Mate Of A Dragon Villain (Skeleton Key) (13 page)

“
T
his
…this is one of my books.”

Hargreave pulled the book back, looked at the cover, at the text of the title, and Amanda’s name. “I gathered that from your name, but what is it? Where did it come from? Why am I in it?”

Amanda pulled herself up, sitting beside him. She kept a distance between them that Hargreave didn’t like. He inched closer, if only to show her that he wasn’t angry. Not yet, at least.

Amanda smiled softly at him, as though thankful for the gesture.

“I’m a writer, and those are my books. You, Eldric, Alger, everyone, well, mostly everyone, I think, are all characters.”

“Characters.” Hargreave stared down at the book. He flipped through the flimsy pages. It seemed barely held together by a sort of glue that would not last. Proper books needed to be bound and sewn, but the color of the cover, the shine in the text, suggested some effort and love had been put into producing the thing.

And Amanda, his woman, had written him to be a monster of a sort.

“How is this possible?”

Amanda shook her head, scratching her hand through her hair, which was in a bad need of brushing after a night on the floor next to him. Hargreave hated that he noticed such a feature when he should have been more focused on the matter at hand.

“I don’t know. But I think it has something to do with that skeleton key.”

“The key.” Hargreave had almost forgotten about it. “Where is it?”

“On my desk, give me a sec.”

Amanda got up and rushed out of the room before Hargreave could stop her. She was back quickly with the glass key. “Here.” She handed it to him.

Hargreave took it, felt its weight, and its heat. He looked at the key, and then at the book in his hand, before turning his gaze up at her. “I am not some fictional character you conjured. I am real.”

Amanda nodded. “I know. Trust me. You’ve kissed me enough that it’s obvious.”

She seemed to be attempting to make a joke of it, but Hargreave smiled at her. “I know
exactly
what my kisses did to you.”

* * *

I
t was hard not
to laugh at his playfulness, or the way his dangerous smirk could be so sexy when he flirted. Amanda cleared her throat, fighting the urge to do something cliché and stupid, like fan herself. “Yeah, well, you definitely are real.” Amanda reached out, taking the book. She looked down at it, staring at the cover and the font her name was printed with. She’d been so proud to get these books. Now she didn’t know what to make of them. “I hope I didn’t make you up.”

“How do you mean?”

Amanda glanced up at him. Hargreave stared down at her, his brows lifted, waiting for an answer.

Amanda wet her lips. “If I… If there was something about me writing these books that had any influence on your life, then that means I’m the reason why…it’s my fault your castle is in shambles. It’s my fault your family is dead. I would’ve written that.”

Hargreave looked down at the book, and then back into Amanda’s eyes. Something glinted in the red irises. He shook his head. “No. That is not on you.”

“But what if it was?”

“I’ve read your books. Too many details are different. For one, I am not the monster you portrayed me as. That would be Eldric.”

Amanda didn’t know what to say to that. She supposed it made sense, but at the same time…

“Eldric isn’t a monster either.”

Hargreave snorted, shaking his head and clenching his teeth. “You don’t know that family like I do.”

Amanda swallowed. She hadn’t written Hargreave’s backstory yet, but it had been in her head, any kind of reason that would’ve turned him into the bloodthirsty monster she’d written him as. She’d imagined all kinds of horrible scenarios for him. Torture scenes, scenes where he found his dead parents and knew it was Eldric’s father who had killed them.

“Okay, so can you tell me? Tell me how you know him compared to how I wrote him.”

The pulsing in Hargreave’s neck was obvious. He wasn’t happy. He probably didn’t want to share these things, and Amanda didn’t want to make him.

But this needed to be fixed. “Hargreave, whatever happened to your parents, the fighting, the wars, their deaths, I’m sorry for that, I really am, but if it was Eldric’s father that was responsible, then there’s nothing you can do about it. He’s dead.”

“Eldric is his son and heir. Old enough to be part of his father’s plans. To participate.”

“Do you really know that, though?”

