The Dragon's Secret Prize Read online

  “Kayla.” He moaned into her breast as he kissed it. “Kayla, tell me to stop.”

  “No.” Her body undulated on its own, sliding against his. “I don’t want you to stop. Please don’t stop.”

  And he didn’t. His hands continued on their destructive path, leaving her in nothing but scraps of cloth. Yet when on her flesh, his touch was gentle. So light it was like a feather brushing against her. Her clothes felt like the oppressors, and his violence in freeing her made the heat inside her body all the hotter. Something was twisting tight inside of her and her hands clenched on the desk, desperate for this aching need to be satisfied.

  Shane undid his belt. Kayla opened her mouth to tell him to take off his shirt. She wanted to see the contours of his muscle, his beautiful hard body.

  But before she could, he ripped it off. He growled deep in his throat as he did so, as though the clothing was something that offended him. Kayla couldn’t stop a giggle as he dropped to his knees. The look in his eye as he gazed up at her was adoring. As though he’d never seen anybody look so beautiful before.

  Kayla brushed her fingers through her hair, heart pounding with anticipation, her core tight. When he kissed her thigh, she shivered. A moan erupted from her throat when his tongue coasted over its target. She held him with one hand while bracing herself on the desk with the other. It was all she could do to stop herself from thrusting her hips forward. Soft pants echoed in her ears, though if it was her or him making the noise, she didn’t know.

  “Shane,” she moaned as she continued to shiver. She said it as though his name was a prayer. “Shane.”

  He stood again, pressing kisses up her body as he did so. He lingered at her breasts for a moment before capturing her mouth with his. A finger entered her as he pushed his pants down.

  Kayla groaned. “Let me—”

  He cut her off as he pushed inside of her. He was big–almost too big since he’d done little to prepare her. There was a slight sting of pain but Kayla didn’t mind. She embraced it as his arms circled her again. He lifted her so she sat on the desk, enabling her to put an arm around him, and then settled there for a moment, gently kissing her.

  “I’m sorry. What were you going to say?”

  She laughed softly. “I was going to tell you to let me prepare you. But I guess you don’t need that, huh?”

  She squeezed him with the muscles inside of her and he groaned. His fingers bit into her flesh before he loosened his grip. Another wild kiss left her breathless but he didn’t start moving. She rocked her hips to indicate she was ready but he still didn’t move.

  “If you want me to stop, tell me,” he whispered. “I will. I promise I will stop.”

  “I don’t want you to.”

  “But if you change your mind—”

  “I won’t.” Kayla stroked his face with her free hand. “Whatever demons you’re wrestling with right now, it’s okay. I’m here. I want you.”

  Shane pressed his forehead against hers. He began to move, first in short thrusts but soon getting faster, harder, with more exaggerated movements. The tight coils inside of Kayla pulled her knees towards her chest. She locked her ankles behind his hips as he thrust harder, his mouth on hers, soft grunts filling the air between them.

  Soon, even though he held her tight, she had to brace herself on the desk again. Her head was flung back and she burst out with small cries of pleasure. There was a slight pain mingled in with it but she found she liked it. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as a shuddering wave started up her spine and down her legs. Her toes curled.

  Shane finished before her. His muscles went slack and he collapsed over her, pinning her to the desk. But one hand slipped between their bodies. It found its target, and with a few deft strokes, Kayla was left seeing stars.

  ***

  After hastily cleaning herself up and putting on new clothes, Kayla left Shane to rest in the camper and went to start the dig for the day. Bernie was in an argument with the Norwegian girl. As she approached, though, both parties fell silent. Not a good sign. Kayla forced a friendly smile on her face.

  “Is there a problem, Freida?”

  “Yes,” the Norwegian said as Bernie opened her mouth. With a toss of blonde hair, she narrowed her eyes. “You are wildly inexperienced. I checked out your records, you have never done this before. I have far more experience than you do and I should be—”

  “You are a student,” Bernie snapped. “An undergraduate. You do not get to dictate what goes on at this dig. You are going to either do what you have been assigned to do or you can go home.”

