Loving Her Dragons

Chapter 3

Rose angled away from the dragon—Maryk, the rogue—and tried to gather her thoughts. Why had he singled her out? She wasn"t one of the potential mates.

rogueThe idea of having to deal with two men who wanted to control her and cage her into some ideal of what a woman should be was enough to make her say no freaking way.

no freaking wayHer last relationship… well, it hadn"t been the best. She couldn"t imagine having to deal with two domineering men. She wasn"t the same person now, though. And she wouldn"t be so blinded by the hope of love again. Love wasn"t in her cards. She"d come to terms with that. If she dated someone again, she"d make the decision with her head, not her heart.

And her head said getting involved with two men would be too much of a risk.

Yes, over the last few months, she"d discovered dragon matings could be nice, under the right circumstances, but so could human ones. Calla, her only friend at the ICB, had mated dragons and she seemed happy. Really, really happy. And her mates let her work as a liaison between the dragon and human communities. They hadn"t locked her away or cut her off from her friends. Calla and her dragons made relationships seem almost… appealing.

Which had begun to erode Rose"s wariness. But not all of it.

Rose swallowed. Could she want that? To be the center of two men"s worlds? The respected heart of the community? The integral part to sustaining the health of a dragon clan?

It"d be a hell of a lot more rewarding, she was sure, than to be an easily dismissed and overworked admin assistant for the human council. Morale at the ICB had improved since Peter Quick"s death, but change didn"t happen overnight.

But even if she chose to throw her name into the mating pool, she didn"t want a rogue. The intensity with which this guy eyed her was unsettling. She needed a nice, polite dragon pair. Someone kind and gentle.

Definitely not a rogue.

No matter how good looking he was. No matter how his voice made her tingle.

He edged closer to her. His heat curled over her. She"d learned a lot about dragons from sitting in on the meetings between the human and the dragon representatives. So the heat pouring off him wasn"t a surprise. What was a surprise, though, was how she wanted to lean into it… feel it wrap around her.

Freaking crazy.

Yep. She was losing it.

Maybe she needed to take a break. Relax on a beach somewhere.

Organizing this conference had obviously exhausted her. But all she had to do was survive it, then she"d take a break. Decide what to do with her life. Maybe visit Calla at Montrose to see for herself how things really were in a mated triad relationship. First, though, they needed to get through this conference.

Where are you? Rose texted Calla. She and her dragons were supposed to be here by now. Someone needed to take control of this situation.

Where are you?Rose cast her gaze over the attendees. The most spacious conference room at the ICB was filled with people. The council had never hosted such a strange gathering before and the event would fail before it"d even started if something didn"t happen soon. God. If things went sideways, the results would be dangerous… catastrophic even. And that was becoming increasingly possible.

She averted her eyes when one of the pairs turned their interest to her. No way, guys. She wasn"t here as a participant in what she"d come to think of as speed-dating on steroids.

No way, guys.Who could blame the women for becoming more and more anxious with every passing minute? And the men—was that the right word?—the males didn"t speak aloud, but their intent and interest were obvious. They eyed the women in the middle of the room like lions eyed a herd of gazelles, trying to decide which one to pick off and separate from the others. Predatory gleams lit their eyes.

malesThe enforcer clan provided sentinels at every exit, but was it enough?

She glanced at Maryk. He was a large muscular male, his strength evident in the way he moved and the way his clothing stretched over his wide shoulders and his thick thighs. Her gaze ping-ponged down the sculpted length of his picture-perfect body. Would a handful of guards be able to stop a determined dragon who looked like that? His body flexed. She shot her gaze up to his face. Crap. He"d caught her ogling him. He smirked. She swallowed and drew her eyes away.

She glanced at her phone again. Calla and the others were still MIA. Where the hell were they?

The women shifted restlessly in their seats. The dragons collectively leaned closer, as if waiting for one of the women to break ranks and bolt. Would they grab her by the scruff of her neck? Drag her down to the floor? Pin her between their strong bodies…? Heat blossomed over her.

