Prince of Ice, page 5
And besides, she’d be seeing him soon.
It was enough to make her feel much calmer as she went back to her notes, ready to make another entry.
Chapter 6
“Well, that was scary,” Iris said, holding on to Luka’s arm as they walked out of the theatre. She’d enjoyed watching the movie with him, but he’d picked a horror movie, and she was still a little shaken up.
“I didn’t think so,” Luka said. “But I’m sorry if it wasn’t your kind of thing. I’ll pick better next time.” He seemed genuinely worried about it, so she gave him a reassuring smile.
“The company was great, though,” she said, squeezing his arm. “I’m just no good with monster movies. The thought of something huge and powerful out there, that science can’t do anything about, just terrifies me.” She shuddered. “Glad those things don’t exist.”
“Ha,” Luka said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. “Me, too.”
He was quiet for a moment, and she wondered if she had offended him.
“I really am glad we went together, though,” she said sincerely. “There’s nothing like watching a scary movie with a big, strong man to watch out for you.”
He finally grinned at that. “My research did suggest as much.”
“Oh, so you did it just to get some action, hm?” Iris pulled back and put her hands on her hips playfully. “Think you’re going to get lucky tonight, mister?”
He cocked his head, pursing his lips. “Maybe?”
She laughed, holding his arm again. “Probably. You’re too hot for me to resist.”
“I know the feeling,” he said as they started forward into the parking lot again.
It was dark outside, and they’d gotten dinner while watching the movie, so Iris felt sated and relaxed as they made their way toward her car at the back of the lot.
There weren’t many people still at the theater, as the movie had been one of the later ones and a little long. Her nerves tingled as she saw her car in the distance and realized that if she and Luka were going to do something sexy after, she needed to talk to him about the sample soon.
At least tell him what had happened and see his response.
She was terrible at keeping secrets, and since he was somewhat involved, it felt wrong.
Especially with someone she was sleeping with.
“Um, Luka?” She pulled him to a stop. “I need to talk to you about something.”
He turned to her, cocking his head, his icy eyes shimmering with concern. “What is it?”
“I figured out what was stolen.”
“You did?”
She twisted her hands in front of her. Why did she feel nervous to talk about it when it shouldn’t be any big deal? She was never planning to use the sample anyway. “So… a while back, I took a sample of Alek’s blood.”
“I know,” Luka said. “He told me. He likes you a lot.”
“Did you tell them about us?”
Luka shook his head. “No. Dmitri figured it out, though. All they know is we’ve been hanging out. I refused to give any details.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Good.”
Luka peered at her curiously. “Would it be so bad if they knew more?”
“No,” Iris said, waving a hand. “But I just can’t focus on it now, and I hate when people talk about me. But anyway, about that sample.”
“Alek’s blood?”
“Yes,” Iris said. “I think it was taken. I couldn’t be sure if I just misplaced it, but after looking everywhere in the lab, I’m sure. That may be what the break-in was about. If it was taken that night. But honestly, I haven’t looked at it since the day I gave Talia the results on it, so I don’t know…”
Luka nodded. “I see. What were the results?”
She studied his face, but it was impassive. “Extraordinary. But there could have been a mistake. Where did all of you come from again?”
Luka cocked his head. “North.”
“That’s vague.”
“Do you really want to go into this? My whole history? I’m not sure what it has to do with the sample.”
He was terse now, and Iris wasn’t sure why. Plus, he was right. She’d told him she didn’t want to go deep with him. Not until other things were worked out.
She hadn’t told him much about her history as well. As far as either of them knew, all that mattered was the present.
Luka looked up at the sky and then let out a sigh. “But if they did take the sample, that means your research is probably safe, right?”
She nodded.
“That’s good.” Luka smiled, and the sight almost took her breath away. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “So maybe don’t worry about the sample, at least until your research is done. After all, you weren’t planning to use it, right?”
“No,” she said. “And I doubt anyone would believe it was real. Even I wonder if I made a mistake processing it or something.”
“So either way, it can wait until your project is done, right?” Luka’s gaze was reassuring as he peered down at her.
She looked up at him curiously, wondering if he was trying to waylay her, but then she was distracted by the sound of voices nearby.
She looked up to see a group of people standing near a dumpster, talking amongst themselves.
At least, she thought they were talking amongst themselves, until she felt Luka freeze up beside her.
“Hey, babe,” one of the guys called, stepping forward. He had a lit cigarette in his hand, and he threw it to the side as he addressed her. “Where you going in such a hurry?”
“Yeah,” one of the girls next to him said, leaning against the dumpster. “What’s the rush?”
Luka bent down to talk to her. “If I tell you to run, go to the car. Don’t worry about me.”
She nodded, knowing she wouldn’t be much help in a fight. If nothing else, she could get in the car and run them over. But perhaps they were just messing around, nothing more.
Luka kept walking with his arm around her, ignoring the strangers, but as the group stepped into their path, she realized they were in their twenties, not mere teenagers.
