Bride Of The Dragon (5 page)

Chapter Seven

She could have swooned like an old-fashioned romance heroine when he claimed her mouth with his. His kiss was possessive and hungry. The rising smoke of banked passion curled through her, obscuring all thoughts of heirlooms and stolen gems and hidden truths. The only thing she cared about was the touch of his lips on hers, the sure feel of his hands, warm against her spine. She gave a husky moan and pressed closer against him.

And just like that their desire ignited and they were tearing at one another’s clothes, touching and tasting and exploring.

Gabriel ran his hands down her back and over the curves of her backside, drawing her closer to him, and she felt the insistent ridge of his erection pressing against her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and wriggled against him, opening her mouth to let him explore with his tongue. With a feral growl, he hooked his hands beneath her thighs and lifted her, urging her to wrap her legs around his waist as he carried her to the bed.

The room spun around her as he turned and laid her back on the coverlet, covering her with his body. He was a delicious weight on top of her, his chest crushing her small breasts and his pelvis pressing insistently between her parted thighs. She was instantly wet and ready for him.

He pulled back and gazed down at her, and there was something so possessive in his gaze – like a storybook dragon guarding its hoard – that a shudder of desire passed down the entire length of her body.

He peeled her out of her clothes, making short work of buttons and zippers and discarding the lacy scraps of her underwear. Then he shed his shirt and pants, and they were lying naked together in the center of the big bed, breathing hard.

He ran his hand down over her small breast, briefly dipping his head to lap at her nipple before trailing his fingers over her ribcage. The muscles in her stomach jumped when he circled her navel with ticklish strokes, then she groaned and parted her legs wider when he stroked the slippery folds of her sex.

He caressed her pussy, teasing the bud of her clit before dipping his fingers inside her and withdrawing them, shiny with her juices. He brought his fingers to his mouth and, regarding her with heavy-lidded, lust-filled eyes, sucked his fingers clean, savoring the taste of her. Her core clenched.

His mouth followed the path his hand had taken, lips tracing a lazy trail down her body. The anticipation was all but unbearable as he grazed her hipbone with his teeth and nuzzled lower. Then his mouth was on her cunt and he was French-kissing her in the most intimate way, his tongue probing inside her before he withdrew to flicker it over her clit.

She gasped and arched off the bed, pressing herself more firmly against his mouth, and the gasp turned to a ragged groan as he continued to work her with his mouth. Orgasm welled inside her and her juices spilled over as he drove her to a gasping, shuddering peak. He gripped her butt and ate her out with an enthusiasm that had her writhing and begging him brokenly to stop as fierce bliss juddered through her again and again.

As she lay limp and spent on the rumpled coverlet, her heart pattering a mad drumbeat in her chest, he crawled over her body in a slow prowl that reminded her that he was the ultimate predator. He was fiercely erect, and despite the rolling ripple of climaxes he’d driven her through with his clever mouth, her pussy clenched hard with desire for him.

She reached down eagerly and took his thick cock in her hand, wrapping her fingers around it and drawing him to her so the head was barely kissing her slit. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, even that fleeting contact enough to cause tiny spasms deep inside her. Warmth glowed in her belly and she shifted restlessly, urging him to enter her.

Gabriel flexed his hips, pressing his impressive length inside her with torturous slowness. His control was impressive – even though his broad chest heaved with the effort of holding back, every movement was an intoxicating display of leashed power.

As he pushed fully inside and her pussy greedily clenched him, she twined her arms and legs around him and urged him on with whispered nonsense that was more excited gasps than words.

He began to thrust, his pace steady but powerful, and as he worked in and out of her body she felt the lifting spiral of impending climax.

A frantic shudder passed through him and he hissed in a sharp breath as his control faltered. Pleasure washed through Kelly at the knowledge that she had that power over him – that touching her body and moving inside her pushed him beyond endurance.

The thrills running through her coalesced and built into a throbbing electricity centered between her thighs, where he pumped in and out of her, his cock slippery with their mutual excitement. The sensation intensified and twisted until it shattered and splintered all through her. She moaned his name, clinging to him and shaking with the force of it.

