Chapter Four
Nadia’s skull felt as if it had been scraped out by a clumsy, large set of dragon claws. She moaned and pressed a hand over her eyes, afraid of what she was going to see when she opened them.
It wasn’t as if she had forgotten a single thing about what had happened after she’d succumbed to the temptation of frozen margaritas. She’d knocked a man from Tarakona right off the road and then practically mauled him. Most people wouldn’t be pleased to be fondled by a stranger, not even a man sent to help her.
While she had learned much in the romance novels of Earth, that didn’t mean she took everything in the books as suitable advice. It would not please her to be fondled by a stranger, either, and that was another part of why she’d been going about the search for a sex partner all wrong.
With a sigh, Nadia opened her eyes and discovered herself beneath a ceiling fan in a plush bedroom with large windows.
It was not her bedroom in Aiden’s house.
She sat up quickly and just as quickly regretted it. Though her reason seemed to have returned, her head swam from the intoxicants almost as much as it had earlier. Clearly they had not yet sweated themselves from her system, and her magic was contaminated. Like that mattered. What mattered was where the heck was she?
“Hello?” she called out, sliding from the bed. She wore her clothes from earlier today, or yesterday, or whenever it was. It seemed to be night outside. Her hands and legs, she couldn’t help but notice, had been cleansed, revealing bumps and bruises from her tumble. Also, she was starving. “Aiden?”
“Alas, your brother has not arrived.”
From the doorway, Barnabas regarded her with concerned eyes in an angular, handsome face. His black curls lay trim and tight against his head, and his Tarakonan attire had been exchanged for an Earth-friendly dress shirt and trousers. The set of his jaw spoke of stubbornness and dignity, and she’d stepped gleefully all over his dignity when they’d met.
He was probably disgusted with her. He had made that clear when he’d kept her at arm’s length. Which was unfortunate, for she found him exceedingly attractive. Granted, her loins had yet to throb, but for the first time she had found herself wanting to kiss someone.
Yet she would never do anything to someone without their consent. She had existed most of her life without consent and would never impose a smidgen of that on another.
“I am still somewhat contaminated,” she warned him. “You’d best stay over there. May I ask where we are?”
“I have procured accommodations at the Middlebury Inn. The clerks were most obliging,” he said, remaining politely in the doorway. “You were right that the good folk in this town are used to dealing with outsiders. They have been very helpful.”
“Oh, this town is full of shifters, witches, gargoyles, pixies, phoenixes, other kinds of dragon, elves—I have a vague recollection I mentioned the elves. The town protects them and keeps them safe in a way that Tarakona could sorely use.” She eased her legs off the side of the bed and stood, testing her balance. Swoopy. But the ache in her head was disappearing in the gentle breeze of the ceiling fan. “I believe I owe you an apology.”
“You do not,” he said immediately, straightening. “Though I apologize for having to, ah, transport you bodily to this establishment. I was very careful not to bump your head.”
“You carried me?” She inspected his shoulders and arms, which were flattered by the lean fit of the pinstriped shirt, and imagined him shirtless. Because she was a terrible, randy little dragon. “Dragons are not light.” Their bones were denser than wizards or humans to allow for magic storage and shapeshifting.
He smiled at her, and goodness, how it transformed him—from stern to heart-stopping. “I am not weak.”
“I see.” She had thought any reminder of Tarakona would displease her, but Barnabas’s appearance, his accent, his mannerisms, enticed her like the world’s most comfortable bedding. Familiar. Safe. But still a bed, with what often took place in beds between amorous persons. “And how long has it been?”
“It is nearly time for the evening meal.” His expression grew more serious. “We should talk. There are things you need to know.”
As the saying went, nothing good ever came of a declaration that talking needed to happen. “About what?”
What needed to happen was eating an entire buffet and a trip to that natural springs near Haven. The idea of bathing at sunset with Barnabas Collins struck her as the best idea she’d had since coming to Earth. Would she be able to shift yet? Or would she be trapped in this room with him for the whole night while she waited out her idiocy with the margaritas?
He pinched between his eyes briefly as if he had a headache. “About wizards.”
