DragonMaster Read online

  “Kei?”

  A glance at the window and she saw he hadn’t replaced the screen with a hole in it and the window wasn’t all the way closed. She’d warned him about making sure he locked it, because a determined burglar could work off the porch, holding on to the railing in order to free the screen and open the window before committing to stretching the distance required to get inside.

  She did just that, cursing when the screen slipped and fell to the concrete. Don’t look down. Not that she was afraid of heights, she just preferred those heights to be wave sized so a tumble curled her in water rather than leaving her flat and broken on hard ground.

  She grimaced at the sound the window made as she pulled it upward. Hopefully Lyra was around to bail her out if the cops showed up.

  Okay, here goes.

  She committed. Leg first, over, in and locked, followed by a hand grabbing the side of the window frame then a push off the porch.

  “Made it.” A shaky acknowledgement to accompany the racing of her heart.

  “Kei?” Softer this time because the air seemed thick with fear. “Let me help you? Okay?”

  Enough light came through the window to show her that he wasn’t in the living room. She entered the bedroom.

  He wasn’t in bed.

  She turned on the light even as a voice came from the door-less closet saying, “Don’t.”

  Shock held her still.

  Denial.

  Her rational mind tried to process what her eyes told her was truth, and could come up with only one answer.

  This was some elaborate hoax.

  The furred, foxlike ears, the human arms ending in paws instead of hands and the bushy tail against bare human legs were part of an amazing costume.

  But the tears, the whimper ending in sobs, contradicted. Refuted.

  Dared her to accept.

  She shied away from it. Waivered and returned, heartbeat sounding like roaring surf in her head as her mouth went dry and her thoughts spun to the last time she’d gone cave diving. It was a decision that had nearly cost her life, and one she hadn’t repeated, preferring to take her danger on the surface of the ocean rather than in its depths.

  Separated from the others. Running out of oxygen and lost in darkness, she’d thought she’d imagined the being who’d led her to safety, created the image in those moments of growing panic and terror and lightheadedness.

  Mermaid. She spoke the word silently. Accepted it. Flashed back to the times she’d caught a glimpse of Kei in profile and thought fox, her subconscious understanding perhaps, the part of her that believed there were supernatural aspects to existence, much like Lyra’s use of tarot cards.

  Compassion freed her feet. This was Kei, a friend in need.

  She closed the distance, kneeling next to him. What happened didn’t even begin to sort the confusion of her thoughts.

  “Kei?” She reached out and rubbed his naked back.

  Red fur erupted along his spine in the beginnings of a luxurious coat. Her breath caught. Her mind spun away again but only for the span of a heartbeat. She reined in fear and panic and disbelief like an emergency room nurse would, like her mother would, though she knew her mother had never encountered trauma like this.

  “Beautiful,” she said, stroking Kei’s fur, calming him with her acceptance, and in turn becoming more collected herself. “I take it you’re a shapeshifter.”

  The words felt totally alien. Totally surreal.

  “Kitsune. I’m kitsune.”

  “Like in anime?”

  Her description brought a hiccupped laugh from Kei and an uncurling of his body. He sat, though he brought his knees up to his chest and tucked his paws out of sight.

  “Does this have something to do with Miles?” Maybe heartbreak made a kitsune lose control?

  “Yes. He stole something important to me.”

  “What?”

  “I can’t tell you! You’re not even supposed to have seen me like this! There are covenants forbidding it. I could be punished. You’re only allowed to reveal yourself to a mate. And you’re—”

  He broke off as she returned to stroking his back. Shuddered beneath her hand, his skin giving way to more fur.

  “What does it matter?” he whispered. “I’ll fade and die anyway. Or worse, I’ll owe a terrible favor.”

  “What kind of favor?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve stayed away from other supernaturals. I was afraid of being used by them.”

  “What happened, Kei?”

  A sob escaped. His trembling escalated.

