INTO THE FIRE (Forbidden Love) Read online

  Leigh made a noise that sounded very much like a muted snarl. Her eyes traveled over his face and body once before she shook her head at him in mock irritation. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. “Don’t you have something better to do?” she snapped at him.

  “Nope.” He shrugged away from the wall and followed her to one of the open bedroom doors. “I was thinking about something and I wanted to get your opinion on it.”

  “Not right now, Stalker-boy,” she hissed over her shoulder. “I need to sleep.”

  “Just listen to me for a few minutes. If you don’t like what I have to say, I promise I’ll drop it.”

  Leigh heaved a big sigh. “You aren’t going to go away until I do, are you?”

  “Not likely,” he replied.

  “Fine.” She stomped into the empty bedroom and pulled the towel from her hair. Her long black locks dropped down her back and she reached into her bag for a brush. She began to yank the brush through the snarls of her hair.

  Rebel winced. “It’s a wonder you’re not bald,” he said. “Here, let me.” He reached for the brush and Leigh spun around to face him.

  “Back off,” she barked. “I said you could talk. Now talk before I lose what little patience I have with you.” She was waving the brush in the air and Rebel thought she might have been contemplating hitting him with it.

  Not that it would do her any good.

  “Ok, here it is. Merrick is never going to let you go. He hasn’t given up in all this time, why would he start now?” Rebel paced behind her as she abused those lovely locks.

  “I know,” she said. “He will always try to find me.”

  “Well, what if you were involved?”

  That got her attention. She turned to look at him and narrowed her eyes. “What are you getting at?”

  “I mean, what if you were seeing someone? What if you were mated, or married or whatever it is that dragons do?”

  Leigh snorted. “I doubt that would make any difference to him. He wants to procreate, not have a meaningful relationship. He doesn’t care how anyone else feels about it. He would likely kill anyone who got in his way.” She turned around and went back to ripping her hair out with the brush.

  “What if it was someone who could fight back?” Rebel asked. “Someone who was quite difficult to kill?”

  “And just who did you have in mind for this suicide mission?” she asked.

  “Give me that,” Rebel snapped, yanking the brush out of her hand. “I can’t stand to watch you abuse your beautiful hair that way.” He placed both of his hands on her shoulders and turned her so that her back was to him. Starting at the bottom, he began pulling the brush through her hair. “You didn’t use conditioner, did you?” he accused.

  “What business is it of yours?” she asked, rolling her lovely eyes. What was he, a freaking beautician? He had, however, said her hair was beautiful. Even though Leigh had not acknowledged the compliment, she savored it and tucked it away inside. She didn’t receive compliments often, especially not ones that were honest. But she could tell by the tone in his voice and the look in his eyes that he genuinely meant it. Because of that, she let him keep the brush.

  “I just don’t want to see you go bald,” he answered.

  He thought that surely she would pull away from him. But, to his surprise, Leigh let him brush her hair. They stood in silence for a few minutes while Rebel gently worked out all of the tangles from her long black hair. When it was tangle-free, he continued to brush it until it was nearly dry and it shined.

  “You never did answer me,” Leigh said in a calm voice. She sounded almost content. “Whoever you had in mind would have to have a death wish. I personally don’t know too many of those.”

  “Not a death wish,” he said in his best seductive tone, “Just ample confidence and the power to back it up.”

  “And who would that be?”

  “Me, of course.”

  “Wow.” Leigh shook her head. “And here I thought you were just mostly crazy. Now, I know you are completely and totally fucked up. Merrick would kill you. Singe you to ashes. Bite off your head. Hell, I can think of any number of ways that he could make your life hell before finally killing you. And that’s assuming that I would even want a relationship with you, which I don’t, or that I didn’t kill you myself.”

  Rebel knew he had to choose his next words very carefully. He hadn’t started out on good ground with Leigh, and he knew that if he pushed her too hard, she would only pull further away from him.

