Page 6 of Seducing the Dragon (Stonefire British Dragons #2)

Evie touched his arm and he looked back into her eyes as she said, “You truly feel sorry for Caitriona’s death, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes searched his for a few more seconds before she nodded. “I believe you. I’ll tell you the truth.”

Her acceptance made his dragon hum.

For a second, he stared down at the beautiful redhead standing before him and savored the feel of her hand on his arm. The urge to haul her against him and kiss her was overwhelming, but there were a million reasons why he couldn’t.

Still, his voice was husky when he said, “So tell me how seducing me was supposed to help you?”

Licking her lips, her grip tightened on his arm before she said, “I was hoping that if you slept with me, I might be able to convince you to let me stay here. Sex was only part of my plan; I was hoping to make you care for me too, especially since one of the former DDA inspectors let slip that you can’t have children and thus can’t have a sacrifice. ”

As the words left Evie’s mouth, she instantly felt equal parts daft and callous. She’d just admitted to using something extremely personal against Bram. Why, oh why, had she told him that part? Preying on his infertility would most assuredly sting his dragon-shifter ego.

Yet rather than shout or go mental like Skyhunter’s leader most assuredly would’ve done, Bram merely stared at her in silence.

Okay, she’d admit that his cool, blue-eyed gaze was prodding her to fidget, but she wouldn’t do it. She needed to be strong and plead her case. Evie refused to think of what would happen if she failed.

Bram took a step back, forcing her to release her grip on his arm. Her stomach flipped as her heart rate kicked up. Was the distance a sign that he was going to dismiss her?

When Bram finally spoke, his voice was low. “I don’t know how any of you lot found out about that, but it’s clearly my business and mine alone. Tricking me into helping you is also not the way to garner my help.”

Since he hadn’t outright dismissed her yet, she risked a question. “So, does that mean you’ll help me?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. But to even consider it, you’re going to do something for me without putting up any fight.”

Uh oh. She didn’t like the sound of that. “What, exactly, am I supposed to do?”

Pointing to the couch, he said, “Sit down and wait there.”

In normal situations, she would balk at following an order such as that one, but this wasn’t just any situation. These next few minutes would determine her future, so she sat down.

Nodding, Bram headed toward his desk and fished something out of one of the drawers.

When he stood up, he had a laptop in his hand.

He waved it as he said, “While I go question the dragon hunter, you’re going to type out everything you can think of related to the Carlisle hunters, the assassination of DDA inspectors, and what else you know about me and my clan. ”

So far, so good. “Okay, so if I do all of that, you’ll let me stay?”

“I never said that. First, you’re going to work on giving me a reason to need you. After all, if you stay on my land and aren’t a DDA employee or a sacrifice, then I’ll be breaking your British human law. You’d better have some bloody good information for me to try and fight that.”

Before she could stop herself, Evie blurted out, “But I discovered a loophole for that.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what would that be?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Lass, I already don’t like this. Just tell me what you’ve found or you’ll lose any chance of me helping you.”

She absolutely hated that Bram held all the cards. Still, giving in to someone was better than ending up dead.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “While buried deep into one of the bylaws, there is a clause that legally allows a human to mate a dragon-shifter without being a sacrifice first, provided the dragon-shifter in question is a clan leader.”

“Since when? Your government does everything it can to dissuade human-dragon-shifter interactions outside the sacrifice system.”

“Yes, but all of their ads and talks are very careful not to mention it’s illegal for all dragon-shifters.

They use intimidating language and propaganda, and of course people assume it’s illegal because of those messages.

But when the sacrifice system was set up in the late 1980s, the British government was careful to keep the old law concerning marriages between clan leaders and humans intact just in case things devolved.

After all, the old law was used in the distant past to help keep peace between human lords and dragon-shifter leaders. ”

If she’d surprised Bram with her words, he didn’t show it.

“And how, exactly, do you know about this?”

She shrugged. “I have a friend obsessed with everything to do with the dragon-shifters. I reckon she knows more than just about any other human in the world. Well, at least those not living with the dragon-shifters.”

Evie left out the part about how she’d been just as obsessed as her friend until she’d joined the DDA. Working for the DDA had killed any romantic notions she’d had of a dragonman sweeping her off her feet.

Bram frowned. “Right, and I’m supposed to mate you and feel grateful since I can’t have a sacrifice myself?

Or because I can’t take a dragon-shifter mate without ruining my clan’s future of independence?

” He shook his head. “I don’t know how you humans view marriage, but we dragon-shifters take mating seriously. ”

Evie felt her future begin to slip from her fingers. If she didn’t say or do something, she’d lose her chance. Bram was by far the most understanding dragon-shifter clan leader in the UK.

Standing up, she took a few steps toward Bram to test out the waters, but he didn’t retreat.

After taking a few more, she looked up into his eyes and said, “I’ll admit that when I first came up with my plan, I didn’t take your needs or wants into account.

I researched how best to seduce a man, and was going to try everything on that list to snare you, but I never expected for there to be this overwhelming attraction between us. ”

For just a second, his stern facade slipped and Evie pounced.

“Before you try to deny it, kiss me. Just once. If you can pull yourself away and claim there’s nothing there, then I’ll leave and see if I can make it to America to seek out the number two most likely candidate on my list. Sure, the dragon hunters will probably find me first, but I’ll do anything it takes to try to live.

I’m not about to let the bastards kill me without a fight. ”

As Bram remained silent, her palms began to sweat.

She’d just put all of her cards on the table.

If this didn’t work, she’d have to attempt to not only evade the dragon hunters probably waiting outside Stonefire’s gates for her, but she’d have to find a way to America to try and seduce another clan leader.

Of course, that plan had been easier to accept in the abstract. Now she’d met Bram, she didn’t think she’d ever forget him. No man’s touch had ever set her body on fire before, and she wasn’t daft enough to think the touch of the next dragon-shifter leader on her list would be able to do it too.

Bram was her best chance at safety, yes, but she also wanted to know what it’d feel like to be kissed by the dragonman standing in front of her.