Reawakening the Dragon: Part One (4 page)

His words were a poorly veiled hint that Jane let her emotions get the better of her.

It was on the tip of her tongue to throw a quip back, but her curiosity and drive to find the truth of the dragon hunters won out. “Fine. Fetch me a map of the area and I’ll give you something worth keeping me around for.”

“Just tell me the location.”

“I need a map.”

After a beat of silence, Kai uncrossed his arms. “Follow me.”

As he walked down the hallway, Jane let out the breath she’d been holding. Dealing with the dragonman was exhausting. She wondered if he ever relaxed.

Since she wasn’t about to ask that question, Jane’s eyes fell to Kai’s shoulders. Even for a dragon-shifter, they were broad and powerful. As she had many times before, she could just imagine the muscles hidden beneath his shirt. How she’d love to trace his spine and make the alpha dragonman weak.

Then she looked down to his round arse, an image of her gripping the firm mounds as he fucked her flashed into her mind. All of that power and reserve focused on her only made wetness rush between her legs.

Kai turned into a room and Jane took a few deep breaths.
Stop it, Jane.
Dragon-shifters had a sensitive sense of smell. She couldn’t allow him to scent how attracted she was or he’d lord it over her. It wasn’t as if she would ever have the chance to see him naked anyway.

So Jane thought of a past assignment, when she’d had to report on abuse in nursing homes, and her arousal cooled.

Ready to face Kai again, she walked into the room. Kai was already unfolding a map on a table off to the side. Jane stopped and Kai tapped the map. “Point it out.”

“You don’t say more than the absolute minimum, do you?”

“No.” Kai tapped the map again. “Show me where the hunters are.”

Jane shook her head and leaned forward. Without her glasses, she couldn’t read tiny print close-up very well.

As she searched out the legend, she felt Kai’s eyes on her breasts. Unlike with the hunters back in the pub, her body warmed at the feeling and her nipples hardened.

While the bloody dragonman had probably already noticed her body’s reactions, she would distract him with something else. Jane looked up to meet his unreadable eyes. “The blokes asked me back to their place. When I inquired about how long it would take to get there, they said about half an hour by car.” Jane looked down at the map and made a circle with her hand. “I calculated inside my head the distance and the time it takes to drive, which means they should be somewhere inside this area.”

“That’s still a wide area.”

Looking back up, she raised her eyebrow. “It’s a matter of deduction. As a head Protector, I figured you would know that.”

“It’s a lot harder to deduce and sort out the best choices when it’s a different species.”

