A Mate to Embrace

by Riley Storm

  Grace bit her lip. He was thinking about it only from an outside perspective. From that side, he was right. But from her view, Grace wasn’t so sure that she would be able to stay apart.

  I’m not even sure I want to stay apart.

  “Okay,” she said, still not sure why she was agreeing to it. Did she want to spend more time with him than she was willing to admit? What was it about Braz that just made her unable to say no? He had some sort of power over her, some sort of sway.

  You like him. That’s what it is. When you like someone, you want to spend more time with them.

  So what was the barrier holding her back? She was terrified of where it might lead.

  Why is that?

  Try as she might though, she didn’t have an answer.

  “Thank you,” Braz was saying, interrupting her internal thoughts. “I really appreciate that.”

  She nodded.

  Then he broke out into a grin. A mischievous grin, one that she didn’t trust. Somehow she knew it was unrelated to what they’d been talking about. This was something new.

  “I don’t know what you’re smiling about,” she said, slowly shaking her head. “But the answer is no.”

  “Stay here,” he said, sliding out of the chair. “I have an idea. A great one. You’re going to love it.”

  “I have my doubts,” she moaned as he disappeared around the corner.

  The bar was in a stubby L-shape, with the base of the L in the back corner, where the booths were. The indent was only about six feet deep, but it was enough that the booths were out of sight of the main part of the bar. So Grace was left completely in the dark as to what Braz was up to.

  Until he came sauntering back into sight.

  “What did you do?” she asked warily, looking around.

  Braz was silent, he just smiled. A moment later he extended a hand toward her as a familiar song began to play from somewhere around the corner.

  “Ohhhh, I don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Ohhhh, I absolutely do,” he mocked.

  “No way.”

  “Yes way,” Braz said, stepping closer, his hips slowly swaying from side to side. “Come on, I know you recognize this song.”

  “Of course I recognize the song,” she said, relenting and giving him her hand. “It played for my twenty-fifth birthday. Seven years ago. You were there. You made me dance with you. It was the night we met.”

  “Exactly,” Braz said, pulling her from the chair and spinning her in a slow circle as he led her toward the open area that served as a dance floor. “How coincidental it’s playing tonight.”

  Grace snorted, resting her hands around his neck. “You pushed play on the jukebox. How is that a coincidence?”

  “The machine worked though. It didn’t have to work.” Braz was giving her his best innocent voice and look.

  “Good grief,” she moaned good-naturedly, trying to ignore how giddy she was feeling, being in such close proximity to him.

  This was how the two of them had met. Grace had been walking through the dance floor, and Braz had swept her up and made her dance with him. She’d been there for her birthday and it was a grand ole time, so she’d danced with him.

  Jack had not been impressed when he’d heard about it, but they weren’t official at that point, so big deal. That should have been her first warning sign. It wasn’t like she’d done anything more than dance and make friends with Braz.

  They swayed and turned around the floor, not speaking. Just taking comfort in each other’s presence. Grace felt that same sense of calm and safety wash over her that she always got when she was near Braz. It was almost intoxicating how strong it was.

  “Braz,” she said quietly, and looked up at him.

  He glanced down at his name and their eyes met.

  Uh-oh.

  Grace knew what was coming next. She saw it happen, saw the way everything was going.

  And she did nothing to stop it.

  Braz’s face drifted closer to hers and she let her head fall slightly to the side. It was the only invitation he needed.

  His lips brushed hers and Grace nearly pulled away. That would have been the best time for her to do so. She didn’t.

  Why would I want to, he’s a really good kisser!

  Because this is what you wanted to avoid!

  They spun slowly on the floor as the music died away, Braz’s lips on hers. It was tentative and slow, exploratory. They were in public, and neither wanted to make a scene, but she could feel the barely restrained desire for more.

  And Braz was reacting as well.

  He pulled her in tighter and the kiss deepened for a moment.

  “Braz, wait,” she said, her hands slipping from around his neck to on his chest. She pushed herself back, out of his arms. “I can’t do this,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t. This is why I need to stay at the hotel tonight.”

  There. She’d said it. It was out there.

  Now what do I do?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Braz

  “I understand.”

  He didn’t.

  The opening had been there. She’d left herself wide open for him to kiss her. The telltale parting of her lips, the slight tilting her head so that he could lean in easily. Braz had read it in her eyes before he’d gone in to kiss her.

  Yet somehow he’d still managed to get it all wrong.

  “Thank you,” Grace said, backing away and heading over to their table.

  Braz dropped some bills on the counter that would more than cover their meals and then grabbed up the bags from the day’s shopping.

  Sensing that she desperately wanted to be alone just then, Braz reluctantly decided to give her that space.

  “Why don’t I go get the car and bring your stuff over,” he said quietly. “It’s only a block away. You go get a room and just text me. I’ll bring your stuff up.”

  “Thank you,” she said gratefully and then practically fled from the bar.

  He waited an appropriate amount of time, then he left as well. Except Braz didn’t walk. He ran as fast as he could while carrying everything. Reaching his truck he tossed the bags in the back seat, fired it up and headed for the hotel. The truck had been parked in the opposite direction from the Dragon’s Eye as the hotel, but his sprint meant Braz would likely arrive right around the same time.

