Taming the Dragon (Loved by the Dragon, #3) (8 page)

Chloe twisted in her seat to face her. One of her fair hands lowered to Marcy’s bare shoulder. “What did he say to you? Did he insult you again? I swear, I’ll find him and kick his ass myself if he—”

“He didn’t insult me personally, chica,” Marcy interrupted. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s very obvious he’s still the same jerk.”

“Okay.” Chloe sighed and settled back in her seat. The blonde didn’t bid again on the painting, and eventually the marvelous piece sold for a little over a million dollars.

A million dollars,
Marcy thought, awestruck.
My painting sold for a million dollars.
The bittersweet moment of watching her donated work sell for such an astronomical amount was spoiled by Teo’s changed personality. She had been a fool to trust him. Still, tears streamed down her cheeks until she and Chloe attempted to dab them away.

The next item went on the block, followed by another outside of Marcy’s range. Eventually, she raised her hand for a necklace once owned by Italian actress Sophia Loren but the price jumped above her budget within five bids.

“Do you want it?” Chloe whispered.

“Not enough to empty my entire savings account,” she replied.

One hundred thousand. Two hundred and fifty thousand.

Chloe raised her hand. A woman adorned in a fur stole shot them both a dirty look and raised her own bidding paddle. Jewels gleamed from her ears, wrists, and neck.

“Chloe, no.”

“You love her.” She raised her hand again. “We used to spend entire nights watching the same movies over and over during sleepovers.”

“Chloe, we were like twelve. I don’t love her enough to spend a half million dollars. I liked the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync, but I don’t see you buying me Lance Bass as my manservant. He’s probably cheaper than—”

“One million dollars. Do we have another bid from Mrs. Drakenstone?” the auctioneer asked.

Their wealthy opponent’s husband nudged his wife in the ribs and shook his head. She gave him an offended look in return, her mouth falling open.

“Guess they realized who they were up against.” Chloe raised her hand again.

“Sold, to the lovely Mrs. Drakenstone!”

“You can consider this your birthday present. I had a peek in advance at the auction list and phoned Saul about it a couple hours ago. It’s from both of us.”

Kekoa approached with a wrapped jewelry box. He bowed to the women, placed it in Chloe’s hands, and left after a polite greeting. Chloe passed the square box to her friend and kissed her cheek.

“Love you. Now let’s pluck some food from those little hors d'oeuvres trays the servers are carrying.”

Marcy clutched her new necklace close to her chest, still in a state of disbelief. Chloe had spent an exorbitant amount of money on her without batting an eye. “I can’t believe you did this.”

“Pfft.
I
can’t believe our time is over. This has been an awesome time, Marce. I’m glad you came with me.”

Sniffling, the Latina tried to fumble a cloth from her handbag to dab the tears from her cheeks. “Only you would make a million dollar purchase seem like buying a box of Skittles. I’m glad I came along, too. We need to do this again sometime, but uh, somewhere different.”

“Paris?” Chloe suggested.

“Forget Paris. Florence, Italy.”

Chloe’s grin widened. “You wanna go wine tasting.”

“That and I’m a sucker for a good pasta. You see these hips? They didn’t get this size on their own,” Marcy joked.

“So, we’ll do some research to see when the best time of the year is to visit Italy. We’ll make it another girls’ week out,” Chloe decided as they meandered toward a server. Once they helped themselves to the delicious, savory finger food, they continued on their rounds to hob nob.

“Saul wants me to pretend to like the people here. He encouraged a lot of film makers and studio execs to come for this, so I’m doing his work for him,” Chloe explained.

“How’s he holding up anyway since he’s without his favorite ladies?”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “He texts every night to say how much he misses us. Astrid is going to totally be a daddy’s girl when we return. I’ll cease to exist.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t have Mahasti take you back for a romp or two.”

Chloe shook her head. “You know what they say. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. We have a long time ahead of us.”

“Yeah. You do.”
And I’ll be gone.
The morose thought threatened to ruin her mood, so Marcy shook it away.