He had a point, but it gave her an opening. Even if it meant sticking around longer than she’d anticipated, she would jump on it. “Which is why you need me. Promise you’ll allow me to stay on and help until I have my story, and I’ll tell you which areas to start with. Then I’ll dust off my investigative skills and get to work.”

~~~

Kai studied the human female.
 

He was honest enough with himself to admit he’d been focusing too much on her full breasts, the curve of her neck, or the rogue tendril of black hair that curled around her cheek and not on the map in front of him.

Allowing himself to be so easily distracted was unacceptable.

His dragon spoke up.
The sooner we get her naked, the sooner we can fuck her and you can focus again.

Not dignifying his beast’s words with a response, Kai studied the map.

The human had pointed out a fifteen-mile radius from Newcastle’s city center. Since Kai rarely drove a car, he would have to take her guesstimate.
 

During his time in the army, he’d become quite accomplished at eliminating unlikely targets until he had a shortlist. The only difference in this situation was Kai didn’t know the area around Newcastle. He had a few guesses as to where the hunters would hide based upon their history, but it would be much easier to have Jane ask the locals about any unusual activity and further pinpoint the possible targets from there.

True, he had two prisoners who would be interrogated the instant his best interrogator, a Stonefire Protector named Zain, arrived. But each second he wasted waiting around for information was a second the hunters could move their location. The men from the pub might not have guessed Kai was a dragon-shifter, but kidnapping two of their men could lead to trouble.

No doubt, the hunters’ leader Simon Bourne knew this.

He would use any timesaver he could find, even if it came in the form of a delectable human female with dark hair and blue eyes.
 

His dragon hummed.
Yes, she is delectable. She will taste good.

Why are you this insistent? You haven’t act this way around a human before.

They weren’t this human
, his dragon stated.

Looking up at the female in question, Kai answered, “As long as you don’t become a liability, we’ll work together.”

Jane stood up and crossed her arms under her breasts. “As equals?”

“For now.” She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. “Trust takes time. I’m sure you’d agree.”

She studied him a second before tilting her head. “Considering how much you like to be in charge and give orders, that compromise must’ve killed you.” He frowned, which made Jane smile. “I’ll take it.”

“Good, now—“

“But if I find out you’ve been holding out any information from me, then I’ll leave. Understood?”

His dragon chuckled.
She doesn’t have to take orders from you. I like her fire.

Shut it, dragon.

Kai put on his toughest looking expression. “As long as you don’t hold out on me. Cross me and see what happens.”

Jane rolled her eyes. “You sound like a bad movie hero. It’s not as if you’ll kill me. I know most of the major DDA rules by now, mister. Remember that.”

Instead of answering, Kai let out a high-pitched whistle. Then he asked, “Are you done with your threats?”

She raised her brows. “Are you done with yours?”

It took everything he had not to smile at the sight of Jane dismissing him in her skimpy dress, heels, and too much make-up. Buried beneath her beauty was a steel core.
 

His dragon chimed in.
You always wanted a strong female. She can be ours. Are you sure you don’t want to coax her out of her dress?

No sex with the human. It’s—

I know, a rule. Maybe I should take control and go after the human myself.

Try it, dragon. You know what happened the last time you tried to take control.

His beast huffed.
I wasn’t feeling well that day.

No, you were fine. You lost. Accept it.

Says the dragonman who won’t accept the possibility of a second chance.

Enough.

Kai shoved his dragon to the back of his mind and met Jane’s blue eyes. Rather than answer her question, he changed the subject. “Nikki will take you to the room you’ll be sharing with her. She’ll give you resources, although I’ll have one of my people monitor your internet activity. Don’t screw up.”

“Wow, you said more than one sentence. I’m impressed.”

Kai ignored her. “We’ll meet in the morning. Be ready to give me a report and to receive your assignment.”

“I’ll be the one to decide whether I take it or not.”

Since she already knew what he’d do if she refused, he let the comment pass.
 

After a brief knock on the door, Kai replied, “Come in.”

Nikki’s dark-haired head popped in. Her dark brown eyes looked to him as she raised her brows. “You called?”

Jane beat him to a reply. “I can’t believe you call her with a whistle like a dog.”

Nikki moved her gaze to Jane and shrugged. “With our hearing, it’s easier than using a cell phone.”

Kai interrupted, “Take Jane to your room and find her some clothes. Give her reasonable resources and then report back to me.”

Nikki walked up to where Kai and Jane were standing. The young dragonwoman turned to Jane. “Hi, I’m Nikki.”

Jane smiled at Nikki and a thread of jealousy spiked through Kai’s body. Jane had never smiled at him.

Even trapped in the back of his mind, Kai’s dragon was smug.

Jane answered, “Hi, Nikki. I’m Jane. Nice to meet someone who has some manners.”

Kai ignored her comment and focused on Nikki. “Once Jane is secure, I want to hear your updates.”

Nikki bobbed her head.

