by Jan Dockter
“That’s the fastest healing bruise I ever saw.”
“But, how is he?”
“Exhausted, more than likely. But his fall didn’t damage any bones or organs that I can see. You should take him to the hospital and get a CAT scan.”
“No. We have legal issues to deal with. The hospital is not a good idea. I want him in tip top shape before we deal with the courts.”
“As you wish, Mr. Kaur. Quiet and rest is the best thing for him. If he loses consciousness or starts vomiting, call me.”
“Thanks, doctor.”
Ryan was alone in his room with his father who pulled a chair to the side of the bed.
“So what happened?” asked his father. “Where did you go?”
“I don’t know. But I met my biological mother. She lives in some mountains underground with a bunch of other dragons. My god, dad. She found out about Steph and went nuts. I barely got away.”
“Why would she care about Ms. Brooks?”
“I didn’t get a chance to find out. But, dad. She can’t be around me.”
“I can’t?”
Steph walked into the room with her arms crossed.
“Why are you here? I told you to go.”
“Silly me. I was worried about you.” Steph sounded angry but she didn’t understand.
“Look, Steph.”
“Don’t ‘look’ me, Ryan Kaur. You told me I was fired, left me at the hospital to deal with by myself, and then the first thing you tell me is to leave you. I suppose I will. I know when I’m not wanted.”
Steph stormed out of the room.
“Wait, Steph, that’s not—”
But Steph slammed the door and he was alone with his father.
“Is that your technique with women?” said his father. “Now I know why you are single.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Steph
Steph stomped down the stairs of the Kaur mansion full of fire and fury. After everything they’ve been through and what they did together, he has the nerve to tell her to leave? Yeah. She’ll do that. And Ryan freakin’ Kaur could go jump in the pool for all she cared.
She got to the bottom of the stairs and then stopped. Not only did she not know where she was going, Steph also realized that she had no car. The Kaur house was deep in the countryside of Connecticut, miles from anywhere. Steph left her purse in Mr. Kaur’s study so she walked to the door and pushed it open.
A flash of movement caught her peripheral vision while arms came around to grab her by the throat. Her training kicked in automatically and she delivered an elbow jab to her attackers’ side, jammed her spike heel into the attacker’s ankle, then yanked on the arm now loosely across her throat and tossed man over her hip. He landed with a loud thud at her feet.
“Who the hell are you?” She said as she put her spiked heel at his throat. The spike at his throat looked satisfyingly lethal but all it took was one yank of his strong arms to send Steph to the floor.
She grunted as her bottom slammed into the carpet. While she scrambled to get to her feet, the sound of men running toward the library alarmed her assailant. He got to his feet and run for the patio doors. They rattled as he pulled them open and fled.
Mr. Kaur, and two security people appeared at the doorway.
“Intruder ran through the patio doors,” she said pointing to where the man fled.
“Go,” said Mr. Kaur and the security men took off after him.
Steph scrambled to her feet and took off after the man who attacked her. She was aware that the security men were chasing him, but Steph would be damned if she’d let that creep get the best of her. She tore through the patio door and darted past the pool with her heart pounding in her chest.
“Wait!” she heard Mr. Kaur call.
Wait, Steph, said Ryan in her head. She looked over her shoulder to glimpse Ryan standing in the doorframe of the patio doors. He had put on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. She couldn’t help but notice how devastatingly handsome he was in clothes that revealed every muscle in his upper body and hung about his hips lazily. But she was still angry with him for what he did and said so she wouldn’t stop—not for him.
“Steph!” called Ryan across the lawn.
She stopped on the broad lawn beyond the pool and surveyed the area. To the right was the long and high wall that surrounded the Kaur estate. To the left was a wind break of trees that stretched south. Neither the security men or the intruder were in sight. She turned toward the gate at the northern end of the property and spotted one of Kaur’ security at the gate, but the other she couldn’t see.
Steph! Called Ryan again this time inside her mind.
She shook her head.
They want to hurt you! Please, come back.
Steph ran toward the windbreak. There was at least some cover there, and if someone wanted to hide that is where they’d go. When she reached the line of trees she peered inside. It was a jumble of tree trunks, old leaves, vines and broken branches spread as far as she could peer into the leaf-shadowed depths. If it wasn’t for her stilettos sinking in the landscape’s soft loam she would enter.
What she’d give right now for a pair of sneakers.
A crack of a branch caught her attention and she turned her head to its direction. A sweep of her head caught the laser target on her chest and she dropped and rolled as a shot whizzed above her head.
Steph!
Black talons clamped around her waist and she was jerked upward into the air. With difficulty, she twisted to see Ryan’s blue scales.
“Hey!” she complained.
Would you rather be shot by the assassin? Hold your breath.
You’re not—
I am.
Steph, remembering the last time Ryan shifted to another location, sucked in a deep breath and shut her eyes against the sensation of falling that surrounded her. Absolute cold prickled her skin like an itchy rash forming. Her heart hammered in her chest and her lungs wanted fresh air desperately. She resisted the urge to breath, to scream, to protest this latest crazy action by Ryan.