  “Tell me,” she coaxed. “Please, Kei.”

  Long moments passed before he finally said, “Miles knew what I was. There have always been humans who have the sight and can see the true nature of things. Everything was a lie. He didn’t love me.”

  She didn’t doubt the latter, but considering the company Miles had been seen in and his brag about going to Chains, she suspected the brunette or someone else was behind this theft. “What did he steal?”

  “My hoshi no tama. My star ball.”

  “I don’t know what that is. I don’t know what it means for you.”

  He turned his face toward her. “It holds a part of my magic when I’m in this form. I’m young by kitsune standards. Only fifty. My parents forbade me from coming here.”

  She massaged the back of his neck, trying to wrap her head around his being fifty when he looked barely old enough to legally drink. Skin continued to change to fur with her touch. “Here? To the city.”

  “To the human realm.”

  That was the easiest thing to accept. She’d never believed humans were alone in the universe. She’d just figured something alien would come via spaceship and suspected they’d consider it a visit to a backwater place.

  “But you came anyway.”

  “Yes.”

  Which explained how innocent he’d seemed to her. “And your star ball? It’s small?”

  “Yes.”

  “He forced you to turn it over to him?” Anger built as she imagined Miles breaking Kei’s fingers or hands so they’d become paws in order to heal.

  “No. I hid it inside one of the alphabet blocks. The D, with the donkey carved on it. He took it from there.”

  She knew the blocks he was talking about. They lived on a shelf behind the cash register along with other antique toys, old cars and carved wooden animals.

  “You don’t have to keep the star ball with you?”

  “Not when I’m in the store or the apartment. As long as I’m close to it I can stay human. I thought it would be safer not to have it on me, in case someone came into the store to rob me.”

  “So Miles searched and found it?” It explained all those times she’d found him here with Kei.

  “Worse. I showed it to him! He told me he loved me. It was the first time he’d ever said it to me. He told me he trusted me and because of it, he wanted to share a secret, to show me something passed down in his family, his greatest treasure.”

  Considering who they were talking about, she could easily imagine Miles whipping out his dick. She bit off the comment, barely. “And did he?”

  “Yes. It was a four-leaf clover. He said he’d made a wish and right afterward he’d met me. I believed him. I could feel magic on the charm.”

  Leprechauns? She was so not ready to pursue that line of thought.

  “And in return you showed him the star ball.”

  “I didn’t let him see where I hid it. When I brought it up to bed and showed it to him, he said it was pretty. He pretended to believe it was just a very unique pearl. He was smart enough not to grab it and try to run. Even though I’m young, I can hold a pretty big illusion. That was a couple of days ago. He’s been here every night. But now I think he must have put one of those little spy cameras in the shop, like one I saw online. Yesterday we went out for dinner. I had to take my hoshi no tama with me. And tonight—” Kei buried his face against his knees and rocked.

  She com
bed her fingers through the thick mane of his hair. “Tonight?”

  “When he got here, we had sex in the shop.”

  He started crying again. “It wasn’t lovemaking. It was just fucking. Him fucking me over. Afterward we came up here. He kissed me for hours, made me come so many times that all I wanted to do was sleep. He said he needed to go out for a while. He went downstairs without me, because he’d left his clothes in the shop.”

  Summer put her arm around his shoulder. “And by the time you knew what he’d done, you were trapped in the apartment.”

  “Yes,” Kei whispered. “I started changing to my first form as soon as he stepped outside.” He leaned into her. “If I don’t get my hoshi no tama back, Summer, I’ll die.”

  She tightened her arm and touched the side of her head to his. “How long?”

  “If I stop fighting the change, a week. Maybe a little longer. I don’t know.”

  So there’d hopefully be time for a backup plan if the one crystallizing in her mind didn’t work. “I’ll get the star ball back for you. Miles will be at Chains tonight. Simon overheard him bragging about it. The doorkeeper there is a friend of mine. And another friend works behind the counter. She’ll vouch for me and let me in for the evening on a guest membership.”

