Haunted By Her Dragon (The Dragon Guard Series) (5 page)

Lance
turned and looked right at her and she felt her heart skip a beat. What the
hell was it about this guy that made her body go crazy? It was potent as hell
and twice as scary. She had no time in her life for any man, let alone one that
made her forget all else and dream of endless days and nights spent wrapped in
each other, sweaty and spent. Just staring into his eyes made her want to
abandon all else to be with him.

“Devon,
you handle that,” she heard him say without ever breaking eye contact. She
could feel his stare in every single cell of her body. He completely mesmerized
her as he strode in her direction, all sex and wet dreams in ripped jeans and
cowboy boots. She watched the muscles in his chest bunch and
roll
under his tight gray T-shirt and wondered, by what miracle his sleeves hadn’t
burst from the strain of his biceps. He was intense and raw and she could just
tell, as tough as nails; then there was the twinkle in his eyes that told her
he was just as likely to play a practical joke on someone as save a damsel in
distress.
Damsel in distress?
Where the hell
did that thought come from? She really needed to get home and get some
sleep. 

“You
doing okay, Sam?” she heard him speak, saw his lips move, but her brain had
chosen that moment to short circuit. She watched his brows furrow, and before
she could answer, felt the shock from his touch on her shoulders.

She
blinked and shook her head. “Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry, I blanked out there for a
minute. Guess I’m more tired than I realized.”

“I’m
sure you are,
hell
, who wouldn’t be after a thirty hour shift?”

“Yep,
that’s the way the job goes.” She knew she should move so that his hand would
fall away from her shoulder, but the heat that infused her exhausted body from
that simple touch was absolutely delicious, so she stood there, soaking it all
in. Then, what he had just said registered in her foggy mind, and all the
relaxation she had felt seconds ago disappeared. “How did you know that I just
worked thirty hours?”

He
looked away for a split second and when he looked back, he focused on the spot
right above her eyebrows, instead of her eyes. “You told me earlier.” As soon
as it was out of his mouth, he looked her in the eye again.

“No,
I didn’t. I remember saying I worked long hours, but I know I didn’t tell you
how long I’d been at work today, I mean yesterday, well also today. Oh,
whatever,” she sighed with growing exasperation. “I know I did
not
say
anything about thirty hours. How did you know that?” she pushed through gritted
teeth, not wanting to alert his brothers to the fact that she was about two
seconds from losing her cool.

Just
as he was about to answer, Royce yelled for him, and her cell phone rang in her
pocket. He turned to go and she shivered, her body immediately feeling the loss
of his touch. She watched as he walked back to where the others were finishing
up with her car, so entranced by his ass that she almost forgot about the phone
ringing in her hand. She shook her head as she answered her phone, noting from
the caller ID that it was the hospital. Still watching the play of hard muscles
under well-worn denim, she could not deny he was the best looking thing she had
ever seen, but he was hiding something. She had picked up on his feelings of
unease and tension when she’d called him out. Again, she thought of what a
distraction this man was proving to be. Sure, he had literally saved her ass
more than once, but she could not shake the feeling that he was hiding
something and
dammit
if she didn’t
really
want to know what it was.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He knew she was tired,
and in any other situation, most likely would not have accepted his help, but
now that she was snug against his back with her arms around his waist and her
thighs pressing against his legs as they rode the winding road back to the
hospital, he thanked the Universe with all that he was. However, he was not
thrilled that she was going back to work after having just been there for so
many hours, but she had been adamant. He knew if he didn’t take her, she would
just walk, especially since it concerned the patient she had stayed late to help;
a little girl who had obviously captured his mate’s heart. The mating call and
his dragon were screaming at him to take her home and care for her, but Sam’s
furrowed brow and unrelenting glare told him she was going back to the hospital
come hell or high water. So, against his better judgment, they were heading
back in the same direction they had come from just a few hours ago.

He
agreed with his dragon that she needed rest, but her determination and
commitment to her chosen profession was something he greatly admired. Not to
mention her quick mind and immeasurable strength, along with her abundant
curves that
begged
to be explored. She reminded him of a warrior,
defending what she held most dear, something he could totally understand. That
simple realization brought him once again to the fact that he wanted her more
than he wanted his next breath,
but
her safety had to come first. But,
who was he to question fate if
S
he
thought
they should spend some time together and get to know each other in the meantime?
He had been fighting his attraction and the mating call to this amazing
creature for over seven months, and it was fucking exhausting. He knew he had
to protect her from those that would come back to hurt again, but he had also
decided sometime in the last twelve hours or so that he would take full
advantage of every excuse to be close to her that presented itself. There was
just no way he was claiming her as his mate. Exposing her to the chaos that was
plaguing their clan was not something he could do. The responsibility of a mate
while leading the hunt for the traitor was something he wasn’t ready to handle…
not to mention the shit he was going to have to deal with from each and every
one of his brethren. His mind knew the reality of their situation, but his
body, soul, and dragon wanted their mate….
now
. To keep his own sanity,
he had protected her from afar, but tonight that had been blown all to hell.
The last seven months had taught him that there were things a person simply
could not deny, and his attraction to Dr. Samantha Malone was one of those
things.

He
knew Royce and Devon had paid close attention to his interactions with Sam
while they loaded her car onto the trailer. Royce had even stopped what he was
doing while they had
discussed
whether it was a good idea for her to go
back to the hospital or not. There was no way to miss his raised eyebrows or
knowing look. It had taken Devon all of two minutes to recognize her as one of
the girls they had rescued. And in the next minute, Lance heard him telling
Royce that Sam had asked Siobhan, his mother and their clan’s Healer, for his
name. His brethren were the closest thing to family that he had, and he loved
them all, but they were worse than a bunch of women when they all got together.

