Anya erupted into laughter, tears slowly streaming out of the corners of her eyes. A smile touched the corners of Luc’s lips, some of his worry easing. Still, he had no idea what Anya was thinking. He would gladly accept this brave human woman into his life, but she might not be so willing. She was the daughter of a GOE agent, after all.
Miri realized her babysitter was catching up and she darted away, leaving the two of them alone for the moment.
“I’m…”
Anya shook her head before he could go on. She turned bleary eyes up at him, the tears of laughter turning into something else. “This… this bond doesn’t scare me. I may not be one hundred percent ready for this, but I’m not afraid for myself. I’m afraid for you.
“There’s so much at stake right now that it seems like my world is resting on the tip of a pin and any wrong move is going to send everything flying. What I did this morning was illegal, very illegal. By telling you, I’ve opened up a whole new can of worms that could destroy everything I know.
Luc reached out, not to pull her into his arms, but to feel skin on skin. His hands rubbed up and down her arms. She laughed, the kind of hiccough laugh that happened after crying.
“Also, my father is going to be pissed. He’s going to stop at nothing to hurt you if he sees you’re anywhere near me. As it stands, he’s trying to get me to leave my internship. How can I have a long-term relationship with a dragon if my father is constantly trying to arrest him?”
She had a point. Still, Luc gathered her hands in his and met her gaze with a smirk.
“I’m willing to endure all of that if only to give what we have a try,” he told her. His thumb rubbed over the soft skin on the back of her hand. He was amazed that she didn’t pull away or back up from him. Americans were supposed to be wary of dragons. They were supposed to distrust them at all times, yet here was this small human who stood against a community she’d grown up in to tell the truth.
Her eyes drifted closed. “I think I need to get back to the Embassy before someone realizes I’m gone. Either Liana or my father.”
That wasn’t the response Luc wanted. It wasn’t even close. The crease in her forehead made him worry about what was going on inside her mind. His hand rose to caress the lines away, but fell back down again. Luc had no real idea of what he was supposed to do. All he knew was that he needed to hold her.
“I think Liana is going to know,” Luc said as he jerked his head toward Dane.
“Shit,” she breathed.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure Dane will count this venture as part of your work at the Embassy. But, you’re right. We should be getting you back.”
Luc, reluctantly, let go of her hand and began to turn towards the spot where he’d landed earlier. Something jerked him back. He turned to find Anya holding his hand. Catching him off guard, she was able to pull him into her. Their lips crashed together, Anya standing on her tiptoes. Luc’s body felt like it was going to burn away, starting with his lips. His hand rose to wind around her lower back and hold her to his body.
When she broke away, he reached for more. Anya ducked out of his grasp. Her breath was coming fast and her cheeks were flushed, but she remained out of his reach.
“I needed to know… I wanted to experience that before we returned. It can’t happen again.” She paused again, her gaze slowly returning to Luc. Her gaze was heated.
His hands clenched at his sides. He wanted to reach out and pull her back into his embrace. He wanted to feel the press of her lips against his once more. Her touch had done crazy things to his mind and he was not ready for it to disappear forever.
“What are you saying?”
She swallowed and it looked like it took effort. Her eyes met his with a confidence that wavered ever so slightly. “I’m saying we can’t be together. I’m saying I wish we could, but it’s not going to work.”
Luc heard an audible snap. He wasn’t sure if it was the crack of a branch in the woods or if it was the sound of his heart breaking. Tears burned the corners of his eyes and his jaw clenched. Here was his mate, this beautiful and brave woman, standing before him. Yet, she just declared their bond null and void.
He had nothing to say. He couldn’t form words to fight her decision. All he knew was anger and sorrow. Luc blinked away the tears forming in his eyes as he pushed past her. His beast rose to the surface and urged him to turn back, urged him to take her in their arms and kiss away all of her worries.
