Breath of Fire Page 6

  Chloe read Jared’s distress as he stood, quickly pulled on his clothes and glided across the floor in two easy strides. An invisible band tightened around her heart as she sat there stock still watching him run off, the same way he’d run off the previous night.

  Sure, at first she’d thought what was between them was just a vacation fling, but with the way they’d made love and connected on a deeper level, she knew it was about so much more. Every fiber of her being told her Jared felt the pull as much as she did. Which made his retreat all the more confusing and painful.

  Why was he running away again? Had he been hurt in the past? Damned if she didn’t have every intention of finding out. Michael might have recently walked out of her life, and she’d stood back and watched him go because he wasn’t worth the fight, but Jared sure as hell was.

  He offered her a look full of intimacy as he exited the room and pulled the door closed behind him, and it was then that she saw his sadness and felt his fear. What was he afraid of? Her heart went out to him, and her bed felt empty and cold without his presence. God, she ached to touch him again, to have him touch her. Restless and needy she climbed from her mattress, pulled on her soft cotton robe and began pacing, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened.

  She moved to her window and stared up at the full moon. She and Jared had been so lost in each other’s arms that she hadn’t even realized that nighttime was upon them. Her stomach rumbled, a reminder that she’d missed a day’s worth of meals. She narrowed her eyes and scanned the grounds, looking for Jared and wondering where the few guests had gone. The cove was empty, the beachside bar deserted. Music drifted in on a breeze, and it was then that she remembered the evening festivities — bachata night in the ballroom. Off in the distance a slight movement on one of the footpaths caught her attention. If she hadn’t been looking, concentrating on her surroundings, she never would have noticed. The shadow disappeared into the trees than resurfaced near the tall fence erected at the foot of the mountain.

  She examined the shadow, studying the way it maneuvered around the trees smoothly, effortlessly. Then it seemed to be on the other side of the fence. She blinked, and caught of flash of something big and red beneath the moon rays before it disappeared up the mountain. Her brow furrowed, her head jerked back with a start. What the hell was that? A bird of some sort? She’d never seen a bird move quite like that before. And it was so big.

  Something jangled in the back of her mind. Her blood began tingling and she focused on the niggling, trying to understand what her subconscious was telling her. There was something so damn familiar about the way that shadow moved, they way it danced in the shadows. Suddenly her body rippled in remembrance.

  Jared…

  Her hand flung to her chest. Was that Jared she’d spotted moving in the shadows before climbing the fence and morphing into a big red thing that took to the mountain? Suddenly visions of a ferocious dragon flashed in her mind. She quickly pushed that ridiculous notion out of her head. She couldn’t deny that she’d seen something glide up the mountain and disappear into the skyline, but dragons didn’t exist. And surely to God it wasn’t Jared who she’d spotted moments before that…that thing…took flight. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her, probably because she was exhausted from the best sex she’d had in her life.

  Still, it wouldn’t hurt to investigate, and maybe she’d get lucky enough to meet up with Jared and entice him back into her bed so she could get to the bottom of his hasty exit and show him he had nothing to fear.

  Even though she craved Jared’s scent, wanting his rich aroma to linger on her skin so she could draw on it at whim, Chloe knew she needed another shower. After quickly washing and drying, she dressed in a pair of shorts and T-shirt, and made her way outside. The warm evening air hit like a tsunami wave and immediately dampened her skin.

  As she moved along one of the empty footpaths she listened for signs of nightlife and was surprised that all was silent. How odd. She made her way to the fence, to the exact location she’d spotted the shadow and ran her hand along the seams, looking for a way in, or over. Climbing the fence might not be her smartest move, but curiosity propelled her forward. That, and it’d be nice to confirm that the fence had only been erected to keep the guests safe. Right?

  Then what the hell was the big red thing she’d seen?

