Dragons Prefer Blondes (23 page)

For a moment he just looked at me, and I thought he might reject me. But then his hands slipped to my waist. Unzipping my jeans, he slid them down my legs. Then the panties were gone and his hand was on me and I lost myself in pleasure. I rode the tide of it over and over again.

I could no longer think. My body was on fire, and I begged him to come inside.

I have no idea how he lost his clothing, but he lifted me off the bed so I straddled him. Even in my haze I knew he was trying to protect my shoulder, and it made me love him all the more.

“More, baby. Please.” I shoved myself down on his erection, screaming in pleasure as I did. I knew he would be huge, and he didn’t disappoint. Leaning back, I grabbed his knees, pumping him with my hips. His hands were on my breasts, teasing my nipples, and my body was a giant mass of hot nerves waiting to explode.

“Alex,” he whispered as he watched me ride him. The pure passion in his voice drove me to go faster and faster, and he matched me move for move. I couldn’t breathe, and then everything hit in an explosion of light and sound. We both groaned, and my body shook from the passion. I fell over his chest, gasping for air.

Something inside me snapped. There aren’t words, but I’d never felt that way with any man. It went far beyond the passion we’d just shared. It was a connection. Something deep and meaningful and maybe just a little scary.

I propped my chin on my hands and stared at him for a minute, unable to read whatever was going on behind those gray eyes.

He lifted the hair off of my neck and kissed me there. It was intimate and sexy as hell.

I was at a loss for words, but they weren’t necessary. He lifted us both up and pushed the covers aside, and soon I was snuggled in his arms.

“Safe,” I said softly against his chest.

“Always,” he whispered back.

CHAPTER 24

The sound of a siren seared into my brain. My gut instantly tightened, and I sat straight up in bed.

Where the hell am I?

The room was pitch black. The siren went off again, and I realized it was a cell phone. A door opened to the left, and light blinded me. A figure stood in the door, steam billowing around it.

“Sorry.” Jake grabbed the phone from the bedside table. “I forgot to turn it off.” He apologized before picking it up. He was soaking wet, with a towel wrapped around his waist.

Just the way I liked him. My body was still sated from several rounds with the man, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever get enough of him. It was more than that feeling of being safe in his arms. I felt treasured, and that had never happened before.

“Yes,” he said into the phone as he looked at me. “I know where she is. I’ll let her know.”

“Hey.” He smiled and leaned over to kiss me.

“Hey,” I whispered back. My hand went to his wet chest, so hard beneath my hand. “You’re dripping on your eight-hundred-thread-count sheets.”

He sat down and gathered me into his arms. “So?”

I kissed him back. “I don’t care if you don’t.”

He pulled me tight and then sighed.

Pushing away, I stared at him. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m supposed to be finding you to let you know that you’re needed at a council meeting.”

I stiffened and then stood up. “Did they say why?” Didn’t matter; it was never good.

“No.”

“Could you call them back and tell them you couldn’t find me? That I’m off the grid?” I hated that there was a slight plea in my voice.

“I could, but lying to your mother isn’t one of my fortes.”

“Mom?” I looked around for my clothes. God, that was the last thing I needed.
If she found out about Jake—
“Does she know I’m here?”

“No. Why? Are you worried what she might think?” He sat back against the headboard and watched me dress.

I threw him my best are-you-kidding look. “I’m not so worried what she thinks about me, but do
you
want her to know where I am?”

“We are dating, right? I’d say officially now.” He winked at me. “I mean, I’m pretty sure there was nothing
fake
about last night.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “There is that.” I waved at him. “It’s just, I don’t know what she’s going to think about all of this. Not that I care. I mean—obviously I do or I wouldn’t have brought it up. She can be so—” I stopped myself and sat on the side of the bed and put my head in my hands. “That woman can just get over it if she has a problem with me dating you. I care about you, and I want to be with you, so damn her.”

When he didn’t say anything, I looked up to find him smiling at me. “What?”

“I was just waiting for you to finish the conversation with yourself.”

