Dragon Marked Read online

  “What’s the plan?” she asked, flopping down onto the other comfortable couch. “Whoa.” The cushions were much deeper than they appeared, and she sank right into it. “Oh, now this is nice.”

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” he joked. “We’ve got to go get some dinner.”

  She pulled the hood of his sweater tighter around her face, until only her eyes were visible. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice muffled by the fabric.

  “We’re going fishing.”

  Megyn sat up, the hood falling away. “I’m sorry, did you say fishing?”

  He nodded. “Yup, we’ll catch some fish, then I’ll cook it up for us, nice and fresh. How does that sound?”

  “I love fish,” she admitted. “But I’ve never caught my own before.”

  “Come on, it’ll be fun!” he jumped up and took her hand, hauling her up from the couch.

  There was gear already waiting by the front door she saw now. A pair of rods, some pants that looked waterproof, and a bucket of stuff. Tackle? Was that what it was called? She couldn’t remember.

  “You’re not taking no for an answer, are you?”

  “Not unless you want to go hungry.”

  Her stomach rumbled in response. “I guess I have no choice, do I?”

  Together they grabbed the gear, and went outside. The warmer clothing she was wearing plus his sweatshirt was enough for her to go without a jacket. She followed him off to the side of the chalet, where a trail wound through the woods.

  “You know, I think you were right about something.”

  Hel was walking in front of her, carrying the rods and “waders” as she’d found out the overall things were called. She had the tackle box.

  “What’s that?”

  “This is very peaceful up here, and perfect for helping me relax and clear my mind. I feel incredibly at ease, just so you know.”

  “I’m glad.”

  They walked in silence after that, both of them lost in their own worlds. The sounds of water reached her ears a few minutes later. Eventually they came to a river winding its way down the mountainside.

  “You’re sure there are fish this high up?”

  He laughed. “Yes. We’re not actually that far up. The river has a gentle slope, and there’s quite a large lake up there, maybe two- or three-hour walk. Below us maybe four hours away is another large lake. Plenty of fish to be had going back and forth between the two.”

  She eyed the current, noticing it wasn’t moving very quickly at all. Perhaps he had a point.

  Her eyes found the back of his head, noting the streaks of silver through the brown. He’d had them as long as she’d known him, and it didn’t seem to bother him one bit. Nothing seemed to faze him. All the activities of the day, and here he was, calmly taking her out to fish for their own dinner.

  Maybe she’d made the right choice in coming with him. Hel certainly didn’t have the same sort of temper or impatience that Ian did. Maybe…

  No. Just enjoy the experience right now.

  “Put these on,” Hel said, handing her a pair of the waders. They had full boots on the bottom, meaning she could just slip them right over what she was wearing. The straps went over each shoulder. Before she could reach for them Hel was there, adjusting them to fit her properly before pronouncing her ready to go.

  “There you go. Now you can go get in the water and get ready to do some real fishing,” he said with a grin.

  “Just gimme the rod, I’m ready for it!”

  Hel lifted an eyebrow, but refrained from making a joke about it, much to her relief. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that sort of humor. Not yet at least.

  “Here you go. Now be careful, it can be slippery. I’ll be out there in a second to show you how it’s done.”

  She nodded and headed for the water as he turned to put his own gear on. Rod grasped in one hand, she eyed the water. “No time like the present.”

  Stepping in, she walked out until it came up to her thighs. “You can still feel the cold through these,” she called back.

  “Hopefully we won’t be long, but it’ll keep you dry. You’ll be okay.”

  She took his word for it. Finding a spot to stand she looked at the rod, noticed the lure, and unhooked it so it dangled free. Gently she lowered it into the water and after a few misfires, began to let out the line as the current dragged it away.

  “I’m fishing!” she called with a laugh, still having exactly no idea what she was doing.

  Hel was grinning from ear to ear as he came out to join her. “Here, let me show you what to do.”

