WickedBeast (17 page)

Kelly got up and went to the coffee machine. “Would you like
a cup of coffee?” she asked calmly, as if they were discussing the weather.

“Please. Black.”

She brought back two cups of coffee and sat down, taking a
long sip before she said anything. “So if the icecaps melt, we will find
dragons.”

“Uh-huh,” he agreed, letting her work it out in her mind.

“But finding them does not bring them back to life, right?”
she pointed out.

Cord shifted in his chair, taking a minute for a drink. “We
don’t know. Those dragons were frozen instantly. The few stragglers who went to
ground in other parts of the planet were forced into elemental sleep because
there was no more fuel. We are fed by human emotion. When the witches destroyed
the Earth, they cut off the dragons’ source of power. Waking one of the dragons
in elemental sleep is almost impossible. I say almost because Minuet is a new development,
but the popsicle dragons could be different. They were not depleted, not
starved into an elemental state. We don’t know what will happen if one of those
bad boys thaws.”

Kelly took up the thought. “A dragon freed from the ice
could be exactly as he was the moment he was frozen. And now there are lots of
humans again… I see the problem.”

Cord nodded. “Exactly.”

“So what’s your plan?” she wanted to know.

“Well, we thought getting you three ladies together would be
helpful. Since the humans have somehow found a way to destroy their atmosphere,
unintentionally this time, we are looking for a way to fix it. Keeping the ice
intact will give us time to figure out a more permanent fix.”

“If the people who created dragons couldn’t figure out how
to kill them, what makes you think we can?” she asked.

“We know exactly how to kill dragons,” Cord said confidently
“but it only works in small numbers. Separate a dragon from his head and the
entire beast disappears. Since every dragon knows this, they’re very good at
protecting their necks. A couple thousand dragons in one place presents a
problem. There aren’t enough warriors to engage in one-on-one combat that
beheading requires. Even if you dress the humans in asbestos, not enough of
them will live long enough to do any real damage.”

“And,” Kelly said thoughtfully, “as soon as anyone gets a
glimpse of a frozen dragon, they will be digging up that specimen for study as
fast as they can.”

“It will wake up and kill them,” Cord observed.

“It does that and the world will be even more interested in
it,” Kelly said softly.

“So we’re back to where we started,” Cord agreed with her.
“Curious humans who think they can control what they don’t understand.”

“You know I have no idea how to fix the atmosphere,” Kelly
said. “I’m the Wind Witch and I know less than you do about being that. Can you
do it?”

“Not on my own. You are the source of my life, my power. The
answer has to come from you.”

Kelly frowned and stared down at her coffee for a few
minutes. “Didn’t they leave an instruction book or something? A book of spells
and stuff.”

“They’ve left you a dragon, Kelly. There was no way to
ensure the information stayed out of the wrong hands. Imagine what would have
happened if a wizard got a hold of such a book.” Cord leaned across the table
intently. “Their plan worked. We are sitting here doing exactly what they
envisioned we would. That gives me hope that they thought of this aspect too.
You do have the power to do what’s necessary.”

“My head hurts,” Kelly avoided his insistent conclusions.

Instantly Cord was out of his chair and around the table,
picking her up in his arms. “Enough history, baby.”

Kelly relaxed into his hold as he strode into the living
room. “I thought we couldn’t, um, you know.”

“We can do a lot of ‘you know’,” he contradicted with a
grin. “I just have to be in complete control at all times. Something I don’t
have a problem with.”

In the living room, Cord sat and adjusted Kelly so she was
straddling his lap, but this time facing him. “Relax. Put your head on my
shoulder and let me give you a massage,” he instructed. His body was stretched
out with lean hips resting on the edge of the cushions, making him a long, hard
mattress.

“This isn’t how it’s usually done,” Kelly mumbled. His hands
were already moving over her spine firmly. Somewhere in the process, both of
them had lost their clothes and the lights had dimmed.

“I don’t do the usual,” he assured her softly.

His chest vibrated with a low purr that she almost couldn’t
hear but resonated through her body.

