by Zoe Chant
“And what did their normal person payments gain them?” Lucas asked rhetorically. “What a prize: a house in Lummox!”
Journey let out a watery giggle. “That’s true. Well, I spent another two years working in Lummox, with everyone telling me every day that I’d never make it out— I’d throw my money away on the next handsome stranger to claim that he loved me. But I didn’t. I bought a backpack and a plane ticket, and I left and never looked back.”
“Never?” Lucas asked quietly.
Journey knew what he meant. She was forever marked by her past, just as he was. But she said lightly, “Almost never. I did see it in the news once, while I was in Budapest. It had been officially voted the most boring town in America. I felt totally vindicated.”
Lucas’s chuckle vibrated through his chest.
Journey settled back, leaning her head against his shoulder. “What about you? What have you been doing all these years away from Brandusa?”
He didn’t reply. When she turned her head to see his face, she found him looking uncertain. He was biting his lower lip, a gesture she’d never seen from him before.
“If it’s something you don’t want to talk about...” Journey began.
“No. I mean...” His voice trailed off into silence.
“...then forget that I asked,” she concluded.
“No, ” Lucas said again. He hesitated again, then said, “I traveled. For years. I brought some of my hoard with me, so I didn’t need to work. About a year ago, I was travelling in America. I was flying low at night over a city called Santa Martina. As a dragon, I mean. I was invisible, of course.”
“Of course,” echoed Journey, grinning.
“I saw a commotion in an alley, so I landed on a roof to get a better look. I saw a young man who looked like a gangster, covered in tattoos, fighting with an older man in a suit. The young man was trying to snatch the older man’s briefcase.”
“And you flew to the rescue?”
“Yes. I flew down to the street— the alley was too narrow for me to fit— became a man, and ran into the alley. I struck the man with tattoos and knocked him down, and handed the briefcase back to the older man.”
“That’s great!” But she saw from the ironic twist in his mouth that the story wasn’t going to be as straightforward as she’d thought.
“The tattooed man jumped up and tackled me,” Lucas went on. “We began fighting. I realized immediately that he was a shifter too— he was far stronger than any human could be. We were struggling together, and then he shouted, ‘Roll!’ I don’t know why I didn’t think it was a trick, but I didn’t. We both rolled to the side, and a bullet struck where we had been. The man with the briefcase was firing a gun at us— at both of us.”
“But you’d rescued him,” Journey said, perplexed.
“I too was confused,” Lucas admitted. “I let go of the tattooed man and tried to disarm the man with the gun. So did the tattooed man. The gun was knocked across the alley. Then the man who had been shooting at us became a leopard and jumped for the tattooed man’s throat.”
“What!”
“And the tattooed man became a wolf.” Lucas seemed to be enjoying Journey’s surprise. “By then I had no idea who was the hero and who was the villain. I wasn’t sure who I should help, so I tried to get between them and stop them from killing each other. Then I heard sirens. Both the shifters turned back into men. The police arrived, along with a very big man in plain clothes. The police arrested the man with the briefcase. He had been conducting industrial espionage, and the briefcase contained stolen documents. I told the police I had seen fighting and had tried to intervene. Of course I didn’t mention the shifting.”
“So what was going on?” Journey asked, fascinated. “Was the werewolf an undercover cop?”
“No, he was private security. Once the police were gone, he turned to the big man and said— excuse the profanity— ‘That motherfucking wannabe hero’s a shifter! He’s the one who broke my fucking nose!’ And then he explained what had happened, in similarly colorful language.”
Journey giggled as Lucas went on, “And the big man offered his hand to me, and said, ‘I’m Hal Brennan, and this is Nick Mackenzie. I run an all-shifter private security company called Protection, Inc. Are you looking for a job, by any chance?”
“And you took it?” Journey asked.
