by Meg Ripley
Lexi picked up on the fourth ring, and she told her Steven would be collecting her within minutes. She paced back and forth for what seemed like an eternity, and fortunately, just fifteen minutes later, Steven arrived with Lexi—and two rolling luggage cases in tow. They each kept one just in case an emergency arose and they had to leave quickly.
She offered a lame excuse, telling Lexi she’d had an altercation on the street and the man had run off with her wallet—with her driver’s license inside. She didn’t want to take any chances with the man now having her address, so the two of them would spend the night at Cade’s.
Lexi had remained suspicious, but she’d accepted Hope’s explanation—at least for now—and flopped on the bed when Cade had shown her to the guestroom.
“What’s going on, Cade,” Hope persisted when they were alone in his bedroom. “I need answers.” She paced back and forth at the foot of his bed. “The only other explanation is that I’ve gone completely insane, but I know I haven’t.”
He sighed heavily. “What you saw was real…you know that, but you shouldn’t. No one has ever lived to tell about it, and if I know Victor—which I do—he’s going to try to make sure that doesn’t change now.”
“Victor? The red dragon—that was him?” She hadn’t even considered the possibility, but it made sense. Victor had been with her just a moment before it appeared. And if she believed Cade was a dragon, then was it such a leap to think there could be more than one?
“Yes.”
“Which means you…” she couldn’t believe she was about to say it, “You were the black dragon.”
He didn’t respond right away, but after a moment, he nodded reluctantly.
“You saved me.”
His head shot up and surprise radiated from him. “How did you…what makes you think…”
“Why wasn’t I just as scared of you as I was of the other dragon? I was—until you looked at me. I knew I should have run, but I couldn’t. You were terrifying…but beautiful.”
She stopped pacing and looked up at him. Her feet compelled her across the room and wouldn’t stop until she stood right in front of him. His eyes—the dragon’s eyes—stared intently at her.
She reached for him, gliding her hand down the side of his face, grazing down his strong arms, across the hard planes of his chest and the rippling muscles of his abdomen. All the while, the dragon’s image remained at the forefront of her mind. She remembered his massive size and black, iridescent scales; his teeth and talons more deadly than any weapon she’d ever seen; his outstretched wings, more majestic than she could have imagined.
“Hope…” he whispered hoarsely.
She could feel the desire that had begun to flow through his veins, but there was something else there, too. Guilt—she’d sensed it the last time arousal had overwhelmed the both of them, but not like this. Now the sensation was clear and crisp.
He touched her and a tidal wave of arousal crashed over her, but a battle waged within him. She could feel something even stronger than him struggling to take control. It wasn’t violent, but powerful.
With shaking hands, he reached for her the shirt she’d donned only moments before, but he was too impatient to lift it over her head, tearing it apart with no effort at all.
He stopped suddenly. At first, she thought he was admiring the view, but that wasn’t it. He was angry and full of guilt, and the two threatened to overwhelm him. The bruises and the slash across her ribs: those were what he saw when he looked at her.
“Cade, it’s okay…” she tried to soothe him as she reached for his hand and moved it toward her, but before she felt him against her skin, he ripped his hand away.
“I can’t…”
“You won’t.” He was trying to tell her he was afraid he’d hurt her. She reached for him again, but this time, his hand wouldn’t budge. He took a step back, and then another, and then without another word, he left the bedroom. She heard the front door close seconds later, and he was gone.
Chapter 8
Cade didn’t head down to the hotel’s main floor; instead, he took the path to the roof. The heavy metal door offered no resistance as he pulled hard and the lock gave way. Already, the dragon had begun to take over. Outside, he let it happen, not that he would have been able to hold it off much longer anyway. He stretched his wings and took off, straight up in the sky, hoping to avoid attention from bystanders on the street below.
He was above the clouds in seconds, and he allowed the wind to guide him for a brief moment. He couldn’t go far. It wasn’t safe to leave her alone, not until Victor was no longer a threat, but he’d needed to escape. The melding of beast and man was too strong and too unfamiliar to him.
Always before, he’d been one or the other, and usually by his own will. Never had his body had the overwhelming desire to shift right there. He’d struggled to control it when he’d taken her against the wall above the reception hall, but it had only grown worse this time. He couldn’t gauge how hard he gripped her when it happened or how deep or violently he thrust inside her. And if he lost control entirely, God only knew what would happen if he shifted right there, sheathed within her walls. The thought sickened him.
He glided around, swerving back the way he’d come. Only seconds had passed since he’d taken flight, but already, he felt too much distance between them, particularly when he didn’t know just how long it would take Victor to find her. Victor had found her scent nearly as intoxicating as he had, which meant it wouldn’t be difficult for him to track her down. He was going to have to find a solution, though in his heart he knew there was only one.
Victor had been with him for a very long time, and he wished it wasn’t so, but he knew what it would come to in the end. He would have to choose: Victor’s life or Hope’s. If he left Victor alive, the man wouldn’t stop until she was dead. His bitter hatred wouldn’t allow it.
But could he kill Victor?
