“I can respect that as I feel the same way. You don’t have to send someone today. Let’s say, in a month or two? That gives us each time to prepare our clans and hash out the finer points.” Finn leaned forward. “I can promise you no harm will come to your clan members as long as no harm comes to mine.”
Bram nodded. “I can promise that too, but with one caveat—if any of your fostered clan members try to undermine the well-being of Stonefire, they will be dealt with accordingly.”
Finn leaned back in his chair. “I could threaten back the same thing, but I think you’re clever enough to expect the same out of me.”
“Right, then that’s the last of the negotiations for today.” Bram stood up. “I’ll see you tonight for dinner at the great hall.”
The Scottish leader stood and amusement glinted in his eye. “Are we going to see your spirited, delectable female tonight too?”
“She will be sitting as far away from you as possible.”
Finn laughed. “No worries, Bram, I’m not about to fight you and throw away these past few hours of boring, tedious negotiations. Life’s too short to live through that twice.”
Bram wondered if Finn had two personalities. One minute he was stern and calculating, and the next he was jolly and teasing. Bram was definitely going to keep him far away from Evie. He could see the two of them flirting back and forth, which made his inner dragon growl.
Shushing his beast, he pushed on. “You can meet my technology security expert tonight at dinner and discuss your requirements then.”
“Why don’t I meet with this individual now?”
He wasn’t about to detail Arabella’s past to Finn and tell him how she still had trouble with one-on-one private meetings with strangers, especially with a stranger who could overpower her. The dragonman was barely an ally. “The dragonwoman is busy until tonight.”
“A female, eh? Well, then that makes everything better.”
Bram was about to warn the other leader to leave Arabella alone when there was a knock on the door. Since the cottage was soundproofed, he moved to the door and opened it. Nikki and Evie stood in front of him.
Before he could say anything, Evie blurted out, “Bram, I really need to talk to you.”
“It’s not quite lunch time, lass.”
The female glanced to Nikki and then back to Bram. “It’s important.”
Given her tone and expression, he believed her.
Bram looked over his shoulder. “Finn, is there anything else that absolutely must be discussed before dinner?”
“No, take care of your clan.” Finn moved to stand next to him and put out a hand. Once Bram shook and dropped it, the Scottish leader looked to Evie and Nikki. “And I look forward to talking with you bonny lasses tonight.”
Both females smiled at the other clan leader and Bram growled. Finn laughed at the sound before saying, “Right, I’m going.” He gave each of the females a smile and was gone.
Since Bram had various clan members keeping an eye on Finn—much as Finn said earlier, trust still needed to be earned—he stepped aside to allow Evie and Nikki into his cottage. Once he shut and locked the door, he said, “So what’s the emergency, Evie?”
The human female unzipped his huge coat surrounding her and then bit her bottom lip. It took everything he had to focus on her words and not her mouth when she released her lip and said, “I think Caitriona Belmont was murdered.”
He looked back up into her eyes. “Come again? Caitriona died in childbirth.”
Nikki took a step forward. “Listen to her, Bram. I think she’s on to something.”
Glancing back at Evie, he said, “Okay, then, explain how you reached that conclusion.”
Standing this close to the lass, he could hear her heartbeat thumping hard inside her chest. Yet level-headed human she was, she took a deep breath and carried on. “Well, part of the reason I was sent here by the DDA was to investigate Caitriona’s death since her autopsy was off.”
He nodded. “Melanie mentioned that to me. Go on.”
“This morning, I decided to pay Dr. Sid a visit.” Bram opened his mouth but she beat him to it. “I know the DDA won’t accept any report I write about Stonefire, but I wanted to find out the truth. Not only for me, but for you as well.”
His dragon decided to speak up. She cares for the clan.
Rather than think about that, he asked, “And what did you find out?”
“I brought a copy of Caitriona’s autopsy results with me and showed them to Dr. Sid. I knew high levels of dragon-shifter hormones in a human’s blood was bad, but I’m not a doctor.”