The man who’d spoken to them had shaggy hair and black clothing, and he had two male friends standing on either side of him as he smirked. The females in the group stood back, but the predatory, expectant grins on their faces told Iris everything.
Goddammit.
Iris reached into her purse and pulled out a twenty. “This is all I have on me. Take it and go away.”
The man stepped forward, ready to take it, but then shook his head.
Luka stepped between the man and Iris, preventing him from going around. “Get back now. This is your only warning.”
Iris was a little surprised by Luka’s boldness. Sure, Luka was a tall, muscular guy, but he didn’t look like he’d been in a lot of street fights, and who knew if this other guy was armed?
“Let’s just go,” Iris said, pulling on him.
“Nah,” the guy in front of them said as his friends came a little closer, leering. “I think you’ve got more than twenty.” He put out a hand toward Luka. “So give us everything, or we might have to take turns on your bitch.”
Iris had only a second to gasp as Luka’s entire body tightened imperceptibly before he struck.
He pushed Iris back as his hand shot out and grabbed the stranger around the neck, lifting him so that his legs were dangling. “How dare you say such foul things around my mate. You’re going to pay for this.”
The man gasped and scrabbled at Luka’s hand around his neck, struggling. He wasn’t changing colors, so Iris knew Luka wasn’t choking him, but still…
“It’s not worth it. Let’s just go,” she said quietly.
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before you threaten another woman again,” Luka said, practically spitting with rage into the other man’s face.
Iris gasped as she saw two of his friends come over, but as they approached, Luka simply cursed and grabbed one of them with one hand and threw him into the other, bowling him over.
The two of them started to struggle to get up, but Luka pinned them with a look. “I wouldn’t.”
He was strong. So incredibly strong. Despite the danger of the situation (or lack of danger, given how Luka was handling things), she couldn’t help but be a little impressed—and turned on, frankly—at the way things were going.
She’d known Luka was strong and cool-headed, but she’d never expected him to be able to fight like this.
Luka looked at the men on the ground. “You going to stay down, or am I going to come over there?”
They both shook their heads, scrambling back on their butts toward the girls, who were cowering by the dumpster.
Luka then focused all his attention on the man he was still holding in the air. He grabbed him by the collar with both hands and pulled him in close so they were eye to eye. “Apologize,” Luka growled at him.
“I’m sorry,” the man choked out.
“Not good enough.”
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“She was nice enough to offer you money, and you what?”
“I… messed up.”
“No, a mess-up is a mistake. The foul thing you said was carefully calculated to scare someone else. But it just made me angry. Apologize for real. Say you’ll never use rape as a threat.”
“I’ll never use rape as a threat.” Tears began to stream down the robber’s cheeks as he struggled. “I’m sorry, okay?”
“Like you mean it,” Luka said, tightening his grip.
“I’m… so… sorry,” the man struggled to choke out, barely able to move as his face turned a deeper shade of red.
“Fine then,” Luka said, releasing him so he dropped onto the hard ground in a lump, gasping for breath and on the verge of sobbing.
His friends looked like they were about to rush forward, but Luka put a hand up. “Not until we’re in our car.”
The group watched him warily as they walked to Iris’s vehicle. Luka carefully opened the door for her and, when she was in, shut it before turning back to the crowd.
“My lady and I like to come here, so I suggest you find another spot to hang out. Then again, I’m around town a lot, so I suggest you stop your activities altogether. Because if I see you pulling this kind of shit again, I won’t be so nice. Now leave.”
They stared in shock for a second, but when Luka reached into his pocket ominously, they all scattered, nearly tripping over their feet in their haste to run away.
Iris’s heart beat quickly as she watched Luka pull something out of his pocket.
Not a gun, but a bottle of hand sanitizer. She couldn’t help laughing as she watched him squeeze some into his palm, muttering to himself as he watched the group disappear into the dark.
When he seemed satisfied with how clean he was, he got back into the car, looking irritated. “I’m sorry they ruined our night.”
“They didn’t,” she said, scooting over to lean on the center console to hold on to his arm. She could see his pulse in his neck beating rapidly, as hers was. “Thanks to you.”
She leaned up to kiss him, and he froze in shock for a moment, then melted into the kiss.
When she pulled back, he frowned down at her.
“I’m sorry if they ruined the mood. I was enjoying our night together. Truly, some people in this world are despicable.”
“I know you wouldn’t have let anything happen,” she said. “And honestly, it kind of… helped the mood, if you know what I mean.”
He furrowed his brows. “What?”
“I mean, the hand sanitizer was hilarious, but the rest of it was just so… masculine.”
He smiled then, leaning in a bit as she felt her heart rate increasing. “Ah, I see. My display of strength pleased you.”
She swallowed nervously. “I suppose. In the end, we’re still all animals after all, right? Seeking the strongest mates?” She wrinkled her nose. “Wait, didn’t you call me that?”