Luc didn’t think that would work. His mate would fight him off and push him into a corner. Luc had to tell his beast that they would win, slowly but surely, they would win. The beast didn’t believe him, but they both knew Luc was patient. Not only did he often have to wait for someone to walk into his pranks and jokes, but he’d waited decades to figure out what happened to his parents.
Luc would wait until they worked through GOE’s secrets and then he would try again. Maybe his mate would feel more comfortable then.
We cannot wait forever, his beast reminded him. She will grow older while we remain the same unless we claim the bond.
While the mate bond was there, Luc knew it would not give her any of the dragon life benefits until they consummated the bond. That was when their souls would mingle and the magic that fueled his existence would leave its mark on his mate. It would grant her the long life of a dragon so that Luc could spend his long years with her.
Luc wouldn’t give up on his mate.
In the clearing, Luc spared no time letting his dragon out. He didn’t say anything because he didn’t trust himself to even speak yet. He didn’t trust himself not to beg and plead. That would do nothing to win her heart. So, he let his beast take the reins and carried her back to the Embassy in the small town nearby.
Chapter Four
Anya knew, the moment they touched down again, that everything from then on would be a nightmare. She was missing a shoe and it was the only thing she allowed herself to think about. There would be no thoughts of encrypted GOE files about secret experiments or thoughts of a bond that tied her to the sexy dragon man behind her. She couldn’t process that right then.
No matter how long she searched the clearing for it, she could not manage to find the thing. That meant wasting more time stopping by a shop and purchasing a pair of cheap flip-flops before returning to the Embassy. Anya couldn’t be away much longer.
Her father and Beauchamp had to know by now that she hadn’t been there. What was twenty more minutes? This was her reasoning, even though anxiety sang through her mind with the screeching voice of panic.
Luc gave her guarded glances. They broke her heart. She’d firmly told him that there was no chance of them being together, mate bond or not. She wouldn’t risk this man while she treaded through the rough waters that were surely ahead. It was safer that way for him, but the devastation that first crossed his face when she asked had been a shot to the heart. She wondered if he felt the things she did. Did he feel fire race across his skin from where their skin touched? Did he burst with light when their lips touched?
It didn’t matter what either of them felt. The agents assigned to the Embassy were itching to arrest a dragon. Who better to arrest than the dragon man with an eye for an agent’s daughter? Maybe, as soon as she got back, Agent Beauchamp would walk up to her with his cuffs brandished.
Her mind raced with all the possibilities and her heart thumped in time with her panic.
“You can’t walk to the shop barefoot,” Luc protested after Anya stopped searching for her missing shoe.
In a fit of frustration, she’d thrown the second shoe into the brush as well and let out a small snarl.
“What other choice do I have?” Anya threw her hands in the air.
Luc smirked, a tic that said he knew he was about to get his way. She was starting to learn these things she thought, moments before he scooped her up into his arms. She let out a startled squeak that she was only a little ashamed of.
As much as she fought and struggl
ed, she couldn’t get out of his grasp. She wondered, if maybe she didn’t want to. Anya couldn’t help but appreciate the hard lines of his chest and the protective grasp of his hands around her. If their situation had been different, she would have been content to explore what lay between them.
As things stood, she couldn’t. There was so much going on in her life that she was destroying. All she wanted was to save the world. Not even the whole world, but one part at a time as long as she could. She didn’t ever stop to think that her crusade would destroy her own life. For the time being, she allowed herself to settle into Luc’s arms, knowing it was the last time she was going to allow him to touch her like that.
It was safer for him if he wasn’t her mate.
Chapter Five
Luc and Anya were walking across the grass when her father stepped around the building. Her stomach dropped, and her tongue turned thick. What was she going to tell him?
Immediately, his eyes narrowed in on Luc standing beside her. How could he not recognize him as the dragon he’d nearly detained the day before? And, it had been Anya who’d begged him not to arrest Luc. She swallowed past the anxiety rising in her throat like bile.
