“She is a spitfire, isn’t she?” Gordon laughed from behind him. “Maybe I should put her in the ring, too.”
Shane whirled. His fires scorched his throat and he barely repressed a roar. His hand wrapped around Gordon’s throat and he lifted him into the air. Gordon’s eyes widened as Shane slammed him against the wall of the camper.
“It would be damned easy to break your neck right now,” Shane breathed.
Kayla’s hands wrapped around his arm. “Shane, no. You can’t. Listen to me, you need to let him go.
He forced himself to release him and took a step back, panting. Kayla pulled him back several steps and put her arms around him. Her wide eyes darted between him and Gordon as the other dragon slumped against the wall, coughing.
“If you weren’t such a coward,” Shane said, barely able to control himself, “then you’d be in that ring yourself. You’d be fighting instead of making other people fight so that you can feel powerful.”
Gordon rubbed his throat as he straightened. Fury burned in his eyes but a smile twisted his lips. “How soon can you transfer the titles of all your companies over to me?”
He must have heard that wrong. “What?”
“Your companies. I want them. I want your land, too. Everything that you own.”
Shane’s fires swept low as he stared at his enemy. What was that about? Was it just because he had attacked him, or was it… “This was your plan from the start. Pull me in so deep that I was desperate to get out by any means necessary. So that you could take everything I built. And here I thought that this wasn’t about the money for you.”
“Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. Either way, everything you have will be mine.” Gordon’s hand dropped and he smoothed his suit jacket. “You don’t have a choice in the matter. If you don’t fight, I take your mate. If you do fight, eventually you will lose and I will take your mate. But I’d say a few billion dollars is enough to buy your freedom and hers.”
Shane opened his mouth but closed it again. Gordon left the camper without another word. Kayla threw herself into Shane’s arms. She didn’t cry, though, just stood there trembling. Shane stroked her hair, trying to soothe her. But he couldn’t think of anything to say.
We just have to hold on until his clan gets here and takes care of him, he thought. We just have to hold on.
Chapter Fifteen
Kayla
Despite it being a warm night, Kayla wore two baggy sweaters and sweatpants over her jeans. Anything to hide her figure during this… event. Gordon had humiliated her once before and although she was headed straight back into the lion’s den, she wanted to have as much between him and her as possible. She sat hunched in the passenger seat of Shane’s car, shivering despite the sweat beading on her brow.
When he slid into the car, he gave her a startled look. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you. I’m not going to let you go face that monster by yourself.”
Shane’s eyes narrowed at her. “You’re not coming with me.”
She had been expecting that. The way he was acting, she knew that he didn’t think that she would come. He never bothered to ask her. Not that he really needed to. After all, who in their right mind would go ahead with something like this? Who would willingly go to face off with the guy who was advertising her as a prize to a bunch of men who she didn’t know?
“I am coming.” Kayla kept her voice soft. “I’m not going to let you face him alone and I’m not going to be left here, waiting to know what is happening. Watching it and seeing what you go through myself is a far less horrifying prospect than sitting up all night wondering if you are even going to be coming back.”
Shane opened his mouth then closed it again. He shook his head. “If I was braver, I’d tell you to stay. But I’m not. I want you there for my own selfish peace of mind.”
“There’s no point in arguing then, is there?”
“… No. I suppose not.” Shane sighed. “Just… be careful. Okay?”
Kayla nodded and they headed out from camp. She could feel herself shaking from head to foot, and when she glanced at Shane she saw he was shaking, too. His hands clenched the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white. She wanted to kiss them, to reassure him. But what was there to say?
“He’ll be expecting you to have started everything that needs to happen to transfer control of your companies over to him, won’t he?”
The lines in Shane’s face hardened. “Yes. I already have. But it won’t come to that. Once his clan’s representative arrives, we won’t have to deal with him anymore. We’ll be safe.”
