Dangerous Liaisons (Obsidian Flame Book 2) Read online

  Her heart fluttered. If she meant something to him, he'd walk into this trap.

  Her dragon whined.

  If he got hurt because he decided to enact some ridiculous shining white knight on a horse crap to rescue her, she’d...she'd...

  Well, she’d be relieved at first and then she’d tear a strip off him. She was supposed to protect and rescue him, not the other way around. She was expendable. It was the risk of doing her job. She needed to get herself out of here and Rafael needed to stay away.

  Plus, if he succeeded in saving her, he’d essentially paint a giant target on her back.

  She shuddered. As a bodyguard, safety wasn’t assured, but anonymity was. The last thing Lara needed was a giant spotlight on her life. Another reason she detested working for Rafael.

  The man smirked. "I'll leave you to your thoughts." He turned to leave.

  "Wait," she called out.

  He paused and looked over his shoulder. "Yes?"

  "What if I need to pee?" she asked. A legitimate question. She could only hold it for so long.

  The man chuckled and shook his head. "That would be most unfortunate."

  He walked out of the room, his booted footsteps echoing in the large space. She glimpsed a stark hallway outside of the room.

  The door close with a bang of finality and silence followed.

  Chapter Nine

  Lara crossed her legs and squeezed her thighs together. Not good. Definitely not good. Rafael and Hank would find her dead in a pool of her own urine. At least she hoped she’d be dead. The mortification would be unbearable otherwise.

  Her dragon snorted. Liar.

  Ugh. The overgrown lizard was right. Lara was too practical to let a little bladder leakage get in the way of survival.

  Maybe she could use it against her abductors? Pee on them?

  The door swung open at the far end of the room.

  The crooner plus two other men walked into the room. They hid behind balaclavas, but she recognized Crooner’s slightly off smell right away. The other two had similar scents, as if the whole bushel had gone bad.

  "Potty break?" she asked hopefully.

  Crooner laughed and shook his head.

  What on Earth was funny about a woman needing the facilities?

  The other two glanced at Crooner.

  "We are going to have to do something for her before we move her to the location."

  Crooner shrugged. "Why? Do you think he's any less likely to come for her if she’s soiled? He won't know in advance and by the time he discovers her state, it will be too late."

  Lara froze. Her state? If they planned to do anything more then let her pee herself, she'd have to shift to her dragon. Fuck these guys. She wanted to keep her dragon nature secret, but not at the risk of her life. All she needed was an opening, a brief opportunity where she had space, could use the element of surprise and not have to worry about a bullet between her eyes mid-shift.

  The other two men shuffled in place, clearly uncomfortable with the idea, but put up no argument. Well, then. Crooner was the leader of this little gang of misfits.

  "Besides…" Crooner continued as he watched Lara. "I like the idea of the Astarot’s possession sitting in her own piss. Dragon scum deserve the dirt, and nothing else."

  Asshole.

  Her dragon snarled. Her presence expanded and pushed.

  Not yet, Lara told her.He’s talking about Rafael. I don’t think he knows we’re a dragon, too.

  The Crooner’s exposed lips smirked. He turned to the other two men. "Wait here with her. The room is almost ready. We will leave the trail of breadcrumbs for Rafael to follow later."

  "Why do we need to watch her?" the taller of the two guards asked. “She’s just a human.”

  “Yeah, she can't go anywhere," the other guard pitched in, waving at her chains.

  The Crooner tilted his head and considered all three of us. "There's something off about her. Call it an extra precaution."

  Lara sniffed back a laugh. He had no clue. But two guards wouldn't stop her if she let her dragon out.

  She peered around the room. The door would though if it was reinforced. She looked up. The overhead lights flickered back at her, mocking. Light rain pinged against the metal roof. Not very flammable. The walls probably had insulation she could burn, but knowing her luck, the exterior material would be fire resistant and she’d cook herself inside her prison instead of escaping.

  Hmmm. Wait and let Rafael rescue her or save herself?

