Dark Heat

by Donna Grant

  With her hand on the handle ready to open the door, Con said, “Tell me, Elena. Would Guy ask you to stay at Dreagan if he didna love you?”

  “No. I know he loved me. I guess something went wrong. These things happen. I didn’t expect it to happen to us.”

  “And you willna fight for him?”

  She looked at Con with narrowed eyes. “Is that what this is? A test?”

  “Nay, lass,” he said casually. “It is merely a question I pose to you. You claim to love him.”

  “I do. More than I could possibly explain.”

  “But you’ll just walk away from him?”

  Elena briefly closed her eyes. “It’s what he wants, Con. Whatever we had is over.”

  “I didna expect this from a woman who went back into the caves after she nearly died there. I thought you were stronger than that.”

  Elena glared at him, hating Con more than she thought possible. “You like hurting me, don’t you?”

  “Nay. I also doona like to see my men hurting.”

  “Con,” she said with as much patience as she could muster. “You’re making my head hurt. What do you want from me?”

  “I wanted to see if you were worthy of Guy.” He turned his head to stare out the windshield. “I was wrong.”

  Her door was suddenly opened by a bellman. Elena got out of the car. The door had barely closed when Con drove off. She tried to walk away, but the bellman knew her name and urged her inside. She woodenly walked into the hotel only to learn Con had paid for her room in advance for as long as she wanted to stay.

  In the room, Elena did exactly what she’d told Con she wanted to do. After she ordered room service, she took a long, hot shower as sobs wracked her body.

  * * *

  If Elena thought she would sleep that night, she was dead wrong. In between bouts of crying, she would alternately curse Guy and wish he was with her.

  But what she kept coming back to was Con’s question.

  And you willna fight for him?

  She hadn’t fought for him. He had pulled away, and she had let him. She hadn’t made him sit down and talk to her about what was wrong. No, she had simply left.

  What a damn coward she was. She had railed against Guy all night, but the one she should be angry at was herself. Elena threw off the covers and rose from the bed. She walked into the bathroom and looked at the clothes she had worn the day before.

  With her suitcase God only knew where, she had no makeup, no clothes … nothing. As angry as she was at Con, he hadn’t left her. He had paid for the room for as long as she wanted to stay.

  Elena picked up the phone and called the front desk. “Yes, hi. Can I get a toothbrush and toothpaste, please?”

  “Of course, Miss Griffin,” the man on the other end of the line said. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

  “Actually, there is. My luggage is on a plane. I don’t have anything.”

  “No’ a problem. Let me send Janet up to you so she can get your measurements and a list of anything you need. Are you in a rush?”

  “Um … a bit, yes.”

  “Expect Janet in a matter of minutes, Miss Griffin. And if there is anything else I can get you, please doona hesitate to let me know.”

  Elena hung up the phone and gave a bark of laughter. So, that’s what money could do. She had expected to be told there was a gift shop or something since she hadn’t paid much attention the previous night.

  No sooner had she ordered breakfast than there was a soft knock on the door. Elena opened it to let in an older woman with graying dark blond hair and kind blue eyes. In less than ten minutes she had given a list of items to Janet as well as her measurements with Janet promising to return within two hours.

  Elena wasn’t going to waste that time. When breakfast arrived, she ate, making up for the lackluster food she had managed to get down the day before.

  Then she showered and let her hair dry naturally as Guy liked. While she tried to plan out what she would say to Guy, Janet returned with everything she’d asked for.

  Elena gave Janet a nice tip and a wide smile she didn’t quite feel. If anyone thought she was armoring up, that’s exactly what she was doing.

  Because if she was going to return to Dreagan, she was going to fight for her Dragon King as she’d never fought for anything in her life.

  * * *

  Elena stepped out of the hotel, about to ask the bellman for a taxi to take her to rent a car when she saw the bronze Aston Martin parked along the street.

