Rising Dragons Omnibus (2 page)

Night Fire:
Chapter 3

T
he gated compound he drove into a few moments later was beyond the scope of what Rowan had expected. Rowan may not have been impressed by his attire earlier—many of the men she’d seen recently could afford an expensive suit and a nice watch and fancy car—but the scope of his wealth in light of where he lived made her reassess him yet again.

“Now it’s my turn to ask, who are you? As young as you are, this has to be family money.”
And whose family?
She’d heard of a rich drug lord who kept a house in the area, but Rafe didn’t have the look of that kind of man. Not that she knew what that looked like.

Rafe cut the engine and delicately removed her hand from his crotch where she’d left it resting, forgotten in her interest with her new surroundings. He lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across her knuckles. “I’m older than I look, but yes, my family’s wealth goes back for several generations. I’ve traced it to the Pharaohs.”

Egyptian
, she thought. That seemed to fit, even with his fair, smooth skin.

His look of a cat on the prowl was even more pronounced when he came around to open the door for her. Her heartbeat sped up when she stood and his hand shifted to her low back, pulling her to him. She stepped into his embrace, peering up into his dark eyes. His arousal pressed hot and hard against her belly.

She’d let him have her right here if he wanted. He seemed to sense it, and his gaze grew more heated. Both his hands rested gently on her shoulders and his thumbs traced the line of her jaw. He bent his head and pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. She opened up with a small moan, flicking her tongue out to taste him. The sweet taste of licorice met her tongue, along with the flavor of the whiskey he had been drinking at the club. His tongue was velvety softy when he teased back, but teasing was all he did. His hands tugged slightly at the clips that held her hair and a second later she felt the tightness of the bindings disappear and the heavy weight cascaded down her back.

Rafe pulled away with a smile, gazing at the mane of red tresses he’d released. “You have such gorgeous hair. You should always wear it loose.”

Before she could thank him for the compliment, he wrapped his large hand around hers and led her up a long, stone path to the front of his house.

He hadn’t been joking about
old money
, which was apparent from the decor inside his house. Rowan was no expert in antiquities, except where her particular niche of interest was concerned, but his collection would give any aficionado a field day, regardless of their interest.

She paused in the foyer before a life-size carved jade replica of the same figure that graced her throat. Her fingers went to her necklace involuntarily as she gazed at the huge red dragon before her. Something in its shape and sleek curves seemed so familiar.

“Don’t worry, he’s only a replica, but he is older than most.”

“This is beautiful! And it must be valued in the millions.”

Rafe pursed his lips. “On the antiquities market, perhaps. I don’t sell pieces from my collection as a general rule, however. He was a gift to my parents from an old friend.”

“Someone…
gave
this to your family?”

“Yes. But I can see what a connection you have with him. He’s yours, if you’d like. A red dragon for a red enchantress.”

She jerked her head around to stare at him in shock. “You can’t be serious.”

Rafe reached a hand up to hers where it was still tightly clutching her necklace. She let her fingers drop and he stepped closer to her. His fingertips lightly brushed her throat when he picked up the small medallion and inspected it.

“I believe he belongs to you, Rowan, but I have one condition.”

He stood so close to her she could feel the heat radiating off him. His fingers let the pendant fall back against her throat but he kept contact, tracing her collarbone to her shoulder. The same little zings of electricity seemed to shoot into her skin wherever he touched.

Anything
, she wanted to say, but the word caught in her throat. Anything to keep him touching her like this.

“He is yours, but he stays here, and you visit him frequently.”

She swallowed and pulled back from his touch, suddenly needing a breath. Being close to Rafe was like standing next to a black hole and trying not to get sucked in. If she wasn’t careful, she would lose herself completely.

“Are you thirsty?” he asked in a low voice. The reminder of his original offer only released her slightly from the pull of him.

