Alec rolled his shoulders to relieve the tension and focused on what he knew about Lucy. Her brother’s gambling debts had to be the source of her erratic behavior. Alec knew Joey’s kind, adrenaline junkies who thought every roll, every card, every horse held the answer to their problems.
It was sad, really. They rarely won, and when they did win, the money was spent as soon as the chips were cashed. They fueled his casino, and for that he liked their undaunted optimism, but not if it upset Lucy, not if it endangered her and forced her into stealing.
He had to get Lucy away from Joey without scaring her. He needed time to sway Lucy to him, seduce her until she understood what a future as his mate could be. Unfortunately, with his dragon form fading and the ceremony a few short days away, he did not have a lot of time.
Lucy stepped into the gilded entry at precisely 8 a.m. She carried a briefcase, wore a buttoned-up dark suit and low heels, her hair was tucked up, and she had on dark-framed librarian glasses. Alec smiled at the monitor, intrigued by the abrupt change in appearance. Was this the real Lucy, or the vamp from the night before?
He pushed the com button on his phone. “Jane, please show Dr. De Luca to my suite.”
“Your personal suite, Jer’ol?” Jane couldn’t keep her astonishment from her voice.
“Yes.” The word was final.
Jane’s question was well deserved. His suite was on the top of the casino, 130 stories up, in the dragons’ private quarters. No human had ever been brought into their inner domain.
Dragons considered humans an inferior race, weak both mentally and physically. When it was discovered that the Fates had chosen a human mate for the Dragon King, there would be serious problems. The dragons would doubt his authority and power in the face of such a providential insult. And then there was Ambrogino, somewhere out there, stirring up a revolt. There would be rumbles of dissention, and he would probably receive a blood challenge, or two, or three…
Alec let out a sigh. He hated, above all things, to kill one of their own, but sometimes it could not be avoided. Kill or be killed—even in the 21st century, the dragons still adhered to the ancient ways.
His dragons, housed on the top floors of the casino, were already jittery because of the arriving families and approaching ceremony. Their musky mating scent could be detected by any dragon in Nevada, and probably the entire West Coast. The reinforced concrete walls of the dragon towers would be tested for strength before everyone settled into their destined pairs.
Alec needed to get things settled with Lucy and refocus on his people. In generations past, it had not been impossible to find places in the world where they could congregate. His grandfather’s rule had been largely peaceful, on a remote South Pacific island. But his father’s people had seen their haven disturbed by satellites and would-be explorers.
Questions that would not go away, asked by humans who would not leave them alone.
Alec had traveled the world, gathering his lieutenants from the hidden dragon folds and enclaves, speaking words of peace to warring factions, promising a place where they could do more than survive, a place where they could thrive.
A knock sounded at the door. Alec turned off the surveillance screen. “Come in.”
Jane admitted Lucy and left with a look of disapproval.
“Lucy,” he greeted her with a welcoming smile. “I have breakfast ready.” He padded barefoot to an elegantly laid out table and pulled out a chair for her.
Lucy scanned his workout shorts and damp T-shirt, and then peered at the table. Her nose wrinkled with confusion. “Ahh…” She reached into her briefcase and held some papers toward him without crossing the room. “I have my contract for you to sign.”
“Of course.” Alec waved to the breakfast table. “We can go over it after breakfast.”
Lucy gripped her briefcase to her stomach and looked like she might bolt. “I’ve already eaten.”
“But I haven’t.” Alec tried to appear disarming. “I would enjoy your company. Would you eat with me?”
Lucy wavered, biting her bottom lip, and then seemed to come to a decision. She stepped across the room with quick strides. “I didn’t expect you to be so…casual.”
Alec seated her at his right side. Her just-showered scent filled his nose. Sharp longing raced through his blood. He took a quiet breath and placed his palms gently on her shoulders. Lucy jumped and frowned at him.
“There are many things about me that you might find surprising.”
“I’m here for business.” Lucy squirmed out from under his hands and set the contract between their plates. “I’m not interested in being one of your conquests.”
Alec sat and spread his napkin across his lap. “Why do you assume that I only have conquests?” He drank a tart mouthful of fresh-squeezed orange juice and buttered a roll. “My relationships are not conquests—they’re more like mergers.”
“Mergers?” Lucy laughed, all prickly and brittle. “Is that the best line you have?”
“Do you always wear glasses?”
“When I’m working.” She poured coffee from a silver carafe into her cup. The pot shook slightly before she put it down.
“And a pant suit?” He let his eyes wander from the button below her chin to the curve of her waist.
Lucy blushed. “Please quit asking me non-business related questions.”
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” Alec took a bite of his roll.
“No.” Her pulse raced at the side of her neck, but her stare was direct. “You do not affect me at all.”
“Really?” He laughed because he knew she was lying. Her cheeks were red and she chewed her bottom lip in a gesture he now realized was her way of trying to conceal nerves. “Fine, you ask me something. Just no business.”
Lucy tilted her head. She wanted to take the challenge. He could almost see her agile mind flipping through possibilities.
“What’s your favorite jewel in your collection?”
Her question was borderline business, but to a dragon, jewels were always personal. “I have a black opal the size of my palm. It’s my favorite.”
“Like the one on your signet ring?”
“Yes.”
“Why is it your favorite, when you have so many?”
What was she really asking? Whether dragon or human, the mind of a female was an enigma. He struggled to put his feelings into words. “It resonates with my heart.” He put down his knife and touched his chest. “When I hold it, I feel a part of it, and it becomes a part of me.”
Lucy’s mouth opened, and she watched his face with wide eyes.
“I can feel the history—the heat and fire and passion that forged it. I respect its journey, and it knows I will treasure it and keep it safe, always.”
“A merger,” she whispered.
“A melding.”
…
Lucy swallowed hard. The man was pure temptation. His worn gym shirt clung to his shoulders and chest and showed the ridges of his stomach muscles. Under the table, his bare feet reached toward her, brushing her leg at irregular, unnerving intervals, sending tingles up her proper business pants leg. She was totally disarmed by the sincere look in Alec’s eyes when he talked about his jewels. It was as if he also talked about her. As if he wanted to hold her, treasure her, keep her safe, too.
Impossible.
She tapped the contract beside her empty plate. Gino’s thug, Bruno, had said she could get Alec’s thumbprint on the contract’s plastic cover. But now that she was beside Alec, she realized it would not be an easy task.
“Why’re you so tense?” Alec reached his hand across the table and stroked a warm, calloused palm over her clenched knuckles. “You’re not going to relax until we go through that contract, are you?”