  But how in the hell could he explain to her that she was his mate? The woman he was meant to spend eternity with hated his guts. She blamed her current situation on him. Maybe it was his fault. Maybe it wasn’t. Merrick would have found her eventually.

  He finally decided on an apology. He took her hand in his and led her to the bed. He sat down and pulled her to sit beside him. Leigh looked skeptical, but she sat. “Look, I know that I went about this all wrong.”

  “I’ll say. Man, you get smarter all the time.”

  “Just please, hear me out,” he pleaded. He winced at the pitiful tone he had been reduced to. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have followed-”

  “Stalked.”

  “Ok, stalked you. I saw you and I thought you were very interesting. I wanted to know more about you. The more I watched you, the more fascinated I became. I was captivated by your beauty and your strength. But the longer I watched, the more nervous I got and the harder it got to approach you.

  “I was going to introduce myself the night you came to see Angel. Really, I was. But hell, it all got out of hand and things went to shit. Fast.”

  “Yeah, and now I have to move and start over again,” she pointed out.

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “But you don’t have to run. We can protect you, Leigh. We can help.”

  Leigh loved the way he said her name. Loved the way his lips formed the words. She really liked how sincere he seemed to be. “Why would you even want to do this for me?”

  “Because the first time I saw you, I knew that you were my mate,” he answered her honestly. He watched her absorb the information. She was surprised at first, then it sank in. Her lovely features changed into her usual scowl.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” she snapped. “I don’t know you from Adam and I certainly am not about to be some damned blood sucker’s mate. I don’t want to be anyone’s mate. Forget it. Fuck off, get out and leave me alone.”

  “Can’t,” he said.

  “Can.”

  “We’re sharing this room,” he told her. “There’s only so many places to sleep. And I won’t allow anyone else to share a room with you.”

  “I don’t care. Sleep in the hallway.”

  “Sunlight.”

  “Not my problem.”

  “Surely you wouldn’t condemn me to the sun after all I’ve done to help you.”

  “I take back what I said about you getting smarter,” Leigh growled. “You are the epitome of stupid. I am not sharing a room with you.”

  Rebel knew he was losing ground fast. “I won’t touch you, I promise. Just sleep. Think about what I said.”

  “Fine,” Leigh muttered. Truth be told, she was tired and too damned exhausted to argue with Stalker-boy anymore. “I get the bed.”

  Leigh dropped on the bed and scooted under the covers. She closed her eyes tight and forced herself to think about anything but what Rebel said. When she felt the mattress dip to her side, she flung herself over so that her back was to him. He wanted to get close, fine. She briefly considered going out into the hall herself, or even on the floor. But there was no way she was giving up the bed. She squished herself as far away as she could without tumbling out of the large bed. She had to get some sleep.

  “Good night, Leigh,” Rebel said.

  “Go to hell, Cowboy.”

  ****

  Merrick paced the small hotel room with his hands on his hips. Where had she run off to now? He had bee
n hunting Leigh for so long that it was second nature to him. What he hadn’t counted on was those damned vampires interfering. What could they possibly want with Leigh anyway?

  If he knew Leigh, and he liked to think that he did, she wouldn’t have told them what she was. It was no matter, they had seen it for themselves. The dragon was out of the cave now. And Merrick would use it to his advantage.

  He winced when the wound on his side stretched with his movements. He chuckled. He never did mind being impaled by Leigh’s tail. The gunshot wound in his thigh was another story altogether. That damned vampire was gonna pay for that. He could have used his magic to heal it instantly, but then Leigh would be able to sense it. She would know exactly where he was. He couldn’t have that. She would use the information to get even further away from him.

  He was going to have to fight the vampires for her, he knew it. They had seen his abilities, and they would be prepared. He was going to have to figure out another way to approach this. Straight out war was out of the question. He might have been a powerful warrior, but he was outnumbered. And he knew one of those vamps. Not personally. But he had seen his mug on TV and in magazines. Angel Knight.

