The Dragon's Treasure

  He reached for the bar of soap Carly must have found and placed on the ledge. The soap lathered quickly between his hands, emitting a fresh rain scent that teased his nostrils. Running his hands over the light coating of dark hair that covered his chest, he drew in a deep breath. His body felt like it was awakening from a deep, eternal sleep. The palms of his hands slid down across his stomach before trailing downward.

  A shudder ran through him. It had been a long, long time since he’d been this awake – and aware. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. The image of Carly flared into vivid detail. He shivered when he pictured her standing in front of him, looking up at him with wide, startled eyes and a very sexy O-shaped mouth. That image had ingrained itself in his mind even as his body had exploded with pain after she had connected the broom with his groin.

  Yes, that feeling was not something he was going to forget any time soon. Opening his eyes, he finished washing his hair and body and rinsed off the soapy residue. Several long minutes later, he shut off the water and reached for a towel. He dried his body, toweled the moisture from his hair, and walked over to the sink.

  He grimaced and wrapped the towel around his waist, tucking it in securely before he leaned forward to stare at his reflection. His dark, sapphire blue eyes glimmered with fire. He raised a hand and ran it over his beard.

  It had been a long time since he’d seen his own reflection. There were a few new lines near the corners of his eyes and around his mouth. The spell he had cast over the Isle had preserved most things. While dust and leaves had settled and the vines had grown, time for him had slowed until it remained as still as the statues of his people.

  Several minutes passed while he stared at his reflection, lost in thought. A scowl crossed his face when he realized the only reason he was scrutinizing his appearance was because he wanted to impress Carly. With a snort of self-disgust, he made sure the bathing area was as spotless as before. He didn’t want Carly to think poorly of him for messing up the room that she had worked so hard to clean.

  “Since when did I have to try to impress a woman?” he asked his reflection with a raised eyebrow. “You are Drago, King of the Dragons! You do not have to impress women.”

  Pushing the unusual feelings aside, Drago stepped out of the room. The light behind him faded, casting the bedroom into a soft glow from the moons shining through the long bank of windows and doors. He walked over and pulled the doors open so the fresh, chilly breeze coming off the ocean would sweep through the room.

  He turned when he heard a sigh come from his bed. Carly had rolled over so her back was to him. Her arms were wrapped around one of the plush pillows. She had stopped snoring, and from her slow, steady breathing, Drago knew that she had fallen into a deep sleep.

  Removing the towel as he walked closer to the bed, he tossed it across the foot of the bed before waving his hand for the covers to fold back. He slid between the sheets and pulled them back up before rolling over to wrap his arm around Carly and hug her tightly against him.

  Tilting his head, he brushed a light kiss along her pale throat before relaxing against the pillows. The wards and spells would keep them protected while they slept. His arm tightened around Carly, holding her firmly as if afraid she might disappear.

  “Never,” he said in a barely audible voice. “I bind you to me, Carly Tate. Thief, wanderer, unusual woman that you are – you are mine. I will always know where you are.”

  The spell he wove with his words wrapped around Carly’s sleeping form. Drago could see the red fire threads of the dragon spell settling over Carly’s body before fading. Satisfied that she was locked to him, Drago’s eyelids slowly lowered, and he fell into the first deep, dreamless sleep he’d had in centuries.

  Chapter 7

  The first thing Carly realized when she woke the next morning was that she was not alone. Coarse, black hair that tickled her cheek and nose was her first clue. The second was the warm arm wrapped around her, holding her against a very hot – as in the smoking sexy, melt in your mouth kind of hot – body.

  Correction, Carly thought, afraid to move. A very hot, smoking sexy, melt in your mouth, bare-naked body.

  Carly cracked her eyelids open, curious to see if her assessment was correct. She carefully lifted her right hand from where it was resting over Drago’s heart and moved it down to the covers that were draped across his stomach. She paused and glanced up to make sure he was still sleeping. Yes! His breathing hadn’t changed and his eyes were still closed.

