Chapter 9
Carly
I peered down at the city below. Everything felt surreal, as if it were all a dream. But things usually didn’t hurt in dreams, and my wrist was feeling like utter crap, so this had to be true.
I really was flying in Desmon’s claws! Thank god I didn’t have a fear of heights.
Hey, cool! That’s my building. I expected him to land in front of it, scaring everyone on the street, but instead he kept flying. Oh. He must’ve meant his home.
“Wait! I need to get my bunny!” I thought of the broken glass on my apartment floor and poor Q-Tip’s sensitive little feet. My door had been left open, too.
“Your familiar is secure at my estate.” Desmon’s voice surrounded me. “Your home was no longer safe for him.”
“Oh, Q-Tip isn’t my familiar. But thank you for picking him up!”
I was glad I could stop worrying about my fur baby. That was very thoughtful of him. Maybe Desmon’s grumpy demeanor was all a show.
More relaxed now, my eyes drifted back down to the people below as we flew high above the downtown core.
No one on the ground was paying us any attention, which was kind of odd, considering how massive Desmon was in his dragon form. When he had landed in front of the fabric mill, he’d blocked out the sunlight. But no one on the ground batted an eye. It must be magic.
No wonder there was still a debate raging whether dragons existed or not, even with the confirmation of creatures like werewolves and elves.
I could still feel the heat of his fire as it swirled around me, pricking at my skin like a million tiny kisses. If I had any doubts that what I had seen was just in my imagination, the very real and visceral feeling destroyed that illusion. Desmon was very much a fire-breathing dragon in every sense of the word. You’d think I’d be terrified right now since I was literally in the claws of a monster, but I wasn’t. For some reason, I knew that this particular monster would never hurt me.
His estate was huge and very, very green. Not only did he have acres of impeccably manicured gardens, there was also a wooded lot behind his home. A small stream ran through it, and everything was surrounded by stone fences and wrought iron gates. The large gate at the front was ornate and tipped with gold finials.
Desmon flew right in and carefully set me down on the lawn in the courtyard before landing next to me and changing into his man form. I couldn’t help but notice how amazingly broad and well-muscled his shoulders and chest were. It seemed his pants shifted with him, but nothing else.
Moments later, a terrifying creature stepped out from the mansion through one of the side doors. I took a step back, more than a little freaked out at the sight of the lion’s body, wyvern wings, and scorpion tail until I recognized the man’s head.
Oh my god, it was Mateo!
The museum’s head of security was a manticore. Lion shifter hadn’t even been close!
Mateo stood upright on his lion’s hind legs. Behind him was a man with broad shoulders and a trim waist wearing an ornate frock coat that was in vogue centuries ago paired with ripped jeans and a studded belt. His platinum blonde tipped hair was spiked, and he had multiple piercings. He looked like he’d just stepped off the set of a ’90s vampire movie.
This was when I realized I was still buck naked and tried to hide behind Desmon’s large frame. Mateo raised a brow, then quickly looked away. The blond man just pretended there was nothing out of the ordinary.
“I’m not going to ask where her clothes are, I’m just glad you got her,” Mateo said. “Where did you leave the culprits? I have a few questions for them.” He let out a menacing growl as he punched one huge, furry paw into another, like he couldn’t wait to interrogate the criminals.
“Dead,” Desmon answered simply.
“Aw, man! You didn’t leave anyone for me to question?” Mateo shook his head in disgust, like this was a common occurrence.
“At least tell me there are some scraps for me to work my magic on,” said the other man.
Oh! He must be a wizard. He sure looked different from the wizards I’d seen interviewed on the news from the Wizards’ Elder Council. He was a lot younger and cooler than those misogynistic old farts, that was for sure.
Desmon rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, a departure from his big boss persona. He was clearly very close with these two. Though, from what I’d heard from Janice, he was generally a reasonable boss as long as you didn’t do anything grossly incompetent. He just looked grumpy to avoid conversation.
“You burned them, didn’t you?” the wizard sighed. He didn’t sound too upset, though. He turned to me and did a little wave with his hands. And suddenly, poof, I was clothed.
“Oh! Thank you.”
He held his hand out to me. “My pleasure. I’m Seth. You must be Carly.”
I held up my swollen right wrist, which had started to bruise up, and took the offered hand. Instead of shaking it, he brought it to his lips and kissed the back of it.
Desmon snarled. The young wizard just shrugged and released my hand.
“I’m glad you’re safe now. But how are we going get the information if there’s no one to question?” Mateo was less cavalier and much more to the point.
