Page 4 of Seducing the Dragon
Tristan said, “Shut it, Dacian, or I’ll tell all of the young females you have herpes. Then you’d only have your hand for relief, and it would get quite tired before long.”
Evie blinked and looked back to the dragonman with the baby, but he was still burping the little one with his hardass expression unchanged.
Before Dacian could reply, thuds sounded down the stairs at the same time as the American female voice said, “Tristan, move and let her in.”
After one more good glare, Tristan stepped aside to reveal a smiling, short woman wearing loose clothing with another baby in her arms.
Melanie put out her hand and Evie took it to shake. As Melanie dropped her hand, she said, “Sorry about Tristan. The babies are barely a month old, and to say he is protective would be an understatement.”
Tristan stepped closer to Melanie. As the other woman leaned against her dragon-shifter, a surge of jealousy shot through Evie; due to the death threats and the dragon hunters, she’d accepted she’d never have that kind of closeness. But sometimes she wished it could be different.
Rather than think of what she couldn’t change, Evie focused back on the present. “While Skyhunter never had a human sacrifice stay on after a birth, the male dragon-shifters were always protective of their young.” She tilted her head. “May I come in?”
Melanie stared at her a second, assessing her, before she nodded. “Sure, follow me.” Melanie looked to Tristan. “Could you make us some tea, love?”
He grunted and nodded. With one last glare in Evie’s direction, he disappeared into the house.
As Evie followed Melanie down the hall, she heard the front door close behind her. A quick look told her that Dacian must be waiting outside.
Evie stumbled and turned her head back around. She definitely needed to watch where she was going. Her poor feet didn’t need any extra abuse today.
As they entered the living room, Melanie plopped down in an overstuffed armchair and Evie took the couch across from her. Before she could ask a question, Melanie said, “I’ve never seen a DDA inspector wear such a tight skirt, let alone unbutton her blouse down to her cleavage.”
Evie blinked. “Pardon me?”
Melanie placed a pillow under her arm holding the sleeping infant. “Most inspectors dress overly conservative to avoid any extra notice. Wearing clothes like yours will make the men drool, and as far as I understand it, you’ll be dismissed the instant you have sex with a dragon-shifter. So, I’m guessing there’s a reason for you dressing that way, am I right?”
Evie had heard the rumors about Melanie Hall being observant and forward, but the woman’s accuracy made her uneasy. If she could guess Evie had a second motive from a mere glance, what else could the woman guess after an entire conversation?
Evie would just need to be careful. “I’m not here to discuss my wardrobe or the rules of the DDA. I’m here to see how you’re doing and to investigate Caitriona Belmont’s death.”
At the mention of the dead woman’s name, sadness filled Melanie’s eyes. “Cait died in childbirth. I’m not sure what there is to investigate.”
The genuine sorrow in Melanie’s voice eased some of her irritation at the woman’s earlier words. “There were some concerns during the autopsy. I just need to make sure we have all the facts before we close the case. While none of her relatives have asked about her, the DDA wants to be ready in case they ever do make a request.”
Melanie looked like she wanted to say something, but she looked to her baby instead. As she stroked the little one’s cheek, she finally said, “Cait was unhappy. I won’t deny it, but I truly believe if she’d lived to see her son, she would’ve bounced back eventually.”
“I think we’re in agreement about that. I just came from Bram’s office and Murray Belmont was there.” Melanie merely nodded, so Evie pushed. “The baby seems well-behaved andcordial. I can’t understand why he hasn’t been placed with a permanent family yet.”
Melanie looked up and gave Evie yet another assessing stare before she said, “Bram is the one who’ll have to answer that question. If he won’t, then I’m sorry, but no one else here will do it either.”
“So it’s true then, about you being loyal to Stonefire.”
Frowning, Melanie said, “Of course. They’re Tristan’s clan, which makes them my clan.”
The way Melanie said it, as if it was a simple truth, amazed her. In all the years Evie had worked with the DDA, she’d never come face-to-face with a human who had chosen to stay with a dragon-shifter out of love. If that wasn’t fascinating enough, Stonefire had two humans who’d done so; the other was a woman named Samira.
Since all of her seduction research would mean nothing if she couldn’t understand the dragon-shifter males better, she needed to nudge the conversation in that direction. It might make Melanie suspicious, but Evie would have to chance it; there were only a few hours between now and the dinner with Bram. “How did you do it, then? Convince a dragon-shifter to fancy you?”
Melanie blinked. “Only women who can’t conceive dragon-shifter children are promoted to DDA inspector, which means you couldn’t put yourself up as a sacrifice even if you wanted to. So why would you ask me that question?”
Her estimation of Melanie Hall’s knowledge of the DDA just went up a few notches. Few people knew that little requirement.
Not missing a beat, Evie said, “When I worked with Clan Skyhunter, women always asked me how they could do more than merely breed with the dragonmen. I’d like to have an actual answer for them next time, because it always broke my heart to tell them ‘I don’t know’.”
It was true. Usually desperate women offered themselves up as human sacrifices to the dragon-shifter clans to either earn some money or to obtain a vial of dragon’s blood to cure a loved one’s sickness.
While few were ever physically harmed due to the contract both the dragon-shifters and human women signed, too many had been shunned or verbally abused. Maybe things were different with Stonefire, but Skyhunter had been bloody unkind to their sacrifices. She hoped she never had to work with them again.
