Dragon Lords Blood Contract

by Rylee Winters

“Pains in the asses,” I cut him off, finishing his sentence for him with a snide grin.

  I saw the muscle in Liam’s jaw tic, as his nostrils flared and eyes widened, while he clenched and unclenched his fists. “How dare you!” he breathed in a loud whisper.

  “That’s enough!” Knox snapped, then looking sternly over at me, “the both of you.”

  Biting down on my bottom lip, I held back a laugh, as Knox started kneading his temples as if he was getting a headache from all our bickering. It was the first time I’d seen him so serious.

  Knox threw me a dirty look. “I have enough trouble having to deal with Drake and Liam’s bickering. I don’t need you to throw yourself into the mix,” Knox chided, sounding exasperated.

  The corner of my lip quirked up into a crooked smile, and I bobbed my head. “Okay, I’m sorry,” I told him, forcing myself to behave. “But please tell your brother Liam that not every single woman in the world is going to fall at his feet like he’s some god.”

  Flickering my eyes over to Liam, I saw this time, he was smart enough to bite his tongue.

  I flashed him a winning smile, and he glared back at me. “I’m going to make you eat your words, woman,” he declared with a hiss, his voice full of arrogance and determination, then turning away from Knox and me with a snap of his heel, he stormed off.

  Frowning in confusion over Liam’s vague promise, I saw Knox cup his forehead in his hand, and shake his head.

  When he looked up again, I asked him, “what was all that about?”

  He looked back at me with a wry expression, and let out a heavy sigh. “Don’t even ask.”

  ❖❖❖

  For the next three days, while waiting for Lupin’s ball, I spent the time exploring the house and taking advantage of Ethan’s offer of unlimited access to the library of magic books.

  The house was large, with two stories, and bedrooms on both the first and second floor.

  Apart from the rooms I’d already seen, there was also a laundry room, indoor swimming pool, and a games room with a billiard table and dartboards set up, downstairs.

  As I wandered towards the back of the house, keen to see what rooms where there, I bumped into an older woman with graying brown hair she wore tied up in a knot at the back of her head, and kind brown eyes. She asked me if I was lost, and I found out her name was Gretchen, and she was the housekeeper.

  Shaking my head, I introduced myself and told her I was just trying to familiarize myself with the different rooms and layout of the house. She nodded and explained to me the area I was about to enter was the servants quarters, where she and the cook slept and ate. She went on to inform me there was a back kitchen attached to this area, where the cook prepared most of the house’s meals.

  “Do you mind if I pop my head in and take a look at the kitchen?” I asked Gretchen, and she smiled back and gave me a nod of her head.

  “Sure, Miss. I’ll introduce you to Leith, the cook,” she said, turning back to enter the doorway I’d seen her exiting from, guiding me inside a short passageway as she showed me the way.

  “Leith!” Gretchen called out with familiarity as we stepped into a large, brightly lit kitchen with a huge rectangular bench in the middle, several fridges and freezers on one side, and a big industrial gas stove with a huge, wide exhaust fan on the other.

  The middle bench had a bottom shelf packed with bowls, whisks, spatulas, and other cooking utensils. Other kitchen paraphernalia were also scattered across various countertops in strategic places all over the kitchen.

  I watched as a large, brutish looking man, with thick arms and legs stood at a chopping board at the end of the centre bench, slicing potatoes with a deftness that surprised me, given his big, bulky hands. He looked up at the sound of our approach.

  “Ahhh…” His eyes sparkled as his mouth, half hidden below his bushy, ginger beard stretched into a wide, toothy smile. The knife he was holding clattered down.

  “Well, well. Who dae we hav’ here?” he asked in a deep, booming Scottish brogue, as he picked up the end of his blue and white striped apron and wiped his hands across the front of it.

  Gretchen and I came to a stop as we reached him.

  “This is Miss Jasmine,” Gretchen introduced, gently nudging me forward with a hand on the middle of my back. “She’s the new guest Master Ethan told us will be staying here for the next few months.”

