"Oh, I'll face my fears all right." Hailey stood, determined to give Oro a piece of her mind. She wasn't running away. She was a dragon. She didn't run away from anything. "I plan to tell my fears off before we quit."

Hailey stomped to the door, rapped three times, and stormed inside. Vanna jumped, her eyes widening. The willowy, black-haired beauty was seated behind the desk on Oro's lap, her arms around his neck, her blazer open.

Mine. A growl escaped Hailey's lips before she could suppress it. She flexed her talons, fighting the urge to fly at Vanna and savagely rip the smug expression off her pale face.

"You wish to see me?" She layered ice over her words as she sat down.

"I do." Oro inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring and his chest rising. His lips curved into a dreamy smile, his besotted gaze fixed upon the woman on his lap, and Hailey curled her fingers, digging her talons into her palms. "Though the reason why escapes me at the moment."

"I won't let you escape me," Vanna purred as she leaned into him. Hailey watched with horror as the woman ran her long, vamp-red fingernails over Oro's neck and followed those pink scratches with her tongue, licking him, licking her mate.

Vanna would die. Smoke wisped around Hailey's lips. She would die for touching what was hers.

But Oro wasn't hers. Hailey stared at her gold bangles, centering herself, controlling her anger. Oh, G.o.d. Hadn't these last few days shown her that?

She didn't need any more days. "We quit." Hailey stood up, smoothing down her skirt, her hands moist.

"What the h.e.l.l did you say?" Oro shoved Vanna away from him, and the woman's pale cheeks flushed.

"Ember and I quit," Hailey repeated, her dark mood lightening at his immediate reaction. "We're taking the open waitress positions at The Lair."

There were open waitress positions. Anxious to learn more about her own species, she'd contacted the Bronx dragon's mate via e-mail. The very friendly Perla had excitedly shared all of The Lair gossip with her, including the recent firings of two drug-dealing waitresses.

"You wouldn't," Oro rumbled. Golden scales covered his handsome face. Smoke curled from his nostrils.

"Watch me." She pivoted on her six-inch heels and stormed out the door. Ember glanced up as she exited. "We're leaving." Hailey s.n.a.t.c.hed her purse out of her desk's top drawer.

"You're not leaving," Oro boomed, waves of enticing heat rolling off his big body, heat he had been sharing with another woman.

"I'll meet you at the apartment," Hailey informed her wide-eyed friend. She slung the purse strap over her shoulder and stomped down the aisle.

"You're not leaving me." Oro grabbed her wrist, stopping her. "You can't."

"Can't I?" She struggled and his grip tightened. "I'm not sticking around to watch you paw at another woman, Oro. I have my pride."

"Dragons have pride. s.h.i.t," the huge, handsome idiot mumbled. "I didn't touch her. Why would I when you're all I think about?"

Some of her anger melted, but not enough. "She touched you." Hailey kicked him in the shins. Oro winced, but he didn't let her go.

"I didn't like it, Hailey. Her touch was cold, so unbearably cold." He shivered, his wide shoulders shaking. "Vanna or, h.e.l.l, any other woman, is cold and fragile compared to you. I can't touch them the way I touch you, and I don't want to. No one heats my blood like you do, mate."

"I'm your a.s.sistant," Hailey insisted, her protest weaker than it had been four days ago. An a.s.sistant wouldn't walk out on her boss for touching another woman. "Was your a.s.sistant."

"You are my a.s.sistant, my mate, my life. Don't go, Hailey, please," Oro pleaded. "I'm begging you. I'll do anything."

Although he sounded rea.s.suringly panicked, Hailey wasn't ready to forgive him, not yet. She eyed his earnest face, debating her next move. "Begging is normally done on your knees."

He fell to his knees. The floor shook with impact.

Hailey stared at the proud man humbled before her. He was begging. He wanted her. He truly wanted her. She still didn't know how much of his pa.s.sion was for her, Hailey, and how much was for her, the dragon. Would she ever? Did it matter? "Ember and I will need a salary increase."

