Stop Dragon My Heart Around

by Susanna Scott

  “It was necessary to make sure only the strongest remain on the rolls and vote.”

  “Strongest?”

  “Those with the blood of the people.”

  His plan was crazy, and it would destroy the heart of the tribe. “Let me guess how this plays out. Only the people you decide are true—the people who want the casino—will share in the profit? Makes sense. Fewer people to control. Fewer people to split the money with.”

  James gave her an affronted stare. “The casino will create jobs and make a better life for everyone.”

  “Whatever helps you sleep.” Tee’s hamstring cramped, and she eased up her knee and shook out her leg. The SUV slowed to a rolling stop, and then sped up again. Her internal compass said they were leaving town, headed north, toward the reservation.

  “The Chief is still very influential with a few key people. If I have to, I’ll expose your true parentage to gain his support. I’m hoping you can convince him so that won’t be necessary.”

  Tee looked at him stonily.

  “I don’t want to hurt you.” He put his hand on her knee. It was a hot, clammy weight anchoring her down. Tee sensed his intentions were about more than the tribal vote. He wanted her too. Her stomach twisted with the knowledge. “I care for you. With you at my side, we can chart a new way forward for the tribe.”

  “I don’t get involved with reservation politics,” Tee managed. “I’m the last person the Chief would listen to.”

  James looked frustrated and pulled back to his side of the vehicle. “I hoped that it wouldn’t come to this. I hoped you would see reason and do what’s right. You know the tribe needs a more progressive future.”

  “The only reason I see is money in your pocket.” Tee could tell she hit a nerve by the way his lips tightened, making his tanned skin white at the edges. She pressed on, the fight firing through her system. “I hear it takes half a mil to become a doctor these days. Did your student loans get to be too much for you?”

  “You don’t know anything about the sacrifices I’ve made.” James took a calming breath and smiled. “You and the Chief won’t have a choice. You’ll both publicly endorse the building of the casino, or I’ll expose you.”

  Fury coursed through her, followed by the quick awareness that it was only her own dread of exposure that gave him power. “Go ahead.”

  James sprawled his leg closer to hers so that the fabric of his pants brushed her leg.

  “Do it.” Tee moved her leg away from him. “I’ve no shame over my parentage. The Chief is my father, no matter who was present at my conception. I am and always will be a part of the tribe, no matter what your test shows.” In her heart, the words rang with truth. She felt invulnerable, stronger.

  “You always were good with the bluff.” James’s lips twisted into a cruel line. “The Chief will agree to endorse the casino. He cares about your pride even if you don’t.”

  “No, he won’t.”

  “Yes, he will,” James said. “You’ll go along too, for him. You wouldn’t want him to suffer the shame of misleading the tribe all these years.”

  Tee stared out the tinted windows, needing a minute to think. Would the Chief be so ashamed of her that he’d go against his principles? She didn’t know, but she only had one recourse now.

  “You’re wrong,” she said. “He loves me more than the judgment of the tribe. Besides, children with mixed parentage are born into the tribe every day.”

  “True. But he has deliberately misled the tribe in this instance. It’s dishonorable. Not worthy of an elder gifted with choosing the future path of the people.”

  The SUV swerved suddenly, and Tee tipped to the left into one of the thugs. The driver screamed and James and the other men braced themselves against the walls.

  “What was that?” James asked.

  “A beast!” the driver shouted.

  “That’s ridiculous. Pull over, someone else drive,” James ordered.

  The SUV lurched to the side again and above them, the steel roof opened like a can opener was prying into the vehicle. In the open space, Leo’s golden dragon roared. Flames licked the air above them and heat filled the cabin like a blast from a dry furnace.

  Tee clung to the seat, reacting instinctively. The dragon landed on the roofless SUV and roared again. She put her hands over her ears to block the deafening sound. The thugs next to her squealed and dove to the floor, scrambling for cover.

  “What the hell!” James yelled. He pulled her off the seat and put her between him and the dragon, shielding himself.

