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  She leaned forward. “How long exactly?”

  Ah, the age old question every human eventually asked him. Experience had taught him discussing time with short-lived species always made them sad. He didn’t want her ever being like that around him. Yet, time would stalk her, unlike his race.

  “Long enough for me to think of this realm as my own.” He waved at the waitress and signaled for another bottle of sake, since theirs had emptied quite quickly.

  “Fine, Mr. Evasive, how did this become your job, then?” She jabbed a piece of sushi, spearing it viciously with both chopsticks, and offered it to him.

  He appreciated a ferocious streak in his females. Chewing the piece she’d fed him, he considered his toy–companion. “A long, long time ago, in a land far, far away–”

  She held up her hand. “Does this involve a man in a black outfit and helmet?”

  “It does!” He grinned as she rolled her eyes. “Except where I come from they use real swords, not those fancy light gadgets.”

  “Sabers.”

  He shrugged. “A dark knight tried to take over all of Outremer. I fought in the war against him.” It was a bloody time in the realm. His mother had thrived on the battles and he had learned there could be more to a dragon’s life than gold.

  “And you killed him?”

  “No, his son did, but the boy was my squire for many years before obtaining his own knighthood.” The good old days, the clash of metal against metal, the cries of the fallen, the wenching…

  “Ishi.”

  He blinked, returning to the present. “I may not have swung the killing stroke, but I led many armies against evil and trained even more warriors in my wake. When this gate lost its keeper, it called me. I’ve guarded it ever since.” Goblin hordes had killed the last keeper and almost taken over this island. The offer to fight and defend a helpless realm rang true with his soul when he’d agreed to it.

  “Fighting goblins and whatever else that comes through the gate, protecting us.” She took his hand in hers and pressed her lips to his knuckles.

  He scanned the room to see if anyone had noticed. “What are you doing?” Males kissed female’s hands. Not the other way around.

  She rubbed her cheek against his palm. “You’re a real live hero.”

  Laughing, he leaned across the table to kiss her lips before she could notice the blush burning across his cheeks. She had surprised him again. Touche. Settling back in his seat, he pinned her with his stare. “So, who’s dying?”

  She sat up straighter in her chair. “What do you mean?”

  “You came all this way to obtain the saji from me, a dragon. There has to be something big to drive you to this extreme. People don’t come looking for me, Sandra.”

  She fiddled with the edge of the tablecloth. “My little sister. Well, she’s not exactly little, she’s in her twenties, but she’ll always be little to me.” A small chagrined laugh escaped her. It endeared her to him, tying her strings around his heart even tighter. “Anyways, it’s cancer.” She glanced at him. “A wasting disease.”

  “I do read and have television. I have a clue.”

  “It’s non-operable. Chemo and radiation were shrinking the tumor in her head, but three months ago they found spots on her liver and lungs.” She clutched the pocket on the chest of her dress tight in her hands. “It’s her only hope.”

  “You have the saji with you?”

  “Yes, I didn’t want to risk leaving it in the den.”

  He leaned across the narrow table. “Why?”

  “You were in such a foul mood I wondered if you’d take me back to the den.”

  A drum began to pound inside his head in time to his heartbeat. “You still don’t trust me?” Her actions cut him deeper than any weapon ever had. Pain sliced through his chest where she’d been weaving herself around his deprived heart. Was all this aching worth it? First her leaving, now this. Sure, she made him happy, but she also gave him insurmountable distress. He grabbed her wrist across the table so she wouldn’t escape.

  “You’ve been tricking me ever since we’ve met.” She struggled within his iron gaze. “What do you expect?”

  He tossed enough bills on the table to cover three meals, and dragged her from the restaurant. Once outside in the cool air, he pulled her into the alley next to the restaurant for privacy and spun her to face him. “For fun, but nothing I did hurt you except maybe your pride. You should ship the saji to your sister instead of waiting for the plane flight. I’d pay for expediting the package. We could have it there by tomorrow morning and she’d be healed before you ever reached her bedside.”

