Dragon's Honor (3 page)

Maggie, her father’s PA sat to one side, her fingers flying over a keyboard as she typed a hundred miles a minute. At the same time she had a phone tucked against her shoulder, ordering catering for something by the sounds of it. She looked up and smiled when she saw Honor, lifting a hand to wiggle her fingers in hello as Honor headed towards the door opposite. Her father’s office. The inner sanctum. The place she remembered playing when she was a child, her coloring books spread out one side of the desk as her father worked on the other.

Movement at the corner of her eye made her pause, and turn toward the comfortable couches arranged in front of picture windows that had one of the best views of the city she’d ever seen. Then the world stopped. A man stood in front of them, hands behind his back. Tall and broad, with the sort of build that screamed power. Everything about him got her attention in an instant.

Well, helllloo honey. Where you been all my life?

Like most of the men she saw in her day to day life, he wore a suit. An expensive one by the look of it. Longish hair was caught back at the nape of his neck, the only deviation from boardroom-norm she could see. As though he could feel her gaze on him, he turned and looked over his shoulder. Bright blue eyes pierced her, the look assessing, as though he could see all the way through her down to her soul.

Her body lit up like a Christmas tree, all her feminine instincts demanding that she cross the distance between them and wrap herself around him like a cat. As though he could read her thoughts, the blue of his eyes deepened, his lips parting. Her gaze dropped to them at the slight movement and she fought back a shiver. His lips weren’t overly full, but the sensual quirk did things to her body that should have been illegal.

He moved, his hands lifting to straighten his tie. A small whimper escaped her when she spotted the dark edge of a tattoo under his cuff. Long hair and tattoos? He was totally rocking the whole ‘bad boy in a suit’ look, how was a girl supposed to resist?

The sound of Maggie putting her phone down galvanized Honor into action. Tearing her eyes away from the waiting hottie, she turned smartly on her heel and headed into her father’s office.

*

Fuck. Me.

Baron stood motionless in front of the large windows as though he’d been pole-axed. Sure, he’d known from the photo what Honor Croft looked like, but nothing had prepared him for seeing the woman in the flesh. Nothing
could
have prepared him for seeing the woman in the flesh. He’d been expecting spoiled socialite, so the smart business suit and self-possessed air had taken him by surprise, as had the immediate and overwhelming reaction from both his body and his dragon.

Need. Lust. Obsession.

And that had been before she’d shivered and looked like she wanted to eat him whole. In a good way. In a way he wasn’t going to argue about. No siree.

His cock flared to life in his pants, forcing him to turn rapidly to avoid betraying the state of his body to the PA behind the desk who had watched that little interplay before Honor had swept through the door into her father’s office.

She’d whimpered. An honest to goodness whimper. Determination straightened his back, despite the weight of Duke wriggling on the skin there. He wanted to hear that whimper again. He
had
to. Hearing her make that breathy, feminine little sound again, preferably when she was stretched out naked under him, had just become his new life goal.

What’s going on?
Duke demanded, far more garrulous over their mental link than he was aloud. Made Baron kind of glad they were only telepathic when touching, or in their dragon forms.
Is she here yet? Fuck, couldn’t you have gotten a bigger jacket? I’m squashed in here, you porker!

That’s ’cause you’re in there as well, you daft twat. Stop moving and you’ll be fine.
Baron replied in a calm voice, more concerned with getting his wayward erection to subside than answering his brother. There was no way he was walking into his new boss’s office with a boner. That would make a cracking first impression. Not.

He ignored the grumbling and the squirming under his skin. At least it was under the skin and not over it, otherwise his jacket would resemble the hunchback of Notre Dames’ right about now. And since he was pretending to be garden variety human, that wouldn’t do at all.

“Mr. Croft is ready for you now, Mr. Smith.”

“Thank you.”

He acknowledged the PA’s comment with a small nod, straightened his jacket, turned, and headed for the door Honor had disappeared through ahead of him. Thankfully, his body was behaving and the front of his pants no longer tented. Of course, that was only embarrassing because he was meeting the woman’s father. If it was just the two of them, it would be a different matter. In fact, the two of them in a room with a horizontal surface? Things could get real interesting, real fast.

