by Eliza Gayle
He decided to make things easier on her by standing and crossing over to her. This close, her sweet, clean scent surrounded him, making his whole body hard and tense.
“Ms. Raye?” he asked, pretending he wasn’t totally certain of who she was to put her at ease.
She nodded, still saying nothing.
“Maxim Drago.” He held out his hand. She stared down at his palm for a moment before she slid her small, almost delicate hand into his. The immediate arc of connection made her mouth fly open on a gasp. He swallowed thickly, glad to see he wasn’t the only one being affected by this strange meeting. “Call me Drago, everyone does.” Of course a second after he said those stupid words, he regretted them. He wanted to hear her silky voice call him Maxim over and over again, preferably while he gave her pleasure.
“Okay, Drago,” she said, her voice whisper soft.
The way those two words slid through his mind, Drago had to swallow thickly before he could continue. “I’ve saved us a seat and already received our coffees. I had yours prepared precisely as you requested.” He waved his hand in the direction of their table and indicated for her to proceed him.
The human part of him, that could be crude when necessary, watched her walk. The worn denim of her jeans hugged a curved ass that wiggled in such a way he had to stop himself from reaching out to touch her.
Dammit, he was a mess.
When she reached the table, he moved around her and pulled out her chair. Once she was situated he took the seat across from her and nodded to her cup.
“Should still be piping hot. You got here much quicker than I anticipated.”
Her reaction caught him by surprise. He felt her heat a moment before her skin tinged pink with a blush. His own blood heated in reaction. Drago ground down his teeth and tightened his muscles to maintain control. But it wasn’t easy. There was something special about this woman and he wasn’t about to pretend there wasn’t. Never in his life had he struggled this much around a female.
“I didn’t want to keep you waiting. Thank you for understanding I wasn’t comfortable being approached at my home.”
Drago cringed at the remnants of fear he heard in her voice. He’d been such an idiot. It wasn’t customary for human females to open their private homes to complete strangers. There were inherent dangers when it came to a female living alone and he’d not considered that.
“It wasn’t my intention to make you uncomfortable, Ms. Raye.”
“Jami, please. It feels weird to be called Ms. Raye.”
“Is that not your name?”
She sipped her coffee before she answered. “It is. But every time you say it I half expect to find my mother standing behind me and that’s a bit unnerving. Besides, I’m not a very formal person. And under the circumstances, I’d prefer Jami.”
“Your mother’s presence would unnerve you?” He didn’t understand that so he filed it away for further questioning at a later time.
She smiled, a sweet transformation that made Drago’s cock get impossibly harder.
“Considering my mother should be at home in Texas, it would be weird for her to suddenly be here.”
It was his turn to smile. Apparently Jami Raye had history that extended beyond this strange town. For some reason that made him feel better about her.
“If your family is in Texas, what brought you to this place?”
Her eyebrows raised. “You not a fan of Serenity?”
He clenched his jaw and went for the obvious rather than dwell on the fact that he should never have come here. “I came here to find the woman I call sister. That I didn’t find her until it was too late makes me hate this town with a passion.”
Jami visibly cringed and Drago immediately regretted being so blunt. It wasn’t her fault Sondra was dead. At least he didn’t think so. His gut told him she was as innocent as they came and that made him nervous. He’d need to protect her from the people in this town.
“Of course, I’m sorry. That was pretty insensitive of me,” she said.
He reached across and touched her arm, relishing for a moment that arc of heat that passed between them again.
“I’m sorry for being so blunt. It is our way.”
“Our way? As in your family?”
He shook his head. “In Russia. It is where I am from. We do not generally mince words and we speak our minds plainly. It is a cultural difference here that I have not adjusted to.”
Her brows pulled together. “Does that mean Sondra was from Russia as well? I don’t remember ever hearing her slip into any kind of discernible accent.”
“We moved to the United States when Sondra was a little girl. Before she even spoke much. I guess you could say she was more of a New Yorker than anything else.”
“That’s where you’re from?” she asked, her expression openly curious.
He nodded. “Yes. Our family is all deceased now. Sondra was all that I had left. I guess it is just me now.”
Sadness clouded Jami’s beautiful face, a sadness he hated being responsible for. “I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Drago. I really had thought Sondra was pulling her life together. Her death came as quite a shock.”
“To you and me both. I still can not imagine her being involved with drugs as the coroner says, let alone an overdose of them. I’d never even seen her drinking more than a glass of wine.”
Jami reached for his hand. “Drug addiction is an insidious thing. It makes people do many things they normally would not have. If it helps, addiction of this kind is a disease. It requires extensive treatment and Sondra had barely begun. I didn’t even know she had a brother yet.”
Reluctantly, Drago withdrew his hand. As much as he craved this woman’s touch, the thoughts and talk of Sondra as no longer alive were driving him crazy. More so, they made him antsy. He didn’t want to sit in this coffee shop any longer. He needed space and air and—he met Jami’s gaze—this woman.