  She stood up straighter as if poked by a sharp stick. “You’d do that?”

  A growl escaped him and he almost snapped his teeth. All this time, she thought him a monster, yet treated him like a person. Who was the one being tricked now?

  She jumped. “It’s doesn’t matter. I can’t ship it. No one believes in magic where I live. They’d never use it on her.”

  He retreated farther down the alley.

  “Where are you going?” She didn’t follow.

  “I’m taking you back to my den where both you and the saji will be safe until it’s time for your flight.” He shifted form, tucking in his tail so it wouldn’t roll out onto the street. The night should cover his flight well enough. Even then, most residents knew about him in some form.

  “I don’t think–”

  Not bothering to listen anymore, he snatched her in his claws and took flight. His injury was sore, but he could manage the short flight now.

  Sandra punched at his palm until a sharp pain ran up his finger.

  He winced. The bitch had bitten him.

  Chapter 13

  Watching his step, Ishi landed on the ledge, making sure not to squish his precious cargo, even though she had teeth small enough to pinch the skin between his fingers. What was he thinking when he’d admired her ferocious streak?

  He sat on his haunches and opened his hand, but Sandra didn’t tumble free.

  She bit down even harder.

  “For the love of all that’s golden, let me go.” He shook his arm and watched as she dangled from his flesh like a human turned pit-bull. He brought her up to his face. “That hurts.” With his claws, he plucked her by the dress and yanked her off.

  The sound of material tearing filled the silence. Sandra slipped from his grasp and landed hard on the stone ledge with an umph.

  Shifting to human form, he raced to her side. “Sweetie, did I hurt you?” He rolled her over. Only his centuries of training saved him from the punch she swung in his direction.

  “You jerk!” She rolled to her feet, not an easy task in a torn dress, and he marveled at her grace. Her sleeve hung loose, exposing the smooth pink skin of her shoulder. Stepping forward, she took aim again.

  He caught her fist in his hand. “Easy, Rambo.”

  “Stop lugging me around like baggage. I thought you were too injured to fly.” She attempted to jerk her hand from his grip with no result.

  Her struggles ignited something primal in his dragon soul. It bloomed deep in his gut and he fought the strange urge to–to mark her. “I heal fast.” He tugged her into his arms and held her tight against him. His arousal was hard and ready, pressing into her thigh.

  Damn it, he should have recognized the signs before now. He’d seen enough males of his race go through this. He was courting her as a mate. His stupid animal instincts were so powerful. He wanted to take her against the ledge wall and rut with the passion of his kind.

  “Let go.”

  “Why? You didn’t when I asked.” He stopped her acid response of foul language with a kiss, plundering her mouth with his tongue. He expected her to bite it, was a pinch disappointed when she didn’t. Instead, she swung her knee between his legs.

  His balls screamed in silence just before he blocked the cheap shot. “Easy, I have plans to use those.” With a simple move, he bent her over his shoulder and carried her
to the bedroom. He understood her need to return home, but he’d leave his mark so she’d remember to come back.

  “Put me down.”

  He winced as her fists pounded against his back, her legs flailed about, their odd angle the only reason he didn’t receive a black eye from a well placed kick.

  “You ogre!”

  Ignoring her, he captured her legs with one arm, tilting up until she squealed and grasped at the back of his shirt.

  “Is there a problem with your hearing? Let me go, Ishi.”

  He didn’t answer.

  “What are you so upset about? So I took the saji with me.”

  That she had showed just how much she trusted him. He’d thought they were progressing in their courtship. He’d lured her into his den, helped her shed her fear of him, seduced her and yet, she still treated him like–like some common thief.

  She made a frustrated noise and slapped his back.

  “While you’re at it, can you slap a little lower?” He slid her farther along his back so she’d have better access to his ass.

  She went limp.

  He passed through the threshold of the bedroom and paused to glance over his shoulder. Had she passed out? “Sandra?”

  She began to shake.

