Sleeping Beauty and the Demon (16 page)

“It takes a real weasel to bring a woman to the Bowery then manhandle her.”

Drago looked incredibly appealing in a dark jacket over light trousers, both cut expertly to fit his muscularity. He tugged his ascot cap lower on his forehead, leapt to the ground and stalked toward Richard. The sight of his long duster rippling behind him made Rose’s pulse jump.

Bellum backed up.

“Why the hell do you persist in writing about me?” Drago roared.

“It’s my job.”

Shoulders hulking, Drago shook his head. “You’re paid to write reviews of my shows, not bare my private life to the public.”

“I’m paid to give readers the stories they want.”

“Where I come from, journalism—and being a gentleman—must mean different things.” He reached out and grabbed Bellum by the lapels. “Stay out of my life!”

Richard shrank. “I only want to show people that your talents are like nothing they’ll ever see again.”

“Let the public come to its own conclusion. And don’t ever try to manipulate Rose into doing your dirty work again.”

“Y . . . yes,” Richard stammered.

“In fact.” Drago’s face grew crimson, “I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself. I want you to recommend Rose to the editor-in-chief of
The Daily Gazette
.”

“What? The largest newspaper in New York?”

“Yes. I want you to write her a recommendation and then I want you to tear up the photo you took of me on the laundry line.”

Richard shot a pained look at Rose. She looked away, her face hot.

“If you don’t do these things,” Drago fumed, “I’ll hunt you relentlessly—and I won’t stop until you’re either fired . . . or dead.”

“You’re threatening my life?”

“You catch on quick, Bellum. But on second thought, maybe I’ll make you
disappear
. . .

Drago stared deeply into Richard’s eyes. The reporter shut his eyes and jerked his head away. “Don’t try to hypnotize me!”

At that, Drago released Bellum with a ferocious push. Bellum stumbled back and slammed his head against a brick wall. Pressing a hand to his bloody wound, he yelled, “You’re finished in this town, Starkov! I guarantee all your secrets will be exposed!”

“Shut up, Bellum.” Drago clasped Rose’s elbow and said, “Let’s go.”

Rose took in a long breath. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

CHAPTER 18

R
esentment blazed through Rose. “Thanks for showing up when you did, but now Richard knows I told you about the photo.”

“That’s the least of our worries.”

She anchored her hands on her hips. “You’re right. My biggest worry is that Richard may not welcome me back to
The Gotham Times
. What’s more, you threatened his life!”

“I can’t have him exposing my secrets.”

She made no reply.

Drago stared at Rose with shock. “You’re angry?”

“Anger is what you get when you presume to fight my battles for me.”

“You need protecting.” He gathered her close.

She tried to wriggle free but his embrace was too tight.

“I might need protection, Drago, but not all the time.”

“You mean too much to me for me not to guard you.”

She studied the anguish in his eyes, then let out a heavy breath. Drago
had
come at a good time. Who knows what Richard would have resorted to in order to get the information he desired?

Shuddering, she sagged against his solid chest.

“Let’s talk about this somewhere else,” he suggested. “My motor car is right over there.”

To avoid people’s curious stares, she nodded and allowed Drago to take her to the waiting vehicle. Parked along a road at the top of a sandy incline, the stunning Garford shone as if it still graced the showroom floor.

Drago opened the car door. Once Rose settled on the tufted passenger’s seat, he joined her inside. Shifting the car into gear, he maneuvered it along the glistening streets of New York, wearing a scowl.

“I think you have some explaining to do,” he said above the engine’s roar.

Her heart drummed. “You’re wondering what I was doing at the Bowery in the first place?”

He nodded.

“I wanted to find out everything Richard knows about you. I was there for a meeting he set up between me and Felix Huxtable.”

“Despicable man,” Drago growled.

“Most despicable,” Rose agreed. “After showing me how bitter he is that you cut him off as manager, he told me about the coin you talk to.”

“What exactly did he say?”

Rose relayed the information, ending with Huxtable’s claim that he saw the coin flash images of Drago alive a hundred years ago. “
That’s
when I knew the man was going too far.”

