by Meg Ripley
Ethan wanted to cry out to him, to tell him to be careful, since he had no way of knowing if Resa was still in the basement or if they had moved her. He’d left Wade in the lab with the laptop, but there was no time to try to contact him. Besides, Ethan had asked dragons to help him. Once they started fighting, there was no holding them back. He followed Garrett through the doorway, stepped over the crispy body of a hunter, and found the basement stairs.
The sound above him was deafening. Dragons roared and fire crackled. The unmistakable sound of a weapon firing thundered through the building. But the basement was shockingly quiet, and it disturbed him. If he had come down here and Resa was gone, then he was putting himself in a corner.
He reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around, seeing that while the basement was unfinished, it had been walled into separate sections. It looked as though, at one point, someone had planned to put bedrooms down there, but had never finished the job. It was dark and dingy, and Ethan’s chest grew hollow at the thought that she had already been removed. But he soon found her in the far back corner in a tiny room with only a bare bulb overhead. Someone had gagged her with an old rag and tied her hands behind her back on a moldy wooden chair. She was still shirtless, her breasts heaving as she watched her captor with tearful eyes. She gave a muffled scream when Ethan came into view.
“I had a feeling this was going to be so much more than a simple reporter looking for a story,” Kyle said as he sharpened a knife against a whetstone. He held the blade up in the dim light to examine it. “She’s a pretty thing, though, and it would be a shame to have to mess up her face.”
“Let her go,” Ethan growled. “She doesn’t have anything to do with this.” Resa looked so defenseless, her milky skin so easy to pierce. The knife in the hunter’s hand was made of dragonsteel, evident by the rippling waves of color in the metal. It would pierce his scales just as easily as it would Resa’s soft flesh.
“Doesn’t she? I admit that I never thought she was the minion of a dragon, much less a whole flight of them.” He looked up toward the ceiling and smiled. “At least it provides a little fun for my men. Maybe I should have a little fun, too.”
“I said, let her go!” Ethan growled and rushed forth, but Kyle had been smart. He’d put Resa and himself in a small corner, where stud walls enclosed them and left only a narrow doorway between them and the dragon. Ethan couldn’t just come in, and Kyle could easily slit her throat before Ethan had a chance to stop him. There was always fire, but it would burn her, too.
The blonde man looked down his nose with lidded eyes. “Why should I? Give it a few minutes and my men will have your force eradicated. We might not have the most sophisticated weapons compared to some of the other groups of hunters, but there are a lot of us and we’re all hungry for dragon blood. You know, I really ought to thank you. Working for you has given me quite the education.”
Ethan shook with rage inside. He had been betrayed by someone who he had considered to be one of his top employees. Kyle had never given any indication that he was more than a simple video game designer. If Ethan had been paying attention, he might have noticed, but he never bothered learning about the private lives of his staff.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on. You don’t think I would recognize the mascot of Cobalt Computers? I mean, I never had any real evidence of it before. I just had my suspicions. You’re not exactly a normal man, but here you are, in the flesh, scales and all. There’s not much point in denying it, Ethan.”
“What do you want?” Ethan hadn’t come into this prepared to negotiate. He was ready to tear the man limb from limb and watch his blood run down the floor drain, but it wouldn’t happen unless he lost Resa, too.
Kyle tapped his finger on his chin. “I think I want a pet. We need someone to test our new weapons and poisons on. In between tests, I can pick your brain and find out where the rest of the dragons are. You agree to stay here with me and do as I say, and I’ll let the girl go.”
Resa blinked back her tears and shook her head emphatically.
She didn’t want him to give himself up, but he didn’t see how he had a choice. Maybe the other dragons would be able to get to him later, if they survived this, but none of them would be able to get Resa out of this situation alive. Kyle knew his adversary well.
“Fine.” Ethan took a step back. He would be helping the very people he wanted to take down, but if it was going to save Resa’s life, then it was worth it. “How do I know I can trust you?”
Kyle grinned. “You can’t, not any more than I can trust you. But I’ll let her go, and you can watch her walk out of here. But if you make a move to get to her, I’ll have my men kill her before she ever makes it out of this house. You stay right where you are, and once she’s gone, I have a shiny new necklace for you.” The hunter held up a round ring of iron, the metal showing colorful ripples, even in the fluorescent light.
Ethan ran his thin tongue over his sharp teeth, wishing he could dig them into Kyle’s flesh. He didn’t doubt that the other hunters would kill Resa, but he knew the dragons would get her back to The Club. She would have to deal with Mr. Cross, but she would be alive and safe. That was all he could really ask for. He took another step back, making plenty of room for Resa to leave. He had to make sure he was as far away from her as possible, as it was going to be hard enough not to reach out and grab her. It was still a tempting thought, nevertheless, but he knew it would be almost impossible to get out of there with both of them whole.
“Let’s get it over with, then.”
The hunter smiled appreciatively. “You’re a smart man.” He turned to Resa, letting his knife flash as he held it up and grabbed for the ropes on her wrists. “I hate to let you go. I can just imagine all the fun I could have had with you. I’m sure Tommy will be sad as well.”
