FireDrake (5 page)

Why then had he found it so easy to reveal such intimate details about himself to a woman he’d just met?

He’d had long-term lovers who didn’t know as much about him. And that’s the way he preferred it. Wasn’t it?

Why did he suddenly feel an inexplicable longing inside for a woman to share his secrets…especially about Jenet, the most precious member of his family?

The thought rocked him.

“She has pretty manners,”
Jenet cooed in his mind,
“and not a little power of her
own. She is a strong woman, able to hold her own in a fight.”

“Don’t get too attached,”
he warned Jenet, not liking the way his thoughts were churning at all.
“She’s only human, after all. You can’t keep her as a pet, Jen.”

“And why can’t I be friends with her?”
Jenet blinked one jeweled eye at him.
“It’s
not unheard of, you know.”

“Friends?”
The thought struck Drake as odd. And alarming.

Drake stopped rubbing the dragon’s head as he stepped away. Krysta must have taken it as a sign to withdraw too, as she dropped her hand, but the smile still graced the luscious corners of her lips. Jenet rose a little, but kept her head low enough to be on a level with the humans who all watched her with varying degrees of awe, interest and indulgence.

“I will look into forming a yard,” Devyn broke in on his thoughts, “where all those with animals to spare can collect them in one place. Down by the river, so there is also plentiful clean water.” The spark of excitement was in the tavern owner’s gaze. “This www.samhainpublishing.com 33

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way, dragons who are in too much of a hurry to go out to the fields can stop here, within the city, for a quick snack. What say you to that idea, Lady Jenet?”

The dragon nodded vigorously, negating the need for Drake to betray his ability to hear her words to the barkeep. While it seemed as natural as breathing for Krysta to know one of his deepest secrets, Drake didn’t feel the same way about sharing the knowledge with Devyn, old friend or not. Still, he could help the man without divulging his secret ability.

“Dragons enjoy fresh fruit too, like whole melons and bushels of apples. The royal treasury will reimburse you for those kinds of foodstuffs as well.” Jenet nodded dutifully.

“They like music and entertainment almost as much as we do, and would probably enjoy being included in the tavern itself. And dragons are an excellent heat source, so the increased draft from a larger door would be negated by the presence of a dragon inside during the winter. If they visited, you would need less coal and wood for your fires, that’s for sure.”

Devyn smiled broadly. “I’m glad to learn this before completion of my new building.

We’ll have to make an area where a dragon or two can sit inside with us to enjoy an evening’s entertainment.”

“Having a dragon around will cut down on the disorderly drunks as well, I’m sure,”

Krysta added with a wink. Her grey eyes sparkled as she gazed at the dragon, seeming unable to look away from Jenet’s gleaming hide.

Devyn grinned from ear to ear. “I think you’re right, Krysta. I saw how fast that bastard took off once he saw Lady Jenet rising over the scene.” The tavern owner chuckled and bowed once more to the dragon. “Again, I thank you for your intervention.”

He opened his arms to gesture toward everyone in the small party. “All of you. And now, I must see to the rest of my guests. Drake, do you still feel up to a song? I daresay we could contrive an opening in the tent to make room for Lady Jenet. What do you say?”

“I, for one, wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
Jenet’s dry commentary was for Drake alone.
“I haven’t heard you sing in fifteen years and I won’t wait another day. I always
loved your songs, Drake.”

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“I’m always up for a song, Devyn. You know that.” Drake sent the man one of his best smiles as the tavern keeper bowed once more to Jenet and bustled back into his domain. Jenet’s words had touched him more than he could say.

He’d been a musical child, encouraged by Ren and his mother, who was also a gifted musician, but Declan thought it a frivolous pursuit and a waste of time. Still, he’d sung Jenet to sleep almost every night, playing the instruments his mother gave him for various occasions. There were few she couldn’t play and she taught him all she knew.

Drake had learned much in his travels over the past fifteen years. Something inside him looked forward to showing his family just how good he truly was. That would start tonight, with Jenet, who’d been his best friend in the whole world during his youth.

Funny how she fit right back into his life, even after the fifteen year separation. It was like they’d never been apart.

