Luck of the Dragon (Entangled Covet)

by Scott, Susannah

  “Holy Mary, Joseph—”

  And Peter. Alec’s voice finished in her head with an amused inflection. Tie the belt around my neck.

  “Are you talking in my head?” With fumbling fingers, Lucy tied the black sash around the dragon’s neck, so that she held a silken rein of sorts. She threaded her fingers through the soft fabric and fought down the galloping thunder of her heart.

  Yes. We can communicate with our minds. But the words are not private, so be careful when others are around.

  Lucy focused her thoughts and shot them to Alec. You let me fall on purpose. I could have been killed!

  Under her, the dragon bucked and nearly unseated her. I would never let you be hurt.

  Lucy believed him, and elation pushed away her terror. Whatever happened between her and Alec, this moment would not come again.

  She leaned close into the dragon’s neck, feeling secure and mostly safe. Even if she fell, he would catch her. At their left, the tines of the Crown Jewel rose, but Lucy couldn’t see or hear the rooftop festivities. Under them, the lights of the other casinos flashed, making the whole experience seem surreal.

  The dragon’s horns spiraled from his head like polished onyx. His muscular wings flapped through the night sky with elegant ease and so much power that the ride was smooth.

  Lucy’s leg muscles spasmed uncontrollably as if she were falling again, but she fought down panic. She would not give in to the fear. She breathed in a steadying breath and focused on the wind on her face and the powerful creature under her. She was riding on top of a dragon, over one thousand feet in the air.

  Are you afraid? Alec asked in her mind.

  Words flooded her mind—yes, no, yes—Lucy considered them and responded truthfully. There is nowhere else I want to be in the world. No one else I want to be with.

  Alec lifted his dragon’s head away from the moon and arched up. Up, up they climbed, sweeping aside veils of clouds, until only the stars and night sky surrounded them. The moon brushed loving moonbeams over their backs.

  When they leveled out, Lucy released her hands and traced the edges of the dragon’s circular black scales. They were warm and alive under her fingers, like the softest leather stretched over muscle and bone. The promise of a greater joining than she had ever known beckoned to her. She wanted to join with this man. She clutched her legs tighter, making her pulsing center throb against the warm scales of his back.

  Alec dove through the wispy clouds and leveled out over the desert. The barren land looked like a gray moonscape. Rocks that might have been red in the daylight towered around them, shadowy sentinels, guarding in the moonlight.

  Where are we going? She didn’t really care, as long as she was with him. Lucy leaned forward and squeezed her eyes against the wind.

  Here. Alec landed softly on the sand and shifted to his human form. He caught her against his human chest and eased her down his body. The power of their flight shifted to passion between one breath and another.

  Alec traced a warm finger down her face and laced his hand with hers. “I should have known that you would have a hard time accepting the truth of our bond.”

  “I thought you were just playing with me.” Lucy pulled away from him. “And my head kept screaming that it was all just crazy. I mean, dragons? Come on.”

  Alec crossed his arms, and tense emotion furrowed his face.

  “But I know now.” Lucy rose to her toes, kissing him with all the frustrated love in her heart. Electricity arced between them, and the wind picked up. Alec ran his hands up her sides, his touch sending shivers dancing across her skin.

  “I love you. I want to be with you.” She looked at him, feeling her breath stick in her chest. “Do you believe me?”

  Alec stepped back to a ledge carved into a tall stone. He leaned against it with a nonchalance belied by his next words. “You have to be sure. Do you want this? Do you want me and my dragon?”

  “Yes.” Lucy ran to him, happiness swelling her chest.

  Alec smiled and pulled her to him on the ledge. “Touch me.”

  Lucy reached out trembling hands and helped him pull his tunic over his head. She trailed her fingers up the muscles on his chest. In the moonlight, they were like the barren desert landscape, ridges and valleys of hard muscle. She lowered her mouth to his pecs and sucked gently, then pulled the nipple between her teeth. Alec shook under her.

  “Look what you do to me.” Alec leaned back and closed his eyes.

