Jamie blinked. How could a female be so distrustful of a male? Maybe the males here did not protect females as they should. He had traveled enough to know Draconi males were unique in their treatment of females.
Just because he understood her view did not mean he wasn’t hurt by her words. He wanted her to think of him as her savior, as a male she could trust with her life, not as someone who meant her harm.
Which considering how little he knew about her was disturbing. Almost all males would protect females, even those they didn’t know, but the way he wanted her to trust him went beyond normal concern and into the realm of a male who met his mate.
And although he tended to think of her as his female—after all, it wasn’t every day he dreamed of a real female needing his help—it didn’t mean he wanted her as his mate.
He didn’t even know if a Halfling like himself could have a mate. Unlike Keara, who had more Draconi traits than human ones, his middling magic did not bode well for finding that one female created just for him.
It wouldn’t surprise him at all to discover a defect in yet another area of his life.
Still, Parker’s words shouldn’t cause his chest to ache like a malfunctioning heart. Not at all.
“I am not here to harm you. I traveled a long way to save you and whether you want me to or not is irrelevant. I will not allow you to come to harm.” He crossed his arms over the ache formerly known as his chest and gave her his best glare.
She stared at him for one heartbeat, two, then her gaze dropped to the sheet, her breath releasing on a sigh. “Fine. My bullshitometer—”
“Your what?” Was this some strange device she had hidden on her person?
“Bullshitometer. My internal gauge for determining whether or not you’re lying.”
He still had no idea what a meter was, but he got the gist of her words. “I am not lying.”
She shrugged. “As I was saying, you’re not registering on my bullshitometer, but that’s probably due to the drug.”
“Or the truth.”
Her glare slapped him with caution, and he stopped the urge to scoot back in the chair. The arousal pushing against his trousers caught him off guard. Since when did a female’s anger turn him on?
“Just stay there, and don’t come any closer.”
“As you wish.”
Easier than he thought. Especially since he didn’t want her to see what was happening below his waist.
Goddess’s toes.
Time slipped by with the speed of an arthritic dragon lumbering up a hill.
Parker’s eyes drifted closed, her bag tucked in the crook of her left arm like a pillow, her right hand grasped around an elongated piece of metal attached to a thick metal string.
Metal, metal and more metal. Along with a bunch of construction items he didn’t recognize. Like the chair he sat in. The metal frame comprising the object caused his magic to surge like titanium did, but it didn’t look the same as Draconian titanium. And the hard material he sat on was unknown in Draconia. As were the flooring and the street paving. What an unusual place. He’d love to explore, but protecting Parker until she could travel meant his tingling arse needed to sit on the hard, unknown material for a while longer. Then he could rescue Erik.
Jamie closed his eyes and concentrated on his friend. Panic and pain shot through his body as he homed in on Erik’s position. Jamie shot out of the chair like a dragon’s fireball, numb and tingling legs threatening to collapse. Grabbing the back of the chair he tottered on shaky legs.
“Bad dream?” Parker’s voice stroked across his nerves, concern lacing the words.
“Erik’s hurt.” Why had he believed his friend could handle himself? Erik’s magic didn’t work right in this city, as evidenced by his capture and current incarceration. If only he had followed Erik instead of Parker, his friend wouldn’t be in pain.
But then, she might be the one injured and captured instead of Erik.
What to do, what to do. Jamie’s breath heaved in and out of his lungs as the numbness wore off and he paced around the room.
“I said, who’s Erik?”
Jamie stopped by the door, hand mid-run through his hair. “What?”
“Is Erik your friend? The one they took instead of me?”
“Yes. I need—”
A loud crash exploded from the hall, causing raised voices to exclaim in alarm. He hurried to the door, cracking it open enough to peer out. Adrenaline shot through his veins, shaking his limbs, his throat turning to desert sand.
His vision came true. The kidnappers had returned for Parker.
Jamie leapt to her side. Both her palms came up as if to push him away, but the door slammed open, bouncing off the wall like a thrown dagger. The bearded giant who’d harmed Parker stood in the doorway, a dark shadow of revenge.
Jamie slipped his arms under Parker, said a quick prayer to the Goddess and threw them into a transport.
Chapter Five
Pain slammed along her nerves a second after Jamie grabbed her like he meant to lift her out of the bed. Darkness surrounded her. Grizzly’s wide-eyed open-mouthed expression disappeared in a whirl of colors. Thoughts fizzled as agony took up residence in her bones. Gray shapes blurred past, colors streaking like headlights on a time-lapse exposure. Then, with a pop, everything stilled.
Parker concentrated on not screaming. Screaming in fright and pain was for sissies. Even when shot in the arm several years ago she’d held in a scream, locking down the pain by force of will and a tightened jaw.
But this bone-shattering pain went far beyond the burn of a bullet.
Didn’t mean she would admit to the low moan breeching her lips. Nope. She would not act like a wimp.
“Are you all right?” Jamie lowered her until her butt and legs rested against what felt like concrete. “Most people have problems their first time transporting.”
Good to know her locked jaw wasn’t for nothing. But what did he mean by transporting?
