by Teshco, Mel
Kadin
by Mel Teshco
Copyright 2017 Mel Teshco
Cover Art by Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design
www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy.
Acknowledgements
To my three gorgeous girls, I love you all so much! And to my patient husband, I couldn’t do this without your support.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
First Chapter of Asher: Dragons of Riddich
Note: This was a previously published, and now extensively revised story. A prequel to the longer length Dragon of Riddich series.
Chapter One
Grace Macintosh moved through the lavish Sydney penthouse suite on silent feet. Even in a pair of sky-high stilettos she’d perfected the art of stealth, but it was an unnecessary skill for this mission.
She released a taut breath and then consciously began to clack-clack her way across the slate floor, announcing her approach toward the master bedroom. She didn’t want to alert the man waiting for her to the fact she was anything beyond a sexily attired woman, anything but the hooker he’d paid big money for.
Tonight, beauty was her advantage, sex her ultimate weapon.
As she neared the bedroom door, Grace took in the sheer opulence of the penthouse.
Did the bastard even know how good he had it? He’d come out of seemingly nowhere and made his fortune almost overnight to become one of the richest men on the planet. Even the Paranormal Detection Agency she worked for couldn’t find evidence about his past and why he’d so effortlessly become a success.
Now he expected the very best of everyone, and most especially his bed partners. Once a week he contacted a renowned, exclusive escort service and arranged for a high-class call girl to pay him a visit.
It had been all too easy for the PDA to replace the service’s receptionist with a mole. All too easy for the mole to give Grace a call and send her in lieu of the real thing.
Too easy, perhaps?
Shaking off sudden doubt, she took one more second to summon her wealth of training and steady her nerves before turning the knob. The bedroom door swung open, just as a goliath of a man emerged from the en suite bathroom.
Grace’s heartbeat kicked up a gear even as her senses hummed, every cell detonating into life as her ability to sense the supernatural flicked on like an internal switch.
Excitement flared. What was he?
She licked her lips, the sexual innuendo having little to do with the role she played and everything to do with the buck-naked, gold-skinned Adonis who was her target.
Kadin Marres—was that even his real name?—billionaire recluse and seasoned womanizer.
“You’re here,” he said with husky appreciation.
It was obvious he’d just had a shower. His shoulder-length, glossy black hair was still wet, his bare shoulders gleaming with moisture beneath the muted lights. But it was his cock, thickening as he openly perused her, that had Grace forgetting her mission for just one moment.
She tore her stare away from his arousal to meet his amused, gleaming gold-brown eyes. He stepped toward her, and even in heels she had to tilt her chin upward to hold his gaze.
Damn. The photos hadn’t done him justice.
She completely understood why more than a handful of operatives had chosen this man as their prime suspect, even without her bizarre ability to identify anything paranormal. Kadin carried an animal quality that was unmistakable and all too primal.
But a shape shifter? A dragon?
She inwardly smirked. She and her team had been witness to a lot of fucked-up shit that few humans would ever encounter, but this time her comrades had speculated too far.
Dragon, my ass!
Kadin trailed his fingers down her cheek, bringing her back to the present like a cold slap to the face. Except his touch was searing hot and gave her pleasure, not pain. She had to resist pushing her head into his large palm like a satisfied cat as he murmured, “I was told you were beautiful, but I never for one moment imagined you’d be this stunning.”
His words fed an ego starved for praise and a wild frisson of need shot straight to her core, moist heat dewing between her thighs. It didn’t take any acting ability to offer him a seductive smile. “I’m glad you approve.”
His eyes flashed with interest and restraint. Then he too smiled, revealing age-old arrogance wrapped up in a too-gorgeous body. “You hardly need to be told, do you?”
A little hidden piece of herself—the insecure, old self—screamed yes! She swallowed back the almost-forgotten emotion and said huskily, “I have a mirror.” Her eyes dipped to his straining cock. “Just the same as you.”
His hand moved under her chin, lifting her gaze back to his heated stare. “I’m not really into my own reflection, but I’m not averse to seeing more of you.” His hand dropped to clasp one of hers and then, stepping backward, he tugged her with him further into the bedroom, directly before the vanity’s large mirror.
Her heart speeding faster still, she swallowed back every naïve question swirling through her mind and became the high-class whore he’d paid top dollar to fuck. “It’s getting hot in here.” She slid a fingernail along his collarbone, aware her rebellious, fiery red curls were already escaping the stylist’s upsweep. “Why don’t you undress me?”
His eyes glittered as he directed her to stand in front of the mirror. Something delicious pulsed through her womb, darkness within stirring to life as she placed her hands on the smooth marble vanity. His reflection loomed close behind her as he said throatily, “I’m going to fuck you from behind while we both watch.”