  Lucy’s heart swelled, and she trailed nipping kisses along the taut cord between his neck and right shoulder.

  “Lucy.” Alec grabbed her around the waist and easily flipped her beneath him. His hands at her back and head protected her from the rock surface. He paused and gently removed his hands, untying the side of her cloth so it fell away.

  He traced a warm hand down her naked breasts to her belly, and then trailed his hand lower. “You are so beautiful.”

  “Alec.” Lucy lay back and extended her arms behind her head. At once open, vulnerable, trusting him. He leaned down to kiss her. Lucy met him halfway, slanting her head to get closer to him.

  The brush of his lips against hers coaxed her mouth open. Her nipples tightened with desire that spread hot fire through her limbs.

  Lucy’s legs fell open and Alec slid a finger into her heat, leaving no distance between them. Rightness fused through Lucy. Magic, like the jewels draped over her, swelled in her chest and fanned through her body as if she were an ember coaxed to flame.

  Alec increased the pressure of his fingers, rubbing her center with her own wetness. He moved his mouth to her breast, circling her nipple with his tongue. Pressure built inside Lucy, and she jerked against him, pushing her lower body flush to his, feeling the hard ridge of him at the juncture of her things.

  Lucy’s breathing came shallow and gasping, until it seemed she would flare out without more of his touch. “Come for me now.” He stared into her eyes, the barriers between them gone.

  Lucy held her breath and closed her eyes, easily tumbling into oblivion. Her body shook so hard that Alec wrapped his arms around her hips to hold her on the ledge.

  “Mine in this life and beyond,” Alec whispered. The words sounded ritualistic, and he wound the sash around their fingers so that they were bound. “Look at me.”

  Lucy opened her eyes as he plunged his body into hers. The feel of him inside her, stretching her, made her cry out in pleasure. Slowly he picked up speed, and her body tensed with heightened arousal. The build up from before was a small aftershock compared to this. She wrapped her arms and legs around him. “What’s happening?”

  “I don’t know.” Alec rested his forehead on hers in a gesture that clinched her heart. It was vulnerable, saying that they were together—overcome by the magic they had created—one not more so than the other.

  Alec thrust hard into her, stretching her open under him again and again. His normally graceful movements became jerky and out of control. Heat sizzled Lucy’s core. She rose to meet his hips, only wishing to take him deeper into her being.

  Her every fiber melded to connect with him. Her back bowed with her shattering release. Her mind floated away from the rock ledge like a million pieces of sand blown over the desert floor.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Lucy balanced on the ledge of the roof patio. Instead of fear, the drop from the top of the casino to the ground was heady, empowering. She wanted to fly one more time, to leap into the air like a dragon, race through the sky of her own accord. Let the rush of the wind shear her skin and sting her senses.

  “You do know that you don’t have wings?” Alec stepped beside her but didn’t try to curtail her precarious posturing.

  “I know.” Lucy lifted one bare foot in the air, and the sari whipped around her leg in the wind. Her heart sped in her chest, beating so fast that her vision blurred. She absorbed the swell of raw energy and wanted more. She set her foot down and lifted the other. What had happened to careful, plodding Luciana
De Luca? The Lucy De Luca who was afraid of heights?

  She was gone.

  She wasn’t afraid of anything—except losing Alec.

  “Your dragon form is regenerated, then?”

  “Yes.”

  “That is good.”

  “That is more than good.” Alec’s dark blue eyes watched her, and his words were sincere. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure—my more-than pleasure.” Lucy loved the playful banter between them, no longer stymied by conflicting agendas.

  The setting moon slid under the horizon, giving way to a bright, impatient sun. It was a new day, and the ceremony was over. Behind them, only a handful of the dragons still mingled on the rooftop. Though Alec had said it was too late for them to find their mates, they still stumbled about like bereft barflies at last call.

  “Come sit with me.” Alec led her to one of the leather couches that circled a lit fireplace.

