by Zoe Chant
“It’s too late for that,” he said softly. “I’m really sorry. I’m a powerful dragon shifter, Liana. I’m the master of the element of water, one of the three members of the council of elements. Those fire dragons want to get to me. Which means that my mate is their target as well.”
“You mean, as soon as I leave here, they might come and grab me out of the air again, just like that? That’s not fair! I didn’t ask for any of this!”
“I know.” Timothy wanted to reach out again and touch her hand to reassure her—but right now, it seemed like she wanted space.
Which would be hard to give her, considering the fire dragons.
“I won’t allow anything to happen to you. I promise,” he said instead. “I can protect you—and I don’t expect anything in return.”
“So what—you want me to just come and live here in your tower? Like a kidnapped princess?” she asked sarcastically, even though he could hear in her voice how badly scared she was.
“If you want to,” he said instead. “Or you could take a vacation. There’s a place by the sea—I have a house there. It’s a place where shifters live. The fire dragons don’t know it exists. It’ll be just as safe as this place—probably safer, given that everyone knows this tower is mine.”
“Everyone knows the Dragon Tower,” she said, then broke out into sudden, surprised laughter. “Oh, you aren’t subtle at all, are you?”
Timothy shrugged with a small grin. “We had a vote in the biggest paper when we built it. This city named it, not I.”
“Mh-hm,” she said as she gave him a pointed look. “And that giant dragon fountain in the court and the dragon statue in the lobby and those weird decorative bits at the top that look like a dragon’s tail didn’t have anything to do with that result at all?”
Timothy laughed and leaned back, raising his hands to show his innocence. “Dragon Tower had a majority of 65% of all votes,” he said, grinning. “I just went with what the people decided to call it.”
“Smart.” A small smile was playing on her lips as she looked at him. “You’re one of those people you have to watch out for, huh?”
“I only use my charm for good.” He grinned back at her, something inside him filling with heat again at the way her smile made her eyes shine.
She snorted, amused. “You’re more charming than a fire dragon, I’ll give you that.”
“That’s not a particularly high bar, but I’ll take it.”
She was still smiling—a little reluctantly, but it was a smile. And perhaps that was all that could be expected at this point. After all, she’d been dangling from a fire dragon’s claws just an hour ago.
“Oh shit,” he said a heartbeat later when there was a sudden banging noise coming from the floor below.
Liana flinched. “The dragons?”
“It is a fire dragon,” Timothy said darkly, “but this one is harmless. I forgot I locked him into his suite last night.”
“You have a fire dragon... in here?”
“Oh, you’ve met him,” Timothy said. “He came with me to the club last night. The council forced me to babysit him. He’s supposed to learn about humans—and shifters that manage to live peacefully, unlike his kind.”
“Oh,” Liana said weakly. She didn’t look particularly convinced. “And so you took him to a nightclub.”
“Quite a few things you can learn there.” Timothy grinned, unapologetic. “We’re still working on his taste in music. But he behaved, didn’t he? I guess he’s earned his breakfast.”
Liana was still staring at him in disbelief, and so he reached out, carefully touching her hand again. He ignored the heat that came rushing through his veins, the way his dragon curled in on itself in utter happiness.
“It’s fine,” he said softly. “I promise. He can’t shift or use his powers. Nothing’s going to happen to you here. I won’t allow it.”
Chapter Seven: Liana
After the day had started out strange, it seemed it was going to become only stranger.
Suspiciously, Liana stared at the man sitting at the counter across from her. He was dark-haired—much like the men who’d attacked her. But unlike them, he was wearing a pair of black jeans and a white shirt that stretched over an impressively athletic body. He could have been Timothy’s brother—or maybe a workout buddy.
Instead, the man who was currently wolfing down the blueberry pancakes Timothy was making was a fire dragon. One of those monsters who could breathe fire and who’d nearly killed her.
