Steam

by Lynn Tyler

  “In other words,” the prince said once he pulled back from Matthew slightly, “dragons find both males and females attractive. Also, you should know…dragons are very bold. When we see something we want, we rarely take long to claim it.”

  “Your Highness,” Matthew said softly.

  “Call me Gareth,” the prince replied.

  “Gareth,” Matthew repeated.

  “My name sounds beautiful on your lips,” the dragon murmured just loudly enough for Sunny to hear.

  Sloan started coughing, and Sunny made a show out of patting his back. “We should get back to the meeting,” she said loudly.

  She felt bad for interrupting. The last thing she wanted to be was a cockblocker, but she was pretty sure Matthew had forgotten she and Sloan were in the room, and she wasn’t sure if Gareth really cared they were there.

  Matthew was still a bright shade of red, and Sunny wondered if he was ever going to go back to his normal complexion.

  Prince Gareth, however, was still looking at Matthew with obvious lust. “I can summon someone to take the two of you back to the main hall, if Matthew wants to see a little more of the palace.”

  Sunny was about to accept Prince Gareth’s offer. She even considered suggesting he take Matthew on a tour of his bedroom, but Matthew was already shaking his head. “We really should get back to Raven and Leith.”

  The prince smiled charmingly and spoke again. “I do hope you’ll consider coming back for a more thorough tour another day.”

  “He will,” Sunny said brightly, patting the slightly stunned Matthew on the arm.

  The action seemed to snap the lawyer out of his momentary stupor. “Maybe,” he said softly.

  Sunny could practically see the image of Leith dancing in Matthew’s brain, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

  Gareth clearly wasn’t fazed by Matthew’s answer at all. Not when he slung his arm around Matthew’s shoulder and grinned. “Playing hard to get? I have a feeling I’ll enjoy the chase.”

  Sloan linked his fingers with Sunny’s, and she swung his arm playfully as they followed the two men back to the main hall.

  When they arrived, they found the dishes had been cleared and pens, pencils and pads of papers littered the table. The place now looked more like a boardroom than a dining room. Sunny and Sloan sat back down in their previous seats. Matthew headed for an empty chair between Raven and Leith, but Gareth steered him to a different seat. “I would prefer you to sit here, fierce one,” Gareth said, pulling out the chair next to his.

  Matthew sat and looked over at his leader, shrugging his shoulders. Raven smiled and waggled his eyebrows. He was clearly going to grill Matthew on the way home. Leith didn’t even glance up. He simply stared down at the table, scowling. Sunny frowned at Leith’s attitude. What the hell had crawled into his dinner and died?

  Gareth sat down and picked up a pen, tapping it against the table. “Now that the meal is finished, it is time to get down to business. Raven MacAlister, have you recalled your clan as per our agreement?”

  Sunny suddenly clued into something that had been right under her nose. Matthew had been making calls to clan members, asking them to come home. He’d just told her that his parents had already put their house up for sale in Australia, and once they had everything in order, they would be moving to clan grounds.

  They were building an army. An army composed of MacAlister witches and, hopefully, the dragons.

  Now wasn’t the time to question Raven, or even Leith, about the upcoming events. Not when Gareth began speaking again. “I’m sure by now, you have all realized that the Queen has not joined us.”

  The room was silent and Gareth tapped his pen again. There was no playfulness in his expression any more. Now, he looked like the very image of a cold, hard-hearted army general. “She is our second condition.”

  Sunny didn’t miss the way Raven leaned forward and focused all his attention on the prince. “What about Queen Niya?”

  Gareth eyed Raven. “She disappeared the day of the last witch battle,” he answered. “We believe there are two possibilities. I suspected she had a secret lover for a number of years before the battle. Did she run away with her lover?”

  “I knew your mother very well,” Raven said, looking offended. “She loved her people. She would not run away with a lover.”

  Gareth nodded slowly, looking at Raven with a strange expression. “I agree. The more plausible, but far less happy reason my mother would have disappeared would be because she was kidnapped.”