“I could use a drink, yes.” She didn’t think it mattered what he served her now. She just needed something different to focus on for five minutes so she could come to her senses. She’d come with him merely seeking a night of sexual release. Not even three steps through his door, and she already found herself craving more than his attention. It wasn’t even his obvious wealth that interested her, but the atmosphere in which he lived. Why did this huge house, decorated to the hilt with some of the oldest, priceless artifacts feel more like home to her than her comfortable Midtown apartment?

Impulsively, she kicked off her shoes in the entryway before following him barefoot through a wide, arched doorway into another room. This one at least had more modern furnishings, but they were no less exquisite in their craftsmanship. The value was in the artistry, not the age, she decided.

The allure of all these
things
he surrounded himself with was nothing compared to the draw of Rafe himself.

Rowan downed the tumbler of liquor in three quick gulps and contemplated leaving again. Her need to maintain control was quickly eroding amid her desire to let him take her to bed and keep her there forever.

He refilled her drink and studied her quietly while she moved to stand by a nearby bookcase, feigning interest in the leatherbound volumes on one shelf.

“You’re afraid of me,” he said. “Why?”

She sipped the smooth tequila this time and turned to face him. “I’m not afraid of you. Just my reaction to you. To everything.” She let her eyes take in the rest of the room before settling on him again. “I never had this growing up, but…”

“Where did you grow up?” Rafe remained standing near the liquor cabinet, sipping his own drink

“Foster care, mostly, until I learned I had a knack for finding treasures in the most unlikely places. I have my own small collection like this, you know.”

“We’re alike in a lot of ways, I believe. You’re a very special woman, Rowan. I think you know that, but what I don’t think you know is precisely
how
special.”

“I’m simply a confident woman who gets what she wants. That’s all.” She believed she enjoyed sex more than the average woman, too, but until today had always managed to keep her emotions out of the equation.

He smiled slowly and nodded. “Yes, but you are much more. Take out your contact lenses so you can see.”

His request confused her. “But I need them
to
see.”

“You don’t. You’re only hiding behind them because no one ever told you the truth of how beautiful you are. Did you ever wonder what it meant? What it is about you that causes men to fall at your feet and women to despise you? It’s more than just your beauty.”

His commentary chilled her. It was like he’d gotten deep into her head. He set his glass down and walked closer to stand just within reach.

“Let me see your eyes.”

“Fine,” she said. With two quick swipes of a fingertip, her flimsy disposable contacts fell to the carpet. She met his eyes, prepared for the startled horror she usually received when anyone saw the true blood-red of her irises.

Rafe only smiled, but before her eyes his own changed color, shifting from a steel gray to an almost bottomless, inky black with flecks of silver. The sense of falling was so pronounced as she gazed into those dark depths, she lost her balance.

He caught her and held her against his broad chest. He whispered into her ear, “Believe me, when I look in your eyes I feel the same way, only touched by fire. You have no idea what you are, do you?”

Rowan didn’t care anymore about his questions. Whoever,
whatever
, he was, that look had sent her past the brink. All she could do now was let herself fall and hope she emerged from the other side still sane.

She clutched the back of his neck and pulled him down into a deep kiss. The delicious taste of him tingled on her tongue when he let her invade his mouth. He gave as good, plunging back in return and pressing her hard against the bookcase.

Rafe’s hands tangled in her hair then slid lower, tugging at the straps of her dress. He found the zipper at her back and tugged. Soon the tailored black silk was in a puddle at her bare feet, leaving her in matching black bra and panties.

Dissatisfied with only the touch of his hands, Rowan tugged at the buttons of his shirt. She needed to feel his skin against hers, but grew frustrated in the rush, gripped the front of his shirt, and ripped. The buttons went flying, pinging off the priceless objects in the room. A deep rumble rose from Rafe’s chest when her hands slipped inside and splayed across the smooth, hard planes of his chest.

She slid her hands down his stomach and gripped his erection through his trousers, stroked up along the length until reaching his waist. With a few quick tugs she managed to unfasten his belt and pants without more damage to his clothing.

“Take these off and fuck me,” she demanded.

