Tianna Xander (7 page)

After a short hesitation, the other man took his hand in a firm grip and smiled. “You wouldn’t. Your regular driver is in the hospital.” He shrugged. “Some sort of food poisoning. Someone named Arabella called my agency and asked for a temporary replacement.”

“Oh.” Damek looked at the man. He seemed like the type of driver he usually hired. He wasn’t as tall as Damek, but he was big and exuded a sense of confidence. If he also appeared to be brave, Damek may offer to hire him on permanently. He could always use a driver willing to put himself between May and any danger. Perhaps he would put the man to the test. “And your name is?”

“Oh! Sorry.” His face reddened. “I’m Bob—Bob Waverly.”

“Generally, I call my drivers by their last names. Do you have a problem with that?”

“I don’t see why I should. Most people just call me,
driver
. At least you’re being personable enough to try to remember my name.” He laughed as he moved to open the passenger-side back door. “Where to, sir?”

“Hand me the GPS unit when you get in and I’ll enter the address.” He waited for May to get in, then climbed in after her. “It’s in the middle of nowhere and will take a couple of hours to get there.”

“A couple of hours, sir?” the driver sounded surprised.

“Yes. There’s an area in the mountains where I’ve found clues to what appears to be an extraordinary find. If it’s what I think it is, it will change life the way we know it.”

“The way humans know it, or dragonkin?”

Damek became still at his question. “What do you know of dragonkin, Waverly?”

The driver grinned. “Quite a bit since my mother was a dragon. My father was a mage. What’s this I hear about dragons killing witches? Who started that bullshit rumor?”

“I wish I knew.” Damek settled back in his seat. He could relax now that the man had identified himself as a member of their world. He just may hire the man on, permanently. The only thing left was to see if the man had courage and would put himself between a witch and danger. If he did, Damek may have found himself a new addition to his crew.

Chapter Eleven

May opened her eyes, her vision blurry for a moment while she managed to wake herself up. “How long have I been asleep?” she asked Damek when he moved and drew her attention.

“About two and a half hours. Why?” He looked over at her, brought his hand up, and rested it on her forehead. “You feel a little warm. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She pushed his hand away, then smiled to soften the rejection. “Don’t worry about me.”

Looking out the window, she saw miles and miles of pristine landscape. Mountains in the distance grew closer the further they drove. May couldn’t help but stare as they passed a large lake with water so blue it almost made her cry, it was so beautiful.

“I take it that we’re headed into the mountains?”

“Just to the base of it. I have a small outpost there. It’s nothing but small temporary buildings that we can move at a moment’s notice.” He chuckled. “Don’t look so outraged.”

“I can’t help it. This…” She waved her arm. “This is just too beautiful to ruin with development.” She was glad that he seemed responsible with his power and his money.

“Apparently, the state government agrees with you. All of this is protected land. I have a permit to search for plants thought extinct, but I only have a finite amount of time.”

Turning away from the beautiful scenery, May looked at him. “That’s where
I
come in, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I need your help. You have an affinity with plants. I need you to help me find a few specific kinds.”

At least the man had the grace to blush. May stared at him for a minute and wondered if she should cooperate. Leaning against the door, she crossed her arms and her legs and looked at him through narrowed eyes.

“What plants do you want me to find?” She swung her leg back and forth as she stared at him. “Because I have to tell you that I’m not going to be a party to bringing another narcotic-like drug into the world.”

“It’s not like that, May.” Damek released his seatbelt, moved to the other seat and slid to the other side of the vehicle so as to position himself directly in front of her. “I’m trying to make sure that all
Dragon’s
Desire
is in my hands. Not so I can exploit it, but so I can protect it from misuse. I am also searching for the plant that serves as an antidote to it. If we can find that, we can protect dragonkin everywhere from its effects. It would effectively stop whoever is using it from exposing our kind. We’re all in danger.”

How could she refuse to help him when he had taken on such an important task? “I don’t see how I can be of help to you, Damek. I can’t control my powers.”

When he just sat and looked at her for a minute, May finally got it. “Oh! I see. You think that I am your mate and that if we…um, get together, I’ll have control and be able to help you.” She shook her head with a sigh. “What happens when we kiss and you find out you’re wrong?” May leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. “What will you do then? You’re not betting on a sure thing here, you know.”

“If I’m wrong, I could still use your help. Even if the plants don’t survive, at least I will have found them. Who knows?” He held his hands out, palms up. “I just might find some dormant seeds of some extinct plant while I’m here. I refuse to believe this is all a waste of time.”

“Do you really love searching for extinct plants? It seems as though it would be boring and tedious.” May tilted her head and met his gaze. Could it really be possible that she had met a man who loved nature as much as she did?

“Of course I do.” He reached out and took her hands. “I’m the Earth dragon. I am tied to the entire planet—as are others like me.” He smiled at her as the car came to a stop. “I think we were meant to be together, but there is only one way to find out.”

Yes, there was and it was past time that she stopped making excuses. When had she changed her mind about him? Somehow, she’d suddenly decided that she
wanted
to be his mate.

Leaning forward, May closed her eyes, pressed her lips to his, and waited. With a feeling of loss and regret, she looked at him and blinked. “You know,” she said holding her fingers to her mouth, “I’d actually come to terms with the fact that you were right.”

“And now you’re disappointed?”

May didn’t trust the look in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to laugh. “What?”