  Lucy sat on the end and tucked her legs under her. The good kind of tired held her body to the ground when her heart felt like it could fly. Alec stretched out his long body on the couch and put his head in her lap. Lucy stroked her hand through his hair, letting her fingernails scrape his scalp. She didn’t have to wonder how to touch him now, she just knew. He liked long, slow strokes, from his crown to his nape and back again.

  Across from them, a couple slept, entwined and half-dressed on another leather couch. Anyone stepping onto the casino roof for the first time would think there had been some sort of massive party—they would be right.

  At a distance, the musicians played on, but with a quieter, consoling melody. Lil stood next to one of the drum players whom Lucy recognized as the woman who had brought Lil her sword outside the exhibit.

  The edges of the black dragon mark on her hand were gray now and seemed to dissipate with her every stroke. “My dragon mark is fading.” Lucy remembered how she had tried to scrub the mark off. Now, she was sad to see it go.

  “Our bond is complete for this cycle.” Alec said, completely relaxed and languid. “It’ll appear again when another ceremony is upon us.”

  “How long will it be until another ceremony?” Lucy asked.

  “Only the Fates know.” Alec’s voice was slumberous, and his breathing deepened.

  Lucy kept her strokes long and gentle, her fingers loving him.

  Near the lit fireplace, a set of large potted palm trees shook. The plants parted and Joey’s face poked through the spiky green foliage. Lucy glanced at the Alec to see if he noticed, but he slept deeply, his face turned into her lap.

  “Luce!” Joey mouthed the words across the short space.

  Lucy shook her head at him, more amused than alarmed. Con man rule number five: never use potted plants to hide in. Joey’s pot scooted around the fireplace and settled next to the arm of her couch.

  “Hello, Joey,” Lucy whispered. “Did you have a good night?”

  Joey sat on the edge of one of the pots and leaned forward, examining Alec’s face. “Is he asleep?”

  “Yes.” Lucy stroked her fingers protectively through the tensile softness of Alec’s hair. “How did you get out of the cage?” But she knew it had to be the brunette. All women seemed to be suckers for Joey’s cocky charm.

  Instead of answering with a witty comeback, Joey scanned the rooftop as if searching for something. “Hell of a party.” His voice was gruff. “Like the Super Bowl halftime show collided with a cotillion.”

  Lucy laughed and then muffled the sound. Alec slept on, oblivious to Joey’s presence. “What do you know about debutantes?”

  “Enough to know these freaky dragons aren’t ones.” Joey put his hand on her forearm, getting her full attention. “We’ve got to get out of here while everyone is sleeping it off.”

  Lucy should have known he had a plan, only this time she wouldn’t be going along. “What are you planning?”

  “We need to get off this roof, but all the exits are guarded.” Again, Joey searched the crowd, a frown on his face. “I don’t suppose you got wings out of this little soirée?”

  “Nope.” Lucy smiled. “No wings.”

  Joey shook his head, appearing frustrated.

  “I’m going to stay with Alec.” Lucy’s hands continued to move over Alec’s head, cherishing him.

  “Are you serious?” Joey’s voice rose then lowered. “Sis, these are dragons. Dragons eat shit, especially humans.”

  “I’m safe with Alec. But you need to go.”

  “Your brain is muddled with endorphins.” Joey gave her a disappointed glare. “Being on the bottom of the food chain is a bad idea.”

  “I’m going to stay anyway.” Lucy smiled, at ease with her decision, pleasantly impervious to his opinion.

  “What?”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “You aren’t thinking clearly.” Joey gave her a speculative look as if he might try to physically remove her from the roof.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Mr. Bottom-of-the-Food-Chain.” Lucy glanced at Lil and checked the even rise and fall of Alec’s breathing. “I love Alec. I want to stay.”

  “Does he love you?” Joey’s question stopped Lucy’s hand. She frowned and then determinedly continued stroking Alec.

  “We are bonded.”

  “Is that dragon for whatever-ya-need-to-hear, babe?”

  “It’s not like that,” Lucy insisted, but a small stem of uncertainty bloomed and spread in her heart. Alec had never said he loved her. The whole forever-thing had seemed to cover it, but now she wondered.

  “Lucy, they’re going to wipe your memory,” Joey insisted.

