Claimed by Ice (2 page)

E
xander Vale was deeply irritated
, a fact that he deeply disliked.

Calm and control were the pillars of his life. He’d seen it far too many times, dragons giving in to the whim of their emotions, a fate that he would never let befall himself.

But that resolve was tested with each second that passed as he listened to the muffled voices on the other side of the door. He thinned his lips, on the verge of leaving. But an instant before he turned, the door creeped open to reveal a woman standing on the other side. He met her eyes, and the brown orbs widened slightly and sparked with fear and an intelligence that even the fear couldn’t hide.

Exander broke her gaze, looking down her round face, her rich brown skin soft and smooth-looking though her expression was pulled tight with worry. He looked down farther to the thick, dark hair that brushed her round shoulders, over the ample breasts that were encased in a plain white blouse, her full hips and short legs covered with equally simple black slacks. There was nothing about her that demanded attention but still, Exander found himself intrigued by her, though he couldn’t say why.

Maybe it was the way she’d met his gaze, afraid, yes, but not backing down. Or maybe it was the way she’d slanted to stand in front of the woman beside her, acting as a buffer, literally putting herself in his line of fire.

Admirable.

But also irritating. He’d come here on business, and not to be bothered with whatever problems the woman faced—and one look at her and her troubled companion told Exander that they indeed faced problems. Time to cut this off and conclude this transaction. A pity, though. The woman looked interesting, might have been useful.

He centered his gaze on the other woman, instinct telling him she was not who he’d been looking for. “I apologize for the bother. Good evening.”

“Wait!” the woman yelled before he’d gone two steps. He turned, looked at her, saw the desperation in her eyes, strong enough to still him. He stopped but stayed silent.

“You’re one of them, right? A dragon?” she called.

Dragons had revealed themselves to humans about a decade ago, yet it still surprised Exander when a human noticed what he was when he wasn’t shifted. And acknowledging his nature to a human still felt odd. They’d lived in secrecy for millennia, so this change was still very new.

“Yes,” he finally said.

Then he watched her, saw her eyes brighten with excitement.

“Is this about the application?” she asked, voice wary but eyes blazing with hope.

“Yes,” he replied. “Are you still interested?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed, but then she calmed. “Yes. I am. I, ah, apologize. It slipped my mind that someone might be in touch about it soon. Please come in.”

Exander stared at her, skeptical. It had slipped her mind? Unprecedented, and it made him wonder what had so thoroughly preoccupied her. And then made him wonder why he cared.

He ignored the feeling, and said, “If you’re so busy, you probably aren’t what I need. And I’d hate to waste any more of my time.”

She pressed her full lips into a thin line, the motion emphasizing the roundness of her chin and cheeks, and surprisingly making Exander wonder if her skin could be as soft as it looked. “No, please come in,” she said.

When she stepped aside, Exander entered and then looked around. The dwelling was what he knew humans considered to be nice, though it didn’t match his initial impression of the woman, the white furniture and gold accents almost cold, not warm and cozy as he would have expected her home to be. But then, looks were deceiving.

“Janie, what is this is about?” The other woman spoke in hushed tones, as though Exander wouldn’t be able to hear her.

“I’ll tell you later,” Jane said, not taking her eyes away from Exander.

The other woman, who had to be Jane’s sister, glanced at him quickly and then looked away, and Exander’s initial impression was confirmed. She was stunning, features delicate, where her sister’s were raw; she was tall and trim to Jane’s short and curvy. But she had none of Jane’s bravery, hadn’t sparked anything in Exander, which surprised him. Physically, Jewel was the type of woman he pursued when he felt inclined to do such a thing, something he’d been inspired to do less and less. But Jewel left him cold.

“So this is about the job?” Jane said.

He nodded. “I vet all candidates personally.”

“And you’re about to turn me down?” she asked, face stricken.

“I am. I don’t know what’s happening here. Don’t care to, but you wouldn’t work in my organization.”

She stepped up a little, tilted her head, her face now tight with determination. “I would. I can. I promise you won’t be making a mistake,” she said.

Reason dictated that he leave but something held him in place. “I don’t think so, Ms. Graves.”

She met his gaze, her own brimming with conviction. “Just give me a shot. You won’t regret it.”

Exander watched her, debated, and then finally said, “Very well. I’ll move you through the process. Someone will be in touch.”

And for the second time that night, she stopped him. “No. Wait, Mr. Vale.” She paused, looked at him. “You’re him. Exander Vale, the man I’d be working for,” she said.

He nodded and she continued. “Well, you can probably tell that I really need this job. I was very thorough in the application, and I can’t wait—I mean I’m eager to start. There’s no need to wait. In fact, can I start tomorrow?”

J
ane waited
, breath frozen in her throat as she watched Exander. His face betrayed nothing save the faintest curve of his firm, almost cruel-looking lips. She wondered if that was what passed for a smile for him, but the thoughts fled as he stepped closer. Then closer still.

His presence had been overwhelming, even with the distance that had separated them. But this close, his wide, tall body just barely brushing hers, his blue-brown eyes as icy as his demeanor, but nonetheless nearly irresistible, locked on hers, gave the moment an even more potent intensity.

Jane’s heart beat an erratic rhythm, but she held his gaze and, through some power she didn’t know she possessed, managed not to blink, not to move, though she practically burned with the need to look away, to escape his intense gaze, one that she could tell was taking her measure, determining whether she’d be able to save her sister. She prayed she passed muster.

It was taxing, but she used all of her focus, determined that this man would reject her at the first sign of weakness and that whatever thin ray of hope he represented would be lost.

“Tomorrow?” he finally said.

