Dragon's Lair (12 page)

“I'm pretty sure, yes. When we saw him in the forest, I got the same sickening feeling. The man who'd mentally harassed me had left the impression of pure evil.”

Braeden's eyebrows rose at the ease in which she'd answered, so he continued, “The men after you, were they sent from him?”

“Yes. But he's got lousy instincts when it comes to choosing his goons.”

“Doubtful. They got you to come here, didn't they?”

She shrugged, then tensed her shoulders once again. Not wanting to give her time to pull away or realize what he was doing, Braeden slid his hand closer to the curve of her neck to absently stroke the soft flesh beneath her ear.

Alexia shivered at his touch, but remained still.

“Even though you weren't harmed, once your town house was blown up and you had possession of the pages, where else would you go except here?”

She admitted, “I don't know. There isn't anywhere else I could go.”

“Exactly. He wanted you with the rest of the manual
and here you are.” Braeden wanted to know if she worked with Nathan, but he wasn't a fool. He knew she'd never answer that direct a question. Even if she did answer, would he believe her?

“What are you saying?”

Braeden picked up on the slight change in the tone of her voice. If she wasn't already, she would soon be too suspicious of his actions for him to easily continue.

He realized that in the end, she was going to be livid, but the safety of Mirabilus and those at Dragon's Lair were worth far more than Alexia's rage.

Slowly turning her chair around so she faced him, he took her hands and pulled her up from her seat. He urged her closer. Holding her surprised stare, Braeden briefly touched his lips to hers. “I don't know, Alexia, what am I saying?”

Alexia pushed away from him. She couldn't think rationally when he was this near.

To her amazement, he let her go, but followed her, then asked, “What have you done to convince me that you aren't involved in this whole scheme?”

“Me?” She spun around. “What about you?”

Braeden stopped mere inches from her. “What
about
me? You already know it wasn't my Phantom outside your town house. It wasn't my voice you heard inside your mind. How do I know you aren't working with Nathan?”

She couldn't believe the questions coming out of his mouth. Did he know her so little? Hadn't he learned anything about her during their marriage?

Unable to hold his piercing stare any longer, she turned away. Alexia desperately needed space to breathe and to think. She needed him to back off. But when she parted her lips, to her horror the one question she never wanted to ask slipped out. “Why didn't you ever come after me?”

He came up behind her, refusing to give her the space she'd been seeking. “You told me not to.”

“When did you ever listen to me?”

“Until then? Rarely.”

At least he was being honest. She could always count on Braeden to tell her the truth, no matter what. “Why, then?”

“Because I thought that by doing what you'd asked, you'd eventually come back.”

Alexia sighed. It was amazing how two animals of the same species could interpret things so differently. She'd written the note telling him to leave her alone because she'd been certain he wouldn't do so for very long. When he never came, she resigned herself to the choice she had made.

“I always figured you were happier without me.”

“I was.”

His response knocked the breath from her. Sometimes his honesty was too brutal. She sidestepped away from him. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come back.”

“Oh, no, you don't.” Braeden grabbed her shoulder, stopping her retreat, then spun her around and lifted her chin with the side of his hand. “I was angry. I still am. But that never meant I didn't want you back or that I didn't care.”

His glittering gaze spoke of passion, not anger. It promised fulfilled desire, not rage. Frightened of the deep longing welling up inside her, she put her hand against his chest to push him away. “Braeden—”

His lips closed over hers, cutting off her plea for him to stop. He caressed the back of her head, holding her close. The arm he'd wrapped around her held her steady.

Alexia leaned against him, surrendering to the magic that was Braeden. She didn't want him to touch her. Yet
at the same time, she needed to be engulfed by the strength of his will, the demands of his lips and the feel of his body against hers.

She moaned and crumpled his T-shirt beneath her fingers. He answered her near-silent response by steadily moving her across the office until the back of her thighs hit his desk.

Her heart raced unevenly like some skittish virginal bride's on her wedding night. This was no stranger sweeping the papers and other objects from his desk before pushing her down onto the smooth solid top. It was her husband. She knew every inch of his body. Maybe not as well as he knew hers, but there was nothing unfamiliar in his touch.

He cupped a breast and stroked his thumb across the nipple. Without hesitation her body reacted, tightening, pebbling beneath the contact. Everything about their relationship had been spontaneous. From making love within hours of first meeting to their headlong rush to the altar.

And her pain at his cold anger had been just as spontaneous.

She desperately wanted him to strip her naked and take her with wild abandonment.

But she couldn't face the level of hurt that would soon tear her apart. The absolute pleasure she could gain from him now wasn't worth the agony she'd have to live with day after day when she left Dragon's Lair.

He didn't love her anymore. He didn't trust her. That much had been made clear. Lust drove him now. A lust she recognized and admittedly shared. But she wanted, needed more than just a few moments of passion and the brief thrill of a soul-stealing release.

Her breath caught in her chest and Braeden broke their kiss. He rested his forehead against hers and gazed into her eyes a moment before asking, “Did I treat you so badly that you felt justified in putting our family in danger?”

Alexia gasped and tried to twist free of him. This was a conversation that could only end badly. She slid her back along the desk while trying to keep her tone firm. “Please let me up.”

