He wondered if he should keep the information from Aegis, but wasn’t sure it would really be his choice as he walked into the office and sat in one of the comfy leather chairs facing the desk.
Aegis, who had been facing away from him, spun dramatically in the chair and slammed his hands down on the desk, staring into Liam’s eyes with his intense, vivid green gaze. “So how was it?”
“Good, I think,” Liam said, frowning.
“You’re late,” Aegis said. “I was beginning to worry you’d gotten in trouble.”
“Despite what you think, I don’t get in trouble for no reason,” Liam said.
“True,” Aegis said begrudgingly. “That’s Magnus.”
Liam laughed. He knew Aegis was doing them all a favor in helping them adjust to this world, especially when it pulled him away from his mate so often. The emerald dragon had every reason to be grumpy.
And every reason to be happy Liam had found his mate.
“She’s my mate,” he said, feeling almost as if the words were pulled from him against his own will. Or maybe it was just that his spirit badly wanted to announce it to someone, somewhere, out loud.
Aegis sat back in the chair, looking stunned. “What makes you think so?”
Liam thumped his chest. “My kind knows instantly. We hear it here.”
Aegis sighed, folding his arms over his chest. His pajamas, like most of his wardrobe, were green. He wore different shades, and these were dark green silk with a lighter robe. “Well, then there’s only one thing to do.” Aegis stood, pacing. “I’ll have to help you win her.”
“Okay.” Liam agreed. “How do we do that?”
Aegis pushed on a shelf of what looked like books, and it slid to the side, revealing an old-fashioned chalkboard. He picked up a piece of chalk and pointed it at Liam. “Pay attention.”
Aegis was about to write on the board when a knock sounded at the office door. He sighed. “Who is it?”
“Magnus,” the voice answered cheerfully. “And Titus.”
“Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum,” Aegis muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” Magnus called.
“Nothing,” Aegis quipped innocently. “Come in.”
“I heard that,” Liam said with a grin.
Aegis ignored him. “You two might as well take a seat. You could benefit from this as well.”
“From what?” Titus asked in that low, quiet voice of his, moving his braid off his shoulder and over his back.
Magnus slumped in his chair, looking haughty. “What is this, nursery school?”
“Just shut up and listen,” Aegis snapped, and the piece of chalk in his hand snapped in two, falling to the ground.
Liam snorted and earned a glare from Aegis as he picked the chalk back up. But he couldn’t afford to piss off Aegis now or not pay attention. His chances with Kate depended on it.
“We’ve talked about finding you mates, but we haven’t talked about what to do when you do find a human mate in this world,” Aegis said, scratching the chalk over the board, writing something they couldn’t see. “And this is going to be different than whatever you’re used to, so pay attention.”
“I know how to win wenches,” Magnus said. “They can’t keep away from us.”
“Shh,” Titus said. “I want to know how to win these new wenches. At least one of them.”
It was important to them to finally find a home after years at sea, after losing their whole civilization for the most part. They’d been desperate for mates when they’d left home. It was worse now that they’d been awakened.
“Me, too,” Liam said. “We’ll pay attention.”
“Says you,” Magnus said. “I want to hear about that toothsome piece that came to the castle the other day.”
Liam grabbed Magnus by the collar and yanked him out of the chair, causing a small rip in the dark scarlet pajamas he was wearing. Magnus snarled and shoved Liam off of him.
Titus got between them. “Let us not fight each other.”
Magnus brushed himself off and looked down at his shirt in disappointment. “I liked these.”
Liam sighed. “I’m sorry. I do not like hearing her talked about like that.”
Magnus sent him a grin. “Do not worry about it, brother. She really is your mate, then?”
Liam nodded. “I’m sure of it.”
“Then fucking pay attention!” Aegis snapped.
Liam’s eyebrows went up. “Is that the F-word?”
“The what?” Aegis asked, looking tired.
“Freakin’,” Liam said. “That is another word for it?”
“Yes,” Aegis said. “Why?”
“Just still getting used to modern vernacular,” Liam said.
“You should read more,” Titus said, picking up a book he’d had on his lap. “Freakin’ is a casual abbreviation of freaking, which is a less crude way of saying fucking, which refers to copulation—”
Aegis slapped a hand over his forehead. “Am I teaching or you?”
Liam stared at his crew mates to shush them. “You. I want to hear this.”
They all settled back in their chairs, and Aegis pointed at the chalkboard where he’d written several lines with numbers by them.
“I’m basing this on the mistakes made by the dragons from my time that awakened before you, so I’m not pulling this out of my ass.”
“Physically impossible,” Liam said.
Aegis put a hand up to his forehead again, letting out a longsuffering sigh. “Right. Anyway. Rule one, do not tell them they are your mate immediately. They do not like it or understand that.”
“Got it,” Liam said, committing it to his memory.
“Rule two, go slow physically. Leave them wanting more. If they make the first move, be the one to pull away. Human women like to be chased and told they are beautiful, but if you move too quickly with physical love and commitment, they will get creeped out and run.”
