Gambling on Her Dragon (Charmed in Vegas Book 2) (14 page)

“You what?” Kaya had screeched.

Trey shook his head, just thinking about it.

Karen looked at her feet. “Look, I’m grateful you got me away from the vampires, but…”

“But what?”

“It’s hard to explain…” Karen went on.

Kaya stuck her hands on her hips. “We just busted our asses to get you out of there. You could have died.
Trey
 could have died.” She glowered at her sister and spoke in a growly voice a lot like her dragon’s. “You sure as hell better explain.”

Karen had shot him an uncertain look, then dragged Kaya out of earshot and proceeded to wave her arms, flick her fingers, and explain.

Trey didn’t know what she was on about, but in the end, Kaya hadn’t pushed her, so he hadn’t either.

“Just swear you’ll stay away from the slot machines,” Kaya had finally said, catching Karen in a huge hug.

“I swear,” Karen promised, her voice muffled by her sister’s shoulder.

He looked in the mirror and squeezed Kaya’s hand. “You think she’ll be okay?”

“She’d better be okay,” Kaya said, more in a sigh than a growl.

He sure hoped so. He’d had enough of Vegas for a lifetime.

And so there they were, just the two of them, heading north in a 1962 Jag.

A sign for Reno flashed by. “You tempted?” Kaya asked, crooking an eyebrow at him.

He snorted. “Not in the least.”

“Really? The way you played in Vegas, you could easily pick up a couple of thousand bucks.”

“And more trouble.” He shook his head then pulled her knuckles in for a kiss. “Got all the winnings I need right here.”

She smiled her movie-star smile. “You only won one thing.”

“The best one,” he said, and he meant it. A sign for a rest stop blurred by, and he pointed. “Pull over.”

She looked around. “But we already filled the tank…”

“Just pull over.”

She put on the blinker, took the off-ramp, and headed for the gas station.

“Around the back,” he murmured.

She drove into the curtain of shade behind the building, shut off the engine, and turned to face him. “What do—”

He cut her off with a kiss and pulled her into his lap. Not an easy operation in the tight front seat of the roadster, but a second later, he had her nestled perfectly against his body. Too perfectly, because his wolf was getting bad ideas again.

Good ideas
, the wolf growled.
Like marking. Mating. Making her ours for good.

“Soon,” he whispered.

“Soon, what?” She kissed his brow and snuggled closer, straddling him.

He chuckled. “Pretty soon, this wolf isn’t going to be able to wait any more.”

“Oh, yes?” she teased in a seductive voice. “Wait for what?” One finger ran down his stomach and played with the button of his jeans.

He kissed her neck. Licked the spot he already had scoped out as the perfect place. Nibbled it a little, then whispered against her skin.

“To make you mine.”

She tipped his head up and looked deep into his eyes. “I already am yours.”

As if his cock wasn’t already straining at the seams of his jeans.

“All the way, mine,” he said, nibbling again. “Forever.”

“Now let me see…” She worked her hands over his shoulders and behind his back, gently massaging the sore spots. “You bite me…”

“Mm-hmm.” He nodded, fluttering kisses over her throat. God, her skin was soft.

“…just deep enough to draw a little blood and make us mates…”

He traced the sinews of her neck with his nose. God, she smelled so good.

“…and what exactly is in it for me?”

She was teasing, but he still gulped. What exactly was in it for her? She’d be stuck with him forever. A bruised-up shifter who was good at cards and rustling cattle, with vague plans for a place of his own someday. Okay, not such vague plans, but without enough cash to buy the land he needed. Crap, what did mating really get her?

“…other than my favorite wolf, I mean,” she went on.

His wolf wagged its tail.

“And other than fabulous sex.” She tightened her legs around his hips.

Now that she put it that way…

“Other than a guy who makes me feel like I’m the greatest reward…”

He worked his kisses up to her jawline. “You are the greatest reward.”

“Other than the perfect mate for me and the life I always wanted, working a small place in Wyoming,” she concluded, tipping her forehead to his. “Other than all that, what exactly is in it for me?”

“Well…” His tongue flopped around a little, because his soul was still bouncing around in a happy dance, and he couldn’t quite gather his thoughts. “We still need to figure out a way to get that small place in Wyoming. We lost the cash, you know.”

The sign for Reno flashed in his mind. He hated the idea, but…

“Forget it,” she said. “The main thing is, we have each other.” Her hands cupped his face, and her face glowed, like that was all she really needed.

He was just getting ready to dive into those luscious lips when she broke into a huge grin. “And hey, we have the car.”

He laughed and shook his head. “You sure do like this car.”

“I do,” she said, leaning back and twisting in his lap. “You want to know why?”

He pulled her back, not ready to give up the contact just yet, but she wiggled away and fumbled with something in the glove compartment.

“Um, because it was your grandfather’s car and he left it to you?”

She faced him again, holding a manila envelope up like a lottery ticket. “Want to know what else he left me?”

Trey pursed his lips, wondering what was in there. Season tickets to the local college games? A cryptic sketch marking the way to an old, exhausted mine? Love letters to her grandmother?

She pulled a sheaf of papers out and unfolded them. Thick, extra-long papers with swirly script at the top and a big red seal on the bottom. He squinted and read the hand-printed text on the dry parchment.

Land deed?

She nodded. “The deed to a property my granddad’s uncle owned. Three thousand acres, backing right up to the Wind River Range. Hasn’t been worked in generations.” She raised an eyebrow as if in challenge.

