Dragon Wish Read online

  melodious, lilted around her. “There’ll be no death in this

  place tonight. If you desire to place yourself in danger once

  more, kindly wait until I have departed.”

  She wanted to scream, hit him, anything that would force

  this man…this intruder to leave, but her strength ebbed. Her

  muscles refused to obey the fight or flight message her brain

  sent. She lay in his arm staring horrified at him, trying hard

  to ignore the increasing feeling of security that wove around

  her. She searched his face and whispered, “Leave me alone.”

  He turned toward the open door, glancing at her. “One

  day, but not this one.”

  In that second, his clear, intense look landed on her. The

  bathroom disappeared. Cold wind whipped over her face.

  Closer now, still silent and foreboding, the dragon stared at

  her. In the next instant, the image vanished. She gasped in

  surprise and found she was once more captured by this

  man’s cool blue eyes.

  The vision came upon her so fast then disappeared just as

  quickly. She studied his lean face, the smooth jaw, sculptured

  lips, straight nose, and strong forehead. Arched golden

  brows matched his light hair. His looks reminded her of

  drawings she had seen of glorious archangels. He appeared

  like a saint, untouchable and pure, yet the dragon’s image

  nudged her to whisper while fear of his answer tightened her

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  muscles. “Are you the dragon?”

  He stopped at the open door, a frown marring his smooth

  brow. His attention stayed focused ahead of them. A strong

  citrus odor floated in the air separating them. She inhaled

  the intoxicating scent.

  “Depends on which dragon.”

  “A white one with blue eyes.”

  He glanced at her, one brow cocked before he looked

  away. For a second, a flicker of surprise and recognition

  appeared in his eyes.

  “Perhaps.”

  Unsettled by his answer, she tried to understand his

  reaction to the question. He moved toward the door. The

  moment he walked out of her bathroom, the blazing light

  just outside the doorway dissipated. Darkness crept in on

  them. She looked around, blinking to give her vision time to

  adjust.

  Stale air assaulted her. She wrinkled her nose. Memories

  of her grandmother’s house flittered through her mind. Old,

  dusty furniture, tainted with a moldy scent, filled each room

  in the elderly woman’s home. Here, though, dim bluish light

  from lamps situated in tarnished brackets lined the scarred,

  paneled walls. The air pressed in on her, pulling her body

  toward the floor. With the heaviness around her, she had to

  concentrate to shift closer against his broad chest.

  Shadows danced along the hallway. Cool air touched her

  bare legs. Curiosity warred with panic inside her mind.

  “Please, tell me where we are?” she whispered. Glad her

  voice didn’t reveal her fear, Seren continued to search for

  some reminder of her pristine condominium. “What do you

  want with me?”

  “Just to help. You are safe. I intend to keep you close

  until I have departed on the rising,” he murmured, stopping

  at a closed door.

  Her mind awoke with his words. “No, you won’t. You’ll

  take me home.”

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  Before he had a chance to respond, slurred phrases

  mingled with unsteady steps stomping up a staircase that

  seemed to be coming from the far end of the corridor. Seren

  glanced over her shoulder, and tightened her hold around his

  neck.

  “To return you to your home, I fear, is impossible at

  present. If you desire, I can leave you here, but I will take my

  coat with me.”

  Seren’s heart dropped. He didn’t actually intend to leave

  her here, did he? Where was this place exactly? Her stomach

  roiled, nausea threatened to make this a more memorable

  night. She hadn’t believed the day could get any worse, but it

  had decidedly gotten much more than worse. Horrified, she

  met his piercing stare and opened her mouth to speak only to

  find no words would come out.

  One golden brow lifted in question. “Interesting situation.

  What do you suppose those men will assume when they

  reach the top of the stairs and discover a naked woman?”

  She balled her fists. How dare he do this to her? She

  wouldn’t be humiliated like this. The heat of fury started to

  rise within her, overriding the shock and setting her in

  motion. “All right. I’ll go with you,” she ground out between

  clenched teeth.

  He had taken her choice away from her. She fumed,

  nostrils flaring, inhaling to fill her lungs. She regretted the

  deep intake of his scent. It filled her mind with his

  intoxicating aroma and made her press her fingers into the

  solid muscles of his shoulders.

  With a nod, he tightened his grip on her with one arm. He

  managed to unlock, twist the handle, and push the door

  open. Once inside the room, he kicked it shut behind them.

  “Where are we? What are you going to do to me?” She

  searched his face, seeking some answer.