“I’m not going to eat you, you know,” the man said, as if he’d read her thoughts. He scowled. “Eat your pancakes before they get cold.”
“Hey, watch how you talk to my mate,” Timothy called out, expertly flipping another pancake.
Distracted, Liana watched him. It was a little weird to see Timothy standing in his designer kitchen with a smudge of flour on his nose, flipping pancakes as if that was a completely normal thing to do for a billionaire with his own tower in the city center. She’d assumed he had a cook to do all of his work for him, or that he ordered in from one of the many restaurants nearby. But it turned out that Timothy made excellent pancakes with just the right amount of fluffiness, drowned in generous amounts of syrup and butter.
“Anyone want any bacon?” Timothy called out and began heating another pan.
“Yes, please.” Liana determinedly stabbed a fork into her pancake.
If she was going to go out in a blaze of dragon fire as soon as she stepped out of this tower, she could at least enjoy the time that was left to her.
“I’m not a monster, you know,” the fire dragon said and glared at her. “Human women usually like me once they get to know me.”
“Sure, I totally believe that,” she shot back and then demonstratively grabbed the syrup to pour more over her already drowned pancakes, just when he reached out for it as well. “Setting people on fire and dropping them from the sky is something we human women absolutely love. I’m sure you have so many admirers you have to beat them back, fire dragon.”
“My name’s Braeden,” he said and glared again, then grabbed the syrup and poured what was left of it onto his own stash of pancakes. “And I’ve never harmed a human woman.”
Timothy chuckled. “Well, there was that time with the storm dragon’s mate...”
Braeden blushed a bright red. “I said I’m sorry for that,” he mumbled, then stuffed a huge slice of pancake into his mouth.
“What did you do—eat her?” Liana asked, then smirked when Braeden choked on his pancake and began coughing.
He didn’t stop until Timothy came around to cheerfully hit his back, sending him nearly headfirst into his pancakes.
“What the hell did you do that for?” Braeden sputtered.
Timothy grinned. “Didn’t want you to die in my kitchen. Not sure how I’d explain that, given I’m supposed to babysit you.”
“Will you please stop calling it that,” Braeden forced out from between clenched teeth. “I’m not a baby.”
“Only babies don’t know about rockets and space.” Timothy was still grinning. “Anyway, as long as I’m forced to watch you, I get to call it however I like.”
“Maybe you’d better watch your mate,” Braeden said grimly. “Doesn’t sound like you did a great job of it today.”
“Because your people decided to attack me,” Liana said sharply. “That wasn’t his fault.”
“They’re not my people! Not my friends, at least,” Braeden then added, leaning back in his chair. “Look, I’m really sorry they attacked you. But I had nothing to do with that. I couldn’t hurt you if I wanted.”
Demonstratively, he shoved his hands at her.
Two circles of a weird, black metal curved around his wrists.
Fascinated, she touched one of the strange handcuffs. It didn’t look like anything she’d seen before. It was cool to the touch—but she didn’t feel anything else.
Braeden smiled bitterly. “You don’t feel anything, do yo
u? That’s because you’re human. But as long as I’m wearing these, I can’t access my powers. And they keep me dosed with dragonsbane as well—which seems like overkill, if you ask me, but no one ever does.”
“That’s because we don’t get answers to the questions we do ask,” Timothy said pointedly. “Like where the hell these fire dragons come from, how many there are, where they are hiding, who their leaders are, and what the fuck they’re trying to accomplish with these attacks.”
Liana stared at Timothy. There was a strange light in his eyes again. They gleamed a bright azure, deep and blue like the ocean.
She shivered instinctively, remembering the powerful dragon that had rescued her at the last moment.
Braeden was still glaring at Timothy. “I’ve told you what they’re trying to accomplish. They’re trying to take over the world. They want revenge. And they don’t care if this means that innocents die.”
“And what about the other questions? Because innocents will die if we don’t get answers to those.”