He
pictured how it would happen. Royce would tell everyone that would
listen
everything that he had witnessed, and would end with
a full scale discussion about his future and the woman they were sure was his
mate. Before Aidan had found Grace, he would have been in on the fun, but now
it would be Royce, or maybe Aaron. Then Rayne, his Commander, would have to put
his two cents worth into the conversation. They would all assume he was going
to claim her right away and bring her home. There would not be a moment’s peace.
He had to admit he had given all of them a lot of shit over the years and had
enjoyed the hell out of it, but he was not ready for what was to come. Paybacks
really were a
bitch
! There was no way he wanted to have to a
conversation with
any
of them concerning Sam, or listen to all the shit
they would come up with. The only way to avoid it was to be very careful and do
his level best to keep Sam away from his nosy ass brethren.
Yeah, that was
gonna
be easy!

She
shifted slightly and laid her head against his shoulder. As she exhaled, her
breath stirred the little hairs at the back of his neck. Had they not been
traveling fifty miles per hour around curves and over hills, he would have let
his eyes slide shut from the sheer pleasure of it. As it was, his cock grew
harder, pressing against his zipper until he was sure it would have the design
embedded in the skin. He hoped her hand did not slide any lower than the
waistband of his jeans or she would know the effect she had on him. He smiled,
knowing he had a similar effect on her; the scent of her arousal had been
present ever since he had taken the first step towards her while on the side of
the road.

He
felt her relax against his back and her breathing become slow and deep. If he
was not mistaken, his tired, overworked mate was falling asleep. Thank the
heavens they were turning into the hospital parking lot or he would have had to
pull over to make sure she didn’t fall into the road. He slowed to little more
than idle and coasted into her parking spot. As soon as he cut the motor on his
Harley, she stiffened, took a deep breath, and her arms tightened around his
waist as she stretched. “I must’ve dozed off,” she spoke with her head still
resting on his shoulder, obviously not in a hurry to move, and he was definitely
in no rush to lose the contact. Nothing had ever felt more perfect than her
body against his and, of course, he wanted more; kike her
naked
body
against the front of his, but he would take what he could get and what he was
getting felt damn good.

“I
need to get in there and see what’s going on.” She sat back and his body
immediately missed hers.

He
pushed the kickstand down and steadied his bike while she climbed off. Then he
followed suit and spun around to find her standing there. Unable to catch his
breath, he stood perfectly still, waiting for her to do or say
something
.
She looked up at him through thick, dark eyelashes, causing his heart to skip a
beat. “Thank you so much for everything. You saved my butt again tonight, not
to mention bringing me all the way back to work.” She shook her head, and he
once again marveled at her magnificent mane. “I have absolutely no idea how
I’ll ever pay you back, but I
will
find a way.”

“Sam,
you have absolutely nothing to pay me back for. Now get in there so you can
take care of that special little patient of yours and we can get you home
before you fall down.”

Her
brow furrowed, and he watched a myriad of emotions flash through her expressive
dark brown eyes. He knew the second she had decided what to say. Her chin
popped up and gone was the demure look he had received moments ago; before him
now stood the warrior woman once again, glaring at him. “You are so
not
staying here and waiting while I take care of Sydney. You’ve done quite enough.
I’ll find a ride home with someone. I’m sure Charlie won’t mind giving me a
lift.”

Obviously,
she expected him to take her directive without question because she spun on her
heel and was just going to walk away from him without a backward glance.
Oh,
hell no
, he thought.
That shit is not happening!
He gently grabbed
her upper arm and spun her around, bending at the same time so that she was
facing him at eye level after her turn. “I understand that you’re used to
taking care of yourself and that’s to be commended, but I brought you here and
I’ll take you home.
Capisce
?”
He winked to ease the sting of his command, but he
meant every word.

He
saw the fire dance in her eyes, and knew they were about to have another
discussion.
He was not sure whether it was the close proximity to his mate or the way her
scent wrapped around him that made him crave her. Maybe the fact that the most
fantastic woman in the world had been made especially for him caused him lose
his mind, but he did, and he would never know why. In a heartbeat, they went
from standing toe to toe to him holding her tight against his body, kissing her
like she was the very air he breathed. It was pure heaven. Something deep
inside his soul shifted. Suddenly everything wrong with his world was
right…complete. He was whole for the first time in his very long life and the
only thing better was the feeling of her lips moving against his. Her tiny
nails buried in his back and pulled him even closer to her soft, warm body. She
was holding absolutely nothing back. Their bond was almost nonexistent because
of its newness, but he could
feel
her everywhere.

They
opened to each other at precisely the same moment, their tongues dueling for
supremacy, each trying to take in as much of the other as they possibly could.
Lost to their passion, they both jumped when the sound of a car door slamming
shut sounded from the dark parking lot. Sam stiffened and pulled back, looking
at him once again through her impossibly thick, dark lashes. He reveled in the
half- lidded, sexy look of her eyes and her kiss-swollen lips, knowing he and
he alone had done that to her. The blush on her cheeks was an unexpected bonus
that had his chest swelling with pride. He refused to give her a chance to
remember what he had been distracting her from. Spinning her on her heels, he
walked them towards the hospital. In companionable silence, he enjoyed holding
her close for the few minutes it took to reach the entrance. “Don’t think just
because you kissed all rational thought from my brain for a few minutes that this
conversation is over,” she said as they stepped on the curb.