by Alisa Woods
She makes a play for my cock once again, but I catch her wrist and give it an open-mouthed kiss. “I’ll take care of that.”
“What?” She’s dazed. Beautifully dazed by pleasure.
I kiss her softly on the cheek and nuzzle her a little. Then I pull back to look her in the eyes. I can’t keep the smirk off my face. I’ve left her so sated she’s not sure what to do next.
“Take a shower,” I say. “Get dressed. Then come work on whatever you need for that big meeting tomorrow.” I step back. My erection is ridiculously prominent, bulging out from my jeans. I ignore that, simply take her hand in mine, scoop her pajamas off the floor, and lead her half-naked out of the kitchen. In any other situation, I’d be taking her to my bedroom for some serious, extended play, but she has work to do, and I meant what I said about that. She won’t be losing her dreams and ambitions because of the dragon world, and certainly not because of the Vardigah, not on my watch.
When we reach the door of her room, I kiss her lightly on the cheek again, give her the pajama bottoms, and wave her off to the shower. She stumbles in that direction, still a little orgasm-drunk, and I grin all the way to my room. I’ve already set up the camera feed, piping it straight into my bathroom, where I can see it from the open shower. I brace against the wall and stroke my way to bliss as I watch Jayda drop the rest of her pajamas and climb into her own shower.
She takes her time soaping and rinsing, long and luxurious, bless her.
I come twice more before I’m done.
Five
Jayda
I don’t need a man to complete me.
But damn Ree is a man I’d like to fill me up.
I’m putting the finishing touches on my presentation for the merger meeting, which is in less than an hour, but I keep getting distracted. Not by Ree—he’s been nothing but professional since yesterday’s hot kitchen orgasms. He cleared out the destroyed coffee table and brought in a new one, then he stayed out of my way while I worked. He brought me tea and then dinner, then insisted I turn in at a reasonable time to fight the jet lag, and that I could finish the rest the next morning. Because just before 2pm French time today, we will be teleporting into the 8am merger meeting in New York.
Insane.
But I’ve accepted that, whatever else might be going on, the teleportation is real. Grace really did pop in to France to visit me—she apparently can because she’s a “mated dragon,” the details of which I’m not sure I want to know. Niko returned to Ree’s apartment—which is really a fucking castle—and we practiced teleporting all over the grounds just so I’d be used to it before the meeting. I have no idea if Ree is royalty on top of his elite private security employment, but one thing is certain—I’ve never had a man take care of me so thoroughly. And competently. Before I can even think about having breakfast, it’s there. He arranges for a printer to be delivered to the apartment before I realize I need one. Even the clothes he retrieved from my apartment in New York are perfect for the presentation… with one exception.
The shoes. Genuine Prada, Italian Saffiano leather, black stiletto. I was wearing them when the Vardigah grabbed me right out of my apartment. I carefully parked them in one corner of my cell, a promise that someday, I would get back to normal again. Only when I did, I couldn’t stand to put them on. But they were $700 shoes! I couldn’t just throw them away. And somehow Ree found them, paired them with my best suit, and brought the whole thing back so I would be properly dressed for the presentation.
I don’t have the heart to say anything about it.
Ree steps out from the kitchen where he’s been cleaning up lunch, phone in hand. “Niko says he’s ready when you are.”
I close my laptop. “I’m ready.”
He nods and quickly texts something. A moment later, Niko teleports into the great room of Ree’s apartment-within-a-castle. I slip on my shoes, slide the laptop into my carry case with my notes and the handouts for the board, and straighten my suit when I stand.
“All set?” Niko’s dressed casually, jeans and a t-shirt, but he’s just getting us to New York, not walking us into the building.
I nod.
When I wasn’t paying attention, Ree changed into all black—suit, tie, black dress shirt. He looks exactly like a high-end bodyguard, which is what his cover story will be. Only it’s not really a cover story at all—he’s not letting me out of his sight, outside of the apartment, because we still don’t know how the Vardigah found Grace in that alley by the gallery.
