by Mel Teshco
“Stop!” she said, her voice strangled.
“You didn’t want me to stop then, did you?”
“Yes ... no.”
He exhaled roughly, jubilant that she at last acknowledged the truth. And though the lustful male side of him wished he could press his advantage, his warrior side knew better. They needed to get out of this town fast. And he needed some sleep, almost as much as he needed to be inside her.
His dick jerked and he said gruffly, “We should get moving.”
“Where?”
He turned and strode back along the sidewalk, gratified to see she immediately followed him. “To the next town.” Followed by the next one, and the next one after that. “We just need to find another car ... something that I don’t have to squeeze into.”
She sighed heavily. “So we can add stealing to our growing list of misdemeanors?”
“Misdemeanors?”
“Yeah. Illegal stuff. Things we shouldn’t be doing. You know, the opposite of the right thing to do.”
He glanced left and right, discarding those cars that were too flashy, too small, or too noticeable. Then he saw the perfect SUV Land Rover parked on a paved driveway. The SUV even had a bull bar that’d probably been fitted for protection against hitting kangaroos—perfect for mowing down any Tantonic fuckers that got in his way.
He stifled a flash of triumph to send her a sympathetic look. “Sorry. But that list will probably keep on growing.”
She pressed the heel of her hand to her brow. “Just ... whatever you’ve got to do, get it over and done with.”
He nodded. “This shouldn’t take too long.”
He strode toward the brick and tile home. But even before his booted feet hit the front path he heard the enraged male voice inside the house.
“I don’t know what the hell I see in you! I work my ass off all week just to come home to this mess!”
“Lemmie, it’s just a few dishes.”
“You obviously do nothing all day and night! Just sit on your ass while I bring in the money.”
“You know there’s no work around here, or I’d contribute to the bills. And since I miscarried—“
“Oh don’t you dare use that as an excuse—“
Baron rapped hard on the door, cutting off the verbal tirade. His inner dragon growled, and Baron completely understood. If there was one thing he despised, it was a male devaluing a female’s worth.
Riddich men prided themselves on honoring their women.
He grimaced. Not that he’d honored anyone—least of all King Asher—when he’d given into Rhyhana’s seduction.
But it went beyond reproach when a man felt no sense of loss or grief for his own offspring. Children were something to be cherished in life, and deeply mourned in death. And the mother of that child needed comfort, not hostility and anger.
Footsteps sounded and a hard-faced man with red-tinged eyes and a sour breath—alcohol?—swung open the door. “Yeah? What the fuck do you want?” But then he looked up at Baron’s even harder face, and the man’s mouth dropped open. Alarm flashed in his eyes and his face drained of color.
Baron did a vague press into the other man’s mind, but already knew there’d be very little will power. It was probably why the man had given into ugly vices like domestic abuse. He had no doubt alcohol and drugs could also be added to the man’s flaws.
Baron smiled coldly. “I want your car. And I expect your wife will be leaving you too.”
Chapter Six
Although Piper stood back a little from Baron, she was all too aware of the other man’s shock; followed by the hot accusations he directed Baron’s way.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” His lips flattened, his eyes protruding. “Holy shit, have you been seeing my wife? No one—“
“My name is Baron. I’m a shape shifting, alien-dragon who captained an army of the likes of which you’ve never seen. But you soon won’t recall any of that.”
Piper’s belly did a strange little flip. So Baron wasn’t just an alien; he was a dragon shape shifter. Holy hell. Little wonder her senses had gone off in his presence. Little wonder he captivated her without even trying. He had a presence and a charisma, which couldn’t be masked.
Even without his impressive height and stature she’d known he was powerful. He carried himself with an easy assurance and authority that bespoke a man who knew what he wanted and how to get it. As a shape shifting dragon and captain of a Riddich army, she had no doubt that kind of command would be inborn.
She bit into her bottom lip. That he wanted her, even for a short while, was almost inconceivable. What would a great warrior see in a woman that even Earth men didn’t give a second look?
