Awaken the Dragon Read online

  “Just fine as what?” She had been thinking about that on and off for the past couple of days. It was probably why she asked him about what would happen afterward, because she really didn’t know. “I have only prepared to do this one thing.”

  “You talked about your studies. Was that college?”

  “Yes. I went to a university and studied history so that I could teach it to the next generations. But I am not qualified to do anything else.”

  “When I left the Far Realm two hundred years ago, I was not qualified to do anything but be a Drakon. On the Far Realm we didn’t have paying jobs. We were born into a special skillset, one that usually matched that of others in our clan. None of that mattered here in the Human Realm.”

  “And yet you are so successful now. How did you do it?”

  “You can be who and what you want to be. You can choose. Always,” he insisted.

  His words made sense on a very basic level. But up against the backdrop of being the creation of an Orisha goddess, it didn’t seem like enough.

  “I like you,” she said tentatively. He was rubbing a thumb over the backs of her fingers, and she looked down at their joined hands. “I know I was not supposed to, I mean not this much. But I guess I chose to.”

  The admission had her smiling and feeling nervous at the same time. It was weird because she had always been so sure of herself, even once she arrived in the Western World. But in this moment, she felt this was all new—being with a man and developing feelings for him was unfamiliar and a bit scary.

  “I didn’t anticipate liking you,” he admitted. “I kept telling myself that you were just a job.”

  “Probably your worst job ever.” She couldn’t help but chuckle.

  He moved his hand from her back to rub along the nape of her neck. “No,” he replied in a somber tone. “You are the best thing to happen since I came to the Human Realm.”

  “Oh.” That may not have been the right reaction, but she was unsure of what else to say.

  That was quite okay, because it seemed as if Theo was finished talking. He leaned in close and dropped a soft kiss on her lips. When he pulled away and simply stared at her, Shola took the next step. She leaned into him, giving him a quick kiss, and then following that with another kiss, her tongue stroking his softly. He accepted her kiss, joining in with her slow and purposeful movements. There was heat here, always, with them. But it was not a ravaging heat, just the simmering flames that his touch and her moans stoked fervently.

  His fingers were in her hair, scraping along her scalp as the kiss deepened, and he held her head to his. She reached up to touch his cheek, enjoying the feel of his beard against the skin of her palm. He moved his other hand, the one that had been twined with hers, to slide up her arm. Shola shivered against the intimate touch.

  She flattened her other hand on his chest, loving the rise and fall and the steady thumping of his heartbeat. She wanted to feel more of him and all of him at once. So she continued the kiss, pulling back only slightly to take a breath. He nipped her bottom lip when she did. She sucked his tongue into her mouth and the kiss resumed once more.

  Shola yanked at his shirt until it was free from the band of his jeans. One more time their lips parted while she pulled the shirt up and over his head. He hurriedly did the same with the turquoise blouse she still wore.

  “Cute,” he whispered as he looked down at the beige lace bra she wore. “But I like it much better when you’re free.”

  With those words, he yanked the bra from her body, tossing it somewhere. Shola had no idea where because once it was gone, Theo was ducking his head to take one breast into his mouth. She arched in his grasp rubbing her hand down the back of his head as he sucked one and then the other breast as if they were the most decadent dessert. Because this was how it worked with them, the flame stayed on a low burn and once they stoked it, grew into volcanic proportions, Shola pulled away from him. She eased off his lap and stood, pushing the jeans and panties down her hips and legs and stepped out of them.

  She was going to bend down and unsnap his pants, but Theo pulled her to him. His kissed her torso, dragged his tongue down to dip into her navel and then slipped a finger between the bare lips of her mound. He pressed that finger deep, and Shola gasped, her hands going to his shoulders to hold on because her knees had immediately gone weak. When he pulled that finger out of her, she watched transfixed as he brought it to his mouth and licked it clean of her essence.

  “I will never get enough of you,” he said in a hoarse whisper.

