by Eliza Gayle
“I don’t want to put you out,” he said.
That got him a look from both women, although why he had no idea.
“Pregnancy isn’t a disease or something, Simon. You know that. I’m still perfectly capable of doing my job here.”
Oh shit. That’s not what he’d meant, but to backpedal now was far too delicate of a situation for someone like him. “You’re right, of course. Please forgive me.”
This made both Kenzie and Sienna relax and he breathed a sigh of relief. When in doubt keep it fucking simple. How many times had he learned that lesson over the years?
When Sienna disappeared through the kitchen door, Kenzie nudged his shoulder with hers and whispered, “Nice save. I thought for a minute you were going to pull a caveman on her and then I would have had to kick your ass in her defense.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “Totally not necessary. I definitely didn’t mean to offend her or even imply she couldn’t do her job.”
“She is human though and that shifter baby is wearing her out. Are you concerned about the delivery?”
“Oh, so you can say what I tried to avoid and it’s all good?” He shook his head and turned to the chair opposite his and pulled it out.
“Ya, of course. I am a female. It’s different.” She took the seat he offered and he returned to his across from her.
He fought not to roll his eyes. “I think it might have to do more with the dragon than the female.”
“They are the same. Do you mind?” She pointed at the carafe of coffee sitting on the table. “I am overdue for some caffeine.”
“Here, let me.” He tipped over the unused mug he’d reserved for her and poured her a full cup. “How do you take it?”
“Black with a smidge of sugar. Just enough to cut the bitterness. But without any of that fancy stuff.”
It was his turn to smile as he prepared the coffee to her liking and offered it to her.
“You have me curious,” he admitted. “How much do you know about Sienna from that brief conversation?”
She raised her eyebrows as she sipped on her coffee. “Enough to know she is human, the baby is not, I’d guess wolf and that the birth is imminent.”
Wow. She got straight to it and she knew more than his nurse would from an initial examination.
“She’s also not as strong right now as she’s letting on. Her cub will have to be born soon or she will not make it.”
Simon stilled. That was even more than he could tell. What the hell?
“Do dragons possess psychic abilities? Because that is far more information than given off of scent and appearance.”
“It was her touch. What I can’t see or smell, I can feel. So I guess, yes, you could say in some cases a dragon can possess some of the skills of a seer. But that shouldn’t surprise you. There is an entire clan in this region that has the ability to see as much if not more than I can.”
He leaned back in his chair and studied this puzzling woman. Her candor this morning surprised him after learning almost nothing last night. Besides the magnetic pull he’d felt for her since the moment she walked into the Dark Moon bar, that had nothing to do with either of their brains, he now held an equal fascination with the rest of her physiology.
“That clan you mention is as tight knit as they come. You won’t ever find them wandering around town or mingling with shifters.” His words were bitter and it wasn’t great that he hadn’t kept that anger to himself. This woman was no ordinary dragon. Her brother had named her as a Ferguson. As in the original Fergusons, he was sure.
That definitely made her an original too. Or at least of the original line. Many of the stories and lore had been lost over the century or so since they’d left, but enough of the pieces remained to make it clear. They were essentially the creators. Or their magic was.
“Why is that?”
When she asked her question he had to think for a minute to remember the last thing he’d said. He was getting sidetracked into territory he had no business in. Still.
She is a dragon.
And he was a man of science with a ridiculously healthy curiosity.
“Shifter fertility. Our shifter females have had a lot of trouble bringing babies to term in the past couple of decades and I’ve been trying to figure out a solution.”
She nodded, sipping on her coffee. Since she seemed interested, he continued.
“When both the female wolves and the cougars all but stopped getting pregnant and no one knew why, I expanded my medical specialties into the realm of reproductive endocrinology. We’ve since made some progress, but lately it’s been one step forward two steps back.”
“Procreation has gotten complicated.”
It wasn’t so much her words that sent a flare of warning rippling through Simon’s mind as much as the odd look that crossed her face. Her skin had paled and her eyes turned dark with an emotion he couldn’t quite read. Sadness maybe? Either way it disappeared as quickly as it appeared and he opted to shrug it off for now, but catalogue the reaction for further examination at a later time.
“Yes, it has. As for why the seers refuse to help, I’m afraid that would be above my paygrade. You’d probably have to ask someone on the council to get an answer to that one. We have treaties in place with each clan, but that doesn’t make us allies. More like we all barely tolerate each other. I always figured the psychics considered us beneath them and they preferred to keep to themselves than to mingle with the riff raff.”
“That doesn’t sound very neighborly at all. What in the world would you have to fight about?”
He looked at her curiously. Why was she asking these questions? Was it curiosity or something else?
“I’m afraid that list would be far too long for one meal to cover. If you’d like to join me for dinner, I could probably cover at least some of it.”
Her laughter pealed through the room, both melodious and heartwarming. While he didn’t understand her yet, it made him hopeful that she could laugh. Not everything in this world was meant to be intense.