What’s going on? Where are we now?
Duke demanded, wriggling across Baron’s shoulders and sliding down his arm to try and peek out from under his shirt cuff.

Will you behave?
Hissing through his teeth, Baron clamped a hand down around the cuff and trapped his brother’s ink-like muzzle before it could emerge from under the cotton.
You’re going to blow our damn cover if you’re not careful.

Duke retreated, grumbling under his ‘breath’ again, but was still. He hadn’t returned to Baron’s back though and had instead remained curled around his arm. Baron didn’t trust him for a second. The instant he relaxed, Duke would do just what the fuck he wanted. He always did.

Behave, or I clear all your shit out the spare bedroom
, Baron threatened as he reached out and rapped his knuckles on the door. It was partly open anyway, so it was more a courtesy thing.

You wouldn’t dare
. Duke huffed, manifesting claws from the ink-form long enough to stick them into Baron’s arm.
Besides, you can’t get in there
.

With explosives
, Baron added.

Bastard
, his brother grumbled in reply. Baron grinned, he’d won this round.

“Come in.”

The masculine voice had to belong to Laurence Croft himself, as he was the only male in the room when Baron walked in. Honor sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. From the stiff set of her shoulders and the fact she didn’t look his way, deliberately by the look of it, he’d put his money on the fact she’d just been told something she didn’t want to hear.

“Ahh, Smith, thank you for joining us.”

Croft stood and rounded the desk, surprising Baron by offering his hand to shake. Most big-wigs like this wouldn’t have bothered, asserting their superiority through rudeness, but Croft’s shake and smile seemed genuine. More than that, the relief seeping from his pores was obvious to any guy with a nose on his face.

“No problem, sir.” Baron ignored the movement over his arm as Duke slid around. Sneaky fuck was using the gap under his cuff to peek out from.

“Right, well. Let’s get down to it.” Croft turned to his daughter, and for a split second Baron caught the look of discomfort in the guy’s eyes as he took in the rigid set of Honor’s shoulders. For a moment Laurence deflated, and Baron felt for him. That he loved and cared about his daughter was obvious. Trouble was, often kids, even adult ones, didn’t see it that way. Then the older man took a breath, straightened his back, and smiled.

“Honor, this is Mr. Smith. He will be in charge of your safety for the next co...little while.”

“Dad, I told you, I don’t need a bodyguard.”

Baron hid his smile as Honor turned. The look that passed between father and daughter melted Baron’s somewhat craggy heart. The love and affection between them was obvious, even though they were patently out of sorts with each other at the moment. Laurence reached out to take her hands, pulling her to her feet.

“Please, angel. It would make me feel a lot better knowing that you had someone as capable as Smith here looking after you. I worry about you; this will make me sleep easier when I’m away in London.”

Baron was pleased to see she didn’t pout, or argue, but instead inclined her head in a graceful movement. “There’s no need to worry, but okay.”

Laurence beamed and dragged his daughter into a swift hug. At the same moment, the phone on the desk behind chirped once.

“Damn it, that’s my afternoon meeting. I’ll leave you in Mr. Smith’s capable hands. Don’t forget to ring me.”

Honor smiled. “Of course not, now go. I’ll see you when you get back.”

Chapter Three

As soon as the door closed behind her father’s retreating back, Honor rounded on the brooding bad-boy who’d been assigned to look after her. In just one sentence from her father, he’d been reduced from potential one night stand to someone she wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot barge pole. Look after indeed, what century did her father, and this guy, think they were in?

“Okay, forget everything he said,” she ordered, channelling her inner bitch. It didn’t take much when she was being treated like the helpless ‘little woman.’ “Despite what my father thinks, I don’t need a man to make sure I can get from home to the office and back.”

Smith stood there, looking down at her with an unreadable expression and a light in his eyes she couldn’t work out. It had better not be amusement, or she’d show him what damage a stiletto heel could do to Italian leather. Expensive shoes for a bodyguard, but it was none of her business what he spent his money on. Given his appearance, her money was on shoes and tats.

