Iszak (The Dragon's Mate Book 2), page 5
It didn’t take long to get ready, and she waited for him to return with the shovel. She stepped out of the cabin to wait on the porch so she wouldn’t overheat inside with her heavy coat, scarf and gloves on. He walked around the corner of the cabin with the shovel in hand, and she was struck again by just how big he was. What would it be like to have those strong arms wrapped around her in a lover’s embrace?
She shoved the thought aside as she reached out for the shovel. It didn’t matter what it felt like, she was never going to feel it. He put the shovel in her hand but did not let it go.
“Are you sure you don’t want help?”
She looked up at him and the temptation he presented. She desperately wanted to say screw it, drag him back into the cabin and kiss and hold him until spring came.
“I’m sure. I just need some time alone to gather my thoughts.” She gave the shovel a gentle tug and he let it go.
“Don’t be out too long in this. You don’t need to freeze to clear your thoughts.” Her hair chose that moment to blow across her face, and he reached toward her as if to brush it away. She dodged his touch and took a step back. A speculative look crossed his face before it cleared.
“I’ll see you in a while.” She turned away and walked down the porch steps. What was wrong with her? All he was going to do was brush the hair from her face, and she was certain it was just a reflex on his part, and she had acted like an idiot. She needed to get control of herself before she made a complete fool of herself.
They had yet do do anything with the track leading to the road, and although the weather had warmed up a little compared to what it was yesterday, it hadn’t made a dent in the snow. Maybe she should have offered to shovel it in order to purge herself of the jumble of feelings that were bouncing around inside her. She didn’t think the drive was far enough away from him, and she stomped through the snow with renewed vigor.
She had dreams to fulfill and a man didn’t factor into it. Too much was going on right now, and she had to focus on the bigger prize in her life. She’d been dreaming of going to school for years and when she’d turned thirty a few months ago she’d decided that she couldn’t waste any more time waiting for her life to happen.
She wouldn't let her father dissuade her anymore. She was done with this dragon business as soon as she found some sort of answer about Kevin that would appease her father. She needed all her focus in order to do that, and Iszak was much too distracting.
She’d only been in his company for a couple of days and he was already worming into her conscious and subconscious mind. When she’d woken this morning all she could think about was him as the dreams she had of him played out in her mind. If he’d walked into the bedroom at that moment, she wouldn’t be at all surprised if she pushed him down on the bed and had her way with him, so strong was the desire those dreams had awoken in her.
Instead of thinking of having sex with him, she should be coming up with a game plan for how to get out of here. The storm had already wasted a few precious days, and she couldn’t let it eat up any more. She wanted this mission done and over with. She didn’t think the investigation was going to take very long.
She’d talk to Kevin’s acquaintances and find out what the deal was with him. It would take her less than a week to manage all that and then she’d be free. But she needed to get to Waldron Valley first, and to do that she had to get her car out of the ditch and on the road. Lusting after Iszak’s body wouldn’t accomplish that.
She walked out on the road and went toward her car. She’d been hoping that it wouldn’t be as bad as she remembered, but it was buried in at least a foot of snow, with its nose pointed down into the ditch. Even if she managed to dig the car out, how was she going to get it out of the ditch?
“One thing at a time.” She had to at least go through the motions of trying to get out of here. She might not be able to get everything accomplished all at once, but she could make a start.
With determined steps she walked toward the car. She took the first scoop of heavy snow and dumped it to the side. Already she felt more in control of her life. She was doing something concrete to get to the future she wanted. She’d get out of this, and she’d finish her obligation to her father and move on to fulfilling her dream. She just needed to take it one step at a time.
A smile played about Iszak’s mouth as he watched Julia trudge through the snow. He had a feeling that more was driving her to be alone than solely cabin fever. He turned around and went back into the cabin. Part one of his plan was coming together and now he needed to make sure that everything was in place to put phase two into motion.
He got his cell phone out, hoping that now that the weather had cleared he would be able to get a strong enough signal to get in touch with Rickman. Luck was with him and the call went through, with his minion promptly answering.
“Iszak, I’m so glad to hear from you. I’ve found the apartment you wanted me to find and it’s ready for you to move in any time you want. Andor isn’t too happy about it, and he’s been stomping around here. I think he’s a little insulted that you don’t want to stay at the house with him and Lyssa.”
“He’ll get over it.” It was painful for him to see how much in love his brother and Lyssa were. Before he’d come here to be alone, he’d asked Rickman to find him an apartment that he could stay in while he searched for a mate. His minion had come through sooner than he expected on that front, which meant that all was ready to nudge Julia in the direction he wanted her to go. “I need you to do something else for me. The snow is deep here and the road will need to be plowed. Do you know when that is going to be done?”
“It’s a private road, so I’ll arrange for someone to come out and plow it right away.”
“I won’t be ready to leave until tomorrow at the earliest. So make arrangements for tomorrow morning.” There was no way he was going to be able to keep Julia here tonight if the road was plowed today. She was already wound up enough to want to dig her car out of the ditch. She was almost close enough to be ready for the next phase of his plan, he just needed to nudge her in the right direction to get her past whatever was holding her back from him.