He took the paper out of her hand and gaped at it.

“He left it to you?”

“He left it to me. Well, to Karen, too.”

His heart started thumping a little harder. “And you were planning to…?”

“To start it up again once I had a business partner to run it with. And since Karen isn’t interested…”

He caught both her hands in his. Stared into her eyes. Caught a breath. Didn’t quite dare answer.

“There’s a little log cabin next to a mountain stream…” she went on.

The heavy parchment of the deed and the dreamy tone in her voice had his imagination galloping away. He knew enough about ranching to get started, and his cousin could help him fill in the gaps. He and Kaya could hole up there over the coming winter and figure out their priorities. He had some savings, which would be a start. Come spring, the two of them could get to work in earnest and…

“So what do you say?” She seemed to be holding her breath, too.

He tried to joke away the lump in his throat. “You think a dragon and a wolf could get along long enough to make it work?”

She grinned. “I think a dragon and a wolf are just what that place needs.”

He kept up the easy grin a moment longer, then crushed her against his chest in a hug so tight, it hurt his ribs. But whatever. The only thing that mattered right now was keeping her close.

“You sure?” he murmured, giving her a last chance to rethink.

She laughed. “Never been so sure of anything in my life, wolf.” Her lips closed over his in a kiss that quickly jumped the border from warm promise to all-out desire.

“Now…” She hummed right over his lips. “Let’s get back to where we left off.”

He ran his hands upward along her ribs. “Where exactly did we leave off?” It was all mixed up in his mind. One good thing piled on another, like a stack of Christmas presents too high to fit under the tree.

She nudged her hips forward and tipped her head to the side in open invitation. “I vaguely remember something about a mating bite…”

His wolf growled inside as his canines slowly extended.

“Here? Now?”

She popped the top button of his jeans and shimmied out of her shorts. “Maybe I like to live dangerously.”

He snorted. He’d had enough living dangerously for a while, but the second her hand wiggled inside his boxers…why the hell not?

They moved in tandem to work his jeans far enough down to free his cock, and then she slowly settled over him, one hot, tight inch at a time.

His head thunked back on the headrest as he gave in to the heat zipping through his veins.

“Trey…” she sighed, starting to rock against his hips.

He gripped her hips and rocked back, quickly losing hold of the last conscious thought flitting through his mind before lust and instinct took over completely.

He was leaving Vegas with a dragon, a vintage Jaguar, and a bright future. Why was he not surprised?

* * *

Thank you for reading
Gambling on Her Dragon!
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This is just one of several
CHARMED IN VEGAS STORIES
by Michelle Fox and friends. Check out the
FULL LIST
today and please remember to leave honest reviews of the titles you enjoy most.

You should also check out Anna's exciting new series, BLUE MOON SALOON. Read on for a
SNEAK PEEK
of
Damnation
, Book 1 – featuring stubborn she-wolves and burly bear shifters.

Finally, you can read all about the “making of”
Gambling on Her Dragon
in the
Bonus materials
section of Anna Lowe's website. Have fun learning about the inspiration for the characters, changes that occurred in the story as it developed, and more!

Behind the doors of the Blue Moon saloon, alpha shifters confront their darkest fears and their deepest desires.

Jessica Macks is a she-wolf on the run from a band of murderous rogues. When she finds a job at a shifter bar, it seems like a safe haven from her hunted life on the road. But the minute she walks through the swinging doors of the Blue Moon Saloon and comes face-to-face with the man she once loved, she’s tempted to march right back out. No way, no how is she risking her heart to that infuriating alpha bear again.

Simon Voss thought he lost everything in an ambush months before: his home, his family, his past. His new job at the Blue Moon Saloon is a desperately needed fresh start on life. Then along comes Jessica, the irresistible she-wolf his clan forced him to reject years before. When Simon is obliged to hire Jessica and work side by side with the one woman to ever make his bear go wild, he’s half in heaven, half in hell. He hasn’t forgotten her, and she sure as hell hasn’t forgiven him. Is this just another path to heartbreak or his last chance to claim his destined mate?

Click
here
to read the excerpt or order your copy of
Damnation
today!

“A
re you sure you want to do this?” Tina asked.

Jessica forced herself to keep up a steady, confident stride and nodded firmly. “I want to do this.”

I need to do this
was more like it, but pride was about the only thing she had left.

Tina glanced at her, but Jessica kept walking down the sidewalk in the dusty western town, pretending not to notice. She was getting to be a champ at pretending lots of things, like the fact she wasn’t shaking inside.

Run! Run away!
her inner wolf screamed.

If she hadn’t had her sister, Janna, to think of, Jessica might have done just that — hit the road running and never looked back. Except she’d tried that already, and it hadn’t worked.

Time to stop running
, she told her inner wolf.

We don’t know this pack. We don’t know this place
, her wolf whined.

“This is going to be great!” Janna smiled. “Is that the saloon?”

Janna wasn’t just putting on a brave face. She actually was excited about what she’d called their lucky break. As if they were lucky to have lost their pack to a band of rogues one awful night six months ago. As if they were lucky to be leapfrogging from one place to another in search of some safe refuge.

Jess shook her head. God, she was getting bitter. Her sister was right. This could be their lucky break. They’d found a pack willing to set them up with work and a place to stay. And not just any pack, but Twin Moon, one of the most powerful packs to emerge in the Southwest in recent years. Tina Hawthorne-Rivera was a leading member of that pack, and she seemed to have a soft spot for wayward shifters in need of a second chance.