He was taking slow, measured steps toward her. They still had the couch between them, but she knew that was ridiculous. The man was insanely strong, and that didn’t include the dragon part.
“I’m a dragon shifter.” His honey amber eyes were scanning her face. “And you are a lawyer, Arabella Sharp.”
She frowned and took another step back. “You’re stalking me. And apparently kidnapping me.” She threw another glance at the window, trying to estimate if there were any escape from all of this. But she was miles and miles from anywhere, as far as she could tell.
There was a small hint of a smile on the man’s face. Lucian. His name was Lucian. “My dragon blood saved your life, but you needed time to recover fully. I brought you here because it was safe.”
Arabella finally realized she must’ve been here for some time. When she was attacked—and when this gorgeous man/angel/dragon shifter saved her—it had been well into the night.
“How do you know who I am?”
The smile on his face grew from a hint to an actual smirk. “I know how to use Google.”
She gawked. Not the answer she expected. “So while I was… recovering… you were checking me out. Online.”
His smirk faded. “Indeed. I suspect the man who was attacking you in the alley was related in some way to one of your clients?”
“He was an ex-boyfriend who didn’t like the restraining order I had issued against him.” She narrowed her eyes. “But you called him a demon.”
“He was also that.” Lucian sighed. “You’re an attorney who helps women with domestic abuse cases. That’s dangerous work. You should have better security.”
She lifted her chin. “I can take care of myself.”
The hint of humor was back. “Obviously.” Small lines formed at the corners of his eyes. God, he was beautiful. The smell of him reached her again, now that he was closer. Her body reacted, wanting to close the gap even more. Wanting to run her fingertips over those small lines and see what he tasted like.
She blinked and gripped the couch between them. What was she doing? Lusting after this man who obviously saw no problem with whisking her away to his mountain retreat? Maybe he did save her life somehow, miraculously—she remembered the blood and the gaping wound where there was only a small scar now—but that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. Maybe he was a shifter, a secret kind. A dragon from the House of Whatever. But it wasn’t like he was born yesterday. She couldn’t tell his age—he was timeless and perfect and gorgeous. And seductive. Just the kind of man that had sucked her into his world before…
He was watching her, curious but unhurried. “Even someone like you would have a hard time defeating a demon on her own.”
“Demon?” All right, she’d had enough of this shit. This man was straight-up crazy, which was made even worse by the fact that he was a massive dragon. But he was definitely nothing she needed to go running her tongue across. What she needed was to get the hell out of there. “Okay, dragon prince from the House of Fire—”
“House of Smoke.” The humor seemed to have fled.
“House of Smoke,” she repeated. “Thank you for saving my life. So… I’m free to go, right?”
“No.”
Her heart spasmed. Oh God, he was keeping her. And probably killing her. Saving her life just so that he could do horrible things to her.
There was a flash of gold in his eyes—this time, she knew she wasn’t seeing things.
“As you may realize,” he said, coolly, “the existence of dragon shifters is not common knowledge in the human population. As you are now a human with knowledge of our existence, I can’t release you until I’m certain you will keep this knowledge to yourself. This is a sacred trust—one I don’t take lightly. Especially not with women I’ve just met. No matter how beautiful. Or how obviously capable of taking care of themselves.”
A flush ran through her with the compliments—and then heat rushed to her face at being manipulated so easily. But even more importantly, the need to be gone from here was even more urgent. “I won’t tell anyone about you. I promise.”
“Promises aren’t sufficient.” His face settled into a hard look that made her shiver. This man… she could see him slaying demons. And enemies. And conquering anything and everything that he wished to have. There was a level of calm power in him that she had never truly encountered before. All the men—all the slimy, evil bastards who beat women, and that she had encountered in her work and in her life—had all been weak at their core. Full of bravado and posturing, but not this… this calm, cool undercurrent of raw power.