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Ashe
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AS THEY WALKED ALONG main street, hand-in-hand, she caught the side-eye glances and transparent doubletakes of the other pedestrians. Crazy how she felt ten feet taller with him acknowledging her as his woman. That sounded a lot archaic. She’d lived during the periods when women were nothing more than property and that wasn’t her definition of being his woman.
Too bad I’m not really his woman.
That she wanted their relationship to be true worried her. On a whim she’d taken his job offer. She didn’t need the investment in his company or the commitment to his family that the employment would bring. Good sassy gods, what had she agreed to do? Anyone hurt on her watch, she would take their injury personally. But accepting his offer also gave her a reason to stay near Tobias.
Ashe peeked through her lashes at him. Those lips had felt fantastic on her mouth and breasts last night. The way his calloused hands had dragged along her body, with command and control, had heated her blood to the point she thought she’d fragment when she came. That he’d gotten her off by simply rubbing his dick against her either took exceptional talent, or she was that attracted to him.
I should finish my job and get the fuck out of this town.
The blood oath put that option to rest.
Despite her distrust of the tooth fairy—why would anyone want that messed up job?—she couldn’t deny everyone greeted her with warmth and acceptance. Even Seraphine had said some shit to that effect.
This town was too good to be true, accepting paranormals for no reason other than they weren’t human. They really needed someone to guard them because letting the ghoul walk in with a warm welcome was reckless.
Ashe shook her head at the naivety of Black Hollow’s residents. If a siren invited others to their island it was a trap and they wanted something from them. They’d either use the guest as a slave or to produce offspring. There had to be something she was missing about Black Hollow because no one accepted outsiders into their close knit community without reservations.
“You’ll delete my picture now?” She would consider putting the town in her rearview mirror if he agreed. “The moment we return to your mansion, I want it gone. Agreed?”
“It’s an estate.” His grip on her hand tightened just a fraction.
“Sure.” Call it whatever he liked, the home was huge, taking up acres and housing a lot of smelly dragons.
“I’ll delete it, but only if you swear not to run off the moment it’s deleted.”
“You think the only way you can control me is to coax blood oaths from me, Tobias?”
He scrutinized her, and the blue of his eyes captured her in his gaze.
Much like he’s captured me and tricked me into staying here.
Fear slithered through her. Was there something magical about Black Hollow that drugged people into staying despite their better judgment? Could that be the secret of the town?
“Call me nuts,” he interrupted her thoughts, “but I don’t want you to leave town yet.”
Yeah, well, call her nuts too because she didn’t want to leave him, which was even more insane. “I already have an escape built into the blood oath. I stay because I want to. You shouldn’t ask for more. I’m not a possession. With this deal, I’m an employee. I’ll do my job, I’ll insult you as much as I please, but I will leave the moment I want to go.”
The dragon grinned. “Don’t expect me to tolerate your insults.”
You gonna put me over your knee, baby dragon?
She elected not to utter that taunt, more out of fear he would take her up on the offer and she would let him. “We’ll see about that, baby dragon.”
“Uh huh, you’re right we will.” He held open the door to Drakki Diamonds and motioned for her to enter first. “Hey, Chadwick. This is Ashe, a... friend of mine.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” The fresh-faced blond didn’t sport any fuzz on his jaw.
“You too.” She glanced about. Typical diamond store with glass cases displaying a wide range of jewelry. Ashe followed Tobias behind the display counter and through a door.
“How young is he?” she asked when they entered the backroom of the building.
“Fifty-one.”
“A baby.” That equated to teens for humans.
“Yep. He’s my cousin’s kid.” Tobias moved deep into the backroom.
“You keep everything Drakki Diamond related within the family?” A couple of desks sat about the large room, with a kitchen area situated to the right, but it was otherwise lackluster.
“Always,” he said.
“Except for with me.”
Something flashed in his eyes. What was she missing?
“Seems so,” Tobias muttered as he stopped walking at the backside of the room and stared at a large vault door.