  She shook her arms out and willed the feeling back into her toes. She never was the damsel in distress type.

  Her dragon snorted, hot steam flashing across her neurons. The only thing you should let that man do to you is—

  Lara slammed the door on her dragon. Not the time.

  Her dragon pushed the door back open and chortled. She started singing in her mind, Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

  Lara rolled her eyes and tuned out the horny beast. Her dragon should be more concerned with escaping, but the giant lizard rarely considered anything a threat—she assumed they’d overcome any situation with her flames, strength and magic. Nope, her dragon left Lara to worry about trivial things like mundane survival.

  Now, if someone stole from them…then the fiery beast showed her cunning and rage.

  We have nothing valuable to steal, her dragon whined.

  Lara shook her head. Time to plan.

  Shift to dragon. Break chains, break men, shift back to human, walk out the door. As good a plan as any. Her brain throbbed with pain. If she ended up with motor control or coordination problems because these turds knocked her out, she was going to be pissed. Her dragon essence would help her heal more serious wounds, and heal faster, but even her supernatural abilities had limits. If she’d been a “normal” human, they could’ve seriously and permanently hurt her. Lara’s stomach sunk.

  They didn’t care. She wasn’t meant to survive this abduction.

  She waited until Crooner sauntered out of the room. A lock clicked in place. Ugh.

  Her dragon huffed. A door lock? Please.

  Good point.

  Lara stretched out her arms and legs. Tension ran along her spine while her dragon vibrated with anticipation. She might as well jump up and down, clap her hands and squeal, "Oh, boy, oh boy, oh boy."

  Bloody dragons.

  Her dragon stopped twittering like a hopped up canary and grinned. Heat raced from Lara’s core.

  She glanced at the guards. They’d moved off to the side, slightly turned away from her. Tense, heated debate vaulted between the two.

  It's time.

  Closing her eyes, Lara let the smoldering heat of her dragon consume her. Pain flickered briefly as her body expanded, followed swiftly with relief and the pleasure of release.

  Her bones snapped, reformed and fused. Her neck and limbs elongated. Blood-red scales sliced out of her flesh to replace fragile skin. Fingernails and toenails grew and hardened into sharp claws and talons. Her spine stretched, her tailbone tingled. Her long powerful tail pushed out from her body and coiled around her, twitching like an angry cat. Heat continued to spiral up from her core, a blazing fire in her chest. Steam puffed from her nostrils and she turned to face the guards.

  "Wha–?" The tall guard stuttered as he turned toward her. He appeared smaller and smaller as she stretched to her full height.

  The other guard turned to see what grabbed tall guy’s attention. Even in the magic dampening room, the heat of their bodies called to her, demanding she pull the fire energy to her.

  Lara jerked her arms. The metal shackles and chains clattered against the hard floor.

  "Oh shit."

  Heat burned her nasal passages.

  Burn…her dragon whispered.

  No. Must not. Too much revealing evidence. She stepped forward, away from the broken chains and shackles and grabbed both guards. Their eyes bulged. Fear washed off them in waves.

  She paused. She couldn't roast or
crush them. Their remains would identify her nature, or at least leave glaring clues. If she could keep her secret somehow…

  Her dragon grumbled.

  She bonked their heads together, knocking them out. Their eyes rolled into the back of their heads and their bodies went limp. Payback. With gentle care, she placed them on the floor and shifted back to human. She stared down at the prone guards. Killing them this way seemed wrong, cowardly, even, but she couldn't allow them to live either. They’d seen her dragon.

  If you don’t kill them, your secret is out, her dragon sneered. You should’ve let me roast them.

  Shut up.

  Lara, now naked, looked down at the tattered remains of her outfit.

  Definitely should've thought this through.

  Her dragon cackled.

  Not helpful, Clarice. Lara eyed the guards again and released a long pent up breath.

  Time to play dress up. Her body shook from the quick succession of shifting. Her limbs pulsed and her skin stung. She needed food. She needed sleep. She needed—

  Raf’s giant, throbbing…

  How is this helpful? she snapped at her dragon.