Baron leaned closer to the other man. “Although I’ve never met your wife before now, I’ll ensure she finds someone worthy. Someone unlike you.”
A timid, pale-faced woman appeared in the doorway. “Lemmie, is everything okay?”
Lemmie gave her a look of disgust. “Get back inside you stupid—“
Piper perceived the moment Baron pushed a suggestion into both Lemmie and his wife’s mind. Lemmie’s eyes glazed over and he looked up at Baron like an automaton before he said, “Let me go and get you my car keys.”
Lemmie’s fragile-looking wife suddenly stood taller. Her chin lifted and her shoulders squared. “I’m not leaving this house and I’m never leaving Lemmie.”
Piper gasped, and even Baron looked nonplussed.
He turned to Piper. “That was ... unexpected.”
Piper bit into her bottom lip. “Surely there’s something that can be done if she must stay.”
He nodded. “Maybe.” He turned back to Lemmie’s wife. “Would you please pack some food and drinks.”
She nodded, and this time did as he asked, at about the same time Lemmie returned with the keys. His hand shook as he deposited them into Baron’s outstretched hand. It was obvious the obnoxious, violent man was fighting against the act.
Piper’s lip curled. She’d just bet he’d fight more to keep his precious car than he would to keep his wife.
Baron’s hand closed into a fist over the keys. He looked at Lemmie, his soft voice carrying more dangerous warning than any shouting. “You won’t ever talk to your wife with anything other than respect, because if you do shame will become a sharp, physical ache that won’t ease until you apologize and make it up to her in whatever she asks from you.”
Lemmie’s eyes looked glassier than ever as he nodded obediently.
Baron’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Your wife will become the light of your life. You’ll try and please her above anything or anyone else.”
Piper grinned. If his suggestion worked, Lemmie’s wife would be treated like a queen. Except her glee lasted all of a handful of seconds when she suddenly shivered. She brushed her hands up and down her goose-pimpled arms and scanned the bright sky with its handful of fluffy clouds. A picture perfect day, yet her senses told her otherwise.
“Piper ... is everything okay?”
She looked up at Baron’s query. His nostrils were flared, his whole body alert and tense. She nodded, despite her foreboding. Baron didn’t just have himself to look out for anymore. But if he thought she was a burden, then he could think again! “Yes. But we need to leave soon.”
Lemmie’s wife chose that moment to reappear in the doorway, a bag of groceries in her hand. Lemmie turned to her and gently took the bag. “Honey, let me take that for you. You’ve ran around enough today already.”
His wife gasped and blinked up at him uncertainly. “Lemmie?”
Lemmie gave Baron the bag before he focused on his wife and ran a gentle hand over her head. She jerked back, clearly ready to bolt. His stare turned mournful and his hand dropped back to his side. “I know I have a lot of making up to do.”
Baron nodded at the couple, but they only had eyes for one another even as he said, “I’ll see that the car is returned to you in the next few days.”
Baro
n put his arm around Piper and they strolled toward the SUV. She peeked up at him, feeling overawed. “That was wonderful what you did.”
He smiled down at her. “So it’s okay to manipulate people if it’s for their own good?”
“I think it’s safe to say Lemmie’s wife won’t argue against it.”
Baron opened the passenger door for her. “No matter how weak-willed Lemmie is the suggestion will eventually fade. But with any luck his change of attitude will be so deeply ingrained by then he won’t revert to his bad habits.”
She sighed as he shut the door behind her, enclosing her in the luxurious SUV.
She looked at the couple in the doorway. Lemmie’s wife trembled under his stare, but it was no longer with fear. Hopeful joy was written all over her face. But it’d probably take some time before the poor woman accepted Lemmie’s change of attitude.
Then again it hadn’t taken Piper long to adapt to her new way of life. When Baron had entered the party, everything had changed. He’d opened her eyes to things that weren’t just supernatural. She’d realized her life had been empty and dull and that being with him made her grateful just to be alive.
