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Asher frowned with disbelief even as a crazy urge to take her up on her rash impulse flared inside him. But it was an urge that was as quickly wiped out by a need to protect her. He shook his head. “No. I’m sorry, but it’s too dangerous.”
This beautiful Earth girl with hair the color of fire couldn’t give up her way of life to be with him. He was a stranger to her, an alien she knew nothing about.
Her laugh sounded shrill, forced, before she swept a hand out. “You don’t think I’ve lived with danger every waking moment of my life?” She went to further her explanation, then shook her head. “Never mind, it’s not something you’d understand.”
His frown deepened, along with his damn yearning to never let her out of his sight. “There are many types of dangers. I’m not fool enough to believe being pursued by an enemy is the only threat.”
She blinked, evidently shocked by his perception. “So you’ll take me with you then?”
He resisted once again touching the soft, silken curve of her face. There really were other dangers, and the one standing right in front of him might well be the biggest danger of them all. His belly clenched as he gritted out, “No.”
He ignored her gasp and pivoted away from her. He’d put her in enough jeopardy. He was healed enough now to walk a great distance from her—whoever she was—and this place that he had no doubt the soldiers would return to sooner rather than later.
A pity he got no further than the veranda before her feminine hand wrapped around his arm to stop him. He could have shrugged her off, could have ignored her completely. Instead he stilled, before he slowly turned to face her.
Damn she was mesmerizing. Her face was flushed, her pale green eyes glittering with determination and her glorious hair gleaming like the burnished hide of one of Riddich’s felloxim, an animal that resembled what the humans called a cow. Except although its milk was highly prized, a felloxim’s flesh was abhorrent to eat.
He only hoped the felloxims, as well as many other Riddich creatures, survived the Tantonics invasion and subsequent devastation.
Her chin titled. “I’m coming with you. I’m sure you know nothing of my people and their ways. I can help you with that.”
Admiration for this petite earth woman fluttered in his belly, warming his blood and thickening parts of his anatomy he didn’t want stimulated. Having this human along wouldn’t just put her in danger, it’d distract him when he’d need all of his wits.
“No.” A pity that one word didn’t sound anywhere near convincing. Bloody hell, he’d commanded a great army against the Tantonics, had been ruler of his seven million strong people, yet this slip of a woman rendered his resolve into something flimsy at best.
Her chin lifted higher still. “What if I told you I had a jeep full of fuel that would get you away from here a hundred times faster than walking?”
He’d learned all about cars, but he knew nothing of how to drive one. He and his crew could only jam so much learning on the short journey to Earth. Languages had been their biggest hurdle. English, German, Spanish and Chinese was all he’d managed before other rudimentary learning had taken priority.
A growing thump-thump sound interrupted all train of thought. The woman’s eyes widened even as her clasp on his arm tightened, before she directed him back inside and out of view.
“Helicopter,” she hissed.
Every muscle in his body went rigid, and then slowly relaxed as the helicopter continued its flight path south and the noise quickly faded.
It was only then that he realized the hand on his arm remained in place, the cool of her flesh heating his already hot blood until it was all he could do not to groan.
She looked up at him, her face set. “There would be much you don’t know about this world. Let me help you.”
He felt dazed, his defenses bulldozed. “Why?” he growled. “Why would you put yourself at risk for a stranger you don’t even know?”
“Because I realized the life I have here isn’t even really a life anymore. I’m just going through the motions, waking up and going to sleep, one day merging into another.” She exhaled softly. “I’ve been so busy proving this is what I want, that somewhere along the way it’s become nothing more than an existence.”
He withheld the fact many of his now dead people would wish to simply exist. Because she was right, there was more to living than simply getting through the day, all spark of passion extinguished. But at least she was alive, breathing. He would not be the one to take that away from her.
“Please,” she whispered.
It was just a word, but it broke down what was left of his defenses more effectively than a dozen rounds of torture.
He searched her upturned face, with her full, kissable lips and the slight sunburn on her high cheekbones and nose. And though her bright hair was pulled back into a long length that fell between her shoulder blades, he could almost imagine it spread out on a pillow in a crimson cloud, her pink lips parted and her green eyes shining with invitation.
Shit. He was totally losing it. He shouldn’t even consider dragging her along, it was far too dangerous and she was far too distracting. Except the flame color of her hair and his every instinct clamoring to stay with her made him suspect she was more than just a beautiful Earth woman.
She was a rare breeder, a woman capable of procreating with his kind.
She was an amazing find, one that he’d inexplicably stumbled upon within hours of crash-landing on this planet.
No, it wasn’t inexplicable and you didn’t stumble here. Your dragon directed you straight to her.
Even knowing it was a seriously bad idea, he found himself relenting with a murmured, “Okay.”
She nodded once, her face softening and her lips curving into a smile that took his breath away. “You won’t regret it.”
He was sure he would. Even worse was that he was sure she would too.
She exhaled. “Give me one minute to throw together some clothes and grab a few essentials.”
When she exited her bedroom not much longer than a minute later with a backpack slung over her shoulders and her eyes gleaming with excitement, his inner dragon prickled with foreboding. This woman really was going to be trouble.
His lips twitched into a smile anyway. “Ready?”
She nodded once, before taking a framed photograph off a mantelpiece and sliding it into her backpack. “I am now.”
He took the bag she’d packed some food into, while she grabbed what were evidently the jeep keys. He followed her outside before she locked the front door of her house.