  Gently, he knelt to set her down, but she swatted him on the ass before he released his hold. The sound of her laughter finally reached his ears.

  Sliding onto his knee, she grinned. “You’re impossible.” She leaned and pressed a tender kiss on his forehead. The gesture meant more to him than any blowjob or fuck.

  He closed his eyes at the soft feel of her lips and sighed. Nothing would keep him from claiming her. If she didn’t come back, he’d fly across the ocean to find her. No matter how many times the gate returned him here, he’d go out and try again. “Remember that trait, Sandra. You’ll never escape me.”

  “Why would I ever want to?” She rose to her feet and meandered to his bed. When she pivoted toward him, he saw she’d already undone the buttons running down the front of her dress. She let it slip to her feet. The saji clanged again the stone floor.

  They both stared at it.

  The symbol of their separation.

  It didn’t matter. Her reason for leaving was honorable. He could wait. He picked it up, set the spoon on the bedside table. “It’ll be safe here.”

  She ran her hand over his forearm, leaving a trail of heat on his skin. “I know it will be.” Squeezing her hand, she drew closer until she pressed against his side. “I’m sorry. I do trust you.”

  He met her wide-eyed stare and raised his eyebrow. “Prove it.”

  * * * *

  How? What could she possibly do to make him understand she’d seen the error of her ways? Sandra trusted him with her sister’s life, and her own. She had to work past her first impressions, but he’d left a memorable mark with his tomfoolery. “Will you swear, no more pranks?”

  His frown grew deeper. “They were only in fun. None of them hurt you.”

  She laughed at his defensive tone. “No, only my pride took damage.” She took the saji and placed it in his hand. “Give it to me when I leave.” Before she left, she needed to find the guts to tell him her true feelings for him, but courage was fleeting in the wake of her emotional storm.

  He twirled the old, tarnished spoon along his fingers, possibly capable of destroying it with a single fist. “Okay.” With a flip of his wrist, he sent it flying in the air.

  She gasped. Her heart fainted dead in her chest.

  He caught the precious artifact before it hit the table and then gently set it on the surface.

  For a moment, the muscles in her neck wouldn’t relax, seizing at a vision of the saji shattering. He wasn’t human. She couldn’t expect him to have slow reflexes like one, so there was never any chance of him really dropping it, right? She took a deep, calming breath and met his gaze before punching his arm, again.

  “Ow, stop that.”

  “You want me to react this way, or you wouldn’t keep teasing me.”

  Scooping her in his arms, he grinned. “You’re right. It’s too much fun otherwise.” He set her on the bed. “Let’s see what other reactions I can coax from you.”

  He undressed, tossing his clothes in whatever direction, all the while pinning her with one of his extremities or another. “Do you want things hard or gentle?”

  “Does it matter? I think whatever I answer, you’ll do the opposite.”

  “Or I could do what you want just to surprise you.” A touch of playful evil tugged at the corners of his lips.

  Her traitorous body responded, all shivery with wanton desire. It liked the macho, alpha stud act. Damn, he made her feel alive and potent, beautiful and dynamic. The Sandra from the Midwest who’d arrived on this island had been a gray blob of boring until she met Ishi. Now, she was colored with passion, anger, and joy.

  For the first time in her life she realized her full potential.

  He straddled her hips and gripped the front of her bra with both hands. With a sharp tug, he ripped it apart.

  She gasped at the sheer power and hunger that radiated from his body. His cock stood erect from his body, hard and thick. Very ready to take her in any way he wanted.

  He fell upon her breasts. Sucking, tugging at her nipples, fondling her flesh as if in carnal worship. His groans and thrusts against her thigh were his prayers.

  Her cries joined in. She spread her legs so she could draw him closer in her embrace, to give herself over to him completely.

  Guiding her hands, he set them on the handgrips at the bottom of the headboard. “Don’t let go.”

  Someone set loose a bunch of squirrels in her stomach when she clutched those wooden handles as if her life depended on it. She’d been fantasizing about this headboard ever since she’d seen it, and wanted to watch him unleash his draconic passion.

