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Nicole came around with what felt like a hangover. When she groped for memories, a cloudy sense of not drinking floated in her consciousness, and then her stomach growled, though she wasn’t yet sure if it was from hunger or nausea. Either way, she decided not to move for the time being.
Her head throbbed. She prayed she’d find herself in her bed at the hotel. Alone.
No such luck.
The surface under her back felt hard and gritty, bumpy. When she dared to move a fraction, pain shot through her head, and she moaned.
“Nicole?”
The voice startled her, so much so her eyes sprang open and her head jerked to one side, towards the sound. “Oh.” Even that small word took all her effort. Her mouth felt as dry as the bottom of a parrot’s cage.
Light forced its way into her, hard, fluorescent white rays that increased the intensity of her headache. She hadn’t thought that possible a moment before but now she found it was. Immediately, arms surrounded her and hauled her on to a warm chest. “There, cara. Just rest. Let me in.”
“I did.”
“Into your mind. I can help with that headache.”
“What are you talking about?” She retched and tried to turn away, but he held her firmly against him. “Stay where you are. Remember when we had sex? Just relax your mind like you did then.”
She felt an alien presence. Wow, this was so weird.
He sighed. “Relax.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know what you’re doing. I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”
His hands grasped her shoulders, and he drew her back. She stared up at him, trying not to throw up. All real, the dark, intense eyes, the soft lips, the sinfully strong jaw, shadowed with unshaven growth. He stared at her as if he were drinking her in. “You really don’t know much, do you?”
“It depends what you mean.” She knew plenty. Just not about this.
“Can you speak to me like this?”
This time the jolt nearly succeeded in tearing her away. But he wouldn’t let her. Braced for her shock, he held her steady. She found her voice. Which was more than he’d done. “You’re a ventriloquist?”
“Telepathic.”
“Wh-what?”
“You heard me. Now look around.”
She rolled onto her back, and supported by his arms, she looked around.
The light wasn’t exactly fluorescent; it came from a shimmering curtain around their cell. Their cage. The dazzling light flooded in from all four sides, the bars of the cage illuminated brightly. At a guess, their enclosure was about eight feet square, but she couldn’t see beyond it because of the light striking off the gleaming bars. He sighed. “Those bars are silver, or silver-plated. My Talent reacts to it, can’t stand its presence. You might say I’m allergic.”
“What do you do with silver jewelry?” She’d asked the question before she wondered at the rest of the sentence.
“I don’t wear it, but small amounts don’t affect me like that. It blocks my Talent. I can’t communicate beyond those bars, and I can’t pass through in my other form.”
She was beginning to think she’d passed into some kind of parallel world. Or her headache was affecting the way she was hearing. “Okay, hit me with it.”
“Not yet. We need to deal with your headache.”
The pain incapacitated her so badly she needed to do something about it, and she didn’t see any painkillers around. “What happened?”
“They pumped gas into the car. The lack of oxygen brought on the headaches. I came around about ten minutes ago and cleared mine. Let me help you now.”
She felt that weird presence in her mind again, and now she knew that was him.
He touched her temple, the drift of his strong fingers incredibly gentle. “Try not to resist. Let me in.”
“What happens now?”
“I’ll help you with your headache and remember my way in. I might need it later. They won’t leave us alone for long. When you feel your body resisting me, fight it. Try to keep that barrier down.”
It sounded like nonsense to her, but when she felt the presence pushing, melding even deeper inside her, she remembered what they’d done earlier and opened to him. Just as her body had opened under his hard, demanding cock, now she let him invade her mind. She couldn’t even think straight.
“Keep it down, cara. Let me in.”
She tried, and she felt him slip inside, in the kind of intimacy she had never felt before. He murmured to her soothingly, nonsense phrases that kept her barrier down. A barrier she hadn’t been aware of before. And miracle of miracles, he soothed her headache, as if he were actually stroking it. A delicious internal massage that soothed all the pounding away.
“Better?”
“Much.” She opened her eyes, squinted against the bright light, and smiled at him. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
His dry tones surprised her because they sounded as if she offended him, not their situation. “What’s up?”
“You mean apart from the bars and the captivity? Oh, nothing much. Just you.”
She frowned. “But I’m not responsible for any of this. I’m in as much shit as you are.”
“I doubt that very much.”
She sat up, something she couldn’t have done five minutes ago, and faced him, lifting her chin defiantly. Which was difficult because he was just as gorgeous as ever. The white shirt’s top two buttons were undone, revealing a few curls from the hair covering his broad chest. Fuck it, she’d met gorgeous men before. Any number of them and she’d never had this problem. “So what is this? Some kind of publicity stunt, a weird sex games?”
