Taking her phone from her purse, she dialed the burner phone she gave Aggie. It didn’t even ring before the old woman’s voice was on the other end.
“Hannah.”
“You never answer when it’s about your own welfare, but you answer now?”
“I’m guessing my secret revealed itself to you.”
“Oh, he revealed himself all right. In three-dimensional X-rated glory! Look, I know I said I believed in the impossible, but this borders on insane. I really need to talk to you.”
“Yes, I suppose you do. How is Soren, anyway? His stomach still hard enough to bounce a quarter off?”
Hannah’s jaw dropped and she heard the old woman chuckle. “Close your mouth, dear. Unless you’re practicing to see if the dragon’s package will fit, there’s no need.”
“So, I’m not crazy, then.” The murmured words were more for herself than Aggie.
Aggie laughed quietly again. “No, dear. You’re not. I apologize for the subterfuge, but I’m not a bit sorry for the outcome. I had a feeling about you from the first, and I always go with my gut. It’s why I gave you the book.”
“So, Soren isn’t an escort.”
The older woman’s laughter was so loud Hannah had to move her cellphone away from her ear.
“Aggie, please! This isn’t funny. I nearly had a coronary last night. I threatened him with the police!”
“But you didn’t call the authorities. Instead you got over your shock and had the toe-curling, body-shivering ride of your life. If memory serves, there’s nothing like sex with a dragon shifter. That kind of naughty was born in wetness. Nothing rivals it. Not for all the water in the deepest ocean, and I mean deepest.”
“Really? Again with cryptic? Considering the past thirty-six hours, I’d better bring you to my place. I’m not budging a step until you do, even if Soren ends up on the opposite side my front door.”
Who was she kidding? She didn’t have the heart to put the man out, and Aggie knew it, too. Even without the details, there was more to this than what was on the surface.
“I won’t see Soren like this, Hannah. He wouldn’t understand.” A muffled expletive left the old woman’s mouth. “I’ve done my indentured time. The final chapter to Soren’s story is up to you now.”
Hannah inhaled sharply. “Whether or not I believe this fairy tale is beside the point. I have questions, and I won’t take no for an answer. You dropped this guy in my lap, Aggie, and like it or not, I’ll be at the park in ten minutes. Do not disappear. I was headed to the shops for Soren. If you’re self-conscious, we can shop for you, too. You can clean up at my place.”
Aggie was quiet at first, but an audible sigh told Hannah this wasn’t going to be easy. “Aggie, I mean it.”
“I know, honey. I don’t need you to pick me up or clean me up. I have my own plan and my own means. I know you think otherwise, but there’s more to me than you know. Expect me at six pm. In the meantime, pick up a bottle of wine. You’re going to need it.”
Hannah was nonplussed. “What do you mean, you have means? Aggie, for six months I’ve watched you wheel your entire life around in a shopping cart. Other than food, you never accept my help. What’s going on here?”
“All will be explained once I get to your place.” Aggie paused. “This ride is going to get bumpy, dear. You need to keep an open mind.”
Hannah opened her mouth ready to argue, but then thought better of it. What would be the point? “How does merlot sound?” she asked, instead.
“Sounds delicious. See you at six.”
The line went dead, and Hannah stuck her cellphone in her pocket. Bumpy ride. What did that say about their upcoming conversation? She shook her head. Why ask? No one was ready to talk.
She knocked on the cabbie’s plexiglass. “Is there a liquor store between 52nd and 6th?”
“Yeah, a block from the Rochester.”
“Stop there first.”
The taxi made the right turn onto 6th Avenue and headed uptown. She sat back with an exhale. One bottle. That’s all. This wasn’t a social visit. It was a fact-finding mission, and yesterday’s champagne had done enough damage. If she hadn’t been drunk she’d have never—
Nice try. You would’ve jumped his bones stone cold sober.
She couldn’t argue with that.
Chapter Eight
Stomach rumbling, Soren rummaged through Hannah’s kitchen for food. Anything easy and recognizable would do. Hunger bit into his gut almost as much as restlessness gnawed at his senses.