  “These belong to you, ma’am,” the bellhop said as he gave her the same keys she had tossed in the trunk when she’d parked the car at the airport.

  Elena stared at the car, then said a belated thank you to the bellman before she walked to the DB9 and slid into the driver’s seat.

  There was a piece of paper laying on the passenger seat with one word: Hurry.

  Elena started the car and pulled into traffic. In seconds she was headed back to Dreagan, and this time she pushed the sports car to its limit.

  CHAPTER

  FIVE

  Guy knew he was sinking further into his memories than was safe. Most Dragon Kings would sleep just deeply enough not to realize the passing of time, but sufficiently alert for when Con would come to them every decade or so and fill them in on what was happening around the globe.

  It’s what Guy intended, but as memories of Elena poured through his mind, as well as the realization that he would never hold her again, it became too much.

  He knew he was treading dangerous ground even as he slipped further into sleep. If he went too far, he would never be woken again.

  It was preferable to living in a world without Elena.

  * * *

  Elena put the car in park in front of Dreagan Manor and shut off the engine. She’d made it in record time, and though she knew exactly what she was going to say to Guy, a thread of uncertainty ran through her.

  After all of this, he might not want her. It would kill her, but at least she would know for sure. At least she could say she’d fought for him, for their love.

  Elena took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. She looked up at the imposing structure of the house. She didn’t relish trying to talk to Guy in front of everyone, but at this point, she was willing to do whatever it took.

  “Elena.”

  She turned to find Rhys walking to her. His surprised expression meant that not everyone had known she would come back. “Hi.”

  “Hi, yourself. Did you come back for your things?”

  Elena licked her lips and shut the car door. “I need to see Guy.”

  Rhys shifted from foot to foot, his unease apparent. “Elena … ah…”

  “Just spit it out, Rhys. Is he with someone?”

  “No,” Rhys said hurriedly, his brow furrowed deeply. “He’s sleeping.”

  Elena hadn’t expected that. Why would he sleep now? “I have to see him.”

  “I’m no’ even sure he’ll hear you.”

  “I have to try.”

  Rhys motioned for her to follow him. Elena had never asked where it was that Guy slept. She knew it was in one of the many mountains on Dreagan, but she hadn’t expected it to be so far from the house. She huddled into her coat and tried to keep up with Rhys.

  It took nearly an hour to walk to the mountain. When Rhys stopped near an entrance Elena could tell he was struggling with something.

  “Guy chose his cave carefully,” Rhys said as he walked into the opening. “When Guy sleeps he likes to be isolated. The only one who ever visits after he sleeps is Con.”

  Elena looked around the passage they were walking through, thankful Rhys held a flashlight so she could see where she was going. “In other words, you aren’t sure how Guy will react to me being here.”

  “Nay, I doona. I’ve seen him get ready for his sleeps many times over our lives, but this time was different. He was different.” Rhys paused and turned to her. “I worry about taking you to him, but I
think you may be the only one who can talk to him.”

  Elena put her hand on Rhys’s arm when he started to turn away. “Am I wrong to be here? I want to fight for Guy, for the love I have for him.”

  “Go to him,” Rhys said and handed her the flashlight.

  When Elena paused, he gave her a little push, and that’s when she saw the opening on the left. She glanced over her shoulder, but Rhys was already gone.

  Elena drew her courage around her and walked into the cave. She shone her light around her, noting how large it was. The shadows gave the cavern an eerie feeling, or maybe that was just the coldness around her heart at the thought of losing Guy.

  The light moved from one end of the cavern to the other, but she saw no sign of Guy. And then a beam of light caught red. Elena jerked the flashlight back to where she saw the color and glimpsed a red scale between two huge boulders.

  Of course Guy would settle into a spot that would hide him from anyone searching the caves, even if those caves were on Dreagan. There was a very private side of Guy that he rarely showed anyone.

  But he had shared it with her.

