Dragon Desire

by Juniper Hart

  The men shook hands, and Lennox did his best to hide his exasperation as he was led into the boardroom at the end of the hall.

  “How was your flight?” the COO asked, and Lennox smothered a sigh. Gary was mortal, and therefore, he was required to plow through the unnecessary pleasantries Lennox despised. Beings from the Hollows knew how to get to the point.

  It really is a pity the mortals don’t know about us, he sighed. They could learn so much from us. I imagine they would all try to murder us, too, but still…

  “Wonderful, thank you!” Lennox answered with feigned joy. “Glad to be in New Orleans and looking forward to doing business here.”

  “Have a seat, Lennox,” said Gary, and Lennox sat down at one of the chairs in the boardroom. “I’m just waiting on Patrick Spencer from legal.”

  Lennox felt his back tense slightly as warning bells began to sound in his head. “Legal? Hasn’t all the paperwork been dealt with?”

  “It has…” Gary trailed off, and Lennox waited, his eyes widening.

  “But?”

  “We really should wait for Pat. He can explain everything so much better than I can,” Gary insisted.

  “Why don’t you try to explain it, and I’ll see if I can put it together,” Lennox replied caustically, his foul mood returning like a smack to the face. “Or would you rather I just guess?”

  Gary cleared his throat and stared at his manicured hands splayed on the table before him.

  “There’s no easy way to say this, Lennox,” he began, and his tone was enough for Lennox to know this wouldn’t end up anywhere good, “but Wilder isn’t willing to merge anymore. He has offered to buy you out at a price you will think is—”

  I should have known that son of a bitch was going to pull something like this! Lennox nearly leaped up from his seat, resting his hands against the table. “Bullshit! That was not the deal, and he knows it!”

  “The offer is very fair!” Gary protested, and Lennox resisted the urge to smash his fists clear through the table to show him precisely what he thought of Wilder’s offer.

  But he knew this was just another play by his brother to piss him off.

  He has absolutely no use for Amarok Industries, he thought, and the merging was his goddamned idea! What the hell is he trying to pull?

  “Well, I don’t know why I even bothered coming down to this shithole state of yours, then,” Lennox snarled. “A phone call would have been nice. A text? Email, maybe? You wasted my damned time for no reason at all!”

  “Lennox, you need to understand something,” Gary told him urgently. “Sit down.”

  “I’d rather stand, thanks.”

  Gary cleared his throat, and this time, Lennox didn’t resist the urge to pound his fists against the surface of the rectangular table. The chief operating officer almost jumped out of his five-thousand-dollar suit, face paling.

  “Spit it out,” Lennox said, his voice dead and even.

  “If…” Gary swallowed. “If you don’t sell Amarok Industries to Southern Belle Cosmetics, Wilder will force you into bankruptcy.”

  Lennox would have laughed if he wasn’t so furious.

  “It’s going to take more than his stupid mouth to get me to go belly-up,” he snickered mirthlessly. “Tell him to bring it on.”

  Lennox spun to leave Gary in the office right as another man rushed inside the doors. It was Patrick Spencer, whom Gary had been waiting for.

  “Sorry I’m late—” he started to say.

  “Save it, Patrick. The meeting’s over,” Lennox cut him off, shoving past him and opting for the stairs.

  He was furious, yes, but he might also be in trouble. At least, Amarok Industries might be in trouble.

  I have a dozen other incorporated businesses, Lennox thought. He just knows that Amarok is my favorite because it’s my firstborn. What a miserable prick. He really gets off on doing shit like this to us. What made him this way? The need for more power? Well, whatever it was, he’s sorely mistaken if he thinks he can just bankrupt me.

  But that was hardly the point. It didn’t matter that Lennox had a dozen companies. Wilder had six dozen. He was always going to be a bigger, more powerful and oversized bully, not just to Lennox but to all the princes.

  Someone needs to stop him, the enraged dragon thought, bolting down the stairwell, his head thudding. Maybe it is time that we band together and stop this madness.