And then a current of air buffeted her body and the sun shone on her face. She pulled in a deep breath even though the insane flight by the dragon left her lightheaded. Steph looked to the landscape below her and saw sweeping mountain peaks between rolling valleys of green. She caught a glimpse of a castle rising from the land and Steph wondered where he took her.
He swooped down to the ground and settled on his hind legs and shifted. The strange sensation of Ryan’s body reducing and his dragon hide turning to human flesh spread trepidation through her. She’d seen him change but it was different to feel his talons shrink and his claws turned into hands. She hooked her arms around his neck to keep from falling.
“Hello there,” he smiled.
“Let me go,” she sputtered.
Ryan lowered her to the ground and she swallowed hard when she viewed him naked.
“Where are we?”
“Scotland. See that small castle there?” He pointed toward the turret they’d seen on the flight in. “My family owns that.”
“Okay. But what do you expect to do? Walk in there naked?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“Why not? Don’t they have decency laws here?”
“I suppose. But seeing that my dad owns this land that’s not really an issue. Besides I have my lawyer with me.”
“Oh my god, Ryan Kaur, could you be more ridiculous?”
“Who is being ridiculous?” You insist on putting yourself in harm’s way and not accepting help from my father or me. I don’t know if you realize this, but you are in serious trouble because of me. I take that seriously. And I’m damn well going to make sure you are safe.”
“Don’t put yourself out on my account. I can take care of myself.”
“No. You can’t. Not against the dragons I saw. Steph, they want to kill you.”
“Why?” said Steph pointedly. “Why would they?”
“I don’t know. I
just don’t. All I know is that the queen of the dragons went insane when she read my thoughts and found we went to bed together.”
“And what makes you think that we’re safe here?”
Ryan ran his hand through his hair and his face drew tight with tension. “This place is as good as any. The location is remote and few people come here. The only people who live here are the majordomo and a couple of maids.”
His obvious distress melted some of her anger away. Okay. He was trying to protect her. Ryan was facing things he never had to before. Still, that didn’t give him the right to kidnap her.
Or was it his distress? His smoky musk filled her nose with its intoxicating fragrance and it became difficult to remember why she was angry at him. Ryan put his arms around her waist and drew her to him and she did not resist. She should and knew it. But at this moment the comfort of his arms and the nearness of his body calmed her and chased away her jangled nerves.
“What you do to me,” he breathed in her ear. “All I want to do is take you to bed and keep you there day after day.”
“That’s a little silly, don’t you think?” she said. Or she wanted to say that. Instead she mewled and pressed her body against his. His stiffening shaft pressed into her thigh and all she wanted was him.
“Steph, Steph,” he whispered in a husky voice. He pushed up her skirt and brushed her mound with his fingertips as she whimpered. Her heartbeat quickened as pleasurable tingles gathered and swirled through her body. His fingers found her entrance and stroked her soft petals and when he thrust them in her she gasped. Ryan was just too good, too damned sexy to say no to at any time and despite them standing in a field where anyone could show up she wanted him. Now.
Steph kissed Ryan with all the passion in her soul. “I’ve got to have you,” she husked.
Ryan swept her into his arms and walked a few steps to a where a rocky outcropping gave them a small measure of privacy. He lay her down in the tall grasses and gave her a smoldering gaze that sizzled heat through her body. She didn’t know if she could stand another minute without him inside her.
“Ryan,” she pleaded in a throaty whisper. Steph pulled up her shirt and fingered herself through her lacy panties and gasped at the pleasure she drew from her fingertips. He dropped to his knees and pushed hers apart.
“That is so hot,” he said as he watched her slip her hand underneath the lace to her folds.
“I can be hotter.”
She slipped her fingers inside her entrance.
“Oh, god,” said Ryan. His face flushed and he pulled at his cock with his fist.
“Take me, baby,” rasped Steph. Her voice quavered as she spoke. “I need you.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ryan
With the pleading looking in Steph’s eyes and him between her legs as she pleasured herself he lost all self-control. The woman was beyond sexy. She was everything he ever wanted in a woman. All thoughts centered on taking her, every inch of her around him pulsing in need. His cock throbbed between his legs as he imagined her writhing and moaning under him. Reason fled as the need to possess her overtook him.
He surged forward and grabbed her hand with his and pulled it above her head, and used the other to guide himself to her sweet entrance. A throaty gasp escaped his lips as first the head then the rest of his cock slid into her wet heat. He leaned forward and took her mouth in a raging kiss, tongues tangling, breathing hard and moaning.
She bucked against his hips asking for more and he let go of her hand and held his body up by his two arms and thrust into her. She moved her hips in time with his meeting him thrust for thrust and the intensity of their mating mounted. Her core clenched around him as he pulled back and received him eagerly when he pushed forward. As Ryan melded with Steph his balls tightened and pulsed with the rush that signaled his oncoming orgasm.