“Get to the point, lass.”
“Dr. Sid explained how the numbers were far too high. In order for any human to have that level of dragon-shifter hormone in her body, she’d have to be given shots or take medication. I guess much like humans have medications for things like thyroid hormone replacements, the dragon-shifters have something similar for the hormone that controls their ability to shift into a dragon.”
She looked to Nikki. “You fill him in on the rest.”
The young dragonwoman didn’t hesitate. “After Sid looked through the lists of dragon-shifters who needed the hormone, one name stuck out—Neil Westhaven.”
Neil had been the dragon-shifter assigned to the sacrifice, Caitriona. He’d made the poor lass’s life hell, primarily through verbal abuse, until Cait had turned into a depressed recluse. Only because Neil had hidden the female so well from others did Bram miss the human’s suffering.
Bram clenched a fist. “But that bastard was banished long before Cait gave birth.”
Evie stepped in. “That’s true, but Nikki and I did some talking, and we think we came up with an explanation.”
Bloody fantastic. The two of them working together would most definitely cause trouble for him in the future. “And that would be?”
“He must have someone here, still on the clan’s lands, working with him. Nikki thinks it could explain the increase of dragon hunter attacks too.”
Chapter Four
Evie held her breath while she waited for Bram’s response. He had no reason to trust her, but she hoped Nikki’s support would convince him to take the possibility seriously.
The tall, muscled dragonman looked from her to Nikki and back again before he said, “Do you have any proof to back up these claims?”
Nikki moved to talk, but Evie put out a hand to stop the dragonwoman. “No, but my gut says it’s the right thing. Just think about it. How else would the dragon hunters know each and every weak point on your perimeter?”
Bram looked to Nikki and the dragonwoman squared her shoulders. “I didn’t tell her anything that wasn’t clan-wide knowledge. Since she’s going to be your mate, I reckoned it was okay to tell her that sort of information.”
“Fine, okay. Putting that aside, Cait pretty much always stayed in her cottage, and when she wasn’t confined there, she came to me, Melanie, or Sid. None of us would ever have harmed the lass.”
Nikki piped in. “But what about her food? Cait didn’t cook and most of her meals were brought to her.”
Bram shook his head. “Old Mrs. Duncan is seventy-five years old and doesn’t have a traitorous bone in her body. She was loyal to my mother and she’s loyal to me too.”
She racked her brain trying to come up with something else when Nikki added, “Let me talk to Kai about this and see what we can find. He’s loyal to you as well and would never betray you.”
Evie barely resisted hugging her new friend. Nikki may be quite a bit younger than her, but the dragonwoman was worthy of her Protector-in-training status. She would have made a fine DDA inspector.
“Right,” Bram said, “talk to Kai and no one else. We’re also going to keep a close eye on Cait’s son, Murray. While unlikely given that the lad’s already five months old and Neil never tried to take him, the bastard might yet come to retrieve his son. Since the male of the current couple watching him is a Protector, Murray should
be safe for now. As for the rest, once Kai has a plan, tell him to come here and discuss it with me.”
“Yes, sir.” Nikki looked to Evie. “I’ll see you at the great hall tonight.”
Evie had no idea what was happening tonight at the great hall, but she nodded. “Thanks for your help, Nikki.”
The woman grinned and was gone, leaving Evie alone with Bram.
She didn’t think she’d overstepped her boundaries, but given the dragonman’s assessing look, she wondered if she were in for another row.
He took a step toward her, and Evie was suddenly aware of the big, bulky coat she was wearing. In preparation for their possible heated argument, she shucked the jacket. Now she was ready to take the dragonman head on.
Bram nodded at her. “You’ve done well today, Evie.”
She blinked. “Um, thank you?”