  The dragon tilted his head, a slow, calculated movement in the center of the chaos. His golden eyes flared and he seemed to give her a fangy smile. In that moment, Tee thought she saw a hint of Leo in the beast. Leo. Leo the dragon.

  Leo would save her.

  “Let me go!” Tee squirmed against James and tried to break his hold, but his arm was a band around her waist. Wind rushed into the SUV through the opening in the roof.

  “No way,” James yelled in her ear.

  The dragon roared and pounced forward, swiping a claw at James.

  Swaying with the SUV’s movement, Tee climbed upright so her upper body was outside the gash in the roof. Wind pulled at her hair and tugged it behind her.

  The dragon closed his claw around her waist and leaped into the air, extracting her cleanly from the SUV. The dragon veered so that Tee was suspended in the air, as if on an unharnessed, code-violating, carnival ride. Wind whirled around her and she squeezed her eyes shut and held on. Under her hand, the dragon’s claw was hard sinew and bone.

  The Youngs stopped the SUV on the side of the highway and jumped out.

  The golden dragon tucked Tee closer under his chest and roared. Flames engulfed the vehicle, and the smell of flint hitting steel filled her nose. With her next heartbeat, the beast dove, swooping to the left of the SUV. The dragon scraped the talons of his rear leg across the vehicle’s side, leaving open gashes behind. Tee ducked her ears under her shoulders against the awful screeching.

  The dragon soared upward, hovering and backstroking in the air. He roared again at the men before racing toward the clouds. Tee couldn’t hear anything but the fury of her heartbeat and the wind. Once he leveled out, he adjusted his grip around her. For a moment, she was falling, and grabbed his leg, holding on for her life.

  When the sensation of falling receded, Tee peeked through her lashes. A narrow band of blue sky and a hazy horizon greeted her. She tried to pretend she was on a nice, safe, hot-air balloon ride—anything other than being in the grip of a huge dragon who’d just scorched and dive-bombed an SUV and saved her.

  And saved her. Maybe a dragon partner wasn’t such a bad thing.

  Laughter bubbled in her chest and burst forth. It was all too much, the relief, the terror, and her mind cracked on a fissure of hilarity. Dragons and unknown fathers, tribal blood testing and kidnapping.

  What would happen next?

  “Tee.” Leo’s voice spoke in her head. All calm, reassuring, sounding like they were having dinner at the Crown Jewel. “Are you okay, why are you laughing?”

  “I just—you saved me.”

  “What did you expect me to do?”

  “I just. I didn’t think a dragon could be—” Her thoughts trailed off as she searched for the right word.

  “Good?” Leo supplied. “You didn’t think my dragon could be good?”

  “Yes.” Tee processed the information, along with her new awareness of Leo within the beast. The dragon had acted courageously to save her. Not once had she thought it would turn its awful fangs on her.

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I didn’t understand before.”

  The dragon leveled out below the clouds and slowed his pace. They were over the desert, away from the interstate. Clouds, blue sky, wings stroking, wind, quiet.

  “You’re safe with me. Always. Whether I’m in this form or my human form.”

  Tee believed him. She’d moved past the paralyzing terror. Sh
e was now able to think about her situation rationally. Curiosity surfaced from the rubble of adrenaline and fear.

  She focused on her hand. It was at eye level, holding the dragon’s golden-scaled leg. Her fingers were white from the tightness of her grip. Under her fingers, the creature’s skin was surprisingly soft, warm, and supple. Leather feeling. Which she supposed made sense.

  Silver talons cradled her lower body in a swing. Her black hair tangled around its leg, but she couldn’t pull it free without releasing her grip. Even believing he would catch her, every instinct demanded she hold on tight.

  The dragon’s other front leg cradled her shins at a ninety-degree angle, recliner-ish. Her sensible shoes were both gone. Below, the brown earth raced by and her breath slammed in her throat. Fear gripped her again, and she tried to think.