And the goons that had orders to kill her if Gordon died? What would they do if they had him arrested by his clan? Scratch that–what would he do? What revenge would he rain down on them? The whole situation was so messed up. There was no way to escape without taking risks. Risks that she wasn’t entirely certain that she could take.
“No matter what, you can’t give your companies to Gordon. A man like that? He’d do terrible, terrible things with your wealth.” Kayla nodded, as though she could actually change things. “You can’t give him anything.”
“If it’s the only way to protect you—”
“It’s about more than me.”
Shane pulled the car off to the side of the road. They were in the middle of the forest between the camp and town, the light from the sun still glowing in the western sky. His hands clenched over the steering wheel as he shook his head.
“Nothing is more important than you, Kayla. Nothing.”
Her heart skipped a beat but she shook her head firmly. As much as she wanted to believe that, it wasn’t true. “The world is. And you have to think about Tyler, too. This isn’t about you and me, otherwise we could just jump on a plane and go live in Barbados.”
Shane cupped her face with his hands. “I love you. I just wanted to say that.”
Kayla leaned in and brushed her mouth against his. “I love you, too.”
He caught her, kissing more deeply. The seatbelts strained against their bodies as they pressed themselves forward, wrapping their arms around one another. A fire lit in Kayla’s belly. She wasn’t sure if it was the desperate situation or if she just wanted to reaffirm her feelings for this beautiful, kind, dedicated man. But before she even knew what she was doing, she had unfastened both her seatbelt and his and was pulling him over her while she fumbled with the lever on the side of the seat to get it to lean back.
“Allow me,” Shane whispered, his hand closing over hers.
Together they pushed the seat back until Kayla was laying in an almost horizontal position. Kayla’s heart swelled with anticipation, beating hard and fast. Thoughts of what was happening outside this small bubble of theirs melted away as she found herself engrossed in her lover’s eyes. Her mate’s eyes. He was so perfect. More than she ever dreamed of. And he loved her.
Shane kissed her, gently at first. As he adjusted himself to be over her, his kisses became harder, more demanding. Hungry wasn’t the word for it. More like starving. Kayla answered his fervor with her own, already rolling her hips upwards to grind against him. Her hands danced over the contours of his chest and abdomen before finally settling down on his pants. She unbuckled his belt and struggled with the zipper as Shane pulled her sweats and jeans down in one motion.
“Want to get fully naked or no?” he whispered.
Kayla moaned, the question suddenly too much for her to answer. As Shane slipped a finger between her legs and focused in on her clit, she arched herself to him.
“I don’t want to wait long enough to get fully undressed,” she told him, finally managing to undo the zipper. She pulled down his jeans, then had to remove his briefs, too. Her pants were sitting at her knees, preventing her from spreading her legs for him. The tightness only helped with Shane’s pleasuring of her, though. Every inch of her felt like it was on fire.
She took him in her hand and began to give back what she was getting. Shane’s eyes
fluttered closed and he thrust his hips forward with a deep groan. Bolts of pleasure shot up through her stomach and spine. They raced through her body and she couldn’t stop herself from whimpering.
“Lift your hips a little.”
Shane was hard in her hands, and she obeyed, eyes shining with eager anticipation. He pushed her knees aside and pressed himself into her entrance. The position was awkward, though, and he wasn’t able to get in more than a couple of inches. Kayla tried to open her legs further but the car and her clothes stopped her.
“It’s not quite working,” she groaned, frustrated.
Shane withdrew. He lifted himself so that she had more room. “Turn over.”
“What?”
“Turn over.” He nodded encouragement at her. Kayla blinked a couple of times but shrugged and did as he asked. She braced herself on the seat using her forearms while Shane wrapped an arm around her waist. This time when he entered, he did so smoothly, making her whole body shudder. He began to move, thrusting deeper inside of her than she had thought possible in this position. The arm around her waist kept her flush against him. That hand slipped around her clit, increasing her pleasure, while his free hand braced himself.