Now Braeden flinched. “I don’t want anyone to get harmed,” he said softly. “But you don’t understand... All that’s left to me is my honor. I won’t be a traitor.”
Timothy snorted. “There you have it,” he said in disgust. “That’s how it goes every time. Well, I for one am sick of it. Next time I go to the council, I’ll leave you there. Let the chimera babysit you again. We’ve got a perfectly nice prison cell there for you.”
“I want to see the world,” Braeden said mulishly. “If you want me to learn about humans, you need to let me live among them.”
“No fucking way,” Timothy declared, “not while I’m responsible for you. Your friends just nearly killed my mate.”
“They are not my friends,” Braeden ground out and got up, banging his fists onto the table.
For a moment, he and Timothy glared at each other, the tension in the room rising until Liana nervously began to wonder if the kitchen would fit two dragons if they shifted.
Then Braeden lowered his eyes, grimacing. “Thank you for the pancakes,” he said stiffly, then got up and stalked away.
“Phew,” Liana said when he was safely out of earshot. “Is it just me, or is he a bit... fiery?”
She giggled nervously at her own pun.
Then Timothy suddenly gasped, his eyes widening. A moment later, he pulled the forgotten pan from the stove.
“Just in time,” he declared in relief after he’d inspected it, arranging the rescued bacon on a plate.
Liana smiled at him when he came to sit down next to her. He began attacking the pancakes they’d left for him, while she helped herself to the very crispy bacon.
“He hasn’t been able to stretch his wings and fly for quite a while now,” Timothy explained between bites. “Drives all of us a bit mad if we can’t. And then of course, there’s the bit where he is a fire dragon.”
“It’s weird to talk to him,” Liana murmured, looking at Braeden’s abandoned plate. “He doesn’t look like a monster at all. He doesn’t talk like one either. But the dragons who attacked us... They weren’t like him.”
She hadn’t talked to them, of course—but she didn’t particularly want to, either. She remembered all too well the jets of fire they’d breathed her way. They’d wanted to kill her, not squabble over syrup.
“He’ll come around,” Timothy said. “It’s actually true what he said—he’s made friends with the human mates of the storm and earth dragons. I don’t know what they see in him, personally, but I guess there’s no accounting for taste. And the chimera likes it.”
“The chimera?” Liana gave Timothy another questioning look.
“He’s the master of the council. Very old and powerful. He never leaves the seat of the council though.”
Liana shook her head with a soft laugh. “This is all so weird,” she murmured. “Dragons and chimeras...”
“There are more shifters.” Timothy gave her a searching look. “If you’d like to learn more, my offer still stands. Come spend a day in our town by the ocean. There are no dragons there—but we’ve got lions and dogs and wolves.”
“Any mermaids?” Liana asked, her heart racing in her chest. Timothy was so close that she found herself staring at his mouth again, remembering the sensation of his lips against hers.
Despite the danger and the confusion of this strange new world, something inside her clenched with sudden longing to feel those strong hands pull her against his hard chest again.
“No mermaids,” he murmured, “but I couldn’t imagine a greater wonder than to get to see you swim in the sea...”
Liana swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. Her heart was pounding. Despite her earlier worries, it was difficult to think of the dragon attack, now that Timothy was so close again.
“Maybe you will,” she said, something in her tight with need. She licked her lips—and then, slowly, reached out to touch his arm.
She could feel his muscles shift beneath her fingers, hard as rock. She remembered how he’d felt against her when they’d said goodbye in his car, the way he’d smelled of clear, cold water and freedom.
Once again her body throbbed with need, her nipples tight and aching for a touch.
“This is a bad idea,” she said softly, “You’re going to get me killed...”
But even as she spoke the words, she found herself leaning in, tilting her face up for a kiss.
And he took her up on her offer.
His lips covered hers, sensually warm and soft. She gasped as heat ran through her at the contact.
His hands gently trailed down her shoulders, then back up, drawing her in. She moaned into the kiss when she surrendered herself to his strong hands.