“I don’t need proof!” Hargreave launched to his feet. Amanda tensed as he glared down at her. “What do you know of our history? Nothing but this!” He snatched the book from her hands and threw it across the room. It hit a wall, and got stuck in the drywall. “You wrote of a romantic hero, that is not what he is! Both father and son visited me in their dungeon together. Eldric saw, he knew. And when his bastard father died, I spent another year in that prison before I could escape.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you have any idea what happens to a boy thrown into a pit with vile, disgusting creatures like the ones in Eldric’s dungeons?
Do you
?”

Amanda winced. She didn’t need him to tell her anymore. She did know.

Well, sort of. She had no experience with it, but she could definitely pick up on what he was getting at. The details she didn’t know made it seem all the more horrifying. Hargreave had been thrown into a dirty, medieval dungeon with monsters. Bad things happened to young boys and men in regular modern prisons, so she could only imagine what he had to go through.

It made her eyes burn and throat close as she thought of that, a younger, more innocent version of Hargreave going through that. She couldn’t handle it. She wished she’d been there for him, that she could go back in time and break him out, or somehow let him know that things would eventually be all right.

Amanda got to her feet. She ran to him.

Hargreave tensed, as if he really thought he would have to fight her off. He stayed stiff as a stone statue when she threw her arms around him for maybe two seconds before he tried to pull away.

“I don’t want your pity.”

Amanda couldn’t let him go. “That’s not what I’m giving you.”

Hargreave’s tense muscles seemed to melt. He relaxed, seemingly against his will.

He sighed, his arms coming back around her. Amanda didn’t expect him to hold on so tight, but he did, which was good. Amanda needed to hold him, and couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she knew he needed to be held, too.

* * *

H
argreave couldn’t believe
he’d said that to her. It wasn’t right. A man should not lay down his grievances at the feet of his woman. That was weakness. What woman, mate or no mate, would desire him after he revealed his failures like that?

His Amanda did not turn him away, however. She ran to him, and she embraced him. Not a parting farewell sort of thing either. She seemed intent to hold him and never let him go. Hargreave couldn’t understand that, but he didn’t question it. He held her, terrified she would disappear if he let her go.

And he needed her. He had to have her. He’d waited for her and now she was here, looking into the deepest, darkest pit of his soul, where all the ugly things slept, and she was not turning away from him.

He kissed her. As much for his own comfort as for his desire to have her. She didn’t turn away from him. She moaned softly, her small, delicate hands coming up to rest at the back of his neck. Amanda held him tightly. Her fingers threaded through his hair, gripping it tight.

There was a time when he would not have liked that. Hargreave had to specifically tell the women he’d taken to his bed over the years that he would not tolerate them grabbing his hair and yanking on it. If they did so, they were gone. Hargreave kept his hair short for a reason.

When Amanda did it, it was all right. Hargreave’s mind did not fall back into that dark pit with those monsters. He was here with his woman, and she…was pulling at him.

She brought him into another brightly lit chamber. The bed was strangely shaped, but soft and comfortable when they fell on it. It felt even better than the surface he’d slept on last night, and it had been rather comfortable to begin with.

“Wait, wait, stop,” Amanda panted.

Hargreave groaned. “Don’t say that.”

Amanda pushed at his chest, keeping her hands away from his wound. “Are you okay? Are you up for this? Wait…holy shit.”

Hargreave looked down at himself, and he smirked. “It’s healing better than I would have thought. That stinging liquid you put on it must have helped.”

Amanda traced her fingers over what would soon be his new scar. The touch tickled. Hargreave didn’t mind. He let his woman explore. She touched his chest, the spot on his face, tracing everywhere he’d been injured the night before. “That’s amazing.”

“Do I pass your test then? Am I fit to bed you?”

Amanda’s cheeks flared adorably. “Yes, I think you’re fit. If what I can feel down there is anything to go by.”

Amanda shifted her hips, her thigh grazing over the hard length of Hargreave’s cock. He growled low in his throat. “Good.”

He kissed her again. Her lips were so plump and perfectly soft without being too soft. How could a woman like this possibly exist? Of course she had to come from a strange land. That was the only explanation for it, and Hargreave would count his blessings every day that she had fallen out of the sky and into his arms.

