Dragon's Heart: A Dragon Lore Series book by Eden Ashe (3)

 

Chapter 4

 

A furious Daniel towered over her.

Realizing she was in an ambulance, she scooted back on the stretcher, pulling the sheet tighter around herself. Something was very, very off. There was no pain or range of motion issue with her shoulder. There was just a blackness where the last hour should have been. Whatever was wrong with her, it ran core deep, and had everything to do with the man treating her as if she’d caused all the wrongs in his world.

She let out a pathetic snort. He had vanished on her, leaving her to face the last year alone. The media wasn’t forgiving at the best of times, and they’d had a field day--field year- - with America’s Good Girl falling from grace. , and the disappearance of the man accused of the crime, was too good of a story for the media not to run around the clock for a month straight.

It didn’t make any sense why he hated her. For as much hell as he’d caused her in the last eleven months, professionally and personally, nothing had prepared her for the blast of emotions that rocked her at seeing him standing close to her again. She had no idea what to do with the realization she’d missed him. As soon as she figured out what the hell was going on, she needed deep psychological help.

“So.” She was careful to keep her left arm tucked against her stomach as she tried in vain to put more distance between them. It still didn’t hurt, but the thought of ripping the rapidly healing wound open made her queasy. She’d never been a big fan of blood. Her teeth tugged at her bottom lip as she tried not to worry about how much space he took up, even while sitting on the bench. He was huge. “You’re alive.” When he leaned forward, bringing them closer together, she tried to keep her face impassive. Her gaze dropped to the huge forearms he braced against tree trunk-sized thighs , before she snapped her attention back to his face. He was a lunatic who looked to be on the verge of major violence. She wasn’t so confused she didn’t understand the combination was a powder keg with a lit fuse. “I wasn’t sure. The police said you were gone before the ambulance ever got to the hospital.”

“Disappointed, princess?”  

She almost snorted at him. She’d spent the last year hoping he was still alive, and trying

 

not to let the uncertainty drive her out of her mind.“I didn’t get myself shot on purpose, you know. So whatever you’re mad at me about, it’s not my fault. I didn’t ask them to call you.”

“Right.” He dragged his gaze from the mark over her heart back to her face. Though she was sure she was imagining it, she could have sworn his eyes lingered on her mouth. “Just like the Hunter showing up in your bedroom was just a weird twist of fate?”

“A hunter?” She asked, certain she was missing a huge part of the conversation. “Daniel, my house was in the most exclusive part of Los Angeles. There isn’t anywhere to hunt.”

“Ryuu.”

She remembered that word from their first date. He’d told her it was an ancient dragon curse because his didn’t like him using cuss words. Funny. She’d thought it was sweet at the time. Now she was sure it just made him bat-shit crazy.

He dragged a hand through his hair , before jerking around and grabbing a blanket off the supply shelf behind him. He threw it at her. “Put it on. Stop shivering, and while you’re at it, cut the crap, princess. I’m not buying it. You know exactly what I am.”

“A madman?” she asked, barely managing to catch the blanket with her. She was good at many things, but physical sports had never been one of them. She awkwardly managed to wrap the blanket around herself, realizing for the first time how badly she’d been shivering. She leaned back against the gurney as her eyes started to get heavy. “Why did you save my life? If you hate me so much, you could have let me die.”

Something dark flashed in his eyes before he clenched his jaw and turned away. Shelby knew she was delusional when, for a brief second, she thought she saw real pain etched on his rugged face. Then again, she’d also thought she’d seen his pupils lengthen, which was beyond absurd. Maybe she had a concussion. She hadn’t thought to ask.

He shrugged, his focus on a spot above her head. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“Gee,” she snapped, hating herself for the pain settling hard in her chest, “you do know how to sweet talk a woman.”

He stood so abruptly he hit his head against the roof of the ambulance. He snarled and leaned toward the front of the van to bang on the wall that separated them from the driver. “Are we almost fucking there?”

Shelby winced at the impatient growl in his voice. “You don’t like me.” It wasn’t a question. The answer was written all over his face.

* * * *

Daniel braced both hands against the wall and dropped his head for a long moment, his teeth grinding together. Ryuu. He told himself he wasn’t going to fall for it again. He was not going to let the fear in her eyes get to him. She was an actress, a damn good one, and he’d been played by her once. Once was enough for a lifetime.

Even knowing what she was and what she was capable of, he had this fucked up need to make her world right. He barely controlled the urge to go after and find whoever had hurt her and rip them to shreds, piece by goddamn piece. He had no idea what it said about him, other than it made him the biggest idiot on the planet.

“Look,” he snapped. Once he was sure his split pupils had retracted back to their normal shape, he sat back down. He had no doubt she knew what he was, despite her wide-eyed ’t in the habit of flashing it around. One Hunter in his life was enough.

“Just stop talking, alright?”

She shivered so hard her teeth chattered. She wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders, glaring at him through exhausted pale green eyes.

A year ago, that fierce frown would have made him smile. It was why he’d been so attracted to her in the beginning. There had been no end to the demands people put on her, but she’d handled it with grace and dignity. The other actors were spoiled brats with massive paychecks, continually demanding one outrageous thing after another, or showing up late, then refusing to come out of their trailers because of one imagined slight or another. Shelby had shown up on time every day, ready to do what they’d paid her to do. More, she’d known everyone’s names down to the lowest tech on the totem pole. When she talked to them, he’d always had the impression she wasn’t just going through the motions, either. She’d listened, genuinely interested.

He’d seen her temper for the first time when he’d been working security at the studio for a little over a month. Uncharacteristically drawn to the slight, slender, beautiful woman on every level, part of him had been waiting for the ugly side of her to rear its head after seeing the tantrums the other actors pulled.

It had, but not in the way he’d been expecting. Instead of sending her publicist or assistant out to complain about something, she’d gone head-to-head with the director over his treatment of one of his assistants. He’d been berating the mousy woman in front of the entire crew, and Daniel had been about to step in himself to demand the asshole back off when Shelby had come out of nowhere, sticking herself between the director and the sobbing woman. True, courage was non-existent in Hollywood, let alone anywhere in his world, yet it was something about this rarity that had reached inside of him.

