The Sapphire Dragon (2 page)

“You’re being awfully quiet.” She pulled her hand from beneath his and stood. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for us to be out here alone. My sister will have a cow if she notices I’m missing.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you know these parties are for her unmarried sisters to find husbands? It’s archaic.”

Her sister April probably
would
have been upset if she didn’t know that Daisy was with him. April had suggested he bring Daisy out here and talk. She was also the one who came up with the idea for him to dress this way and lie about who he was and about knowing how to dance.

Jarrod danced very well. He’d been dancing for quite some time. At least two hundred years. One could perfect anything in that amount of time.

“Stay just a little while longer.” He held out his hand. “Please.”

“I’ll stay for the length of the next song on one condition,” she replied. “If the next song is a slow song, you have to dance with me.”

“I already told you, I don’t dance.”

“Boloney. Slow dancing is nothing more than standing in place and rocking back and forth.”

“So what you’re saying is that if I hold you in my arms and rock back and forth you’ll stay with me for a few more minutes?”

“At least for the length of the song.” She shrugged. “What do you have to lose?”

Jarrod stared at her for a few moments before he answered. It couldn’t look too easy. It would raise her suspicions. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “But don’t blame me if you go away with sore toes.”

His heart pounded at the thought of holding her close, their bodies swaying back and forth, their auras mingling as they got to know each other better. He couldn’t have planned anything better than this.

The last strains of the song finished playing and immediately another song began. It was a fast song.

“Too bad,” Daisy said with a grin. “It’s a fast song. I’ve got to run. It was nice talking to you.” She sprinted toward the door to the ballroom. “Thanks for the conversation,” Daisy added waving behind her. “Have a good night!”

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Jarrod said with a smile as he watched her bound into the large country home that belonged to his best friend.

“She played you nicely, didn’t she, old man?” Drake asked with a grin as he and his mate, April, rounded the corner. “If she’s anything like her sister, she’ll lead you a merry chase.” He shook his head and laughed when his mate slapped his arm. “But you’re going to love every minute of it.”

“I hope so,” Jarrod replied as he stared after the one woman he wanted to call mate. “I just hope lying to her is the right thing to do.”

“Lying is almost never the right thing to do, Jarrod,” April said as she wrapped her arm around her husband’s waist. “But with Daisy, it’s the only thing to do. She’ll never accept you as a dragon male. At least not right now. She’s got to fall for you first. Then you can tell her. As long as you don’t actually lie about what you are, you’ll have her on a technicality.” She pursed her lips. “While lying by omission is still lying, it’s not as bad as a deliberate untruth.”

Thinning her lips, she narrowed her eyes and glared up at Drake. “And this had better not give
you
any ideas. I won’t tolerate
any
lies from you, mister. You already have me as your mate. There’s no other reason to tell me an untruth. Understand?”

“Yes, dear,” Drake agreed with a sigh. He laughed when she elbowed him in the ribs. “Do you see what fun having a mate can be?”

Jarrod did see and he wanted that for himself more than anything.

Daisy moved through the crowded ballroom, avoiding every dragon male who seemed interested or walked her way. She couldn’t possibly put on an act now. Not now since she’d met the man of her dreams.

Jarrod was perfect. Well, maybe except for those thick, ugly-framed birth control glasses he wore. The first thing on the agenda if they became more than friends was getting him contact lenses. While she didn’t mind a man who wore glasses, something less prominent and chunky would be nice.

Hurrying through the ballroom, she made her way to the kitchen. That was where most of her married sisters hung out. Their mates didn’t want them associating with the other dragon males. As if they had anything to worry about, Daisy thought with a snort.

Her sisters were just as devoted to them as they were to her sisters. There was a part of Daisy that envied them. She wanted a man who would protect her no matter what. One who cared enough, not only to keep her safe, but to know where she was and what she did every minute of every day.

She didn’t want a control freak. Never that. However, she did want a man who cared enough to wonder about what she was up to, yet trust her to do the right thing. Her sisters’ husbands were that way—well…for the most part, anyway.

