Arsenic Dragon Read online

  “So this element thing. You’re poisonous, but not to me?”

  “It’s carefully controlled, but yes, it’s in my blood. Part of me. We are named for the element in our blood that gives us our powers.”

  “Powers?”

  “For me, the poison on my daggers and the daggers themselves. Though, I have other abilities. That’s just the tip of them, so to speak.”

  She shuddered. “So you’re even more dangerous than I thought.” She gave him a playful look, the wine loosening her inhibitions slightly. “That’s kind of hot.”

  He let out a choking noise and then pulled at his collar, loosening it slightly. “It appears to be a bit warm in here.”

  She snorted and signaled for the waitress to bring them more wine. When the food came, she took it as a chance to sober up a bit.

  “So what about you?” he asked. “Is it off-limits to ask about your family?”

  “I don’t have one,” she said. “I emancipated myself at sixteen, put myself through nursing school. My parents are meth dealers, and I’m lucky to have escaped them. They’re on the other side of the country.” She poked at her green beans. “As much as I once tried to save them, I realized I could only truly save myself.”

  “As I thought, you’re very strong,” he said.

  “Thank you,” she said, pushing the beans around again. No matter how well cooked they were, she didn’t really feel like eating them.

  She was shocked when he reached over, picked up her fork, speared a bean, and brought it to her mouth. She parted her lips, and he gently fed it to her, depositing it in her mouth and withdrawing the fork to pick up another.

  She couldn’t have blushed harder if she tried, but for some reason, she let this hot guy feed her. For some reason, the food tasted better this way. Maybe it was the way the wine made her appreciate the vivid color of his eyes.

  Maybe it was the warmth in her body that came from him taking care of her so intimately.

  Maybe it was just the effect of the tension that had been building between them.

  As if he sensed it, too, he suddenly set the fork down and turned back to his plate, eating his steak.

  She picked up her napkin and dabbed the sides of her mouth, willing her breath to return to normal and her heart to stop pounding.

  “So… an assassin. Is that because of your element? Are all dragons like you assassins?”

  “No,” he said, shaking his head, making his lush hair bounce slightly.

  She was feeling… Was she feeling horny? She sent a suspicious glare at the wine glass, but deep down, she knew it was more than that.

  She had a deep admiration—attraction—for this man.

  It was his turn to poke at his beans. “I’m the only one of my kind to make anything of myself. I worked hard to become the top assassin in my country and then earned my way to the palace, where I worked for the king directly. I’m also the second-in-command of the dragon guard.” He reached for his wine and took a long sip, studying her with those implacable green eyes over the top of it. “Though, I would say I’m probably the most dangerous.”

  “Is that why you volunteered to come here?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “To protect me? Instead of one of the others?”

  He set his glass down and ran a long finger around the rim of it. “I don’t know how to answer that.”

  She slid a hand across the table, over his. He let out a hiss, but didn’t pull away, and she looked blearily into his eyes. She could feel the pull of the wine, but she knew it couldn’t amplify something that wasn’t there.

  There was something between them. More than bodyguard and charge. She knew it.

  Did he?

  “I… should probably take you home,” he said, finally pulling his hand back, leaving her fingers bereft of his warmth. “It appears you are feeling the wine.”

  She shook her head, but couldn’t do much as he signaled the waitress, paid the bill, and added a tip at her advice. Then he helped her out of the booth, basically putting her coat on for her as he guided her back out into the snowy darkness.

  She looked up at the starry sky. “It’s a beautiful night,” she said only slightly drunkenly. She swung around to face him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him tight as he struggled slightly to pull back. “Hey, kiss me.”

  “What?” he asked, eyes going wider than ever before as he tried to extricate himself without hurting her.

  “I’ve seen how you look at me. Don’t say you don’t want to kiss me.”

  “I…” He trailed off, looking to the side. “It wouldn’t be right.”

  “Because I’m drunk?”

  “Because of lots of reasons,” he said.

  Then he surprised her by reaching up and tenderly brushing a few loose tendrils off her forehead. He leaned in and kissed her forehead, his lips fairly searing her skin. “There. I kissed you.”

  She looked up at him drunkenly. “That doesn’t count.” On her tiptoes, she tried to get high enough to catch his lips, but he leaned back out of reach. “Party pooper.”

  “I haven’t defecated,” he said, looking disgusted.

  She released and stepped back, hands over her stomach, laughing at the ludicrousness of her situation. “It’s just a saying,” she said, recovering her senses for a moment and looking back up at the stars.

  “A gross one,” he said.

  “I agree,” she said breathlessly. “You know, it’s good to be free again. Confused but free.” Then she stumbled to the side, losing her footing, and found herself swept up in Arsenic’s arms.

  She cuddled in against him. “Ooh. Comfy.”

  He let out a groan, but when she looked up, she could see he was smiling. “You’re trouble, human. You know that?”

  She nodded. “I guess so. Probably shouldn’t get drunk again.”

  “Probably not,” he said. “Then again, I have to admit it was kind of… fun.”