“The coin gives me my powers,” Drago said. “I keep it with me except when I sleep.”

Emotion washed over Rose’s face. “I don’t want anyone telling lies about you.”

Grabbing her hand, he pressed an urgent kiss to it. “I love that you’re looking out for me. I’ve never had anyone do that before.”

“I don’t know if Richard will tear up the photo, Drago.”

Drago’s scowl returned while Rose’s nerves jostled.
Should I tell him who my real parents are—and that the Marconis believe he’s the demon my mother saw in her vision?

Deciding the information could wait until he calmed down completely, she remained silent.

“Hopefully, I scared Bellum into a paralyzed state,” Drago said. “But, I have more important things on my mind.”

He gave her a look, dark with desire, and Rose’s body tingled in response.

“I loved seeing you naked in my arms at the theater,” he said in a sultry timbre. “And I liked feeling your soft skin against mine.”

She wet her lips at the seductive admission.

With an abrupt turn of the wheel, Drago yanked the car into a deserted alley and parked it in the shadows. He killed the engine then heaved Rose toward him. When his mouth found hers, he plundered it with hot kisses. The sensation of his hands exploring her body made her cry out.

“I want you right now,” he said gruffly. “I’ve thought of little else all day.”

Rose murmured something breathless in return. She’d yearned for Drago—even had her first erotic dream about him, under the covers last night. Now, the desire to repeat their encounter in the theater box crackled through her like lightning.

Drago tugged her into the rear of the motor car. Bearing down on her over the rear bench, he impatiently pulled at the buttons of her dress. Once he caught a glimpse of her breasts, he fondled them and kissed them alternately.

Waves of passion and hunger swept through Rose. Drago’s erection swelled and hardened between her thighs and as she reclined across the narrow bench, his warm breath stoked her craving for him even more. She moaned as his expert hands roamed her curves, found her sweet spot beneath her layers of undergarments, and twined her lust into a frenzy. Sweat beaded his brow—and as he murmured his unending love for her, he caught her eyes with a smoldering look.

Panting, Drago unzipped his trousers and buried himself deep inside her slick folds. Meanwhile, neither of them broke eye contact. Rose gave a little cry as her core opened and closed around his penis. He pressed harder against her cleft. It was just the right amount of force and her excitement soared.

“Christ,” he murmured against her neck. “You feel so good.”

As he raised himself on locked elbows, he rocked his slim torso forward.

“I can’t stand to be without you,” he whispered.

As she grasped his upper arms, she admitted that she felt the same way.

Lowering his mouth to hers, he caught her lips with another scalding kiss. Over the next few minutes, he pumped his way to their mutual climax. Rose’s folds contracted over and over and she found herself disappointed when the moment ended.

Struggling for breath, Drago pitched forward. “We would have fogged the windows if they’d been rolled up.”

He laughed as Rose smiled. “I can’t stay mad at you very long.” She paused. “Let’s never argue again.”

“Agreed.” He pressed delicate kisses across her forehead. “I panicked when I looked into the coin and saw the vision of you in the Bowery.”

“I can take care of myself,” she said as she sat up and covered herself with her dress.

“Ordinarily you could, Rose. But in my vision I caught a glimpse of a black, unearthly figure following you.”

“A black figure?” she asked. Could it be the creature her mother saw in her prediction?

“I couldn’t see the figure’s face,” Drago said while he pulled himself to a sitting position, “but something very evil is coming closer to you, Rose.”

“Morvina,” she murmured. Feeling the color drain from her face, she looked directly at Drago. “I learned something important tonight.”

He nodded.

“My adoptive mother revealed to me who my real parents are.”

“Who are they?”

“Malcolm and Florence Hayes.”

“The famous psychics and spiritualists?”

Drago recognized the names as she thought he would. “Apparently, my mother held a tarot card session about me,” she rushed on. “She saw a vision of me falling to my death on my twenty-first birthday. And in this vision, a dark figure was the cause of my accident.”

“A dark figure?”

“A
demon.
” She looked into his perfect features, features that were so sublime they had to be a divine product. He couldn’t be a fallen angel.

