Open Flame (Dragon's Fate) Read Online Free PDF Page B

moment he’d bitten her, his world had spun off its axis. Nausea thickened his tongue. Fate would decide. He never did anything careless, yet he could yield to the urge again. To bite her.
    He traced his lips with his tongue, and his fangs protruded from his gums. Indeed. His breath labored, and he swallowed hard. He needed to bite her again. The fire said so. Saliva flooded his mouth, and his jaw jittered.
    Knock knock knock.
    “Fina. It is Jonathan.”
    Madoc froze and twisted to stare at the plain wood door.
    They couldn’t stay here to be found by another.
    Daft. His wit had also fled when he’d brought her back to her room. But, he wanted her to be comfortable, surrounded by her things if she died. It was a dreary room. She deserved better than a grim place to die.
    She might not die.
    He needed to remove her from this place until he knew the outcome of his rash behavior.
    Knock knock.
    “Fina. The exhibit was splendid. I tried to find you there. Are you well?”
    Madoc continued to stare at the door. Jonathan’s footfalls did not sound. He had not left. Madoc didn’t know who Jonathan was, but he would not stay here to find out this day. He needed to get her out of this room with haste. Heat filled his body, and he slowed the ticks of the clock down and stopped time for Jonathan and any other humans beyond the door.
    He glanced around. A journal lay on the small stand by the door, and a muslin satchel next to that. He grasped the satchel, shoved the journal in and then pulled the two dresses he found from the closet and put them into the bag.
    Madoc spun back to the bed, slipped the handles of the satchel down his arm to his elbow and lifted Fina. Her slender frame hung limp in his arms.
    She didn’t wake. She didn’t make a sound.
    But her heart beat.
    This woman was special. Why else would the urge to bite her so overwhelm his senses?
    He had had one long-term companion in his life and had carnal pleasure with more than he could count in his five hundred years. Only one other time had he lost control and had the urge to bite. His chest tightened. Caroline had died in her sleep the night he bit her. Fina might still pass this day.
    He cradled her against his chest, inhaled the scent of vanilla and nutmeg once more and then placed a small kiss to her soft hair. He lingered there, his face caressed by the fine brown curls, the lovely warmth. He inhaled and wanted to stay just there forever. “Am I a monster for losing control this way?” he whispered into her hair. “I am just as the rest of my brothers. Zir.”
    He turned to the door and with his right hand rotated the knob. The door swung open.
    A young man with copper-red hair and green eyes, dressed in a gray suit, stood two feet from the door. A pinch was frozen between his eyebrows, and his lips tipped down in concern. He cared for Fina. Was he her brother? Or a person more dear?
    Questions didn’t matter. Maybe none of his thoughts did. He slipped past the young man and out into the hall, shutting the door behind him. He took the stairs down the three flights to the lobby. Heat filled his limbs, and he froze time for all in the hotel. He rushed past the café off the lobby and out into the busy street, letting time slip back into motion. The sunny day held no warmth, and the crisp air chilled his body.
    A good ten streets’ walk to his hotel. With a heavy heart and a dying woman in his arms—agony. He stumbled on, careful not to bump Fina into anyone they passed. Her satchel bit into his arm, and he pulled her closer. “Hold on, Fina. My hotel will bring you comfort.” His head ached and a pop of light flashed from the corner of his eyes.
    Startled, he stood in the elaborate lobby of De Louvery. How had that happened so quickly?
    A serving boy rushed up to him. “ Avez-vous besoin d’aide? ”
    Did Madoc need help? He carried a dying woman to his hotel room. A woman he’d killed. He needed to be locked up. “ Non, elle dort. S'il vous plaît