“You’re in no position to speak ill of the Guild or to make threats, you sodding tallywhacker,” Aegis snarled. “You’re fortunate that I don’t tear your heart out—such as it is—and serve it to a stray squirrel as a snack.”
“Wait just a minute, here,” the woman interjected. “Dragons? Humans? Is this some kind of gang warfare? Someone explain what’s going on!” Her voice was tight with pain and confusion. In his rage Aegis had all but forgotten that she was still standing next to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her going pale, no doubt feeling faint with the abundance of bizarre information being thrown her way.
“You’re safe, but you should move back,” Aegis told her. “I’ve got him. He’s not going anywhere.”
Ashlyn obeyed. Backing away, she watched the two men interact as she tried to inhale properly. When she was a few feet away, she leaned against the opposite wall to catch her breath.
“This man would have killed you,” Aegis told her calmly, trying to settle her mind with the tone of his voice, even as he jammed a fist hard into the man’s chest. “He would have used you first to get what he wanted, and then he would’ve taken you out. Most likely in a very bloody and painful manner.” He turned to face the woman, looking her in the eye before the knife in her hand caught his attention. “Where did you get that blade?” he asked.
She looked at the knife, then back at him. “I…”
Aegis’s expression softened. “It doesn’t matter just now; you can tell me later. Listen, what do you want to do with him?” he asked.
The woman’s eyes moved back and forth between the two men as she held the blade up in front of her. Trying, no doubt, to figure out which one she could trust, if either. “You smell less like a psychotic person than he does,” she said, turning towards Aegis. “So I’ll pretend you’re Mr. Nice Guy for now. But I’m not a killer, if that’s what you’re asking.” She dropped the knife to her side. “If he promises to leave me alone, he can go.”
“He’ll never leave you alone,” Aegis said, “whatever he may tell you in order to save his pasty hide.”
“Yes, I will,” the Forsaken said, patting his chest as though to make sure it was still intact. “I assure you that I will. Just, please set me free before they discover that I've failed.”
Aegis leaned forward. The half-breed was tall, but the Dragon shifter made him seem shrunken and emaciated, the kind of guy who might weigh ninety pounds wet.
“I’m going to let you go, then, because it’s what she wants,” he said, nodding towards the young woman whose name he still didn’t know. “But I suggest that you find your boss—whoever he is—and tell him that you failed in your task tonight. I suspect that you won’t last the night if you don't. Of course, it sounds like he’ll kill you either way. Frankly, I don't give a fuck. But if you come near her again, or if I see you again, I’ll kill you with all the flame my Dragon can muster.”
Aegis stepped back, pulling his fist away from the man’s chest. The Forsaken slipped by him, narrowly avoiding contact with the larger man whose shoulders seemed almost too wide to pass through the narrow chasm between the buildings. As soon as he’d made his way by the Dragon shifter he broke into a blurred run, disappearing within the span of a second. Well, he hadn't lost his speed. Only his arrogance, his courage, and in all likelihood he would soon lose his life.
Aegis turned back to the woman, a grimace marring his features. “He’s a goddamned traitor and a parasite. I would not have let him live, not normally,” he told her softly. “I only did it for you.”
Getting to Know…
“Who are you?” Ashlyn asked, backing deeper into the alley, hesitant to stand too close. A few minutes earlier she’d wanted nothing more than to be in this man’s presence again, to touch him, to inhale his mesmerizing scent. But now she wasn’t so sure.
She held the knife up again though she didn’t sense an immediate threat from the golden god. But threat or no threat, she’d already been hunted down and assaulted once this evening and was in no mood for whatever game this guy was playing—even if he was the hottest thing since fire. “I saw you at the pub with your friends,” she said, her voice still a little hoarse from the squeeze of the Forsaken’s fist. “So tell me what you’re doing here.”
