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  Blain pulled on the jacket to his tux nervously. Normally, he didn’t have any problems dealing with the Council of Others, but tonight was different. He had just met his true life mate a little over an hour ago. Too bad she didn’t have enough of her powers to know the same. But now, he had to sit in front of the High Council and vouch for his mate, all without letting on she was his mate, and attest she had proven she could serve him well and could tend to his needs and demands. Well, he hoped she could tend to his needs, but in the back of his mind he knew that may very well take a while.

  He hated throwing formal dinners like this, and sadly he had already hired a faux date to sit at his left side tonight. One woman he didn’t want to touch but had to, and one woman that he wanted to touch but couldn’t. Tonight was going to be nothing short of torture.

  He quickly did up his tie and headed downstairs to his waiting date, Amberlynn. He glanced around, but Natasha was nowhere to be seen. He stopped one of the guards walking past and quietly inquired as to the whereabouts of his new assistant. They quickly informed him that she had been pulled away temporarily and had sent a message down that she would join him in just a few minutes. Groaning inwardly, he offered his arm to his date before entering the room. All the elders stood as he and his date entered the formal dining room. “Please, be seated and enjoy the great food at Dragonmire Castle!” He walked around to the head of the table, seated his date on his left side, and took his own seat.

  He was proud of his home. When he had decided about eight years ago to access Earth through one of the portals on his home world, Dragonose, he came with the belief that finding his mate would be a rather easy job. Then again, he had come under the assumption that only humans resided on this planet. Now, he knew both assumptions were incorrect. The king had granted his request to leave, only requesting that Blain keep the knowledge of the Iceland portal away from all others. That was an easy promise to make his king. Since then, he only got called upon by his king when the Raptorians grew bored and decided to start a fight. The king would then send out an emergency distress call to each and every one of his dragons, expecting them to return home immediately to help defend their world.

  “Ms. Clayton, where is she?” Councilwoman Kristin, who was a pixie, inquired in an almost frightened voice from the other end of the table.

  “She was pulled away to tend to some business before joining us tonight. She shall be along shortly.” He certainly hoped so, anyway. It would look so much better for her if she were sitting next to him.

  “Does she please you?” another council member questioned.

  “I’d rather wait to discuss the business involving Ms. Clayton, at least until she is in attendance to hear it for herself,” Blain replied with a bit of a sting to his words, then he picked up the small glass sitting at the top of his plate, swallowing the liquid, and enjoying the burn. His guests watching him, quickly followed, all except the vampire in attendance. She had her own goblet of fresh blood sitting at her plate. He heard several “ohs” and “ahs” as his guests enjoyed their pre-dinner treat.

  “Delicious!” Councilwoman Hazellette, who was a witch, exclaimed in delight as she ran her tongue across her lower lip. “What is this drink called, Blain?”

  He couldn’t hold back his smirk or his chuckle. His guests were not going to see the humor in his answer as he did. “Dragon Piss.”

  Total silence descended upon the room for about ten seconds before the double doors were flung open, and a beautiful redhead sauntered into the room. She was wearing a black evening gown that glittered in the light; it was a one shoulder strap ensemble, and he immediately spotted the slit that ran all the way up the side to her hip. She walked up to him with such a regal air that he knew she was the envy of the females in attendance—his own date included.

  “My apologies for being late, sir,” she stated when she reached his side. He immediately jumped up to pull her chair out for her.

  It was a good thing he didn’t need to speak at that moment, because he suddenly found that his tongue wasn't working as he gazed down at her in awe. He had only thought her beautiful when they met earlier today. But now? Now she was absolutely stunning. She put his date and her short red cocktail dress to shame.

  “May we proceed now?” Councilwoman Hazellette snapped out.

  Yep, let the envy begin, ladies.

  “Yes, Councilwoman Hazellette, I apologize if I was the reason for any hold up,” Natasha quickly replied, seeming to know already that Blain was without words at the moment. He suddenly didn’t give two cents about this dinner. And he certainly didn’t give two cents about this Council harping on his mate. All he wanted was for everyone to get the hell out of his castle so he could spend some time getting to know her.

  “You…” he started, but his little mate was quick to cut him off as she leaned in close to him and whispered in his ear.

  “Please forgive me for being so late, but there was a very important phone call I had to take.”

  “Ah…of course,” he stuttered out, gracing her with a smile. He was getting ready to tell the battle-ax of a witch that she needed to show his mate respect, and that would not have gone over very well at this point.

  Leaning back in her seat, Natasha graced him with a gentle smile. His heart did a quick leap into his throat before plummeting down to his groin. Oh, good God, was she perfect. One of the elders broke into his deep thoughts as they repeated the earlier question.

  “So then, are we to believe Natasha pleases you, and can handle whatever you throw her way?”

  Natasha sat silently, but fuming inside. How dared they? This was a paid position, but then again, they had choreographed her numerous forced matings, thinking that it would surely bring on her powers, all the while knowing these “potential” mates were little more than animals.