  Kayla glanced between them, bewildered. Not only at the amount of hostility there but that Freida seemed to be… what? Making a play to head the dig? “Esther left me in charge, Freida. I understand that things are a little hectic but that just means we all have to work a little harder.’

  Freida snorted. “Yeah. We all know how hard you were working this morning.”

  Kayla’s face turned beat-red as she stared. Her first instinct was to tell Freida to pack her bags and leave but she stopped herself. Technically she didn’t have that authority. Besides, they needed all hands on deck. Although if Freida continued with this attitude maybe she’d have to call Esther and get her OK to send the Norwegian off.

  “That was out of order,” Bernie snapped. “I’m taking you off the dig. You’re on KP.”

  Freida turned a sneer on her.

  “Get going. Now!”

  The Norwegian strutted away. Kayla took a deep breath and shook her head. Crisis averted. Even though her nerves were on edge, she pushed aside her embarrassment and anger. There was work to do, and she wasn’t going to let the Norwegian’s attitude spoil this dig for her. No way in hell was she going to let that happen.

  Chapter Eight

  Shane

  Shane slept until noon. He only woke when Tyler came into the camper, looking for him. He had a herb salve that their mother used to make all the time and handed it over. Shane took it, grimacing as his chest ached. He’d gotten more than a few broken bones the previous night. Having sex with Kayla had been excruciatingly painful but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He had just needed her so badly…

  But now that the moment was passed as passion no longer ripped through their bodies, would she regret their coupling? Would he? At the moment he couldn’t even think of why it might have been a bad idea…

  “I’m going to beat the crap out of him.” Tyler’s smoke filled the camper. He helped Shane peel off his shirt and started applying the salve to the bruises still apparent on his back and ribs. “And while I’m at it, I’m going to kill you. What the hell is going on? I know you’re Mr. Toughy Tough Protector Man but seriously? You and I are supposed to be brothers who can talk about everything. Why didn’t you tell me about this? I could be helping you.”

  Shane shook his head. The salve had a burning, warming sensation that helped ease the throbbing of his injuries. “You’re not a fighter, Ty. I want you to just stay out of this.”

  “Stay out of it while my brother is beaten to a pulp every week for a woman who doesn’t even know what’s going on? Sure, I’ll just go hang out at the North Pole with Santa Clause then.” Tyler’s eyes narrowed. He shook his head. “I’m good at things besides fighting.”

  Shane rolled his eyes. “You aren’t going to be able to seduce Gordon out of having those fights.”

  Tyler pushed his thumb into a bruise a little harder than was necessary. “Don’t. Okay? I know that you think I’m good for nothing but I don’t just go around seducing people without restraint, and you know that I can help you with this.”

  “I don’t think you’re good for nothing.” Shane sighed. “Look, I know that you’ve got a lot of skills, Tyler. I just don’t want you to be anywhere near this, okay? I don’t know what sort of game Gordon is playing but he’s not in this for money. At least, that’s not the only thing he’s after. I don’t know what it is that he is after. And until I do, I don’t w
ant you to get caught in the crossfire.”

  “Shane, you’re an idiot. You could have gotten yourself killed. If that other dragon hadn’t set the arena on fire, you would have been defeated. Gordon is just going to make this more and more difficult for you.”

  What could he say to that? It was true. Gordon was pushing him, testing him. It was only going to get worse.

  “I just have to figure out how to keep Kayla from being hurt.”

  Tyler made a choked noise in his throat as he continued to apply the salve to Shane’s injuries. More smoke belched into the air. His little brother was more emotional than he was; in many ways, Shane envied the easy way Tyler displayed his emotions. He didn’t think he needed to keep it all bottled in to be strong. Something Shane wished he could feel more.

  “So. This Kayla. She seems more important than your usual Savior notions. Are you in love with her?”

