“This is not a laughing matter!” she screamed at him.
Shock raced across Kyle’s face. She rarely borrowed his voice. And she never took it without asking. His knees caught the edge of the couch, and he went down.
She glared at him as he sat on the couch. “You want Michael? Fine!” Carissa turned and stormed back into the kitchen. Michael tried to scamper away from the raging woman, but she snatched him up. “Fine!” she yelled again as she stormed back to her shocked brother. “Here!” She dumped the little dragon into her brother’s lap.
Kyle’s hands came up to keep Michael from falling off.
“Don’t you dare hurt one goddamn scale on his hide! Do you hear me? He’s mine! And if you even think about asking how he got to be a dragon, you will rue the day you were hatched!”
Carissa turned and stormed out of the cabin, leaving the two men gawking at her. Shifting to grand dragon form, she let out a roar, released Kyle’s voice, and leaped into the air. A good, long flight should help calm her nerves. And if Kyle so much as insulted Michael, she’d roast him when she got back.
Carissa’s ferocious roar shook the cabin as the two men stared at the swinging door in silence. The sound of her wings ripped through the air as she took to the skies in a tiff. Man, she was loud when she was mad. She was also amazingly gorgeous. Michael drew in a deep, cleansing breath before letting it out slowly. He looked up at the shocked man holding him.
“I never touched her.” He chirped as he slipped out of the King’s hands and onto the couch next to him. True, he’d thought about it hard and often, but he’d never had the chance to make good on those ideas.
Kyle looked down at the white dragon. Humor washed away the shock on Kyle’s face. A slow smile was followed by a deep chuckle. “I’m sure you wouldn’t have lived long if you had.” Kyle looked back at the door that had come to rest part of the way open. “I’d forgotten she gets feisty when she’s mad.”
Michael nodded his head in agreement. “I’ll remember that.”
“Please do.” Kyle chuckled. “It may save your life someday.” Letting out a cleansing breath, Kyle turned his attention to Michael. “Well, let’s have a look at you.” He slipped his hands up under Michael’s wings and raised the small dragon level with his eyes. “She really did a number on you.”
Michael could feel the king’s eyes shift from his head clear to his tail. “You’re telling me,” Michael grumbled, earning another laugh from Kyle. “Right now, I’m stuck.”
“Oh, really?” The amusement in Kyle’s voice stung.
Michael nodded his head. It sucked having to admit it, but Michael knew the dragon king could help. He had the ability to subdue the dragon part of his subjects, allowing them to transform back to human.
Kyle studied him for a few more moments before setting him on the floor in front of him. “You really need to get more in touch with your dragon side. It will keep this from happening in the future.”
Michael snorted his understanding. That was exactly what his instincts had told him. Great. The peanut gallery wins again. Michael bowed his head and waited, while Kyle called forth Michael’s dragon and suppressed it. The tingle of magic washed over Michael, leaving him kneeling, naked, on the floor.
Kyle handed him the robe Carissa had set out.
Slipping it over his head, Michael stood up. “Thank you.” God this was awkward. What was he supposed to do now? Scrape and bow? Michael had met the king many times in his line of work, but the man had always been regal and respectable. It was hard to respect someone who had come to kill you, and that rumpled shirt and jeans were far from regal. Watching him be chewed up by his sister hadn’t helped, either. Man, she had one hell of a temper on her. Just the thought of the fire flashing in her eyes had Michael’s nether regions sitting up to take notice. And on that note…
Michael turned away from the king to tend to the meat Carissa had pulled out. “We were going to have steaks. Would you care to join us?” Michael fussed with the microwave, trying to distract himself. Why did he have to get hard at the worst possible times?
“Sure,” Kyle answered. He stood up to pull another steak out of the freezer.
Well, at least the man knew his way around a kitchen.
The two men worked in silence as they thawed and seasoned the meat. Sticking it under the hot broiler, Kyle finally turned to Michael. “So,” his voice sounded apprehensive, “you had nothing to do with any of it?”
Michael let out a sigh. “No.”
“And Carissa’s disappearance from her room?”
“Hey.” Michael felt a little upset about that. “She’s the one that tossed me off the building.” Had she really said she’d hoped his instincts would kick in before he hit the ground?
Kyle chuckled lightly. “That sounds like something she’d do.”
“I really would have preferred if we could have ended this thing when she brought me in to see Daniel.” Michael shrugged, not wanting to mention why they ran the second time.
“Point.” Kyle sighed, catching the missing accusation. “To be fair, I was worried about her. The guard that called said she looked rough.” Kyle turned to lean his backside on the counter as he spoke. “No one hurts my sister and gets away with it.”
Michael sighed as he popped the package of broccoli and cheese in the microwave. “I understand that.” If Kyle’s protective streak ran half as deep as Michael’s, someone was really going to pay for kidnapping Carissa. Just the fact that she had taken off by herself was eating at him. But, for once, his peanut gallery and his heart were in total agreement. Mine! needed a little space to cool off. If she wasn’t back by the time the food was done, he’d go looking for her.
“So,” Kyle crossed his arms over his chest and turned a considering eye to Michael, “do you have any ideas about how to clean up this mess?”
Michael paused as he pulled a bowl down for the broccoli. “Maybe.” He and his peanut gallery had been working that problem over since shortly after he had stretched out. “But Carissa is not going to like it.” Oh no, Mine! was definitely not going to like it one bit.
18
Absolutely not! Carissa slammed her cup down on the table, showing her displeasure. Her flight had done a lot to soothe her frayed nerves, and she had been delighted to see Michael and her brother deep in conversation when she got back. That was definitely a good sign. But, the plan they had hatched was asinine. How could either of them think this load of asshatery held any merit?
“But, Carissa,” Kyle spoke softly, trying to soothe his sister. “This is the perfect solution. We can’t just go in there and arrest him without substantial evidence against him.”
Carissa gaped at him and pointed to Michael. He had called for Michael’s arrest on the same amount of evidence! Carissa was livid.
“No.” Kyle shook his head. Years of practice had given him insight into Carissa’s thoughts. It wasn’t hard to follow her reasoning. “I also have him kidnapping you on video.”
Carissa slammed her fist into the table again, mouthing her denial.
“I know that wasn’t you,” Kyle said, soothing her riled nerves, “but at the time, I didn’t. The fact that it looked like you was more than enough to call for his arrest.”