Tianna Xander (2 page)

“How much?”

One of the men in her brother’s little group stepped forward and raised a brow. May probably would have kissed him had he been a bit smaller than he was. He was the type of man she always avoided.

Not only was this guy tall, he was
big
. Heck, big didn’t even begin to describe him. Built-like-a-linebacker huge was a better description. His brown hair, almost the color of fertile soil, brushed his broad shoulders. His chest was wide, his pectorals bulging beneath his white shirt as he moved. He had arms bigger than her thighs and
his
thighs were almost as thick as her waist.

May got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach when he asked, “How much do you want to let her out of this contract?”

Why would he care?

“I—I don’t know.” Marvin looked around as though looking for help. Obviously, there was none forthcoming since Barry vacated the area when he saw Drake’s entourage. “I never thought about it. Nobody wants out of their contracts. They make damned good money here.”

The big man stepped closer, an obvious air of menace about him. His brown gaze bored into the manager. May could see the promise of death in his gaze, and he did nothing more than stand and stare at Marvin.

May got the feeling that somewhere out back, the Earth split open and waited for this man to toss Marvin into the breach like a hungry, opened maw. There was no doubt in May’s mind that the man wasn’t just a man. She’d bet he was a dragon. The only problem with that was, it seemed as though he’d taken an interest in her.

Crap and double crap!

“Say, for the sake of argument…” he stopped talking and looked at May. She wasn’t sure what she did, but she must have done something to draw his attention. He turned his attention back to Marvin and waved his arm… “that this woman wants out. How much?”

Marvin’s eyes gleamed. He didn’t answer right away, but took measure of all the men with her. Even her brother dressed as though he had money. When his gaze finally rested on Oscar, Drake’s driver, she knew then, that mister Tall-dark-and-huge was in trouble. May could tell by the gleam in Marvin’s eyes that he was going to tell the man some elaborate sum.

It surprised her when Marvin said, “I don’t know.” He shook his head as he got a faraway expression. “I’ll have to think about it. I’ll lose business because of this. I’ll have to figure out how much.”

Chapter Two

Damek curled his lip at the man. Who did he think he was, drawing this fiasco out the way he did? It was obvious the man knew nothing of dragonkin. If the man even suspected that dragons existed, he wouldn’t have such a smug look on his ugly face. Instead, he would be pissing in his pants while shoving May away from him as fast as he could.

Taking a deep breath, Damek inhaled the man’s scent. The owner-manager reeked of sweat, alcohol, and cocaine.

“To hell with that,” he said, tired of the perverse game. “I’ll give you five-hundred thousand dollars for this place right now.” Damek reached into his pocket and pulled out his checkbook. He didn’t usually carry it, but he’d had some other business to attend to when he left his home. Having the checks only made this more convenient.

It was just by a stroke of sheer luck that his driver had stopped next to the car that carried May Flowers to this shitty excuse for a club. Her scent wafted through the window he had cracked to release the scent of his business partner’s cigar. He hated the smell of those damned things, but some people insisted on a celebratory cigar as their right when signing a multi-million dollar deal. Who was he to say the man couldn’t smoke? Robert Harder had just paid him seventy-five million dollars for the privilege.

“Sold!” The owner of the club slammed his hand down on the bar next to him. “But I’m not taking no damned check.” The man scowled at Damek’s checkbook. “Do you think I just fell off the turnip truck? You’ll get me the
cash
before I sign anything.”

So the idiot didn’t think he could get the cash? Damek almost laughed. He had a cool million sitting in his safe. He merely needed to make a call and his familiar would meet him halfway with it. “I’ll have your money before you can get to your damned office to call your lawyer to draw up the paperwork. Now, go!”

The man turned and moved so fast, Damek smiled as he turned to Drake. “Five-hundred grand. Ha! That’s chump change by comparison.” He shook his head. It was a small price to pay for the safety of the woman he’d waited eons to meet. “I’ll get the money and sign the contract while you take your sisters-in-law home.” He checked his watch. “I have a business meeting in less than an hour. Can I talk with you tomorrow?”

He would talk to both Drake and Lancelot Flowers when he got back from his business trip. It was the proper thing to do before he announced his intentions to the lady. He only hoped she would be as glad as he was to know that she was his mate. If not, she’d just have to learn to deal with it.

“Thanks, Damek. I owe you one,” Drake said with a nod. He leaned closer to whisper, “I hate to think what my mate would have done if I couldn’t get her little sister out of the jam she’d gotten herself into.”

Damek chuckled softly. “I leave for a business trip to Canada in the morning. I’ll stop by next week to collect. I’ll be there at ten on Tuesday. Be ready.” He sure as hell hoped Drake knew he was talking about collecting May Flowers. He wouldn’t have much time. Hell, he hadn’t even expected to be in the states on Tuesday.

He was making a special trip back to pick up his mate. He’d be damned if he let her spend a moment longer than necessary in Drake’s home. He and his men had already proven they couldn’t keep her safe. If they could, she wouldn’t have found herself here dancing to earn money for homeless children.

He shook his head as he turned and left the building. “See that the woman’s charity gets a check from the foundation Carter,” he said as his right-hand man held the car door open for him.

“Yes, sir. How much?”

Damek shrugged. “I don’t know. Give them a nice round number.” He stared out the window and thought of the woman who would grace his bed in less than a week. “Five million should do it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Leaning forward, Damek knocked on the window between the backseat and the driver. The window slid down silently as the driver looked at him through the rearview mirror.

