Kiss of a Dragon (Fallen Immortals 1) - Paranormal Fairytale Romance (5 page)

It was a cruel trick of nature. One that Lucian did everything to suppress, stowing it deep inside so he wouldn’t have to bear it, but now with Arabella in his lair… the urges were resurrecting their ugly heads again.

His frustration roared up from the depths of his being and spewed magical fire into the pool, boiling the water with his anger. Then he pushed off the bottom of the rock floor. Feeling sorry for himself—feeling all the agony and the ache again—this was the price of doing his duty. Better to get it over with as quickly as possible.

He burst out of the surface of the pool, slopping even more water onto the tiled decks, only to find his brother waiting for him.

Leonidas lifted an eyebrow and crossed his arms, his unbuttoned white dress shirt revealing the runes across his chest as well as the dragon tattoo that marked him as belonging to the House of Smoke. “So you brought someone home from the club after all. Well done! I didn’t think you had it in you.” The smirking approval on Leonidas’s face torqued him.

Lucian shifted back to human and dropped to the deck. “No.”

Both eyebrows went up. “No? I can smell her, Lucian. And the eggs she’s cooking.”

Leonidas whipped his attention from the towel he had conjured to dry off to glare at his brother. “Stay away from her, Leonidas.”

The growl in his voice was enough to tip his brother’s head down in a sign of deference, if only momentarily—it was the universal and reflexive sign of one male ceding territory to another. But when Leonidas looked up again, there was even more of a smile on his face. “Wouldn’t think of touching your treasure, brother. But she must be something special to get you hot enough that you need a cool bath.”

“She’s strong.” He returned his attention to wiping the water from his body. “She’ll make a suitable mate.”

“Mate?” Leonidas looked genuinely shocked. As well he should. “Really? You’ve already decided to claim her? Well, if she can withstand the shock of you whisking her away to your lair and your bed, then she must be mate material.”

Lucian snarled at him, tossed away the towel, and conjured some clothes—the dark hooded shirt, loose pants, and boots he had worn before, when he was with Arabella. They were the clothes of his history, his past, and the ones he wore in the lair simply because they reminded him who he really was. He was lying to Arabella about so much—somehow, revealing this small truth seemed important.

“I haven’t taken her to my bed,” he said, turning away from Leonidas to stride toward the door of the pool room.

His brother’s laughter trailed after him. “Have you forgotten entirely how to seduce a woman, my brother?”

Lucian’s back stiffened, and he stopped. Without facing his brother, he said, “You know, there was a time when a dragon’s lair was his own. When unwelcome dragons could be sure to feel the fire of my displeasure if they broached its walls unbidden.” He twisted back to glare at Leonidas. “Next time, knock.”

His brother just snorted. “A rousing fight would do you good. And I’d be happy to help you out with that. But you’ll have to rely on this girl to satisfy your other passions. If you still remember how.”

Lucian snarled. He knew his brother was just baiting him, but he’d be damned if it didn’t work. “Remembering is something I do well.”

The sneer on Leonidas’s face dropped away. “Take her to bed, Lucian. Get it over with.”

Tension rippled through his body. “She’s not the kind of woman that works for.”

Leonidas frowned and stepped toward him. “Every woman is the kind that dragon pheromones work for.” He narrowed his eyes. “Your heart isn’t ready for this.”

“And it never will be. But kindly fuck off. My heart is none of your concern.”

“Clearly, it is.” Leonidas’s expression opened, and Lucian couldn’t tell if he was genuinely concerned or just worried that Lucian might not fulfill the treaty. But that was the blackness in his heart speaking—he knew his brothers would each give their lives for him, and he for them. They were bonded to each other in a way few dragons were, not even his top lieutenants pledged to the House of Smoke. He and Leonidas and Leksander were born minutes apart, dragonlings of the same mother, forever bound together by DNA and childhood and family.

But fulfilling the treaty was his responsibility alone.

Lucian snarled and changed the subject. “There’s something else. I killed a demon—a half demon—last night while rescuing Arabella.”

Leonidas his face pinched in. “A demon? But that’s a violation—”

“—of the treaty. Yes, I’m well aware. The question is—what are the fae up to? Go find Leksander and drag him away from his obsession. Have him sweep the city, looking for any trace of demon. I need to know if there are more.”

