Dragon Heat (10 page)

Apa Dobrý only knew Zoricah herself was in no condition for giving out

inspiring advice at that moment.

‚Why don’t you go to bed and have a nice rest?‛ Zoricah suggested

with the best motherly voice she could muster. ‚It’s almost dawn, and we

have to be really sharp tomorrow night.‛

‚Okay. I think I’m just tired,‛ Sam agreed. ‚Yeah, that might be it.‛

It was clear Sam was trying to convince herself more than Zoricah. She

stood up, gave Zoricah one last small smile, and went inside.

Once alone, Zoricah could not stop the images of the past

forty-eight hours from flooding her mind. She had planned the whole

operation, from tracing Tardieh’s personal guards to the meeting at

Prospect Park. Of course she hadn’t anticipated that Yara would be

outsmarted by a human bimbo at the nightclub and that Hikuro would

take such a mind-boggling interest in Sam. She was very proud in the way

Sam turned the debacle around and completed the mission with flair and

innovation. She was still learning how to fully control her powers—she

could blast a whole house with one energy blow—so it had been a nice

surprise to receive the news she had managed to strike Hikuro with

enough energy to knock him out but not too much to cook him alive.

Images of Tardieh were next to invade Zoricah’s mind. She

remembered his angry expression when he had mentioned the knocking

out Hikuro business earlier that evening. Was that the reason for so much

hatred? She had expected him to be suspicious or even cold but not angry.

With sadness she remembered the end of the bloody war at the turn of the

nineteenth century. Both vampire and dragon kings were assassinated,

and Tardieh had been true to his word. He had contacted the draconian

high council and led them onto an arduous but decisive peace deal. It took

several decades before her country recovered from the damages of war.

By the end of it all, humans had acquired too much knowledge and

invented new technologies. The most traditionalist dragons had been

forced to hide deep into the Russian far east mountains. The younger ones

were happy to be scattered around Europe and Asia as dracos.

She still remembered the last time she had seen Tardieh on the

alleyway just behind his father’s castle in Romania. She had been so

young back then; they both had. He had refused to promise her something

he wasn’t certain of, and that had really touched her heart. Zoricah’s life

had been filled with empty promises and deceptive friendships. It had

been surprisingly refreshing to meet someone who would risk losing an

ally for the sake of the truth. She had really admired him then. Well, being

honest with herself, her feelings had been a little bit more than just

admiration.

She remembered vividly how his body had awakened hers with

such passion. His hands caressing her nape and lower back, her hips

rocking against his while his fangs sucked on her neck. It was the first

time she had been bitten by a vampire. Despite the dangers imposed by

his blood starvation, she had been confident he would not drain her dry.

Maybe it was because he had resisted her offer with such vehemence. In

the end, he had struck with the precision of an experienced vampire and

the gentleness of someone who cared about his victim’s well-being. If they

had had more time, she would not have been able to resist him. She would

have opened her legs, taken off her clothes while ripping his out of the

way, and given herself to him completely just as a freaking teenager

would do.

Zoricah shifted her position on the sofa. The friction of her panties

enhanced the delicious wetness between her legs. By Apa Dobrý! It had

been more than two hundred years, and he still had such effect on her. She

had to get a grip on herself right away.

The air around her changed slightly. The hairs on the back of her

neck stood up, and she heard a barely audible sound of a shoe scraping on

her balcony floor. On a fluent movement, Zoricah pulled her combat knife

out of its holster on her hip, sprung out of the couch, and positioned

herself facing the area where the noise had come from.

‚Be at ease, draconian.‛ Tardieh’s grave voice came out of the

darkness, shortly followed by his tall, muscular body.

Zoricah held her breath. He was wearing black pants and a jade

long sleeve shirt that accented his green eyes. His dark brown hair, cut

short at the nape and a bit longer in the front, contrasted his

almost-translucent skin and framed his chiseled jaw perfectly. Even from

a distance, she had to look up to match his stare. She wasn’t usually

considered a short female, but he was at least a head taller than her.

Tardieh narrowed his eyes, clearly noticing her detailed scrutiny of

his body, and repeated the words she had given him in the park. ‚I come

in peace.‛

Zoricah noticed the sarcasm in his voice but decided not to reply.

She went for the attack instead. She raised her knife higher and said with

deceivingly easiness, ‚How did you find me?‛
Damn it
. Her other

weapons were in the house, too far for her to reach them before he

reached her.

One of his eyebrows went up as if in amusement. ‚Did you really

think you could hide for long in my own territory?‛

No, she didn’t, but she had taken all precautions to at least have

some time incognito before she had to worry about him knowing her

location. Now it was too late for regrets. It was time for damage control.

With her knife firmly pointing at him, she replied, ‚Fine. You found me.

What do you want?‛

His head tilted slightly to the side, but he didn’t come any closer.

‚Funny, that’s exactly what I wanted to ask you.‛

‚You know why I am here, Tardieh. I’ve given you enough proof of

the seriousness of our mission.‛

Tardieh’s voice took on an even lower, more menacing tone. ‚Proof

that could have been easily doctored.‛

Zoricah could not understand where such resistance was coming

from. Tardieh had been known to be hardheaded, but he was also known

for his quest for the truth. It had saved him from a number of attempts to

destroy him and his closest friends.

