Firestorm: Volume 1: A Dragon Romance Read online

  His wide, full lips softened the sharp lines of his jaw. Azure eyes framed with thick, black lashes watched her with a decided lack of interest. It was difficult to determine whether his hair was dark brown or black in the dim light of the cave.

  But it was trimmed short with the top long enough to be parted to the side, the locks having a hint of wave to them.

  She had a strange and overwhelming desire to run her hands through his hair and climb him.

  Claim him.

  Her knees threatened to buckle from the insane and decadent thoughts. The carnal longing swept through her shamelessly—and she embraced it.

  Even as she feared it.

  It took three attempts before she was able to have enough saliva to swallow.

  “Who are you?” she demanded.

  “The man who’s going to keep you safe,” came his harsh reply framed in a Scot’s brogue.

  Her gaze shifted to Tamir. “Excuse me?”

  Tamir laughed nervously. “Yeah, this is what I tried to tell you earlier. When I spoke with Ronnie, she suggested someone to help keep the crazies out. So she sent Dmitri.”

  Faith looked at Muscles again and noticed his interest was squarely on the skeleton. Just as she was about to tell Tamir to send him away, she realized they could use someone to keep the loonies at bay.

  Getting to her feet, she extended her hand to him. “Faith Reynolds.”

  “Dmitri,” he replied and briefly shook her hand, letting go as if the contact between them irritated him.

  She frowned and looked at Tamir before returning her gaze to Muscles. She fisted her hand to lessen the slight tingling across her skin from the contact with him. Again, she had the urge to touch him, stroke him. “No last name?”

  “None needed,” Muscles said. “Why this cave?”

  “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Why did you pick this cave out of all the hundreds on the isle?” he asked in a slightly lower pitch.

  Faith’s hackles immediately rose, shoving the majority of her lust aside. She didn’t need to explain herself to anyone. So why she answered him, she’d never know. “I saw it from shore and wanted a look.”

  “There are five more caves you could’ve seen from shore. Yet you chose this one.”

  His blue eyes were penetrating, as if he were trying to see into her mind. She crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. “I got lucky. If it hadn’t been this one, I would’ve moved on to another.”

  “So you were looking for such a skeleton?”

  Was that a hint of mockery in his tone? Oh, I don’t think so! “I’m an archeologist. I look for anything.”

  “Do archeologists no’ have a specialty?”

  “Some, yes. For its size, this island has been more intensively studied by archeologists than almost any other area in Scotland.”

  “Is that so?”

  She let her confidence show in her smile. “That’s right. Did you know evidence has been found here to suggest Fair may have been settled by Neolithic people up to five thousand years ago?”

  “And you came to find more verification?”

  “It’s what I do.” No one was more surprised than she when she’d found the large horn and a portion of the skull sticking out of the ground.

  “Just a wee bit of luck, aye?” he asked skeptically.

  Tamir chose that moment to issue a nervous laugh. “Well, now that you two are getting along, perhaps we all should get back to work.”

  “Splendid idea,” she said and turned her back to Dmitri of the no last name.

  But she still felt his gaze on her. It was everything she could do not to look at him.

  She took a deep breath and stared at the skull. The skeleton seemed to rest on one side, as if the animal had lain down and not gotten back up.

  Returning back to her work, she was happy to hear the fading footsteps of Tamir and Muscles. A bodyguard. As if she needed such a thing.

  Tamir worried like a mother hen, and Ronnie must have picked up on that to send someone. Despite not liking Muscles, Faith wasn’t going to send him away. If his presence eased Tamir, then she could put up with the silent, accusing stare of the newest member of the team.

  It wasn’t long before she became engrossed in her work once more. With an earbud in her right ear, she listened to one of her many playlists, humming as she worked.

  No one disturbed her. Every once in a while, she saw Tamir as he came in to check on her progress and help dig for a bit. If there was a problem at the site, everyone went to Tamir first.

  He was an archeologist, as well, but he’d taken on the role of site supervisor from the moment he began working with her. Not that she didn’t make sure he got his time in at each dig, too.

  Many times, the two of them would spend hours, sometimes late into the night, working while everyone else rested and slept. It was how they got so much done.

  She and Tamir worked well together. He understood her, and she gave him a lot of freedom. Now that he had his degree, he could go off on his own. A few offers had come in for him to lead a team, but so far, he’d declined them all.

  It made her smile. Tamir had started out as just an intern for a semester, and now, years later, he was pretty much family. It was why it hurt so much that he didn’t believe she’d found a dragon.

  When she looked up at her progress, she sat back with a smile. All of the head and a portion of the neck had been exposed.

  She stretched her neck and back. When she checked her watch and saw that it was seven in the evening, she knew why her stomach was growling.

  By now, everyone would either be in camp or on their way back to town for dinner, drinks, and bed. She wasn’t quite ready to call it a day, however.

  Though she was going to have to work the kinks out of her back. She stood and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes before she lifted her hands over her head and put her feet together. As she released her breath, she folded over at the waist and put her hands on the ground, stretching her legs and back.

  When she opened her eyes, she was shocked to find Muscles sitting on the ground behind her with his back to the cave wall. From her upside-down angle, she took in his casual pose.