Leonidas nodded. “Maybe this recent strife between the shifters and the humans has brought out some kind of latent demon seed. They feed on hatred—they need that kind of black sustenance, and hate has been floating in the air of Seattle like syrup of late.”

“Perhaps. But I don’t care. This is a fae responsibility. They’re supposed to keep this in check. I’ve already destroyed this one, but if there are more…”

“Leksander and I will do a thorough search,” his brother said, his tone serious, which soothed Lucian’s heart. They were united in this, at least. “I’ll report back as soon as we have something for you.”

Lucian tipped his head in acknowledgment—he was the eldest of three, if only by minutes, and generally the leader of all things related to the House of Smoke, now that the king and queen had reached their twilight years. Lucian was the crown prince for their House and not just responsible for fulfilling the requirements of the treaty. It was his responsibility to manage all things in the realms, a duty he didn’t take lightly. For many reasons and in many ways.

He turned his back on his brother to stride out of the room.

When he rounded the corner to the kitchen, he found Arabella finishing up the last of her breakfast. She was freshly showered, well fed, and gloriously beautiful. It struck him full force, heating his entire body.

“Good morning,” he mumbled. His breath was stolen by her fully-human
aliveness
—the shine in her green eyes, sparkling under her dark, thin-line eyebrows; the way the sun caught the reddish highlights in her hair; her fresh, full lips. In the soft glow of the morning light, the hint of freckles all over her face rose up through the creamy paleness of her skin. He couldn’t help letting his gaze drop down, wondering if the freckles extended underneath the white silk shirt he had conjured for her. She left the top two buttons undone, and the soft swell of her breasts hinted that
yes
the freckles were there as well. An ache in his mouth rose up, and he yearned to run his tongue across each delicate mark.

She was holding up a finger, telling him to wait while pointing at her mouth, still full of food. He smiled at the awkwardness, then his smile faded as he realized… the clothes he had conjured… they were just like the ones Cora used to wear. How could he have done that without thinking? How thoroughly fucked up was he?

She swallowed and rose from the small breakfast table by the window. “Good morning,” she rushed out. “Hey, I don’t know what our plans are exactly, but I can’t find my phone. I need to, you know, tell someone I’m still alive? I have a friend I can call. Besides, I have appointments today.”

Of course—her business. Lucian welcomed the return to normalcy that this small bit of conversation evoked.

He stepped forward, snagged a phone from a drawer under the counter, and handed it to her. “I left yours with the demon last night. You can use mine.”

She looked at him oddly. “Somehow I didn’t expect this. From a dragon, I mean.” She gave him a slightly embarrassed look, then snatched the phone from his hand.

“Didn’t expect me to have a phone?” He was perplexed by that.

She gave a glance around the apartment. “I don’t know what I expected. Probably none of this.” She held up the phone. “This will just take a moment.”

He gave her a cool look. “I’ll be listening in. I’m assuming you know there can be no mention of where you are or why you’re here.”

She scowled. “I barely know why I’m here. And I certainly don’t know where here is.”

Guilt twisted inside him, just enough to let him know it was there. “Make it short. I have a few things to show you.”

That seem to intrigue her, but she stepped a several paces away and stood by the window, turning her back to him and placing her hand on the clear glass as she dialed. She held the phone to her ear. After a moment, she said, “Hey, Rachel, it’s me.”

Lucian’s hearing and vision were far better than human, even when he was in human form. Eavesdropping on a phone conversation, especially at this very short distance, was a simple matter of focus.

This Rachel person, apparently a friend of hers, replied, “Holy shit, Ari, where are you?”

Arabella glanced at him. He kept a cool gaze trained on her, waiting. This was her moment to try to get free. To break away or send some kind of coded message to her friend to come and rescue her from this mysterious trap in the mountains.

“I, uh... I’m not feeling so good. Taking the day off.” Arabella was back to staring out the window.

“Do you have the flu? And why does your caller ID say
L Smoke?
What the hell, Ari? If you went home with some hot guy, why are you sparing the details?”

“It’s nothing like that,” Arabella said, her voice clipped.