  He pulled into the parking lot of the hotel behind a white cube van that took its time parking, and then Braz headed for the entrance. There was no sign of Grace just yet. His phone hadn’t gone off, so either she was still booking a room, or she hadn’t even arrived yet. Perhaps she needed some more time to think and was taking a walk.

  A tingle ran down Braz’s spine.

  Frowning at the feeling he pulled through the U-shaped drop-off and pick-up entrance and parked the truck on the other end of the lot. Getting out, he cocked his head and listened, trying to figure out what was bothering him. Something just didn’t feel right.

  Instead of walking through the mostly empty and well-lit parking lot, he ducked back out to street level where the lights were much dimmer. There he hunched himself over and started walking, his eyes scanning left and right, trying to pick out whatever it was that was bothering him.

  There was a park on the far side of the hotel, and he spied a figure on the far side of it just crossing the street and entering the gently treed area. Grace. She was walking slowly, with that look of someone having a deep conversation with themselves.

  Yet she was alone and unharmed. Braz began to relax. He was over-reacting. Still, it was better that than ignoring his instincts, wasn’t it? He’d rather be over-protective than—

  Braz hissed as two other figures crossed the street behind her. They weren’t together, and in fact were coming from two separate directions as if to make it seem like they were unconnected.

  They couldn’t hide the purposeful strides or the furtive glances at one another. A human might not have picked it up in the da
rk, but Braz’s sight was far superior. It told him all he needed to know.

  Grace was being followed.

  A sound behind him caught his attention. He glanced over his shoulder at the parking lot. The side door of the white cube van had just opened. Someone had emerged. They were pretending to stretch, but Braz knew it was just a distraction technique for anyone watching.

  It was a kidnapping attempt. Holy shit, they were going to try and take Grace!

  That would be a terrible idea. The sun had set ages ago and the gloom was everywhere that a light did not shine, but it was a Saturday. There were people out and about. Not a lot, but enough that someone would notice.

  Inside then. That was where they would do it. After Grace got up to her room.

  They’re going to pretend to be me…

  Braz didn’t know how he knew, but he knew. Whoever the men were, they had to have been watching them all day.

  And I didn’t see a damn thing!

  There was no time for that sort of self-anger now. Braz needed to act, and quickly. Grace was in danger.

  He couldn’t just storm after them and take them out however, because if Grace got wind of that, she would be just as likely to take her stuff and head back to Kennewick Falls as she would be to stay in Five Peaks. Not to mention they were getting ready to head into a public hotel. It wasn’t Vegas, but there were other people around.

  Braz was going to have to do this quietly and, most importantly, discreetly.

  Not a problem.

  He crept through the parking lot, ducking low and peering through car windows to keep an eye on his quarry. Four men following her as Grace went inside. Plus one who was hanging around the van still.

  The lookout.

  Braz went after that one first.

  An arm slithered up out of the shadows and around the would-be-kidnapper’s neck.

  “Shhhh,” Braz whispered in his ear as he sunk back down to the asphalt, ignoring the frantic flailing of his victim as he tried to pull the arm free. “That’s a whole lotta arm. Don’t fight it. Sleepy time. I’m not going to kill you.”

  Not that he wasn’t tempted. Kidnap his Grace would they? Try to harm his mate? Braz didn’t think so. He would burn the hotel to the ground in an inferno of fiery rage before he let them lay one finger on her, damn his secret to hell.

  This was Grace he was talking about!

  He held the choke-hold for a few seconds longer to ensure his victim wasn’t faking it, then he let go. He rolled the lookout under the van, so no one passing by would casually notice the body and raise the alarm.

  One down, four to go.

  Looking at the lobby, Braz spied two of the men taking up position in the lobby. They would be there to neutralize any hotel security or staff that sought to intervene.

  He was about to move forward when his phone beeped.

  “Some super spy you are,” he muttered, taking his phone out and silencing it, while also reading the message.

  Grace: Where are you? Room 308. I’ll come down when you’re here. Just text me.

  Relieved that she was still okay, Braz considered his next plan of action. He didn’t have long to act. The other men were probably bribing the front desk clerk for Grace’s room. He had to move, and now.

  The two men inside turned their heads at something unseen, and then rose.

  Ah, overconfidence. Brilliant.

  Braz raced for the front door, peering around the corner. Two men heading for the stairs. Two for a sign that read elevators.

  Perfect.

  He waited until the elevator doors started to open and then he slipped inside the hotel and pulled open the door to the stairs. He would only have one shot at this.

  Crouching in the center of the stairwell, Braz flexed his legs, putting all his supernatural strength into his leap. He flung himself upward, grabbing a railing as he passed and swinging his legs around, using his grip on the metal as a pivot point.

  The rear guard jogging up to the second floor had a split second to react before a size fourteen dragon boot took him in the jaw. He collapsed like a puppet with its strings collapsed.

  “What the—?”

  The front guard didn’t have any longer to react before Braz was on him, palming the man’s face and throwing him back into the wall.

