Emmaline sniffed. “You can bet your cute dragon buns on that.”
Dana sank onto the arm of the loveseat and scrubbed a hand across her face. “You know you guys are only supposed to exist in fairy tales and low budget sci-fi movies, right?”
Aiden’s dark, penetrating gaze ensnared her. “And your paintings. Let’s not forget those.”
His husky voice provoked unbidden images of her fantasy dragon—the decadent beast that starred in her most bizarre and X-rated dreams. The same beast that ultimately earned a depiction in her most erotic creation. Heat spiraled from the core of her sex all the way to her nipples. Just thinking about her nocturnal dragon almost made her orgasm. Jeez, thank God she didn’t. How embarrassing would that have been? “Let’s pretend for a second that my head isn’t ready to explode. Mind explaining how you’re able to walk around in a man suit?”
Aiden’s eyebrows winged upward. “Man suit? Interesting term. I’ll have to remember it.” His expansive shoulders hitched in the faintest shrug. “The abridged version is we’re shifters. Our human form was built into our genetic code to enable us to blend in with society.”
Jace nodded. “Yep. Kinda tough for a fourteen-foot dragon not to stick out in the crowd.”
Automatically, Dana’s attention lifted to the ceiling. Okay, he hadn’t been exaggerating about damaging the roof. “Man, you guys must have ginormous houses.”
A chuckle broke from Aiden. “We limit our Drakoni forms for the outdoors.”
“Smart thinking.” Dana fiddled with a stray lock of hair that’d escaped her scrunchie. “Next question—what are you doing here? With me, I mean.”
Aiden stepped beside Jace. “I told you. You’re our sacrifice.”
“What?” Emmaline shrieked.
They all turned to stare at Dana’s aunt. The color slowly leached from her skin again. “Are you saying you’re going to eat her?”
“Well, not necessarily in the way you’re thinking.” A wicked grin stretched Jace’s mouth. Aiden punched him hard enough in the arm he stumbled sideways.
“What my brother means is she’s not that kind of sacrifice.”
“All right, then what kind is she?” Emmaline demanded.
The flush that raced over Aiden’s cheekbones was downright adorable. “Uh…it’s probably best if we don’t go into the nitty-gritty details. I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.”
Enlightenment replaced Emmaline’s scowl. “Sex? Is that what this is about? Jeez Louise, I’m not a nervous virgin who’ll fall into vapors at mere mention of the word.” She suddenly frowned. “Come to think of it, Dana isn’t exactly a virgin either. Isn’t she supposed to be untouched in order to be placed on the sacrificial chopping block? She’s had her fair share of lovers. Not an outrageous amount or anything, but let’s just say the girl’s no longer pure as driven snow. Maybe she’s not exactly tarnished as the mucky black stuff you see piled on the side of the—”
“Okay, you’ve officially clobbered that simile and it’s now whimpering for mercy.” Dana didn’t know whether to hug her aunt or throttle her. On one hand, it was darned sweet that Emmaline was fishing for a way to save Dana from becoming the sacrificial offering. On the other hand, it was rather mortifying to have her sex life up for debate.
“Virginity isn’t a requirement,” Aiden said, his strained voice breaking through Dana’s internal grumblings.
“Besides, do you have any idea how hard it is to find a virgin these days?” Jace’s smile turned teasing. “We’d have better luck finding the Easter Bunny.”
Dana dug her fingers into her temples. “Don’t tell me it exists too?”
“Don’t know. But I sure do love me some rabbit.” Smacking his lips, Jace rubbed his stomach.
“That is really warped.” Despite the weirdness of everything, Dana couldn’t help her chuckle from joining Jace’s full-scale belly laugh. Once the hilarity passed, the seriousness of the situation returned and she shoved her hands against her lap, twisting her fingers together nervously. “I’m still not clear on this whole sacrifice thing. You want me to have sex with one of you—why?”
The now all-too-familiar silent communication passed between Aiden and Jace, earning an exasperated groan from Dana. “Would you quit that and just spit it out already?”
“Fine, you want blunt?” Aiden, his jaw hard as stone, pinned her with a stare that sizzled. “You’re not having sex with one of us. We’re a package deal.”
Chapter Six
“Oh my Lord.” Every inch of Emmaline’s exposed skin turned the same color as an overripe tomato. “Maybe I am too old to hear about kinky dragon rituals.”
“I warned you,” Aiden muttered. He glanced at Dana and found her wearing an expression like she’d spotted a semi truck hurtling straight for her at one hundred and twenty miles per hour. “As for the why—it dates back to a pact that was drawn up almost nine centuries ago between the ruling dragons and the neighboring village. In return for a human sacrifice, the Drakoni promised not to ignite their homes.” He winced. “My ancestors were sort of pyromaniacs.”
Dana sped up the circles she was massaging into her temples. “What exactly does any of that have to do with the here and now?”
“Tradition is important to the Drakoni, which is why every two to three hundred years a pool of candidates is chosen for sacrifice and contracts drawn up.”
Dana stopped drawing figure eights into her temple and gaped at him. “Pool?”
Jesus, he hated being the one forced to explain it to her. Everything about the damn custom was distasteful. Archaic. Everything he stood against in his quest to make his clan embrace the twenty-first century. Shit, at the rate they were going, the Drakoni might successfully join the rest of civilization right around the same time dinosaurs re-inhabited the earth.
Dana continued staring at him, patiently awaiting answers. With great force of will, he unclenched his jaw. “Several centuries ago the Drakoni realized the wisdom in creating a pool of potential candidates rather than relying on a solitary sacrifice.” He offered a half shrug when her forehead wrinkled in confusion. “People get married, have children. Model the latest in sheet-metal fashion during a lightning storm. Always a good idea to have a backup plan.”
He detected the gleam of consideration in her eyes. “It’s too late for you to get married or have children. And I don’t advise trying the last option.”
Her shoulders visibly sagged in tandem with her long sigh. “Right. So how exactly did I luck out and end up in the pool, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Your birth coincided with one of the years they sought candidates, during the full talon moon.” He met Dana’s puzzled look and hurried to explain the significance of something he knew would probably make no sense to her. Hell, many of the Drakoni traditions made no sense to him. Most of them were passed down from generation to generation solely in hopes of persuading the younger dragons to toe the line. “It’s a sacred moon phase to my kind. Trust me, you won’t find reference to it in any astronomy books. Drakoni representatives were dispatched to various hospitals throughout the country and given the task of convincing the parents of any females born that night to sign the sacrificial contract.”
A spark of triumph flashed in Dana’s green irises. “Ah-ha! I knew there had to be a mix-up. No way would my father have willingly signed me away to a bunch of dragons.”
A blanket of weary frustration settled over Aiden, and he cursed the council all over again for putting him in this unenviable position. “Dana, you don’t understand. Your father wouldn’t have been given a choice. The representatives would have seen to that. Much like our predecessors, the old guard Drakoni weren’t opposed to using intimidation and threats to get what they wanted. Most of the parents went along with it, naturally, and quickly learned that going to the authorities would earn them nothing but a trip to the local shrink.”