A Mate to Embrace

by Riley Storm

  “I understand,” he said. “Come back with me. Stay in the guest room at my place. I’ll keep my distance as much as you would like. We’ll hang out, we’ll talk, and we’ll see how we feel.”

  She was tempted.

  Could this be it? The moment life has been leading me toward? I have to make a choice now. I don’t have to choose Braz permanently, but if I’m going to ever explore whatever it is between us, now is the time. If I say no now, it’s over. Done.

  What would happen if she said no? Nothing, she decided. Grace would go to bed, head back to Kennewick Falls tomorrow, and she could mostly resume her life as she knew it. Maybe in time she would even forget the whole dragon business.

  Ha, unlikely!

  Okay, scratch that. Flip the question around. What would happen if she said yes?

  The possibilities that flowed forth from that option were many and myriad, and she couldn’t truly distinguish them from one another. That alone told her almost everything she needed to know.

  One option gave her choices, possibilities.

  The other did not.

  “Okay,” she said quietly, not trusting herself to speak at a normal volume.

  “Yeah?” Braz said, brightening.

  “Yes,” she repeated with a bit more conviction. “Let’s go.”

  “Okay,” Braz smiled, his face rife with nervous fear.

  Stepping away from the door as she exited, he walked alongside her, carefully maintaining his distance.

  “Let’s take the stairs,” he said, reaching out to stop her from pressing the button to summon the elevator.

  “Really?”

  He nodded, a new tightness to his face.

  “Okay, sure,” she said, not understanding but deciding that she was going to go with the flow tonight. Whatever happened, happened, and she was not going to regret it. This was a night of saying yes to opportunity, and exploring where life took her.

  “No, the other stairs,” Braz said as she turned to head back the way she’d come.

  “But those are farther?”

  “Please?” he said. “I need to, uh, stretch my legs.”

  “You’re weird,” she said, but laughed and shrugged. “Sure Braz. Lead the way.”

  He smiled and they set off.

  What sort of dragon magic have you cast on me Braz, to pull me out of my shell like this?

  This wasn’t the normal Grace at all. He had done something to her, making her want to be around him. To go back to his house and spend the night—in the guest room!—only half an hour after kissing him for the first time.

  Am I making a mistake, or am I just not willing to admit something to myself yet?

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Braz

  The dash on his truck lit up with an incoming call just as he was pulling through the gates to the house.

  “Finally,” he said, noting that Carla must be working late to be calling him from the department at this hour.

  “I have to use the ladies’ room,” Grace said as he reached for the button to answer the call. “I’ll be inside.”

  He nodded and let her go. Obviously Grace didn’t want to know or hear more about anything going on. She was done with it in her mind, and that was that.

  Braz answered the call. “Hello?”

  “Braz, it’s Carla.”

  “Hey. Late night,” he observed, sitting back in his seat, putting the truck into park.

  “Was waiting for some information to come back. I’m heading home now but I thought you’d want to know this as soon as I got it. Had to do some followup to see if I was right.”

  “Which is?” he asked, not interested in any small talk. All he wanted was the location of Wilson’s hideout hole. That was it.

  “I have it on very good authority that Wilson hired a handful of extra muscle. From Kennewick Falls.”

  Braz thought back to the men he’d dealt with at the hotel, men that had been intent on taking Grace with them. That still bugged him, as he didn’t have enough information to understand it all.

  Why were people still after her? What did Wilson want with her? The other question that was nagging at the back of his brain, was potentially worse.

  What if it wasn’t Wilson that was after her?

  “Any idea how many?” he asked, chewing on his lip.

  “Five to seven. They weren’t sure.”

  “Large increase in his manpower,” Braz observed. “Isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. He’s usually only got three maybe four people directly working for him. There are a few more toughs in town he could call on if necessary, but they’re not regulars. This is a huge step up for him.”

  “He’s scared.” It wasn’t a question.

  “I think so Braz. But why? What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know,” he said in a quiet, frustrated voice. “And if we don’t know where he is, then we won’t be able to find out. Any leads on that front?”

  “Nothing yet,” she said.

  Braz couldn’t see her face, but he could sense that same feeling of frustration. The bad guy had slipped through their hands, and they were no closer to figuring out just what was going on. Grace, and therefore Braz, were caught up in something that they didn’t understand. It left them doing nothing more than reacting, instead of being proactive.

  “Did you get my message about the hotel on Fourth?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Your handiwork?” Carla asked.

  “They were after Grace.”

  “Well we got them. Judging by the names and what we’ve found out, I’d say that’s our new men that Wilson brought in. We can hold them for a bit, but not long.”

  “Twenty-four hours?” he asked, looking at the dash, imploring her to work with him.

  “I’ll try, no promises. They haven’t actually done anything wrong that we can prove to keep them for any longer.”

  Braz grunted. “Right. Well, there’s at least one more out there that I’ve encountered already, so we know it’s more than five that came in. I’ll get to the bottom of this,” he promised.

  Somehow.

  “Okay. Any ideas yet on why they were after her?”

  “No, but judging by the number that he brought in, Wilson knows he’s up against us.”

  “Okay. Keep me up to date, I’ll do the same,” Carla said.