  He blinked. His eyes remained closed longer than she

  thought necessary. Moments continued to slip by. Why

  wouldn’t he answer her? The wet streak on his cheek caught

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  her attention. She reached over and wiped it off. He moved

  his head back away from her fingers and spoke. Her body

  jerked in reaction, her nerves stretched taut by everything

  that had happened to her. His words, though, had nothing to

  do with her questions. “You are here with me because I saw a

  shooting star, and fool that I am, made a wish.”

  “Wishes on stars don’t come true.”

  Curtains at the window were pulled wide, admitting more

  light than the small blue-flamed candles situated around the

  room. The soft moonlight emphasized the shadows on his

  face, giving him a menacing look. She swallowed against the

  lump of fear tightening her throat.

  His low laugh rumbled in his chest as he moved to a small

  bed against the far wall. “Perhaps for those who do not

  believe.”

  He leaned over and slid his arms from under her. She

  sank into the soft mattress. The coat’s edges separated. Her

  hands braced behind her, she stared at him. He towered

  above her, his features half-shaded.

  She held her breath for a few seconds.

  He tilted his head. His gaze roamed over her face, glided

  down her throat to linger on her breasts, her waist, and

  stopped lower, at the junction of her legs.

  Frightened of him, she should have curled away, but right

  now, she cared little that the coat had fallen off, and she sat

  with her arms behind her, her legs bent at the knees,

  spreading her body for his view. A sharp slice of desire cut

  into her, hardening her nipples and swelling her nether lips.

&nb
sp; Shame followed, chasing away the sudden rise of passion.

  She jerked the edges of the coat over herself. Her body

  heated in embarrassment.

  He turned his back to her, took several deep breaths

  before moving with slow steps to the windows. “Go to sleep.

  The night is yet young, but I am tired. Crawl under the

  covers. I’ll not have you sickened because you are wet and

  might catch a chill.”

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  Each step echoed in the quiet room. For the first time,

  Seren saw the true length of his hair. The light strands

  streamed down his back and were tied just below his

  shoulders with a black band. Thick and straight, the pointed

  tips ended at his hips.

  Cold numbness swept over her mind and body, mingling

  with the heaviness in the air. She struggled to scoot up in the

  bed to tug the covers back. Breathless, she slid under them.

  Once settled, she noticed the coat where she’d left it,

  crumpled and spread on the edge of the bed. She reached out

  and touched the satiny material, wondering if she could read

  something about him through the cloth. Seren rubbed the

  softness between her fingers. Nothing came to her. She

  recalled his comment concerning a wish. Had he wished for

  her? No, not her in particular, but any woman? But she’d

  brought him bad luck by being the answer for his wish. She

  stifled an insane need to giggle. He came out the loser on his

  wish. She was useless to a man.

  The smooth fabric calmed her tremulous thoughts some.

  She stared at the cloth. Why did she notice such a mundane

  thing like the soft material? Instead, she should figure out a

  way to escape. A means to return home.

  Anger pulled at her. She considered slipping the coat on

  and making a run for the door. She glanced at where he

  stood before the window, staring into the night sky. He’d

  stop her, even just to retrieve his coat.

  Her anger melted into consternation. She didn’t even

  know where she was.

  He’d never answered her. She

  considered asking him again, but something inside her

  warned that he wouldn’t respond. She jerked the coat up and

  tossed it over the end of the bed. Refusing to lie down, she

  sat, keeping her focus on him.

  Silently, Seren waited for him to move. Her mind raced

  with a menagerie of scenes from earlier. She tried to find an

  explanation for what had happened tonight but failed. She

  narrowed her gaze at his profile. He’d saved her life. If the

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  radio had hit the water in the tub, she’d be dead. She

  released a shaky breath. Minutes slipped by. The weeks of

  sleeplessness crashed over her, making her sag, no longer

  able to fight the exhaustion.

  * * * *

  Paladin studied her, hoping the shadows concealed his

  features so she wouldn’t notice his stare. He had never

  expected to find a woman on the other side of the doorway.

  Over a thousand years ago, the connection between

  Avaris and all other worlds he’d learned about during the

  history lessons of his youth had been destroyed. Time had

  brought about the realization that the worlds beyond were

  found to be unsuitable for magic and deadly to dragons—that

  was incomprehensible. But all this knowledge had not

  prepared him for her. A chill touched his back. He stiffened

  under the frigid tingles moving up his spine. From the

  moment her haunted glance met his, he had experienced a

  flood of desire. Something he hadn’t expected or yearned for

  since his dead wife’s betrayal.

  He glanced out at the dark sky with the multitude of

  twinkling stars while his mind whipped through all that had

  occurred on this night. Had the dragons reacted to his wish?