She moved so swiftly that Ethan almost missed it. The hunters had bound her hands, but they hadn’t bound her legs. One foot came up and plowed Kyle right between the legs. He bent forward in pain and raised his knife, but she shoved him away with her other foot. The force knocked her chair backwards, but it was enough to send Kyle reeling toward the doorway in the makeshift room.
The blade swiped through the air as the hunter fought to catch his balance, but Ethan shot forward. He reached through the opening, his shoulders crashing into the walls, and sunk his claws into Kyle’s back. With a roar of anger, he closed his fist, backed out, and flung the man across the main room of the basement. He hit the wall with a sickening thud and fell to the floor.
The noise overhead had increased. They still might not get out of there alive, and there was only one way out of the basement. Ethan grabbed Resa around the waist and shot up the stairs. The kitchen was ablaze, with several bodies of hunters dotting the floor. He dashed over them. The ceiling over the door to the garage had caved in, so he turned for the front room.
Chase met him in the doorway, his red scales reflecting the flames. “There you are! We were just about to come after you. This whole place is about to fall in. We’ve got to go.”
One of the dragons had knocked down the front door and then widened the doorway with his shoulders, so Ethan easily squeezed through with his burden. The other shifters were waiting for him in the yard, and they took off as soon as they saw him.
Ethan didn’t turn around to see the extent of their damage. The hunters’ lair could fall in or not; none of it mattered now that he had Resa back. But he had been horrible to her. He had made her his prisoner and sent her on a suicidal mission. He wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t forgive him, but at least for now, they couldn’t speak above the wind.
When they landed once again in the courtyard, Ethan felt a rush of adrenaline shoot through his bloodstream; he had thought his body would be incapable of producing any more after the fight. He knew that it wasn’t the thought of talking to Mr. Cross that struck his nerves, but of talking to Resa.
Lance shifted as soon as
they landed and darted inside the building. He came back out with Mia, who held a blanket in her arms and draped it over Resa’s shoulders. The reporter pulled it tightly around her body, her eyes wide but curious as she finally got a chance to get a good look at the dragons that surrounded her.
“That was fucking awesome!” Alexander roared as he morphed back into bipedal form. “Do you know how long it’s been since I had a good brawl? Those hunters put up a good fight, but we knocked them down easily. Thanks for that, Ethan.” He stomped off toward the bar with the rest of the men.
Regretfully, Ethan shifted as well. His wings needed a rest, and he would no doubt be summoned up to Mr. Cross’ office shortly. He would find time later to thank the men who had helped him, who had taken up his cause even when he hadn’t given them much reason to. The crowd dispersed until it was only Ethan and Resa left in the courtyard. They were more interested in hearing the tall tales the others were telling than in watching the two of them look awkwardly at each other.
Resa looked up at him through her lashes. “Ethan, I—Oh! You’re cut!” She reached up and gently touched his head, her fingers coming away tipped with blood.
“I’m fine. It wasn’t much of an injury, and he cut me while I was in dragon form. It’ll heal on its own.” Ethan looked down at his ridiculously human feet in their human shoes. The sight made him want to shift back, just so he could feel like himself once again. “Resa, I’m so sorry about what happened. I never should have let you get into that situation in the first place.”
She held up a finger to stop him. “It was my idea.”
“But I let you go through with it. More than that, I made it all happen. I let my need for vengeance blind me to everything else. I sent you on a suicide mission because I was so focused on getting information from the hunters. To make matters worse, we didn’t even get anything out of it.”
Resa pursed her lips as she reached into the pocket of her pants. “I wouldn’t exactly say that.” She held up a keychain with a USB drive. “I swiped this off our friend Kyle just before he bound my hands. I don’t know what it has on it, but I doubt he would have worn it on his belt loop like he did if it wasn’t important.”
Ethan pulled her close and kissed her hard. “You never stop surprising me.”
21
Somehow, Ethan had managed to get a vehicle and extracted himself from the other members of The Club. He’d spent a few minutes behind closed doors with Mr. Cross, but he had soon emerged and ushered her out onto the street and into the car. It was an ordinary sedan instead of his flashy sports car, but he still held the door for her before going around to get in.
“I think your car is probably totaled,” he said quietly, his eyes fierce and sober as he watched the road. “But I’ll get you a new one. What kind do you want?”
“Don’t worry about that right now; it’s not important.” Resa hadn’t given a thought to her car. Nothing had mattered other than getting out of that awful place alive. And getting a shirt on, which the bartender had helped her with once they had come inside.
“Don’t worry about your cell or your computer, either. I can replace those very easily.”
She shook her head and looked out the window, wondering why things had to feel so awkward now. It had been easier when she had been a captive in his guest bedroom. “I appreciate it, but it’s not necessary.”
Ethan turned onto the highway. “I’d offer to take you home, but I don’t think it’s safe. I don’t know how much information the hunters had on you, or if they had relayed any of it to their other cells. It’s not hard to figure out where people live, so I’d rather you lay low while we wait things out.”
“Can I at least go by and get some clothes?”
Ethan’s knuckles whitened as his fists tightened around the steering wheel. “No, I think it’s best not to. We’ll have some things delivered.”
