WickedBeast (4 page)

“Do you mean we each have a dragon? How do you expect us to
sleep if we don’t know what’s going on?” Kelly insisted.

Cord closed his hand over hers as she spoke. She didn’t
object. Mostly he did it to draw what he needed from her as he was doing with
Minuet. But that wasn’t the irresistible reason. No. Touching her was. He had
traded a soul for the right to touch her. He was betting Legion would do the
same for Molly.

That’s how strong the driving hunger was. It was more
important than his will to live. That huge malfunction was something no one had
mentioned. He had to conclude the need of this woman was built into his nature
as surely as the drive to protect her was. His creators didn’t make mistakes
and they were very good at secrets. The fact that their secrets where part of
who he was, what he was, made it crystal clear that he was a tool as opposed to
possessing the free will he’d always believed was his.

“Let me make this simple,” Cord explained as he controlled
his response to his own revelations. “You and Molly are gifted. You are air,
she is earth. Some would call you witches. Back when the world was young,
everyone knew such people existed. What you call magic was as prevalent in that
age as your age uses electronics. The problem was the gifts were exclusive to a
few.

“Originally dragons were created to defend or attack, the
product of too much knowledge and very little forethought. Created by wizards
who believed they would rule the world through the strength of an undefeatable
army.

“The three ladies who held the keys to this planet had to
answer the threat of dragons and did so by coming up with a separate version.
New and improved, second-generation-type beings with a few surprises built in.

“Brings us to our other problem, there are only two of you.
If you are here, there is a third witch. We have to find her. Do you have a
redheaded friend you’re abnormally close too?”

“What about Minuet?” Kelly asked softly.

Cord couldn’t be less than honest. It was too important.
“She is not water. She is a different type of power. One I’ve never encountered
before.”

“So I have a dragon, just as Kelly does,” Molly clarified.
“And there is another woman gifted with water and she has a dragon protector?
And there are other dragons who want to kill us? How can this be? Neither of us
has ever seen a dragon.”

Cord carefully filtered information before he answered.
“There are only three walking dragons currently on the Earth. The others are
still here, but you could say they are sleeping, inanimate is a better
explanation.”

Kelly sucked in a deep breath. “Sleeping? Minuet said she
speaks with a dragon but he’s sleeping. Is he a protector?”

Cord couldn’t reassure her as he wanted to. If the worst
were true, Kelly would have to be prepared. “I don’t know. She didn’t give a
name. I suspect she can call us all.”

Kelly’s hand tightened in his. “That’s bad? How many are
there?”

Cord sighed. This wasn’t what he wanted Kelly focused on.
She had so much to learn before she faced this. She should have been able to
get out of the basement herself. Was it possible she didn’t know the strength
of her gift? Or was it she didn’t trust it? If she was totally untrained, it
could be a problem. Every minute of Minuet’s life presented the danger her
mother had just voiced. His inability to end that life while the child was too
young and weak to stop him had created the danger.

“I will not let it happen,” he promised rashly. He had no
idea if he could stop it. “I’m here, I’ll teach her how to shield from them.
You’re safe.”

“How many?” Kelly pressed.

Cord lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the back as he
answered. “They can blacken the sky with their wings. The last time I saw them
gathered was in a battle. I didn’t have time to count.”

“A battle? You won?” Kelly asked softly.

“In a manner of speaking.”

“That doesn’t sound like winning,” Molly stated firmly.

“I’m here. They are not. That’s winning in the end,” Cord
responded.

Molly pursed her lips as she frowned at him across the
table, her eyes disapproving at the way he cradled Kelly’s hand. “That’s double
talk for something sneaky. You just said they are sleeping, so they are not
dead. How did you make them sleep? Why didn’t you kill them if it was a
battle?”

“I also said what seems normal to humans does not apply to
dragons. It is very difficult to kill a dragon, hence our value in combat.

“Let me put Minuet in her bed. I don’t want to have this
conversation over her head. There is no telling what her subconscious picks
up,” he evaded. “Then you can tell me where her father is.”

Kelly stood. “I’ll show you to her room.”

Molly pushed back from the table too. “If I can’t go home, I
have to cook,” she stated.

