Kiss of a Dragon (Fallen Immortals 1) - Paranormal Fairytale Romance (6 page)

“Good to know.” She had backed away from the edge, nodding thoughtfully. “What other advantages do you have to offer?”

She was treating this as a business transaction, which actually calmed him. Maybe her cool, analytical mind would see the benefits in the end. Maybe he wouldn’t have to resort to trickery and wonder and other things that would only twist the guilt deeper.

He took a step back from her inquiring expression and shifted into his dragon form.

She startled a little, taking a half step back toward the edge. “You really need to warn me when you’re going to do that!” She shook a finger at him.

He laughed a little, which came out as wisps of blue dragon fire. He huffed harder to blow it away, then the wind took it. He bent down and dipped his head, waiting for her to figure out the unspoken invitation for her to climb aboard.

She hesitated, frozen in her spot. “Are you kidding me?”

He picked up his head and shook it, waiting for her to choose. He wouldn’t speak to her until she was aboard, to lessen the shock. One step at a time.

“I’m not sure that riding a dragon is exactly a selling point here.” She edged toward him, slowly. After a long stretch of agonizing seconds, she touched the edge of his wing—so lightly—then she slid her fingers up to his shoulder. The feel of her soft skin against his scales sent a shudder running through his entire body. She damn well better get on soon, or he was going to shift back to human form and touch her a little more strongly. And with the kind of intent that would end up with them back in his bedroom.

“I’m not sure how to…” She grabbed the edge of his wing with one hand and the smooth scales of his neck with the other. He ducked down closer to the ground. She managed to hoist herself aboard, grabbing hold of his shoulders, tucking her legs back and bracing her feet on the leading edges of his wings. He could feel every curve of her body with hypersensation. Her breasts crushing against the back of his neck. Her legs straddling him. The flaming heat of her sex against his back.
Holy mother of magic,
why did he think this was a good idea? The feel of her readying to ride him made him picture her riding him an entirely different way. In his bed, straddled over his cock.

Another shudder ran through him. He focused on reaching for her mind instead of being hyper-aware of her body.
Hold on tight, my treasure.

“What the fuck?” she screeched, clinging harder to him. “Were you just… did you just…
holy fuck!”

That made him laugh… and cooled his surging lust a little.
The telepathy only works in dragon form. And I can’t read your thoughts, my treasure. I can only send you these words, planting them in your mind, sort of like a suggestion. Or a dream.

“Well, I really don’t like it—get the fuck out of my head!”

As you wish.
Then he leaped into the air, and she screeched again, startled by the sudden movement. Her hold tightened, but the smoothness of his scales didn’t allow much purchase. He was careful to fly straight and level and not too fast, just gently soaring around the keep to give her a better view of the place. After he had circled twice, he glided a little further away, allowing her to see how the mountain fell from the glass castle down to jagged chunks of rock, which were mixed with the brilliant greenery of the forest. The wind was cool and crisp this morning, and after a minute or two, her death hold on him relaxed.

“It’s beautiful up here.” Her words sent an unexpected shiver of pleasure through him. Yes, his home was beautiful, everything that magic and money could buy, but the natural beauty of the mountains was what made it complete. He was a part of nature and nature was a part of him. It was the connection to humanity that caused all the trouble.

He climbed higher, braving a little of the tradewinds to allow her to see past the peaks and down into the valley by the coast.

“Is that Seattle?” she shouted to be heard above the breeze.

Yes. I wanted you to see we were not so far.
She didn’t flinch this time when he communicated with her telepathically. And it was a risk to show her where the lair actually lay. But there would be many more risks before they were through.

He circled back, soaring on the gentle breeze and gliding into a bump free landing on the top of the keep. He dipped down and waited for her to dismount, then shifted back to human, conjuring his clothes quickly into place.

She kept her gaze averted from his momentary nakedness, although he caught her sneaking a peek—something that also flushed heat through him. But he was no longer touching her, so the worst of the lust heat stayed low in his belly.

“Did you like it?” he asked.

“I can certainly see how that might be fun. Once or twice.” She had a flush in her face and a small grin.

With any luck, she may actually have enjoyed the ride. More importantly, he scented no fear on her of his beast form any longer.

“But all this…” She flung her hands wide to encompass the keep. “This isn’t what women want.”

“A beautiful home. Untold riches. These aren’t the things women want?” he asked, knowing the answer, but restraining his smirk. “Then please do tell me.”

She scowled and crossed her arms like she wasn’t quite sure if he was baiting her or not. “They want someone to care about them the way they care about their men. Someone to listen to them. To make them laugh. I see it all the time in my practice. Women are desperate to have someone who actually cares. Who isn’t a selfish prick only interested in sex or who tries to manipulate her into satisfying all his needs, while providing nothing in return. Nothing of importance. It’s not the money she’s after. Money can’t buy you love. Surely even a reclusive billionaire golden dragon knows that song, right?”

He stepped toward her, so he could drop his voice and still be heard over the gentle breeze. “All too well.” He held her gaze, wondering if he were a fool to think this would work with a woman like her. “So tell me, where do I find True Love? Your friend Rachel, perhaps?”

She snorted. “Rachel? Uh… no. But how about WildLove?”

“Excuse me?” He frowned, truly confused. What was she talking about?

“The shifter app—haven’t you heard of it? It’s new, but it’s designed to hook up shifters and humans. It doesn’t actually specify wolves, and you
are
a shifter. You can explain later what kind. After the girl’s taken one look at you and fallen madly in love.”

He lifted his eyebrows, wondering if this unexpected twist would make it easier or more difficult for his plans to seduce her. “Intriguing.” He swept a hand back to the door that led to the stairs. “Lead the way.”