  “Yes, yes, I believe Natasha will fit right into her new position with no problems,” Blain answered with a cold bite in his tone. He still didn’t understand why they seemed so interested in her working for him. Why did they feel it was their business to know how he felt about her? 'Does she please us? Only every damn fucking moment we get to spend looking at her!' his dragon broke through his thoughts.

  “Has Ms. Clayton informed you of the chance of danger you are entering into with signing her contract?”

  He watched out of the corner of his eyes as Natasha carefully sat her fork down, but refused to look at him as she awaited his response. He could easily read her body language and knew she feared he might have changed his mind in the past hour. She knew all too well what a simple change of his mind would mean to her. Unfortunately, she had no clue how determined he was never to let her out of his sights.

  “Yes, she has. And I’m more than willing to risk my chances at having her here,” he said strongly.

  “If you sign the contract, there is no going back. She will be your responsibility, and yours alone. With that in mind, are you still willing to sign?”

  “Yes, the damn contract is already signed!” Blain gave his most irate expression to each and every one of the Council members, silently warning them he would kick every one of their high asses out the door if one more word were to be said negatively about Natasha. They were way out of line, and sooner or later they were going to be put in their place. And he had a gut feeling when that time came about, he would be right there, handing their asses to them. There was no way he was going to forget tonight. He would never forget how they basically treated her as if she were an animal. How they belittled her right in front of him.

  “inline italics="true">Soon

  ,” his dragon promised. “Soon we can take her, mate her, and then we will have all rights to protect her!”

  For once, he agreed with his dragon completely.

  Chapter Two

  It was late by the time all the elders had left after dinner. She had even overheard one of the elders telling him to be careful with her not knowing her powers yet, and to be watchful of her possibly turnin
g on him. And she need no comfort surrounding her; he would be safest if he were to keep her locked up in his dungeon at night with guards to watch her and make sure she didn’t try to pull any tricks. It was amazing at the treatment given just by being different. Out of the entire group, she knew there were four that had pretty much hated her for years. They were the ones who had forced her into cruel conditions over the past several years. They were the ones who had screamed the loudest that she couldn’t be trusted, with her part-demon mother, her powers could come upon her at any time. She shook her head. One would have thought that since they weren’t human, they would know not to be prejudiced. They would know that it didn't make you a bad person just because demon blood ran through your veins. In fact, she had met several demons in her life, and she trusted all of them far more than she did the Council.

  “Finally,” Blain sighed, leaning against the doors as they closed.

  “Thanks again, Mr. Barrymire, for everything you’ve done,” Natasha said, offering him a weary smile. She was emotionally drained from the full day of having her nerves out on a limb.

  “No thanks are needed, Natasha,” he replied as he pushed off the door and stepped up to face her.

  She tilted her head back so she could see him. “Well, it’s getting rather late,” she mumbled, not sure what to do with the feelings assaulting her body whenever she was in close proximity of him.

  “It is. I don’t know about you, but after today, I could use a release.”

  “Sir!” she nearly shrieked as she stepped back away from him.

  His eyes grew wide when he realized how she had interpreted what he’d just said. “No, no, no—not that type of release. I meant a few drinks,” he quickly offered with a chuckle. Although now that she mentioned it, his dick stood straight up, all in favor of her inadvertent suggestion.

  Natasha stood staring at him for a long time.

  “I’m royally screwing this up. Let’s try this a different way. Go get changed, we’re going out,” he stated as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

  “Out?”

  “Yes out, we’re going clubbing.”

  “Clubbing?”

  “Dancing.”

  “Dancing?”

  “Natasha, do you by chance hear an echo in here?” He couldn’t help the smile that played at his lips.

  “Uh, no, sir,” she answered, blushing deeply.

  “Good, now go get changed,” he ordered as he walked past her and up to his own room.

  “Your car and driver are ready and waiting for you, sir,” Natasha informed him as he came off the bottom stair and grabbed his coat off the back of a chair.

  “Thank you,” he replied, a little disappointed that he could not quite yet see what outfit she had chosen, due to her long leather trench coat.

  He placed his hand on the small of her back as he led them to the car, and held her door open for her before sliding in next to her in the back seat. He gave the driver instructions, then silence filled the empty space in the car as he sat back watching her adjust to his environment. Blain knew Natasha wasn’t used to any of this, especially not going out dancing with her boss. Yet, she never questioned him when he had informed her they were going out.

  Arriving at his favorite bar, they discarded their coats just inside before heading over to the bar for a drink. His jaw nearly broke off from dropping so hard and fast at seeing Natasha’s outfit. She wore tight-fitting leather pants, a white off-the-shoulders shirt, coupled with knee-high snakeskin heeled boots. She had taken her hair down, and it flowed in thick waves all the way down to the small of her back. She was breathtaking in anything! She could probably be sewn up into a muumuu and still look damn sexy. Though he did catch her eyeing him for a brief moment, in his leather pants that laced up the sides, biker boots, white shirt, and leather vest. He was proud to have her eyes roaming over him, even if it was for too short a time.

