Amazed, page 10
He thought she was going to sit in the chair, but caught his breath in admiration as she hopped up onto the table and settled her feet in the chair.
How had she done that?
She hadn’t even used her arms to boost her in any way. Plus she’d hopped backward.
Maybe —
“Are you a rabbit?” he asked suspiciously.
She burst into laughter. “Do I look like a rabbit? Wait, wait. Do I smell like one?”
“I told you. Your scent is like burnt sugar.” He dragged in a deep breath and almost lost control of his dragon at the delicious combination of fire and sugar and that indefinable heady scent that was Ashlynn herself.
“Your eyes are doing that freaky dragon thing again, so you can just stay over there,” Ashlynn ordered with a grin.
“Well, I am a dragon,” Zee pointed out. “But fine. It’s your turn to share anyway.”
“So far, you haven’t shared anything I didn’t already know. You’re a dragon. Of course, you enjoy flying and setting things on fire.”
“Harrumph.” She was infuriating! “Fine. Those morons downstairs are all related to me.”
“Really? You’re related to Max and the other shifters?”
“Not those morons. The dragons!”
“All the dragons downstairs were related to you?”
“Mia’s my sister and the other idiot dragons are my brothers. Except for Jarlo. He’s my brother-in-law and Aiden’s my nephew.”
“Wow. You have a big family.”
Zee nodded. As far as he was concerned, having a big family was the best part of being a dragon. Except for when those dragons tried to steal your mate. Then it was a huge pain in the ass.
“Is Mia your only sister?”
“Nope. There are two more just like her back home. And when I say just like her, I mean they’re identical.”
“Triplets?”
“Yep.”
“You have identical triplet sisters?” Ashlynn looked amazed, though he had no idea why.
“Yep.”
“So how many brothers do you have?”
“Five. Unfortunately,” he muttered.
“So where are you in the pack? I mean, are you the oldest, the youngest, somewhere in the middle?”
“I’m the oldest, though Liel and Markos like to claim it’s probably because I thumped them aside on the way out.”
“Wait. What?”
“Come on, you had to have noticed,” Zee said.
“Noticed what?”
“You seriously didn’t realize Liel and Markos look a lot like me?”
“They do not,” Ashlynn said. “They’re nowhere near as—”
“Nowhere near as what?”
“Annoying.”
He grinned, pretty certain that wasn’t what she’d been going to say. “Well, we’re fraternal triplets. Though we look so much alike, we’re often mistaken for identical.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep.”
“Your poor mother!”
He barked out a laugh.
“Hold on a minute. You said you have five brothers. Are the other three—”
“Yep. Triplets.”
“That’s crazy! How does that even happen?”
He shrugged. “Multiple births are very common in dragon families. Triplets are pretty much the norm, though there are some cases of twins, quads and even quintuplets.”
“Wow. You never have single births?”
“Very rarely. Usually something has gone wrong if that happens and the singlets rarely survive their infancy.”
“That’s so sad.”
He nodded. “It is. Thankfully, though, it is very rare.”
“What about Aiden?”
Zee grinned. “He’s one of four.”
“Wow! Your poor sister. Are the other three as mischievous as he is?”
He laughed. “They’re worse. He’s the only boy in the lot and the girls are a complete handful. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s how he managed to disappear on us. The girls were hogging all the attention and off Aiden went in search of an adventure that didn’t involve his crazy sisters. And that’s enough about me and my family. It’s time for your half of the bargain.”
“I’m afraid I’m quite boring by comparison.”
Zee growled, making Ashlynn jump a little. “Sorry, but you could never be boring. Now share.”
“Jeez. All right. So, my parents died when I was eighteen and—”
“So who took care of you then?”
She shook her head. “No one. I was eighteen and legally an adult.”
Zee scowled. What a ridiculously arbitrary age to determine a child was ready to care for themselves. She’d been barely a baby! “What about the rest of your family?”
Ashlynn smiled. “I didn’t have anyone. Both of my parents were singlets. I never met their parents. They died long before I came along, so I was alone.”
Unacceptable.
Zee could barely contain his rage at the thought of his mate all alone in the world, grieving for her lost parents, with no one to support her. “Well, you are not alone anymore. You have me and my entire family. We are your family now.”
Ashlynn looked stunned. “I—wow. Okay. That’s really nice of you. I mean—”
“I am sorry we were not around when your world fell apart, my Ashlynn.” He stood and walked toward her. “I would give anything to be able to go back in time, know you were in this world, all alone, waiting for me to come.”
Ashlynn shook her head. “I wasn’t waiting. I was fine, really. I’ve been working and traveling and supporting myself and I’ve been fine.” She nodded vigorously as if by saying it, that made it true.
He stopped in front of her, reached out and slid a hand around her neck to cradle the back of her head. He tilted her chin up so their eyes met and murmured, “Though I cannot go back in time, my love, I promise you will never be alone again.”
* * *
Ashlynn could barely breathe as Zee leaned in and captured her lips with his own.
For one glorious moment, there was nothing but heat and a raging need.
Then the fires that burned within, the ones she’d spent a lifetime battling, burst free.