It was galling to realize the life she’d been living wasn’t even close to the wonderful future she’d envisioned.
Baron placed the bags onto the back seat before he climbed onto the front seat and started the SUV seconds later. Piper exhaled with relief. There was no time to be leisurely. Whatever had prickled her in foreboding hadn’t been human.
She just didn’t know for sure if it’d been the Tantonics closing in or something else entirely. That was the worst thing about her so called ability; she never knew exactly what it was that triggered her senses.
Baron grated the gearstick and Piper pointed to the R on the handle. He nodded once, thrust it into the correct position, then turned his head and reversed out the driveway like a pro.
He thrust the gear into first and Piper turned to him and said, “We’re headed further south?”
Baron nodded. “Yes, you assumed correct the first time.”
So he’d heard her telephone conversation with Rebecca. She had to remember his hearing might be so much better than her own. All five of his senses were probably enhanced compared to her average human ones. Her one and only advantage might well be her extrasensory capability.
He slowed the SUV and then indicated before he turned onto the highway heading south. A flutter of excitement built deep in her belly. “I’ve never even been past the New South Wales border; I’ve always wanted to see Victoria.”
It wasn’t until Baron cast Piper a surprised, yet satisfied smile, that she realized her mistake. Today was her one and only day with Baron. Once the new day dawned he was on his own. And no matter how much she told herself she didn’t care, everything about leaving him sucked big time.
She sank into the gloomy thoughts of what she’d return to at home. Rebecca would be her usual messy housemate who ate half of Piper’s groceries and done little if any cleaning. And her tedious job would still be the same tedious job. Even the idea of returning to her rigorous online accounting course held no appeal whatsoever.
Her life would return to one mind-numbing day unrolling into another.
They’d been on the road for over an hour when she finally noted Baron’s tiredness. He literally drooped over the steering wheel, his face pale and fatigued.
She put a hand on his arm, and he jerked as though she’d struck him. She bit into her bottom lip. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Huh, scare him—as if! She cleared her throat. “But you look shattered.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I haven’t had much sleep. And planting those suggestions all but wiped me out.”
“Then let me drive.”
He glanced at her. “I have no way of knowing if Tantonics are behind us.”
“We’ll worry about them when the time comes. Presently I’d rather worry about the probability of you falling asleep at the wheel.”
He nodded. “Good point.” Unclipping his seatbelt, he waved her over. “Swap seats.”
She stared, her heart rate kicking into overdrive. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“You sensed something earlier, just the same as you sensed me when I was hiding in the dark. I happen to trust your instincts. And right now I think we should keep moving.”
A flush of joy moved through her knowing someone—anyone!—believed in her and her supernatural senses. It was exhilarating after being ridiculed and snubbed for that same ability.
She unclipped her seatbelt. “Okay, I can do this.” She shuffled across to his seat and then carefully sat between his legs. Another little thrill shot through her at the instant thickening of his cock against her ass, and his barely audible groan.
“Are you okay to take the wheel now?” he asked.
She nodded, setting cruise control before she clasped the steering wheel and watched the road. It stretched straight ahead in a seemingly never-ending line, with one side showing an endless progression of stunted gums and indestructible lantana, the other side dusty red-brown paddocks with scrawny cattle.
He released the wheel and shuffled back, and although his bulk made it so much harder to maneuver, his strength and inherent grace allowed him to clamber free without accidentally thumping against her in the process.
She glanced at him as he wilted into the passenger seat and adjusted his seatbelt. “So planting a suggestion really does drain your energy?”
He nodded. “That combined with very little sleep and too few calories makes me far weaker than I’d like.”
“If you need calories you should eat.” She adjusted the rearview mirror to glance at the backseat and the bag of groceries. “It looks as though there’s enough food to restore at least some of your energy.”