“Y-yes.” Jane started off slow, but regained her voice, and managed to choke out the word firmly. “Tomorrow will start the seven-week trial period, after which I’m entitled to a signing bonus.”

He didn’t respond, but instead let his gaze trace every inch of her body, started at the deep brown of her eyes, moved lower over her round cheeks, full lips, rounded chin. Dropped farther down Jane’s neck, one that wasn’t thin like Jewel’s, but instead had the sturdiness that Jane carried all over.

Her heartbeat increased, as did the tension that churned in her stomach, but she wouldn’t show him, so she stood as he continued his leisurely perusal, moving over her collarbone, not that it was discernable, down the shelf of her breasts, something Jewel had always lamented Janie had got the better of, but which to Jane only served to emphasize the thickness of her waist, the width of her hips, the short stubbiness of her legs.

Not until he reached the top of her comfortable work shoes did he make his way back up, equally leisurely, equally discomforting, especially since on that second trip, Jane remembered what she was wearing, the blouse and slacks perfect for her data-entry job, but clothes that no doubt screamed their plainness and cheapness to this man who Jane instinctively knew only accepted the finest of everything. It shouldn’t matter, but Jane felt a little twist in her gut at her own inadequacy.

He met her eyes again, his expression flat, disinterested. Or at least, Jane suspected, he would have liked her to think so. But she saw something there. Not dismissal, which she had become more than accustomed to; not pity either.

Curiosity.

That was what it was. Jane made him curious, a fact that she couldn’t explain but one that she would use to her advantage. If he were curious, he might be willing to overlook the strangeness of the circumstances and go against protocol, which, at the moment, was her only hope.

“What can you do?” he asked.

“I can do whatever is necessary,” Jane said, gaze never leaving his.

“I hope you mean it, Janie,” he said, his voice now almost intimate, the deep rasp brushing over her skin much like a touch would have.

He couldn’t have intended it, the heavy suggestion that weighed his words, so Jane ignored it and said, “I do.”

“Very well. Sign this,” he said, retrieving a sheet of thick sheet of cream paper and what appeared to be a solid-gold pen from his briefcase.

Jane, who hadn’t until that very moment realized how tightly she clenched her fists, unfolded her hands and retrieved the pen and paper from him, taking a moment to marvel at how heavy both felt.

She scribbled her signature across the page, not even bothering to read it.

“This concludes our business for the evening. Be at this address, nine a.m. sharp,” he said, producing a thick cream-colored card.

“But I have to work,” Jane said.

“Don’t worry, Janie, you will. My offices, nine a.m.”

And then he was gone, an apparition conjured from another universe, one that had given her a chance to save her sister but a chance that, Jane knew, would come at its own costs. She couldn’t say what or how, but Jane knew that Exander Vale had just changed her life.

She hoped only for the good, but the heavy pen that weighed her hand and the twisting uncertainty and fear that weighed her heart wouldn’t let her say for sure.

E
xander had sent
the car ahead and given in to the urge to shift.

Curious, because his dragon rarely made itself known, was content to stay put until Exander called on him, but tonight proved different. And he suspected he knew why, something that perplexed him as he glided through the air, occasionally flapping long, leathery wings, his heightened vision focused on one human.

She was tiny from this distance, could have been one of any of the people scurrying here and there, not that there were too many out at this hour. But even if she’d been in a crowd of thousands, she would have been completely unmistakable. Exander knew that, but what he didn’t know was why she had engaged his dragon so.

And if he were being honest with himself, he was a bit unnerved by his own out-of-character behavior. He valued his control, his ability to make reasoned decisions above all other things, but during his time with Jane Graves, he’d done anything but.

He suspected she’d never met a dragon or spent any real time with one, maybe still questioned whether they were real. But there had been none of the excitement and awe that he always saw when he brought a new human into the fold. There was elation, yes, and relief, but Exander knew that the source of those emotions was something other than a new job, and he wanted to know what it was.

And yet that alone was not what had him soaring through the skies, eyes glued to her.

Never, not ever, had Exander deviated so. Humans were put through a rigorous process that could take years, and were never brought in on a whim.

Except Jane Graves.

Exander didn’t doubt Jane was more than competent. But that wasn’t the reason, nor was her bravery that bordered on foolishness, the way she’d tossed herself into the complete unknown. No, the way she’d looked at him, swallowed past her fear and met him head-on had made it impossible for him to say no because he was far too curious, wanted to see what she might do next.

The curiosity would fade soon enough, of that he had no doubt. But so rarely did he come across a human as interesting as her, it seemed a waste not to at least try to see more of what made her tick. And once he was satisfied, he’d then move on, let her complete her service or leave, and put her completely out of his mind.

But for now, he soared, refocusing on Jane as she walked quickly down the deserted city block. She’d gone quite some distance from what he figured was her sister’s apartment and he wondered why she walked instead of driving or hiring a car. He also felt an unfamiliar prickle of concern at the thought of her out alone and unaccompanied, felt an even more unfamiliar surge of relief when she turned into a doorway, one he assumed led to an apartment building based on the fire escapes outside.

This place wasn’t nearly as nice as Jewel Graves’s, and Exander didn’t miss the signs of wear and overall disrepair that marked the building.

And he found he didn’t like it.

He circled high above, looking for some hint of Jane, and found it in the lowest level of the building. He landed on the roof across the street and hunkered down, vision focused on the left basement apartment. The thick curtains made it impossible to see inside, but he sensed her presence, wondering how he had become so attuned to it after only one meeting before dismissing the question.

Still, he stayed for hours, trying to imagine what she might be doing, and when the apartment went dark, he finally flew away, more excited about the next day than he could recall having been about anything in years.