Bree tried to roll over, but she couldn’t move. Her head pounded, both from the hits and the strange way her power had come, then gone. Blood flowed from her shoulder; nausea filled her. She didn’t have a clue what might still be lurking in the hall, or who was coming her way.
The footsteps came faster, running. Then Ty was grabbing her off the floor. He barked orders to someone Bree couldn’t see as he raced down the hall and out the back door.
“Hold on, lovey,” Ty shouted.
Vertigo hit as she went from a few feet off the ground to many. A white scaled claw clutched her, as immense wings shot her and the dragon higher into the air.
Bree had half a thought she should be scared. Only the feeling of safety came. This was Ty. He would not harm her.
The world grew fuzzy as cool wind whipped at her clothes, the hair straggling from her bun.
Chapter Six
Ty flew through the clouds, worry over the limp woman in his grasp pushing him to fly faster than he’d ever flown before. He wanted to go to his house -- it was close, and the scent of her blood was strong. She needed to be looked at quickly.
But he daren’t take Bree there. No, there was only one place where he was certain he could keep her safe. The mountain.
Seconds later, a slightly smaller red dragon lifted in the air, flying beside him.
Ty bellowed a trumpet call of thanks. Calla’s higher-pitched bellow came, worried and rushed. Soon, they reached the foothills of the mountain sanctuary his family had called home for centuries. He circled the fourth peak before diving toward a crystal blue lake. Just as he reached the surface, Ty locked his wings outspread, catching the air and shooting over the water.
As he approached the falls, he didn’t stop. Ty splashed through, holding Bree close to his chest to keep her dry. Landing in the cavernous opening, he shifted, coming to his two-footed form still clutching Bree in his arms. A second later, Calla landed. She blew fire near the back of the cavern, lighting the always ready bonfire, then shifted as well. Her clothes were in disarray.
She hurried through a narrow tunnel, calling, “Let me get some supplies.”
Ty carried Bree to a wall near the fire and maneuvered open one tall cabinet. Grabbing a handful of blankets, he tossed them next to the blazing wood and gently laid Bree down.
The sight of her rose-stained shirt cracked something deep inside his chest. He wanted to howl at the moon, scream until fear disappeared.
As softly as he could, Ty rolled her onto her side and ripped open her shirt. Four deep gashes ran from the top of her shoulder halfway down her back. Deep punctures oozed blood.
“She’ll be okay,” Calla said, her voice comforting as she set a pot of boiling water, some clothes and a well prepared first aid kit next to Bree. Calla pushed Ty over, then started cleaning Bree’s wounds.
Bree moaned, arms flailing. Flames licked up her palms. Ty clasped her hands, the heat almost painful, but not quite. He moved in front of her, tipping her chin up to face him. Her flaming eyes were unfocused.
“It’s all right, lovey. You’re safe. Calla has to clean your wounds and we’ll get you bandaged up.”
Bree’s face scrunched up and she moaned again. Ty leaned close, wanting with all his might to kiss the woman. Now probably wasn’t the right time.
“You think her magic works like Dad and Scott’s?” Calla asked.
“More’n likely.”
“Then I’m not going to stitch it. I don’t want to interfere in her healing.”
Ty helped his sister bandage Bree’s shoulder. Done, Calla stood and headed for the back rooms. “I need sleep. This whole pregnancy thing throws me out of whack.”
“Scott?” Ty asked.
“He’ll be here shortly.”
“Good.”
As his sister disappeared into the tunnel, Ty lifted Bree and settled her on his lap, scooting closer to the fire. Normally, her body was hot to the touch. Now, she was so cold.
* * *
Bree drifted, surrounded by warmth. Tiredness swamped through her blood, making her thinking sluggish. She cracked her eyes open to see a rocky cavern, a blazing fire on one side, and Ty sleeping on the other. Pain nipped at the edge of her consciousness.
A noise had her jerking upright. Across the cavern, Scott stopped. “Good to see you’re all right.”
Bree nodded as Scott headed into a dark tunnel.
“How are you feeling, lovey?” Ty asked softly.
Bree glanced at him, freezing at his white gaze -- worry and some deeper emotion blazed from his eyes.