“I’ll sing for you tonight, Jenet.” He felt an uncomfortable lump in his throat. “Just for you.”

The dragon moved to the side of the large tent where Devyn waited with several big men who were helping him lift the heavy canvas. Reaching out a wing, she made short work of sliding under the fabric, settling herself half in and half out of the big tent. Drake could just imagine what the mostly Jinn audience packed into the room thought about the appearance of a dragon in their midst.

“I should be going.” Krysta was already backing away.

“Can’t you stay for one song?” He found himself reluctant to let her go.

But she shook her head. “I’m on duty. I only stopped for dinner and now it’s back to work.” She was rejecting him again. Her smile held true regret this time though, which was a small victory at least.

She moved off down the street and he followed after. “Can I see you again?”

Damn, he hadn’t sounded that desperate in years. What happened to Drake the Seducer? He was acting more like Drake the Dunce right now, but she didn’t seem to mind. She smiled up at him and there was a new freedom in the lift of her lips that was www.samhainpublishing.com 35

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more open than any smile she’d given him to that point. Perhaps this sharing of his deepest secrets was the key with this particular, special woman.

“I’m certain our paths will cross at some point, Drake of the Five Lands.”

So she knew who he was. Suddenly he regretted the reputation he’d cultivated as a ladies’ man and playboy. He didn’t want her to think badly of him, or that he was just toying with her. This woman—in such a short amount of time—had become something precious to him. He didn’t understand it, but he wasn’t questioning it just then…at least not much. It was too important to secure a date with her before she disappeared into the night.

He wished he could follow her, but he too had work to do that night. It wouldn’t do to disappoint his king on the first mission entrusted to him since his return. How would that look to the eyes of his family? His blood-father, Declan, in particular?

“When?” Drake touched her arm, stroking with a gentle, beseeching touch. “When will I see you again, Krysta? Will you join me for lunch tomorrow? At Devyn’s? Or perhaps at the castle? I could give you a tour. You could meet some more dragons.”

She laughed and his heart dropped into his stomach. “You don’t have to bribe me with dragons, Drake. I enjoyed meeting your friend Jenet. She’s lovely. But I have met other dragons before. One in particular, in fact.” She stopped walking and turned to face him, true regret in her gaze this time. “I’m lunching with his knight tomorrow, so it wouldn’t be fair to encourage you.”

“You’re involved with a knight?” Drake felt his stomach lurch once more as anger stirred. She couldn’t be involved with a knight. Not when he’d given up his chance at that life in favor of his own road. It just wasn’t fair.

Krysta shrugged. “A little. I met him a few days ago and we’ve shared one other meal. He’s a cautious man.” Her chin lifted. “And I’m a very cautious woman.”

Drake lifted one hand to touch her hair. “A very beautiful woman as well.” His words were soft as he drew closer, unable to keep from kissing her. She didn’t move away, so he pressed his suit, dipping his head to touch his lips to hers. The kiss started out as a calm salute, but quickly escalated to a conflagration as he drew her into his arms.

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Drake counseled himself to slowness, but his body wanted nothing more than to ravish her. But that wouldn’t do. This woman was a warrior, a Guardswoman. She deserved respect. He’d never had a problem controlling himself with women in the past, but Krysta was different. From almost the moment he’d seen her, she’d called to him in a basic, yet complex, way. He wanted her. On many different levels. But he’d deal with the physical first.

She was fire in his arms, soft, womanly and full of spirit as she returned his kiss fully and eagerly. Drake pressed further, sweeping his tongue into her mouth, learning her taste and feel, delighting in the soft whimper that sounded in her throat as he swept his hands down her body, gripping the soft globes of her perfect ass and pulling her against his hardness.

Krysta moved into him as if she’d been made for him, but this had to stop. They were in the middle of a public street and people were waiting for them both to get on with their work. Drake drew back, little by little, though it was one of the hardest things he had ever done. He was breathing hard, just from her kiss, and his cock was as hard as a pike.

