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  “Honey, what’s your dragon’s name?” he asked, smiling down at Minuet encouragingly. They had no idea how important that was. The little power pack in his arms had abilities he could barely fathom. She was certainly capable of calling the creatures Cord’s entire world had sacrificed itself to contain. Now it seemed the worst might have already happened.

  Minuet laid her head back on Cord’s shoulder, her eyes already closed. “My dagon sleep. Him name is, My Dagon.”

  “Dragon? Is she saying dragon?” Molly asked in consternation. “There is no such thing as dragons.”

  Cord looked at her and smiled. “Nor are there really women with unique powers that might make other people call them witches. Right?”

  Molly’s mouth thinned as she clamped it shut.

  “Why does she think you are my dragon?” Kelly interjected.

  Cord turned to her, such a perfect goddess. Her kind was called witch, but their title should have been goddess.

  Kelly’s scent perfumed his every breath, and he wanted to lick it out of the air. The pale warmth of her now-glowing skin was a fine shade of temptation, and he intended to taste every inch of it. He had no right to what he wanted, but he had sacrificed eternity for the opportunity.

  “I am a protector. In this age, you would call me a bodyguard. You’re the one I am here to protect. Minuet reads that in me.”

  “I don’t need protection.” Kelly shook her head. “Why does she need a protection dragon?”

  “I’m afraid you do. So does Molly,” he added. “The two of you are mistresses of natural elements. You’ve both hidden that power, but it’s out now. Minuet’s distress could easily have disclosed your secret to forces whose most merciful choice would be to kill you. They have never been known for their mercy.

  “She calls me dragon because I am.” He nodded at Molly. “You’re right. Dragons should not exist. We are not natural to this planet. That doesn’t mean we don’t exist. Being unnatural, our lives are not bound by what humans call the laws of nature.”

  Cord laid his arm on the table, palm up, close to Kelly. “Put your hand in mine and feel with your gifts, Kelly,” he invited softly.

  “Protection from whom?” Molly pressed, her eyes narrowed on Cord as Kelly hesitated.

  Cord didn’t look away from Kelly as he answered. “From the dragons created specifically to capture you.”

  “By dragons do you mean big lizards, flying, fire breathing? Or some bike gang with scary jackets?” Molly wanted to know.

  “Take my hand and know what I am,” Cord invited Kelly. He really didn’t want to be in charge of the explaining. Letting them draw their own conclusions would absolve him from deception. What they came up with would be correct, just limited without the history involved. They weren’t ready for the history.

  Kelly’s hand slowly descended to rest on his. Skin to skin involved fierce control of the starved beast. That selfish, depraved animal who was stealing her future. She was air. His air. Surrounding him, invading him. Delicate as a breeze, powerful as any hurricane gale, Kelly touched him and he drank her.

  He didn’t close his fingers around her hand, just let her rest there. He wanted her in control of the touching, adding the illusion of safety. Placing herself in Cord’s hands was a personal choice. One he was determined she would make on her own.

  Her eyes were on their joined hands, but as she reached inside him, her eyes rose to his. Understanding, amazement, acceptance. She gave him all of these things because she didn’t know he was still hiding a part of himself from her, using her ignorance to conceal what would hurt her to know. He couldn’t have her frightened of him. Not now. So he ensured her trust with truth, truth that concealed.

  What else could one expect from a soulless abomination?

  Chapter Three

  “Oh,” Kelly breathed, looking into his eyes. She absorbed him. Glided into his world and took her place at the center, right where she belonged. He let her see all that, and she innocently thought she knew him. Knew his motives, his desires, what he intended and needed.

  “Well?” Molly prompted impatiently. “You’re holding his hand. Does it magically tell you what he is?”

  “Yes.” Kelly smiled at Cord, her eyes glanced away from his shyly only to return. The shyness was still there but there was trust too.

  He controlled his response and gave her a gentle smile. “Explain it. I’m not sure what words she’ll understand,” he encouraged in an intimate tone.