Her mouth opened as her body slammed hard against his urging him to spill his seed within her. Ryan trembled in holding back. He wanted to make sure she had her pleasure first.
“Come on, baby,” he gasped. “Come for me.”
He jammed into her again and again, fighting for control, yearning to lose himself in this woman not just now, but for all time.
“Ryan,” she cried as she pulsed around him, calling him to let go.
He did. The force of his explosion ripped all thought from his mind and he flew into a place where there was no space and time. He felt connected to all that there was but especially to Steph who burned like a shining beacon in his mind. Her intelligence, her courage, her strength of spirit wrapped around his as if they were one person. At the moment, he understood what it meant to love. He and she were part of each other, and there could be no separation between them ever again.
Slowly his vision cleared and he smiled at the woman below him. He bent and kissed her gently.
“Wow,” she said.
“Yeah, wow,” he affirmed.
“I mean. That was so intense. I saw stars.”
“I hope so,” he said with a grin.
“But—” and she stopped as if the words caught in her throat.
“But what?”
“Is that some freaky dragon magic? I mean the last thing I wanted, er expected was that we’d have sex in the middle of a Scottish field without caring who could watch us. I mean I couldn’t stop myself.”
“I’m no expert in this, but I think that’s what happens when two people love each other.”
“Love?”
Instantly he grew concerned. With the connection they shared he was sure she felt the same way. Did she or was that an illusion born of his lust for her? No. Though he desired her, he wanted so much more than sex. He wanted everything with her, being with her, conquering the world together if that is what it took. Ryan wanted no other woman by his side. Ever.
“I love you, Steph. And my dragon’s heart tells me I’ll love you forever.”
“Then heaven help us, Ryan. I love you too.”
He let go a breath he didn’t realize he held.
“Good,” he grinned. He stood and offered his hand to hers. “I suppose we should get to my castle.”
“Castle,” she snorted. “A dragon and a castle. Can we be any more cliché?”
“Nope. Especially when the dragon has a damsel in distress.”
She hit his arm playfully. “I’m no damsel. And my only distress is that I’ll never remove the grass stains out of this skirt and I’m going to be walking funny for a couple days.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Are you?”
“And don’t be proud of yourself for that either.”
“Okay,” he smiled. “I’ll keep my gloating to myself.”
“You damn well better.”
“Well, let’s get going.”
“Wait. You can’t walk to the castle like that.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Here,” she said. And she reached under her skirt and pulled out a silky sheath and held it up to him.
“What is this?”
“My slip. My mom is an old-fashioned gal. Insisted that I wear a slip. It’s a habit now. Thank goodness my mother had a couple. At least it will cover the essentials.”
Ryan took the garment with doubt in his eyes but stepped into it. Steph helped to settle it on his hips. It was a tight fit and the sheer silk left nothing to the imagination. He looked down at himself.
“This is ridiculous.”
“They wear kilts here in Scotland. Call it a French kilt and leave it at that.”
“A French kilt? Is there even such a thing?”
“Nope. But wear it with pride and people won’t question you.”
“I don’t know how much pride or dignity I can have wearing what amounts to a silk skirt.”
“You’re a tough dragon. You can take it.”
Steph picked up her stilettos that slipped from her feet during their lovemaking and they walked to the castle. Actually, it was a stout turret with a large building built a
t behind it. The slip had a curious effect and rubbed his cock sensuously as he walked arousing him again.
“Gee. Put that thing away,” complained Steph.
“Can I help it if my cock likes silk?
“Here,” she said pulling off her sweater. “Hold this in front of you.”
“How about if I wear it?”
“Your shoulders are too broad. It won’t fit.”
“What about this?” He draped it over his hip and knotted it the side. “See? French kilt.”
“Your fashion sense needs work.”
“Hey, I’m only working with what I got.”
“You got a lot to work with,” she said with a sly smile.
“Thanks,” said Ryan.
“Just don’t go gloating about that either.”
“Nice to know you don’t have any complaints.”
“Except for that walking funny thing.”
“You seem to be walking just fine. In fact-” Ryan made a show of checking out her backside, “you are walking mighty fine.”
They stepped through an arch that was part of a wall surrounding the turret. They entered into a paved courtyard. The curved outer wall merged with the front of the house on either side. There was a large double door in the middle of the facade of the building and two large picture windows on either side.
“Ouch,” said Steph as she stepped on a rock.
“Can’t have that,” said Ryan and he lifted her into his arms.
“Now wait. I can put my shoes on.”
“Nope, we are right here.” Ryan took a few long strides and deposited Steph on the lowest of the stone steps that led to wide double door. He took the rest of the steps and rang the doorbell.
They waited for long minutes until the sound of lock was heard in the door. It opened to reveal a short and portly, balding man.
“Mr. Kaur,” said the shocked man in a snooty English accent.
“Simmons. Good to see you. And this is my fiancé, Stephanie Brooks.”
“Ms. Brooks,” said the man neutrally. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” said Steph as she put her shoes on her feet.