“I hadn’t intended to. But the wolf shifter said, ‘You’re not going to put that arrogant prick on the team!’ I didn’t like his tone. So I couldn’t resist taunting him by asking Hal to tell me more about the job. The more he said, the more intriguing it sounded.” Lucas shrugged. “I suppose I was tired of traveling and wanted a rest. I thought I’d try it for a month or two. But I’ve— I had been working at Protection, Inc. for six months. It was... difficult to leave.”
“So you’re a bodyguard?” Journey asked, delighted.
“We do other jobs as well. But yes.”
“It suits you.” Journey once again saw him placing his body between her and six assassins, his sword gleaming in the moonlight. “Do you like it better than being a prince?”
“Yes.” Lucas wrapped his arms close around her. “And most of all, I would like to protect you.”
“Why do I need protection?” It had been nagging at her mind all along. “I’m a nobody— just another backpacker. But you said at the river that those assassins were after me.”
“Because...” Lucas took a deep breath. The sunlight glittered in his topaz eyes. “Journey, this may be hard for you to believe.”
“Harder than dragons?”
“Perhaps.” His serious tone made her stomach clench nervously. “Raluca and I swore a vow of honor to marry. Our marriage would seal treaties between her country and mine. If we do not marry, those treaties will be void. Many people stand to gain power or wealth by those treaties, and so have a strong vested interest in our marriage.”
Journey couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have her most personal choices have such huge repercussions. “If I knew that any date I went on might affect my entire country, I’d probably never date at all. Except that would affect my country too. You must be under so much pressure.”
The delicate skin of Lucas’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. When he spoke again, his voice was lower, rougher, as if he’d started to choke up. “You’re the first person who’s ever cared about that.”
He cleared his throat and went on, “However, I have a way out. The agreement said that if Raluca or I found our mate, the arrangement is off.”
“What’s a mate?” Journey asked.
Lucas’s voice dropped again, but this time she could hear that it was from passion. “My mate is the love of my life. She’s the woman I saw across a crowded room, and knew she was meant for me. Journey— it’s you. You’re my mate. You’re the woman I’ll love and protect forever, if you’ll have me.”
She looked deep into his amber eyes, and saw nothing but sincerity and love. Journey’s heart felt filled to the brim with joy, hot and sweet as dragonfire. She was too moved to speak.
He went on, “I know you’ve been lied to before. I don’t know how to convince you that I’m not another charming con man. I—”
“No!” Journey twisted around in his arms until she was sitting on his lap and facing him. She cupped his face in her hands, feeling the strong lines of his jaw and the rough stubble coming up on his cheeks. “Lucas, I know you’re honest and honorable and everything you say you are. I love you too. I think I loved you from the first moment I saw you. I just thought love at first sight was one of those impossible things that I was stupid to believe in.”
“Like dragons?”
“Like dragons.” She tugged his collar aside to trace the pattern of his dragonmarks.
Lucas reached out to her. His rings glittered in the sun as if he held fire in his hands. Then he put his palms on the back of her head and drew her into him.
At the first touch of his lips to hers, Journey’s blood c
aught fire. The sensual coziness she’d felt nestled in his arms transmuted to shockingly intense desire. She gasped into his mouth, her heart accelerating as if he’d lit a quick-burning fuse inside her. She didn’t want to lazily snuggle and kiss, she wanted him to rip her clothes off and take her.
She could feel his heart pounding as well. His hands dropped from her head and clenched on her shoulders, fingers sinking into her soft flesh. She couldn’t tell if what she felt was pleasure or pain, but she liked it. When she opened her eyes, she was unsurprised to find that his were brilliant gold.
“Now, Lucas,” Journey gasped. “I want you in me, now!”
He lowered her to the ground in an instant. The sudden drop gave her a brief thrill of danger, as if she was falling. But he cradled her in his arms for a gentle landing. For a moment he was still and poised above her as she lay on her back, his gaze hungry, the sun bright on his hair. Then he was shoving up her skirt, his hands clumsy with urgency.
