Dragon Rebellion Read online

  He sobered. “Personal reasons.”

  “Yeah, I get that,” she muttered. “Still, I can’t let you do that. I would be a terrible person if I let you leave them behind like this. Without any warning either.”

  Caine shrugged. “Fine, but if I’m staying, that means you have to stay as well.”

  She froze. “Why the hell would it mean that?”

  “Because. How else am I to protect you?”

  “I don’t need your protection, Caine. I’ve been doing just fine on my own. How many times do I need to tell you that?”

  “Until you realize that it’s no longer true. Things have changed, Annalise. You will be safe with me. Whoever is tracking you, they’re not going to stop if you just keep running. But I can make them stop. I can end this for you, if you would just let me in.”

  “I can’t let you in, Caine,” she said in a small whisper, looking up at him. “I let you get close, and look what’s happened.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Nothing has happened!”

  Behind them the front door shook from the blow of something big and powerful.

  Chapter Eleven

  Annalise

  “I’ll get it,” Caine rumbled, straightening up to his full, imposing height.

  For her part Annalise squeaked like a mouse and ran for cover, ducking behind the couch, wishing she was a tenth of the size and easily able to hide herself from the world.

  Caine glanced over at her, and she tried to wave him away from answering the door. It shook again in the frame. Whoever was on the other side was either very big, or very angry. Knowing who it might be, she figured it could just as easily be both. The trip out to Barton City would have taken some time, and they would have had to travel through the night. Nobody would be happy about that.

  She frantically worked to stop Caine from opening the door, but he seemed determined. Annalise pulled herself back behind the couch and out of sight.

  “Can I help you?” That was Caine, his voice easily recognizable, the deep throaty bass that rumbled like an approaching train.

  “I’m looking for someone.”

  Icy terror slid its cold, slippery tendrils into her nerves, freezing Annalise to the spot. She knew that voice. Things had just gone from bad to worse! Lincoln was not a nice man at all. He was also quite possibly the only person she knew who was bigger than Caine.

  Peeking out around the corner of the couch, she couldn’t really see through the doorway, but the shadow Lincoln cast and the angle of Caine’s head told her everything she needed to know about the situation.

  “Are you going to tell me who?” Caine asked dryly. “Or make me guess?”

  Lincoln didn’t respond immediately, and she could just imagine the glaring contest going on between the two titans. Lincoln obviously knew that she was in the house. He wouldn’t have approached if he didn’t. Pure professional, that was Lincoln. Her major worry was that Caine wouldn’t recognize that, and that he would push Lincoln too far. The big man was not a person to cross. She’d learned that the hard way.

  “Her name is Annalise, though she may be going by an alias.”

  She watched Caine, but he was a better poker player than she gave him credit for. His face didn’t twitch at the mention of her name.

  “I don’t know an Annalise,” he replied. “Got a picture or something?”

  Lincoln snorted, showing his obvious disbelief, but she heard something rustling and then a thick-fingered hand shoved a cell phone through the door at Caine. She watched him take it, and then study it.

  “This the only one you have?” he asked. “Can I slide left or right? Or will that bring up your nudes?”

  What the fuck was he doing?! Annalise was forced to clamp a hand over her mouth so she didn’t laugh out loud and give away that she was less than fifteen feet away. Lincoln was not a humorous fellow, and taunting him wasn’t the smartest move by Caine.

  “You know her.”

  Caine rolled his eyes. “I told you, no, I don’t. Never seen her before that I can recall.”

  “So you may have seen her before?”

  “You ever walk down the street before, pal? You pass tons of people that you see, but you don’t see. Understand what I’m saying?”

  “This girl would stand out. If you did see her, or know her, it would be best to let me know about it.”

  “And why is that? So you can come to my house and pester me some more?”

  Caine was growing angry, but she wished he wouldn’t. Lincoln wouldn’t hesitate to use force, potentially even deadly force, if it meant retrieving her for his master. Caine didn’t know what he was getting himself into by going toe-to-toe in the macho department. She just wished he would close the door and save himself any further trouble. The last thing Annalise wanted was to see the big guy get hurt. She’d never be able to forgive herself.

  “Listen,” Lincoln growled. “This person has run away, and needs to come back home. So just tell me where she is.”

  “Something wrong with your ears, son?” Caine barked. “I already told you, I don’t know the girl. But I’m beginning to feel like if I did I still wouldn’t tell you what I knew, because I don’t think I blame her for wanting to get away from the likes of you. It seems pretty obvious to me now why she took off. Your manners are atrocious.”

  Lincoln chuckled. The building tension between the two muscleheads was palpable even halfway across the room. Annalise didn’t want to be anywhere near the two if fireworks went off. It would be hazardous to her health, that was for sure.

  “It’s not quite like that,” the unseen man at the door explained. “You see, she’s actually legally obligated to come with me. There are…shall we say, ties, to my boss. Which means that by not coming with me, she’s a criminal. And anyone caught harboring her, or aiding her, is also a criminal.”

  Caine laughed, making her cringe some more. He was so completely nonchalant about it all that she was beginning to think that she should just speak up and expose herself, to save Caine from the trouble he was getting himself into. It would probably be easier that way.

