The Golden Dragon (4 page)

April couldn’t do it. She knew her sisters waited for her to make the first move. As the eldest and high priestess of their coven, they awaited her instruction. She shook her head slightly as she stood watching the man-dragon who sat in her mother’s formal living room.

What could she tell them? She couldn’t try to kill an unarmed man or say that she didn’t even want to try to harm the hottest man she had ever laid eyes on. She bit her lip as she watched him watching her with those eyes that had turned a darker shade of green. Something in them told her to trust him. Something in her heart bade her to do the same.

Why should she do that? Why should she trust a dragon to tell her the truth? Whatever happened nearly seven-hundred years ago started somehow, but were the dragons responsible?

How could she condemn a man to death who 42

claimed his innocence without the proof of solid evidence? If she did, she would be no better than those inquisitors who killed thousands of witches.

“Wait.” April held up her hand. She moved into the center of the room between Drake and her sisters. “I can’t do this.” She glanced over her shoulder at Drake and sighed. “Even if he’s not telling the truth, how can we say we are any better than any of the prosecutors during the inquisition if we kill him because of hearsay and rumor?” She looked back to her sisters. “We should at least give him the benefit of doubt.” April turned back to Drake. “Is there a way to prove what you say is true?”

“Yes,” he said with a nod, his gaze never leaving hers. “But you aren’t going to like it.”

The man stared at her, his expression one of expectance. Everything she could read in his expression, in his eyes, told her the man was telling her the truth, but how could she trust him? She was almost afraid to ask, but somehow she screwed up her courage to ask, “How can you prove it?”

“Kiss me.”

“
What?”
She stared at him for a moment. No wonder his expression seemed so pure, so honest. He was insane. He probably believed every word he said. She, 43

however, did not.

“I said, kiss me. It’s the only way for you to know whether or not I’m telling the truth. Well, if you are who I think you are, it is the only way to know. If you are not…” He shrugged. “I get a kiss before you try to kill me. It works for me either way.”

“Not on your life, you, you…” Dang it all. She couldn’t think of a word bad enough to call him.

“Dragon?” he asked with a smile. “Look, you can even tie me down. Have your sisters point their wands at me if you like. Just one kiss, April.” He cocked his brow.

Criminey, she found that eyebrow of his so sexy it hurt. She bit her lip and glanced at her sisters.

“Go ahead,” May said. “If he’s lying, you can at least say you got to kiss the sexiest man of the year and if he’s not, you’ve saved an innocent man.”

Great goober’s ghost! April bit her lip. What a choice. She glanced at the man in question and acknowledged the fact that she had wanted to kiss him that night in the alley. In fact, had he asked, she would have happily jumped his bones the second he asked before he introduced himself. Hearing his name had been like cold water dumped on her after a hot bath. It 44

startled her to the core and she still couldn’t help lusting after the man.

She moved forward cautiously. There was no getting out of it, not that she really wanted to. She had to kiss the man, at least once before she died, because she was almost certain that if he wanted her dead, she would die long before he did—even with her sisters here to back her up.

Some little spark of trust lit in her mind and made her shuffle forward. Years of trained fear kept her approach slow. As far back as she could remember, their mother warned them to never trust a dragon and if they ever encountered one, to run for their lives. Yet here she stood in her mother’s favorite room entertaining the idea of kissing one instead.

Drake sat so negligently, so confidently in that chair.

It was as though he
knew
they couldn’t hurt him. He leaned against the back of the chair, his arms and legs splayed. He almost looked lazy, but April knew better.

The look in his eyes told her he was an active predator and that’s what terrified her. Still, she moved forward, knowing her sisters would protect her—or try to.

She leaned down, resting her hands on each arm of the chair. Her hair dangled in his face. He closed his 45

eyes and inhaled. A strange expression filled his eyes when he opened them and stared up at her.

April licked her lips before pressing them against his.
Mine!
April heard the word in her mind—even as bits of the truth poured into her. Pulling back, she shook her head, her fingers automatically covering her lips.

It had been his voice speaking in her mind, his voice claiming her as his. April shook her head and backed up a pace. “We…we can’t kill him. I think he’s telling the truth.”

“Crap. I wanted to blow him up,” Rose groused behind her.

“Blow him up? I was looking forward to setting his hair on fire.” Tansy frowned down at her wand and stomped her foot. “No one ever lets me set things on fire on purpose.”

“It’s because you incinerate them, dear,” Ginger said, patting Tansy’s hand and Tansy stuck her tongue out at her.

“Okay, sis. What do you mean you
think
he’s telling the truth?” May asked as she glared at Drake through narrowed eyes.

“I—I don’t know. I just do.”