  The problem was, there was no way to stop him. Wilder was too big a force to be overtaken. He and the rest of his brothers were destined to play Wilder’s cat-and-mouse games for as long as he wanted to play them.

  2

  “Hey, sweet pea, how about another round for us?” the kid with the squeaky voice called at her. He was twenty-one, but he still sounded like he hadn’t gotten through puberty, and his actions suggested the same.

  Gia paused and flipped her head toward the belligerent and half-drunk crowd of college kids leering at her from their table.

  “Sure,” she replied with a fake smile. “Just give me a minute.”

  She knew this group. They were regulars on Friday nights and the very bane of her existence. That night was no exception. By the time she slipped by them, she had already been fighting off a headache for a while.

  Inevitably, a sweaty, millennial paw reached out to grab her ass, and Gia gritted her teeth, ignoring the blatant assault. It wasn’t the first time she’d endured such treatment, and she was certain it wouldn’t be the last.

  “Did that asshole just grab your tush?” Egan, the bartender, demanded as she made her way to the bar to submit her drink orders.

  “No,” Gia lied quickly. She knew what would happen if she told Egan what had happened: he would fly over the counter before she could finish her sentence and make the boys drink their shattered beer mugs through a straw.

  Gia didn’t fare well with confrontation, and she fared even worse with lousy tips. It was just easier to bite the bullet and pretend that sexual harassment wasn’t rampant in the workplace.

  “It sure looked like he did from here,” Egan said, glaring at the table of oblivious drunks, but the fairy shook her dark head of hair again.

  “You saw wrong,” she insisted, offering him a timid smile. “I have to pee. I’ll be right back.”

  Egan nodded, narrowing his brown eyes suspiciously as Gia hurried off to the bathroom. She didn’t really need to use the facilities, but she also had no interest in engaging in a conversation about sexual harassment with Egan.

  “Hurry up! It’s getting busy in here!” he yelled after her.

  Gia didn’t bother to acknowledge him. She’d earned two full minutes of the little peace she could get. Once she was inside the cramped bathroom, Gia fell against the door, exhaling as the din of the pub lessened behind the flimsy door.

  As she took a deep breath, a startling blue eye caught a glimpse of her reflection through the rusting mirror on the far wall, and she jumped as if the mere sight was offensive. There was nothing but a heart-faced girl with wide, haunting eyes and a mop of untameable brown hair staring back at her.

  Look at you, jumping at your own reflection, she scoffed at herself, disgusted. No wonder you get grabbed; you’re an easy target.

  She was a tiny thing, even for a fairy—barely five feet tall but surprisingly curvy, without carrying an extra ounce of fat on her. It was difficult to keep her weight and not lose it when she was running herself ragged working three jobs, two of which entailed busting her butt carrying drinks.

  Someone pushed open the door, and Gia was sent flying forward unexpectedly, knocking her face against the sink. She gasped in pain as the taste of blood flooded through her mouth.

  “Oh, my god!” a girl’s voice shrieked. “Are you okay?”

  Dazed, Gia nodded, ambling to her feet and touching the tender spot of her cheek.

  “I had no idea anyone was standing there!” the blonde woman cried, her green eyes flashing with worry. “Let me see your face.”

  Gia
shook her head, backing away from the well-meaning customer, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. No part of her face was bleeding. She had only bitten the inside of her cheek.

  “It’s my fault,” Gia hurriedly said, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t have been standing there.”

  “No, I should have watched my clumsy ass and not thrown the door open like that! Please, let me see your face.” Reluctantly, Gia lowered her hand and turned to the contrite woman as she looked at her face. Then she exhaled in relief. “Okay, it’s not so bad,” she determined. “Still, let me hunt you down some ice.”

  “It’s not necessary,” Gia insisted. “I work here. I can get some.”

  “You work here?” the woman cried. “Dammit! I damaged the bringer of cups! I’m headed straight to limbo for this!”

  The words caused an unexpected shiver through Gia, and she bit on her lower lip, cocking her head to the side. Even though her powers were not as well honed as some of the other immortals’, she usually knew when she was among her own kind. This girl did not immediately scream “Hollows,” but Gia had been wrong before. However, it was still unnerving to hear the blonde customer speaking so freely about the other realm, and Gia felt her back tense even more.

