It chafed, but she was probably right. That’s why Vulcan didn’t visit earth very often. He was much more comfortable in his solitary workshop or among his own kind. Mortals were so frail and easily broken, they made him nervous.
“Not only that, but you actually brought the mortal here.” Mother Nature tossed her hands in the air. It was never a good sign when she began talking with her hands. “Here! No mortal has ever—or should ever—be aware of our location. They need to think we’re everywhere. Otherwise there will be chaos wherever we’re not.”
“Yes, Goddess.”
“Fortunately I was able to blind her with über-bright direct sunlight. If I hadn’t, she could have seen everything. How would you have explained it to her then?”
“I don’t know. I am very, very sorry.”
“Well, get your sorry ass back down there and find that friggin’ dragon. You know how I hate dragons! I’ve almost wiped them out completely, but if this one manages to get pregnant… Gaaaah!” Thunder rumbled in the distance.
Vulcan had never seen Mother Nature this angry. Well, no, that wasn’t quite true. She’d caused some impressive earthquakes and tsunamis when she was really on a tear. Vulcan wondered what kind of destruction was taking place on earth during this tirade, but he wasn’t nearly as concerned about that as he was with his own hide at the moment.
“I’ll find her, Goddess.”
“Damn right you will, because you won’t be allowed back here until you do.”
Why did I ever volunteer to help in the first place?
Chapter 14
“I thought you didn’t want me to leave my building. Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad to be out and about again. I was beginning to feel like I was on house arrest.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re safe now, or I wouldn’t have suggested coming here.”
Drake unlocked his front door and led her down the hall of the old brick house. Near the end of the corridor, he unlocked another door and let her go inside first.
“I know it’s small. Someday when I have more money saved, I’ll look for a bigger place. Basically, it was affordable and convenient to walk to work.”
“Your place is… cute.” Bliss took in the entire apartment from her vantage point. The room couldn’t have been more than twenty by twenty-five feet, but he had managed to make every square inch useful. There was one door in the middle, which had to be the bathroom. On the left side stood a very efficient kitchen.
A set of bookshelves ran the length of the opposite wall, but built into the middle was a dresser and, on top of that, a TV. The wall unit looked as if it had been custom made. Perhaps it was. She remembered his telling her about making his own Murphy bed and desk combination. She spotted them on the other side of the bathroom door and walked over. “Am I in your bedroom now?”
“Oh, yeah,” he said in a sexy, low voice. “And you look mighty good there.”
She chuckled. “Where do you sit and talk? You do still want to talk, right?”
“We should. Let me fold down the bed. It’s my sofa too.”
She backed up out of the way, and he made short work of flipping up his desk, fastening it in place, and dropping down a queen-size bed.
“You made that look easy.”
“I’m used to it.” Then he gestured to his bed, inviting her to sit on it.
She couldn’t help but wonder if other women had been to his place. It really wasn’t an entertainer’s paradise. She had a hard time reconciling her social guy with a place like this. Bliss took a seat on the end of the bed and tried to cross her legs at the ankle and tuck them beneath her. She was a little too close to the ground for a ladylike position.
Drake sat down next to her and pulled her close for a long, warm kiss. Afterward, he rested his forehead against hers and spoke so softly, she almost didn’t hear him.
“I’ve never been so worried about anyone in my life.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have put you through that.”
He brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “It’s not exactly your fault. It wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t involved with me in the first place.”
“Yeah, well, I’m glad I am. I just don’t understand why Zina wants you so badly.”
He looked surprised and she realized how that must have sounded. Her face heated and a nervous giggle escaped. “I mean… you’re a great guy and everything, but the only thing she said to me was that I was ‘in the way.’ She seemed to have some kind of plan for you.”
Drake hung his head. “She wanted to mate with me. Dragons are only fertile once every five years and the cycle only lasts for a month.”
“Oh.” Bliss didn’t know quite what to say to that. She hadn’t known him a month yet? It seemed at times like they’d known each other for years. And what if they were still together in five years? Did that mean she’d have to worry about Zina coming back?
“Look. You were never ‘in the way’ because I was never going to be with her. If I had just been honest from the beginning and told her I wasn’t interested…”
“I don’t think it would have mattered. She seemed to think you were her property. If she really is a princess as she claimed, maybe she’s used to just telling people what to do and being obeyed.”
“She certainly acted like a spoiled princess,” Drake agreed.
“So, now what happens? Is the month over? Will she just give up and go away when it’s too late?”
Drake shook his head. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about her anymore.” He ran the back of his fingers over Bliss’s face, tenderly. “I know you were probably told not to tell anyone how you got away, and I won’t say anything, but I figure we should talk about it… just between us.”
“Oh, um, that.” She looked at her lap, not even sure if she knew what happened. “I—I don’t mind telling you, but please don’t laugh.”
“Laugh? Believe me, I won’t laugh.” His voice sounded sure and sincere.
She gazed up into his eyes and took a deep breath. “God helped me. I know it sounds nuts, but I was sitting on the toilet in a disgusting tiny bathroom in a warehouse. No way out. Zina standing guard. I thought I was done for. Suddenly this… guy appeared. He turned around just long enough for me to pull up my panties and then zing… we were somewhere else. It was so bright, I think it was heaven… but maybe not. I heard a woman’s voice, and she sounded angry. Then, zing… we were standing outside in the alley behind the bar.”
“Zing?”
Bliss waved away the word in frustration. “I don’t know what to call it. There wasn’t a noise involved. I was just somewhere and then I wasn’t there anymore. Then I was suddenly somewhere else.”
“And you think God took you to heaven and brought you back?”
“Either that, or he was some kind of angel and the angry woman was God… or a goddess… Oh, I don’t know.” She rose and paced toward the windows. “I knew you’d think I’m crazy.”
He followed her and grabbed her by the arms almost as the mystery man had. “You’re not crazy.” He turned her in his arms and kissed her. “You’re perfectly sane. I don’t know why you’re not losing it after what you’ve been through, but I’m glad you’re not.”
She blinked. “You don’t think I’m crazy?”
“Put it this way, crazy things happen. Maybe denying that is crazy.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Thank goodness you understand.”
Back in her hotel room, Zina paced and muttered to herself, “So that human thinks I’m spoiled? Nothing could be further from the truth. I had a very critical father. Nothing I ever did was good enough for the king of the Amazon. There was no pleasing him. He said he was toughening me up for the world. You know what? Now I just want to punch the world in the face.”