by Eliza Gayle
"I am not bound by your rules," Drago roared, a blast of heat filling the room at the same time.
Jami's eyes widened as she tried to understand what had just happened, while absorbing the blast. Mac on the other hand didn't move. Nor did he look surprised.
"Mac, don't you know better than to piss off a dragen in close quarters?"
All three of them spun towards the tall woman who'd entered the room without anyone noticing. Jami immediately recognized her as Rogue, Mac's woman.
"Rogue, stay back," Mac warned.
Drago shook his head and took a step away from Wade. "I will not hurt your mate. That is a worry you do not need to have."
“What the heck is going on?” Rogue asked. “We’ve already escalated to threats? What did you do, Mac?”
Mac walked over to Rogue and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Don’t look at me. I’m the innocent bystander here. He’s the one about to reveal all of our secrets.”
Rogue looked over Mac’s shoulder. First at Drago and then to her. “Hey, Jami. Nice to see you again. These guys giving you trouble?”
Jami snorted. “They're giving me a headache, that’s for sure. Maybe you can make heads or tails of what’s going on. So far they aren’t telling me anything.”
Drago crossed the room to Jami’s side. “I was about to get there. This is not going to be easy information for you to digest, so I need you to have an open mind.”
“And this is where I tried to stop him.”
Rogue laughed. “I can see with the two of you bickering, we aren’t going to get anywhere.” She turned in their direction. “Drago, right?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“Good. Drago, why don’t you let me talk to Jami first. Admittedly, we don’t know each other well. But I’ve been in her shoes and I understand what she’s going to go through as she tries to understand what you want to tell her.”
Jami looked to Drago who, while he had a frown stamped on his face, had begun to nod, apparently agreeing with Rogue’s suggestion.
“Actually,” Jami started. “I’d really rather someone just spit it out. I’m not interested in hearing whatever you all have to say in some manner that implies I need to be handled with kid gloves.”
“We’re not trying to handle you,” Mac said.
“Yes, you are.” Jami crossed over to the window and looked out over the town she was supposed to call home. Part of her definitely wanted to shut them out. Hell, a good part of her wanted to turn tail and run. She could go back home to her sisters. And her mother. Who’d warned her that whatever she sought in Serenity may not make her happy. Sometimes the past became the past for good reason.
“An open mind. Right, Jami?” Drago asked.
“Of course,” she answered without thinking that statement through.
“We aren’t human, Jami. We are different.”
Jami whirled to face Drago. “What?” Had she heard him correctly?
“I’m not human. I am a Dragen and you are my One True Mate. And you are not fully human either.”
“If she is actually a true mate,” Rogue interjected. “Have you asked her about her parents?”
Both men shook their heads.
Rogue rolled her eyes and grabbed for Jami’s hands. “They’ve created quite a mess, huh?”
Jami didn’t know what to say. Her brain had gotten stuck on the not human part and couldn’t get beyond that. “How can I not be human?” she asked. “What else is there? Please tell me you don’t think I’m some sort of alien because I cannot buy into that alien abduction crap right now.”
You knew this was coming.
The voice in Jami’s head struck so loud and clear she nearly staggered from the force of it.
You came to this silly town to find out the truth, right?
Oh God, she had. Those dreams. There weren’t many details she could recall that made much sense, but there had always been a lot of heat and flames. If she were honest with herself, for a while she’d begun to think she was dreaming about being in hell. No, not just in hell. Trapped in hell.
“Jami, did you hear what I said?”
Rogue’s words pulled Jami back to the present. “What?”
“How bad is it?” Rogue asked.
“How bad is what?” What in the world was the woman talking about now?
“The voices. That’s what you’re hearing, right?”
Jami’s head jerked up, her gaze locking onto Rogue’s. Had she said something out loud without realizing it? Shit.
“It’s okay. We’ve all been affected. Some worse than others."
"We?" She didn't like the sound of that. She needed sane and rational right now. Not fantasy land.
"The other One True Mates. We are unique."
"And destined for greatness," Mac interjected.
Jami's mind started to spin. She glanced around the room, beginning to evaluate her chances of escape. These people were crazier than she was.
“Look, I know this is all going to be a little hard to believe, but if you dig deep you'll know the truth. Remember your dreams of late. Those are where the clues lie. That and in your parents. Do you know anything about your biological father?”
She shook her head. “No. Not much about my biological mother either. We were adopted as toddlers when our mother killed herself.”
“We?” Both Mac and Rogue asked in unison, their voices raised.
“My sisters and I. We were born here in Serenity, although I was just a baby then and I have no memory of it here.”
“Is that why you moved here?”
Jami nodded at Rogue. “I haven’t been feeling myself for months now and I had hoped finding my father or his family or even my mother’s might answer some of my medical questions.”
“There is nothing wrong with you,” Drago interjected, interrupting the conversation. “Any questions you have can be answered by your father. He’s the one who did this to you.”
Mac turned sharply towards Drago. “Her father’s fulfillment of our prophecy is going to save us. We owe him everything.”