  Kelly nodded and focused on Molly. “You know that scene in Terminator II where the mother realizes the machine is really there to protect? He’ll never get tired. He’ll never leave. Never stop. That’s what Cord is. Not a machine, I mean the protector part,” Kelly clarified.

  “He’s Arnold Schwarzenegger?” Molly asked skeptically.

  “He’s Cord,” Kelly corrected.

  “That still doesn’t tell me what he is. When I healed your leg, I gathered power from the organic world. Too late I realize I was getting life force from him. Is he a talking rock? A big fungus? What is he?” she demanded in frustration.

  “Perhaps your dragon will know how to explain it to you,” Cord responded. “Kelly needs to rest. Minuet is already sleeping. For right now everyone is safe. It’d be a good idea if you ladies took advantage of the peace and slept.”

  “My dragon?” Molly exclaimed. “I don’t have a dragon.”

  “Sure you do, and he’s on his way,” Cord assured her. “I’d rather you didn’t go back to an empty house. I’m not at full strength and can’t protect you that far away. Legion would be upset. He’s unpredictable when he’s mad.”

  “Legion?” both Molly and Kelly said in unison.

  Cord frowned at Kelly. “He’s a big, ugly earth dragon, sorta like a giant mole. You probably will not like him. I’m the wind dragon, much better looking.”

  “You’re vain about being so handsome?” Kelly asked in surprise.

  She thought he was handsome. Cord smiled as her statement bloomed in him. No, not just handsome, so handsome. That went a long way toward soothing his initial reaction to her interest in Legion.

  “You know what I am,” he evaded her direct question. “Mostly I’m trying to get the three of you in bed and failing. That should tell you something.”

  Light teasing would only get him so far. These two women were gifted in every way. Not being stupid went without saying. He’d brought up Legion because he needed them prepared for the large, dark dragon when he appeared. Implying he was benevolent was a reach, a guess or a hope. Cord’s responses were forcing conclusions that went against everything he thought he believed. If those conclusions were true in him, they would likely be true in his two counterparts.

  Legion had endured the same amount of time without power and would be as diminished as Cord had been. That was Cord’s only advantage. Contact with Kelly and Minuet gave him an edge. He’d need it to buy the time to explain how the plan had changed, but as soon as Legion saw Molly, Cord had a feeling all bets would be off.

  If he were a gambler, he’d let Legion run into Molly first, but he couldn’t take that chance. What if Legion didn’t react as he had to Kelly, he’d kill Molly. If Cord didn’t let him see Molly, he’d have no reason to change the plan, so he’d try to kill them all.

  Cord had spent time with Legion before. The dragon was all things earth. Calling him dark, passionate, volatile and strong in the physical sense was a serious mistake. Those words did not begin to cover the minimum facts, but they were the best Cord could do in English. Legion was also huge. There was nothing streamlined or aerodynamic about the earth dragon. He had a wicked sense of humor and an appetite for physical gratification.

  This meeting was going to be fun in the really deadly sense of the word. Cord needed to soak up as much power as he could before Legion arrived. He would not allow things to go wrong. Legion would have one chance, if he didn’t get with the new program, Cord would take care of it in the only way possible.
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  “Do you mean we each have a dragon? How do you expect us to sleep if we don’t know what’s going on?” Kelly insisted.

  Cord closed his hand over hers as she spoke. She didn’t object. Mostly he did it to draw what he needed from her as he was doing with Minuet. But that wasn’t the irresistible reason. No. Touching her was. He had traded a soul for the right to touch her. He was betting Legion would do the same for Molly.

  That’s how strong the driving hunger was. It was more important than his will to live. That huge malfunction was something no one had mentioned. He had to conclude the need of this woman was built into his nature as surely as the drive to protect her was. His creators didn’t make mistakes and they were very good at secrets. The fact that their secrets where part of who he was, what he was, made it crystal clear that he was a tool as opposed to possessing the free will he’d always believed was his.

