Page 12 of Dragon Exposed

I got myself situated next to her, fighting the urge to pull her into my lap and press my hard cock against her ass. “I don’t really know what to say to that, other than to try and show you that I believe, that I understand. I didn’t grow up in the same situations as you, as anyone who lives in this country. But as for the invincible thing, I can promise you, there are things that can hurt me. Things that make me just as vulnerable as anyone else.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “You make me feel vulnerable, Izobelle.”

“Me?” Her eyes grew wide, completely ignoring the park as the carriage started to move. “Why on Earth would I make you feel vulnerable? You barely know me.”

I shifted, needing to be closer to her, needing to touch her more. Izobelle had gotten under my skin—my dragon knew it, and I’d be lying if I tried to deny how much I wanted to be with her. I’d be lying if I didn’t think there was at least a chance that she could be my mate.

“Levi?” She tilted her head at me.

Smiling softly, I brushed my lips over hers. “It’s hard to explain. But if you’re willing to get to know me, spend more time together, I’ll try to find the words.”

She snuggled in close and turned toward the park, leaning against me, smelling downright edible. “You’ve got at least a loop around Central Park to convince me you’re worth it.” Her tone was playful, teasing, but she wasn’t looking at me anymore, so I couldn’t tell if she was just playing along.

Either way, I intended to show her that I was worth knowing. I intended to make her leave wanting more. Wanting all of me, as much as I wanted all of her.

With little more than the clomping sounds of horse hooves on pavement to interrupt our conversation, I told her as much as I could about my life, growing up with six siblings, constantly rough housing with my brothers, competing to see who was strongest, fastest, most cunning, and all of us doing everything we could for Krystana.

In turn, she told me about her family, as much as she was willing to share before her emotions started to make her voice tremble and I distracted her by kissing her neck and letting my hands skim over her skin, just enough to make her tremble.

I wanted to delve so much deeper, push her to tell me about her encounter with Viktor, but not if dredging up those memories were enough to make her upset.

Instead, I shifted the subject to safer topics of conversation.

“Okay, if you didn’t grow up in this city, what brought you here? What made you want to be a New Yorker?”

She shrugged. “I got a job. Relocated to be able to do it.”

The answer was too off the cuff, too rehearsed to be believable, like a lie she’d told so long she almost started believing it. “And the real answer?”

Izobelle sighed. “I was tracking Viktor’s kills. Trying to find him. I need to put him down, Levi. I can’t let a monster like that keep breathing.”

“You…you tracked a vampire. By yourself? No one else helped you?”

“No one else would believe me, let alone offer to help. The only reason I got as close as I did the other night was my own stubborn determination.” She gently scraped her nails over the back of my hand in a motion that felt like she wasn’t even aware she was doing it. “He killed everyone I loved. He almost killed me. I’m never going to stop, not until he’s gone for good.”

“Then I guess I’m going to have to give you a lesson in vampire slaying.”

She laughed. “Why does it sound like a dirty euphemism when you put it like that?”

I smirked as the carriage came to a stop, back near where we’d started. “If it’s dirty euphemisms you want, I’ll give it to you. Hard. And rough.”

Izobelle let out a slight shiver as she started to climb down out of the carriage, not waiting to be helped out like most women would, but rather jumping down on her own, like she’d rather do it herself than look, even for a moment, like she needed anyone’s help.

I supposed after years of being alone, she’d had to develop a thick skin about that sort of thing, but it wouldn’t stop me from wanting to help her.

“Okay, where to now? You’ve seen a lot of the park, or you would’ve if you’d looked out of the carriage at any point.” She linked arms with me, and before I had a chance to respond, she started steering me toward a coffee cart.

“More coffee?”

“I don’t think you understand, it’s like the lifeblood. And considering I have to start working on a segment that somehow has to be somber enough to show our sympathies and our heartfelt sorrow toward the victims and their families, it also has to be upbeat enough to keep watchers from wanting to tune out or switch the channel. But if I said what really happened, why those people really died, I’d be looked at like a crazy person. Or worse, thrown back under a psychiatric hold for seventy-two hours.” She rolled her eyes and practically started bouncing the moment we were in line at the cart. “I’ll be lucky if I get more than two or three hours sleep a night, before our live from Times Square broadcast on Tuesday.”

I gaped at her, surprised that she’d put herself through such grueling tasks, for a job that she talked about like it was just a way to support her vampire hunting. “Isn’t there something you could do that would be easier on your body? Something that wouldn’t force you to lose so much sleep?”

“I don’t sleep well as it is. Caffeine is my friend.” She shrugged like it didn’t matter, like it was no big deal, but I couldn’t help but feel like the moment I convinced her to be my mate, I’d start to wean her off the stuff, and fuck her into deep, dreamless sleep every night of the rest of our lives.

Yeah, if I was already thinking about her like that, I was well and truly fucked by fate.

5

Upbeat Terror

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