“Oh my God,” Kelly moaned as he worked muscles in her back,
down her neck, across her shoulders. His hands knew exactly where to touch, and
she was once again completely available to him. Except for the fact that they
were both naked and he was freaking perfect, there was nothing sexual about his
attention. And of course, she thought foggily, she was also the Queen of
England if that were true.

He worked on her until it felt as if her body were made of
butter. Then he slid from under her, laying her facedown on the couch and
started on her legs. Strong, firm pulls on long muscles, deep circling caresses
into joints. If she hadn’t already been completely vulnerable to him, this
would have sealed the deal.

How was a woman supposed to resist this? What wouldn’t she
do to get more of it? These questions had no answers because Kelly was too busy
sinking into the world he created or her, the world where her body relaxed into
oblivion as he worked each muscle and tendon with the same relentless attention
to detail as he did everything else.

Cord had appeared in their world and become its center. He
was a force of nature. He’d not needed to convince her of his place once she
realized his role as her daughter’s guardian. He’d insisted he was here for
her, but that had never been her main focus.

Kelly was aware she needed help. Minuet’s talents were so
far beyond her own. She wasn’t sure what she would have done if Cord hadn’t
shown up. Things had been getting critical. Then there he was. He’d brought a
wealth of other issues, things she was struggling to comprehend, but the truth
was he’d solved her problems in a big way.

Was she simply weak? Was accepting his presence in their
lives so easily a sign of her faults? No, he’d been right when he’d stated that
if even half of what he said was true, she’d have become his whore to protect
her daughter. That wasn’t weak.

He’d taken her surrender and made her his…what? What did one
call a lover who would kill for his woman and her family? He and Legion had
dealt death this morning. She didn’t want to know the details, but she had
tasted battle on him.

What did one call someone who worked at finding ways to wait
on her? He watched her closely, supplying anything he thought she needed before
she could so much as get herself a glass of water. What did one call a man who
willingly impersonated the children’s character Barney for her daughter just
because it made Minuet happy?

Calling him the monster images that the name dragon brought
to mind didn’t fit. Whatever he was, he was truly content when he had her in
his arms, pleasing her somehow. She felt it in him. He literally lived to touch
her. It was such an incomprehensible situation. There was nothing weak about
him. There was no bend in his will, no hitch in his strength, and yet it was
all directed at her and Minuet. What was the word for this male?

She had no idea when he’d added his lips to her massage. By
the time she realized she was not only relaxed to the point of being molten
chocolate, but smoldering on passion’s embers as his mouth moved up the back of
her calf, she had no hope of resistance. Of course, nor was she so stupid as to
want to resist.

“What?” she mumbled on a moan as he licked the back of her
knee. “We can’t.”

Cord blew a warm breath across the damp skin before answering.
“We can’t give away a hint of magic. That doesn’t mean we can’t do what regular
people do.”

“But I ah…” She couldn’t finish the phrase for a second as
his lips drifted to the inside of her knee. Who know that was such an erotic
zone? “I can’t control anything when you, when we…”

“I know,” he whispered. “Relax, Kelly girl. Trust me to take
care of you.”

His mouth went back to its drugging task. Her legs were
gently pushed apart as he turned to the other knee to give it the same
attention.

Abruptly his head came up and his body tensed. She could
feel it. A sheet swiftly covered her as he stood.

“Stay there. Minuet needs a drink of water. I’ll be right
back, and if you’ve move I’ll spank that pretty ass.” Cord strode from the
room, fully clothed again.

Kelly’s head turned to watch him go. She could feel Minuet’s
restlessness, but he’d been aware of it first. What did she call him? The
person who rushed to answer her child’s half-awake needs while ordering her
sharply to remain decadently relaxed. Okay, so who cared what she called him,
she really wanted to know what would happen if she moved?

Chapter Ten

Kelly closed her eyes and listened with her heart. Minuet
could get her own glass of water. What a little girl needed was the security of
knowing someone was watching over her. Cord provided exactly what she needed
with natural warmth, cuddling Minuet a few moments after she drank her water
until she settled back into sleep.