  This time it was Leith who spoke up. “Who do you suspect?”

  “The vampires. They dropped off the face of the earth the same day.” Gareth looked troubled. “We’ve been searching for her since she failed to return, but we can only do so much in our dragon form before we’re noticed by humans. In exchange for helping us find our queen, we will join you in battle when the time comes.”

  “We’ll do it,” Raven said immediately.

  “Huh,” Sloan muttered quietly. “That’s weird. Raven doesn’t usually make decisions like this without having Matthew do at least a little bit of negotiating.”

  “Wait a minute,” Matthew interrupted.

  The prince’s cold expression thawed slightly. “Yes, Matthew?”

  “What if we haven’t found your queen before the battle? Will the dragons still fight by our side?”

  “Good man,” Gareth said with an approving tone. “Yes. As long as genuine effort is put into the search for my mother, the dragons will battle with you.”

  Matthew nodded slowly. “I’ll put something in writing, and you can have someone look at it and see if you agree.”

  The prince rested his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. “I make the legal decisions regarding the dragons,” he said. “So I’ll meet with you at a later time to discuss your agreement.”

  Matthew nodded as he jotted in his notebook. “I can have something ready for you in the next few days. Is there some way I can contact you to set up a meeting?”

  Prince Gareth pulled out a business card and handed it to him. The card was a heavy stationary with black script writing, spelling Gareth’s name and the words “treasure hunter.” There were two numbers printed on the card and one number handwritten on with blue ink. “Call the third number. It’s my personal cell.”

  Matthew extracted one of his own business cards from his pocket and scrawled something on it. “Here, this is my number.”

  Sunny was beyond excited. She couldn’t wait to tell Anna all about how the prince flirted with Matthew and how flustered Matthew was. She was already planning on asking their driver if they could stop at a bakery on the way home so they could have something sweet to snack on while they chatted. Maybe she could talk Matthew into joining them.

  Abruptly, Leith pushed back his chair and stood up. “We need te get goin’ before the tide comes in,” he announced, his accent full and heavy.

  Gareth saw them to the exit, where the same woman was waiting to drive them back home. Leith waited exactly three seconds after they got into the car before starting in on Matthew. “What were ye thinkin’, goin’ off alone with a dragon? Especially since I’ve told ye more than once that I’ve felt an increase in unfamiliar magic nearby.”

  Matthew glared at Leith. “Geez, Leith. You told me that, with the increase in your magic, it’s hard to tell how close the unfamiliar magic actually is. What’s with you?”

  “Are ye that desperate, Matthew? That filthy dragon was eyeing you like he was a bee and you were the flower. And what were ye doin’ with him for so long?”

  “Why is it your business?” Matthew shot back. “It’s not like you have any claim on me.”

  Sunny felt like she was watching a tennis match. One would lob a question or an insult, and the other would respond immediately.

  But Leith’s reaction was a little over the top. He was acting like a jealous lover. Maybe there was more to it than she realized. Leith certainly seemed
protective, almost possessive of Matthew at times. She’d witnessed the number of times he’d brushed up against Matthew at meals.

  Leith growled and grabbed Matthew’s wrist. Matthew didn’t pull away and Sunny had to give him credit for standing his ground. “What, Leith? Tell me how you feel right now,” Matthew demanded.

  Leith leaned forward until his mouth was barely a centimeter from Matthew’s.

  Sunny held her breath when Matthew raised his free arm and caressed Leith’s cheek.

  “Say the word,” Matthew whispered. “Say the word and I’ll tell Gareth we will only be business associates.”

  Sunny’s lungs were beginning to ache from holding her breath for so long, but she didn’t want to chance interrupting this very intense moment. She felt like she was eavesdropping, but there wasn’t anywhere else for her to go. Especially since the driver had already started the car’s engine and eased onto the beach.

  “Matthew…” Leith’s voice sounded a little desperate, like he needed to say something and just couldn’t find the right words.