The remainder of the auction took less than an hour. Marcy had never seen so much money waved about in all her life. Their table companions from the first night, Archibald and Helena Galway, walked out with a Ming Dynasty ewer for nearly three million. Teo’s charity would be off to an amazing start. The two friends spent another hour mingling before they headed back to their suite, arms linked. Marcy had filled her tummy with fancy appetizers and had a pleasant buzz.

“They have the best chocolate martinis here,” Marcy mumbled as they kicked their strappy heels aside and flopped onto the sofa to rest. Her feet ached from the time spent socializing with wealthy business moguls, but she’d ended up passing out her business card to a few Los Angeles executives.

“Running my mouth so long exhausted me. I’m gonna crawl into bed next to Nuri and Astrid. Mahasti’s coming for us at 3 PM, so there’s time to hit any last minute attractions if we want.”

“I know, I know. I think I’m attraction’ed out though.”

Once Chloe had gone to bed, Marcy took her birthday gift to the mirror and opened the box. The necklace gleamed against her naturally bronzed skin tone, the brilliant ruby as lovely in person as it was in photos.

A folded piece of cream colored paper fell from the lid as she put it away.

Marcy,

I would like to meet you at the Surf N’ Turf Cafe at noon for lunch. If you choose not to come, I will understand, but I ask you to grant me this chance to make amends for my poor behavior.

Teo

Marcy wadded the paper and tossed it into the trash. A few minutes later, she fished it out the can and smoothed it flat again.

“Noon, huh?”

Would it hurt to hear him out? There was only one way to find out.

M
arcy lingered in the cafe’s doorway, half hidden behind a hibiscus tree. Everywhere she turned on the island there were flowers, whether planted in vibrant pots or growing wild. It was her favorite part of the resort.

The dragon sat alone at a table for two, his spine erect and features stern. He didn’t resemble the jovial figure who laughed and granted her a personal tour of the island’s untamed wilderness. The memory of their stroll through the floral growth gave Marcy cause to linger and observe him quietly.

She had yet to see Teo in anything unflattering. His casual khakis and unbuttoned powder blue shirt struck her as more laidback than the dragon they clothed. From afar, she admired the brown strip of skin between both halves of the open shirt, as well as the way shafts of yellow sun highlighted his high cheekbones. He appeared lost in his own world, gazing through the window with a concerned expression on his face.

“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked as she approached.

Teo rose smoothly from his seat. “You came.”

“You invited me,” Marcy countered.

Pulling out her chair like a proper gentleman, Teo ensured Marcy’s comfort before retaking his own seat. “Would you like something to eat? The scallops were pulled from the water this morning.”

“Teo. It’s a cafe. I came for coffee and a brief talk, not more rich people scallops.” Her belly rumbled a second later in defiance of her statement. “Okay... I’d like the scallops,” she recanted. They were as addictive as cocaine.

A crook of his finger summoned a waiter in an instant. Teo relayed the order for the both of them then dismissed the server.

“Okay so...”
Cut to the chase, girl,
Marcy chided herself. An afternoon of amazing, jaw-dropping sex didn’t mean anything. “Do you plan to tell me why I’m here?”

“I owe you an apology for my behavior. As I mentioned in the note, there is no excuse for how I spoke to you. I was angry, and the violation of my trust hindered my judgment. I ask you to forgive me,” Teo said.

“I... I guess if someone stole so much from me, I’d rant and rave a little too. But you were being an asshole before then,” Marcy pointed out.

“Yes. I was. I had many things in my thoughts. I am a quiet thinker, Marcy, and do not often voice what is on my mind.” He leaned forward and reached to take her hand across the table. His voice lowered, the next statement for her ears alone. “We dragons often take time to consider matters of extreme importance without realizing the world continues to move around us.”

“See, if you had said so from the beginning I would have at least had some warning.” His touch barely blunted her wariness, and through sheer will, Marcy kept her shields raised.

“I understand.”

She stared and waited, expecting some dismissive or haughty words to follow. When none came she cleared her throat and reached for a glass of water with her spare hand.

“Do you plan to tell me what took so much of your concentration that you couldn’t open your mouth to talk to me?” she ventured after the waitress delivered her meal.

“Yes. I pondered many things, including our existence together and whether you would allow me to pursue you. I asked myself if I wanted a human, and if I should invite you to stay with me,” Teo said.

