Dark Heat: The Dark Kings Stories (5 page)

He slid in a thick piling of snow as he hit a valley between the mountains, and when he rolled and came to his feet, he heard the unmistakable sound of Duke’s bark.

“Nay,” he whispered, and started running again.

CHAPTER
FIVE

Cassie had been walking Duke when she saw the bright flame of light, and when it landed not far from her, she could only stand and stare at the way the light blazed in the inky night.

Then Duke began barking.

Before she could tug on his leash, he was gone, the leash ripped from her hands.

“Duke!” Cassie shouted as she ran after the dog.

She lost track of the number of times she sank into the thick snow or lost her footing altogether. Her jeans were wet from the snow and she could no longer feel her nose. The farther Duke got from her, the more determined she was to catch him.

When she finally caught up with the Great Dane he was staring intently at something lying on the ground. Cassie crept closer and peered through the darkness to find a man.

A very naked man lying on his stomach in the snow on top of a mountain.

There was nothing normal about finding anyone lying in the snow, but a naked man? Something definitely wasn’t right.

She looked around, hoping to see someone—someone like Hal—who might be near. But she was by herself. The unknown man’s only hope was her.

Cassie drew in a deep breath, the cold air blasting through her lungs, reminding her all too well how she had felt when she was locked out of Dan’s house just a few nights ago. That propelled her into action.

“Hello?” she said, and took a step closer, noting how close to the edge of the cliff the man was.

Duke let out a half growl, half whine. Cassie was about to turn her head to glance at the dog when the man moved.

At least he wasn’t dead, but by the look of him, she couldn’t exactly help him to the house.

“Hey? Can you hear me?” she tried again, hesitant to get too close to him.

The next thing she knew, the man was on his feet, a sword in his hands and his long hair blowing in the wind as he looked wildly about him.

Her eyes widened as she took in the sword. “What the hell are you doing walking around
naked
with a
sword
?”

Somehow she wasn’t surprised when he didn’t answer.

He was tall, his body rippling with muscles as he handled the sword as if he were born to it. His wide were pressed tightly together, a muscle in his jaw jumping.

His dark hair was wavy and damp as it hid a portion of his face. But what she did see was more than pleasant to look at.

Hollowed cheeks and a square jaw, in addition to his piercing brown eyes, would make any woman’s heart skip a beat. As impressive as his face and muscles were, the sword wasn’t the only thing that caught her eye.

It was the tattoo blazoned across his chest. The dragon stood tall and proud, its massive wings spread wide and taking up the entire width of the man’s remarkable chest.

Her eyes couldn’t help but follow the lines of the imposing dragon down to its tail which wrapped around the man’s left side. If the incredible artwork wasn’t enough to get noticed, she could have sworn the tat shimmered amber for just a second.

“Where am I?” the man croaked, as if he hadn’t used his voice in a very long time.

“Uh…” Cassie hesitated, yanking her gaze up to his face to find him watching her with narrowed eyes.

“Where?” he demanded, seemingly unfazed that there was a sheer drop behind him as the wind howled.

His hand tightened on the sword. Before she could answer, she heard footsteps pounding in the snow as someone raced toward them. In the space of heartbeat, the man had leapt across the distance separating them and grabbed her wrist.

A gasp locked in her throat as he spun her until his arm wrapped around her stomach and he pressed against her back, the blade of his sword to her throat.

Cassie sucked in a breath of cold air as she glanced at the sword. By the way the chilly blade felt against her skin, she knew it was the real thing.

Duke paced around them, his lips lifting to reveal his large teeth. Cassie tried to swallow but couldn’t manage to do anything but stand there.

Suddenly Hal burst through the nearby trees and came to an abrupt halt when he saw her. “Cassie, are you hurt?”

He asked it so casually, as if he came upon women being held at sword point by nude men all the time.

“I’m cold,” she answered, trying to sound just as nonchalant when she was anything but.

The man holding her growled, the sound low and dangerous. Then he demanded of Hal, “Who are you?”

“Someone who can help. Let the woman go.”

