“Just be sure to keep my man close. I’m backing off on security at your request. Don’t make me regret that decision.” Drake managed to glare at them both, making Jarrod wonder to which of them he directed his comment.
“Shall we go?” he asked as he held his arm out and gazed down into her strange, amber eyes. Flecks of blue stared back at him. Why hadn’t he noticed that before? He’d noticed she had beautiful eyes, but he’d never realized how unusual they were before.
Daisy took his arm with a smile. “I can’t wait.”
How did she always manage to say just the right thing? She stared up at him with those blue stars in her eyes and he couldn’t help but smile down at her. Just the act of looking at his mate nearly had him at a loss for words. What was the matter with him? He’d endanger her if he couldn’t get a handle on the powerful attraction between them.
His chest constricted as he stared down at her. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay.
More than anything, Jarrod found that he wanted her to want him. He wanted her to want not just Jarrod, the man, but the dragon as well. Was that so much to ask? In all of his years of existence, he’d lived the life of a true gentleman. He didn’t think it so much to ask that he could finally have a lady of his own. He spent his life being of service to others. He’d protected humans and dragons alike from forces and dangers that most couldn’t believe even existed. Was it so much to want a small bit of heaven for himself after living alone for so many years?
“Lead on, my friend.” Daisy leaned into him with a smile. “I’m anxious to see what you have planned.”
So was he. Jarrod hadn’t courted a woman in so long, he was certain to raise her eyebrows a time or two with his mannerisms. The last time he attempted something like this, the woman’s parents sat in the same room, glaring at him as though he intended to ravish their daughter before their eyes.
Having Daisy to himself for the entire night would be both refreshing and nerve wracking. The last thing he needed was to do something that would out him as a dragon.
“Then we should embark on our little adventure, post haste.”
“I just love the way they talk,” Marigold said with a little sigh. “Find a nice English chap for me while you’re out there, will you?”
“Mari! Will you stop that?” Daisy said with a laugh. “I don’t believe you.”
Jarrod winked at her sister. He liked Marigold, though her name didn’t seem to fit Marigold as well as the other girls’ names. April, May and June were equal breaths of fresh air. Tansy, Rose and Daisy were beautiful and bright blooms among the bouquet of Flowers girls. It just seemed as though Marigold should have blonde hair like her twin and she was, somehow, hiding her light beneath the proverbial bushel.
Taking his attention from her sister, and giving it to his mate, he covered her slender fingers with his. “Come, my lady.” He smiled down at her and winked. “Our chariot awaits.”
Chapter Seven
Daisy loved the fact that they only had the one guard following them. By the way it looked, Drake had told him to be discreet. The body guards usually were discreet, but there were usually more of them and no matter how unobtrusive six guys tried to be, they were just too much.
“I don’t see your men anywhere,” she said as she glanced out through the back window.
“You don’t see them, because they aren’t there.” He stared at the rearview mirror for a moment and grinned. “You said you wanted a night alone. I took you at your word and told my men to stay home.”
“I don’t believe it.” Daisy bounced in her seat. “A night out without an entourage is unheard of in Drake’s circles.”
“I can imagine why. He is quite wealthy. I can see where he might think that a criminal could target someone he cares about. A person could get rich if they managed to kidnap one of you girls.”
“You mean if they managed to kidnap April. I don’t see why Drake would care if one of her sisters went missing,” Daisy said with a snort.
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Drake doesn’t care for you,” Jarrod replied as he took his gaze off the road to glance at her briefly. “Even if he cares only because your sister loves you, it would make him a formidable opponent, not to mention put you and the rest of your sisters at risk. That is why he keeps you within arm’s reach.”
“Oh.” Daisy bit her lip with a frown. “I hadn’t thought of that.” She hadn’t put much thought into the reasons Drake did what he did, beyond thinking about how annoying it was for a man who wasn’t related by blood taking over her life and the lives of her sisters.
Her parents, nor any of her seven brothers, had bothered to be so protective of them since the girls became adults. Her parents were gone now, thanks to a spell gone awry…and people wondered why she wanted nothing to do with magic.
“Most people wouldn’t think that a brother-in-law would care for his wife’s sisters. However, Drake is known for his devotion to your sister. That alone puts you all at risk.”
They approached an intersection and, at the last minute, Jarrod cut to the left, making a turn just as the light turned green. They darted around the corner in front of the oncoming traffic that effectively blocked the dragon following behind them.
Jarrod made a series of successive quick turns and lost the escort Drake sent with them. Normally, Daisy would have been ecstatic. However, at that moment, she wasn’t sure it had been the right thing to do. Her sister would worry once she found out that Jarrod had purposefully ditched their escort. Not to mention the fact that Daisy really knew very little about the man next to her. For all she knew, he could be the one who had taken the photographs in the first place.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Really, she was no better than the too-stupid-to-live heroines she griped about in some of the books she read. “Um…where are we going?”
“To dinner,” Jarrod replied with a grin. “Where else?”
“My sister will worry since we ditched Drake’s escort. I should probably tell her I’m okay.”