  Heart breaking for Matthew, Sunny watched as Leith reached up and gently removed Matthew’s hand from his face and muttered a spell. Less than a second later, the blond witch had disappeared.

  Matthew dropped his hand into his lap. “Well,” he whispered. “I guess I got my answer.”

  Sunny was about to climb over Sloan’s legs to give the lawyer a hug, but Sloan beat her to it. He wrapped his arm around Matthew’s shoulders and pulled him close. Raven patted Matthew’s knee. “It’ll be fine,” he said softly.

  Matthew swallowed and nodded jerkily before leaning his head against Sloan’s shoulder for a brief second before sighing and pulling out a business card from his breast pocket. Sunny recognized it as Gareth’s card.

  “He’s a good man,” Sloan said, nodding at the card. “And he’s clearly interested in you.”

  Matthew didn’t say anything, but he did run his thumb over Gareth’s name.

  Sunny almost couldn’t believe her eyes. She’d never seen Sloan and Matthew really interact with each other. They’d always acted more like acquaintances than anything else but here Sloan was, comforting another man, a gay man at that, without a second thought. It showed her an entirely new side of Sloan.

  Touched, she linked her fingers with Sloan’s and squeezed gently. Sloan squeezed back and continued whispering to Matthew.

  Chapter 17

  Sunny slid on to the bar stool next to Matthew and grinned. “Thanks for inviting me,” she said.

  Matthew smiled back and signaled for the bartender. “I thought you could use a break from all the training,” he answered.

  “Oh, you have no idea.” She placed her order and munched on a few peanuts. “This is the first time I’ve been away from the castle at night since I got here.”

  A brightly colored cocktail was placed in front of her, and Sunny lifted her glass to salute Matthew. “What should we cheers to?”

  Matthew picked up his own glass and clinked glasses. “Friends,” he said.

  “Friends.” She almost choked when the strong alcohol trickled down her throat. “Jeez, is this liquid fire or what?”

  Snorting, Matthew shook his head. “You should know. Is this really the first time you’ve been away from the castle for a night out?”

  Nodding, Sunny took another sip of her drink, this time prepared for the sensation. It went down easier this time around and made her stomach feel all warm and fuzzy. “Sloan pretty much has me practicing all day long. We did come to town once a couple of weeks ago to stretch our legs, but we didn’t stay late.”

  “If I’d known it was your first night out, I would have taken you somewhere else.” A plate of warm bread and something she couldn’t identify was delivered to them and Matthew selected a slice of bread. “Want some?”

  Sunny eyed the plate suspiciously. Matthew had recently taken great delight in trying to trick her into eating gross things. He was quickly turning into the older brother she’d never had, and she’d learned to ask for clarification on what was being served before she took a bite. “If that’s haggis, I’m outta here,” she warned.

  A quick burst of laughter escaped from Matthew. “Ah, I have you paranoid, do I? No, it’s just brie and mushrooms baked inside some pastry.”

  “Oh. Then yes, I’ll try it.”

  They ate in companionable silence for a few seconds and Sunny relished the change from the heavy meals the men at the castle seemed to insist on. “I haven’t seen you around lately,” she said after she’d swallowed a bite of the velvety cheese.

  Matthew shrugged. “I’ve been spending most of my days in my office here in town. These days, I pretty much use my room at the castle to sleep and nothing else.”

  Sunny couldn’t help but wonder if the young man was trying his best to avoid a certain blond giant but didn’t say anything. “What kind of law do you practice,” she asked instead.

  “Business mostly,” he replied, wiping his mouth on a napkin before taking another swallow of his drink. “Most of my days are spent negotiating Raven’s business deals.”

  Business deals? The leader of the clan actually worked? Oh, the man was busy enough. He was constantly dealing with clan stuff but she’d never actually seen him work outside the castle.

  Matthew laughed again and tapped her nose with a single finger. “You should see your face. Yes, Raven works. Who do you think pays to run the castle and the clan?”

  She hadn’t really thought about it before. Now that she actually did think about it, she felt a little guilty. She hadn’t offered to get a job to pay for her room or board or anything. She’d taken it for granted they would take care of her while she trained.

