Her knees almost gave out as her body wanted to heave the little food in her stomach. “My cat has no interest in dragons, so I don’t think we’re a good match.”
His eyes narrowed upon her. “Indeed.”
Time to get this conversation over with. She was getting damn cold. “If you wouldn’t mind giving me a hand with my car to pull it from the drift, that would be great.”
He waved her off. “You are of no use to me. You are no one to him, obviously.”
Lily stood flabbergasted. How did she reply to that? She didn’t need to worry about it since he shifted into his dragon and flew into the blowing snow.
“Asshole,” she hollered into the wind. Now what? She pulled her coat tighter around herself. There were few choices at the moment. Either stay with the car and wait for someone to come along, which wasn’t likely, or head back to Dreki’s cabin. At least he’d have something to eat.
Realizing it was much too cold for her human form, she shifted into her animal for the trek. It would be easier navigating through the storm as her tigress, also. She was careful to tear her clothes as little as possible since she’d have to wear them when she shifted back to human at his place.
What a complete nightmare this turned out to be. When she reached the cabin home, her clothes were soaked from dragging them in the snow and she was freaking starving. After shifting at the front door, she knocked and went in to a still vacant place.
Hurrying to the fireplace, she shed clothes as she went. Her dress, she laid on the hearth before the fire, but her undergarments were unwearable, stretched and seams popped. She laid them next to the dress, worrying about them later. She had to eat something before her cat decided it would go out and hunt. Gutting a deer was not what she had in mind for dinner tonight.
Glancing around the kitchen, her eyes fixed on the fridge. He’s not here. What’s the big deal? Better yet, he’ll get over it. If it weren’t for him, she’d not be in this mess. She pulled out the makings for a sandwich and glanced out the kitchen window. Big, fat flakes fell fast and hard.
Fuck! She gulped down the sandwich then glanced at her cell phone. Of course. Still no service. There was locked Wi-Fi available but she needed a password. She grinned at the Wi-Fi host name: TooOldForThisShit.
Last thing she needed was a scalding hot shower to scrub away the dragon smell. The asshole dragon’s touch was on her and it creeped her cat out. Had she been ready for his unwanted advance, she’d be having filet dragon for dinner. If she was quick enough, she could get in and out of the shower before the owner returned.
6
Thane knew something was off the moment he came through his back door. There was a distinct scent of something that made his dragon rise from sleep. A hot, sweet scent that turned him rock hard and had him searching the house for the culprit.
He inhaled hard, placing the scent in his first level. Marching through the house, he came up on the main room and found a dress and women’s underwear lying on the hearth.
The scent curled around his heart and warmed his still chilled bones. No. He refused to believe it. It couldn’t be! His mate? But how? Who? And more importantly, why?
He curled his fist around the soft dress material and brought it up to his nose. With a deep inhale, he knew without a doubt this was the woman. His.
The dragon inside him roared awake, ready to take his mate and make her his. The animal told him he’d live. She’d come to him. Found him. But Thane didn’t want a mate. He didn’t want to share his life with any one person, to make himself vulnerable to a woman who could destroy him.
The vision of his sister emaciated and dying of a broken heart thickened the walls around his own heart. No fucking way. If she’d come to him, then she could go the same way. But he couldn’t help himself and smashed the torn garments to his face.
A footfall sounded behind him. “Put. The. Panties. Down.” That voice wrapped him with ecstasy. A short woman, no more than five-five with long curly auburn hair and curves that made him want to drop to his knees, walked in. Naked. She was wet and naked.
She glanced around the room and inhaled. Her gazed jerked to the spot where he stood. Her eyes turned a gold color he knew all too well. The scent of her animal reached him then. Feline.
“Do you make a habit of breaking into people’s houses naked?”
She let out a slow breath, her eyes glowing brighter by the second. He had to steel himself to keep from rushing over, grabbing her in his arms, and taking her full lips to find out if she tasted as good as she looked.
“I’m sorry,” she stammered. “Do you mind if I get my clothes? They’re in your hands.”
He was tempted to make her stand there, showing him her body, but he’d already tattooed every glorious curve to the back of his lids and could bring up the visual at any point.
“Be my guest.”
She didn’t run, she padded quietly toward him, and for a moment, he had to fight every instinct along with his dragon. She wasn’t his. Not his mate.
Yes! Mine! Mine! Mine!
No!
The dragon argued fiercely, but Thane wasn’t a kid who lost control of his animal. He was ancient. He wasn’t changing his mind.
He marched to the fridge and got a bottle of water. The cold plastic cooled some of the heat inside him. He drank the entire thing without stopping to take a breath.
“Sorry about…that,” she said from the kitchen entrance.
He turned to face her. It didn’t matter that she had clothes on again, he still saw her naked in his mind.
“Who are you?”
She cleared her throat and glanced down his body. “Lily Cruz, Mr. Dreki.”
Fucking hell! He should have known. Even from a distance, something about her had made him want to communicate with her. “I guess I should be impressed.”
Her dark gaze rushed to his. “By what?”
“The fact you chose to bring the proposal yourself, during a storm, instead of sending it via messenger.”