Gabriel’s harsh breaths crescendoed to staccato groans and then shouts of release as he fucked her with a frantic desperation that pushed her over the edge again, into another soul-shattering orgasm.

He collapsed on top of her, shuddering and spent, and she stroked his sweat-slick back with trembling hands as they both fought for breath.

Chapter Eight

For the past few months, Kelly’s sleep had been plagued by nightmares of her mother turning into a dragon and setting her on fire. In her dreams, her mother stood there and cackled while Kelly staggered and screamed, consumed by flames.

“You are your father’s daughter!” Her mother would caw triumphantly, pointing a skinny, accusatory finger at her.

This night was different. Kelly was having the most delightful dream. She was lying in a bed as soft as clouds, sleeping in Gabriel’s arms, and he was kissing her neck. Shivers of delightful sensation warmed her, and she groaned and reached behind her, pulling Gabriel even closer, pressing her butt against his rock-hard erection.

It all felt so real… Too real, in fact…

Her eyes flew open.

She sat bolt upright.

She was in Gabriel’s bedroom. Stark naked. Gabriel lay sprawled out on the silky sheets next to her, looking good enough to eat. And she should know. She blushed furiously, remembering the night before.

And somebody was pounding on the door to Gabriel’s room.

“Morning, sleepy-head. Shall I go kill Winthrop really quickly to make that noise stop, and then we’ll start the day off right?”

The pounding was Winthrop knocking on the door.

“Don’t kill anybody,” she said, staring around wildly. “Oh my God. You and me…we had sex!”

He propped himself up on an elbow and his lips curled in a sexy, lazy grin. “More than once. I want more.” He stroked her arm with his fingers.

She stifled a whimper of desire. “Stop…stop that… Damn it, Gabriel! This was very unprofessional of me! Nobody can know about it!”

“Nobody can know I had sex with my future wife? Sweetheart, this is a castle inhabited by a dragon clan. The walls have ears, and everybody gossips. Pretty sure everyone knows.”

She let out a groan of frustration and threw a pillow at his head.

“Well, it’s not going to happen again! Ever!”

“Of course it’s not.” But Gabriel’s smirk said that he thought otherwise.

Winthrop called out from the hallway. “Sir, your father wishes to speak to you post-haste!”

“Winthrop, get away from that doorway now or I will set you on fire!” Gabriel bellowed. “I’ll come down when I’m good and ready.”

“Very good, sir, I’ll let him know.” Even through the door, Winthrop’s voice carried a note of disapproval.

“What if it’s an emergency?” Kelly yawned and stretched.

“It’s not an emergency. It’s just my father. When an idea pops into his head, he needs to express it immediately.”

She looked up at the big railroad-station-style clock on the wall, which said 8:30 a.m., groaned and ran her hands through her sleep-rumpled hair. The sun was streaming through the massive window, and dragons flew by outside. They weren’t just awake already, they were
flying
already.

“Does everyone get up at the crack of dawn around here?” she asked.

He snorted. “This is the crack of dawn? I gather you’re not an early riser?”

“Not voluntarily, no.” She stretched and yawned, then saw that he was eyeing her body appreciatively.

“Stop that,” she said nervously, and crossed her arms over her chest to hide the fact that her nipples had immediately hardened under his caressing gaze.

“I know how to make waking up each morning a delight,” he said with a wicked grin.

Her face flamed red with embarrassment, and she stifled a whimper of desire. “
Stop
that,” she ordered him again, her voice rising.

“Your wish is my command. Don’t forget that; you can use it against me in all kind of inappropriate ways. I’m going to go shower now. There’s room for two, by the way.”

“In your dreams!” she snapped.

“Oh, those were fulfilled last night.”

He slid off the edge of the bed and started to walk towards the bathroom, then turned back and looked her in the eyes. “Tell me something. If you didn’t believe that I was a thief, would you be willing to marry me?”

She thought about the way he looked at her. The way she felt when she saw the desire in his eyes. The way he stuck up for her when her mother insulted her. She thought about the way Emerson looked at Tabitha, still so much in love with her after all these years, and wondered if it would be like that for Gabriel and her. She imagined waking up in bed next to him every morning, his fingers trailing over her stomach...

