“Just a thought,” he said. And then he walked out, leaving her completely uncomfortable, as usual.
Damn, the dragons needed to solve the Felding case soon and get her out of there. If they didn’t, she suspected something dreadful was about to happen to her heart.
* * *
Perry watched his partner pace across their room with acute interest.
Though dragons could speak telepathically, only silver dragons could read thoughts against a dragon’s will, and Perry never wanted to take advantage of that with his partner.
Not to mention, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on with his high libido partner.
“You want her,” Perry said quietly.
Tor turned to him, blue eyes flashing. He nodded once, quickly. “Yes.”
“But you know we can’t have her.”
Tor sat on his side of the bed. The bed was giant, enabling two men to sleep completely separately or for them to easily share a woman between them. “I don’t see why not. I know we can’t mate with her, but we have slept with women before just for fun. When they wanted to.”
“This is different,” Perry said. “They weren’t human. It’s not fair to do that to her when we can’t keep her around. And we have to focus on finding a mate.”
Tor thumped a hand on the mattress and looked out the window with a sigh that made his wide shoulders sag.
Perry knew Tor craved human company more than he did. He also knew Tor bore a heavier emotional burden than he did, with him having to do all the interrogation. He had to agree that his partner deserved some sort of break, but if he just wanted some random chick, their secretary would be a stupid decision.
Then again, watching Tor’s uncharacteristic moodiness, perhaps this was more than Tor’s lust or his need to connect with others.
He walked over and sat on the windowsill, looking into Tor’s eyes. “Do you like her?”
“Of course,” Tor said, avoiding his yes. “Don’t you?”
“Yes, as an employee,” Perry retorted, knowing it was only partially a lie. He really did like Lexie. She was smart and really seemed to understand him, when few people had.
“Bullshit,” Tor said. “You like her as much as I do.”
“In a different way,” Perry said, hoping it was true. “I’m not stupid enough to lose sight of the fact that it’s an unnecessary complication. And she deserves better.”
“She wants us,” Tor said hoarsely. “I can feel it from her every damn, stinking day. Am I just supposed to do nothing about it?”
“Yes,” Perry said. “She’s our employee, nothing more. You’re probably just bonding with her because we haven’t had someone around in a long time. Someone you could talk to.”
“If you could call what I do with her talking,” Tor said, pulling an errant string off the coverlet and snapping it with his hands.
“Be that as it may, you know as well as I do that it wouldn’t be appropriate. Besides, we need her help. With finding our mate. Do you think that’s a fair thing to ask of someone we’re fucking?”
Tor’s face fell at that, making him look something like a disappointed puppy dog. “You’re right. That’d be totally unfair.”
“True,” Perry said. “So even if she does want us, we have to be the mature ones and make sure this doesn’t go wrong.” He walked over and put a light hand on Tor’s shoulder. “When we find our mate, you’ll be less lonely, and Lexie can go back to her life, none the worse off.”
Tor shrugged and didn’t look that comforted by the idea.
Perry sat on the windowsill again and looked out at the huge, empty grounds surrounding the mountain, which were green and plush from a recent rainstorm. They didn’t get a lot of rain here but the ground was great at sucking up and using what they did get.
“She’s not a dragon-heart,” Perry mused, as much to himself as to Tor. “So as much as we like her, it doesn’t seem to matter.”
Tor nodded. “I know that up here.” He pointed to his head. “But not down here.” He pointed to his groin with a grin.
Perry shook his head. “We had some good times together.”
“Right,” Tor said, eyes twinkling. “We make a good team. You command; I do.”
Perry felt excitement jump in him at the idea. Pleasing a woman with Tor was a uniquely stimulating experience, one he had missed, even as he was too busy to think much about it. “All the more reason to stay out of Lexie’s way so she can help us find a mate as soon as possible.”
Tor nodded. “All right,” he said. “I’ll try to lay off. I’ll try to focus. It’s just hard with a curvy female around.”
Especially one as likable (and loyal) as Lexie, Perry added in his head, turning to lean against the cool glass of the window with a sigh.
“Hopefully Jace will find someone soon.”
“Yeah.” Tor stood and grabbed workout clothes from the closet and pulled them on, obviously about to go down to the gym in the basement and work out some energy. “Hopefully.”
But the word was slightly bitter, and Perry felt a pang of guilt as his partner disappeared from the room.
But he reassured himself he was doing what was best for the both of them and, in fact, for the shifter world in general.
That would have to be enough. And hopefully, when it was over, Lexie’s pretty brown eyes would stop haunting him in his quiet moments.
4
A week later, Perry knew it was imperative he talk to Lexie. Tor had been getting increasingly short-tempered in his duties as a dragon, and a dragon-heart hadn’t yet been located, nor did it look like it was going to happen anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Perry had been observing the flirting between Tor and their secretary and the effect it was having on his partner’s mood.