He’d moved to stand behind her, prepared to go for the director’s throat if the idiot had made a move to touch Shelby.

When she’d turned to smile at him, Daniel would have cut out his own tongue easier than denying the urge to ask her out. It had confused the hell out of him when she’d said yes without hesitating, until he’d woken up to find a Hunter standing over him in her bedroom.

Disconcerted at the way she kept watching him now, he scrubbed both hands over his face before checking his watch.

“You still haven’t told me where we’re going,” she muttered.

“My place.” He crouched down against the wall, studying her. He told himself it was pure self-preservation. She was as beautiful as he remembered. He’d always loved her face. Her sunny blonde hair was longer than it had been, falling to the middle of her back, her soft curves, along with the wound he wasn’t up to seeing again, hidden behind the unflattering fabric of the blanket she wore. She may be an untrustworthy psycho, but she was a damn beautiful one.

“No.” She shook her head and glanced around, as if trying to find an escape route. “Just take me home. I’ll hire extra security, it’ll be fine. I’m not going home with you.”

“I need to get some weapons, and it’s the safest place I know.”

She snorted. “Like that’s a compelling argument. You need more weapons.” She pulled her knees to her chest, emphasizing their size difference and her vulnerability. “I don’t know what you have to do with this, and I am very sorry the doctor called you. Why your name was listed as my emergency contact, I have no idea, but I promise I’ll take care of it. It won’t happen again.”

He felt a slow, violent ticking start in his jaw. “Quit the act, princess. You know damn fucking well why I’m here, and why they called me. It was why you let me fuck you, right? Why else would you let a dragon touch that perfect body?”

Shelby didn’t react for a long moment before her mouth fell open, and without warning, she started screaming loud enough to shatter his eardrums. “Stop! Let me out!”

As if that was all it took, the ambulance slowed, and came to a sudden stop. Shelby

pitched forward, landing against Daniel’s chest before he could protect himself.

When his mark hovered closely to hers, his emotions went into overload as her feelings flooded his system. He staggered under the onslaught. Her eyes flared, sensing the same. It took everything he had not to devour her right then, and let the dragon inside of him permanently stake his claim.

He lowered his head. For one spine-tingling moment, he debated kissing her. , he had loved kissing her. “Keep the blanket wrapped around you,” he snapped, instead, as he set her as far away as his arms could reach, “and keep your head down. We’re going in underground, so there will be less eyes watching, but it doesn’t mean shit. We’re going to avoid cameras as much as we can. When we get to the elevator, keep your face turned into my chest, no matter what you see or hear. The last thing we need is someone recognizing you.”

“Wait.” Her good hand shot out, grabbing Daniel’s with more strength than he would have given her credit for under the circumstances. “You think I’m still in danger?”

Ryuu. She needed to stop. He shouldn’t care about her fear, but there was something about her that drew him in like nobody else could. Even now, the possessiveness he felt for her scared the shit out of him, screwed up his thinking. He knew he’d kill for her. Die for her.

He had no idea how much of it had to do with the fact his kind mated for life.

“Why the hell do you think I’m still here?” he asked, deliberately adding enough power to his temper to rattle the vehicle. If he couldn’t keep his wits about him, he needed to make her afraid of him.

Luca Dragan stuck his head in when the ambulance doors swung open. “All clear.” His dark blue gaze went from Daniel to Shelby, a slow, crooked grin tugging at his mouth. “ I ’ m Luca, Seren ’ s brother.   You must be the mate. I ’ m Luca. ” He shrugged, moving out of the way so they could climb out. “Too bad.”

A violent snarl tore out of Daniel before Shelby could say anything. Luca had all the charm Daniel was missing, and he was going to need the other dragon’s help in finding out what the hell was going on. That would be difficult if he killed him for looking at Shelby. “Watch it, Dragan,” he snapped as he climbed out, then reached inside for Shelby. She slapped his hands away before he could help her, carefully climbing out on her own.

Luca just shrugged again. “What? It’s a compliment. You’ve always had excellent taste in women.”

“We’re not dating.” She barely spared Dragan a glance before she turned back to Daniel and poked him in the chest with a finger. “He doesn’t actually like me very much.” Daniel  

“What did he mean by mate?”

“Nothing,” Daniel snapped. “Keep your head down, damn it. There are cameras everywhere.”

Luca hit the button for the elevator. “Do you prefer wife over mate? We mate for life, so the term means forever to us.”

Shelby stopped as she swung around to face Luca. “What are you talking about?

Who’s mated?”

Luca went still, before his gaze swung to Daniel. “Fucking hell, you didn’t tell her?”

“Thanks, asshole, but no. I hadn’t. I’m not going to, either.”

She ignored Daniel as she kept her focus on Luca. “Tell me, what?”

“You two are mated for life.”

She turned toward Daniel, and stood there blinking for a long moment. She looked as if her head would explode. “Mated for life”

Daniel’s jaw started to tick as Shelby’s scream echoed through the underground parking garage. Ignoring Luca’s humor, Daniel stopped walking.

She had planted both tiny feet firmly on the ground as her five-foot-two body squared off with Daniel’s much larger one. She swung her good arm out, temper seething in her pale eyes as she pointed at Luca. “If this is some weird ritualistic thing, I am not finding the humor in it. At. All.”

“Shelby--”

“Oh no.” She threw up her hand as she took an unsteady step away from him. “Don’t act like I’m doing something wrong here, Daniel. I’m pretty sure this one is all you.” ’t move her left arm, she wrapped her good one over it. “You are taking me home right now,” she yelled. “I am not getting sucked any farther into either of your delusions. Rogue

Hunters and mates and magically healing wounds. None of this stuff actually exists!”

“Welcome to the real world, princess.” He shoved a hand through his hair. Not stupid enough to give her time to realize what he was going to do, he moved in. He ignored her shouted protests as he scooped her up. He’d have preferred tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, just so he didn’t have to deal with the fury in her eyes, but he couldn’t take the chance of ripping her wound open. While he was still absorbing the pain for her, he was damn sure his body wouldn’t have the resources to keep doing it if the stitches popped. “We don’t have time for this.”

“Oh, you need to make time,” she yelled, struggling to free herself from his grip. “What the hell is going on? Answer me, you stubborn, arrogant, overbearing pain in the ass!”

