7

Sarah woke up on Saturday feeling pleasant. The incident of last night was forgotten but one memory remained.

Ace.

Her hand still tingled. It wasn't an unpleasant tingling sensation, it was mild but it itched. When she woke up from a passionate dream where all her wildest fantasies were coming true with Ace who she barely even knew she felt the itch. No matter how much she scratched it the itching remained until she ran into the bathroom to examine it, there she found nothing but as sudden as it started the itch subsided to a mild tingle.

She rubbed her hands against her jeans. He was sexy, her imaginations are wild. He barely even knew her and she barely knew him yet yesterday touching him felt perfect, it felt complete. For reasons she could not explain it felt like she had known him forever.

And he has jumped to her rescue even without knowing her. She sighed and nearly jumped out of her skin when her phone rang. It was Samantha.

"Hey."

"Hey kiddo, you sound disappointed."

Sarah laughed. "No, I just wasn't expecting any calls."

"Are you sure?" Sam drawled. "Jack told me about that hottie from yesterday. He saved your weak ass."

"Well, he helped me because I tried hooking up with a drunk dude, and whose fault is it that that happened?"

"Hey don't blame me, I only said go out and have fun I never said anything about hooking up with idiots. But look on the bright side, darling, you got to meet someone. Did you get his number?"

"Would you be mad if I said no?"

"Absolutely."

"Then yes I got his number." She opened the fridge and reached for some eggs.

"Come on, Sarah," Sam sounded exasperated, "you're not a baby anymore. I know you are dad's baby and you have been sheltered all your life but this is modern society, you can make the first move you know? Do you think Jack knows him? I'm pretty sure you made an impression on him for him to come running to rescue you."

"Or he's just a good guy helping a damsel in distress."

"I'll hardly call you a damsel in distress. A damsel yes, distress…"

A knock at her door distracted Sarah from what her sister was saying. It sounded hesitant. Then it came again, louder this time.

"Sam hang on there's someone at my door."

Crossing the white carpeted floor she got to the front door. "Who's there?"

At first, there was no response then a deep voice said firmly and almost hesitantly. "Ace."

Her heart leaped in her chest. She almost lost her grip on her phone.

"Are you there, Sarah? Who's there?"

"Um…" she was stuttering again. She cleared her throat. How did he find her? That thought was suddenly pushed away by the realization that her hand shook and she was eager to see him again. "Sam, can I call you later?"

"Is that him?!" Sam asked excitedly.

But she already dropped her phone and was pulling the door open. There he was tall, handsome, and mysterious as ever in a plain black shirt and jeans. His dark hair was unruly increasing her excitement.

"Hi."

"Uh hi," he responded looking up and down the hall. "I uh got your address from your friend last night. I just wanted to make you're okay."

Her heart was thudding heavily in her chest. She made a mental note to give Jack a big kiss, after squeezing his throat for easily giving out her address with her knowledge.

"Yeah sure. I am. Thanks for last night."

"Yeah. Uhm can I come in?"

"Oh my God yes, sorry." She stepped back to let him in. Her apartment suddenly looked small as his huge frame came through the door. He brought the smell of leather and male. She couldn't help but stare at his broad back as he walked to the center of her living room looking around. At least he wasn't as awkward as she was, he looked more like he was looking for something or observing her apartment.

"Nice place."

"Thanks."

"I wouldn't expect less for the daughter of Dragenar. Very private."

When her eyebrows shut up he laughed. "I did some research. Also, your friend Jack talks a lot. Turns out there's one more Dragenar child no one knows about. You."

She smiled hugging her arms to her chest. "Yeah, my dad is particular about keeping me away for my own good I guess."

Ace searched his head in frustration for something, anything that would give him a clue about what was going on in her head. Did she know he was her mate? She wasn't saying anything about mating or dragons or the ritual that would bind them as one. After Emily left his apartment he couldn't focus on anything else but her. She was his mate after all and as mates, it was only expected that fate pulls them together even more.

Her apartment was simple, tastefully done, and expensive but simple. The only thing that gave him an insight into her life was the huge volumes of Sunny Island's encyclopedia and the glasses on one of them. Not even her talkative friend Jack or his more reserved twin Brent knew anything important about her. Not that he was expecting her to tell humans she was the daughter of the Drakai Protector. They would probably lock her up in an asylum if she did.

She noticed his gaze and hurried to pick up the books. "I'm sorry, I get carried away reading these."

"Oh no, I love those too. I mean it was obvious from your response in Mrs. Klavan's class. Although I'm not much of an expert on the subject, in fact, I think I could use some help since I'm barely getting by with my grades."

"Oh well…I'm not much of an expert too. I guess I'm just an enthusiast."

"Oh. Is that why you're among those that doubt the existence of dragons?"

Warming up to the subject Sarah laughed. "Dragons are fantasies, myths. Those are stories people tell to children to keep them entertained."