“But we could chase them,” Titus said.
Aegis sighed. “Here’s another rule. Don’t chase human women. That would be fucking terrifying, Titus.”
“How does it involve copulating?”
“That’s it!” Aegis said. “I can only stand one of you at a time. We’ll deal with this as it comes.” He walked over and hustled Titus and Magnus out of their chairs and shoved them toward the door, forcing them out.
He shut the door behind them, ignoring their grumbles as they slowly walked away from the door, and sat on the desk facing Liam.
“Look,” he said. “I think you’re the smartest, or most level-headed, of your crew, so I think you’re going to do fine with this.”
Liam pressed his lips together. “I don’t know. Magnus is smooth with women, and Titus is a genius with most things.”
“Yes, but pursuing a human woman is different,” Aegis said. “As you probably saw.”
“I felt like a fish on land,” Liam said. “It didn’t help that she was incomparably beautiful and distracting. My plan is to continue to help her with her yard. She did invite me in for dinner, though, and seems to like it when I bond with her dog.”
“Sounds like you’re doing fine, then,” Aegis said, standing and going to the chalkboard again. “But here’s the last rule, and it’s the most important one to remember. One I wish Magnus and Titus had gotten to see because they will need to remember it, too. I’ll tell them when it’s their time.”
“Yes,” Liam said. “It can wait.”
Aegis drew a line under the third rule. “Do not, under any circumstances, reveal to any human that you are a dragon. Not until it is absolutely mandatory because you are ready to mate them. Anything you do before that, eating together, dating—”
“Sex?”
“Yes, even that. Anything the human initiates normally,” Aegis said. “And before you do say something, you should ask me.”
“Okay,” Liam said.
“You have my number,” Aegis said impatiently. “Text me whenever you h
ave questions. Or if something doesn’t make sense. Perhaps in my efforts to protect you and your crew, I haven’t exposed you enough to the outside world, but I’m here to help you every step of the way.”
Liam stood and crushed Aegis in a quick hug, slapping his shoulder with one wide hand. “I appreciate that, Captain.”
“I’m not your captain,” Aegis said, stepping back awkwardly, slightly embarrassed. “Remember the rules. You can write them down in your phone if you need to. I don’t know how the three of you picked up technology when you’re still so behind on everything else.”
He left the office, and Liam just shrugged, entering the notes on his phone.
He’d take all the help he could get.
6
Kate couldn’t believe how much had changed in just a few days. The yard in front and back of her house had little ditches dug through it with white pipes laid that would be the irrigation for the sprinkler system, and soon they would have sprinklers and sod and a new fence in the areas where she didn’t have one.
Privacy. Peace.
And there was more than that. She was getting used to having Liam around, as much as anyone could get used to having that much man-candy working in your yard.
Every night when she got home, she invited him to join her for dinner, and after some hard work, he would.
It was nice to have company, and they would talk about Tank and the land and how things were going. Tank was sleeping better through the night and seemed happier, and she had to admit it was nice to come home from work and see someone there waiting for her with a smile.
But she knew she was probably living in a delusion. Liam probably only saw her as a client, despite the intensity with which he watched her. It was probably how his company was going to do well, because of their good-looking, hard-working employees.
She still wondered about the castle he lived in, though. He’d been pretty tight lipped about personal things, including his past, but she supposed that was proper given their working relationship.
Still, every time she looked out at him working in the yard, wiping sweat from his brow, she felt something stir in her. She wanted more.
She was watching him now, holding a cup of coffee while the sandwiches she’d fixed waited on the counter for when he was ready to come in.
There was something so attractive about such a hard worker. Maybe it was just that she’d always had to do everything on her own and it seemed like the work was never done, and then she’d always felt so alone.
Liam lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe his brow, and she gasped as rows of perfect, tanned, rippling ab muscles like something from a body builder magazine were revealed to her hungry eyes. She leaned on the door, feeling her knees weaken, feeling like an idiot for preying on her contractor this way.
Not just her contractor, her friend. He’d done nothing but keep to his contract and be polite and kind to her, and she was rewarding him with lewd looks while he was working.
He looked up, and she ducked out of sight, breathing heavily.
Calm down.
When she’d composed herself, she looked out to see Liam was shirtless, tossing his work shirt on top of a pile of piping and going back to work with the shovel.
The sun was low but bright, and it glinted off rippling, perfect muscle that was almost too hot to be believed. His chest hair was just perfect, enough to be masculine and make her want to run her fingers through it while riding him, but not so much that it was a carpet. Those arms… What would it be like to be held by them?
And why the hell was she thinking like this?
She scolded herself as she ducked out of sight again, panting. She’d seen attractive men before. She hadn’t looked twice. She’d cared about her work, told herself she didn’t have time for a man in her life.
And she was probably just spurred on by her gratefulness for the work he’d done and the fact that it felt good not to be alone anymore. Help, even paid help, was a welcome change from how things had been since she had to make a last-minute move here to escape her ex.
