Hmph. Stonefire’s reputation about being friendlier with humans than Skyhunter wasn’t looking good so far. She bloody well hoped Bram was nicer than Skyhunter’s leader, Marcus, or she would most definitely have her work cut out for her.
Since Dacian was already several feet ahead of her, Evie tried her best to both walk quickly and sway her hips in what she hoped was a seductive manner. Her two-inch heels were less than ideal for a lengthy walk to the main living area, but first impressions were important. She would gladly risk sore feet if it meant Stonefire’s leader would take notice of her.
Of course, her feet were the least of her problems. Evie had sacrificed a social life, hobbies, and even love to earn a place with the DDA, but those sacrifices now paled in comparison to the task that lay before her. In order to stay alive, she would have to give up not only her body, but also her freedom and her future.
~~~
Bram Moore-Llewellyn attempted to sign his name on the last bit of paperwork for the DDA inspection when he heard a “whoosh” followed by a little baby hand slapping against his desk. With a sigh, he tossed his pen aside and turned wee baby Murray around in his lap before raising him to eye level. “What did we say about knocking papers off the desk?”
Murray looked at him with wide eyes and drooled.
Bram chuckled. “Right, I know you’re bored, but the inspector should be here any time now and she needs to see you’re doing well.”
The baby waved his hands around and started to squirm, clearly not caring about any DDA inspection. Bram lifted the boy above his head and said, “Just another half hour or so, lad, and I’ll drop you off at my brother’s house where you can play with my niece. You like Ava, remember?”
Murray made some incomprehensible baby noises and Bram took that as a yes. He lowered Murray down and cuddled him against his chest. His inner dragon pushed to the front of his mind and said, We should keep this young. He is ours.
He wanted to agree with his dragon, especially since Bram’s chances of having children were less than one percent because of infertility issues, but it wasn’t what was best for the lad. He deserves someone with time to take care of him. We are too busy.
His dragon huffed and Bram resisted a sigh. He’d been having this inner argument for months now. Taking care of a clan with nearly three hundred dragon-shifters was enough of a challenge, but it became infinitely harder to manage his people when his dragon became grumpy and uncooperative.
So much for Bram being bloody good at controlling his beast.
There was a knock on the door and Bram looked down at Murray. “All right, lad, I bet that’s the inspector. Be on your best behavior, okay?”
While all the boy did was blink as he gnawed on his fist, Bram hoped the undertone of dominance in his voice would do the baby some good. Like most young, Murray had good days and bad.
Bram hoped today was one of the good ones or no doubt the inspector would make his life hell. Hate was too tame a word for what Bram felt about being beholden to the British government for his clan’s survival.
He reached the door and opened it to find one of his guards, Dacian, filling his front stoop. Bram nodded to signal all was well, and Dacian stepped aside. His actions revealed a red-haired human female wearing a light blue blouse that hugged her small breasts, and her wide hips were encased in a black form-fitting skirt. Her dark blue eyes reminded him of the Irish Sea.
As she glanced between him and the baby, surprise flickered and Bram fought a smile. According to his contacts, this woman had been dealing with Marcus, Skyhunter’s bastard leader, for years and would never expect a clan leader to answer a door with a baby in his arms.
However, the surprise in her eyes was gone in an instant, replaced with a smile and a look of heat that took both the man and the dragon by surprise. Even his cock twitched at the fiery look.
The redheaded female gave him a slow once over and he came back to his senses. Sure, she was pretty and plump with striking dark blue eyes, but he didn’t need this right now. Between selecting a male from his clan to breed with the next human female sacrifice and doubling his clan’s efforts against the recent spate of dragon hunter attacks, he didn’t have time to bat off a female’s attentions. When Bram wanted sex, he found it. He didn’t need a mate.
His inner beast growled. Liar.
Ignoring his dragon, Bram shuttered his face, hugged Murray closer to his chest, and motioned with his head. His voice was full of dominance when he said, “I have the necessary paperwork inside. Follow me.”
He turned without another word. The sooner he finished this interview, the sooner the DDA inspector could leave and become some other male’s problem.
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Want to read the rest? Seducing the Dragon: Boxed is now available on all major online retailers.
Check out an excerpt from Reclaiming the Wolf (Cascade Shifters #1):
Chapter One
Cascade Mountains, Eleven Years Ago