"I'll double, triple your salary." He kissed her hand, his mouth hot and possessive.

"You aren't to touch another female." She pursed her lips, remembering Vanna's tongue on his skin.

"Never. I don't want to touch or look at anyone else." He pushed up her sleeve, sprinkling kisses up her arm. "You're the only female for me, Hailey."

Someone laughed. Hailey lifted her gaze and glared as heads disappeared behind cubicle walls. Someone dared to laugh at her mate. She growled. "We'll discuss this in your office."

"Yes." Oro bounced to his feet, his smile triumphant. "In my office." He swung her into his arms and Hailey squeaked, surprised by his enthusiasm. "I'll show you how much I need you, Hailey." He stalked back to the office. "You'll never doubt me again."

"Mr. Oro," Ember called out. "Vanna asked me to remind you about your deal. She's holding you to it."

"What deal is she talking about?" Hailey narrowed her eyes as Oro kicked the door closed behind them.

"That isn't important." He set her down on his chair, the black leather smelling of smoke and him. "The only thing that's important is you're here, with me."

He knelt before her and ran his hands over her legs, pushing her skirt upward. His hands were firm and warm. Tingles of awareness flowed over her bare skin.

"Oro." Hailey cupped his face, and their gazes met, his eyes darkened with raw, stark need and edged with a softer emotion she couldn't identify.

"Hailey." His lips covered hers, his kiss achingly gentle, almost reverent. He worshiped her flesh with lazy strokes of his tongue, and she opened to him. A rumble rolled up his chest as he surged into her with tongue and flames. Their heat rose and steam poured from their mouths.

"So beautiful." He scattered fervent kisses down her neck, and he pushed the blazer off her shoulders. "So fierce." Oro tugged her bustier down, freeing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "So fearless." He named those attributes as if they were desirable, and he blew fire on her exposed skin, scales covering her tightened nipples.

"Yes." She arched, offering her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to him.

He fastened his lips over her flesh and suckled, tugging, burning, tormenting her right nipple with stimulating pain and heart-stopping pleasure. She cried out his name and clasped his head to her bosom, holding him tightly to her.

His talons curved around her waist, clicking over her scale-covered spine, drawing her closer to him until his torso was wedged between her thighs, his toned stomach pressed against her mons.

Oro devoured her, bathing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s in flames, his tongue like molten metal, flicking over her nipple. With a mighty groan, he tore his mouth away from her right breast, licked the valley between her curves and showed the same devotion to its neglected twin.

"Oro." She ground her p.u.s.s.y against his hard muscles, the tips of her talons digging into his scalp, the scent of smoke and blood and arousal filling the room.

He slid his hands up her skirt, curled his fingers around the legs of her silk panties, and pulled them down, removing that barrier between them. She wiggled with excitement, lifting her hips, and he chuckled against her breast.

"Only I can make you crazy like this, Hailey." He cupped her mons with one of his big hands, his talons sliding under her a.s.s cheeks. "Only I can make you this hot." He stroked her. "This wet." He blew fire between her legs, and her p.u.s.s.y juices bubbled, evaporating with a hiss.

"Only you." Hailey writhed, hotter than she'd ever been yet not hot enough. She needed more. She needed him.

"You smell so good." His nostrils flared. "I have to taste you." He pushed his head between her spread thighs, his tongue scorching an erotic trail along her skin.

"Yes. Yes. Yes." Hailey held onto his shoulders, his big, wide, impossibly strong shoulders, and her body tensed, coiling, antic.i.p.ating his touch.

He slowly, leisurely exhaled. As his flames licked her skin, she screamed, her world fracturing into a million pieces, all of them golden, all of them resembling him.

Oro threw one of his large arms across her thighs and pressed down upon her as she bucked. He rode the motion of her hips, sucking up her juices, his lips soothing her heated flesh.

"Only you, Oro." Hailey trembled.

He swiped the flat of his tongue over her p.u.s.s.y and circled her c.l.i.t with the tip, prolonging her brain-numbing o.r.g.a.s.m. "Only I can give you that." He nibbled on her folds, his love bites sharp and arousing. "And I'll never let you go, Hailey. I'll follow you, fight for you, kill for you."

