Dancing Dragon (Dragon Echoes Book 3) Read online

  Was it his imagination, or did Lisa looked disappointed?

  That thought sent his heart into a weird rhythm, one that almost seemed to sing to him.

  “Do you need me to, I don’t know, bandage them or anything? I mean, I don’t know anything about first aid, but I could look it up.”

  Verrian quickly catalogued his wounds in his head. A couple of them were in quite tender areas, and places he didn’t really want Lisa touching right now. Or, more to the point, he did. And the fact that his wounds wouldn’t stop him from making love to her at the drop of a hat proved that they didn’t require any attention.

  Reluctantly, he shook his head. “I’ll be fine.”

  She stared at him a moment longer than his comment warranted, her intense gaze sending heat swirling through his body. Finally, she nodded. “Well, you’d probably like a shower at least. I don’t have any spare clothes, but I do have a bathrobe. You can wear that tonight, and I’ll buy you something better in the morning.”

  Verrian nodded. “That sounds good,” he agreed. “Except, ah, what’s a shower?”

  Chapter 2

  Lisa showed Verrian to the shower, explained how to turn the hot water on, then left quickly, before she had to look at his naked body again.

  She didn’t quite trust herself to be around his hot, sexy nakedness right now.

  Especially not when he’d as much as admitted that he wasn’t undergoing the Mesmer ritual because he didn’t trust himself around her.

  That he wanted her too much.

  That thought made her whole body hum with excitement.

  The healthy dose of fear that went along with it only seemed to add spice to the feeling.

  She knew all about the dragon’s mating for life. She’d seen Karla get sucked in, and had already decided to be damn careful not to get caught up herself.

  The dragon’s mating bond seemed even worse than human marriage. At least if you decided a marriage wasn’t working, you could back out of it. There was no backing out of a magical bond, no matter how much you ended up hating someone.

  The sort of feelings she was having towards Verrian couldn’t possibly last forever. Their intensity had to fade eventually. Then what would she be left with? Probably a whole parcel of brats. Like she’d make a good mother.

  No, she should be staying well away from Verrian.

  But she couldn’t help reminding herself that they’d only slept together once.

  They could do it again before they were in real danger.

  She shook her head. Verrian was right. They certainly shouldn’t sleep together right now if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.

  What if he was injured more seriously in the future? Her heart skipped a beat at that thought. But she forced her mind past the fear of encountering a dragon again, to consider the deeper issue.

  If she’d already slept with Verrian now, when it wasn’t necessary, and he was injured again, then there was no way she’d just let him die. She’d sleep with him again, even if it meant being bonded for life.

  That seemed like the worst possible thing to base a lifelong connection on.

  Even knowing all that, and even agreeing with it, it was hard to hide her disappointment that Verrian didn’t really need healing. She’d thought she had a really good excuse to sleep with him again.

  One that meant she didn’t have to admit that she just plain wanted to.

  Just her luck that her dragon didn’t need healing. Not like Karla. She’d had a reason to sleep with Taurian a second time.

  What was she talking about? Taurian had been nearly dead. She was certainly glad Verrian hadn’t been injured to that degree, because she’d had to bring him a lot further than they’d moved Taurian.

  It was good that Verrian could heal without help.

  Even if it did mean she didn’t have any excuse to sleep with him.

  She heaved a sigh. This was far more complicated than she’d imagined, even without taking her feelings into account.

  What was she going to do with Verrian here all day? Get him some clothes for starters, but that would have to wait until tomorrow. She could take one more day off work, then she’d have to go back. Better to save up as many leave days as she could. She might need them in the future.

  She stared around the apartment. Could she convince Verrian to stay here while she was at work all day? She could show him how to use the TV and computer, maybe that would keep him entertained. It would have to do.

  At least she didn’t have an issue with where he was going to sleep. She was relieved that she’d bought that sofa-bed after all, even though she hadn’t had a reason to use it up until now.

  Sleeping in the same bed would have just undone all their resolve to be sensible, she was sure of it.

  While Verrian was in the shower, she pulled out the bed and made it up with clean sheets. She was just finishing up when she heard the shower stop.

  She busied herself in the kitchen, not wanting to stare when he came out of the bathroom.

  Even so, she couldn’t help looking up.

  The white towelling robe covered everything adequately, but Lisa couldn’t help thinking that he was naked underneath it. That thought sent a hot flush through her.

  Verrian’s eyes, meeting hers, indicated that his thoughts weren’t far from the same idea.

  Lisa swallowed.

  It was so erotic, knowing he was thinking about this as much as she was. Knowing he wanted it as much as she did.

  Knowing they couldn’t.

  Intensely, frustratingly, crazily erotic.

  It was going to be a long week.

  “Is this where I’m sleeping?” Verrian asked. His eyes were dark, slitted dragon eyes.

  Lisa nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

  She grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and drank half of it, but the cool liquid didn’t put out any of the flame in her belly.

  It did make it easier to speak though. “Well, it’s been a long day, probably a good idea to get some sleep.”

  Verrian nodded, but he didn’t move towards the bed.

  Lisa would have to walk right past him to get to her own room.