  A delighted grin curved her lips. It wasn’t like she had a lot of experience to fall back on, but he appeared to be sound asleep. Carly decided if she had to do a trial run, she couldn’t have dreamed up a better guy to experience it with. Drago was built like ‘The Rock’ only with hair, not that TR wasn’t fine just the way he was. Still, never in a million, bazillion years would she have thought getting lost would turn out like this.

  Biting her lip, she glanced back down. Her fingers hovered over the covers for a brief second before she slowly lifted the soft material. Her gaze followed the trail of black curls lower… and lower… and….

  “Holy macaroni!” Carly hissed under her breath when she caught her first sight of aroused manhood. “That’s… wow!”

  The sudden movement under her cheek told her that Drago had not only awakened but that he had heard her exclamation as well. Heat filled Carly’s cheeks and she slowly lowered the covers then patted them for good measure. Her fingers played with the material of the sheets as her mind raced to figure out what she would say next.

  “You’re awake,” she said, watching the sheet where his cock was raised up a little.

  “Yes,” Drago replied with another shake of his body which told Carly he was amused.

  “You sure are big. Shut up, Carly. That is not what you meant to say. Brain before mouth. Jenny’s always reminding you of that. Brain… wake up. Carly is doing it again,” she commented, wincing when the words slipped from her mouth.

  Drago’s deep laughter echoed through the room. Carly closed her eyes and decided if she was going to die from embarrassment, at least this was a good way to go – Drago’s laughter filling the air and his arm wrapped around her. Yes, she could think of a million other horrible ways to die.

  “What is Carly doing again?” Drago asked after he quit laughing.

  Carly released a long sigh. “Making a total fool of herself. She does that quite frequently. Jenny says it is one of the things that makes me – me. I think it is one of the things that drive people crazy. Mr. Kranz, my boss at the bank, is forever telling me I need to have a sensor installed on my mouth,” she rambled then released another sigh and turned her head to bury her face into his chest. “Just ignore me. I’m going to die of embarrassment now.”

  “Carly…,” Drago said in a soft tone.

  Carly felt his strong, firm fingers under her chin. She stubbornly kept her eyes closed and her mouth clamped shut in a tight line even as she willingly tilted her head back. Her mouth relaxed when she felt Drago run his thumb across her bottom lip. His touch sure did feel good.

  “Won’t you open your eyes, little one?” Drago asked in a voice still rough from sleep.

  “No,” she replied.

  “Why not?” he asked.

  Carly’s lips twitched in amusement. “Because I like the image in my brain,” she admitted.

  There was a moment of silence before Drago responded. “And what image is that?” he asked in a voice laced with curiosity.

  “I like your curls,” she finally said.

  “My curls…?” Drago repeated in a slightly confused tone before his eyes widened in understanding and he began to laugh again.

  Carly opened her eyes just in time to see comprehension dawn in his eyes. A muffled giggle escaped her. At least he was seeing the humor in the situation instead of thinking she was a total crackpot.

  Her enjoyment of his amusement ended in a gasp when she suddenly found herself trapped beneath him. His la
ughter had faded and he was staring down at her with a very serious expression. Her hands rose automatically to splay across his chest. She couldn’t resist squeezing her fingers just a little to see if he really was as solid as he looked. He was – with some to spare for half the guys back in Yachats.

  “You… you are very muscular,” she reflected in a slightly choked voice.

  “I know,” he replied. “I want to kiss you, Carly Tate.”

  Carly’s eyes widened. She wanted to kiss him too, but there was one little problem – morning breath! She couldn’t imagine kissing him without brushing her teeth. A sense of panic swept through her when he started to bend his head. She reacted without thinking, drawing her legs up to try to escape at the same time as she pushed against his chest. Two things registered the moment she moved. First, she hadn’t taken into consideration the position of her left leg between his thighs; and second, the part of his anatomy that she connected with wasn’t muscular, but very vulnerable.