Luc nodded in greeting, hands in his pockets as he tried to be the least intimidating he could be. That was hard for the tall and muscle-bound dragon, but he managed with a blank face as he stood several feet behind Anya.
“Good afternoon, Agent Forrest. I’m afraid I had to escort your daughter into town to buy a new pair of shoes after the heel snapped on the basement stairs.” The lie rolled off Luc’s tongue before Anya could even open her mouth to speak.
A knot in her chest eased. It was only one of many, but it helped her look her father in the eye. Could he see how red her lips were from the kiss she and Luc shared on Territory grounds? Could he tell how rumpled her skirt was after being carried by Luc in both human and dragon form?
“Sir?” Luc asked, hesitantly.
Her father’s jaw tightened, lips forming a thin line. Anya did the only thing she could do. She approached her father. She placed her body squarely between her father and Luc so that all her father could see was her. He could see that she was unhurt and there of her own volition. He needed to know that. She needed him not to hurt Luc. It was a pressing need that gripped her heart. She didn’t know what she would do if her father pulled the Taser again didn’t know the ways she would betray her family for the dragon man standing behind her. She didn’t want to figure out just then.
She couldn’t risk him seeing her run to Luc’s side, because she knew she wouldn’t be able to control herself if he was hurt. Luc was a good man. He didn’t deserve the ire that her father and other agents directed at him.
“Father,” she whispered, meeting his eyes.
His gaze flicked to her for only an instant. He was afraid of the dragon behind her. She couldn’t help but let out a small, exasperated laugh. If only her father knew the truth. That wouldn’t matter, Anya reminded herself. Her father would never trust a dragon.
She attempted to spin her father around, not daring to look back at Luc as much as she wanted to. It was almost as if she could feel the tie that fate used to bind them and it tightened with every step she took away.
Agent Forrest reached between them and wrapped his hand around her upper arm, dragging her along as they moved out of the dragon’s sight. She fought the urge to roll her eyes. The man needed to go back to his therapist, Anya thought. He needed to refill his prescriptions or take a damned vacation.
“I think from here on out,” her father began, “you need to stay where I can see you.”
Anya dug her heels in. She came to a halt, throwing a heated glare at her father for the first time. Normally, Anya could hold up a debate with her father, keeping her voice steady and her words reasonable, but today her patience was wearing thin. She would not let him treat her like a child any more.
Her father’s head whipped around, his own glare just as hot. He reclaimed her arm.
“No,” Anya proclaimed as she pulled back. “I won’t let you dictate my life out of your own fears. You know so little about the world you live in or the organization you work for.”
The words slipped out before she could rein them back in. Her heart thundered and her lips slapped shut. Her father’s brows rose in confusion.
She was not a child. She hadn’t been for quite some time now. She would always be his little girl and she couldn’t blame him for wanting to keep her safe, but she was done with this restricted living. He was trying to be a blanket that would smother the life out of her.
“Are you alright, Anya? We’ve been searching everywhere for you.”
A new voice joined the fray and she couldn’t help but throw her hands in the air. Anya turned her heated gaze upon Beauchamp and he had the grace to step back, surprise written across his face. But, that passed and he stepped forward, reaching for her.
“I was replacing a broken heel,” she growled. “That was it. The two of you need to calm down.”
Her father’s gaze moved past her, the muscle in his jaw twitching. “Next time, you ask Beauchamp or me to assist you. Not a damned dragon.”
“You left with one of them?” Beauchamp’s voice was a hiss, like he’d seen something foul.
Anya’s heart clenched. Why was fate so cruel? Why did it tie her, of all people, to a dragon’s heart? There was no way that she wouldn’t have to make a choice, her family or her heart. There was no way that she could win. She would have to live with the pain of the decision she’d made and the empty ache of a life alone.
“This is an Embassy, an olive branch extended by the dragon shifters to humanity. I’m trying to do what this Embassy wants, I’m trying to co-exist with them.”