Fire lit in her gaze. He’d annoyed her. Good. They didn’t have time for any of that mushy emotional crap. He didn’t want or need a mate. Not a human. Not a feline. Not another dragon.
“Yes, well, you did say it was urgent,” she said with a bite.
“There’s just one problem, Ms. Cruz.”
She raised her brows and folded her arms over her chest, pushing her breasts up and precariously close to the edge of the neckline of her dress. “What’s that?”
“I’m guessing you weren’t planning on spending the night?” He grinned.
7
Lily wanted to throw a table at him. Or at the very minimum a chair. Something. Anything. The stupid man was trying to annoy her on purpose.
“No, I was not.” Fucking hell. She was stuck. In his massive cabin with a man so hot, he made her knees buckle.
He really did remind her of a Viking. Tina hadn’t exaggerated at all. Taller than any man she’d ever dated, he had to be well over six feet in height. With scruffy shoulder length blond hair and ice blue eyes, he definitely called attention. That short beard was doing things to her cat she couldn’t explain. The fire in her blood rose with every glance she gave him.
He was gorgeous and she hated that she wanted him. More than that, she hated that her cat seemed to be under the impression this was their mate. He looked ready to toss her out on her ass into the storm.
“Are you hungry, Ms. Cruz?”
“Please,” she said, hating the formalities at this point. The man had seen her naked, for crying out loud. If she hadn’t been a shifter, used to nudity, she’d have had some serious issues by now. “Call me, Lily.”
“Lily. Call me Thane. That’s what everyone else does.” He lifted his lips in a grin. “Though, I’ve been called cabrόn in the recent past.”
He said the word in perfect Spanish. Ah, shit. She widened her eyes and her jaw fell open. He’d heard her on the phone. Of course, he would’ve heard her call him a jackass. Now
that she scented his animal, she knew he was a shifter, too. A dragon.
“I think I’ll stick to Thane,” she said.
Humor filled his eyes and they turned a lighter shade of blue. It was mesmerizing to watch. “Very well, Lily. I planned to eat steak for dinner. I hope you don’t mind?”
She shouldn’t eat again, but her tigress burned the meager sandwich quickly.
“Sounds good.” She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Perhaps we can discuss the proposal for the new location and what we can do there.”
He nodded. “Wine?”
Oh god, yes! She needed to control herself before she attacked him for a drink. “Please.”
He pressed a button on the side of the wall that connected to the dining room and the whole damn thing shifted to reveal stairs leading down to a lower level she had no idea existed.
“Are you kidding me?” She pressed her lips together and winced. “Sorry. That popped out.” She’d never been this wound up near a man.
He chuckled and the sound made her insides melt. “Don’t worry about it. Coming?”
She followed him down the stairs into what she realized was a basement wine cellar. She had no idea how old the wine in there was, but holy shit, they looked older than her entire bloodline.
His backside kept distracting her from the wine. Every time she looked at it, his big muscled back shifted under his black T-shirt. She was amazed he could find clothes that fit him with how big he was. Then again, there was now big and tall sections at most major retailers. Why the hell did she care if he had clothes to wear?
“Lily?”
She blinked and noticed he’d stopped, turned, and looked at her. “Yes?”
“I asked what is your favorite wine.”
“Oh. Um, I like white typically. Reisling or Pinot Grigio. Sometimes Moscato.”
He nodded and gave her another of those grins she had to warn every female in the city about.
“That’s it? You sure?” He gave a rough rumble of a laugh and turned back to the rows of bottles.
She placed her hands on her hips and glared at his back. “I like wine, so sue me.”
He walked farther into cellar, to a row of bottles that looked newer. He grabbed two bottles and turned to face her. “Ready?”
They were inches apart and when he went to walk past her, the small space meant he pressed his chest to hers. Their gazes locked and she held her breath as he rubbed his body over hers while sliding out. Her body came alive and every hormone in her took notice of how hard he felt. Of how good he smelled. Her tigress mewled under the skin, wanting a taste of him.
Once he was walking ahead of her, she focused on tamping down the surge of hormones telling her to make him hers. Thane Dreki was nowhere near the kind of man she wanted in her life.
Oh, you know you want to get into his pants.
Shut up!
She couldn’t stop her mind from rambling. All her thoughts had moved to the gutter and refused to go anywhere safe. She kept visualizing the man stripping. This man was not the kind to strip. He was the type that would rip his clothes off, and if he didn’t do it fast enough, she’d do it for him.
In the kitchen, he placed the bottles of wine on the counter and motioned for her to take a seat at the kitchen table.
“I don’t use the dining room. I hope you’re okay eating here.”
She nodded. “But if you don’t use it, why have it to begin with?”
He shrugged. “I made the dining set a long time ago for my sister. When she got married. When she was dying, she asked me to keep it. To remember her by.”
8
Lily gulped back at the knot in her throat. “I’m sorry.”
He turned away from her and went about opening the bottles of wine. “It’s fine. It’s really there more as a memory piece than anything else.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said, wishing she hadn’t made him remember such a sad moment of his life.