  The magical blood in his veins would have responded to his

  desire. The great clan leaders, each a mighty and terrible

  creature, would have felt his need. He gritted his teeth but

  kept his body relaxed. Why his wish and none other? There

  had been others, wizards along with their apprentices, who

  had tried to invoke the dragons to open the portal, but their

  efforts had always failed. Yet his had not only opened a

  doorway but brought him this woman.

  His gaze strayed back to her. She held no answer to his

  wish. His body reacted to her, but he still maintained control

  over his baser needs. The dragons must have a purpose for

  her presence on Avaris. His desire for a son had nothing to

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  do with their manipulations. Or did it?

  Her question came to him. Are you the dragon? Coming

  from a different world, how had she known of his

  relationship to the dragons? In particular, a white one.

  Time would reveal why this had happened. He would

  keep her close until he departed in the morning. Afterward,

  he intended to put her from his mind. Let the dragons find

  her since they had brought her here.

  Mind still dulled by the liquor he’d consumed earlier and

  no longer able think clearly, he gave up trying to figure out

  the meaning for what had occurred for the moment.

  * * * *

  The click of his heels forced Seren’s drooping lids open.

  He moved to a chair on the side of a small round table in the

  center of the room. There, he started to undress.

  She narrowed her eyes, trying to see clearer in the room’s

  dimness. He slid the long and short swords free before

  unclasping his belt. He laid them on the table. Next came his

  shirt. He draped it over the back of the chair. Seren’s breath

  caught in her throat. The outrage from moments ago

  vanished with the slow slide of material over bare skin. As

  the moonbeams highlighted his back, revealing valleys and

  peaks of muscle, she was enthralled by the beauty of his

  body. Dark smudges marked his left arm from wrist to

  shoulder. Puzzled, she just managed to make out a design on

  the mark—a raised tattoo with frills and sharp angles. He sat

  and pulled off one boot then the other before he stood to

  remove his pants.

  Seren, more awake now, stared at the man before her. At

  twenty-eight and living in New Orleans, she had seen a lot,

  but she’d never viewed such a fine specimen of the male

  body. Flawless, his long legs rose to meet his tapered waist

  which accented the width of his shoulders and joined to his

  muscled chest. And his…

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  Heat crept into her cheeks. As hard as it was, she forced

  herself to look away. She enjoyed the view, but she would not

  be caught staring at him!

  He extinguished the candles. On silent feet, he returned

  to the bed. Keeping her face averted, she whispered. “How

  can you be so perfect?”

  His low answer reached her. “I am not perfect. Now

  sleep.”

  “You’re not sleeping here.”

  He grunted at her comment and sat on the side of the
/>   mattress a moment before he snuffed out the lamp on the

  table next to the bed. He lay with his back to her. The

  mattress shifted. After she sat there for a couple of minutes,

  the reality that he did intend to sleep next to her struck. She

  glanced toward the foot of the bed, trying to decide what to

  do. Emotionally tired, her body sluggish, she sighed. She had

  nowhere to go. Several quiet seconds passed. She scooted

  down and curled into a ball.

  Turbulent thoughts about the events of the night, what

  happened, and how she’d ended up in bed with him rifled

  through her mind. Had the radio fallen into the water? Had

  she died? She’d seen the light mentioned by people after near

  death experiences, but she didn’t feel dead. Maybe she was

  insane. Had the vision gripping her mind these last few

  weeks forced her to slip away from the real world and to this

  place?

  Too upset to voice her thoughts, she clasped a hand over

  her mouth, cutting off a cry of denial. Tremors racked her

  body. She was so cold, empty. Alone.

  At her muffled sound, he released a low sigh. The bed

  sank under his weight as he turned. He wrapped his arms

  around her, pulling her against his chest. She stiffened.

  “Easy, my sweet. I mean you no harm,” he murmured against

  her hair. Soon, his warmth seeped into her frozen flesh. She

  relaxed, the tension oozing out.

  After a soft sigh, she swiped her tongue over her lips to

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  wet the dryness there. Unable to stop, she scrubbed her

  cheek against his muscled chest and drifted off to sleep, his

  wonderful smell surrounding her.

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  Chapter Two

  Seren dreamed of a glorious angel.

  She inhaled the sandalwood scent which had a slight

  citrus flare that had followed her into sleep. Her angel held

  her clasped against him. She pressed her lips against the

  pulsing vein in his neck. From the back of his throat, a needy

  groan rumbled.

  He lowered his head, grasped her jaw and kissed her. She

  opened her mouth wider to allow his entrance, wanting him

  to stop her terrorizing visions of the dragon. Only he had the

  power to erase the nightmare she’d lived in over the last few

  weeks. She wanted to feel alive, no longer heavy with worry.

  She didn’t want to be alone any more. She needed someone

  to love, to desire her without conditions.