Seeming to sense her discomfort, the big man—she was only now realizing just how massive he really was—leaned his back casually against the wall and crossed his arms over a set of rock hard pecs. It was non-threatening body language, at least; much nicer than fingers pressing into her throat. But he was still blocking her escape route. Hardly a way to make her feel secure.
“I suppose the simple answer is that I’m the bloke who followed you here,” he told her. “Okay, the second bloke. The first one was a bit of a knob.” His eyes moved to the knife in her hand; he was examining it again. Did he plan to try and disarm her? If he did, she’d…well, she’d do something.
“Following,” she growled, “seems to be a trend around here.” Her eyes shifted to the illuminated street in the distance before looking back at him. “No one warned me that male Londoners like to pursue women at night and terrorize them in dark alleys.”
“No one warned you about a lot of things, I’d wager,” said the man. “But if you feel like I’m terrorizing you, I apologize. It was never my intention. I only wanted to help.”
“If that’s true then do me a favour,” Ashlyn said, her stare still alternating between him and the street lights in the distance, “I’m a little uncomfortable talking to you here. Please, head out to the sidewalk.”
Mr. Fuckable let out a quiet chuckle. “Of course. Come, let’s go somewhere more public and have a chat.”
Ashlyn’s plan had been to enter her flat and shut the door tight behind her. But her building was right next door, and it probably wouldn’t be prudent to let this guy know where she lived. Besides, she was in England to gather information, and this guy was brimming with the stuff. Even though everything he said seemed pretty far-fetched, something told her that it would be worth listening to him. “Where do you propose we go?” she asked.
“There’s a pub a block west of here,” he said as he began to walk down the narrow alley. “Hell, there’s a pub on every street corner in London, as you probably know by now. If you let me buy you a drink, I’d be happy to explain a thing or two to you.”
“Fine,” she said, lowering the knife to her side. “One drink. But then we go our separate ways.”
“Of course we do,” he said, his lips curling into an irresistible smile as he turned to look over his shoulder at her. But when he reached the opening onto the street, the behemoth pivoted and pressed a hand into each wall, blocking Ashlyn’s escape route once again. He was so damn big, his pecs looked like massive slabs of stone under his shirt. Even so, somehow Ashlyn didn’t feel threatened. Aroused, maybe. Horny for a guy who was currently making her life miserable. Stupid Ashlyn.
“You have a thing or two to explain to me as well, you know,” he said, his gorgeous eyes focusing on hers. They were so strange, so bright, even in the dark.
“I do? Such as?” she asked, her own irises sparkling with the light of the overhead street lamps.
“Such as how you moved so fast when that bastard had his hands on you. How you got the better of him. I’ve never seen anything like it, not from a human.”
Ashlyn’s stomach turned over on itself. “You were talking like that before,” she said. “What do you mean, a human? What are you, an alien?”
“Walk with me and I’ll do my best to clear things up,” he said, pulling away to head along the sidewalk. The invitation felt more like a command, but something told Ashlyn that she should obey it. Some strong, indefinable desire was pulling her towards this man and her will to resist was fading fast.
His scent spiralled around her, a quiet twister of sexual intoxication drawing her to him just as it had done in the pub. She bit her lip, annoyed that the place between her legs was aching again. Evil woman b
its, trying to convince her weakening mind to forget reason and rational thought. Telling her to rip her clothes off and offer herself to him once and for all. Imagine what it would be like to tear away those tight jeans of his and to taste him, to feel him in your mouth. To offer up a breast, a nipple for those sexy lips of his to suck.
She shook her head as she kept pace with him, her blond mane darting about her head in waves of futile resistance. Stop it, she told herself. You don’t know him. He’s not what he seems. All of these fantasies, and yet she didn’t even know his name.
“I’m Aegis Dunkirk, incidentally,” he said as though reading her thoughts. He extended a hand across his torso to shake hers as he kept moving forward.
“Ashlyn Raleigh,” she replied, taking his hand in hers. God, he was so hot to the touch. Or was that her imagination again? A shock of lightning surged through her body, its tendrils lashing out at every erogenous zone. Holy balls. If that’s my imagination, kudos to my brain.