  She turned to face him, eager for guidance, but in doing so forgot she had a five-foot long pole in her hands. It came around quick and Hel yelped, ducking out of the way. The huge man was agile, but like he’d said, the riverbed was slippery, and with a howl he went down, splashing onto his rear. Due to his size the water didn’t come over his waders, but he sat there looking mightily impressed.

  “I’m sorry!” she cried, turning back away to clear the rod. “I’m sorry, Hel! I wasn’t thinking.”

  Megyn took a step toward him at the same time a fish—or something—pulled on her line, and pulled hard. The unexpected pressure pulled her off balance and with a yelp of her own she splashed down face-first into the frigid waters. Ice-cold liquid fed from high up on the mountain poured into her rubber waders, soaking her to the bone as she splashed around, trying to recover.

  Strong hands latched on to her and hauled her upright. “Are you hurt?” Hel asked, eyes looking her over quickly.

  “No. I’m f-fine,” she chattered, water sloshing about on the inside of her suit now. “J-Just fine.” Her teeth were clicking together as her body temperature plummeted.

  “Come on.” He lifted her up to shore and in one quick movement somehow ripped open the waders instead of removing them. Water splashed over the ground, but that still left her in icy-cold clothing clinging directly to her skin.

  “So cold. I’m s-sorry.” She had her hands around her chest, rubbing her arms.

  “Rub your chest,” he ordered. “Your arms will take care of themselves.”

  She did as she was told, not in the mood to protest any longer. Much of the fun had fled from her now.

  “We need to get you back. I’m going to carry you. I can move faster that way.”

  Hel didn’t wait for her permission, he just scooped her up into his arms and then they were off. Megyn felt like she was floating as they moved swiftly along the path.

  “You’re warm,” she mumbled, leaning into him, trying to suck up his heat. Her body was shutting down from the cold. Sleep beckoned.

  “You need to stay awake,” Hel ordered.

  “No, I need sleep.” She closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest. “Lots of sleep.”

  His hand shifted and suddenly it was cupping her ass quite firmly.

  Megyn bolted awake, looking him in the eyes. “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Making sure you stay awake.”

  “Are you sure? It seems suspiciously like you’re copping a feel, mister.” Yet she didn’t tell him to move his hand.

  “Maybe, but it’s working, isn’t it?”

  Before she could respond they cleared the trees and were at the chalet. She looked around in surprise. “You move fast.”

  “I told you.”

  “You’re not even breathing hard.”

  “I do a lot of cardio.” He made a face like he hated it, but she couldn’t argue. He’d always been in fantastic shape.

  “Right.”

  They were inside then. The place wasn’t cool, but it wasn’t enough to warm her. Hel set her down on a rug in front of the fireplace. “Strip,” he ordered, walking across the room.

  “Pardon?”

  “Your wet clothes, they need to come off. Now strip. Don’t waste time.”

  She frowned, but began to pull off the sweater. It made sense wh
at he was saying. “First you cop a feel, now you want to see me naked.”

  “No, I want to prevent you from getting hypothermia,” he growled, returning with two huge, fluffy blankets just as she finished stripping down to her underwear.

  Megyn saw his eyes roam across her body. She saw his pupils dilate. His chest rose and fell as he looked her over from head to toe, and though she couldn’t see it, she knew he was liking what he saw.

  Considering she was short and wide, that surprised the hell out of her. But she’d never seen Hel look at any woman the way he was looking at her. His gaze lingered for several seconds, then he finally shoved the blankets at her.

  “Finish stripping,” he ordered.

  Megyn was about to protest when he moved past her and started to fiddle with the fireplace, very obviously giving her a chance to get naked. She did, dropping her underwear on the hearth beside him, more so it would dry out than for him to glance at.

  She pulled one blanket over her, then sat down and draped the other under and over her legs. A few moments later the fire blazed to life and blessed heat reached out to envelop her.