“Kiss me again and you’ll have your answer.” Drake 46

grinned. “Just one more kiss.”

“You said one kiss the first time. What, is this turning you on or something?” Rose stepped up, waving her wand. Drake didn’t even flinch. Okay. There had to be some truth in what he said about his surviving an attack. If he told the truth about that, could he have been telling the truth about all of it?

Think, think, think.
April wanted nothing better than to run down to the basement and bang her head against the cement walls. Instead, she looked at Drake again and sighed. “No.” She shook her head. “No more kisses.”

She couldn’t think when he kissed her. Heck, she could barely think when he wasn’t kissing her. What in the world was the matter with her anyway?

She felt strange. Something in her wanted,
needed
, to believe him. What if he
was
telling the truth? Then what? There was no denying that she wanted him. He wanted her if the look in his eyes was any indication.

Even if it wasn’t, he wanted to kiss
her,
not one of her sisters.

How did this get so complicated? Turning, she made her way to the kitchen, knowing her sisters would follow. She only hoped Drake would stay right where he was. She needed to talk to them. Alone.

47

“Okay, what’s the problem? Are we roasting this dragon or what?” Tansy asked as soon as she entered the room. Leave it to her to use that phrase.

Crossing her arms, April began to pace. “No. We are
not
roasting a dragon today. I have doubts, lots of them.

I feel…” She paused, unsure of what she felt. “I feel some sort of strange connection to him. He’s familiar somehow—like I know him.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how else to describe it.”

It is because you are mine.

Oh, Goddess! He had somehow gotten into her mind.

He knew her very thoughts. How?

Again, April Flowers, it is because you are mine.

You are my woman, my mate and one day, my love.

April shook her head, certain that she was going mad. No matter how certain he seemed, she was
not
the mate of a dragon. For witches, dragons were the most feared species on the planet. And he was not talking to her in her head.

We can communicate this way because of the kiss.

Had our tongues touched, you would know what I say is
true.

Gritting her teeth together, April tried to keep her thoughts to herself, but she couldn’t seem to do it.

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Dream on, dragon. I don’t French kiss men I’ve just
met.

He chuckled into her mind.
I am pleased to hear
that.

She stomped her foot. “Stop it, just stop it!”

Her sisters all stopped talking amongst themselves to look at her. “Well, you weren’t talking to us so we started to toss ideas around. You don’t have to go and get pissy.” Iris glared at her.

“It’s not you guys,” April said, pointing at her head.

“He’s talking to me in my head.”

“Now she’s going to blame her bitchiness on the voices in her head.” Daisy rolled her eyes. “How original.”

“Look, you guys. I didn’t ask for this.” April looked at them each in turn, holding her hands out, palms up. “I have no idea what the heck is going on. All I know is that the minute I touched my lips to his, he growled the word,
mine,
into my mind.” She gave a little hysterical laugh. “He says I’m his mate. Have you ever heard of such a crazy thing?” She waved her arms. “He’s a dragon, for Pete’s sake! I can’t be his mate.”

“Witches have always been mates to dragons, just as mages have been mates to dragon swans. It is the way of 49

things. It is the way it has been for eons.”

April spun around at the sound of Drake’s voice, her hand at her throat. Good grief he was quiet. He could have killed them if he’d had the mind.

“The type of progeny lies with the males of our species’. Male dragons beget dragons. Mages, beget more mages and witches whether they mate with a dragon, witch or human.” He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “The mages are the lucky ones.”

“What do you mean?” April asked, her hand to her throat.

“Mages can mate with three different types of women. While dragons can have sex with other dragons and humans, they cannot mate nor procreate with them.”

He stood in the doorway, negligently leaning against the frame, his arms crossed over his muscled chest.

April’s fingers itched to peel that shirt off him and trace every muscle with her tongue. There wasn’t much she wouldn’t give to feel the warmth of his skin beneath her palms.

What had come over her? She didn’t crave things like that. She was no virgin, but April had never been one to indulge willy-nilly in the pleasures of the flesh.

Why now? What was it about this man that made her 50

want to jump his bones like some barroom hussy?

“I told you, April, you are my mate. Denying it does nothing but prolong the inevitable.”

She took a page from his book and raised a brow.

“And that is?”

“The day of our mating.” He inclined his head. “I will leave you to consult your sisters, but know this,” he said with a grin, “I know who you are and where to find you. What’s more…now that we have kissed, the soul-bond between us has begun to flourish, I can find you anywhere and it’s only a matter of time before I will make you mine, in heart as well as body and soul.” He turned to leave.

“Soul-bond?” April turned to her sisters after he left.

“What is a soul-bond?”

Ginger shook her head. “I don’t know, sis.” She stood to look out the window over the sink. “It sounds like he thinks he owns you and I don’t like it.”

