Diamond Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 4) (4 page)

She shrugged. “You could have just let him do it.”

The tension rose in the air. She felt him ruffle at the thought. “No, I couldn’t. I don’t want to watch that.”

“So it’d be fine if you didn’t have to watch it?”

He stood abruptly, hands in the pockets of his gray sweats. “I’m not talking about this anymore.” He looked at her box. “Any other clothing in there? I need to be out of these.”

She didn’t have anything close to his size, so she shook her head. “But we can go to the store tomorrow.” She pulled out her first aid kit and the scissors inside it. “But we do have to do something about that hair before we go out in public.”

He winced. “But I changed it.”

“Not enough,” she said. “Men in our day don’t have hair like that.”

He backed away from her, distraught. “No. I’m not cutting it. We’ll get a hat.”

She set down the scissors in defeat. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. There are going to be stares.”

A smile crept up his lips. “Stares are fine. I’m used to stares.” He sat back on the couch and, for a moment, stared out into space. She realized how it must feel, sitting there in the clothing he’d had to wear for so long. Sure, they constantly gave him new, clean versions, but still, even looking at it had to make him think of captivity.

No matter what he was, he didn’t deserve that.

She rummaged in her box, looking for sweats, and pulled out a pair of her favorite.

Since she was curvy, and his hips were lean, she had an idea of what might work. She cut off the bottoms of the sweats, so they were open and then removed the tie at the waistband. She handed them over, along with a large tee shirt she’d gotten at a concert. She liked wearing men’s shirts at night anyway.

“Here,” she said. “In the meantime. Since I’m sure it sucks to stay in clothes like that.”

His eyes narrowed slightly, the brown flickering blue for a second. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” he asked. “You weren’t even going to help me without the ring. Now you’re cutting your clothes for me. And I can’t imagine you have that many.”

She shrugged. “Things aren’t that important to me. And I want to help. I mean, I only took the ring to make sure you help me with Lana.”

“Lana,” he said, balling the sweats in his lap. “That’s who we’re searching for?”

She nodded. “That’s my friend.”

“She must mean a lot to you,” he said quietly. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had anyone I would go that far for.” He shook his head. “Staying around shifters when you’re a vulnerable human.”

“Not that vulnerable,” she protested. “I did okay.”

“Until today,” he said, glancing over at her.

Awkwardness fell over the room, both of them not wanting to think about what had almost happened.

Alistair stood abruptly. “I’m going upstairs to change. I assume that’s where the bedroom is.”

She nodded.

He went as Scrangey finished his food and looked up at her as if to ask if there were more.

She sighed and went to open another can. At least
someone
should be comfortable tonight. Given that she and Alistair would somehow be sleeping in the same room, that probably wasn’t going to be her.

B
ridget was a puzzle to Alistair
.

Despite caring very little for herself, she extended a great deal of care toward others, like this Lana she was obsessed with saving.

He didn’t want to say it, but if Lana had been taken before Bridget and was no longer at the castle, the odds of her being okay were not good.

But Bridget seemed to be holding on to the thought with perfect hope, and he wasn’t going to ruin it.

Still, he felt uncharacteristically angry with her for being so willing to put herself in danger for merely the chance to help someone else.

Then again, it was working for his benefit. She was here helping him just for the chance to see Lana again.

He looked down at the shirt and pants she’d given him. They were ill fitting, short, and tight.

But they weren’t anything like the clothes he’d been imprisoned with, and that meant everything.

He’d be getting better clothes, the best clothes, once he had his treasure back. But for now, it was enough just to not be forced to wear something he didn’t want to.

He looked around the small room and realized they were in an odd situation.

Despite him being a dragon and her being a human, sleeping in a room together, just the two of them, was a little bit out of decorum.

But what should he care? He hadn’t had a bed in a long time. He deserved it and didn’t mind sharing. So why did he feel a little uneasy thinking of being in it with Bridget, her curvy body curled against him?

No, why did he assume she would curl against him?

He’d seen the way she looked at him. Like he was some kind of beautiful, poisonous plant, dangerous to her.

And he had the odd desire to want to prove the opposite. That he could protect her, as he had with the wolf.

He’d never been anyone’s hero, but doing it just the once had been sort of satisfying.

Even if he still couldn’t figure out why.

He heard a knock on the door and sat up. “Yes?”

“It’s Bridget,” she called out. “Can I come in?”

“Yes.”

She walked in wearing the sweater she’d put on but with odd, checked pants that looked soft.

