Page 7 of Defy Me

"Ein cafe und diese...uh, pastries." She pointed to some chocolate croissants.

Adorable.

Blech. He'd never in his life thought anything was adorable.

For some insane reason every time he looked at her his brain went all fluffy. His cock was anything but - no, it was rock fucking hard. Just from seeing her lick her lips in anticipation of a sweet treat for breakfast. He'd really like to lick that chocolate off her lips. "Make that two coffees and add in some of those sausage rolls. The lady is buying."

She spun around and Jett thoroughly enjoyed seeing the shock on her face and her perusal of his chest. He even found himself puffing up for her. Which was ridiculous. The vendor handed over the rolls and Jett slapped a few bills on the table. It wasn't like he didn't have plenty. What she'd taken was a pittance.

He grabbed the bag and cups, handing her one even while her mouth continued to open and close like a funny little fish. "How, what, I--"

Jett slid his hand into the soft small of her back, just above her plump rear end and guided her away from the cart. Funny how they fit together perfectly like this. "I'm not going to hurt you, but there are those who will. You need to come with me before the real bad guys show up."

"I don't need your help." She tried to jerk away, but stiffened and then stilled entirely. Her eyes went wide as pancakes and her jaw dropped.

Jett looked up to where she was staring and swore. Right then, those bad guys he'd warned her about showed up.

The sky darkened with unnatural storm clouds darkened the early morning sky. Demon dragons popped up in the new shadowed corners right there on the street. Damn, the Black Dragon was growing fucking bold to send his minions out among the humans in broad daylight. They couldn't do that on their own, which meant, the asshole himself really was on his way.

"Ack. What are those?" His beauty came back to her senses and pointed at a growing puff of black not a foot away in the underbelly of the the food cart. That black smoke would soon become one of his brethren.

They would have orders to recapture him and those on his side would not be able to disobey with the Black Dragon so close. He would have to fight them off. Shit. If he was lucky he could kill a few of the minions and chase the others away. Enough of his brothers had died in the battles with the dragon warriors. Even more since his own escape from hell. Their deaths were on his head. He wouldn't have anymore.

He pushed the girl behind him and rolled his shoulders ready for the brawl, but did not shift even his claws into dragon form. He would take the beating before killing any of the cursed.

"Come on, you dummy." She grabbed his hand and yanked him toward the center of the square that was not yet fully dark but was filling with people. "Don't wait for trouble to find you."

She jerked him away from the burgeoning form of the demon dragon. Jett's arm just about pulled out of his socket before his feet caught up with her. Geez, she was fast. Unexpectedly fast. Whatever kind of being she was hiding behind her human facade had some giddy up and go. He struggled to keep up as she zigged and zagged through the people scurrying around. It wasn't hard to track the demon dragons coming after them, the screams were evidence enough that the bastards were gaining on them.

"Over there." She switched directions and tugged his arm dragging him into hard right. She was heading toward a dark alley.

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. That way would be teeming with both friends and enemies with no room to tell the difference in a battle. The Black Dragon may be ready to expose them all to world, but Jett wasn't. He needed to get someplace secluded but not dark to shift into his dragon form and fly the two of them away from here.

Before they reached the alley he shoved her into the open entryway to the last building. It was airy and bright, too fucking bright. Jett held his hand up over his eyes to block the glare of the hundreds of lightbulbs. He had to go and choose escape in a fucking lamp store.

"Guten Tag. Womit kann ich Ihnen behilflich sein?" A human male spoke, but Jett growled at him and he scurried away.

"Babe, do you see a stairwell? We need to go up to the rooftop." Babe. He didn't even know her name, but the nickname tasted good on his lips.

"I am not your babe and no I don't see any stairs. We don't want to go up anyway. We'd be trapped on the roof." She gripped his wrist blocking out the glaring light, soothing his already tender skin with only her touch. "What is wrong with you? Why are you covering your face? Did they get you?"

"No, I'm fine. Look again, if we can get to the roof I can get us out of here, away from the demon dragons."

"Oh no. Did you get bonked on the head when I wasn't looking? Because unless you're Richy Rich and have a helicopter waiting at your beck and call, we're going to have to make a run for it. I'm pretty sure I can get us through that crowd."

Damn the light was piercing his brain. Enough. He'd just have to tell her what he was and hope that didn't freak her the fuck out. Or not. "I don't know what you are and you don't have to tell me if you're not ready to reveal your form, but unless you're prepared to deal the Black Dragon himself, we have to get out of here now. I can shift and fly us someplace safe."

"Dude. I don't have any idea what you're talking about and we're running out of option. Those things are gathering around the front of the store and they've got rocks."

Rocks? Something whipped past his head and glass smashed in a sickening tinkle. He tried uncovering his eyes, but the glare from the bulbs seared into his brain. "Look. Either we find a way to get up to the roof or I shift here and now in the middle of this store, breaking all these fucking lightbulbs of death and those are the only thing keeping the demon dragons at bay."

He should just do that anyway. Why was he still screwing around with her. He could shift, scare the shit out of the demon dragons, the cursed would back off, and he could fly away. He would, if it wasn't for the way her touch and her voice and the promise of more time in her company, possibly kissing her again kept him by her side.

He was fucking pussy whipped and he hadn't even seen her with her clothes off yet. He was such a douche. Another rock whizzed through the air, then another and another. Glass shattered and his girl screamed. Fuck if he was letting any of that glass cut into her pearlescent skin marring it before he got to run his tongue over every inch of her.

Eyes be damned. He would heal. Jett squinted blocking as much of the light out as he could and scanned the room. Fuck, it was like looking directly as the center of the sun. He was already seeing spots in his vision. The demon dragons were strategically taking out the lamps in a path to get to where he and the girl were near the cashier's desk. That was too smart a move for regular demon dragons. Which meant his brethren were directing the battle.

That was either good, because they would let him get away, or very, very bad if the Black Dragon was close enough to be directing it himself. Jett couldn't take the risk of negotiating with them, not with this fragile being by his side.

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