Letting her frustration show, she exclaimed, ‚Tardieh, it has been

more than two hundred years. Why would I come to you after all this time

if not for something of the utmost importance?‛

‚Because you are the master of stratagems,‛ Tardieh responded

taking a step closer. ‚After all, you were the one who managed to get me

out of the draconian prison back in the war. You, only you, and no one

else.‛

‚Yes. And I thought you would be grateful for that!‛ Zoricah said,

not able to mask her frustration.

‚Grateful?‛ It was his turn to show his frustration, but just as fast,

his features took on the cynical tones from before. ‚Oh, please forgive my

lack of manners, Your Holiness.‛ Bowing low, he carried on with the

sarcasm. ‚Please let me make proper amends.‛

Zoricah realized his intentions a second too late. With his vampire

speed, Tardieh grabbed the hand which was holding the combat knife,

twisted it behind her back while seizing her nape with his other hand. Just

before he struck, Zoricah saw his fully extended fangs reflecting the

moonlight.

He pierced her neck with vigor but not violence. His strong arms

enveloped her and locked her in place. She tried to move, but his hold on

her left hand was in such an angle that to break away she would have to

dislodge her elbow first.

After the first pull, Tardieh seemed to have paused for a

millisecond, as people do when they savor a rare wine. Zoricah felt the

surge of power pass through them. Her blood streamed out into his lips.

The initial pang from having her skin pierced quickly eased up with the

anaesthetizing poison released by vampire fangs, giving room to the

hypnotizing feeling of pure life energy flowing between their bodies.

His right hand caressed her nape and massaged the base of her

skull, taunting, gentle, and then pulling her even closer. She tried to resist

but soon lost the battle. After a few more sips, she felt his hips closing in

on her body. When she didn’t push him away, his strong pelvis became

more imposing, rubbing her in the right places. It started small, almost

imperceptible, forward and backward. Instead of listening to her inner

voice that screamed for her to fight him off, she lifted her chin and gave

him easier access to her neck. He took it. His left hand brushed her back,

the same way he had done two hundred years before. His lips touched her

skin as if kissing her as much as sucking on her. Her hips moved against

his, wanting more, needing to feel more. She was soaked with wanting.

She could feel his very hard cock rubbing deliciously against her. Damn

clothes. Who was the killjoy who had invented them?

He lifted his lips from her neck and searched her eyes. She looked

up at him, barely noticing he still had her in check by holding her arm

behind her. His fair cheeks were flushed—most likely because of her hot

blood now coursing through his veins. He was even more handsome.

Tardieh opened his mouth to say something but decided against it.

His eyes were fixed on her, as if she was a too-complicated puzzle he was

trying to decipher. A light breeze blew across Zoricah’s face, and she

closed her eyes trying to prolong the moment and memorize the feeling of

his body against hers for she knew it would not last long. Soon he would

wake up and take on his accusatory tones again.

He surprised her once more. His nose flared as if taking in a divine

fragrance. His eyes went wild. An eerie red glow cloaked them for a split

second; then his lips crashed against hers with unexpected passion.

After taking a second to recover from the surprise, Zoricah gave in

and returned his kiss with equal fervor. His lips were lush and inviting;

his tongue searched hers in a sensuous dance. She lifted one of her legs in

response, giving his fullness more access to its target.

She felt his deep groan reverberating against her lips. Tardieh

finally let her left hand go after safely throwing her combat knife on the

floor, grabbed her ass with both hands, and lifted her off the floor. Zoricah

felt the cold wall against her back. It was fascinating how its coolness

contrasted with the intense heat growing inside her.

Wrapping her arms around Tardieh’s neck, she rocked her hips

slowly against his and was rewarded with growl. He gently stroked her

flat tummy, then lifted her tank top and caressed her firm breasts. It was

Zoricah’s turn to moan. He deepened the kiss while playing with her left

nipple. She was so wet she could barely think of anything else but taking

him inside her. His lips left hers and found her already hardened nipple.

He suckled her, teased her, taunted her to the edge. She heard more

moaning and realized it was her. She was close, oh so close.

Too soon, he lifted his lips and whispered something in her ear, but

Zoricah was too consumed by the fire he had lit inside her.

‚Tell me, Zoricah.‛ This time, he tried to say it more clearly, but his

voice was quite hoarse. ‚Why are you here?‛

‚W-what?‛ It took Zoricah a few moments to understand where the

sudden conversation was headed.

Tardieh kissed her neck. ‚Tell me who you’re working for.‛ He

licked the wounds induced by his fangs. ‚Tell me and I will spare you.

Oh, hell, I may even keep you for myself.‛

His words had on Zoricah the same effect of a bucket of cold water

on a balmy lazy cat. She pulled away and looked him in the eye. She was

almost at his height in that up-in-the-air position. ‚Is that why you started

this?‛ she asked, barely containing her fury. ‚Is that why you fucking

kissed me? To get information about my supposed stratagem?‛

He returned her fury with a portion of his own. ‚Isn’t that why you

came to New York? To plot against me and kill me the same way you had

my father killed?‛

Zoricah was stunned by his accusation. She shoved him away

while pulling her tank top back into place. ‚You are insane, you know

that? You have surrounded yourself by so many deceiving people that

you can’t tell friend from foe anymore.‛

‚Do you really want me to believe that you knocked out one of my

personal guards just to get in touch with me?‛ he replied as if that