  Taking a deep breath, she put the water bottle down and made her move.

  Verrian stopped her with a hand on her arm.

  Lisa stared up at him, his close proximity only fanning the flames.

  He was the one who had said they shouldn’t sleep together again. Didn’t he realise how much he was tempting her?

  Was he trying to?

  He stared down into her eyes, the fight just as obvious in his stance.

  “Thank you,” he said softly.

  His words didn’t make any sense. Was he thanking her for understanding why he wasn’t sleeping with her? What?

  Her confusion must have shown on her face, because Verrian elaborated. “Thank you for opening your home to me, and making sure I’m comfortable. It’s very kind.”

  Oh. That.

  He kept thanking her, as though he wouldn’t do the same thing in her situation.

  “It’s no trouble at all,” Lisa managed. She wanted to pull her arm out of his hand and retreat back into her room before she did something they’d both regret. Something like melting into him, getting as close as possible, and throwing caution to the wind.

  The same war showed in Verrian’s eyes.

  His head moved a little lower, his eyes on her mouth, his breath hot on her lips.

  Lisa’s heart beat a little faster. She should stop him, but she didn’t want to.

  Her mobile ringing loudly made her jump and broke the mood.

  Lisa fumbled for it in her pocket as Verrian stepped back.

  She hoped none of the disappointment showed in her voice as she answered without even looking at the number, “Yes?”

  “Lisa? It’s Karla. You called a couple of times. Is everything okay?”

  She’d forgotten all about calling Karla. A lot had happened since then. “Uh, not really. Well
, it is, but it wasn’t.”

  “What happened?” Karla demanded.

  The events of the last couple of days rushed through Lisa’s head. Where to start?

  There was only one place really. With the reporter who’d caused all their problems.

  “Rita published the photo of Verrian in the Mungaloo Chronicle.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line.

  Lisa added a few more details. “We had people showing up on my doorstep non-stop.”

  “But not Ultrima, right?”

  Lisa winced. She glanced over at Verrian, and couldn’t help being reminded that this was all her fault.

  She took a deep breath. No point in hiding it. “Not at the house, no, but we couldn’t stay there. My dad was furious, and almost threw us out. So when it was dark, we left.”

  “You left?” Karla demanded immediately. “Don’t you realise how dangerous that is? If you’re not around people, Ultrima is going to find you.” Her voice rose with every word.

  Lisa felt guilty. Karla had warned her, and she hadn’t listened. Before Karla could continue in the same vein, Lisa interrupted her. “He already did.”

  “What?”

  “We hid at the abandoned house, where we went with Taurian. I didn’t think anyone would find us there, but Paul was tracking me with his fiancée’s phone. I suspect the Trima dragon followed him.”

  “What happened?” Karla asked sharply.

  Lisa winced. “Verrian fought him. Not Ultrima, another dragon. Rita was there again too, she was with Paul, and took more photos. It was bad. But Verrian beat the other dragon and we escaped just as Ultrima arrived. He chased us all the way back to Mungaloo, but he stopped when we reached the town.”

  Lisa thought that was everything, wasn’t it? Oh. “And Paul sent the police after us, but we lost them.”

  “Is Verrian okay?” Karla demanded.

  Lisa looked him up and down. Now that the blood was washed off, she could see that his wounds weren’t all that bad. Not as bad as Taurian’s had been, anyway. “Yes, he says he’s fine, and will heal in a couple of days.”

  “Good.” Karla paused for a moment, then moved on to the other part of Lisa’s news. “So Rita took more photos? That’s a problem. I guess we’re going to have no choice but to confront her now. We can’t let those photos get out.”

  That, at least, Lisa didn’t need to feel bad about. “They won’t,” she said firmly. “I took her memory card. She doesn’t have any of the photos. And I think we talked her into not publishing the story in the future anyway.”

  “How?” Karla asked sharply.

  “By pointing out that if Ultrima isn’t trying to hide from the humans, then there is nothing to stop him flying into Mungaloo and blasting everyone. Since she’d been with us when we were chased by him, I think the dangers were pretty fresh in her mind.”

  “And you took the photos anyway, you said? So she doesn’t have any proof. That’s going to buy us some time at least. Good job, Lisa. I should have known we could count on you.”

  Karla’s words made Lisa feel good. Even if she knew she didn’t deserve it. “All we have to do is lay low,” she said.

  “Where are you now?” Karla asked. “Are you back at your parents?”

  There was no hiding it. “No, we left Mungaloo. We’re at my apartment. In the city. There wasn’t anywhere else to go.”

  Karla was silent again. Then she said slowly, “Actually, that’s a pretty good place for you to be. There’s no way Ultrima is going to risk going into the city. Are you right to hang out there for a while?”

  Lisa hesitated for a second. She could see a few problems with remaining here with Verrian for an extended period of time. Namely, she wasn’t sure how long they’d be able to resist each other.

  Somehow, she suspected that Karla wouldn’t be overly concerned about that. She was only worried about their physical safety, which Lisa didn’t think would be an issue.

  She’d have to deal with her attraction to Verrian herself.

