CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA UNDERBOSS

by Candace Ayers

  He set his mug on the table and looked into my eyes. I noticed for the first time that they were deep golden brown with hints of green lurking in the back. They were actually quite beautiful. A twinge of guilt prickled me. All this time I'd suspected Jeremy of conspiring against Brett, but it turns out that he was conspiring with Brett. Maybe even helping him.

  "None of that will be necessary," Jeremy said. "Though I appreciate the gusto of your threat." The smile hinted at his lips again. "What do you know about dragons?"

  "They don't exist," I responded automatically. "Er... well, I mean, that's the, uh, conventional wisdom." I sounded like an idiot. Dragons clearly did exist. I'd just seen one. I was working for one.

  "What else?" Jeremy asked. His questions were irritating. He was supposed to be answering questions, not asking them.

  "They breathe fire and... are big and mean and scary. I don't know. Just tell me what's going on."

  Jeremy hesitated. I think he was searching for a way to begin. "Not only do dragons exist, Brett is one... as am I."

  I stared at Jeremy with my mouth hanging open. "You're a dragon?" He nodded. "But... but then why aren't you locked up in some room too? Chained to some wall?"

  "Because," Jeremy said, his eyes sparkling for a second before answering, "I have my treasure to keep me sane."

  "Your treasure?" He nodded again, smiling, as if this explained everything. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?" I asked, annoyed at his cryptic answers.

  Jeremy sighed. "Every dragon has a treasure to hoard. It is what prevents us from losing ourselves to the beast within. You asked why I am not locked up? Because I can control myself. I can shift at will. Brett has lost that ability. He has never found his treasure, and his time has run out. At this point, there is little hope. His control is almost completely gone. When it is, he will be put down."

  My head was swimming. "Put down? Did you say... do you mean… killed?" Jeremy nodded, and I caught a hint of regret in his eyes. "Why? How could you do that?"

  "Because," Jeremy said. "without control, he is dangerous to everyone. Including you."

  “How the hell much treasure does a man… er, dragon need to find?” I waved my arms around indicating the opulence of Brett’s estate. I could only begin to imagine the wealth he’s amassed as one of the most esteemed producers in the industry.

  “A dragon’s treasure is not the same as a treasure in the traditional sense of the word. It’s not necessarily gold, or money. For me, it’s the land I own that calls to my dragon’s heart." Jeremy quietly explained.

  I jumped up from my chair and started pacing the room. "This doesn't make any sense. You know that right? You tell me that dragons are real and they need some sort of treasure to guard or they lose their minds? I feel like I've lost my mind."

  Jeremy shook his head and made little clicking noises that dug into my back like nails. "You need to calm down. Think about this objectively. How can we allow an uncontrolled dragon to live amongst people? He would kill everyone he met. You saw the beast." He stood from the table and poured himself some more tea. "Our people go back a millennium. It is part of our heritage. Part of our clan."

  My head throbbed with too much new information. "You're saying there's a whole clan of you?"

  Jeremy nodded. "In Ireland, where we're from, it's common knowledge. Some say our clan was cursed centuries ago and now its descendants all suffer. Some say our dragon heritage was a gift from the gods to help us defend our villages. Either way, every male descendant for centuries has been born with the power to shift."

  "So," I asked. "What's gone wrong with Brett? If you guys are used to this sort of thing, I'd think he could find his treasure in no time." Jeremy looked sad as he answered my question.

  "It’s not that easy. The treasure is different for every dragon. A man never knows what it will be that his dragon’s heart latches onto—what his dragon treasures."

  "Can't you help him figure it out? I mean, there must be clues."

  Jeremy shook his head. "I've tried. Nothing has worked. After what I saw tonight, I now know that Brett doesn’t have much longer."

  My heart hammered in my chest. "Are you really going to kill him?" I whispered. The idea horrified me. Jeremy didn't answer, he just looked away. He couldn't even meet my eyes.

  I set my mug on the counter and left the room.

  "Where are you going?" Jeremy asked, following me.

  "To see Brett."

  "Not possible," he said.