She wasn’t a typically beautiful woman exactly, but something about her had always caught his attention. Her hair was straight, a medium blond that was neither light nor dark. But it looked soft to the touch. Her eyes were fine, he supposed. A soft green that could look bright when she was in a good mood.

Her mouth was actually quite nice when not pinched with stress. Full, pink lips that actually appeared quite kissable.

Maybe sharing a bed wouldn’t be so bad. It had been a long time since he had a woman, touched anyone really. And perhaps she would be willing.

She was attracted to him, like most humans, though she tried to fight it.

And perhaps after her stressful stay with the shifters, she was a little ready for some relief as well.

“I suppose we’re sharing the bed,” he said, looking at her tentatively.

“Are we?” she asked, folding her arms and suppressing a shiver, though the room was quite insulated and warm.

“I haven’t had a bed in a long time,” he said. “And I wouldn’t want you on the floor.”

“Do you promise to be good?” she asked.

“Define good,” he prompted, scooting back on the bed so his back was against the headrest.

“Good as in not touching me when I don’t want to be touched.”

He snorted. “I don’t have to touch women who don’t want to be touched. If you don’t want it, I don’t either.” He ignored the little ripple of disappointment that ran through him.

Fine, then. The little human could have had the best night of her life, but if she didn’t want to…

“All right,” she said. “Then we can sleep on the bed together.”

He stared at her. “You trust me? Just like that? Not to ravish you?”

She laughed as she walked past him and into the bathroom. She turned on the water, washed her face, and dried off with a towel. “Should I not?” she asked frankly, handing him the towel. “Have you had a shower yet?”

“No,” he said. “I just had one at the facility. Well, you know, being locked in a room and sprayed down, if that counts as a shower.”

“Well, you’re welcome to take one now if you want.”

He looked at the towel she’d handed him and then at the small shower with the curtain around it. “How can I trust you not to peep?” he teased.

She rolled her eyes. “I think I can resist.”

Her words lit a challenge in him. Could she? Now that they were out of danger, at least for a while hopefully, it was more and more apparent to him there was a kind of unresolved chemistry between them.

Perhaps that was why he had saved her. Perhaps he wanted her more than he’d previously thought.

Perhaps it was just seeing her so many times from behind his bars. Perhaps she was freedom or kindness or something else to him.

Or perhaps her curvy body was just perfect for touching, and it had been so long…

He had an idea and turned on the shower. If he played this right, maybe he could get lucky tonight after all.

* * *

B
ridget was in the bed
, reading one of the books she’d brought, when the door to the bathroom opened and Alistair stepped into the doorway, silhouetted by the light.

So tall, so broad, his damp brown hair streaming over his strong shoulders. His chest and arms were bare, and he wore only a towel.

She knew shifters were naturally strong and muscled, but dragons must be something else, because he looked like something from a bodybuilding magazine.

Despite her resistance to him and his obvious ego and shallowness and the fact that he was clearly dangerous, her body started to respond.

Dammit.

She put the book aside and tried to look unaffected. “Was it a nice shower?”

“Yes,” he said pleasantly, lifting the covers on his side and getting in bed with her.

With her.

Her heart thumped as he pulled the covers over his legs, leaving him bare chested next to her. So big. So free to do anything he wanted.

No more bars between them.

She could smell his natural scent. Spicy. Sharp. Cold. His long hair looked amazing, touchable.

“I can hear your thoughts, human,” he said. “Though, I’m not trying to.”

She flushed. “Yeah, well, unless I
say
something, it doesn’t count.”

He chuckled and leaned back on his arms, crossing them behind his head and displaying the muscles to good advantage. “Fine by me.”

She felt her body crawling with an odd need to look all over him but resisted the urge. Hadn’t she had enough trouble today? She didn’t need to deal with horny shifters.

And was he horny? He was so cool and collected, as always, so who knew if he was affected like she was?

“I am,” he said. “I mean, maybe it’s just this unresolved thing between us, but I’m curious what would happen during a coupling.”

Her jaw dropped, and she bit back a hysterical laugh. “Coupling?”

He nodded. “Intercourse?”

She giggled, sinking lower in the bed and pulling the blanket around her. “Wow. Mood killer.”

He lay down, too. “What do you mean?”

She sighed. “Don’t worry about it.” She tried to keep her mind clear so the blasted dragon couldn’t read it, but she could feel him watching her. It was hard not to be turned on.

She’d been the worker, he the prisoner; she the human, he the dragon.

But now, here in this little room, Scrangey asleep downstairs, she thought of things in a different way.

A man and a woman.

She shivered and got even farther under the covers, trying to ignore the obnoxious pull of her body to get closer to him.

