by Denise Lynn
Alexia nearly choked on the answer. The only way to discover if it had been a dream or an act of insanity was to do the unthinkable—go and find Braeden.
The thought made her stomach roll and head pound even harder, but it wasn’t as if she could hide from him forever.
Quickly stepping out of the shower, Alexia dried off, dressed and got ready to leave the bedroom. She paused at the door and wondered how she was going to explain her actions if she discovered it hadn’t all been a dream.
Braeden stepped out of the elevator. Picking up his pace, he passed his office and headed for his brother’s. He’d managed to dress and leave the suite before Alexia awoke.
He hoped she would sleep late so he could get some work done uninterrupted. He entered Cam’s office without knocking, then barreled right into the topic he’d unintentionally put off yesterday—candidates for the security-chief position. “How many choices do we have?”
“As many as you want.” Cameron swiveled his chair away from the laptop to look at Braeden across the desk. “What’s Alexia doing here?” His eyes locked on Braeden’s face. “Who were you fighting with?”
“Nobody, it’s just a scratch.” Leave it to Cam not to beat around the bush. “She needed a place to stay.” Braeden dropped into a chair. “I’d like to have at least three choices to start with.”
“Scratch?” Cam shook his head in apparent disbelief. “From what? A mountain lion?” With a quick push, Cam slid three folders across the desk. “Here, start with these. Is she back for good?”
“No. Just a couple of days.” Braeden reached for the folders, only to have them moved beyond his fingers by an unfurling, gnarled branch of the dragon tree on the corner of Cam’s desk.
Braeden hated that damn miniature tree—almost as much as the aberration apparently hated him. He stared at his brother. “Move it, or I’ll kill it.”
“That’s brave of you.” Cameron rolled his eyes before moving the ancient pun-sai tree out of reach to the credenza behind him. “You act as if it’s some beast out to do you harm.”
“A tree that moves at will is a beast.” Braeden snagged the folders and leafed through the top two, dismissing them with little more than a glance. “Not enough experience.” It was too bad he couldn’t deal with Alexia in the same manner—just run through her résumé without any preconceived notions or feelings.
Cameron slid two more folders toward him. “Any idea why someone would blow up her town house?”
“Other than to send her running here? No idea.” Braeden set one folder aside as a possible interview candidate.
“Should I avoid Danielle for a while?”
“That’s up to you.” He ignored Cam’s snicker and slid one folder back across the desk, adding the other one to the “possible” pile.
“These last two are it.” Cam handed the final two folders to him, asking, “So where’s Alexia now?”
“Sleeping.”
Cameron leaned back in his chair. “In your suite?”
Braeden ignored the question. It was none of his business.
At Cam’s soft laugh, he looked up from the folder he held. “What?”
Cam tilted back his chair. “I wonder if you’ll answer my next question.”
“Which is?” He hated it when Cam played these little games. Occasionally, instead of just saying or asking what was on his mind, Cam liked to drag it out. Thankfully, it didn’t happen too often.
“What do you intend to do about your marriage?”
“Nothing.”
“Yeah, right.”
Braeden frowned. He didn’t want or need his twin’s interference. “I’m not going to argue with you about this.”
“I have no intention of arguing with you about it.” Cameron shrugged. “I just want you to get your head out of your ass and fix your marriage like you should have done years ago.”
Only his twin could get away with saying something that blunt. Anyone else would have had to call 9-1-1 after picking themselves up off the floor. But he and Cam had been together literally from the moment of conception. Only a few minutes separated the heir from the spare.
Still, having shared a womb didn’t lessen the impact of Cam’s brutal bluntness. “Why don’t you keep your mouth shut and let me worry about Alexia and my marriage?”
Instead of taking offense or hounding him further, Cameron tapped the top folder. “I think we should call this guy in.”
“Then call him in. We need to get security personnel in here as quickly as possible.”
“Why? What’s up?”
“Dani thinks Nathan might be involved.” Braeden wasn’t certain. Obviously someone had put a spell on Alexia last night, but he didn’t know if it was Nathan.
Cam leaned back in his chair and whistled. “Nathan the Learned?”
“Yes.”
“And you think some mortal security guard with a gun will keep him at bay?”
Braeden rolled his eyes. “Of course not. But the security force will be able to handle the normal day-to-day details while we figure out what to do about Nathan.”
Cameron didn’t look as if he agreed, but he said, “It’s worth a shot, I guess. I’ll bring this guy in.”
“Good.” Braeden rose. “I’ll be in my office if anything comes up.”
Since it was already after nine, Alexia wasn’t surprised to discover that Braeden had already left the suite. So she headed down to the offices.
She stopped before his slightly open door to knock. Voices raised in anger made her pause.
“I told you she was nothing but trouble.”
Alexia shook her head. Of course Danielle Drake would say that.
“I doubt if she even knows what happened last night.”
Alexia swallowed her groan. Great, it hadn’t been just a dream.
“And I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d instigated it herself.”
Alexia blinked at Danielle’s assumption. Even if she did have any powers, she wouldn’t have used them to seduce a man who had the ability to crush her heart.