  The sight and the pure uninhibited pleasure that covered his face drove her mad.

  “You can have all of me,” he promised before her fingers attacked the snap and zipper of his jeans. When she’d finally gotten them and the shoes off, she wasted no time straddling him.

  He held her hips, but she didn’t want him to lower her down gently. When she was over the head of his dick, she slammed down, taking him in completely all at once. He groaned and she sighed when he gripped her ass cheeks. Lowering his forehead to her chest, he whispered her name repeatedly. Shola came up on her knees and began to ride him. It was hotter than before, but she felt no sweat, only pleasure, building and cresting like a wave. This was wonderful—it was balance and contentment, pleasure and perfection. It was everything she hadn’t known she was missing in her previous sexual encounters and the slow build to a fear of never having this again.

  She slowed down her movements with that thought, thinking if that were the case, she better relish the moment. Theo had a different idea. He pulled out of her and shifted positions until she was kneeling on the couch, her breasts pressed into the back of the furniture while he entered her from behind. She held on to the couch as he pounded into her, and screaming his name when her release seized her body. Seconds later, between guttural groans, his release followed hers and he slammed into her body even harder.

  “I don’t know what this is,” he said when he leaned over her and rested his forehead on her back.

  She’d turned so that her cheek lay against the cool leather of the couch. “Neither do I.”

  “But I don’t want it to stop,” he continued. “I don’t ever want it to stop.”

  “No,” she admitted. “Goddess forgive me, I do not want it to stop either.”

  * * *

  The next day Theo sat behind his desk in his office at the Tower. Shola stood to his right, wearing a pale green jumpsuit, her hair in thick twists, hands clasped in front of her. Magnum and Steele, who were both dressed in dark jeans and black T-shirts, stood a couple feet away from his desk, one on either side. Aiken and Reece were standing outside the office door, while Bleu stood on the inside. Ziva had gone upstairs to monitor the security screens with Isla.

  Today’s meeting was unprecedented. The Drakon and the Royal Blood, who would have ever guessed the two would come together for any reason, and especially on the Human Realm? Dragons, vampires and shifters were the power structure among preternatural beings. And as such, they tended to give each other a wide berth, or else there’d be an all-out preternatural war. In a few minutes, Hikeen Montoy, chief lord of the Royal Blood would walk through the door of his office and they would discuss how to rid each other of Warrick Camden.

  “Approaching,” Aiken spoke through the communicator.

  Bleu moved closer to the door, ready for whoever walked through with the chief lord. Theo closed out of the screen he’d been looking at that marked the progress of the guests coming to meet him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shola lift a hand to rub the pendant at her neck. He reached out to grab her free hand, rubbing his thumb over the backs of her fingers.

  He didn’t speak, just looked at her, and he could see in her eyes that she understood the reassurance his touch was meant to convey.

  “I know,” she whispered. “It’s almost over.”

  There was a knock at t
he door and Theo reluctantly released her hand. He nodded at Bleu, who then stepped in front of the door and opened it. A man dressed in a white tuxedo with a red bowtie walked in first. He looked around the room and turned back to nod at the doorway. The next person to enter, Theo was certain, was Hikeen Montoy. The chief lord wore a crisp slim-fit gray suit with a red shirt and tie, a floor-length gray leather coat hung over his shoulders. His silver hair was combed back from his face, thick white beard and gray mustache neatly trimmed. Behind him, two more dressed in white tuxedos entered the office. Before Bleu closed the door, Aiken came inside and both dragons stood guard.

  The first vampire guard had just come face-to-face with a steely-eyed Magnum. The guard wanted to stand beside the chair that Hikeen had just sat in, but Magnum wasn’t allowing too many of them that close to Theo. One of the other vampire guards took Hikeen’s coat, and Hikeen waved his hand to the three of them, signaling them to stand behind him. This placed the vampires between each of the dragons in the room.

  Theo spoke first. “Thank you for agreeing to this meeting.”

