Dragon Soul(29)

"That had better not have been an insult."

"It wasn't, I assure you. I'm quite sincere in that I like the way you speak your mind."

"Good. Answer my questions," I said, prodding him on the arm.

"No, no, and no, assuming that was a total of three questions. I  couldn't tell for sure since there were many parts to that last bit,  plus, I'm now imagining what your mouth on my nubs would be like."

"Damn good," I said with confidence.

"I'm sure it will be. And in fact, so long as we're discussing plans for  nipples, I'd like to put in a request for time with your breasts. They  have been uppermost in my mind all day."

"Really?" I looked down at where Xena cups presented my breasts for  Rowan's viewing pleasure. At least, that's how they viewed the  situation. "They're just boobs. They hang off me, and get in the way  sometimes, and because they're a bit on the fluffy side, like the rest  of me, they are a pain in the patootie to take jogging. Not that I jog  much. I prefer swimming. Am I babbling? I feel like I'm babbling."

"You are not babbling, but you are speaking unfairly of your breasts. I  really want to make love to you, but before we indulge ourselves in  mutual exploration of nubs and their related parts, I'd like to make  something clear."

"Mutual exploration sounds good, assuming you were propositioning me this time. Were you?"

"Yes. Although I prefer to think of it as wooing with my manly attractions. Sophea." He took both of my hands in his.

"Hmm?"

"I really do need to talk to you."

"About what?" I fluttered my fingers in his when his thumbs stroked  identical patterns on the backs of my hands. I swear, my whole body went  up in flames.

"Myself. My past. Why I'm here with you now."

"You're here because I'm in a sexy Xena outfit, and you can't resist the  lure of a kick-butt dragon with a sword strapped to her back," I  suggested.

He laughed and kissed the back of each of my hands, pulling me over to a  love seat that sat under two portholes. "I didn't realize it before  this moment, but you are absolutely correct. Tell me, did you notice  that May and Gabriel referred to me as the Dragon Breaker?"

"Yes. I figured that was your rock star name. Or something. Why, does it have any importance?"

"Only to the extent of my life and probable upcoming death." His lips  twisted in a wry manner that pierced the haze of sexual interest that  had gripped me.

"In what way?" I asked, guarded lest he be teasing me. I was very well  aware that I knew nothing about this man …  well, practically nothing. I  knew he had a protective streak a mile wide-no one else would have come  to our rescue as many times as he had if he hadn't been one of those  people who naturally come to the aid of others-but other than that, and  the fact that he had a glint of humor in his eyes that I found  incredibly appealing, I wasn't very conversant with his history.

He sat on the love seat, waiting for me to take a seat beside him before  he answered, "When I said I was a sociologist, I wasn't being exactly  accurate."

I frowned, my lust dying a swift death. If there was anything I disliked, it was men who lied. "Oh, really?"

He flinched. "That was downright frosty, but I guess I deserve it. I am a  sociologist, and I do work with emerging tribes in eastern Brazil. But  in addition to that I …  well, I'm an alchemist."

I let some of my iciness melt. "I heard someone say that. I thought I  must have misheard and the word was really pharmacist. What's an  alchemist when he's at home?"

"Someone who is highly sought after by just about every being in the  Otherworld." He took a deep breath, his gaze looking beyond me. "You  know what magic is, don't you?"

"The stuff magicians do? Sure."

"No, not that. At least, not what you see mortal magicians do. Magic is  real, just as real as dragons are, and it's entirely possible to imbue  objects with it. Magic, that is, not dragons."

"You know, my mind is having a bit of a hard time accepting the idea of  real magic, but given that I'm a dragon lite, I'm going to tell it to  get with the program. Okay. Magic exists, and you can stick it on  things. What things?"

He made a vague gesture. "Pretty much whatever you want. That magic  usually makes the object much more powerful, kind of like it enhances  the quality of the item."         

     



 

"So if I magicked up my Xena sword, it would become a super Xena sword?" I asked, trying to wrap my brain around that idea.