“I meant date,” he said, brushing her hair back, getting in her space even more. “But given the things we do, perhaps mating would also be appropriate.”
She laughed at that. “I suppose so. All right, big guy, let’s continue this at my place.”
He straightened reluctantly, allowing her to start the car. “I too was affected by the fight. I feel… possessive. More than usual. And I want to hold you, to do all the things we did, and stay with you long into the night.”
“I suppose I’m okay with that,” she said, anticipation already building inside her as she started to head out of the parking lot. “I owe you after tonight.”
“You will never owe me anything,” he said sternly. “I only want what you can give.”
“Well, I want you as well,” Iris said. “Especially after what you did to those guys. I mean, how are you strong like that?”
“I spent a lot of time fighting in my youth,” Luka said. “A lot of time protecting someone I cared about.”
Iris felt a hint of jealousy about that and wanted to ask, but she also didn’t want to ruin the moment. Luka’s past didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was here with her now. He’d defended her. They’d been in danger but now were both safe.
And she just wanted to enjoy life with him.
When they got to her place, they were scarcely inside with the door locked behind him before they were pulling off each other’s clothes. As they made their way into the bedroom, nearly naked, Iris made sure to flick off the light.
When Luka shut the door and they fell into bed together, Iris felt the rest of the world fade away. All she could focus on was his touch, his kisses, the feel of his body. The sense of something big happening between them, pleasure that she could barely stand. Everything they’d done the other night… but everything felt stronger.
And this time, despite his protests, she got to have him gasping in her hands, her mouth, giving him back the pleasure he gave her. It was the most pleasurable thing she’d ever experienced, and they hadn’t even had sex yet, as neither was ready to go all the way.
But when they were done and breathless and sweaty and sated, she let him stay in the bed beside her, curling around her with his warmth.
For some reason, it just felt right.
Chapter 7
The next morning, Luka was completely rejuvenated from being able to sleep next to his mate. Making love to her was everything, even though he couldn’t completely join with her until they were mates. But sleeping beside her, being able to protect her, was another thing entirely.
It made him feel intimacy he’d never felt with anyone else. So he was still on a high like he’d never experienced.
And while he hated to kill that high now that he was home, he knew he had to make a call to the sapphire dragon.
Lucien had said he would give them space but to call with any odd developments, and Luka thought that someone stealing Alek’s sample was probably one of those developments.
He wasn’t too worried about anyone doing something with the blood, since no human would understand it, but he was a little worried about it having an impact on Alek’s identity. It was still Luka’s job to protect his friends.
Hopefully, whoever had taken it had mistaken it for something else. Why would someone in Iris’s lab be interested in it?
Luka had panicked a bit when she’d told him about it, because he wasn’t ready to tell her more about who he was or his friends or where he came from. Not when it would stress her out while she was working so hard.
No, when she was done with her research and riding the high of tenure, then they could take a few steps forward, learn more about each other.
And if he blew her mind with his revelation about who he was, she could recover without it ruining her work.
He dialed up Lucien, not looking forward to the call he was about to have.
“Hello?” The calm, soothing voice of the sapphire dragon was still grating to Luka, ever since Luka had mistook him for attacking Dmitri. It was hard to get over first impressions. “Who is this?”
“It’s Luka,” he replied. “I’ve called to report something. It’s probably not a big deal, but…”
“Go ahead,” Sapphire said patiently. Damn, the guy was likable.
“It’s about Alek. When we were first awoken, a human took a sample of his blood, and now we think it’s been stolen.”
There was a long pause on the other end. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Luka said. “But I mean, we think it was one of the humans, and—”
“It doesn’t matter,” Sapphire said sharply. “You don’t know what’s been done.” Sapphire’s usually calm voice was harried. “The things that can be done with dragon blood—oh God, I’ve got to call Aegis.”
“Aegis?”
“Another dragon. If there is dragon blood unaccounted for, we will need more help.”
“Wait, but it’s just a sample, and a human has it and…” Luka’s mind raced furiously as he realized that all of this could jeopardize Iris’s research and their relationship.
“And you say a human took this sample? Did she study it?”
“I don’t think so, but she did look at it some,” Luka said.
“Then she will need her memory erased. We can’t have anyone knowing about us. You know that, Luka. Not unless they are our mates.”
“She is my mate,” Luka said quickly. “But she isn’t ready yet.”
“Well, you better get her assurance soon, because a lot of dragons are about to get involved in this.”
“No,” Luka said. “Give me some time to get the sample back. I promise we can find it soon. Sapphire, she’s my mate. If I scare her off now…”
Sapphire took a deep breath. “Perhaps I am overreacting. But you haven’t seen the creatures produced by dragon blood.” He let out a deep sigh. “You have some time. Maybe a week. I won’t tell anyone until then, as long as you can find the sample.”
“That might not be enough time—”
“There is more than you at risk here, Luka. I’m sorry.” Sapphire had genuine regret in his voice.