She took a deep breath to start again, and was waylaid by his cologne. Musk and something woody. Smelled nice, and expensive. Not one she’d smelled before. Must be very expensive, even exclusive. The men her father pushed at her at the functions he insisted she attend were like a catalog of the latest and greatest in everything from clothes to new fragrances. Just once she’d like to find one that smelled like a man. It would be a new experience. Maybe she could even work up to one that had some kind of manual skill rather than lurking behind a desk most of his working day.

“As far as I’m concerned, this is just a huge waste of time and money.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “But, if it makes him happy, then I’ll play along. But I make the rules, understand me?”

She waited for what appeared to be a vague nod. Okay, he could have just been lifting his chin to look down his nose at her, but she didn’t care. She needed to get this speech out in the open, lay the ground rules now, before they went any further. Besides, the broody and silent act was beginning to piss her off. Did he think that was cute or something?

“Which means you get to follow me like a puppy dog, get the doors and wait for me outside meetings, the gym, and the salon.” She smiled, little more than a quirk of her lips. Amusement she didn’t feel. “I’m afraid you’re going to have a rather boring couple of weeks, Mr. Smith. If I were you, I’d buy a couple of good books. You’re going to need them.”

Silence, then a slow nod. Honor let out a breath of...no, not relief. She hadn’t been waiting for the nod. No, not at all. She was just still worked up from the warehouse earlier. Yeah, that’s what it was.

“Okay, good. Now we have that sorted, I have work to do this afternoon. There’s a spare desk next to Lucy’s you can use.”

The man monolith frowned, his answer a deep rumble. “Lucy?”

“My PA. Nice girl, you’ll like her. Real chatty.” Honor grinned in real amusement this time. Mr. Talkative here and Lucy would get on like a house on fire. Not. If she was lucky, he’d run screaming from the building after half an hour of Lucy’s constant chatter. Either that or he’d fling himself from the toilet windows on the thirtieth floor.

“Well, times a-wasting.” She grabbed her files and tablet PC from her father’s desk. “If you’ll follow me, Mr. Smith?”

*

He was in hell. Seriously in hell.

Three hours later Baron would have welcomed the apocalypse or perhaps a zombie invasion. Between Duke’s incessant whining in his mind, and Lucy’s constant chatter assaulting his ears, he was ready to go stir crazy. Or postal with the stapler on the desk in front of him. It was pink, and the smiley face on the top was mocking him, he was sure of it.

What’s happening? Does that bloody girl never stop talking?
Duke groused, trying to turn around in the small of Baron’s back as Lucy chattered away opposite. So far they’d been through the latest on the soaps, last weekend’s movie releases, and something about some family called Kardosians.

I don’t think she even stops to draw breath
. Baron grimaced as Duke dug his claws in for purchase.
Get your damn nails out of my butt
.

It shouldn’t be so big then, should it? Seriously Bro, would it kill you to do a few squats.

Baron grumbled under his breath and nodded at a comment of Lucy’s. No idea what she’d said but right at this moment he didn’t care. If one or both didn’t shut the fuck up soon, it was him and the stapler all the way.

Yeah, since we do the same workouts, then that means you could do with some as well, fatso.

Before he could add to his reply, the door to Honor’s office swung open and the woman herself emerged. Despite the dressing down she’d tried to give him in her father’s office, every instinct he had, human and non-human, was locked onto her the moment she came into view. His dragon rose, the dark heat filling his blood as scales brushed against the inside of his skin. Sensing the presence of Baron’s beast just the other side of the thin surface he sat on, Duke stilled where he was.

Bro, get it together. This close to the full moon, you shift, I shift, and this room ain’t big enough for the both of us
, he warned.
No room’s big enough for both of us in dragon form.

Baron nodded, closed his eyes for a second and drew a deep breath. In through his nose, and deep down into his lungs. Big mistake. The air carried Honor’s scent, infiltrating his body as the oxygen crossed over into his blood. He shivered and the scales under his skin rustled, the sound like dry leaves dancing over the sidewalk in autumn, as though his dragon was determined to make its presence known.