Burning Desire (6 page)

“Do it.”

There was no fear in her red eyes, only … acceptance. He leaned close until their lips were breaths apart. “You willna beg for your life?”

“No.”

He wasn’t sure whether to run from her or to her. How odd to encounter a Dark Fae who didn’t beg to live or barter with information to prolong their life.

“Take me for a drive.”

Her whispered words, and the way she seductively twisted her hips reminded Kiril that they were being watched. “Why?”

“Because I asked.”

“Drop your glamour.”

“I can’t.”

“I can see through it.”

“So you already said. We can’t continue to stand here like this. Are you going to take me for a ride or kiss me?”

He was going to do both, but the ride wasn’t going to be in his car. Kiril released her. “Get in.”

Shara was shaking as she walked around the car. She was so rattled that she didn’t even realize Kiril was behind her until he opened the car door for her. She met his green gaze, but the anger she saw earlier was gone, hidden once more. He waited until she was seated in the leather seat before he closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side.

He moved as fluidly as a lion, as stealthily as a tiger, and anyone who didn’t see the primal beast held tightly within was a fool.

She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he slid behind the wheel and started the car with a push of a button. It was a chance she was taking going off with him. He recognized she was Dark Fae, and worse, he discerned she had been sent to seduce him.

For all she knew, he could take her somewhere he planned to shift into a dragon and take her to Scotland. Odd how that didn’t bother her as it should. Family meant everything. Right?

She had thought being released and being allowed to join her family would sort out the conflicting thoughts that had plagued her all those centuries of her confinement. Sadly, it was only getting worse now that she had met Kiril.

He drove them easily through the city streets until they reached a main road to take them out of town over one of the many bridges.

“Are you new to the Dark ways, or are you just young?” he asked in a bored tone.

Shara fingered the stripe of silver in her hair. “Neither.”

“It doesna take that long for silver to show up in a Dark’s hair. The first use of evil magic does it. You just have the one stripe, although it is thick. That tells me you have no’ been at this long.”

She didn’t owe him an explanation, and yet she found herself saying, “I was the last of nine children between my parents. They concentrated on turning my siblings into what a perfect Dark Fae should be while advancing the family socially and politically. I was born a century after Farrell, and my parents didn’t have time for a baby. I was left with a nanny and tutors and allowed to do what I wanted.”

The lights from a passing car glanced off his face showing her a stony visage.

She took a breath and continued. “I was but a small child when the Fae Wars occurred, but I still recall how others spoke of the Dragon Kings and how they shifted into fierce and impossibly large dragons.”

“The Fae Wars were thousands of years ago.”

“Five of my siblings were killed in the Fae Wars. My parents joined in the fight as well, and I was left behind again. I ran wild those years, doing whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.”

Kiril wore a frown when he briefly looked at her. “The Fae Wars lasted hundreds of years.”

“I know. When my family returned, I thought things would change, but they didn’t. Once more my parents focused on having the best Dark Fae children and having them close to Taraeth. Two more of my siblings died in battle with other Dark for placement next to our leader. For every child my parents lost, the more they focused their attention on the next one.”

“Forgetting about you.”

“Yes. I had been waiting for the chance to be a part of the family when my mother finally deemed it time.”

“Is that what I am? A chance?” Kiril asked.

Shara smiled sadly at her hands clasped in her lap. “My chance was luring men into our world. When that proved easy enough, I was told to bring women. So I did. Then my brother made me watch what they did to the humans.”

Kiril grunted. “You cared? I find that hard to believe.”

“My parents thought it was because I wasn’t disciplined early enough.”

“What happened?”

She cut her eyes to see Kiril with one hand on the wheel and his head turned slightly to her. “I ended the suffering of the humans. Since it was all done within our house, none of the other Dark knew. My brother wanted to kill me, my mother wanted to banish me, but it was my father who handed down the punishment.”

“And that was?”

“I was locked in my room for six hundred years.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?”

Shara laughed as she looked out the passenger window. “Of course not. You asked why I had so little silver. I explained.”

