A Dragon Speaks Her Name: A Nocturne Falls Universe story Read online

  Kaylae groaned and twisted her head away in embarrassment. Every inch of Zareh grew taut with tension. When her self-imposed bodyguard didn’t follow her to her door, she stepped a little closer than she had intended, reached up and turned his chin toward her.

  His hand came around and landed on her lower back. She realized just how close they stood. With one hand resting against the hard contour of his chest and the other on his shoulder, the intimacy of their stance made her face flush. Still, she didn’t try to put distance between them. The heat he radiated warmed the underlying chill in her bones. The strength he surrounded her with gave her a sense of calm for the first time in many, many years.

  It also made her belly go all crazy wings.

  She made the terrible mistake of lowering her gaze to his lips. Oh, what lips. Kissable lips with a mean edge. Lips that spoke promises on soft breaths or threats on a rumble.

  Lips that she had an overwhelming desire to taste.

  When his hand drew her tight against him, the kissing dream shattered. For one, they were standing outside a questionable motel with a creepy guy watching them. Second, Zareh didn’t know her first name. The very idea made her feel scummy.

  “I think we should get my stuff.”

  Zareh didn’t make any attempt to move.

  “So we can, you know, leave this place?”

  Zareh blinked. He let out a long, controlled breath and nodded. “Let me have the key.”

  Kaylae handed it over. Zareh kept her close while he opened the door and flipped on the lights. He gave the room a once-over and stepped aside.

  “I’m going to stay right here while you get your belongings. I don’t trust that guy.”

  “That makes two of us.” Kaylae slipped by Zareh. Mindful of her six-legged roomie, she gathered her belongings with one eye on the bathroom. “Room’s all yours, my little roach buddy.”

  With everything stashed in her oversized duffel bag, she returned to Zareh’s side. He graced her with a humorous glance as he linked his arm around her waist. They dropped the room key off with the clerk and left.

  They were back in his SUV when something dawned on her.

  Kaylae pulled a knee up onto the seat and faced Zareh. He cast her a glance, but otherwise kept his eyes on the road.

  “You asked me at the clinic about the voices.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Keepers are naturally highly attuned to their surroundings. It’s a defense mechanism that strengthened over time. Keepers are able to hear thoughts, if they so choose.” Zareh shrugged. “It’s no surprise you can tune into the thoughts of those around you.”

  Kaylae scrunched her face. “I can’t just tune in. There’s a broken dial somewhere, so I get flooded.”

  Zareh slowed the SUV and looked at her. “What do you mean?”

  “I have no control over the voices. I can’t shut them off. I can’t pick and choose Mary and Mike for mindful chatter.” Kaylae paused. “You know, I’d be halfway to Howler’s if someone told me they heard voices.”

  “I can humor you, if that’s what you’d like.” He tapped his jacket. “But I have the key to my truck, so you won’t get far without me.”

  “Fancy shmancy car.” Kaylae gasped. “Oh! My car!”

  “Hey, relax. It’ll be fine in town. Are you hungry? You didn’t get to dig into your chicken before the incident earlier. We can stop for a bite before heading to the house. Doctor’s orders.” His brows furrowed. “Speaking of, what really happened back at the bar?”

  “Nothing. Got dizzy from getting up too fast.” He didn’t need to know that his touch had launched a mental fireball that knocked her out. Her apocalyptic nightmare magnified by a hundred. It didn’t make sense, especially since each time after that first skin-to-skin contact, she felt nothing but warmth and desire and…safe when he touched her. Kaylae’s elevated mood took a dive. “I really ought to find one of the bed-and-breakfasts and room up for the night.”

  “In Nocturne Falls, they’re called dead-and-breakfasts.” Zareh chuckled—Kaylae had to suppress a pleasant shiver at the deep, grumbly sound—and eased the SUV faster. “And how do you expect me to protect you when you’re not close by?”

  “Dead-and-breakfasts, eh? This town is really into the Halloween gig. I mean, the vampire actors and the gargoyle fountain and the names of the stores. It’s pretty eccentric.”

  “You say that like it’s hard for you to believe it’s real.”