No sooner had he finished the sentence than three other men stepped out of the tree line and stood on either side of Hal. Cassie winced as the blade pressed even harder against her throat.

“Please,” she said to the man. “I can’t hurt you.”

“Who are they?” he whispered in her ear.

Cassie’s eyes met Hal’s. “The first one who came is Hal. He’s a good man. Trust him.”

“I doona know where I am.”

“You’re in Scotland. In the Highlands.”

She felt him ease his hold somewhat. With her gaze locked on Hal, she watched him take a step toward her and the man, slowly, calmly.

“What’s your name?” Hal asked her captor.

“I’m…” His voice trailed away.

Hal shrugged, as if it were of no consequence. “You must have hit your head. I doona need a name.”

“I doona know who I am.” His voice shook with terror and rage as he took three steps back, dragging Cassie with him.

Hal glared on the man, transforming Hal from good-looking to lethal in a heartbeat. “Let her go before I have to hurt you.”

“You can no’ hurt me,” the man said, his voice filled with confidence.

“Why?” one of the men with Hal asked.

The stranger opened his mouth to answer, but once more found he couldn’t.

“You must have hit your head,” Cassie repeated. “Sometimes that’ll muddle memories. No one wishes to harm you.”

“Release her,” Hal said menacingly, his voice cold and hard. “Now.”

Cassie barely had time to blink before it seemed like darkness surrounded her the same time her captor moved his sword as if to block a blow coming at him, but there was no one and nothing there.

Of a sudden Hal and the other three men rushed the stranger. The naked man pushed her aside, her feet tangling with his. Before Cassie fell, she managed to see the men tackle the stranger and heard Hal shout her name.

She landed hard on the ground on her side and then began to roll. There was nothing to hold on to, nothing to stop her from … She didn’t know what was below her, but by the tone of Hal’s shout, she knew it couldn’t be good.

A strong hand clamped around her wrist and jerked her to gut-wrenching stop. Cassie screamed as her legs went over the side of the mountain and dangled upon open air.

“I have you.”

Hal’s reassuring voice, his cool attitude did wonders to boost her confidence that she just might get out of this predicament alive.

And then she was hauled up and over the side and into his arms. Cassie threw her arms around Hal and buried her face in his neck as she shook from both the cold and the fall.

Hal held her close, and she felt as if she could have stayed there all night it felt so right.

“You saved me. Again.”

Hal leaned back and took her face in his hands. His gaze searched hers before he asked, “Are you hurt?”

“I can’t feel anything because I’m so cold.”

“Come on,” he said, and took her hand as they began to climb back to the top of the ridge.

The other three men had the stranger pinned to the ground on his back by his arms and legs, and someone had draped a jacket over his nakedness. His sword lay just inches away.

Cassie could see nothing other than the elaborate dragon tattoo on the man’s chest. The man was struggling to get free, his lips peeled back as he growled viciously.

A growl? Could this night get any weirder? As soon as she thought it, she knew she was tempting fate. Cassie shivered, not from the cold, but from the fierce bellow the man gave when he couldn’t get up.

Hal’s comforting arm was the only thing that kept her in her skin, she was so terrified. Duke moved against her leg, coming between her and the man.

Her hand delved into the dog’s fur, and for the first time since finding the naked man, she felt relatively safe with Duke and Hal beside her.

Cassie was just turning away when she saw the dragon on the man’s chest move.

“Oh, my God!” Cassie shouted, and covered her mouth with her hand.

Hal shifted partly in front of her as if to protect her. “What is it?”

“His tattoo. The dragon. It moved, Hal,” Cassie said, and turned her eyes to him.

Hal jerked his gaze to the other men, and Cassie watched as they all looked at the dragon on the man’s chest. It was as if all four men were noticing the tat for the first time.

There was a moment of eerie silence only broken by the moan of the wind before the man lifted his chin and let out another loud bellow.

“We’ll take him back to the house,” one of the men said.

The naked man fought against them. “Let me go!”

“You are better with us,” another said, and looked pointedly at Hal.