He took a large round dish from one of the top cabinets and placed it on the granite counter. Settling on fruit from the basket near the sink and chunks of hard cheese and flat bread with tomatoes from the refrigerator, his mouth watered.
Taking a bite from a green apple, he moaned at the tart flavor. His pulse raced with anticipation of the rest of his feast. Everything tasted better than he remembered. The food, the water…
On the front of the stainless steel refrigerator he eyed a picture of Hannah laughing with another girl. Even the taste of her body was unlike any other. Just the thought of her soft curves, and the trace of her sweet musk, made his cock thicken.
If she banished him now, he’d slit his own throat. A bitter laugh welled in his chest. The rash move wouldn’t achieve much, despite the desire to end his suffering. There would be no blissful release. No slipping away to gentle blackness.
The bitch who cursed him had made sure of that when she cursed him with immortality. Her revenge robbed him even in death.
“Ligeia.”
The food in his mouth soured at her name. Over how many centuries had he kept his sanity by plotting retaliation? There was one drawback to all his scheming. The only way to break Ligeia’s dark spell was to face her in the Theradian Woods where she cursed him.
Aelantedes was thousands of leagues from the surface of the Earth. Devising a way to face the siren was as improbable as winning against her in his captive state. If only there was a chance for freedom. Then he could execute Ligeia any way he pleased.
He sighed, taking another bite of apple.
Hannah had stirred his inner dragon, but he was still powerless to shift. Without the ability to call his animal forth, he’d lose against Ligeia. Still, his dragon stirring after dormant centuries meant something.
At this point, he didn’t care if he lost his life battling Ligeia, though he knew she’d never allow his death. Her fury and vengeance would spin an even worse fate if it came to that. He sighed again, chewing.
Still, cautious hope bloomed, despite the odds.
Even if Hannah refused to banish him to the book, he was still bound to its core. She would age and eventually die, and he would wither in dark nothingness without her.
Maybe she’d pity him, and allow the book to be buried alongside her, that way they could endure the eternal dark together.
The thought of existing without Hannah made his insides clench. She was the one. She had to be.
She made his body react and his dragon roar like no one else. Every emotion she woke in him was enhanced by her remarkable nature. Her ability to trust, when all evidence told her to doubt.
In the past, he’d been summoned, used and thrown back into the book without as much as a morsel of food or a drop of water, yet she had given him full reign of her home. She had allowed him to reach climax each time he took her. No cruel enjoyment watching him strain and suffer through blue-balled pain.
Soren frowned. His fate was no one’s fault but his own. The Draakki were the most powerful shifters in Aelantedes. Or at least they were when he was cursed.
Theirs was a royal house with endless power and riches, but when he didn’t heed their Dracosarra, he not only lost himself, but his actions left the Draakki males to suffer, as well. His actions cost them the thread that held their dual natures intact.
He was cursed to that Godforsaken book, but his kind suffered a worse fate. Unable to find their true mates, their inner animals sepa
rated from their essence.
Forced apart, their dual nature withered and eventually died. From dark captivity, he was left to listen to them struggle, seeing the sad result each time he was summoned.
He shook off his heavy guilt and focused on the food in front of him and the woman who would walk through the door, and for a time, help him forget.
Carrying the platter of food from the kitchen to the living room, he passed a tall black cylinder sitting on the half-wall between the two rooms. He paused, eyeing the device. Placing the food on the dining room table, he studied the glowing blue ring around the top of the cylinder.
Earth had been a raw and violent place a millennium ago. Disease-ravaged and fractured by war. Those things still existed, but it seemed they weren’t as backward as they once were. He cleaned his hands on the tight shorts and touched the circular top.
“Communicator, on.”
The blue light blinked. “I’m sorry. I didn’t quite get that,” a computerized voice replied.
“Communicator, what is the distance from here to Aelantedes?”
The blue light swirled. “Atlantis Paradise Island, Bahamas Vacation Resort is 1096 miles from New York City. Would you like available flight information?.”
