What would happened if he lost control of his dragon, even for a moment? she wondered.
“My dragon will never hurt you,” Edriq said softly. “And I won't ever lose control of my dragon. I may allow my dragon some degree of control in battle situations but I am always able to take it back. Always.”
“Okay.” Nora gave a jerky nod. “N-nice to meet you,” she said to the dragon.
The dragon opened its mouth and displayed all its deadly, serrated teeth. She could have sworn it was grinning at her. Then it reared back and breathed a stream of fire at her.
Nora raised her arms instinctively. But the fire didn't hurt her. The translucent blue flame was as incorporeal as the dragon, and only the outline of the fire licked at her.
Nora felt a soothing, comforting warmth spread across her body. All her muscles relaxed and she slowly lowered her arms.
A small cry escaped as she stared at the empty space above Edriq's head. Edriq was sitting calmly opposite her. Alone. Without his dragon. Well, he would never be without his dragon, it was a part of him. But he had hidden it away.
“It's gone,” she squeaked at last. “You're hiding it from me,” she went on accusingly.
“Yes.”
Nora looked down and saw that Edriq's fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles gleamed bone white. Edriq had forced his dragon down by superhuman will and leashed the great beast under his human form.
“The fire,” Nora mused. “It kinda tickles.”
“That was no ordinary dragon fire,” Edriq said tersely.
“I didn't know dragon fire could be ordinary,” Nora muttered.
Edriq glared at her.
“So—what kind of fire was it?” she prompted.
Edriq seemed to hesitate for a beat. “A dragon will breathe fire unto its mate to claim her,” he said at last.
Nora nodded absently. Then she gasped as the full meaning of his words hit her.
“Are you saying...what I think you're saying?” she choked out.
Edriq never took his eyes off her. “My dragon has found its mate,” he said.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Edriq walked up the stairs with Nora but he didn't touch her. She had been jumpy and nervous, stuttering and blushing furiously ever since he told her that his dragon wanted to bathe her in its claiming fire and do all sorts of naughty, delicious, erotic things to her naked body.
Well, not in so many words. But she got the idea.
“Thanks for walking me home,” Nora said, stabbing her key into the lock. “I, um, I have a really early day tomorrow...”
“Rest well. Have a good night, Nora,” Edriq said softly. He wanted her, all of her, but she wasn't ready. She'd had a glimpse into his dark, dangerous world tonight and amazingly, she hadn't freaked out and run away screaming for him to keep the hell away from her. She was one strong lady. But he already knew that.
Edriq knew he shouldn't push his luck but he couldn't leave without taking a part of her with him. Her taste, her scent, the feel of her lips.
He leaned in slowly. When she didn't push him away, he gave her a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth.
Nora's eyes fluttered close and her breath hitched. When her hand moved up his chest to his shoulder, Edriq pulled her in and kissed her again.
Her lips were full and soft, and she tasted so fucking sweet. Hot, exquisite and intoxicating.
Nora's lips parted invitingly as he deepened the kiss. Edriq took his time, teasing and savoring her. He tasted her thoroughly, their tongues tangling as they moved and moaned against each other.
With one arm around her waist, Edriq cupped her breast and thumbed her nipple through her bra. He could feel her erect, pebbled nub pushing against his palm as she arched her back in invitation.
Kissing her hungrily, Edriq kneaded both her heaving breasts and tugged at her aching nipples. Nora whimpered and ground her crotch against him wantonly.
Edriq lifted her up against the wall, so that he could rub the tip of his pulsing erection against her core. Nora wrapped her legs around his hips and let out a soft cry when he ground his rock hard cock against her crotch.
Bending forward, Edriq bit her nipple through her bra and slid his hand into the waistband of her jeans. He found her panties soaked with her sweet, feminine juices and growled.
“Nora,” he gritted out.
She was so wet and so ready. He massaged her swollen clit with his fingers and she climaxed forcefully. Digging her nails into his neck, Nora shuddered and bit down on his shoulder to muffle her scream.
Edriq caressed and kissed her as he let her down slowly. They were still fully clothed and he was hard as a rock, but he wasn't going to do anything that might break or hurt her.
It had been a wild, intense night for her.
If he could give her some comfort and release, he was glad to do it. Even if it meant being tormented by both his dyspeptic dragon and his own aching blue balls for the rest of the night.
“Edriq...” Nora whispered as she slid down against his body. Edriq groaned as he felt her luscious curves pressing up against him.
He was a highly disciplined man, but he was still a man. There was just so much he could take. He wanted her so bad he was going out of his goddamn mind.
Nora looked up and staggered back at the scorching, primal hunger in his eyes. She realized that she was staring into the eyes of a lethal, relentless predator.
With a hand over her thundering heart, she scrambled into her apartment and slammed the door.
One second later, the door opened again. “Good night, Edriq. See ya.”
Wouldn't wanna be ya.
Yup, it was no fun being him right now.
His dragon was throwing a hissy fit, thrashing madly within him. The lusty, fiery beast wanted to claim its mate right now. It couldn't wait to release its fire and seed into that beautiful, luscious female and mark her.