He scraped his chair back and stood, holding out his hand. “Walk with me, Ms. Raye. In public of course, for your peace of mind. I just can’t stand being cooped up inside right now. I need some fresh air.”
Chapter Five
She sat staring at his outstretched hand unsure of what she should do. Already her nerves were stretched taut from being with this big, beautiful man. But every time he touched her, her mind wandered down a big, dangerous path.
When she’d opened the door to the coffee shop there had been no doubt in her mind which patron was Maxim Drago. The man literally loomed in the space.
Just sitting in a chair, power had exuded from him to the point she could barely move. The man intimidated to say the least. Now, he wanted her to go outside with him and her body screamed to go along with whatever he wanted.
What was up with that anyway? Why did she feel a warm sizzle that nearly curled her toes every time they touched? And why the heck did she want to do a hell of a lot more than hold his hand? Much personal touching was not her thing at all.
“You—you want to go for a walk?”
A slight smiled curved the corners of his lips. “Well, we’ve barely begun this conversation and I feel the need to not sit in a chair. A walk seems the most logical thing at this point. If you’re worried about being alone with me, don’t be. We’ve got hours of daylight left and the streets seem populated enough.”
She glanced out the front window of the coffee shop and watched the many pedestrians that filled the sidewalks this time of day. He did have a point.
Screw it. Her gut said go. She placed her hand in his and allowed him to pull her from her seat. As their bodies drew near, heat exploded between them. Her eyes grew wide. Was this really happening or was this yet another weird development in the now hasty process of her losing her mind?
Jami shook off her doubts and followed Maxim Drago out into the street. He turned north and true to his word followed the flow of people walking the streets. His pace picked up and she struggled to keep up with his long legged strides.
“Uhm, Mr. Drago, are you okay?” she asked.
“It’s just Drago,” he answered gruffly.
He continued on for another city block before he must have finally realized that he was basically pulling her along since he suddenly slowed. Thank God, there was no chance her short little legs could keep up with his long ones.
“I am sorry.”
While he didn’t elaborate beyond those three words, she could see the obvious turmoil on his face. The man was hurting and probably didn’t know how to cope with that. Alpha men, and he was certainly as alpha as they came, often struggled with personal tragedy.
Maybe she could help him along. “Why am I here, Drago? What do you need from me?”
He stopped walking altogether and turned to face her. They had reached a nearby park and while there was no one within earshot of their conversation, they were not alone. She could call for help if she needed it.
She didn’t believe she would.
“By the time I got to the morgue, Sondra had already been cremated. After your identification of the body and with supposedly no known kin, they just burned her body. This fucking town basically robbed me of the chance to see her for myself. I needed to see her to believe. All I have now are a few pictures and your word that it was indeed my Sondra. On top of that, I am having difficulty swallowing the drug addiction story. Yet, you corroborated the coroner’s findings and I don’t know what to believe. That Ms. Raye, is why you are here. To give me answers.”
Jami grappled for breath as guilt washed through her. She took short, shallow breaths. Her anxiety level had just gone from a 5 to a 105 in a matter of seconds. She should have braced for his answer before asking such a volatile question.
Halfway through his answer, he had grabbed her arms and pulled her closer. Enough so that the heat radiating off of him penetrated all the way to her bones. And this time she was certain her mind wasn’t exaggerating about what she felt. He was actually hot and not just in a Jason Momoa kind of way. Temperature hot.
She wanted to hug him close and roll all over such warmth. The cold that had seeped into her bones as of late demanded it. Of course, she couldn't. Not without looking like the complete basket case she feared she might be.
"I'm not sure I can offer you much in the way of answers. As I've said, I didn't know Sondra all that well. I will miss her though. Her vibrancy lit up my office when she came in..." She couldn't finish the rest. Continuing to remind Drago about his sister's dance with drugs would do nothing but hurt him more. Except he was intelligent and perceptive.
"Sober? Is that what you wanted to say? Don't worry about my feelings Ms. Raye, I don't have many. And nothing you say can change Sondra's outcome."
"Exactly!" she said with a little more fervor than she'd meant. "Why torture yourself over all this when it doesn't change the results?"
His eyes narrowed and his touch became so heated she almost cried out from pain. "Because I don't believe she overdosed on drugs. Or at least not by herself."
"Are you saying she was--" She shook her head. Nope. She couldn't bear to say the word. It rang a little too close to her fears.
"Murdered, Ms. Raye. Yes, I believe Sondra was murdered."
"But the coroner said—"
"Just because she had a lethal dose of drugs in her system does not mean it was self-inflicted. I'm not ready to rule out anything yet. And that is why you're here. You are going to help me find her killer."
Panic seized Jami's stomach as the meager coffee she'd drank threatened to come back up. Some of her worst fears were being realized with every passing second of this conversation.
“Jami?” A voice behind her spoke, making her heart seize with fear. She barely saw Drago move, but one second he was standing next to her and in the next she was behind him with his body shielding hers.
“What do you want?” Drago asked gruffly.