He blinked. “Not Atlantis. Aelantedes. It is the largest city on—.”
“Wow, I would never have taken you for an ancient mythology geek.”
Soren whirled around to find Hannah standing in the foyer. “I thought you said not to expect you before sundown?”
“I did,” she replied putting her purse and keys on the hall credenza. “I decided you needed something better to wear than my brother’s old gym shorts.”
She lifted the two bags in her other hand. “He’s been gone a long time. I should have donated his things to Goodwill, but at least they were of some use.”
Sadness touched her eyes and the urge to protect and comfort crashed over him.
“How any man could stay away from you that long is unthinkable. Especially one of your own blood.”
She shrugged the momentary grief away. “Yeah, well. He was never one for ties that bind.”
“Still,” Soren added softly.
Hannah pointed to the black cylinder. “I see you’re getting acquainted with Alexa. She’s fun for a computer database, don’tcha think?”
“Database?” he queried.
Hannah nodded. “Yeah, like Google. You ask for information, and Alexa retrieves it. I usually ask her to look up facts or the weather, but sometimes I mess with her, too. The other day I asked if the moon was really made of green cheese.”
He laughed. “You thought Earth had a moon made of cheese?”
“No, of course not.” She chuckled. “It’s an old tale, but it was funny to listen to Alexa spin her wheels. You really have to ask her a direct question or she won’t know how to answer.”
Hannah dropped her gaze to the shopping in her hand. “New York has a lot to offer, but not much when it comes to big and tall shops. I had to guess your size.”
Soren moved to take the heavy bags from her hand and put them on the couch. “Thank you, Hannah.”
Without replying, she stepped toward the dining room table and picked up a slice of apple from the platter and took a bite. She gestured toward the black cylinder. “Alexa, what’s the weather?”
The blue light glowed. “It is seventy-two degrees and cloudy. There will be a light rain that will taper off by morning followed by sunshine and clear skies.”
“Thanks, Alexa. See you later, alligator.”
The blue light blinked twice. “In a while, crocodile.”
Hannah spread her hands out. “See? Pretty cool, huh?” Chewing, she angled her head. “Why are you so interested in Atlantis? Planning a little fun in the sun?”
Soren looked at her confused. “I have no interest in—” he stopped and looked at the black cylinder. “Oh, I was testing the device’s knowledge about ocean topography.”
She looked at him. “Ocean topography? It’s a wonder you know about such things, since you said you were cursed into an ancient book over eight hundred years ago.”
“I said as much because it is the truth.”
Hannah gave him a close-lipped smile, not sure how to respond. She had mind-blowing sex with a man Hollywood would sign in a heartbeat. But sex was one thing. Mental stability, quite another.
“S—someone’s coming over later. She didn’t want to see you at first, but I promised it would be okay. After the way you reacted to her name, I—” What could she say?
“Aglaope.” The distrust in his voice was palpable.
Hannah lifted her chin, annoyed. “If anyone should feel put out in this situation, it’s me, so I’d appreciate support and not attitude. First, Aggie shoves her magical mystery book at me, talking nonsense about captive secrets, and then you show up. Naked. Talking even more nonsense.”
Soren opened his mouth, but Hannah shut him down. “I don’t know how you and Aggie know each other, or what transpired in the past, but it’s clear you need to face each other and talk. If not for yourselves, then for me.”
That seemed to grab his attention, but Hannah wasn’t done. “As for the rest—” she gestured to the ancient book on the coffee table. “I don’t know what to think about that. I haven’t seen any empirical proof this fairy tale of yours is true.”
“Proof is a sound argument.” Soren spread his hands. “I’m a shifter, Hannah. A dragon.”
“Yeah, about that—”
Taking her hand, he ignored her protest and steered her through the sliding doors to the back garden. “Wait here.” He motioned for her to stand on the slate threshold, away from the broken glass.
With his eyes on Hannah, Soren walked backwards, centering himself at the widest part of the yard. Raising his face to the sun, he lifted his arms.