“We haven’t even had breakfast yet and you already want to have dinner?”
He shrugged. “I like to nail down my schedule early. It makes life easier. Plus, I already know I want to see you again.”
She smirked at him. “How could you know that already? I’m still not sure breakfast was a good idea.”
He leaned forward and touched the hand she had rested on the table. “Trust me, it was. Especially if you like waffles. Do you like waffles? If so, you are in for a treat. Sienna’s are out of this world.”
For a moment Kenzie froze, her attention focused solely on where their hands touched. Not wanting to push too fast, he slowly withdrew and she relaxed a fraction.
“I like your confidence, wolf. But I think I’ll hold my final judgement on the outcome of breakfast until I’ve tasted these amazing waffles you preach about. Shall we order?”
“Hell yeah. I’ll just run back to the kitchen and left Sienna know we’re ready. Be right back.”
Chapter Seven
Kenzie watched Simon the wolf disappear through the kitchen door on a sigh. His automatic thoughtfulness to the pregnant human along with his confidence was starting to get to her.
She’d never spent much time with a healer and it made her wonder if they were all like him. She doubted it. This wolf had something she didn’t see often. He paid attention to everything and then adapted to his surroundings.
Maybe it was a wolf thing, but she doubted it. Her gut told her it was a Simon thing.
With him gone to the kitchen she took a moment to survey her surroundings. The interior was actually tiny with only a handful of tables available as seating, that at the moment were all unoccupied. There were only two doors that made exiting limited, but doable in case of an emergency. Although she couldn’t be sure the second door led to an exit without examining the kitchen.
Maybe instead of planning her escape routes, she could take a real break this
morning and enjoy the sweet aroma and simple ambience of the small space. The baked goods case, for example, was not small and was currently completely filled with a variety of delectable smelling goodies. That alone made her want to try one of everything.
It took a massive amount of energy for a dragon to fly, which meant she needed to refuel often. The reality of that meant she could eat her way through house and home on any given day. Speaking of…
She really needed to see about finding some of the necessities she’d need for her lair. A bed, basic appliances, walls, windows, etc. First, she needed to pick up a notebook. She liked to keep her thoughts organized and written out. It was a necessary key to early success.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Simon returned, carrying two plates of waffles that were piled at least ten high. When her stomach rumbled, Simon smiled. She had to fight not to lick her lips when she caught scent of the thick layers of butter infused with maple syrup.
“Here you go. I hope it’s okay, but I assumed that dragon metabolism has to be through the roof, making your dietary requirements larger than most.”
Kenzie burst out laughing. “I like how you make the fact I’m about to embarrass myself by eating a metric ton of food sound so reasonable and scientific.”
He laughed too as he put the plates down on the table and retook his seat. “You should see how sensitive human women are over it. They often obsess over every little thing they put in their mouth. It’s weird. Although scientifically speaking, I guess it makes some sense, since they do have slower metabolisms.”
She knew she should be paying attention to what he said, but her mouth watering was a complete and total distraction. The delicious aromas of the food in front of her had suddenly overpowered all other thoughts.
“Eat, Kenzie. I can sense you need to.”
Hmmm. And a little bossy. This healer wolf had a lot of interesting sides.
Instead of arguing with him, she chose to dig in.
When her mouth closed around that first bite, she was convinced she’d died and gone to heaven. Each flaky layer of waffle literally melted on her tongue, the flavors exploding over her taste buds until her vision blurred.
She chewed and swallowed slowly, savoring every moment. This meal was going to take a while. “Good Goddess, that is the most amazing thing I have ever tasted. How in the hell has that human managed to make something as basic as breakfast food orgasmic?”
She felt more than saw Simon’s body jerk over her last word and barely hid the smile his reaction caused. Damn, she loved knowing that she had that kind of effect on him. Teasing him would be way more fun like this.
Something dark crossed into Kenzie’s thoughts and she remembered why she’d come to America in the first place and how she really had no business sitting here with a man that she found more attractive than she should.
He was a distraction and a danger. That much seemed clear. And still she had come. Eagerly.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head and refused to answer his question, instead shoveling more food into her mouth to ensure her silence. The fact she also felt silly right now wasn’t helping her frame of mind. If there was ever a word she never expected to apply to herself it would be silly. It simply wasn’t how she was wired.
Head of security was an important job and one she took completely serious. Every day, three hundred and sixty five days of the year. So sitting here stuffing her face with deliciousness while avoiding looking directly at the man across from her was beginning to irritate her.
Her back stiffened and her resolve hardened. She wasn’t now, nor would she ever be, some soft-spoken woman who cowered from the truth. Even when it stared at her in the face like it wanted to devour her.
Yeah, in the midst of that little tirade she had going on in her head, she’d lifted her gaze from her plate and met Simon’s blue-eyed intensity head on. Her fork clattered against the plate as she fought to control the building storm inside her.