  “No. I find it pretty neat, actually. Whoever runs the town has the business down pat.”

  “Vampires run the town.”

  “Uh-huh. And dragons are real.”

  Zareh shot her a brow-raised look before the corner of his mouth curled in one ridiculously handsome grin. “They are.”

  Kaylae rolled her eyes and settled back in the seat. “So you seem to believe.” She waved a hand toward him. “Are you part of the dragon act?”

  “No act.” Zareh turned onto Main Street. Kaylae was mildly surprised by the never-ending throngs of tourists still crowding the sidewalks as dinnertime approached. “As you are a Keeper, I am a dragon.”

  “I have this feeling you’re trying to be nice to me so you can get into my purse.” She hugged her oversized bag close to her chest. “Not happening.”

  “One feel. That’s all.” He pressed his hand flat over his heart. “Promise.”

  Kaylae gaped at him. Zareh laughed—oh boy, that laugh made her belly flutter—and pulled into an empty parking spot along the sidewalk. He was still smiling when he rounded the SUV and did the gentleman performance again. His chivalrous actions did amazing things to warm her. She was finding it difficult to be skeptical of the man who sat with her at the clinic, didn’t question the existence of the voices she heard, and still insisted on taking her to dinner, even though she had not confided her real first name.

  It took a special man to take that in stride.

  Or a crazy one.

  Like you’re one to pass judgment on crazy.

  Amidst her world crashing down and the grief waiting to surface, this impossibly handsome stranger managed to make her smile and forget the pain she would soon have to face. He provided an unseen support to her shaky foundation, one she hadn’t had before Zareh crossed her path, not even with her father.

  For now, she’d enjoy Zareh’s company and his eye-candy appeal.

  “Think we can do take-out?” Kaylae asked as they approached the front doors of a place called The Poisoned Apple. It looked like a pub. She stared at the doors, apprehension making her drag her heels. She finally looked up to find Zareh scrutinizing her with something like concern etched into his expression. “I-I don’t know if I have the energy to deal with”—she scrunched her nose—“cross conversation.”

  “Do you truly know nothing about who you are?”

  Zareh pulled Kaylae to the side of the door. Kaylae frowned at the sudden hard-lined expression that touched his face.

  “Isn’t all this dragon-Keeper talk just propaganda? I mean, look at the town we’re in.”

  Zareh said something she couldn’t hear under his breath and rubbed a hand over his chin. “Yeah. Take-out it is. You will be coming back to my house. We have a lot to discuss.”

  “Are you usually so bossy with women whose names you don’t know?”

  “I’m bossy where you’re concerned.”

  “Why?” She straightened her shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest. “I get that you knew my father, but why are you concerned about me?” A thought made her stiffen. “Oh, I see. You think I’ll be an easy one-night stand—”

  “Whoa!” Zareh threw up his hands in surrender. Shock flashed through his eyes. “Absolutely not, Doe.”

  He groaned, tugging a hand through his hair. Strands fell right back over his eyes, making her itch to do her own combing and tugging and whatever else a woman could do with hair that looked like pure black silk.

  “Then why?”

  Zareh gl
anced up at the sign over the pub’s doors. “Okay. Let’s get take-out and we’ll eat in the SUV. I’ll lower the back seat and we can have a picnic.”

  “A trunk-nic.”

  Zareh nodded. Kaylae couldn’t stay skeptical when those darn lips curled in such a heart-melting grin. He could make her believe in anything with his smile.

  “We can’t talk in the open about the things I need to talk to you about. It’s too dangerous. Now that we know the Baroqueth are on the trails of the Keepers, and most likely tracking their movement to us, there is no room for error.”

  Kaylae licked her lips, wondering how much of what Zareh told her he actually believed. She heard voices and thoughts and suffered panic attacks because of her lineage. Zareh was trying to convince her she was some Keeper and dragons might actually exist. She wanted to believe because it meant maybe she wasn’t crazy after all.

  Zareh’s gaze dropped to her mouth. His eyes smoldered and somehow steamed up her head before he cleared his throat and pulled his glance away. “You think you can bear the voices for a few minutes while we order? I’ll do my best to help keep them at bay.”