She"d obviously been watching too much on the Nature Channel.

They needed a distraction… or maybe that was just her.

Rose studied the schedule again. They were twenty minutes late. Already.

In ten minutes they were supposed to separate into groups, but if they kept with the schedule they wouldn"t have the introduction. She tapped her pen on the clipboard. If only Calla would get here, then she could take over and make these decisions.

Rose took a deep breath and looked at the next points on the itinerary to see what could be juggled. The separation of dragons and humans seemed like a good idea. At least long enough to calm the women. And then, at some point, they needed to talk to one another. Interact.

They"d all agreed that was when the risk of a*******n would be at its greatest. From everything Rose had read, dragons wanted mates. Every single one of them. They may not all follow procedures, not when they knew the women were open to mating.

She couldn"t worry about that now.

Which was hard because she was pretty sure more dragon eyes had settled on her. The rogue at her side inched closer. As if he saw the interest she"d garnered and had no intention of letting her face it alone.

But could she expect such consideration from the dragon who"d kidn*pped a woman in the past? Maybe he was just waiting to grab her himself.

Awareness of his closeness tickled the back of her neck. She swallowed hard and forced herself to read her list.

Dragons in attendanceWomen in attendanceCoffee and muffins on siteWhen the others arrived, there would be a short introduction. Then the dragons would tour the ICB while the women would meet the newly mated women from the Mannix clan.

If they ever showed up…

"Can I help with anything?" The rogue dragon"s deep voice cascaded over her. He was closer now than a moment earlier. He leaned against the wall in a relaxed pose. Mere inches separated their bodies. She swore the air between them vibrated.

She wanted to turn her attention from him, but something about this man wouldn"t be ignored. With each minute she fought her instinct to look at him, his magnetism grew. So, when he spoke, she responded…

Her gaze snapped to his. The white of the jagged scar slicing over one of his cheeks gleamed under the fluorescent lights. She didn"t understand how he could scar; dragons were supposed to heal quickly. What had happened to him? Her heart thundered when his eyes locked on hers.

She gripped her pen in her hand.

The ring on her finger—a lie because she wasn"t married—was supposed to protect her from dragon interest. No one wanted a woman attached to another man, not even a desperate dragon. But this man—this predator—wasn"t looking at her hand. His gaze was locked on her face. She wanted to draw her gaze away, but she couldn"t do it.

Even after standing in near silence for the last few minutes, her body hadn"t relaxed since he"d stalked her across the room. His smooth purposeful steps marked her as the prey in this scenario. She shivered, despite the heat coursing through her veins.

"What?" she managed.

The corner of his mouth kicked up. s**t. He knew the effect he was having on her. She fingered the wedding band on her left hand, like it could magically protect her from whatever this dragon intended to do with her.

"How can I help?" he asked again. His question was innocent, but his voice slid over her like a sexy and too bold caress.

She"d been around a lot of dragons through her work as a meeting recorder. Every council meeting with dragons, she"d been there. And she"d never been affected so completely, so instantly, with any of those delegates. Sure, she appreciated the s*x appeal they exuded so easily, but her response to this solitary dragon was almost visceral.

He pushed away from the wall and straightened to his full height. The space between them shrank. She tilted her head back to continue looking him in the eye. Anticipation tickled her like a seductive caress. Her neck was exposed. Vulnerable. Almost like an offering.

Her dad was a biologist. He"d always said when an animal exposed such a vulnerable part of their body to another, they were submitting. Acknowledging the dominance of the other over them.

But that wasn"t what she was doing. She was just too damn short. That was it. All of it. Nothing more. Really.

And if she believed that, then the flutter in her stomach could be chalked up to bad sushi last night.

"I… I think I"m okay…" she stammered.

A lopsided grin spread over his face before turning into something more heated… more seductive. She swallowed nervously. God. She really was a damned rabbit to his wolf. Except she couldn"t run fast enough to attempt a realistic escape.

And she wasn"t sure she wanted to…