  There were advantages to being an unattached sub. It curdled her stomach to imagine playing slave to Miles’ master, but if that’s what it took, she’d do it. She didn’t doubt she could convince him that the encounter was purely accidental. And his ego was large enough to believe she’d finally succumbed to his charm.

  Kei looked at her, hope and fear in his eyes as well as guilt because he knew how she felt about Miles. “What if he’s already sold it?”

  “Then I’ll find a way to get him here. If I do, can you scare him into telling you what he did with it? Is that what you meant by being able to hold an illusion?”

  “Yes. I can make him think he’s surrounded by cobras or in a burning building. Whatever it takes.”

  “Okay then.” She gave him a hug. “I should go. The star ball looks like a pearl?”

  “You’ll know it when you see it. It’s lit from within by fox-fire. It might even seem to have a reddish glow because of my first form color.”

  Kei’s toes dug into the clothing he’d pulled off hangers to make a nest for himself in the closet. When he drew his leg back, there was a locket dangling from a silver chain. “Put my hoshi no tama in here. It’ll mute the magic so other supernaturals won’t know you’ve got something valuable.”

  She took it from him. “Won’t Miles recognize this?”

  “No. He’s never seen it.”

  She opened the clasp and put the necklace on. It was tight, like a slave’s collar, though tonight wasn’t the night to dream of finding the perfect master and Chains wasn’t a likely place anyway

  She stood and helped Kei to his feet. Her worry flared at noticing his toes were shortening, his feet becoming more paw-like.

  “I’ll have to go by my apartment. There’s a dress code at Chains.” It meant a delay. Not that she’d stay in whatever she put on for very long; few submissives ever did. But to get through the doors she needed to show a little class.

  “Wear one of my kimonos.”

  Summer glanced at the clothes bar. “That’d work. I have shoes in the car.” She stripped down to ultra-feminine black bra and miniscule panties, glad she’d showered after riding waves. Kei talked her through the process of dressing. Too late it occurred to her that the kimono might be a dead giveaway as to why she’d shown up at the club but she dismissed the concern. Chances were good Miles was already there and in the play area. And she’d come up with something if he saw her wearing it.

  She turned, catching sight of herself in a mirror and hardly recognizing the woman in the black kimono with exotic silver and gold flowers woven into it. Surfer-babe bartender now transformed into high-end slave.

  “I’d better get going.”

  “If you get my hoshi no tama back for me, I’ll owe you a favor.”

  She shook her head. “No you won’t. We’re friends, Kei.”

  At the door he hugged her. His face had narrowed, becoming more foxlike. She wondered how much longer he’d have the ability to speak.

  “You’ll be okay here?”

  “Yes.” But he touched his forehead to hers. “Be careful, Summer. Please be careful. Watch out for dragons.”

  “Dragons, as in scaly fire-breathing reptiles?”

  His smile lightened her heart, even if it was fleeting. “I haven’t been in this realm long. You met me only days after I arrived. I can’t imagine a dragon hanging out at a BDSM club, but for treasure… They’ll stop at nothing to get it and a kitsune’s hoshi no tama is a prize.”

  “How would I recognize a dragon?”

  “I don’t know. Just beware.”

  Chapter Two

  By the Great Shared Ancestor, his patience was at an end! In another second…

  Pierce opened the door and motioned Jubal into the office. A lucky thing. A near thing. Consequences be damned, he was ready to scorch anyone and anything that stood between him and his intended mate.

  “It took a while to track her down,” the fey lord said. “She’s on her way to Chains. Do you know of it?”

  Know of it? He was a member.

  The fury he’d been ready to direct at Pierce now had a new target, any male who dared to touch what was his, not that he’d allow Summer to enter the BDSM club tonight or anytime in the near future.

  “Yes, I know it. She’s guarded?”