There was a flurry of hasty fumbling; they were both too intent on getting to each other to care about careful undressing. Journey yanked at Lucas’s shirt and ripped it open. Pearl buttons popped off and scattered all around. Lucas jerked her panties down and left them halfway down her thighs, too impatient to take them all the way off. When he reached down to his breeches, his hands were actually shaking with desire. She had to help him undo the ties.
“Come on,” she heard herself muttering, without having any intent to speak. She felt out of control in the very best way. “Come on, Lucas! Come on!”
The knot finally gave way, freeing his rock-hard shaft. He dropped down on top of her and plunged himself into her. Journey cried out in ecstasy. The moment of penetration was so satisfying, it was almost an orgasm in itself. He filled her completely, his cock hard and hot inside of her.
She lifted herself up to meet him, frantic with desire, her hands slipping over his sweat-slick skin. The scent of grass and roses and arousal dizzied her. He kissed her hard as he thrust, each movement taking her closer to the brink. She could tell that it wouldn’t be long for either of them. His heart beat like a drum against her chest.
He gave a final hard thrust, and jerked back his head to call out her name. His brilliant eyes opened wide as he reached his own climax. And then Journey came in a burst of fulfillment, only a heartbeat behind Lucas, overcome by ecstasy and love.
He rolled off her and lay beside her on the soft grass. They were both breathing hard, their hearts still pounding. Then they relaxed into the afterglow. Lucas reached upward, stripped the petals from a scarlet rose, and scattered them over Journey’s body. They fell lightly on her sensitized skin, like drops of sweet-smelling, crimson rain.
“Rubies on pearl,” Lucas said softly. “You are a treasure.”
“I can hardly believe that this is real,” Journey said. “I thought I’d never love a man again. I thought I’d never trust a man again. And I sure never thought anyone would fall in love with me— especially not someone as cool as you!”
“Oh, am I cool now?” Lucas inquired, smiling. “Nick once called me the opposite of cool.”
“What does he know? He’s probably still mad because you broke his nose.”
“Perhaps.” Lucas sat up, then earnestly bent over her. “There is one last thing I haven’t told you. I didn’t want you to feel pressured. But I don’t want to lie by omission, either. Also, it involves your safety.”
“What is it?” she asked, alarmed.
“The arrangement between myself and Raluca...” Lucas began.
I knew it, Journey thought with an inward sigh. Royalty might seem romantic and glamorous, but she was beginning to wish Lucas was just a bodyguard with no other entanglements.
He went on, “The only way for me to break it is for you to appear in court and declare your intention to marry me. You have one month to decide.”
Much as she loved him, that instinctively put her back up. She didn’t like being bossed around and pushed into a commitment, especially one with a deadline. “Says who?”
“The ancient traditions of dragonkind,” Lucas replied glumly. “Backed up by the royal families and parliaments of Brandusa and Viorel.”
“Yikes.” Hastily, Journey added, “It’s not that I don’t want to marry you. I love you! I’m sure I would like to marry you some day, but it’s so soon to get engaged. And I don’t like being bossed around. I especially don’t like being strong-armed into a lifelong commitment on an arbitrary deadline. Lucas, do you want to get engaged this soon?”
His handsome face creased in a frown. “I would if I wasn’t being forced into it. And if I wasn’t forcing you.”
“You’re not forcing me. Your government is.” Once she’d heard her own words, the whole idea sounded even worse. “You know what, that settles it. I don’t want the government setting the date for our engagement. We should get engaged on a date we choose.”
“I feel the same way. That’s why I haven’t proposed to you. I want to wait until you have a free choice. And, of course, until I have obtained a ring worthy of your finger.” He lifted her hand and kissed it.
Any one of Lucas’s rings could probably purchase an entire farm in Lummox. Her mind reeled at the thought of what he’d consider worthy. “So how do we get out of it? Do you just tell them all to shove it?”