  I spun around so fast he ran into me. "Not possible? Are you kidding me? After today, anything is possible!" I spun back around and continued towards Brett's room.

  "Of course," Jeremy said, trying to reason with me. He stretched out an arm and put his hand on my shoulder, halting me. "But just because something is possible doesn't mean you should do it. Especially when it's so dangerous."

  I ignored him, but slowed my pace. "He didn't hurt me earlier. He could have if he'd wanted to. He saved me." I squared my shoulders and steadied my gaze. "I trust him."

  Jeremy laughed. It was deep and throaty and irritating as hell. "Trust? There is no trust when it comes to dragons." But I wasn't going to relent so easily. He sighed. "Fine. You want to see Brett? Let me show you then."

  He jumped ahead of me in the hall and now I followed him to Brett's room. Jeremy punched in the key code and pushed the door open. The room was filled with smoke. It stung my eyes. I could barely breathe.

  "Oh my God," I said, panic rising. Despite my desire to run, I stepped into the room. Brett's eyes weren't the blue I'd come to love anymore, they were a muddy brown, flecks of black ran throughout them, making him look almost demonic. He was chained to the wall and thrashed wildly around, trying to break free. His razor claws slashed through the air, and I remembered how close I'd been to them. He roared at me like he didn't even recognize me.

  "Satisfied?" Jeremy asked.

  I nodded. He shut the door and walked me to my room. "Don't worry about the body," he said, and I realized he was referring to Colin. "I'll take care of it." I wondered what that meant exactly. Would he bury Colin's body in a cemetery somewhere? Burn it in a fire? I decided I didn't want to know. I shut the door on him, no longer tired, my mind racing as I tried to think of some way to help Brett before it was too late.

  Chapter 12

  The next morning, I walked to Brett's room with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. I'd thought of a million more questions during the night, and I intended to make him answer them all. I punched the key pad and pushed the door open, the image of Brett as a dragon still etched in my mind. What if he was still a dragon when I went in? What if he was still thrashing around with his giant claws and fire-breath? But, when I stepped inside, he was just Brett. He was sitting on his bed, newly reinforced chains and cuffs strapped to him like a wild animal, which I supposed in many ways he was.

  He looked up as I entered. His eyes focused intently on me as I crossed the room. I wasn't sure, but for a second I thought I saw him blush.

  "Hi there," I said, trying to sound playful. It came out stilted and awkward. I uncuffed him and turned away as he tucked the charred remains of a bedsheet around his waist.

  He stood up, stretching his arms and legs out. "Er... Do you remember last night?" I asked. His eyes answered me with a pained expression. He remembered.

  He looked up at the ceiling for a minute or two. I wanted to start asking my questions, but Brett seemed so frazzled right now that I didn't want to make his frustrations any worse. I finally understood what precipitated his mood swings. He wasn’t suffering from mental illness, he was angry and frustrated that despite all of his success in life, he’d failed at his most important task. He’d failed to find his treasure, and for that failure, punishment would be death.

  "I apologize," he said, his voice strong but his head drooping.

  "For what?" I asked, dumbfounded.

  He looked at me incredulous. "For killing your boyfriend."

 
"Ex-boyfriend," I corrected. "And he deserved what he got for trying to... How could you be sorry? Are you sorry that you saved me from him?" Suddenly I was angry. Angry at the secrets Brett had kept from me. Angry at the connection I felt to him, because I wasn't sure that he felt it too.

  "Of course not," he said. "I'd rip apart anyone who tried to hurt you." His hand reached out and stroked my cheek. I felt a pulse of energy dart from his fingertips to my skin. He quickly retracted his hand. "I'm no good for you," he said.

  "Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" I asked.

  He shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "You need to leave."

  "Fine," I said. "I'll meet you in the dining room. We can have breakfast and talk and maybe—"

  "No," he said, shaking his head, his voice rising and becoming unsteady. "You need to leave this house. Today. Now."

  I smiled, waiting for the joke, only there wasn't one. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

  "It isn't safe for you here any longer."