  But then again…. Humans had seen them fighting as well as the vampires. There would be media coverage about it. When the humans heard the story, their hearts would run over with sympathy for Merrick. Humans were notoriously bad about trying to preserve endangered species. When they heard how Leigh and himself were the last of their kind, humans would race to help find her and would be screaming for them to procreate.

  That wasn’t all he wanted Leigh for. Well, it had been at first. He wanted her for sex. But the more she evaded him, the more she fought, the more he wanted her. And he would have her. It was only a matter of time before she used her power again. The vampires had tricked her into it once, they would certainly do it again.

  As he watched the morning news, a plan began to form in his mind.

  TEN

  Leigh was dreaming. She knew it, but she had no intention of waking up. She was stretched out on a padded table, wearing only a towel, while a man with wonderful hands massaged her back. The room was painted gold, with hieroglyphics etched into them. It looked like the old Egyptian preparation rooms that the Pharaohs used before public ceremonies. He was wearing a simple linen cloth around his waist. Leigh giggled. She was dreaming about having an Egyptian slave.

  She felt the oil dribble down her spine and then his hands working over her skin. He kneaded the muscles in her lower back and then pushed the towel down to dig his fingers into her buttocks. It was heavenly.

  The man had no face, but wow was his body was stacked. Rock hard abs that bunched and flexed as he moved, strong arms and long, muscular legs. Not an ounce of fat on her slave. His magic fingers worked their way down the back of her thighs, releasing tension that she didn’t realize she had. He worked his way down her calves, then to her feet. He rubbed the arch of one foot with his thumb, holding it in place with his other hand. Before returning her foot, he placed a gentle kiss to the arch.

  Leigh sighed. He repeated the process on her other foot, ending that caress with a kiss as well. Then, he worked back up her leg. At the top of her thigh, his hand slipped to caress the inside of her leg. His fingers brushed perilously close to her sex, but not quite where she wanted it. She knew her temperature was rising, knew that her body was getting wet for him. If he would only move two inches higher…. But her slave stayed clear of where she really wanted him.

  Leigh wiggled in frustration. Leave it to her to have erotic dreams about a love slave that wouldn’t obey. “Touch me,” she told him.

  “I am,” he rumbled.

  “Touch me there,” she insisted. That stupid love slave chuckled. He did not touch her there. No, instead he flipped her over and poured the oil onto her chest. His large hands rubbed the oil into her skin of her chest, making circles around her breasts and down her stomach. Her nipples hardened and pointed skyward, begging for attention, but he never touched them.

  “If you don’t do it right I might die,” she groaned.

  Damned sexy laughter was the response she got. Leigh grew more frustrated and squirmed again. “You aren’t a very good love slave,” she told him.

  Then, he began to fade away. “No!” Leigh shouted. “Wait.” But it was too late. The dream was gone and Leigh was awake.

  She laid in the very comfortable bed with her eyes still closed. She took a minute to remember where she was. Oh, right. The Mirage. With Stalker-boy. Great, after that dream she was going to walk around all day not only irritated but frustrated as well. Bloody fucking marvelous. She balled her hands into fists and brought them both down onto the mattress. Hard.

  The sound of muted male laughter beside her caused her to open her eyes. Yep. He was there. Looking all sexy like with his sleep hair and bright eyes. Ugh.

  “Something funny, Cowboy?” she snarled as she rolled herself to a sitting position.

  “Sex slave, huh?”

  Leigh snapped her head around. “Get out of my head.”

  “I wasn’t in your head,” he told her with a wolfish smile. “You talk in your sleep.”

  “Do not.”

  “’Fraid so.”

  “Well, don’t listen to me.” Leigh didn’t know if she talked in her sleep. Hell, she had never slept with anyone else. All of her encounters with the opposite sex had always been about sex. No cuddling, no sleeping. Just get off and get out.