“Okay, I guess. Where are we?” Her voice trembled.
Ty sat up, drawing her carefully into his arms. “It’s my family’s special place. Us dragons need a place to call home, somewhere we can hoard our treasures.”
Bree nodded, studying the immense cavern. “How do you keep it hidden from the mortal world?”
His lips twitched. “Magic, of course.”
“Hmph,” she replied, though inside, some of the tension left.
“C’mon.” Ty rose, taking her hand.
“Where?”
“My room. I want privacy for the rest of the night.” He helped Bree to her feet, sliding her against his body. Grasping her neck, he pulled her into a kiss that was warm and sweet.
Bree followed him through the cavern and into the tunnel. A short way down, doors appeared on the rocky walls. Ty opened the third one on the right.
“Where are Calla and Scott?” she asked.
Ty winked. “Nowhere they can hear us.”
Heat rushed to her face. “That’s not what I meant.”
“That’s okay.” He tugged her toward a huge bed, almost as big as the one in his house. “’Cause it’s all I care about right now.”
His arms held her tight as he kissed her, this time with more heat and urgency.
She let her thoughts scatter, only concentrating on the way this man made the lingering pain disappear into an abyss of desire.
* * *
Bree stared into her coffee, hands wrapped around the warm mug. The air in the cavern was nippy, cooling her building fear.
The good news was this creepy mage Ty hunted wasn’t after any of her friends. The fact that he wanted her, not so comforting. Bree had always been confident in herself, her ability to kick anyone’s ass who dared mess with her.
She remembered the hooded figure onstage the other night, the chills running down her back, the way her heart thumped heavily against her ribs. The guy, if it had been a guy, struck a chord inside her she’d never known existed. It was a primal place, an animalistic one which only wanted to flee from danger.
And the night before. She wasn’t sure she’d have won if Ty hadn’t shown up. Her longstanding confidence in her ability to protect herself was shaken.
She didn’t like being hunted, hated being afraid.
Ty stomped back into the small kitchen area, stopping on the other side of the long, rectangular table she sat at. He’d been moping all morning. The tension electrifying the air told her he was ready to continue their argument.
She didn’t look up, just continued to stare into the coffee.
Ty stomped along the table, pacing the length. “This is doggone idiotic. The things this master has done… What’s so important about the concert?”
“It’s my job,” she replied, trying to make light of the whole thing and stop the quivering of that primal place.
Ty froze, before slowly turning toward her. His eyes blazed with anger. “Your job?” He ran his hands through his already messy short brown hair. “You want to risk yourself over some stupid job?”
Bree bit a sharp retort back and answered, “Excuse me, Mr. Bounty Hunter. Isn’t that what you do every day?”
He blinked owlishly, opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. Finally, he growled, “That’s not the point. I don’t want you to go tonight. We got lucky. Next time…”
Bree grimaced. “Luck had nothing to do with my kicking ass.”
Ty slammed a pair of metal handcuffs on the table with such force her coffee sloshed in the cup and she jumped.
He leaned over, getting in her face. “Luck? My sister found these in the hallway. If your attacker had managed to get these on, you would have been powerless.”
The cuffs, a silvery metal, were studded with small, round black stones. Bree traced her fingertip along the row of stones, shuddering at the coldness spreading through her as she touched it.
“What is it?” She remembered the coldness around her wrist during the fight. The man must’ve been trying to put these on her.
“Magic nulls. Bounty hunters carry them. They prevent people from using their magic -- shifters can’t shift, and fire nymphs can’t call their fire,” Ty shouted.
Fear filled her, not just at the thought, but at the agony in Ty’s whitish gaze.
Ty paced the length of the table, coming around to her side. His silky black robe billowed around his calves with each predatory step he took her way. Hands fisted at his sides, anger etched on his face, he stopped only inches from her. “You will stay here where you can be protected.” His stony voice echoed off the cavern walls.
The silence following his command was almost deafening. Her anger rose and she stepped up to him, poking his chest. “You are neither my father…” She poked him again, making him back up a step. “Nor my husband.” Another poke.
