“I’ll be there,” I said.
“And she’ll be looking fabulous,” Dwayne added with a wink at Seth.
“Till we meet again,” Seth told the room and then he left.
There was a brief silence and then Daniel started dancing again. I picked him up and kissed him all over his chubby face until he squealed and squirmed away. He had no clue it might be the last time we would be together, but I did.
“Daniel,” I said as I squatted down to his level. “Mommy loves you more than anything else in the whole world. I want you always to remember that. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes! Daniel woves Mommy too,” he shouted and then did a move that made me giggle.
My child was my world and I was determined to make it a better place for him. I just prayed I would live to be part of it.
“Come on, Lady Dragon, it’s time to get you gussied up,” Dwayne said as he pulled me toward Essie’s bedroom.
He was right. I needed the armor of designer duds to face the Dragons and Dwayne had plenty of armor. His taste was a little iffy, but I’d been out of the formal world for so long I was going to trust him.
Maybe I’d be able to attract Seth with something a little sexy…
Chapter 5
“God, keep me alive and on my feet tonight and I’ll owe you a big one,” I whispered to the vast starry sky.
I’d dressed with extreme care, down to the delicate diamond-encrusted choker, earrings and sky-high strappy stilettos, but suddenly I felt naked and exposed. Designer clothes were not armor. Fabric wouldn’t protect me from fire or death, no matter how expensive the material. Hell, the dress I was wearing barely covered my body. I was terrified I’d flash boob any moment, but when in Rome…
The huge warehouse on the outskirts of Chicago appeared run down and shoddy. I’d almost tripped twice on the crumbling asphalt that led to the rusted out door. In contrast the parking lot was full of expensive cars and limos. The single streetlamp that had illuminated the area at one time was riddled with bullet holes and only the evening sky lit my way. Even the golden glow of the full moon did little to disguise the poor condition of the building.
However, I’d learned early in life that exteriors could be wildly deceiving.
“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled as my stupidly insubstantial heel got caught in a loose pile of gravel. “Stilettos suck ass.”
“Swearing isn’t very lady-like,” a deep voice whispered from behind as a strong hand closed around my throat stopping the little bit of forward progress I was making—not to mention my breath.
My body was trapped against something enormous, strong and not even remotely human. This was not how I had planned on spending my last moments on earth. How in the hell had anything snuck up on me? I was trained, deadly and not one little bit human either. No one had ever taken me from behind in my ridiculously long life.
I knew what he was. I’d just never come across one quite so powerful—or that smelled as good as he did.
What the fu…? I did not need to be enjoying the scent of the beast that was going to tear my head from my shoulders in the next minute or two. I needed to figure out how to remove his head. Shifting would work, but it would attract the attention of the Dragons in the warehouse. Since I had no clue how many were inside, shifting was out.
To add insult to injury, the guard was a pervert. I deduced this when the hand that wasn’t busy choking the life out of me brazenly grazed my somewhat exposed breast. This bastard was messing with the wrong chick.
“You’re gonna to cop a feel before you kill me, jackass?” I choked out as I tried to shore up my footing. If I could get my balance I could kick back and hopefully connect with his family jewels. All I needed was a second and he was a dead man.
“My hand slipped.” He chuckled as his warm breath tickled my neck.
My instinct was to lean back and get closer. Clearly my instincts had gone to hell on the express train. What was wrong with me?
“What are you doing here, pretty Dragon girl?” he inquired casually as if he didn’t have me in a damn death grip.
“I was invited,” I tried to snap, but it came out more like a squeak.
“Interesting,” the deadliest asshole I’d ever come across said as he loosened his hold, but still kept me firmly pressed to him.
“Is this how you greet all your guests?”
I reached over my head and tried to gouge out his eyes. He was too tall—had to be well over six foot four. My fingers ended up in his mouth. At least I drew a little blood.
“Only ones I’m unfamiliar with,” he replied as he bit down on my fingers. Hard.
Tit for tat…he drew a little blood as well.
Why I thought his behavior was hot was a fine reason for me to seek therapy. Being choked and getting bitten was not healthy foreplay. This was absurd, but at least I was fairly sure I wasn’t in imminent danger of dying. The goon clearly had no clue who I was and that was a very good thing at the moment.
“You’re meeting someone here?” he asked as he pressed his nose to my hair.
“Yes,” I said as I futilely tried to disengage myself from him before I rubbed up against him like a cat in heat. “I’m meeting my mate.”
It was a lie, but it flew out smoothly. I needed to get the deadly sexy Dragon dude off of me. I was here for a reason. It was beginning to seem like an insane reason, but I’d come and I was going to see it through. There was no time at all to be attracted to a lowly, muscled, horny guard dog in a deserted parking lot. I had things to do and a father to kill.