 Only it was exactly like that. In a way.

“I told you, I’m sick. I lost my phone last night. I’m borrowing my next door neighbors’.”

“Old man Beady Eyes has a phone?” Rachel asked, skeptically. “I thought that guy was like some old drug addict. How does he have cash for a phone?”

Arabella’s hand turned into a fist and knocked against the pane of the window. “I’m not up for this, okay? Just cancel all my appointments for today. I’ll be back tomorrow or the next day at the latest. As soon as I don’t feel like I tried to outdrink you and then got bounced by the Russian mob.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. “Are you sure you’re okay? The police were by your apartment this morning.”

“What?”
Arabella shot a look to him. “Why were the police at my apartment?”

Lucian frowned. They obviously traced Arabella’s phone when they found the demon’s body. Or rather, the human half that was left.

“I don’t know!” Rachel’s voice hiked up. “I hightailed it out of there! What do you expect—I’m going to stick around for the cops?
Hey there, Officer Hottie, I’ve got a record a mile long, what do you say we go get a donut and talk about it?
Come on, Ari.”

“Okay, okay,” Arabella said. “I must have just been passed out when they came by. I didn’t hear them knock. I’ll try to answer the door if they come again. Otherwise, I’m just going to sleep this thing off, okay? Can you hold down the fort for me?”

“Sure thing. Do you need some chicken soup or something? You know I’m not the mothering type. I don’t know how to do this shit. If you need something, you need to tell me straight out.” There were concern and annoyance in Rachel’s voice.

“All I need is some sleep.” Arabella glanced at Lucian again. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Lucian sighed. She was hedging her bets. Which was smart—and he couldn’t rightly blame her for it.

“Okay, girlfriend. Go kick some virus ass!”

Arabella gave a small, snorting kind of laugh. It made Lucian’s heart squeeze. He didn’t like that one bit—not the normalcy of it. Not the sweetness of the sound. He steeled himself as she said goodbye to her friend and hung up.

“Okay, I bought us a day or two,” she said to him. “What is it you wanted to show me?”

“I want you to know what a woman stands to gain by falling in love with me.” There was a lead weight on his chest as he said the words. What she stood to lose was so much more. He knew that. But it had to stay a dark secret for now.

“Fair enough. That should help with the sell job, I imagine.” One corner of her lips tipped up in a wry kind of smile.

“Come with me.” He turned his back and led her toward the spiral staircase in the great room. At the top, he strode past the closed door of his bedroom, forcing himself not to pause or linger his thoughts there. When they reached the second set of stairs that spiraled up to the roof, he glanced back to make sure she was still with him. Her bright eyes were unsuspecting, innocent and clear. He tore his gaze away from her face and led her up the stairs. When they reached the top, he held the door open. The wind was light, but it made the long strands of her hair whip around her face. The sun caused a cute squint to show up on her face. As they stood atop the keep, they could see the full expanse of it, an upside-down glass castle with a flat top and towers reaching down and anchoring it to the mountain, like a diamond had forced its way out of the dirt to shine in the sun.

“This place is huge.” She shaded her eyes and scanned the expanse.

“My lair is only a portion of the House of Smoke,” Lucian explained. “Each dragon has their own. Mine and my brothers are the most expansive, but every dragon who pledges fidelity to the House of Smoke is given permission to build his own within the protection of the keep.”

“How do you keep this place secret?” She peered curiously at the edge of his lair. It was truly perched atop the mountain, and the drop was a good thousand feet. He was unconcerned about her getting too close to the edge. If she fell, he would catch her before she dashed her life out on the rocks.

“The entire keep is cloaked,” he said. “Each dragon possesses the ability to cloak as part of their elemental magic. You will never see a dragon unless he wants to be seen.”

She nodded, looking impressed. “Make sense.”

“The keep itself is cloaked by magical wards conjured by the king and queen.”

“Your parents, right? You know this whole royalty thing is a pretty good selling point, I would think. Does it come with perks?”

He couldn’t help but smile at that. “A few. Dragons live a long time, and the treasure we amass, both through the normal human markets and through magic, is substantial. A mate of mine will want for nothing in the physical realm.”