He knew Tor couldn’t help himself, so it was time to talk to Lexie. He waited until Tor went outside on one of his recent flights over the countryside to release stress and then went to Lexie’s office and quietly knocked on the door and waited for a response.
He only had to wait a moment, and then the door was pulled open, and Lexie’s beautiful face appeared behind it, grinning at him as she tucked a curl behind her ear in a futile attempt to keep her hair in check. But he liked her hair, kept wanting to pull at one of the tight little curls and see how it sprang back. Kept wanting to pull it out of that bun and see it spread all over his pillow…
He grinned, secure in the fact that he could know what everyone was thinking, but no one would ever know what was in his head unless he told them. It was a safe position, albeit a lonely one.
“Did you need something?” Lexie asked, stepping back to invite him into the office. “Jace hasn’t found anyone yet, so no new interviews.”
“I know,” Perry said. “Actually, I was hoping you could come on a walk with me, since we have the day off it seems.”
“Oh,” she said, her dark eyes widening in surprise. She had pretty skin that always looked even and smooth, but she was still easy to read, her embarrassment, her surprise, all plain on her expressive little face.
Not that she was little, compared to most human women. She was average height with a voluptuous build that humans would have called plus-sized, but dragons called “perfect.” All the more to hold and please and touch. Besides, when it came to treasure, dragons always preferred more rather than less.
“Um, okay,” she said, looking around and then locking the office behind her.
He raised an eyebrow as she slid the key in her pocket.
“Habit,” she said, shrugging her rounded shoulders.
Perry held out his arm out of habit and was surprised when she took it, her warm palm closing over his bicep as they walked together along the marble columns in the foyer.
When they reached the front door, he slid out of his suit coat and held it out for her. “It’s a little chilly out there but a beautiful day. Put this on.”
“Really?” she asked, taking it.
Perry was pl
eased when it made her look small. He would never be big compared to Tor’s hulking strength, but seeing her look so small and vulnerable in his coat made him feel that much stronger and capable of protecting her.
But wait, why did it matter if he could protect her? She wasn’t going to be here that long. She wasn’t going to be their mate. It wouldn’t be hard to keep her safe until Felding’s men gave up.
The thought rankled him, and he absentmindedly put his arm out for her again. This time she put her arm through his, locking them at the elbows. An interesting feeling, one that put the soft flesh of her side and her breast up against his arm, making his body instantly react.
He might be a brilliant intellectual, but he was also a healthy male, and the feel of her feminine curves did something to his brain. She made the air feel headier and made it harder to focus.
Why had he come down here to talk to her anyway?
He bit his lip and stopped midway down the front walk, surveying the day and letting the cool midday breeze blow over him, cooling his thoughts.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked, giving him that look of soft understanding she always had for him. Like she already cared for him. Like she saw through his coldness.
Like that were possible.
No one had ever really been able to deal with Perry’s reliance on his brain over his heart.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I think I already know what it is.”
“You do?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.
She nodded, her bun bouncing. “Tor. He’s acting strangely. Because of me.”
Perry nodded, shocked by her insight. “Yes. Yes, that’s it exactly.”
“I’m not sure what to do about it,” she said, turning one hand palm up. “I’m not sure why I seem to alternately bother and yet intrigue him. I’m trying to just ignore him, but that seems to make things worse. Make him more persistent.”
Perry nodded. He stopped them in front of a stone bench and set her down on it. Then he clasped his hands together behind his back and paced in front of her, trying to figure out how to say what he needed to without hurting her delicate feelings.
“Oh, please, Perry,” she said. “You don’t have to handle me with kid gloves. I’ve been living around Tor for a good while now.”
“Fine, then,” he said softly. “I don’t know exactly what is going on with you and Tor, but I know it has to stop. Maybe me simply telling you it’s impossible could help with the situation.”
“What?” she asked. “I don’t know why you would think I’m encouraging him.”
“It’s your thoughts,” Perry said. “And it’s not your fault. Dragons are meant to be beautiful, charismatic. You being attracted to us is just an undesirable side effect of being in our protection for this long.” He paced some more. “We weren’t expecting the Felding case to take this long to resolve, nor were we thinking it would be this hard to find a dragon-heart.”
“A what?” she asked. “Does that have something to do with your hunting women who have been in emergency situations?”
He loved that about her. How smart she was. In another life, in another situation, he had to agree with Tor that she would have been perfect for them. Not just a friend, but a partner.
But they had to play the odds. They needed a third power if they wanted to survive.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said, sitting on the bench next to her, straight and uncomfortable. “The thing is it can’t be you. I don’t want to explain why. I don’t want you to torture yourself or try to be something you aren’t.”
She blinked at him. “Who said I would want to be your mate anyway?” She grinned slightly. “Maybe after six weeks dealing with your problems, I pity the woman who ends up with you.”
Perry wrinkled his nose in discomfort, which only widened her grin.
But then she looked forward and rested her chin in her hands, looking out across the grounds, and a sadness seemed to come over her.