  She walked the fence carefully and cautiously, feeling a path with her hand until she came to a loose board. She pulled on it, and it popped open. Her breath caught, and her body tightened. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one had spotted her, then slipped behind the fence and pulled the loose board closed. Heart racing, she swallowed and worked to get her bearings before she carefully picked her way along the moss-covered ground. Up the mountain she trekked, thankful she’d kept up her cardio and fitness training, because the hill was damn steep, not to mention treacherous.

  As she neared the top, a loud noise, like a lion’s roar or a drunken man’s snore, curdled the air. The sound brought on a shudder and left her insides churning. What the hell was that? She pressed her back to a cluster of sizeable rocks and stepped around them. Before she realized what was happening, she lost her footing and a split second later she found herself dropping through the air and falling into a hole that seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

  She thrashed about and grabbed for stability only to end up with a fistful of thin air. Her heart raced, and her mouth grew dry, barely able to comprehend what was happening to her. As fright stole her ability to breathe, she took big heavy gulps, but still couldn’t seem to fill her lungs. Her descent continued, taking her deeper and deeper into a dank, dark pit, and as the mouth of the cave grew smaller, and smaller she feared she’d never make it out alive. Tears blurred her vision and strands of hair whipped against her face like a leather strap and hindered what little ability she had left to see. Unable to right herself as she struggled for balance, she sailed farther down into the pit of the cavern. Her life flashed before her eyes, and she opened her mouth to scream but no words formed.

  With a deafening thud, she surprisingly landed onto something fairly soft. She remained motionless, hardly able to believe she was alive as she worked to force oxygen back into her collapsed lungs. A sliver of light from the full moon cast a narrow beam downward, providing only a modicum of illumination. She gave herself a long time to adjust to the fall and to fight down the post-adrenaline rush before she tried to find her way out. Once her heart settled back into a steady rhythm, she mentally checked herself for broken bones, pleased to discover none as she silently berated herself for ending up in such a dangerous predicament.

  Below her, the ground shifted. Startled, her lids flew open and she forced herself to her feet, only to lose her balance under the moving floor and fall backwards. This time her fall wasn’t nearly as far, and her landing not nearly as soft. A heartbeat later a loud roar reverberated off the cavern walls. Chloe pressed her hands to her ears, fully aware that she was in very big trouble, very big trouble indeed.

  With her heart racing like she’d just run a marathon and her throat practically closing over, she narrowed her eyes and tried to sift through the dark. Her efforts weren’t necessary, because in that instant flames danced over the walls and lit the room up with noonday brilliance. The heat from the flame played over her skin. But it wasn’t the flames that frightened the hell out of her, it was the beast that made them.

  The…thing…before her looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. A wedge-shaped head with slanted eyes and giant nostrils led to a small mouth, with lips drawn back to expose razor-sharp teeth. It had an elongated body and a thick neck, with two twisted horns protruding backwards from its deformed skull. From the back of the shoulders reaching all the way to its massive tail was a pair of fiery red wings. Short limbs with four digits ending in claws brought it closer and closer to her.

  Oh. My. God. The legend. The dragon.

  7

  As Chloe gathered her
wits, her blood drained to her feet and her body went icy cold. The Ryuu dragon really did exist and she was going to die before she could tell anyone. Eaten by the ferocious fairy-tale dragon in its own lair. She squirreled backward until she hit the cold stone wall, which seemed to drain the last vestige of heat from her body. Her head spun to the left, then right. Trapped. With nowhere to go, she began scurrying along the wall, frantically looking for an opening, some small crevice in the stone so she could escape.

  Out of the path of the moonbeam and barely able to see anything in the dark, her foot hit a rock and her ankle twisted. Wincing, she fell to her knees. As the beast approached, its powerful tail hit the wall, sending chunks of rocks hurtling downward. The ground shook, and she instinctively shut her eyes in response.