  “No.” Shane didn’t even let himself think of another answer. What there was between him and Kayla was never going to turn into love. He wasn’t built like that. He hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “We had sex this morning.”

  “What the hell?”

  Shane jumped and glared at his brother. “Shut up! I don’t think they heard you in China yet.”

  Tyler rolled his eyes. He wiped his hands off on his pants and narrowed his eyes. “Are you for real right now? You go on about me seducing women as though I go out hunting innocent virgins every night, and now you say you had sex with someone that you claim you don’t love? At least I know that I’m in love with the girls I sleep with!”

  “In lust more like,” Shane shot back. “When was the last time you had a relationship last more than a month?”

  “When was the last time you had a relationship?”

  Shane shook his head. “Look, that doesn’t matter. I care about her, yeah. I’m attracted to her. But none of that matters. I need to protect her at any cost.”

  Tyler snorted. “Yeah. Right, you need to protect her. You need to protect her and impress her. You’re not the kind of guy to have random pointless sex, Shane. Don’t lie to me. Is this girl your mate?”

  “Really? You’re asking me that?”

  “Yes, I’m really asking you that.”

  “Just because I slept with her doesn’t mean that she’s my mate, any more than any of the women that you’ve slept with are your mate.” Shane pulled his shirt back on and started buttoning it. “Thanks for the salve. That’ll help going forward. Now I want you to get on a plane and get out of here.”

  The look on Tyler’s face told him that his brother wasn’t going to let it go that easily. “Shane—”

  “She’s not my mate!” The words came out more harshly than Shane meant. “Look, I like her. And she likes me. But there can’t be anything between us. Not long-term at least.”

  “Why?”

  Shane didn’t have an answer. He didn’t know why, logically. Other than his life, all the crazy politics and the constant rushing from one task to the next. That was no life for a mate. Let alone children… But does your life have to stay this way?

  Tyler gave him a triumphant smile. “You wouldn’t be this obsessed with protecting a random woman off the street.”

  “Then you don’t know me, little brother.” Shane tried to make his voice sound authoritative, like the conversation was over. “I’d fight to protect any random person off the street.”

  “Okay, sure. Maybe.”

  Shane rolled his eyes. “No maybe about it. You yourself called me ‘Mr. Toughy Tough Protector Man’ and you’re always on about my supposed Savior complex. If it was anybody in Kayla’s situation, I’d still be fighting to protect them. You know it, so don’t pretend like I’m acting out of character.”

  “Fine. You’ve been protecting everybody. I’ll concede to that. But you are more than protecting her here. You want to make sure she stays happy. If you were smart you’d shut this thing down and ship her off far away from Gordon. Instead, you’re fighting every single blasted week so that she can stay here and dig in the dirt and do what she loves.”

  “Drop it.”

  Tyler shook his head, eyes narrowed. “Nope. If you don’t stop this, if you don’t start protecting yourself, then I will have to do something. You’re my brother, Shane. Do you think that I want to see you dead? And what about Mom? You want her to get that call?”

  “Tyler!” Shane narrowed his eyes. A puff of smoke burst from his lungs as his flames rose higher. “I’ve got it under control. Yeah, Gordon’s setting me up for failure but I won’t let him hurt Kayla. And I don’t want her to find out about this, okay? I just need a little more time.”

  His brother frowned and folded his arms but said nothing. It was going to have to be good enough for now. A headache spiked through his brain. Whether from the stress of the situation or from the number of times he’d been hit in the head the last night, he wasn’t sure.

  He just hoped that Tyler wasn’t going to go ahead and do something stupid. The last thing he needed was a bigger mess to clean up.

  For a moment the brothers sat in silence. Shane’s mind drifted back to Kayla. Her smile. Her smell. The way her eyes had rolled into the back of her head and she had cried out with every thrust as he took her that morning. The taste of her mouth, the feel of her breasts. Just remembering it made the lazy, relaxed sensation of post-sex endorphins wash over him again.