“No. Alexia wouldn’t go that far. Besides, she doesn’t have the ability.”
She frowned. This wasn’t the first time since arriving at the Lair that Braeden had defended her to his aunt. While she appreciated his effort, she wasn’t a child anymore. She could defend herself against Danielle.
Alexia rapped on the door before pushing it open further. When both Braeden and Danielle turned to stare at her, she shrugged. “The door was open.”
“Eavesdropping?”
“No, Danielle, though I’m sure a deaf person would have heard you.”
Braeden sat on the edge of his desk. “How are you feeling?”
She turned her attention to him and gasped at the gouges on his face. She’d envisioned scratches. But the marks on his cheek were a bit worse than simple scratches. He looked as if he’d fought with a tiger and lost. “Miserable.” Especially now that she’d seen him.
Danielle smirked at Braeden. “See, she knows what happened. She probably planned it.”
Alexia kept her gaze locked on Braeden. “Discussing last night?” The thought that he would discuss her with his aunt made her skin crawl.
“No.” He nodded toward a chair. “You better sit down.”
Instead, she headed over to the small bar. “Coffee?” she asked.
“Help yourself.”
Once she’d poured a cup, she took a seat. “What’s going on?”
“So you do remember last night?”
“Unfortunately, yes, but just bits and pieces.” She paused, then tried to explain. “I don’t know what came over me. Most of it’s like a foggy bad dream.”
“A spell gone wrong.”
He’d said it as if he was talking about a lightbulb going out, as if it was a common occurrence. But a conversation about spells was far from common for her. Afraid she’d spill the hot coffee, she held it away from her lap and asked, “Beg your pardon?”
“You were under the influence of
someone’s spell. Either the being doing the casting did something wrong, or something inside you fought against it.”
“I acted insane.”
Braeden ignored Danielle’s snort, saying, “That’s what happens.”
After taking a long swallow of the coffee, she sighed. “I really didn’t come here to bring you trouble.”
Braeden didn’t acknowledge her statement, but said, “We just have to work on making sure nobody can do that again.”
“Do you think it was this Nathan?”
“No clue.” He shrugged. “At first I wasn’t certain it was a who.”
Alexia took a breath. She’d been sure that the voice she’d heard in her head had been much more than human. No mere human could possess the amount of evil she’d felt from his presence. Even though she didn’t want to, she forced herself to ask, “If not a who, then what did you think it might have been?”
“This is why you could never be a true Drake.” Danielle’s hard glare pierced her. “You’re far too single-minded in your belief that only humans walk this earth.”
“Actually, I was very aware that the thing I heard in my head was more than human. Just as I knew Braeden wasn’t a normal human when we got married.” Alexia couldn’t resist adding, “I never was too sure about you, though.”
The floor beneath their feet shook momentarily, cutting off their verbal sparring before it went any further. Danielle narrowed her eyes, but closed her mouth.
Alexia whistled softly. Not one item had fallen off a shelf. No picture vibrated out of place. Her coffee hadn’t sloshed and nothing on his desk had even quivered. Her husband had obviously refined his powers.
Braeden crossed his arms over his chest and asked, “Are you ladies done?”
He didn’t appear angry, so Alexia said, “This spell caster wouldn’t have been—” she hesitated, but couldn’t help glancing at his aunt “—anyone here?”
“No.” Danielle answered. “I wouldn’t have botched a spell that badly.”
It was nice that Danielle Drake thought so highly of herself.
Watch your sarcasm, Ms. Reve. Danielle’s thoughts rasped against Alexia’s mind.
Alexia set her cup on the desk and rose. She looked pointedly at Danielle. “I’m only going to say this once. Stay out of my head. Do you hear me?”
“Is that a threat?”
“Take it any way you want. I’m not putting up with your games this time.”
Braeden swore before physically coming between her and his aunt. Alexia waited for him to berate her for talking to his aunt that way. But to her surprise he looked at Danielle. “Leave her alone.”
Danielle gasped as if she’d been deeply insulted. “She brings us nothing but trouble and you defend her?”
Instead of going into any detailed explanation, Braeden simply said, “I’ll deal with her myself—later. Right now I’m telling you to back off. Like it not, she’s still my wife.”
Alexia nearly fell back onto her chair. To cover the lack of grace, she picked up her cup and finished off the coffee.
“She’s dangerous, Braeden, don’t you see that?”
He put a hand on his aunt’s shoulder. “Dani, I can handle this. You have nothing to worry about.”
“You just feel sorry for her because she needs you right now. What about later, Braeden? When she’s back on her feet and no longer needs or wants your help? What then?”
Alexia blinked. Is that what everyone thought? That she was just using Braeden? Granted, she had come here because she had no place else to go, but she hadn’t done so with the idea of using Braeden and then leaving.
She heard Braeden’s sigh. Didn’t Danielle realize that meant he was losing patience?
“You have too many other things to deal with. You shouldn’t have to deal with her and her problems, too.” Danielle’s overprotectiveness set Alexia’s teeth on edge.
“She’s still my wife,” he repeated.