  “Listen buster, nobody is legally obligated to do a thing unless law enforcement says so.” He peered out the door, craning his head around. “I don’t see any law enforcement with you, and I know you aren’t a police officer. They have intelligence quotas they have to meet. Are you a police officer?” There was a short pause. “That’s what I thought. So get the fuck off my property and don’t ever come near me again.”

  Annalise gasped at the blatant insult and attitude from Caine. What the hell was he thinking? He stepped backward and moved to close the door. Before he could, however, an even bigger person stepped over the threshold and stopped the door from closing.

  Furious, Caine moved to block him. “You’re lucky I’m feeling nice today,” he growled, and then clamped his hands around Lincoln’s arms, pinning them to his side.

  She watched in open-mouthed astonishment as Caine simply picked Lincoln up and moved him outside. She couldn’t believe what she’d just seen. Caine had lifted the massive body as if it were a clothing store display mannequin and simply deposited it back outside the house. Then he stepped back inside and closed the door, locking it swiftly.

  “There,” he said, speaking softly as he came over to sit on the couch. “Now you’re safe.”

  She gaped at him. “Safe? I’m anything but safe. That was Lincoln. He knows I’m here now. He’s not about to back down just because you manhandled him like he was a ragdoll. He’s going to be pissed at that treatment. He’s not afraid to use guns, Caine. He’ll shoot you, trust me. He has the power to get away with that.”

  Her self-appointed protector looked down at her, his face wrinkling in confusion. “Just who the hell have you been pissing off?”

  “It…it doesn’t matter, okay? Look. The truth of it is that you’ve now put a target on your back. You need to get out of here. You need to run! Far away! Just get in your car and get out of here. Leave me. It’
ll be better that way. You don’t need to save me. Get out, Caine, run, just go away and—”

  “That’s enough,” Caine rumbled, picking her up off the ground and setting her on his lap.

  “But Caine you just—”

  Her panicked ramblings died off as a strong hand cupped the back of her head and pulled her in to him, covering her lips with his.

  Chapter Twelve

  Caine

  In hindsight, Caine would be hard-pressed to come up with a reason as to why he thought kissing Annalise just then was a good idea. But he did, and it happened.

  She didn’t pull away, either. Her thick body sat in his lap, pressed perfectly into him, her soft curves mixing delightfully with his taut edges. They made a wonderful pair, opposites and yet so similar as well.

  His dragon clamored at him to take it further, the primal cravings simply begging to be satiated by the one thing that could calm them: Annalise’s smooth body underneath his, no fabric or barrier between them any longer. It was an intoxicating cry, knowing that his mate was right there in his lap, ready for the taking. He could finally be one with her, after so long alone. Even Caine’s prodigious willpower was tested at that moment, the lure of her pale, soft skin almost more than he could handle.

  “No,” he growled, pulling himself away at the same moment Annalise seemed to come to her senses as well.

  Just like that the spell was broken. He went to lift her off his lap at the same moment she scrambled away. Together they combined to dump her onto the couch next to him on her side.

  “Ack!” she yelped, bouncing off her elbow. Unable to stop her movement, she rolled off the edge of the couch and onto the floor with a dull thud. “Ow.”

  “Are you all right?” he asked, leaning forward to assist if necessary.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. My dignity is a little bruised,” she admitted with a wry smile. “But I’m just fine. But what was that all about?” Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him.

  “You were panicking. Starting to ramble. I needed to shock you back into reality.”

  “So you kissed me?”

  “Would you rather I have slapped you?”

  Annalise absently lifted a hand to her cheek. “No, I suppose not. But you kissed me.”

  “I’ve made no secret of the fact that I want you, Annalise. That I desire you. It is my goal to make you mine. Does it really surprise you?”

  His mate considered her words. “No, I suppose not.” She smiled. “At least you’re a good kisser.”

  Caine’s mouth twitched in an approximation of a smile. “So what you’re saying is that you enjoyed it?”

  Annalise winked at him. “I have problems with commitment and trust, Caine. I’m not dead. Of course I enjoyed it. It’s not often I get to lip-lock with a model from a fitness magazine who wants to kiss me.”

  He chuckled. “You kiss a lot of fitness models who don’t want to kiss you back? Is that what you’re saying?”

  She buried her face in her hands and moaned. “No, that’s not what I’m saying at all, and you know it! Can we please change the subject?

  “Okay,” he said, taking pity on her. It was tough when she was just so cute like this though. “Care to enlighten me on who that tower of terror I just threatened is?”

  “That’s Lincoln,” she said. “He’s the…um, he’s a bad person. He does whatever is necessary.”

  “He’s the one you ran away from?”

  “No. I ran away from his boss. A powerful man who thinks he owns me.” Annalise shuddered and looked away.

  There was far more to that story than she was telling him. Simply dating a powerful man and then leaving him wasn’t enough to cause all the issues he’d seen with her. The lack of trust and her constant looking around for exits and unwillingness to be trapped somewhere alone with him. The talk of “can’t go back.” She had left any semblance of a life behind to go on the run from this guy. There was something she wasn’t telling him. She would though, when she was ready. Until then, he would continue to support her, as he had all along.