Daniel ignored her. He didn’t like being questioned. He led all the dragon clans around the world because he made the hard choices. He never allowed himself to second-guess his decisions. His people came first. It was the way it was. The way it always had been. The way it always would be. He had no weaknesses, no emotional attachments to anyone or anything. Any vulnerability left his people open. They had been at war since damn near the dawning of time, and with Cage now at the head of the Hunters, peace was on the horizon for Daniel’s people for the first time in their long-ass lives. The last thing they needed was a chink in his armor caused by a woman with hair the color of sunshine and a stubbornness that matched his own.

She’d led a Hunter to him once already. No way in hell was he going to give the little traitor information that would put his people at risk.

 

 

Chapter 5

 

Shelby sucked in a huge breath when the elevator opened directly into Daniel’s apartment. She’d expected Daniel’s place to be huge. After all, the man was a giant. He was a powerhouse of epic proportions, a massively built six-foot-eight, compared to her short five-foot - two. Anything normal size wouldn’t fit him. Having pictured him in a normal apartment or house always had the same effect on her as picturing a large, wild, untamed beast in a glass cage.

Daniel’s apartment redefined the word huge. The ceilings were at least two stories high, with windows so large it would take a full day to clean them. A studio, the only interior walls closed off what she assumed was the bathroom.

Despite the crumbling brick, everything was clean. Immaculate. There was a place for everything and everything was in its place. Shelves that lined the exterior walls were filled with weapons. A large couch sat at an odd angle in the middle of the room, almost as if it had been put there as a second thought, then forgotten about. Which made sense. It would be hard to sprawl out or get comfortable on any couch when you were the size of a large mountain. The kitchen sat against the east wall, a long black row of cabinets and shining stainless steel appliances, with a small island doubling as a table.

A neatly made bed was at the far side of the apartment, while in dead center of the large, open space was an old, black punching bag.

Completely functional--if you were a psychopath, she thought, as she eyed the rows and rows of weapons. It was completely lacking in warmth, no other workout equipment or furniture. There were no rugs or pillows or even curtains or books to warm the place up or give it a sense of identity. She frowned. The entire place felt…cold. It didn’t fit him at all. Underneath his gruff, silent exterior, the man burned hot down to his core. He deserved more comfort than this.

Damn it, she was doing it again. Somehow, from the very first moment she’d seen him, she’d had this fierce, almost uncontrollable urge in her to protect him from the world. Which was ridiculous considering the man threw off power like most people breathed. Not to mention the insane arsenal he was packing in this place. Something in his eyes pulled at her, insisting she help him.

She shivered as she turned back around to face him. For as exhausted as she felt, he

looked worse. She suddenly remembered how insistent the doctor was he stay seated and rest.

If he hadn’t ignored her demand for answers, freaking her out more than a little, she would have felt sorry for him.

“Just so you know, Daniel, if I don’t know what’s going on, none of this is really happening.” She raised her brow in a dead-on imitation of the look he was currently giving her. “No way am I agreeing to be married, or mated, or whatever it is you think we’re doing here. Got it?”

“I’m a dragon.”

She gave him a slow, measured blink before she moved in. She pointed up at him. “Fine, keep making jokes, dragon boy, but I’m not kidding. None of this is happening until I know what the hell is going on.”

Luca choked as the muscle under Daniel’s left eye began to twitch. When she stood there, refusing to let him intimidate her, he took a step closer. Then another, until his massive body had her caged against the couch. She hadn’t even realized he’d walked her in a half circle as he’d stalked her. He slammed his hands on either side of her hips, leaving her with no way of escape.

His lip lifted in a sneer, his eyes deadlocked on hers. “Cut the act. It’s getting old, and

I’m not buying it.”

Closing her eyes, Shelby counted to ten very slowly. Out loud. When she finally opened them, she . “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she yelled.

His hands clenched, the huge, corded, bulging muscles of his arms flexed, and his Mack truck shoulders tightened. White-hot violence flashed in his eyes.

Then, as proof she had a concussion or was seriously hallucinating, his pupils lengthened to slits. His jaw tensed as the blood drained from her face, but in the second it took her to blink, his eyes were back to normal.

Not the same for her heart rate. She wasn’t hallucinating. She knew it. If she was dreaming of Daniel, this is not what they’d be doing. So, concussion it was. It was the only explanation.

Not caring if it made her weak, she closed her eyes in the face of his fury, sucking in a couple of steadying breaths. “I think maybe I need to sit. Your madness is rubbing off on me.”

He stepped back as he dropped his arms, giving her room to breathe. “You should rest.”

Shelby snorted at the understatement as she made herself open her eyes. He’d backed

away farther than she’d thought, standing there with his arms crossed over his massive chest, the fury in his eyes banked to nothingness. Something she couldn’t identify, some emotion she didn’t want to name, landed hard in her belly, ratcheting up the odd pain in her chest.

“Can I take a shower first?”

He nodded once, his face still wiped clean of emotion. “Do you need me to carry you?”

She smiled at him--or came as close to it as possible with the rage of emotions storming through her. “I’m okay.” She wrinkled her nose before she blew out a breath, deciding to just say it. “You look like you’re about to pass out on your feet. Maybe we should both get some rest, and then we can start over with real answers after we nap?” When he kept that damnable eyebrow raised, she narrowed her eyes before she turned to stalk down toward the bathroom.

“Fine. Okay, then.”

She’d almost reached the bathroom when his voice boomed out, stopping her in her tracks. “Shelby.”

“Yes?”

When she didn’t turn to face him, an angry sound reverberated through the room. “I meant what I said. I’m a dragon.”

She didn’t move as she tried to wrap her brain around Daniel being delusional. When she couldn’t get there, she shook her head and, without a word, continued onto the bathroom. She slumped against the door as soon as it was closed behind her. What did you say to a man who destroyed your life, hoarded weapons, then tried to convince you he was a dragon?

* * * *

Daniel could feel Luca’s eyes boring into the back of his head. He knew the other dragon had questions--he had questions. It was the answers he had issues with.

Shaking his head to clear it, he shoved a hand through his hair as he headed for the bedroom area of his apartment. “What did you find out?”