“It’s nice to make your acquaintance, Ashlyn,” Aegis told her, seemingly unfazed by the brief moment of touch. “Now, where’s that pub? Oh, yes, there it is. The Horse and Hound.”
Across the street a warm-looking, cheery place with large windows greeted them. Bodies moved about inside and televisions flashed scenes of soccer matches. Or football. Or whatever the hell the English insisted on calling the sport with the round ball.
“I’ve seen this place before,” Ashlyn said, “though I’ve never gone in.”
“Oh? Why not?”
She hesitated before deciding she could trust him enough to divulge a little information. “It’s too close to my flat. I didn’t want strange men following me home. I know, I know—the irony is staggering after tonight’s events.”
“Yes, well. A beautiful woman, unfortunately, attracts male eyes. And males are horrible, predatory creatures. Well, at least some of us are.”
Ashlyn felt the heat of a deep blush hit her cheeks. “Is that why you followed me from the other pub?” she asked quietly. “Because you thought I was beautiful?”
“That and a few other things,” he replied, his tone strikingly honest as he stopped in front of the pub’s front door and turned to face her. “I don’t want you to think me a complete loon, though it’s clear that you already consider me insane. In answer to your question and to put it simply and far too honestly, I didn’t want to live my entire life without ever seeing you again.”
“Seeing me again? We’d never even met before a moment ago.” But somehow she knew what he meant. She’d forced herself to flee the pub not because she wanted to escape his presence, but because her desire to remain had overwhelmed her.
Aegis ground his jaw for a moment before responding. “It’s difficult to explain just now, but something told me that you were important to me. And so I went after you, and I’m glad I did. Yes, you had the upper hand with our friend in the alley, and you probably would have been just fine by some mad miracle. But he might have regained the advantage, and then I really would never have seen you again…not to mention anyone else who cares about you.”
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she blurted out in response, “in case that’s what you’re suggesting.” God, why the hell did I just say that?
Aegis leaned down, his face edging closer to hers. “I’m very glad to hear it.” He pulled open the pub’s door and ushered her in, gently touching her on the back with the tips of his fingers. Oh, dear God. Could a woman have an orgasm from a hand on the small of the back?
Ashlyn walked on trembling legs towards a small, separate room at the back of the pub where two armchairs were set up next to a round coffee table.
“This looks nice and quiet,” she said, seating herself and crossing her legs tightly.
“Indeed,” he replied, staring at her again. “Would you like a drink?”
“Um, yes. But let me get it. No offence, but I know better than to trust strange men to bring me beverages in bars.”
“Fair enough. After all we’ve been through, if you think I might slip you some terrible drug so be it.” He winked at her—fuck, he was sexy—and in response, her legs tried to buckle under her as she rose from her chair.
“You are a drug,” she muttered under her breath as she walked over to the bar. She could feel his piercing eyes warming her back. And she welcomed them there, hoped he liked what he saw from behind. Not that she should care. Damn it, why was this guy so appealing? Why did she want him so badly? Other than the massive muscles, gorgeous face, incredible accent and the fact that he smelled like the best sex anyone had ever had?
Right. It was all of the above. And then some. He was…special. And kind. And protective. And intelligent. Everything a man should be.
Even if it was also quite possible that he was just a touch mentally unstable.
She ordered two pints and carried them back to Aegis, avoiding his eyes as she set the glasses down on thick paper coasters.
“Thank you,” he said as he watched her seat herself again. His eyes turned momentarily to one of the televisions and he winced. Ashlyn’s eyes followed his to the screen, where a man in short shorts was tearing around a green field after a ball, looking very fit. Soccer players did have awfully nice legs, even if the sport was as dull as watching paint dry.
“You like soccer?” she asked.
“No. I like football.” His tone was scoffing, but there was a smile on his lips.