The woman packed a punch in more than one way. Drake was gratified to see the sleepy, sensuous look in her eyes as he moved back. She swayed a bit as he held her upright and a grin split his mouth. She was as affected as he was. That was something at least.

“Tell me your knight makes you feel like that and I’ll leave you in peace.”

Her eyes cleared abruptly and she pulled away.

“I can’t tell you that because he hasn’t kissed me yet.”

Drake didn’t like that “yet”. If he had his way, the unknown knight would never get a chance to kiss her at all.

“Have lunch with me tomorrow.”

“I can’t. I made a promise to Sir Mace.”

“Mace?” Drake cursed inwardly. He should have known. Any woman he found attractive just had to be spoken for by his childhood friend and rival. And it figured the bastard was a knight now, to boot.

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“You know him?”

Drake paced away a bit, trying to hold his tongue. “I knew him as a child. We grew up together.”

“Why do I get the idea you weren’t friends?”

She saw too clearly, but he didn’t want to leave her with the wrong impression.

Drake sighed. “We were friends, but I did resent him. Mace was always so perfect, so predictably warrior-like. My father held him up as an example to me more than once and I grew to hate the phrase ‘Why can’t you be more like Mace?’”

“Oh, that’s awful.” Krysta placed her hand on his arm and Drake’s spirits lifted a bit.

“Awful enough that you’ll break your date with him and have lunch with me instead?” He waggled his eyebrows with a teasing grin though he knew her answer already.

Krystal chuckled. “It wouldn’t be right. But—” Drake sensed an opening, but waited to hear what she’d propose. “I suppose I could have dinner with you. I’m not working tomorrow. It’s my weekly day off.”

Drake cursed fate once more. “I’m promised to my parents for dinner tomorrow night and I can’t postpone again. I haven’t eaten in their home in fifteen years and this promises to be a rather…difficult occasion, or I’d invite you to join us. Hell…” he ran an impatient hand through his shoulder-length hair, “…I’d love for you to come just to act as a buffer between me and them, but that’s the coward’s way out.” He sighed. “I may be many things, but never a coward.”

She smiled and the look in her pretty eyes was kind. “I’ve heard that about you, Drake, and I respect your reasoning. Perhaps another time.”

“When?” He pounced verbally as she turned to go once more. “How about breakfast the day after tomorrow? Before you have to be at work.”

She laughed as she moved off down the dimly lit street. “If you’re up at dawn, meet me at Pritchard’s Inn on the High Road in Castleton. All right?”

Drake whistled through his teeth as he watched her walk off. “It’s a date, sweetheart.

You can count on it.”

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“I won’t hold my breath, but if you do show up, I won’t throw you out either.”

Drake watched her walk away, enjoying the sway of her hips and remembering the feel of her generous curves in his hands. She was explosive in his arms and he looked forward to feeling more of her fire. But first he had a job to do.

When she was out of sight, he turned back to the tavern and collected himself before entering. He could hear a lot of talk about the dragon now seated comfortably under one flap of the huge tent. People were throwing apples to Jenet as he entered, and she caught them in mid air with a resounding chomp that seemed to delight the crowd made up mostly of newly arrived Jinn.

“Enjoying yourself, milady?”
Drake couldn’t help but tease her. Like him, Jenet had always loved to be the center of attention wherever she went. Being such an odd, lustrous color had a lot to do with her notoriety of course, but her sweet, outgoing nature was just as important in her popularity with humans and dragons alike.

“These apples are tasty,”
she agreed as she plucked another one out of mid-air.

Drake went to the bar and retrieved his lute from Devyn, taking a moment to unpack it from its traveling case and tune the strings. As usual, the crowd became aware of the imminent entertainment and he heard whispers as his name made the rounds of the tables.

The excitement level in the room rose a notch as he moved to the space cleared next to Jenet. It was clear these folk weren’t entirely comfortable with her in the room and had left her a wide area that was just perfect for his stage.

Shocking the assembly with his audacity, Drake seated himself on Jenet’s bent knee, close in near the sinuous column of her neck. No one but Devyn knew of their prior relationship, and Drake trusted the older man not to speak of it unless he was specifically told it was all right to do so.