  I took a step towards the big, burly man, intending to shake his hand, when he grasped mine firmly in his, turned it over, and bending over, lightly kissed the back of it.

  “Pleasure to meet you, young lass,” he grinned, eyes all twinkling.

  “H-hi,” I stuttered, slightly taken aback by his gesture and how gently he’d kissed my hand contrary to his rough appearance. “I…ummm…I’ve just been walking around the place trying to get use to where everything is,” I explained as Leith released my hand and straightened up, hooking his thumbs in the pocket of his pants.

  Leith nodded. “Aye, ’tis a big house, it is,” he chuckled loudly, and the sound seemed to rumble through his body, shaking his shoulders and his slightly round pot belly. “It’ll take some time, but you’ll get used to it.”

  “Thanks. I’m sure I will…” I said, smiling back as Leith winked at me.

  At that moment, a delicious, savory aroma wafted across to me from one of the pots boiling on the stove, and I sniffed the air, trying to breathe it in, the smell making my mouth water as I licked my lips.

  Leith smiled, catching the action. “Are you hungry, lass?” he asked, unhooking his fingers from his pockets and walking over to the stove.

  I started to shake my head, then changed my mind and said, “maybe just a little…” as my stomach began grumbling noisily, and I rubbed at it with my palm trying to ease it.

  Leith laughed, and fished out a bowl from one of the bottom cupboards near the stove. Picking up a wooden ladle from the countertop nearby, he took off the lid of the pot and stirred the bubbling contents.

  Steam rose up from the pot, and the smell of pumpkin and fresh herbs hit my nose, even stronger than before. My stomach grumbled again, and this time I flushed with slight embarrassment.

  “Here, take this,” Leith said, ladling a generous serving of soup into the bowl, and handing it to me.

  I took it with both palms, cupping the bowl by the sides, and enjoying the warmth that soon started spreading out into my fingers and across my palms.

  “Come sit down, lass,” Leith said, pulling out a chair and setting it next to the centre bench so I could sit down. I thanked him, taking a seat, and he placed a spoon inside my bowl as I set it down on the steel countertop.

  Peering down at steaming bowl and the thick, creamy contents inside, I sat there for a moment inhaling the mouth-watering aroma of the soup, before scooping up a spoonful and shoveling it into my mouth, letting it melt against my tongue.

  I let out a soft moan of appreciation that made both Gretchen and Leith smile, as the sweet and savory flavor of pumpkin, spice and beef burst across the tastebuds on my tongue.

  It was sooo good!

  Leith pulled out two more chairs, placing them down near me, and he and Gretchen sat down to chat, while I quickly ate another spoonful.

  “Mmmm…” I murmured, as the warmth of the soup spread through my mouth and began warming my chest and limbs. While I concentrated on eating my soup, half-listening in on Gretchen’s conversation with Leith, I caught snippets of their conversation here and there. They were talking about their children who seemed to live not too far from the estate…

  Before long they were mentioning some sort of family gathering that was happening sometime soon. Lowering their voices, they murmured softly to one another, and I wasn’t able to hear the rest, however I got the gist they were worried about something.

  Since it wasn’t something that concerned me, I didn’t pay much attention to it, as I ate with gusto, finishing the soup. I must have underestimated how hungry I was, because before I knew it, t
he bowl was completely empty.

  “Ahhh…” I breathed out, smacking my lips, and straightening up to pat my full belly. Leith paused midway through something that he was saying and looked over at me, smiling.

  “How did you find the soup?” he asked, nodding his head towards my empty bowl.

  “It was delicious,” I said, giving him a wide, satisfied smile, and hopping off my chair.

  I picked up the bowl, intending to wash it, but Leith saw what I was going to do and told me to just leave it in the sink.

  “Thanks,” I said over my shoulder as I placed the dirty bowl and spoon in the basin.

  “Well, it was a pleasure meeting the both of you,” I said, turning back to face them. “I’m going off to take a look at the rest of the house now.”

  “That’s alright, Miss Jasmine,” Gretchen said returning my smile.