“No,” Edriq ground out. “Not tonight.”
He stalked away before his dragon could burn Nora's door down. He had found his mate. The search was over, but the hunt was still on.
He still had some Damn Slayors to hunt.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Nora jumped out of the ambulance as soon as the vehicle screeched to a halt in front of the large, swanky fitness center. They had gotten a call informing them that someone had collapsed while running on a treadmill at a FabFit gym. FabFit was a chain of fitness centers and it was where the rich and glamorous went to get fit and fabulous.
With quick, practiced moves, Nora and Mario unloaded the gurney and rolled it quickly towards the tinted glass doors of the fitness center.
“Woah, this center is way bigger than the one I go to,” Mario whistled as they hurried through the automatic sliding doors.
“I didn't know you joined a fitness center,” Nora said, arching a brow at him over her shoulder. “You never mentioned it.”
“I just joined. It's my guilty little secret,” Mario said in a stage whisper.
“You break my heart, Mario. I thought there're no secrets between us,” Nora said. “So spill. What else are you keeping from me?”
Mario chuckled happily and flashed a goofy grin. Awww, she could see the hearts and stars in his eyes.
“You proposed to Julia!” Nora gasped and reached over to punch his arm. “How could you not tell me! You! Man, I'm so mad at you. And so happy for you! Congrats, you!”
Mario giggled. The big teddy bear actually giggled. “It's a surprise for Julia. I want to present a FabFit new me to her on our wedding night,” he said patting his paunch.
“I'm sure she loves you just the way you are,” Nora said sternly. “I do.”
“You're the best. And...” Mario cleared his throat. “I wanted to ask you if you'd be my best man, um, woman.”
Nora sucked in a breath but she didn't have time to reply. The receptionist had jumped out from behind the counter as soon as he saw them
. The blond, buff young man was talking nineteen to a dozen as he jogged up to them.
“This way,” the flawlessly coiffed and sculptured receptionist said, hurrying them to a side elevator. “He's on the second floor. That's where the treadmills are. The ground floor is for weight training.”
“I know, I'm a FabFit member,” Mario offered.
The receptionist broke into a dazzling smile that was reserved only for FabFit customers. “Oh, that's lovely. I haven't seen you around though.”
“I go to the gym at the corner of Westpoint Avenue,” Mario replied as they entered the elevator.
“Ah, then you know Sergei. I hope he takes good care of you. He's one of our best personal trainers. But I heard he's having an affair with a customer.”
Nora turned to frown at Mario. They were here to attend to a patient, not chit-chat and gossip about personal trainers. Mario lifted his shoulders in response. What? I didn't start this, he mouthed.
The sleek, glass elevator glided up to the second floor, and Nora followed the chatty receptionist past all the state-of-the-art, futuristic, expensive-looking exercise equipment.
Nora jumped visibly when some of the machines called out salutations and greetings to her as she passed. She did a mental facepalm. Duh, of course there would be motion sensors on those things. Everything had sensors and cameras now. No one even had to lift a finger to press a button nowadays. Machines and devices were all smart enough to obey your voice commands.
But still, the machines weren't smart enough to prevent accidents. Which was why they were here.
Nora wondered briefly if the treadmill had been smart enough to slow to a stop when it detected that the man was no longer running on it. That could have prevented a nasty fall from becoming even nastier.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
As soon as they stepped out of the elevator, Nora saw a small crowd gathered in the middle of the spacious, mirrored room.
“Let the paramedics through,” the receptionist announced. “Come on, let the man breathe, people.”
A red-faced, overweight man who looked like he was in his mid-fifties was sitting on the floor, grunting and grumbling. Someone was supporting him and holding a small cup of water to his lips.
Nora and Mario knelt by the man's side and checked his vital signs. “Can you tell us your name?” Mario asked as he took the man's pulse.
“Omar Faye.”
“Do you remember what happened, Omar?”
“Yeah. One minute I was running on that treadmill over there. The next minute I was on my ass.”
“Did you feel dizzy or breathless before you fell?” Nora asked.
Omar blinked at her, then abruptly smoothed his hand over his stringy, matted hair. “I exercise, I eat right, I'm fitter than most men half my age. I have great stamina, you know,” he added, leaning towards Nora and waggling his brows.
Nora smiled pleasantly. “Do you feel dizzy or breathless now, Omar?”
“No, I'm fit as a fiddle.” Omar puffed out his chest and flexed his biceps.
Mario gave her an amused look and kept his mouth shut.
“We were afraid he'd had a heart attack,” one of the women said. “He just dropped to the floor and I think he hit his head pretty hard. We all heard it. Right?” She looked around the group for confirmation.
“I'm fine,” Omar snapped and tried to get up but Nora stopped him.
“All your vital signs are fine, Omar,” Nora said, putting away her thermometer and stethoscope. “But to be on the safe side, we'll bring you in for a checkup.”
Omar Faye beamed at her. “Oh. I'm happy to go to the hospital, as long as the nurses there are as pretty as you.”
“I can assure you that the nurses at the hospital are way prettier than me,” Nora answered without missing a beat. “Now, let's get you on that gurney and we'll be on our way.”