  Could he look any more comfortable in his surroundings? He had one foot planted, leg bent, and an arm resting on his knee as he watched her.

  She straightened and turned to face him, taking out her earbud. “Do you need something?”

  He gave a slight shake of his head.

  Great. A non-talker. Usually, she liked that, but there was something about Muscles that just set her off. Perhaps it was the condemnation in his gaze, as if he were angry that she was in the cave.

  She was absolutely, positively certain her unease had nothing to do with the fact that he had a mouth-watering body and face.

  It wasn’t like she was going home with what she found in the cave. It would go to the museum, though she would get credit for it. For her, it was the thrill of uncovering something from the past.

  She decided to ignore him. This time, she put in both earbuds and faced the skeleton. Her goal was to expose the entire neck in the next two days.

  So far, the skeleton had been intact, which was surprising. Not that she was going to complain about it. A gift was a gift.

  * * *

  Dmitri still hadn’t decided about Faith Reynolds. Her dedication to her job was unquestioned. He wasn’t accepting her answer of just finding the cave, though.

  To have chosen this cave above any others? This one, which happened to have a dragon skeleton inside?

  While he’d walked the site after meeting Dr. Reynolds, he overheard conversations. Many of the volunteers didn’t believe it was a dragon. They suspected it was a new species of dinosaur. The few locals he saw milling about were curious, wondering how the new find would help tourism.

  He spotted a few “crazies” as Tamir called them, watching from a distance, but no one got close. Though he was curious about the two men Tamir had
encountered earlier.

  The way Tamir had acted as he spoke about the incident made Dmitri wonder if word hadn’t somehow reached the Dark Fae.

  Or Ulrik.

  Once volunteers began leaving for the night, Dmitri found himself climbing back down to the cave. He’d expected to find Faith shutting things down for the day, but she continued to work.

  He didn’t want to be intrigued by her, but he was. If only his fascination had to do with how she’d found the dragon. He would discover what had led her to the skeleton, but that wasn’t what kept his gaze locked on her.

  It’s not what kept his body strung tight as a bow.

  She was average height, but there was nothing typical about her looks. Much to his dismay. His tastes ran toward the Fae since he preferred to stay away from humans. Yet, there was no negating the fact that lust burned through his body from the first moment her sherry eyes locked with his.

  There was a . . . simplicity about Faith that he appreciated. No makeup was needed to enhance her natural beauty. At first glance, she seemed almost ditzy since her mind ran a million miles a second, but her intelligence and zest for life were apparent with one look.

  Her sandy blond hair hung straight and glossy to her shoulders and was parted to one side with long bangs that she swiped out of her eyes repeatedly. The locks tantalized him by exposing the slender column of her neck and the delicate skin behind her ear.

  Unblemished fair skin beckoned him to touch, to caress.

  To lick.

  He clenched his teeth at the need that surged through him. When she turned, he watched the pulse at her throat and fought the longing to press his lips against it to feel the warmth of her body.

  Her oval face held a look of innocence and excitement he hadn’t seen in a long time. While her high cheekbones and sensual mouth added to her beauty, it was her eyes that caught him. They looked at the world as if it were a large sandbox waiting to expose its treasures.

  His palm still prickled from their brief touch earlier. The shock that had gone through him had been electric. The charge surged through him faster than lightning and left him reeling—and aching for more.

  Unable to look away, he watched as she stood and then bent over at the waist. The sight of her firm ass high in the air had the blood rushing to his cock. No mortal had ever had such an effect on him before. It unsettled him—and angered him.

  He forced his eyes away and turned his mind to more pressing matters. He’d been sent because of the skeleton, but there was something about Faith that didn’t seem to add up.

  The most important question: how had she known where to look to find the bones?

  Faith became so engrossed in her work that she didn’t hear others talking to her. Even when Tamir called her name, she was often too preoccupied with digging up the skeleton.

  Dmitri had watched her for hours. In that time, he’d listened to her hum and watched her touch the bones with such reverence that it shook him.

  Though he’d come to the cave to watch her, it gave him time with the skeleton, as well. By the size, he knew it was an adult. Which of his dragons had gotten left behind? They’d been his responsibility, and he’d failed.

  The longer he stared, the more he felt the weight of regret. The world had been created for the dragons. It was their birthright, their home.

  Yet they were no longer welcome.

  And he feared nothing would ever change that.

  The Dragon Kings who found mates with human females were lucky. Those mortals welcomed the dragons and the Kings. But most of the globe was made up of individuals who wanted nothing more than to destroy the Dragon Kings, imprison them, or run tests on them.

  So he and the others remained hidden.

  But the dragon inside him—the fierce, savage creature that he was—silently cried out for revenge. And his family.

  Yet he kept it all locked away. He couldn’t let it consume him, or he’d end up just like Ulrik: banished and cursed to roam the world in human form for eternity.

  It was almost two hours later before Dr. Reynolds turned off the music on her phone and removed her earbuds. She collected her tools and cleaned them off before returning them to a leather pouch that she rolled up and neatly tied.

  Then she adjusted her jacket, grabbed the tools, and began turning off the lights.

