Page 35 of Knight of the Sword

She looked up from filing her nails. “He should be coming around soon. I didn’t drug him too much.”

Balor smiled and turned his attention again to Caldwell, still passed out. “I grow weary of waiting.” He gestured to one of the two body-builders he’d recruited from a bar. “Throw some water on him.”

Caldwell sputtered as the bucket of cold water sloshed over him, and he tried to sit up. He fell back, unbalanced, since his hands were bound behind him. “What the hell?” He struggled back into a sitting position and glanced down at himself. “What’s going on? Why am I naked?”

“You are in need of some discipline.”

“Why?”

“You disappointed me, Alan. I had not thought you so weak that you would lose control in a fencing match with that slip of a girl.” He shook his head. “That loon, Smith, fired you when he found out. We have made no progress on even knowing where to look for the Sword. I needed you in that house.”

“I can get back in. I’ll—”

“You will learn to control your temper, Alan. And your first lesson starts now.” He gestured to the man holding the spiked strap. “Begin.”

Unfortunately, Caldwell was more stoic than he’d thought. Baylor grew bored and let his thoughts drift to the female veterinarian, wondering how uptight she’d be. If she could resist a warlock—Morgan had told him about their argument—she might be colder than fish in the Arctic Ocean, which would make it extremely enjoyable to make her melt.

Or at least pleasure him as often as he wanted it. She didn’t believe in supernatural beings. She wouldn’t recognize him.

He might just have to pay Sophie Cameron a visit himself.

Chapter Ten

Sophie petted Augustin’s silky muzzle and checked his supply of oats in the trough. “I’m going to have to cut down on those if I can’t get to riding you more,” she said as the horse shook his head. She laughed. “I think you understood that, didn’t you, guy?” With a lingering stroke along his sleek neck, she closed the stall door. “Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.”

She turned on an oldies-rock station as she drove home in the dusky twilight. Oddly enough, some of the bands from her parents’ day were still performing or doing reunion tours. Nostalgia for a time when life was simpler—or so her mother had said—nearly overwhelmed her. If her parents hadn’t been killed in a freak train wreck, what would her mother have said about dragons lighting up the night sky? Probably—Sophie’s hands stilled on the steering wheel as Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds began playing. How ironic. She shook her head. In her parents’ day, what with LSD and tripping, dragons may have been a common sight.

Maybe they were even real.

It had been two days since Michael left her office, and she hadn’t heard from him nor had she seen the dragon. She should be relieved that he had taken her seriously when she said she was through with all this nonsense about hunting Excalibur.

Especially with him. How could she trust a man who used magic to seduce her in her dreams? And, dear God, she didn’t want to admit it, but that dream had been so good. Even now, she could still taste his kisses, his lips warm, persistent, and demanding. She felt her nipples tighten as she remembered how his mouth had covered them, and heat seared through her as a pleasant throbbing began between her legs. His tongue had been like soft velvet, gently laving, until she arched and quivered for him to take her. Dear Lord, she’d shattered in the hardest climax she’d ever had and he hadn’t even entered her. Hadn’t even been there physically.

What else could that be but magic?

Then, as if she’d conjured him herself, he was standing in her driveway when she turned into it. His dark hair blew against his collar in the slight breeze as he stood waiting for her, muscled arms folded across that broad chest, unmoving. She must be imagining him. Sophie blinked, opened her eyes. He was still there.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she stepped out of the car.

He smiled, his dark eyes glistening in the near darkness. “I’ve brought you proof, as I said I would. Could we go in?”

Sophie hesitated. The last thing she needed to do was be alone with him in her house.

“Please. This is important,” Michael said. “You’ll be safe with me.”

She looked into those mesmerizing eyes and then quickly away. She certainly didn’t need to be entranced—or whatever magicians called casting a spell these days—by Michael. Still, he had told her he never forced a woman.

“I suppose you can come in, but not for long.”

He smiled, the dimple showing. “Good. Thank you.”

As she started to unlock the door she noticed what looked like a large dog kennel behind her hedge. A low noise, not quite a growl, was coming from it. “What’s that?”

Michael picked it up and pushed the door open. “I’ll show you once we’re inside.”

Sophie shut the door behind him and snapped on a lamp as he set the kennel on the floor. Another low rumble sounded and, this time, she saw a faint puff of smoke. She felt her eyes widen as he unlatched the door. It couldn’t be—

A red dragon the size of a large dog lurched through the opening, its cobalt eyes blazing as it swung its head from side to side and slapped its tail resoundingly on the floor.