  “Yeah, as long as we need,” she said.

  “That’s good,” Karla said. “Because things are a little crazy here. What with Chase and Wayrian being mated and…”

  Lisa’s hand clenched around the phone. “What?” she demanded. “Chase and Wayrian are mated?”

  She couldn’t hide the shock in her voice. She didn’t even try to.

  Two days. She’d seen Chase two days ago. He hadn’t even known Wayrian then. How could he be mated to her?

  There had to be something wrong. This wasn’t like the Chase she knew.

  “Yes, turns out he and Wayrian fell in love, and Ostrian was trying to keep them apart.” Karla’s voice was amused.

  Lisa wasn’t.

  “Put Chase on,” she demanded.

  They had to have blackmailed him into it somehow. Either Karla and Taurian, to try to keep the peace, or Wayrian and her grandfather. There was no way Chase could have changed that much in such a short amount of time.

  “I’m not sure he’s really in the mood for chatting right now.” The amusement hadn’t left Karla’s voice. In fact, she actually laughed. “I think he has other things on his mind.”

  Lisa could guess exactly what she meant.

  It wasn’t as if she hadn’t experienced that feeling herself. She had plenty of those sorts of thoughts on her mind whenever Verrian was around, but she’d known him the same amount of time and she certainly hadn’t convinced herself to mate with him. Not permanently anyway.

  “I’ll talk to her,” she heard Chase say in the background.

  A few minutes later, his familiar voice came over the phone. “Hey, Lisa.”

  For some reason, Lisa felt tears well up in the back of her eyes. “What’s this I hear about my favourite cowboy getting mated?” she said gruffly. It was hard to talk around the lump in her throat. She was happy for Chase, really, she was, but…

  “I know, a bit of a surprise, isn’t it?” Chase said ruefully. “I didn’t even see it coming. But… I love her, Lisa.”

  His voice softened as he said the words. She could hear the change in him.

  Something inside her shrivelled up a little. It wasn’t that she was jealous. Not of Wayrian.

  This was something different. Something she couldn’t even put into words.

  She and Chase had shared something, a kind of rebellion against the world that insisted you needed a relationship to be fulfilled. They’d shared an understanding that letting yourself care for someone was more likely to get you hurt than fulfilled.

  Sure, Lisa had rebelled by having a string of one night stands, and Chase had refused to date anyone, but the underlying theme had been the same. They didn’t need anyone else to make them happy.

  Now Chase had converted.

  She was in this rebellion alone.

  Or maybe not. She glanced over at Verrian, who was regarding her with concern in his eyes. He didn’t seem any more interested in a permanent relationship than she did. He was actively avoiding it by not sleeping with her, even to help heal.

  He was far more committed to staying single than Chase was. Obviously.

  “You’ve only known her for two days, Chase. How can you possibly be in love?”

  She could almost hear Chase shuffling his feet. “I know, it sounds crazy. But all I know is that I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”

  It seemed impossible, but it seemed he meant it.

  Lisa drew in a deep breath, sniffling a little. “Then I’m happy for you,” she managed to get out.

  She wasn’t going to cry. Chase deserved better than that. He deserved for her to really, honestly be happy for him.

  And she was.

  She just couldn’t help feeling like she might be missing out on something.

  And it wasn’t Chase.

  Chapter 3

  Verrian bit back a sigh. The apartment was very empty without Lisa in it, and it seemed much smaller. Verrian stared around the room,
wondering what he was going to do all day while Lisa was at work.

  She’d shown him how to use the big box that played moving stories, and the computer that accessed all the information in the world, but though he could follow Lisa’s instructions and turn them on, he wasn’t even sure what he might want to look at.

  In reality, all he could think about was that he missed Lisa.

  She’d said she would be gone until about five thirty. She’d explained what that meant on the clock. Verrian stared at it again, but the hand had barely moved.

  It was a long time.

  Verrian gave himself a shake. He needed to stop moping around. He wasn’t reliant on Lisa to pass the time. He’d managed perfectly well without her before he’d met her, and he would now.

  He just needed something to do.

  For a lack of anything better, he switched on the computer. Information could never be a bad thing. He’d decided to get to know more about the humans’ world, and this was his chance. But he’d thought he’d do it by mingling with people and immersing himself in their culture. Not by reading words on a page.

  Still, it was all he had. Now the only problem was, where did he start? Verrian picked a topic after his own heart, and typed in dragons.

  He was met with a surprising array of data, everything from stories and songs, to what appeared to be factual articles. For a while, Verrian trawled through the sites at random, reading a bit here, and a bit there, but he soon concluded that for every fact about dragons, there were mountains of disinformation. He was reasonably sure that no one actually knew about the true existence of dragons.

  However, the vast wealth of information on a subject that the humans didn’t even really believe proved one thing.

  It was clear that the human’s penchant for information would be the biggest threat. Verrian followed up his search with a few spot searches of random topics, not even bothering to follow links to articles.

  He quickly concluded that humans wanted to know everything about everything, studying animals big and small, and places far and near. Even other planets. Lisa was right, if they ever actually found out about dragons, they would want to know everything they could about them.