Kayla’s head dropped as he thrust hard. Everything disappeared around her except the heat of his skin against hers, the breath on the back of her neck, the feeling of him inside of her. Her back bowed and short, gasping cries burst from her. She was stretched to fullness, Shane’s grunts in her ears. He nipped at the back of her neck.
“I–love–you!” she ground out between pants.
“Love—too.”
That undid her. Everything exploded, her limbs flopping as pleasured tremors shot through them. Her legs collapsed but Shane held her still, continuing his work. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her face pressed into the fabric of the seat, her neck bent at an awkward angle until her lover lifted her. She felt him climax, heard his great roar in her ears, and then they both fell.
“I love you,” Shane whispered, again and again. “I love you.”
Kayla pressed herself back against him, wanting to be closer to him. Never wanting this connection to break. Her heart was too full to speak, and she didn’t know what she would say even if it wasn’t. Her eyes burned as she considered everything that could happen from here on out.
Don’t think about that, she told herself. They were going to get out of this. Gordon obviously didn’t understand business if he thought that Shane could just hand over his companies to him.
“I won’t let him hurt you.” Shane’s arms wrapped tighter around her. “I won’t let anybody hurt you.”
“I know.” Kayla reached behind herself to wrap her fingers in his hair. And she did know. No matter what happened, she knew that he wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to her.
And if something happened to him?
Right then and there, she decided that if Gordon hurt her mate, she would get a gun. She would paint the walls with Gordon’s blood. Nobody hurt the people she loved and got away with it.
“He is not going to win,” she vowed, her voice thick with emotion. “We won’t let him.”
Either he let them go or he died. Or they died. Kayla pressed her face into Shane’s arm and tried desperately not to cry.
***
“We could run away together,” Shane murmured once they were dressed and on their way again. “Maybe not Barbados. But we could go anywhere. We don’t have to be stuck here. We can just… run away. Find someplace where it can just be you and me and nothing to fear.”
If she had thought that there was an actual possibility of doing that, Kayla would have been tempted. But she knew it was nothing more than a fairy tale. “That’s not you. And it's not me, either. Besides, if we break our principles for each other… then we won’t last.”
It was as simple as that, and they both knew it. Shane held her hand tightly as he drove. Kayla wished she knew what to say or do to ease the heaviness clearly weighing him down but in the end, there was nothing to say. All she could do was just be here with him.
When they arrived at the club, they were escorted to Gordon at once. And sitting beside him, with deep cuts and dark bruises on his face, was Tyler. Kayla gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. He looked like he had been hit by a truck and when Shane stopped dead in the doorway, Tyler turned his face away. In shame?
“I’m sorry, Shane. I’m sorry.”
Shane snarled under his breath. “What’s the—”
“I know about the call you made to my clan,” Gordon interrupted. Smoke curled from his nostrils and fury burned in his eyes. “Or should I say, former clan. I’ve been rejected. I no longer have a clan, and well… you can see how that might make a dragon angry. This fight is now to the death and if either of you refuse, I’ll kill all of you, the human and your mother.”
They had made everything worse. Kayla’s heart pounded as she shook her head. What were they going to do now?
Shane started to growl but stopped. Smoke briefly escaped his mouth but it faded away as well. In a moment, the tense lines of his shoulders disappeared and he actually smiled.
“Very well. You’ve won.”
Gordon raised a brow.
“This is the last fight. You will release Tyler and Kayla after it’s done. And in exchange, you get everything. Every company, bank account, land title, stock. Everything. I never had a clan but being rich makes up for it. Trust me on that one. You’ll have everything you want.”
Gordon narrowed his eyes for a moment before he, too, smiled. “That sounds reasonable to me. Well, I’m glad that we have managed to sort this out. You see, this is why you and I make such good friends. This is the last fight. I’ll even go one further and say that you can choose your opponent since it is a fight to the death. I—”
“You.”
Gordon froze.
