Chapter Two
“What the hell happened to you?” Kallin glared up from the computer at his desk.
Argo Masters nearly faltered as he stepped into his boss’s office. He’d spent a good fifteen minutes in the men’s room trying to clean up and make himself look as presentable as possible. Fortunately, he had a small locker with deodorant and a few other things needed when working long hours. The last thing he wanted to do was to walk in smelling like sex. He’d also spent most of that time trying to arrange his shirt so that the tie he’d found covered the fact that there were no buttons to do up. It was a bit of a waste of time. But he had to try.
“Nothing.” Argo surprised himself at how calm he sounded. “What do you want me to do?”
Kallin narrowed his eyes. “Nothing?”
It was one thing to try to cover up the hanky-panky he’d just had, but it was near impossible to hide something like that from a fellow dragon shifter.
“Nothing bad. And nothing that is going to happen again.” Disappointment welled inside of him and wrapped tightly around his heart. No. He’d promised. And he wasn’t about to go out and see a human woman. Or any woman. He was going to have a bachelor’s life and live it up. No way was he going to imprint on another dragon, or human. Imprinting was like the equivalent to finding your soul mate, or twin flame, which humans were obsessed with, and it was very different for dragons. Imprinting was an agreement between two, on a soul level, a binding contract to be together for life. And you couldn’t control it. The soul mate thing with humans was nothing binding, just some misplaced romance. He didn’t do romance. And he’d had enough of women and commitment in his short twenty-five years, so he was going to take a different approach. It had been working just fine until now. Something about that café owner, though, left a lingering impression he couldn’t shake.
“Hmm.” Kallin rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Argo didn’t like it. Kallin was only a few years older than he was, but there seemed to be a wisdom about him that helped him see through what was really going on in situations. After all, he did overthrow Ezra and bring the Dragons Downunder together. Plus, the bastard managed to score himself a woman in the process, a lifetime mating type of relationship, an imprinting relationship, which brought the jealousy within Argo to the surface. He respected his boss, but since his commitment to being a bachelor any loved-up situation made him sick. He didn’t want to see the success in relationships with anyone else, especially another dragon shifter.
“Well, I think there’s something going on, but hey, if you say there’s not, then let’s go with that.” Kallin looked directly at Argo.
Argo shifted uneasily on his feet. There was nothing wrong with what he’d just done. Nothing. Yet why was his boss looking at him like that? Argo, still flushed from mind-blowing sex, couldn’t figure it out.
“Good.”
“I need you to go over the accounts again.”
Argo took a deep breath. Numbers was his thing, and he was the accountant of the Dragons Downunder, one of the most important jobs since they ran things in a community. There had to be enough money for all the dragons, and there was a high expectation that the business ventures had to do well. Dragons, after all, had very expensive tastes. But to go through the numbers again was stretching his patience, even after the session with the café owner. This was a Friday night after all.
“I want to see if we can start a new business venture.”
“Don’t you think we’re stretched enough? If things turned we could be tight for money, and well, we’re not going to be liked for that.”
Kallin nodded. “No gain. No risk. It’s the dragon way. We need more money. Our numbers are stable, but if they increase we need to have the funds available. It’s our future we’re thinking about.”
“Ara is expecting?” Argo bit his lip. The words were out before he’d thought about it. This was not the thing to be saying to his boss. Though he and Kallin went way back, even had an alliance of sorts, now that he was the leader things had changed. Argo didn’t want to be pushing it.
“Not yet.”
Argo suppressed a smile. So Kallin was hopeful. Not a bad thing. It was something that could realistically happen since his relationship with Ara was born from the process of imprinting. It meant that offspring was more likely. This wasn’t something his bachelor lifestyle really could relate to. But he got that they needed to look to the future.
“I’ll throw in a bonus if you can find me at least a hundred thousand.” Kallin pushed back on his chair and stood up.
“I’ll find you double that.” Confidence surged through his body. I can do this. Numbers were his thing, and a bonus could come very handy in his penthouse apartment that he shared with his sister. A new hot tub, perhaps, or better a new kitchen, one designed for the home cook, a pastime he didn’t always find time for.
Kallin laughed. “That’s why you’re my man.”
“Or dragon.” Argo smiled. This wasn’t going to be easy. But one thing he liked was a challenge or a dare. He’d already delivered on one dare tonight, and he was ready to meet another.
****
“What’s put a smile on your dial?” asked Jen, Mia’s roommate. They shared a two-bedroom apartment in inner Sydney’s CBD, despite the exorbitant rent. Most of the money Mia made at the café went here. But it was worth it to be close to where she worked, and for the nightlife, which she hoped to return to once her business was fully successful. Based on the last two weeks, that could happen sooner rather than later, but then by then she figured she’d need to sleep for a month first, she was so tired.
“Just happy it’s the end of the week.” Mia kicked off her black boots by the door. Before she faced any more questions, she rushed to the bathroom. “Going to have a shower, so you better not have used all the hot water.” Not wanting to hear a response, she quickly closed and locked the bathroom door.
Mia wasn’t sure how she managed to shut up the café and make it home. The journey was a blur. Like her mind. How could sex have such an effect on me? She was certainly more relaxed, less stressed. But there was something more. During the brisk walk back to her apartment she couldn’t get him out of her mind. I don’t even know his name?
She giggled. This was so unlike her to act like this. She liked it. She stripped off her black work clothes, letting the tight skirt and t-shirt top fall to the tiled floor.
She figured she’d shower then go to bed. It was about as much energy as she had left to do. The session with the mysterious man had dissolved her stress, but now she was in need of a decent long sleep, something else she hadn’t had the last two weeks. There had been way too much to do with her work, and the stress of whether or not this venture would be successful had kept her awake many nights. It was her Gran’s money she’d borrowed, and she didn’t want to let her down by not being able to pay back the loan.
Mia reached past the shower curtain and turned the water on so it would heat up, then peeled off her bra and panties. Steam came from the hot water, which was just the way she liked her showers. She stepped into the shower, the water pleasantly hitting her skin.
“Ouch.” She jumped out of the shower, putting her hand to the side of her neck.
“You all right?” Jen knocked at the bathroom door.
“Yeah. All good.” She hoped Jen would go away. She didn’t want to answer questions. She couldn’t.
Mia rushed over to the mirror to see what would cause the pain. She didn’t remember anything bad happening in the session with the man. In the reflection she could see a red mark on the base of her neck. It wasn’t a love bite. She leant in closer to the mirror. Her skin was hot to touch where it was red. It looked like a bad sunburn. How the hell did that happen? She’d been inside so much lately, plus it had been cloudy for days. There was no way she’d been in the sun long enough to get burned.
Then she remembered.
He did it. It was his breath. It didn’t make sense. But the red mark was there on her skin, saying otherwise. She wasn’t scared. It made her all the more determined to work out to how see this mysterious man again. He was different, and she wanted more of that. She ran her finger over the red mark. Something that should scare her made her excited and curious. I could get used to feeling like this. And she was up for another dare. I dare to find you.