  Drago’s loud, indrawn breath, followed by his eyes closing and his face tightening told her that she had reacted rather more strongly than she had intended. His arms trembled before he released a low, guttural groan and fell to the side. One good thing happened… he no longer was in the mood to kiss her. The bad thing was… he probably would never want to try again.

  Carly rolled out of the bed and stared down at Drago lying there pale and obviously in a lot of pain. His eyes were closed and his hands were cupping his groin over the covers. Mortification swept through her. She had done it again – sabotaged any chance of keeping a guy interested in her. She cupped her hands and lifted them to her mouth.

  “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean… I…. Oh, hell. That must have hurt. I kneed you pretty good and you were probably still sore from the last time,” Carly whispered.

  “Yes, yes, it does and I did not need a reminder of how painful the first time was,” he bit out.

  Carly watched as Drago’s eyes slowly opened and he gazed up at her. His eyes were dark with pain and an emotion she wasn’t quite sure of. She hoped it wasn’t the desire to kill her – slowly, tortuously by dragon fire. Just the thought had her taking a cautious step backwards.

  “I… Yes, I guess… I’ll just go brush my teeth. Then, if you still… but, I’m sure you don’t… but, if you did… I don’t have a toothbrush. I’ll just go hide in the bathroom for a bit if you don’t mind,” Carly stammered before she turned and fled to the other room.

  Drago’s gaze followed Carly as she quickly left the bedroom. Only when the door closed firmly behind her did he roll onto his side and released a smothered moan of pain into the pillow. Goddess, but that hurt!

  It had taken everything inside of him not to roll into a ball and cry like a babe. A startled chuckle started to escape him, but he quickly swallowed it back when the movement caused another wave of pain to wash through him. Carly’s stammered words, and the meaning of them, hit him hard.

  “Teeth… She unwittingly strikes me down because she has to brush her teeth before I can kiss her,” Drago reflected, breathing deeply through his nose and releasing the breath through his mouth. “Goddess, she would have killed me if I had tried to make love to her! I need to wear protection when I’m within a meter of her.”

  “I can hear you,” Carly’s muffled voice stated.

  Drago glanced toward the door when it opened a tiny bit. He could see Carly’s flushed face, bright eyes, and… tears?! Yes, it was tears. She impatiently raised her hand and brushed it across her cheek.

  “Why are you crying?” Drago asked with a frown, forgetting his own agony for a moment in his confusion.

  “Because I always screw things up,” she sobbed with a loud sniff. “I wouldn’t have killed you if you had tried to make love to me. I might have maimed you, but it wouldn’t have been intentional. I just do things that always end up messing things up. Is it any wonder that I’m still a virgin? Who else do you know who accidentally sets their high school date’s car on fire – on the first date? Or knocks their date off a cliff because of a mosquito? Okay, so maybe it was just the front porch, but still…! Or causes their boyfriend to have a concussion just because they were trying to throw the softball back over the fence – to the other team?! Even poor Ross wasn’t immune to Carly’s Curse. How many girls do you know who have their own curse named after them? Huh?”

  Drago blinked, each one of her statements bringing up vivid images of total chaos. It took a minute for him to realize that she had asked him a question. But in all honesty, he was still stuck on ‘virgin’.

  “You’re a virgin?” he asked.

  Carly glared at him with wide eyes for a moment before firmly shutting the door again. Drago didn’t realize his body had relaxed, the pain faded, until he lifted a hand to run it over his face. Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling, a grin curving his lips. His thief was a virgin?

  “I wonder what will happen next?” he chuckled.

  Chapter 8

  Carly stared in dismay at the reflection of her red face in the mirror. If that spectacle hadn’t been enough to nominate her for Biggest Fool in the Guinness Book of World Records, wearing makeup to go hiking should give her the extra points she needed. The image staring back at her looked like a red raccoon – if there was such a thing. She’d need to Google it when she got home. She looked like she had two black eyes thanks to the remains of her mascara creating dark patches around each eye. If that wasn’t bad enough, her shoulder-length brown hair was a mass of tangles, sticking out in all different directions like a troll doll after a kid with sticky fingers had played with it.