Although a glance around the darkened room tripped her heart rate up a notch. They were not in the hospital. How… What… Oh my god.
Spots danced on the edge of her vision. They did not just leave the hospital by disappearing like a star of a sci-fi flick. Impossible. Totally impossible. Then why are you no longer in the freaking hospital?
Her breathing quickened, pulse pounding in her ears. The dancing spots intensified, swarming into a vision-darkening cloud. So much for not acting like a sissy. And then she passed out.
When Parker regained consciousness, the chill of concrete seeped into her back and a blue light flickered, casting shadows across stacks of pallets. A warehouse. How…oh, right. Jamie hadn’t really transported her. The drug must be causing hallucinations. Yeah, that was it. Hallucinations. You know you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole, Parker, when having hallucinations is the better choice.
“You wake.” Jamie’s face swam into her line of vision, blue shadows dancing across his skin as if lit from his hand.
Parker glanced to his hand where a blue flame danced. Nuh-uh. No way. Not happening. Flames did not appear in hands. Let alone flicker blue. Nope. Definitely a drug induced hallucination.
She drew in a deep breath. Since she was hallucinating, this whole room was some sort of mental fabrication. Although why her brain picked a warehouse to imagine was beyond her.
“You are not imagining. The ones who took Erik returned for you. I took you here to protect you.”
So much for calm breathing. She almost pulled another sissy out of her back pocket and passed out cold.
Parker swallowed the dry lump in her throat. “Come again?”
“I transported you here to protect you. I wasn’t sure where else to go.”
“Why here?”
“We came through this place.”
“Through it?”
“Transported into it. Somehow. I’ve never seen anything like this building.”
“It’s a warehouse.” Clearly she was dealing
with someone mentally unstable. While wearing her baby blue hospital gown. Damn it.
“Ah. An over-large storage building. I see that now.” He scratched the back of his head. “Are you better?”
Wasn’t that the question of the evening? While she no longer felt like fainting, she didn’t think she could jump up and outrun him. Lying flat on her back like an invalid was rather demoralizing but might allow her to discover a bit more about her current deluded kidnapper.
Or maybe he wasn’t so deluded. If he told the truth and this warehouse wasn’t a delusion, Grizzly had found her in the hospital and physics needed a rewrite. Which was enough to give a former detective a case of the shakes.
“Maybe.”
He jerked his non-flamed hand through his hair. “I cannot leave you alone, but I need to find Erik. He is hurt.”
Her inner detective, the one no loss of title could destroy, spoke. “How do you plan on finding him?”
“I find people. That is my…um…” his brows furrowed. “How do you say?”
“Job? Work?”
“Yes. My job. I find people. Among other things.”
A detective. Like her. A grin flirted on the corners of her lips. No, no, no. She would not smile at Hottie. Or think of him as Hottie. He’d kidnapped her. Never mind that he thought he helped her. If only she still held her badge.
Not to worry. She’d have her badge back come hell or high water.
Right after she discovered which Jamie was. Hell? Or high water?
****
Jamie ran a hand over his head. Blue shadows flickered across Parker’s face, sparking blue highlights in her straight black hair. Suspicion laced with curiosity ran through the depths of her dove gray eyes. Not the look he wanted, but it beat fear.
Shoving with her elbows, she pushed upright. He reached out a hand to help but pulled it back at her flinch. How did he prove he meant her no harm? Hadn’t he already rescued her? What more proof did she need?
Females in this strange place carried suspicion like a healer did her bag of herbs.
But her trust issues weren’t his biggest problem. Erik was. How was he to rescue his friend and keep Parker safe?
And get her some clothes. The blue clothing given to her in the healing ward barely covered her thighs and it gaped in back, exposing her nicely shaped bottom.
“I’m not hallucinating, am I?” Parker’s eyes narrowed. “You somehow took me out of the hospital.”
“Transported you. It’s the way we move around.”
“We?”
Jamie shook his head. “I need to find Erik. I need to get you clothes. Unless you can go out wearing that?” He gestured to the blue clothing.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Just take me back to the hospital.”
“I can’t. They found you there.”
“So Grizzly wasn’t a dream.”
“Grizzly?”
“The giant who tried to kidnap me at the bar. The one who took your friend.”
“No dream. He came for you as I predicted.”
“You’re psychic then.”
“Psychic?”
She sighed. “You can see into the future.”
“Oh. Yes. Sometimes.” Not often, but enough to trust what he saw would come to pass. “I need to find Erik, but I cannot leave you alone.”
“Maybe I can help you.”
Jamie blinked, his eyes flaring. A male should never force a female to accompany him. She volunteered, his inner voice offered. But still. It was a male’s duty to protect females from danger.
Although taking her with him would solve his problem. He could find Erik while ensuring she remained safe from Grizzly, as she called the giant.
Or he could be leading her into danger.
“I find people for a living too, you know.”
He caught his mouth before it fell open. “You are allowed to go into danger?”
Her bark of a laugh caught him by surprise. “I’m a police detective. Danger is always there. Maybe that’s why I want to help you find your friend.”
“For the danger?” Females as protectors? What a strange land.
