Haunted By Her Dragon (The Dragon Guard Series) (8 page)

He
spotted her thick brown braid and the need to unleash her miraculous mane
overwhelmed him. The need to give her comfort was alive in him. He knew she
needed to rest comfortably, and he would do whatever it took to make it so.
Sitting lightly on the side of the bed, his hip made contact with her luscious
ass and his cock jerked. ‘
Down boy, now is not the time,’
he told his
wayward member, but that did not stop his imagination from conjuring all sorts
of erotic images. Gently, he removed the small pink band from the end of her
braid. Slowly, he began to unwind the intricate design that her hands had so
deftly wound and was reminded of spun silk as the delicate strands slid through
his fingers. He marveled as each tendril fell to her back, returning to their
natural curls. As the braid completely fell away, he was unable to stop his
fingers from gently massaging her neck. The touch of his fingers on the satin
of her skin sent an electric current straight to his erection, causing it to
harden even more against the zipper of his jeans. She moaned in her sleep,
pushing into his touch, and he knew that she felt their connection even in her
sleep.

He
continued to work the tight muscles of her neck, moving to her shoulders,
letting his hands slide under her scrub top, the need to keep skin to skin
contact a throbbing need within him. The longer he molded her skin, the faster
his heart beat and the more his thoughts that she was perfect in every way were
confirmed. Even her response to his touch was without flaw. Her movements
caused her behind to again rub against his hip and once again, his internal
debate began. His body, heart, and soul wanted her more than his next breath,
but his brain told him he needed to find a way to keep his distance until the
threats against her had been eliminated. Fortunately, nature had a way of
taking care of itself, because as the blood left his brain, he acted on pure
instinct, leaning forward. He ran his nose along the exposed column of her
throat, stopping as he felt her blood pump harder and faster. His tongue
slipped past his lips, bathing her pulse in his scent while pulling hers into
his soul, marking her, letting all others know to whom she belonged.

Sam
let her head fall forward, an invitation for more attention. Who was he to deny
his mate what she desired? Unable to stop, his hands moved to her waist as he
continued to kiss and nip her tender skin. So lost to the taste and feel of his
mate, the need building until he was sure he would burst, his hand touched the
flesh at her waist and an electrical charge like nothing he had ever known ran
through him head to toe, and assured him that he had passed the point of no
return. Using every ounce of strength he possessed, he eased back until only
his hands at her waist maintained their contact. He watched as she settled back
into a deep sleep, all the while his thumbs drew little circles on her skin,
unable to give up the last bit of their connection.  A tap on the window
woke him from his stupor. He jerked his head around. There in the window was a
huge pair of green cat eyes and a panther’s face with a smirk only the King could
give.
Damn cat!
It was truly irritating that the King’s beast fit on the
small balcony outside Sam’s room. Despite his irritation, he smiled at Max’s
ingenuity for getting his attention. He nodded his head, assuming Max needed
him outside. The cat turned, and the last Lance saw of him was his tail as he
leapt from the roof of Sam’s cottage.

He
sat a few minutes longer, drinking in the beauty of his dark-haired angel.
Sighing, he removed his hands from under her scrub top and scribbled a note to
let her know he would return her car as soon as it was repaired, then walked
slowly towards the hallway. Unable to control himself, he glanced over his
shoulder for one last look at
her
and smiled. He wasn’t sure who he was
trying to fool, probably himself, most definitely his dragon, and without a
doubt the men he called brethren, but in his heart where there was only the
truth, he admitted to himself that he was falling in love with Dr. Samantha
Malone. Fate would not be denied. He shook his head.
All right, now get your
ass out there and catch those sons of bitches, so you’ll never be apart from
her again,
he demanded of himself.
And stop acting like a love sick
idiot!
Turning on his heels, his resolve renewed, he all but flew down the
stairs. He locked the door and slid Sam’s keys through her mail slot. When he
stood again, Max was walking towards him, back in human form and pulling on a
T-shirt. Even as a man he moved with feline grace. The smirk on the Leo’s face
said it all. “Something you need to tell me there, golden boy,” Max teased,
referring to the color of his beast.

“Don’t
know what you’re talking about, King,” Lance answered, braced for what was to
come.

“All
right, we’ll play it your way
for now,
but I expect an invitation to the
mating party,” Max chuckled as he stopped a few feet in front of him.

“But…”
was the only word he got out before Max waved away his response, never one to
put up with anyone’s bullshit.

“Play
it however you want. Not my business.” All signs of joking left his face, and
he frowned. “What is my business are the signs of trampled foliage, and the
lingering scent of black magic. Follow me. Let’s see what we can do to catch
these bastards.”

CHAPTER THREE

Sam awoke to the sun
shining through the bank of windows in her room and tried to work up the energy
to move. Her cell phone beeped on the bedside table. She stretched and then
rolled over to see who had the audacity to bother her on her day off. When she grabbed
her phone, she also brought back what appeared to be a business card. The note
inscribed made her smile and butterflies flitter in her stomach.
“Hope you
slept well, Doc. Call you when your car is fixed. Have a good day off.  L”
She knew she was acting like a lovesick teenager and really couldn’t find the
will to care. In the privacy of her own home, during the few hours she actually
had away from work, she was allowed to act like a normal almost twenty-nine
year old young woman that was attracted to an incredibly sexy, most definitely
sarcastic, sex on a stick ‘he-man’ that had curled her toes with the most
amazing kiss. It added to his appeal that he had hung around when it was not
his responsibility and made sure she got home after thirty-six hours of work
and
the stress of a car that decided to stop working. Not to mention the incredible
dreams she’d had that were so real she would have sworn she felt his lips on
her neck and hands on her body.