“I thought we were picking out a pretend engagement ring?” Ashe glanced toward the door they’d initially come through. “Has the job offer ended so soon and you plan to lock me in another vault?”
“I’d rather lock you in my bedroom,” he muttered beneath his breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He spun a numbered dial and placed his palm on a light scanner next to the knob. “All the best stuff is locked up in the vault. Only a certain clientele gets this door opened.”
“Aww...” she put her hand over her heart and batted her eyes. Ashe felt stupid instead of coy. “I’m special.”
“You’re my fiancée. That makes you as rare as my ice-blue diamonds.”
Even knowing he played up to the farce Victoria started, her heartbeat tripped a bit. He’d be great for some lucky woman.
That’s not me.
She made a promise to herself to leave the moment he found someone he loved.
Those thoughts stole any smartass comeback she might’ve spewed. Dread that she might already be too involved with him emotionally, she followed him inside the steel room. It looked a lot like the crypt in his home. A table was in the middle of the room and on it were a couple of black velvet boxes.
To the left was a table with loose diamonds in a rainbow of shades, from the deepest of colors to the lightest. Tobias picked up one of the black velvet boxes.
“The rarest cuts I’ve made and set myself.” He spun the chest around to face her and opened the lid.
Ashe trailed her fingers along the velvet, awed by the beauty of the gemstones. “You do all the cutting yourself?”
“Yeah. The ice-blue ones require a tempered hand to sparkle the way they do.”
“Multitalented. Aren’t you the luckiest of all the Drakkis?” No way he missed the sarcasm in her voice, but it was hard not to be bitter over losing him to someone in the future. It seemed the gods had blessed her with insanity because she thought of him as hers when no commitments beyond employment were executed between them.
The intensity of his stare let her know he ignored her sarcasm and answered straightforward. “The luckiest of all. You’re my fiancée.”
His response wasn’t what she anticipated. “I bring death, not luck.”
“From where I’m standing, you’ve brought only luck to my door. You protected Vic and you present a chance to discover who wants me dead.”
They stared at one another for a long moment. Ashe attempted to decide how she felt about him, why she didn’t just kill him and end the farce, why she betrayed the person who’d hired her. She was walking in unknown territory. Her unprofessionalism was unforgiveable, and she couldn’t care less that she betrayed another.
Harsh reminder... everyone eventually hurts me, and I owe no one my loyalty.
Six million couldn’t buy her allegiance and neither could the ten percent stake in Drakki International.
Just because she was drawn to Tobias like no one before him, didn’t mean he meant more to her. She’d had a lot of lovers over the years. Men she’d spent years with, lifetimes building a life, but none of them had instilled this type of emotion so soon or this strong. Something about Tobias Drakki possessed her to want to protect him. Ashe recognized the danger in the desire to safeguard him.
Having ties weakened her. Just like Victoria and his family weakened him with his enemies. She’d done many things in her life, but could she take the risk on him? Of course, that assumed he was even interested in her.
Vulnerability struck, and Ashe broke eye contact with him.
I’m due a lifestyle change.
That’s what her unusual attachment meant.
Either that or she read more into her attraction for him than he felt in return.
Focusing on the jewelry, she pinched her thigh to clear her head of the romantic notions. The ring that drew her attention the most was an ice-blue heart shaped stone, with white and dark blue diamonds surrounding it and trailing along the sides of the band. It was blingy and while she considered herself a badass, she still enjoyed the finer things in life. Bling was one of her faults. Most sirens loved pretty, frilly things and Ashe was no different.
She tapped her finger on the box in his hand. “If this were a real relationship, which one would you pick for your fiancée.”
Still staring at her unflinching, his voice emerged hoarse and dark, catching her eyes with the tenor. “The heart shaped one.”
Damn. Of course, he’d pick the one she preferred. It was gorgeous, but she wouldn’t steal it from his future real wife.
“Then I’ll take this one.” She lifted an emerald cut diamond, her second favorite but nowhere near as beautiful as the other one.
Before she could slide it on her hand, he snatched it out of her grip and set the box on the table. “The heart fits you better.”