Nathan Forrest’s fingers jingled the cuffs at his waist as he looked back toward where they’d left Luc standing alone, but he shook his head and turned toward his SUV.
“I think we should call it a day,” he said, his voice going back to a normal timbre. “Get in the car, Anya.”
“I drove myself today.” She stormed toward her old jeep, not looking back.
Beauchamp caught up with her. “Would you like a passenger? Agent Forrest invited me over for dinner tonight, so we’re both headed in the same direction.”
Oh joy, Anya thought. A few spaces away, Anya heard the engine of her father’s SUV roar to life. He wouldn’t hear what she was about to say.
“No,” Anya said as she spun to face him. For a second, his face lit up, thinking she meant no, I wouldn’t mind a passenger. He was about to really see what she meant. “No. I don’t want you in my car or anywhere near me. I find you repulsive and ignorant and I don’t want anything like that in my life. Ever. I do not want to cash in your rain check because I don’t want to even think about dating someone as ignorant and mean as yourself.”
Beauchamp’s face fell. She expected defeat and disappointment, but it was anger that flashed across his features. It wrinkled his nose and turned the corners of his mouth into a snarl. Before she knew it, her back hit the Jeep. His arm was barred across her chest. She could barely breathe as his face descended upon hers. His breath was hot, only inches away from her cheek.
“You don’t have a choice,” Beauchamp growled, his voice low enough that only she could hear.
Anya hated herself for the way her knees shook beneath her. She put on a brave face, but she didn’t know how to get out of this. Beauchamp held her in a grip she couldn’t break.
“I’m the only option you have, Anya, and you better get used to it. We will go on that dinner date, I will propose someday, and you will say yes. After you do, you’re not heading off to DC. You’re going to stay where I can see you so that I know you never whisper secrets to a dragon again.”
Beauchamp knew. He knew what she’d done, that she’d learned GOE secrets and ran to the dragons to tell them of the horrors.
Her heart pounded so hard she wasn’t sure she could hear anything else. Anya should h
ave expected this. She should have known Beauchamp would show his true colors soon. He was so vile in the way he talked about dragons, insisting on clipping their wings being the least of it in her time around him. She should have known that vile nature would extend toward humanity, too, and then to herself. She closed her eyes and waited for him to back away.
In her mind, she formulated what she would do once he moved. She would scramble for her car door and lock herself inside. Would her father believe her if she told him what Beauchamp did? Couldn’t her father see what Beauchamp was doing?
Would Beauchamp tell her father what she’d done? Would he tell him how she’d accessed GOE secrets and shared them with the dragons? Of course he would. Anya was trapped.
Suddenly, Beauchamp disappeared. The pressure on her chest from his arm released and fresh air kissed her face. Her eyes few open to find Beauchamp crashing and rolling across the pavement. Luc stood before her, tall and immovable while he fumed with anger. Relief was a cold wash over her body. She fought to stay where she was and not tuck herself into the safety of his arms.
After a moment of watching Luc steady his own breathing, she dared a glance at Beauchamp. The weasel of a man was picking himself up off the pavement, slowly. She felt a surge of happiness. He deserved it.
“Stand back,” Agent Forrest growled as he leveled the GOE issued gun at Luc. “Back away from my daughter.”
Really? Anya thought with exasperation. A fellow agent attacks your daughter and this is what you choose to see?
Her father had poured out of the SUV and now stood with his feet spread apart and a gun leveled at Luc. Anya’s heart leapt in her throat. When had GOE issued them guns? Last, she’d known, GOE only wanted the agents to have Tasers while they worked at the Embassy. Anya knew down to the crashing wave in her gut that the clip would be loaded with silver bullets. It was the only thing that leveled the battlefield for GOE agents as it locked dragon shifters in their human form. Why would GOE issue the guns now?
The Dragon's Mate Page 6