Kai looked to Jane. “We have lots of work to do, so we’ll start early. Be ready at seven a.m.”

Before Jane could answer, Kai left and headed toward the room he used as both his bedroom and his office. He would contact Stonefire and check up on things. Focusing on his work would help him forget about the human female.

Especially the fact that she’d be two doors down the hall from him.

Chapter Three

The next morning, Jane rubbed her eyes and willed for a cup of tea to magically appear before her. The protein bar and a bottle of water she’d been given for breakfast wasn’t cutting it. Surely some dragon-shifters also relied on caffeine to kick-start their mornings.

Well, except maybe for Kai. He probably went swimming in a cold lake to start his morning or some other such extreme.

Not that she’d complain about water trickling down his body, leading to the hair trail on his lower stomach, before dripping off his cock. After all, she’d seen something similar in her dreams the previous night, except in her dreams, she’d been licking him dry.

Damn him.
Jane had hoped a night’s sleep would clear her head, but even her subconscious was a little obsessed with a certain dragonman.

Taking a bite of her protein bar, she made a face at the tasteless muck that passed for food. She’d almost think Kai was treating her as a prisoner on purpose, but Nikki had the same food laid out on her bed, telling Jane it was the norm.

Kai took efficiencies to new heights.

Taking another bite of her breakfast, Jane picked up her notebook and tried to focus on something other than the quiet dragonman.
 

Scanning the list she’d made last night, the five possible locations were still too many. As much as it pained her to admit it, she would need Kai’s help to narrow it down to a more manageable number before she could start interviewing the locals and pinpointing the location of the hunters’ base.

Nikki stepped out of the en suite bathroom. Jane looked up to see the dragonwoman smile. Nikki looked to the protein bar and back to Jane’s eyes. “Enjoying the breakfast of champions?”

Jane made a face. “Are you sure you can’t allow me downstairs to make a cup of tea? If I’m to put on my charm today, I’m going to need caffeine.”

Nikki went to a locked drawer next to her bed, inserted a key, and opened it. The action was a stark reminder that Nikki might be polite, but she was still Jane’s guard. “You’ll need to talk to Kai.”

“Then that means no.”

Nikki glanced at her. “He can be persuaded. Prove yourself and you might be surprised at the lengths he’d go to help you.”

“Isn’t telling me that violating some sort of enforced silence?”

The corner of Nikki’s mouth ticked up. “He never ordered me to be silent.” The dragonwoman’s face became serious again. “However, I’d never tell you anything that could hurt my clan. Besides, proving yourself works with just about any profession. As I understand it, you’re trying to prove yourself to your boss as well.”

Kai must’ve told her. “Yes, but my boss would never force me into a room and post a guard.”
 

Nikki shrugged. “Hey, I’m pretty brilliant as far as guards go.”

During her time reporting on Stonefire, Jane had learned bits and pieces about what had happened to Nikki with the dragon hunters. She wondered how much the young dragonwoman’s smile and cheery manner hid her true self.

Not now, Hartley.
She wasn’t there to find out Nikki’s story. Not that it wouldn’t be a great story, but she wouldn’t expose someone’s pain just for recognition. It was the one thing Jane had vowed early, after one particular assignment at the start of her career.

Pushing aside her past, Jane stood. “You’d be even more brilliant if you could find me some clothes in my size. I’m grateful that you’re lending me some things to wear, but I’m two inches taller than you and you can see my socks.”

Nikki grinned. “Maybe you’re bringing the look back.” Jane shook her head and Nikki continued, “Someone is bringing some clothes and other things later today. You’ll just have to make do until then.”

“Then I hope I don’t have to go out and talk to people today. If the hunters are in one of the locations I think they’re in, the locals won’t talk to the likes of a high-water jeans wearing mum figure.”

Nikki finished strapping and attaching things to her body. Closing the nightstand’s drawer, she faced Jane. “That kind of logic will convince Kai to get you clothes on the way. If there’s one more piece of advice I can offer, appeal to his logic. Emotions only irritate him.”

Interesting, considering Kai had come close to showing his own emotions yesterday and Jane had barely tried to provoke him. “I’ll take that to heart.”

“Right.” Nikki motioned a hand toward the door. “Let’s go or we’ll be late. And believe me, you’ll never get your cup of tea if we’re late. Kai’s probably been waiting fifteen minutes for us already.”

Nikki exited the door and Jane followed. “Is he always one step ahead?”

A male voice boomed behind her. “Three steps, actually.”

Jane took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders before turning to see Kai. “You’re actually about five steps behind.”

Kai’s lips twitched into an almost-smile and it made her belly flip. Maybe buried beneath that tough exterior was a sense of humor. Probably not, but a small part of her was determined to find out.

Not that she would act on that curiosity, of course. She’d work with him for her story and then forget him. A dragon-shifter would damage her career and without it, a small piece of her heart would be torn out.