  How is it not?

  Lara ignored the harlot and got to work. She needed to survive.

  Disrobing a prone man, albeit the shorter one, was not only more difficult than she anticipated, but time consuming. She rolled up the legs of the cargo pants so they wouldn’t drag and stuffed the remains of her clothes in one of the pockets. The guards moaned and groaned on the floor as they came out of their stupor. She plucked one of the guns off the floor and walked barefoot toward the door. Too bad the guards didn’t have boots in her size.

  "What the hell?" The shorter guard cursed and stood, wearing only his boxers.

  The taller guard warily climbed to his feet. They looked at the broken chains and almost in unison spun to face Lara.

  “Dragon scum,” the taller one spat.

  Their confidence returned now that they faced a petite woman and not a fire-breathing dragon.

  They reached for their guns. The short guard found his holster empty. The taller guard found his weapon dismantled at his feet. They snarled and charged her.

  "Sorry, boys." She lined up the sights on Tall Boy and pulled the trigger. The first shot went wide. She had too much adrenaline coursing through her veins. They kept running. The load bang of the gunshot rang in her ears and ricocheted in the large empty room. More guards would come. Her second shot struck true and the guard fell to the ground, blood pooling around his body.

  The shorter guard reached her. She sidestepped his attack and countered. He grunted and threw a mean hook to her stomach. Her body contracted. Pain and nausea rolled through her core. She groaned and doubled over. His hand gripped her shooting arm. She staggered forward, turned and struck out with her elbow. Something cracked. The guard’s head snapped back. She spun, brought her gun up and pulled the trigger. His body jerked. He crumpled to the floor, clutching his stomach. Blood oozed out, dark and grotesque. She fired again. This time, she struck him between the eyes.

  Her chest rose with each ragged breath. She’d shot and killed two unarmed men.

  Would you have preferred to die? Her dragon poked her.

  Ispolini hated her kind. Once word got around she was a dragon, they’d emerge from whatever hole they hid in and hunt her relentlessly. Her dragon was right. These men needed to die to keep the truth hidden. At least their deaths were quick, probably much quicker than what Crooner had planned for her.

  She closed the distance to the door and wrenched it open. The bolt from the lock snapped. It wasn’t reinforced with magic. The door swung open. A long breath escaped her lungs. A little luck was on her side today. About time.

  A large set of double doors lay at the end of the hall. Her midsection throbbed from the guard’s liver shot. Despite the pain, she ran toward their grimy windows and burst out into the bright, blinding sunshine.

  "Hey!"

  Lara spun in the direction of the deep voice. She blinked, clearing her vision. A guard ran toward her. She raised the stolen gun, took aim and fired.

  One more down.

  More feet pounded against pavement. Anticipation and fear rushed through her veins. They’d housed her in some sort of warehouse compound. She ran in the opposite direction of the sounds, between two large buildings.

  Putting her head down, she willed her short legs to stretch out and create distance from her pursuers. Her breath scored her throat, rushing out in painful huffs as she sucked back air. Her head pounded with each barefoot thump against the pavement. Her stomach rolled and clenched into a knot. One of her pant legs unraveled and slapped against the pavement. She gritted her teeth.

  More stomping boots clambered behind her. Risking a glance over her shoulder, Lara counted a herd of at least five guards running after her.

  And closing.

  With a burst of speed, she exited the narrow alley and entered a large open area.

  Open. Exposed.

  Lara cursed.

  Her dragon stretched.

  She put her chin down and made for the closest cover—another alleyway. Halfway there, guards poured out of the nearby entrance. She turned to her right. More guards. To her left, even more.

  She didn't need to turn the direction she came from to know they had her surrounded. Fuck this.

  Panting hard, she brought up the gun and slowly surveyed the situation. Her stomach knotted. They needed her alive or they would’ve killed her already. But there was no way she would get more than a couple shots off before they took her down.