*   *   *

Hal gave a nod, thankful Rhys and Banan had used their magic to defuse the situation. Now it was time to get Cassie away. “Come, Cassie. I’ll walk you home.”

She didn’t fight him when he turned her away.

They had walked several moments before Cassie stopped and turned to him. “The tattoo moved. I know it.”

“Tattoos doona move.”

As Dragon Kings, they could feel their tats move before they shifted, but no one—especially not a human—had ever said they saw a tattoo move.

Whatever Cassie saw, Hal was sure she thought she was speaking the truth. But what was it she had seen? It gnawed at him.

“I know that,” she said. “But I also know what I saw.”

He sighed heavily. There were so many things he couldn’t tell her. The fact that she came upon the man before they did was just bad luck. She’d seen more than any human since the war, and somehow he needed to keep her quiet.

“Cassie,” he began.

She put her hand to her head. “I’m not crazy. Maybe I just hit my head. Maybe it’s the cold. I don’t know right now.”

“Let’s get you into the house and warm. I thought I told you, you needed mittens and a scarf in addition to a thicker coat.”

“This is all I have,” she said as they resumed walking.

Hal noticed how Duke stayed close to her. “Until you’re able to get warmer things, I’d suggest you not go out in the snow, especially at night.”

“You’re right.”

They said no more, and even though Hal was curious about her thoughts, he couldn’t keep the image of her rolling down the side of the mountain out of his mind.

When they reached the cottage, Cassie stopped at the front door and faced him. “You saw the tattoo move, didn’t you?”

“Nay, lass.” He didn’t lie. In fact, he wished he had seen it. He’d been afraid the questions would come before he had a chance to get away.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m no’. I didna see anything.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t think it strange to find a man naked in the snow? With a sword?”

“That’s beyond bizarre, but here in the Highlands, the darkness and cold can sometimes break people’s minds.”

“I’ll admit that man’s mind wasn’t exactly all there, but he wasn’t insane. You didn’t look into his eyes like I did, Hal. When he didn’t know his name, there was fear there.”

Hal moved closer to her, the light from inside illuminating her face and making the gold and red highlights shine in her dark hair. “Doona fret. We’ll take care of him and make sure he gets medical attention. I didna get a chance to see how you are? Are you injured?”

“I’m sure the bruise I got from falling in the ice when I first arrived will have matching ones, but I think I’m okay other than that.”

“You had a sword at your throat, and you nearly went over the side of a cliff. No one would be all right after that.”

She chuckled and looked down. “No, I’m going to go inside and fix a large glass of wine while I soak in a very hot bath and try not to think about how close I came to death.”

Hal brushed his fingers against the cool skin of her cheek. Her dark brown eyes rose to meet his, and it was everything he could do not to lean down and kiss her.

The longing to do just that was irresistible, overwhelming.

Uncontrollable.

He wanted a taste of her full lips, to feel her curves against him once more. When he held her after pulling her from the snow, he’d never felt anything so perfect in all the years of his life.

She had clung to him, and in that moment Hal would have given her anything she wanted if he could make her forget what had occurred.

As it was, he dared to caress her cheek, dared to get too close. It was a risk he was willing to take because not to take it was wrong.

She placed her hand atop his and closed her eyes while she leaned her cheek into his palm. His blood heated as longing and desire pooled within him, burning his veins with the sheer need of her.

Her touch made him ache to caress more of her, to know more of her. Because she made him feel as he’d never felt before. When it came to Cassie Hunter, he wanted all there was.

Not once since he came into being at the beginning of time had he ever encountered such a woman. She was different in so many ways, and he wanted to tell her all that he was.

But her knowing his secret was forbidden.

None of the Dragon Kings took mates, or hadn’t since the war and one woman’s betrayal. It was just part of the reason they guarded the Silvers, but it was reason enough for them to keep to themselves.

It was the first time Hal had ever thought to disregard the rules placed upon them, rules decided by the ruler of them all—Constantine.

Cassie’s eyes opened, and for once Hal didn’t try to hide the wanting, the craving he felt for her.

“I … feel something between us, Hal. Do you feel it?”