“Fine.” Kelly waved a hand at the kitchen distractedly. “Do
whatever you want. We’ll be right back.”

Cord smiled inwardly. Molly hadn’t asked. She’d announced
what she was going to do. She was earth, creative and energetic. It would be
amusing to watch Legion handle that. If it went that way, he cautioned himself.

Kelly went up the steps ahead of him. Not even a hitch in
her gait from her recently crushed leg. Those long columns of perfection were
unblemished. Her shorts framed her bottom and he had to look away.

Carrying the child helped him remember what he was here for.
And there was the unresolved issue of Minuet’s father. He couldn’t sense a
male’s mark in the house. Not even a hint. He’d been trying to find one since
he walked in the door.

The hall at the top of the stairs was short. One way led to
a single door, the other had two. Kelly led him into a beautiful pink dream of
a little girl’s room. He raked it with a ruthless search, using both senses and
eyes. Laying Minuet on the bed, he remained leaning over her as she settled
under the covers. Kelly was close beside him, but Minuet didn’t wake.

Cord guided Kelly out of the room with a hand at the small of
her back, pulling the door almost closed. He stopped at the top of the stairs.

“Her father?” he asked softly.

Kelly leaned on the wall to look up. “He was murdered six
years ago.”

Cord frowned. “Minuet is about three. How is that possible?”

Kelly smiled, it was a bit sad but there was humor as well.
“Dragons don’t know everything?” she teased gently.

Cord moved closer. He had to. Her teasing, the humor drew
him. “Explain it to me. Use small words. What happened?”

Her hands rested lightly on his chest, not pushing him away.
“The murder is unsolved. Minuet is the result of artificial insemination. We
were ready to start the next week. But then I couldn’t for a long time. Do I
need to explain?”

“No.” He placed his hands on the wall, one on either side of
her head. “You waited ’til you were done mourning? Are you still in love with
him?” He was leaning down, his mouth a few inches from hers.

“I will always love him,” she confessed softly. “He is part
of my daughter.”

Cord let the hushed purr of her words sink in. He waited for
it, any minute now that confession should back him up off her. It didn’t. He
didn’t care. Perhaps he couldn’t care, not even a little bit. Well, he did
care, he was glad he didn’t have to take her from the man.

Shadows and reality swirled, merged. Suspicion raked his
predatory senses. This story had the smell of an old evil, but the rose petals
overwhelmed even that stench. Everything was wrong with the way he was
reacting. She was taking up too much of the present. He couldn’t back down. Getting
what he needed was more than a compulsion.

Dawn was not here yet. A single night-light lit the floor
and little more, the top of the stairwell enclosed them in intimate darkness.
He could feel Minuet sleeping undisturbed at the other end of the hall. Molly
was doing something down in the kitchen that involved a lot of muttering.

Cord’s hands left the wall to cover the back of her hands on
his chest and pressed her palms into his flesh. He dragged her hands up,
wrapping them around his neck as his body slowly crowded her, trapping her. His
fingers trailed down the undersides of her arms, coming to rest on the sides of
her breasts, thumbs caressing the swells in lazy sweeps.

Kelly didn’t stop him. Her large violet eyes watched him but
there was no fear, no rejection as he wrapped her arms around his neck and
pressed his body to her from knees to chest. Nor was there any doubt of his
response. His hips rocked into her abdomen as he watched her eyes. It was her
mouth he should have been watching. Lush lips opened in a tiny gasp as she felt
his heavy length.

That was his, the air she breathed, and he had to have it.
His mouth took hers and he couldn’t be slow anymore. He’d given her every
opportunity to object, to stop him. She’d accepted.

His lips on hers weren’t near enough. Firmly pushing into
her mouth, he was rewarded as she opened for him. Her taste, her delicious,
addictive taste exploded through his senses as he delved into her. She
tentatively sucked his tongue and all hell broke loose, triggering a chain of
responses he’d never experienced before. Lust backdrafted through him with
white-hot demand.

Cord ripped his hands off her, flattening them on the wall
beside her body. The rush of sexual aggression left little besides the drive to
complete his possession of her. He was dimly aware his reaction could manifest
in talons to ensure she did not evade him.

