On the Accidental Wings of Dragons (Dragons of Eternity Book 1) (8 page)

“He’s also one of the few people with access to the solitary dragons list. I had Jareth looking into Michael’s recent activities. Apparently, Michael made several trips in the last few months, right around the time the dragons disappeared.”

Michael thrashed in anger.

Carissa’s arms came down, squishing Michael into her body, holding him still.

“At that point, Michael hadn’t sent in a report, but he was always one to check his facts carefully and present them in person. I was going to question him when he came in. Everything Jareth found was circumstantial, and I had a hard time believing Michael could be involved with these abductions. I’ve known the man for a damn-long time.” Daniel let out a forlorn sigh before continuing. “Then Michael disappeared, too. Jareth said he went to get some coffee and never came back.

“I wanted to believe that he had a reasonable explanation. Then you disappeared.” The tone of Daniel’s voice got bleaker, if that were even possible. “I spent hours going over the video surveillance from Baron Estivis’ ball. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him come out carrying you.”

Michael squirmed against Carissa’s still form. He wanted to thrash someone. How could they make her believe he was responsible for her abduction? Her heart rate and breathing had gone up drastically. The coat puffed out as she squeezed her arms into the sides of the leather. Michael stretched to see her. Tears streamed from her eyes as she looked down at him. Hurt hung on every part of her beautiful face.

  Reaching a clawed foot up to touch the front of her corset, he met her accusing stare.
No!
Shaking his head, he tried to convince her of his innocence. He had not done what they were claiming. He wanted to boil out of his hiding spot and deny the accusations, but he didn’t have anything to offer as proof. Carissa’s hands over the leather convinced him to remain where he was.

A wave of golden hair hid her face from everyone else as she considered him. She sniffed back tears before raising her head and nodding towards where Daniel must be seated.

God, she had made some decision for him, but what was it?

“Don’t worry, Carissa,” the king tried to calm his sister. “Justice will be quick for him.”

Shit! That sounds like a royal decree!
Had they already sentenced him without hearing his defense? Carissa must have picked up on the same note. Her back had gone very rigid.

“No, no. We haven’t sentenced him yet.”

Carissa must have mouthed something to him.

“He’ll be given a proper trial if he turns himself in, but I have authorized Eternity to use force if he resists.”

Oh, crap!

“He’s an Elite, after all,” Daniel added.

Well, thank you, boss!
Michael chomped back down on the tip of his tail to keep from growling. He could just see how this was going to turn out. If it had only been the disappearances, he might have had a chance by turning himself in and fighting the charges, but Carissa’s kidnapping had ensured that the Elites would shoot first and ask questions later. He was as good as dead.

9

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Carissa pushed her brother’s hands away and took off to her private quarters without answering him. She needed to get away from everyone. She could feel Michael wrapped around her middle. He had let out a constant string of angry rumbles since Daniel had finished. Thankfully, the noise of the helicopter had drowned out the sound. Didn’t that man know the first thing about hiding? Had his coat been any tighter on her, his constant fidgeting would have been a dead giveaway. She was going to have words with him as soon as she could speak again.

Slamming her door shut, Carissa yanked open Michael’s jacket and dumped him out on her bed.

He rolled around in a tangle of wings before righting himself and chattering at her angrily.

Like he had any right to be angry! She had protected him from her brother and Daniel. If he had done
any
of the things they had accused him of, then she was going to be in a world of trouble. She was already going to get it for turning him into a dragon.

Carissa watched as Michael paced laps around her bed, chittering on. He was really worked up about something. Too bad he hadn’t figured out how to speak dragon. Then she might have been able to tell if Daniel’s story held any grains of truth.

Suddenly, he stopped and turned to her with imploring eyes.

What could he want? Carissa sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. Oh, what she wouldn’t give to be able to just crawl into bed and go back to sleep. Carissa tried not to think about the few hours of rest she had just gotten. It had been so nice cuddled up with Michael, even as a dragon.

Michael came over and rested his front claws on her leg.

Her hand settled over his back to stroke him soothingly.

He chattered at her again.

Carissa just shook her head. She couldn’t understand him, and until she found a voice to borrow, she couldn’t explain to him how to get back to human.

Michael settled himself down next to her with his head on her thigh.

They were both stuck.

A knock on the door sent Michael skittering across Carissa’s bed and into her pillows. So the man
did
have some sense of self-preservation. Carissa smiled as she went to unlock her door.

“Oh, Carissa!” Tilly gasped as she swamped her friend in a hug that nearly knocked Carissa off her feet. “I’m so sorry!” she cried. Tears streamed down from her blue eyes.