“Why because I tried to shoot yours out of your chest?”
“There is that. Or it could be because you need a fucking heart.” One side of his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin, so she knew he teased even though he should be slinging real insults. Tobias dropped the emerald cut stone onto the table, creating a loud metal tone. Then he slid the heart shaped ring onto her finger. “It’s the largest of them all, the center stone eight carats, for a total of ten in all. No woman of mine would wear one of the smaller ones. And if I was choosing, this would be the one I would pick for you.”
She held her hand out and studied the whopping diamond weighing down her finger. The brilliance was impressive. The way the light caught the stones with each movement of her finger, turned the setting into a blinding shimmer.
If only our engagement were for real. Ashe couldn’t remember the last time she’d longed for something she had no hope of acquiring.
“I guess your word is law around here,” she said.
“Yup. Glad you’re finally catching on.” He winked at her.
“Is the cut why the diamond is so sparkly? Is that why you’re crucial to Drakki Diamonds?”
He shook his head. “The cut does have a lot to do with the sparkle. But I create the blue diamonds. Yesterday when you saw us blowing up shit with our dragon fire,” she nodded, and he went on, “that was me creating the diamonds. My dragon breath and fire mix with the sand at such high temperatures and pressure that it creates diamonds in the unique color.”
They’re the same color of his eyes.
“Hmm...” It was interesting information and not what she’d expected. “Kind of makes it hard for me to steal all your diamonds that way.”
“Are you a thief too?”
She smiled as he laced his fingers with her left hand. “Want to fire me now?”
“No.” His other hand elevated and gripped the back of her neck. “I think you’re fucking perfect for me.”
As he spoke, he pulled her closer to him. Ashe should’ve put some distance between them, but the desire to be his for a little while was too strong to resist.
“Yeah?” Her air lodged in her lungs as his breath kissed her mouth and she tilted her head back to connect their lips, but he pulled away. Ashe wasn’t in the mood to be teased, so she curled her arms around his neck and used his shoulders as support to lift herself and wrap her legs around his waist. The hand holding hers, released its grip to palm her ass.
“Ashe...” he whispered against her mouth, “Am I wrong when I say we’re like fire together?”
“No.” She held his eyes as she bit his bottom lip and sucked it into her mouth. His grip on her ass tightened. Ashe loved the way his chest felt against her nipples, even if clothing separated them, so she rubbed herself against him. The sensation would be better naked, but she took what she could get for now. “I feel like I’m burning hotter than your dragon fire. And this,” she removed her arm from around his neck and waggled her fingers at him, drawing his attention to the diamond on her finger, “gives me a crazy high. The moment you slid it onto my finger, the base of my head started buzzing and I wanted to sing.” Something in his eyes flashed, but she couldn’t tell if it was satisfaction or hesitation. Meditating on her breath to slow down her aggression, she rested her forehead against his. “I shouldn’t tell you this, but I’m a siren that can’t sing.”
“I wondered why you didn’t sing yourself to freedom.” He kissed the corner of her mouth.
Fuck almighty, she wanted a real kiss. “It’s rare, but it happens.”
“Sing for me anyway.” He kissed the other corner of her mouth.
“Later maybe I’ll hurt your ears. I damn sure won’t do it where others can hear how awful I sound.” She tried to seal their mouths together and he moved just enough to evade the connection. “Stop being a tease and kiss me, damnit.”
He smiled, his eyes sparkling, and she went gooey on the inside. “I want you, Ashe, but not here and not before we talk.”
“Talk?” Talk about a mood killer. She lowered one leg at a time and released her hold on his neck too. “Sorry I came on too strong.”
Tobias tugged on her ponytail. “If we were at my house, I’d have carried you upstairs and stripped you by now.”
She poked him in the chest. “You know, just two days ago I was here to kill you. Now I want to fuck you. I might be bipolar.”
He chuckled. “Just yesterday I wanted to kill you, so we both require a mental professional.” He gave her a hard, fast, platonic kiss.
Ashe laughed. “What could go wrong with that combination?”