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Chapter 2

Chapter 2

R

oxy rubbed a hand

across her forehead and sat down on the plush couch. After spending all day prepping the cabin for the client, she was exhausted. Clearly, whichever brother had the care of the safehouse last didn’t bother closing it up right. So, in addition to dusting, sweeping, mopping, and changing out sheets, she’d changed out talismans at each corner of the house and each corner of the property. Without knowing exactly who would arrive, when and why, magical protection was probably the highest priority.

She’d stocked the pantry with basic staples. She could have easily stocked the freezer with game she’d hunted, but without knowing anything about the type of creature that would be arriving, she didn’t take that step, knowing certain supernatural beings, such as many of the Fae and some animal shifters, were vegetarians, and many others preferred to run down their own game.

She would like to know a little more about the client before he arrived. Thanks to a phone call this afternoon to her brother, all she had right now was a name—Donovan Warren—which she’d had to force Brett to find out. It’d been as if he hadn’t wanted to give her any information. He hadn’t even bothered to learn what type of creature would be arriving. Yet, she’d done this a couple times before, so she knew different clients had different needs.

Some simply wanted the cabin set up and then to be left alone. Others expected the caretaker to be more like a servant. Her preference would be to stay out of the client’s business as much as possible, but she’d lay down her limits from the start, and then she’d do her job to the best of her ability.

Speaking of which, she still had a ton to do. No longer a typical, Alaskan dry cabin, a couple years ago, she’d hired a crew to dig a well, and the plumbing was installed. But she’d needed to turn on the water and flush the pipes. She also needed to make sure the propane tanks were hooked up to the cook stove as well as the heating system that required the fuel. There was another wood-burning stove as well, but she hadn’t chopped any wood. If the client wanted that, he might have to collect his own firewood.

It had been a long day, and it looked like it would be a tiring evening as well. She stifled a yawn and laid her head against the back of the couch. She just needed to rest for a moment or two. Then she’d get right back to work.

A

S DONOVAN PULLED UP

to the end of the gravel road and parked the small, four door sedan in front, he noticed the cabin looked like the typical wilderness advertisement for a place to get away. Just what he needed. It was too dark to see much, but the scant light beside the door showed a nice deck fronting the home and two large windows framing the entrance. More than likely, he’d find wooden furniture and mounted animals on the inside. Of course, as long as he and the others were safe, he didn’t really care how it was decorated.

As he pulled free of the car and grabbed his duffel bag, a most delectable aroma hit his nostrils. Not a food smell, but delicious all the same, it was coming from the cabin, and despite his lingering pain, he took long strides to find the source.

He found the door unlocked, which made him move a little more cautiously through the threshold. The smell intensified with every step closer, and it was all he could do not to rush headlong toward the enticing aroma. Sage and lavender scents mixed and made the back of his tongue tingle and his mouth water. Under his skin, his wings twitched. Something about it made his muscles tense in anticipation, like he’d find a most rewarding prize waiting at the end of the scent trail.

After a little fumbling in his bag, he flipped on a flashlight and swung it around the open room. The kitchen was small, consisting of a section of cabinets set in an L-shape and an island barely big enough to chop lettuce on. The dining table was a tiny round piece in a small nook off to the side. A set of steps led up to a loft above and on the ground level, on the other side of the stairs was a compact living room.

The light focused on a figure curled up on the couch, eyes closed, breathing regularly. Without any doubt, he knew this was the source of the delectable aroma, and he approached with slow steps, not sure what to expect from whomever was asleep on what he thought was supposed to be his couch.

He set the flashlight on a table beside the couch and noticed an unlit oil lamp. He dug in his bag again and pulled some matches out of a side pocket. He removed the lamp chimney and set it down carefully. He lit the oil-soaked wick and replaced the glass over top before turning it up enough to throw the room in soft shadows.

