Stanhill made a face like he’d been caught. “Speaking of the most gorgeous woman I know, here she is. My lovely partner, Corette Williams. Corette, this is Lisa. She’s here to fix up Van.”
Van snorted at that, but said nothing more.
Corette’s expression turned curious as she looked at Monalisa. “You’re a matchmaker?”
“No. I’m not fixing him up that way.” Monalisa couldn’t begin to imagine having that job. “I’m his rehab therapist.”
“Ah, I see.” Corette smiled. “You have your work cut out for you, then, don’t you? Lovely to meet you, Lisa.”
“Very nice to meet you. Your daughter has done a wonderful job on this house.”
Corette looked around. “Cole did the heavy lifting, but Pandy did the design side. They make a great team.”
Stanhill nudged her. “That reminds me, I need to talk to that boy about his intentions with Pandora. Been long enough, don’t you think?”
A mysterious gleam filled Corette’s eyes. “I do think. I also think it’s going to be remedied very soon.”
That got Van’s attention. “What do you know?”
Corette shrugged ever so slightly. “I’ve been sworn to secrecy.”
The bell-like chiming of silverware being tapped on a glass rang out above the hum of the crowd.
Everyone turned toward the living room. A tall, dark-haired man with black eyes and glasses stood in the center, a fork in one hand and a nearly empty glass of beer in the other. “If I could have everyone’s attention for a moment.”
He scanned the crowd. “Where’s Pandora?”
“I’m here,” she answered from deep in the throng.
“Well, come up here next to me.”
Monalisa leaned over to whisper to Van, “Cole?”
He nodded.
Pandora joined Cole. He slipped his arm around her waist before he began again. “We want to thank all of you for coming out tonight to help us celebrate our house being complete. It’s been a long journey and an awful lot of hard work, but I think you’ll agree with me, well worth it.”
The party guests murmured their agreement.
He smiled. “I think you’ll also agree with me about something else I believe to be well worth it.”
He set the fork and glass down, then pulled out a small velvet box from his pocket. A moment later, he disappeared from view as he bent down on one knee.
Gasps arose all around them, and Corette put her hand to her mouth, her eyes damp with happy tears.
“Pandora Williams, will you make me the happiest man alive and be my wife?”
Pandora, who looked a little weepy herself, nodded, then squeaked out a “Yes.”
The crowd erupted in cheers. Cole jumped to his feet, picked Pandora up, and whirled her around.
Monalisa felt like she’d just witnessed something amazing, but also very personal. There were no proposals in her future, that much she knew. Not unless her father ordered a man to marry her. Which seemed highly unlikely since he’d been set on keeping men away from her since she’d turned eighteen. Not that it was much of a task. No man in his right mind would fall for her. Not when her father controlled her life the way he did.
And who could blame a man for steering clear of her? She didn’t even want the life she lived, so she understood why no one else would want to share it with her.
The proposal, for all its romance, had left her a little sad.
She glanced at Van. He was smiling and clapping along with everyone else. She did her best to shut down the pity party welling up inside her. This was a happy moment and absolutely not about her or her crappy life. Her feelings could wait until she was alone. Or maybe she’d just ignore them altogether.
Stanhill and Corette pushed their way forward to congratulate the couple.
Van threw back the remaining punch in his cup, then set it aside. “Come. You can meet Cole.”
Monalisa took his lead, downing what was left of her drink, then put on a bright smile. “Lead the way.”
“I think you had too much champagne.”
“Nyet.” Van leaned on Lisa more than he intended to, but getting up the steps was hard. And she was soft in all the right places.
The next step looked very far away. Hmm. Maybe he had had too much to drink. Even though he felt fine. Better than fine, in fact. Except for the ache in his damn leg. “Maybe too much vodka.”
She laughed softly. “Maybe.”
He cut his eyes at her as they climbed together. She smelled so good and looked so pretty. “Too much celebration.”
Her arm was around him. It was a nice feeling. “But your friend got engaged. If there was ever a time for too much celebration, that was it.”
“Da, that was it. But still, maybe, too much.”
“You’ll be fine in a couple hours. Dragons have impeccable metabolisms.” She got him onto the landing and let him lean on his crutch.
He scowled. “Not with venom in my system.” That stupid bite had ruined everything.
“Oh, yes, right. I forgot about that.”
“Is why I am p’yanyy.”
“I’m going to assume that means inebriated.”
He smiled and winked at her. She was so smart. And pretty. “You learn Russian very good.”
“Thanks.” She laughed again, dipping her head so that her hair partially covered her face.
Her coat looked thin to him. She must be cold. “We should go inside.”
“We should,” she agreed. “But you have to unlock the door first.”
“Mmm, da…” He wrapped his good arm around the porch post as the floor beneath him seemed to tilt. Damn venom. “Key in pocket.”
Her brows lifted as she looked at him. “Are you asking me to get it out?”
“Da. Right pocket.”
“I’m not sure you’re that sloshed, but seeing as how you’re an injured man…” She pursed her lips, then gave him a stern look and came closer. Her fingers wiggled into the pocket of his jeans, sending a bright jolt of electricity through him. She pulled her hand free, stepped back, and her stern expression deepened. “There’s nothing in there.”
