by Alli Sims
“Does he have a brother?”
“What did you do to get these?”
“Is he para?”
There was a murmur as I stepped into my office and finally saw the delivery. My jaw dropped. A vase sat in the middle of my desk, the roses that occupied it didn’t leave much work space.
“So, who is he?” Hayley touched my arm. I stepped towards them and reached for the card.
“Turns out money is good for something. Have a good day, and try not to get fired.
See you soon, I’ll be waiting for you when you get home.
J.”
My heart skipped a beat. He did not plan to break into my house, did he? I reached for my cell phone, instinct telling me to call him and warn him right now that I would kill him if he so much as thought about it. Then I looked at the flowers again. Shock hit me.
There had to be dozens of them. How had he spent this much on flowers? He was going to be waiting for me when I got home? I bit my lip, excitement rushing through my body as I thought about the way he had touched me last night. I guess I could make an exception; after all it would be nice to get home and see him waiting for me.
Naked.
The End
Catching His Fire
Chapter 1
Have you ever noticed how rich dragons are?
I looked around. The myths surrounding dragons were that they liked to hoard their loot? Well it’s true. Only in this day and age it isn’t gems and coal bricks- its money.
I paced easily in my five inch heels, something most people don’t usually expect when they find out what I do for a living. As if killing demons and vampires would mean I can’t walk in heels.
Looking around me I headed over to the drink table, the soft clink of my heels comforting me while the noise around me (the talking, the music, the laughing) threatened to distract me. I needed to stay collected and keep my head- literally- on my shoulders- not that the dragon would kill me here.
I zeroed in on my target as I stepped towards the punch bowl and reached for a glass. I flashed him a smile.
“Hi.”
He looked me up and down. “I don’t remember inviting you.” His eyes still roamed over my body as he spoke.
A shiver ran down my spine- though not an unwelcome one- as he spoke. I felt heat rush through my body.
“I’m a plus one.” I’d known all along what I was going to say, and it was kind of true. I just had to make sure that he didn’t ask me who’s plus one I was. “Not that we’re dating.” I added quickly after a couple seconds of silence. I had to play my game right.
I knew the moves; I just had to make sure he fell into the trap.
“Really?” He raised an eyebrow; finally he lifted his eyes to mine.
My heart skipped a beat as those green eyes locked on mine, staring into me as if he saw right through what I was. In most of the pictures I saw of him he was clean shaven, but tonight he had a little stubble and his long dirty brown hair was pulled back. I took a quick second to look him over, aware of the submission I’d just showed his true side; then again I wanted him to think I was weak and clueless. He wore a well fitted suit and a blue shirt and black tie under it. He looked as if he came right off of a magazine cover.
I glanced back at his eyes then to the table beside us. I reached for the punch ladle and filled my glass, just long enough for him to know he didn’t have my full attention, then turned back to him. “So, you’re the host of the event, right?”
He looked somewhat taken aback. “Yes.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you.” I held my free hand out to him. “I’m Natalie.”
“It’s… nice to meet you Natalie.”
“John.” We shook hands.
I looked around the room, if you were smart you’d be able to tell what was in here, though I guessed most people couldn’t.
The girl standing behind the counter serving everyone their beer was a werewolf, the girls who were providing the nights entertainment? Sirens. A good choice to captivate the onlookers, though most of them couldn’t understand why they really couldn’t look away from the girls on stage dancing with fire. Even the women stared. I was sure most people would just write it off as interesting entertainment.
Me one the other hand, I knew. I understood what sirens did to someone who watched them; I understood why it was so hard to look away. After all, the sirens had to have some advantage back in the days of luring sailors to their death.
I turned my attention back to the man in front of me; well he looked like a man. My eyes roamed over his body. Oh boy did he ever look like a man. The kind that you just want to bring back to your bedroom and… I mentally shook myself and flashed him a smile. “It’s a beautiful party.”
“I’m glad you like it.” His eyes sparkled. “My coworkers tried to tell me the place was too upscale for it.”
A castle not to a gang of dragons liking? I’d never heard of it.
“I’m glad you didn’t listen to them.” I grinned. After all, a castle was a big place. One someone could easily get lost in. “Do you know the place very well? I’ve been dying to slip away and explore a little.”
“You’re not really supposed to leave the room and go exploring.” He raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you know that?”
“Yes.” I said flatly. “But I’m sure the crime is worth the punishment; if I get caught of course.”
He chuckled. “You’re honest. I like that.”
“I’m guessing you don’t see a lot of it.” Who would have thought, someone liked my honesty. Normally it made people, or creatures, want to kill me. Of course I was normally already contracted to kill them.
Not John though. I wasn’t contracted to kill him yet. I was scouting him, figuring him out, trying to decide if he was a threat.
Most rich people liked to put their money where they shouldn’t, and most of the time they got away with it, but can you imagine what someone who has been saving for the past one hundred years could do with all that money?