Like someone had flipped a switch, the humor in Luca was gone as he stopped in front of Daniel. there wasn’t a moment of any day that Luca did not hold himself tightly in check. The absolute control was something Daniel admired, when it didn’t scare the hell out of him. Because in his experience, anything wound that tight, was bound to explode. When it happened, it would be up to Daniel to put Luca down.

Luca shrugged. “It was a Hunter, but there is no way of telling if she was the target, or

you were.”

“Cage says the hit didn’t go through him.”

“Then it didn’t. If Cage said he didn’t authorize it, we have no choice but to believe him. He’d lose as much as we would if war broke out again, with Seren caught in the middle. She’s carrying the first hybrid child.”

Daniel squatted catcher-style next to his bed. After hitting a couple of strategically placed knots on the floorboard, a trap door swung open to reveal a hidden arsenal. “It doesn’t explain why Shelby was shot.” Because he could feel the fury he’d been trying to bury for the last couple of hours start to boil in his blood, he focused his energy on keeping his face neutral. He was the leader. This was his problem. He would not drag his men into this. As long as they thought he had everything under control, they wouldn’t worry.

Any unknown in the Hunter world concerned him. A wild card, an unseen variable could mean destruction and devastation for Daniel’s people. The Hunters were a creation of the goddess Gwendolyn, meant to fight side by side with the dragons to protect the humans from the few dragons seduced by power. They were massively big, with s, and dragons were the only known beings in the world capable of taking one down if it went rogue. Which was happening more and more lately, for reasons no one really understood.

He shook his head to clear it. As much as he wanted to go after the Hunters himself, his best option at the moment was to go through Cage.

He glanced at Luca. “How could no one have seen anything? It was a fucking movie premiere.”

Luca studied the huge-ass arsenal in the hidden room beneath them before he spoke again. “I don’t know. The Hunter couldn’t have wiped the memories clean of everyone there and hid it from the cameras.”

Daniel nodded once. Not even Cage, the strongest Hunter in existence, had that kind of power. “Someone saw something then. Get Broderick on it. Have him access every known video feed and camera shot he can find. I want answers.”

“The others?” Luca asked. “What do you want them to do?”

Daniel barked out a humorless laugh. This was why he wasn’t supposed to mate. He didn’t know how to do this. Judging by her temper earlier, she was damn close to killing him. If it was anyone else in the world, Daniel could have extracted himself from the problem. As the leader, it was his responsibility to be the first line of defense. The first one through the door, the first one to take the hit. If he showed even a second’s hesitation in doing what needed to be done where Shelby--his mate--was concerned, it would weaken him in the eyes of those who trusted him to lead.

He was walking a fine line right now. If the others found out he’d unwittingly mated to a woman who’d sicced a Hunter on him, they would be within their rights to kill her. If they found out she was involved in the Hunter world, they would kill her, period. Their rules had been in place since the first dragon had turned evil. And there were reasons for them. It was Daniel’s job to enforce those laws, a job he had never hesitated to do before.

For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t handing her over. Why he’d brought her here, despite knowing what she was. He couldn’t afford to make mistakes, or second guess himself.

“Put them on lookout for right now. I want hourly updates. I want to know immediately if a single cameraman shows up.”

Luca nodded, though he didn’t move. “What are you going to do with her?”

“What I have to do. We can’t be sure she’s not a mole.”

“If she’s not?” Luca asked quietly, when Daniel didn’t say anything else. “What are you going to do with her if you find out she’s just a victim of our world?”

Daniel’s face and eyes were devoid of emotion as he reached down into the arsenal to grab the blade he was looking for. “I don’t get a mate. I’ll find a way to break the bond without killing us both.”

“If she’s being set up, it makes her unsafe.” Luca tunneled his fingers through his hair. “Before you make any decisions, there’s something else bothering me.” When Daniel only raised a brow, Luca cleared his throat. “How well do you know the people closest to her?”

Not liking where the conversation was going, Daniel hesitated, his hand wrapped around the hilt of the knife he had been sliding out of its sheath. “It’s been almost a year. The ones I remember checked out. Why?”

Luca’s jaw worked for a long moment, before he finally got the words gritted out. “Because there’s a good possibility one of them tried to have her killed.” As Daniel’s other half leaped to the surface, Luca visibly braced for the hit. “There was too much media attention today, all directed at her. So why now? Why today when every camera and television in the world is watching her? When she was surrounded by more security guards than the president?”

“Someone was sending a message,” Daniel murmured quietly, barely controlling his fury. “They can get to her. Anytime. Anywhere. Only the people closest to her would have had access to her, and her schedule.” When Luca continued to hold his gaze, Daniel nodded once as he got to his feet, slipping the ancient dagger into his boot on his way up. “Get a list of her people, then start running background checks. If they scrub her toilet, I want to know every fucking thing about them. Tell the others to be ready to gear up. We’re leaving as soon as I’m sure she’ll survive the trip.”

Luca stood with him. “What are you going to do?”

Daniel’s jaw set. “I’m going to find out what she knows.”

To his surprise, Luca didn’t immediately jump to do what he was told. Instead, the other dragon cleared his throat. “What about you? You look like dog shit, Ashborne.”

“Fuck off.” Crouching, he reached down into the hidden room. Before he could grab the ladder, a low, violent sound tore out of him. He was stalking toward the bathroom in the next heartbeat. She was left handed. She couldn’t shower if she couldn’t use her good arm.

He didn’t bother to knock. She’d argue with him, and he wasn’t in the mood. “Goddamn it, Shelby, would it kill you to ask for--”

His words cut off as he caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. There were tears streaming down her face. The blanket was discarded at her feet, her tiny body nearly convulsing with tremors as she stared at the ugly wound where the bullet had torn through her porcelain, previously unmarred skin.

“D-D-Daniel.” When her terrified, stricken gaze lifted to meet his in the mirror, the fury and bloodlust in him to find who had done this to her was almost blinding. “Someone--someone sh-shot me, Daniel.”

 

 

Chapter 6

 

Daniel was deceptively calm as he stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He wanted to demand she stop crying and face it like a man, but she wasn’t a man. She was a woman and his mate. He doubted he could demand such things of her. Nor could he point out how many knife wounds, bullet holes , and broken bones he’d had in his life, and got through it without tears.

