“What?”
“Don’t act innocent,” I say. “I know what you are. Now fucking come here.”
Somehow, she manages to move. Her feet don’t seem to want to come forward, but I don’t care. I don’t care if she’s scared. I don’t care if she’s afraid. She’s part of something horrible, something evil, and I won’t stand for it. When she nears me, I fold the bandana neatly and then tie it around her eyes.
“Is that necessary?” Julie asks quietly.
“I can’t risk my clan,” I tell her. “I’m not going to kill you,” I say to Nicole. “But I also can’t have you seeing where we’re going. You understand,” I add, softening my voice. Maybe I am being too hard on her. Then again, I did see her shoot Bernie. Nicole isn’t above hurting people. Fuck, she isn’t above killing people. If it means getting what she wants, she’s going to do what it takes.
“I understand,” she says. She doesn’t move as I turn to Julie. The beautiful human raises an eyebrow, as if silently asking me if I’m going to do the same to her. Am I going to bind her? Blindfold her?
“Oh, believe me,” I tell Julie pointedly. “If I’m blindfolding you, we’re going to be alone, and you’re going to be completely naked.”
Julie blushes bright red and Nicole lets out a tiny giggle. I’m not even bothered, although I should be. I like seeing the blush creep along Julie’s neck and cheeks. I like knowing I put that there. It’s not often I have the chance to surprise a woman, and I enjoy knowing I can catch her off guard.
She’s delightful, and I want to get to know her better in so many ways. I can’t believe we stayed up all night talking. We were like a couple of fucking high schoolers: young and driven by hormones.
“So how does this work?” Julie pointedly changes the subject.
“I’ll shift and then you need to help Nicole onto my back.”
“Got it.”
“She needs to sit closest to my head. You sit behind her so she doesn’t fall.”
“Fall?” Nicole swallows hard.
“You aren’t going to fall,” Julie says softly.
“Easy for you to say,” Nicole spits. “He fucking likes you. Me? I’m the one who shot him with a damn dart. You really think he’s not going to try to kill me?” She shakes her head. “You really are innocent.”
“Hey,” I reach for Nicole’s shoulder. She flinches, and I pull my hand back. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”
She doesn’t say anything.
“Promise,” I repeat.
“The promise of a dragon,” she whispers. “Real rich.”
“My word is the most important thing to me,” I tell her.
“Until now,” Nicole points out.
“Excuse me?”
“Your word was the most important thing to you. Until now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I might be your arch nemesis, dragon, but I’m not blind. A know a dragon’s mate when I see one.”
Chapter Fifteen
Julie
DRAGON’S MATE.
That’s what Nicole said. Judging by the way Lawrence’s eyes shot to me, I know this is something he understands and has thought about. I don’t know what it is, but I’m not going to worry about it right now. The only thing I’m going to focus on is helping this dragon guy get back to his clan. They can deal with Nicole and I can...