“And I guess I’m the assignment that will put you right with your family?”

“Yes.”

“It’s no’ going to happen, lass.”

She turned her head to him. “Then why did you bring me with you tonight?”

“Something I’ve been asking myself.”

CHAPTER SIX

Kiril knew he wasn’t thinking clearly. Why else would he bring Shara back to his house? It was a grave mistake, and yet he didn’t turn around and drive away.

He got out of the car.

Shara was slow to follow suit. Kiril waited for her at the top of the steps watching her every move. She swallowed and glanced around before she came to stand beside him. “I would’ve thought you’d take me elsewhere.”

He wanted to hate the sound of her voice, but he found himself looking forward to hearing the Irish brogue. Kiril turned the knob and pushed the door open. “We have the most privacy here.”

She paused, worry flickering over her face. “Privacy?”

“Well, besides the many Dark Fae eyes scrutinizing me.”

“How long have you known?”

“That they’ve been watching? Since the first moment I stepped onto this isle.”

Her lips parted in surprise. “Then why have you stayed? Do you want to be caught?”

Kiril walked past her into the house. He knew she would follow. It was her curiosity that would drive her inside. When he heard the door close softly, he smiled inwardly. But was it because he knew what her actions would be? Or was it because he now had her all to himself?

“I thought the Dragon Kings were smarter than this.”

Kiril tossed the keys to the Mercedes on the entry table against the wall and laughed. He braced his hands on the table. “Do I look as if I’d make a stupid decision?”

“You look like you’re holding back a tide of rage.”

Rage. Aye, that’s exactly what flowed through him. Rage and … desire. He briefly squeezed his eyes closed and tried to shove back the need clawing through him. Tried and failed. “Two of my fellow Kings were taken recently.”

“They escaped,” she said softly.

“A friend was taken. I have to find her.”

“Her?”

Was that a hint of jealousy he heard in her voice? Kiril straightened and walked into the front room without looking at Shara. He stopped at the sideboard with various crystal decanters filled with liquor. He poured two glasses of whisky and turned around.

Shara stood in the doorway, her expression closed and her body rigid. Good. He wanted her off kilter. He wanted the Dark to wonder what he was up to. He held out the whisky.

She didn’t move from her spot. “Aren’t you going to turn on the lights?”

“Why? You’ve already walked through my house last night.”

Her eyes flared. “How did you know? There are no cameras. I used my magic to search.”

“Your scent was everywhere.” Kiril inhaled, pulling her smell deep within him. His cock swelled, need heating his blood.

Shara regarded him a moment longer before she walked to him and accepted the proffered glass of whisky. “You said you were looking for someone. Is she … is she your lover?” she asked and quickly lifted the glass to her lips.

“Would it matter if she was?”

“If the Dark have her, you should just forget her. Humans never last long.”

“I never said she was human.”

Shara took a hasty step back. “Fae? You’re looking for a Fae? But Dragon Kings hate all Fae.”

“Who told you that? Your family? We despise the Dark. The Light … we’ve come to work with on occasion.” She didn’t need to know it was a very rare occasion and only with Rhi.

“It doesn’t matter. Whoever the Dark takes is never the same, even if you do find her.”

Kiril glanced around the darkened room. He walked to a leather chair and sat, stretching his legs out in front of him and crossing his ankles. “Did you know that during the Fae Wars the Dark took two Dragon Kings? At different times, of course.”

“I suppose they escaped as well? Are you telling me we don’t know how to hold a Dragon King?”

“The Dark did … things to my brethren. One completely lost his mind and attacked us, which is what the Dark wanted. He had to be killed. The other King knew what was happening to him, but he couldna stop it. He came to us and begged to be killed before he could harm one of us.”

Shara sipped her whisky before she said, “You lost two Kings and I lost seven siblings.”

“And the Light the Dark took?”

“The Dark take the Light and the Light take the Dark.”

Kiril let his gaze drift down her body. How he itched to have her long legs wrapped around him. Things would be so much easier if he didn’t desire her as he did, but there wasn’t a switch he could flip to turn off his body’s reaction. The more he tried to ignore the growing desire, the more it raged uncontrollably within him.