When silence ensued and nobody moved, Jami stood on her tip toes and peeked over Drago’s shoulder. “Mac?”
She tried to move around Drago, but he shifted and blocked her path.
“It’s okay, he’s a friend. We work together.”
“That’s right, we do. Jami, you okay?”
“Yeah,” she answered, although she wasn’t sure what was up with Drago and why he wouldn’t let her move around him.
“Shouldn’t you be at the center?” Mac asked. He was one of the cops who often checked in on the employees at the center while they worked.
“No, I took the day off. Lost another client last night and needed some time.”
“I heard about Sondra. I'm sorry.”
Drago stiffened. It was only a slight move, but as she was stuck staring at his broad back at the moment it wasn’t hard to miss.
“How do you know Sondra?” Drago asked.
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business. How do you know Jami?”
The hostility in Mac’s voice alarmed her.
“This is ridiculous,” she said as she wrestled her way around Drago so she could talk to both men face to face. “Mac this is Drago, Drago this is Mac. He’s a police officer for the Serenity PD. He's absolutely not a threat.”
“Yes, he is.”
“Look, pal. I don’t know who you are, but you should check the attitude.” Mac placed his hand on the butt of his revolver at his side and looked down at her. “Jami, you should come with me.”
These weird possessive vibes coming from both men startled her. What exactly was going on and why did she get the feeling she was missing something?
“Mac, it’s okay. Really. Drago is Sondra’s sister. He and I are discussing her case.”
To her surprise, Mac did not back down or budge even a little. Instead, he continued to stare daggers at Drago who did the same. Whatever pissing contest they were engaged in, she was definitely out of the loop.
“Jami, I think you should let me escort you home. Right now.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
Mac didn’t look at her when he responded. “Call it a hunch.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
“Look, pal,” Mac’s voice deepened to a rumble. “I don’t know who you are or why you're here, but until I get some answers that make me happy, I'm taking her home and away from you.”
Drago grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms. “I am not your pal. And NO you may not take her. She is mine.”
Jami’s head jerked. “Excuse me?”
Both men ignored her.
“That’s not possible. You aren’t possible.”
Drago snorted. “Anything is possible, you imbecile. I may not be from around here, but I do not live under a rock. I’ve heard the rumors about the OTM’s and I believe I’ve found one of them. So, if you so much as breathe in her personal space right now, we’re all going to have a huge problem. I only have so much control. Unless you’re looking for a public spectacle. Then I can accommodate you, no problem. Is that the way you want this to go?”
“What is an OTM?” Jami questioned, looking from one man to the other. Obviously it was an acronym for something, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what.
Over the moon.
Order the man.
Oven time meat.
She shook her head as the oddball ideas flew threw her head as fast as she could think them.
“Shit!” Mac turned to her, but didn’t approach her. “I’m going to have to call this in. You two have to talk to the others. We can go in together.”
Drago shook his head, making heat rise between the again. Now she was starting to get freaked out. Whatever these waves of warmth were they couldn't be normal. No matter how good they felt or where they made her tingle.
“Look,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere with anyone until someone starts explaining.” She raised her hand to stop them both from speaking yet. “And don’t try to give me some bullshit. Whatever this is I want to know the truth. And stick to the facts. I can't take anything else rig
ht now, okay?”
Mac nodded and Drago frowned.
“We can’t do it here, though. Let’s go somewhere private," Mac insisted.
“My hotel,” Drago said. “I have a suite and we can order a meal.”
Jami stared at him, unsure what to say. This whole situation had gone past crazy and straight into surreal. Maxim Drago wanted her to come to dinner so they could talk? With Mac there too?
What did he have to do with her and Drago discussing Sondra's death? Too much was happening too fast. Unless Mac was part of the investigative team.
She sighed. The smart part of her told her to walk away. Just turn around and get as far away from these two men as possible. Her gut told her whatever they had going on wasn’t going to be good. But she’d known Mac as long as she’d been in Serenity and she had no reason not to trust him. And there were so many unanswered questions. Starting with that damned acronym that she couldn't stop thinking about.
Older troubled map.
Only two mothers.
Ugh. She wanted to scream to make that voice in her head stop.
"I'm not going anywhere with anyone until I get at least one answer."
The both looked at her.
"What's that?" Mac asked.
Drago was already looking at her like he knew exactly what she wanted to know. And she couldn't decide if he was dying to tell her or if he wanted to throw her over his shoulder and run.
"What does OTM stand for? That's it. If you tell me that, we can go back to your hotel and you can explain the rest of whatever this is between you two."
"There's nothing—" Mac started before Drago interrupted him.
"One true mate. That's what it stands for and I think you might be mine."
Jami didn't know why, but for a brief few seconds the world fell away as her brain wrapped around those three little words. Then it began to spin.
Chapter Six
Drago scooped down and hooked his arm under Jami’s knees and lifted her into his arms.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Her words were weak, but her outrage not so much.
“I’m taking you back to my hotel before you pass out.”