She might be contaminated and swoopy, but she’d never lose her common sense in that area. “I know everything I need to know about those foul creatures. Their abilities corrupt them.”
“Most magic is beneficial.”
While some dragons fantasized about good wizards, she had only ever belonged to Victoria. Victoria, needless to say, was not a good wizard. The governor of Valiant Province might not specialize in murderous rampages, but her ambitions soured any accomplishments. Nadia scanned the floor and located her shoes. “In this world, they’ve replicated many of our so-called conveniences with technology. Granted, the healing isn’t up to green dragon standard, but it’s worth the freedom.”
“Do you not wish, at all, that you could use your power however you desire?”
“What dragon doesn’t?” she said, gesturing too wildly, which caused her to stagger. This contamination was getting tiresome. “But that is not the natural order of things, is it? No being should have so much power. Thus, we were split apart by our gods, to keep any one variant from dominating the others. Yet wizards, blast them, found a way to warp all the power for themselves anyway.”
“An obliging wizard could—”
“A wizard would use my own power on me to entrap me again. And worse.”
He seemed uncomfortable with the conversation and her vehemence. He was a member of the DLF and probably thought some wizards could be trusted. Humans like Barnabas didn’t understand. They saw the benefits of dragon magic and wanted a way around the consequences. But there wasn’t one.
“Let’s not argue, Barnabas.” She reached for his hand, but he busied himself with a menu from a side table. “When I arrived a week ago, I was so happy to be away from Tarakona. Now that you’re here, I realize it bolsters me somewhat to have befriended a kindred spirit from my homeland.”
“I am honored you would consider me a friend.”
“If my brother sent you, then you are a friend,” she said, not admitting what a lie that was. If Aiden had sent a wizard, for example, she would not have trusted his judgment. After all, she and Aiden been apart for nearly twenty years. Though he’d devoted his adult years to rescuing her, she didn’t know him anymore. He might have sketchy judgment about some things, even if he had managed to plot her way out of captivity.
“The threat you were under isn’t gone.” He snapped the menu shut and faced her. This close, she could smell a hint of Earth soap, which meant he had washed. She had not. “We should discuss food. The more you activate your digestion, the sooner you will be cleansed of…”
“Of my contamination?” she asked with a wry smile. “I have sorely learned that lesson. I suppose here is as good as anywhere to recover. Do you have money?” Aiden had given her access to his funds, which should be sufficient for anything that didn’t involve extravagant jewelry and vacations.
He dipped his head. Elegance defined everything he did, every movement, every word, and she found herself wanting to see him ruffled. Or was that the alcohol talking? How much did contamination warp her natural desires?
How much would it warp his?
“I do have funds, thank you.” He handed her the leather-bound folder he’d been toying with. “I have also taken the liberty of collecting the menu from the Middlebury Inn downstairs should you wish to eat in private. I do not have a change of clothing for you, but that could be arranged.”
“Let us eat here and get to know one another better.”
“As you wish,” he said.
“You should order yourself something to drink,” she urged with a small smile. “Since we’ll be spending the evening in. I recommend the margaritas.”
At least he smiled back. “I think not.”
His standoffishness vexed her. A bit. She wanted—she didn’t know what she wanted. But his company pleased her. A companion from whom she didn’t need to hide anything was a relief. Not to mention, he was as unfamiliar of their surroundings as she was.
She had a friend now. They could learn about Earth and fulminate about Tarakona together. Aiden wasn’t much of a talker, not that he’d hung around long enough to introduce her to anything but his bank account and house. Blast him, too.
They chose many items from the menu, Barnabas assuring her there was no need to be frugal. She had a quick pop in the shower while they waited for the bellboy to deliver a cart full of fragrance and steam.
The rest of the evening was spent in harmonious conversation. She demonstrated the marvels of Earth television, and he described the DLF’s operations. The more they spoke, the closer she felt to him, and the more she wanted…more. She knew it was her loneliness talking, and perhaps the alcohol, which seemed determined to never leave. Yet Barnabas remained formal, almost stately, and her contaminated body eventually gave out on her.
She slept.