  They were over the desert—a view she’d seen a hundred times from a plane window, but with thick steel and glass protecting her from a fall. Shivers shook her shoulders, and breath puffed in and out of her mouth. “I’m cold,” Tee mentally said to Leo. “Really cold.”

  “You’re in shock.”

  He immediately dropped lower, and her stomach bumped the bottom of her ribcage. Her diaphragm compressed and she sputtered for air. Again, the dragon dropped elevation.

  He was taking it easy for her.

  The air warmed fractionally as they approached the distinct skyline of the strip. The mash up of the Statue of Liberty and an Egyptian pyramid anchored one end and City Center stood on the other, its glass reflecting the sun like a prism. Someone had told her they used one million square feet of glass on the city center construction. Funny to think of such a thing while riding with a dragon.

  “I’m going to land on top of the Crown Jewel,” Leo said.

  “Will they see us? The tourists?”

  “They won’t. They never notice our coming and going. They think we are a part of the Crown Jewel casino show.”

  “The mechanical dragons are a decoy?”

  “Most of them are real dragons.” He swooped up the gilded exterior of the casino and set her gently on the grassy roof of the Crown Jewel. Tee’s legs gave out and she crumpled in an inelegant pile.

  Leo shifted to his human form and hurried to her.

  “Are you all right?” His human voice conveyed more franticness than his thoughts.

  Tee stood, but had to grab him for support. “I just got kidnapped, and stabbed in the arm, and rescued by a dragon. How exactly do you think I should be?”

  “Relieved?”

  She checked her retort. Fear still ran with spiky beats through her system. “Maybe later.”

  Leo opened his arms and she went straight into them. His grasp was warm and solid and capable. “My personal suite is in this tower.”

  “Forgive me for not understanding about your dragon. I was wrong.”

  “I do.” He scooped her up as if she weighed no more than a child. Tee let herself be carried inside one of the Crown Jewel’s tines, which was actually a tower. “I have the top floor.” He punched a button in the elevator with his elbow and then settled her back against his chest.

  The swish-swish of his heartbeat under her ear made everything seem so normal. The urge to flee retreated. The warmth and steadiness of him seeped into her frightened pores.

  “They took my blood,” she murmured against his chest. His arms tightened and she could see anger tighten his jaw. “James kidnapped me to get me to help him pass the casino project. Roy told them where to find me.”

  A muscle throbbed at Leo’s cheekbone, the only sign of his anger. He kept his clasp around her waist gentle. It was more evidence that he could be trusted to control himself. Tee relaxed gratefully.

  The elevator door binged open, and he carried her across the threshold into a spacious, contemporarily decorated penthouse. A geometric black and white painting hung behind a white couch, and a wall of windows displayed the bluest of blue skies. White carpet covered the floors, and red accent pieces lined white bookshelves and end tables.

  “Wow.” From his arms, Tee stared at her grubby bare feet and torn pants. “I don’t think I should walk on your carpet.” The penthouse had a too pristine, minimalist vibe. Leo had definitely employed some professional, hoity-toity decorator.

  The room needed a colored throw rug—or two, or three.

  Leo strode across the plush white carpet and sat down with her on the white couch. He pulled her back into his arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

  “I was scared to death for you,” he said.

  “I’m all right now.” She tried to look him in the face, but he had his thumbs pushed into his closed eyes. “Leo,” she said. She tugged his hands away and the look he gave her was raw and scared.

  “I thought you were dead,” he whispered. “I don’t think I could live without you now. You’re everything to me.”

  “I’m okay,” she said.

  Leo stared hard at her. “I love you. Say you’ll come back to me now.”

  The truth resonated in her soul. Man, dragon, whatever he was, he was hers. Happiness spread through her, swift and sure and strong.

  “I love you too. I don’t want to be apart from you either, and I don’t want you to lose your dragon.” She paused, letting the words float, seeing if she wanted to call them back. She didn’t. Somehow, in the flight and the rescue, she’d lost her fear of being mated to him. “I think I could get used to your dragon with enough time.”

  “You could?”

  “Yes,” Tee answered. “You seem to be more in control of him than he is of you.”