His focus zeroed in on the beauty sleeping on his couch. Her hair was a raucous mess of white curls that made his fingers itch to brush it away from her angelic face, marred only slightly by a few smudges of dirt on her cheek and nose. Her body was curvy, and he let his gaze travel the hills and valleys created by her figure as she lay on her side. Then, her delectable scent hit him full-on again, and he recognized her for what she was.

Maiden!

He jerked back and stood in one motion, putting good distance between the two of them. How was it possible he’d avoided blushing virgins all his life and one of the most irresistible he’d come across would be laid out like a present in one of the most remote places he’d ever visited? Could fate be that cruel to a dragon?

She stirred, her long lashes fluttering as she opened her bright-blue eyes and met his gaze. A boulder to the chest wouldn’t have hit him as hard as that first look from her. She sat up slowly, stretching her arms and lowering her legs to the floor.

“Donovan Warren? Sorry. I guess I fell asleep.” She stood and shuffled toward him, her hand straight out as if to shake his. “I’m Roxy Elliot, the caretaker.”

The backs of his legs hit a wooden table as he continued to put space between them and cursed under his breath. He could feel his temper flaring along with some of his baser bodily functions, which he wished he had the ability to switch off right now. “What the hell are you doing here?”

She stopped, her eyebrows dipped together in confusion. “Look, I said I was sorry for falling asleep. I’ve been working my butt off to get this place in shape for you. My good-for-nothing brother Brett didn’t bother to close it up well, so there was an inch-thick layer of dust on everything. Not to mention, I had to double-check every single talisman on and around the property. I’ve got to tell you, this is not a small piece of land.”

He shook his head and held his hands up to try to halt the out-of-control word-avalanche coming out of her at this moment. “You’re not staying here, are you?”

Admittedly, she looked slightly relieved. “No. I have my own cabin on the other side of the property. Now that everything is set up properly, we probably won’t even see each other.”

“Perfect.”

“Ooo-kay.”

She lowered her hand and rubbed it nervously over her jean-clad thighs, every luscious curve accentuated, making him want to bat her hands away and run his own tingling fingers over and over each inch. He felt his skin ripple with awareness.

It was happening!

He needed to get her out of here quickly.

“I’m fine to finish setting up myself. You can leave. Now.”

“Do you want to know anything about the cabin?”

A feeling like lava traveling up his esophagus pushed him to growl at her. He felt his whole body begin to flush with the inevitable change just by being in close proximity to her. So much for this being a safehouse. The minute he transformed, no one would be safe.

“Get...out!”

He was relieved to see her grab her cleaning supplies and march toward the door. “Fine! Not like I wanted to be here in the first place.” She paused with her hand on the doorknob. “The whole place is magically protected and you have some food staples in the pantry, but if you require anything else, don’t call me. Figure it out yourself.”

She slammed the door on her way out, and he felt the urge to transform recede almost immediately. Maybe he’d been rude, but if she’d known how close he’d been to destroying everything in sight, she’d probably commend him for his control as she was running away.

After a few deep breaths, the haze that covered his vision began to fade.

A maiden? Here?

This wasn’t an accident. He understood why someone would plant her here. He or she wanted possession of a dragon. Yet, who would have sent her? The brother she’d mentioned? Brett? He didn’t recognize the name.

Other than the attackers he’d left at Campbell’s place, he didn’t have any enemies of which he knew. Sure, he could be annoying and had been told he might have a big mouth, but even in his dragon form, he wasn’t controllable in the least. Whoever decided to tempt him to change into an unstoppable wrecking machine hadn’t thought it out very well.

Donovan knew what would happen if he got all reptilian. Nothing would be left standing. He’d seen it happen before with his own father. He refused to go down that path, refused to become the monster.

Yet, he could still scent her. She might be clear across the property, but she might as well be right next to him. He could still feel the undulation of the dragon under his skin, and he worked hard to repress the monster from coming to life and searching her out.

He needed the others here now, to talk him down before he tumbled over the ledge. Surely, he wasn’t the first to arrive, but as he looked around, he appeared to be the only occupant.

Something wasn’t right, and he needed answers before the beast inside him decided to answer

the maiden’s

call.

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