by Sam Crescent
As mundane as it was, Cammi lived life the way she wanted and nothing, besides a blood clause in a contract, something that would never happen again, would change that.
The whole mess with Lavinia had just reminded her that as careful as she thought she was, it was never enough.
And her captor seemed like the type who would keep her on her toes. He’d been around a while, as his comment about Agincourt would have her believe, so he would be worldly and had probably dealt with his fair share of shifty characters. Which would make him formidable. If not in body but in mind as well.
Again, specifics about him would be wonderful.
But was she was going to get any? Probably not.
She lightly touched her hand to the door and was immediately rewarded with a zap of energy.
Booby-trapped. As expected.
Cammi shook her numbed hand as she weighed her other options.
The window would be as well, though escape that way was out of her skill set. What she wouldn’t give for some Sky cakes right now from her favorite bakery. A few seconds of flight would definitely ease the fall, even from this height.
She didn’t need to look down at herself to be reminded that she had nothing but her skin on under the sheet. What did surprise her, however, was there were no new cuts or bruises anywhere on her body. After the storm in the cave, she’d been sure her flesh had been flayed from her bones.
And yet, her skin was relatively smooth. Cammi had been breaking in and out of places most of her life and her body bore the scars of mistakes and mishaps that had come with the jobs.
Guess she wouldn’t have any reminders of this one.
Not that she needed one. The biggest feat she’d ever managed and it had amounted to nothing.
Except incarceration. By some hot, exasperating male.
All that was enough to burn itself in her memory.
Cammi’s attention drifted toward the windows again. Perhaps jumping to her death would be preferable to being kept there? He’d obviously wanted her naked otherwise wouldn’t he have provided her with clothing? And there was only one reason for wanting her naked.
She’d sworn by every goddess old and new in both worlds she’d inhabited that she would never succumb to a male. She’d seen what loving her father had done to her mother. The nights she’d listened to her mother crying, pining for her lover who had abandoned her and their child, had ingrained a deep aversion to the opposite sex.
Of course, she probably had a mate she was fated to but she’d made sure to stay away from any entanglements. Even went as far as to avoid them. If there was any hint of a spark, she would head in the opposite direction.
And her captor? He made her skin prickle and her body throb with unwanted compulsions.
She looked out the window again, unsettled by what she felt just thinking about him.
Cammi touched the glass and was rewarded with a stronger shock than the door had given her. Snorting, she took a step back. It was just a zap. If she breached the barrier and got through it fast enough, then that would be it.
She gazed at the world below.
London would have its fill of creatures from the other side of the veil. She could find someone who was willing to help her, at least to find some clothes and a way back, surely.
There was only one way to find out.
“This would be so much easier with my charms,” she muttered. Cammi backed up against the far wall. She quickly dropped the sheet and kicked it aside.
This would only hurt for a brief moment. The glass might have been thick and reinforced against a human, but she should get through it just fine. When she hit the ground, however, it would hurt for a bit longer. But a healer would be able to patch her right back up again. It would be a while before she’d able to work, but she’d be free.
Freedom was all that mattered.
Taking a few deep breaths, Cammi pushed off the wall and ran as fast as she could at the window. Using her elbow as a point, she rammed it into the glass.
As she suspected, the pain was immense—almost immobilizing—but then it stopped.
And the fall began.
The air immediately thickened and electricity wrapped around her.
Daylight eclipsed and an ear-shattering roar came from above just an instant before clawed feet gripped her within them. Then a sickening jerk as her momentum changed and she started to travel upward.
Since twisting around in the rough, tight scaly cage without tearing her skin off was an impossibility, Cammi turned her head as far as she could. Only to be forced to duck from the fierce gusts of wind that sucked the breath from her lungs. It didn’t take long to work out the rhythm of the gusts and she managed a peek at huge leathery wings and a long neck and tail. Huge plates of scale such a dark blue they appeared black.
It couldn’t be.
Too stunned to struggle, she clung limply as the dragon that held her craned his head to glare at her with angry, electric-blue eyes.
Their piercing gaze was the last thing that passed through her mind before a surge of power rocketed through her and knocked her unconscious.
Chapter Three
Aldric stared down at the halfling.
Had she gone out of her mind? What was she thinking jumping through the window like that?
She was tougher and much crazier than he could have ever believed.
What if he hadn’t noticed or hadn’t been able to transform? What if he’d been a wood elf or a selkie and therefore completely useless in the air? What then?
Fool of a female.
He had sensed her testing his wards, but he hadn’t been expecting her to try anything as insane as jumping through them and the glass. Not when they were so high up. He’d obviously underestimated her desperation to get away from him. What did that mean? Had she done something that warranted such fear?
Or was it him she wanted to get away from?
Was he so repulsive?