He had one desperate moment when it occurred to him Luca might know how to calm her, but then she let out a strangled sob and turned into his arms, burying her face in his chest.  

His next thought. Like. Fucking. Hell.

“Daniel.” Her small fists wedged up between them, pushing against his chest. “I can’t breathe.”

He cursed himself when he realized he was crushing her. She watched him with eyes full of tears, expecting something he didn’t understand. No matter how hard he tried, though, he had no idea what she wanted him to do. How the hell was he supposed to make this better for her?

When he didn’t move, she let out a pathetic sniffle. She wiped at her eyes with her good hand, then moved back out of his arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t,” he snapped. He clenched his jaw, then moved with dizzying speed to lift her and set her on the bathroom vanity, his arms caging her against him. “Of course you fucking upset me. I don’t know what to do with tears!”

When her eyes widened slightly as she studied him, he had the damndest damnedest thought she was trying to decide if she should be amused or irritated by his temper. He didn’t care which one she chose. Either would be better than her crying.

Temper won. It darkened her eyes as she scooted back. He almost expected to see lightning flash in the depths of the pale green of her irises. “Yelling at me doesn’t stop them.”

He snorted as he yanked off the scrub top he’d stolen from the hospital and threw it into the corner. The bandages wrapped around his torso went next, the wound beneath it reduced to barely more than a scratch. “Bullshit. There’s no reason for them.” He pulled off his boots, unbuttoned his jeans and shoved them off, leaving him in nothing but a e y boxer briefs.

“They don’t change anything. They sure as hell don’t make anything better.”

“Whoa.” Her mouth dropped open. “What--Daniel, what are you doing?”

He ignored her as he reached in to turn on the bath water, then moved in and lifted her into his arms before she could protest. “You didn’t think I’d forget you were left-handed, did you?” He moved slowly as he sat, and carefully settled her in front of him, his jaw clenching tightly as her perfect ass molded against his aching hard on.

Ryuu, he had no self-control where this woman was concerned. “Don’t move,” he gritted out, dropping his chin on her good shoulder as he reached for the bar of soap. He could do this without making an ass of himself. “I’m not going to be happy if you rip open your wound despite my efforts to keep it from happening.”

He turned her around to face him, taking his time lathering up his hands before he slowly went to work cleaning the blood off her soft skin. His cock got harder as goose bumps ran over her skin, her nipples tightening against the chill. The entire time he worked, she never took her gaze off his face. “Do you think it will scar?” she finally asked after he’d washed her hair. Her voice was soft, hesitant, as if afraid of his answer.

“I can make sure it doesn’t,” he murmured, deliberately keeping his tone mild. He needed answers, but knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t give them until she felt safe. “Shel, I need you to tell me what happened tonight. What do you remember?”

She jerked back as her teeth began to chatter. He murmured a chant, warming the water and filling the bathroom with heat.

An adorable, confused look flashed over her face as the steam thickened around them. “How did you…” A crooked smile tugged at her mouth as her voice trailed off, and she jabbed a finger in his shoulder. “You are not going to convince me you are a dragon, Daniel.”

“We’ll discuss it later. Right now, I need to know what you remember about the shooting.”

Panic flashed in her eyes. “I’m trying, but there’s nothing there.” She pulled her knees up to her chest, shaking her head slowly. “I remember getting ready and walking to the limousine the producers sent for me, but that’s it. No matter how hard I try, everything after the limo door closes behind me is gone.”

He managed not to let his frustration show. There had to be something there, something inside of her head to give them a starting direction, but he knew when people were lying to him.

It was what made him good at his job. The only thing in the world he cared about was protecting the secret of his people. ’t a person in the world whose emotions had clouded his judgment.

Until now. His instincts were off when Shelby was involved, and he couldn’t afford it.

Not when it wasn’t only his life, his future, at stake. He could not afford to fall for her act again.

“I want a play by play of everything that has happened over the last week,” he finally said. “I want to know every little detail. Who you talked to, who you went out with, who you worked with, who you slept with. I want a list of everyone who has a reason to hurt you or want you out of the picture. I want a list of ex-boyfriends. Enemies. Your life is an open book to me now, do you understand?”

To his surprise, she scowled. “No, I don’t understand. Do you know what you did to my life the last time I let you into it? I am still trying to put the pieces back together. Thank you for your help, but I think I’ll take this to the .” She swayed on her feet when she stood too quickly. He was up in a heartbeat, grasping her waist to hold her steady before she could fall forward. His teeth gritted as her soft breasts mashed against his abdomen. How the fucking hell had he been able to forget how perfect her body fit against his? Her breath caught as her eyes went round. “Daniel.”

“Yes?”

“Your hands.”

It took him a moment to realize what she was talking about, until he followed her gaze down to where his hands gently cupped her breasts. His cock went rock hard as he felt her nipples harden for him. He wasn’t sure what came first--her soft moan of pleasure or his dark growl of need.

* * * *

Shelby thought she’d forgotten how perfect his hands felt against her skin, and the way he could make her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world just by looking at her. She’d wanted to forget.

Her breath shuddered as the pads of his thumbs brushed lightly over the tips of her breasts, her hands coming up to rest possessively over his strong, sturdy shoulders. His eyes darkened, and that was it. He pushed her back against the wall, his mouth closed over hers, and simply devoured.

Out of sheer desperation to get closer to him, she wound her good arm around his neck. It

took her a moment to realize the intense banging that echoed in her ears wasn’t her own pulse.

“Goddamn it, Ashborne! I’m talking to you here!”

Shelby winced at Daniel’s anger when he pulled back, his gaze scorching as he glared at the door. “Go the fuck away, Dragan. I’m busy.”

“Yeah, about that.” Luca cleared his throat. “Seren said you are to keep your hands and all other relevant body parts to yourself until you’ve both had at least twelve hours of real rest, and one good calorie-and-protein-packed meal.”

“So help me, Luca, you’re pushing it--”

“I know. I need to talk to you.” He hesitated a beat. “My Lord.”

Shelby shivered at the undertones lacing Luca’s words. The dark fury on Daniel’s face worried her, though. Her hand tightened on his powerful shoulder. “He sounds serious.”