She glanced back at him. His head was slumped against the passenger door, his ridiculously long lashes fanning his cheeks. Clearly sleep was more important than calories. She stifled a yawn. It’d been a long night and day. When Baron woke she intended to grab some sleep too.
*
Baron folded his arms behind his head and watched as Rhyhana climbed from his bed and deliberately stretched. Her long mass of midnight-black hair fell past her waist in a waterfall of movement, teasing her butt crack.
His cock jerked back into life, the head glistening from their last round of fucking. He grinned. She was insatiable, their passion almost worth the risk of their king’s wrath.
Almost.
His grin faded. Was the desire and adrenaline of being with Rhyhana already dissolving? In the five short weeks since they’d been together he’d never once truly faced his wrongdoings, but now guilt was a sharp-edged blade that cut deep, bleeding out his betrayal.
A frown furrowed his brow as Rhyhana sashayed through the smoother-pane doors of his steam-jet cubicle to wash away all signs of their intimacy. Even the sight of her tight, pebbled nipples with the backdrop of her heavy, wet hair failed to override the doubts gnawing within.
He sighed heavily. He’d been a bloody fool, thinking with his dick instead of his head. How long did he think he could even continue with this charade? He might live in his own private quarters on the top floor of the palace, reserved for King Asher’s most esteemed members of staff, but gossip travelled fast.
It’d only take a servant to see Rhyhana enter Baron’s quarters, and he’d either be banished from Riddich or imprisoned for life, just the same as the king’s brother, Kadin, had been three years ago.
He drew an outspread hand over his face, his cock wilting at his foolish perfidy. He deserved the king’s wrath and more. He stood and stiffly dressed. He’d search out Asher and break the news to him, before any gossip reached the king’s ears.
He didn’t expect a pardon for his dishonor, but at least he wouldn’t be labeled a coward along with being a traitor. He’d face his punishment and accept whatever he had coming.
Rhyhana looked back at him, her eyes narrowing. “Baron, where
are you going?”
He pulled on his boots. “To see the king.”
“Whatever for?”
He straightened. “To tell him the truth.”
“No!”
He paused. The steam abated at a clap of her hands before she prowled toward him, angry and wet. “You can’t do that.” She blinked, and her face softened, the coldness in her eyes turning warm, coaxing. “Imagine the punishment he’d inflict on us both.” She trailed a long fingernail down his torso. “We’d be lepers, imprisoned or banished from our world, maybe even executed.”
He stepped back from her touch, no longer under her spell. “Maybe we should have thought about that before giving into our urges.” He shook his head. “I’m a soldier, a captain of my king’s army. Asher trusted me above all others.”
“And I’m his mistress,” she hissed. “If he gets even a whiff of our affair, I’ll never step foot in the palace again.”
Baron nodded. “Then you should hope and pray that is all you have to worry about.” He strode toward his door. “Open,” he commanded.
The door slid open simultaneously to a shrill scream further down the corridor. He stilled, his muscles bunched and his ears straining. Nothing. Until an alarm screeched out three sharp beeps, the warning signal for invading Tantonics.
He turned to Rhyhana, his pulse hammering. “We need to leave.”
She nodded, grabbing her webbed dress and pulling it over her head, before she ran toward him. But then she lurched to a stop and gasped, “I left my shoes beside your bed.”
The fact her shoes should be the last thing on her mind didn’t even enter his head. Reaction was his first instinct as he bounded over the bed and grabbed her shoes in one hand. He twisted around, Rhyhana already in the corridor.
Her eyes glittered with unrepentant savagery. “Sorry, but you’ve left me with no choice. I’d rather leave you here to die than being forced from the palace and all my comforts.”
Coldness hit him right to the core. “Rhyhana, don’t.”
Her lip curled and she slammed her hand on the emergency button that would temporarily seal his door and put him in lockdown. The door slid shut, but not before a garbled hiss followed by her short, sharp scream penetrated the room.