They said little else as they made their way back to his house. Resa’s heart jumped when she saw the mansion again, surprising her. She realized that she hadn’t really thought about her shabby apartment since she’d last seen it almost a week ago.
Ethan escorted her through the house, no longer holding her by the elbow or watching her to make sure she didn’t escape. He paused at her door. “Actually, come with me to the library. I think we should talk for a little bit.”
Resa nodded, swallowing the nausea that was washing over her as the reality of what she had just done hit her. It was the contrast of the nasty house the hunters occupied to Ethan’s lovely one, the difference between the way those men treated her and the way Ethan did. He had tried to portray himself as a grouchy, rich asshole, but only one of those things was really true.
They reached the library and he waved her to a leather couch while he crossed the room to a crystal decanter on a side table. “Whiskey?”
“Please.”
He handed her a glass with a generous shot and sat down next to her. “I know you’re going to want to write about this,” he said quietly.
Resa’s stomach stuck to her spine. This was going to be the hard part. He would offer her money or threaten her to keep her from sharing her story with the world, but it wasn’t going to work. She had literally gone through a trial by fire, and even a dragon wasn’t enough to scare her now. She took a slow sip of the amber liquid and felt the fire of it down her throat.
“I’ve already been writing it in my head, to be honest.”
Ethan nodded. “I had a feeling. But I want you to know that I don’t plan to stop you.”
“You don’t?”
“I blamed you for the fact that people are interested in dragons, but I was being a hypocrite. I wasn’t doing anything different with my software company; I just tried to find ways to justify it because I didn’t know how I could possibly change it. You can write whatever you want to, and you can even tell people that it’s real, and I’m not going to do a damn thing about it.”
Resa looked down as she rolled the glass between her palms and chewed the inside of her lip. “I’m surprised to hear you say that, but the fact is I don’t plan to market it as the truth. I want my story to be out there, but I still want it to be mine. A fantastic tale of fiction, as real as it might seem, isn’t going to put me in harm’s way of the hunters or get me interviews on the news. In fact, there’s no telling if anyone will even buy my story. But at least it will still be mine.”
She thought she saw the barest tremble of a smile on his lips as he stood and went to the window. “That’s entirely up to you. Would you humor me and stay here a day or two while I have your apartment checked out?”
“I don’t think that’s enough time.” Her mouth said the words without consulting her brain, but she knew it was right. She continued when he looked over his shoulder at her questioningly. “I still haven’t gotten a chance to get to know you, and I’d like to. Not for the paper or for my blog, but because I just need to. For myself.”
Ethan turned to her fully and slowly set his drink down on a nearby shelf. He was so sexy as he stood there in front of her. His head had nearly healed, leaving only a pale scar against his hairline. He smelled of fire and whiskey and cologne, a scent that had been driving her crazy. “As a man or as a dragon?” he asked huskily.
“Both.”
His electric blue eyes met hers directly. “You don’t know how glad I am to hear you say that.” He had her in his arms in a second, his muscles holding her tightly against his hard body as he kissed her.
Resa softened in his arms, forming herself to him as she touched her fingertips to his angular jaw, relished in the softness of his thick stubble, and pulled him down on top of her. The leather of the couch was cool and smooth, but Ethan’s body was on fire as his hands explored her hair, her ribs, her hips. She arched herself against him, eager for more of his touch.
“I need you,” he whispered against her neck. “I’ve needed you from the first moment I saw you, but I knew it when I found you on the roof of my office. You’re
strong, and beautiful, and so damn stubborn, but I need you so badly.” His grip was strong as he massaged his way up her leg and cupped her ass.
“Take me,” she whispered. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so turned on in her life, and she needed him more desperately than anything else. Even the book could go flying out the window, as long as she could have this with him. “Please, if there’s anything you do for me, let it be that.”
He didn’t let go of her as he removed her clothes, keeping one arm around her waist and his lips pressed against her neck. His strong hands peeled back the thin material of her panties, and he moved down on the couch to kiss each breast as he freed them from the confines of her bra.
Resa undid the buttons on his shirt and ran her hands across the strong planes of his chest, letting her thumbs linger in the soft down of hair before she pushed the garment off his shoulders. She ripped desperately at his belt buckle, eager to feel his erection without a layer of denim in between them. Soon enough, she was rewarded with his hard member between her hands, the soft skin stretched tightly over it. Resa traced the surface of his cock with her fingertips, pleased that Ethan wasn’t driving that expensive car to compensate for anything.
Skin-to-skin, Resa could feel his heat like she never had before. It filled the room and consumed her, burning her to her very core. She quivered with excitement as her bare breasts lay against his chest, and his hardness pushed against her. Widening her legs to let him in, she wrapped them around him and clung tightly as he entered her.
The moan he let out turned her on all the more, knowing that he did for her what she did for him. Resa bucked her hips against his and traced her lips along his neck, reveling in the way he filled her up. Their heartbeats synchronized, the pulse vibrating out through the universe. Ethan had saved her life in so many ways, and this final joining was the only thing she lacked. Her core grew wet and slick as he pounded into her, waves rippling through her body and begging him never to stop.