“You make no sense, woman.” Jarrod laughed and shook his head. “First you want to ditch him, then you tell me you want to tell them where you’re at so they can send another to take his place.”
It didn’t make sense and Daisy knew it. However, she didn’t want April or her other sisters to worry either. She bit her lip and stared out through the window. “It doesn’t make sense, does it? I want the freedom of no escort, but I don’t want them to worry about me either.” Daisy turned to him and sighed. “I’m sorry I don’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t matter to me, Daisy,” he said as he steered into a parking spot in front of the restaurant. “All that matters is that you have a good time with me.” He turned and pinned her with his intense gaze. “I don’t want to blow this date with you. I want another.”
Daisy shivered at the thought. She wanted another date, too, and another and another. She stared into his beautiful blue eyes and smiled. “I’d like that.”
“Shall we go in?” he asked changing the subject. “Wait right there. I’ll be around in a moment.”
Daisy did as he asked. After the last couple of years hanging out with dragons, she’d learned to wait for someone to open her doors. The dragon males got rather testy when a woman took it upon herself to do something as independent as open their own doors.
The door opened and she looked up with a smile. “Thank—”
“Get out of the car, you!” A huge man with a scar over his right eye grabbed her arm and yanked her from the car.
She yelped, trying to scream, but the pain from his wrenching her arm was too great. She could do little more than whimper. She could see Jarrod fighting a man out of the corner of her eye and was immediately impressed. He was fast for a human. Not only did he know karate, but he could fight like nobody’s business.
She tried to pull away from the man holding her. She was anything
but a shrinking violet. The last thing Daisy wanted to do was wait around while Jarrod saved her. She was a modern woman. She could help save herself. She looked up at the two large men on either side of her. Well…she could try.
Her mouth dropped open when Jarrod jumped up into the air with a spinning kick, giving one of the men a booted foot on the side of the head.
Daisy, using the self-defense moves she learned just recently, stomped on one of the men’s foot and kicked him in the crotch. He went down hard, holding himself between the legs. A pain exploded in her head and everything went dark.
Chapter Eight
Jarrod saw the man hit his mate on the side of her beautiful head with his ham-like fist. His vision turned red as she slumped to the ground. Blue iridescent scales shone on his arms as he punched the man in front of him. He wasn’t playing with them anymore. They had harmed his mate and he was pissed.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said with a low growl.
The men turned to him, the color draining from their faces. “You’re not human.” They began to back away, their hands held out in front of them. “Look, man. He said you were human.”
“No. I am not.” Jarrod growled again. “I am the sapphire dragon. Dragon of the air and ice, and you have just harmed my mate.” Cold wind swirled around them as he lost control of his temper. It buffeted them, nearly knocking the men over as they shivered with fear or with the cold. Jarrod didn’t know which and he didn’t care.
Jarrod moved fast, so fast he knew he was little more than a blur to the humans. He took the men down, careful not to permanently harm them. One after another, he slammed his fist into their faces, utilizing his preternatural strength and speed, saving the one who had struck his mate for last. That one would not be so lucky.
With the haze of red still driving him, he punched the man, holding himself back. This man would suffer. After that, he would kill him. No one harmed his mate and lived.
He spared a glance at the others, making certain they were down and wouldn’t leave before Drake and his men could arrive. He would call them in later to interrogate the others. They knew who hired them and perhaps Drake and his men could get the information out of the assholes. First, Jarrod would dispatch the piece of shit before him to hell before he injured another woman.
Taking great pleasure in pummeling the man, Jarrod barely heard it when one of Drake’s men called his name. He grasped his opponent with a growl. No one would take this man from him. The man’s punishment was Jarrod’s alone to mete out.
“How did you find us?”
“Did you think that Drake wouldn’t have at least one man following at a discrete distance? He hasn’t become our leader because he’s stupid, you know.” The dragon grinned. “Besides, each of the girls have tracking devices sewn into their clothing and attached to their jewelry and cell phones.”
At that point, it didn’t matter that Drake had lied to him. He would deal with the other man later. At the moment, Jarrod wanting nothing more than to finish what he’d started with the man in his sights. “Take care of the others and get them out of here. This one is mine. He dared to lay a hand on my mate.”
“We can’t, Jarrod. The others have come to while you’ve been having your fun. They say that the one in your grip is the man with the answers. If you kill him, you destroy all chances of getting any information.”
The red haze wouldn’t leave him. Jarrod needed to kill the man who had dared to touch his mate. His dragon demanded it. Yet…he, the man, was stronger than his dragon. He always had been.
Jarrod growled again. His grip tightening on the man’s neck as he squeezed his eyes shut and took several deep breaths. He pushed his dragon back, even as the beast surged forward again and again, demanding retribution.
The wind carried Daisy’s scent to him and his beast calmed slightly. However, one glance at the man who struck her brought it raging back.
“You must control your dragon, Jarrod.” Drake stood in front of him. His expression said that he knew exactly how Jarrod felt. “A crowd is gathering, so you cannot harm him now. There are humans watching.” Drake had whispered the words, yet Jarrod had heard him as if he’d screamed them. His dragon, too, heard him loud and clear.