“I’ll come out and pick you up tomorrow.”
“I think I’ll have a ride out of here, so there is no need to bother with that. Just arrange for the road to be plowed and get the keys to the apartment to me.”
A long silence stretched out and for a second Iszak thought that the call had been dropped. He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it. The call was still connected. “Rickman, did you hear what I said?”
“I did, but I’m not sure how you managed to get a ride back to town from out there. I’ll make arrangements for the guys coming out to plow the road to bring you the keys to your apartment. Would you care to tell me what’s going on?”
“It’s nothing you need to worry about. Just make arrangements for the road and the keys.” Iszak hung up the call before Rickman could question him further. He had a plan but he certainly wasn’t going to tell Rickman about it. Telling his minion that he was going to bring home a dragon hunter in order to seduce her would not go over well. It would certainly get back to his brother, and Andor didn’t need to know what he was going to sacrifice in order to keep him safe.
He knew very well that he was playing with fire, considering her family lineage. It was the best plan that he could come up with, and if he was completely honest with himself it wouldn’t be a hardship to get close to her. He was wildly attracted to her, he would just have to be careful that he didn’t get in too deep and end up falling for her.
There was little chance that would happen. There was no way she was the one who could break his curse, since he would have to reveal his true nature to her in order for that to happen. Imagine that scene. By the way, Julia, I’m a dragon under a curse. Want to be my mate for life? That was a good way to get a crossbow bolt through his heart.
One thing he was certain of, he could not let her find out what his brother did to Kevin. He had to keep her close. To accomplish that he would offer her a place to stay in Waldron Valley. She was under a deadline, so she wouldn’t be in town for long before she had to go back home. He was sure that all she needed to do was talk to the police to find out that Kevin had been out on bail when he’d gone missing.
The assumption was there, one he could steer her toward, that Kevin had skipped out on his bail and didn’t want to be found lest he got sent back to jail. If he was careful enough to hide his true nature, the Julia problem would be solved soon enough. He just needed to remember that no matter how beautiful she was, she was a dragon hunter. If she learned what he was, either she would kill him or her father would.
It was worth the risk. He would do anything for his brothers and if the plan kept Andor and Lyssa safe, he would give up his chance for a mate to accomplish it. With any luck it wouldn’t come to that, because once Julia was safely dealt with, he could begin his search for a mate in earnest.
He set his phone aside and looked at the clock. Julia had been outside long enough to realize that she wasn’t going to be going anywhere today. With any luck the weather would be on his side and he could keep her here just a little longer.
He walked toward the back door and got ready to go outside, but didn’t bother to put his hat on. He wouldn’t be out there long enough to bother with it. It would take no time to persuade Julia to come back inside.
The walk down the path to the road took longer than he’d expected in the heavy snow. There was a slim chance that Julia had been able to get her car out of the ditch, but if the lane to the road was this bad, there was no way the car was going anywhere. The snow had bought him an extra day with her and he was going to make the most of it.
The snow packed down under his feet as he walked up to her, and she turned to look at him. Her face was pink, whether from cold or exertion he didn’t know. Probably both. There was a sheen of sweat on her forehead that told him she’d been at this long enough. It was time for her to go inside.
“This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Thank goodness you followed me out here. You can help me get the car out.” She smiled brightly at him, and if he hadn’t already decided that he needed to keep her here, he might have helped her. If only for the sake of seeing that smile stay on her face.
“I think you’ve done enough for one day. You must be tired by now. The car isn’t going anywhere today. Even if it was, the road is impassible.” He took the shovel from her and held his hand out to her. She looked down at it, then back up at him in surprise.
“You aren’t going to help me?”
“It’s time to go inside, Julia.” Surely she could see that the effort she was expending hadn’t made a difference in getting her car out of the ditch.
“I don’t want to wait. I have to get to Waldron Valley and I’ve already lost two days.” She crossed her arms over her chest and he blew out his breath. This wasn’t going at all like he planned.
“Well unless you intend to fly out of here, you aren’t going anywhere today. I’m sorry, but even you can’t control the weather.” She was still frowning at him, and he figured the only way she was going to move was if he refused to engage in an argument with her. She was a smart woman, she would see there was no point to this. “I’ll have something warm for you to eat and drink when you decide to come back inside.”
He turned and walked down the road, still holding the shovel.
“Wait. Aren’t you going to leave the shovel with me? I’m not finished with it.”
A smile played on Iszak’s lips as he continued down the road. He had no intention of giving the shovel to her and she would soon follow him back to the cabin once she realized just how futile her mission was.
5
What just happened? Julia watched Iszak walk down the road with the shovel in hand and resentment burned in the pit of her stomach. How dare he come along and decide that she was done trying to get out of here. If this was his notion of seducing her, it was a failure.