  “Huh?” she asked groggily, feeling as if his chest might be the perfect place for a nap. She was so warm and well-fed and…

  She drifted off for a moment and came to as she realized he was shifting her to one arm so he could unlock the passenger door to deposit her inside the car.

  “You can drive?”

  “I’ve been studying,” he said. “I should do fine. I can’t fly you home, anyway.”

  She gazed at him in awe. “You can fly?”

  He looked at her wryly. “Dragon.”

  “Oh, right. Dragon. Big, sexy, hunky, protective… dragon.” Then, taking advantage of her proximity to his face as he leaned over the car, holding her in one arm, she reached up and stole a kiss, pressing her lips over his.

  His mouth was warm, his lips carved, soft and hard at the same time. She heard him catch his breath as he broke away, looking down at her with more confusion and less consternation than she’d expected.

  If anything, he just looked… lost.

  It made her feel slightly guilty, but the lust that had been unlocked by the wine had only been stirred by the kiss, and she wanted another one.

  This time, he evaded, getting the door open, setting her on the seat, and slamming her seatbelt over her, keeping her in place.

  “That should hold you, unruly human,” he muttered before he got in on the driver’s side and buckled himself in. “Now,” he said, looking at the gear shifter. “Which one is drive?”

  She looked at him blankly and then frowned. “Oh no. We’re going to die.”

  “No, we aren’t,” he said through gritted teeth, putting the shifter in the proper gear and pulling away jerkily from their parking spot. “There’s no way either of us is going to die.”

  She sighed and relaxed against the door, letting the wine and fatigue from her big day overcome her. If she couldn’t get anything from the sexy dragon, sleep was the next best thing.

  But just as she drifted off, she thought she heard him muttering,

  “The only one who’s going
to die is me if you kiss me again. Damn.”

  She grinned at that and let sleep take over.

  Chapter 12

  The next morning, Farrah woke up groggily, vaguely remembering being ushered to bed by Nic after their dinner and her drunken antics afterward.

  She leaned forward over her knees, rubbing her hands over her face, wiping sleep and regret from her eyes.

  Had she really come on to Nic? And had it really been a mistake, something to regret?

  Yes, she’d had wine, but her attraction to him had been building. Sure, part of it was that shifters were naturally more attractive than most human males could hope to be, but she’d never cared about that when they’d been jerks like the ones who captured her.

  But with someone kind, thoughtful, caring like Nic, it was a little hard not to fall for them.

  And it wasn’t just his looks or strength; it was the way he didn’t know how to take compliments, the way he didn’t seem to have any idea how good of a person—well, dragon—he was. He understood his strength and that he was good at his job, but he didn’t seem to understand the other things that were good about him and so rare.

  Rare amongst humans and she guessed among shifters as well.

  He hadn’t once tried to come on to her, and even with her drunk and coming on to him, he hadn’t tried to pull anything with her.

  Was he not attracted to her or something? She rumpled her sheets frustratedly, not having any idea. And why was it so important when she intended to forget it all anyway?

  Perhaps because last night, for the first time in so long, it felt like she was starting to live.

  She sighed, stretched, and decided to go downstairs and eat breakfast before her shower. She also wanted to check on Arsenic, make sure he was okay after last night. Would he be… mad?

  That seemed unlikely, but she could imagine she’d been frustrating.

  She threw a robe on over her pajamas and tied the belt around her waist, then crept down the stairs, listening for now-familiar sounds in the kitchen.

  Sure enough, she heard the clanking of dishes that meant Arsenic was cooking breakfast.

  So maybe things would be business as usual?

  When she walked into the kitchen, she was surprised to see him in a robe as well, a black one with black flannel pants underneath. He looked over his shoulder at her and then pulled a plate from the cupboard and shoveled eggs and bacon from it before setting it on the table.

  The he turned back to the cooking and spoke to her with his back turned. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  “Fine,” she said. “A little headachy, but that’s normal. I drank a bit too much. I guess I’m a lightweight.”

  He nodded. “You should be more careful in the future. What if I’m not around?”

  She didn’t like the sound of that. “Yeah.”

  He served himself a plate and came to sit at the table on the opposite end. “Anything I can do for you?”

  “No, you’re already doing enough,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

  “I’m not doing much of anything,” he said, poking at his eggs. His dark hair was a little wild, as if he’d showered and slept on it, and it gave him a look somewhat like a caged animal.

  Like all of his looks, it was still hot.

  His green eyes were hesitant, almost nervous. “I haven’t had a chance to be of much use since the day at the Christmas tree lot. Not that I really want you to ever be threatened or anything.”

  “Nonsense. You’re doing a lot,” she said, taking a bite of her eggs and smiling at him as she chewed. “Helping me live again, for one thing.”

  “How so?” he asked, looking slightly suspicious.

  “I mean, lots of ways. Listening. Holding me. Taking me out into the world and reminding me I can still do all the things I like doing.”

  “Oh, good,” he said. “That makes me feel better, then.”

  She gulped down enough of the eggs and bacon that he hopefully wouldn’t gripe about it and then slid over a chair to be closer to him. She put a hand over his on the table and watched carefully as his gaze widened in alarm.