Rafe’s dark eyes flashed with a strange inner light she was sure must be her imagination. He quickly stripped the rest of the way and pressed against her again, but not before she got a good look at him from top to toe. Never had she seen a man so perfectly put together.
Godlike,
if she had to put a word to it. The sense of being consumed by some strange energy persisted as strongly as the feel of his mouth tasting her skin. He unfastened her bra with one quick motion and it fell to the floor.

He spun them both and pushed her against a ledge in a shallow alcove. A flower arrangement teetered and he picked it up and tossed behind him. The vase crashed into splinters on the floor, leaving colorful petals and green stalks in a pile of crystalline pieces.

Before she could react he’d turned her around and pressed himself against her from behind. She met her own eyes in the mirror on the wall and was startled to see the same strange flash of light she’d seen in his. She must be going crazy, but it happened again when Rafe shoved her hair aside and bent his head to her neck, kissed his way to her shoulder. Both his large hands cupped her breasts, squeezed and tweaked her nipples.

She braced herself against the marble-topped ledge in front of her to keep her balance, too overwhelmed by every touch to process the strangeness of him and her reaction to him.

Except it wasn’t strange at all. It was exactly how it should be. The grip of his hand on her hip and the harsh rip when he divested her of her panties was perfect. The kneading clutch of his hands on her ass when he kneeled behind her, then spread her open and sank his tongue between her pulsing, swollen lips.

Even his tongue felt like it filled her completely and she cried out. She pushed back against him and raised her hands to brace herself against the mirror. Her eyes looked like fire now, glowing bright orange.
“You have no idea what you are, do you?”
His voice resonated in her mind for a fleeting moment then faded out beneath her harsh cries of ecstasy over the feel of his mouth and hands working her into a frenzy. His tongue felt impossibly long and agile as it plunged into her, his fingertips teased at both her clit and her ass.

Rowan lost herself completely, giving over to the sensations, falling into the heat of her own gaze. It was so good she hallucinated red smoke for breath as she panted against the mirror. The tingling rush of sensation quickly grew to a flood, inundating her with pleasure. She clawed at the glass as her entire body tensed with her climax. Her back arched and she cried out to the ceiling above her.

Dazed and still vibrating from the orgasm, she let him turn her to face him. She lifted her feet off the floor at his urging, wrapping both legs around his hips. His skin seemed to glow from within and she blinked for a second, sure she’d seen a forked tongue dart out to lick his lips before they were pressed hard to hers, his tongue penetrating her mouth as swiftly as his cock sank to the hilt into her still spasming pussy.

She writhed against him, meeting each plunging thrust with an eager surge of her hips. The heavy thickness of his shaft stretched her more than any other man ever had. She believed she had felt pleasure before, but the depths to which he could go were beyond anything she’d experienced. She clutched at him, every muscle tightening, her pussy clenching, seeking to pull him in even deeper, but he was already fucking her as deep as he could go.

Rafe pulled away for a breath and reached up to cup her face in both his palms. His eyes glowed with strange, ultraviolet light, and his face was not only seeping light from his pores, but bathed in an orange-red glow.

“You are like me, Rowan. You will never be alone again, I promise.”

With that missive, his mouth crashed against hers again and he thrust violently into her. His cock seemed to swell and grow hotter inside her. With a heavy pulse the heat of his orgasm filled her and sent her rocketing to another crest.

She held him tightly and closed her eyes. His orgasm persisted, but the hot flow of it seemed to sink into every cell of her body, not just the tight, dark recesses of her womb.

Her body was on fire. From pleasure. From some unseen energy that infused her. Her eyes flew open and locked onto Rafe’s. He watched with that strange, black gaze, smiling as though he were enthralled with her reaction to his climax.

After a moment, their breathing slowed and Rowan’s heartbeat felt halfway normal again.

She let her hands slide away from his shoulders and he winced at her touch.

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

“Nothing a little breath won’t cure. I see you found your talons.” His fingers encircled her wrists and held her hands up for her to see. Shimmering, red scales had replaced her skin and instead of fingernails, she had long, sharp, black claws at the tips of each finger.