Amanda, despite having written some erotic scenes in her books, did not seem to know what to do with her hands. She pulled at Hargreave’s shoulders, trying to get him closer, pulled at his leggings, trying to remove them. There was a lot of pulling with her. It was wonderful.

Meanwhile, it was a simple enough matter for Hargreave to push her strange skirt up her thighs. There were small undergarments of a sort there. Lacy and pretty. He stared at them for a moment. “What are these?”

“Uh, panties. Do you like them?”

Hargreave leaned in, pressing his mouth to the lace, feeling Amanda’s hitch in breath when his lips made contact. “I adore them. Take them off before I ruin them.”

A
manda had written
her fair share of love scenes before. She’d written them with the hopes that she herself would one day find someone who would make her feel as alive and loved as the heroes made the heroines of her books.

Amanda could say with all honesty that none of those fantasies compared to how Hargreave made her feel. He explored her body with his mouth and hands, taking his time, not rushing through it, knowing all her pleasure points with expert precision like the heroes of her books.

He searched them out, and when he found them, he made them beg for mercy.

Amanda never would have guessed the back of her legs, or her feet, would be so sensitive, but every kiss, coupled with his hand stroking her sex, magnified the pleasure and sensations by a thousand. She was a gasping, heaping mess when he finally pushed inside her.

Amanda came almost immediately. That was fine. Each thrust pushed her pleasure along, drawing out the aftershocks, making her squirm and her thighs tighten around him. She liked it. She liked it even knowing she was done and he still had a ways to go. The intimacy of having him inside her, looking down at her with those eyes that spoke to how much he was loving this, and her, was enough.

Amanda scratched at the back of his neck, his shoulder blades, pinching his hard nipples just because she wanted to drive him as wild as he was making her. When he came inside her, it was such a relief that Amanda barely had time to remember he hadn’t used a condom and she wasn’t on the pill. Not after all those weeks in the dragon world.

For some reason, it didn’t matter. She was too satisfied to care. Too happy with Hargreave’s weight on top of hers as he collapsed, panting for breath, feeling almost boneless.

Amanda grinned. Yeah.
She
was the one to do that to a powerful dragon warrior. It made
her
feel powerful.

They catnapped after that, Amanda waking to Hargreave kissing his way down her belly, his fingers tickling her sides. It was probably unintentional, but she didn’t care. She squirmed and giggled herself awake while he touched her.

“Is there something you’re after?”

His red eyes glazed when he looked up at her, that grin on his face showing off perfectly white teeth. “Your body.”

“Direct. I like that. All right. Take me.”

Amanda splayed herself out dramatically, like an offering, and she completely loved it when Hargreave did take her.

Amanda wanted to cook breakfast for him when it was over. She also wanted to stay in bed with him all day since he seemed extra affectionate and snuggly, and Amanda didn’t want to break the mood, but her stomach rumbled.

“I’m going to make you scrambled eggs with cheese, toast, and sausages.”

Hargreave looped his arms around Amanda’s waist, pulling her back, kissing her shoulder. “I would rather you stayed here.”

Amanda laughed, pushing away from him. “Come on, out of bed. I’m starving. We can get back to the fun stuff after food and brushing my teeth.”

Hargreave followed her, still grinning, even though he seemed reluctant to leave the bed. Amanda wrapped a sheet around herself. He just walked through her apartment naked.

She could so get used to this.

Hargreave stared at the contents of her small kitchen, looking at the stove, the counter, the toaster, all of it. “You will need a fire for cooking.”

“I’ve got something just as good. Watch your hands.”

Amanda carefully nudged him out of the way, turning on the elements. Her apartment was new, which meant all the appliances were new, too. The stove heated up quickly, which made the pan get hot quickly, the butter melt, and the bacon and sausages were sizzling quickly, so were the eggs. Amanda dropped her toast in the toaster, grinning back at Hargreave, who watched the whole process with fascination.

The more she could show him all the luxuries of this world, maybe the chances he would stay in it would increase.

