Free Dragon's Lair by Denise Lynn Page A

door.
    His original plan had been for her to stay in the suite next to his. But he wasn’t about to leave her alone until she’d had enough rest to function normally.
    Since the key card to his door was in his jacket pocket, Braeden quietly ordered, “Open up.” He heard the latch click before the door silently swung open.
    Alexia jerked awake, struggling in his arms. “Put me down.”
    He tightened his hold and ignored her until reaching his bedroom.
    She took one look at his bed, gasped, then asked, “What are you doing?”
    â€œTaking you to bed.”
    â€œWe may still be married but—” Alexia pushed against his shoulder “—I am not sharing your bed.”
    â€œYou’re right.” He held her over the bed a moment and stared into her near-wild gaze before dropping her the short distance onto the mattress, then heading toward the door.
    Over his shoulder he said, “I’ll be sleeping on the sofa.” He didn’t bother to mention that it was the middle of the afternoon and he wouldn’t be sleeping anywhere for quite a while.
    He paused in the doorway. “There are T-shirts and sweats in the dresser—help yourself.” He hitched a thumb at the door on the far wall. “The shower is that way.”
    â€œBraeden?”
    He turned to look at her. “What?”
    Alexia frowned, looked away, then shook her head. “Never mind, it was nothing.”
    Her hair hung about her slumping shoulders in disarray. And her normally bright blue eyes were drained of their brilliance. She looked so damn weak that it was all he could do not to cross the room and gather her into his arms.
    He quickly reminded himself that she’d brought this current fear and confusion on herself. He wasn’t about to get so wrapped up in his attraction to her that he lost sight of the simple fact that because of her, good people had died. He didn’t trust her, especially not after that little game in the elevator, and he couldn’t let himself forget that, not even for a moment.
    Yet it was beneath him to torment someone who couldn’t fight back. “Alexia, that wasn’t my Phantom. Mine was delivered early this morning. Go to sleep.”
    Â 
    Nathan leaned against a tree and shivered from the cold damp of the mountain fog. He hated the damp. But he didn’t want to risk detection by the Dragon, so entering the Lair hadn’t been a consideration.
    Instead, he’d taken the form of an inconspicuous squirrel and hidden in this tree to watch events unfold against the face of a smooth-polished scrying mirror.
    Not only hadn’t the Dragon detected his presence outside the Lair or in Alexia’s mind, Drake had fallen prey to an uninitiate’s manipulation. A woman, no less.
    Amazing.
    But truly excellent for him.
    A cold breeze ruffled his fur, making him shiver again. Why anyone would want to build a resort in this godforsaken land was beyond his understanding. Why not someplace warm and sunny? Someplace with a beach and the pounding ocean.
    Although he had to admit, the rugged terrain and the forest provided excellent concealment.
    In truth, the climate didn’t matter in the least. Because if all went according to plan, Braeden Drake wouldn’t be opening his resort anytime soon—at least not in this lifetime. However, at the moment things were not exactly going according to his plan.
    Certain the Dragon was too engrossed with Alexia to sense him, Nathan morphed back into his normal form and dropped lightly to his feet at the base of the tree.
    What was he going to do with these two?
    He hadn’t thought for a moment that they’d fall into each other’s arms. In the past he’d put up too many roadblocks to keep them apart for that to happen.
    But he hadn’t expected quite this level of confusion, anger and mistrust. Nathan patted the box in the pocket of his cloak. “Damn you, Aelthed, for