* * * *

The next day, Drake arrived at his office just in time to see Martin snatch some photos from a printer. He wasn’t sure what it was, but something about the other man 51

screamed that something was wrong.

“Okay, what’s going on?” He watched as Martin stuffed the photos into his desk drawer. “I’ve told you I don’t care if you want to use the equipment for personal use, but I won’t tolerate your hiding things from me.” If he couldn’t trust those closest to him, he would never be able to protect April and her sisters the way he needed to protect them.

Sighing, Martin reached into his drawer and pulled a stack of papers out. “I’m not sure what to tell you, Drake, but someone sent these to the general corporation e-mail address. I wanted to tell you, but I just didn’t know how. That’s why I hid them.”

Drake took the stack of papers and looked down. His hands began to shake as an unfamiliar rage overtook him. He could feel his dragon’s heat pulsing through his body. The need to change was almost overwhelming as his beast fought to get free to defend his mate. For the first time in a long time he wished he were back in the dark ages where he could charge through a window, shift his shape and fly into the sky. Instead, he was forced to stand here in his office, in the city, surrounded by ignorant humans and attempt to control this impotent rage. Who had the death wish to spy on his mate this 52

way?

His fingers tightened on the photos in his hands as April’s face stared back at him. Her blue gaze fastened on something just below the camera. Water splashed over her as she showered. Her wet hair hung over her shoulders, barely covering her high, firm breasts. Light pink nipples peeked through the wet stands of her hair.

His stomach clenched and he felt the dragon attempting to overcome his control and shift.

“Calm down, Drake,” Martin whispered nervously.

He looked about them, obviously looking to see if anyone noticed their boss changing into a supposedly mythical creature. “You’re starting to smoke and your scales are showing.”

Closing his eyes, Drake took several deep breaths in an effort to get his temper under control. Who would take these pictures? Who would know to send them to him? He hadn’t told anyone but Martin of his discovery.

He couldn’t believe Martin was anyone’s informant. The man was frightened of everything, he was surely afraid of dying at Drake’s hand.

“I’ll be in my office,” he told Martin as he walked to his door. “I don’t want to be disturbed and get the IP

address off that email before you delete it.” He needed 53

solitude to think and he must come up with a reason for April and her sisters to trust him, because it was quite obvious that April, if not all of them, was someone’s target.

Once he sat at his desk, he took the time to shuffle through all of the photos in the pile. Every one of them was of April or one of her sisters and he could tell they had all been taken without the sisters’ consent because they were all in various states of undress.

Resting his elbows on his desk, he scrubbed his face with his hands. What next? First his familiar shows him just what a coward he really was. Take the
killer
toadstool instance for example. What in hell was wrong with the man? He shook his head.

“Drake.”

He looked up to see Martin standing in the doorway looking nervous as usual. Sometimes he wondered what the other man would do if he just looked at him and said
boo!

“I thought I told you that I didn’t want to be disturbed.” Drake scowled at the other man. Why was it so damned difficult to find good help these days?

“I didn’t think you would mind me disturbing you for this.”

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“Let me pass, you big goon!” The unmistakable sound of April’s voice came through the doorway. His blood warmed and his dragon calmed in the presence of his mate. Nothing could soothe a dragon faster than the voice, scent or presence of the woman bound to them.

Drake sat up, grabbed the photos and stuffed them into a desk drawer just before she pushed her way past his familiar. He wanted to rip Martin’s heart out for looking at her the way he did. It reminded him that the other man had seen his mate nude. He didn’t like it, but there was nothing he could do about it. Why did that make him feel so helpless?

Everyone knew the legends of dragons. They counted their treasure the most important thing in their world. It was true. He kept his treasures well hidden. As his mate, April was his newest, most coveted prize and he would guard her jealously.

He stood when April entered the room. After hundreds of years, old habits
did
die hard, especially the best ones—like good manners. “To what do I owe this honor…April?” He almost added
my mate
to the end of that sentence, but decided she wasn’t ready to hear that yet.

“My sisters and I decided to give you the benefit of 55

doubt.” She looked over her shoulder at Martin, then back at him, a question in her gaze.

“You can speak in front of him.” He waved Martin into the room. “May I introduce you to Martin Baccus?

Martin, this is April Flowers, the woman I told you about.” He gave the other man a look that clearly stated,
say anything about what you know and I will kill you.

Martin swallowed nervously, smiled and said, “I’m pleased to meet you, Miss Flowers.” He turned back to Drake. “If you don’t mind, sir, I have a ton of work on my desk with more coming in every minute.”

Drake nodded and waved him away. “We’ll be fine.