It was probably a foolish though on her part anyway, since if he was out to seduce her, he should be doing everything he could to make her happy, and what would make her happy right now was getting her damn car out of the ditch. She looked at the vehicle in question with a twist of her mouth. The stupid thing was in there so deep that it was going to take more than a shovel to get it out, but at least she was trying to get out of here.
She looked at the heap of snow on the car, and a notion came in to her head, like a devil on her shoulder prodding her into mischief. She scooped a handful of snow from the top of the car and formed it into a ball. The snow was heavy and perfect for making a snow ball. She turned to face his retreating back, cocked her arm back and fired. She was nothing if not accurate, since she’d played softball from when she was a kid until her late teens. The ball sailed through the air in a perfect arc, and hit its target with a splat. The center of Iszak’s back was covered in a spray of snow, and as soon as the ball made contact he stopped in the middle of the road.
Giddy nervousness took over her body and she scooped up more snow in her hand and quickly formed another ball as he slowly turned to look at her. She licked her lips as she studied his face to see what his reaction was to her opening shot. He didn’t appear to be angry, just puzzled as he looked at her with the shovel still held in his hand. The sight of it reminded her of why she’d thrown the snowball in the first place, and she kept the new ball in her hand just out of his view.
“Did you throw a snowball at me?” He looked at her like she was a creature he’d never encountered before, and she decided in that moment that Iszak took himself way too seriously and needed to lighten up.
“I did. What are you going to do about it?” She smirked at him, hoping to entice him to play along. A tension had developed between them since they’d declared their truce with each other, and all she knew was that it needed a release before it developed into something else entirely.
“I’m not a child to play games. It’s cold out here and the cabin is nice and warm. I suggest we both go back and get out of the snow.” Refusing to play along with her was his first mistake, and turning his back on her to go back to the cabin was his second. He definitely took himself too seriously.
She threw the second snowball and it hit him in the exact same spot as the first one had. She let out a crow of laughter as she scooped more snow into her hand. He turned back to her again, with a scowl on his face.
“Enough nonsense. It’s time to go in where it’s warm.”
She wasn’t nearly cold enough yet, and she was starting to have fun, so there was no way she was going to go back to the cabin yet. The third snowball was in her hand and she drew her arm back and held it in the air. His eyes darted to it, and she wondered for a moment what he would do. Would he charge at her? Grab her?
She found the notion of his retaliation arousing but it didn’t make her lower her arm.
“I’m warning you, Julia. You aren’t going to like the consequences if you throw that.” His scowl deepened and it did nothing to deter her. She could see quite clearly that despite his protests that he wasn’t a child, he needed to play. She was just going to have to force him to do it.
Splat. The snowball hit him in the center of his chest and he looked down at the spread of snow on his coat then back up to her. He narrowed his eyes as he threw the shovel aside. There was an intent gleam in his eyes as he bent to scoop up snow in his hand. Excitement raced through Julia as she turned to move behind the back of the car to gain some protection. She’d almost made it to the other side when the ball he’d made sailed past her ear and she gave a derisive laugh.
“You’ll have to do a lot better than that if you want to win this.” She was all the way on the other side of the car and she crouched down beside it, furiously scooping up snow and forming it into a ball. When she felt the time was right she popped up to lob the ball at him. He must have been waiting for her to appear because he threw another snowball and this one hit her in the shoulder.
She gave another laugh as she ducked back down, and the sound of his laughter carried to her on the wind as he joined her in their shared mirth. It felt good to act like a kid, and as she scooped up more snow, she realized that she hadn’t done anything for the sheer fun of it for quite a long time. Perhaps it was the same for him. This was something they both needed, and she popped up again to throw another ball and didn’t see him anywhere. Where had he gone?
A ball of snow came sailing at her from the trees to her right, and hit her in the arm. She threw the ball she held but the only thing she managed to hit was a tree and his deep booming laugh floated to her from the direction he was hiding. A smile pulled at her mouth as she ducked down and scooped more snow in her hand. It would be impossible to hit him unless she lured him out in the open. A spark of a plan formed in her head. There was a way to lure him out, but it would be playing dirty.
She popped back up, and as she predicted, he lobbed another ball at her. Luck was with her because it sailed toward her face and she quickly raised her free hand to block it. In a swift movement that would not be seen from the trees, she moved her head slightly so that as the snowball exploded against her hand it looked like she’d been hit in the face. She let out a cry and slumped toward the car, holding her cheek as if hurt. Now all she had to do was wait to see if he would take the bait.
As she suspected, as soon as it appeared that she’d been hurt, he came out of the trees with a concerned look on his face.
“Julia? Are you hurt?” He strode toward her and through her fingers she could see his brows draw together as he got closer.
It didn’t appear that he suspected that this was anything other than what it appeared to be and she took that moment to strike. With a taunting laugh she hurled the snowball she had prepared but he saw it coming. He dodged his head to the left but not quite far enough and the snow splatted in his ear. He stopped mid-stride and scooped snow from it. He flicked his hand and flung the snow down to the ground as he strode toward her with purpose.