She’d gotten a promotion at the time of the move, and then things had just been too busy to do anything with her house or yard or her life in general really.
But looking out at Liam as he reached out a hand to rub a happy Tank under the ears made her want to start looking for more. Work a little less; enjoy life more.
She saw him gather up the tools and head up toward the house. For one heart-stopping second, she thought he might come to the back door shirtless, but he stopped and pulled his work shirt over his head, giving her one last, tantalizing glance at his ab muscles as he did.
She bit her lip. Calm down, Kate. Come on.
Maybe they shouldn’t have these dinners anymore. She was starting to feel like she was going to seduce him. And she’d never been a wild woman like that. Curvy. Conservative. Quiet, except when she had to be assertive or bossy at work.
With him, she felt a different side of her coming out. A side that probably shouldn’t with her contractor.
He knocked, and she slid open the door, hoping her blush wasn’t as blatant as she thought it was.
“I’m done,” he said, giving her a small smile. “Sorry, I’m a bit dirty.”
“It’s no problem,” she said, gesturing for him to come in.
He rubbed his work boots on the mat and walked into the kitchen, where he looked more and more at home.
His dark hair was mussed and sticking in all directions, and he ran a hand through it, pushing it back. His dark-teal eyes were sparkling from exertion, his taut jaw dusted with stubble. But his smile said he was happy to see her, and if she wasn’t imagining it, then maybe he was starting to feel something between them, too.
But where would that even be going?
No, she wasn’t going to think like that. Always living in the future and worrying hadn’t done her any good, and she wasn’t going into that mode with him.
She would just enjoy each moment.
He sat down, and she set a sandwich stuffed with roast beef in front of him, with a side of fresh fries. He picked one up and bit into it, then smiled up at her in gratitude before continuing to eat.
She felt a warm flush as she sat down with her own food. Darn, she was going to miss moments like this when his job was done.
They ate, and she enjoyed the deep tone of his rich voice as he described the day and then asked about hers. She told him about her sales job, knowing it probably didn’t mean much to him but appreciating he cared.
He always listened as if each word that came out of her mouth were important to him, critical to understand.
It was easy to get caught up in talking to him, looking into those teal eyes, sharing food that was much better than she would ever take time to cook for herself.
“Sounds to me like they’re lucky to have you,” he said.
She’d been noticing the more they talked, the more his slightly odd way of speaking had normalized. And he rarely asked her what a word meant anymore. “I’m glad you think so. I work hard.”
“Sometimes I think too hard,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
“Well, what else do I have to do?” she asked, poking the remains of her beef with a fork.
He sat up, and she looked up because there was an expression on his face that seemed meaningful. His full lips were tensed, his brows lowered in concentration. He folded his hands in front of him on the table. “You could be spending time with a mate.”
“A mate?”
“Someone just for you that you could spend time with, build a family with.”
“Oh, you mean settle down and get married.”
“Not exactly,” he said, leaning back in his chair and letting his eyes dart to the side. Then he focused on her again. “I just mean you should let someone into your life. Someone who can make it good for you and do things like this, and… make things better.”
She bit her lip. Was he calling her out for doing this stuff with someone w
orking for her rather than a real partner? That was slightly humiliating, and she felt a blush work its way across her cheeks.
“No,” he said. “I just mean… I’m saying it all wrong.”
“No, it’s okay,” she said, standing and setting down her napkin. “I mean, you’re right. I’ve been taking advantage of you, and I should find someone—”
He crossed over to her in a second, took her in his arms, and dipped his lips to hers, covering her mouth and stopping all words. All thoughts.
Her knees weakened, but he held her up, pulling her close, gently swiping his tongue inside as she let out a little moan. It was the best kiss of her life. Gentle, slow, soft, hot.
Just this one little touch of his lips made her wetter than anything else ever had. It felt like more than a kiss. It felt like a claiming, like he was telling her how things were going to be. Like he was showing her something he couldn’t say with his words.
And she liked communicating with him like this.
She let out another moan and wrapped her arms around his back as he slowly pulled back, breaking the kiss, leaving her with a sinking sense of emptiness and disappointment.
Dammit.
She breathed heavily, looking up at him. “What was that?”
“Something I’ve wanted to do since the moment I met you,” he said, looking down and gently tracing a thumb over her lower lip, swollen from his kiss.
Then he gave her a small grin and walked to her front door, pulling it open and heading out through it.
She jogged to the door after him, wondering how he could do something like that and just run away, cool as a cucumber. That wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted—
He gave her a small wave, smiling at her where she stood. “I’ll be back at first light,” he said. His usual way of saying goodbye.
But he didn’t usually kiss her first.
She touched her lips, still feeling on fire. All she could do was stand bewildered on the porch, watching him go. He got into his truck, and she knew she’d be overthinking this until morning.
Holy hell, Liam was a hot, hot mystery. The next time they saw each other would be dangerous. He’d made the first move, so she didn’t have to hold back, right? Nothing about this should be right, but that kiss…
Steel (Rent-A-Dragon Book 1) Page 4