“Fine. Have it your way. I have warned you since the first day you brought her home that her soul was black and dangerous. But you wouldn’t listen then and you aren’t listening now.” Danielle headed toward the door. “Have you considered what’ll happen if she leaves you powerless this time?”
She slammed the door behind her before Braeden could respond.
He ran a hand through his hair and sat down behind his desk. “How are you feeling?”
Alexia tried to dismiss his uninterested tone, but it still stung. “I’ll be fine.”
His frown deepened. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
Whether it should have happened or not, it did. And it had left her humiliated and him bleeding. “How am I going to know if it happens again?”
“It won’t.”
He said it with such forceful confidence that Alexia believed him.
“Either way, under someone’s spell or not, there was no excuse for my actions last night.” She nervously traced a finger around the rim of her coffee cup before adding, “I am sorry, Braeden, and I wish you’d accept my apology.”
“If it’ll make you feel better, I accept.”
His tone was clipped, as if he was unwilling to discuss the incident. Did he think she lied about even this? “You don’t think I had any part in what happened, do you?”
He stared at her as if contemplating his answer. Unable to stand the silence any longer, Alexia leaned forward, prompting, “You said yourself that I have no powers.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. You could easily be working with someone.”
A shudder of disbelief, anger or both rippled down her spine. Before giving it any thought, she replied, “It would take a lot more than magic to get the two of us in bed together.”
Horrified at her own stupidity, Alexia closed her eyes and prayed for the floor beneath her to open up and swallow her. There was nothing like offering Braeden an open invitation to see exactly what it would take.
“Sure about that, are you?”
Fortunately he didn’t elaborate on his response. She hoped that by ignoring it, the subject would be dropped.
Alexia stared mutely into her nearly empty coffee cup. A nerveracking silence filled the space between them. The longer it lasted, the more time Alexia had to think of what might have been.
She needed a diversion before she got lost in memories and dreams that would do nothing except stab at her heart. “I know it’s Sunday. But I’m willing to start working on the Dragonierre’s Manual.”
“Good.” Braeden unlocked a desk drawer. “I don’t think it wise to do this in here. Come tomorrow there’ll be people in and out.” He pulled a leather satchel from the drawer. “There’s a well-equipped office in my suite.”
“Wouldn’t it just be easier if I had a suite of my own? Then I wouldn’t be taking up your office—”
“We’ve already had this discussion. You’re staying put.”
The urge to argue was overwhelming. But she managed to bite her tongue. “Fine. Since you’re better able to protect the manual, your suite will work.”
He closed and locked the drawer before heading toward the door. “The rest of the pages are up there in my private safe.”
“Do you want something to eat before we get started?”
“No.” Alexia’s stomach rolled at the thought. “The coffee was enough.”
She followed him out of the office, down the hall and across the lobby. Her thoughts, which should have been focused on the task ahead, were, instead, riveted on his tight jeans.
Braeden was dressed less than casually by his standards, but the jeans and T-shirt look worked well for him—and better for her.
Did he keep himself so trim, firm and muscular by working out or by magic? And when had his legs gotten so long? He’d always been tall, but for some reason she’d never noticed them quite so vividly before, not even when they’d first married. Why her attention was drawn so acutely to his body now was a mystery she didn’t wish to solve. Alexia resisted the urge to fan her
warming cheeks.
“Alexia?”
She caught herself right before literally running into his chest. When had he stopped and turned around? Hesitantly lifting her gaze to his, she felt her face warm even more.
He lifted one eyebrow.
“I…uh…” She took a breath and gave up. “What?”
His deep laugh rumbled through her like a lingering caress, sending a shiver through her. The fact that he so obviously thought it amusing only embarrassed her more.
“I assume you’ll want to take notes. On the computer or on paper?”
She shook the budding passion from herself. “Actually, both, and a tape recorder if there’s one available.”
“No, but there’s a mic on the computer.”
“That’ll work.”
To her relief the elevator ride up to his suite was uneventful. He opened the door and waved her inside.
The office was through the double doors off the living room. A conference area took up one end of the room. A mahogany desk, credenza and file cabinets were in the other end. About midway down the side wall was a long, narrow worktable.
Alexia slid the pages from the satchel onto the worktable while Braeden retrieved the others from the safe behind his desk.
She stopped. “I need the case from the back seat of my car.” She didn’t want to handle the fragile pages without gloves. The acid and sweat from her hands could damage the parchment.
“I’ll get it.” Braeden paused at the door. “Do you need anything else?”
Without taking her fascinated gaze off the pages, she sat down in the swivel chair before the table and answered, “No, that should do it.”
While most of the words appeared to be gibberish, or some strange code, the drawings were exquisite. There was a drawing of a dragon pendant. The fine detail made it so lifelike that Alexia was drawn to gently touch the winged creature.
She stroked from the beast’s head to its tail and felt the creature stretch beneath her touch. “What the—” She jerked back her hand.
“Bugs.” It had to be bugs. She lifted the page and found nothing underneath.
Certain the impression of movement was because of the intricate detail, she picked up a magnifying glass and leaned over the page.