“Ah, well, I…I mean…”

“Thought so,” he said smugly, and sauntered off.

* * * * *

Teresa had also spent the night at the castle.

However, Kelly found out when she went downstairs for breakfast that Teresa had been caught sneaking around at two a.m. trying to get into areas that were closed off. She’d accidentally set off an alarm that had sent the castle guards swarming all over her, according to Gabriel. Kelly would have given her favorite Prada purse to see that. Well, her only Prada purse.

Teresa, who had a competitive streak as wide as Texas when it came to Kelly, had obviously been trying to find the Dragonsblood Ruby on her own.

As if Gabriel’s family would have just casually left it lying around,
Kelly thought scornfully. True, Teresa also had empath powers – she and Kelly had both inherited them from their dad – but they were nowhere near as sensitive as Kelly’s, and she had very little chance of finding the ruby even if she was in the same room. She’d have to be within five feet of it.

“I’ve assigned Winthrop to shadow her twenty-four hours a day, out of spite,” Gabriel told Kelly cheerfully as they ate breakfast in the garden behind the castle.

“Hmm. Sadistic. Which one of them are you spiting?”

Gabriel just winked at her and finished his coffee.

After breakfast, Gabriel took Kelly on a tour of one of the wings of the castle, which contained their art gallery and library.

Teresa insisted on going along, and Winthrop stayed at a distance of about ten feet from her, his gaze dutifully fixated on her at all times. Kelly wasn’t even sure if he was blinking. Now, there was a man who was dedicated to his job.

Gabriel had told her about that whole tradition thing with Winthrop’s family, who had worked as valets for his family for hundreds of years. Kelly didn’t understand it. If it had been her, and she’d been working for a family who drove her crazy, she would have handed in her notice in a heartbeat.

“Is that a Rembrandt?” Kelly asked, pausing by a painting.

“Yes, and in case you’re wondering, we didn’t steal it. He was a friend of the family. It’s a portrait of one of my great-great etcetera grandfathers.”

Kelly peered at it. He was telling the truth; she could see the family resemblance. She could even see the roguish glint in his eye.

They were the kind of family that hobnobbed with famous painters – and had been, for centuries. Why did they steal jewels? Kelly wondered. They were already obscenely wealthy. Part of it was the typical dragon lust for jewels and precious metals, she was sure, but she also suspected part of it was boredom. They seemed like the kind of family who’d crave the thrill of adventure.

“I suppose you already called and told mother that I got busted last night,” Teresa muttered to Kelly, glancing resentfully at Winthrop.

“No, Teresa, I’m not you,” Kelly snapped back.

“And thank God for that,” Teresa said haughtily. “At least mother has one decent daughter who can abide by the rules.”

“Yes, and she sure shows her appreciation for it, doesn’t she?”

Teresa flushed and shot a murderous glare at Kelly before shoving her hands in her pockets and stalking off. She was the recipient of their mother’s verbal abuse just as often as Kelly was, which infuriated her.

Kelly knew what Teresa was thinking. She was the good daughter; why didn’t her mother love her more than Kelly? Or at least dislike her less?

They finished their tour after a couple of hours. Unfortunately, Kelly hadn’t really been able to appreciate all the exquisite antiques and beautiful tapestries. As they’d walked around, she had concentrated ferociously and used her mental energy to sweep the rooms for any sign of the Dragonsblood . She’d never had to focus her powers for so long before, and she had a pounding headache now.

“What about the rest of the castle?” she said, massaging her temples.

“The castle is too big to tour in one day,” Gabriel said. “We’ll spend the next week or two going through the different parts. You’re starting to look a little pale; do you feel all right?”

“Maybe I’ll lie down for an hour,” she said weakly. It was just as well that they were taking a break; if her headache got any worse, she might end up puking in the nearest Ming vase.

She went back to her room and sent an email to the Allied Jewel Insurance agency’s office manager, letting her know that she hadn’t found anything but would update them if and when she did. She deleted the seventeen messages from her mother, all of which had subject lines like, “Answer this email now, you incompetent ingrate!”

Then she popped a couple of aspirin and lay down on the bed.