Looking up at his arched brow, she said wryly, “I’m not going to make it too easy for anyone. The bastards can break the damn door down.”
He nodded and she headed toward the round yard, where she led her gray mare out and then through another gate into a much bigger paddock. She leaned forward and kissed the mare’s muzzle, then slipped off its halter—he’d seen a documentary on horse care—before the horse swung away and galloped down the far end of the paddock where a couple of big gum trees provided shade.
“I’ll be back for you Winnie,” she called out.
He frowned on hearing the faint baying of dogs. She didn’t appear to notice. Clearly his hearing was quite a bit better than hers. His dragon hearing would be incredible in comparison. But he refused to rush her, refused to make her leave any faster than what she needed.
She turned slowly, as though taking everything in, the place where she’d lived, and no doubt sacrificed much. He stopped himself from reaching for her, holding her as he asked, “Are you okay?”
She sighed and then nodded. “Honestly, I couldn’t be better.”
He believed her. Though he sensed her nostalgia, he also perceived a weight lifting off her shoulders before purpose flashed in her stare.
She stalked to one end of her shed, where she rolled up a big door. Entering a garage, she smiled fondly and patted the faded green metal of her jeep. “Here’s our getaway vehicle, though regretfully not the ultimate in speed and power.”
He shrugged. “It beats walking.”
She stilled, and then turned to him with her eyes widening. “Did you hear that?”
“The dogs?”
She nodded, her face taut. “They’ve already got the damn tracker dogs on your trail.”
He was aware of dogs and how their loyalty and obedience were used in so many ways, including the army and police work. “Then we don’t have much time.” Especially once the helicopters and even the fighter jets returned if the humans discovered he’d been here the whole time.
“Give me one more minute.” She ran past him and into the bigger partition of her shed where he’d hidden in the hay. Grabbing the bloodied shirt she’d pressed onto his chest to stop him bleeding out, she ran back outside and threw the shirt up onto the shed roof and out of sight. She grinned. “With a bit of luck the dogs will mill around for a few hours.”
“Good strategy.”
Her eyes sparkled. “I think so.” She grabbed his arm with a giggle that sounded somewhere between strained and exhilarated. “Let’s get out of here.”
She shrugged off her backpack and put it on the backseat, and Asher did the same with his bag. Waiting until she was safely in the driver’s seat, he swung into the passenger side, before he took note of the procedure of her starting the jeep’s engine. He recalled the pedal she pushed in was a clutch, and the stick she pushed into first was a gearstick.
She eased the clutch out and pushed her other foot down on the accelerator to take off smoothly. Outside of the shed she braked, put the gearstick into what he remembered was called neutral, before she climbed out and pulled the rolling door down, locking it shut.
He hid a smirk. She really was going to make it hard for the soldiers. What took her a handful of seconds to lock-up might take them a handful of minutes to break down and then thoroughly investigate.
She slid into the driver’s seat, her face flushed and her smile wide. “Let’s do this!”
He had no idea what possessed him, but when he leant forward and kissed her soft mouth, it felt all kinds of right. It felt even righter when she sighed against his lips and returned his kiss with a fervor that for a moment made him forget about the dogs, the Tantonics and everything else. All that mattered was this pliant, passionate woman in his arms.
He pulled back first, his stare sliding to her lips that were rosy-red and plump. He ached to kiss her again, to relive the feelings inside that made him glad to have crashed on this part of the planet.
She bit into her bottom lip, leaving an imprint he wanted only to kiss away. “That was ... unexpected,” she said hoarsely.
He nodded. “Yes. But I’m not sorry about it, not one bit.”
She blinked. “Neither am I.” Then, as if becoming aware of the real world once again, she jammed the jeep back into first and took off with some speed.
They didn’t talk until the dusty, dirt road was an hour behind them and they’d merged in with the traffic on a narrow sealed road. Not that he was stupid enough to imagine their jeep didn’t stand out amongst the nicer and shinier sedans and luxury SUV’s.
They’d have to ditch the vehicle at some point.
He turned to her, admiring her profile that was more delicate and refined than that of the women on his own planet, at least, those few who had escaped and survived. “You know, now we’ve shared a kiss and ran away together, I’m guessing at some point we should exchange names.”
A laugh burst out of her compressed lips, her eyes shining as she glanced his way. “Marissa Kincaid.”
The gorgeous name was one he imagined shouting out at the peak of climax. He frowned, not liking the direction of his thoughts. He couldn’t get too close to this Earth woman, couldn’t have the distraction or the burden of another life in his hands. Not even if she was a breeder.
He cleared his throat. “Asher Mannett.”
“Asher,” she mused. “It suits you.” She looked his way again. “It’s really lovely to meet you.”
He’d seen enough Earth movies—his head had almost exploded with them—to know all the best lines. But he discarded them all in favor of a greeting in his own language. “Ladhatrha ne’ sma et Qwaz sha’yaz miets.”
She sent him a wide-eyed look. “That was beautiful. But now I’m desperate to know exactly what you said.”
He put a hand on her thigh, enjoying the coolness of her flesh and wondering if she felt his internal heat. Even in his primary form his body temperature was warmer than any humans.
“Don’t hold back on me now!” she warned into the silence, her muscles tensing beneath his touch.
He resisted a groan. She wasn’t the only one affected. His blood was pooling in parts of his anatomy that hadn’t been put to use in five long months. Even his heart rate beat out of rhythm, indicating high emotion. He nodded and translated, “Meeting you was a gift from the gods.”