  “That’s nice,” she said, all cozy despite her nudity.

  “Good. Keep rubbing your chest to stay warm.”

  She nodded, watching as he glanced at her underwear, then at the body she now had covered up in blankets, before meeting her eyes. They gazed at one another for a few moments, and then he headed back toward the door.

  “Where are you going?” she asked. Was he not wanting to be around her now?

  His eyes roamed over her hidden curves. “To get some food. You’re going to be hungry. Get warm.”

  She shivered as he headed back outside, trying to process how he’d looked at her, and how she’d reacted.

  Hours earlier she was about to get married to someone, now she was letting a completely different man ogle her body. Stripping down naked in front of him. Best friend or not, Megyn had never felt more ashamed of her actions.

  Or more aroused from the way Hel had looked at her.

  Chapter Six

  Hel

  Leaving her didn’t make him happy, but there wasn’t much more he could have done to help warm her up. The only thing left would have been for him to strip down and share his bodily warmth.

  Which was precisely why he’d left. The sight of her body, soft curves and lines exposed to his naked eye, had set his blood ablaze. Fire shot through his system, and he’d begun to respond in a way that would have been most visible. If there was ever a wrong time to enact such a scenario, that would have been it. Hel needed to put some distance between them, and quickly.

  The instant the door had closed behind him he’d shot across the opening and into the forest, picking up speed as he went. The forest passed by, the brown trunks a never-ending blur as he raced along the path. Pulling up to the river not long after, he jogged along its length until he saw her rod stuck on the shore. After a minute or so he managed to retrieve both it and the line with lure. Hel didn’t like to leave things behind.

  He went back and tossed it on the bank with his rod, and waded out into the water once more. Shoving his hand into the water, he concentrated. Solid silvery tendrils shot from his fingers, weaving their way across the river, forming an unbreakable net. He sat back and waited for the fish to come.

  As he did, his mind replayed the incident. What an idiot he’d been. Thinking he could just toss her out there safely. He should have been ready for that sort of inevitability. To him the water barely felt chilly at all. But if he’d not moved fast enough Megyn could end up sick. All because of him.

  He was getting really good at screwing up her life.

  It took him perhaps fifteen minutes to grab seven fish of large enough size to be a meal. He quickly gutted them there before stringing them together. It took some juggling but he managed to grab up all the stuff that they’d brought together, plus his fish. With a quick flick of his toe he shattered the quicksilver, leaving it to melt into nothingness in the water before fading away.

  Something told him to be quiet when he entered. If Megyn had fallen asleep in front of the fire he no longer wished to wake her. So instead he sneaked around the back and dropped off his gear in the shed before taking the fish into the kitchen for further preparation and freezing. Peeking out, he saw her fast asleep, piled up under blankets. The fire had died down some now, and he padded over to it.

  The hearth still radiated warmth, but he placed several new logs inside anyway. Then he crouched down next to Megyn and gently put the back of his hand on her head, to feel her temperature.

  “Phew,” he sighed under his breath when she didn’t feel excessively cold or hot.

  “Your hands smell like fish.”

  He jerked his arm away. “Sorry, I went to get us dinner. I didn’t want to leave you, but I suspect you’re hungry by now, and hangry Megyn terrifies me more than most other things out there.”

  She giggled under the blankets, causing one of them to slip off her shoulder, exposing a lot of skin and hints of what lay beyond. Hel almost ripped his gaze away out of politeness, but his dragon stopped him, the scaled beast slithering into life inside of him, intrigued at what else the blanket hid just out of reach.

  Down. Not now.

  His dragon tried to resist, but although Hel didn’t play by other people’s rules very well, he was an absolute stickler for obeying his own. Which meant never letting up on the other entity that lived inside him. Imaginary walls appeared around his dragon, closing it in until the beast settled down and slithered back into the depths of his mind. It wasn’t ready to fight him on this, not yet at least.