Carissa patted her friend on the back and pulled her inside so she could shut the door again.

“I should have been there.”

Carissa led her friend to the overstuffed loveseat near her table.

“I could have kept that monster from kidnapping you.”

Carissa just smiled at her friend. Tilly had always been so overdramatic about things. Carissa could just imagine what was going to happen when Tilly found out that ‘that monster’ was hiding in her pillows.

Tilly grabbed Carissa’s hands, pulling her away from her thought. “You must tell me everything!” Tilly pulled her down to sit on the seat next to her and pressed her lips to Carissa’s, giving up her voice.

“Oh, Tilly,” Carissa sighed as she pulled back. “You are not responsible for what happened.”

Tilly looked indignant.

Carissa laughed at her. “Very well.” She smiled. “It’s
all
your fault, and I shall never speak to you again. That includes telling you about my marvelous misadventures.”

Tilly gasped at this and bounced in her seat, making Carissa laugh.

“Okay, you’re forgiven,” she teased. “All right.” Carissa stood up and pulled Michael’s jacket off. She took it over and dropped it on the bed. “I’ll tell you what happened, but you can’t tell anyone about it.” She looked back to her friend’s widened eyes. “You have to swear.”

Tilly thought about it for a moment.

Oh crap.
There could be a whole lot of trouble real soon if she didn’t go along with this. “I guarantee it will be worth it.”

Slowly, Tilly nodded her head.

Fantastic!
Carissa and Tilly had been keeping each other’s secrets for a long time now. If anyone could help her with this issue, it was Tilly.

Carissa turned to the bed and looked up at the pile of pillows. Michael had buried himself well, except for the end of his tail sticking out of the middle of the pile. Oh, she was going to have to make him aware of his bits. They were going to get him in trouble one of these days.

Leaning over the edge of the bed, Carissa grabbed up the fringy end. “Your tail’s hanging out.”

Michael snatched it out of her hand and pulled it into the pile.

She heard Tilly get up from the loveseat and come over to look at the bed.

A low growl sounded from the pillows. He was probably upset she had betrayed his hiding place to someone.

Tilly gave Carissa a concerned look.

Carissa patted the bed. “Come on out.”

The growl sounded again.

Tilly covered her mouth in shock. Mischief gleamed in her eyes. Oh yes, she knew something was up.

Carissa stood up and glared at the pile of pillows. “Either you come out, or I’ll call my brother and have him deal with you.”

A loud sigh sounded from the cushions, and Michael slinked his way out onto the bed.

The gasp Tilly let out upon seeing the little, white dragon was audible even without her voice.

“Tilly,” Carissa held her hand out to the unhappy dragon. “I’d like you to meet Michael Duncan. Michael, this is Matilda Davenshire.”

Backpedaling from the bed, Tilly tripped on the rug and landed hard on her backside. Her mouth ran franticly as she scooted across the room towards the door. Had she had a voice, she would have been hysterical.

Carissa fell on her friend, grabbing her by the arm. “You promised,” she reminded Tilly.

Tilly paused and looked back up to the little dragon watching her from the bed. She nodded her head, letting Carissa know she would keep her promise.

“Michael.” Carissa released her friend and turned back to the small dragon. “I think it’s high time we had a proper talk.”

Michael nodded his agreement and chattered at her.

“I think we should get you back to human form, first.”

***

God, that hurt.
Michael curled on his side, waiting for the rest of the pain to subside. If it hurt this much to change from one form to another, why did dragons do it? Slowly, the ache of having his bits rearrange subsided, and he sat up. It had taken Carissa twenty minutes to talk him through shifting back to human form. It felt weird to be back in his own skin. The world looked and sounded different, too. Maybe he had just gotten used to the way it looked as a dragon. Carefully, he shifted so he was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Michael rubbed his eyes and looked at the two women watching him. Carissa looked just as good now as she had the first time he saw her. Desire shot through him, pushing blood south.
Oh God, he was naked!
Grabbing one of the pillows he had been hiding in, he shoved it in his lap, hoping the two women hadn’t noticed the change in his body. He looked at them. Carissa was studying his jacket just to his left, and the taller brunette Carissa had introduced as Matilda had a slight blush to her cheeks and was looking up towards the corner to his right.

Great; they had seen his reaction. So much for dignity. “So.” Michael cleared his throat, trying to break the tension filling the room.

“Yes.” Carissa turned away from him, heading towards what looked to be a bathroom. “Can I get you anything? Water? A towel?” She glanced back at the throw pillow he had pulled over his lap.

“Answers,” he threw out.