  Hikeen rubbed a hand over his mustache and beard.

  “We have a mutual problem,” Hikeen said. “He has left his townhouse. I sent men there last night after speaking with your associate. Nobody has been there since we arrived and some things are packed.”

  “He’s about to move,” Theo stated. “We can handle this one of two ways. We find him and kill him. Or we find him and turn him over to you for your laws to deal with him. One option is definitely more diplomatic than the other. But I’ve got to be perfectly honest with you. I’m leaning toward option number one.”

  “As I told your associate, he is not part of the Royal Blood. I don’t care who his parents are, he’s unethical and indiscriminate. We have rules against involvement with humans, and Warrick takes them too far. He believes we cast him aside because of his birth situation, but it’s more because of his actions that we do not let him into the fold.” Hikeen crossed one leg over the other and clasped his fingers around his knee. “With that said, he is a vampire and I can’t in good conscience give you, a Drakon, permission to slaughter one of our own.”

  Theo figured as much. No matter how much he’d refused to follow his father’s orders back on the Far Realm, Torrance hadn’t given any of the Drakon permission to kill his only son.

  “I won’t stop hunting him,” Theo stated honestly. “He’s endangering more than just the humans on this realm.”

  “Yes, your associate mentioned a village over the seas. I’m not sure why he wants a place such as that. We already have a Royal Blood in that region,” Hikeen said.

  Shola spoke up. “He wants to rule my people. I do not know what he will have them become, but we cannot sit back and wait to become enslaved by his will.”

  Hikeen’s attention shifted to her. He looked appreciatively from the top of Shola’s head, down to her midthigh area, which was all he could see considering she stood behind Theo’s desk.

  “The River Tribe will not become his next conquest,” Theo said and cleared his throat loudly when Hikeen continued to stare at Shola.

  “She’s not from here. Those that are different can be an acquired taste, but I could be persuaded,” Hikeen said, his cool gray eyes widening as he continued to stare.

  Theo stood abruptly. Using his finger, he aimed a blast of fire so that it arched beautifully and landed on the floor just inches from Hikeen’s foot.

  Hikeen didn’t move but his guards immediately stepped to Theo’s Drakon. None of the other dragons moved because there was no need. The vampires were simply no match for them.

  “Don’t test me. This is a very delicate and temporary truce. Don’t get toasted in here because you wanna speak with your dick,” Theo warned.

  He felt Shola’s hand on his shoulder. She didn’t speak, but the steadiness in her touch had his beast relaxing, even if only slightly.

  “Ah yes, I know who she is.” Hikeen spoke as if he hadn’t almost had his toes burned to a crisp. “The beautiful African goddess. The one you were paid to protect. Warrick’s bride-to-be.”

  Theo didn’t like any word that had been said, mainly because Hikeen had spoken them. How did he know who and what Shola was if he had nothing to do with Camden?

  Instead of sitting back in his chair, the beast sought Shola, so Theo remained standing, reaching an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. It was a bold move for the man, one that announced to everyone in this room that Shola was his. While Theo had a feeling his team had already come to that conclusion, the Royal Blood were not privy to such news. At least they hadn’t been before now.

  “Do you know why Warrick wants you, bellissimo?” Hikeen asked.

  Shola didn’t answer and the only reason Theo didn’t end the meeting immediately was because he was now certain Hikeen knew much more than he’d shared with him or Bleu.

  “It’s not your tiny little village. It’s the power that it will bring him. Power to rule the vampires throughout the realms. That’s what Hoan promised him.” Hikeen smiled and slid a hand back from his knee to slowly adjust his tie.

  “If you’re not going to work with us,” Theo interjected, “then I will assume you are working against us. And I will act accordingly.”

  Hikeen raised his brows, but still didn’t look at Theo. He continued to stare at Shola. Theo’s arm tightened around her waist. His gaze moved around the room until he met each one of his team, silently telling them all to be alert. One move, one tilt of his head, hell, one more out of the way word, and the vampires were going to need a new chief lord in Burgess.