  Heat radiated from Ishi’s body in waves as he hovered so close the small hairs on her skin rose as if aching for his touch.

  Sweat beaded her skin, and he licked at the small drops pooling along her collarbone as if savoring her taste. The delicate caress conflicted with the hard need he ground against her core. His hand traveled over her abdomen. Anticipation tingled ahead of his fingers until they slipped inside her panties and cupped her mound.

  He ran the rough tip of his tongue over her jaw line and as he reached her ear he whispered, “I took you like a man yesterday. Now I want you with a dragon’s appetite.”

  Her hips jerked when he tore her panties off, leaving a burn around her thighs.

  Before she could gasp, he entered her with a hard stroke until his balls pressed against her ass.

  She arched her back, never letting go of the headboard, at the combination of bliss and sting. A moan crept from her throat as she tried to remember how to breathe. He filled her. Oh God. It burned, yet stretched in such a good way.

  He built his rhythm from a letting-her-warm-up pace to I’m-going-to-fuck-your-brains-out pounding.

  Things she’d never thought she would say came out of her mouth in a flood of fuck me’s and oh yeah baby’s.

  His mouth found hers, sending the room into silence.

  Closing her eyes, her world went fuzzy, the pleasure so intense she bucked and thrashed against the onslaught of sensory overload. She gave him everything she had as he thrust and teased and penetrated.

  Except release escaped through her grasp and she couldn’t fall over the cliff’s edge into orgasmic heaven. Desperation made her yank from his kiss with a sob.

  He must have sensed her frustration, since he surged against her, spreading her legs wider and bending them to his chest, cranking her into a tight ball. His hands landed over hers, gripping the handholds. He drove deeper inside her, harder, faster.

  Pinned in this position left her completely in his control. She didn’t want him to slow, but it forced her to trust him completely.

  She watched his powerful body work above her, his abs undulating as he took he
r with a primal hunger.

  His grunts began to sound more like growls as he arched over her, sweat streaming down the length of his chest. The headboard banged the wall with a tribal beat. Heavy breathing sawed in their throats. She rode his desire, taking him. With a roar, he orgasmed, his cock kicking violently, and took her along for the ride.

  The blinding bliss of her climax was interrupted by someone screaming.

  Her.

  Something crashed.

  Maybe one of the bedside tables?

  When he slowed and partially collapsed on her, she finally pried her fingers from her hold. She was soaked and her limbs made of noodles.

  The nightstand on the other side of the bed had fallen. Ishi lifted his head and met her blurry gaze. “Ready for round two?”

  His question sent dragon coils of hunger twisting through her exhausted body. “Damn straight I am,” she answered between gasps for oxygen.

  Chapter 14

  Next morning, Sandra collapsed on the bed, sweat trickling over her skin. Her lungs heaved with the need for cool air. The more her dragon exerted himself, the hotter the air grew in the chamber.

  Ishi lay next to her, staring at the ceiling. He’d been so attentive to her needs during the night. Coaxing her confessions of her darkest fantasies, then satisfying them. Did he really care about her? It was hard to imagine.

  She wasn’t a fairy princess or anything special. Why had he pursued her? Did he really want to her to come back? If she returned and he shunned her, it would tear her to shreds. He was asking for so much trust. To peel open her heart and soul to him, a creature who ate those things for breakfast on regular basis. What if this was all a cruel dragon game?

  “You’re far away, what are you thinking about?” He had rolled over, with his hand supporting his head, as she had spaced out.

  She cleared her throat. “Stuff.”

  “Seems serious.” He ran a finger over the bridge of her nose. “Don’t shut me out.”

  She had closed him off, but it was so hard to peel away her defensive layers. “Why–why me? I’ve seen all the beautiful women on this island and I don’t even know about those on the other side of the gate.” Her voice faltered and she dragged her gaze away from his. The pounding in her chest didn’t come from exertion. The room felt too big. All of it, the den and the volcano were too much for her to exist in.