The fire alarms went off and the sprinklers engaged, but still Zee kissed her.
The table Ashlynn was perched upon crumbled to ash, but Zee simply caught her up in his arms and continued to devour her mouth as her flames and his raged out of control.
Chapter Four
THE FIRE ALARMS went off in the hotel, causing everyone in the lobby to jump in surprise.
Everyone except the dragons, of course.
“Seventeen minutes,” Liel reported.
“Damn. He had more control than I thought he would,” Markos said.
“I won!” Jarlo crowed.
“Yes, yes.” Mia rolled her eyes. “I’m sure Zee will be thrilled to know that he held on long enough for you to win the bet.”
Jarlo looked horrified. “You’re not going to tell him about the bet, are you?”
Mia just grinned.
Harry hurried up to them. “Listen, we need to evacuate. I’m not sure where the fire is and—”
“Don’t be ridiculous, good man,” Liel said. “Fire can’t hurt dragons. Now, what can we do to help?”
“Harry!” Travis raced up to him, his koala mate hanging from his neck. “What rooms did you assign the dragons?”
“None. I haven’t checked in any dragons.”
He groaned. “Well, what about the phoenix?”
“You mean your Phoenix?”
“No, the phoenix.”
“You mean Ashlynn?”
“Yes!”
“I’m confused. I thought we all agreed phoenixes don’t exist.”
The dragons all chuckled.
“You need to move that phoenix fast,” Travis told him.
“Wait. So phoenixes do exist? Lily, did you know about phoenixes?”
Lily looked up from where she was gathering eucalyptus leaves and shoving them into boxes. “I mean, I didn’t not know about them. I never really thought about it.”
“Great.” Harry huffed. “Look, we should really evacuate the hotel.”
“Nah, we just need to find our brother,” Markos said.
“Exactly,” Liel agreed.
“Where’s Ashlynn staying, Harry?” Mia asked.
“Um, room 373.”
“Excellent!” Jarlo rubbed his hands together. “We’ll take care of this. You should probably go turn the fire alarms off.”
“But what if there’s really a fire?” Harry asked.
“Oh, I’m sure there is,” Liel said. “But trust us. We dragons know how to contain a fire.”
And with that, they all headed down the hall toward the stairs.
“Trust dragons?” Travis exclaimed. “Not even on a bet!” He whirled on Harry. “Room 373 is probably a loss and if you don’t want to lose more rooms, possibly even the whole damn hotel, you’d better move that phoenix to one of the fireproof suites!”
“Wait a minute.” Harry shook his head. “You’re telling me we have rooms that are fireproof?”
* * *
Ashlynn was burning from the inside out, but for once, she wasn’t crumbling to ash. Instead, everything inside burned, then rose again, then burned again.
She couldn’t think, she couldn’t speak. All she could do was feel.
His hands were everywhere, scorching and stoking the fires hotter and hotter.
His tongue tangled with hers and the flames rushed from his mouth to hers and back again, up and down her back, then his. From his hands that stroked everything they could reach to her burning body. From the legs she’d hitched around his hips to the hands clutching his shoulders.
The fires coiled tighter and tighter.
She couldn’t catch her breath.
Everything burned.
“Zee,” she gasped, pulling back from his endless, searing kiss to bury her face in his neck.
She was burning and it had never been so sweet.
* * *
“Whoa, it’s scorching hot in here, even for a dragon!” Markos exclaimed as he and his dragon kin burst into Ashlynn’s room.
There were embers everywhere.
The floor and the walls sizzled with a kind of fire he’d never seen before. A dragon’s fire contained within some other form of flame.
The dragons were so fascinated with the dancing flames, it took them all a minute to remember their mission.
To control the fires Zee had set loose in the hotel.
Inhaling deeply, Markos attempted to pull the flames toward him, but they resisted.
“What’s up with these flames?” Liel exclaimed. “They won’t come to my call.”
“They must not all be dragon fires,” Jarlo said. “I guess that means she really is a phoenix.”
Markos followed Jarlo’s gaze to where a pillar of fire burned on the other side of the room.
It was unlike any flames he’d ever seen.
Something moved within the flames and that’s when he realized where his brother and Ashlynn were.
He lunged forward, but Jarlo caught his arm and dragged him back.
“We don’t know how her flames will react to you just barging in.”
“Well, we can’t just let them burn. She might be able to rise from the ashes, but our brother can’t,” Liel exclaimed.
“Maybe not, but he is a dragon. I doubt seriously he’ll have to.”
“So we just let the hotel burn down around us?” Markos demanded.
“Of course not.” Jarlo grinned. “This is going to be so much fun.”
* * *
Zee’s dragon had never felt so close when he was in human form. But today, he burned along with Zee as they were consumed by their mate’s fire.
“Ashlynn, my love,” he murmured when she broke the kiss and buried her face in his neck.
He shuddered at the feel of her tongue tasting him there.
“Ahem.” The voice that intruded was muffled, as if they were hearing it from underwater. He ignored it and went back to kissing his mate everywhere he could reach.
She tasted as exquisite as her scent, burnt sugar that he gulped down in tiny nips and sweeps of his tongue.
