“But you are mine. Mating is merely a formality. You are mine. Fate has dictated it. You don’t have dinner with another male.”
She shifted, accidentally pushing up against his dick.
“Oh. I, uh,” she said, fumbling over her words.
He smirked. “You what? Changed your mind?”
His nostrils flared; the scent of her need filled the air again. Yes. She wanted him. He just needed to try harder.
Leaning in, he kissed her. She squeaked, but didn’t pull away.
An angry buzzing sounded again, and this time she pulled away and pushed him.
“Oh, for shit’s sake.”
He reached behind him, feeling along the island and knocking the damn comm to the floor. It stopped. Problem solved.
“Deo! That was my phone. You don’t throw it. You push the little red dot. Damn it.” Aisha wiggled free, accidentally brushing against him a few more times. He could do this the hard way as long as that happened more.
Aisha scowled as she wiggled free of him and reached down to pick up her communication device.
“You are so lucky I have a freaking industrial case on here. Gah. You shifters are all brawn and no brain.”
She stopped and looked up at him.
“Sorry. That wasn’t fair, was it? You were the one in here talking about my research several days ago. I’m still sorry I didn’t come up with an antidote.”
They stood in silence, mostly because Deo wasn’t entirely sure if he was supposed to speak or not. He could watch her. There was nothing like watching one’s mate move.
“Is the girl okay?” she asked.
Girl? What girl? All he wanted was to sink his teeth into her and brand her as his.
“Deo? The girl? The one who was poisoned?” she asked again.
Oh. Right. Okay. He was supposed to speak then.
“Yes. Things did not go as expected, but in the end she is well.”
His dick twitched as he watched her tongue dart out between her lips, licking her plump lower lip. He wanted more of her.
She looked down at her phone and punched something on the screen. “All right. Well, I need to get going.”
He stepped forward.
“I will come as well,” he said.
Abruptly she looked up.
“Wait. What?”
Deo stopped directly in front of her.
“I will come with you. Dinner sounds good. Do you plan to eat in a local establishment or are we to go to his dwelling?”
He bent down, wrapping an arm around her waist, his hand wandering down to her round bottom.
“I would enjoy seeing where you sleep, perhaps we go to your home?”
She shivered under his grasp and let out a shuttered breath. “It’s at a restaurant. Nothing fancy.”
He stood up straight.
“I will enjoy this. I have yet to eat with humans. Shall we?”
He smiled down at her as she opened her mouth just to close it again without saying anything else.
3
Aisha flicked her gaze from one man to the other. Well, this was going well.
“So,” she said.
Neither said anything.
“I thought that maybe I’d get dessert.”
She waited for Tan to criticize her. What he lacked in passion, he tried to make up for in annoying knowledge. The latest of his obsessions was fad diets. If he tried to take her dessert one more time though, Deo would need to help bury the body.
Instead of Tan, though, she got Deo’s two cents.
“I like this idea of dessert,” he said.
Finally, Deo turned to her. And it was about damn time. Wasn’t he here for her, supposedly?
“You would be delicious all over my mouth,” he continued.
She choked on her water.
Once she caught her breath though, she wanted to scold him. Instead, the intensity of his gaze made her stop. She shivered as he licked his lips and her panties were suddenly wet.
A chair clattered, and she glanced over to Tan.
“Who do you think you are? She is my fiancé. You do not talk to her like that.”
Aisha almost told him to shut up. Instead, she looked him dead in the eyes.
“Look, Tan. You’re a nice guy. I value your friendship, but maybe we aren’t really a good match? I meant to talk to you about that tonight. I mean, before he decided to-”
Decided to what? She didn’t want to say crash the date, because secretly she actually didn’t mind. Sort of. Aisha had been losing sleep over this conversation with Tan. Was it really the right thing to do? Would her father approve? Was she just being ridiculous?
Tan’s mouth opened, but Deo’s voice is what she heard.
“Perhaps we should find him a mate as well?”
Both Aisha and Tan turned to look at him.
“What?” she asked, trying to hide the surprise in her voice.
Deo shrugged. “You seem to worry that this male is alone. Perhaps we find him a mate as well.”
Tan still hadn’t spoken yet, and Aisha honestly wasn’t sure how to react.
Was he for real? It wasn’t a horrible plan, really. Or was it? Was she committed to letting her dad’s last wish die with him? Just because she wanted to end things, didn’t mean she actually ever really would. That was the bigger issue. If she didn’t ever actually follow through on ending the agreement, she’d just let Tan talk her back into whatever because she was so emotionally tired.
Glancing at Deo, she figured maybe if he tried and succeeded then it wouldn’t be on her.
“You mean a girlfriend? Humans don’t mate, Deo,” she said.
The longer she thought about it, the more she liked this plan. Why hadn’t she thought about that, hire someone to find Tan his soulmate or well, anyone really? It would get rid of the guilt of
not wanting him. Also, maybe he’d find someone who would make him happy.
A heaviness sat in her chest. The agreement had been that she wouldn’t be alone. But Deo had said he was offering himself. That counted, right? And it wasn’t like Deo seemed to mind she was emotionally unavailable.
Emotionally unavailable yes, but dang it if her body wasn’t vibrating with energy every time Deo was around. That screamed she most definitely wouldn’t be alone if he had any say in it.
“I already had her father find me someone, she’s right there. Why would you do any better?” Tan said, pointing at Aisha.
Aisha squirmed under Deo’s attention.
“I do not claim to be better at anything, but she is wrong for you. I believe that if one is open, listens to his soul, his mate will find him. Just as Aisha has,” Deo said, never turning his attention away from her.
There were literally so many things wrong with this moment she didn’t know where to start. Looking between the two, she started with Deo.
Her mind was at odds with her heart, and the fact was her libido didn’t care about either of them.
Tan stomped his foot like a toddler. That didn’t help his case. His brotherly appeal went up while husbandly appeal pretty much just fell off a cliff headfirst and started on fire.
“Tan, I. Uh. Why don’t I walk you home and then I’ll talk with Deo later? Okay?”
Deo scowled, but she ignored it. Or she tried to. Was he growling?
“I will walk this male home, you will not be alone with him,” scolded Deo.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she tried to envision this going worse. Did she tell him how weird that sounded? Did she argue about him taking away her freedom to walk with someone she’d walked with before?
He reached across the table, his hand resting on her free one.
Maybe she should start by telling him to remove his hand before she came in public? No, probably not that one.
“Deo…” she hung her head. “Never mind. Let’s go.”
Aisha got up and walked to the doors and if the men followed, then whatever. She didn’t care. Aisha didn’t need the guilt of Tan, and she didn’t need the distraction of Deo.
The heat of the late day sun hit her face as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. Aisha could practically feel Deo’s gaze burning a hole in her back. She turned around to wait for them and stepped into the wall of Deo. Breathing in, she instantly wanted to bury her face in his shirt more. Deo had followed because of course he had, and he hadn’t left much space between them either.
Dragon Wanted: A Dragon Shifter Fated Mates Novel (Space Dragons Seek Mates Book 3) Page 2