  “Blain,” the bartender said, nodding his head as they walked up to the bar and took their seats.

  “Gerard,” Blain returned.

  “What will it be for you and the lady tonight?”

  “My normal and…?” he trailed off, looking at Natasha.

  “A coke,” she replied to the bartender. The man just looked at her and raised a brow. “Straight, and light on the rocks,” she tacked on.

  The other man shook his head and turned to walk away, only to turn back when Blain reached over the bar and touched his forearm, signaling him to wait a minute.

  “If you don’t order something with alcohol, then I’m going to have to pick something for you to drink. And it may just be something so strong I will guarantee it will knock you on your ass.”

  Natasha looked over to the bartender for help and the man just shrugged his shoulders at her.

  “Fine,” she said, turning her gaze back to Blain. “Just add a splash of rum to that coke, please.”

  “Gerard, add two shots of Satan’s Piss to the order, if you will.”

  She waited until the other man moved away to speak again. “You are quite persistent, Mr. Barrymire.”

  “Yes, well, while we are on this subject, we’re going to establish some ground rules for tonight,” Blain stated.

  “Okay, I’m listening.”

  “First, there will be no more sir or Mr. Barrymire here tonight; we are here as friends, not boss and assistant. And second, I am going to make sure you have fun here tonight whether you like it or not. If you have any problems with any of that, keep it to yourself.” He narrowed his eyes at her for just a few seconds, long enough that he was fairly certain she wouldn’t argue, just as their drinks arrived.

  She waited until the bartender had walked away again. “Okay, Blain, under one condition: everything goes back to its rightful order first thing tomorrow morning.”

  “Cheers,” he said, holding his glass up as he handed hers to her.

  She rolled her eyes and tapped her glass with his before taking a sip of her own drink.

  “Now, shall we dance?” Blain asked, offering her his hand as he smiled like the devil.

  Natasha’s eyes went wide. “No!”

  “Yes.”

  “I can’t! I don’t know how to dance.” What is it that keeps throwing her off balance whenever she is near this man?

  “Then I guess I’ll have to teach you.” He shrugged his shoulders as if it were no big deal, grabbing her hand and all but pulling her out to the dance floor.

  These days, dancing was like having sex with clothes on, surrounded by blaring music. But in truth, Natasha had the time of her life spending the night with Blain teaching her how to dance. And though she could never admit it out loud, it felt like pure heaven to have his body rubbing and grinding up against hers, though she tried not to think too much about the erection that had been there too. He had drunk way too much, even for a shifter, so she contributed his horniness to his drunkenness. But the fun was now over, and she was ready to hit her bed, not accustomed to staying up until the wee morning hours. But first, she had to get a drunken Blain up the stairs to his room, cleaned up, and in bed himself. Oh joy, joy.

  “Stay with me tonight, Natasha,” he half whispered, half slurred into her ear as she slid his vest off. She had lost count tonight as to how many shots he had downed.

  “I am staying with you tonight; it’s my first night staying here at the castle,” she replied lightly, knowing full well what he was asking, but putting it down to his drunken state. Besides, sleeping with the boss? Um…no. She couldn’t afford to have something bad happen with this job. There was simply too much riding on this. She gave him a bit of a shove that sent him sitting back on the bed. Leaning down, she picked up one leg and started removing his shoes.

  “No, stay with me,” he pleaded, gazing longingly down at her.

  “I’ll just be the next room over,” she said, a bit too curtly, gesturing to the door that adjoined their rooms. Trying to soften her last comment, she added, “As your right-hand, I am neve
r going to be very far away from you.” He looked up at her as if he were trying to figure out a puzzle. Maybe he was. Maybe he was so accustomed to women falling at his feet and having anyone he wanted to sleep with… She reached down and quickly pulled his shirt over his head.

  “You’re already undressing me,” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows at her as he leaned back onto his elbows.

  Natasha burst out laughing before quickly covering her mouth. She had always been instructed never to laugh at someone. It could get you hurt or even killed where she had come from.

  “You should do that more often.”

  “What? Undress you?” she snorted.

  “Laugh,” he stated simply, all slurring gone as he stood, looking down to her. “Please, stay,” he begged in a whisper.

  She smiled up at him. She kind of liked him like this. All loose and worry-free. Tonight, he hadn’t been the ruthless businessman she had heard about. He hadn’t been a very rich and powerful owner of a castle, a castle for crying out loud! No, tonight he had just been Blain—carefree and laid back. She liked this side of him. Even if he were inebriated. Stretching up on tiptoe—even in three inch heels—she tenderly kissed his cheek. He turned his head, trying to capture her lips with his, but he lacked speed in the condition he was in. She quickly stepped back out of his reach, and handed him a pair of clean night pants to change into.

  “Goodnight, Blain,” she stated softly, turning and leaving the room. Blain stood still for a long moment, surprised she had walked away from him. Surely she had felt the raging hard-on he’d been sporting all evening long.

  His dragon grumbled about Blain being an idiot and why the hell couldn’t Blain just take what they knew was theirs?