Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
DARIUS
After that kiss, I couldn’t think straight, especially with my dragon beating his wings in triumph. The softness of her lips, the warmth of her breath on my lips, the scent of her wrapped around me…
She’d walked over to sing by the Christmas tree, leaving me befuddled.
Get it together, I told him—and myself. My priority was to land a deal with Cedric, not woo a gorgeous panther who was now singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” beside the Christmas tree.
What we’d spun last night about how I’d fallen for her in a jazz club in New Orleans seemed to play out in real time as I watched her sing.
God, she was gorgeous. Completely irresistible in a red dress that clung to every mouthwatering curve.
And her voice. Enchanting. It soared over the crowd as if she had the magic of flight.
The way she sang, adding a hint of sauciness and sensuality in every note, wound its way under my skin as if she were indeed weaving a hypnotizing spell.
Mate, my dragon crooned.
You’re wrong, I told him. Look what happened with Louisa. She died. It hurt. I’m not going through that again.
But she’s our mate, he dissented.
I shook my head and studied her. Could that be true? She’d mentioned that we were both mistaken about that. How it had to be part of the spell that had made the faux snowflakes drift and glow. I’d have to ask her about that.
“Your girlfriend has a beautiful voice,” a woman said from my left side.
Distracted from my daze, I glanced over. It was Marlene, and Cedric stood beside her.
Snap back into business mode. I forced a smooth smile, dragging my mind back to my intention.
“Yes,” I agreed. “One of a thousand reasons I fell for her, so quick and hard.” I spun the lie on the spot, only it didn’t seem untruthful. I needed to get a better handle on this situation.
Cedric chuckled. “I can see why.” He tipped his head. “We’ll let you enjoy the show and see you at the rum tasting.” He took Marlene’s arm and led her away.
I blinked, scrambling through the confusion in my head. The rum tasting. That’s what I had to focus on next. I needed to dazzle Cedric. My rum wasn’t just a drink, it was an experience. The best way to do it was with my fake girlfriend at my side.
I found myself humming “Santa Baby” as I strolled to the lounge, smiling as I remembered Bria singing it.
Moonlight Siren’s bartenders led the rum tasting in a lounge with dark polished wood and intimate tables.
Bria arrived after they’d poured the first sample, an inferior rum.
After they introduced me as a special guest, I gave a quick presentation of what made my rum unique.
Bria watched me with a curious gleam in her eyes while Cedric and Marlene sat a few tables away.
When I returned to Bria and we each had our samples of my rum, she leaned closer. “Tell me how to enjoy it best,” she whispered in my ear, sending heat radiating through my chest.
I raised a glass, holding the amber liquid before the light, and toward my nose. “Sip slowly,” I instructed. “Breathe in the scent first. Smoke, vanilla, spice.”
She raised her glass, inhaled, and her lashes fluttered. “Mmm.”
That low sound went straight to my gut. I swallowed. “Take a small sip. Let it linger on your tongue. Feel the burn spread before you swallow.”
I took a sip, the familiar sweet burn running over my tongue and down my throat.
Bria followed, holding it on her tongue, and then swallowed. “Ooh, that is good,” she murmured.
I was entranced just watching her. My hand felt three sizes larger as I lowered my glass to the table. “Describe it to me.” My voice came out strained.
“Warm,” she said. “Sweet at first. Then the bite. It hits deeper… Hotter.”
She darted her tongue out to lick her bottom lip, and a bright sheen remained on her mouth that I couldn’t ignore.
“Yes, that’s how it should be,” I said quietly. “A good drink should build, layer by layer, until you can’t tell where the fire ends and you begin.”
“Damn, dragon.” She released a throaty laugh. “You talk about it like it’s foreplay.”
“Both require patience,” I said, leaning closer and lowering my voice so no one else would hear. “To elicit the most pleasure.”
Her eyes darkened. “You sound like a man who really loves his rum.”
“And I love to watch a woman enjoy it even more.”
The air was heavy with the scent of sugar, spice, and unmistakable desire.
My heart was pounding. The urge to touch her rose and I couldn’t resist reaching out and brushing her bare shoulder, caressing it with the pad of my thumb.
So soft, so warm. Her eyes fluttered closed. I swore I heard a low purr.
When she reopened them and caught my stare, her green eyes were darker, more feral. Her breath caught and every muscle in my body tensed with a wild awareness of her, this irresistible panther.
“Thank you for coming,” a bartender announced to the attendees, snapping me back to the present. He rattled on a few more events going on tonight.