  She knew this was forward. That she shouldn’t be doing it. So why did the feel of his skin against hers feel so right?

  He swallowed slowly. “What are you doing?”

  She rubbed her hand slowly over his, feeling the velvety skin that was just slightly coarser than hers. “It’s just… Something odd has been happening. While I was captured, I forgot my body was mine. I forgot it was anything but an experiment, a capsule of pain for inserting syringes, to be stripped or invaded or studied without my say-so. I found myself slowly detaching from it, as if it didn’t belong to me anymore. As if somehow making it not a part of me any longer made everything easier to bear, because it wasn’t happening to me.”

  He nodded, looking at her carefully, and she was grateful that he didn’t take his hand away, though he made no attempts to further their contact.

  “And, um… lately, with you, the past couple of days, something odd has been happening. I not only feel my body again, but I want to. I look at you and I want to do things I never thought I would again because they involved my body. I look at you and I’m not just a spirit and a body. I just feel my urges, my feelings, my need coursing through me, like there’s no separation anymore.” She rubbed his hand gently and then squeezed it, staring into his green eyes, which were now blazing. “When I touch you, I come alive.”

  “Damn,” he said through gritted teeth, pulling his hand back. “Don’t get me wrong. Anything I can do to help you makes me feel amazing, but I think I’ve reached the limits of where I can help. I’m here to protect you, not take advantage.”

  She grabbed his hand, pulling it back, and he didn’t struggle. “If anything, it’s me taking advantage of you. Because I know what I want, and it would help me, but I know it isn’t exactly a fair position to put you in. I mean, you didn’t come here for this… and who knows if you’re even attracted to me?”

  “What?” He jerked slightly, sitting up taller and pulling his hand back to fold his arms. “What gave you that impression?”

  “You haven’t… I mean, you don’t look at me like…”

  “I’m not an animal,” he said. “I have control of my urges.”

  She pressed her lips together. “Then…”

  “I still don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said.

  “Is it even possible between humans and dragons?” she asked.

  “I can fuck you, if that’s what you’re asking,” he said tersely.

  She let out a tense laugh. “No, I mean… is that why you aren’t—”

  “Aren’t what?”

  “You haven’t come on to me. At all. You turned me down flat. You said it was because I was drunk, yes, but lots of other reasons.”

  “I told you,” he said flatly. “I am not here to take advantage of you. As for if it’s possible, of course it is. How else would my brethren in the dragon guard be with their mates?”

  “But what if she’s not your mate?”

  He cocked his head. “We can fuck whoever we want. Whether we want to is another question.”

  She sighed and sat back in her chair. “So I was right. You don’t want me.”

  He’d left his chair and was next to her in a second, leaning over to place his hands on the table, crowding her in against it. “You know nothing about what I want.” His breath tickled the side of her neck, and she felt totally frozen by need.

  She wanted to turn around, pull his lips down onto hers, drink him in, and feel utterly alive again.

  But it had to be his choice, too.

  “What do you want, then?”

  “If things were simple, if things were different, I’d want to fuck your hot little cunt until you couldn’t walk straight, ‘til you couldn’t speak anything but my name, think of anything but needing my touch,” he said against her ear, tickling it and creating a pool of need that was warm and urgent inside her
, making her squirm.

  Then he stepped back as if he’d made his point. He walked to the counter and leaned back against it. If he thought he’d scared her, he was so, so wrong.

  “What if I want that?” she asked. “What if it is simple? How can things be different?”

  “You’d want that?” he asked, looking astonished. “You are asking me to separate this from my feelings. To do it as a purely physical act. Without care for you.”

  “Feelings?” she asked. “You barely know me.”

  “It doesn’t take any time for a dragon to find his mate. Feelings follow quickly.”

  “I’m not your mate, though,” she said.

  There was silence between them.

  “So does that mean we can’t?”

  “It just means it will be hard,” he said.

  “What if you just kiss me first? If it doesn’t feel right, if you don’t want to, we’ll stop.” She got out of her chair and walked toward him. “We’re both single. We’re trapped together for now, and this can at least release our frustration.”

  “You deserve more than a simple release of frustration,” he said, expression tight as she drew closer. Now she was the one trapping him, pinning him against the counter as he looked down haughtily.

  But she could tell he was affected. His pulse was hammering at the base of his muscled neck. His hands were white where they were clenching the counter. His whole expression was just too tense, as if he were holding back more than he would ever let on.

  “Come on. One kiss,” she said. “You may say I deserve more than a release of frustration, but that’s all I want now. It’s all I can have.” She bit her lip and pulled it slowly through, watching his tortured reaction. “It’s what I need.”

  That seemed to do it, and with an uttered curse, he finally pushed away from the counter and caught her head gently in both his hands, forcing her to look up at him.

  “Don’t you understand? One kiss and then stopping… I’ll never be able to do it…”

  “I’m counting on it,” she said, parting her lips slightly and running her tongue along the lower one in invitation. She’d never been so sure about wanting anything, about something being right. She’d never have guessed she would come this far in such a short period of time, but just being with him was… healing her.