Rogue Dragon (3 page)

“Jolly’s.” A deep jovial voice answered.

“Tucker, tell me right now, is my daddy off playing as his beast again?”

“Synda girl, good to hear your sweet voice. What in the hell are you talking about? Manx hasn’t been around for a few days.”

“Where is daddy, Tucker? You’re his best friend, if anyone knows it would be you.” She whispered into the mouth piece.

“Now girlie, I’m a simple merman just trying to make an honest living in the human world and I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Tucker, if I have to come over there I will make sure the local authorities shuts your ass down for as many violations as I can come up with. I know you know where Daddy is. Tell him to call me.” She hung up and dug in her pocket for her keys.

A shadow fell across the parking lot. Synda stopped and looked up, following the shape with her eyes. She swirled around catching a glimpse of shine reflected from the streetlights. A faint flapping reached her ears and she narrowed her eyes to get a better bead of the thing above her. She blinked and her vision switched. It was times like these she wished she had inherited more of her father’s genes.

She paid close attention to the sightings of monsters because she knew they existed. Her daddy was a dragon after all, and he’d raised her by himself after the death of her mother. He’d moved them to Fire Island and raised her in seclusion, for the most part. She snorted. Most of the island’s inhabitants were shifters of some form or another. Because of her upbringing, she was extremely protective of every beast humans would hunt down and kill if they knew they existed. Being half-human she’d only gotten her dad’s hyper vision and maybe some of his strength and agility. Other than that, she was sorely lacking in any preternatural genes. Just once, she wished she could breathe fire. A screech rent the air and she tensed.

Something was after her and she couldn’t get clear enough image of it to determine what the hell she was up against. She dropped closer to the ground to make herself a smaller target and ducked between the rows of cars. Once she got to her sports car, she could easily climb into its safety. Huddled close to the bumper of a co-workers truck, she clutched her keys and stared at the last bit of open space between her and her automobile. The wind tunneled through the cars, creating eddies of snow along the asphalt. She rocked on her toes and counted to three in her head. Synda took off running.

The talons that latched onto her shoulders came out of nowhere and yanked her off the ground. She looked up into the shiny belly of a black dragon. Its huge wings creating a draft that blew across her body with every flap. She looked down and watched in horror as she was lifted higher into the air. She cycled her legs hoping the beast would drop her before he soared too high. She swallowed, as the cars grew smaller. Whoever he was, he was propelling her forward at a rate of speed that would have her in complete darkness within minutes. Her arms were getting numb where it gripped her. Soon she wouldn’t be able to feel her fingers.

Scenarios played out in her head. Her daddy had told her one day something like this could happen. He told her no matter what do not let the beast get you to its lair. She had one chance and bent her legs up in a crunch. The snub nose thirty-eight revolver in her ankle strap wouldn’t do much but at least she could get him to release her. She would get free or die trying. Synda fingers slid off the cold handle and she dropped her legs, raising her hands to blow warm breath against them. She tried again, grabbing hold of the gun. The snap gave and her excitement increased. Adrenaline pumped through her veins warming her. Awkwardly she aimed at her shoulder, placing the muzzle directly on the monsters toe.

She fired. The light of the minor explosive blinded her for a moment and the recoil of the weapon held in its awkward position made her hand jerk. The gun fell from her fingers as the dragon raised his neck and bellowed. It let her go and she started to free fall. She looked up and saw the animal plummeting toward her, its heavy girth making it fall faster. She closed her eyes and prayed. When she opened them again, the beast was a man. The guy from her last arrest, the Good Samaritan, and he was next to her. He reached out grabbing her by the wrist and yanked her up against him.

Wind cut across her skin, yet his body heat chased the cold away. He tucked her head against his throat and mumbled. “
Mahtyeh.
”

Synda accepted her fate and relaxed her body, closing her eyes. Tucked against his side she couldn’t explain the feeling of security that moved through her. She swallowed and tried to burrow closer to him. Then, he wasn’t a man and she felt him shift, his body expanding. He wrapped thick-scaled arms around her and enclosed her in complete darkness as he closed his velvety wings around them.

