Page 39 of Claim the Dragon
That big assthingout there in the yard had been carrying her, or at least that’s what she’d thought.Now, she wasn’t so sure.Maybe she was hungry, sometimes she got lightheaded when she skipped meals.But lack of calories had never made her delusional before.
“How did we get here, Steele?Did you drive?”She whirled around as another thought hit her.“More importantly, did you drug me?”
He visibly flinched, his brow furrowing as he shook his head.“What?”
“Did you drug me?Is that why I’m having trouble remembering how we got here when I know I came to your hotel room?That’s the address that was on the piece of paper and it was downtown, not here in this place.So either you drugged me and brought me here, or something else weird is going on.Either way, I want an explanation.”Because her staunchest reason for not wanting any entanglements with men was their innate need to control every damn thing, including her.She and Steele weren’t in any type of relationship and even if they were, the one thing she wouldn’t stand for was him trying to control her.
“I would never drug you or anyone else.I came in here to ask you to have dinner with me.It’s already being set up in my suite.As for how we got here, yes, I brought you here and no, I didn’t ask you first, but I should have.For that I apologize.”
She watched him carefully, looking for any sign that he was lying, but she couldn’t find one.That didn’t mean he was telling her everything, and that made all the thoughts floating around in her mind just as crazy as she’d thought they were.
“Nobody showed up at your place trying to hurt me or take the dagger?”She pressed him because her neck was still sore from when someone tried to choke the life out of her.No way that was fake.
“Yeah, that did happen.That’s why I had to hurry and bring you here.I wanted to keep you safe.”He came closer and touched her cheek lightly again.
Why did that feel so damn good?
“I only want you to be safe, Ravyn.And I’ll do whatever I have to do to ensure that happens.”
She touched his wrist.“I feel safe with you.”
Now, that may have been the weirdest thing she’d ever said to a guy, or anyone else on this earth.And she had no clue why she’d said it, because it wasn’t true.But no, she knew that it was.Hadn’t she slept in his arms last night?All night, which was something she’d never done before.
“I’m sorry you were locked in here and that you’ve been losing your mind trying to get out.I know you don’t like to be in situations you can’t control.”
He was definitely right about that.
Ravyn took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Ever since I got this dagger,” she started to say and then stopped.
“I’ll take it now,” he said.“I know things happened fast but we were just wrapping up our transaction.You know the money is in your account, so I’ll take the dagger and then we can—”
“We can what?”
Was this the part where he fed her a nice meal and then sent her on her way?Was she going to be upset if it was?Because that’s all this was supposed to be—a transaction.There wasn’t any reason for her to wonder about there being anything else.Was there?
“We can have dinner and try to relax,” he said.
“I’d like a tour,” she said as the thought popped into her mind.“After dinner, can we take a tour of your office?”
And then she’d return to Safeside and the life she’d convinced herself that she not only liked, but that she deserved.
“Sure,” he told her.“Tonight, you can have anything you want.We both can.”
He let his hand slide down her arm to join with hers and they walked toward the door.
“Who’re Shola and Ziva?What do they do for the company?Because Shola is definitely more of a people person than Ziva.”
Steele laughed.A smooth, rich sound that came from deep in his gut and rolled out of him in a burst that made her think he didn’t do it often.She liked the sound and knew she’d never forget it.
“You’re right about that,” he told her.“Ziva’s a security expert.She works more with hand-to-hand training, though, and Shola’s in administration.”
Ravyn was nodding as they walked out the door and stepped into a hallway that looked like it belonged on a movie set for some retro sci-fi flick.
“These walls are amazing.It’s like this place was built but the mountain still pokes through,” she said.
“Yeah, it’s amazing.”