He pinned her with his gaze, his eyes now a darker, turbulent blue. “What about you? Do you have family?”
“Well, I’ve got lots of cousins, most of which are mated to the Night men.”
He handed her a glass of wine and watched her take a sip. Savory hints of moss and lime, of fragrant, crushed citrus foliage and very pure lemon zest took over her taste buds.
“What do you think of this one?” he asked.
“Wow. This is divine. What is it?”
He gave her a wide smile filled with genuine joy. “It’s Loibner Burgstall Smaragd Riesling.”
“Um, in English?”
He gave a deep, rough chuckle that gave her goose bumps. “It’s going to be hard to translate. It’s from Austria.”
She gasped and took another sip just to be sure it had been that good. Yeah. Even better on the second taste. “How in the hell can you get something this delicious in an Austrian wine?”
He winked and she was happy she was sitting because her legs turned to jelly. “Sometimes we’re surprised with perfection coming from the least expected places.”
She continued to drink her wine and watched him move around his kitchen. Now she understood the size of it. He was a big man and the space worked great around him. He pulled out a large covered pan from the fridge. Next came vegetables and makings for a salad.
“Do you want me to help with something?” She wasn’t a cook, but she didn’t feel right sitting there watching him do everything.
“No. I’ve got it.” He placed a skillet on the stove and turned on the fire. “Are you married, Lily?”
She blinked and sat quietly for a second. That question came out of left field. “No.” For a moment, she debated if to tell him about herself, but seeing as he was being so hospitable when she’d broken into his house and pretty much made herself his guest, she chose to tell him the rest. “I’m divorced.”
He glanced at her over his shoulder, his brows almost touching from his deep frown.
“You?” she asked before he went any further into her personal life.
“No,” he said in a clipped tone.
“No, not married or never been or what?”
“Curiosity killed the cat, Lily.”
She snorted. “Not this cat. Besides, you asked me first.”
He chopped vegetables and put them to the side. Then did the same with salad ingredients and soon, it was time for the steaks.
“I’m not married. Have never been. Never wanted to be.”
The sizzle of the meat cooking made her stomach grumble. It smelled so good. Spices and herbs. Yum.
She thought about relationships. It would take a man really proving he’s got her happiness at heart before she would go that route again. “Marriage is a big commitment. I don’t know if I could ever put myself in that position of vulnerability again.”
“Not even for your mate?” He didn’t turn back to her, but she heard his words clearly.
She gulped and thought of the tigress inside, pushing to get out and curl herself around the big dragon. The animal had to be wrong. He wasn’t her mate. Hell, they weren’t even from the same species. Tigers and dragons didn’t mate or mix.
“I don’t know. I guess when the time comes, I’ll have to make that decision.”
He finished cooking and served up their meal. Everything was delicious and simple, something she loved. She hated meals where she could barely pronounce what the hell she was eating. She’d give the wine a pass because she loved the taste so much, she didn’t mind that she couldn’t say where it was from.
They spoke about the proposal and she was happy to see his interest in what she’d come up with. Their company would have prime location and making a flagship store across from the largest mall in the country meant they could include clothing sales as well as artwork some of their talented staff did on the side.
“I’m very sorry to have dropped in on you the way I did,” she said. “I was a bit frustrated and I wanted to make sure you got on board with what I had in
mind for the new store.” She wondered if she should ask him about the other dragon she met. The man was a dick to her, but maybe he was just a watchful neighbor taking care of the neighborhood, or mountain top. She could have been a burglar, an insane one to come all the way up here.
“That’s fine. I just hope you don’t mind staying the night.”
He really was serious. Did he think he would be telling her what to do? He wasn’t even her husband. She kept her cool. “I don’t need to stay.”
“Yes, you do.”
She shook her head, denial quick to come to her lips. “I don’t have to do anything you say. I can make my own decisions.”
“Have you looked outside? Even if you could drive in this weather, the visibility is really low and you’d easily drive off the side of the mountain.” He pressed his lips into a thin line. She dropped her head into her hands and groaned. She’d forgotten about her car. She’d been so preoccupied trying to ignore her cat’s mating cries that she’d forgotten why she was really here.
He continued as if she were listening. “I won’t be responsible for you injuring yourself by not stopping you. And you don’t look stupid enough to let us not knowing each other have you make a bad decision.”
“Fine.” The word came out a growl, but she couldn’t care less at that point. She was stuck and there wasn’t much she could do about it. “I need a favor. My car is trapped in a snowdrift down the road a bit. Could you call a tow truck in the morning?”
His eyes grew huge. “What?” He sprang from his seat toward her. “Are you hurt?” He ran his hands down her arms and started on her ribs before she slapped them away.
“I’m fine. It’s a little late now to be checking, don’t you think?” she said, quite irritated, or pretending to be, at his touch.
He sat back on his heels and frowned at her. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Because, I’m fine.” And couldn’t stop thinking about your perfect body pounding into mine. Not going to say it. He sucked in a deep breath and his eyes glowed. Well, shit. Busted. He smelled her want. Damn shifter nose. She gathered her dishes and headed for the sink to escape his closeness.
Vote Then Read: Volume II Page 308