“Because it’s my job. Or was. Well, it will be again. Anyway, it’s probably not the smartest thing to return to my home in case they know where I live. Luckily my clothes and purse traveled with us when you beamed us up, so I have a change of clothes.”
Jamie blinked a couple of times in rapid succession, hoping the movement might translate her words. Beam them up? “Do you mean transport?”
“Whatever you call it.”
“Ah. Are you able to change clothes?” The thought of taking care of her started a strange tingling throughout his body.
“Provided you turn around and don’t watch.”
Jamie scooted around, giving her his back, keeping his hand out to the side so she would have some light. He wanted to turn around, to watch the blue gown drop from Parker’s shoulders, exposing her breasts. Wanted to see the color of her nipples against the nut brown of her skin. Watch as they hardened at his stare. The bag rustled, the strange material crackling as it moved, snapping him out of the fantasy.
What was it about this female that caused him to slip into fantasy-land when he should be focused on other things? Parker was attractive and it had been awhile since he bedded a female. But seeing a comely female was a common occurrence while on a mission. Until now, it had never detracted from his purpose. What was different about Parker?
“Okay, you can turn around. I’m dressed.”
Jamie turned around. Parker sat on the floor, a pale tint hiding underneath the dark hues of her skin. Black trousers framed her long legs, her white shirt had some kind of fastenings down the front and was covered by a blue jacket. Her—what did she call it? Oh, yes, purse—hung strapped across her body underneath the jacket. A sensible style of dressing. Did she wear anything underneath her clothing?
Goddess’s toes, he needed to keep his mind on the mission. “Are you ready?”
“Where are we going?”
“To where Erik is being held.”
“How do you know where he is?”
“It’s what I do.”
“Ah, yes. You mentioned finding people was part of your job. But how do you find them?”
“I don’t know. I just think about it and the location comes to me.”
“Huh. That must be nice.”
“It is good work. Helping people.” And the jewels were an extra bonus. Not that jewels would be found tonight. Unless he counted the female before him. No, no, no. He needed to stop that line of thought and focus on Erik. Not the feel of Parker pressed against him. Definitely not speculations on her underclothes.
Jamie gritted his teeth.
“Where is he?”
“I’ll show you.” So she could help find Erik, not so he could feel her body against his.
Goddess’s toes.
Extinguishing the flame, Jamie pulled her into an embrace and transported them to where Erik’s essence flickered.
Chapter Six
This time the pain of transporting faded as soon as Parker’s feet touched the ground. What a great way to move around. And yet, doubts about reality crept into her thoughts. Being with Jamie felt real. The scents, the sounds, the sights, all as she would expect. The transporting thing? Not so much.
A sharp realization stole her breath. If she believed Jamie, if she believed what her eyes showed her, what her body felt while transporting, then she wasn’t hallucinating. But how could that be? Who on earth had the ability to shift places? To beam from one spot to the next with a thought?
Parker shuddered. Evidence existed. She might not like the direction it pointed in, but evidence proving a new reality existed. Yet it did not fit into how her world worked. Not at all. And yet. And yet. Her brain tripped over the obvious. Tripped down a path into a realm of impossibilities. She never thought to see the day where she preferred vivid hallucinations over evidence.
“You are not hallucina
ting.” Jamie’s voice cut through her thoughts, snapping her back to the present.
She must have spoken aloud. Or he read minds. Yeah, right. But she wanted to believe him, even if it meant a rewrite of physics and every natural law she knew. She wanted to believe he spoke true and his too-hot-for-words self had nothing to do with her desire.
Okay, not much to do with it. Parker believed that look in his eyes. The one that spoke volumes about the truth behind his words. The one she learned as a detective to look for when interviewing a suspect. The one that had never failed her in the past.
Reality as she knew it just needed a reboot. “What do you expect? Until I met you I never realized transporting existed outside of movies.”
He grunted, releasing his arms from her waist, leaving her body longing for his touch. Oh great. More evidence for the aphrodisiac in the drug scenario. She swayed, her legs unsteady after the paralyzing agent, unwilling to perform their duty.
Jamie caught her, one arm wrapping around her waist, satisfying her longing. “Do you need to sit?”
“Probably.” Sissy.
He lowered her to the ground, then stood, turning in a small circle as if trying to discern where they landed.
Wind laced with the scent of rain blew against her face. The hulking dark shapes of the mountains rose in the west, lights from a highway snaked nearby, the hum of cars interspersed with chirping insects. The loud roar of a plane had Jamie ducking, arms over his head.
“It’s just a plane. Nothing to worry about.”
Parker turned, scooted around on her butt, her attention caught by runway lights several hundred yards from their location. No way. Jamie transported them to DIA?
Denver International Airport sat to the northeast of the city, surrounded by a lot of nothing, the city creeping closer each year. Why would the kidnappers bring Erik here? If they wanted to fly him someplace else, a smaller airport would better serve the purpose. Easier to hide a victim than trying to drag him through security.
Unless they hid him in the tunnels?
Parker snorted. The tunnels conspiracy theorists believed held aliens and other secret government work, the new Area 51 right smack in the middle of Colorado. Some people would believe anything.
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