Drago opened his mouth and roared at Mac and Jami could have sworn she saw shimmers of heat accompanying the angry noise he made.
“Don’t try to pull that dragen shit on me,” Mac muttered. “What are you going to do? Burn your own hotel down just to piss me off? Or are you planning to shift into that tiny fly version of a dragen that is nothing more than a gnat?”
“What the hell are you yammering about?” Drago seethed. “I don’t turn into anything. Especially not a gnat, you hairy shit.”
A low growl emanated from within Mac, and Rogue took it upon herself to step between the two men. “You two arguing is going to get us nowhere.” Then she turned specifically to Drago. “What do you mean you don’t turn into anything. I thought you were a dragen? One of your kind lives here in Serenity and I’ve seen him shift. It’s pretty insane.”
Drago curled his lip. “Whoever he is, he is not my kind. I am the last of my line.”
Mac laughed. “Where have I heard that line before? Oh yeah, from Graeme. Seems all you dragen seem to think you’re the last. Hate to be the one to break it to you, buddy, but it ain’t true.”
Drago lunged forward and grabbed Mac by the throat and flung him across the room like he weighed nothing instead of the probably two hundred pounds of muscles that covered his broad body.
Mac recovered immediately, scrambling to his feet like Drago’s power slam had been nothing.
“Boys, we're getting off track here. This little get together is about Jami, not the two of you and your pissing contest.” She approached Mac and poked her finger into his chest. “I know you know better than to tussle with a dragen who’s just found his mate. He won’t care if this is his hotel, although that’s a cool fact to know, when he accidentally burns it to the ground because he can’t handle the aggression lighting him up right now. All he cares about is protecting her and keeping other males away.”
J
ami turned to Drago, hardly able to believe the words coming out of Rogue’s mouth. “Is that true?”
He shrugged. “I would do anything to protect you.”
“Why? You don’t even know me.”
Drago took one step towards her and she reacted by taking a step back. He stilled. “I know a lot more than you think,” he said quietly, the color of his eyes lightening from the fiery golden glow they’d taken on in his anger.
“Like what?” she asked, curious to see what this gorgeous and confusing man thought about her.
“I know that you are in physical turmoil. It shows in the subtle dark shadows beneath your eyes that comes from not sleeping and in your facial expressions when you think no one is looking. You are weary and confused.” He took another slow step forward. “I know that you are kind and good if not cautious from the way you responded to me barging into your apartment building earlier today. You could have told me to leave and left it at that, but you did not. You wanted to help.” Another step forward. “I know that you were kind to Sondra, no matter what mistakes she might have made in this town. I also know that you are as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside. And you are brave in spite of the fear churning inside you.” With his final step in her direction he was able to lift his arm and sweep some hair from her eyes. I definitely know how you make me feel just being in the same room with you.”
“How is that?” she asked, breathless.
“You make me hungry. Starved actually. I want to be with you. Around you.” He leaned forward until their mouths were a scant inch apart. “But especially inside you.”
Jami held her breath as the heat that had been building inside her all day imploded. Her limbs turned to jelly, but before she could fall to the ground in a useless heap, Drago grabbed her around the waist and pressed her against him, at the same time crashing his mouth down to hers.
Longing so fierce she knew she would never forget it gripped her insides as Drago slid his tongue past her slightly parted lips. The inhuman noises coming from him only fed her need as warmth spread everywhere they touched. Her arms, her chest, her stomach and most importantly between her legs.
She moaned from the sweet, silky sensation of Maxim Drago exploring her like no man ever had with just a kiss. The sweet slide of his tongue against hers shot straight to her core, making her toes curl and her mind falter.
She wanted to be with him too. Her mind bucked, making her push against his chest until she broke free from his mind numbing kiss. Apparently crazy liked crazy. She scrambled to get her footing while twisting in his arms until he finally released her. She gulped deep, searching for the oxygen her brain desperately needed to keep from falling any deeper.
Too much, too fast.
Haha. Whatever. Take him. Be bold.
Jami frowned. The voice in her head was more than a voice. She was a bitch. One that was destined to get her into more trouble than she could handle.
“You probably shouldn’t say things like that,” she said.
He smiled, a wicked look she imagined had a dire effect on any woman he aimed it at. “Why is that? Are you offended if I express my thoughts in plain English?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. Although you are certainly blunt.”
He grabbed her hand and rubbed his thumb back and forth across her skin. “Then I make you uncomfortable.”
She bent her head and looked down at his hand on hers. “A little. Too much is happening too fast. The things you all said—they don’t make sense. And then you’re kissing me. It’s no wonder my head is spinning.”
He lifted her hand and pressed a quick kiss to her fingers. “You are right. I do not know exactly what I expected when I came to this town. I had hoped to finally find my sister and return home with her. I wanted to take her back to Russia with me. Obviously, we had lost touch, but I had no idea she had gotten this mixed up.”
