Dazzled: Reckless Desires - final ARC (11 page)

Never again did he think he would've trusted another woman to see the incomplete source of his remaining power, not to mention the sanctity of everything that his family had held sacred during the many centuries of their existence. The implications the night before were still undeniable, even in the broad light of this day, the early morning hours of which he had to admit he questioned whether or not he'd dreamed the entire thing.

But the beautiful impossibility was true. Lacey was his mate. The one woman in the world intended for him. He hadn't even had a chance to tell Ash about it yet, but he rather dreaded that. Ash would tease him mercilessly about it all the rest of their days.

As his mate, Sebastian could genuinely trust Lacey in a way he'd never believed possible after the hideous betrayal by Melusine years ago. With tentative hope, he allowed joy to begin flooding through his heart. His dragon bugled again deep inside him with satisfaction and triumph as Lacey walked into his private treasure lair.

As gratifyingly as when she had seen him naked the night before, Lacey gasped in pure shock as the brightness of the riches inside the room were revealed.

"Holy shit! You weren't kidding when you said you're going to show me your family's treasure room.” Her beautiful eyes were huge. “I thought you meant that metaphorically."

Sebastian stepped through the wide doorway into the room, waving for her to come in as well. Slowly following him in, Lacey took in the items of the room with a keen expression. She was looking now with the eyes of a professionally trained historian. With another gasp, she suddenly darted to one of the small statues displayed on an altar tucked into one corner. Then a painting, then another statue, then jewelry displayed on beautifully handcrafted old boxes, seemingly lit from within by their own brilliance.

“Sebastian, this is—I can't even say.” Her voice was a whisper. “It's spectacular.”

He smiled. “I know. It is beyond precious to me.”

As she explored the room, first carefully but soon with a growing excitement that lent more quickness to her moves, Sebastian simply stood back, taking it all in. Those gorgeous legs of hers flashed out from beneath the pretty little skirt she wore. The memory of licking her up one thigh then back down the other hardened him slightly, as did the deeply satisfying joy of watching his true mate flit from one object in the room to another, blending into their shining allure with her own incredible beauty.

She dazzled him just as much as anything else in the room. Even more.

The realization struck him so suddenly that he almost staggered. Glad she couldn't see him, her back to him as she bent down over another small gold statue, babbling with excitement about its provenance, Sebastian took a deep breath as he abruptly understood the truth of what having a mate actually meant.

Lacey truly was one of his treasures as well. As his mate, she literally completed him. She added to the source of his personal powers, bringing him to true fulfillment and richness. She gave him a depth of strength he vaguely recalled from his childhood, when the combined power of the family was stronger, even though it had been already weakening enough that it would soon kill his parents.

He had to tell Lacey the truth of his legacy. She already recognized the importance of dragon symbols to his family, that was no secret. What he'd learned of her in the past year was that she was sensible, thoughtful. Logical, yet not rigid.

She would not be able to argue when she saw him shift into his dragon shape before her very eyes. Dragon-human pairings as true mates were actually not uncommon. Even so, he planned to broach the subject delicately.

She turned to gaze at a painting on the wall, her sweet, citrusy scent wafting over to him again. Drawn to it, he stepped up behind her, easily fitting his arms around her sides to clasp his hands in front of her waist. She inhaled sharply as he did that, then relaxed back against him as he'd hoped.

"You like this," he said, more statement that question, dipping his face onto the top of her head to drink in her smell even more deeply. “My personal collection.”

She nodded, the hairs of her loose ponytail tickling against his throat.

"Yes." An entire novel's worth of explanation rested in her voice with that single word. "Yes. It's beyond stunning. Sebastian," she said, gently turning herself around his arms to look at up at him, wrapping her own hands behind his neck, her entire face thrilled. "Thank you so much for sharing this with me. I didn't really know what to expect when you said you wanted to bring me down here," she admitted. "This is behind any of my wildest imaginings. And I really do understand why you wouldn't want anyone else in the world to see this."