  “No, they won’t.”

  Joey reached out his hand and clasped hers, stopping her stroking movement. “Remember when we were kids, and you would skin your knee and mine would hurt, too?” Lucy nodded. They had always had the twin connection thing. Joey had been her other half, the center of her universe, until Alec.

  “Or how I always knew where you were on the basketball court without looking?” Joey asked.

  Again Lucy nodded, and a bittersweet lump grew in her throat. “I’m still not leaving.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Lucy nodded. “I’m surer of this than I have been of anything in my life.”

  “I love you, sis.” Joey looked her straight in the eye. “I won’t be far when you need me.”

  Acceptance settled over Lucy’s heart like a warm blanket. He really would be all right.

  “I love you, too,” she whispered. “And I won’t need you, but I will enjoy hearing how you are doing.” She wondered if Joey picked up on the subtle change in terminology. To see how he was doing, it denoted no involvement, no saving, only the normal interest of a loved one.

  Joey nodded. “Try to hang on to your brain cells. You’ll never believe all this when I try and tell you later.”

  Lucy laughed, and her stomach movement jostled Alec. She steadied the top of his head with her left hand and reached for Joey with the other.

  Joey kissed her on the forehead. “See you soon.” As he turned to leave, the firelight reflected on his hand, showing her a vibrant, not at all fading dragon mark between Joey’s finger and thumb.

  “Joey,” she called under her breath, but he was already winding his way through the crowd.

  Under her hand, Alec stirred. His blue eyes stared into hers with perfect awareness.

  “You were awake?”

  “Yes.” Alec sat up, put his feet on the ground, and stood. “We’ll talk when I return.”

  “He means well.” She couldn’t help the defensive explanation.

  “Lucy, it’ll be all right. I won’t hurt him,” Alec said. “But we have to get to him before he tells other humans about us.” He followed Joey’s path through the dwindling crowd. Immediately, his six lieutenants appeared at his side and then fanned out across the rooftop.

  Lucy stayed seated. Alec would be fair with Joey. She put her arms around her knees, holding the warmth of Alex’s body to her chest.
She trusted him with her life. She could trust him with Joey’s.

  …

  Alec approached the couch where Lucy dozed, exposed to the mid-morning sun. Though it had only been a couple of hours, his heart turned over in his chest to see her again. She had waited for him as he had asked, not leaving, though in the after-party befuddlement, only Lil still watched over her.

  She could have run, and she hadn’t. He had believed her words in the desert, but somehow this proof that she wouldn’t leave him…it was staggering. He reached his arms under her back and legs and lifted her against his chest.

  “Alec?” Lucy opened her eyes and gave him a warm smile. She wrapped her arms around his neck and tucked her chin to his chest, inhaling deeply. “I love the smell of you.”

  “Is it that bad?” Alec asked with amusement in his voice. He was grimy after chasing her swift-footed brother through the streets of Las Vegas. He had not been able to take his dragon form in the daylight with so many humans around. In the end, he and his lieutenants had turned back empty-handed.

  It was a short walk to his tower and shorter walk to his penthouse. Someone had changed the bed linens. His bedroom was entirely clean of the bloody bedding and towels that had been used to clean Lucy’s shoulder, but he could still pick up the faint twang of Lucy’s blood. The scent agitated his beast. Now that they were bonded, he would always sense her like the call of an elusive jewel.

  Alec set Lucy on the bed and lay down facing her.

  “Don’t frown.” Lucy stroked a finger over his brow. “It makes you look fierce.”

  Alec took a calming breath and settled his dragon nature. He wanted her with him, and now he knew he could trust her.

  “What happened with my brother?”

  “He got away. I’ve sent our best tracker after him.” At Lucy’s frown, he added, “Don’t worry, she won’t harm him.”

  “I’m more worried about your tracker. He can be very resourceful, especially when he’s cornered.”

  “You could have left with your brother. Why didn’t you?”

  Lucy leaned back on the pillow, her eyes directly on his. “Why would I leave? I told you, I will never betray you again.”