"Oh." That wasn't going to be very helpful. I couldn't go
around smelling every woman at the conference. "Thanks for answering my
questions. I appreciate it."
I stepped away from the door, allowing it to close.
"Good luck with the investigation," she said just before the
doors met.
Why was it that everyone there seemed to know what was going
on before I did?
Chapter 20
T
he lights were dimmed in the living room of the suite.
Jim's blanket sat in forlorn emptiness next to a couch. The doors to Istvan's
and Pal's rooms were closed. The door to Drake's room, however, was enticingly
open, golden light spilling out, drawing me to it like a moth. I entered and
closed the door, frowning at the bed. It had been turned back, but it was empty
of dragons. A little splash from the bathroom had me heading that way.
"I would think that a creature that spends so much of its
time playing with fire would avoid water," I said as I entered the huge
bathroom.
It was done in black stone tile, the walls, floor, and
countertops all glistening in ebony beauty. The usual appliances—sinks, toilet,
bidet, and a glass-block-encased shower big enough for two—were present, but
they were anything but utilitarian. Drake, who I was beginning to suspect was a
true romantic at heart, had lit at least two dozen candles and scattered them
around the bathroom. The light from them flickered and danced on the warm, moist
air, their faint scent mingling with a familiar spicy smell. Dominating the
bathroom was the large sunken bath with steps leading up to the edge that had
intrigued me the first time I'd seen it It could probably fit at least ten
people into it. Drake lolled around in the water, his dark hair wet and slicked
back showing the widow's peak that always made my stomach clench, a book in one
hand, a goblet of a familiar dark red liquid in the other.
"Water is the green dragon's element," he answered, setting
the book down on the shelf nearest him. "We find comfort in it."
"So that's why you chose to seduce me in that dream pool," I
said, strolling over to kiss him. His lips were as hot as the fire that I knew
was captured within him, sparks of it showing in his eyes. I eased back, wanting
to take it slow, slow enough to make him burn for me the way I did for him. "You
taste like dragon's fire."
"The dream was not of my making, Aisling." He handed me the
goblet. I took a small sip of the heavily spiced beverage, trying as I always
did to identify the various elements before the punch it carried turned into an
inferno. There were cloves, and cinnamon, and a dark, heavy wine .. . and fire.
Lots of fire. It was a drink dragons preferred, but most mortals were unable to
drink it without risking damage. I had quickly taken to it. Drake told me later
that the fact I could drink it was one of the signs that indicated I was his
mate. "Mmm. Good year. Nicely spicy without setting off the fire sprinklers like
that last bottle did."
He said nothing as I handed him back the glass, but I
recognized the took in his eyes. My body did, as well, immediately urging me to
throw myself into his arms. I turned my back on him and sauntered over to the
counter to fetch a sea sponge. "Would you like me to wash your back?"
"I would greatly enjoy whatever you feel in the mood to
wash," he said, his eyes glowing bright even in the candlelight. He set the
glass down carefully, then draped both arms over the flat ledge around the
perimeter of the tab, looking like some exotic, potent sultan waiting to be
attended by a harem girl.
"Mmm." The light in the emeralds glittering on my dress
couldn't match the desire in his eyes, the very sight of him wet and naked
immediately stirring dark, secret parts of my body. My hand slid down the front
of the dress, drawing his attention to my breasts, then the curve of my hip. "I
wouldn't want to get this lovely dress wet, Perhaps I had better take it off."
"Perhaps you had," he said, and I smiled over the roughness
of his voice. With a great deal of wicked intent I set down the sponge and
reached behind me with one hand to slowly pull down the zipper. Drake's gaze
flickered between my face, my breasts, and the reflection of flesh being exposed
in the mirror as the zipper parted.
The two thin, emerald-encrusted straps that held up the
bodice slipped down my shoulders as I gave a delicate shrug. Drake's eyes
snapped back to my chest as the bodice gaped "You do the striptease for me?"