Carissa stopped and looked at him. “Yes,” she turned away again, “I suppose we all want those.” She disappeared into the bathroom.

For a long moment, he sat in silence as Tilly studied him. He felt like a bug under a glass. “Hi.” He smiled at her.

She gave him a mischievous smile back.

Oh, goodie!

“I’m sorry.” Carissa came back out. She had stripped out of the rumpled ball gown and pulled on a black-silk robe. Without really looking at Michael, she held a large towel out towards him.

He grabbed her wrist before she could drop the towel and pull away again. “Carissa.” Some reptilian part of his brain screamed
Mine!
as little bolts of electricity tingled up his arm from where he touched her, inflaming his issues to proportions that the little throw pillow was having trouble concealing. Maybe it was just those dragon pheromones still working on his brain. But—he had turned into a dragon, so they shouldn’t be messing with his head anymore. Or should they be working harder on him? And how, exactly, had he become a dragon?

Shaking away the questions bouncing around in his head, he caught her eyes with his. “I didn’t do it.” His words were soft, but he tried to make her understand. If he could just convince her to hear him out, he could explain part of what Daniel has said. He would need to get the dossier he had put together for the rest.

Carissa studied his eyes for a moment before nodding her head.

At least she would listen to him. Michael released her hand, and she dropped the towel into his lap. He quickly swapped the towel for the inadequately small pillow. Now that his ass wasn’t literally hanging out anymore, he might be able to cover it figuratively.

“It’s true that I volunteered to investigate the missing people,” Michael explained as he jumped up from the bed. He tucked the towel tightly around his waist and followed Carissa over to a walk-in closet as he talked. “And I did make trips to see several of the dragons that have gone missing, but it was part of my job. There’s a group of us that run the solitary dragons list regularly. We keep them up to date on world activities, so they don’t withdraw completely.” It was dangerous to let those lone dragons go. They could easily lose touch with reality and go out rampaging.

“I did go back for coffee. Jareth asked me to…” Michael’s mind caught on a fact he hadn’t seen before. “Jareth.” He repeated the name, turning over what he had heard and what he could remember of his file. No, it couldn’t be. Tucking that though away, he saved it for later inspection. He needed more data. “Jareth asked me to bring him back a cup of coffee, but I ran into the men our investigation was pointing towards. I don’t exactly remember what happened, but I ended up chained in that dungeon. I had nothing to do with your abduction. I swear.”

Carissa shoved clothing around in her closet, looking for something to wear. “So how did you end up on video carrying me out of Baron Estivis’ ball?”

Michael ran his hand through his hair and leaned back against the doorjamb, thinking. He thunked his head against the solid wood, trying to come up with an answer. “I don’t know,” he finally admitted. Nothing that came to mind sounded plausible. “I could venture a thousand guesses, but without seeing the tape, that’s all they would be. Guesses.”

Carissa studied him for a minute. “You had nothing to do with it?” She walked over and stood unbearably close to him.

Michael squeezed his hand into the knot on his towel in an effort not to reach out to touch her. “I swear,” he said solemnly.

Carissa drew in a deep breath and studied him carefully. Slowly, she let the air out and stepped back from him. “I believe you.” She nodded and turned back to her clothing. “The question now is how to get my brother and Daniel to believe you.” Her fingers brushed over the hangers absently as she thought.

Michael pulled his eyes away from her and looked up at the ceiling. “I might have an answer to that.” He tipped his head over to look at her.

Carissa gave him an intrigued look.

“My mission file should have enough evidence in it to prove I didn’t do it.”

“But Jareth already turned in the file,” Carissa pointed out. Daniel had said as much.

Michael shook his head. “True.” He sighed. “But, it sounds like part of the file was missing. Yes, it showed all the information Daniel claimed, but I also had mission assignments and expense reports from those suspicious trips—proof that I had a reason to be there. If those pieces were missing, what else was left out?”

Michael ran his hand through his hair again. “It’s going to be convincing them that I didn’t kidnap you that will be the most trouble. If I could just get a look at that tape…” Michael let out a defeated sigh.
Shit!
Carissa’s hand on his shoulder drew Michael from his study of the ceiling. God, her touch felt good on his skin.

“Let’s get your file, first; then we’ll worry about convincing Daniel.”

The warmth in Carissa’s amber eyes melted his resolve, and he swung his arms around to pull her against him. Praise all that was holy, she believed him! His lips met hers with a passion he couldn’t control. That corner of his mind that screamed
Mine!
pushed him to claim her properly. Michael slid his hand down to her backside and pulled her up against him as he explored every inch of her mouth. So perfect.