  Lara reached for her magic, threw up a shield and shoved the gun in her waistband. The magical suppressant didn't reach this area and she sensed no other magic. Since she’d spent years cooping up her dragon and posing as a mage, she’d honed her skills, both defensively and offensively.

  Her dragon yawned and curled back up.

  Time for the light show.

  The men and women, however, mirrored her actions and holstered their weapons. Their skin rippled. Lara froze as their limbs cracked and snapped and their skin stretched.

  Dread gnawed its ugly way up her spine. The off smell. The hatred for the Astarot. For dragons. The guards’ hatred for her after she shifted. The growing height of the guards in front of her.

  Ispolini.

  A piercing roar thundered through the sky. The buildings shook. She staggered to the side, and looked up.

  Cresting over the nearest building, the black-scaled torso of a fierce dragon blotted out the sun, scales so darkly rich, they appeared dipped in paint.

  Rafael.

  Chapter Ten

  All thoughts of her magical offense fled from her mind. She stood, slack-jawed and stared at the magnificent dragon torpedoing toward her. His magic called to her, washing over her skin in sheets of icy blue-black waves. His giant triangular head swiveled down, emerald eyes piercing with intensity.

  The guards shouted and hollered as their bones continued to snap. In mid-shift, they stood vulnerable. A stream of ice shot from Rafael, flowing in a wide arc as he turned around in the clearing. The ice and potency of Rafael’s magic slammed into the guards and froze them in place.

  Oh my.

  Taloned feet crashed down on either side of Lara as Rafael positioned his body to protect her. His long, scaly neck stretched as he surveyed the area.

  Lara remembered to breathe. In and out. In and out. In tune with the movement of Rafael’s chest.

  Frosted, metallic scales of his underbelly rippled and reflected the sunlight. His reptilian head peered at her as his long bladed tail swished around.

  A giant pissed off dragon.

  Lara shook her head. There was nothing domestic or tame about Rafael. Yet she yearned to reach out and touch him.

  What the hell was wrong with her?

  I have some theories, her dragon piped up.

  Shush, you.

  In addition to talking to an inner dragon, Lara question
ed her mental stability. A ferocious dragon popsicled an entire guard regime and all she could think about was running her hands down his sleek body.

  And humping, her dragon murmured. Don’t forget the humping.

  Inwardly, Lara rolled her eyes.

  Rafael moved with infinite care, shifting his weight to maneuver around her without squashing her. His giant feet thumped against the pavement. The concrete groaned and cracked under the weight.

  She gulped.

  As the Astarot and a clan leader, he could easily communicate with her if he wished, but he didn’t know she was a dragon. He wouldn’t try to project. His head ducked down, his gaze smoldered and his magic washed over her again.

  Another dragon screeched in the distance. A flash of red streaked across the sun and flames erupted from one of the outer buildings. Hank had come to play, too.

  She stepped forward and placed her hand on the tip of Rafael’s smooth snout. Her pounding headache eased.

  Idiot! she cursed.

  Her dragon snorted. Like you could stop yourself.

  Her inner beast was correct. Her limbs seemed to have a mind of their own. As soon as her skin contacted him, his power wound around her in a silent, invisible embrace. Caressing, soothing, yet potently sexual, his magic continued to call to her own.

  God, if she wasn’t careful, she’d end up dry humping him before she could stop herself.

  His power traveled down her shoulders and back before spreading to her arms and legs. Fire responded to his touch, rising up like lava and threatening to melt her. Doubts about their true mate status dissipated.

  Oh fuck, forget the dry humping. If she wasn’t careful, she’d go for the full shebang. Rip her “borrowed” clothes off and slap her naked body against his.

  Her dragon cackled.

  Their power pulled and pushed, playing with the essence of each other, and what fundamentally made them who they were. Ebbing and flowing, merging, dancing. Her nerves sang. Her limbs itched to reach out and take. A torrent of emotions and overwhelmed senses spiraled within her.