  “Well, hangry Megyn is currently naked under the blankets here, so you’re going to have to give her some privacy to get dressed first.” She worked to suppress a giggle, though Hel couldn’t figure out what was so funny about that.

  “What happens if I don’t?” he asked, astounded at his own flirtatiousness.

  Megyn drew in sharply through her nose. “I’m not sure, but whatever it is, it’ll terrify you.”

  He laughed. One thing that he’d always enjoyed and been able to experience even while just being her friend was Megyn’s ease with witty banter and snappy retorts. “Yes, ma’am. Leaving before you turn me into a frog.”

  “You needn’t worry. I’ve lost my wand and you’re taking the only short, skinny wooden object out of here with you.”

  Hel, who was halfway between crouching and standing up, froze in place for a solid handful of seconds while Megyn rolled around in the blankets in hysterics, every now and then glancing up at his face before losing control all over again.

  “That wasn’t very nice,” he remarked to the room as a whole. “I don’t think I deserved to have such lies and slander said about me.”

  “Look at you with the big words! Slander. Who am I slandering you to? The only person here is you, mister. You’re supposed to be in the kitchen by now.”

  Instead of standing all the way up, Hel crouched back down. “That was before you insulted my manhood.”

  Megyn calmed, pulling the blankets tighter around herself, but not making any move to get away from Hel as he neared her face once more. “I’m sorry,” she said, making a fake pouty face.

  “I forgive you, but you should be more careful who you level insults like that at next time,” he admonished, sticking his tongue out at her even as he locked eyes with his mate.

  “Why’s that?” She wasn’t moving now, mouth parted in a tiny circle as she waited for his answer.

  It was the sexiest look he’d ever seen on her.

  “Because someone might feel the need to show you just how wrong you are,” he growled, letting himself sway a little closer.

  Megyn swallowed visibly. “Is that so?” her voice was growing hoarse. “Are you one of those people?”

  “Maybe.” He swayed even closer.

  She didn’t back away; her eyes followed his every mo
ve. “Oh.”

  “Today I’m feeling nice.”

  “Yeah, feels nice,” she echoed, her words not making any sense.

  Hel didn’t notice; he was too preoccupied with staring at her. She was inches away now, her breath tickling his throat. Soft, plump lips were dampened by a nervous flick of her tongue. All he had to do was reach out a little farther, like this, and tilt his head a bit more to the side and—

  Their lips touched, and suddenly they were kissing. Slowly, tentatively, neither of them entirely sure what was going on. The walls pressed in around him, and he closed his eyes, leaning ever so further into the kiss, taking control.

  Megyn whimpered quietly, but though he felt a tremor run through her body when he cupped her face, she didn’t back away. Their lips split and found each other again, and then again.

  It was perfect, just as he’d imagined it would be with her.

  She leaned back slightly, and he went to follow, not sensing that she was trying to pull away, just moving with the flow. His mouth covered hers and he leaned the rest of his body forward to get closer to her, wanting to stroke the side of her face with his hand.

  The move unbalanced his crouch and he cried out right into her face as he tipped over, flopping and throwing his body to the side to avoid landing on Megyn. This rolled him right into the coffee table.

  “Look out!” Megyn shouted, but it was too late.

  The glass of water he’d gotten for her earlier tipped over and splashed him. A second later the glass smashed into his cheek before rolling away.

  “Ow.”

  “Are you okay?” she started to come to his side, but the sudden movement caught the edge of a blanket and almost pulled it off her entirely. Only a last-minute snatch saved her from fully exposing herself to him.

  “I’m fine.” He pulled his shirt off and used it to dry himself. “Just embarrassed.”

  Megyn giggled. “It’s okay, I found it entertaining.”

  “I’m glad,” he said dryly. “But I ruined the moment.”

  “No you didn’t.”

  He looked at her sharply.

  “No, not that it’s still here. I meant that it was over anyway, Hel.”