She
remembered the phone in her hand and looked at the screen at the same time she
shot straight up in bed.
What the…How did I get into bed? Hell! How did I
get home?
She retraced everything that had happened after she had finished
with Sydney’s chart, and the last thing she remembered was buckling the seatbelt
in Lance’s truck. Apparently she had fallen asleep, and it only stood to reason
that Lance had carried her to bed. She shook her head and read the message on
her phone from Charlie,
“Your little patient would like to talk to you. Call
if you can. Hope you are having a great day off.”
She had planned on
calling Sydney anyway but needed a shower and a cup of coffee before she could
do anything. After all, she had just slept twelve full hours, something she
couldn’t remember doing…
ever
.

With
only one full day off left to get her long list of chores done, she jumped in
and out of the shower in record time. Then she
brushed
her teeth, threw her hair up in a messy bun, dressed in her favorite pair of
sweats and ‘Doctors Do It
With
Lots of Patience’
T-shirt, and headed in search of coffee. While Mr. Coffee did his thing, she
called the hospital and after the nurse gave her the rundown of all that had
happened since she’d left the previous evening, was connected to Sydney’s room.
The little voice that said “Hello?” warmed her heart.

“Hey,
Sydney, it’s Dr. Sam. I heard you were asking for me. How’re you feeling
today?”

“Oh,
Dr. Sam, I feel so much better. The medicines you gave me fixed everything. I
told them nurses you would make me better,” her little patient answered with
such excitement that she found herself smiling until her cheeks ached.

“I’m
so glad you’re better. Nurse Susie said they’ll be bringing you some mashed
potatoes and chicken strips for dinner to see how your tummy feels with real food
in it. Okay?”

“Sure,
Dr. Sam, but I really like the red Jell-O and animal crackers.”

“I’m
sure you do, Honey, but we need to make sure your tummy is ready for some real
food. You don’t want to get sick again.”

“If
you say so,” Sydney answered with the enthusiasm only a child could muster.
“When will you be back, Dr. Sam?”

“I’ll
see you first thing in the morning. Be good and listen to what the nurses tell
you.”

“Yes,
ma’am, I will.”

“See
you tomorrow, Sweetheart. Bye, bye.”

“Bye,
Dr. Sam.”

Sam
could hear Sydney chattering away about her phone call as she hung up. That
little girl was really something special, and she hoped she was adopted or at
least placed with a good family very quickly. Thankfully, the beep of the
coffeemaker derailed the maudlin thoughts of her horrible experiences in foster
care. There was no time to take a trip down memory lane. She had too many
things to be happy about and too many things to accomplish for a pity party.
Filling her favorite mug and then adding cream and sugar, she looked around for
the Pop Tarts she knew were somewhere. Starvation was setting in, and if she
didn’t want chicken and stars soup for breakfast, she had to locate those yummy
toaster pastries. Finally, in the last cabinet, she found them, a brand new,
unopened box of cinnamon and brown sugar Pop Tarts,
her
favorite. With coffee in one hand and breakfast in the other, she headed to the
living room to cuddle in her big recliner while she ate.

The
day flew by as she did load after load of laundry and cleaned everything that
had been left untouched for months while she had worked day and night. She was
mopping floors and listening to Lady Antebellum on her iPod when thoughts of
Lance flooded her mind for about the hundredth time. Wondering why he was the
one man that she had not been able to forget, even though their first meeting
had been anything but normal and very brief, she sighed.

Her
smile grew as she thought about how she always felt protected, even special,
when he was near, watching out for her. The kiss they had shared became like a
film clip on a loop, playing over and over in her mind, causing her pulse to
race, her breathing to quicken, and her nipples to peak until they brushed the
inside of her T-shirt as she mopped the same spot over and over. That man had
the ability to mess with her mind even when he was nowhere around, and she knew
with a certainty that should have scared her. In the next breath, she got the
feeling that she was missing something. It had to be the weirdest thing she had
ever felt, and for some reason, she knew it had something to do with Lance.

Shaking
her head and deciding maybe she just needed more
sleep,
she finished her mopping and headed out to her recliner. Her cell phone was
setting on the table, the red light flashing, indicating she had missed a call.
When she ran her finger across the screen, she laughed out loud. Right there,
as sexy as ever, was the object of her infatuation, smiling the shit-eating
grin she would forever associate with him. She shook her head and could only
imagine when he’d found the time to take his picture and program his number
into her phone.

Pressing
the key for her voicemail, she barely held back the sigh that came from hearing
the baritone rumble of his voice. It wove its way inside, warming her
throughout, bringing everything she had been feeling just moments ago roaring
to the forefront. Using the focus that had gotten her through medical school,
she pushed aside her lust induced fog to hear what he was saying,
“Hey, Doc,
it’s Lance. Sorry to call so late, but we’re still waiting on a part to fix
your car. It’ll be tomorrow afternoon before it can be driven. I know you have
to work early in the morning, so give me a call.  I’ll come get you and
make sure you’re at the hospital on time. As you can see, I put my number in
your phone. Hope you had a good day off. Talk to
ya
soon.”
She all but fell into her chair, stunned and still holding her
phone.

The
first thought that came to her mind, when she could think again, was that he
had given her a nickname;
Doc
. Usually, she hated having any nickname
other than Sam, but with him she liked it. He thought about her in a personal
way.
Oh shit
and
what the hell
blared in her mind. There was no
way she had time to be getting hung up on anyone, let alone
that
man.
Finishing her residency and getting a permanent position had to be her focus.
It had been all she had dreamed of since she was a young girl. It was a promise
she made to her dead family. A promise she intended to keep.