“Stay with you where?” Marcy withdrew her hand. She spread a linen napkin over her lap then took a bite of her food.

“My home.”

“You want me to come to your private residence?” Mercy folded her arms and leveled her eyes at him in disbelief.

“Should that come as a surprise for you?” Teo’s bright green eyes mesmerized her, too brilliant a hue against his deeply tanned skin.

She bit her lip and considered her options. With Chloe planning to return home to her husband, Marcy had no reason to remain on the island. She folded her arms against her chest and gazed into the sunlit afternoon.

Temptation and the memory of his lips warred against the common sense telling Marcy to leave. A smarter woman would run away screaming and never return to the billionaire’s retreat. Or maybe, a smarter woman would investigate the matter to make an educated decision. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m ready to return to work. I’ve had a great two weeks here with Chloe.”

Teo raised both brows. “What matter of importance awaits you greater than my offer of hospitality?”

Marcy shook her head and rose from her seat. Her bouncy skirt shifted around her mid-thigh level, shorter than anything she’d ever worn besides a swimsuit. Chloe had talked her into the impulse buy from one of the resort’s shops, but the hope of Teo seeing her in it had prompted her to wear the sexy garment. Deep down, she’d hoped he would see her off.

“No, thanks. Your island is gorgeous, but I need to get back to my life at home. Goodbye, Teo. It’s been nice, and I’m glad I helped you out with your business matters.”

The dragon abruptly rose from his seat. “Please.”

Marcy paused mid-turn and glanced over her shoulder to him.

“Please, Marcy,” he said again. “Come back, enjoy your meal, and then stay with me.”

Something about his earnest expression gave her reason to stop, but most of all, he’d said the one word she had never heard from his lips. A word she doubted he spoke often at all to anyone.

“All right.”

***

“I
’m not going back with you to California.”

“You want Mahasti to drop you off at your apartment?” A line creased Chloe’s brow.

“No, I mean... I’m staying here for another week.”

“Oh! I’ll have VIP Services charge us for another week.”

Marcy nibbled her lower lip. Anxiety fluttered in her belly until she considered calling the entire thing off. For as long as she and Chloe had been best friends, they had shared everything with each other from first kisses to losing their virginity.

“I don’t need the room for a week. I’ll be at Teo’s house.”

“Why the hell would you want to stay at Teo’s place?”

Marcy cleared her throat and glanced back at the bed. Astrid lay sleeping with a peaceful expression on her youthful face. Her blonde curls fanned over the pillow and a couple tickled the darling child’s rosy cheeks.

“It’s a long story.”

“So summarize it and make it a short one,” Chloe encouraged her.

“I kind of had sex with him.”

Chloe took one look at her friend, resembling a deer caught in the headlights, then her eyes gradually slid toward her sleeping child. In the next second, she grabbed Marcy by the hand and dragged her into the next room of their suite. Anti-lock brakes wouldn’t have saved the Latina from the conversation looming ahead of them.

“What the hell happened? Were you drunk?”

“No... I... It just happened, all right.”

“Cocks don’t spontaneously just happen to be inside you. Come on. Dish.”

Marcy sighed. “It was phenomenal. I mean... I’m pretty sure it was the best sex I’ve ever had. Which kind of depresses me when I really think about it.”

Chloe stared. Her voice escaped in a harsh whisper. “You’ve lost your mind. What happened to him being a pompous asshole you wouldn’t piss on if he was on fire?”

“Pissing on him is definitely out of the question now,” Marcy stated dryly.

“Obviously. You’ve already rubbed your snatch on him instead.”

After the ludicrous statement fell from Chloe’s lips, the two women burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Marcy giggled until her belly ached. By the end, they were leaning against each other in a half embrace, the last of their snickers dwindling as they caught their breath.

“Oh, sweetie. Are you okay though? Did he bond you to him? You don’t smell any different to me.”

“Bond me? No. At least, I don’t think we’ve bonded. I remember how you described it, and I don’t feel as if I can’t be without him, that’s for sure. I’d go back with you to California at the drop of a hat, but I’m...”