  “Let me make this simple,” Cord explained as he controlled his response to his own revelations. “You and Molly are gifted. You are air, she is earth. Some would call you witches. Back when the world was young, everyone knew such people existed. What you call magic was as prevalent in that age as your age uses electronics. The problem was the gifts were exclusive to a few.

  “Originally dragons were created to defend or attack, the product of too much knowledge and very little forethought. Created by wizards who believed they would rule the world through the strength of an undefeatable army.

  “The three ladies who held the keys to this planet had to answer the threat of dragons and did so by coming up with a separate version. New and improved, second-generation-type beings with a few surprises built in.

  “Brings us to our other problem, there are only two of you. If you are here, there is a third witch. We have to find her. Do you have a redheaded friend you’re abnormally close too?”

  “What about Minuet?” Kelly asked softly.

  Cord couldn’t be less than honest. It was too important. “She is not water. She is a different type of power. One I’ve never encountered before.”

  “So I have a dragon, just as Kelly does,” Molly clarified. “And there is another woman gifted with water and she has a dragon protector? And there are other dragons who want to kill us? How can this be? Neither of us has ever seen a dragon.”

  Cord carefully filtered information before he answered. “There are only three walking dragons currently on the Earth. The others are still here, but you could say they are sleeping, inanimate is a better explanation.”

  Kelly sucked in a deep breath. “Sleeping? Minuet said she speaks with a dragon but he’s sleeping. Is he a protector?”

  Cord couldn’t reassure her as he wanted to. If the worst were true, Kelly would have to be prepared. “I don’t know. She didn’t give a name. I suspect she can call us all.”

  Kelly’s hand tightened in his. “That’s bad? How many are there?”

  Cord sighed. This wasn’t what he wanted Kelly focused on. She had so much to learn before she faced this. She should have been able to get out of the basement herself. Was it possible she didn’t know the strength of her gift? Or was it she didn’t trust it? If she was totally untrained, it could be a problem. Every minute of Minuet’s life presented the danger her mother had just voiced. His inability to end that life while the child was too young and weak to stop him had created the danger.

  “I will not let it happen,” he promised rashly. He had no idea if he could stop it. “I’m here, I’ll teach her how to shield from them. You’re safe.”

  “How many?” Kelly pressed.

  Cord lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the back as he answered. “They can blacken the sky with their wings. The last time I saw them gathered was in a battle. I didn’t have time to count.”

  “A battle? You won?” Kelly asked softly.

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  “That doesn’t sound like winning,” Molly stated firmly.

  “I’m here. They are not. That’s winning in the end,” Cord responded.

  Molly pursed her lips as she frowned at him across the table, her eyes disapproving at the way he cradled Kelly’s hand. “That’s double talk for something sneaky. You just said they are sleeping, so they are not dead. How did you make them sleep? Why didn’t you kill them if it was a battle?”

  “I also said what seems normal to humans does not apply to dragons. It is very difficult to kill a dragon, hence our value in combat.

  “Let me put Minuet in her bed. I don’t want to have this conversation over her head. There is no telling what her subconscious picks up,” he evaded. “Then you can tell me where her father is.”

  Kelly stood. “I’ll show you to her room.”

  Molly pushed back from the table too. “If I can’t go home, I have to cook,” she stated.

  “Fine.” Kelly waved a hand at the kitchen distractedly. “Do whatever you want. We’ll be right back.”

  Cord smiled inwardly. Molly hadn’t asked. She’d announced what she was going to do. She was earth, creative and energetic. It would be amusing to watch Legion handle that. If it went that way, he cautioned himself.

  Kelly went up the steps ahead of him. Not even a hitch in her gait from her recently crushed leg. Those long columns of perfection were unblemished. Her shorts framed her bottom and he had to look away.

  Carrying the child helped him remember what he was here for. And there was the unresolved issue of Minuet’s father. He couldn’t sense a male’s mark in the house. Not even a hint. He’d been trying to find one since he walked in the door.

  The hall at the top of the stairs was short. One way led to a single door, the other had two. Kelly led him into a beautiful pink dream of a little girl’s room. He raked it with a ruthless search, using both senses and eyes. Laying Minuet on the bed, he remained leaning over her as she settled under the covers. Kelly was close beside him, but Minuet didn’t wake.