Shane’s smile widened. “I want to fight you. Unless you’re too much of a coward.”
Chapter Sixteen
Shane
As soon as Shane realized that Gordon’s usual goons had been replaced, he knew something was up. Instead of the dragons that usually hung around him were humans. Seeing that, Shane had jumped on a desperate hope–that Gordon would accept the challenge as a means of regaining his sense of power. As the other dragon contemplated him and both Tyler and Kayla stared at him as though he was crazy, Shane kept his stance relaxed.
If this worked, then they would be free.
“That is… acceptable.” Gordon smirked as his gaze ran over Shane, lingering on the slight bruises still on his hands.
After all these weeks of being beaten up, Shane’s healing was almost as slow as if he had been human. He was severely weakened, and Gordon knew that.
“To the death,” Gordon murmured, his grin widening until there was a crazed look in his eye. “When you’re dead I’ll throw your body into the ocean and release all the videos. I’ll keep your mate and your brother will head my companies for me. How does that sound?”
Shane shrugged. “If I die.”
“When.”
“Shane, don’t do this,” Kayla breathed. “Shane, if he wins—”
“Your mate has no faith in you,” Gordon laughed. “Now let’s fight.”
Shane turned to Kayla. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a deep kiss to her mouth. As he did so, he tucked his cellphone into her waistband. Every time they came here, Gordon had made certain that his phone was taken. It was a testament to how he was slipping that he hadn’t done it now. Shane’s heart beat shallowly as they headed to the arena.
As soon as he entered, Gordon attacked. His fist flew and Shane was slow in blocking it; the punch landed on his jaw. It spun him around. Gordon kicked his knees out from under him, bringing him down again. Shane grunted in pain but was able to roll to avoid Gordon’s continued attacks. The other dragon had smoke roiling from his mouth and a thrill went down Shane’s spine. His enemy was unhinged with fury–and he could use that
to his advantage.
Gordon charged him and Shane sprang to his feet, and he lightly sidestepped. Gordon moved right past him, though he twisted and tried to attack again. Shane jabbed two stiff fingers into Gordon’s throat, then hooked his foot around Gordon’s ankle and yanked. Gordon fell with a thud. More smoke belched into the air.
Shane danced out of reach as the other dragon rolled and swiped at him. Part of him wanted to bring it down on Gordon, to make him pay for what he had done. To tear him in half. And he knew that given the opportunity, Gordon would kill him.
But killing the other dragon wasn’t going to solve their problems. He had no doubt that the goons would kill his brother and mate if that happened. He needed to discredit Gordon, to break his empire. And, with any luck, Kayla would be able to record this… giving them the evidence they needed to get the law involved.
Shane’s distraction cost him. A streak of fire burst past his ear and he was too slow to avoid it. His clothing caught fire. Burning pain flashed through him. Gordon laughed from where he was, his skin gleaming with scales. Wings sprouted from his back and when he lunged again, his hands ended in deadly-looking claws.
Well. If that was how he wanted to play the game.
Shane charged at him, bringing his fires to the forefront. As they flickered in his mouth, his form changed. His clothing burst from his body as he became a mighty dragon. He spread his wings, catching his balance as he rammed into Gordon. The other dragon clawed at him, teeth gnashing. Scales sprayed into the air. Shane let loose a fireball, which exploded between their faces.
Gordon wheeled back, roaring. When Shane drove his advantage, the other dragon flipped onto his back, then grabbed Shane by the neck and flipped him over, kicking him in the stomach as he did. A long claw sunk deep into his abdomen. A cry of pain burst from Shane’s mouth. He landed hard on his back, one wing crumpled beneath him.
As Gordon made to jump on him, mouth wide open with flames bursting between his teeth, Shane drew in a deep breath. He twisted away from Gordon. A burst of fire came at him and he dropped, using a wing to shield himself. The searing fire rose blisters on the delicate membrane. White-hot pain blinded him. Something long and sharp pierced into his back.
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