  “Roger.”

  He ended the phone call and sat there for a few minutes. As they’d left the hotel, Braz had texted Carla and told her about the kidnapping attempt. She’d told him she would handle it, but, without actual proof, all she officially had to go on was an anonymous tip.

  Which brought him to his next problem. Braz hadn’t told Grace a thing, and he was still nervous about whether or not he should.

  Turning off the truck he decided to push that decision off a little longer. He needed to solve the case by tomorrow anyway, otherwise it was going to blow up in his face. Wilson’s men would be released, Grace would head back to Kennewick Falls, and Braz had no idea what he was going to do.

  Time was running out.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Grace

  There was a knock at the door.

  “It’s open,” she said even as she got up to open it. Knowing Braz he would wait for her anyway.

  She pulled it open and let him in. He walked over to the bed and deposited the bags there. Only hers, she noted. He must have left his in the car.

  “Thank you,” she said, half-heartedly pawing through the new additions to her wardrobe. Despite her earlier protests, Grace had eventually caved in and allowed Braz to spoil her. It had made him happy, which was nice, but it also gave them an excuse to continue hanging out for longer. Her own spending money would have run out much earlier.

  There was a little guilt about it, but it faded as Braz flopped into one of the chairs off to the left of the bed, the ‘sitting’ area of the room. It wouldn’t be accurate to call it a bedroom, because there was an entire area with a couch, two chairs and a televisi
on, coffee table and end tables attached.

  She moved to join him, but carefully chose to sit on the couch instead, keeping some distance between them. Grace meant to keep her word. She would stay the night there, and hang out with him, but they were sleeping in separate rooms. That was absolutely non-negotiable on her part.

  “I’m going to cover the cost of your hotel room too,” Braz said abruptly. “I know you don’t need me to, but I want to. The last thing you need is to worry about the sunk cost.”

  Grace frowned. “I don’t know Braz. You already spent a lot of money on me today.”

  “I know, but I don’t want you to secretly resent me for it or anything.” He shrugged. “I have a lot of money, let’s be honest, not that it’s really a secret at this point. It’s no use if I can’t spend it on something.”

  “That’s not how you keep having a lot of money,” she pointed out.

  Braz laughed. “You’ll notice I said I was covering the cost of the room for the night, not buying the hotel itself.”

  She couldn’t help herself, Grace giggled at the joke. It wasn’t her usual laugh, but more of a gentle trill. The sound someone makes when they’re completely and totally relaxed around another person.

  Except I’m not relaxed. I’m wired to the bloody walls. What the heck is going on with me?

  It took an extra moment for Grace to understand that she had been subconsciously flirting with Braz. That’s what her laugh had been.

  “Hey, what’s that?” she asked as he shifted position on the chair.

  “What’s what?”

  Grace crawled over the couch and grabbed at his shirt. There was a jagged opening halfway down his left side, several inches in diameter. “This. How did you manage to tear your shirt? That wasn’t there at dinner.”

  Braz inspected the royal blue material, sticking his finger through it. “Huh. I have no idea. That sucks.”

  “I could probably sew it closed if you’d like,” she offered, looking at it, imagining in her mind’s eye how she would close it.

  Offer made, she could have just dropped the shirt and it would have fallen back into place. That would have been the normal thing to do. Instead Grace pressed it back down. Against him.

  Her fingers slipped through the hole and she made contact with Braz, her fingertips feeling the smooth warmth of his skin under them. Grace paused for a split second, then pulled her hand back as if she’d been stung, retreating back to her side of the couch.

  This time she did put the pillow between herself and him. The pounding of her heart and rising desire, well, everywhere, had come on so strong in that split second that she was having a hard time gathering her senses.

  “Grace, you okay?” Braz asked, his eyebrows knitting together as he looked at her.

  “Huh? What? Yeah, yeah I’m fine,’ she said, shaking her head, trying to gain her composure.

  You are sleeping in your own bed tonight. You made that promise.

  A devilish thought slithered into her mind as she glanced over at Braz again, noting the thickness of his biceps, the rough lines of his jaw. He was manly, and right then she could practically smell his strength and power as she imagined the scrape of his beard on her skin, the rough grip of his hands as they grabbed at her waist.

  She was breathing deeply without even realizing it, her hand crushing the pillow beneath whitened knuckles.

  Wow he’s hot. Like, really hot.

  “I’m glad you decided to stay the night,” Braz said, filling the silence with words.

  Words. Speech. Right. I need to make conversation.

  “Yeah,” she said, tearing her eyes off him momentarily, struggling to come to her senses. “Me too. The bed here is much comfier than the hotel one. Though I haven’t been able to compare their room service options yet.”

  Braz laughed. “Non-existent unfortunately, though I’m sure our selection in the kitchen is better.”

  “Coffee is too,” she pointed out.

  “All in all, sounds like not a terrible place to stay,” Braz said.

  “No,” she agreed, dropping deep into thought at that sentence. “No it doesn’t at all.”

  “I should, uh, I guess I should go?” Braz phrased it as half a question.

  Grace shrugged. “Um.”

  Staying alone.

