Dragon Heat (15 page)

overlooking the back garden. The bath chamber was located to the left of

the walk-in wardrobe, just like every other guest room in his castle. The

interior designer Tardieh hired to decorate it had had only one rule:

minimalist, clean solutions. He absolutely despised those Renaissance

castles full of lavish furnishings and accessories that screamed for

attention, every room packed with drapes, flower curtains, three thousand

patterns per square inch. Thus, all his castles were an oasis of order;

everything served a specific function with only a few tall vases here and

there. His style came in very handy when situations like these presented

themselves. It gave his home the space necessary to accommodate any

wounded dragon quite comfortably.

With their help, Zoricah had managed to put Deirdre’s arms and

legs back into place without spilling too much blood. Drew was getting

paler and paler by the minute, so as soon as Deidre stopped shivering and

her breathing was less shallow, Zoricah convinced Drew to take a break.

But as expected, she didn’t want to leave her twin sister’s side. So Tardieh

had arranged for the room to be cleaned and a second bed with an extra

set of towels and a robe to be brought in for her.

Zoricah looked as tired as he felt, so he offered her the adjacent

room. That way she would be able to take a nice bath and be close by for

any emergencies.

After settling his intriguing guests comfortably in their respective

rooms, Tardieh went to the library. He needed to ponder on what to do

next. He had them where he wanted, hadn’t he? What next?

The glass wall in front of him shimmered. Another sunrise was

approaching. Tardieh took a sip from his whiskey-infused blood and saw

the mountains before him become engulfed by darkness.

‚What are you drinking?‛ Zoricah’s voice came from the library’s

door.

Turning around, he saw her leaning on the door frame, arms

crossed in front of her. Her long dark hair was tied up in a loose bun. Thin

strands cascaded down her neck. She was wearing the silk summer

kimono he had left her, his kimono. It was black beaded with Japanese

characters in gold. It had been given to him by a shogun in the beginning

of the nineteenth century, right after his coronation. It suited her very

well. She had folded the too-long sleeves a couple of times to fit her better.

The soft fabric hung loosely over her beautiful figure highlighting her full

breasts and long legs perfectly. His cock jerked in response to the sight of

her.

‚Whiskey,‛ Tardieh said, trying hard to think of something else,

something that would keep his shaft down. Icy cold water being poured

over his head.

‚Whiskey?‛ she asked, taking a few steps inside the library and

shutting the doors behind her. ‚I thought vampires only drank blood.‛

‚We do, but we can also digest other liquids diluted with blood,‛

he said, then took another sip.

She went over to the fireplace and leaned against the desk the back

of the couch in front of it. The light kimono opened up showing more of

her silky legs.

‚Would you like a glass?‛ he asked, forcing his eyes up. What was

she simmering in that Machiavellian mind of hers?

‚That would be good,‛ she responded hoarsely.

Tardieh went to the bar across the room and opened the bottle of

1975 Bushmills Millennium Malt. Without turning around, he asked, ‚On

the rocks or cowboy?‛

‚On the rocks, please.‛

He put a couple of ice cubes in the glass—he didn’t want it too

diluted—and poured the golden liquid into it. After topping his, he went

over to the couch and handed the glass to her. ‚How are the twins?‛

She took it out of his hands. Their fingers touched briefly, and she

gave a slight jolt, as if his touch were electrifying.
Nice move, conniving fox,

Tardieh thought to himself but decided to pretend he hadn’t noticed it.

And let the games begin.

‚Drew has finally succumbed to tiredness, and Deirdre is stable,‛

Zoricah said after taking a sip from her drink. She crossed her legs while

still leaning on the back of the couch. The oversized kimono opened up

even more, endowing Tardieh with a VIP-box view of her toned thighs. A

few more inches and her private parts would be deliciously exposed.

She looked up at him under long, dark lashes. Damn, that was the

problem with beautiful women. They knew how to make the toughest of

men go down on his knees and beg for his life.

Tardieh took another step toward Zoricah. Watching her, he raised

the glass to his lips and took another sip of his whiskey. With his right

hand, he lifted one of the ends of the silky belt holding her kimono closed.

Her exotic eyes regarded him closely.

‚So, do you like my home?‛ Tardieh asked, playing with the soft

material between his fingers.

She narrowed her eyes, looked down at his hand, then back up at

him. ‚It’s very

unfinished drink on the coffee table, and walked to the bookshelves. ‚It is

so remarkably secluded that I wonder why you’d want to show it to me.‛

Slender fingers caressed the book covers. Tardieh immediately

imagined those same fingers stroking his shaft. His crouch gave another

jolt.
Icy cold waterfall in winter. Lots, lots of snow.

‚What about your warriors? Any word from them?‛ She had

stopped in front of an encyclopedia series and was pretending to read one

of the books.

Tardieh took the last sip of his drink and let the whiskey’s heat roll

in his mouth before swallowing it. ‚They have called in. Everything is

under control,‛ he said, putting the empty glass on the coffee table.

‚Hmm. Under control. Sam and Yara haven’t called yet,‛ she said,

placing the book back on the shelf, her back still to him.

‚Cell phones are known to have poor reception here,‛ Tardieh

responded, walking around the couch. ‚It’s the satellites. Too much

interference,‛ he added, finally reaching where she was standing.

