Page 33 of Fire Dragon
The room was small, the music seductive, the booze flowing. He was pretty sure a couple of vampires were tapping deep in the shadows. He could hear moans.
The moans weren’t helping.
Was Emma one of them?
When he caught sight of Emma, he listed sideways then caught himself. God, she was beautiful. She wore a silver sparkly club dress and her hair was curled and cascading over her shoulders. She had on a lot more make-up than she usually wore, which made her look exactly as the bouncer had described her:ready.
Then he saw Ethan and his temper began shooting into his head like a gun being fired repeatedly. He had his hand on Emma’s bare back and was kissing her throat, his nostrils flaring. He was deep in a seduction.
Liam felt his dragon roar to life.
But the bouncer caught his arm and squeezed so hard Liam though it would break. “You promised.”
Liam closed his eyes and forced his dragon to calm down. Shit. Another sign that he was in trouble with Emma. His dragon wanted her bad, not just now, but always.
As he began to move, the bouncer stuck with him.
Ethan caught sight of Liam and slowly leaned away from Emma. Liam saw that she had a tight hold on the lapel of the vampire’s coat. Her complexion was high, her lips swollen.
When he drew near, Ethan said, “I’d stand up, Liam. But I’d embarrass myself.”
At the sound of his name, Emma turned in his direction. Her eyes were clouded with a lot of alcohol and need. He recognized that look. He’d made love to her when she was in this state and it had been one of the best experiences of his life.
He extended his hand to her. “Will you come with me, Emma? Please?”
But the woman shook her head.
“No, no, no,” she said in a voice that was too loud. She waved her forefinger between them. “We can’t – you and I can’t – no, no, no. We’re battle partners not fuck-buddies. It won’t work. Besides,” she rose to her feet with one hand on the table for support, then drew close to Ethan. “I’m with a vampire tonight. He says I smell like lilies or something.”
“Lilacs.” Both he and Ethan spoke at the same time.
Liam glared at the vampire.
Ethan’s lips quirked, but he remained silent.
Emma looked up at Ethan. “Take me to your lair, my beautiful one. I’m ready and willing. Tonight, I’m all yours.”
“Well, as much as I would love to, we have a slight problem. Liam is a friend of mine and he has to tell me it’s okay. It’s a warrior thing.”
She leaned against Ethan. “Please? Liam doesn’t want me. Please?”
“Then let him tell me so and I’m all yours, my lovely dragon-rider.”
Liam’s dragon began to battle inside him once more, longing to come out, wanting only to gather Emma up in the heavy claws of his powerful forearms then spirit her away.
But the bouncer gripped his arm once more. Clearly, this wasn’t his first rodeo with powerful types and the women they fought over.
Only Ethan wasn’t fighting. He was willing to be with Emma, but only on terms that Liam thought nothing short of gentlemanly.
Liam appealed to her once more. “Emma, please come with me. I will take care of you. Whatever you want from me tonight. I’m yours.”
“But that won’t work. Don’t you see? What if it’s your heart I want?” She put a hand to her head. “I shouldn’t have said that.” She looked up at Ethan and explained. “Liam and I can’t be together because I’m afraid I’ll fall hard for him and I’ll never recover. That’s why I’m here. That’s why you and I need to do the deed. I want to get over Liam before I canneverget over him. Do you understand? This isn’t up to Liam.”
Ethan shrugged and shifted his gaze to Liam. “Sounds reasonable to me.” Still, his lips twitched as he spoke.
Liam reached for Emma’s hand. He understood exactly what she meant. But he couldn’t let her be with Ethan. He was pretty sure his dragon would kill the vampire if he did.
He understood then how completely his dragon thought of Emma as already belonging to him.