  Elena kept the flashlight focused on the boulders as she picked her way through the cave, stumbling over rocks as she did. It brought back the memory of being lost when she went caving and her boss had died.

  She shuddered, recalling how disoriented and alone she had felt. Until Guy appeared. He had been so calm. Now she knew why, but at the time it was all that kept her from falling apart.

  Elena came around the boulders to find Guy laying with his massive dragon head resting on one paw. His breathing was deep and even, and the light from her flashlight didn’t seem to penetrate his sleep.

  “Oh, Guy,” she whispered and leaned back against another boulder. “What happened to us? Did you stop loving me?”

  He didn’t answer. Not that she expected him to since he was sleeping. And how did one go about waking a sleeping dragon? That was something she hadn’t bothered to ask Rhys.

  “Smooth, Elena. Real smooth,” she murmured to herself.

  She had been so hell bent on confronting Guy and looking her best when she did that she hadn’t thought of the details—details, which were obviously important.

  Elena walked to Guy and ran her hands over the scales on the side of his head. She was always amazed at how smooth they were. “Wake up, Guy. I need to talk to you.”

  When he didn’t stir, she bit her lip and looked around. That’s when she decided to get comfortable. Elena settled herself in the crook of Guy’s bent arm. She leaned her head back against his warm scales so she could see his face.

  “I don’t know how to wake you,” she said. “I know Con doesn’t wake any of the dragons when he visits those still sleeping to update them on the world. Will just talking to you work? Or is there magic involved?”

  She gave a snort. “I’m royally screwed if there is magic needed. You know there isn’t an ounce of magic in me anywhere. Too bad I’m not a Druid, huh? No, I’m just a human. As regular as they come. Except for one thing. I fell in love with a Dragon King. That I never saw coming.

  “I did see my rise in PureGems. I had my eyes set on running the company worldwide. I was never concerned with marriage and children. If they happened, they happened.”

  She settled more comfortably as fatigue set in and propped her feet up near Guy’s mouth. “Instead, I go caving, watch my boss fall to her death, sprain my ankle, and get lost in the mountain. I thought I would die. Then you were there with those pale brown eyes of yours, watching me. I’d love to know what you thought of me when you first saw me…”

  * * *

  “I thought you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”

  Guy had never talked to his memories before, but then again, he had never known anyone like Elena before. He wished he could hold her one last time. The need was so great that Guy could almost feel her lounging against him, her sweet scent filling his nostrils.

  He could feel her sage green eyes on him, her blond hair tickling his scales. She had embraced him as a Dragon King. He could still recall when he’d watched her eyes blaze with pride and excitement as he took to the skies.

  To never see that again, to never know that again. He was defeated, wrecked.

  Obliterated.

  His emotions were jumbled, muddled. His mind was in complete disarray except for one fixed point—Elena. Even as crushed as he was, she was his link to the last shreds of sanity.

  Like a beacon she beckoned, compelled. Urged.

  And he was powerless to deny even her memories. She was an enchantress, her call as seductive and erotic as her kiss. With her amazing eyes she bewitched, captivated.

  Enticed.

  Through all of eternity Guy knew he would forever crave her touch. She was the only one who had reached the part of him he had kept hidden away.

  * * *

  Elena idly ran her fingers along Guy’s scales as her eyes drifted shut. “I couldn’t sleep last night. While you’ve been off in la-la land, I’ve been wracked with memories of you. It’s pretty shitty of you to leave me here talking to myself. What if I say something important? You’ll miss it. Open your eyes, dammit.”

  Elena cracked open one of her eyes to see if he had done as she asked. Once more, no response. She closed her eye and went back to talking.

  “Do you remember when you carried me out of that mountain? I was so scared. But as frightened as I was then, it doesn’t compare to what I feel now at the thought of losing you. I’m terrified, Guy. Absolutely petrified at the idea of you out of my life.”