“Let me in. Right in.” She knew what he meant, but she was sick of his mind games. She couldn’t care less about this scam he was running. Out of here, now, her brain screamed at her.
Despite that, it seemed that once he knew the trick of penetrating her mind, he could do it again. She felt him, actually felt him entering. “We’re in danger. Or I am. An organization called the PHR -- stands for Perfect Human Race -- wants to eliminate me and my kind.”
“Racists?” Hey, she hadn’t realized she could do that. Talk back to him. Wow, fuck Gossip magazine; this would hit the New York Times or the Washington Post. She’d have an auction for the story.
“Kind of. Yes, racists. I’m a shape-shifter, and they want all of us dead. This is an attempt at genocide that’s been going on for centuries.”
She held up a hand, palm out. “Stop. Backtrack a bit there. Shape-shifter?”
He smiled, actually smiled, a slow grin of genuine amusement. “What do you think happened to all the dragons? You think we died off? Think again, baby. You just slept with one.”
“You are shitting me.” What did he take her for? A reporter for the National Enquirer?
“No, I’m not. Look around you.”
She did as he told her, taking more notice of their surroundings. The cage was empty. Bare, concrete floor, bars on all four sides, she could see nothing outside, plain ceiling. And… Oh right. Cameras. Dark shapes that moved when they did, no doubt recording everything.
“So why do you think they’re there?”
Her attention returned to him. “Security?”
“You know that’s not right.”
“Why would I know anything?”
He frowned, and she felt the pressure in her head increase. But it wasn’t the kind of pressure that came from a headache. More actual pressure, like a finger pressing on her skin. She allowed it and felt a warm, masculine presence invade her mind. How she knew it was masculine she couldn’t say, but it was male for all that.
He closed his eyes. “You’re a patsy.”
“I’m sorry?”
That was when the lights flashed off.
Domenici gripped Nicole’s wrist to steady her. He felt the jolt as she started, but then she relaxed.
Additional lights came on, softer and more normal. He watched her wipe her eyes, staunching the tears the bright lights evoked. She drew up her knees and rested her chin on the top, and because of their deeper connection, he felt the fine silk of her gown chafe her sore back. He noted it and longed for some lotion to smooth on the burn.
Not long now before they confronted their captors. The silver bars were as effective as a force field. He couldn’t sense or affect anything outside them, and if he wanted to pass by them, he couldn’t do it in his dragon form. Which was exactly what they wanted.
He allowed his softer feelings for Nicole to take hold. Once inside her mind, he found nothing to suggest she was anything other than what she claimed. Either someone had used her to take him off guard and draw him out of his home, or she had arrived just as everything began. As far as he was concerned, she was one of the good guys. And he’d protect her with everything he had.
The silhouettes of three people stood beyond the bars of the cage. Nobody spoke for at least a minute. Then one finally said something. “Which of you is the dragon?”
Domenici placed his hand on the side of Nicole’s waist to steady her. “Who wants to know?”
“Just thought we’d keep it civilized. You know who we are. People. Unlike you, and people who consort with you. Animals.”
“And proud of it,” Domenici answered, his voice level and calm. “Let the woman go. Why did you want her?”
“We didn’t.” A female voice this time. The owner of the voice stepped forward, under the muted light. Blonde hair with darkly tanned skin, full breasts, and a tall form. He smiled grimly. Just his type, if what he said in the press was anything to go by. They’d taken a pattern and made it real.
The woman gave Domenici a contemptuous stare. “You were supposed to have me. Then I would have knocked you out in your bed. But the car worked too.”
“Yes, it did. So let the woman go now, before we go any further. She knows nothing.”
He squeezed Nicole’s waist when she took a breath. Do me a favor and act dumb, okay? “We might be able to get you out of here that way.”
She sighed but she agreed. “I’ll do my best. Should I call the cops?”
“Do what you think is best.”
Someone stepped forward, keys jingling from his belt. No doubt taunting them. A small hutch opened at the side of the cage and someone shoved in a tray. “Food and drink. And a lubricant.”
Lubricant?
“No.” Domenici knew what they wanted, and he wouldn’t do it.
“I guarantee the food and drink isn’t tainted. Besides, some of you deviants can tell. Use the condoms. Strip and shape-shift. Then fuck. You do that; we let the woman go.”
“No.”
“You say no once more, and we’ll kill her. We can find another woman or man, if you prefer. But most of you dragons prefer maidens, don’t you?” The woman glanced sideways at the men, and they sniggered. “Hard to find virgins so you’ll have to make do with this woman.”
“Leave us to talk.”
“Sure. You have twenty minutes.”
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