  “That’s it… I need a shower. Even if it means wearing the same dirty clothes again, I really need a shower,” she retorted in defiance at her reflection, before pointing at the mirror. “And if you dare smirk or say one nasty thing, I’ll break you. I don’t care how many years of bad luck it gives me. It isn’t like I don’t have enough on my own!”

  Carly waited. When the mirror didn’t react, she breathed in a sigh of relief. A least this magic land didn’t appear to have an enchanted mirror. It was probably a fantastic thing considering she realized she needed to use the restroom and would have probably peed her pants if it had responded. It was then that she noticed she wasn’t wearing any pants.

  “How the heck could I lose those on top of everything else?” she groaned with a shake of her head.

  Refusing to look at her reflection again, she turned her back to it and walked over to the toilet. After relieving herself, she glanced around the room. She pulled a towel out of a cupboard before opening another one near the sink. Thankfully, she knew where everything was after her cleaning spree yesterday. Some of the items had seemed strange, but it didn’t take her long to figure out that the tin of powder next to the toothbrush was a type of toothpaste.

  She wrinkled her nose at her lack of toothbrush. She glanced at the one on the shelf. She wasn’t about to use Drago’s. No matter how cute the guy was, there were some things that were personal and a toothbrush was one of them. Maybe if they had been together for a while, but using his toothbrush so soon after meeting him wasn’t happening. On a side note, she couldn’t help but be pleased that she had only found one when she was cleaning. If she had discovered a second one, well – that would have been a huge warning sign that Drago wasn’t unattached.

  Carly released a sigh and picked up the tin. It wouldn’t be like she never had to use her finger as a toothbrush before. She popped the top on the long, thin can and was about to pour some onto her finger when the door behind her suddenly opened.

  “What the…?” she exclaimed, almost dropping the can. “How the heck did you get in? I locked the door.”

  Drago leaned against the doorframe and grinned. “I am King of this Isle. No door can be locked against me,” he retorted with a slight shrug.

  “That’s just wrong on too many levels to count,” Carly replied with a shake of her head and placed the tin on the counter before her g
aze caught on the items he was holding in his hands. “What are those?”

  Drago glanced down at the articles of clothing he was holding. He straightened and walked toward her. He didn’t hold them out to her; instead, he kept them just out of her reach. Carly’s gaze moved over his bare chest. Her fingers itched to run over his smooth skin again. It took a few seconds for her brain to catch up with her eyes. Holy crud! His legs were bare! Her eyes shot up to his face.

  “Please tell me you aren’t – I mean – you are wearing clothes behind those in your hands,” she asked in a strained voice.

  Drago’s eyebrow rose. “No. I thought you would like a change of clothing. These belong….” His lips pressed together in a straight line for a moment before they relaxed. “These belonged to my mother. I thought they might fit you.”

  Carly didn’t miss the sorrow that flashed through Drago’s eyes. Her hand lifted in response and she laid it against his cheek. She brushed her thumb across the coarse hair of his beard.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  Drago’s lips twitched. Carly should have known he was up to something. Her lips parted when he swiftly bent and pressed a kiss on them.

  “You’re welcome,” he replied, gazing down into her eyes before pulling back and handing her the clothing. “I will prepare our meal.”

  “Okay,” Carly replied.

  She blinked, refocusing when he turned. The strangled gasp that escaped her drew an amused chuckle from him. Her eyes narrowed on his muscular back and firm buttocks.

  “If you need help washing your… back, call me,” he threw out over his shoulder.

  Carly shook her head. “I’m locking the door,” she called out when he pulled the door shut behind him. “But… I wouldn’t be opposed to you coming in to wash my back. Wow, what a cute butt!” she whispered, staring at the door.

  Her face flamed again when she heard his muffled laughter. Damn dragons! She needed to remember that Drago had super-power hearing.