  Kaylae nodded, unsure how he could help. Earmuffs didn’t work. Neither did hands or ear buds. She had tried everything. “I’ve dealt with them all my life. A few more minutes won’t hurt.”

  Truth be told, despite this rabbit hole called Nocturne Falls that she somehow stumbled down, she found renewed strength in Zareh’s presence. Strength, and a little something else she didn’t want to let go.

  Chapter Six

  Zareh set up their trunk-nic next to the town’s park, laying out their spread of food choices in their respective containers. He couldn’t keep his attention off Doe, how expressive her eyes were, how quickly her moods changed. It was obvious to him that her moments of happiness were borrowed before she reclaimed her reservation and wariness. A Keeper of her caliber would never try to turn in on herself, not if she knew her true potential and worth. It pained him that she thought herself crazy because Talius left her out of the Keeper loop.

  Females were so rare. The Baroqueth had killed the few who existed in the Firestorm Keepers’ families. Finding a female of lineage was like finding Atlantis.

  Every cell in his body, every instinct in his dragon, promised him that this woman was that female. A female of true Drayce lineage, which eased his conscience when he considered how badly he wanted to kiss her.

  How badly he wanted to do more than just kiss her.

  “Hop in, m’lady,” he said, layering on an Old-World accent. He spread his arm to the truck and bowed deeply at the waist. Doe laughed and climbed in, maneuvering around the food. Zareh’s timing couldn’t have been worse when he looked up to make sure she was settled. He got a lovely view of her denim-clad bottom just before she twisted onto her hip, her legs stretched out. He swallowed. Hard. “Good?”

  Smoke and fire. He hoped she didn’t catch the onset of that deep husk behind his single-word question. His appetite quickly changed direction, and the craving was definitely not for the prime rib or the apple cobbler.

  A dead-and-breakfast might be safer for the woman after all, judging by the uncanny heat that curled through his belly before it moved south.

  Doe patted the empty space across from her. “I’m not going to eat all this by myself.”

  Zareh crawled into the space, hitting the button on the trunk door to close them in. Despite the roomy interior, he opted to configure his larger frame so he was propped on an elbow and lying on his side.

  “Are you sure this isn’t too uncomfortable for you?” Doe’s lips did an adorable little quirky motion. She looked him over. “I know you’re a big guy, but you look like you’re trying to squeeze into a cereal box.”

  “It’s not that bad, and I’m quite comfortable.” This is torture, but I’ll endure. He handed a set of plasticware to Doe, trying to turn his thoughts away from the soft scent of her perfume in the enclosed space. He doubted anyone else would have noticed a woman’s scent over the sumptuous aromas of food, but his dragon sense refused to give him reprieve. “Dig in. I’ve been listening to your stomach scream the entire ride here.”

  Her cheeks flushed. He wondered how much of that rose had to do with the change in his voice. This demure side of her was entirely endearing and unreasonably attractive. “Sorry.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about. Have you eaten much since leaving your father?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Well, I’ll make sure that isn’t the case anymore.”

  Doe poked her fork at the prime rib. “I think you’re making good on your promise already.”

  She cut off a piece of meat and slipped it into her mouth. An expression of unfiltered delight crossed her face. A splattering of small shockwaves lit his body on fire, a far different fire than he was used to, and ignited all the warmth inside of him like an inferno. He could practically feel his eyes burn as he peeled his gaze away from the woman, her heavy-hooded eyes and moist lips, and cut into his own prime rib.

  “Wow.” She moaned and made quick work of cutting another, bigger, piece to pop into her mouth. “Oh, wow.”

  “Holds up to expectations?”

  “Mm-hm.”

  He dared to look at her again. Doe’s eyes had fallen shut. Thick lashes fanned over her cheeks. Zareh stayed his riled dragon and wiped a hand down his face.

  If the pull to Doe was this strong now, he feared he’d need five-foot-thick steel doors between him and the woman once she woke his dragonstone from slumber. And when she bled into the jewel…Goddess help him.