As she looked up at him, her expression was so sincere, so full of understanding, that he felt something inside him lurch with renewed awareness. Everyone from his parents, from Maria and Ricardo, from every mated dragon he'd ever known—they all had been right.

Once a dragon met his mate, and claimed her, not only would he know it was the real thing, it would completely change his perception of the entire world.

"You have no idea how much it means to me to hear that, Lacey," he said in a bare whisper, gently lifting one of her hands from his neck to kiss the back of it. Her eyes darkened a shade when he did that, her breath vibrating in her throat. "I know you want to take your time looking at everything in here. We have all day. I can answer any question you have. Then I'll give you a tour of the estate before we have dinner on the
placita
this evening. I'm positive Maria has an absolute feast prepared for us."

Sebastian felt his breath catch in his throat as Lacey looked at him with her glorious, enchanted eyes, the promise of a different kind of hunger in her gaze. The wild snap of his dark, primal desire for her swept through him, but he restrained himself.

Smiling, Sebastian claimed her mouth in a brief kiss, knowing that later, he would also feast on the delicacies offered by his most lovely mate.

After about five solid minutes of staring in awe at the shower in her room, which was literally the size of her and Gabi's entire apartment, Lacey finally stepped into it and enjoyed the most luxurious bathing experience of her entire life.

Adjacent to her room on the second floor of the hacienda, right around the corner from Sebastian's room, her shower room opened up even more with a floor-to-ceiling window at one end, which looked out into the miniature chaparral forest of pinyons and junipers directly outside. Maria had assured her that not only could no one see in because of the secure glass design, there would be no one out there anyway. The entire estate was extremely secure and well guarded. Lacey had lifted her eyebrows a little bit at the words "well guarded." But Maria offered no further explanation, so she didn't press.

To be honest, although Sebastian's treasure room had been a pinnacle experience of not only her career but her entire life so far—well, with the exception of the previous night with the man himself—and she had approached it with professional hat placed firmly on head, part of her was still squeaking and gibbering and jumping up and down in wild excitement. She felt somewhat like a little girl who was just told that unicorns and flying ponies were not only real, but she was getting some of her very own.

Of course she'd known Sebastian was insanely wealthy. Yet to actually see that wealth, in person, to see how easily and casually he lived that life, was another thing entirely.

There was no question he was thrilled she was here. There was no question that he was excited to show it off, and he was definitely into her. She couldn't deny that. It was all just overwhelming. And it kept messing with her firm instructions to herself to not get her hopes up.

Biting her lip, she finished getting ready for dinner. Mid springtime in Southern California meant the temperatures this night promised to not dip below 65 degrees. It was still about 80 right now, making her very glad she'd brought along the simple yet pretty, short evening dress in her overnight bag. Realizing how much Sebastian enjoyed her body, enjoyed looking at her, and appreciated her as a woman had bolstered her own confidence in how she decided to dress around him.

She felt pretty damned sexy, to be honest.

As she somewhat nervously primped in the bathroom's elegant mirror, she remembered how he'd bent her over his desk and had his deliciously decadent way with her last night. The mirror reflected the slight pink staining her cheeks as she fussed with her hair. Holding up her hair with one hand, she reached her other into the small toiletries bag she'd brought with her, rifling through it.

Aha. Her hand closed around the beautiful little hairpin the dealer, Mark Edwards, had brought her from his client. She thought Sebastian might enjoy the extra effort she'd taken in wearing something from their mutually beloved Californio era to dinner at his historic Californio hacienda that evening. After she clipped up her hair, topping it off with the hairpin nestled deep inside the mass of it, she took a step back from the mirror to scrutinize herself from every angle.

Wow. She had to admit it. She looked kind of—hot.

"You're a total babe, girl,"
Gabi's laughing voice teased in her head.

Thinking of her friend, Lacey picked up her cell and shot off a quick text to her. She hadn't heard from Gabi since her friend had gone back out to the island, but that wasn't uncommon. Gabi worked hard, not to mention she generally took time for some crazy, adventurous personal fun out there as well. Lacey didn't really expect to hear from her again until she got home, whenever that might be.