He wasn’t keen on either idea.
The thought of keeping her unconscious until he figured out what he was going to do with her popped into his head and put a wry smile on his face.
Another notion wiped it off just as quickly.
Why had he saved her?
Again?
Aldric studied her face as he pondered. She had to be the most maddening and irritating creature he’d encountered in all his very long life. And utterly fascinating. A distraction from his staid and predictable life.
That had to be it.
She was a spark that had caught his attention. Nothing more. Soon it would fade and he’d move on to the next diversion.
In the meantime, he’d enjoy the interlude.
Even if it did mean protecting her from herself.
How could someone so self-destructive have survived the things she had?
He’d been intrigued enough by her to look into her life and had been going through the information he’d managed to dig up about her before her swan dive out the window. Cammi had led quite the life. An impressive one for a halfling. If given enough time, Aldric believed she could steal every treasure in the world.
And yet she held no wealth.
How odd.
From what she’d said earlier about wanting something for herself just this once, he’d gathered that her acquisitions had been on the behest of someone else. Someone who gained all and left her with nothing.
The injustice of it all irritated him. He was a fair man. More than. There was nothing he liked more than for people to get what they deserved.
It was what kept the universe in balance.
It was why he’d captured Cammi in the first place. She’d tried to break into his vault and therefore deserved to be punished.
The more he learned about her, however, the less inclined he was to keep her.
For that reason, at least.
She intrigued him.
“I’m getting sick of waking up with you staring at me.”
Even if she was exa
sperating. Her voice put a wry smile on his face yet again. “If you stopped doing things that required you to be incapacitated, you wouldn’t have this problem.”
“You could have just let me go.”
“Or you could say thank you, this time.”
“For what? Locking me up again?”
“For saving your life. Again.”
She sat up, once again indignant. “I was going to be fine.”
“You don’t know that. Not only did you get a good zap from the wards, but we’re sixty floors up. You’d have made one hell of a mess on the pavement.”
The look she gave him was completely unimpressed. “I’ve been through worse and come out the other side just fine.”
After weeks of intensive magic and rehabilitation. Did the woman have no sense? “There are some things no magic in the world can bring you back from, little one.” He should know. The weight of those he’d lost over the years was an ever-growing burden on his shoulders.
The look in her eyes softened but her words didn’t. “Why do you care?”
“I am only going to say this once, so listen well. There is precious little in this world that I care enough to save. And you, I believe, are worth the effort. With a Cull coming, I’d rather the good stay and the wicked go.”
She blinked up at him. “But you … I’m a thief. You obviously think I’m trash.”
“I never said that.”
****
Cammi stared up at him. He hadn’t. Not explicitly, but he looked down on her. It was clear in his every word and glance.
And he had no right considering he was a liar.
“You lied to me.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I did not.”
“You said you weren’t a dragon.”
The corners of his sensuous mouth curved slightly upward. “I said I wasn’t a treasure dragon.”
“But you are a dragon.” Getting slightly breathless, Cammi sat up straighter. “You’re supposed to be extinct.”
He crossed his arms. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“Not disappointed…” Not in the least. Now his haughty attitude made sense. And all the electricity everywhere. And the weird tornado in the cave. Her jaw dropped again. “You’re a storm dragon.”
His smile was wry. “Finally figured that out, have you?”
She didn’t care that he was being an ass. She was looking at a real live dragon. “But how? Everyone knows that dragons had all been destroyed, what, two Culls ago?” For over a thousand years, they were thought to be gone from the world.
He shrugged. “Not all of us.”
“So, there are more?”
He peered into her eyes and did a great job of making her feel even more naked. “Does it matter? Or are you interested because you want to hitch yourself to one?”
“What’s your problem? I’m just curious. No one has seen or heard from a dragon in millennia and now I find out there are still some out there.”
He stood tall over her. “The reason there are any of us alive at all is because no one knows about us. Understand?”
“I’m insulted.” How could he think that she would endanger an entire race? What did he think she was? An idiot?
“I just want to make sure we’re on the same wavelength.”
Now that he wasn’t insinuating she was a moron, his gaze swept lower over her body. For someone who didn’t think she was a prize, he sure liked to look at her. What annoyed her even more was that her body responded to his attention as if he’d actually touched her.
She crossed her arms over her chest, hoping to hide the way her nipples had tightened. What was wrong with her?
So, Cammi went on the offensive. “If you want to keep your existence a secret, why are you keeping me here? And why tell me anything at all? It seems to me if you’re so desperate to stay hidden from the world you should have just left me to your trap.”
“Maybe I should have.” His expression stayed bored but his eyes threatened to burn a hole through her head.
“So why did you?” Did he see something in her worth saving?
He actually looked as perplexed as she felt. “I don’t know? Reflex?”