He grinned down at her but made no attempt to get closer. “Are you sure you don’t want to try things out between us before we go to sleep?” he asked. “It could be fun.”

She nodded, clenching her teeth. “Positive.”

“Prude.” He lay back on his pillow, staring at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Should I turn out the light, then?”

She shook her head. “I can’t sleep yet. And I don’t like the dark.”

“That’s unexpected,” he said. “You seem like the type who isn’t afraid of anything.”

“Of course I’m afraid of things,” she said. “I just don’t let that affect me when someone I love needs me.”

“So you love this girl,” he said. “Is she a lover?”

She snorted. “No. Just a friend.”

“But you would risk your life for her?”

“Any day,” she vowed. “It’s a long story.”

“Well, if you can’t sleep anyway.”

“I’ll tell you if you tell me how we’re going to get you back with your friends.”

“Good question,” he said. “You go first.”

She sighed. “It’s not that important, so I don’t know why you care. You’re just here to help me either way.” But she figured she might as well talk to distract herself from the tingle she felt just being near him. After all, they were likely to be together for a few days.

“She was my roommate in college. I was from a small town. Didn’t know anyone. Didn’t even really understand the world. I dressed weird. I looked weird. I talked weird. No one wanted to be my friend.” She laughed. “I was so intimidated by Lana.”

“Why?” he asked.

She felt little like she was telling a bedtime story but continued. “She was everything I wasn’t. Sure, she was a curvy girl like me, but she owned it, and everyone loved her. Confident. Pretty. Funny. She came from New York City and was very worldly.”

“Worldly?”

“Savvy…” She attempted. “She just understood the world I guess. Like I didn’t. Anyway, she could have treated me like a loser roommate, but she took me under her wing. Helped me with makeup and hair. Let me borrow her clothes. Didn’t accept invitations unless I was invited, too. I didn’t often go with her, but I appreciated her caring. We liked different things, but there was always respect.”

“Sounds like a good friend indeed,” he said, looking a little flustered.

“What’s that look?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “Go on.”

“Anyway, we stayed close through college. She helped me get into my major, helped me get interviews I was nervous about. She believed in me, always stood with me. And I stood with her. Helped her with subjects that were hard. But she could have had anyone help with that. Whereas, without Lana, I would have been alone and probably ended up going back home where there was nothing waiting for me.”

“No family?” he asked.

“No.”

“I understand that,” he said.

“You don’t have any family?” she asked.

“Dragons work a little differently,” he replied. “At least my kind do. Diamond dragons have little use for something like children, so I was shunted off to boarding school with humans. Which was fine with me. To humans, I was valuable. Beautiful.”

“Are dragons normally raised with other dragons?” she asked.

“I would have to ask other dragons, and I’m not that friendly with them,” he answered.

“You called them your friends,” she said.

“That’s because dragons like me are the closest things I have to friends in this world… other than you.”

She nodded. Despite all the other weird elements of their situation, they were friends, sort of. “I see.”

“Anyway,” he said. “I figured out my powers on my own and how to use them to be most comfortable in the world, and that was fine.”

“That sounds kind of awful,” she said quietly.

“How?” he asked. “I had people all around me. The best of everything. And could control things at my whim.”

She shrugged. “Just sounds lonely.”

He gave her a long look, and she found herself kind of missing his rainbow eyes. They flickered back to rainbow for an instant. “That better?”

She flushed and looked up at the ceiling, and when she glanced over at him again, his eyes were back to brown.

“For what it’s worth, I’m not trying to read your thoughts,” he said. “You’re just being open to me.”

She nodded. “I get that. I guess now that there’s nothing between us, it’s hard for me to remember I should be guarded. That you could be dangerous.”

“Right now, there are a lot of things out there that are more dangerous to you than me,” he said. “I’m here to protect you.”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

He was stoic. “Of course.”

They lay there in silence, listening to the
tick-tock
of the clock on the wall, and then he cleared his throat. “You asked me about finding my friends.”

“Yes.”

“Well, it’s going to be tricky,” he said. “I mean, if one of the dragons, the amethyst dragon, is awakened, it’s only a matter of time before he reads my thoughts and finds us. He can hear thoughts even across a world. And he also has visions.”

“Ah,” she said.

“Yeah, kind of a creepy guy, but I found him interesting,” Alistair said. “If he isn’t awake, it’ll be tougher. We’ll have to keep moving, and I’ll read minds until I can find someone on the good side of shifters and see if they know anything about how to find the dragons or the person who had me in cryo.”

“Right,” she replied. “Sounds like a good plan.”