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TWENTY

Blaze turned to Eden, his eyes wide and full of fire, and then he crushed his lips against hers. As his tongue seared hers, she let out a small moan of longing.

His hands slid into her hair. But if his hands were on her, how was he holding up the sheet? Kissing a naked man...dragon...whatever he was...should have freaked her out, but all she wanted to do was keep kissing him. Maybe even more...

She tasted blood, salt burning her tongue. Oh shit...she'd kissed him so hard, she'd bitten him.

"I'm so sorry," she babbled. "I don't know what came over me. I just...it must have been all the champagne. I didn't mean to." Yet the crazy thing was, she wanted to do it again. What was wrong with her tonight?

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, where Eden could definitely see a streak of blood, Blaze backed away from her. "Someone's coming," he said in a low voice.

Eden's eyes widened. "You mean you're not my Prince Charming? The guy who lured me up here?"

"Of course not. I don't trap women in towers. Especially not in Tremotino's house. In fact, I'm sure the tower is off limits to guests, so you wouldn't be here if he didn't want you to be. If anyone lured you here, it would be him. In fact, I'm surprised he didn't drug your drink, too, while he was at it." Blaze reached for the champagne glass and sniffed. "Yep, enough to down an elephant...if you weren't part shifter. This proves you must have shifter ancestry. If you didn't, you'd have passed out on the bed by now, helpless to resist him and whatever he wants from you." Blaze looked thoughtful. "Actually, that's exactly what you should do. Lie down on the bed and pretend to be passed out. I'll hide behind the door, so when he comes in, I'll grab him, and together we'll interrogate him to find out where Diana is."

This was crazy. Lying down on a bed with her eyes closed while a strange man she barely knew entered the room, expecting another strange man she didn't know much better to protect her?

He was Diana's brother, and a dragon. He was more than a match for any man.

Maybe he was a mind reader, too, as he said, "I promise no harm will come to you. I'll protect you."

More than ever, Eden wished Diana were here, to tell her whether her brother could be trusted or if he was the kind of arsehole she should avoid.

Never mind that she wanted to get naked with him, and had been ready to get into bed with him before they'd been rudely interrupted by footsteps on the stairs.

"You'd better," she hissed as she climbed onto the bed, then stretched out in the centre. Any man who wanted to touch her would have to climb across an expanse of mattress to get to her. It would give her a few seconds' warning, if Blaze didn't keep his promise.

Scraping sounds at the door echoed through the tower room, as Eden held her breath. Then the lock clicked, and the door creaked open.