The reminder of Drago’s original reason for banging down her door this afternoon caused a fresh wave of grief to wash over her. Not only for the client she’d lost, but for this man who clearly cared for the sister he’d lost.
“She was an adult, Drago. You're not responsible for any bad choices she made in her life.”
He shook his head. “I should have been more aggressive in my search. It is not like I cannot afford to hire more than one person to look. I could have had a team looking for her."
"That's not fair. You're not responsible for her."
He looked up, his features harder than before. "You are wrong. I am the only one responsible for her. Her parents died in a tragic plane crash a few years ago. That left her with no one but me. Only I was not there for her."
Jami drew her brows together. "They were your parents too. You had to handle your grief in your way. As did she."
He shook his head, blowing out a breath. "No, my little OTM. They were not exactly my parents. I am much older than Sondra. Older than her parents were when they died."
Now she really didn't understand. Was he trying to say that Sondra was his—she shook her head. Nope that idea had ridiculous written all over it.
"You're not making any sense, Drago. How could you be older than her parents if she was your sister?"
"We were never a traditional family, Jami Raye. Sondra's parents were very distant relatives of mine. They were related to my mother a long long time ago. They had reached an age where they had to learn the truth about me, but that did not mean they liked it. However, in Russia, family is extremely protective of family. Whether we like them or not. Sometimes more so if we don't like them. So they kept my secrets. Generation by generation my true self remained safely hidden behind the Drago family name. It is why the shiften here in Serenity did not know I existed until I came here."
Fear began to creep back into Jami's mind. For a moment his kiss had made her forget the nonsense all of them had thrown at her. Now, it was happening again. She glanced around the room. Only now, she and Drago were alone.
"Where did Mac and Rogue go?" she asked.
“They are smart and know we needed some privacy.” He looked toward the door and breathed deep. “However, they have not gone far. I can call them back inside if you wish.”
She stared into his dark eyes, looking for some sign of deceit or craziness and came up with very little. Either he hid his emotions exceptionally well or he was being honest with her. Not that she was totally stupid about that. There were degrees of honesty and it all depended on your belief system.
Still. If they were all equally crazy, having more of them in the room would not settle her nerves. “I’m fine.”
He looked skeptical as one of his eyebrows raised. “What would make you feel better?”
That was a loaded question if ever she heard one.
Tell him what you want.
How could she do that when she didn’t even know what she wanted? Not really.
Yes, you do.
Jami heaved a sigh and turned away from Drago. She liked the view from his room. With the sun almost set, the sky had varying shades of deep purple and indigo painted across the horizon. So much about Serenity appealed to her, but it also felt off for her. Not quite home. Maybe she was homesick for Texas. Or maybe there was something else her subconscious was trying to tell her.
She rubbed her cheeks with both hands. All she knew for certain was how tired she felt right now. “When I moved to Serenity, I came here to find something I couldn’t even name.” She spoke while continuing to watch the sun disappear for the night. Soon the vibrant colors would fade and the night she always dreaded would return. “I just knew I couldn’t stay in Texas any longer until I figured out what this was.”
“I do not think you should be afraid anymore, Jami. I can protect you. Besides the considerable resources I have at my disposal, there is the matter of the dragen. Although he is a little volatile.”
She turned back to Drago. “How am I supposed to take you seriously when you say stuff like that? I’m already s
truggling with a slippery slope of my own. I don't need this kind of fantasy added to the mix. Is this dragen supposed to be a metaphor for something? Is it a cultural thing?”
Drago sighed. “You have no idea how much I wish that were the case sometimes. Being different is one thing. But living as long as I have lived and having watched everyone I know eventually die off doesn’t make life easy.”
“See. That’s what I mean. You seem perfectly sane every time you speak, but sometimes the words coming out of your mouth are pure insanity.”
He stepped toward her and this time she didn’t move. There was nowhere to go. With the window behind her and Drago blocking the door, she had no choice but to face him head on.
“I am not crazy and neither are you. I was born of a human female and male dragen and you were born of a human female and a male angel. I have dragen blood and you have angel blood and according to shiften prophecy, we are destined for each other.”
Jami blinked rapidly against the now spinning room as Drago’s face began to blur. No. No. No. This could not be happening….
Chapter Eight
Drago watched the blood drain from Jami’s face as she turned white as his hotel sheets. Her pulse rate skyrocketed as well.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “It’s okay, baby. I know how ridiculous this must all sound. Just listen to the sound of my voice and feel my heat and you will understand the truth. I would never lie to you.”
Taking a deep, slow breath he pushed the heat building inside him toward her. Not enough to hurt. No, he would never do that. He held tightly to the control he needed to not let things go too far. It was the only skill he couldn’t master to one hundred percent.
“Ohhh,” she moaned. “You are warm. That alone makes me want to curl up with you and never let go. I am always so cold.”
“You never have to be cold again. Not with a dragen by your side.”
She sighed. “I still can’t wrap my head around what you're claiming. Can you show me?”
He shook his head. “Nyet. It would be far too dangerous for me to even try. For one, we are indoors and I would need far more space.