Hargreave sat on a stool at the counter island. Amanda put his food down in front of him, watched him eagerly as he lifted a forkful of egg and cheese to his mouth.

He chewed, his eyes widening slightly before they closed in pleasure.

“You like it?”

He nodded. “I do. You didn’t tell me you had a talent for cooking.”

Amanda felt that heat climbing her neck and cheeks again. “Not really. Bacon and eggs is pretty easy. Easy enough to cook with just a sheet around me.”

Hargreave nodded, shoveling his food into his mouth as if he worried it would vanish if he didn’t eat it fast enough. Amanda took it for the compliment it most definitely was. When he polished off his plate, Amanda let him take what was left on hers.

He was a guy, and a warrior. That must’ve required a lot of calories to stay in the shape he was in.

“You should try French toast!”

“What?”

Hargreave was in the middle of making an egg sandwich out of the last of his eggs, bacon, and toast when Amanda turned back to the stove.

She was craving something sweet anyway.

“God, I would love to make you pancakes. I don’t have any mix, though. Still lots of bread and eggs and just enough milk, though.”

“Does French Toast taste like this?”

Amanda grinned over her shoulder. “Better. It’s like dessert for breakfast.”

That clearly got his interest.

Amanda made him a nice stack, taking two pieces for herself when she had everything made up. She scraped butter onto his French toast and poured the syrup over the whole thing. She wished she had real syrup and not this fake, sugary stuff, but Hargreave didn’t complain when he took his first bite.

“Good, right?”

He nodded, focused entirely on his food. Amanda ate what she could, trying to keep up with him, but she got full fast.

“Food is plentiful here?” Hargreave asked around a mouthful. “What do your people do during a drought?”

“Oh! Well, we import a lot of our food. There are farms around here, but if there’s a storm, or a drought, then I guess we ship all our fruits and vegetables in from other countries. We never run out.”

Hargreave frowned a little at that. “A land that cannot secure its own food is not a secure land.”

Amanda thought about that, and shrugged. “I guess that’s true, but everything’s pretty peaceful around here. We don’t really have to worry about anyone cutting us off, I don’t think. And like I said, we grow a lot of our own food. It’s really nice here.”

Hargreave smiled, nodding before looking out the window. She wondered how the streets and other buildings made of glass and concrete must look to him. Probably like strange castle towers.

“Your land is lovely. Many trees, despite the rock everywhere.”

“That’s pavement and concrete.”

Hargreave nodded.

Amanda wiped her mouth, an idea coming to her quickly. “I have an idea. There’s lots of shopping down there, it’s all really close, too. You look all healed up. We can get you something to wear.”

“I have my garments.”

Amanda was suddenly unsure. Hargreave didn’t have much to wear. He hadn’t exactly been wearing shoes or a shirt, and most places wouldn’t let him walk through the door without those things. “Uh, yeah. Actually, maybe I’ll go down there, grab you some stuff, and then you can come with me. We can go walking around, catch a bus to the farmer’s market. It’ll be a great day, just you and me, and you can see everything this world has to offer.”

Hargreave frowned a little. “It’s safe for you to walk by yourself? There are many people down there.”

“Perfectly safe,” Amanda said, then pointed out the window. “See that building over there? The one that says Nordstrom’s on it? That’s the mall. I’ll just walk there and back, I won’t be gone more than a half an hour, and I’ll have clothes for you.”

That confused frown was still pulling at his brows. “They won’t have my measurements. How will they make clothing for me so quickly?”

Oh, right. All the clothes were handmade or handed down where Hargreave came from. Amanda’s gown was a prime example of that. It had been made for someone else before she wore it.

“Clothes are premade here in different sizes. They won’t fit as nicely as the clothes you’re used to, but they’ll do the trick, and I really want to see you in a pair of jeans. I think it’ll look sexy.”

That eager glint came back to Hargreave’s eyes. “Very well. This is your world, and you know how it functions better than I do.”

He still sounded reluctant to let her go by herself. Amanda couldn’t blame him for that. Everything was so dangerous where he came from. Why would a man in that world let a woman wander around by herself?