‚Still, I wonder why you insisted we brought Deirdre and Drew

here.‛

Ah, she was on to him, then. She had put two and two together and

realized he wanted to see the legendary draconian twin-link live and in

color, hadn’t she? Well, that and what the fuck was growing inside

Deirdre. Right, he needed to divert her focus to something else.

‚I couldn’t care less about your draconian twins,‛ Tardieh

whispered behind her.

She stood there very still, but Tardieh could see she got goose

bumps on the back of her neck. He could hear her heart thumping like

African drums. He lifted his hands and touched her shoulders lightly. His

fingers trailed her neckline and caressed the base of her skull before

sliding down her spine.

Her skin felt like fire under his cold vampire fingers. He leaned in

and took a deep breath. He needed more of her blue mist scent. He had

given up on trying to make his cock behave. It strained inside his trousers,

almost bursting out with the pressure. Her head tilted almost

imperceptibly to the side. Was she giving him more access to her neck?

His fangs extended, but he resisted the urge to bite her.
Not yet.

His hand slid down her left thigh and found the small knife

strapped there.
You clever girl.
He slowly opened the kimono, unhooked

the two Velcro straps holding the weapon, and let it all fall heavily to the

wooden floor. Zoricah did nothing to stop him.

He brought his hands back up and rested them on her hips. ‚You

would have known if something was wrong, Zoricah.‛ He massaged her

lower back with his thumbs and thought he heard a light groan in

response but could not be sure.

Oh merciful Apa Dobrý, please give him strength to not lose

himself completely. Tardieh gave a small chuckle with that thought. Who

was he kidding? He had lost that battle a long time ago.

Tardieh leaned over her left shoulder, and touching her soft skin

with his lips, he whispered, ‚Turn around, Zoricah. Turn around for me.‛

Zoricah was well and truly screwed.

She had come to find him in his library with the sole intent of

unveiling his intentions. As soon as he saw Drew in the forest and realized

that the whole attack was to rescue her twin sister, his eyes had flared.

Zoricah had seen that kind of spark in countless vampires’ eyes. They

could not avoid being seduced by all those legends about the

preternatural link between draconian twins. But she needed to find out

what his plans were before he had the chance to set them in motion. If he

was thinking of making them eternal guests in his castle, to study the

twins and try to bottle their powers as so many had tried in the past, he

hadn’t given any indications of it yet. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t

planning on doing it. Tardieh was most likely waiting to see the real deal

before he ambushed them all. Drew was exhausted, and Deirdre was in

some kind of coma. So far, they hadn’t really shown the true extent of

their otherworldly connection. So Zoricah needed to act fast. Nothing like

smoke and mirrors to help deceive the most cunning of eyes.

She had prepared herself before going to meet him in the library. A

long, hot bath followed by self-applied massage with scentless almond oil

she had found in the guestroom cabinet. She was careful not to overpower

her natural blue mist scent which Tardieh seemed to like so much. Her

clothes had been dried by the time she finished her ritual, but she chose to

wear the silky kimono someone had left on the bed instead. Oh, yes,

nothing like light silk to accentuate one’s curves without being vulgar or

too aggressive. She had left the three-sizes-too-big robe dangle loose, that

way it wouldn’t be difficult for it to accidentally unfasten itself and

display one of her breasts before she could realize what had happened

then—blushing miserably, of course—close it tightly again.

Zoricah knew Tardieh wanted her. So she would use one of the

only weapons his vampire nature had no shields against: female heat. She

was very skilled in that area. Who was the very wise human who said that

practice leads to perfection? She couldn’t remember but took her hat off to

him anyway.

She had started off really well. Tardieh could not take his eyes off

her legs, her breasts, or her bottom as soon as she'd walked into the

library. He had practically drooled on the floor. But then, everything

changed. He called her bluff and came on to her like an octopus. His soft

touch on her skin, his breath warming her neck, his thumb massaging her

lower back< She felt her heart pound and her folds go so moist she

thought her juices would spill down her legs any minute now.

‚Turn around, Zoricah,‛ he whispered in her ear again. His large

hands had finished massaging her lower back and were trailing up along

both sides of her ribs. She felt his lips on her neck again and could not

prevent a whimper from escaping her mouth.

She only realized she had tilted her head when she heard his low

chuckle. He wrapped his strong arms around her waist, right above the

kimono’s belt. His fingers started gathering the fabric, slowly, very slowly.

Zoricah felt the cold breeze touch her bare chest. While holding the robe

open with his right hand, his left one lightly stroked the base of her breast.

It was sensual rather than urgent. Delicate, a whisper of a caress. After a

few moments, he started tracing circles around it. Wide at first, then

slowly closing in until he reached the tip. He fondled the already hard

nipple for a while, teasing it, caressing it; then he squeezed it between his

thumb and index finger.

Oh, fucking
gates of
Hiad!
Zoricah could not stop herself.

Whimpering in ecstasy, she leaned back against his broad chest, opening

herself up to his expert hands.

‚Zoricah,‛ she heard him whisper hoarsely, ‚you are going to be

my demise.‛ She had barely registered his words when he turned her

around and kissed her hard.

Tardieh’s lips were demanding, hungry for her. Zoricah could not

have enough of him, either. She wrapped her arms around his neck and

kissed him back with the same intensity.

His hands grabbed her ass, pulling her closer against his shaft. His

hard cock was stroking her wet pussy through the light silk. Oh, what a