“Any word on the Vardigah?” Ree asks Niko as we line up for transport. Niko will hold Ree’s shoulder. Ree will hold my hand. I’ll carry the laptop case.
Niko grimaces. “They ransacked Grace’s apartment.”
“What?” I stop fussing with my case and snap my attention to him.
“She wasn’t there,” he adds quickly. “We don’t know what they were looking for or how they found the place. We’re looking for the connection between the alley outside the gallery and Grace’s apartment.”
“Other than Grace?” I lift an eyebrow.
“Except Grace wasn’t home when it happened.” Niko shakes his head. “And we still don’t think they can track people, just places. It doesn’t make sense. But we’ll figure it out. In the meantime,” he says to Ree, “don’t let her out of your sight.”
“Copy that.” Ree’s calm tone belies the hard grip he has on my hand.
“I don’t like this trip to the city,” Niko says to me. “Are you sure this is necessary?”
“It is,” Ree backs me up.
Which I appreciate, but I can speak for myself. “It won’t take long. An hour tops. Then I can work remotely for a while.”
“Good.” Niko grasps hold of Ree’s shoulder, and an instant later, we’re at the back of an alley a block away from the building where Supreme Acquisitions and Holdings has their headquarters on Wall Street. Normally, I work in a satellite office in Midtown, but the merger meetings are almost always at corporate. “All right,” Niko says. “Text me when you need transport back.” Then he disappears.
Ree adjusts the sleeve of his jacket while scouring the area around us.
“I doubt the Vardigah are hiding behind the dumpster,” I say. We haven’t spoken much since yesterday, beyond the normal back-and-forth necessary to get ready for today. Ree’s made no move to repeat the sizzling hot sex we had the day before. Or should I say, the sizzling hot orgasms he gave me. I’m still wondering when I get to pay him back for that. This is the first I’ve come close to teasing him.
He gives me a tight smile. “Situational awareness.” He moves me down the alley toward the street. “I have a feeling our exposure is worse tucked away here. I want to get you into a crowd.”
My heels click down the pavement in rapid succession as we hurry toward the street. Once there, it’s packed, people striding to their morning meetings or filling taxis on their way through the financial district. Ree stays close, his hand on my elbow, navigating the crowd with me. We quickly reach the building, and Ree has plenty of credentials to get through security, but I vouch for him as my personal bodyguard. We stride to the elevators and ride up.
“I’ll be in the room with you,” he says, casually, hands clasped in front of his black suit. “Just pretend I’m not there. Do your thing.”
I smirk. “You’re not an easy man to ignore, Ree.”
He slides me a look that’s hot as sin. “Later,” he says, then looks forward again, all business.
My body temperature rises at least a degree with that promise. I struggle full-time for the rest of the elevator ride to get re-focused on business again. Everyone’s gotten their board packets. I’ve reviewed the numbers with the team. They’ve agreed with my recommendations. It’s just a matter of selling it to the board—or at least convincing them I’ve done the proper due diligence behind the merger, whatever they decide. The elevator arrives, I lead the way out, and Ree slips behind to follow just like he’s my assistant or groupie or something. The recepti
onist for the company does a double-take—yes, girl, he is just that fine—but then slides us both guest badges. The conference room is mid-sized. Ostentatious enough to feel right for these high-profile business meetings, but practical enough to not feel like we’re lost in a coliseum.
Ten board members, my three team members from Supreme, and the CEO of the buyer corporation. The buyer and seller will meet later to negotiate terms. This meeting is to brief the buyer and make the recommendation for acquisition. Supreme will help with negotiations, although Anthony will take the lead on that part. And once a deal has been struck, Supreme will again step in to help guide the Project Team on the acquisition process itself. That’s Jim and Arnie’s expertise. I’m the numbers lady—the one who brings the data and the charts and runs the calculations to say whether this deal is a win for the buyer or not. It’s not the highest-profile position on the team, but everyone knows that getting it right is critical.
