Page 24 of Claim the Dragon
Chapter Seven
“So, you need money?”he asked after another few moments of silence, when they were both getting up off the floor.
He was back to the dagger because that was all he should be focused on here.There should be no thoughts about how good it felt to bring her to release and feel that warmth flowing into his hands.No matter how blissful those things were.
Watching her out of the corner of his eye as he made his way to the bathroom, he saw her pulling down the nightshirt that was still too short.He switched on the water, washed his hands and came back to ask yet another question.“How much do you need?”
“As good as ‘this’ was,” she said with a wave of her hand toward the floor.“You can’t afford my price.”
All he could do for the first few seconds was stare at her.She was sitting in the center of the bed, legs crossed, hands resting in her lap.It was such an innocent pose and she looked so unassuming and pure, but there was more beneath the surface.He shouldn’t feel the urge to peel back those layers to learn about the real Ravyn Walsh, because it didn’t matter.He just didn’t want her to die, not like Opal had.
“Don’t be coy, you’re better than that.If you have a price in mind, name it.”
“Why do you want to buy it?Are you a collector?Is that why you’ve been following me, because you somehow found out I was going to steal it?”The way one of her brows lifted as she asked that question told him she wasn’t totally sure she believed that scenario but wanted to put it out there just in case.
“Half a million,” she said when he didn’t bother to respond to her questions.
“Done.”
“Bullshit!You’ve got half a million dollars to spare but you’re creeping around the streets of Burgess and in alleyways trailing someone like me.I don’t buy it.”
That was cool, he wasn’t here for honesty—or friendship, for that matter.They weren’t on even territory—for one, she was human, and he was Drakon.That may have been the most important difference.And two, he wasn’t looking for any type of connection because they inevitably led to emotions and those could be destroyed if or when something disastrous happened.
“You need the money, I have it.Take it and do whatever it is you need to do.”
She tilted her head then.“You don’t know what I’m going to do with it?What if I want it to buy a jet and drop a bomb on the city?”
He shook his head and folded his arms over his chest.“You’re not a killer and half a million dollars isn’t going to buy you a jet and a bomb.But whatever you need it for must be serious because you risked your life to get it.”
There wasn’t a casual way to tell her that all the time she kept the dagger she was still risking her life, because she hadn’t believed the pawn shop dealer or him when they’d warned her before.
“It’s not for me,” she said and then closed her lips tightly as if she hadn’t meant to tell him that much.
Moving closer to the bed, he stopped just short of being able to sit down next to her.Instead he remained standing across from her, leaving just enough space so that she could either try and grab the dagger and lunge at him, or make a run for the door.He wasn’t sure which one she might attempt at any moment, but he wasn’t afraid that she’d succeed at either, so there was no need to box her in.
“Who’s it for?Do you owe somebody?”
Her head shot up.“I don’t owe anyone!I pay all my debts!I just don’t pay money that I shouldn’t have to pay, and I don’t care who’s asking for it.”
“You’re talking about those enforcers again.Do you remember their names?”
“It’s not important.”
“It is to me.”
She licked her lips slowly and Steele watched her wring her hands and take a deep breath.After a long sigh, she shook her head.
“I take care of the people down here.People who don’t have any other place to go and have been wronged in some way by this government.We’re safe here, when we’ve never known safety before.The money helps to buy food, clothes and supplies that will hopefully get us through the winter.”
Touched, impressed, intrigued.This woman never stopped surprising him.She wasn’t what he’d thought, and she was more than she probably understood, else why would she believe hiding was the answer.
“Why is this your job and why do you think stealing is the only way to achieve this?”
She slid off the bed and stood in front of him.Tilting her head up, she held his gaze.
“Are you giving me the half mil or not?And I want cash deposited into an account.No checks and no payment plans.”
He reached a hand down and pushed back the strands of her hair that were out of place.When his knuckles brushed over the line of her jaw his beast chuffed and pressed against him as if by doing so it, too, could touch her soft skin.He frowned because that had never happened before.Whenever he’d been with a woman he’d pleased himself and moved on, but his beast had never joined in.Thinking back over the past weeks, especially these last seven days, he realized the other part of him had been acutely aware of Ravyn, to the point where Steele thought...no, that wasn’t gonna happen.