  “If you need assistance in the future, wee lass, you can always come and see Gretchen or me,” Leith said nodding his head. “We’ll be more than happy to help you.”

  “Thank you. That’s very kind of you,” I replied, turning to leave, but not before giving them a small wave of goodbye. “Until next time,” I said with a smile, and strode out of the kitchen. Leaving the servants quarters, I continued to walk until I was back out in the main house.

  I decided to explore the ground level some more. Entering an unfamiliar hallway, I found two rooms that appeared to be small classrooms, empty at the moment besides a few desks and chairs, and a chalkboard at the front.

  I wonder what they do in here…maybe they take magic lessons or something?

  I could only speculate for now.

  Further down the hallway, there were a few other rooms which contained various lab and scientific equipment and some construction tools…some of which I didn’t even recognize, and had no idea what they did.

  As I continued to explore the lower and upper levels of the house, I found quite a few rooms were locked, and after coming up against a few inaccessible rooms in a row, I decided to call it quits for the day.

  I headed towards the study and the magic books that were there. After all, this was a big part of the reason why I’d agreed to move in when Ethan had asked me to, in the first place.

  Trudging down the hallway, I made a left into the study that was starting to become more and more familiar, and made straight for the books stacked on the shelves on the left.

  For the next hour, I spent my time perusing the titles of the spines of the books on the shelves, taking a book down every so often to flip through its contents, until I found a book which caught my eye.

  The title on the spine read: “Magic and Enchanments for Beginner Mages.” Well I was a beginner, so I guessed it was the perfect place to start.

  Pushing my toes up on tip-toe, I tried to reach for the book sitting on the top shelf, but dropped back down again in frustration and defeat after a minute of trying to grab it.

  Scratching the side of my head, I wondered if I should just jump for it…since there was nobody around to see me embarrass myself anyway. I was not short by any means – it was just this shelf was higher than most.

  I started to bend my knees in preparation for the jump when I felt a presence come up from behind me. The person’s tall figure cast a shadow over my slightly bent form, as I tilted my head back and peered upwards to see a muscular forearm and large hand grab the book I’d been aiming for, and pulled it off the shelf.

  My eyes traced the arm further back, and I saw Damien’s face peering over me with an amused expression. “Need help?” he asked dryly, eying my awkward position, and I immediately straightened up to my full height, swivelling around to face him.

  But his body was so close to mine there was hardly any space between us, and I ended up brushing my side against his chest as I swung my body around. Once I was completely facing him, I realized I was basically trapped between his tall, wide frame, and the bookshelf.

  My mouth went as dry as the Sahara…and I licked my lips involuntarily, my eyes darting towards his broad, powerful shoulders, and roaming across to his handsome face, feeling my own face and body starting to heat up, reacting involuntarily to his masculine pull and scent.

  I swallowed, trying to moisten my throat. “E-Ethan said I could study the books here…” I started, fumbling over my words slightly, feeling off-kilter, as I tried to rack my brains for something to say; trying to cover up my awkwardness, and hoping to all of heaven and hell that he wasn’t able to sense it.

  Damien looked down at me coolly, and I almost drowned in the limpid pools of his brilliant sea-blue eyes. “You want to learn magic?” he asked, frowning as he tilted his head slightly to look at the cover of the book in his right hand. “You know, you should probably get a teacher to help you. This stuff isn’t something you should be playing around with…it’s pretty dangerous and you could cause a nasty accident.”

  My eyes rounded in surprise. Is he lecturing me?

  Furrowing my brows, I frowned up at him. Damn, he was tall…

  I lowered my gaze, but found myself staring at the top buttons of shirt, my eyes settling somewhere between the base of his throat and the top of his chest. I gulped. The top two buttons of his shirt, I noticed, were undone…

  I saw the hint of creamy, smooth skin peeking out from underneath his shirt…sucking in a sharp intake of breath, I turned my head, averting my gaze to the far left.