  Cord guided Kelly out of the room with a hand at the small of her back, pulling the door almost closed. He stopped at the top of the stairs.

  “Her father?” he asked softly.

  Kelly leaned on the wall to look up. “He was murdered six years ago.”

  Cord frowned. “Minuet is about three. How is that possible?”

  Kelly smiled, it was a bit sad but there was humor as well. “Dragons don’t know everything?” she teased gently.

  Cord moved closer. He had to. Her teasing, the humor drew him. “Explain it to me. Use small words. What happened?”

  Her hands rested lightly on his chest, not pushing him away. “The murder is unsolved. Minuet is the result of artificial insemination. We were ready to start the next week. But then I couldn’t for a long time. Do I need to explain?”

  “No.” He placed his hands on the wall, one on either side of her head. “You waited ’til you were done mourning? Are you still in love with him?” He was leaning down, his mouth a few inches from hers.

  “I will always love him,” she confessed softly. “He is part of my daughter.”

  Cord let the hushed purr of her words sink in. He waited for it, any minute now that confession should back him up off her. It didn’t. He didn’t care. Perhaps he couldn’t care, not even a little bit. Well, he did care, he was glad he didn’t have to take her from the man.

  Shadows and reality swirled, merged. Suspicion raked his predatory senses. This story had the smell of an old evil, but the rose petals overwhelmed even that stench. Everything was wrong with the way he was reacting. She was taking up too much of the present. He couldn’t back down. Getting what he needed was more than a compulsion.

  Dawn was not here yet. A single night-light lit the floor and little more, the top of the stairwell enclosed them in intimate darkness. He could feel Minuet sleeping undisturbed at the other end of the hall. Molly was doing something down in the kitchen that involved a lot of muttering.

  Cord’s hands left the wall to cover the back of her hands on his chest and pressed her palms into his flesh. He dr
agged her hands up, wrapping them around his neck as his body slowly crowded her, trapping her. His fingers trailed down the undersides of her arms, coming to rest on the sides of her breasts, thumbs caressing the swells in lazy sweeps.

  Kelly didn’t stop him. Her large violet eyes watched him but there was no fear, no rejection as he wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed his body to her from knees to chest. Nor was there any doubt of his response. His hips rocked into her abdomen as he watched her eyes. It was her mouth he should have been watching. Lush lips opened in a tiny gasp as she felt his heavy length.

  That was his, the air she breathed, and he had to have it. His mouth took hers and he couldn’t be slow anymore. He’d given her every opportunity to object, to stop him. She’d accepted.

  His lips on hers weren’t near enough. Firmly pushing into her mouth, he was rewarded as she opened for him. Her taste, her delicious, addictive taste exploded through his senses as he delved into her. She tentatively sucked his tongue and all hell broke loose, triggering a chain of responses he’d never experienced before. Lust backdrafted through him with white-hot demand.

  Cord ripped his hands off her, flattening them on the wall beside her body. The rush of sexual aggression left little besides the drive to complete his possession of her. He was dimly aware his reaction could manifest in talons to ensure she did not evade him.

  A low growl rumbled around them as his weight shifted into her, the need to pin her beneath him lashed at what little restraint he could manage. Muscles tensed in his neck as the kiss intensified. He needed more—more taste, more sensation, more of everything she was. Hunger like nothing he’d ever known roared through him even as she fed him with her kiss and he knew there was nothing, nothing he wouldn’t do to have this woman.

  It was her soft, wheezing moan as she struggled for air that controlled his response. With a stifled snarl, he wrenched himself off her, flinging his body to the opposite wall as he stared at her blankly.

  Kelly gasped in air, her eyes wide as she watched him. Cord had no idea what his expression was but it couldn’t be good. There was a flicker of fear on her face. Damn it, she should be afraid. He was freaking terrified of what had almost happened. Almost? No, it had happened and there was no going back. Why? Why hadn’t Marelda told him?