His tongue gently teased hers as his scent surrounded her. She could almost hear the waves of the ocean crashing against the shore.
One of his hands drew down her shoulder again, cupping her breast. Then his thumb found her nipple, and she gasped at the burst of pleasure. She’d never been so sensitive before, but his careful, certain touches fanned the heat inside her until she was throbbing with overwhelming need.
“You’re gorgeous,” he murmured hoarsely when he broke the kiss. His lips trailed down her throat, his breath hot against her skin. “No one will harm you. I’ll protect you with my own life. I swear it, on my family’s honor.”
Liana moaned, squeezing her eyes shut when his lips brushed against the sensitive spot behind her ear.
She was trembling with need for him, her clit throbbing as she pressed herself against him.
His mouth found hers again, and for long, desperate minutes, she found herself clutching at him, surrendering to the consuming heat of his mouth.
If she had to die, wouldn’t it be stupid to let this chance slip away? It wasn’t every day that there was an incredibly hot man who claimed to be madly in love with her. In fact, this was the very first time that had ever happened...
Weakly, Liana gasped as she arched against him, his thumb circling her aching nipple again.
No, it wouldn’t be the worst way to go at all...
“Sorry,” he murmured huskily when he drew back at last.
“What are you sorry for?” She was still dizzy and breathless, and it was hard to think with the insistent throbbing of her body to distract her.
“I didn’t mean to overwhelm you. We can take this slowly—as slowly as you like, I promise.”
For a moment, Liana toyed with the idea of pulling back and firmly telling him that there wasn’t a thing they could take slowly, that all of this was a mistake, and that she was going to go home.
But his eyes were still shining in that entrancing ocean blue. And for all that the fire dragons had nearly killed her, he’d come to her rescue, shielding her from all harm.
“Slow is good,” she finally said, giving him a tentative smile. Of course, slow was the last thing her body wanted right now.
Her answer made his eyes light up with hope, which in turn made her stomach tigh
t with a sudden, helpless want again.
“And I think I want to see that ocean town of yours.”
Chapter Eight: Timothy
They’d quickly grabbed some of Liana’s things from her apartment. The fire dragons hadn’t shown, but even so Timothy didn’t want to take any chances. He didn’t take his eyes off Liana even for a second, and fifteen minutes later, they left her apartment with a bag full of her clothes and her laptop.
“My boss won’t mind,” she said. “We’re pretty relaxed about people working from home—at least for us coders. I think it’s because none of our bosses get what we’re doing anyway. I swear, my boss thinks writing code is like doing magic spells, but it’s just boring work most of the time. Anyway, I’ll send him a note that I caught a cold and will log into work from home for a few days. Wait—you’ve got Wi-Fi in your magical town, don’t you? No, don’t worry, I’ve got a data plan on my phone that’ll cover me—”
“It’s all right,” Timothy interrupted, laughing at the way she got completely carried away whenever she talked about her work. “The town’s not all that magical. We’ve got high speed internet. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do any work myself, you know.”
Liana snapped her fingers. “Of course! I forgot, you’re Mr. High Stakes Investment Billionaire.”
“I guess,” Timothy said, still laughing. “If that’s what you want to call it. It’s a dragon thing, though. We love treasure. And I figured I better get a good handle on the 21st century way of hoarding treasure. Don’t want to leave it all to you humans.”
“So does that mean you’ve got a cave full of gold in Switzerland? The Caymans?”
Timothy shook his head. “The cave’s nearby. I’d love to show it to you one day. But the hoard in Switzerland and the Caymans is just numbers, bank accounts. Oh, and the latest big thing—cryptocurrency.” He chuckled. “This is going to sound arrogant, but I like to play the game of the bankers and then funnel the money into the things they like to destroy. Environmental causes, mostly—my element is the water, so I support a lot of charities that work for clean oceans and rivers. It’s a cause that’s very close to my heart.”