Dark Heat: The Dark Kings Stories (33 page)

“Nay.”

That one word, combined with the intensity of his stormy gaze, unsettled her. “It was a joke, Banan.”

“Nay, Jane. You knew I didna tell you the truth. How?”

She shrugged and wished she’d kept her mouth shut. “I don’t know. Look, it doesn’t matter. Okay? Let’s just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

*   *   *

But Banan couldn’t pretend. Just as he couldn’t ignore the emotions swirling like a cyclone within him. He hadn’t been able to deny or withstand the attraction he had for Jane. Finally having her, claiming her had only intensified everything.

Yet he knew very little about her.

How had she been able to detect his lie? It had been a little one, but that didn’t matter. No one had ever been able to tell when he lied.

Ever.

“Why did you leave Seattle?” he asked.

He felt her stiffen, and knew whatever secret she held would be one he’d be lucky to obtain. Banan, however, loved a good challenge.

“Why does it matter?”

One corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Because I’m curious about you. I want to know what makes you, you.”

“There’s nothing more to tell you than what I already have. You know my life growing up in Seattle. You’ve seen how klutzy I am, and I’m afraid that will never change.”

The sigh in her voice, and the resignation he heard, had him rolling over until he was on top of her. “I think there is much more to you than you’ll allow anyone to know. We just shared our bodies in the most intimate of ways. I touched you, kissed you, licked you—”

“I know,” she interrupted, a light blush staining her cheeks. “Believe me, Banan, I
know
. I experienced every wonderful minute of it.”

He grew hard hearing her low, husky voice. How could such a mortal have that ability over him? If he were in his right mind, he’d get dressed and get the hell away from Jane. And never look back.

The thought of doing that left him sick to his stomach, however. Which only made him more confused.

“Jane. Please,” he urged.

She turned her gaze away from him and took a deep breath. “My mother thinks I’m in London because I want to see Europe.”

“And the truth?”

“I learned I have a half sister.”

She uttered it so softly, it took Banan a moment to realize what she’d said. “How did you find out?”

Jane gave a light touch to his shoulder, and to her surprise, he moved off her. She sat up, holding the sheet to her chest. Which was silly, really. He’d seen all of her already.

But what she was about to say still caused her anguish, and she needed all the protection she could get. Even if it was just a sheet.

“Three years ago, my parents decided to sell the home I grew up in and build their dream house. They moved closer to the coast where they’d first met. It was such a sweet story, and one I’d heard for as long as I can remember.”

Jane paused and looked at Banan. He was leaning on one elbow, silently watching her.

“They didn’t want such a big house, so they had to get rid of furniture. I took some pieces because I couldn’t imagine allowing it to go to someone else. One item was a desk my father had kept with him since he was sixteen.”

This was where the story took a turn she still, after three years, couldn’t wrap her head around sometimes. Jane picked at the sheet.

“The desk was so used and scratched, I thought I’d refinish it. I was sanding it down when I found the hidden compartment in the bottom of one of the drawers. There, secured with string, was a stack of letters. I thought they were from my mother.”

“But they were no’,” Banan said.

Jane shook her head. “They were from another woman, a Scotswoman, who had come over to visit relatives. She met my father and they began dating. Dad was seeing her and my mother at the same time. He ended up calling it off with the other woman, and asking Mom to marry him. But the other woman was already pregnant.”

“I’m sorry, Jane.”

His words, spoken so honestly and tenderly, brought tears to her eyes. “It’s all right. I learned through the letters that the woman didn’t hold any type of grudge. She knew my father was in love with my mom. I also learned that, apparently, my mom knew all about it.”

“So why did you lie to them? Why no’ tell them why you came to Britain?”

“Good question,” Jane said with a wry smile. She turned to Banan then and drank in his dark good looks. “They kept this from me. I was at first angry, then hurt. I have a half sister out there, and I want to know her. I spent most of my savings hiring a private investigator who tracked Samantha—Sammi, as she likes to be called—to Oban, Scotland. Her mother died almost five years ago. She owns her own pub.”