“He’s Dragan,” was all he said, as if it explained everything. He shifted his body, setting her on the bathroom floor gently. He held onto her for a moment longer until she was steady, before he let her go and stepped back. “Get dressed. I’ll bandage the wound when you’re done.”

She snorted, hurrying to grab a gray towel to cover herself. She knew it was silly to worry about modesty after what they’d been doing, but with space between them now, she could think clearly and her common sense returned. “Get dressed in what? My dress is in tatters at the hospital. I’d rather not wear a blanket for whoever knows how long.”

He grabbed the towel from her, wrapping it around her himself. She held it closed, mostly because she was sure he’d find a way to do it for her if she didn’t--though a perverse part of her brain thought it might be fun to see what he did next.

Shelby couldn’t help wondering if the man even realized he was taking care of her. It was sweet, really, even with all the temper he was throwing her way. His gentleness never wavered, not even for a second.

He pointed at her as he grabbed another towel and hooked it low around his hips , before reaching for the door handle. He hesitated, his gorgeous eyes storming as they roamed over her for a moment. A low, muted cadence murmured from him, and the steam in the room thickened again.

She barely blinked this time. The man was hot enough to boil water, so why not?

* * * *

Daniel ignored the smugness on Luca’s face as he closed the bathroom door behind him

and headed toward his bedroom area. Opening the top drawer of his dresser he pulled out a pair of black track pants. Not bothering with modesty, he dropped the towel to tug them on , before crouching and rifling through the bottom drawer. When he had what he wanted, he stalked back to the bathroom, yanking the door open without even a knock.

“Put these on,” he snapped.

Once she’d taken the clothes, he shut the door again before rounding on Luca, who was leaning against the kitchen’s island. “Alright,” he . “I’m listening.”

Luca raised a dark brow at him. “She shoot you down?”

“Fuck off. I thought you had news.”

The humor faded off Luca’s face. He jerked his head toward a chair. “You might want to

sit.”

Daniel let out a string of curses. Ignoring his suggestion, he planted his feet where he was, his arms crossed over his chest. “I’m listening.”

“The media’s having a field day with this.” At Daniel’s bland look, Luca’s gaze hardened. “I get you couldn’t give a shit, but this is your mate’s life. Without answers, the media are making up their own. That could be dangerous for all of us.”

Daniel scrubbed a hand over his face. Luca was right. He couldn’t care less about what the media was coming up with. Ryuu. This should have been the least of his worries.

“I’m listening,” he repeated.

“There are already whispers her shooting is tied in with what happened to you at her place.”

Daniel felt the muscle under his eye begin to twitch. “What’s the spin?”

Luca shrugged. “Not good. The second they couldn’t find her at any area hospital, the tone of the news stories went from sympathetic to…well, nasty. They’re digging into everything- - her past, her friends, any relationship they can connect to her.” Luca crossed his ankles, then his arms over his chest. “So far, none of the stories have come close to anything with a supernatural bent, but with all the reality shows featuring ghosts and the hunt for mythical beings, it’s only a matter of time before rumors start surfacing, especially if someone gets a shot of her without a bullet hole in her shoulder.”

The pounding that had started at the base of his skull was quickly ratcheting itself into a full-on migraine. Daniel rolled his neck once in a useless effort to loosen the knots. “Anything else?”

“Not only are the police searching for her, the media is hinting she faked the shooting to disappear because of her involvement with what happened to you.” Luca winced. “That means the police are looking hard for you. They want answers from her. Right now, they’re treating it like she’s guilty as hell.”

It was on the tip of Daniel’s tongue to snap that she was guilty and he wouldn’t put it past her to stage her own shooting. Only the words wouldn’t come. Instead, he said, “the police won’t find me here.”

“No,” Luca agreed, his tone ominous, “but a Hunter could.”

Daniel didn’t say anything right away. He knew Luca meant they needed to get the hell out of there, but no one was stupid enough to give him commands. Well, no one except Shelby. Daniel’s head turned toward the bathroom. She hadn’t come out yet. Despite all common sense, worry started to build in his gut. She’d been through hell in the last couple of hours, and the last thing she needed was to go on the run.

His face was blank as he made up his mind. “We’re not going anywhere yet. She needs to

rest first.”

“Ashborne--”

Daniel cut him off with a snarl. “Not open for discussion. We’ll take turns on the roof.

I’ll take the first shift. You don’t let her out of your fucking sight.”

Luca cursed under his breath. “You’re being an ass. Have you looked in the fucking mirror? The look healthier than you, my Lord. You need to rest as much as she does, and we both know if a Hunter is motivated enough, they could already know where we are.”

“Then we don’t let them in. If someone is stupid enough to come at me head on, they’ll be stupid enough to take out easily.” Daniel stood up, his voice hard and unyielding. “Nothing is going to get past me to hurt her. I won’t allow it. If anyone is going to strangle her, it’s going to be me.”

 

 

Chapter 7

 

Shelby stared down at the clothes Daniel had given her to wear, wondering how he expected her to be able to get them on.

She sat on the edge of the tub, scowling at the soft pink pajama bottoms and white, snugfitting snug-fitting camisole. The white cotton panties and bra bothered her. Even if it wasn’t completely ridiculous to expect a woman to wear another’s underwear, there was no way the bra was going to fit her. Twin pangs of jealousy and nausea welled in her stomach. Shelby had no complaints about the size of her own breasts, but … Holy damn.

Shelby knew she shouldn’t care how perfectly endowed his former women had been, but it seriously hurt to think about him being with other women when she’d spent so much time trying to get over him. It wasn’t fair. He wasn’t supposed to have moved on.

Her chest hurt. His moods were giving her whiplash, and she was too emotionally raw to keep up with them.

Sighing, she reached down to pick up her own panties. No way was she wearing another woman’s, but Daniel hadn’t taken hers off before putting her in the bathtub, so hers were out of the question, too. By the time she finally managed to get into the pajama pants, she decided to skip the bra thing entirely. She wouldn’t be able to get it on, anyway.

The hard part came in trying to get into the camisole. While the material was stretchy, she only had so much mobility in her shoulder. While she could move it with only a slight twinge, lifting it high enough to put through the armhole probably wasn’t a good idea.

In the end, she stepped into the shirt. After a good couple of minutes trying to pull it up and put her good arm through it, she left the left side tucked underneath her arm.