“Yes, sir?”

“You know where to go. Just make sure I get there on time. I don’t mind paying him for the property, but I definitely don’t want to give him more money because we’re late.”

Damek leaned back and closed his eyes. With luck, Howard would have him at the airport in less than thirty minutes and he could meet with Jonathan Anderson for a pre-flight cocktail.

Anderson was nothing if not punctual. Anyone he did business with need to be the same way or pay the price. While Damek wasn’t cheap, he didn’t like Anderson and he refused to give the bloodsucker any more money than he absolutely had to.

Reaching up, Damek patted his breast pocket. He wanted to be sure that his checkbook was where it should be. He chuckled again and shook his head.

The club owner wouldn’t take a check for half a million dollars, but Jonathan Anderson expected nothing less for his parcel of Alaskan land that would cost Damek over fifty-million dollars—and what a bargain it was. Besides, the human didn’t have the balls to tell Damek he thought he might try to pass a bad check. Men
and
dragons had died for less.

Settling back in his seat, Damek smiled as he listened to classic rock on the stereo. He couldn’t wait to inform May Flowers that she had found her dragon. Technically,
he
had found her, but he didn’t think she’d argue over the matter. For once in his life, he felt totally relaxed. It was most likely the effect of knowing he could finally settle down. Finally, he would have a mate and a family of his own. After thousands of years alone, what more could a man, or a
dragon
, want?

Chapter Three

May dawdled as long as she dared. The last thing she wanted was to return to Drake’s house after that…that
dragon
bought this place because of her.
Crap and double crap!
She was between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

Who was the strange dragon who bought this place just to get her out of her contract? She sat in front of the mirror, her makeup gone and her feathers in their case. She stared at her reflection, wondering how she would manage to avoid the strange dragon. She could refuse to attend April’s mating parties, but that wouldn’t be fair to the rest of her sisters whom April managed to browbeat into showing up for the irritating events.

Every week, her sister brought different dragons into the house to meet them, and every week, May had turned her nose up at the muscular men. Why hadn’t she ever seen that huge dragon at one of the parties?

How could she be so attracted to a man who didn’t fit into her mold of the perfect man in anyway? He was too tall. Well, to be fair, most of the dragons
were
too tall. Add to that, his too-handsome face with the little hitch on the nose that looked as though someone had broken it and didn’t heal properly. Those deep brown eyes of his seemed to stare deep into her soul. He just wasn’t the type she was normally attracted to.

May stared into the mirror, her chin in hand, and sighed. What was she to do now? She couldn’t face her sisters or Drake, not after what she’d done. Why hadn’t she thought this through better? She should have realized that there was no way she’d be able to ditch Drake’s men once a month for the next year, anyway. Sooner or later, they would have been on to her tricks.

Scooting to the edge of her seat, she closed the makeup case she’d managed to smuggle out of the house in the tote bag she’d used as a purse today and stuffed it back into the bag. Looking at the clock, she sighed. She’d probably put them off as long as she could.

She didn’t want to go back to Drake’s where she knew that strange dragon could find her, and she couldn’t stay here. There was no way the dragons would let her return to her own home. Hell, they hadn’t wanted her to go back there to pack her things, much less live there again. Not while there was still a threat to her and her sisters.

It wasn’t like she was stupid. May got it. She knew that if someone were to take her hostage, they could use her to get to her sisters. What she
didn’t
understand was why they had to stay with dragons? Why couldn’t they stay with someone else? One of their aunts or uncles would do. They were witches. Surely, between them, they could protect their nieces, couldn’t they?

Another impatient knock on the dressing room door had her throwing her shoulders back and her chest out. She pasted an indifferent expression on her face and hoped it stayed in place at least until she got to her bedroom at Drake’s.

Reba, one of the regular exotic dancers, grinned. “My, they’re in a hurry, aren’t they?”

“They can’t wait to get me out of here.” May gave her a half smile. “I guess I’ve stalled as long as I can, huh?”

Tears filled her eyes at the thought of all the hungry children who wouldn’t eat because she couldn’t manage to ditch her brothers-in-jaw for a few hours a week. Who would give the shelter…the money they needed so desperately?

Her shoulders slumped when she thought about her failure. The shelter had come to depend on her usual donation. Now, there would be no more and she could do nothing to change that—at least not until they caught the person responsible for sneaking into their houses and installing mini cameras all over the place.

The dragons would never agree to let her go to a conventional job day in and day out. What made her think they wouldn’t find out about this? She should have known better. Maybe, if she’d talked to Drake, he would have allowed her to come here to dance if she had an entourage. Who knew? It was certainly too late to ask now, and if she did, he was certain to say
no
after all the trouble she had caused.

Hell, she’d be lucky if all he did was say
no
and slap her hands. May was no stranger to action and reaction. She had taken action by signing on with the
Pussycat
. Now, she had to pack up, go back to her sister’s new home, and face the reaction.

With a sigh, she carefully finished packing her costume away and picked up the case. It was time to go and face the music. One thing was certain. Whatever Drake’s reaction was, it couldn’t be any worse than what she imagined. Whatever the reaction was, it couldn’t be worse than being stuck inside all day, every day.

Standing, May picked up her things. “It was nice to meet you all.”

“It was nice to meet you, too,” Reba said as she turned toward the door. “Who knows? You might find a way to get back. When you do, I can’t wait to see your performance.”

Turning, May smiled at the little brunette. “I’d like that.”

Once facing the door again, May took a deep breath, then reached out with her free hand and opened the door.