  “No. You’ll reach her before any of Severn’s guards would be able to. It seemed more prudent to let you decide whether or not to involve other males.”

  A slight bow of the head signaled Jubal’s gratitude for the consideration. He exited the office, motioning for his cousin Nisien to accompany him.

  “Chains,” he said after Nisien had taken the driver’s seat, both of them watching to make sure they weren’t being followed by any of the other males seeking a mate.

  “She’s there already?” Nisien asked.

  “No.” And Fates willing, she wouldn’t step foot inside Chains this evening.

  It was a place both he and Nisien frequented. Not that they considered themselves part of the BDSM lifestyle. Such a label would be meaningless for a male dragon in his prime.

  Dragons possessed. They completely owned and thoroughly enjoyed what they claimed. True, they didn’t typically share, but the females he played with at the club weren’t his and he had no desire to make them so.

  He visited Chains to sate physical needs only, as did Nisien. Though his cousin’s sexual interest was directed exclusively to males, not a common inclination among dragons.

  The two of them found they enjoyed places where clear lines between dominant and submissive had been drawn. Such environments proved to be neutral territories where primitive needs could be assuaged without worry that the magic holding them into a human form would burn away.

  Not tonight. He wouldn’t allow Summer to enter the club. He’d intercept her and, if necessary, rake his mating spurs across her skin and render her unconscious.

  It wasn’t ideal. But it was better than incinerating everyone at Chains. This night he and his mate would play games of dominance and submission in the privacy of his lair, either in this realm or the one belonging to dragons.

  In the future they might occasionally come to the club, as a treat should his mate wish it. And during intimate get-togethers with his kind, he would enjoy having her naked, admired by other dragon males, her body on display because it pleased him even as it gave their guests hope that one day they would possess an equally fine human mate.

  His cock throbbed at fantasizing about it. At seeing himself casually caressing her as the others watched, scenting her arousal and growing hard because of it. One scene merged into another, only to end with abrupt unpleasantness when the club entrance came into sight and he saw her there, her eas
e with the doorman and body language suggesting they were friends.

  There would be no waylaying her outside Chains.

  “We’re too late,” Nisien said, speeding up as Jubal cursed the Fates for making things so difficult. A few moments sooner…

  A growl vibrated in his chest, though it was sheer madness to torment himself with images of any other male having touched his mate. He understood now why the ancients had always preferred virgin sacrifices when it came to the females offered to them by villagers who hoped to avoid having their homes and barns razed to the ground by dragon fire.

  The door opened and Summer disappeared into the club. A moment later Nisien screeched to a halt with enough force to rock the rare automobile it had taken Jubal over a year to acquire.

  He didn’t care. No treasure could compare to that of a mate. Nothing in his vast hoard would ever hold his interest as thoroughly as Summer.

  He exited the car, her name pulsing through him, not flash fire but a continuous wave of molten desire and heated determination. He’d claim her this night. Mate with her so she’d never doubt who she belonged to.

  The door to the club was opened for him. Need slammed into Jubal at being only strides away from her, at encountering lingering traces of her scent. She smelled like moonlight and—

  His lips pulled back on a barely suppressed growl of unadulterated rage. She wore another man’s clothes, the fine material saturated with another’s scent.

  Red edged his vision. Fury pounded in his head and chest like a primitive drumbeat.

  It took the entirety of his will not to order her to strip, though had he done so, he doubted she could comply before he reached out and ripped the offending garment off. He choked back dragon flame, breathed deeply lest smoke escape flared nostrils.

  She knew the woman working behind the counter as well. It was there in the casual way she leaned against the beautifully crafted wooden barrier.

  “Normally I’d let you in, Summer,” the woman said. “In a heartbeat. But tonight’s a semi-private event. No guest memberships, even for unclaimed subs. Word came down that there were already enough of them on the floor. My advice, hang out here in the lobby. Some master who’s a member will snap you up and take you in.”