  “You’re acting…weird… Is something wrong?” Damien asked in a deep, dulcet tone, lifting his brow, and looking at me in way that suggested he thought maybe I was sick. “Do you have a fever?” he frowned, putting the back of his hand against my forehead to check my temperature. If anything, I just went more beet red.

  I tried to lean away from his touch, but there was little room for me to move…I was almost backed right up against the bookshelf already, and all my efforts to evade his touch proved useless.

  Swatting his hand away, I tried to slip around him, but he shifted his massive form, blocking my way.

  “Somehow, I can’t help but feel like you’re trying to run away from me,” he remarked dryly, as I accidentally barrelled into his chest. I froze on the spot, rendered completely speechless…

  My knees wobbled as I felt the heat radiating off Damien’s body through his shirt, against my own, and I tried to move away by taking a step back, only to find my back hitting the bookshelf once again.

  “N-no…of course not.” I tried to laugh off his statement, the sound seeming manufactured, even to me. “W-what reason would I have to want to hide from you?” I continued to assert, as if it was the most ludicrous idea ever… Only you know it isn’t, my inner voice remarked, almost taunting me.

  Unbidden, desire flared inside me, heating the area between my legs, and an image flashed inside my minds-eye…of Damien grabbing me by the ass and hoisting me up against the bookshelf, tearing off my clothes and having his way with me, while I moaned loudly in pleasure.

  Oh goddesses…! Get your mind out of the gutter, you sex crazed fiend! I cussed internally at myself.

  Squeezing my eyes tight shut, I shook my head, trying to clear those images and feelings from my mind. Opening my eyes, I caught sight of the book in Damien’s outstretched hand. Let’s just get the book and get out of here...it’s way too dangerous for me to remain alone in this room with him.

  Shifting my weight, I reached out at an awkward sideways angle to try and grab the book Damien was holding. For a moment, he held it away from my grasp, almost as if he was teasing me. It was only when I turned to narrow my eyes at him that he relented and offered the book to me.

  “Thank you,” I said brusquely as I took the book from his hand and pressed it to my chest. Swiftly ducking underneath his outstretched arm, I finally managed to escape to the open space beyond his large frame.

  I moved away from him as quickly as I could without it looking like I was running away – otherwise, it’d just give him further ammunition to launch at me about his suspicions that I
was avoiding him.

  He turned around, his body and line of sight following my movements, as I walked over to the table near the windows. Placing the book down, I pulled out a chair and sat down, planning on ignoring Damien’s presence while concentrated on reading my book. But it was a futile attempt; Damien had taken it upon himself to decide he was going to continue on being the thorn in my side, and took a seat right next to me.

  While I tried to send a silent signal to him that I did not want to be disturbed; I don’t think he got the message…at all.

  “You should really consider the advice I gave you earlier,” he reiterated as I continued pretending to read the page on I was on. “It’s sound logic getting a teacher to guide you on learning magic…or are you worried about embarrassing yourself in front of someone else?”

  “Neither,” I replied tartly, trying to curb the annoyance undercoating my voice, as I tried to turn my back to Damien while holding the book open in my hands, in an attempt to shut out further conversation.

  But Damien was not so easily put off…or dismissed. He leaned over behind me to whisper teasingly in my ear. “If you ask nicely, I might consider taking the position…”

  For a split second, I froze and my breathing momentarily stopped…

  Then blood rushed to the tips of my ears, turning them a shade of deep red.

  “I don’t need your help,” I snapped, huffing as I suddenly whipped my head around, even while my skin was still tingling from feeling the warmth of his breath on me. Unfortunately, the abrupt movement took Damien by surprise and he wasn’t able to move his head back in time…my lips ended up brushing across his smooth cheek and the edge of his soft, enticing mouth.

  I pulled back immediately, as if stung.

  Eyes turning as wide as saucers, I looked back at Damien in shock, horrified at the intimate contact, while he just sat there, momentarily frozen.

  Did he stop breathing? My eyes went to his nose and then to his lips trying to pick up on any indications, even while my heart was racing and thudding wildly about in my chest.