Drake, on the other hand, was a complete control freak when it came to April’s unmated sisters. It was as though he thought everyone was out to harm them.

Daisy made her way to her bedroom and some more fresh air. She needed to think, to clear her head. What she needed more than anything was to reflect on the man she’d just met. He seemed interested, but what did she know about men? She knew more about bossy, dragon males than she did human men and even that wasn’t much.

Entering her room, she closed the door behind her and headed for the sliders to the second story veranda. Once outside, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Why had she run from the man the way she had? She’d had a human male interested in her for once and she dumped him in her sister’s garden.

“What’s wrong with you, you idiot? You could have just met Mister Right and you blew him off.” Bending, she leaned against the stone railing and rested her forehead on her arms.

He’d said he was a neighbor. Granted, around here, a neighbor could live as many as twenty miles away, but if he was here, her sister knew who he was. She merely needed to get April to invite the man back here for another of Drake’s pimp parties.

Chuckling, she looked out across the gardens and shook her head. As crazy as it sounded, it was as though Drake really
was
attempting to pimp them out. He had a plethora of male friends and April
literally
had a dozen sisters.

“What’s so funny?”

Daisy glanced down into the darkness with a gasp. “Who’s there?”

“It’s me,” Jarrod said as he stepped out of the shadows. “I’m sorry I frightened you.” He smiled up at her. I thought I’d take a walk alone since the most beautiful girl at the party ditched me for a book.”

“I didn’t ditch you for a book.” She leaned over the rail and scowled down at him. “I ditched you for some peace and quiet. Those are two things that are difficult to come by around here on Friday and Saturday nights.”

“Your sister likes throwing parties, I take it.”

“You have no idea,” Daisy replied rolling her eyes. “She’d have them every night if Drake didn’t insist that he get some work done in between them.”

He stuck his hands in his pockets with a chuckle. “So why don’t you come back down and spend time with me. I don’t bite. I promise.” He smiled, flashing a row of teeth so white, they practically glowed in the dark.

Daisy wanted to spend more time with him. She didn’t know why. Never had any man had such an effect on her. She found that she wanted nothing more than to join him and take the opportunity to stare into those beautiful blue eyes of his. She didn’t know what it was about them. They seemed to dance with sapphire and silver. What was it about the man that made her feel so strange? Every gaze, every smile seemed to draw her in more.

Jarrod continued to stare up at her until he raised his hand as though expecting her to take it. “Come on, Daisy. You know you want to. Even
I
know you want to. What’s the harm in spending a few more minutes with me?”

Daisy bit her lip. What
was
the harm, really? Didn’t Drake swear that if any of April’s sisters found a human man they wished to marry that he wouldn’t stand in the way?

“Give me a minute.”

Daisy rushed back into her room, ripped her dress off over her head, and slipped on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. If mister stuffy Englishman didn’t like women who wore pants, it was better that she find that out sooner rather than later.

Daisy strode back out onto the balcony and threw her leg over the railing. Her foot swung back and forth for a moment before her foot found purchase on the uppermost slat of the wooden trellis attached to the wall.

“What are you doing?” His whisper came to her in a loud hiss. “Are you trying to kill yourself?”

“Of course not.” She scowled down at him. “Do you want me to come down there or not?” She paused halfway down. “Because I don’t have a problem climbing right back up there. April hates it when we parade around in pants while her guests are here. I come down this way or I don’t come down.”

“Oh.” He grinned up at her, his blue eyes twinkling in the light of the moon.

She frowned for a moment. “Why does it look as though your eyes are glowing?”

“It must just be the way the light from your room is hitting them,” he answered with a shrug. “I’ve been told before that they look like they glow. It used to bother one of my dates when I was younger. She always said it freaked her out.”

“I can see why.” She jumped the last three feet to the ground, turned and looked up at him. “They’re beautiful, though.” She frowned. “Guys shouldn’t have such gorgeous eyes.”

“You think my eyes are gorgeous?”

“Is there something wrong with that?”