“Stop looking at me like that.” He was making it difficult for her to breathe and even think straight.
“Like what?” Simon kept his expression neutral but the deepening color of his eyes was far from neutral. He too had stopped eating.
“I should nae have come here,” she hissed, her voice tight and raspy while slipping deeper into her native accent. Just another thing to confuse and annoy her about this situation. Her control was slipping and at such a rapid pace she wasn’t sure she could stop it.
“What exactly are you afraid of?”
That made her body jerk that time. How dare he? “I’m afraid of nothing.” That was a goddamn lie and he could probably scent it. Kenzie let the anger and fear wash over her. Anger was one of their most powerful emotions and it often masked everything else. Or at least that’s what she hoped for in this case.
Unfortunately, the damned wolf had closed his eyes and inhaled deep. She needed to get the hell away from him before she completely lost it and did something she would regret for the rest of her life.
You know, like reach across the table and pull him into a kiss. Or worse yet, climb into his lap and rub herself all over him.
Kenzie surged to her feet over those insane thoughts. This had to stop and it was up to her to shut it down.
“You’re attracted to me and it’s making you very angry. Why?”
Her head whipped around and her eyes widened when she once again met the molten heat flaring from his eyes. “Wow, arrogant much? How dare you make such—”
“I’m only calling it like I see it, Kenzie. What I can’t figure out is why you’re so upset about it. You’re in heat. It’s a natural response. And it’s completely unnecessary for you to suffer through it like this.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting,” she said through gritted teeth. He wasn’t exactly wrong that something about him had made something flare hotly alive inside of her and she was having trouble getting it under control. But that sure as hell didn’t mean she was going to throw herself at him. Or spread her thighs just to ease a bit of discomfort.
There was simply too much at stake.
“There are multiple ways to skin that cat, darlin’. You just have to decide which you prefer.”
Kenzie rolled her eyes. Was he serious right now? It was too damned early in the day for this kind of bullshit. “I’m leaving. If I had any interest in cheesy pick up lines or other types of male stupidity, I could have stayed in Scotland for that.”
She gave one quick forlorn look at the amazing waffles she’d barely touched and then forced herself to turn and walk away. She’d be back for more. Some time when a certain arrogant, ridiculous wolf wasn’t around.
Kenzie was halfway through the front door when a powerful grip grabbed her arm and whipped her around.
“Don’t underestimate me, Kenzie Ferguson. Being a dragon doesn’t give you a free pass to be rude.”
She opened her mouth to blast him with a tirade the likes of which he’d never seen and instead found herself backed against a wall with a hard body pressed to her front, his face an inch away from hers.
Oh crap.
“I only wanted to help you. To watch you suffer is painful. But dammit. That fire inside you is…”
He didn’t finish his thought before he closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to hers. For a moment, her body stiffened and her mind fought against his touch, but the kiss was shockingly gentle. And unhurried. Where she’d expected a frenzy, she got a slow glide of soft lips and tender nips against her fevered skin.
It was impossible to ignore the lure she felt as her body softened against his. While her arms remained at her side, she tentatively opened her mouth and allowed him deeper access. The resulting riot of sensations as he swept inside left Kenzie’s mind reeling.
She couldn’t fight this. She’d been crazy to think she could.
As if they had a mind of their own, her arms lifted to wrap around his ne
ck and her fingers tangled in the soft strands of his thick hair as she pulled him impossibly closer. But it was the moan that slid between her lips from him that broke the tether of sanity she stubbornly continued to cling to.
Her world tilted and turned upside down as he took her deeper into their kiss. Of course the dragon part of her woke and judging by the heat building inside her, she was fully onboard with this action.
That thought semi-sobered her as she pulled back and gulped for air. Simon, on the other hand, said nothing. He simply struggled right along with her as he stared down at her with those crazy blue eyes that instead of looking like ice, now reminded her of blue flames.
“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I want you. But the intensity of that want is shocking, to say the least.”
She didn’t know how to take that. Was he somehow referring to the fact they were so different? As in not the same species? Why would that matter to him? Did he somehow know what would happen? Was there more to his research than he’d let on?
“I don’t understand how you know what you know. Only a dragon can sense another dragon in mating heat.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible. All shifters have an enhanced sense of smell. And your alluring scent is downright intoxicating. It’s impossible to miss.”
He reached up to touch her face and she nearly panicked. If she didn’t get away from him she feared where this might lead.
She pressed her hands against his chest and gave him a gentle push. He didn’t fight, retreating several steps. “And yet no other shifter in that bar reacted to me in any way other than blatant or subtle hostility.”
“That’s good then. If another shifter thinks he can have you, he won’t live long enough to make a move.”
Her mouth dropped open and she froze in place. She’d heard the words clearly that came out of Simon’s mouth, but she had to have misunderstood them.
“Excuse me?”
A slow, arrogant smile crossed his face. It was normally the kind of look that would get a shifter’s ass kicked for using it on her. On him, however…