A low growl rumbled around them as his weight shifted into
her, the need to pin her beneath him lashed at what little restraint he could
manage. Muscles tensed in his neck as the kiss intensified. He needed more—more
taste, more sensation, more of everything she was. Hunger like nothing he’d
ever known roared through him even as she fed him with her kiss and he knew
there was nothing, nothing he wouldn’t do to have this woman.

It was her soft, wheezing moan as she struggled for air that
controlled his response. With a stifled snarl, he wrenched himself off her,
flinging his body to the opposite wall as he stared at her blankly.

Kelly gasped in air, her eyes wide as she watched him. Cord
had no idea what his expression was but it couldn’t be good. There was a
flicker of fear on her face. Damn it, she should be afraid. He was freaking
terrified of what had almost happened. Almost? No, it had happened and there
was no going back. Why? Why hadn’t Marelda told him?

“I’m sorry,” he ground out softly.

“For kissing me?” Kelly whispered.

“No, baby, for much more than that.” He ran a hand down his
face and tried to make sense of the changes he’d just forced on both of them.
The secrets kept from him within his own body.

Marelda and her cohorts were indeed brilliant. He’d known
they were masters of nuance, their end plan lush with detail. This detail
changed everything and he hadn’t known about it. Ignorance was his only excuse
and that was a damn useless set of words. He had to explain it to her.

“You didn’t offend me,” she continued softly.

Cord managed a half smile. “I will, give me a minute.”

“What’s wrong? A kiss isn’t the end of the world. I wanted
it. You couldn’t have missed that.”

“You should have slapped my face and told me to keep my
animal paws off you.”

Her brows went up. “How could I do that? Reading you in the
kitchen was informative. You think my daughter is a miracle. You would give
your life to protect her. But that’s not the reason I wanted that kiss, Cord.
When you think of me, you are loyalty, protection, defense and you think I’m
hot. You want me and that’s a huge turn-on. You’re also sexy as hell. Knowing
as much as I do about your need to protect me makes it easy to ignore common
sense and enjoy what we both want a little bit.”

Cord crossed the space between them and cupped her face with
both hands. “No, baby, you don’t read me like you think. You read what you want
to see. Those intentions are true, but not the only truth, Kelly girl.” His
nose almost touched hers as he held her gently. “Look again. Tell me what you
see.”

Her eyes on his, her spirit spread through his
consciousness. She became an inquisitive spring breeze that touched him from
the inside out. His response was powerful, surging to meet her, surrounding
her, blending with her. He didn’t shield its depth from the beautiful Wind
Witch who stroked him with her attention.

“Possession,” she gasped.

“Yes,” he gritted. “Complete, irrevocable possession. I
mentioned I was the product of brilliant minds. Notice I didn’t say ‘the child
of’. I used the words
product of
. I was made by using DNA gathered from
many sources. The flesh DNA mostly came from predators, some you know, some no
longer exist, but the significance of those species was not just their skill as
deadly aggressors. Before this morning, I never realize the importance of their
mating habits. Now I can’t ignore them. Every one of the predators used in my
makeup mates for life.”

He took his hands off her, flattening them on the wall. He
wasn’t harmless or gentle. He wasn’t some casual thrill because it had been so
long for her. She needed to understand that he was her last thrill.

Her brows drew together as she regarded him. “It’s not
like…”

“It’s not your fault. I’m not a man.” Even though she was
the Wind Witch, she was still thinking in terms of him being something with
human reactions.

“I’m not even an animal. I’m the product of desperate times.
A creature made to endure the end of the world when dragons ruled. I exist to
support the fragile hope that humans could survive if they were given a second
chance.” Cord stopped. This wasn’t making sense to her. He could see it on her
face. Of course it wasn’t.

“Maybe this will make more sense. When we’re animated,
dragons eat and drink, but that’s not what fuels us. The brilliance of dragon
design was making a perfect weapon that could not be killed by normal human
methods. An endless energy source was the key. We drink human emotions. Sexual
desire is delicious. It drives us to seek more. Do you know what really packs a
satisfying punch? They are emotions humans have in endless supply. Adoration or
terror.”