  “Yeah,” she said, reminding herself of the promise to herself. “I could use some sleep. Long day, long drive tomorrow as well.”

  “Oh, right,” Braz said. “You want to go back to Kennewick Falls.”

  “I do live there,” she pointed out with a shrug. “So yeah, seems like something I should do…”

  There was a long silence as they just stared at one another. Neither moved to go to the door. Grace’s heart was pounding in her chest. Was Braz’s doing the same? Was he nervous right now, or was he as calm as he looked? There was no uncertainty on his face, no tenseness to his body as he sprawled out on the chair.

  How can he be so relaxed, while right now I’m wound tighter than a spring? That’s just not fair! What is he thinking that I’m not?

  Grace gave that a bit more thought. If he wasn’t nervous about the increasing tension between them, the magnetic attraction she felt toward him, it must mean that he didn’t feel it. Right? That had to be it, he was blind to the way she was fighting herself, trying to hold back from doing something that she had secretly longed to do for years.

  Or, you idiot, maybe he’s not fighting anything. He’s calm because he’s just going with the flow. If you give in, he’ll be happy, but if you resist, he’s not going to fight it. He’s doing whatever you want.

  That sounded a lot more like Braz. Always putting her first, making it about her, in the best way possible. He truly was a selfless person, in a good way. It was so genuine and pure. Probably one of the reasons she’d felt an attraction to him in the first place.

  So what was she going to do? The ball was completely and thoroughly in her court now. All Grace had to do was give him an opening. One tiny opening, and if he was observant, Braz would take it from there.

  Looking down at her side, Grace’s eyes came to rest on the pillow. The pillow she’d been holding against her side, a barrier keeping anyone named Braz from getting too close to her.

  “Thank you again for everything you got me today,” she said stiffly, letting go of the pillow and standing as she made her decision. “It really wasn’t necessary.”

  Stick to your guns. Good for you!

  “I had fun too just hanging out with you,” he said with a shrug. “Money well spent I say.”

  Grace smiled, staying in place as Braz got up as well and led the way to the door.

  Goodness gracious, it felt like she was swimming through tension as she followed him, her eyes dropping down to his butt. It looked really good in the black denim jeans he was wearing. They fit him quite nicely.

  “Nice butt.”

  Braz turned. “Pardon?”

  Grace clapped a hand over her mouth, heat exploding across her cheeks, a sure sign that she had to be blushing like mad. Had she really just said that out loud?

  “Um. Uh. Um.” She continued stammering, looking everywhere but right at him.

  Braz, for his part, twisted at the waist and looked down at his rear. Then he glanced at her and winked, demonstrating that he’d heard exactly what she’d said.

  “Oh god.” Grace buried her face in her hands. “This is so embarrassing.”

  “Actually I find it rather flattering,” Braz informed her.

  “Of course you do,” she moaned. “Why wouldn’t you like knowing that I was staring at your butt?”

  “It does make me feel better for staring at yours all day long,” he admitted, a sly smile playing across his face.

  “What butt?” she asked, turning to look at her own rear, mostly in an attempt to avoid looking at Braz for a bit longer. “I don’t really have one.”

  “Everyone has one. I happen to like yours.”

  “It’s not ver
y big.”

  “But it’s nice and full. Nothing wrong with it.”

  That’s because I’ve got pants on, and it’s hiding the jiggly bits. The right pair of jeans are great at that.

  “Okay, okay we need to stop,” she said, shaking her head. “Enough talk about my butt.”

  “Well you started it,” Braz pointed out. Then he did something she wasn’t ready for.

  He stepped forward. Into her personal space. Getting up close to her. She could smell the sweet, savory musk of his scent, while heat broiled off him in waves, washing over her body, raising her temperature, opening her even more to his intoxicating draw. It left her feeling almost loopy, lightheaded.

  Why am I fighting this? What point does it serve? Just to drive a point home to…to who? There’s nobody to prove anything to. If you want this, have some fun with it! You’ve certainly thought about it before today. You can’t lie about that to yourself.

  It was a question that Grace simply did not have an answer to. Why was she fighting it?

  What am I afraid of?

  She shivered as Braz’s hands grabbed her shoulders. Such a strong grip…

  “Grace,” he said in a deep, husky voice, finally letting her see that he too was feeling it.

  “Yes?” she breathed, the word barely audible.

  “I’ll go if you want me to,” told her. “Right now, I’ll walk through that door, if that’s what you want. All you have to do is tell me you want me gone.”

  The unspoken ‘but if you don’t’, lingered in the air.

  She inhaled, feeling her body trembling despite Braz’s steadying grip on her frame. What did she want?

  I know what I want. What I’m yearning for, I can feel it throughout my body. That much is easy to answer.

  But should I?

  Again she came up with the same result as before. What exactly was she scared of?

  Would it be so bad to let Braz have her, to go to bed with him? Where was the downside? Certainly not on the physical.

  What if I fall for him?

  There it was. The question she’d been avoiding asking herself all evening. All day.

  If Grace let him in, she was terrified that she wouldn’t be able to get him to leave. That he would become a part of her life, and she, his. It was that simple really. They meshed so well together, Grace feared she would fall in and never leave.