He growled, lips thin as he backed away.
“Just because we’ve had sex doesn’t…” Poke, step. “Give you the right to order me about like some child.” As she went to poke him again, Ty caught her hand in a tight grip. His eyes flashed, pale, almost white, as expressions ran across his face too fast to catalogue.
“Don’t you realize I can’t guarantee you’ll be safe?” Ty grumbled, though something in his voice, soft and yearning, made Bree’s anger melt. His eyes were a swirling mixture of sapphire and white. It was fear she saw in them. Not for himself, but fear for her safety.
The overprotective jerk was as scared as her. A soft smile touched her lips. “Then I guess we’ll just have to work together to keep me safe.”
He snorted, pulling her into a warm, comforting embrace. Bree leaned into him, safety wrapping around her. The dense man was afraid. For her.
It was a new sensation, being cared for, worried about. Scary and thrilling as she realized his emotions were running him right now. Sure, there was lust between them. A growing friendship too. Bree didn’t dare push those thoughts any farther.
Ty drew back, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, his fingertips brushing her cheek. The crack inside her burst open at the emotion in his eyes.
She tried, oh, how she tried to block it. It was too late.
Love.
The word hit her like a hundred pound mallet. It was a strange sensation, an even stranger word to consider. An orphan tossed between foster homes, no one ever worried about her. No one had ever felt the need to keep her safe. Love had never been part of her life. At Ty’s soft look, at the way he caressed her face, something blossomed beneath the bathing heat of their attraction.
It hurt.
It was freeing.
It was all consuming.
Slowly, Bree dampened the fluttering of her heart. She could not accept any of it, for in just a day or two, she would move on. Neither of them were the relationship kind. Besides, relationships never worked out. She’d seen them all -- the first bloom of love, lust, whatever. It always faded into anger and hatred.
Bree refused to think about Kari and Rick. They were still in the love stage after years. But they were the exception, not the rule.
She couldn’t handle this man looking at her with hatred when things went south, as they were bound to do. Pulling from Ty’s arms, Bree turned to the table, trying to stop the burning in her eyes, the lump crawling up her tight throat. Pain bloomed in her chest at the thought of leaving this man.
She had to harden herself, to remember he was the same as she. Neither wanted the type of long-term relationship others had -- kids, a dog and a white picket fence. Neither she nor Ty belonged to that kind of world.
“I want to keep you safe,” he said softly. “Let me take care of the master. Then, maybe we can spend a few days together. There’s a cabin up the mountain we could use if you’d like the forest, or we could relax at a beach.”
Bree shuddered at the idea of spending more time with him. No distractions, no danger. Something sharp cut into her heart, a piercing pain spreading through her chest. “I don’t think so.”
He touched her shoulder, his body almost pressing against her back, but not quite touching. “Why don’t you like me?”
Her breath hitched, coming out a half-laugh, half-sob. Pushing her strength to the very limits, Bree grabbed her emotions and stuffed them in a place deep down and locked the door. She plastered a smile on her face and turned to face Ty. “I like you just fine. But we both know neither of us are the settling down kind. The sex is great. Let’s leave it at that.”
His eyes darkened. He grabbed her shoulders, slamming her against his hard body. “I’m not sure I can leave it at that. For now, we can certainly explore the sex option.”
Her heart sped up. Gasping at the heat of desire flooding through her blood, she replied, “Fine with me,” before grabbing fistfuls of his hair and yanking his mouth to hers. The heat spread faster, the Dragon’s Burn, he’d called it.
Well, she was no dragon. The burn wouldn’t affect her. It was just sex, that was all. It was enough for her. For nothing more would ever come to pass.
* * *
Ty held her close, unaccustomed to the fear weighing heavy on his heart. He wasn’t one to dwell on what might be. Rather, he took charge and entered the fray, forcing the win to come. This woman in his arms, tough as she was, didn’t have a clue how dangerous the master was.
Ty did. And he feared this time he might lose, in more ways than one.
Bree slid her hands down his sides and tugged open the robe’s belt. Her cool fingertips tickled across his stomach as she undid her own robe and shrugged from it, letting it pool to the floor.