Cocooned against him, she felt the impact of hitting the ground hard enough to jar her teeth. She knew he took the brunt of the fall. Sliding her hands up the tight muscles of his abdomen, she pulled up between their bodies. He opened his wings and looked down at her in what she swore was a hint of a smile in the lift of his lips.

He reclaimed his human form. “
Vam tye
kha raw shee
?
The rasp of his deep voice sent heat waves along her spine.

“Sorry.” Synda shook her head.

He cleared his throat and spoke slowly. “Are you all right?”

She nodded. His accent was familiar but she couldn’t quite place it.

“Good. Now can you please tell me why you tried to kill me?”

Chapter Three

Kirill watched, amused, as she closed and opened her mouth. He could already tell she would keep him on his toes and excitement skittered along his nerves to see where she would lead him. His body heated up in anticipation and he sunk lower into the snow bank they’d landed on. He reached up to brush the black wisps of hair from her face and trailed his finger down the curve of her cheek. Her skin was bronze and smooth, unlike a true female dragon’s. He traced a finger up and down, looking for the slight ridges where her scales should lie just beneath the surface. The packed snow cracked beneath him as Kirill pushed up on his elbows and stared at her. Then he looked beyond her to the dingy, gray ice wall that surrounded them.

He thought back and the questions in his mind bombarded him. She shivered and his mind circled back to the mate he was no longer as certain about. He skimmed a hand along her clothes. Her exposed skin was covered in tiny goose bumps, whereas the snow felt good to his overheated body. Her movements made the ice crunch beneath them and she reared back, sliding down his thighs until she rested on her knees.

Synda tilted her head and her dark mane of unbound hair moved en masse across her shoulders. His cock hardened as he let his gaze follow the long column of her neck to the tightly buttoned collar of her coat. Bits of down hung from the ripped holes in the shoulders. He swallowed when he felt the beast within him struggle to free itself for the confines of his human body.

“Why are you cold?” He voiced one of the questions that revolved around in his head.

She blinked a few times before her brows came together. “Um, we are lying in a snow drift that’s…” Synda glanced around her, “…at least a few feet high and you, in your haste to kidnap me, ripped my jacket. I’m not just cold, I’m fucking freezing.”

He rose to a sitting position and she raised her ass to keep from being dragged along on his legs. Kiril pulled his feet up under him in a low crouch. Leaning forward, he raised his hand. She flinched.

He took a moment to think of the words he wanted to say in English. “I won’t hurt you. I can’t. I’m just trying to understand why you’re chilled.” He rubbed a palm down his face. “How can you carry the underlying scent of dragon and not be one?” he murmured to himself

She snorted. “You thought you were taking a dragon? Dude, you should have done more homework. Trust me, you don’t want me. I can’t lay a single egg.”

His head snapped up. “You’re familiar with us if you’re aware of how the females of our species give birth.”

He drew her scent deep into his lungs, recognizing the smell of jasmine. “What the hell are you?” The words passed his lips drenched with his accent.

Kiril combed his fingers through his hair at her mischievous smile. She wrapped her arms around her and rocked on her feet. Astonishment ripped through him as he watched her shiver. Securing her wellbeing was his responsibly as her protector. She’d nearly jumped out of her skin when he tried to touch her again. He huffed and flumes of smoke coiled from his nose. There was nothing to burn and no other way to warm her if she wouldn’t let him touch her. What the hell had the gracious fire goddess saddled him with? A dragon that wasn’t a dragon was more a hindrance than an asset. He shook his head.

“Do you have a phone,
slaa dast
?” Kirill inquired

“Possibly. What are you calling me?”

“An endearment, sweetness, nothing more. The phone?”