I slapped his arm. “You know she drives me crazy.”

“Only because you let her, Alex. You and your sisters assume she’s going to be a certain way about things, but I’ve honestly never met a more honest person than your mother. She’s also fair, and she carries the weight of the universe on her shoulders at all times.”

I had no intention of fighting about my mother with him. “When it comes to my mother, who doesn’t belong in this particular room with us”—I waved a hand around the bedroom—“can we just agree to disagree?”

He stood, then grabbed my hands and pulled me to him. “Absolutely.”

“Do we have time to . . .” I seriously doubted it, but being in close proximity to Jake already had my body screaming with need.

He lifted my chin in his hands. “I wish, love, but the meeting is in less than an hour.”

I sighed against his chest. “If you want me to take you back, you’d better get dressed.”

He frowned. “I’d rather drive.”

“Chicken. Isn’t your truck at work?”

He rolled his eyes, something I did all the time, but he looked hilarious. “I have other vehicles.”

I laughed. “Come on. You barely turned green the last time. You can do it.”

“Give me a minute,” he grumbled.

We landed back in my bedroom. Jake gave me one last kiss and then straightened his tie. “I’ll see you later.”

“You can bet on that, big guy.” I watched his gorgeous butt walk from the room.

“Hmmm. Now that is interesting,” Mira said from the bathroom door.

“Snoop,” I accused. “Did you enjoy the show?”

“Oh, yes. Lucky you waking up next to Mr. Jake, the stud in a suit.” She grinned. “And for the record, dear sister, I wasn’t snooping. Mom sent me to look for you.” Opening her palm, she handed me the comm I’d stuck to the door. “I knew when I found this that you were up to no good. Was it? Good?”

Pushing past her, I headed into the bathroom. “Sometimes a girl doesn’t want to be found. And I’m not going to talk about Jake.” I shed my clothes and stepped into the shower, needing a quick rinse.

“Oh, you don’t have to talk, Al. Everything you’re feeling right now is written all over your face. You’ve fallen for the guy in a big way. I thought you were just pretending.”

Pouring shampoo into my hand, I lathered my hair. “We are officially dating, and that’s it. That’s all you’re going to get from me.”

We were all very close and had always shared details of our love lives since we were young. But this thing with Jake was too special. I wanted to hold it close, private, at least for a little while longer.

“Go tell Mom I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. By the way, do you have any idea why I have to be there? I thought they had their own security team in place so that we didn’t have to guard them every time they met.”

“Mom didn’t say, but the situation involves Ginjin and some other dragons. We aren’t there so much to protect as to add to the festivities. She didn’t give many details, just said you had to be there, and that it was a full council meeting.”

I groaned for two reasons. One was that the dragons were involved; the other was because it was a full meeting, which meant it could honestly go on for days. I didn’t have time for that.

Mira left, and I rinsed under the hot spray of the spa shower, letting the water massage away the ache I still felt in my shoulder.

The last time we were at a full council meeting there had been an attack, and my mother had almost died. Almost, nothing. She had died. Gilly’s boyfriend, Arath, a powerful mage who also happens to be the king of demons, brought her back from the other side. I can’t say it changed her disposition much, but she hadn’t been as cranky as she had been before.

Ever since then, the council met in secret using a handful of guards they’d carefully selected to protect them.

One thing I knew for certain: if Ginjin was involved, the whole thing was going to annoy the hell out of me. The dragon warrior always had a way of complicating proceedings and making my life a living hell.

CHAPTER 25

The meeting was held on Maunra, which happened to be where Arath, Gilly’s demon king, ruled. My guess was Arath had arranged it that way because he could control the portals where we traveled from world to world.

While it was populated by demons, Maunra was one of the few safe places left in the universe for these kinds of meetings. Gilly and Arath had put extra protection around the portals so no one could enter or leave Maunra while the proceedings took place.

The only problem with this particular world was that it sapped the energy right out of me. Mira had given me some herbs to help counteract the effects, but I could still feel it. The only one who wasn’t affected by the atmosphere was Gilly. A Guardian’s body was tailored to the world she protected against so that she could fight with full strength. Of course, that didn’t help the rest of us.