So much for that thought. Cammi sat, staring up at him in equal parts awe and vexation. “Will you let me go if I promise not to tell anyone your little secret?”
“Little?” The diminution of what he’d told her didn’t amuse him as much as it did her. “No. Not until I know I can trust you.”
“And keeping me here is going to endear me to you, how?”
The galling male shrugged.
They stared at one another for a few long seconds before he broke the silence. “Are you hungry?”
She nodded. “And cold.”
“I’ve got clothes coming for you.”
“Oh.”
He stared at her, his eyes blazing. “You thought I was a pervert who wanted a stranger lounging around his home naked?”
She couldn’t stop the color from flooding her cheeks.
“I see.”
“I don’t know anything about you. For all I know, you could have been a lust demon, you have the looks … and the … the…” Cammi’s voice withered and died in her throat. What had possessed her to say that?
“The what?” he prompted, appearing interested in what she had to say for the first time during their short acquaintance.
“I … I…” Clamping her mouth shut before she said something even more stupid, Cammi wrapped the sheet tightly around herself. “You seem like the type of man who is all about the propriety, and yet here I am practically nude, about to have a meal with you and I still don’t know your name.”
As far as topic changes went, it wasn’t the smoothest, but it seemed that he was going to let it slide. At least for now.
“Aldric.”
The name certainly fit him. Stately. Old. Fusty.
“You have something to say about my name?”
She shook her head. “A pleasure to meet you.”
Aldric said nothing but nodded in acknowledgment. “Would you like to come out now or would you rather wait until after your clothing arrives?”
“What’s wrong with the clothes I had?”
“They were destroyed, but for a few scraps.” He motioned to the door. “I have them still, if you’d like to see.”
“I believe you.” Hiding in the room was ridiculous after he’d seen her naked at least twice now. If he was going to do anything, wouldn’t he have done so by now? Chewing her bottom lip, Cammi sighed. “Turn around.”
Looking a bit puzzled, he did as she asked. Cammi quickly folded the sheet then wrapped it around herself sarong-style, tucking the end securely between her breasts. “Okay.”
Aldric peeked over his shoulder before turning fully. “You know, you could have borrowed my robe or something.”
Cammi shrugged and picked up the hem of her makeshift outfit clear of her feet as if it was a fancy gown. “This will do for now. You said something about food?”
She caught the slight shake of his head as Aldric took the lead through the apartment. Walking closely behind him was a mistake. The scent of him. Was it some sort of expensive cologne? Pheromones? Something concocted by some alchemist on the other side?
Whatever it was, Cammi’s entire body reacted to the scent of him to the point she had to grit her teeth and hold her breath before she grabbed him and pressed her nose, and everything else, against him.
It wasn’t natural. It couldn’t be. He was messing with her mind.
Fighting her every instinct, she followed him down the stairs and to the first floor and nearly sagged with relief when they finally had space between them.
She wandered a little ways both to get some air and to get a better look at the apartment. Calling his home an apartment was a huge understatement, however. Cammi was right when she thought the place was luxurious. But the predominantly bare room she’d been in previously only hinted at the luxury that Aldric lived in.
“Your home is fantastic.”
“Thank you.”
Cammi couldn’t help the little giggle that bubbled from her lips.
“What?” Aldric narrowed his gaze at her.
She let out a breathy laugh. “It’s just that you so obviously like to look down on everyone. Not just me.”
Aldric smirked. “I’m a dragon. We like to be up high.” He motioned for her to follow. “What would you like to eat?”
She expected him to go to the kitchen but instead he pulled out his phone. When she gave him a questioning glance, he shrugged. “There’s an excellent restaurant in the building and I don’t keep much in the kitchen.”
The problems of the wealthy…
“I’m fine with whatever you want to get.” She cleared her throat. “Thank you. For this and for everything.”
“That sounded rusty.”
Couldn’t he just let things slide just once? Fighting the urge to stick her tongue out at him, she walked over to the windows. “I do appreciate it. It’s just been a long time since anyone has looked out for me.”
He nodded as he dialed and made a quick order.
Guess she wasn’t going to get anything fancy. But what did she expect? She wasn’t his date. She was his captive.
Still, he was treating her with care and consideration she didn’t exactly deserve. If the shoe were on the other foot, she’d probably be a raging bitch. She’d worked hard for what little she had. If someone tried to take any of it, she would do whatever it took to protect it.
Guilt wasn’t a feeling she liked to experience. And it was definitely not a good thing for a thief to succumb to. But it was what was pooling like acid in her gut right at that moment.
He was only doing what he deemed was necessary to defend his home and she had no right to complain.
Not that she really had anything to whine about so far. He’d been a good host, considering. She sure as hell wouldn’t be feeding or clothing someone who’d broken into her stuff and invaded her home.