“And the Marconis, as sweet as I’m sure they are, think this dark figure is me, I presume?” Drago asked suspiciously.

“Yes. That’s why they forbid me to see you.”

“That explains what I saw in the coin.” He scowled. “What you just described to me . . . the vision of you falling. It’s the same scene that came to me three years ago—when I saw the future for the first and only time.”

She braided her fingers through his. “Is that when you bought the Egyptian amulet and the bracelet?”

“Yes.” He glided his fingers along her face then cupped her chin in his palm. “After I purchased them from a private owner in Europe, I traveled here in a hurry. I did it all as soon as I saw your extraordinary beauty—and witnessed the creature that wants to destroy you.”

“Your coin
.
That’s how you knew Morvina was coming to New York City.” It finally dawned on her. “She’s a witch who cast her own curse over me.”

“Her own curse?”

“Yes. She created a damnation spell—to ensure I would fall to my death on my twenty-first birthday. Morvina
wanted
my mother’s vision to come true.”

“Christ.” Drago glowered.

“I don’t think I’ll ever convince Elena and Lorenzo that the dark figure is Morvina and not you.”

“Now that I’m in New York City, I wish I could see her clearly,” he said. “But her new identity is throwing me off.”

“New identity? She is that powerful?”

“You have no idea how potent witchcraft can make a person.”

“Can’t you look into your coin and see who she’s disguised herself as?” Rose asked with urgency.

“I wish to God I could.” He helped her up to the front seat and started the car.

Lulled by the motion of the car, Rose fell asleep in no time. She awakened when the vehicle came to a gentle halt. “Where are we?”

Drago turned the engine off and stretched his arm across the back of her seat. “We’re at one of my other residences.”

“
One
of your other residences?”

He indicated the house with a wave of his hand.

Rose looked out her window and gawked at a magnificent mansion. Preceded by a winding driveway and grand gates, it was centered inside a circle of towering elms. The mansion shimmered invitingly in the dark. From its ornate gables that framed endless rows of windows, to its shining gray brickwork that showcased its vast array of rooms, the house possessed all the glamour and elegance expensive taste could buy.

When Rose stretched her gaze beyond the mansion, she realized that it was perched on the end of a jutting embankment. The embankment, in turn, hovered over the crashing waves of the ocean, next to a hamlet.

“We’re on the edge of Long Island,” Drago informed her. “In East Hampton.”

“It’s beautiful, but I thought you were taking me home.”

“I won’t allow anyone to separate us.” His nostrils flared. “If you go back to the Marconis’, that’s precisely what will happen.”

“I may have broken Elena and Lorenzo’s hearts by sneaking out tonight, but they’ll worry when I don’t come back.”

He took her hand in his. “You’re a grown woman now. And you needn’t worry about sneaking around without permission anymore.”

What he said made sense.

“I want you to stay here with me,” Drago whispered.

“Live with you in sin?”

He laughed. “No. Of course not.”

Her shoulders came crashing forward with relief.

“I want you to marry me. So that we can be together every minute of every day.”

Her heart sang as he got out of the car and opened her door. Sinking to one knee, he grasped her left hand and looked up at her wide-eyed. “Will you marry me tomorrow?”

Rose’s hand quivered in his. “Yes!”

Drago pulled her out of the car and lifted her off the ground. “Welcome to your new home, the future Mrs. Rose Starkov.”

After they shared a passionate kiss, Drago and Rose jumped back into the car and streamed up the driveway to the mansion. Drago insisted that Rose stay put as he rushed around to her side of the automobile and swept her into his arms.

“You don’t have to carry me across the threshold until tomorrow.” She smiled broadly.

“It’s good practice.”

He fumbled with his keys and pushed open the massive front door with his foot. Then Drago transported Rose into the mansion’s foyer. She’d never seen anything so splendid. The marble floor shone like precious jewels while an enormous staircase lined in pale English oak rose, split into two sides, and met at the top. Beneath the bottom of the staircase sat a massive sunken drawing room furnished exclusively in white and cream.

It seemed a house suited for opulent parties—and Rose could easily envision butlers serving champagne to lively guests garbed in sequins and feathers.