Thoughtfully, Lucas said, “Do you know, I once thought that I could never do such a thing. It would be breaking a vow of honor. But now that I’ve met you, I see that there is more to honor than keeping agreements dreamed up by others for the sake of profit and politics. There is also the honor of the heart.”
“So you’ll tell them to shove it?”
“I’ll tell them to shove it.” But his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “But there is something else I need to attend to. As I said, a number of people will benefit if Raluca and I marry. I believe those assassins were sent to kill you by someone who wants to make sure I marry Raluca. I am not sure that person will give up so easily. I need to find out who they are.”
“Any ideas?”
“It could be Raluca’s uncle, Duke Constantine. He would gain profit and power through the treaties with Brandusa. Or... I don’t like to believe this, but it might be my great-uncle, Grand Duke Vaclav. He may believe that he still influences me as he did when I was young, and wish to be the power behind the throne.”
Journey had seen that expression of cool ruthlessness on Lucas’s face before, when he had stood between her and the assassins. “Should we go back to the palace and investigate?”
“I will go back and investigate,” Lucas replied. “You’ll be safer here. No one knows where you are.”
“Isn’t your spare castle kind of an obvious place to look?”
He smiled. “We have many spare castles. But don’t worry. Dragons have a special bond with their mates. It’s how I knew you were in danger on the riverbank. If you’re in danger, I’ll know. And I’ll come flying to save you.”
“But—” Journey began.
“But what if I cannot come all the way from the city in time?” he interrupted. “Then go to the castle caretakers— they have cottages in the woods outside the walls— and they will hide you.”
“Thanks,” Journey said. “But that’s not what I was thinking. What if you’re in danger?”
Lucas seemed startled by this question. “Oh— Well— Journey, I am a dragon. And also a bodyguard. Danger is quite literally my business. You mustn’t worry about me. I am quite capable of protecting myself.”
“I know.” His argument was reasonable, but she still felt uneasy. “How long do you think you’ll be gone?”
“No more than two days. If I’m not back by this time, two days hence...” In the carefully controlled voice he used when he was trying hard to suppress some emotion, he said, “Go to the caretakers and tell them you need to be smuggled out of the country, immediately.”
Journey’s heart lurched. “Lucas, if you don’t come back, I’ll go looking for you!”<
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“No!” His unexpected shout made her jump. More calmly, he said, “I swear to you, I will come back. But it is not easy to imprison a dragon. If I do not return...”
“You’re dead,” she said flatly.
“If I do not return, there will be nothing you can do to help me.” He bent and kissed her eyelids; her eyes had begun to brim with tears. “Do not think on it. It will not happen.”
Journey fought to control her emotions. She hated the thought of Lucas going alone into danger, and wished she could at least go with him.
Stupid small-town girl, she told herself fiercely. Who do you think you are? You’re not a magical shapeshifter. You’re not a warrior princess, like you used to imagine. You’re just a chubby little backpacker. If he did get in trouble, you being there would only make it worse— he’d be distracted trying to protect you.
Journey made herself smile. She didn’t want him distracted by worrying about her, either. “I trust you. And I know you’ll come back for me.”
Chapter Eight
Lucas
Lucas hated to leave Journey, but he couldn’t justify deliberately taking her into danger. He led her out of the labyrinth, and then they stood in the garden, kissing and holding each other, neither willing to let go.
Finally, he forced himself to step away. “I will be back soon.”
Journey gave him a shaky smile. He didn’t know whether to be glad that she cared enough to worry about him or sad that she was worried. “I know you’re a brilliant swordfighter and a bodyguard and a dragon. But... Be careful.”
“I will not take foolish or reckless action,” Lucas assured her. “At Protection, Inc., Nick and Destiny considered me to be overly cautious.”
That seemed to reassure her. She gave him one last, lingering kiss. “Go solve the mystery. I know you can do it.”