  There was a sharp knock on the door and then it opened, revealing Bernie.

  “Sorry for disturbing you.” She eyed Tyler with a great deal of interest. “But there’s just some papers that I need to collect…”

  Shane gestured for her to go ahead and get them. She climbed into the camper, still shooting Tyler glances. Shane thought about introducing them but then decided that he didn’t want that headache. From the glances they were exchanging, they’d figure out who one another was soon enough. She ruffled around the desk, making Shane’s heart jumped to his throat but if things were out of place she didn’t comment.

  Eventually, she held up the papers with a triumphant smile. “There we’ve got it. Carry on… whatever you were doing.”

  Her cheeks reddened and she scurried out of the camper. Shane rolled his eyes at her departure. It was clear enough what she thought had been going on.

  “Who was that?” Tyler turned to him with wide eyes. “She was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

  His brother never changed. Shane opened his mouth to ask about the vegan girl but stopped. If there was one thing that would be able to distract Tyler from what was going on in Gordon’s fighting ring, it was a pretty girl. Bernie was very attractive. Curvy. Keen eyes. Wickedly full lips. Not as pretty as Kaya but pretty.

  “She works with Kayla here at the dig.” Another brilliant idea popped into Shane’s head. “Ty, are you going to leave like I want you to?”

  Tyler, still looking at the door from which Bernie had left, shook his head.

  “Fine. Then I’ve got something that I want you to do for me. It’ll be of great help,” he added. Tyler’s gaze shot back to his brother and he sat a little straighter. “I’m not sure that Gordon’s not going to try to come for Kayla again regardless of how the fights go. If you could stay around the dig and watch out for strangers, that would take a huge burden off me. I’d be able to go out and do some more investigating on my own.”

  Tyler frowned a moment but nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”

  Shane returned the nod, trying to keep his expression serious. A wave of relief washed over him. Tyler would stay here and he’d get distracted by Bernie. That would keep him away from the fighting. It would keep him safe. And then Shane would be free to figure out what to do next.

  Chapter Nine

  Kayla

  She wasn’t sure who it was that told the camp that she had slept with Shane but Kayla was damned certain that it was Freida. The Norwegian was doing everything she could to get the other students to rebel against Kayla or something. She wasn�
��t entirely certain what her game was. It was exhausting though.

  The worst part was that the looks and sneers she received were starting to make her regret it. That beautiful moment between her and Shane, the closeness she felt with him. It was being ruined because of how she was being treated. It was getting so bad with the stress and everything else that she took every opportunity to escape into town, just to get away from it.

  One such day when she was coming back with a trunkful of food that would last a couple more days, she pulled into the campsite to see a fire blazing. Her eyes widened and her stomach dropped out. With screeching tires, she pulled to a stop and jumped out of the car.

  The fire was contained within an old tire rim but that was beside the point. Moving fast, she grabbed a bucket of water that was kept in the kitchen and lugged it back to the fire. Nobody was anywhere near it. Carefully, Kayla poured the water over the healthy flames. They hissed and popped, steam rising in the air, before going out. Smoke billowed in the air. She ran back and forth a couple times, refilling the bucket before the firepit was completely soaked through and the smoke had stopped.

  Her chest tightened and everything seemed to narrow down as she looked around. The roar of an engine broke through the air and in a moment Bernie, driving one of the ATVs, came into camp. She jumped from the vehicle and rushed over.

  “What happened?” she shouted.

  Kayla’s hands clenched as she marched to the nearest tent. Freida’s. She yanked on the zipper and soon revealed Freida stretched out on her sleeping bag, headphones in and reading a magazine.

  “Get out here right now!” Kayla shouted at her.

  Freida jumped. Her mouth opened and then her eyes narrowed. “What the hell do you think you are doing?”

  “Get your ass out here,” Kayla bellowed.

  Freida’s eyes rounded. She was quickly out of her tent, one hand clutching her magazine, the other holding a beer. “What is this all about?”