“I get it,” she said. “I need to stop letting myself think about my attraction. You have to understand I’ve never met such gorgeous men.”
“I understand,” Perry said. “But the thoughts you’re having around Tor are literally driving him crazy.”
“Really?” she said, looking at him in shock. “Did he say something about it?”
There was a different energy in the air, and Perry wondered if he’d taken this in a direction he shouldn’t. “Perhaps. Why?”
She rolled her eyes, but the hurt was plain. “He’s the one flirting. He’s the one who comes by, gets in my space. He’s always there. After work, when Jace calls. In general. What am I supposed to do?” She looked at Perry, who frowned and leaned back, arms folded.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Maybe just think of something unsexy when Tor is around. I think that would help him.”
“So he wants me not to think of him that way?” she asked, looking confused.
Perry felt for her. The whole situation was confusing.
Sure, they had planned on her being attracted to them, as most human women and even shifter women were.
But they hadn’t counted on just how quickly they would be attracted to her. How quickly she would come to be a part of their home.
They hadn’t counted on coming to want her.
And now, as Perry got her to agree to cooperate with helping Tor not want her, he felt more aware of the desire within himself. The way he looked forward to seeing her face or stopping by the office for updates just so he could talk to her.
Or going on walks and joking about Tor.
Did he really want her to give up? They had some time until they found a mate, obviously. And she would forget all of this in time, when they sent her back to her world when she was safe.
She wasn’t a dragon-heart, but she was a good person.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, and he realized he had leaned in closer, his expression intense. He looked down to see her lips only a breath away. He tilted his head, curious at his own unintended reaction to her.
He could smell her scent, uniquely her, violets and whisky and spice, and inhaled it deeply as his hand found its way to her bun.
She pulled back from him, an offended look on her face. “Look, you come here telling me to not even think about this kind of thing with Tor around, and now you’re initiating it?”
“I’m trying to protect all of us,” Perry said, putting his forehead to hers and resting against her. She was so warm. “I’m trying to do the sensible thing. Tor has been wanting things we shouldn’t do, and he says it’s your thoughts, hearing them every day, that are driving him to it. I’m just trying to make it easier for all of us.”
She sighed, but from the hoarseness in her voice, he could tell she was affected by this as well. “Then what are you doing to me right now?”
Perry shook his head slightly. “I don’t know. I guess I’m drawn to you. And I guess, when I really think about it, I don’t like the idea of you pulling away. It’s driving Tor crazy, but it’s driving me crazy, too. And I don’t want you to stop.”
He couldn’t believe the words coming out of his own mouth. Suddenly, the pent-up feelings of weeks beside her, watching her, talking to her, were flooding up inside him and threatening to well out.
Perry didn’t often feel the need for physicality, but he felt it now, the need to please her and take her, and it scared him.
He stood up abruptly, standing away from her with his back turned.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But it’s just not possible. You aren’t some casual fling. You deserve more.” He shrugged. “And since I can’t give it, this can’t happen.” Then he strode off in the direction of the house, turning only to toss one last plea over his shoulder. “But do think about your effect on Tor. He’s suffering.”
5
Lexie sat on the bench where Perry had left her, heart pounding, breath irregular, for a long moment.
She could
n’t believe what had just happened. She was attracted to Perry in that warm, calm way that had grown out of friendship and mutual respect in their weeks of working together and her seeing how dutiful the dragons were in handling their business.
Perry was always in control, and if he was a little cold, it was generally because he had a lot on his mind to deal with.
She sighed and rested her cheek on her hand. When he’d come close like that, she’d been so immediately heated by him. Like behind that cold exterior, there was a bright silver flame just fighting to break free.
And now she’d never get to see what that was like.
Tor was more open. It was easier to picture how he’d be in the bedroom. But apparently, she should stop doing that because it was bothering him. Why didn’t he just tell her himself? Why did he have to send Perry?
She knew he’d been getting grumpier lately. Ever since the hunt for a mate had commenced. But he’d still found time to tease and torment her, and she’d still found time to think of him and Perry in her fantasies. But that would have to stop.
Perry had made it clear it would only hurt all of them.
Though she wasn’t sure how, since they would go on to find a mate and she would forget anything that happened once they took her memory of being here.
It was a sad thought, but just how things had to be.
She didn’t know why she was impossible for them to consider as a mate, but it seemed complicated in a way she shouldn’t interfere with.
Besides, the men were hot, but did she really want a life with them? Living here in the middle of nowhere, having to send them out every day to do dangerous things?
The cool wind around her whistled over the beautiful, ancient grounds and told her the answer.
She’d love to stay here, if she could.
Just then a whoosh of air signaled something approaching. She looked up to see Tor appearing out of the air, walking forward sullenly in human form.
When he looked up and saw her, he was still at the far gate, a good ways away. But she still felt the air crackle between them, almost dangerously.
A Dragon's Heart Page 3