“Perhaps we should try again, little one. Only this time, open your mouth and your mind.”

“It’s a waste of time.”

“Just humor me. You said you had begun to agree with me. Perhaps we didn’t do it right the first time.”

“Maybe.” She bit her lip, reached up, and twisted her hair. “I really don’t know much about kissing. I guess I could have done it wrong.” She shrugged. “It’s not like I go around kissing every man I’ve met.”

“You have never kissed a man before today, have you?” Damek asked shrewdly.

“Of course I have.” She scowled at him.

“Your father and your brothers do not count, May.”

She pursed her lips. “How did you know?”

“Because you kissed me the way a woman kisses her father.” He winked. “The last thing I want is for you to look upon me as a father figure.”

“Oh.” May felt her face heat up and looked down at her hands in her lap.

Reaching out, Damek placed two fingers under her chin, lifting it so she would meet his gaze. “That is nothing to be ashamed of, little one.”

For once, she liked that he called her that. It made her feel feminine and special. May licked her lips, tucked her hair behind her ear, and tilted her head. “So, how
does
a woman kiss a man who isn’t related to her?”

May knew she was asking for trouble, but for once, she wasn’t going to play it safe. She may never have kissed a man, but she was sure her secret was safe with him. Her bad girl image with the family would stand and she would still have saved herself for her husband. She knew it was a contradiction, but she didn’t really care. Whose business was it? No one’s but hers and the man with whom she would spend the rest of her life. Suddenly, she hoped that man was Damek. It didn’t matter that he was a big man and that it was most likely big men who had killed her parents. All that mattered was that he seemed to understand her like no one else ever had.

Damek moved his hand to cup the back of her neck, his thumb caressing her jaw, then feathering over her pulse. Gently, he tilted her head further to the side and brushed his lips against hers.

“Open your mouth, little one.”

May’s stomach fluttered when she did as he asked. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but she didn’t expect the strange heat that filled her body or the sensations roiling deep in her belly.

His tongue swept into her mouth, tasting her as she, in turn, tasted him. Suddenly, she saw a large dragon, one that looked like those of Chinese legend. He shifted shape to appear like those seen in the movies and shifted shape once again to a man. Damek. He stood tall and proud looking over a huge body of water, his reflection in the smooth, glassy surface.

She saw him tending the Earth, plants, even healing the polluted waters of a time long past. This was the man the fates intended she spend the rest of her life with, and she had nearly rejected him.

Chapter Twelve

Damek slowly released May and straightened in his seat. He stared at her, stunned. It was one thing to suspect this beautiful woman was his mate. It was something else altogether to realize she really
was
the woman the fates had designed specifically for him.

A lump formed in his throat as he stared at May. He didn’t know what to say, what to tell her to make this discovery easier for her. She must be frightened beyond belief. He knew her dislike of muscular men stemmed from some traumatic experience in her past. He suspected it had to do with the death of her biological parents.

“This changes things.” May sat back, looking stunned as well. “I can’t imagine living my life with another human being.” She paused, then blushed. “Well, I guess you aren’t really human, are you?” she said with a grin.

“No. I am not.” Damek returned her smile with one of his own.

“Do you think I’ve gotten control of my powers now, or should we try that again and see if it makes a difference?”

The little minx was tempting him to kiss her again. Damek merely looked at her and raised a brow. “Are you saying you would like me to kiss you again?”

“No.” She shook her head, then launched herself across the seat and into his lap. “I’m saying that we should kiss each other again and see what happens.”

Her lips covered his in an endearing, clumsy kiss that had his head spinning. She might not know what she was doing, but she made up for it with her enthusiasm. After a few minutes of her kissing him nearly everywhere but his lips, Damek took control. Palming the back of her head, he held her in place while he deepened their kiss.

Damek didn’t know what she saw when she kissed him. The memories he shared with her transferred somehow without his choosing them. He feared that she might see something that he wasn’t particularly proud of. What if she saw him killing in the defense of his people or the Earth?

How many lives did he end because the men were hell-bent on destroying the world? Time after time, he’d managed to end wars that would have irreparably damaged the planet. His stomach clenched at the thought that she could see that and would reject him for it. He had waited millennia, eons, for this woman to come into his life. He couldn’t bear to lose her now.

Cool air rushed over him while he kissed her, his mind now on nothing but the feel of her lush lips pressed against his own. Her upper body pressed tight against his as he held her close. Damek felt her warmth seep into him as she wrapped her arms about his neck, pulling him closer.

“Hey, you guys. Maybe you should get a room.” Waverly’s snarky comment separated them as effectively as a bucket of cold water.

May pulled away, her face red with embarrassment. Damek looked up, giving the driver a look that should have turned him to stone. Instead, the idiot just stood there grinning at them as if he’d discovered some great secret.

“We’re here.” The man pressed his lips together when he saw that Damek was
not
amused. “I thought you might like to know since there seems to be some sort of commotion.”

“What kind of commotion?” Damek climbed out of the car and reached back to help May out. She smoothed the hot little red dress she wore and reached up to pat her hair back into place. He
had
messed it up a bit. Hell, if he’d had his way, he would have combed it out of the little up-do she had it in. Somehow, he’d known that wouldn’t have endeared himself to her much at the moment.

May looked around at the men running to and fro with various types of equipment. That adorable little crease appeared between her eyes. “What’s going on?”