“Other right.”
Frowning at him in a way that made him want to laugh, she came close again and dug her fingers into the opposite pocket.
He felt them hook the key ring and drag it out. Before she could step away, he turned his face into her hair and inhaled. “You smell good.”
Her hand left his pocket, but the rest of her stayed where she was. “Thanks. You smell like smoke. But I guess you know that.”
He nodded. “Does it bother you?”
She shook her head slowly, her sparkling green eyes alive with something needy. “No. I…like it.”
And he liked her. Very much. Impulse took over. His pulse amped up at the thought of what he was considering. It was reckless and foolish, but he’d done worse in his life, and the drinks he’d had said go for it. So he did.
He bent his head and brushed his mouth over hers. The barest hint of a kiss. A test, really. To see what her reaction was. And if she’d let him do it again.
He watched her, his heart thumping, heat rushing through his system like gasoline had just been dumped on his internal furnace. That wasn’t the vodka, that was Lisa.
She blinked her eyes open and stared at him, her lips slightly parted and her cheeks flushed. She didn’t say a thing. But she didn’t push him away either.
So he tried it again.
This time, she kissed him back. She pressed her mouth to his as a gentle moan left her throat.
The sound spurred him on. He put his free hand on the small of her back and pulled her closer as the kiss deepened. The world spun around him, but he was focused on her and her alone. She was as soft and sweet as he’d imagined.
Her tongue traced the seam of his mouth, teasing him, then she suddenly sucked in a breath and stepped back. Her eyes flashed with light for a moment as she put her hands on his chest. “We shouldn�
�t do this. This is supposed to be a business relationship.”
He smiled. “Says who?”
“Says the League. I’m here to rehabilitate you. Not climb into your bed.”
Now there was a thought that gave him pause. Did her saying that mean she was thinking about it too? “I feel very rehabilitated right now.”
She shook her head. “You’ve had too much to drink. And I’m on the borderline. We should just get inside and go to sleep.”
He grinned.
“Separately.” She turned around, key in hand, and unlocked the front door, giving him a chance to admire her backside. She pushed the door open, and Grom came charging out. She pointed toward the yard. “Go ahead, go do whatever you need to.”
Finally, she looked at Van again. “I’ll stay out here and watch him. Unless you need help getting in?”
“Nyet. I can do it.” A new idea filled his head. “But maybe help changing.”
She snorted. “Nice try.”
“Just with brace. That is all I mean.” He limped past her into the house and turned around. “Cross my heart.”
“I guess I can do that. But we do it on the couch, not your bed.”
“I am happy to do it wherever you want.” He was on the edge of laughing, his mind putting far more meaning into her words than she was implying. He knew what she meant—and most certainly what she didn’t—but in the moment, he just wanted to enjoy teasing her.
She gave him a look that said she was wise to what he was thinking. “Okay, fine. Just let me get Grom in.”
“Good. Spasibo.” He made his way to the couch, leaving the door open, but didn’t sit. When she turned around to keep an eye on Grom, Van went over to the fireplace and lit the logs inside. Nice of Norma to get a fire ready when she was here earlier. It was almost like she knew he was going to need to set a romantic mood. The flames leaped and crackled, the sound soothing him.
Fire did that for dragons.
Grom’s nails clicked on the steps outside. Van limped back to the couch and sat, waiting for Lisa.
She followed Grom inside, closed the door, then walked toward Van. “We should maybe talk about this.”
“About my brace?”
She pursed her lips. Her sweet, soft lips. “You know what I mean.”
“The kissing?”
“Yes, the kissing.”
He shrugged. “We are adults. Adults sometimes kiss. What else is there to talk about?”
She sat beside him, exhaling softly. “That’s all this was, then? Just a sometimes kiss? A kiss because we both overindulged?”
He nodded, the crackling of the fire singing him to sleep. But he wasn’t ready for bed yet. Not with Lisa so close. “And if it was more?”
“It can’t be.”
He studied her. She was holding something back. Hiding something. Her business, to be sure. But it made him feel sorry for her. Whatever it was, could it be so important that it would prevent her from experiencing a little pleasure? Was she worried this kiss would affect her job? “I won’t say anything to the League. I promise. I am sure many of their employees have become friendly with some of the fighters. It would be natural, no?”
She fixed her gaze on his brace. “I suppose so.”
Was that it, then? He wasn’t sure. There was no relief in her face. “What else is bothering you?”
She looked up. “Nothing.” The smile that followed seemed there only to cover her true feelings.
He let it go. If she didn’t want to tell him more, that was her right. He would leave her alone. As much as he didn’t want to.
The surprise of that thought would be enough to occupy his thoughts all night. And then some.
Monalisa couldn’t explain what was going on inside her no matter how much she wanted to spill everything. Van would throw her out if she did. There was no other possible reaction for him to have when he learned that the woman he’d just kissed—who’d just kissed him back and enjoyed it—was the same woman who’d used her gifts to ruin his life. And was here to do it again.