  “Hey,” Matthew said softly. “I know what you’re thinking. Raven is a financial genius, okay? He has more than enough to support all of us in style for the next five hundred years, and that’s if he stopped investing right this second. He’d rather you train your magic than worry about contributing financially when he doesn’t need you to.”

  “Are you sure you can’t read minds?” she asked. He’d certainly seemed to be able to pick up on what she’d been thinking about for the last half an hour.

  Matthew popped another bite of cheese into her open mouth and grinned. “Nope. Not a drop of magic running in these veins, I promise. You’re just easy to read.”

  “Really?” She’d never had anyone say that to her. Usually they said they couldn’t figure out what she was thinking, let alone how she felt.

  “You’re an open book, my dear.”

  Snorting, Sunny threw a peanut at Matthew and laughed as it bounced off his impressive chest. “You sound as old as Leith when you talk like that.”

  Matthew’s face fell for a second and Sunny groaned inwardly. Shit, she wasn’t usually so insensitive. “Sorry,” she said softly.

  The young man was quiet for a few seconds before clearing his throat. “Don’t worry about it. It’s true. And I have to get over him.”

  Sunny brightened. “Yeah. Let’s get you a date,” she exclaimed as she scanned the pub.

  “I appreciate the sentiment, but I doubt you’ll find many gay men here. I’ve been thinking about asking Prince Gareth out for dinner.” He lowered his voice and leaned close. “I have it on good authority that dragons tend to swing both ways.”

  She giggled. It was nice having someone her age to hang out with. Even Anna, who was the youngest handler next to her, had been raised in another generation. “Maybe I could convince Gareth to let me go too.”

  “Yeah right,” Matthew said with a smirk. “Like Sloan would let you come.”

  “Hey,” Sunny said, trying her best to sound affronted. “Sloan is my trainer, not my boss. And besides, we argue all the time. It would be nice to have a conversation with an attractive man without worrying about how moody he might get.”

  “Are you saying I’m not attractive?” Matthew shot back. “Stop trying to horn in on my fun. Besides, I know exactly
how you and Sloan like to resolve your arguments.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she huffed, trying to hide behind her glass.

  “Uh huh,” Matthew said with another smirk. “I heard your argument in the hall the other day. I don’t think that particular bathroom has ever been used for makeup sex before.”

  Sunny giggled even as a blush worked its way up her neck and across her cheeks. Two days ago, they hadn’t been able to wait until they got back to one of their rooms and Sloan had fucked her on a random bathroom counter. It had been really late and neither of them had really considered the fact that they might be disturbing someone else. “Sorry,” she muttered once her laughing fit had stopped.

  “Don’t be. It was the most action I’ve had in months,” Matthew teased. “And apparently, Sloan is really, really good in the sack.”

  “Oh, God,” she groaned and buried her face in her hands. “This is so embarrassing.”

  Matthew laughed long and loud, and she only looked up when it trailed off. The expression on his face wasn’t a good one. “What?” she said.

  “Oh, holy fuck,” he whispered. “We are in so much shit.”

  Spooked by Matthew’s scared expression, Sunny looked around the pub. She didn’t see anything out of place. In fact, except for a few new patrons, there was nothing different. “What’s the matter?”

  “Leith told me a couple of days ago he’d felt an increase of unfamiliar magic, but with his power growing, he had trouble determining how close the stranger with. Well, I think one of the guys who just walked in is from the Takahashi clan. We need to get out of here.”

  Her heart instantly started racing. Trying to look as casual as possible, she accepted Matthew’s help off the stool and stuck close to him as they moved for the door. “I borrowed one of Raven’s cars. It’s down the street a little,” she said.

  The tall Asian man by the door shifted a little and Sunny tensed, but he turned away from them instead. Matthew tugged her through the door and held on tight to her hand, digging in his pocket with his free hand for his cell phone. “My car’s right here. We’ll take mine, and Raven and I will come for the other car tomorrow.”