A faint scent of ozone, like a clean, chlorine-like, burnt smell gathered, and the air buzzed. The leaves on the indoor fruit trees moved, but there was no breeze.
Soren’s body glowed as if his aura had somehow become electrified, and he dropped to all fours. Hannah rushed forward, but he held up his hand, stopping her. She planted her feet, her fingers digging into her palms as she watched in stunned awe.
Muscles rippled, undulating beneath Soren’s skin. Bones snapped and reformed. His face reshaped, elongating, as shiny, iridescent scales spread replacing skin. It happened as if in slow motion, but in reality it was only seconds.
A dragon stood where Soren had only moments before. A full dragon, with heavy, clawed feet, a large proud frill across the back of his neck, and a lashing tail.
Dumbfounded, Hannah licked her lips, afraid to say a word. The dragon snorted, lifting its large head. A soft, fiery chuff left its toothy mouth, and she swore it sounded like a laugh.
“Holy crap!”
Soren’s tail swished toward her, and she scrambled back, her feet tangling together in the process. She fell backwards with a thud over the aluminum track in the doorway.
“Ow!” She winced, rubbing her hip. “Not funny, Soren! Keep your scaly bits to yourself, fire-breath, before you smash the place!”
With another fiery chuff, he scooped her up, lifting her toward the glass ceiling.
“Put me down!” She fisted her hand, but then thought better of pounding the beast on the head when she was thirty feet in the air. “Soren, please!”
He lowered her to the ground in front of him, only letting go when her feet were safely on the slate. She stepped back, keeping an arm’s length from his sharp teeth. Not that it would have made a difference.
As if sensing her fear, Soren lowered his head in some sort of bow. He held the submissive position long enough for her to realize what he wanted.
With a hesitant reach, she slid her fingers onto the top of his head, letting her palm rest on his smooth scales. They shimmered under her touch, and a soft rumble emanated from the dragon’s chest, like a purr.
Hannah stroked his head once be
fore pulling her hand back. The dragon lifted his head, and she understood his meaning and stepped back toward the sliders. In seconds, the dragon was no more, and Soren stood in the garden as naked as when she first saw him.
Stunned, she licked her lips, speechless.
“Proof enough?” he asked, spreading his hands.
Her mouth was sandpaper dry, and she barely nodded before turning on her heel for the kitchen. She took two steps and her knees buckled. Soren rushed forward, catching her before she hit the slate.
“I suppose it could come in handy patching the broken ceiling pane,” she croaked.
He smirked, letting his fingers trace her jaw. “It would at that.”
“Uhm, I think I could use a drink, or maybe ten.” Still knocked for six, she let him help her to her feet before she turned for the sliders again, still shaky as she stepped over the threshold.
Mind racing, she opened a bottle of merlot. Was that the result of a brain bleed or did a man really metamorphize into a mythical beast?
Believing in the impossible was one thing. Seeing it was something else. Possibly mental illness. Then again, most great discoveries were once considered crazy and impossible. But this? This was a completely different animal. Literally.
A fantastical animal that belonged in books like Eragon and Harry Potter. Unthinkable in terms of reality, yet it happened. In front of her eyes. Touched with her hands.
There was no argument, no matter how incredulous. Soren was for real. A living, breathing fantasy lifted from the pages of her favorite sci-fi romance novel. She took a swig right from the bottle as he walked through the sliders.
“That bad, huh?”
Hannah turned with the open wine bottle. “Yes…I mean, no…I mean…” Exhaling, she put the bottle on the counter. “I mean, how?”
He walked toward her until they were toe-to-toe with just the wine bottle between them. “It’s a long tale, and one that I think you need to hear. Know this, though. Somehow you freed a part of me that was denied for so many centuries. I don’t know how or why, but to spread my wings and feel the air gather for flight, to feel fire burn in my belly, not just from hatred and regret, but dragon’s fire—” Soren’s voice cracked, and he let his words drift. “I can never truly thank you,”
Her Captive Dragon: Howls Romance Page 6