Banan’s gray eyes narrowed slightly. “You said you went to Oban.”

“Yes. I went there to talk to her. I’d seen pictures of her, so I knew what she looked like. But when I stood twenty feet from her, I couldn’t do it. I’d been over and over in my mind what I’d say. Then, chickened out.”

Banan reached for her arm and tugged her back against him. “Are you ever going to approach her?”

“It’s my goal. It’s the entire reason I have the damn job at PureGems to support me so I can get to her.”

“Why no’ move to Scotland? You’d have been closer?”

“I didn’t know she was in Scotland until I got here. The last report I had was that she was in London. I already had a job and my flat when the PI found her in Oban.”

Banan rested his chin atop her head. “When are you going to tell your parents?”

“I’m not sure I am. I want to meet Sammi first.”

“Then you plan to return to Seattle?”

His question wasn’t one she could immediately answer. It had been her plan when she first came to London, but she had come to love being in Britain. “I do miss my family, but…”

“But,” he pressed.

“I like it here.”

“Doona go into PureGems tomorrow, Jane.”

It was her turn to rise up on her elbow and look at him. “Why?”

“I’ve a bad feeling about Arnold. No’ to mention the fact he came here, threatened you, and had the other man watching your flat.”

“We don’t know if that was Richard or not.”

“Trust me,” Banan said with confidence. “It was.”

“I need that job.”

Banan was trying to figure out how much he could tell Jane to convince her how dangerous things were. “Do you trust me?”

For long moments she stared into his eyes, and then said, “Yes.”

“Then, I beg of you, doona go back to PureGems. Elena willna be there much longer either. G … her man,” he amended quickly, “never wanted her to return, and he’ll do what he must to keep her safe. I doona know how deep Arnold is in what we’re investigating, but he already suspects you know something. You’re a liability. Do you know what men like him do to liabilities?”

“I’ve seen enough movies and read enough books to know.”

He hated to frighten her, but he would do whatever it took to keep her away from Richard Arnold.

“I’ve got a little saved,” she said more to herself than him. “I can be all right for a few months before things get tight.”

Banan pulled her on top of his chest. “Nay. I doona want you worrying about money. I’ll take care of you.”

And oddly enough, that appealed to him. He wanted to be the one who ensured she was safe, fed, and well loved.

“I can take care of myself.”

“Really?” he asked, and kissed her neck. “Is that so, lass?”

“Hmm,” she said in answer.

Suddenly, she put her hands on his chest and straddled him. The sight of her auburn hair falling around her face as she leaned over him made him grow instantly, achingly hard.

His gaze lowered to her breasts, and to his delight, her nipples pebbled before his eyes.

“You want to take care of me?” she asked, and leaned far enough down so that her nipple grazed his chest.

He moaned, his fingers digging into her hips. “Aye.”

“Then make love to me.”

Banan took her mouth in a searing kiss. He thought he was in control, until she wrapped a hand around his cock. He hissed in a breath as she stroked him from base to tip before lightly squeezing.

He groaned, unable to stop his hips from rising to meet her hand. He was already so far gone, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could last. But the feel of her touching him was the most exquisite torture he’d ever endured.

Jane had never been so bold with a man before. She smiled at the deep moan her touch brought forth from Banan. It was empowering.

As much as she wanted to spend time touching him, it took just one brush from the head of his rod against her sensitive sex, and she had to have him inside her.

Jane guided him to her entrance. The feel of the blunt head of his arousal stretching her felt too good. She rotated her hips once, twice. She was about to do it again when Banan growled and jerked her hips down as he lifted his.

He slid in deep and hard. Jane gasped, her eyes closing with pleasure. He was impossibly hard, like steel encased in velvet.

He stretched her, filled her until she didn’t know where she ended and he began. Slowly, she rocked back and forth, loving the feel of him inside her.

She sat up, biting her lip when he went deeper. Through her lashes she watched his lips lift in a satisfied male smile that sent a thrill through her.

His hands grasped her breasts, leisurely caressing them. Her breasts swelled and her body burned. Her tempo increased when he drew her nipples into taut, aching buds.