  He shed his jacket in an attempt to cool his inner body temperature, which said a lot considering his rare breed. His body temp was naturally a few degrees higher than that of humans.

  “Are you hot in here? Why don’t we crack open the windows?” Doe asked. That delicate crease that marred the smooth skin above her brow deepened. Her full lips pressed into a worried frown. “A cracked window wouldn’t be a danger, would it?”

  If only she knew exactly how hot he was, and for who. He was beginning to realize how dangerous being cooped in an SUV with a beautiful Keeper could be.

  “I’m just getting comfortable.” Zareh offered her a smile and reached over his head to drape his jacket over the back of his seat. “And yes, it could be dangerous if our enemies tracked you here.”

  “I don’t like the thought of that.” A subtle shiver jolted through her. A pseudo-shiver mimicking hers traced along his muscles. Even without the stone, their connection was intensifying by mere proximity.

  I’m definitely in trouble when she opens that box.

  “The only enemy I’ve ever had was myself.”

  His heart twisted at her quiet confession. It was becoming shockingly clear how sheltered she had been. Talius hid her from the Firestorm clan well enough that no one except Herald knew he had sired a daughter. He made a mental note to contact Cade in the morning so he could research her birth records.

  “May I ask what happened to your mother?” It may be a touchy subject, but it would give him a good idea of how long she had been with Talius, and whether her mother was still in the picture.

  It would also bring his head back from wandering fantasies.

  To his surprise, Doe snorted and shrugged. “She left when I was little. I have no idea what happened to her, where she is, nor do I care at this point. She left me, and all of her parental rights, to my father.”

  “So, you were born with the Drayce surname?”

  If that were the case, how she had stayed under the radar this long would be a huge concern. Cade had resources to monitor the Keepers and report any new danger. Talius siring a daughter would have been a huge danger—to Talius and his child. Zareh had yet to understand the circumstances around Talius’s death. Was it because the Baroqueth knew of Doe? Or was it because of the stone? Could have been both.

  Doe helped herself to another oversized bite of prime rib and shook her head in deligh
t as she chewed. Zareh was entirely taken with the color of her eyes and how, even in the dim light of the truck as the sun took its last breath before resigning to the night, they appeared to glow.

  “No.” She took a drink of her soda and cleared her throat. “Actually, I was given my mother’s surname. I adopted my father’s surname when I turned eighteen, but it was not spelled the way it used to be. He told me that many years ago, he had to change the spelling for safety. Hence on my documents, it’s D-R-A-S-E. I’m aware that the true spelling is different.”

  Doe did not give the true surname in the long stretch of silence that followed. Smart and beautiful.

  At last, Zareh nodded. “Yes. D-R-A-Y-C-E. Means ‘dragon.’” He looked away as she scrutinized him. Probably trying to figure out if he was a stalker behind his kindness or if anything he’d said today held merit. Well, he was going to prove his claims by the end of their meal. She needed to know the truth, whether she wanted to or not. “As I said earlier before you tried to discredit me, your lineage dates back as far as some of the first dragons to exist. Your bloodline is one branch of Keeper. Over time, new factions of Keepers have been created to provide protection to the expanding Firestorm breed. Although we are small in comparison to many tatsu clans in the world, we are one of the oldest and most powerful.”

  “You really believe in dragons?”

  Zareh caught her questioning gaze. The war she waged inside her head played in her eyes. “Do you really believe you hear the thoughts of the people around you?”

  “That’s low.”

  Zareh shook his head. “No. It’s a perfectly reasonable comparison. I do not question your claim to hear voices because I know you do. I explained it was a defense mechanism that Keepers possess in order to detect ill intentions toward themselves and the dragons they keep.”

  Doe lowered her fork, new bite of meat untouched. “Do you think you’re a dragon?”

  “I don’t think, Doe. I know.”

  “Ah.” The crease deepened further. Her teeth played with her lip, mist falling over her eyes as she pondered his revelation. He pushed up the sleeve of his shirt, preparing for the next challenge. She finally gave a long, drawn-out, disbelieving, “Okay.”