  “Lincoln was sent here by this other guy—you won’t tell me who—to take you back to a place you won’t tell me, for reasons that you won’t tell me. Do I have that about right?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I can’t go back, Caine. I can’t. Please, don’t let them take me back.”

  He growled, the sound quieting her immediately. “I promised you I wouldn’t let them do that, and I intend to keep that promise. You don’t have to ask me anymore, Annalise. You have my word. They will take you over my dead body.”

  His mate cringed. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

  “There is a lot you don’t know about me. You needn’t worry about that. That Lincoln fellow doesn’t understand what he’s gotten himself into the middle of, trust me on that. You are safe with me, far safer than you could ever imagine.” He paused. “Just don’t run away. I won’t force you into anything, but I cannot protect you if you try and do something stupid, like run off to keep me safe while exposing yourself.”

  Annalise was already responding before he’d finished. “I’m not going…” Her protest died off as he gave her a knowing look. “Okay, so I was planning on doing just that. Now, obviously, I’m going to have to plan it better.”

  He sighed. “How can I convince you that you’re better off with me than you are on your own?”

  “I don’t know. I told you, I have trust issues. I’ve already opened myself up to you far more than I’m comfortable with, Caine. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to just believe your word completely. I’ve survived for five years by myself, you know. On my own, no support, no help.”

  He shrugged. “You’ve survived, yes. But you haven’t been living, Annalise. Take a chance on me, and I can help you live again.” He swallowed, hating what he was about to say next. “Even if that’s not with me, I can still give you that ability. All you need to do is trust me for a bit longer.”

  “There certainly isn’t anyone else,” she muttered. “No one has shown nearly as much of an interest in me as you, whether friendship or otherwise, in a long, long time. But I don’t know, Caine. The last time I…” she shook her head, closing off that subject. “I don’t know.”

  “Stay with me for now, and we’ll deal with this Lincoln character. After that, then we’ll decide.” If he could just get her to agree to stick around for a bit longer, it would give him more time to figure out a plan.

  It would also give her more time to think about the kiss they shared, and how it had felt right, like all the pieces had just clicked together. He leaned down and brushed some hair back from her face that had fallen out of her ponytail when she’d landed on the floor.

  “What do you say?”

  Annalise thought about it, remaining silent for a few moments. He noted that she hadn’t stopped him from touching her face. That was a good sign. She was getting used to him being in her space, even if she didn’t realize it yet.

  “If I did agree to that, what would we do?”

  “You’d have to leave here,” he said, gesturing to the house. “He knows about it now.”

  “Okay, where would we go?”

  Caine steeled himself for the predicted outburst. She wasn’t going to like his answer. Not one bit. “You should come stay with me.”

  Annalise just stared at him before she blew air from between her lips in a great big sigh. “Why did I just know you were going to suggest that?”

  “It’s the safest place to be,” he said. “You’d be surrounded by myself, my two brothers, and a number of others…like us.” He didn’t want to get too cryptic with her, but now was not the time to reveal the true nature of his secret.

  “Like you?”

  “Trained. Skilled. Able to protect you from common thugs like this Lincoln character.”

  “Right…” She rubbed at her eyes. “What have I gotten myself into?”

  “I don’t know. All I’m concerned about is getting you out of it.”<
br />
  She glared at him momentarily, letting him know that she was referring to her situation with him, and not whatever had happened in her past. Caine just smiled.

  “Fine. What do we do now?”

  “For now, we wait. Tonight we’ll head out under cover of darkness to avoid our old pal Linc.”

  Annalise nodded. Caine was still trying to get a read on her. He felt there was just as good a chance she would bolt without him as there was her coming along to safety. Her flight instincts were heavily ingrained upon her, and it would be hard to overcome them with him in such a short period of time.

  He couldn’t let that happen, though. Despite his manhandling of Lincoln, he knew the other would be back, and wouldn’t be so easily discouraged this time. He’d insulted the bruiser, and the big man would want to prove that he wasn’t so easily pushed aside. In other words, violence was coming. Lincoln didn’t stand a chance, but he wasn’t aware of that. Yet. No, Caine’s concern wasn’t with him. It was with Annalise.

  Whatever happened, he vowed he would be ready and do whatever it took to ensure her safety. Even if she didn’t like it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Annalise

  Why does it feel like I’m ditching the possibility of one prison for another?

  It wasn’t that she was comparing Caine and Lincoln’s boss. Even though she didn’t feel she trusted Caine fully yet, the two were worlds apart. It wasn’t even fair to think about putting them on the same chart. Caine had a kind side, and she suspected he preferred not to use people when he could, choosing to be their friends, not their bosses.

  There was an undeniable aura of power around him, however, and that was what kept her at an arm’s length or more. She’d felt power before, and it scared her. It was exactly what she’d run away from. Well, that and the abuse of power, particularly when it was directed at her. Whether Caine would do something similar or not remained to be seen. She hoped not, but if her hard life had taught her anything, it was that she couldn’t trust anyone. Not even those who appeared to care for her. They were the worst, with the pain of their betrayal sliding home the hardest.