Authors: Dahlia Rose
“He
didn’t leave. Let’s call
it
as it is, Hawke. He let
love kill him; he couldn’t see past my mother’s death and didn’t even consider
the child they created in the turmoil of his grief,” Raul bit out.
“You
are too hard on him. When you fall in love—”
“Trust
me. I won’t be doing that, so we’re fine.” Raul deftly changed the
conversation. “So I believe that the
Shen
may have a
cell in this area.”
“You
could be right. There has to be a central base that they are working out of,
where the king is being protected.”
“Some
king, letting his subjects die and makes no appearance,” Raul said harshly. “If
it was on Paladin that he hid we’d have rooted him out already, yes?”
Hawke
growled. “That is why he chose this realm. I wish we would have found him as a
hatchling and crushed him. The
Shen
hid him from our
eyes well. Keep your eyes open, Raul. I’ll contact the others in this realm in
case you need us.”
“Understood.”
“So
tell me of this human female who shot the
Shen
.” Raul
heard the underlying humor in Hawke’s voice.
“Don’t
even think about it, Hawke,” Raul warned. “Her name is Raven. Her intelligence
surpasses any other human female I have ever met. She is finishing up her
thesis, and she is a crack shot with a rifle.”
“I
didn’t say a word, except you do sing her praises rather well,” his friend
teased. “But of course there is nothing there.”
“I
think she has a warrior heart and mind, nothing more,” Raul replied. “I shall
speak to you later.”
“Take
care, Raul, and if necessary, call us. We will be there,” Hawke said. “I am
going back to the warmth of my woman’s arms.”
Raul
rolled his eyes. “When will this all wear off, and you act like a normal dragon
again?”
“I
hope it never does. You’ll find out what I mean when you bond and mate,” Hawke
replied.
“I
plan to avoid that like it’s the plague,” Raul said stubbornly.
“Sometimes
it catches you when you least expect it,” Hawke said with humor in his voice
again. “Goodbye, Raul.”
Raul
barely grunted. He was certainly not going to fall for Raven even though he was
already attracted to her. A grin crossed his face. He was known for being a
ladies’ man. They could have a good time with no commitment. Besides, Raven
struck him as a contemporary woman who wouldn’t want a serious relationship
holding her back from her career. He would broach the subject of their
attraction later in the day after they both had rested. Why not enjoy each
other while he kept her safe? Raul showered to ease the ache in his shoulder
before falling asleep with an assured smile on his face.
Chapter
Four
“What
did you say to me?” Raven asked Raul as she sat at the kitchen counter eating dinner
later that evening.
When
she woke up it was well after five in the afternoon and the skies had opened up
into a steady rain. Her question made his smile falter and she was glad to see
that because what he had just proposed to her made her hands tingle with the
want to slap him in the face. In fact, she might just go ahead and do it
because her temper was rising from simmer to boil.
“Did
you need me to repeat my words?” he questioned.
How could someone with such a sexy voice
and handsome face be so stupid when it comes to women?
“Yes,
repeat it, please, because I think I may have misunderstood you,” Raven said.
She pushed her omelet aside and rested her hand on the marble countertop.
Breakfast for dinner was her favorite, but, unfortunately, she had just lost
her appetite.
He
raised an eyebrow at her and then flashed her what she assumed was his lady-killer
smile before speaking. “You, Raven, are one of the most attractive females I
have seen in a while. In fact, my dreams were filled with images of your ebony
skin. I want to take you to my bed. I am a formidable lover as I assume you
must be as well. We should enjoy each other.”
“And
then when this is all over we shake hands and go our separate ways?” Raven
asked between gritted teeth while trying to control her breathing.
“Yes,
but with fond memories of each other. We’d be friends, of course,” Raul
replied.
“Let
me ask you a question. Does this work with dragon women?”
He
looked at her with surprise. “What do you mean?”
She
waved her hand at him. “This whole spiel about enjoying each other and being
friends that you just spewed out.”
“The
women on Paladin are more old fashioned in their beliefs, but there are some
who vie for my attention,” he boasted. “But you are a contemporary woman of
this world, so we can act on our attraction without commitment.”
Forget
slap, Raven wanted to punch his lights out. She stood, the stool scraping
angrily on the slate tiling. She counted in her head as her anger seethed. She
breathed out slowly before looking at him. Even so, when she spoke, her anger
took hold. She walked up to him and poked him in the chest, noticing how firm
his body felt but not caring at this point.
“How
dare you, you insufferable pompous pig!” she raged. “You want to fuck me
without commitment, no flowers and not even a romantic dinner as pretense. I’m
just supposed to hop into your bed and get with the banging. So the women in your
realm get to be old fashioned and courted while, what, we humans deserve to be fucked
sideways without lubricant? I have signed expensive contracts for student loans
that gave me more warm and fuzzy feelings than what you just offered.”
“But,
Raven—”
She
sliced her hand through the air furiously and cut him off. “Oh, no, you don’t.
I don’t want to hear another word.” She waved her hands in front of her body.
“You see this, all this chocolate goodness you say you’ve been dreaming of?
That’s all it’s going to be, buddy, a dream, because I want a house, a picket
fence, two or three kids and a freaking cat when I lay down with a man. You?
Trust me, you took all that away with a few sentences. I don’t want any part of
your suggestion.”
Raven
pressed her body against his and grabbed his face. She stood on her tiptoes and
locked lips with him, putting all her anger into the kiss. The attraction she
felt towards him also poured into the kiss. Raul groaned and turned, pressing
her against the fridge. She heard something topple from the counter. Their movements
were rough and forceful. She opened her mouth and he buried his tongue inside
and the passion of their kiss fueled her anger even more.