I briefly introduce Ree as my personal security, relaying a suitably distressing story about how I received threatening notes, and then my apartment was broken into. Fictitious for me, but Ree said it actually happened to one of his clients. That gives a weird vibe to the introductions, but Ree’s already faded into the background of the conference room, as promised, and once I get through the glad-handing and set up my laptop, I really do forget for the next half hour that he’s there. I have everyone’s attention, and this is my moment to show them what I’ve got. Numbers and charts, sure, but also the depth of research that Supreme—and me in particular—have brought to the room. I need to sell them on my expertise as well as the deal they’re considering. Which I finish off with my recommendation to buy, then field questions for another half hour. It takes time, but there’s nothing I don’t have an answer for. Anthony’s giving me encouraging looks, and Jim’s not jumping in like he usually does, trying to explain my charts for me. Even Arnie seems to think the work is acceptable, even if he still stares at my boobs the entire time. At least he’s not tossing up his usual backhanded compliment about how it was remarkable I could get all this done with having only been with the company less than six months—conveniently ignoring my MBA and seven years of experience prior to Supreme. Maybe even he realizes that shit has no place here. We’re conducting serious business—it’s all about the numbers, and I have the receipts.
When we wrap up, there’s more handshaking, and the board has yet to vote, but I can read the room—they will move forward with the deal. Based on the strength of my presentation. I’m floating on the smiles of my team, my steps light in my designer shoes as Ree and I retrace our steps back out of the office and to the elevator. I decide he was right to bring the shoes. He was right about getting that extra sleep. And he basically made this whole thing possible while still keeping me safe. I’m feeling gushes of gratitude that I’d like to physically express in the near future.
I keep it professional until we’re in the elevator alone.
Then I tip my head back, raise my arms, and shout, “Yes!”
Ree smirks at me from where he stands by the elevator buttons. “If I ever need to acquire a $500M dollar company, I know who to call.”
I drop my arms, do a fist pump, then smooth out my suit jacket because we’re almost to the ground floor. “And I’ll take good care of you, Mr. Cendrillion.” I smirk as the elevator door opens, letting that double entendre just hang there until we get back to France. Which is crazy, and I really should find out more about this whole dragon business, including this ability to teleport, but to be honest, I mostly want to mount Ree’s hard-ass body and ride him until I can’t see.
Ree’s at my side, going ahead of me through the revolving door. The street traffic is a little less, but Ree’s large, black-suit-clad body still clears a path. He pulls out his phone just as we reach the alley, which he sweeps with his scrutinizing gaze before focusing on the phone briefly to text Niko. I’m still feeling light as a feather, floating on the accomplishment of the meeting.
My own phone buzzes, and it’s Anthony. You nailed it. Vote 10-0 to proceed. Congrats. I turn to tell Ree, but suddenly, the alley is filled with people.
Holy shit—
Vardigah. Those pointy-eared bastards teleported into the alley! And a half dozen of them surround Ree. He pulls a gun from inside his jacket and shoots two in rapid succession. But another four surround me. Just as they close in, Niko appears out of nowhere, right between me and the closest Vardigah. Then Niko disappears, and a massive black dragon appears in his place! The surprise of it knocks me back, my bag goes flying and my ankle twists, breaking one of the heels of those damn shoes. I collide with the brick wall of the alley, and the broken shoe comes off completely, but I manage to stay upright. Niko’s dragon lashes out at one Vardigah with his tail while slashing at the other with razor-sharp, six-inch fangs. I can’t even see Ree down the alley, but one of the Vardigah slips past Niko’s massive black-scaled body and comes after me. I reach down and wrench off the remaining shoe that still has a stiletto heel and throw it with all my might. Miraculously, it stabs the Vardigah straight through the eye—the bastard reels back in shock, then collapses. Niko’s dragon disappears, and now he’s standing naked in the alley. What? Before I can think twice about that, he lurches over the Vardigah body parts he’s left behind and grabs my arm. An instant later, we’re back in the great room of Ree’s apartment.
“Where’s Ree?” I screech at Niko, but he’s already gone.