Would he? Hailey stared down at the golden head between her legs. She had heard how he had fought the older, larger Frey, trying to win Perla as a mate. No one had ever wanted her that much.

But no one had ever knelt before her, either, begging for a second chance. Hope unfurled inside her heart. Could he grow to care for her, perhaps even love her?

"Oro, I --"

"There's more, Hailey. I can do more." He lifted her a.s.s, the tips of his talons p.r.i.c.king her flesh. "Let me show you how good it can be." Oro applied his mouth to her p.u.s.s.y, feasting upon her, inhaling her moisture with gusty slurps.

She moaned, her easing pa.s.sions flaring back to life. He filled her entrance with his tongue, caressing her inner walls, draining all of the liquid from her. She clutched at him when he withdrew and pushed at his shoulders when her desire sharpened.

He pumped her, wielding his tongue like the softest, most agile c.o.c.k, his grip on her a.s.s thrillingly tight. She thrust upward, shamelessly riding his handsome face. The tip of his perfect nose b.u.mped against her c.l.i.t, rubbing that sensitive flesh, and she cried out, holding onto him, struggling for control. So close. So -- Oro sealed his lips around her entrance and he blew. A burning blaze of red-hot fire surged inside her p.u.s.s.y, scorching her from within, and Hailey shrieked his name, bursting into flames, her world consisting of heat and fire and Oro.

"You won't leave me, Hailey." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his cheek against her stomach. "You're my mate."

She didn't correct him because it was true. She was his mate.

Chapter Four.

"Shouldn't you be speaking to your beloved, rather than glowering at her?" Oro grumpily asked the vampire beside him. The store teemed with the usual a.s.sortment of late-night shoppers including werewolves, demons, and other paranormals preferring the dark.

"No. I believe I will continue to glower." Russ grinned, his good humor irritatingly not at all daunted by Oro's bad mood. "I'm told that's what vampires do." Redheaded and freckled, his friend didn't meet any of Vanna's undead expectations. "Shouldn't you be cuddling with other males' mates? I believe that wolf b.i.t.c.h over there is unavailable."

"You said you were okay with it." Oro gritted his teeth. He'd deprived himself of Hailey's hot body for four long days, and suffered through Vanna's cool human touch, and it had been for nothing. He'd had to beg Hailey to continue working as his a.s.sistant, tripling her and her friend's already outrageous salaries, and she still hadn't allowed him to f.u.c.k her in dragon form.

"Oh, I'm more than okay with it." Russ laughed. "I only wish I'd been there to see your girl's reaction. I bet she brought you to your knees."

She had brought him to his knees. Oro's lips twitched, his bad mood lessening. f.u.c.k. Hailey tasted like heaven. "Glowering requires being silent," he reminded Russ. His friend was the chattiest vampire he'd met. Oro suspected Russ's victims asked to be bitten to keep him from talking.

"You're right." Russ nodded at Vanna. "She tells me that too." Oro counted to five. "Not that I don't like your cheerful company, but shouldn't you be mixing with your customers?" his friend asked, breaking the fragile quiet.

"I should." But he wouldn't. Oro returned an approaching pint-sized fairy's smile with a frown, and she hurried in the other direction. He was in no mood to be social, his mate spending the evening with some mysterious friends.

When he had asked who those friends were, Hailey had told him it was none of his d.a.m.n business. Oro growled, curling his hands into fists. It was his d.a.m.n business. If one of those friends were male...

"Careful, friend." Russ b.u.mped his shoulder. "You're smoking."

h.e.l.l. So he was. Smoke swirled around his head. He needed to mate with her in dragon form, permanently bonding with her, before he went insane.

Because he would go insane if he lost her. There might be other female dragons, Oro having heard last night of a female landing on Staten Island, but there wasn't another Hailey.