Braeden quickly found a way to hold her still on the slippery desktop. He nudged her legs apart and rested between them. Then he slipped his forearms beneath her shoulders, pressing her breasts impossibly tight against the hardness of his chest and leaving her the option of either putting her arms around him or letting them hang at an odd, uncomfortable position on the desk.

“Answer me.”

The harsh tone of his voice commanded her attention. His hard glare blazed like fire. But the hands holding her head in place were gentle. The caressing touch against her scalp and along her cheek somehow conveyed warmth and safety to her swirling senses.

She held his stare, but could only manage to whisper, “You're too angry.”

“I've been angry for years. I'm not going to hurt you.”

He was referring to physical harm. That was not what she feared from him. He might demand and act like the dragon he was named for at times, but Braeden would never do anything to physically harm her.

Her attention flew to the gashes on his cheek. She closed her eyes against the guilt she felt. Obviously, between the two of them, she was the one who'd managed to cause physical harm.

“Open your eyes and answer me.”

She looked up at him. His lips hovered just above hers, and their warm breaths mingled. “Why do you want me to look at you? Are you going to take the answers you want?”

To her amazement a seductive smile curved his lips. He readjusted one hand and gently stroked the soft spot below her ear. When she shivered involuntarily beneath his touch, he said, “I won't need my powers.”

She froze. He was going to
seduce
the answers from her? Alexia frowned. “That's not fair.”

“Worried I might win?”

Worried? No, more like terrified. She knew without a doubt he would succeed.

When she still didn't answer, he slid his other arm from beneath her shoulder and stroked his fingertips down her side. At the same time he lowered his lips to the free side of her neck, and the instant his tongue glided along the sensitive flesh, she knew she'd already lost.

Quickly, before she did anything foolish like moan or gasp with the desire uncoiling in her belly, she said, “I had no choice.”

Cool air from the unheated office brushed against her suddenly naked legs. She didn't need to look to realize what he'd done. “You said you didn't need your powers. Give me my jeans back.”

The heat of his palm burned a trail down her leg. “I lied. Sue me.” He shifted, then hiked her leg up over his hip. “You were saying?”

Alexia's eyes widened and her heart somersaulted as he teased the back of her leg. “If I didn't do the paper on the manual, I wouldn't get a grade.”

Like a loser in a game of strip poker where Braeden set all the rules, her blouse vanished. “Braeden, please. I'm
not lying. I…” Her breath hitched as his touch slid beneath the edge of her panties. Drawing in a ragged breath, she fought to complete her thought before the raw lust clawing at her made thinking impossible. “I needed that degree. I wanted it. Can't you understand that?”

“Not counting your socks, you have two items of clothing left.” His lips brushed against her ear. “If you don't want to lose them, you better finish your explanation quickly.”

“I'm trying. But you don't believe me.”

“I didn't say that.” Her nipples swelled as her bra disappeared. “I'm waiting to hear the whole story before making up my mind. But you're taking forever.” He moved down her body, his gaze raking the breast mere inches from his mouth. “I might start to wonder if you're doing it on purpose.”

“No.”

He laughed at her hoarse response and locked his gaze with hers before trailing his tongue around the tip of her breast.

Alexia closed her eyes, then arched into his touch. “I hate you, Braeden.”

The barrier of her panties now gone, he stroked the heat between her legs. “You are such a bad liar.”

“Then you know I'm not…” She couldn't keep her thoughts centered on the conversation. “Braeden…please.”

He nearly growled when he moved back over her and claimed her mouth with his.

She tugged at his T-shirt. He got the hint and beneath her touch the material was replaced by his heated skin.

This was insane. But stopping him now would be even more insane. It was useless even to try convincing herself
that she didn't want his lips covering hers or his tongue plundering her mouth. It would be even more of a lie to say that she wanted him to stop the teasing between her legs, or that she didn't like the circling touch that stroked inside her.

A moan raced up to her throat, only to be cut off by the sound of Cameron's voice over the intercom, now lying on the floor.

“Braeden, we have trouble at the keep.”

Braeden emitted a harsh curse. One Alexia mentally echoed.

In less time than it took to blink, he pulled away and instantly their clothes covered their bodies. The loss of contact and the protection of clothing made little difference. Her body still screamed for more.

Braeden extended his hand to help her up from the desk. Before she smacked it aside, she noticed that he was shaking nearly as much as she. Without looking at him, Alexia moved off the desk to the other side, asking, “Did you get everything you needed?”

“No.” His voice was rough, his expression hard and closed. “But I will.”

A frisson of rage swept away any lingering passion. She pointed at the door. “Just go.”

He paused by the worktable, turned over a couple of pages, then looked over his shoulder at her. “You might find this interesting.”

The desire to see what he was talking about warred with the need to keep her distance. “I probably will.” Alexia placed her palms on the desk. “After you leave.”

When the entry door closed behind him, Alexia drew in a long, trembling breath and fell into the oversize executive chair behind her.

Somehow when it came to Braeden, she had to find her backbone. She needed to stay angry with him, which wouldn't be too hard to do. And she desperately needed to keep him more than an arm's length away. She wasn't sure how, but she needed to figure that out before he returned.

The urge to wallow in her memories and fears was overwhelming. She looked at the pages on the table. There was one sure way to set her wayward emotions aside—work.

The pages of the grimoire suddenly called to her. She could feel them breathe warm and inviting against her ear. Curious and more than willing to do something to take her mind off Braeden, she rose and crossed to the worktable.