"Well, I do have to take the dress off. I suppose if you want
to interpret such a mundane action as a striptease ..." I let my fingers trail
across the curve of my breast before giving a little wiggle, the dress
immediately sagging down to my waist.
"It is good. You will continue," he ordered, his voice
thickening. He was sitting up straight in the tub now, his hands clenching the
edge, his lips curved in a soft smile, the lines of his chest and arms hard and
tense.
I spread my fingers on either side of my rib cage, sliding
them down to where my hips flared out. Two flicks of my fingers and the dress
pooled with a soft sigh at my feet.
Drake made a choking noise, his gaze following the dress down
to the floor before slowly sweeping upward, lingering for a few breathless
moments on my thighs, the very naughty underwear made up of a couple of scraps
of satin and a little lace, then up higher to where I was unhooking my black
lace strapless bra.
"Kincsem, you are the most glorious creature to ever walk
this earth," he said as I dropped the bra, his gaze so heated my nipples
tightened with just the merest glance. "And you are mine. Every inch of you is
mine."
I walked toward him, enjoying the way his eyes turned almost
solid green as his pupils narrowed. I swung my leg across his body, my shoe
resting next to him on the rim of the tub, "Help me with the buckle?" I said in
a pathetic little voice.
He eyed the exposed part of me, vaguely hidden by my
underwear, following the line of my leg down to my foot. "Poor mate. Cannot take
off her shoes. It is my duty to give you assistance whenever possible."
His warm hand closed around my ankle, his head dipping toward
it. His teeth closed around the buckle, the leather giving almost immediately
under the pressure. Long, sensitive fingers stroked away the sting, freeing my
foot. He threw the shoe behind him, then licked a path down the top of my foot
to my toes.
My knees almost gave way at the touch. He lifted his head and
held out his hand. "Your other foot?"
I placed my bare foot carefully next to him in the tub, the
warm water lapping at my knee just as sensually as in my dream. My other foot I
draped over his shoulder. His hand slid along my calf toward my thigh, trailing
little paths of fire. His mouth closed on the top of my foot, his tongue
swirling in a way that raised goose bumps up and down my body. He plucked the
shoe off my foot, pulling me a little closer so he could flick his tongue on the
spot behind my knee.
"And now, I think, we have no need for this."
My leg slid down his arm as he put both hands on my
underwear, literally ripping it right off me. The undies drifted softly to land
next to a discarded shoe.
"You're absolutely right. We don't need them," I agreed,
sinking to my knees, straddling his thighs, my back arching of its own accord to
press my breasts against him. His hands were everywhere, sliding up my thighs,
fingers spreading to brush oil-slicked water up my rib cage to where my breasts
were aching and heavy with need. I leaned forward to kiss him, tasting his fire,
tasting him, the two things merging as my tongue did a sensuous tango around
his. His fingers found the hard little knots of pain on my breasts, gently
rolling, teasing, tormenting my nipples until I was overwhelmed with the need
for him to fill me.
"I
want to go for a dragon ride tonight," I said, aware but
uncaring that my voice was just as husky as his. My hands slid down his chest,
my finger following the slick trail of hair down to his belly. His chest heaved
as I found him, hidden in water made inky by the black stone of the tub, a groan
slipping from his lips as I stroked his length, fascinated by the feel of the
softest velvet over a hardness that resembled the stone surrounding us.
"Ride me, mate," he said on another groan, the tendons in his
neck standing out as I nipped his neck. He slid forward a little as I sank
downward, his fingers finding the very heart of my desire, opening me for his
invasion. I let the tip of him enter, then sucked his lower lip into my mouth as
his hands moved up my back, around to my breasts.
"Breathe fire for me again, Drake," I said a moment before
dropping down on him. The slickness of my desire for him, combined with the oil
and water, meant there was little friction to slow his penetration. A little
scream of pleasure burbled in my throat as my body clasped him in an unforgiving
embrace. Sharp pinpricks of fire touched my hips, where Drake was holding me,
urging me upward again. I resisted the need to move, savoring the feel of him
deep inside me, touching parts of me that no one had ever touched before.