  “Stop,” she murmured in a low voice meant to calm and relax, a task most difficult under the circumstances. Even though the dragon was much larger than any other animal she’d ever come across in the wild, she refused to go down without at least trying to soothe the beast, using the same methods she’d seen Jared use earlier that day.

  “Stop,” she repeated gently. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Her words seemed to trigger a reaction from the dragon. She inched her lids open and noticed that it had halted its forward approach. Fire trickled from its wide nostrils as it stood there, hovering over her like a predator sizing up its prey. The flames died as it put its nose close to her, inhaled, then inched back slightly and let out a deafening roar. Her mind raced, sorting through matters as she studied its behavior, and the way it seemed to withdraw from battle, yet keep its muzzle near her in a nonthreatening way. Perhaps dragons weren’t as ferocious as all those fairy tales led everyone to believe. After all, it could have attacked and eaten her by now. Hell, it could have taken out the whole island if it wanted to. Figuring nothing ventured nothing gained, she gathered her bravado, touched its muzzle and gave a gentle shove. “Go.”

  What happened next caught her completely off guard. Something that sounded like a bird’s wings fluttered and protectively curled around her. Her limbs weakened as the dragon dropped its head to the ground, its eyes on par with hers. It pulled her in close and just held her, and if she wasn’t mistaken she could have sworn it actually made a purring sound. Its fiery breath warmed the cool cave and seeped under her skin to push back the cold. When it exhaled, small fingerlike flames came from its nose. It was the light from that fire that enabled her to see the beast’s eyes. Emerald green edged in amber. Her heart faltered and her brain nearly shut down.

  Oh Lord, it couldn’t be. Could it?

  “Jared?” She tentatively touched the dragon, running her fingertips over the red wings, noting that the texture was identical to the swatch back at her room. The beast burrowed closer and nudged her with the tip of its mouth. She’d heard of werewolves and werecats, but never had she heard of weredragons before.

  She squeezed her eyes and then opened them again, wondering if she was caught in some wild and crazy dream. When her gaze locked on his, she knew it better than she knew her own name. The dragon and Jared were one and the same. “Jared, it’s you, isn’t it?”

  Her entire body began shaking, hardly able to believe that fairy-tale creatures were true, and she was in love with one. She stared at him slack-jawed, and could see the sadness in his eyes and the fear lingering in the depths. As reality dawned, it occurred to her just how alone in the world Jared really was, unable to forge relationships or have anything long term. Sure he was a fairy-tale creature, but he undoubtedly believed he could never have happily-ever-after.

  In a silent communication, his eyes blinked and his forked tongue came out to taste her skin. When his wings fluttered, she noticed the gaping hole. Although the tear had started to close and mend itself, she had no doubt that the swatch in her possession for a little over a month now had come from his wing, and that he’d recently been hunted. Good Lord, she could only imagine how the world would react to such an amazing discovery.

  Chloe knew if she unveiled the truth, it would take her from obscurity to making her mark in the research world. Isn’t that what she’d always wanted? As she contemplated her discovery, she studied the dragon and wondered how he’d stayed hidden from humans for so long.

  With a million questions going through her mind, she rested her head against him, feeling his chest move with his heavy breathing as he drifted off to sleep. With no way to escape, and feeling completely safe and protected in his arms, or rather wings, she eventually drifted off as well. Upon first light, Jared lifted her from the cave, gently placed her on the ground, and nudged her forward, loving and trusting her enough to keep his secret.

  After Jared’s body had recharged, and he was able to morph back into his human form, he used his underground tunnel and made his way down the mountain. Last night, with the change coming on rapidly, he’d been in too much of a hurry to take the long winding passageway to his lair, which was likely how Chloe had found him. She’d obviously been watching him, watching where he’d gone after leaving her bed. She must have spotted him slipping through the fence. Christ, he’d been around long enough to know he couldn’t afford to make such mistakes.