He quietly left Minuet’s room and was coming back. Kelly
took inventory of her limbs to make sure nothing had moved. She didn’t really
believe he’d hurt her, the command had been a sensual directive. Possibly he’d
meant it as a test to see what she would do, to see if she was willing to move
their relationship down that path. Being honest with herself, Kelly admitted
she wasn’t quite that brave.

Closing her eyes as he stepped into the room, Kelly did her
own testing. What would his response be? She was in exactly the position he’d
left her. Would he insist on taking them in the direction he wanted to go?

She should’ve known better. The sheet disappeared and he
took up exactly where he left off, settling his perfectly naked body between
her legs, and the thorough licking kisses continued.

As his tongue ran the crease where her bottom met her thigh,
Kelly had to speak up. His attention had started as a slow burn, but now it was
all burn and no slow. “Did I do something wrong?” she asked as his mouth moved
over her.

“What makes you think that?” he wanted to know.

“You’re punishing me by turning me on and then I get
nothing?”

“Who said you get nothing?” His voice rumbled from the
vicinity of her hip. His mouth never lifted from her skin as he answered.

“I’m dying here in case you hadn’t noticed.”

His body pulled up a little more as he nibbled the small of
her back. His close-cut beard tickled the rise of her bottom as he moved over
her. “I noticed, try to relax. You’re not ready yet.”

“I am so ready,” she insisted softly. She couldn’t help it,
her hips moved under him, legs spreading in invitation. His body willingly sank
between them. He continued the nibbling up her backbone, his hands caressing
her sides.

“Remember the part about me being in control?” he asked. “I
am, and you will enjoy this.”

“Commanding me to enjoy it doesn’t work,” she groaned as his
hands slid under her, grasping the sides of her breasts in a tantalizing
caress.

This time his chuckle came from the back of her neck.
“Denying you’re enjoying this isn’t what’s not working, Kelly girl. I can feel
the fire in you, I can smell desire in the air and there is no hiding just how
much you love this from me. Now turn over. We have the whole other side to do.”

He stood in a smooth motion and waited for her to roll over.
Of course she did. This would make getting what she wanted much easier. Opening
her eyes, she enjoyed the view of him standing over her. Long and lean, his
body was hard-packed muscle. From this angle, his wide shoulders filled the
room. The ladder of tight muscles down his torso led to a defined abdomen. Who
in the hell had a defined belly? It wasn’t fair to the rest of the world.

What was below that belly was what wasn’t fair to the rest
of the male population. He wasn’t a man, she reminded herself, but damn, such
hard, thick perfection was too much. Perhaps not exactly too much, she mused.

“Enjoying the view?” he asked softly.

Kelly realized his hands rested on hips as he let her look
all she wanted. “Yeah, enjoying the view,” Kelly whispered and licked her lips
in natural reaction.

His abdomen jerked and a pearl of excitement appeared on the
wide head of his cock. “Careful, baby girl,” he warned softly. “I see that
tongue again and I’ll be tempted to give it something to do.”

Kelly’s eyes finally dragged up his body to his eyes. They
were molten as he gazed down at her. The heat in them drove her, drew her into
the sexual whirlwind swirling around them. There was no sound. No movement of
air, the sweeping gale of emotion was contained between them. Kelly’s body
arched and her hands settled lightly on her breasts. She was rewarded with a
ripple of tension down his body. His eyes followed her hands as she caressed
herself, lightly plucking her nipples.

A muscle jerked in his cheek. Kelly smiled and felt fire low
in her belly burn a little hotter. Her hands abandoned her breasts to trail
down her torso, pressing into soft flesh, heading straight for the juncture of
her legs. As her fingers passed her bellybutton, her legs slowly spread. Taking
the suggestion from how he’d arranged her last night, she draped one leg over
the back of the couch, the other with her foot flat on the floor.

Fingers combed down tight blonde curls and Kelly’s eyes
closed as she rubbed the center of the inferno consuming her. She couldn’t stop
watching him for long though. Her eyes barely open, she watched him watch her
and both of them burned.