Everyone had gathered in the great hall of Arath’s castle, where the large, stone council table had been placed. The table was magically moved to each location of their meetings.

There were fourteen members in attendance, and the hall was populated with a variety of creatures. Unfortunately for me, there were also several dragons in attendance.

The sight of Ginjin and some of the others made me wish my mother had been a bit more forthcoming about this whole thing.

Mom sat next to Arath at the head of the table. It was the demon king who began the proceedings.

“The Kevan clan of Lincsire has made an official complaint against Alex Caruthers. She has been accused of murder.”

I heard a little gasp and turned to see Gilly, Mira, and Claire behind me. Mira’s arms were crossed against her chest. Gilly had her battle face on, and Claire’s bow mouth had made a surprised O.

Most people in my situation probably would have been pissed, but I was used to this. The dragons always tried to blame someone else for their troubles. I knew I’d done nothing wrong, so I just stood there.

One thing in my favor was that my mother didn’t seem overly concerned. If she were angry with me, her eyes would be boring into me, making my head ache with her sheer mental force. Thankfully, she showed nothing but curiosity for the proceedings.

“The dragons have the floor.” Arath looked directly at Ginjin, who in turn looked to a larger dragon. For some reason he seemed familiar, but I could not quite place him. I did recognize the female dragon to his right: Jene.

Well, obviously she’d been found. I wondered what her part in all of this might be.

The bigger dragon moved forward. “I am Margunth. The Guardian murdered my daughter Sharlot, and she should pay with her life.”

Gilly huffed behind me, but I didn’t bother to turn around. Nice, though, to have my sisters here with me. If things went south—and they always did when dragons were involved—it was nice to have a little backup.

“The reports indicate that your daughter led a kidnapping ring, capturing humans as slaves. She then sold these slaves to the Manteros.” Arath’s tone wasn’t accusatory, merely stating fact. “That is a crime punishable by death. The dragons were found torturing the humans on Earth. The Guardian acted in the only way she could in order to protect her people.”

Margunth roared, “So the Guardian tells the story. My daughter is dead because of her, and she cannot speak the truth of her innocence. She was a pawn in the Guardian’s game.” As he spoke, the big, blue dragon began to go scaly. Never a good thing.

“Margunth, you will stand down.” Arath’s eyes flashed red. “We are here to gather information regarding the situation. The reports indicate that the humans were interviewed and that they had been taken against their will. Since your dragons are not welcome on Earth, we find it difficult to believe—”

Jene stepped forward. “I have proof that the Guardian lied and that my sister was innocent.” Her voice was calm, but her eyes were calculating.

Now what the hell are you up to?

Ginjin’s head whipped around so fast, I thought it might fly off. He had no idea what she was doing. That he was surprised definitely wasn’t a good thing.

“What is your proof?” Arath asked.

“It is true my sister was there with the humans, but not as a kidnapper. She was gathering information for me.”

It took everything I had not to snort with laughter. My memory was clear about that evening. Sharlot had taken great pleasure in poking and prodding those poor women, and she’d most definitely been in charge.

Jene was trying to protect her family name. That was more than obvious. How could she possibly marry the guy who would one day become prime minister with that kind of garbage in the backyard?

“I had asked her to look into a situation just that day,” continued Jene. She sounded so earnest I almost believed her. “I’d heard rumblings that some of the other clans wanted to create trouble with the humans. I thought it best to make certain that didn’t happen.”

“Why did you not go to Ginjin or the council with this information?” Arath asked. He didn’t believe her any more than I did, but he had to go through the process.

The red dragon shrugged nonchalantly. “I had no proof, just rumors. Things one hears from the whispers of others. So I thought it best to investigate. My sister just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was an innocent bystander, and the Guardian obviously mistook what she saw.”

That lying bitch had gone too far. My jaw tightened, and my hand automatically went to the crossbow holstered at my back.