His dark head bent and he nuzzled the sensitive side of her throat, his big hands unlacing the delicate black ribbons of her crimson bustier. And even before his heady scent of exotic spices and scotch tantalized her nostrils, she knew this definitely wasn’t acting. She was hot for him. Every cell in her body quivered at his nearness, his touch, his breath.
What the hell is wrong with you? It’s not the first time you’ve screwed someone on the job. Get a grip on yourself. Focus! This is nothing more than a quick fuck.
But in all her years as an agent, she’d never felt such need, such loss of control.
His lips on her throat had her gasping for breath, his blunt-ended fingers that almost lazily untied her bustier, keeping her taut with anticipation. And yet she was utterly boneless, putty in his too-capable hands.
The round globes of her breasts finally spilled into his clasp, the pink tips of her nipples springing into hard nubs as his thumbs and forefingers deftly massaged. He growled into her ear and moved even closer, his long, hard cock pressing insistently against the small of her back.
Her breath hissed, her pussy clenching with need, a spasm that sent even more moisture pooling between her thighs. Her hands clenched into fists on the vanity. She was
so damn wet for Kadin, she knew his monster of a cock would easily slide right in.
His dark stare held hers in the mirror, his irises glowing with odd amber flecks and the bristles on his jaw prickling along the sensitive skin of her neck as he murmured, “You and me, we’re not so different.”
She gasped as he slid a hand beneath her barely there leather miniskirt, skimming between her thighs and her lacy garters before cupping her pussy. She whimpered as his fingers moved rhythmically over her damp silk panties, but somehow she choked out, “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes as he slid a finger through the opening of her crotchless panties and deep into her wetness. “Both of us pretending we’re something we’re not.”
Her slumberous stare popped wide open. He knew!
But no words could be formed in her defense when he found her G-spot and massaged hard, his thumb rhythmically stroking the swollen nub of her clit. She viciously bit her bottom lip, tasting the coppery tang of her own blood—just as an orgasm blindsided her, stole away her breath. Her sanity.
Before her deep shudders of pleasure had even ebbed, before her thought processes had come back to earth, he spread her wide, then thrust his full length inside her, stretching her almost beyond endurance.
Holy shit … yes!
Her strangled sigh joined his loud, appreciative groan. His weight and the force of his joining pushed her forward, her breasts mashing against the cold vanity.
She abruptly stiffened. Bloody hell. The Pill might stop her from becoming pregnant but it didn’t afford her any protection! “You’re not wearing a condom,” she hissed.
“Haven’t you been brought up to speed?” he growled in her ear. “My kind don’t carry disease.”
My kind? Holy—
But then all theory, all logic, all danger became an afterthought as he pulled his cock partly out and thrust all the way back into her greedy heat, fucking her with a skillful rhythm that sent her all too quickly toward the edge of yet another climax.
She looked up, unable to tear her gaze from the way his big, muscular body covered her slender form, the way his dark, bristled jaw locked tight. His eyes trained on her were hard and unforgiving, yet burning with a passionate intensity she couldn’t misinterpret.
He despised her, and yet in the most fundamental, primitive way possible, he was making her his own.
Taking hold of her hips, Kadin jerked her backward into his thrust. Every nerve ending in her body flared to life. Heat surged through her veins. Oh god.
As his cock hit her G-spot dead center, she fell apart with a strangled cry, coming with a suddenness that left her gasping in shocked disbelief. Her inner muscles clamped around his cock. His eyes flashed sheer bliss. A nanosecond later, he hollered out something incomprehensible, his warm seed shooting deep inside her.
Her whole body quivered as she sucked in oxygen, but she held his stare in the mirror as she asked, “When did you know?”
His lips kicked up at the corners. A smile that wasn’t a smile. “From the very start.”
Holy shit.
Despite her training, despite her ability to fight, to kill, she was unable to do a damn thing. Not when he instantly jammed her tighter still against the vanity, his hands pinning her arms.
She wasn’t going anywhere.
She gritted her teeth, despising him. Despising herself.
Never forget who you are … never trust anyone but yourself.
That was the motto she’d lived by, words that had saved her ass more times than she cared to remember. Damn it! Had she lost her mind? Those words had been forgotten from the moment she’d met the man.
“So … what now?” she queried mock-sweetly, right then wishing she had her throwing knives or at the very least her knuckle barbs. She could use them against him the moment he relaxed his hold.
In a deceptively mild voice, he asked, “Why don’t you start by telling me a little about yourself?”
She glared. “Fuck you.”
Her belly and the cradle of her hips copped the full brunt of unforgiving marble as he retaliated with just a little more pressure. But it was the way she responded to his thickening cock that left her squirming with shame.