  “I am.”

  “Then I’m yours.” She ran her fingers inside the buttoned edges of his shirt, feeling the comforting familiarity of his human skin. There was still no doubt which of Leo’s forms she preferred. The man.

  Love swelled through her. They still had a lot to work out. She wasn’t sure how the whole dragon thing would fit into the life she wanted. But she knew she belonged with him. Being in his arms was an oasis from the real world as much as their campsite had been in the desert. Desire slammed into her with sudden, intense need, every bit as strong as her previous fear for her life.

  “You ever hear about near-death sex?” Tee stood, unbuckled her torn pants, and let them drop with her underwear. She stepped back to him and playfully ran a finger along the inseam of his pants until her hand found his manhood. It jumped a little under her fingers.

  “Near-death sex?” Leo smiled. “Never. You’ll have to show me.”

  “It’s the need to prove you’re alive.” She shed her black blazer and went to work on the buttons of her white silk shirt. “I need to prove I’m alive.”

  He watched the downward progress of her fingers through hooded eyes. Then he lifted her and set her over him, steadying her hips and kneading her bare skin.

  Stroking her, loving her.

  “Oh, you’re definitely alive.” The words were heavily accented and deep.

  Under her, he hardened, pressing into her inner folds. The muscles of her stomach just above her pubis tightened with throbbing need and her lower body jerked against him.

  She wanted out of the rest of her clothes. She wanted to feel his skin on hers. She shed the blouse. “Wanna give it a try?”

  Leo cradled her jawline, his eyes searching. “I don’t want near-death sex. I want the rest-of-my-life sex.”

  Emotion clogged Tee’s throat. She rested her forehead against his, lost in the moment. “Okay.”

  “Okay?” he asked.

  He dropped his hand to the top of her breast and traced the line of her bra. Beneath his touch, her nipples stiffened and grew heavy. Her whole body pulsed with need. She unclasped the bra, and let it drop.

  “Yes to rest-of-our-life sex.” She leaned closer and kissed him.

  He growled deep in his throat. “You’re mine.”

  She had no time to be shocked. Leo stood with her in his arms and flipped her under him on the couch. “Say it,”
he demanded. “You’re mine.”

  No trace of the laughing, playful Leo remained in his expression. He was as close to his beast in that moment as she’d ever seen him. She wasn’t afraid. She wanted him. She wanted this. Need flamed through her.

  “I’m yours.”

  Leo shed his clothes and crawled over her, covering her body with his. Their skin touched from ankles to groin to breasts. Tee leaned upward, trying to feel every part of him, to sink her pores into his.

  “Yes.” She sighed with relief.

  He pinned her wrists above her head and reached between her legs with his other hand, stroking her, in and out, bringing wetness to her folds. His breathing was harsh and rapid, and on that rhythm, her need built. Racing.

  Fast and sudden. There was no incremental build-up this time.

  She trembled, and Leo released her wrists to move his mouth down her body. He circled her nub with his tongue, and the sensitive skin gave way in a rush of shaking spasms that spiraled her over the edge to a violent orgasm.

  “Ohh!”

  “Now,” he said.

  He pushed deep inside her while her muscles were still shaking.

  Tee cried out in pleasure, her back bowing off the couch. He slid out a couple of inches and then entered her again, filling her completely. He stretched her wide open to him, and she opened her body and heart and soul. The sound of their breathing filled the penthouse, and all Tee could think was more. More of him. All of him.

  Leo grabbed her hips and pulled her hard to him, crushing her deep into the couch cushions. He squeezed her nipples in time with the rhythmic movement of his hips. His thrusts sank deep, and his pause at her entrance was less than a second before he crashed back into her.

  Her body turned inside out, reaching for him with all of her nerve endings. Her need tightened, growing in wave after wave of pleasure. She clung to him until she exploded and her mind flew away on a sweeping second release.

  “Mine,” Leo cried out and came with a deep groan as his body shook and settled on top of hers.

  “Yours,” Tee managed with a contented sigh.