  “The Royal Blood works only in accordance with the wishes of the Royal Capitol. That’s how we knew what Warrick was doing. It’s how we know more about this ironic situation than it appears you do.”

  Again, he was speaking directly to Shola.

  “I know that I will never marry him,” she said defiantly. “There will never be a union that will grant him the power over the River Tribe. So he will have to come up with another plan to rule all vampires.”

  Hikeen laughed, a silky sound that filled the room.

  “There was always another plan, bellissimo. Do you think I would have ever let someone like Warrick get the upper hand over me? He’s always been power hungry, doing whatever he could to gain more, to be more than he was meant to be. It didn’t matter if he married you or you killed him, he was never in line to rule all the vampires. Ever!”

  The last word was the first time Hikeen raised his voice.

  “This meeting is over,” Theo announced. He looked over to Magnum and waited until he came to stand on the other side of Shola. “Mark this as the first and last time you walk in and out of this building alive,” Theo told the vampire.

  Hikeen waved a hand and one of his guards brought his coat. He stood slowly, still smiling at Shola.

  “He can’t protect you forever,” Hikeen said to her. “If you come with me now, I can keep you safe from their kind.”

  Theo’s communicator vibrated and before he could react every other dragon’s communicator went off too. When he looked down at his wrist it was flashing red.

  “Staying with him, you will surely die as Hoan does not like humans or even goddesses. The demonic isn’t big on women at all. Theo can tell you more about that. Don’t you remember, Theo? Hoan was the one who killed your mother.”

  His jaw clenched and Shola’s gaze instantly went to his.

  The red flashing continued on the communicator, but there was no message, nothing beyond their symbol for heat.

  “Bleu, show Hikeen and his creatures out,” Theo said and reached for Shola’s hand.

  She didn’t take it.

  Hikeen chuckled. “That’s right, he didn’t tell you that. I’m not surprised. He doesn’t like to talk about his past much, do you, Theo? In all these years you’ve been in Burg
ess, I’ve never heard a peep about you and your Drakon or the fact that you all defected from the Far Realm. I guess that might not be the real truth. Hoan ran you all away, didn’t he? Oh no, Torrance the great Drakon emperor did that when he fell under Hoan’s spell just like your mother.”

  Now, Hikeen’s gold eyes turned to Theo, holding his gaze while Theo struggled to hold on to his beast.

  “You can’t protect her from Hoan since Hoan is actually the ruler of the Drakon, isn’t that right, Theo? It’s no wonder you want to find Warrick. By planning to betray Hoan, Warrick was ultimately betraying you and all the dragons. And you simply cannot have that.”

  Shola gasped. “What is he saying, Theo?”

  “This meeting is over!” Theo roared.

  Bleu and Aiken moved in, ready to physically empty the office. But Hikeen held up an arm, long narrow fingers, with a gold ring on each, wiggling in the air.

  “I don’t want any trouble,” Hikeen said. “Just restoring the balance of good and evil in Burgess.” His head snapped to Shola. “He’s not who you think he is, bellissimo. Warrick is an evil vampire, but Theo and his crew are dragon mercenaries. They’ve been here on this realm for two hundred years doing Hoan’s bidding. Killing preternaturals and strengthening Hoan’s hold on this realm. When the convergence comes, it will be the Drakons who helped put Hoan in power. Not Warrick, and certainly not the vampires!”

  Theo was already lifting his hand, knowing that by killing Hikeen he’d be setting off a chain of events that he couldn’t take back, but when the fire soared from his palms, the chief lord disappeared into the air and the bat flew straight toward the window, breaking through the Drakonproof glass and soaring into the night.

  The other vampires immediately turned with teeth bared, ready to pounce. Theo reached for Shola, pushing her behind him while the other Drakon dispatched the vampires without much trouble.

  “Was he telling the truth?”