Page 24 of Seducing the Dragon
Bram shook his head. “Old Mrs. Duncan is seventy-five years old and doesn’t have a traitorous bone in her body. She was loyal to my mother and she’s loyal to me too.”
She racked her brain trying to come up with something else when Nikki added, “Let me talk to Kai about this and see what we can find. He’s loyal to you as well and would never betray you.”
Evie barely resisted hugging her new friend. Nikki may be quite a bit younger than her, but the dragonwoman was worthy of her Protector-in-training status. She would have made a fine DDA inspector.
“Right,” Bram said, “talk to Kai and no one else. We’re also going to keep a close eye on Cait’s son, Murray. While unlikely given that the lad’s already five months old and Neil never tried to take him, the bastard might yet come to retrieve his son. Since the male of the current couple watching him is a Protector, Murray should be safe for now. As for the rest, once Kai has a plan, tell him to come here and discuss it with me.”
“Yes, sir.” Nikki looked to Evie. “I’ll see you at the great hall tonight.”
Evie had no idea what was happening tonight at the great hall, but she nodded. “Thanks for your help, Nikki.”
The woman grinned and was gone, leaving Evie alone with Bram.
She didn’t think she’d overstepped her boundaries, but given the dragonman’s assessing look, she wondered if she were in for another row.
He took a step toward her, and Evie was suddenly aware of the big, bulky coat she was wearing. In preparation for their possible heated argument, she shucked the jacket. Now she was ready to take the dragonman head on.
Bram nodded at her. “You’ve done well today, Evie.”
She blinked. “Um, thank you?”
A smile tugged at Bram’s lips and she melted a little. “You can handle Skyhunter’s bastard leader down south, you can sway Arabella MacLeod to your side, and even stand up to me, but you don’t know how to handle a compliment. I find that intriguing.”
She frowned. “You try working with temperamental dragon-shifters for years and see how often you get a compliment. Half the time, I was lucky to just do my business without someone yelling how humans were weak, disgusting, or the enemy. Add in the humans who view my job as a waste of the government’s money, and yeah, I’m not well liked.”
Anger flashed in Bram’s eyes and they went to slits before going back again. That signaled his dragon was close to breaking free.
Hoping to prevent that from happening, Evie put a hand on his arm. The instant her fingers touched his warm skin and the hairs of his arm tickled her palm, a flash of heat shot through her body. She’d been right to ditch the jacket.
Stroking his skin with her thumb, his eyes were human again when she said, “But you’re busy and I don’t want to waste time talking about Clan Skyhunter or any of the other rude people I’ve dealt with over the years. What needs to be done to sort out the dragon hunter problem? Is there anything I can do to help?”
Bram tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered on her lobe and she was very aware of the roughness of his fingers against her skin. It took everything she had to focus on his words, especially since his voice was low and extra sexy as he said, “Kai and Nikki will investigate and report to me as soon as they find something. Kai’s the best clan member I have when it comes to rooting out secrets. I would trust him with my life, so I trust him in this too.”
Evie was glad Bram had someone to help him. Of course, a small part of her wanted to be part of his trusted list too.Maybe with time she’d earn a place. Her telling him about Cait’s possible murder was hopefully a step in the right direction.
Bram caressed her earlobe again, and thoughts of her future and place in Stonefire fled her mind. A tall, muscled dragonman was looking at her like he wanted to eat her up. Or, if she were lucky, lick her up.
She shivered. The thought of Bram’s tongue lapping between her legs made her clit pulse and her heart rate kick up. Glancing to Bram’s firm lips, she wanted him to kiss her.
Stop it, Evie. His clan is on the verge of attack with a possible traitor. Right now is not the time to think of the wicked strokes of his tongue against yours.
With incredible effort, she removed her hand from Bram’s arm, but the dragonman grabbed her hand and pressed it back against his skin. She looked up and saw the dragon slits flashing in his eyes again.
The dragonman stroked the skin at her wrist with his thumb as he said, “It’s lunchtime, lass. Trust Kai and Nikki to do their jobs; there’s nothing else that can be done until they’ve finished their investigation, especially if we don’t want to alert the whole clan to a possible traitor. After what you’ve just uncovered, you’ve earned an hour of my time. Now, what would you like to do?”
As Bram strokedEvie’s wrist, her heart rate kicked higher with each pass. He could smell her arousal, and he very much wanted to kiss the living shit out of her.
Before meeting this human, Bram would’ve dove right into his work to see if there was something he’d missed from when Neil had still been part of the clan. He hadn’t lied to Evie; hewould trust Kai with his life. But without a mate or a family of his own, work was what had made him happy.
Now, however, all he could think about was Evie’s touch and his dragon’s growling and screaming inside his head.Let the others investigate. Before tonight, claim her. Do not let the Scottish leader steal her away. Make her want only us.
He agreed with his beast, and without thinking, Bram pulled the human flush up against his body. She let out a sound of surprise. “Bram?”
He was clan leader. He should push the female away and put the clan first as he had for the last eight years.
But the combination of his dragon’s need and her soft belly against his cock was too much. For the first time in nearly a decade, he wanted to take something for himself.
Lowering his head, he kissed her.
