Her Dragon Hero (3 page)

Even by the low lamp lights littering the foreshore of Darwin Harbour, his blue jeans and  tight, black t-shirt only helped to make him look more rugged and masculine. She was sure his muscles had muscles. She fought the urge to fan herself, and not from the evening Top End heat of Darwin.

She dropped his hand and stepped back, realising she pawed at him like a kid wanting to sample an exciting, new candy. His chocolate brown eyes almost glowed in the evening darkness when he stared at her.

“Your new hero? Who else do you need rescuing from?”

Good god, his voice was deep, liquid gold. A woman could orgasm from only a few seductive words.

She felt her cheeks flush crimson. “Oh, gosh, no one, just from myself, sometimes. Sorry, I kind of get carried away.”

His dark eyebrow rose. Man, she was so using this. Her fingers itched for a pen and paper. Heck, even better, her laptop back in her room.

Shouldn’t I be upset after breaking up with my boyfriend of two years, instead of drooling over a complete stranger?
She didn’t feel upset, really more relieved it was over.

Her stomach fell, thinking about her room, her things and…“Oh, crap, Wayne!”

“He is gone,” Brimstone growled. She watched him in awe while his body stiffened, his eyes scanning the area as if expecting a threat. Wow, again. This man is prime, female, fantasy material.

“I have to get back to my hotel. If he’s that pissed, he might destroy all my work!”

If nothing else, she knew Wayne to be spiteful. She spun on her flats to hurry back to the hotel.

“I will escort you and make sure you come to no harm.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I mean you’ve already put yourself out for me, I’d hate to be a bother.”

“I thought you wished for me to be your hero.”

From his tone and intent stare, he was serious.

“Well, yes, but it was me and my wayward brain not filtering what my mouth tends to blurt out.”

“You did not mean what you said?” He easily kept stride beside her—more like he had to walk slower to match her hurried, little pace.

“Yes, I mean no, I mean…you see, I’m a writer and create stories. I think you’d be the perfect hero for my next story.”

He shoved his hand into his pockets as they walked. It didn’t make him any less than huge and intimidating. Even with his size, buzz-cut short hair, and forehead scrunched in a scowl, she was sure he could make ice cubes in hell, but it was odd; in no way did she feel unsafe or intimidated.

Heck, he already proved his worth by saving her from dick-weed Wayne. Mind you, she placed much of the blame on herself for letting it go as far as it did. Maybe, she was a little insecure, to try and make something out of a relationship which was fated for failure.

If not for her persistence, and pushing through the negativity of Wayne’s constant putdowns and his always trying to turn her into someone other than herself, she would have never published the first two of her books.

She escaped into fantasy through her writing and it helped her cope with the reality of her life, but now, she felt she had finally woken up from a bad nightmare and was taking control of her life. It felt good. Damn good.

“You’re a storyteller. I admire the abilities of storytellers.”

“Yes.” She glanced sideways with a grin. “I, uh, write romantic fiction.”

In reality, she wrote hot, saucy stories with larger than life, alpha men, but admitting it out loud to a big hunky guy?  Nuh-huh.

From experience, she found people either looked down their nose at her, or disregarded her type of writing as unliterary or simply porn, as Wayne did. However, he changed his tune once he saw the colour of the money from her royalty payments. He actually encouraged her to write, proposed marriage, and demanded they go on a winter holiday, up to always sunny Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. They booked several outback tours to see the arid country.

Porn. She grit her teeth. Cripes, how much she hated the term in reference to what she did.
Erotic romance is totally different to erotica.
Mind you, most of her sex scenes were drawn from her own concept of how it should be, and hiding away, watching online porn to get the mechanics right.

Sneaking another glance at her new companion, she couldn’t help wonder if everything was in proportion to his size. What would it feel like to have his large hands running over her body? Being a rounded size sixteen, she was not considered small, but compared to this big guy, she was tiny.

Research? She felt guilty wanting to use him like this. She didn’t want to lie to him and at the same time she needed to keep a firm grip on reality, which included any rejection, if he decided not to be her research project.

“Romantic Fiction. It is not something I am familiar with. Is it common in your world?”

Your world? What does that mean?
Oh, he was foreign. It explained the sexy accent and the roll of his tongue when he used an ‘r’ in a word.

“It's the most popular form of book on the market. Up to eighty-nine percent of sales today are romantic fiction. So, I’m in a good business to make money.”

Yes, it was a business, but in all truth she loved to get lost in her little worlds.

“It's how I paid for the holiday with…well, I guess Wayne’s got his money’s worth from me.” She shook her head wanting to think of better things than the loser she dumped. “So, uh, Brimstone, what brings you to Darwin?”

“I was persuaded to come along by a friend.”

“Persuaded? You don’t like holidays?” She raised a questioning eyebrow at him with a sideward glance.

“I’ve never had a holiday. I’d rather be killing something,” Brimstone muttered.

Amber blinked and a little tremble of fear shimmered down her body. She wasn’t sure how to process his last comment.

He must have sensed her unease. He reached out, taking possession of her hand in his. His was huge and utterly engulfed her smaller hand.

“I have never and would never harm a woman. You have to forgive an old solider who has seen too much fighting.”

Warm tingles raced up her arm from the hand he held, and her fear melted, his words making more sense.

They reached a set of stairs which led to the Promenade and started to climb. Amber pointed down the street, a little breathless after he helped her up three flights. “My hotel is the one at the end of the Promenade.” He was reluctant to let her go, and she liked the almost possessive way he gripped her hand while they walked.

“So, uh, where’s your persuasive friend?”