He gave himself a mental shake and returned to their conversation. “What’s the plan, then? Will the Dark storm in here and try to capture me?”

Shara walked around the room, her hand skimming along the backs of the chairs. “No.”

“No?” Kiril set aside his glass on the table next to him and silently rose to his feet. He followed her as if a string tied them together. “What then?”

“You don’t really want to know.”

Kiril spun her around so hard that her glass flew from her hand and landed upon a rug, spilling the whisky but not breaking the crystal. “Tell me,” he demanded in a soft, deadly voice.

“My job is to seduce you.” She held her stance for a heartbeat before she retreated, taking two steps back.

He tracked her until she was once more in the entryway. The shadows darkened everything, and yet the smallest sliver of moonlight found her, illuminating her in a pale blue glow.

No longer could he deny what he wanted. Perhaps it was her confession. Maybe it was because he hadn’t taken to the skies in weeks. Whatever it was, all he knew was that he had to have her or go up in flames.

“Then seduce me.”

That halted her. She held her ground as he drew closer. He bit back a smile when he saw the pulse at her throat beat erratically. She wasn’t immune to him. It was a victory, though a small one. She was as dangerous as her mission, perhaps more so. And yet it didn’t matter. There was no turning back for him. He knew it with a calmness that he had only felt once before—when he had taken over as King to his dragons.

He looked into her eyes, hating that her glamour prevented him from seeing her as he wanted because of the faint but unmistakable flicker of her magic. “First, drop the glamour.”

Her lips lifted slightly in the corners. The shimmer he had seen around her, indicating the glamour, vanished.

“Better,” he stated.

His cock swelled. Her beauty was so astonishing that it held him dumbstruck, immobile to do anything but drink in her splendor.

She tugged at the silver lock of her hair. “This? And these?” she asked as she pointed to her red eyes. “This is better?”

“Aye, lass.” For once, he wasn’t going to lie to himself or to her.

Her gaze lowered for a moment, and the next second she closed the small space between them and laid her hands upon his chest.

Kiril had to stop himself from grabbing her. His breath came faster, his blood pounding in his ears. Saying he wanted her didn’t come close to describing the utter craving, the absolute necessity that hounded him, drove him to claim her. There was no running away from it or denying it. She had gotten into his blood, and he would have a taste of her if it were the last thing he did.

Shara knew she was walking on dangerous ground. It wasn’t Kiril she feared, but her own reaction to him. He sent her careening toward desire and passion at a speed that was bound to destroy one of them.

And he would be the one left standing when it was all over.

Not even that knowledge could make her leave. She didn’t remain because it was her duty to her family or her mission. She remained because of him—the Dragon King who had seen through her glamour and still wanted her.

She slipped her hands under the edge of his navy jacket. Even through his shirt she could feel the heat of him. It made her stomach flutter in anticipation. With her palms flat against his taut stomach, she slid her hands upward over hard sinew. Her mouth went dry as she imagined what he would look like naked. Her hands were shaking by the time she reached his thick shoulders and pushed the jacket off. He loosened his arms and let it fall unheeded to the floor.

Her gaze snagged on something on the left side of his neck just peeking past the collar of his light blue shirt. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before, but then again, her eyes had been on that incredible face of his.

His green eyes were hooded as he watched her, and yet he let desire flare in his depths for her to see. It made chills rush over her. Chills and … longing.

Moving slowly, Shara undid the buttons of his shirt one by one until she reached the waist of his slacks. She was breathless by the time she slid her hand inside his shirt and rested her palms against his warm flesh. His stomach clenched and she felt all the hard muscles move beneath her hand.

Shara could no longer wait to see his body. She pulled his shirt out of his pants and jerked it open, the last two buttons flying to bounce along the wood floor. Her lips parted as she took in the spectacular display of hard sinew and the dragon tattoo. Unable to help herself, she traced the tat, startled by the black and red ink mixed together.