As they were rolling the gurney into the elevator, she heard the receptionist gasp. “Mr Haeken!”
Nora looked up. It was her turn to gasp.
Edriq was walking towards them, his eyes sweeping across the room and taking in every single detail.
Nora saw that even though his glance seemed cursory, he remembered every face he saw and took in the situation at once.
“Mr Faye,” he said, striding up to them. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, thank you. I'm just going for a ride in the ambulance with this sexy paramedic,” Omar said, winking at Nora.
“I'll accompany you,” Edriq said to Omar. “I'll inform your family and get the paperwork done at the hospital.”
“I don't think...” Nora began.
“I'm the Managing Director of FabFit. Our customers' safety is our priority,” Edriq said.
“You're the what?” Nora sputtered.
Mario shot her a look and nudged her. “He's the big boss here,” he whispered.
Nora chuffed out a breath and elbowed Edriq unceremoniously out of the way.
“You can't ride in the ambulance, Mr Haeken,” she said pointedly.
“I'll follow you in my car,” Edriq answered, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. “Don't worry, Mr Faye, you're in good hands.”
Omar chortled and called out gleefully, “I'd love to have her hands all over me!”
As the elevator door closed, Nora heard a low, warning growl from Edriq.
Nora turned when Mario poked her in the shoulder.
“What?” she snapped.
Mario grinned. “So spill. What else are you keeping from me?”
“Nothing!”
As they rolled Omar towards the ambulance, Mario chanted under his breath, “Nora and Edriq sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G...”
“I just met the guy, really!” Nora threw up her hands in exasperation.
“I don't believe ya!” Mario stuck out his tongue at her and sang all the way to the hospital, “First comes love, then comes...”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Edriq tailgated the ambulance, zooming past red lights together with the ambulance. Traffic rules didn't apply to emergency vehicles when they had the siren on, and Edriq had no intention of letting the ambulance out of his sight.
He stuck closely to the speeding ambulance, too aware that Nora was in there with another male who was shamelessly showering her with all sorts of flattering and flirtatious remarks.
Omar Faye was an incorrigible flirt. He was a valued customer of FabFit but Edriq had seen the guy hitting on almost every lady in the gym. He was largely harmless and the ladies found him more amusing than annoying.
Edriq knew he could have sent one of his administrative staff to accompany Omar to the hospital. They had insurance, so even if Omar sued the company, they would be covered. But Edriq wasn't doing this for Omar or the company.
He was doing this for...himself.
His dragon pounded him on the back to egg him on. At last, his dragon cheered. Go get her!
This was the first time he was throwing everything aside and putting himself first. His wants, his needs, his...mate.
For him, duty came first. Duty to his king, his people, his job.
Edriq scowled when his phone rang shrilly. He snapped on the earpiece and snarled, “Yes.”
“Where are you, man?” Zul asked. “I called your office...”
“I'm on my way to the hospital,” Edriq said tersely.
“Ah, I heard. But the guy just fell on his ass, right? Nothing major.”
Edriq grunted. Zul already knew the situation. He'd probably learned everything from their very chatty receptionist. Edriq drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. There was another reason his busybody brother was calling. He could already guess what that was, and he considered hanging up before Zul could start his prolonged and painful interrogation.
But that wouldn't deter Zul. One way or other, he would wheedle the truth out of Edriq.
“My staff saw you at a Blazing Beans outlet last night,” Zu
l said and lowered his voice to a dramatic whisper. “Who is she?”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Aww, don't be like that. She's a special someone, ain't she? Everyone saw how you looked at her.”
Edriq groaned. Zul had a very good relationship with all his staff, and he always visited every outlet and gathered feedback from his staff and customers. It seemed that feedback wasn't the only thing Zul gathered. He gathered a fair amount of gossip as well.
“How long have you been seeing her? What's her name? Are you going to bring her home to meet the family?” Zul asked eagerly.
The interrogation had begun.
“Zul, dammit!” Edriq swore and stomped on the brakes just in time as the ambulance slowed down suddenly.
“Tsk, tsk. You don't have to yell at me. Everyone's looking forward to meeting your lady friend. Mrs Vomae said she'll whip up her special dessert...”
“Mrs Vomae!” Edriq spluttered. “You told Mrs Vomae?”
“Yeah,” Zul deadpanned. “Mmm, I might have mentioned it to Rohan. And you know he never keeps anything from Amelia, so Amelia knows too. And Amelia and Tessa talk about everything, so...”
“So the whole family knows,” Edriq finished with a long sigh.
“Uh-huh. Five o'clock,” Zul said cheerfully. “Dinner.”
“What!”
“We're all coming home early. Dinner will be at five, or maybe five-thirty, so we can spend more time with your special friend.” Before Edriq could say anything, Zul went on happily, “What time does she finish work? Pick her up and come straight home.”
“I don't...”
“Tessa is so excited! She wants to know your friend's name. I think she wants to make her a bookmark or something.”
Edriq closed his eyes briefly. He knew when he was beaten. He could never say no to the little princess. And Zul, that sneaky bastard, knew it.
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