Even so, she couldn't help but snap a quick picture of her full body in the mirror, vamping for the camera. She sent it to Gabi with the words,
OK! You win! Yes, I'm a hot babe. Ha. You'll never guess where I am. Lots to tell you later XOXO Lacey

After another fortifying breath, Lacey left the room. She managed to navigate her way downstairs to the gorgeous inner
placita
of the hacienda. Stepping outside, she gasped for the bazillionth time that day, now at the magical scene set before her. Luminarias, beautiful lights that traditionally were candles situated in pretty little brown paper bags weighed down with sand, decorated the courtyard in beautiful patterns, including stars, crosses, and something that took a long moment of puzzling as she tried to decipher what it was.

She stood there staring at it when her neck subtly prickled with a delighted realization. Sebastian was behind her.

“Step back a little bit more, and up." His deep voice murmured close to her ear as he leaned forward and dropped a kiss on her bare neck, sending a shiver down her body. "Here, up these little steps."

She stepped back with him, up onto the low, unrailed balcony that extended down the courtyard, then turned around and looked again. "Oh, wow. It's amazing. Did Maria set that up?"

Sebastian shook his head, admiring the sight with just as much appreciation. "No, Ricardo. I asked him to make that special pattern."

The largest cluster of luminarias made the outline of a dragon in flight, stretching across the width of the courtyard. Right at the center of it was a small table for two, romantically set up, just waiting for them to be seated. "After you, my lady," Sebastian said, he sketched her a half bow. The luminarias cast enough light for her to see the smile on his face, the seriousness of his dark eyes as he took her hand to lead her to the table.

It was a feast indeed. Exquisitely delicious food, opulent wine, and Lacey's increasing awareness of Sebastian's very male presence across the little table from her made it the most magical meal she'd ever had. By the time dessert was presented, she felt so giddy from the glasses of ruby red wine and the intensity in Sebastian's eyes that she thought she could possibly levitate out of her chair.

As Maria was leaving the table after serving their dessert, Sebastian called to her in a low voice, "Give us our privacy, please, Maria."

Lacey barely heard Maria's affirmative reply, so lost was she in Sebastian's eyes.

"Have a bite of your dessert with a sip of your wine." His voice sent another quiver through her legs. The heat was rising, coiling deep in her belly and spreading throughout her.

"It's a very special, slightly spicy chocolate dessert. It pairs perfectly with the wine. Particularly,” he added in a low, seductive tone, “when you have the flavor of both on your tongue at the same time."

Lacey almost swallowed her own tongue at the innuendo behind his words.

Sebastian Bernal was definitely, positively, absolutely the most erotic man she'd ever met in her life. She was flooded with another beautifully wet warmth between her legs just from his voice. Keeping her gaze locked on his, which reminded her of the wild intensity of their union the night before, she dipped her fork into the dessert, lifted a small bite to her mouth, took a taste. Almost moaning as the hot sweetness blossomed across her tongue, she then raised the wine glass and took a sip.

Just as he'd said, the mingled tastes in her mouth were pretty much—okay, she was going to think it. They created an orgasm in her mouth. What did some people call it—a foodgasm. Yes. The way he was looking at her, she was about to have a real orgasm on top of it as well.

"Lacey," Sebastian growled, pushing his chair back from the table. "I can't let you finish that dessert on your own."

Lacey swallowed the bite of chocolate and the splash of wine. Heart banging inside her, she watched as he stood up to slowly, deliberately stalk around the table to her side.

"I want to taste everything at once.” His voice had a deep, almost feral note to it. “May I?"

Mouth opening as she began to breathe faster, completely uncertain of what he was asking but definitely more than eager to allow it, Lacey nodded her head. She was well past the point of trusting her usually controlled voice. She knew it would come out a strangled gasp if she even tried to speak.

Gently, although with a restrained urgency that told her he was holding himself back by sheer force of will alone, Sebastian reached for Lacey's dessert plate. "Come," he said, turning and walking to one of the comfortably padded cedar wood lounge chairs set at the far, shadowy edges of the
placita.
"Bring your wineglass with you."