Light My Fire (17 page)

Before he could stop it, an angry flame burst from his nostrils. Claudia ducked out of the way just in time. Crouching on her butt, she peered overhead at the bare metal hoop hanging haphazardly from the lamp. “Shit, Fortune. You have something against tacky fringed lampshades?”

Clenching his fists, he stumbled backward and sucked in what he prayed would be a calming breath. “Continue.”

“Are you sure you want to hear the rest? I doubt that bedspread there is flame retardant.”

“Continue.” He bit the word out in three fierce syllables.

Claudia grasped the corner of the nightstand and hoisted to her feet. “An email came in from Kinnit senior apparently on the same day Tucker arrived in Michigan. He reminded my brother to be discreet, and not tip you off about Tucker being in town. Kinnit also left the number of a local dealer he wanted my brother to get in touch with.”

“Dealer? You mean as in drugs?”

“No, as in antiques. Apparently Kinnit’s in the market for a china cabinet.” Giving an undignified snort, Claudia brushed off the seat of her skintight jeans. “Yes, drugs. Specifically ruffies. From the sound of it, Kinnit has some real nasty plans where your sacrifice is concerned.”

Aiden’s gut twisted. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

“Join the club.” Claudia’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Because of that son of a bitch, my brother is probably lying dead in the back alley behind some slimebag drug dealer’s house.”

“Did you try the number left in the email?”

“Yeah, no answer. I tracked it to one of those disposable, pay-as-you-go phones. After that, the trail’s gone cold.” A slight crack fissured through Claudia’s usually gruff tone. She blinked furiously, as if trying to ward off the tears she refused to shed in front of him. “I sent Kinnit an email, pretending I was Tucker and that I had Dana. I figured if I could get him here under that pretense, you and I could scare him into revealing where he’d sent my brother. But now I’ve blown it. I might never see Tucker again.”

Despite Claudia’s sketchy business dealings and her penchant for being a world-class smartass, he couldn’t be a coldhearted bastard in the face of her obvious misery. Stepping forward, he wrapped her in a tentative hug. She sniffled against his shoulder for a moment before shoving away from him. “Shit, Fortune, leave the groping for your sacrifice, would ya?”

Straightening her jacket, she brushed past him and strode toward the door.

Jesus, trying to comfort the chick was like trying to cozy up to a porcupine. “We’ll find Morgan. He has less than sixty hours to make a grab for Dana. Soon as he makes his move, his ass is mine.”

Skepticism shadowed Claudia’s face. “You better plan on watching that sacrifice of yours every second of the day. God knows, she’s a prize Kinnit is dead set on acquiring.”

Dead. She couldn’t be more right. Because if Kinnit so much as laid a finger on Dana, he’d be one dead dragon.

Chapter Eighteen

By the time Aiden stepped through the entrance of Fancies his blood had hit the boiling point. He spied Dana and Jace standing outside her office, talking to a short woman with frizzy black hair. His resolution from earlier came roaring back to life. He’d rip Kinnit apart if anything bad happened to Dana. Jace glanced his way and arched his eyebrows. Realizing his face probably displayed his murderous thoughts, Aiden attempted a calming breath but his body refused to obey any command to relax. Jace mumbled something to the chatting women before striding in Aiden’s direction.

“Dude, you look like you’re two seconds away from chomping into someone’s ass.” Jace slid his gaze toward the front desk where Dana’s assistant was busy yapping on his cell phone before lowering his voice. “Where the hell were you this morning?”

“With Claudia.”

An off-key whistle blew from Jace. “Well shit. No wonder you’ve got the homicidal vibe going on. What momentary insanity possessed you to meet up with Knoxville?”

In short order, he filled Jace in on everything he’d learned during his morning’s adventure with Claudia. When he got to the part about Morgan Kinnit’s plan to kidnap Dana and force himself on her, Jace growled low in his throat.

“I say we track down the fucker and beat him within an inch of his life.”