The answer came to him much quicker than he would have expected. Yes, he could. He should have ended Victor’s life centuries ago when his hatred for humankind had turned into a bloodlust, thirsting for any human who might hold any sway over a dragon. The woman had certainly cut Victor deep, handing him over to her village after he’d given her his heart. But if several hundred years hadn’t been enough to satiate his thirst, nothing would ever be enough.
Victor was smart though, more cunning than any other of the dragons he’d met. He’d have to lure him into a carefully constructed trap. Unfortunately, there was only one enticement that would ensure he got caught in it—Hope. Not that he had a choice. Victor would pursue her regardless, no matter how cleverly he tried to hide her from him.
He’d have to take her far away from there, to a place he knew better than any other, to a place he could shift at will as soon as the need arose, the moment Victor flew into his trap. That also meant he’d be with her all the time, day and night. How the hell was he supposed to keep a handle on himself, and keep an eye out for Victor? And when had he become so vested in Hope that, without hesitation, he’d set a trap for his old friend and kill him just to protect her? He had no answer because what came to mind made no sense—the moment he saw her, the first time he touched her, and ultimately, from the moment he first drew breath.
His wings had carried him back to the building below, and he shifted back to his human form the moment he touched down on the roof. He passed quickly through the metal door he’d broken and was at the entrance to his suite a moment later. How he was going to convince her to fly away with him, he didn’t know, but he knew she felt it, too; this inexplicable pull to one another. It’s why she hadn’t resisted when he’d come up behind her on the street, and why she’d relented quickly when he’d insisted on tending to her wound. It’s the reason her eyes had been full of desire just moments ago, even though she’d felt completely rejected by him not long before.
He slipped in silently, not wanting to wake the child who slept in the other room. Hope wasn’t in the
suite’s common area, so he crept through it, down the hall to the bedroom he’d left only moments before. The door was open just like he’d left it and there she was, still in the room, sitting at the edge of the bed with her breasts still bare.
“Why is it so difficult—being with me?” she asked without looking up. She couldn’t see him yet, but she’d known he was there.
“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, stepping into the room and doing his damnedest to keep his eyes off her gorgeous figure. “How did you know I was here?” he asked, trying to keep his mind on anything but her soft and sensual body.
“I don’t know. I just knew, and that’s not all. There’s something else. Like right now, you’ve begun to feel a sigh of relief for some reason, but not fully. And you’re scared, but not for yourself.”
She was right. The moment he’d decided on a plan to deal with Victor, some of the tension he’d felt had been alleviated, but not fully—just like she’d had sensed.
“Tell me more about yourself,” she asked, still not covering up.
He crossed the room to where she sat. “What do you want to know?”
She stood. “Is it…is it painful, you know, when it happens?”
“Well, no. Not really. It’s more like tension and heat in every fiber of my body, and then in a split second, it’s over.”
“That’s good.” Her brow furrowed as he ran his fingers lightly along her arms. “How long have you been this way? I mean, were you born like this?”
“I honestly don’t remember how long ago it happened. I was very young,” he told her as he leaned in to trail along her neck with his lips. “I remember feeling confused and frightened by it, and I remember her face and a voice, but nothing more.”
“Whose face?”
Her fingers had begun to move idly across his body, grazing along his arms, swirling in small circles across his shoulders, tracing along his skin just beneath his shirt’s collar, but it was quickly driving him to distraction.
“The witch,” he said finally. “I don’t remember anything about her but her face and the sound of her voice when she cursed me.”
“That’s terrible. It must be awful to remember so little. But…were you a dragon or a human first? Which one was the curse?”
She surprised him more than anything ever had in his long life. Any human he’d ever known would have assumed the curse had been to be the dragon, not the other way around. In truth, even he had adopted the assumption over the centuries. He traced the outline of her face in awe. “I honestly don’t know.”
“Have you tried to find her? Maybe I could help…or…would you even want that?”
He wouldn’t have guessed she could surprise him more, but she just did. “At first, I wanted her to undo what she’d done. I’ve spent centuries looking for her, but now, I just don’t know.”
“Centuries?” Her fingers stopped their idle movements, though he was beginning to suspect they hadn’t been so idle. The way she’d been moving, it was as if she was mapping out his body, becoming familiar with his planes and ridges, but his answer had stunned her. “How many centuries?”
“At least nine.”
“Oh my God. That means you’re almost a thousand years old!”
“Yes,” he chuckled. “You have to admit I look pretty good for my age.”
A slight noise outside the window caught his attention. It was just the wind and he dismissed it quickly; nevertheless, it had brought him crashing back down to reality. As much as he wanted this moment to continue on endlessly, it couldn’t. He needed to get her out of there and to a place he could protect her.
“Hope, I need you to come away with me.”
“I can’t…Lexi…”
“Who is Lexi? Why was she staying in your apartment?” Of course, the question had crossed his mind earlier, but he’d been more concerned with getting her somewhere he could protect her better.
When she seemed hesitant, every possibility he could imagine flashed through his mind. Hope was obviously too young for the girl to be her daughter, and the two of them looked nothing alike, so it was unlikely that she was her sister.
“She’s a runaway,” Hope blurted out, and then covered her mouth like she hadn’t meant to tell him.