  She yawned loudly. “I wish you would talk to me. If you want me gone, I’ll go. Just tell me. That’s all I’m asking. Well, that and why. I want to know what happened, what I did wrong. And if I can fix it.

  “I love you, Guy. I love you more than I thought a person could love. It doesn’t seem fair to love like this and lose it. Frankly, I think it’s bullshit. You loved me once. I know you did.”

  * * *

  “Aye, I loved you. I love you still. I’ll always love you.”

  His memories were taking Guy into an almost waking state. He fought against it, wanting—nay, needing—to return to the Elena who still loved him. It didn’t matter if the world was falling down around him, he never wanted to leave Elena.

  Her voice sounded so close, as if his memories were in stereo.

  Despite his attempts to fall back into that deep sleep that would hold him forever, time and again he was dragged back. Guy dug his claws into the rocks and tried again, but once more he failed.

  “I need you, Guy.”

  He stilled. His breath locked within him. That voice hadn’t been in his memories. That voice, that beautiful, seductive voice was beside him.

  Elena.

  That’s when he felt something against him, a warm presence that was all too familiar. Had he lost his mind? Had he tumbled into the void of his memories and just not known it?

  Guy drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the beam of light shining against the wall opposite him. When he followed the light, he found the source nestled against him.

  He raised his head and looked down at the only woman who could ever hold claim to him—Elena. She was on her back resting against his arm.

  How long had she been there? More importantly, why was she there?

  Guy took in her beauty from her long, dark blond hair that fell around her shoulders. She wore a chocolate-colored sweater that hugged her mouthwatering curves. Her lean legs were encased in dark denim tucked into brown boots that laced all the way up to her knee and had at least a four-inch heel.

  She looked amazing, but then she always did. Elena had a way of looking sexy without even trying.

  “I shouldn’t have left,” she said with her eyes closed, and by the tone of her voice, she was half asleep. “I should have confronted you. But I was a coward. You’re the one thing I never factored into my life, and I didn’t know what to d
o to save us. So I left.”

  Guy shifted into human form, careful to keep hold of Elena so she didn’t hit her head on the rocks. He rubbed a strand of her hair between his fingers as he stared at her face, wishing she would open her eyes.

  And hoping she didn’t.

  “As I drove off I saw you fly away. That’s when I knew you had been at Dreagan the whole time. I was so angry.”

  CHAPTER

  SIX

  “What did you do then?”

  Elena realized two things in that instant: she was no longer leaning against a dragon but being held by arms she knew intimately, and it was a voice she had been hoping to hear since she walked into the cave.

  She slowly opened her eyes to find Guy. His face looked haggard, gaunt, but in his eyes she saw … hope. Elena remained still, hoping he wouldn’t release her.

  “I drove to the airport and used the ticket you gave me,” she said in answer to his question. “I sat there for hours waiting for the flight, but when it came … I couldn’t get on the plane.”

  “Why?”

  She frowned. “Why? Don’t you know? You’re my world, Guy. I love you brighter than the sun, deeper than the oceans, wider than the sky.”

  “And your career?”

  It hit her like a bulldozer then. The e-mails she had been getting trying to recruit her back into the jewelry business had set all of this off. She had enjoyed the e-mails because they proved to her how good she had been, but Guy must have taken them a different way.

  Elena pushed him away and got to her feet. Then she whirled to face him as she stood. She ignored his perfectly formed nude body and kept her gaze on his face—as difficult as it was.

  “You thought I wanted my career more than I wanted you.” She let the statement hang in the air, silently demanding he answer it truthfully.

  Guy looked at the ground and nervously ran a hand through his hair. When he looked at her again, his gaze was hooded, as if he didn’t want her to see what he was feeling. “Aye.”

  “Because I got some e-mails?”

  “Because you looked as if you miss it.”

  She shrugged. “I do sometimes, but then I look at you and the life we have. I would never have left my career if I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. Which is you, by the way.”