I stand there, in the silent room, for ten heart-stopping seconds.
Suddenly, Niko reappears with Ree, both naked—only Ree is covered in blood.
“Oh, my God!” I lurch forward.
Niko’s bracing him. “You okay?” he asks Ree. Niko has somehow rescued my bag, which he sets down on the floor.
Ree gives a curt nod, but he’s breathing hard. “What the fuck, Niko.”
“I know,” Niko says. “I don’t see how they found her.”
Ree’s got fury on his face, but all I see is the blood. “She’s not going back to New York,” he says to Niko. “Go on, take care of it. Then call me.” He waves Niko off.
Niko looks briefly at me—I’m frantic but unharmed—then disappears.
“Ree.” I don’t know where I can even touch him. There’s blood splashed across his chest and running down his arm.
“I’m okay.”
But he’s not.
Six
Ree
Goddamnit. The fucking Vardigah came back—and in force.
The adrenaline of the fight masked, for the critical seconds of the battle, my utter terror that they’d found Jayda. But it was fucking glorious to slice those bastards to pieces, after all they’ve done, and not just to Jayda and the other women—I’ve waited two hundred years for that payback. But now we’re back in France, and all I can do is pray they can’t track her here. We got lucky in the alley. Niko had mated-dragon strength, and I’ve literally trained my entire life to take down bad guys when they launch a surprise attack. But the Vardigah were prepared this time—they came in numbers. If they find us here in the south of France, it’ll be just me against who knows how many of them. Under no circumstances can I let Jayda out of my sight.
“Jesus, you’re bleeding, Ree!” She’s standing in front of me, barefoot but unharmed, her hands fluttering like she wants to do something.
I’m naked and covered in blood. My arm throbs where one of them got me. I wipe the blood from my shoulder to get a better look. “One of them had a vibrating sword of some kind.” There’s a deep gash that’s making my arm useless. I clamp my hand over it to stem the bleeding.
“You need to go to the hospital!” She’s spooling up.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell her, but the panic in her eyes says she doesn’t believe me.
“I’ll get some towels.” She spins to go, but I grab her wrist. “You need help!” she protests.
I pull her closer. “You’re not leaving my sight. Understood?”
She no
ds, but she’s tearing up. It’s a stress reaction, I know that—I’ve got an insane amount of adrenaline still pumping through me—but I need to calm her down and get myself patched up. And I know she doesn’t understand how dragon healing works and how this isn’t much. I’ll be fine soon.
“You can help me get cleaned up, okay?” I slide my good hand—bloody and fucking disgusting, but at least functional—down to hold hers. She doesn’t shy away from it. I walk us both back toward the bedrooms, skipping hers and heading straight for mine. Probably trailing blood across the carpet, but that can’t be helped. When we reach the bathroom, I grab a hand towel and press it to my shoulder. “Come here and hold this for me, okay?” That brings her closer—I’ve got this insane need to be touching her at all times, like that will somehow ward off the Vardigah—and she does a great job of putting pressure on my wound. Fucking hurts, but not for long. I lean back against the counter and slide my hand around her waist, drawing her and her gorgeous suit up against my naked and bloody body. She doesn’t even hesitate, just leans in and alternates worried looks between the rapidly-soaking towel and my face, which is probably also a mess. Somewhere on me, I have Vardigah blood as well. I’m a complete disaster.
She’s distressed. “I need you to not bleed out on me, Ree.” She’s trying to sound stern, but I hear the panic underneath it. “Who’s going to protect me if you’re passed out on the floor?”
“No one’s passing out.” It feels good to have her this close. Reassuring. There’s part of this attack that’s shaken something loose inside me. “Dragons have ridiculous healing powers—it’s part of the magic. I was born in 1810, Jayda. You don’t live as long as I have, especially not in the work I do, without having something a little supernatural to keep you going.”
Her expression is still pinched, but I can feel her body relaxing against me. The closeness has to be affecting her, too. “Don’t tell me nothing can kill you.”