“You’re harboring an underage runaway? You didn’t strike me as the law-breaking type.”
“It’s complicated, Cade. Please, you can’t tell anyone.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? Just like that?”
“Crazy, isn’t it? I don’t understand it either, but I know you. I don’t know all the little details of your life, but somehow I know the kind of woman you are, and if you’re hiding that girl in your apartment, I’m sure you have good reason.”
“I can’t leave her here.”
He hadn’t anticipated another guest where they were going, and he didn’t want anyone else he’d have to keep safe. He wanted all of his attention focused on keeping her from harm. She’d have to keep low-key, but Victor had no idea about Lexi so he wouldn’t be looking for her. “Then I will make sure she’s safe, too. I’ll have Steven bring her to a place where no one will ever find her.”
“But she won’t be with me?”
“You have to trust me, Hope. Victor won’t be looking for her, so the best way to keep her out of harm’s way is to keep her away from us. We have to leave soon. I deterred Victor for the evening, but he’ll be back.”
“But you’re bigger than he is. A lot bigger. You just threw him through the air like he didn’t weigh any more than I do.”
“Size has never meant much to Victor. He feels righteous in his cause and he’s very smart. He’s been around for a long time, almost as long as I have. And he believes you are a threat because of my feelings for you. Nothing is going to stop him from trying.”
“…from trying to kill me?”
“Yes. But I won’t let him succeed, Hope.”
“But where are we going to go? I imagine anywhere you could…fly, he could, too.”
“Yes, and he will. It’s the only option I have.”
“You mean you know he’s going to find us there and…” Understanding dawned in her blue eyes, “Oh.”
“We need to leave, Hope,” he whispered, though he couldn’t help but to run his fingers over the upper swells of her breasts once more, and he moved lower for just a moment, cupping the weight of them in his hands. Damn it, if he didn’t stop, he was going to find himself battling a war inside himself once again, and they didn’t have time for that. “Please, get dressed,” he whispered.
She nodded, recognizing the plea in his tone, and darted toward her suitcase on the bed, pulling the first T-shirt she could find over her head. It did little more than create a semi-opaque layer over the top of her, which only served to make him want to rip the shirt right off, but it would have to do.
“Let’s go,” she told him, wheeling the luggage to the bedroom door. She left the suitcase in the hallway and knocked on the next door over. “Lexi, it’s time,” she called quietly.
He heard movement in the room within seconds and the girl opened her door a moment later, her own rolling suitcase in hand. He already had his cell phone out and Steven on the other end of the line, or else he’d be tempted to ask why the ladies kept themselves ready to flee at a moment’s notice. Instead, he relayed his instructions to Steven while Lexi eyed him warily.
“It’s okay, Lexi. I promise,” Hope told the girl and her expression relaxed.
He hung up the phone and motioned that it was time to go. Once they got downstairs, Steven would be waiting in front of the building. To be safe, he stepped outside first. It would be better if he could shift; his senses were so much keener in dragon form, but this would have to do. There was no sign of Victor, so the three of them hurried to the car. He dropped their luggage in the trunk alongside his own while they slipped into the back seat. He jumped into the front passenger seat a split second before Steven began to drive away.
�
�I need you to bring the girl to the place we spoke about and stay with her until you hear from me,” he told Steven.
“Yes, Sir.”
Not another word was spoken the entire trip to the airport, but as he stepped out of the car, grabbed their luggage and opened the door for Hope, he began to worry. If she didn’t like helicopters, chances were she wasn’t much fonder of airplanes. But she hugged Lexi tightly and then climbed out without hesitation. Throwing him even more for a loop, she started toward the plane with a determined step. She climbed aboard just as easily and her complexion didn’t grow pallid the entire flight. He would have asked her about it, but he wasn’t going to risk reigniting her fear mid-flight.
They touched down on the landing strip of the private island he’d purchased a few decades back. It was only a short walk to the villa and the first phase of his plan was complete. It was dark, still hours before the sun would rise, but Hope seemed restless, too full of nervous energy to sit or lie still inside the villa.
Not a moment after they’d walked out the villa’s front door, she turned to him, “Cade, I was wondering something,” she began hesitantly. “Would you change for me? I want to see you.”
“Are you sure?” He didn’t mind the idea of shifting to dragon form. He trusted his senses far more that way, confident he’d sense Victor coming from miles away.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
It was strange. He’d never shifted in front of a human being before, and yet he nodded his head and the change came as easily as breathing. The familiar tension and heat rippled through his body, preparing itself for the inevitable shift from human to beast. Then it happened, but he fought the ever-present urge to stretch out his wings and fly. He didn’t want to scare her, and so he kept himself as small as he could, keeping his head bowed low and his wings drawn tightly against his massive body.
He looked at her, expecting to see terror, or at least fear in her eyes, but there was none of it. Her eyes looked the same as the night she’d stared out at the ocean, maybe even more replete with wonder now than they’d been then. Without hesitating, she moved toward him, reaching her hand up as she came close. She touched his snout, gliding along the marble-smooth scales. Her hand tremored against him, but she showed no signs of fear.