Something
that felt this good shouldn’t come from a man who had the romantic common sense
of an amoeba.
Raven pushed him away roughly, panting from the exertion
of trying to move his body and the sensations his kiss elicited. He tried to
reach out for her, but she slapped his hand away viciously before backing away
towards the door.
“I
may be only twenty-three in human years, Raul, but I don’t think people kiss
and feel like that too often,” Raven said. “But, unfortunately for you, that’s
the last you’ll ever feel of it because there is no way you’re getting anywhere
with the wham, bam, thank you, ma’am attitude.”
She
stepped out of the kitchen and made her way upstairs, intent on going to her
room and staying there for the rest of the night. On her way, though, she heard
a phone ringing and followed the sound. Raven walked into what she assumed was the
master bedroom. She could yell down the stairs to him to come answer his phone,
but didn't want to deal with him again, so, instead, Raven flipped it open.
“Hello.”
“You
must be Raven. I am looking for Raul,” the voice said.
“Oh,
you mean the douche downstairs,” she snapped. “Who is this anyway?”
“I
am one of his dragon brothers of the court. My name is Hawke.” The voice sounded
amused. “And why is Raul, how you say, a douche?”
“Who
called my sweet Raul names?” she heard a feminine voice in the background
angrily ask.
“Who’s
that?” Raven asked. Maybe one of his bed buddies. Maybe the woman at the other
end of the line likes his way of hitting on women, but Raven was not amused.
“That’s
my wife
Daisye
. She has a fondness for our Raul,” Hawke
explained and then said to his wife, “I’m trying to garner why he has been
called an insulting name, darling.”
“Well,
he is,”
Raven
replied. “You would not believe what he
said to me. I don’t know what dragons are taught about romance, but he has no
couth.”
“May
I put you on speaker phone,
Raven
?” Hawke asked
politely.
“Sure,
why not?” she answered. She didn’t know if she liked this
Daisye
,
but, whatever, she didn’t know any of them at all, so who cared?
“You’re
on. Now, tell us how Raul has managed to anger you so?” Hawke said.
Raven
went on to explain Raul’s proposal and what happened from there, but leaving
out their kiss, of course. By the end of the story, Hawke was roaring with
laughter and
Daisye
kept saying, in her Southern
twang, “Oh, dear.” She was just going to ask Hawke how long he planned to laugh
when Raul walked into the room. He opened his mouth, she assumed, to ask what
she was doing in his room, but didn’t give him the chance. Raven handed him the
phone with his friend’s laughter still echoing across the line. “It’s for you.”
Walking out, she made her way down the hall to her room and slammed the door,
walking straight for the spacious adjoining bathroom. She undressed and stepped
under the pulsating jets of the shower spray and sighed in delight. While the
house’s owner was a buffoon, the hot spray knew exactly how to treat her and
massaged her body from four different directions.
Dragon, who knew?
Maybe he thought women’s feelings didn’t
matter.
Well, he sure as hell is wrong
when it comes to me.
Raven washed her body with renewed fury.
She
stayed in the shower until the skin of her hands became wrinkled and the hot
water started to run out. She found a pair of jeans, a blue sweater and her
comfortable boots in her suitcase. Even though she had intended on hiding out
in her room for the rest of the night, she decided she would not allow him to
have such control over her. With only the briefest of hesitations, Raven paused
at the door. Her stomach gave a low rumble, reminding her that she had left her
meal only partially eaten when he made his demented offer. Ice cream was on the
agenda and then a good book. She turned around and grabbed her e-reader from
the pocket of her suitcase before heading downstairs. Thankfully, there was no
sign of Raul as she made her way through the living room, but as her attention
was caught by the brilliant sunset through the massive windows, she collided
against his massive chest just as she walked into the kitchen.
Raven
stepped back and eyed him warily. “You really do seem to just appear out of
nowhere. I thought you were upstairs?”
“I
was, but after my conversation with Hawke, I came to your room to talk, but heard
the shower going and came downstairs.” Raul replied. “Why did you tell them of
my offer?”
Raven
shot him daggers with her eyes. “Hey, when you say brainless things like that,
you get what you get.”
“
Daisye
chastised me while Hawke laughed. I have no doubt my
exploits will be the talk of the court,” Raul said.
“Again,
you get what you get,” she answered mildly. “Now, are you going to let me pass?
I want some ice cream.”
“That’s
not a good dinner,” he pointed out.
“I’m
a grown woman. I can eat cookies for breakfast if I want.” Raven knew she
sounded snippy, but she didn’t care.
“I
will let you pass in a moment. I would like to apologize for my callous
proposal,” Raul said softly.
“Why?
Because you were ordered to?”
His
eyes flashed fire in the depth of his emerald gaze. “No one orders me to do
anything. I saw the error of my way as soon as the words left my lips.”
“What
I can’t understand is why you would even ask something like that. You seem
intelligent enough,” Raven replied.
Raul’s lips quirked in a smile as he inclined his head.
“Thank you, I think. I just don’t want
any emotional attachment. I see how it hinders people. I don’t want that in my
life.”
“Really?”
She put her hands on her hips. “I believe it strengthens a person when they
find that someone who is their soul mate.”
“That
is where we differ. I see my brothers lose focus because of their mates. My own
father…” He shook his head. “Never mind. Again, you have my sincerest apology.
I’ll let you pass so you can find what you’re looking for.”
Raven
stepped closer and cupped his cheek. “This is a test. If there is no attraction
between us, then your offer would’ve been a moot point anyway.”
“I
think we already assessed there is fire between us,” Raul smiled.