  “We have much to discuss tonight, Leigh,” he said in a more serious tone.

  “We don’t have to discuss anything. I appreciate the bed to sleep in, and the food. I got to get going now, though,” she said as she rummaged through her bag for something to wear.

  “Talk to Angel first,” he suggested.

  “Sure,” she absently replied. She would talk to Angel. She thought she might even like that man. He was nice. But there was no way she was putting anyone else in danger. And there was no way she was spending anymore time with Stalker-boy. He was dangerous for a whole other reason.

  “The sun will be setting soon,” Rebel told her. “We should be ready to head back to the estate when it does.”

  “I’m not going with you,” she said as she took a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to the bathroom.

  “You should.”

  “What time is it, anyway?”

  “Five fifty-two.”

  “Really? Wow, I slept a long time.” Leigh wasn’t used to sleeping so long, or so well. Her entire body felt refreshed and alive.

  Rebel waited for her to get dressed. He heard the water running in the sink, heard the sound of her toothbrush on her teeth. He tried to keep his imagination in check, but it did its own thing anyway. He envisioned her slinking into her jeans, pulling her shirt over her head. He had never thought the idea of getting dressed could be erotic, but the bulge in his pants decided it was.

  “Guys,” Angel’s voice called from the sitting room, “Could you join us out here please? Quickly.”

  Rebel snapped out of his daydream and tapped on the bathroom door. “Yeah, I heard him,” she snapped as she wretched the door open and shoved past Rebel, making sure her elbow connected with his side. She sauntered into the sitting room with him close on her heels.

  “What’s up?” Rebel asked his leader.

  “The six o’clock news,” Angel said, inclining his head toward the TV.

  “—breaking news from Los Angeles tonight,” the dark haired reporter said. “Vampires and werewolves have been living in the public eye for years now, and most people have come to accept and even respect them. But now, in light of this new development, who knows? What other kinds of creatures are out there?”

  “What is she talking about?” Leigh asked.

  “Keep watching,” Angel told her.

  “I’m here with a man who claims to be a dragon,” the reporter said. She turned to a red haired man. Merrick. “What is your name, Sir?”

  “Merrick Kelle
r,” he replied, looking straight into the camera. “And to your next question, yes, I am a dragon.”

  “Fire-breathing, scales, gem-hording dragon?” the reporter asked with a quirky smile.

  “Well, I don’t horde gems,” Merrick replied.

  “You look human to me,” she said.

  “Of course I do. I can change my shape. Would you like to see?”

  “I think all of our viewers would.”

  Merrick stepped back away from the camera and pulled on his magic. His red dragon form filled the screen. He tossed his head back and shrieked. Then, he shifted again back to human.

  “Wow, that was really something,” the reporter said.

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “So why have you decided to come out now? And are there others of your kind?”

  “That is exactly why I have come to you, Katie,” Merrick replied with a grin. “I am one of two dragons remaining. Our species has been long pushing the boundaries of extinction. We have kept our presence a secret for fear of being hunted. We are sorely misunderstood. For centuries dragons have been labeled as dangerous, angry creatures. That is simply not true. We are peaceful.

  “Until recently. My mate was stolen from me by a vampire. I can’t imagine what he wants with her, but I must get her back. We are the last hope for our species. I love her dearly and only wish to see her returned to me safely.”

  “Do you have any idea who this vampire is?” reporter Katie asked.

  “I do.” Merrick stared into the camera. “She is being held prisoner by Angel Knight.”

  “The Clan Leader?” she asked, surprised. “Why would he do that?”

  “I don’t know,” Merrick told her. “That’s why I came to the press. While trying to get my mate back, his men shot at me. They attacked me and attempted to kill me. Luckily, I heal fast. But I was forced to leave her with him. I can only imagine the horrible things they must be doing to her.”

  Merrick put on his best worried face. He genuinely looked like he was heartbroken over the loss of his mate. Leigh’s stomach lurched. Fucking asshole.