“They didn’t tell me much,” I said. “But I can tell you what I know, if that helps.”
“It will help greatly,” Desmon said. “But you can do all that later. Let’s get you cleaned up, properly dressed, and settled in first.”
“Of course,” Mateo said. “I’ll be in the library.”
“And I’ll go let my mom know she can’t keep your bunny and call him Rabbit DeNiro.” Seth disappeared into the building before I could even try to react to that.
I was taking my first step to the double doors when Desmon stopped me and scooped me into his arms. Considering my shoes were nothing more than a pile of melted sludge, thanks but no thanks to his dragon fire, I let him carry me.
Did this mean we were even for his pants? I doubted my entire outfit would cost anywhere near the price of a single seam on his perfectly tailored trousers.
The second we stepped through the French doors, I was struck by the sheer elegance of his home. Everything oozed wealth, from the marble floors to the chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the sitting room we’d just stepped into. On one side of the room was a baby grand piano and several buttery leather armchairs. On the other, a richly upholstered couch looked super inviting, and I was suddenly exhausted from my eventful day even though it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.
What I wouldn’t give to sink into those soft cushions and take a nap!
“Not quite the cave I was imagining for a dragon,” I quipped. Considering I’d already totally felt up his crotch and he’d seen me completely naked, I figured we were on bantering terms now.
He raised a brow. It was an extra sexy look on him, and I wanted to kiss the artful arch. That had me thinking of the almost-kiss we’d had back in the parking lot. My body reacted, coming to life and reminding me that the clothes the wizard had given me were just illusion. I was technically still naked in Desmon’s arms and he was topless, so there was a hell of a lot of sizzling skin-to-skin contact.
“I’m sorry to disappoint.” The corner of his lips lifted in amusement, like he was thinking of something funny.
Personally I didn’t think he could ever disappoint, but I didn’t say that. I bet he already had an inflated ego, and I didn’t need to add to it.
I expected him to bring me to the first available shower to get washed up since I was still covered in ash, but instead, he took a spiral staircase to the third floor at the very top of the house. Here, the décor changed so that it resembled an old castle, with faux stone walls and sconces lining the hall. It was a medieval castle with all the modern conveniences! Neat.
We came to a set of heavy double doors made of solid wood. The knockers on them were two bronze dragon heads. He didn’t need to set me down to open them. They must have sensed him coming and opened for him automatically.
I gasped as we stepped into the room. We weren’t in a fancy mansion or even a medieval castle anymore. We were in a cave! No wonder he’d been amused at my comment earlier.
The ceilings were high and domed, and the walls were lined with rock that was carved to resemble a natural cave formation, with rough rocks jutting out at irregular intervals. A massive bed took center stage, but it looked more like a nest carved from solid ebony than a piece of furniture. The numerous fluffy pillows were piled up high, creating a cozy cocoon that beckoned me to climb in.
No! Desmon was my boss! I shouldn’t be even thinking about climbing into his bed.
I didn’t know how any of this had happened, and I was confused as fuck, but I really had to stop this before things went too far. I mean, I was just the chubby new hire. What did Desmon want from me? He could have any woman in Darlington he wanted, maybe even the world. He couldn’t possibly be interested in me for anything other than a fling. And I couldn’t afford a fling with my boss right now. I needed this job!
I struggled in his arms until he set me down on the floor of his ensuite bathroom, which was about the size of my entire one-bedroom apartment. The whole cave theme continued in here too. There was a waterfall against the wall, the water disappearing between the stones of the floor. In the center of the room was a massive tub that looked like a mountain hot spring.
I looked around in awe before finding my words again. “I…can clean up on my own,” I said. If he stayed, something might happen between us that I’d regret—if not immediately, then probably in the near future. Like I said, I wasn’t main character material, and someone like Desmon was the ultimate main character. That meant we were not destined to be together, and any fling would only end in heartbreak, not to mention with me being out of a much-needed job.
If Desmon was disappointed, he didn’t let it show. Instead, he merely went to the wall and pulled on a knob that I’d mistaken for a rock. The rain shower in the corner of the room sprung to life.
“This dial here controls the temperature. Move it to the right if you would like it to be warmer, and to the left if you need it cooler. I’ll find you a warm towel and some real clothes. Shout if you need anything.” He paused in the doorway, his eyes smoldering and the corners of his lips lifting ever so slightly in a way that made my imagination demand to know what type of anything he meant. “I have exceptional hearing.”
Then he stepped out, leaving me alone in his fairytale bathroom.