His tongue twined against mine as my body's demands became
too much for me, and I moved on him, his hands and mouth and every touch of his
flesh urging me on faster. Flames licked around our joined bodies, but I paid
them no heed. My focus was on the man in my arms, on my heart, which beat so
loudly it almost drowned out the sultry, heated words he was moaning into my
mouth, on the feel of his flesh sliding along mine, burning me more than any
mere fire. The tension inside me that had been building since I had stepped into
the bathroom wound tighter, faster, harder, deeper until I knew it was about to
explode within me. I tightened my muscles around Drake, willing him to find his
release at the same moment I found mine. He yelled something, his body jerking
beneath me, his hips thrusting up as I moved down. I arched backward, the orgasm
sweeping me up before it, the flames of OUT passion racing through me, to Drake.
His body erupted into mine, his shout of exultation joining mine as we burned
brighter than the brightest sun.
I didn't notice the flames until I managed to peel myself off
where I had collapsed against him, my heart beating a wild tattoo, my lungs
.struggling to bring much-needed oxygen into my body, while the sound his harsh
breathing in my ear as he did the same was strangely comforting. With arms weak
and trembling, I pushed myself back, smiling at the look of bemused sat-edness
in his dusky green eyes. A flicker at the perimeter of my sight had me looking
around us in surprise.
"Wow. You lit the water on fire."
"No, kincsem, it was your passion that did this," he
corrected, pulling my boneless body forward to claim another kiss.
One of these days I really was going to have to learn how to
control his fire.
"... which more or less means if I don't do what he asked,
the committee is going to decide I'm guilty of the murders, even if they know
full well I didn't do them. Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous?"
"No."
I pushed myself back from where I was draped across Drake's
chest. We were in bed, my legs having been so useless that he had to carry me
there, but I've long maintained that a little he-man attitude is good now and
again, especially when it comes to carrying women to bed. "What do you mean, no?
No, I couldn't possibly have been responsible for summoning the incubus that
killed the two Guardians, or no, you've never in your life heard anything so
stupid?"
"No, it is not a ridiculous idea."
His eyes were closed, his voice sleepy, his hands making
lazy, drowsy circles on my behind. "You're asleep. You don't know what you're
saying." His eyes opened. My fingers curled into his chest hair, tugging on it.
"You have to be sleeping, because if you were awake, you'd see how crazy the
whole situation is."
He gently untangled my fingers, smoothing them out until my
hand lay flat on his chest. "I know you do not wish to admit to the fact, mate,
but you do have the power to summon various beings, incubi included."
I stretched across him and pulled the amulet from where it
lay with my talisman (I had to remove the latter whenever I made love with
Drake, because the smell of the gold distracted him). "This is what summoned
them, as you well know."
He shook his head, his eyes closing again. Framed as it was
by the whiteness of the pillow, the dark line of his jaw, shadowed with a faint
beard, stood out harshly. "The amulet focuses your power, kincsem, but it does
not heighten it."
I slithered off him and slid both the amulet and my talisman
over my head. "I hate to disillusion you, but the only time men throw themselves
at my feet, figuratively or literally, is when I'm wearing this amulet. Everyone
is wrong. I can't be summoning incubi without even knowing it."
Drake murmured something sleepily. I looked down at his
handsome, hard face with fondness. Poor guy, he'd had a hard day. He might not
have been abandoned on the top of a bridge and left to fend for himself, but I
knew from a brief chat with him that Fiat was doing his best to break the
negotiations, and Drake was left with the unenviable role of peacemaker. I
pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, which curled in a little smile as his arm
snaked around to pull me against him. I turned off the light, sinking down into
his warmth. Despite my own strenuous day and lack of sleep, I was wide awake.