  “She is under my protection,” he hissed, then delivered a punch right to the face that cracked a nose and dropped the man into a crumpled heap in the corner.

  There was no time to waste. The whole interaction had taken perhaps five seconds. Now Braz’s dragon speed took over and he reached the third floor in three bounds, pulling open the door.

  A quick peek outside showed an empty hallway. Grace was already in her room thankfully, and the final two men hadn’t emerged. Thank goodness for slow rural elevators.

  Braz darted along the hallway, striking a balance between speed and stealth. All he had to do was reach the elevators first.

  Ding.

  He was halfway down the hallway when the chime sounded. Three-quarters of the way down when he heard the doors begin to slide open.

  “Hiya fellas,” he said, sliding to a halt as the first man paused in the middle of the doors, staring in shock.

  It was the shorter, younger, blue-eyed male from Cerino’s.

  “Missed you yesterday,” Braz added as the man’s eyes widened in recognition.

  Braz clamped a hand over the man’s mouth and threw him back into the elevator, crashing into the trailing kidnapper who was trying to draw a gun.

  “We can’t have that,” Braz told the gunman, shaking a finger and kicking him—gently, for a dragon shifter—in the crotch.

  The male made a high pitched whine and collapsed to his knees.

  Braz grabbed the blond that Grace knew and slammed him into the wall.

  “Where is Wilson?” he snarled.

  The man’s eyes were already halfway back into his skull. Braz pulled him away from the elevator wall and slammed him back, denting the metal.

  “Where is he?”

  The body went limp as the kidnapper slipped into unconsciousness.

  “Damn,” Braz muttered, dropping him to the ground with a clatter.

  Behind him the elevator door started to close. It ground to a halt as it bumped into the other kidnapper’s head, and then started to open again.

  “Hello?”

  He stiffened as Grace’s voice came from the hallway. Unceremoniously he yanked the kidnapper back into the elevator and slipped out, just as the door started to close again.

  “Hi,” he said, appearing out of nowhere.

  “Hey,” Grace said from the door to her room, only her head visible as she peered out of it. “I thought you were going to text me when you were here?”

  “Uhhh.” Braz fumbled his answer, starting down the hallway toward Grace just as she came out of the room and began walking toward him. “Yeah. I forgot.”

  “You didn’t bring anything up either?” she asked, looking at him curiously. “Are you feeling okay? You look like you’ve worked up a sweat.”

  “Fine, I’m fine,” Braz said. “Come on, let’s go.”

  “Sure, get the elevator and I’ll come down to grab my stuff.”

  Braz frowned. There were two issues with that.

  First, the elevator was a no go for obvious reasons. He’d kept his head down and hopefully any cameras in it wouldn’t have seen his identity, but the body would be noticed when the elevator was next summoned.

  Secondly, he couldn’t leave Grace here. She couldn’t be allowed to stay. Yet he couldn’t tell her why either. Not without risking losing her to Kennewick Falls for good.

  “I don’t want you to stay here,” he said, standing up straight.

  “What? Why not? I just booked the room?” Grace said, shaking her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “Years ago,” Braz said, flying by the seat of his pants now. “I should have told you how I feel. I held back out of respect, but I should have put it
out there, so that you knew. I shouldn’t have hidden it. I’m not going to do so now. I like you, Grace. I like you a lot.”

  Grace looked uncomfortable. “Braz—”

  “Hear me out,” he said, holding up his hands, palms to her. “We can take things as slow as you want. No kissing, no cuddling. Just hanging out, getting to know one another again. Whatever it takes. But I don’t want to risk losing you. Again.”

  Grace bit her lip. “Oh.”

  “I made that mistake once,” Braz said, looking her in the eye. “I don’t want to make it again.”

  You’re picking now to confess this to her?! Great timing Braz. Really great.

  Chapter Twenty

  Grace

  Grace took her time to reply.

  She watched his face, looked deep into his eyes, trying to gauge…something. She didn’t know what. Everything was a mess right now, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts.

  What did she say, what did she tell him? Braz had just opened himself up to her, so purely and thoroughly, that she was stunned speechless. His timing was less than ideal, but when was a good time to say something like that?

  The best time to plant a tree was a decade ago. The second best time is today.

  She smiled to herself as Braz’s metaphor came back to her.

  The truth of it, which she hadn’t decided whether she was going to tell Braz yet or not, was that Grace had been feeling a little similar. The walk over to the hotel by herself had revealed something she’d not expected.

  I missed him.

  Grace had found herself wishing Braz was walking at her side. Talking, quiet, it didn’t matter. She would have enjoyed his presence. Would have preferred it, even, to going on her own.

  She’d spent a couple of minutes sitting on her bed, contemplating everything, before she’d heard something out in the hallway. In that time, the question that had revolved around her mind, over and over again, was ‘I am making the right choice?’.

  Try as she might, she’d been unable to convince herself either way.

  “I hear you,” she said, knowing she had to say something to Braz. “I won’t deny that there’s…I don’t know. I don’t not care for you. But it’s been a long time Braz. I’m not certain I want to rush into anything either.”