What the hell was I doing? I was supposed to be wooing Cedric, not seducing Bria.
I glanced around. He was already gone and I hadn’t even spoken to him. That was why business and pleasure should only be mixed if you had the utmost self-control. Something I thought I had.
Until now.
I invited Bria to join me for dinner after the rum tasting, and we went to one of the specialty restaurants.
A chandelier cast soft light over the tables draped with white tablecloths and gleaming silverware.
The low murmur of conversation filled the room, and the scent of garlic bread rose with an intoxicating invitation.
I wouldn’t indulge in garlic tonight. Not if I had even the slightest chance of having Bria’s lips near mine once again.
The sommelier came over and introduced us to some of the wines. He recommended a sauvignon blanc that would pair well with the seafood we were considering. Once he walked away, the waiter appeared with salads to start.
We focused on dinner first, talking about the food and the ship. We’d both ordered seared scallops and lemon potato wedges. The scallops were flaky and buttery, and the lemon enhanced the flavor of the potatoes.
“So, Darius, how do you think we did tonight?” she asked before picking up her fork and spearing some lettuce on it.
I leaned back in my chair and appraised her. “Very well, actually.” Sure, I hadn’t made any leeway with Cedric yet, but that might work out better. With the way I’d been so caught up in Bria earlier, there was no way he’d suspect that it was all part of a ruse.
What I couldn’t shake was what my dragon insisted about us being mates. The idea rattled me. Loving someone had burned me once, leaving me a charred husk. I wouldn’t risk being scalded like that again. Shattered.
And yet, I wanted to know more about Bria, everything about her. “This foundation you mentioned?”
“Yes?” She tipped her head in question.
“It must mean a lot to you,” I pointed out.
She rolled one shoulder. “It does.”
When she didn’t reveal more, I said, “Can I ask why?”
She was silent for several seconds while she chewed on a piece of potato. After she swallowed, she revealed, “It’s for shifters who were orphaned. Like me.”
Compassion rammed through me, sharp and unexpected. “Oh,” I managed to reply.
She put her fork down. “I lost my parents when I was so young that I don’t even remember them. I’m not even sure what happened to them. But someone found me and took me into the foundation. Without them, I don’t know what would have happened to me.”
She appeared so vulnerable just then, and an urge to care for her, to fiercely protect her, rose. It was so strong I could barely remain in my seat. “No wonder you want to help them.”
“I do.” She nodded. “I give them what I can. Help others the way they helped me.” Her expression twisted, she appeared to be struggling with something.
Soon, she’d wrestled her usual look back into place with a soft smile and sly gleam in her eyes.
“I don’t want to talk about my sad story, dragon. Tell me about your business.”
I could do that. It was something I could discuss for hours. And since she needed a diversion, I told her about making rum in the distillery. How my island was perfectly suited for it. My staff. The beaches.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, picturing my palm-tree-covered oasis. “We could do so much more there,” I said.
“And that’s why you’re wooing Cedric,” she said.
“Yes.”
“And if you’re successful, it helps me with the foundation. I think our little partnership is an excellent idea.”
My dragon agreed. And I would get back on board with landing this partnership by the end of the cruise.
What about her? Did she still feel that connection that raged between us when we first met last night?
I swirled my wine, watching the gleam on her lips once more. “There’s something I think we should figure out.”
She tilted her head. “What?”
“You mentioned this thing between us.” I motioned back and forth. “What we both felt last night…” A pang twisted inside at what I was about to say. “That it wasn’t real. Just part of a spell gone wrong, perhaps.”
Bria adjusted in her chair and took a quick sip of wine. “Oh. That.” She bit her lower lip. “Yes, I asked the witch about that, and she insisted that wasn’t the case.”
Every muscle stilled inside me. “So that means…”
Her eyes widened and color drained from her cheeks. She stared at the table. Lifting a trembling hand, she ran her finger down the stem of her wineglass. “I… You… It means it’s not a spell.”
Heat surged under my skin. The candlelight between us flickered, bending toward me.
She avoided my gaze, and gulped water from the other glass, as if she could drown the truth.
It’s real. My dragon exulted, fluttering his wings.
I forced a slow breath, tumbling through what this meant.
If this was real and she truly was my mate…
What about Louisa? Conflict warred within me. Did meeting Bria lessen what my wife and I had built during our marriage?
It’s different, my dragon countered.
How?
Bria is our true mate.