"Yes."

"Okay. Considering I'm almost a mythical creature that I had no idea  existed a few days ago, then I'll buy the whole magic thing."

"Alchemists break magic. That is, we take it from whatever it's imbued  and re-form it into its essential components, rendering the object  magically impotent."

"And you do this?"

"I have. Once before."

The way he said the words raised all sorts of warning bells in my head. "And?"

He was silent for a moment, his gaze slipping away from mine. "And the  first time I tried it, some people interfered with the process. I should  have stopped them, but I was only sixteen at the time, and cocksure.  Not to mention the fact that the people in question-dragons, to be  exact-weren't inclined to take no as a suggestion. They paid the  ultimate price for their interference-the breaking went wrong, and  instead of turning a relic of a demon lord into a harmless object, it  exploded with dark power. I was thrown back by the blast, but the four  dragons who were with me …  they took the brunt of it."

"Oh, how horrible," I said, scooting closer to him. I wanted to wrap my  arms around him to comfort him, but I had an idea he had a little more  soul-baring to do …  not to mention I wasn't sure if he'd welcome the  gesture.

"It was. More than horrible, it was devastating, especially considering  I'd tried to get the dragons to leave while I attempted the breaking.  Once I recovered from my injuries, I was visited by a being who claimed  he was the progenitor of all dragonkin."

"I have a feeling he wasn't there to chitchat," I said, risking a little squeeze to his arm.

He slumped back, his face filled with remembered pain, and suddenly it  was too much for me. I clutched him by both arms, pulling him to me so I  could hold him and ease the anguish.

"He wasn't," he said, his face pressed into my bosom. His voice was  muffled, his breath hot on my skin. I ignored that sensation, though. It  wasn't at all right to get turned on while trying to offer solace.  "Would you mind if I asked what you're doing?"

"Comforting you," I said, stroking his back.

"Ah. I suspected it was something along those lines."

"Do you not like to be comforted?" I stopped rubbing his back and peered down at the top of his head.

"I'm quite enjoying it, as a matter of fact," he said against my  breasts. "But I fear if we remain in this position for much longer, I  may be forced to take action."

"Action? What sort of action?"

His tongue snaked out into the valley between my two Xena'd breasts. "We have been discussing nipples, after all."

I shivered, my body alternating with flashes of heat and waves of  desire. "Great galloping ghosts, hurry up and get off your chest  whatever it is you want off, so we can go into my room and go wild on  each other."

I'd released him by then, and he pulled himself upright, giving me the  wickedest grin I'd ever received, a grin that ignited flames of passion.

Literally. I stubbed out the flames burning merrily about my feet. "Dammit. Go on."

He was silent for a moment, his gaze losing a lot of its heat. "Your  connection to the dragons is why I felt it important to tell you my  history. The dragonkin know me as a murderer of their own kind. I  wouldn't want you to think the stories they tell about me were true."

I tugged up my breastpiece, which had shifted a smidgen during the comforting process. "What did this dragon daddy guy want?"

"Revenge. Well …  of a sort. He bound a danegeld to me. Do you know what that is?"

"I do, as a matter of fact. My roomie is a huge historical fiction fan,  and she's always forcing books on me. It's a tribute people had to pay  their overlord."

He nodded. "The First Dragon demanded that I pay for the deaths I'd  caused." He made air quotes around the last word. "He gave me five years  to pay back the cost of each life. He said that I didn't have the  payment by the time the entire period was up, I would forfeit my own  life."

"Well, that's just bullshit," I said, outraged on Rowan's behalf. "How  dare this high and mighty guy lay down the law on you. You're innocent  until proven guilty, and if everyone is ignoring the fact that you  weren't responsible, then that's not your problem."

"Unfortunately, it is." He fell silent, but absently, as if he didn't  realize he was doing it, he took my hand and rested it on his thigh, his  finger stroking across the top of my hand.