  "Not safe? After you saved me? This is probably the safest place for me," but I could sense his resistance. "Brett," I said, stepping closer to him so that I could feel his breath on my face. "I don't want to go. I want to stay here. I want to help you." I reached out to caress him and he pushed my hand away.

  "How can you want to help a monster?" he demanded.

  "You're not a monster," I yelled back. "You're a man, like any other.” His laugh was cynical. "Okay, maybe not like any other," I amended. "I just mean that everyone has another side to them. Everyone needs help with something. You're no different."

  "Except that when other men get mad they don't try to eat the person they're arguing with." I laughed—I couldn't help it. It was a bizarre image to conjure in my head. The laughter only made Brett angrier.

  "Do you think this is funny?" he asked. His eyes glowed a bright yellow and his fingers began to transform into talons. My breath caught in my throat and I stepped away from him. His eyes swam with pain as he struggled to hold the dragon inside. Puffs of smoke actually flew from his nostrils. Finally, his head snapped from side to side and his body trembled, and then he was Brett again.

  He stared at me with a menacing look. "You see. I can barely keep it at bay." His eyes were hurting. "You won't go?" he asked.

  I shook my head, my heart hammering. Every synapse in my brain told me to run, but every fiber of my being told me I had to stay. "Then I'll just have to make you leave," Brett said, rushing from the room.

  I ran after him as he crossed the hall to my room.

  "What are you doing?" I asked, as he picked up a suitcase and flung it on the bed.

  "What does it look like?" he snapped.

  "I'm not leaving." I pulled the suitcase off the bed and hurled it across the room. Brett retrieved it without a word and started to fill it with my clothes. My anger was bubbling over the surface, but so was my heartache. If he wanted me to go this badly, maybe I should just leave. His hand touched mine as we struggled over a dress that he was trying to put in. It sent a wild buzz of energy up my skin. I couldn't believe Brett didn't feel it too.

  "This isn't even my dress," I said, holding one end of it, trying to get it away from him so I could put it back in the closet where it belonged.

  "Yes it is," he yelled, "I bought it for you."

  "Well I don't want it. I don't want any of the stuff you bought me."

  He yanked the dress hard and it ripped down the middle. He glared at me and I glared right back at him. "Fine," he said. "Leave the clothes if you don't want them. It matters little to me." But I saw a flash of hurt in his eyes.

  "Why can't I just stay?" I asked. "Let me help you find your treasure. You must have some idea of what it is."

  Slowly, he shook his head. "No," he said. "I haven't a clue. I've tried everything I could think of, but none of it has done any good."

  "So, let me help then. Maybe you're just searching in the wrong places."

  He turned his eyes to me. "No one can help me," he said. "It's too late. I was barely able to pull myself back in my room just now. I can feel my body wanting to shift even as we talk. I have mere days left. Perhaps a week, if I'm lucky. You have to leave. It's for your own safety."

  I shook my head, tears filling my eyes. "I have nowhere else to go," I said. "I've tried making a life here, a career and friends, and until I met you, I'd failed at both. You're the only good thing that has happened to me since moving to L.A. If I leave here now, the only place for me to go is back home. And I won't do that."

  Doubt flickered across Brett's face. "I can't have you stay. What if I hurt you? I'd never forgive myself. Let me get you an apartment. A car. I'll handle everything. You won't have to worry and you can stay in Los Angeles as long as you’d like."

  I turned on him. "You can't buy me Brett! I want to help you because I love you, not because I feel obligated to you."

  "What did you say?" he asked.

  I replayed my words and froze when I realized what he was getting at. "I... I said I love you." I searched myself and realized it was true. It had been since day one. Brett was my heart and soul. I couldn't leave, because my heart was tethered to this place. No, not to this place, to him.

  Brett's cheeks flushed. For a moment, I thought he was going to get angry, but his hands came up to cup either side of my face and his eyes bore a look I’ll never forget. It was the first time anyone had ever looked at me like that… like I was everything.

  Chapter 13

  The energy between us was too intense to ignore, even for Brett. He'd tried to fight it at first, but the attraction was too palpable and I felt him slowly lose himself to his desires. His mouth descended over mine like fire on my skin. I reached my hands up, moving them across his back, feeling his muscles ripple under his skin. I tightened my grip on him, afraid he might pull away at any moment. His lips were sweet tasting and hot as hell as my tongue rolled across them, tasting him.