It was my job to make sure he wasn’t going to do anything bad with it; or at least try to. My actual job was to keep this world in line, at any cost. And to do my bosses running around, no matter how crazy that running around normally was. Oh, and bring those in who needed to be brought in to talk to my boss, John was one of them. The only difference between him and most of the ones I brought in was he was supposed to be alive when he got there.
No, John wasn’t my normal bounty; but I was sure he wouldn’t be an issue none the less.
“Everyone thinks they should say what they think I want to hear.”
“And is it ever what you want to hear?”
“No.” He paused looking around then held his arm out to me. “Come with me, Natalie. I have something I’d like to show you.”
I raised an eyebrow in interest, was it really going to be this easy to get him alone, check him out and get him to the office? I knew it wouldn’t be, but I couldn’t help getting a little excited as I took his arm and he led me out of the room. I caught sight of three people staring at us all huddled close; I could tell the gossip was already beginning.
We exited the room into the night air. I took a deep breath looking up at the stars. There were still lots of people around us, all couples trying to get a little alone time but unwilling to move too far away from the part for fear of being caught.
No one noticed us as we made our way down the pathway and towards the lower entrance.
“I thought we were going to explore the castle.”
“We are, but I only have the old servant’s key.” He reached into his pocket for a split second then pulled something out. It glinted as it hit the moonlight. It was so new compared to the age of the castle; I’d almost expected an old rusty key. I won’t lie I was a little disappointed.
A grin crossed my lips. “So right down to the dungeon; I see what kind of man you are now.”
He laughed. “Well I confess I may be a little… less than normal, I hav
e to admit dungeons aren’t my cup of tea.”
“Aren’t we all a little less than normal?”
That wasn’t a line. I knew what it was like to be the odd one out, a freak.
I wasn’t in this world because I was normal. I was in this world because a psychic refused to give up the child of a werewolf.
Not that I was a werewolf; of course I wouldn’t inherit that gene and get to be part of that world. I just got to be stronger than most people. No big deal; but it did help a lot with this job.
I realized we still hadn’t moved. My eyes locked on him and my heart dropped into my stomach. He looked so sad.
“You’re right, we are… then again knowing everyone is alone doesn’t make anyone feel any less alone, does it.”
I opened my mouth but didn’t know what to say. He was right. A dragon would know all about that.
“Anyway, we should get moving before someone notices that I’m not around.” He laughed softly and led the way towards wherever we were going.
I still thought about his words. A dragon must get so lonely, to live so long and see everyone around you die; then have to move on eventually. It sounds like the kind of life where you are always alone.
We reached a door and he pulled it open for me. I nodded my thanks and stepped inside before him.
Behind me the door closed.
I wouldn’t have been able to see if it wasn’t for the wolf side of me. The darkness surrounded me, inviting and welcoming. I looked around.
It didn’t look like the room had been used in ages.
The door locked behind me. My heart skipped a beat as I stepped forwards, instincts telling me to put distance between me and the man behind me.
He grabbed my arm from behind and pulled me against him.
“Who are you?” He whispered against my ear.
My heart raced and my body took over, my elbow raised and moved towards him. He caught it.
“If you tell me who hired you I won’t kill you.”
I resisted the urge to speak, to defend myself. No, I wouldn’t do that. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, already trying to figure out how to get out of this. I could scream but no one would hear me most likely… I could try to fight my way out of this but even with the wolf strength I couldn’t take him.
“Who are you?” He repeated, his fingers tightened around me.
“I won’t tell you.” I finally spoke.
He pushed me away. I stumbled tripping over my own feet in these heels. Dammit. I turned to face him; our eyes locked in stare down. The only time my dominance came out was when I was about to fight for my life. The blood pumped in my ear and the wolf in me itched for a fight, it itched to show him I was the alpha. He refused to look away.
Great. How the fuck were we going to get out of this?
I had to bring him in alive. I couldn’t get into a fight with him and even try to come out on top. There was only one way out of this.
“I was sent by the S.I.B.”
“You’re a SIB?” He sounded disgusted.
“Yes.” He stepped back from me, putting as much distance between us as we could. “We have a couple questions for you, you’re not in trouble.” He snorted. “I mean it! I have orders to take in you alive. Very few people get those orders.” He was important.
“Does that make you think I’m safe?”
Our eyes still locked on each other. I could see his burning with anger. I could hear his heart racing. Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Faster and faster as we stared at each other.
My job sucked, being a Supernatural Investigator sounded cool, but the truth was it sucked.
The public didn’t know about the paranormal and it was my job to keep it hidden from them and to keep the paranormal community safe and well behaved. Most people in the industry didn’t make it to 40, let alone retiring age.
“I give you my word that if you come with me I will keep you safe.” Did he really think we were going to kill him or something? We may not be official government but we were close enough; we had rules.
He snorted.