  “I’m okay,” she repeated, stepping out of the girl’s reach. “I should get back to work.”

  She didn’t give the customer the chance to respond and rushed out of the dirty bathroom toward the bar, where Egan glared at her, his annoyance now redirected at her.

  “The ice is melting in these glasses,” he snapped. “And three new tables just walked in while you were powdering your nose.”

  Gia would have smiled at the idea of wearing makeup if she didn’t feel so out of sorts. Yeah, look at me. I was just reapplying my mascara and contouring my cheekbones. Can’t you tell?

  “Sorry,” she mumbled, making no mention of her throbbing face. “I’m on it.”

  “Hey, sweetheart!” one of the boys from Table Shithead called. “Did you forget about us?”

  “Christ, Gia, hurry up! You’re going to lose control of the bar,” Egan hissed. Gia nodded, her blue eyes wide as she spun to deal with the growing number inside.

  “Honey, are you sure you’re okay?”

  Gia jumped at the sound of the blonde girl’s voice next to her. She was quite the stealthy presence.

  “Honestly, I’m fine,” Gia told the customer. She could feel Egan scowling at her as she moved to load her tray with the standing drinks. She was beginning to get overstimulated between everyone demanding her attention.

  “Are you alone in here?” the blonde asked.

  Gia eyed the girl warily. Can’t she see I’m busy? Why won’t she leave me alone? She probably still felt guilty about smacking Gia with the door, and Gia didn’t want to be rude to her, but she genuinely didn’t have time to reassure her over and over again that she was fine.

  “It’s me and the bartender,” she explained, looking meaningfully at Egan, who had moved on to attend to more walk-ins.

  “Grab me an apron,” the girl said. “I’ll give you a hand.”

  Gia was sure she’d misunderstood. “What?”

  “What? I know how to sling drinks,” the blonde said. “And you obviously need some help.”

  Gia’s mouth parted, and she shook her head. “I—you can’t! You don’t work here!”

  “Trust me.” The girl winked a cat-like eye at her. “It won’t be an issue.”

  Gia watched as she purposely walked behind the bar and looked around for an apron, directly under Egan’s nose. To her absolute shock, Egan did not seem remotely fazed by her presence.

  “Gia! Are you going to get to work?” he asked instead, his irritation radiating toward her.

  “Yeah!” Gia mumbled, staring in disbelief at the girl. “Yeah, of course.” She’s definitely from the Hollows. Did she put a spell on him, or did she turn invisible?

  It was still unclear what creature she was, but Gia couldn’t afford to waste another minute thinking about it. Egan was right; she was losing control of the bar with every passing second.

  She rushed the drinks toward the table of college boys who were beginning to get impatient.

  “There she is!” called the grabby one, his hand touching the small of her back as she lay out their round of drinks. “We were starting to think you’d forgotten about us.”

  Gia smiled tightly but didn’t respond, even as his sticky hand started to creep toward her cheeks. She gritted her teeth together, wishing she had the disposition to cause a scene.

  “That’s twenty,” she told them, stepping out of reach, but the boy kept his hand firmly on her back.

  “Bryan, it’s your turn to pay,” one of the other guys called, and Gia realized he was talking to the one holding her, the most obnoxious of the bunch with the equally irritating voice.

  “Why don’t you run me a tab, baby? We’re gonna be here for a while,” Bryan suggested. Gia swallowed her nervousness and shook her head.

  “Sorry. We don’t run tabs on busy nights,” she answered, glancing back to see if Egan was watching. He was busy with other customers, completely oblivious to her situation.

  “You know us, Mia!” Bryan complained. “We come in here all the time!”

  They were inebriated enough to feel brave, obviously, and Gia desperately wished that she’d told Egan what had happened earlier instead of repeatedly denying it. She had been trying to avoid a confrontation, and yet she was getting one, anyway.

  “Sorry,” she said again, her voice dry as she spoke. “It’s not my call.” And even if it were her call, she wouldn’t do it. She didn’t trust these idiots.