Taking a deep breath, she finally met her gaze in the mirror, only to immediately blush down to her toes. The stretchy fabric of the shirt molded around her breasts, and if she got cold at all, Daniel and Luca would definitely know it.

Finally deciding there was nothing she could do, she searched through the vanity drawers until she found a comb. She ran it through her damp strands as quickly as possible, accepting she was going to have to embrace her natural curls when her hair dried.

It figured. So much for knocking his socks off the next time she saw him.

When she couldn’t put it off any longer, she finally managed to talk herself into stepping out of the bathroom, only to realize immediately Daniel wasn’t there. Feeling uncomfortable when she saw Luca at the stove with his back to her, she crossed her arms over her breasts as she searched for Daniel.

“He’s on watch duty.”

Her head swung back at Luca’s deep voice, and because she didn’t know what to say to him, she only nodded dumbly. “Oh.” She exhaled slowly at her brilliant conversation skills, and made her way over to the island. “Why?” she asked carefully, almost afraid of the answer. “Did something happen?”

“Not exactly.” He glanced at her over his shoulder, studying her with dark blue eyes that stayed locked directly on hers. “I think he wanted to get out of here for a while.”

“I’m not surprised,” she murmured, a sad smile tugging at her mouth as she tried to pretend it didn’t hurt. “He doesn’t like me very much.”

“He has valid reasons.” He shrugged as he turned around, leaning back against the stove.

“I don’t blame him.” She didn’t. He’d been almost killed in her house the last time they were together. She shivered under Luca’s probing stare, and glanced toward Daniel’s bedroom. “I don’t suppose you know where he keeps his sweatshirts, do you?”

“No.”

She let out an unladylike snort. “As talkative as Daniel, aren’t you.” She pointed at him.

“Don’t move. I’ll be right back, and we’re going to talk.”

Not sure he’d listen to her command, she ran down to the back of the apartment. Uncomfortable going through his dresser, she struck pay dirt in his closet. It was full of basic male hoodies--all in black or gray. She frowned. The man was in desperate need of color in his life. Between his eyes and the shades of gray in his apartment, it was like being in the middle of a storm cloud. Shaking it off, she chose a black one with a zipper, shoved her arms into it, and was back in the kitchen less than a minute later.

“So.” Shelby hitched herself onto a stool, her head canting as she studied him. He seemed much more relaxed with her covered up. “Are you going to explain what you meant by the mate comment earlier?”

His jaw worked for a long time, before he shook his head. “No. Daniel will explain it to

you when he’s ready.” When she frowned at him, he lifted one dark brow. “I’m hungry. You hungry?”

Her teeth worried at her bottom lip for a moment. “Actually, I can’t tell if I’m more tired or hungry.” As if to make the decision for her, she yawned. “I’m sorry.”

Luca ignored her as he went over to open the fridge, pulling out a stack of hamburger patties. “How many do you want?”

“One, please.” She yawned again and leaned forward, bracing her right elbow onto the island. She cupped her chin in her palm. “How long have you known Daniel?”

He pulled out a frying pan, seasoning the patties as he dropped them in. “A long time,” he finally murmured.

The knowledge she might finally get answers had her sitting up a little straighter. “So you…” her voice trailed off as she tried to find the words without going into too much detail,

“you know what happened the night we went out?”

To her surprise, his voice turned glacial. “Yes.”

It shouldn’t have surprised her Luca blamed her too. Daniel was adamant it was her fault, and Luca seemed to be the loyal-to-his-core type. Her chest constricted as she remembered how hurt Daniel had been when the EMTs had carried him out.

“What happened to him that night?” she asked, her voice off as she tried to keep this stranger from seeing how afraid she’d been for Daniel. She didn’t want to be that girl who turned everything around to be about her. “The police said he vanished out of the back of the ambulance, and no one was ever able to find him.”

Luca studied her for a long time. “Have you asked him?”

“Yes.” She shrugged. “He won’t answer me.”

“Hospitals aren’t something our kind does well,” he said, getting comfortable against the counter as he studied her. “Did you try to find him?”

Still confused about the our kind comment, and the dawning realization they both talked as if they weren’t exactly human, she thought about lying. She could play it cool. Things were screwy enough between them without him finding out how desperate she’d been after that night.

She wanted answers, though, and something told her she wasn’t going to get any if she didn’t start giving some. So she nodded slowly, wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the pain. “Yes.” She looked down at the island top so he wouldn’t see her embarrassment. “I must ”

“Why?”

Her gaze snapped up. “Why?” she asked, confused. “Because he was dying, the police wouldn’t let me go with him, and I was scared out of my mind. I just wanted to know he was all right.”

“So it wasn’t because the police thought you had something to do with it?”

She sat up straighter as temper flared bright in her blood. “Even if I found him, I wouldn’t have told the police where he was.”

“Why not?”

“You’re kidding, right? There’s self-defense, and then there’s what he did to the man in my bedroom. Daniel didn’t kill him. He ripped him apart, and the police wanted answers.”

“You weren’t afraid of him after that?” When she just snorted at him, Luca crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze narrowing on her face. “The police must have made your life hell once they couldn’t find Daniel.”

She rolled her eyes at the understatement. “Hell would have been a walk in the park.” She didn’t bother to hide the snap in her voice. “Don’t you watch the news? When they couldn’t find him, they assumed his injuries were faked. They tried to prosecute me for accessory to murder.”

Luca’s body jerked as if she’d shot him. “What? Are you serious?”

She let out a humorless laugh. “You need to invest in a computer or television or newspaper, Luca.” She glanced around as a thought occurred to her. “Which reminds me, I have to make some phone calls. I need to call my , my agent , and my assistant. They’re probably worried sick.”

“It’s not a good idea to contact any of them.”

Her eyes went wide at the fatality of his tone. “Why--why not?”

“Because we don’t know who shot you. We can’t rule any of them out yet.”

Her laugh bubbled out. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about them. They would never hurt me”

“Still.”

She frowned. Then as quickly as the relief came, it was gone. “Have you seen the news yet?”  

No.”

Her eyes narrowed, sure he was lying. She was too tired to argue with him about it, though. She suddenly couldn’t stop yawning. “Luca? How much longer until the burgers are done?”