  Jared surfaced in the bowels of the hotel and walked to the lobby. He looked around for Chloe, wondering and worrying how she’d react to him today, and how she planned to handle his secret. He knew enough about her to feel confident that she’d never divulge his cover, but would she be completely repulsed by the dragon in him? He strolled to the beachside bar and helped with the morning-hour shift. Catching him by surprise, Chloe grabbed a stool at the bar. The two men from yesterday—the same two who’d questioned him about hunting the beast—also made an appearance.

  Chloe’s inquisitive blue eyes caught his and held. “Good morning, Jared. Sleep well?”

  So she was going to make small talk was she? He nodded. “You?”

  “Pretty good. I’m a little stiff though. My mattress felt like a bed of rocks.”

  Summoned by the men at the other end of the bar, Jared wiped his hands on his bar towel and turned his attention to them. “What can I get you two?” he asked.

  Despite the early hour, they both ordered vodka and orange juice, then one guy nodded toward the mountain. “So come on, tell us what you know about the dragon?” he coaxed.

  Chloe switched stools to move closer to them. “Good morning, Blair, Trey. I can tell you all about the dragon,” she assured them.

  Jared’s head jerked up with a start. What the fuck was she doing? “Chloe, don’t—” Jared bit out. Adrenaline pumped through his veins so hard he thought he’d black out.

  Chloe pulled the swatch from her pants. Jesus Christ. Jared’s nostrils flared as his mind raced. “You know what this is, boys?” she asked playfully. Their eyes lit up with interest and Jared just about leapt over the counter to take the swatch from her once and for all.

  She gave a light, easy chuckle. “It’s nothing more than the mutated caruncle from a wild turkey. Trust me, I’m a zoologist so I know. Some guy who’d recently visited here had been trying to pass it off as a dragon’s wing. Of all the stupid things.” She puckered her lips and flirtatiously touched her finger to one of the guy’s chest. “Now I just know you two are far from stupid.” She looked heavenward and laughed. “Neither one of you would fall for such a hoax.” Jared watched their chests puff up as she played them.

  “Now if you really want to hunt something, take a look over there.” She pointed toward two bikini-clad beach bunnies. “I think you’d have a much better time with them than chasing after a nonexistent dragon.”

  Nodding in agreement, the men left and made their way over to the girls. Once they were out of earshot, Chloe turned to him. Jared tossed his bar towel onto the counter and cupped her elbow. “We need to talk.”

  “Yeah, I kind of thought so.” She arched a knowing brow. “My place or yours?”

  He tossed his coworker a glance. “I’ll be back.”

  Silence fell over them
as he slipped his arm around her waist and hustled her into the main resort and up to her suite. Once behind closed doors, he turned to her, and the minute their eyes locked, everything inside him softened.

  Jared exhaled loudly. “You know you scared the shit out of me back there.”

  Her grin was coy. “Really, how?”

  He shook his head. “You know how.”

  “Think of it as a little payback for not telling me what you were.”

  “Chloe, I couldn’t—”

  “And now you can, because you know your secret is safe with me. In fact, I just proved to you that I can help keep your identity protected.” She gestured for him to sit. “Now tell me everything.”

  He let out a slow grateful breath, and conceded. “Where do I start?”

  She slipped her hand in his and led him to the bed. “How about at the beginning?”

  Chloe moved in close and the scent of her skin made it difficult to concentrate. Perhaps sitting on the bed wasn’t their best move. He scraped his hand over his chin and tried not to think about his expanding cock. Christ, he just couldn’t seem to get his fill of her.

  “Well?” she prompted.

  “Well, dragons existed long before man, and after man came along they quickly began to outnumber us. We’re not brutal and ferocious like the fairy tales make us out to be. But we are magical beings, Chloe. With a touch of our magic, we can provide a human with immortality. When man learned of our magic, and what we could do for them, they stopped hunting us, and we forged an alliance. Only problem was, there was no balance. They took too much from us, drained us of our magic, our very existence, for their own selfish needs.”