“Nothing.” Smiling, Jarrod shook his head. That lock of hair fell over his eyes again and he reached up to push it back with a grin. “There’s nothing wrong with that at all.”

Jarrod held out his arm and waited for Daisy to take it. He wondered if she would or if he’d have to lead her into the garden with his hands in his pockets. He hoped not. His fingers practically itched to touch her.

He’d never felt this way about a female in his life. There was no doubt that she was his mate. Still, how would he manage to get her to fall in love with him without lying to her at every turn?

The last thing he wanted to do was lie to her. He abhorred liars and that was exactly what he’d become to trick Daisy Flowers into spending time with him.

“I think I could convince your sister to let you skip out on tomorrow night’s festivities. I have been out of the country for quite some time and I’ve known Drake forever.”

“Forever?” Daisy shook her head with a smile. “Forever is a long time and you don’t look
that
old.”

She didn’t mention that she knew Drake was a dragon and that forever could mean a thousand or more years.

Jarrod didn’t mention it either.
That
was something better left unsaid for at least a while longer. If he admitted that he knew what Drake was, she would know that Jarrod was also a dragon. He couldn’t afford that snag yet.

As much as he hated the deception, Jarrod knew he must continue on his present course. She had to come to care for him first or she would run when she found out. The last thing she wanted was a relationship with a dragon. Drake had told him that much.

“I’m old enough,” he said with a chuckle. “We’ve been neighbors since I was a boy.” It relieved Jarrod that he could be honest with her about that. As April said, he wasn’t really lying, but he wasn’t telling her the whole truth either.

“I’d love to get out of this house if you think you can manage it.” She stopped walking and looked down at the ground. “Do you think he would let us go without body guards?”

“I’m sure he would.” Jarrod took the opportunity to look up at the sky. “He knows I’m well-versed in martial arts if it’s your protection he’s worried about.”

“It is.” She ran the tip of her tongue along her lips. “He’s certain that someone is trying to harm us.” She shook her head with a laugh. “Personally, I think if they wanted to hurt us, they would have done so instead of taking those damning pictures.”

Her eyes widened for a moment and she pressed her lips together as though she realized she’d said more than she intended. “Maybe we should go inside and ask him.”

“What about your attire?” He swept his hand in front of them indicating her state of dress, or undress as her sister might call it.

“I’ll climb back up to my room, change and meet you in the ballroom.” She squeezed his arm. “Just don’t say anything until I get there. I want to see Drake’s reaction.”

“As you say, my lady.” Jarrod leaned down and pressed his lips against her cheek. “I shall await your arrival with increasing enthusiasm.”

Jarrod watched as she hurried back toward the section of the manor that held her rooms. He needed to talk with Drake before she got there. Jarrod knew the other dragon couldn’t capitulate too quickly. To do so would only raise her suspicion.

Hurrying back to the house, he shook his head. He didn’t like this deception. In fact, he hated it, but a dragon as old as he, would do anything to secure his mate…anything.

“We need to talk,” Jarrod said to Drake as soon as he entered the house. He knew he only had a few minutes to talk to the other man. It wouldn’t take Daisy long to change back into her dress. Goodness knew it didn’t take her long to change out of it.

“About?” Drake led him into his study. As usual, April wasn’t far away. She blew her husband a kiss from across the room. Drake smiled at her and winked.

“Daisy. She wants me to ask you for a night out without her guards.”

“She knows I would never do that.” Drake sat down in his chair and indicated that Jarrod should sit.

“I’d love to have a seat, but she’ll be down here any minute and she asked me not to talk with you until she gets down here. She said something about seeing your reaction.”

“Perhaps she suspects you’re not human.”

“Maybe.” Jarrod shrugged. “I don’t know. You know I’ll have my own guards, but she can’t think it’s too easy. She’ll really suspect something’s up if it is.”

“You’re right.” Drake pushed his chair back and stood. “I’ll agree to let her go with only one guard, but later, you can pretend to ditch him. Just be certain that you never let her out of your sight. It would devastate my mate and the rest of her sisters if something should happen to her.”