“Football’s American.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. American football is American. Real football is European, and quite frankly, you Yanks shouldn’t be allowed to call any sport ‘football’ when only one player ever uses his feet to make contact with the sodding ball. Besides which, it doesn’t even look like a ball. More like a disembodied, dessicated liver with Frankenstein-ish stitches in its side.”
“What should we call it, then?” Ashlyn couldn’t help but laugh at his assessment.
Aegis leaned towards her, that delectable smile on his lips. “Smashy-smashy-silly-men-in-too-much-body-armour-throwy-liver-ball,” he said. Somehow he made it sound sexy.
“Fine, though the NFL will have to produce a whole new line of jerseys. You English madmen get to call your game football, then. Meanwhile, you were going to explain a few things to me.”
“Mmm,” Aegis replied as he took a swig of his lager. He turned to face her again, ignoring the TV to focus all his attention in her direction. “I was, yes. Right, well…this is complicated.” He closed his eyes as he tried to formulate the next sentence.
“That’s okay. I’m very open-minded,” Ashlyn said, taking a sip from her glass. “Well, usually.”
Aegis opened his eyes and looked at her. It was either her imagination, or his irises had just gone even brighter than before. “Even so,” he said, “do me a favour and put the beer down before I speak, would you? I wouldn’t want you to spill any on your lovely…self.”
“All right,” she replied, doing as he’d asked and laying it on the coaster. “So are you going to tell me why I was dragged down an alley by some insanely strong man?”
“Actually, that I don’t know. Not exactly. Normally I’d assume that he wanted to drink your blood, but…”
Ashlyn pressed her hands to the chair’s arms and began to rise to her feet. “Well, so much for answers. Thanks a lot for this little meeting. It was great,” she said. If he was going to make stupid jokes about her near-death experience, he could finish the beer, and his night, alone.
“Let me finish,” he replied. His voice had gone as soft as velvet. “I don’t know why he was after you. But I do know that your assailant was one of the Forsaken.”
Ashlyn sank back into her chair. Now they were getting somewhere. “The half-breeds you mentioned,” she said.
“Yes.”
“So, he’s what? Half Greek and half Irish?”
“Not quite. Half shifter and half vampire.”
Scales
“If I had beer in my mouth, this is
where I would be doing a spit-take,” Ashlyn replied, letting out a choking cough. “Half what now?”
“Shifter. Vampire,” said Aegis. “And quite frankly, this shouldn’t come as a particular surprise to you.”
“I’m a simple girl from Massachusetts. We have people there. Humans, like you keep saying. So tell me exactly what part of this lunacy shouldn’t surprise me.”
Aegis's voice was liquid silver, his expression dead serious. “You carry a Dragon bone blade, and you move like…well, you move like something superhuman,” he said. “Faster, even, than a Forsaken. You bested that man as though his strength was nothing to you. And I know how powerful they are, even against my own kind.”
“Wait,” Ashlyn replied, her hands balling into fists then stretching open again as she tried to process his words. “That’s way too much information to take in at once. Go back to the Dragon bone blade for a second, would you? What are you talking about?”
“Your knife. The one that’s now tucked into your boot. Where did you get it?” he asked, leaning closer. Her eyes locked on his mouth for a moment as he spoke. Each W sound was like a quiet, delicious mini-orgasm brought on by his lower lip.
“I…it was given to me by my parents,” she replied. “My adoptive parents, I mean. But I think it originally came from my birth parents.”
“Tell me more.” Aegis was so close to her now that she could feel his breath, taste it on the air. And he was delicious.
Ashlyn looked down at her hands, which were now squeezing one another tight to fight off the desire to grab him by his jacket’s collar and pull his lips to hers. “I never knew my birth parents; I was adopted when I was a baby. That in itself is a pretty long story. Anyhow, one day when I was twenty, my father—adoptive father, I mean—gave me a package of items that were with me when I was adopted. He didn’t feel that I should have them when I was younger, and it was no wonder. The knives with the white blades are extremely sharp.”
Dragon's Lover: Part One Page 4