It backed off a bit.
“Think of your mate.” Drake stood before him, his gaze meeting his. The other man’s eyes staring deep into Jarrod’s. The reminder of his mate lying unconscious helped to further leash his beast.
He glanced down at the man, the red haze finally gone. He felt nothing but contempt for the man. Yes, his dragon wanted the man roasted, but the human part of him knew the man’s value. Unfortunately, the man was worth more alive than dead…for now.
Taking a deep breath, he released the man, who fell into a heap at his feet, and went to Daisy. Her sister, April, was there holding Daisy’s head in her lap, her fingers tenderly stoking her blonde hair back.
A red welt bloomed on the side of her face where the man struck her, effectively raising his dragon’s hackles once again. “I’ll take her.” He tried not to growl. The last thing he needed was to offend Drake’s mate. If dragons had an alpha, Drake would have been it. However, dragons tended to keep to themselves, each of them having their own gathering of lesser dragons about them. Still, while Drake Delfavaro wasn’t the oldest dragon, he was, by far, the strongest of them all.
“Of course.” April smiled at him as he knelt down and picked his mate up off the ground. “I would suggest you carry her into the restaurant before she regains consciousness. You can tell her how you saved her from your assailants and she needn’t know we were here.” She bit her lip and rested her hand on his forearm. “She’ll come around,” she said with a smile. “We all have. Just give her some time.”
Standing with Daisy held tight in his arms, Jarrod gave the woman a curt nod and made his way to the restaurant door where one of Drake’s men stood with his arms crossed over his wide chest. The man moved aside and held the door open. “Take care of your woman, Jarrod.” He flicked a gaze to the man Jarrod had almost killed. “We will see that your trash gets taken care of.”
That was exactly what he didn’t want. “I’d rather take care of my own garbage. My dragon is insisting on it.”
“You will do what Drake says, as do we all.”
Jarrod closed his eyes and sighed. “Of course.” He stepped through the door into the darker interior of the restaurant. Looking around, he found the hostess and smiled in her general direction. She was a pleasant looking woman, with her dark hair and equally dark power suit. If there was one thing he’d learned over the years, it was that women would do almost anything he wanted if he gave them a smile. It was too bad that he’d learned that interesting tidbit after he’d lost interest in the opposite sex. That is, until Daisy.
“Can we get a table, please?” he asked the woman when she smiled up at him, an invitation in her gaze.
“Of course!” Her smile grew wider. “Just give me a moment to find you a good one.” Turning, she walked away, presumably to find an empty table.
After several hundred years, it was rather annoying to realize the one woman he wanted wouldn’t even give him the time of day if she found out that he was a dragon. It was a sad turn of events.
Daisy stirred in his arms and opened her eyes. “What…what happened?” She lifted her hand to her cheek with a grimace before she stiffened in his arms. “Holy god, you’re carrying me! Put me down before you hurt yourself.”
Chapter Nine
Daisy wriggled in Jarrod’s arms. How could he have just picked her up and held her as though she weighed nothing at all? His neck muscles didn’t even bulge, for crying out loud.
Jarrod bent and lowered his right arm, her legs slowly moving closer to the floor. “You were unconscious. I could hardly leave you lying on the ground outside while I came in to dinner.”
Daisy cradled her sore cheek with a wince. “I suppose that’s true. It’s not as
though Drake would appreciate you leaving me outside by myself either.” She sighed when she thought about how pathetic she probably looked.
The man was amazing! He had fought off their assailants like some sort of super hero and one of the bastards had knocked her out with one punch. Yes, she was a woman, but she’d always thought herself tougher than that. She frowned and thought that one or more could have been dragons which would explain the easy way she’d gone down, but her date wouldn’t have been able to take down a dragon, even with his awesome martial arts tricks.
“What’s the matter?” Jarrod tilted his head and met her gaze.
For one split second, Daisy wished she could read minds. It was amazing how badly she wanted to know what Jarrod thought.
“I was totally useless to you out there.” She turned away, looking for the bathroom. She wanted to see how badly her cheek had swelled. She also wanted to wash her hands. There was no telling what kind of funk those men had all over them. Criminals were usually a grimy lot…weren’t they?
“I wouldn’t say that.” He rested his hand on her arm when she would have put more distance between them. “You kept one of them busy enough.” He grinned at her. “I saw the easy way you took care of that one. It does my heart good to see that someone has taught you to take care of yourself.”
“Yeah,” she said shaking her head with a depreciative laugh. “That training did me a lot of good, didn’t it?” She snorted. “As if.”
“Stop beating yourself up over it, love. There were two of them and one of you. What did you expect to do?” He stared down into her eyes. “I have never believed women to be the weaker sex. Not really. What you all lack in physical strength, you make up for in brains.” He grinned. “Never would I ever think women equal to men. In my experience, you all are far superior and always have been.”
The Sapphire Dragon Page 3