A smile tugged at Bram’s lips and she melted a little. “You can handle Skyhunter’s bastard leader down south, you can sway Arabella MacLeod to your side, and even stand up to me, but you don’t know how to handle a compliment. I find that intriguing.”
She frowned. “You try working with temperamental dragon-shifters for years and see how often you get a compliment. Half the time, I was lucky to just do my business without someone yelling how humans were weak, disgusting, or the enemy. Add in the humans who view my job as a waste of the government’s money, and yeah, I’m not well liked.”
Anger flashed in Bram’s eyes and they went to slits before going back again. That signaled his dragon was close to breaking free.
Hoping to prevent that from happening, Evie put a hand on his arm. The instant her fingers touched his warm skin and the hairs of his arm tickled her palm, a flash of heat shot through her body. She’d been right to ditch the jacket.
Stroking his skin with her thumb, his eyes were human again when she said, “But you’re busy and I don’t want to waste time talking about Clan Skyhunter or any of the other rude people I’ve dealt with over the years. What needs to be done to sort out the dragon hunter problem? Is there anything I can do to help?”
Bram tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered on her lobe and she was very aware of the roughness of his fingers against her skin. It took everything she had to focus on his words, especially since his voice was low and extra sexy as he said, “Kai and Nikki will investigate and report to me as soon as they find something. Kai’s the best clan member I have when it comes to rooting out secrets. I would trust him with my life, so I trust him in this too.”
Evie was glad Bram had someone to help him. Of course, a small part of her wanted to be part of his trusted list too. Maybe with time she’d earn a place. Her telling him about Cait’s possible murder was hopefully a step in the right direction.
Bram caressed her earlobe again, and thoughts of her future and place in Stonefire fled her mind. A tall, muscled dragonman was looking at her like he wanted to eat her up. Or, if she were lucky, lick her up.
She shivered. The thought of Bram’s tongue lapping between her legs made her clit pulse and her heart rate kick up. Glancing to Bram’s firm lips, she wanted him to kiss her.
Stop it, Evie. His clan is on the verge of attack with a possible traitor. Right now is not the time to think of the wicked strokes of his tongue against yours.
With incredible effort, she removed her hand from Bram’s arm, but the dragonman grabbed her hand and pressed it back against his skin. She looked up and saw the dragon slits flashing in his eyes again.
The dragonman stroked the skin at her wrist with his thumb as he said, “It’s lunchtime, lass. Trust Kai and Nikki to do their jobs; there’s nothing else that can be done until they’ve done their investigation, especially if we don’t want to alert the whole clan to a possible traitor. After what you’ve just uncovered, you’ve earned an hour of my time. Now, what would you like to do?”
~~~
As Bram stroked Evie’s wrist, her heart rate kicked higher with each pass. He could smell her arousal, and he very much wanted to kiss the living shit out of her.
Before meeting this human, Bram would’ve dove right into his work to see if there was something he’d missed from when Neil had still been part of the clan. He hadn’t lied to Evie; he would trust Kai with this life. But without a mate or a family of his own, work was what had made him happy.
Now, however, all he could think about was Evie’s touch and his dragon’s growling and screaming inside his head. Let the others investigate. Before tonight, claim her. Do not let the Scottish leader steal her away. Make her want only us.
He agreed with his beast, and without thinking, Bram pulled the human flush up against his body. She let out a sound of surprise. “Bram?”
He was clan leader. He should push the female away and put the clan first as he had for the last eight years.
But the combination of his dragon’s need and her soft belly against his cock was too much. For the first time in nearly a decade, he wanted to take something for himself.
Lowering his head, he kissed her.
Her lips were soft and warm, but nowhere near enough to appease either man or beast. Pushing his tongue against her lips, she opened, and he groaned as her taste surrounded his tongue.
His inner dragon hummed. More, take more. Feel her skin. Now.