I think, by the look on Miss Flowers’ face, she would like us to be alone anyway.” Martin left quickly, closing the door behind him. Drake knew he couldn’t keep the other man around now that he’d seen April in those photos. As long as the other man remained single, it was only a matter of time before his possessive dragon ripped the other man to shreds. It was a shame, really.

Perhaps he could send him to another part of the country, where Martin would never see his mate again.

He would hate to fire the man for something that was beyond his control.

He leaned forward in his chair, rested his elbows on 56

the desk, steepled his fingers under his chin and gave April a wide-eyed stare. It was a look he’d practiced well. It made most women swoon. His mate, however, just stared at him for a moment, then rolled her eyes.

“What brings you to the dragon’s lair, April?” He lowered his arms and sat back, deliberately putting himself in a vulnerable position once again. It was something he would do repeatedly if necessary. The woman was already terrified. He didn’t need to make things more difficult on her.

She stared at him for a moment, wringing her hands.

He almost expected her to change her mind and run from the room. Instead, she moved to the chair in front of his desk and sat. She pulled the large bag from her shoulder that most women call a purse and pulled a manila envelope from it. She looked at it with trepidation before slowly handing it to him.

“This was on my doorstep this morning. My sisters don’t think you’re behind this.” She shook her head.

“They said something about the way it felt made them think it wasn’t you.” She stared down at the top of his desk as he reached out to take the envelope from her. “I don’t think it’s you because…” She brought her hands to her chest. “I feel it here. I don’t know what you did to 57

me yesterday, but I can feel you here,” she paused and slapped the center of her chest. “I can’t explain it, but my gut tells me it’s not you.” A tear trembled on her silvery lashes before giving up its battle and falling onto her cheek. “I…we don’t know what to do or who to turn to.”

Drake silently pulled the contents from the envelope and looked down. His dragon’s rage pulsed through him, a white-hot fire that endeavored to escape as he stared down at copies of the same photos he had just crammed into his desk. The only difference was that someone drew on her copies with black marker, hiding their most intimate body parts.

He was certain April would be mortified to find that he had copies of the unaltered photos hidden right in front of him in the center drawer of his desk.

“Why are you smoking?”

He looked up and she flinched.

“You’re eyes are all weird. They kind of look like cat’s eyes.” She tilted her head and stared at him for a minute, her mouth opened an expression of utter disbelief on her face. “And you’re turning this weird gold color. Oh, my God. Are those
scales
?”

“Yes, those are scales. It is my dragon. He is difficult 58

to control when I am angry.”

“I’m sorry if I’ve made you mad.” Her bottom lip trembled and she tried valiantly to blink back tears. “We didn’t know where else to turn. We thought if you were telling us the truth about dragons and witches belonging together, you wouldn’t mind helping us.” April stood and headed for the door.

Drake beat her to the door, certain he had been nothing more than a blur when he passed her. “Where are you going?”

“Home.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. Most humans covered their heart chakra when they feared emotional upset. It must be some sort of instinct left from the time when they believed in such things. It must also be the same for witches who have forgotten their path. “It’s obvious that you’re mad because I asked you for help.”

Running his fingers through his hair, Drake shook his head and sighed. “I’m not angry at you for asking for help, April. I’m pissed because someone dared to take a picture of you, any of you, in the nude, then send it to you like some sort of threat.” He knew what the message was behind the delivery of those photos. The message was,
I can get to you any time I want and there is
59

nothing you can do to stop me.

She narrowed her eyes. “How do you know we were nude in the photos?”

If this wasn’t such an infuriating situation, he may have found it funny. “Because, April, if you all hadn’t been nude, no one would have taken the time to scribble over certain body parts with black marker. It wasn’t difficult to figure out.”

She put her hands to her cheeks as they reddened.

“Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. We hoped you would think we were in bathing suits.”

It was amazing that thirteen women could be that naïve these days. Reaching out, Drake took her by the arm and led her to the other end of his office where he had a sofa and some chairs. He led her to the couch and sat down beside her. Taking her hands in his, he stared deep into her eyes. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her again, to press her back onto the sofa, cover her lithe body with his own and make her his.

Instead, he pulled her closer. She didn’t come to him easily, but after a moment, she rested her head on his shoulder and began to cry. He knew she needed this.

Most likely all of the women did, but he could only comfort his mate in this way. What had happened to 60

them was nothing less than a violation and he would treat it as such.

His dragon wanted to scent the photos she handed him and find the person responsible for making his mate feel unsafe in her own home. However, his human side knew that he would scent nothing more than his mate and her sister’s scents. Had they brought the photos to him immediately, he would have had a chance. Now, there was nothing left but the scent of the women and the permanent marker they used to protect their privacy the best way they knew how.

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