# # #
The next day, Nadia was stunned to discover that the contamination had not fully relinquished her. Granted, it hadn’t been twenty-four hours, but she’d assumed that number was exaggerated. Barnabas, who’d spent the night on the pull-out bed in the living area of their suite, told her it was to be expected. And that was why dragons should not drink. It trapped them in their human forms, like the ague, and apparently pushed them to develop inappropriate crushes on people who just wanted to help.
Was her drunkenness why Barnabas seemed more staid than the night before, less willing to laugh at her jokes? He hadn’t seemed judgmental last night, but over breakfast he was so solemn. Or perhaps he wasn’t a morning person.
“Have some of this tea,” she urged. “It will wake you up.”
“I’m alert, thank you,” he assured her. “I simply wish to discuss our preparations to keep you safe.”
“We are safe here.” She waved a waffle at him. “Aiden promised.”
“There are other things we need to consider,” he insisted, spreading marmalade on his toast.
Bother. What would loosen him up?
Perhaps nothing. He refilled her orange juice and regarded her seriously. “It is of great importance that we plot what we are going to do next. Your future is—”
“Tomorrow.” Nadia rose from the dinette table and stared out the big bay window. The future. The future. It lay ahead of her like a broad sweep of the heavens with nothing in it to stop her. “This is a whole new world, Barnabas. Look.”
He joined her obligingly. She gestured at the street, quaint brick and adobe buildings lining the sidewalks and a charming town square toward the east. The sky’s blue had deepened as the morning progressed, changing from aqua to sapphire. She wanted to be in that sky.
Free as a bird. Free as a dragon.
“I believe I can shift now. I’m going to Seven Sister Springs and having a picnic. If you’d like to accompany me, I will carry you. But no man is riding me ever again.”
Barnabas raised his eyebrows. “Ah.”
That hadn’t come out as intended. Her face flamed, and she looked at his lips. Then his eyes. He was staring at her as if imagining the exact same thing. Was that what it took to dishevel his composure? She’d keep that in mind. “Do you want to come with me?”
“I am here to protect you,” he reminded her. “I would absolutely like to come with you, wherever you go.”
What this one man thought he could do to protect a free dragon, she didn’t know, but as she’d admitted last night, it did bolster her to have him here. To have someone to share these experiences with, since Aiden was not back.
And she didn’t want to think about what might be keeping him. That worry lurked behind her determined cheerfulness like a hungry shark in the sea. But with Barnabas able to go back and forth, perhaps discovering answers about Aiden’s absence wouldn’t be impossible. “I so appreciate you nursing me last night, Barnabas.”
“It was nothing.”
It was something—to her. “How long do you intend to stay in this dimension?”
“Hm. As long as necessary.”
Would he be staying at the hotel, or did he expect them to stay together? How close did he need to be to protect her? Closer than they were right now? Close enough to touch? To kiss?
How close could she handle him while she was slightly contaminated like this?
She took a step back so she wouldn’t grab him to steady herself, as she suddenly felt weak in the knees. No throbbing loins, though. Just these weak knees and a grabby desire to kiss him. She’d spent her life reluctant to touch anyone out of magical protocol, and now she wanted her hands all over his fine, strapping body. “How will you judge what’s necessary?”
He studied her as if assessing a chart with the title Nadia Silver. He checked off some boxes with his eyes. “Once I am persuaded you will be safe, we will address my departure.”
Magic’s protection spell would keep her safe, but if she convinced him of that, would he leave?
“You don’t have anything else to do? Anyone back in Tarakona waiting for you? You didn’t mention last night.” She thought she was being subtle enough. He might have DLF duties. And a family. If he was here, thinking she needed protection, if he was to be her friend—she ought to know everything about him.
“I am not expected elsewhere,” he said. “I’m at your service, my lady.”
“Then I will take you with me.” She slid on her shoes, grimacing at the traces of sand. She didn’t bother with the dirty socks. While she couldn’t create clothing items, she could morph them back and forth, but those socks had had enough. “But I’m in charge because I have been in this town a week longer than you. It makes sense. And please—call me Nadia. I’m not a ‘my lady’.”
He didn’t argue, though his jaw did firm up. She suspected he didn’t agree, but she was the dragon here. What could he do against a dragon? “Very well, Nadia. Let me fetch my things.”