“I believe you’ve just done that,” he murmured, his eyes glittering with barely concealed lust.
Bastard.
God, she’d been so wrong this time. Her instincts, sharp and honed to perfection, had never let her down. Until now. She’d taken one look at this man in all his glorious nakedness and hadn’t just ignored her uncanny perception—she’d cast aside all the rules, all her training and logic.
“How about I start,” he said conversationally. “I’m an outcast, banished from my planet, Riddich, after choosing to live here on Earth rather than face life imprisonment on my own world.”
“What did you do?” she gritted out.
He shrugged. “It hardly matters now.”
It mattered a lot. It would be nice to know she hadn’t just fucked a hardened criminal. Heat roiled through her belly even as her mouth dried. She guessed the hardened bit was true at least. “Then at least tell me what you are.”
“Other than an alien who looks human?” he asked.
“Yeah, perfectly human if one discounted your size.”
He smirked, his breath hot against her ear when he thrust his hips forward and murmured, “Don’t tell me you’re complaining that I’m big all over?”
She bit back a moan. Her damn hormones were to blame, nothing else. She’d never lost this kind of control before with a target. Not once. Then again none of her targets had been half this tempting, nor looked half this good.
He kissed her lobe, his mouth lingering and causing a rash of goose bumps to blanket her skin as he added throatily, “If you really must know, I’m a dragon shape shifter.”
She shook her head in denial. Her contacts had been wrong, no doubt blindsided by this man’s lies. “I know you’re not entirely human, but you don’t honestly expect me to believe—”
She no longer had a voice. Her throat closed up as she watched the pupils of his eyes expand and brighten, dilating with varying shades of amber until they flickered with internal flames.
Chapter Two
“I can alter any part of my body at will,” Kadin said thickly. “Fortunately my human cock is big enough without having to resort to dragon enlargement.” At her unfocused gaze, he added, “Because fully shifting is unlike any pain you could ever experience.”
She slumped a little, all her defenses refusing to cooperate as the truth literally stared her in the face.
“I’m going to release you now,” he said, a note that sounded too close to sympathy deepening his voice. “Don’t try to escape. And I suggest you keep all thoughts of killing me to yourself. I’m nothing you’ve ever faced before.”
As he moved back just a step, his hardening cock disengaging from her wet heat, unbelievably she wanted only to lunge back and encase his shaft all the way to the hilt, have him rock inside her and be pleasured all over again, even just for a little while longer.
Instead she remained still, but almost immediately he tugged her upright, his big hands adjusting the laces on her bustier, drawing it tight over her firm breasts. His hands slipped down, buttressing her waist before falling to her hips, along the curve of her buttocks and underneath her short skirt, adjusting her panties with their convenient opening, of which he’d taken full advantage.
She stiffened. “Do you want to make me all pretty before you kill me?”
He turned her around then, his face breaking into a wicked grin. “I don’t expect I’ll be killing anyone anytime soon,” he drawled. “Besides, I’m betting that removing your clothes would be the only way to make you even more pretty.”
She dragged back what was left of her composure. “My team knows I’m here.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied him, probing for weaknesses and finding none. His stance might be lazy, but she could feel the
vibration of energy emanating from him. He’d move like a cobra and strike just as fast. She pushed aside irritation and managed a smirk. “They’ll come looking for me. And they’ll be out for blood.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” He arched a brow. “Shame it’s your blood they’ll want now, as much as mine.”
“Really?” She shook her head when he didn’t deny the blatant lie. “Mind games now?” She clucked her tongue, pretending a normalcy she didn’t feel. “I don’t know why, but I really thought you’d be above all that.”
He tied a towel around his hips and gestured for her to move in front of him, out of the bedroom and into the lounge. She looked away, routinely studying the layout for future reference before adding scathingly, “I guess people of your wealth often resort to lies and deceit to pile even more money into their bank accounts.”
“Actually I use my money for greater purpose,” he said conversationally, as though talking about nothing more important than the weather. “For example, I know all about your childhood. I know you were orphaned when both your parents were murdered in their beds.”
She kept walking, staring straight ahead and pretending his knowledge of her history didn’t affect her one bit. Inside, she was approaching full-blown panic. No one but the agency knew about her past. No one knew the guilt she still harbored as a result. Survivor’s syndrome. That was the name attached to her apparent condition.
Her hands clenched. One day she’d assuage all her guilt. One day she’d kill her parents’ murderer.
“I also know you fended for yourself for five long months, picking pockets and scrabbling to survive, doing anything but allowing yourself to become what you are now.”
She spun around, rage racing like a toxin through her body. “I’m not a whore!”
He shook his head slowly. “I never said that.”
She gritted her teeth. Clever. Very clever. “Oh yes, you did.”