I took a deep breath trying to keep myself calm. I didn’t have time for this. They should have sent a negotiator for it, not me.
“Look,” I said flatly. “I have orders to take you in, that’s that. I need to take you in.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. And you’re nowhere near strong enough to take me, half-breed.”
My heart stopped for a beat. How did he know that? No one could tell if you were a half-breed or not, only if you had the gene… but I don’t…
My jaw fell open. He smirked as he stepped back and pulled the door open. “Get out.”
“I can’t go without you.” What didn’t he get about this?
“I won’t say it again. Get out. I’m not going anywhere with you.” I let out a huff of frustration and ran my fingers through my hair. “If you leave now I won’t kill you.”
I guess that left me with only two choices, and I wasn’t going to risk fighting him. “I’ll be seeing you around.” I said before taking my first step. I had to focus to make the clink of my heel sound normal as I walked past him, shoulders back and mocking confidence. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end like a dog’s does right before a fight.
I hurried past him as fast as I could without giving away the fact that I was trying to hurry. Lucky for me I knew where he lived.
***
I sat on the front steps. Thank god dragons were so private, otherwise I’d probably had the cops called on me by now. I had been sitting there for four hours by the time his BMW rolled up and came to a stop. I waited until he had gotten out of the car before speaking.
“What, you don’t fly everywhere?”
His eyes narrowed but I was sure I saw a smile touch his lips. That gave me an odd sense of pleasure. I pushed myself to my feet.
“How long have you been here?” His brow furrowed as he looked around.
“It’s just me.” It wasn’t hard to realize what he was doing. “I promise.” I held my hands up in a show of submission. I wanted to make friends. I wasn’t stupid enough to stage an ambush on a fucking dragon. He stepped towards me.
“I know.”
My heart skipped a beat. Of course he would know, but it was still freaky that he could sense these kinds of things.
“So, how was the party after I got kicked out?” I stepped aside, putting enough distance between us for him to be happy.
He walked past me as if he didn’t care, as if I didn’t scare him, then again maybe I didn’t.
“It was fine.”
“Bullshit.” It wasn’t a hard bluff to call. “It was cramped, crowded, you had to pretend to be nice to everyone even though you probably hate most of them and most of all… I wasn’t there.”
Again I saw a smile touch his face. “You’re right. I did miss you.”
My heart skipped a beat. Was he being honest?
He made his way up to the door and unlocked it; of course I’d already tried to pick the lock- with no luck.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside.
“Are you coming in bounty hunter?” He kept his back to me as he slipped out of his suit jacket; a sign he wasn’t scared of me.
My brow furrowed as anger tugged at me. The wolf wanted to yell, wanted to prove to him that he should be scared of me. I took a deep breath and stepped towards the door, trying to keep myself in control.
I closed his door behind me and slipped out of my heels, careful as I bent down not to show submission. This was an alpha against an alpha here and I wasn’t going to be the one to cave.
I followed him into a sitting room and dropped down across from him. “Why did you invite me inside?”
***
I stared at her. I valued honesty but I wasn’t ready to tell her the truth. “I didn’t want you outside watching me all night. I’d rather have an eye on the person trying to kidnap me.” She smirked.
“Do I scare you that muc
h?”
“I haven’t stayed alive this long by being scared. I’ve stayed alive this long by being careful.”
She crossed her legs revealing a little bit of the top of her stockings. I swallowed dryly. What was it about this girl that fascinated me? I’d seen lots of girls before, sure she was beautiful but there was more at play here- why did I want her so badly?
I forced myself to look away for fear of risking another staring contest. I didn’t want to kill her but if we established a dominance battle it would be difficult to find another way out of it. And I’m sure more SIBs would come looking for me. Only this time they’d probably be a lot more ruthless than her.
Why would they send her after me? It didn’t make sense. They should have sent a goddamn army to get me. Not one little half werewolf.
She cleared her throat. “So, is this where you normally stay? Not in a mountain top or anything?”
I laughed. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to be funny or if she really didn’t know, but I was hoping for the first. She smirked. Good. It was a joke. Her eyes sparkled as she looked around. “I don’t see any loot.” That wasn’t a joke.
“I… have it some place safe.” After all I couldn’t keep my art out on display; most people thought it had been long gone. I wasn’t going to prove them wrong. Not to mention I had to worry about the slim chance someone would manage to break in.
She raised an eyebrow. I pushed myself to my feet. “Want to see?” I knew I shouldn’t show her. She was a stranger. She was going to get me killed. She was a SIB; but I wanted to show her. I wanted to impress her.
After 300 years that desire to impress a girl was still there. Sad really that I couldn’t overcome that.
Chapter 2
I sat there staring at him. This was a joke, right? He wasn’t actually going to show me, was he?
“Y-you’re joking, right?”
“Nope.” He held his hand out to me, come see my stash if you really want. Of course this is just some of it.”