“Trust me, I’m all for that idea.” Aiden’s scrutiny returned to Dana and his heart squeezed. She’d been put through too much bullshit in her lifetime. Losing both of her parents at a young age. Struggling to make a success of her gallery, only to have it vandalized. Because of him. He wanted nothing more than to make her life easier, give her the happiness she so deserved. Instead, he’d brought her nothing but misery.

“Bro, we’ll find him. You can count on it.” Jace’s expression held determination and sympathy. Obviously he’d intuited the turmoil battling within Aiden.

Detecting the pity in his brother’s eyes, Aiden wondered exactly how transparent his feelings for Dana were. He hadn’t tried too hard to hide his possessiveness where Dana was concerned. It certainly wouldn’t take a stretch of the imagination for anyone to determine he’d fallen for her. Hard. And Jace was no fool, despite his penchant for acting like a monkey’s ass at times.

Jace scratched his jaw. “Do you think Knoxville can be trusted?”

“Normally I’d say no, but why would she lie to me about any of it?” He shook his head. “If you’d seen the desperation on Claudia’s face, you wouldn’t have any doubts.”

“But that’s just it. She’s desperate. If everything she told you is true, it stands to reason she’d have damn good motivation to get her hands on Dana.”

Shit, he hadn’t considered that angle. Just what they needed—one more person they might have to protect Dana from. At this rate, they’d need to keep her under lock and key. Yeah, she’d welcome that idea about as willingly as getting a root canal without the accompanying Novocain.

“There is something we could do to dissuade an attack on Dana. At least temporarily.” Jace sent another covert glance in Tony’s direction. The young assistant had ended his call and was now flipping through an art magazine so Jace nodded toward the front entrance. Following his brother’s lead, Aiden stepped outside. Soon as the door shuddered to a close behind them, he peered at Jace quizzically. “What are you thinking?”

“We could initiate a claim mark on her.”

Staring at Jace, Aiden let the suggestion sink into his consciousness. The claim mark was the first step in the binding ritual. It sealed the intention of the Drakoni and his sacrifice, providing an invisible yet unmistakable proclamation to all other dragons that the wearer of the mark was off-limits. The mark also had the neat and rather useful side effect of dampening the libido of any dragon who hadn’t initiated the claiming.

In other words, it could provide the perfect answer to their predicament. If they could get Dana to agree to it. And considering it was a huge step in a direction she fought against taking, odds were slim she’d eagerly leap at the opportunity.

“We’ll make her see the wisdom in doing it,” Jace said, apparently reading Aiden’s thoughts again.

Displaying nowhere near the same conviction as his brother, Aiden inclined his head and elbowed open the door. “As soon as her customer leaves, we’ll talk to Dana.” And pray she wouldn’t display her typical stubbornness.

They stepped back inside the building. Ignoring the curious stare coming from Tony, they strode across the gallery, drawing the attention of Dana and her customer. Dana’s gaze locked with his and she chewed on her lip. A mixture of longing and uncertainty swirled in the depths of her eyes.

Dana’s customer let loose a giggle, breaking the edgy barrier of silence that’d fallen on the room. “Oh wow, you weren’t kidding about them being identical.”

A blush stole along Dana’s cheekbones. Clearing her throat, she gestured to the grinning female beside her. “Aiden, this is Jen Landrey. Her mother is my landlord here at the gallery.”

Aiden stepped forward and shook hands with the woman. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Stifling another giggle, Jen peered at Dana. “There’s no rush on the painting. I know you’ve got a lot going on with the big event this weekend.”

Dana’s mouth fell open and her face significantly paled. Her focus veered to Aiden. Her reaction confounded him, until he realized the wrong connection she must have made with Jen’s comment. His heart sank at seeing further proof of her obvious panic over Sunday’s binding ceremony.

Convincing her to accept the claim mark would be a battle.

With massive effort, he tamped down his mounting sense of defeat. “I believe Jen is referring to your aunt’s potluck shindig.”

Jen frowned at Dana. “What’d you think I was talking about?”

“I…uh…” A soft exhale rushed past Dana’s lips. “Nothing. Thanks again for stopping by. I’ll see if I can’t work on your painting for a little bit tonight.”

The confusion slipped from Jen’s face and she clapped her hands with a girlish squeal. “Oh goody. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.”