  He got to his feet and did the same on the other side of the cave. One by one, the lights were shut off. As the darkness grew, he found he wanted to remain.

  “What is it?”

  He turned at the sound of Faith’s voice. Her gaze searched the dark to try and see him. He glanced at the dragon. The need to stay with one of his clan—even in death—was strong.

  “If you’re afraid of the dark, I can turn on a light,” Faith said.

  Dmitri found a smile forming before he cut it off. “I’m no’ afraid of the dark.”

  “Then what is it?” she asked again.

  It wasn’t like he could tell her the truth. Or could he? “I once lived on Fair. A verra long time ago.”

  “Oh,” she said. “I didn’t know that.”

  There was a lot she didn’t know—and never would. Dmitri walked around her. The only thing that allowed him to leave was the knowledge that he’d be able to return the following day.

  There were no words spoken between him and Faith as they put on the harnesses. But he felt her looking at him often, as if she were trying to figure him out. Perhaps letting that little truth out had only complicated matters instead of simplifying them.

  He finally met her gaze as the light from her helmet shown in his face. Dmitri waited expectantly for the question he knew was coming.

  “Do you have family here?”

  He swallowed past the sorrow that lumped in his throat. “No’ anymore.”

  “I don’t have any family anywhere.” As if surprised by her words, she hurriedly looked away and began the climb up.

  Dmitri didn’t want to feel anything for the mortal, but there was no denying the pain he heard in her words and saw in her eyes.

  He followed her up the cliff where Tamir was waiting for them. He gave Dmitri a grateful smile and guided Dr. Reynolds to the tent where food awaited.

  Dmitri stood, slowly removing the climbing gear long after Faith and Tamir had walked away. Memories were consuming him, overwhelming him.

  He turned and faced the sea. He could hear the echoes of his family and other Whites upon the wind and within the rock. He closed his eyes as the wind moved seductively around him. How glorious it would feel to shift and fly above Fair once more.

  To release his true self.

  And plunge into his memories.

  Chapter Four

  Perth, Scotland

  Ulrik stood in the middle of his living room, hands fisted at his sides and seething with rage. He wanted to destroy everything around him, to release the fury that was about to erupt from him.

  And it was all due to Mikkel.

  His uncle had meddled for the last time. Ulrik had had Asher right were he wanted him. Con sending Asher to Paris had been fortuitous.

  Ulrik’s plan would’ve worked if only the key to his entire plan—journalist Rachel Marak—hadn’t fallen in love with Asher.

  She’d promised Ulrik that she would tell the world about the Dragon Kings. He didn’t take such pledges lightly. The oath bound her to him in a way she hadn’t understood.

  Then she betrayed him.

  Too many treacheries left a mark. And for her betrayal, Rachel had given him no other recourse but death. Except Asher had gotten to her in time. Even so, Ulrik had planned to wound Asher and kill Rachel.

  Then, out of the corner of his eye, he’d seen his uncle standing in the rubble of the warehouse.

  Now, Mikkel knew his secret.

  Now, Mikkel knew he could shift.

  It was information Ulrik planned to use when the time was right. He was strong enough to take his uncle out, and had been for a while. But he’d been biding his tim
e, waiting to discover as much of Mikkel’s secrets as he could.

  There was only one King of the Silvers. Mikkel may have coveted the role, thought he could take it from his brother, but the strongest dragon with the most magic became the next King. That wasn’t Mikkel. It was Ulrik.

  His uncle had hidden his anger well all those years. So well that Ulrik had never known how much hate festered in Mikkel’s heart. After Ulrik’s father died, Mikkel had attempted to leave the family and go off on his own.

  Ulrik was the one who’d talked him into staying. Ulrik had been a different person back then. He’d seen the world as nothing but good and decent, a beautiful place in which to live out his dreams.

  Now, he looked back on those memories and saw them in another light. Had Mikkel played him? Had Mikkel wanted him to ensure that he would remain a part of the family? Was that why his uncle had tried to leave?

  Ulrik’s anger grew because it was exactly the type of thing Mikkel would do now.

  Eons ago, Con had warned Ulrik that his trusting nature would get him hurt. It seemed his old friend had been right—not that he would ever tell Con such a thing.

  Ever since Mikkel had come into his life a few years before, Ulrik had played the part of subordinate well. There were several things he’d done to the Kings that Mikkel wasn’t aware of.

  So, who tipped off his uncle to his plans in Paris?

  Since Ulrik didn’t trust anyone, the blame remained with him. It had to have been something he’d said—or didn’t say—to Mikkel.

  But he hadn’t spent the last thousands of years putting this plan into motion only to have his uncle destroy it all. There were still things happening that would put Ulrik ahead.

  He looked around. If he remained at The Silver Dragon, Mikkel would destroy his shop and all the beautiful antiques he’d acquired through the years.

  Ulrik stalked to his bedroom and yanked open the door to his closet. He had little time to get what he needed. Dressing quickly, he made his way down the stairs to the shop below.

  He pulled open his bottom left desk drawer and took out the file he’d hidden. Inside was a list of names that he’d narrowed down to two. One of them was the spy Mikkel used on Dreagan.