Jane thought she was in control until Banan sat up and fastened his mouth on a nipple. She sank her hands into his hair and dropped her head back.

He scooted them to the edge of the bed, where he carefully shifted her legs until they wrapped around him. And then he began to move.

Jane’s breath locked in her lungs. She was overwhelmed with the incredible sensations as their bodies rocked together. His grip on her hips tightened as he slowly raised her and then pulled her down.

He repeated the movement again and again. Ruthlessly, relentlessly he pushed her higher, urged her to give everything.

Jane opened her heart, opened her soul—and never looked back.

Her body was tightening, muscles locking. And then the climax took her, pitched her. Swept her.

She was falling into an abyss, a chasm, and she’d never felt so safe, so protected. So … wanted. It was a primal, primitive feeling.

One look into Banan’s molten eyes, and she was lost. Forever, endlessly lost to all that was Banan. She didn’t panic at the love blooming in her heart. Nothing so beautiful should be feared.

Contentment flowed through her as Banan began to move his hips faster. Their gazes locked, held. There was no looking away, no denying something profound was transpiring between them.

She felt his muscles tighten, heard his breathing hitch, and with a low moan, his release took him.

Jane embraced him as he buried his face in her neck and spilled his seed inside her. She held him, confused and exciting by what had occurred.

Whatever the days ahead held for her, she knew her life would be forever altered.

Because she had fallen heedlessly, helplessly in love with him.

CHAPTER
ELEVEN

Banan held the mug of coffee in his hands and stared at Jane as he stood by the counter. He’d rested better last night than he had since it was his turn to take a century or so to sleep in Dreagan’s mountain, as each Dragon King did.

Greeting a new day with Jane in his arms had been amazing. And baffling. He’d always made sure never to stay with a woman like that. Somehow, without him knowing it, something had changed.

He’d considered leaving before Jane woke, but he hadn’t been able to. One look at her sleeping so innocently, and he’d been unable to look away.

Banan couldn’t ever remember watching anyone sleep. Yet it had held his attention for almost half an hour.

“You aren’t going to answer me, are you?” Jane asked from her seat at the table. Her voice held a note of sadness, but her gaze was direct, as if she’d known how he’d react.

But what was he supposed to do? She’d asked for his secret, since she had shared her. Yet Banan couldn’t tell her. Even though he wanted to.

Another surprise.

He began to wonder if Jane was somehow affecting him. He should be worried, concerned—anything. Yet it all seemed so natural, being with her.

“I can no’,” he finally answered.

“I figured as much.”

“I’ve kept this secret willingly, Jane, and never once regretted no’ being able to tell it. Until you.”

She set down her mug and put both elbows on the table. “What happens now? Between us? Are you going to leave, and I’ll never see you again?”

The thought brought a pain to his chest. “Nay. I’ve got to see the MI5 friend of mine this morning, and I want you to stay here. Pack a bag or two. I’m going to take you to Scotland with me.”

“What?” she asked, a smile lifting her lips.

“Aye. We’re going to find your half sister.” It would give him time to figure out how to tell the others about Jane, and try to prepare her for what he was. If that was possible.

She rose from the chair and came to stand in front of him. “You keep surprising me, Banan.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Yeah,” she said, and rose up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “It is.”

“Good. Now, I’ll be back in two hours. Be here,” he warned sternly.

She gave a salute. “Yes, sir.”

Banan didn’t want to leave. Something kept telling him to stay, but the sooner he left, the sooner he could get back. Plus, he needed to answer the dozen or so texts and calls from Con and Guy.

He drew Jane into his arms for one last, lingering kiss. “Lock the door behind me.”

“I will. Besides, who would want to come after me?” she asked with a laugh.

Banan stepped into the corridor as Jane shut the door. He waited a moment to hear her set the locks. Only then did he pull his mobile out of his pocket to call Con.

Constantine was the leader of the Dragon Kings, the King of Kings. Con was the face of Dreagan, but no one ever actually saw his face. He also ensured that their land, and the fact they were dragons, remained a secret.