"Mr. Oro." Vanna laid down the phone and hurried to his side, pointedly ignoring the smiling Russ. "Croix asks that we remain open for an additional hour tonight." A tremor of excitement ran through her normally flat voice, and her flat chest heaved. "He wishes to shop in privacy."

If he spent an additional hour at the store, Hailey would want to spend an additional hour with her so-called friends. "No."

"But... but... but..."

Oro narrowed his eyes at the woman's spluttering. Vanna knew better than to question him. Only Hailey had that right. d.a.m.n it.

"He's Croix, the rock star." Her voice lowered. "And he's a vampire." Russ snorted, and she glared at him, her dark eyes flashing. "Remember our deal, Mr. Oro."

Their d.a.m.n deal. Vanna helped him make Hailey jealous, and he'd introduce her to a real vampire. Oro glanced at Russ. His besotted friend's mouth hung open, revealing his fangs, his lips still for once in his long life. "I'll settle our deal right --"

Oro's temperature dropped, and he swayed, his legs threatening to buckle from under him. "She's left Manhattan." A rage tempered with terror flowed through him. His unmated female had left his territory. He strode to the back of the store, fighting the shift. She was in danger.

"But Croix!" Vanna followed him, her pale hands twisting.

Oro didn't care about Croix or the store or anything other than Hailey. She was his future, his reason for living. "Russ, you're in charge." The burly redhead grinned, and Vanna's mouth rounded into a circle, her expression horrified.

Oro would deal with the aftermath of his never-serious friend being in charge later. Right now, he had to retrieve his female.

His talons ripped through his dress shoes and fire licked around his lips as he blasted through the backrooms and into the freight elevator. He punched the b.u.t.ton for the penthouse floor, the number cracking in two under the force.

Too slow. Oro stared at the big red numbers, tapping his talons, struggling to hold onto his thundering inner beast. The elevator moved too slow.

Can't wait. Must shift.

Oro pummeled the doors with his scaled fists, driving a hole through the metal. Freed from the small confining s.p.a.ce, he shifted as he ran, his body ma.s.s increasing, wings sprouting from his back, his neck extending.

He flung his dragon body at the window, shattering the gla.s.s, and he fell, barreling toward the pavement, before catching an updraft with his spread wings. Hailey! he roared, spewing glamour-producing fire from his mouth, the flames concealing his large form from the humans below.

Oro beat his wings furiously, flying faster than he'd ever flown, weaving around buildings and ducking below power lines, following the scent of his female. He bellowed a threat as he left his territory, crossing into the Bronx. His rival had his mate, an unbearable situation. He roared with rage. If Frey touched Hailey, he would die.

Oro spotted their small human forms on the rooftop of The Lair, Frey's s.e.x club. Hailey and Perla sat close together, giggling and smiling as though dragons socializing outside of their home territories was normal, was right. Frey stood to the side, his feet braced apart, his arms crossed. His scarred face turned toward Oro as he neared.

"Fight me!" Oro roared his challenge. He would win this battle. He'd win Hailey.

"She is yours, fool!" Frey leaped off the rooftop, into the air, shifting as he fell. His clothing shredded, black scales covering his skin, wings protruding from his back.

Oro didn't believe him. How could he? Frey had seen Hailey. No dragon would let such a beautiful female go.

He hovered, waiting for his rival to approach him, unwilling to put Hailey in harm's way by attacking too close to the rooftop. The other dragon moved quickly, climbing into the sky, his wingspan greater than Oro's, his scales crisscrossed with scars from past battles. Frey was bigger and older, more experienced at fighting.

Oro roared, his scales rattling with impatience. He was younger and faster, and he would defeat his rival. He had to. He couldn't lose Hailey.

They circled, looking for weakness, shrieking threats and breathing fire. Oro's heart beat quickly, his body tensing with antic.i.p.ation. Remembering his previous mistakes, he controlled his urge to rush forward and rip at the black dragon with his teeth and talons.

Frey swooped in, and Oro turned, twisting his exposed neck out of reach. Talons clicked against talons. Frey's heavy tail smacked against Oro's chest, flinging him backward and knocking the wind from his lungs.