  “Come on, babe,” Bryan insisted. “No one will know.”

  Gia looked around, the patrons growing impatient as they waited for service. She couldn’t afford to stand there arguing with him, not when there were people waving their hands to get her attention.

  Maybe I can do this one time, she thought, her anxiety mounting. She chewed on her lower lip as the other boys leered at her encouragingly.

  “Come on, Mia!” they chanted. “Just this once? Please?”

  If it will shut them up, Gia thought. Every time they call me “Mia,” my blood pressure skyrockets.

  She opened her mouth to agree, but before she could get the word out, the blonde arrived in her stealthy fashion, almost making her jump again.

  “Could you take that table over there?” she asked sweetly, and Gia caught herself gaping at her in disbelief.

  She just walked in here like she owned the place and now she’s giving me orders!

  Gia had to admit that she was begrudgingly respectful of the girl’s gall.

  “Hey, sexy!” one of the boys called. “Why don’t you come sit on my lap?”

  The smile on the blonde’s pretty face froze, and she glanced at Gia, a perplexed expression on her face.

  “Did—did he just really say that to me?” she asked aloud, confusion coloring her face while the men laughed. Gia lowered her eyes, but as she did, she watched the girl stride around the table, a bemused smirk on her face.

  Dread swept through Gia. She recognized the determination on her face. This woman was the opposite of her.

  “I would love to!” she cooed with fake enthusiasm. “Would you like a lap dance, too?”

  The boys whooped, apparently oblivious to the sinister undertones of the blonde’s words, though Gia could hear them perfectly.

  Oh, shit.

  As if it were unfolding in slow motion, she watched the new server straddle the punk, her chest almost over his face. No matter how much Gia tried, she couldn’t look away.

  “How come you never do that for us, Mia?” the guy demanded, and his friends nodded in agreement, watching the scene with naked lust in their eyes.

  They can’t sincerely be that stupid, can they? Gia thought.

  But they were, lines of drool almost visible along the corners of their mouths as they gawked.

  “You l
ike the ladies, huh?” the blonde asked, grinding over his lap. “Do they usually like you, too?”

  No one except Gia seemed to notice her hand reaching for the frosted beer mug. She should speak up, put a stop to this before it escalated.

  Even though she knew what she should do, no words sprung from her lips. She hated to admit that she was taking a deep-rooted and very perverse pleasure in what was happening before her.

  “When the ladies look like you,” the unsuspecting chump murmured. “And yeah, I do all right. I’ve got a hot blonde on my lap, don’t I?”

  Again, the boys cheered as if they were sitting at a seedy strip club. Out of the corner of her eye, Gia saw Egan studying them, his mouth twisting into a scowl of anger.

  “Gia? What’s going on?” he yelled. It didn’t matter. It was too late for him to stop it. Gia couldn’t even tear her eyes away long enough to look at him, her gaze locked on the sultry blonde.

  The girl seductively picked up one of the drinks and took a long sip, her eyes fixated on the guy in front of her, holding his gaze. His mouth opened in aroused shock, and when it did, the mysterious girl dumped the entire contents of the beer mug on his head, moving as though this were part of her erotic dance.

  For a full three seconds, no one moved. Time seemed to stop altogether.

  Suddenly, there was raucous laughter as she rose from her spot, her manicured hands still wrapped around the jug. The entire bar howled at the drenched college boy, who no longer seemed aroused as he jumped to his feet, raging.

  “You bitch!” he swore. “I’ll kill you!”

  The girl’s face twisted into an expression so ugly, she seemed to transform into an entirely different person.

  “I double dog dare you,” she hissed, nearly thrusting her face against the guy’s. “Kill me.”

  Whatever he saw in her face made him back down instantly, and Gia watched in amazement as he seemed to shrivel under her steely gaze.

  “You assholes are outta here!” Egan raged. “And don’t come back! I’m sick of seeing your pimply faces in here!”

  “Fuck this place!” Bryan yelled, but Gia could read the fear in his face as the boys tripped over themselves trying to get to the exit.