“Zee,” she whispered in his ear, making him shudder, fanning the flames higher.
“This is just sad and pathetic!” A voice intruded again, making Zee growl in frustration. “We can’t take you anywhere, Zee! You’re going to burn down the hotel and everyone in it.”
Zee’s dragon roared in fury at the interruption. His damn interfering brothers were at it again!
“At the very least, take this to a fireproof suite!”
Ashlynn giggled and pulled away from Zee. She smiled up at him and murmured, “Are your brothers always this bossy?”
“Always,” Zee growled as he tried to pull his fire back inside.
It didn’t want to come though.
That was unusual.
He glanced around and realized they were surrounded by fire. “Um, Ashlynn? Is this my fire or yours?” Parts of it looked like his fire, felt like his fire, but it didn’t react like his fire.
“Hmmm?” Ashlynn looked dazed, her arms still wrapped around his shoulders, her legs clamped around his hips.
He hated to bring her out of the sensual fog that had enveloped them both, but he supposed it wouldn’t be good form for them to burn down the hotel. “The fire?”
Ashlynn glanced around. “Oh!” She dropped her arms and legs and leapt back, much to his dismay. The minute she was away from him, she scowled. “How did you do that?”
Zee didn’t answer. He’d been struck dumb by the vision in front of him. Covered in soot and nothing else, Ashlynn was utterly stunning.
“Zee!”
“Um, what?” He shook his head. “Sorry.” He forced himself to look her in the eyes. “What is it?”
“How come your clothes haven’t burned to ash yet?” She looked furious.
“Zee, hurry it up, man. Get yourself together!” It was that damn muffled voice again, this time rousing Zee’s dragon. Could his brothers see his mate? See her in all her glorious— scowling, he whipped off his shirt, lunged forward and wrapped it around her.
“Oh. Um. Thank you.” Ashlynn slid her arms into the sleeves and clutched the two sides of his shirt together. “How come it didn’t burn?”
“Fireproof clothing is a necessity for dragons,” Zee informed her.
“Zee! The fire!”
Zee growled. His brothers were such a total pain in the—
“Oh, I guess I should—” Ashlynn broke off with a look of concentration on her face. A couple moments passed, but nothing happened. “Um, okay. This is weird.”
“What?”
“My fires aren’t responding. This is bad, very bad. I’ve never had them rage out of control like this, well, not since I was really young, and even then, I could pull them back. Why aren’t they coming back to me?” She reached out to the column of fire that surrounded them and touched the flames. They poured over her skin and she threw her head back, shuddering.
She was magnificent.
Zee’s hold on the dragon slipped and he lunged for Ashlynn, sweeping her back into his arms for another searing kiss.
She shuddered and murmured his name. “Zee.”
“Oh, for dragons’ sake!” Markos’ voice was still muffled, but now Zee could recognize it. His stupid brother sounded quite irritated, which was definitely a plus as far as Zee was concerned. Then he couldn’t think at all because Ashlynn’s fires were pouring into him again and all he could do was shudder and feel.
* * *
“This is quite ridiculous,” Liel said.
“True,” Bowen said, “but also rather amusing.”
“I’ve never known Zee to be so out of control,” Kormal said.
“Yes, and I’ve had quite enough of it,” Markos snapped. “Everyone thinks we dragons destroy everything and now look at him! He’s going to burn down the hotel and we’ll all be blamed!”
“Oh, please, he’s not going to burn it down,” Liel said. “Always with the melodrama!”
“I’m not melodramatic!” Markos whirled on Liel. “Look at this place!”
Liel rolled his eyes. “So the suite’s on fire. So what? It’s not really spreading outside the suite, so the two of them must be retaining at least some control.”
“Exactly,” Velos agreed. “Besides, even if they do lose control, between the lot of us, we’ll keep it contained. It’s not like it’s going to spread through the walls or anything.”
“Have you looked at them?” Markos exclaimed. “That fire is not normal! Dragon fire doesn’t act that way!”
“It does if a dragon wants it to,” Liel snapped.
“Look at him!” Markos roared. “Do you really think he’s retained any control of his dragon at all?”
Liel stared at the fire.
He hated to admit it, but Markos was right. The fire wasn’t exactly acting normal. It just swirled around the two figures at the center, so they formed a pillar of fire that moved almost like—
“It looks like a tornado,” Kormal observed. “A tornado of fire.”
"Exactly!” Markos exclaimed.
Liel sighed. “Fine. Let’s just pull them apart. It’s not like the fire’s going to hurt us or anything.”
Markos nodded. “You grab the girl.”
Liel rolled his eyes. Great. Now he’d be the one Zee attacked, for daring to touch his mate. Whatever. “On three.”
Markos nodded and they positioned themselves on either side of the couple.
“One-two-three!”
They both plunged a hand into the flames.
Fuck!
Liel roared and leapt back, vaguely aware of Markos doing the same on the other side of the column of fire.
Shaking out his hand, Liel stared at it.
He’d been burned!
Him! A dragon!
“This isn’t possible,” Markos snarled.
“That fire is unnatural.” That was Bowen, stating the obvious as usual.
Liel’s dragon growled, as annoyed as Liel himself.
* * *