Ace was watching her closely. Was she being real or was she trying to hide her true identity? He couldn't tell but one thing he knew was she was distracting him to the point where he had to consciously remind himself why he was in her apartment. She was tall with an exotic beauty about her, her warm eyes were bordered with long lashes. He has seen Edgar Dragenar before in the papers and the man was sinfully attractive but his daughter was even better looking. She had a full figure that tempted him until he thought he would go mad. But she didn't seem aware of her charms. She talked on about the folly of believing in dragons and the more she talked the more he found himself drawn by her.

This is dangerous, he told himself yet he stood watching her.

Sarah caught herself talking and suddenly turned shy again. "Oh my God look at me go on and on about dragons. I was about to make breakfast, do you care for eggs and toast?"

He wasn't hungry for food. His cock was straining to claim her. But he nodded anyway.

She walked to the kitchen glancing at him with a shy smile as she walked. He went with her but stopped at the threshold of the kitchen. So far so good there wasn't anything in her apartment to indicate that Lance had been in there or that he was anywhere around her. He could calm down. For now.

Sarah was very much aware of his presence, she felt nervous. She had had men in her apartment before but none of them made her this nervous. His eyes were watchful.

"So what make you believe in dragons?" she asked hoping to distract him from staring too intently.

Because you are one and so am I. Oh, we also happen to be mates.

"Because the foundations of the Islands are built on the remnants of dragons from the old world."

She laughed. He smiled. She was so beautiful and with every passing second, he wanted to tell her so.

"Is that what the children's books say now?"

He took a step into the kitchen. "Well yes, also it's something some historians have always argued about and I believe them. What makes you so adamant that they don't exist?"

"Because my father says so."

It all made sense suddenly. Of course, Edgar would try to hide her identity from her. It was probably why few people knew she existed. It also explained why she lived so far from him. He was with trying to protect her identity or being an idiot by leaving her exposed to his enemies. He probably even locked her powers too.

"It's one of the reasons he thinks I shouldn't study Archeology. But you can tell me about dragons, Ace since you know so much about them. What do dragons love."

"Meat. And sex."

Her eyes widened and she chuckled. "And how do they do that? They mount in the air or something?"

He was almost beside her now. She was scraping the eggs off the pan into plates.

"Rumor has it that they transform into humans, that way it's more pleasurable for them. And they get to try different positions."

She was blushing furiously and hiding her face with her full, curly, dark hair. Ace smiled. He was enjoying the conversation even more now.

"You should watch them sometime. I hear they go pretty wild at it too."

Her fork slipped from her hand when she tried to drop it on his plate with unsteady fingers.

"Now you are bullshitting," She laughed nervously and bent to pick it up at the same time he did and their hands touched.

The charge went through him with greater force than it did her, nearly knocking him off his feet. His body reacted quickly and that urge to protect her came again with full force. Her brown eyes were wide and pleading for him to come closer and he was fast falling to his doom.

She recovered first laughing again as she grabbed the fork out of his hand and rose to her feet.

"Uhm…"

"Sarah…"

"About last night…I'm really grateful you came to help. I wanted to thank you before I left…"

She was nervous and she ranted a lot when she was nervous.

Unable to help himself he stood up and moved closer to cup her face with one hand. She released a sigh and closed her eyes. His heart lurched in his chest.

"Did he hurt you?"

"No no, he didn't. If you hadn't been there though…thank you. You helped me even though you barely knew me."

On the contrary.

"It's my pleasure. It's not every time I get to play knight to the lady in distress."

She opened her eyes. He was so close she could see the flecks of gold in his dark eyes. His eyes were simultaneously soft and heated. His thumb caressed her cheek gently. Sarah held her breath. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted him to kiss her badly. His lips were moist and parted, his breath fell on her cheek. She swallowed, licking her lips nervously.

"I barely even know you," she whispered. The eggs sat abandoned on the countertop. "But I feel I've known you all my life."

Ace tried to swallow past the lump in his throat.

She licked her lips again and leaned closer. He accepted the invitation and leaned in only to pull back and groan when his phone rang cutting through the tension in the air. Sarah jumped back blinking rapidly as her senses came back to her.

Ace cursed under his breath. A second more and he would have kissed her. Fighting the urge to punch through a wall he pulled out his phone and froze when he saw the caller ID.

Attor.

He turned back to Sarah who was now digging into her eggs avoiding his gaze as best as she could.

"Uh, I have to go now. I'm so sorry. I would love to stay and talk more about dragons over eggs but this just came suddenly."

"Oh no, it's fine," she assured him.

He stood awkwardly away from her. "So um…I'll call or text. I'm sorry your friend gave me your number."

"Oh yeah, sure."

Against the warning bells in his head, he wanted to stay yet his duty was to his father and their clan. What just happened with Sarah Dragenar was a moment of weakness. With that resolve, he steeled his heart against her and said goodbye before leaving her apartment and the temptation she offered.