  My heart pounded in my chest and my breath quickened. "Brett," I whispered. His response was to hoist me up and walk me backward until I felt my back crash against the wall. Instinctively I wrapped my legs around his waist. His body rolled against mine and I could feel Brett’s long, thick erection pushing against the fabric of my clothing. His mouth moved to my neck. He ran his lips over my throat. His teeth grazed the pulse at the base of my neck as my hips continued to rock against him, the bulge under the thin sheet he wore to conceal it hitting me in just the right spot. I could feel a tingling heat burning through my core.

  “Brett…” I choked out, “I want you… inside me.”

  Brett's whole body burned. I could feel it even through his clothes. He swung me around and threw me down on the bed. His chest was a map of muscles—mesas and valleys highlighted in his bronze skin. He was hard as a rock and I wondered how he got this way when I never saw him work out. He pushed me back and crawled over me on the bed.

  "Uh uh..." I murmured, placing one foot against his chest to stop him from getting too close. “Not just yet,” I said slyly. I backed away from him, pushing myself to the corner of the bed (which was so big it could have held eight people) and slowly unbuttoned the shirt I wore. Brett's eyes bugged out of his head as I freed my breasts He looked almost as though he would drool on himself. I reached behind my back and unhooked my bra letting my breasts bounced out, spilling into the open air, full and round. I was enjoying the hell out of the expression on his face as I toyed with him. He looked at my tits like he’d just won the lottery.

  He moved across the bed, a fire flaring in his eyes. I watched him, waiting for his touch. He hands stroked over me, caressing my breasts with long, strong fingers that were surprisingly tender. I arched my back for him. "Don't be shy," I purred. He grinned and leaned into me, his tongue stroking my nipples. They grew hard as pebbles as he worked his tongue over them. It was so evident the enjoyment my body brought him and I relished in it. I’d never had a man worship me the way Brett did.

  I moved closer
to him, wrapping my legs around him. He stopped me, pulling my legs away one at a time and sliding his hand up and over my thighs. He undid my belt buckle with lighting speed and tore my jeans off me. He tossed them aside with a wicked grin.

  "Now what?" I asked, teasing him. I licked my lips and waited to see if he'd take my hint. Brett's mind had already gone there, though, he was a step ahead of me, and when my legs parted for him, he rubbed a finger over the crotch of my panties, already soaking wet. He ripped my panties in two with ease before his tongue sank into me, lapping at the folds of my slick pussy with perfect speed and agility. I moaned and couldn't stop myself from gyrating my body under him. His hands reached out and pushed down on either side of my hips, holding me still.

  "Don't move," he whispered. "I wouldn't want to bite you."

  I looked down to see if he was joking and the smile in his eyes was answer enough. I laid back and tried to be still as his tongue circled my clit, sending shockwaves through my entire body. It felt as though we were meant for each other. I pushed my hips against his mouth and he worked faster, sensing my pleasure with each tremble of my body.

  I wanted to taste him, too. I pushed him backwards, and he let me, lying back on the mattress. I untied the singed sheet that slung low on his waist. I saw him grin as my eyes widened into saucers. "Is that thing real?" I asked, feeling my cheeks burn for asking such a silly question.

  "Last time I checked," he said. I drew him into my mouth before I could say anything else so foolish. He tasted like a cross between red wine, a deep Merlot that ripens with age, and fresh peaches. I drank his bottle, filling myself with the exotic flavors of his manhood as he moaned under me. I explored every inch of his body with my tongue.

  "Are you done examining me?" he asked, teasing me now when I came up for air.

  "That depends," I said. He raised an eyebrow. "On whether or not you're ready to finish what you started."

  His eyes darkened and he rolled me over so that his body was on top of me now. His cock pressed against the folds of my pussy and I felt electric heat spark between us. My body flexed under his, preparing myself for his intimidatingly thick shaft. I shivered in anticipation. "Now," I said, and he thrust himself into me without waiting for another word.