As Evie met his tongue stroke for stroke, he placed a hand on her upper thigh. The heat of her soft, plump skin seeped through his palm and sent a fresh rush of blood to his cock. Unlike last night, he didn’t stop. Instead, he moved until he reached between her legs.
He barely registered the plain cotton underwear. No, all he noticed was how wet and swollen she was for him.
Testing the waters, he rubbed her clit through the material and Evie moaned into his mouth. Wanting to see the desire in her eyes, he broke the kiss, and yes, the heat in her deep blue eyes made both man and dragon hum.
He rubbed her clit again and murmured, “I know you wanted to talk, but it’s taking everything I have right now not to rip off your underwear and plunge into you. Tell me to stop, and I’ll stop.”
Silently, he begged her to please allow him to keep going.
Evie laid a hand on his chest and stared into his eyes. One second passed, and then another before she replied in a husky voice, “Promise me you’ll talk after, and I’ll let you fuck me. Just once.”
He dragon snarled. “Just once? Why? Do you want to go after the Scottish leader?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Tame the jealousy, dragonman. There’s too much to do for your clan, as well as the fact I refuse to mate a stranger. I want to know something about you, Bram Moore-Llewellyn, because I’m starting to like you.”
Her words placated his dragon. Good human. She likes us. The sex will be good. Hurry. Fuck her. Claim her.
Bram was a hairbreadth from losing control to his dragon. It was almost as if Evie were his true mate. Impossible. Mate-claim frenzies happened with the first kiss and only ended with pregnancy. Since he couldn’t impregnate Evie, the pulsing desires running through his body must be something else.
Pushing aside all of his confusion, Bram gave another swirl around Evie’s clit with his finger and whispered, “I promise to talk later. Now, will you let me fuck you?”
He pressed against her hard little nub and Evie leaned into his chest. She whispered, “Yes, please. My legs are about to give out.”
Bram ripped her underwear and plunged two fingers in her hot, wet pussy. Evie clutched his arm and he whispered, “So wet and hot.” He retreated and thrust his fingers again. “Since I only have the one time, I’m going to make you come hard.”
Evie opened her mouth, but he wasn’t looking for her wit or charm right now. He pressed harder again her clit with his thumb, and she closed her eyes.
Neither man nor beast liked her eyes shut. “Evie, if you want to come, then open your eyes and spread your legs for me.”
His dragon growled, impatient to fuck the human, but as soon as her beautiful
, dark blue eyes met his, the beast’s impatience eased a fraction. When she spread her legs wider, Bram removed his fingers and gave one last order. “Remove your shirt for me, lass. I need to see more of your beautiful skin.”
~~~
How Evie was still standing upright, she didn’t know. Bram’s thick, rough fingers inside her pussy had been wonderful, his attention to her clit even better. Her former human lovers had all seemed oblivious to the little bud’s existence.
But now his fingers were gone, leaving her empty and aching. Part of her wanted to rebel at his order, but she said fuck it. The sooner she could ease the pulse between her legs, the more time she would have to talk with Bram.
And she had plenty to talk with him about.
She reached for the hem of her sweater and slowly tugged it up over her body. Watching Bram’s eyes the entire time, she loved how his eyes flashed between slits and round pupils. The sight only reminded her of how she was finally going to be taken by a dragonman.
But unlike her teenage fantasies with an unnamed dragon-shifter fucking her senseless, this time she already knew what Bram tasted like, and how his wild dragon scent drove her crazy.
As soon as she tugged her sweater over her head and tossed it aside, Bram’s hands were on her sides. The slow, deliberate up and down motion of his hands only made her wetter.
She was close to begging, but she resisted. Giving in would make Bram a little too cocky.
Then his hands covered her small breasts and squeezed, and her brain forgot about everything but his strong, possessive touch.
All too soon, Bram moved his hands behind her and unhooked her bra. As he removed the last shred of material between her breasts and his eyes, his voice was like a whisper against her skin. “So pretty.”
Seducing the Dragon: Part Two Page 3