After tugging Dana into a quick hug, Jen trotted toward the exit. The second the woman disappeared out the door, Aiden cupped Dana’s elbow. “Jace and I need to talk to you. It’s probably best done in private.”

“Okay.” She granted him one last pensive look before pivoting and walking into her office. Once Jace headed in behind her, Aiden stepped inside and shut the door. The click of the lock sounded inordinately loud in the gloomy silence.

“You’re making me nervous. What is this all about?”

“There’s no reason to be nervous, sweetness.”

Dana narrowed her eyes at Jace’s casual tone. “Typically when someone says that, it’s a precursor to something bad happening. Like getting suckered into singing ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ at Karaoke night after indulging in too many margaritas.” Muttering beneath her breath, she moved behind her desk and plopped into her chair. “Whatever you have to say, out with it.”

“Another Drakoni is after you.” Jace met Aiden’s sizzling glare and shrugged. “What? She said to spit it out.”

“You could have done it with a little more finesse.”

Dana leaned back in her chair and gulped hard enough for them to hear it. “After me how?”

Aiden skirted the edge of her desk and hunkered in front of her. He pried her fingers from their death grip around her kneecaps and warmed the icy digits between his palms. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her further, but he knew she wouldn’t appreciate any attempts of beating around the bush. “Morgan intends to keep me from attaining Supreme Alpha status by binding you to him. But I’m not going to allow that to happen.”

Her eyebrows slashed into a V. “You can bet your sweet ass I’m not going to allow that to happen either.” She tried to pull her hands away but he tightened his grip.

“Morgan doesn’t intend to give you a choice like me and Jace are. Now more than ever it’s vital that you trust us to protect you.”

“You’re with me twenty-four hours a day.” Exasperation underscored her declaration.

“It might not be enough. All it takes is one misstep. One split second when our backs are turned for too long. That’s all it’d take for Morgan to snatch you. And believe me, he’s waiting for precisely that moment.” Doubt began to creep into Dana’s expression and he pushed his advantage, knowing it might be his only shot at getting her to see reason. “Sweetheart, our best chance of thwarting Morgan’s plan is to make you undesirable to him.”

Her jaw went slack. “Uh…so what does that mean? I need to not shave and shower for a few days and eat loads of garlic?”

Despite the tension snaking through his body, he couldn’t cage his smile. “Not quite the plan of action Jace and I were thinking of.”

“Okay. Then what?”

“We’d initiate a claim mark on you.”

She stared at him for a long moment before lifting her scrutiny away. Her fingers trembled against his palms. “What exactly does that entail?”

“It doesn’t mean you’d belong to us, if that’s what you’re concerned about,” Jace said, shifting his feet. “The mark announces the intention, but it doesn’t seal the deal, so to speak.”

Some of the worry lurking within Dana’s eyes vanished. She gnawed on the corner of her lip. “Does it hurt?”

“No. I’ve heard it can be…intensely pleasurable.” A lick of excitement burned in his groin, as if to verify the rumor.

Suspicion flashed across Dana’s face. “How is this claim mark made?”

He released Dana and draped his hands over his lap to hide the stiffening of his cock. “With our semen.”

The pulse point at the base of her throat leapt visibly. She wet her lips. “In other words, we have sex. The three of us.”

“Yes.” He failed miserably at disguising the huskiness overlaying the word.

“I…” She rubbed her palms against her thighs. “If we do this, Morgan would really have no interest in me? His libido would shrivel up and disappear, just like that?”

“Sweetness, it’s physically impossible for any red-blooded man or dragon not to have interest in you. But you have our word that Morgan wouldn’t be able to act upon it.”

Jace stepped behind her and ran his fingers through her hair. It was the first time Aiden had witnessed his brother display affection toward Dana with such overtly emotional undertones. Whereas Jace’s teasing and sexy overtures brought out the territorial beast in Aiden, the sight commencing in front of him knocked him squarely in the solar plexus.

It was painful enough sharing Dana’s body with Jace. There was no way in hell he’d survive having to share her heart with his brother.