It made Amanda appreciate where she lived a lot more than she used to.

She stepped around the kitchen island and kissed him on the mouth, rushing to her room so she could get changed.

She laughed when Hargreave tried to get in to distract her. He wanted to pull her back into bed, but Amanda was determined to get him some clothes.

Promising to be back once more, she left her apartment.

It was hot out, but at least no one would recognize her as being that woman from yesterday in the bloody, dirty dress. The beauty of living downtown, aside from not having to worry about the horrible parking, was how she almost never saw the same person twice.

Everything was, of course, still under construction, but she got in and out of the mall quickly enough, using her cards to pick up a couple of pairs of pants, shirts, and shoes that looked like they might be in Hargreave’s size.

She was fairly confident about the clothes and socks, but the chances were good that she would need to return the sneakers. The sandals were a safe enough bet.

When Amanda made it back to her air conditioned apartment, Hargreave was leaning against the window, looking down at all the people. He’d wrapped a sheet around his waist, so even though the chances were slim that anyone would look up and see him, Amanda didn’t have to worry about some angry mother claiming her child had seen a schlong for the first time.

And he looked so amazingly handsome standing there like that, the light shining down on him, as if he’d just stepped out of a magazine ad.

Then Amanda saw he was holding one of her books again.

He turned to her. She couldn’t help but smile. She’d had sex with this man, made love with him a couple of times already, and he claimed she was the love of his life, but she still felt that giddy nervousness that came with dating someone new as she lifted her bags. “Got some stuff for you.”

He smiled at her. “That was quick.”

“Good thing we live close, right?”

He nodded, even though he had no way of knowing how much of a pain in the ass it could be for people getting here in their own cars or on the buses.

Amanda cleared her throat. “You wanna try these on? See if they fit?”

She pulled the jeans out first, held them out to him.

Hargreave smiled, setting the book down and taking the denim. He stroked his fingers over the material, as if he’d never seen anything like it before. “This is what men wear here?”

Amanda cleared her throat. “Some men, yeah. There’s a belt inside, too, in case you need it.”

Hargreave nodded, then looked at her with that sexy, crooked grin of his. “You are becoming warm.”

Amanda coughed. “It’s hot outside.”

Hargreave nodded. “I think you want to see me wear these. Are you certain these aren’t brothel clothes?”

He was clearly playing with her, but the idea of him bare-chested and giving her the come-hither look, or being at her beck and call, like an escort, really was warming her up.

“Just go put on the jeans,” she groaned.

Hargreave chuckled and did as he was told. The problem was how he didn’t go into the bedroom to do it. He dropped the sheet right in front of her and put his pants on right there.

Amanda tensed. She didn’t say anything, just in case he was trying to tease her again, trying to make her blush. There was no way in hell she was giving him that satisfaction, but at the same time, she had to admit, she liked this.

She liked it when Hargreave was playful with her, when he teased her. The smile on his face as he stood straight, pulling the jeans around his hips, made it obvious.

She smiled back at him. “You’re such a tease.”

“Only for you, sweet.”

He looked down at the button and fly of his pants. At first, Amanda thought he would ask her to do them up, but he seemed to figure out how to work the button and zipper pretty quickly.

And now he was standing in front of her, his perfectly tanned chest bare, in a pair of loose-fitting jeans that were a little too big on him, looking down at her, and…oh God…Amanda brought her hand up to her face.

“What is it?”

Amanda shook her head. “You look too good. It’s not fair.”

When she looked through her fingers, Hargreave was grinning at her. “Not fair?”

“You seriously look like you just stepped out of every one of my female fantasies. You could be one of my cover models.”

Especially shirtless and in jeans. Shirtless with jeans were basically what did it for her when it came to her heroes.

“Would it be better if I took the clothes off?”

Amanda caught the low purr in his voice when he leaned closer, and despite the heat rushing her, she shivered when his hands touched her shoulders.

She swallowed hard, reaching up, and grabbed onto the back of his head. “Yeah.”

Hargreave smiled when Amanda yanked his head down and kissed him hard.

And, yeah, she totally pulled him out of those jeans.