Brimstone shrugged his massive shoulders. “I left him to his seducing of human females.”

“Seriously?” She felt her jaw drop again. “Human females? You talk as if you’re not human yourself.”

His shoulder shrugged with a non-committal answer. “Some days, I don’t feel human.”

Amber laughed and again relaxed. This man was a complex ride of contradictions. She could only guess he wasn’t used to interacting much with non-military people.

“Yes, I have days like that, too. Oh, here we are.”

They stopped outside one of the cheaper Darwin hotels. Walking to the entrance, Brimstone snatched open the front door before she could. She smiled her thanks and hurried in.

The eyes of the girl behind the desk widened as she gazed up at Brimstone standing behind Amber. No doubt, he got this kind of reaction a lot.

She read the girl's name tag. “Hi, Suzie, I’m Amber Anderson in room 501.  I’ve broken up with my boyfriend and he has the keycard. Is there any way I can have him removed from my room?”

The woman tore her gaze away from Brimstone. “Miss Stone, I…uh, can get you another card, but we can’t do anything about domestic altercations. The room is in Mr Goolia’s name.”

“Damn, I forgot about that, and we paid in advance, too! Can I cancel the room and get another?”

“No.” Brimstone's snapped command made Amber jump. She whirled around and stared at him. “You will come back and stay with me.”

Her eyes widened, and her stomach dropped at the sudden thought of being alone with this large, somewhat odd man. “I can’t do that, I just met you.”

“I will get you your own room. Give me her card key.” He pushed his large frame over the desk, his hand out, the silent demand clear.

Suzie obediently handed over the bit of black plastic.

“Come, we will gather your belongings. Suzie, call us a taxi.”

“Uh, yes sir.” The woman quickly picked up the phone.

Amber blinked as the world spun at breakneck speed. With a firm hold on her hand, Brimstone tugged her towards the elevator. The door opened and he pulled her inside.

* * * *

He fought a losing battle. The moment he got her into the small, confined space, a little more of his human persona and civility slipped with the need to take and claim his little, blue-eyed mate.

Her pale skin, parted pink lips, and fire in her gaze drew him under, like under a powerful spell.

“Look, Brimstone, I don’t know who you think—” He stepped in closer, crowding her into the corner, his hand by her shoulder keeping her contained, not as if there was anywhere to go in a small elevator.

“You like me.”

Her eyes widened, making a face saying, ‘Yeah, so?’ “And?”

“I like you. I want you and I want to fuck you.”

Brimstone wanted to slam himself over the head with his own tail when the words came out of his mouth.
Damn dragon balls! Is it too much for my big dumb brain to ask for a little subtlety?
He didn’t want to scare her away, and he was doing a damn, good job of fucking it all up.

Her mouth opened, and then slammed shut with a hiss. The elevator door dinged and slid open. She ducked under his arm, exiting the elevator, muttering, “Men suck.”

He followed after her down the hall, watching the fantastic sway of her ass while she stomped towards her room. Brim wondered how else he could fuck this up. He couldn’t. There was no possible way he could screw this up further, so he had nothing to lose.

Running on pure instinct, he grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop. He swung her around and lifted her, so her feet dangled, and pushed her back against the wall next to the door marked 501. His chest mashed the softness of her breasts. Damn, she was soft everywhere.

Before she could so much as squeak indignantly, his lips were on hers. The soft, silky warmth of her lips made him groan. He never tasted something so fucking good. He pushed into her mouth with an insistent tongue, and squeezed her arse with his free hand, keeping her pinned with his upper torso.

It was not a soft kiss, or particularly tender—he plundered and possessed, nipping with his teeth, and then soothing with a hot tongue.

Gods, he almost came on the spot when she moaned and kissed him back, her tongue entwining with his, pushing back into his mouth. Hands on her arse, he hoisted her up so the junction of her thighs rubbed against his harder-than-granite shaft, trying to grind through their layers of clothing.

He grabbed her delectable, full arse cheeks with both hands and squeezed, pulling her closer. Her legs and arms wrapped around his waist and neck. He was almost utterly gone until, from behind them, a male’s disgusted voice broke the erotic spell.

“I always knew you were a god-damned, fucking whore!”

* * * *

“Something must be done. If those dragons come back to the King with anything remotely useful, their passage will not be secure any longer.”

Breylla, Demon Princess of the Eastern Hell Realm, tracked the pacing, grey dragon, agitation showing in his jerky movements, clenching fists, and whiny tone.

She let out a long suffering sigh. Despite her demon heritage and quick-to-anger brethren, she always prided herself on being more patient and calculating rather than simply reacting in rage to new challenges placed before them.

She spent years on this plan, and despite her lack of outward response to Javir’s news, inwardly she fumed. Learning the dragons wanted to put a foothold in the human world, chasing women did not bode well for her plans.

“Do you think, after all the time and preparation, I would let something as simple as this get in the way of our plans?”

Javir stopped pacing. His grey eyes swung to her, looking her over and, as always, underestimating her value and exactly what she was capable of due to the slim, attractive human guise she hid behind.

She let her red lips curve up into a smile. “The King is desperate for his dragons to succeed. You can’t blame him for seeking out ways to increase the population. What is a king without a kingdom?”

“Not with humans!” spat the old, grey dragon. Venom and hatred burned in his gaze.

Breylla shrugged. “It’s why we have our deal. It is time to re-introduce what they have long forgot. We came before humans and therefore, we are their masters. Don’t worry your dragon head over these two. I will send out scouts, and then my best fighters to dispatch them.”

“It must be done before the next full moon when they are required to report to the King. They cannot be allowed to reach the realm portal alive.”