Arabella was still reeling
from the flight on Lucian’s back.

A golden dragon.
He really was one, something that terrified her at first but seemed more amazing the more she got used to it. Touching him in dragon form, sliding her fingers across his beautiful golden scales, was like touching the finest silk—spun and stretched tight over something as strong as steel. Stronger even. The night before was still a bit of a haze, but she remembered shooting a gun at the man and having it bounce off his skin like he was a superhero. And yet, where she expected cool metal against her fingertips, she found nothing but warmth and softness that begged for more of her touch.

And then there was the amazing hotness of the man himself, which she had ample time to admire from the back as he led her down the spiral steps to his lair. She didn’t know how he magically conjured his clothes, but the thin fabric of his black, ancient-styled hoodie outfit clung to every muscle. Whoever would be taking that body to bed was one lucky woman.

But lusting after a man who was essentially still holding her captive wasn’t exactly what she put in the
healthy behaviors
column. She needed to
focus—
to get Lucian Smoke a date, or maybe three, whatever it took—and let some other girl find out what it was like to take him to bed. Then she could get back to her life. How hard could it be, anyway, finding this guy a mate? Women would be falling head over heels in love with him—and dropping their panties—with one smoldering look from those long-lashed eyes.

It just wouldn’t be
her.

She’d already learned her lesson about hot men and how they lied. Hotness was no guarantee of anything, least of all that a man was a decent person. The kind that wouldn’t hurt you. Her body might lust after him, but her body was the most stupid part about her. And every single time she’d given some good-looking hunk of masculine meat a chance with her heart, he’d simply torn it to shreds. And the bruising hadn’t ended there.

Lucian stopped at the door on the second level of his apartment in the sky. “Is this shifter dating service on the phone? Or the computer?” he asked as he slid open the door.

Inside was a room with more of the high-end touches she’d seen below—understated elegant white decor, lush green plants in steel vases, and a wall-sized TV screen—but the centerpiece was a giant, circular bed with an equally large mirror on the ceiling above it.

She swallowed and stared at the bed. “WildLove is an app you can access on your phone. Or on a tablet.” This clearly was Lucian’s bedroom, although it was bigger than her dingy apartment on the
down-on-your-luck
side of Seattle. Which was all she could afford on her practically non-existent salary, doing the work that she did.

“I have a tablet in here.” He strode into the room, moving with a strong, masculine power that, when juxtaposed next to the bed, was making her a little weak in the knees.
Weak in the knees?
Jesus Christ. He was just a man. Well, not
just
a man—he was a dragon shifter man of unholy hotness—but merely being in a bedroom with him shouldn’t be sending her into convulsions of wanton desire. Of course, being near the bed wasn’t really required for that, either—she felt the same way anytime he was near.

Cursing her body’s reaction to him, but with a forced smile on her face, she managed to move out of the doorway and into the room. She hung back from the bed and watched him as he dug through a modern, steel-trimmed dresser and came up with a tablet. He motioned for her to come sit next to him.
On that bed?
Oh, for fuck’s sake.

She bit her lip and told her lady parts not to get excited about this. Nothing was happening here. In fact, the only women getting lucky with Lucian Smoke were going to be the ones they found on the WildLove app.

Arabella settled next to him, and for the love of God, he leaned into her. She froze for a moment, wondering what he was doing, but he had simply braced his hand against the bed behind her so he could lean over and hold the tablet in front of her. He wasn’t making a pass at her, not that she wanted him to. Okay,
maybe
she wanted him to, but that was just her hormones talking. Any woman would be affected by the overwhelming hotness of this man.

“All right, you’re going to have to step me through this,” he said, voice soft with his nearness. He gave her a small, sheepish smile. “It’s been a while for me. And I’ve never approached a female, without being face-to-face.”

She nodded and tried to pretend the fact that she could feel the soft exhale of his breath nearly touching her skin wasn’t affecting her. “Well, it’s not like I’ve done a lot of this, either. But I know how it works. I’ve had to get some of my clients’ profiles purged after their boyfriend started stalking them and hacking their accounts.”

Lucian’s pale amber eyes darkened, and a flash of gold showed. “You’ve encountered a lot of monsters, haven’t you? The kind that wear human skin.”

She startled a little, a chill flowing through her. What did he know about her? Then she realized… “Yeah, like that guy in the alley. I see a lot of assholes in my line of work. There are so many men who just want sex. Or they want to
own
a woman. Control her. Even to the point of force. At worst, they’d rather kill her than let someone else have her. Or let her escape.”

Lucian nodded, the dark glower of his eyes not for her. “There are dragons who are no better than beasts. And men who are no better than dragons. I’ve been tempted on more than one occasion to dip my talons in their blood.”

Jesus Lord...
the way he talked sometimes. It sent a shiver through her. But she understood the sentiment completely. “Seriously, fuck those guys. I’m glad we agree on that. Because whoever this woman is—the one I’m going to help you find for a mate—I want to know you’re going to treat her right. I need to know this, Lucian. You need to promise me that I’m not just turning over someone in my place that you’re going to do some fucked up kind of shit with. Am I clear?” She wasn’t sure how much she could believe whatever he was going to say. Men lied. They lied all the time, especially to women. Especially to get what they wanted. But at least she could state her intentions up front. She would do what was necessary to get out of this situation and get back to her life, but she wasn’t going to sell out another woman to do it.

He was looking at her with a kind of awe. His amber eyes were scanning her face like he was memorizing it. She wasn’t sure what he was looking for—did he think she was making this up? That she didn’t really care about this?