He would be livid. And he would have every right to be.
Which was why the kissing stopped now. It had to. She couldn’t get involved with the man she’d been sent to dupe. Because, eventually, the truth would come out. And if he had feelings for her, those feelings would just make things worse.
So whatever had just happened between them on the porch? That was absolutely, completely over.
Even if kissing him was the best thing she’d ever experienced.
Keeping her cool on the outside required serious work right now, because on the inside she was jumping up and down and melting into a puddle and screaming like she’d won something while giggling as if she was eight years old again. Possibly floating a little too.
The man could kiss.
No, she didn’t have anything to compare it to, but she was pretty sure she would have known if the kiss had been bad. Which it wasn’t. Not even a tiny bit. A bad kiss wouldn’t leave her wanting more. A lot more.
Van was such a surprise. He was gentle while still being strong. He’d made her shiver as he’d set her on fire. And with only the touch of his mouth on hers, he’d lit up every nerve in her body.
He put the super in supernatural.
And with that one kiss, she was smitten. Ruined, really. Because for the rest of her life, he would be the ruler all other men were measured by. And if she lived to be a thousand years old, she was always going to wonder…what if?
She swallowed down the growing lump in her throat and looked at him. “I guess we should get that brace off, huh?”
He nodded, eyes a little heavy. She was tired too. Tired of all the pretending. Tired of her father. Tired of not getting to live her own life.
She bent to work on Van’s brace. The straps were Velcro, and there were plenty of them. She dug her nails beneath the first one, trying to shake the lingering questions in her head: What would it be like in this instance if her life was her own?
She ripped the first strap open, the sound gratifying. If there were no constraints on her, she wouldn’t have stopped kissing him so soon. That much she knew.
But there were constraints on her. More than there were straps on this brace. So she’d stopped and done her best to dissuade him not to do it again.
No matter how much pleasure the thought of more kissing brought her.
She tore the second strap open.
No matter how much misery her life caused her.
The third strap followed. Then the fourth. Each tearing sound underscoring her wretched existence.
She needed to get away from Van before she stopped caring and blurted out everything. Or started rage-crying.
There was only one way to fix this mood. Shifting and allowing herself the freedom of being in her true form. It made her happy when all else failed.
She freed the last strap and pushed to her feet. “All done. I’m going to bed.”
She didn’t wait for his response, just ran upstairs. She stepped out of her heels, then ditched the dress her mother had bought her. She was antsy, but it was too soon to shift. She’d have to wait until Van was asleep to be sure that he didn’t come looking for her for any reason.
In his current state, that was definitely a possibility.
As if on cue, he called out for her. “Lisa? Are you all right?”
She tipped her head back to stare at the ceiling. No, she wasn’t all right. And she might never be. She blinked back the threatening tears. “Yes. Just tired.”
More lies. What did it matter?
Her phone buzzed from the nightstand where she’d left it plugged in. She knew before looking at it who was calling.
She grabbed it and punched the answer button. “What?”
“No hello? No ‘Hi, Daddy’?”
“Not for you. What do you want?”
“You know what I want. An update.”
She walked to the railing overlooking the living room. Van wasn’t on the couc
h, and Grom wasn’t around either. Maybe they’d gone to bed. She went into the bathroom and closed the door just to be sure. “I’m working on it.”
“I want specifics.”
“Even if I can get him to agree to fight, he still needs to heal.”
“I understand that. And time will be allotted. But there is no if about getting him to agree to fight. That will be the outcome. Do you understand?”
“I understand I have no choice. Do you understand what a horrible person you are?”
He sighed. “Monalisa, you are never going to get anywhere in this world.”
“Not with you holding me prisoner.” She hated him. Hated what he’d done to her. What he kept doing to her.
“I’m enabling you to fulfill your true purpose.”
“You’re a vile little man with a soul as black as night.” She hung up. Enabling you to fulfill your true purpose. What a crock.
Trembling with anger, she tossed her phone on the bed and walked out onto the balcony in nothing but her bra and underwear. There was no one to see her. She stood there, gulping down the cold night air in an effort to calm herself.
It wasn’t working that well.
She wanted to shift. She needed to shift. So she closed her eyes and gave in.
Van was nearly asleep, dreams of Lisa already leading him into a blissful fog, when a flash of light and Grom’s sharp, sudden bark snapped him awake.
Whatever intoxication he’d felt was gone now. He blinked into the darkness. In a split second, his dragon eyes adjusted. He pushed onto his elbows. Grom was standing tensely, ears at attention, his entire body looking poised for action.
Van sat up. “Ko mne.”
Grom relaxed, walked over, and settled his big head on the bed beside Van, letting out a little woof as if to say, Shouldn’t we go see what that was?
Van stroked the dog’s head, scratching his ears. “Is all right, pup.”
What had that been? A trick of his mind? Like when the sensation of falling sometimes woke him? Was this his mind playing games with him? Instead of falling, would he now be reliving the burst of light that had caused him to lose against Ronan? Maybe it was the venom in his system doing it. A side effect of that poison.
The Dragon Finds Forever (Nocturne Falls Book 7) Page 8