“Well let’s see, I may have one but some dumb dragon decided to snatch me off the street so it’s very possible that anything I had on me may have dropped into the whatever.” Her voice rose as she spoke.

“Are you always so
pro teev a pa lawzh nee
? Umm, contrary.” He chuckled. “You should be afraid of me yet you sit here and argue with me.”

She waved her hand around. “Please. I have dealt with male shifters most of my life and I have handled the biggest, baddest male dragon yet. So you, well, you’re just a little lizard compared to him.”

Her words cut the tenuous tether he had on his beast. At her admission to dealing with other men he felt an urgent need to claim her. His animal snapped its jaws, anxious to be free. His body heated up, he could feel beads of sweat beginning to pepper his face as he became hotter than normal faster than usual. Steam rose around him and through the mist, he thought he saw the brief look of panic cross her face.

Kirill moved to his knees and crawled closer to Synda. She scrambled back. He’d had no idea how cold she was until he looked at her though his dragon’s insight. Where her body should have been red she was blue almost to her core. His anger dissipated. First he needed to warm her then he needed to spank her.

“Are you scared now?” His voice was guttural and he smiled to show her his sharp row of teeth.

She lifted her chin. “Nope.” She raised her hands and held them a few inches apart. “Like I said why would I fear a
wurm
?” She widened the space to the width of the crater his body had created. “When I have had to deal with a dragon like this?”

The insult was too much. He pounced, covering her with his body as his momentum thrust her against the back wall with a hollow thud. She’d leveraged her legs between them and caught him in the gut with her feet driving him back. His legs hit the packed snow and ice cut into his knees as he slid back to the other end of the pit. He stared at her and noticed how her color was improving as she returned his gaze through narrowed eyes.

“I may not be a full-blooded dragon but I know how this goes. You want me, you have to fight me. Understand this, I will not go down easy.” Synda panted.

Laughter rippled through him a rusty sound that erupted past his lips. “You have been taught well our ways,
slaa dast
, but your education regarding our mating rituals is lacking. I don’t have to fight you, why would I hurt a woman I want? No
mahtyeh
. Mate, I only have to make you want to submit to me.”

She snickered. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

“Ahh, but my Synda, the battle is already won.”

“How the hell do you know my name?”

Kirill rose to his feet, his chest rising above the small chasm, he ran at her as he unfurled his wings. Caught off guard, her eyes widened as he snatched her up when his wings, caught an air stream, and lifted them from the hole. He looked down at her and the perfect “O” her mouth formed. He pressed his lips to hers, slipping his tongue along her teeth. Her arms wrapped around his shoulder and the scent of jasmine became overpowering. She tilted her head, giving him better access to the kiss and they tangled their tongues in a bout of superiority. Kirill locked his arm around her waist and willed his body to heat a few more degrees, trying to force warmth through her clothes.

Her hands moved across his shoulders and he felt his cock harden and bob, seeking the comfort of her body. The hairs tugged at the back of his head, her fingers scraping his scalp. He wrapped his tongue around hers to coax it into his mouth.

She bit down. Surprised, he dipped low and dropped her.

* * * *

Synda’s body was jolted by the cold that seeped into her back. For a few long moments she’d been so warm. She opened her eyes and looked into the sky watching a half man, half dragon circle her. Her hands and feet sank into the deep drift as she worked her way to an upright position. She wiped away a few flakes from her eyes and shook her head. At least now she knew why she was taken.

She wasn’t quite sure how, but the dragon above her got a hold of her scent and now he wanted to mate her. It was times like these when she wished she’d had a mother because her father had been sorely reticent in his explanations for mating rituals. Worse, for a while she had wanted to respond to him and lose herself to his body and warmth. She wrapped her arms around her body as she tried to keep a little heat close to her core. Synda stood and flailed her arms to keep from falling over. If she got out of this situation, she would find her daddy and make him explain all the fucking nuances of dragon customs.