“Ten minutes.”

She nodded as she slid off the stool, feeling drunk as the room started to spin. She didn’t know how she made it to the couch, she was just grateful she did. “I’m going to take a quick nap, wake me when it’s time to eat, alright?”

“No problem.”

* * * *

Considering she’d been on life support earlier in the day, Shelby felt surprisingly good when she woke up. “How long was I asleep?” She shoved the hair out of her face, automatically scanning the room for Daniel. Her stubborn, traitorous heart ached when she realized it was still just Luca in the room with her. “He isn’t back yet?”

“No. I was going to go find him, but he’d gut me if I left you alone.”

She gave a tired snort as she sat up carefully. She frowned as she watched him hurriedly shut his laptop. “He’d probably kiss your feet if something happened to me.”

A grin flickered over Luca’s mouth as he slipped the computer under the island, making her wonder what he had been looking at that he hadn’t wanted her to see. “Trust me, blondie.”

He laughed. “He’s been a dark, moody bastard for almost a year now.”

She grinned, unable to help it. “You mean he has other moods?”

Luca cocked his head, studying her. “Tonight’s the first time I’ve seen life in him since that night. But to answer your question, he has two moods--dark, moody and pissed off, and really dark, moody and pissed off.”

“But it works so well for him.” Her teeth caught her bottom lip to stop the ridiculous, goofy grin that wanted to form. Afraid of giving too much of her emotions away to Luca, she concentrated on moving into the corner of the couch, pulling a throw blanket over her pulled-up knees.

When she was settled, she turned her attention back to him. Realizing he’d been serious, her humor fled, replaced with temper. “There’s so much more to him, Luca, you know that, right? He has all this pent-up anger at me, and yet…” her voice trailed off as she closed her eyes. “He’s been so gentle every time he’s touched me. He’s taking care of me when he doesn’t have to. He could have let me fend for myself when I needed a bath, but he helped me. He even held me when I cried. Of course, he then yelled at me for crying, but it was because he didn’t know how to fix it, not because he was annoyed.” She shifted onto her knees and shook her finger at him as she considered throwing something at his head. Like a really big rock. “A man with nothing but darkness and anger wouldn’t worry about what’s hurting a woman he’s so angry with.”

Luca spun his stool around. Bending forward, he braced his arms against his knees as he studied her, his face neutral. “I think you’re giving him too much credit. Seeing things in him that aren’t there.” He gave her a look that suggested he was coddling her. “Maybe you’ve made one romantic comedy too many.” He snorted out a humorless laugh. “Do you really think Daniel is hero material?”

She was on her feet in the next instant, more furious than she’d ever been in her life. “Do you know my shoulder doesn’t hurt? I was shot today and I ’t felt a single moment’s discomfort because Daniel refuses to let me.” Her hands clenched into fists. “I don’t know how he’s doing it, but he is. All you have to do is look at him to know it’s wearing on him, and you, his friend, are calling him a heartless bastard? What is wrong with you?”

“Whoa, Blondie. It’s all right. I’m on your side here.”

She snorted, disgusted. “Save it. If this is how you have someone’s back, I don’t want you at mine.” Her gaze narrowed on him. “Where is he?”

Luca was apparently smart enough to realize how close she was to hurting him. “The roof.”

She nodded once, already rounding the couch. “How do I get there?”

He moved to the elevator, hitting a button to open the doors, then held them open for her.

He hit another button inside the car. “Straight up there.”

She made a wide berth around him as she walked in, but she was sure he didn’t miss the daggers she was shooting his way. “By the way, my name is Shelby. Not Blondie.” His only reply was to let the elevator doors slide closed between them.

Her stomach was in knots by the time she stepped out onto the roof. Luca was supposed to be Daniel’s friend, and it shook her on every level to know what his friend thought about him.

She just didn’t get how Luca--how anyone--couldn’t see what was beneath the gruff, permanently pissed-off exterior. So help her, she would beat the knowledge into Luca if she had to, but the idiot was going to see the kind of person Daniel was.

The night they spent together came tumbling back with crystal, heartbreaking clarity. He’d taken his time with her at first. She had reveled in it, her body coming alive. She hadn’t been The Good Girl. She’d been sexy, the most beautiful woman in the world. His hands and mouth had been urgent, desperate, like he couldn’t get enough of her, as if he needed her just so he could breathe. Then, he’d devoured her. Dear Lord, by the time they’d come up for air, every bone in her body had melted, and it had taken her ten minutes to remember her own name.

He’d been dangerous, a little bit wicked, and she’d been soul-deep addicted.

It hadn’t just been the sex, though, that had been romance-novel mind-blowing. It had been him. Daniel. His power, his strength, the absolute control and intensity in him with every move he made, as if with the barest flick of his wrist he could send the world spinning off its axis. When she’d seen the , suggesting he’d spent his entire life in battle, the need in her to take care of him ran so deep, it had terrified her down to the bones. Because when they’d touched, she’d felt how lost he was, and how desperate he was to find a connection to someone who cared about him.

Then he’d disappeared, and she’d felt like her world had shattered.

Pushing it aside, she wrapped her good arm around herself to ward off the sharp breeze as she glanced around in the darkness.

When she didn’t see him, she was about to head back to the apartment when a movement caught the corner of her eye. She swung around, her heart seizing in her chest as she saw a massive dragon perched on the low wall that wrapped around the roof.

For a second, she was sure the creature was breathing. The full moon played off black and red iridescent scales that looked warm to the touch. She kept waiting for the massive wings to stretch out as the giant beast took flight. It was so real she took a step forward with her hand stretched out, only to snatch it back with a laugh.

Of course , it wasn’t real. It was a massive, seriously lifelike statue. Amused at herself for letting Daniel’s off-the-wall comment earlier play with her imagination, she took a step back. “I’m losing my mind,” she muttered, as she started to turn back for the stairs, only for her body to freeze into place as the dragon lifted its head and slowly turned toward her.

Screaming, she tripped over her feet as she scrambled backward, landing on her backside.

In an effort to stop herself from wrenching open her shoulder wound, she tried to shift her momentum at the last moment. As her head bounced off a concrete pillar, the last thing she saw before her vision grayed, her world fading to black, was the dragon roaring.