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All Chapters of Brothers of Ash and Fire: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

81 Chapters

Chapter 11

Conrad Sinclair stepped into his private car waiting outside the Thorne Auction House, his nostrils still filled with the scent of Piper Linwood. A virgin, of childbearing age no less. It was so rare to find them in these modern days. Hundreds of years ago, there had been an abundance of sweet-smelling creatures he could pluck like ripe fruit, but now? It was almost impossible.Conrad's skin burned at the thought of stripping the woman's clothes and shoving her onto her back so he could take her. He would enjoy her cries of pain and the feel of her nails clawing at him. He loved it when females fought him. He was a male dragon, after all, and enjoyed being dominant in bed and in life. Dragons did not breed with weak creatures. He would prefer a dragoness, of course, but they were increasingly rare and more resistant to the advances of dragon males than ever.He watched the streets with their bright flashing lights and immense video advertisements and growled. The modern age was a dre

Chapter 12

Brothers of Ash and Fire/Lauren Smith

Mikhail waited in the shadows of the mews outside Thorne Auction House, counting each heartbeat as he watched the lights in the windows being extinguished one by one. It reminded him of times long ago, with dark nights and firelight, eagerly waiting for any hint that Elizabeth wished to see him.I was such a fool then to wait for a queen's command. For one who knew so little of lovemaking, the Virgin Queen had known exactly how to master and manipulate men. But that was long ago, centuries away from this moment and the woman he wanted to see now.Piper Linwood. His true mate. The moment he'd kissed her, he'd caught flickering visions of a little girl chasing a fat white rabbit in a backyard before stopping to pick up some brightly colored eggs. The vision had changed to a young woman bent over a desk, staring at gems gleaming on a black velvet cloth, her focus intense as she studied them. A dragon knew his true mate by the bonding that began with a first kiss. Invisible threads wou

Chapter 13

Brothers of Ash and Fire/Lauren Smith

My nightly craft is winged in white, a dragon of night-dark sea.¨DAnne McCaffrey,?DragonsongOh God, this is bad. This is so bad. I've committed a crime, and now I'm on the run with a jewel thief.The thought kept racing through Piper's mind in an endless loop. Somehow this man had convinced her to help him steal the Cheapside hoard. All of it. How the hell had he done that? He just looked into my eyes, and I went all gooey.She couldn't erase that feeling, the heavy compulsion to do exactly what he'd asked. Had he hypnotized her? Didn't someone need to swing a pocket watch or something to do that? She was in a hot mess, and now he was taking her to God knows where against her will.But he'd also kept assuring her she was safe. Her natural instincts were torn between trusting him and wanting to knee him in the balls and escape. Mikhail still had her trapped beneath him, his hands gripping her wrists. She'd stopped screaming once the car started moving. Some part of her was staying

Chapter 14

Brothers of Ash and Fire/Lauren Smith

The car halted, making Piper pitch forward a little. She woke up and blinked. She was warm and cozy, and the last thing she wanted was to move."As much as I enjoy you cuddling against me, little dove, I need to get you inside where you can sleep in a real bed." Mikhail's voice was a husky whisper close to her ear. She glanced around and realized that she was practically on top of him. Her head was tucked beneath his chin, and he had one arm curled around her waist. Her legs were across his lap, and his other hand rested on her outer thigh."Oh!" She scrambled away from him, which only made him laugh. The rich, rumbling sound warmed her down to her toes, and she hated that. A kidnapper should not have that effect on her. But Mikhail did. This was definitely a bad case of Stockholm syndrome. There was no denying that."Why don't you come inside and warm up? I'll put a pot of tea on." Mikhail climbed out of the car. Piper watched him walk over to Belishaw by the SUV and speak to him. It

Chapter 15

Brothers of Ash and Fire/Lauren Smith

They walked down a short corridor and paused in front of a heavy oak door with intricately carved designs. The latch was an old brass contraption that had not been updated like other parts of the house. It was stiff when Mikhail gave it a jerking twist with his hands. She guessed that most people would have taken a home like this and done their best to update everything so it was new and modern, but Mikhail hadn't. His home was ancient. The stones by the window were covered in moss, and the walls were thick enough that the roar of the sea outside couldn't slip between the cracks and stones, though the windows were still a problem. It was a place that filled one's mind with dreams of days long past and the lives people might have once lived. The house was a haunting place full of surreal beauty.The wooden door opened, and Mikhail led her inside. A four-poster bed sat on a small dais, with blue-gold brocade curtains draped over the bed, shadowing it from the light of the chandelier."

Chapter 16

Brothers of Ash and Fire/Lauren Smith

I would rather be adorned by beauty of character than jewels. Jewels are the gift of fortune, while character comes from within.Plautus"No! I wasn't going anywhere!" She gasped and dug her fingers into his arms, trying to make him release her."Why do I get the sense that you're lying?" He chuckled, but the sound was dangerous. "Does this mean I must keep watch over you, even while you sleep? Or shall I tie you to the bed?" He carried her back down the hall to his room and tossed her none too gently onto his massive bed."Stay," he ordered and went to lock the door, blocking her only way out."How dare you!" Piper snapped, even though her heart was racing again. She hadn't forgotten what he'd threatened to do to her in the SUVabout how he would punish a woman. She also hadn't forgotten that his dominance turned her on.I'm going to need major therapy after this.Mikhail opened a drawer from his dresser and turned to face her, a pair of silk neckties in his hand. He wound a b

Chapter 17

Brothers of Ash and Fire/Lauren Smith

Mikhail stood outside the door to Piper's bedroom for a long while, listening to her shift and toss under her sheets. When he heard the faint chattering of her teeth, he'd had enough. He eased the door open and peered cautiously inside. She was asleep but still cold, despite the mountain of blankets on her bed. With a growl of frustration, he approached the bed and carefully slipped her out from under the blankets and into his arms. Her chattering teeth stilled, and she murmured something fretful in her sleep before she nuzzled his chest and sighed.Unable to stop a cocky grin from spreading across his face, he carried her back to his room and settled her beneath his blankets before he turned out the lights and joined her under them. Her feet were like ice, and her hands were just as cold. He tucked her body close to his and placed her feet on his shins. Soon she'd warm up. A dragon gave off more body heat than a human, one of the perks of being a shifter, such as being able to exti

Chapter 18

Brothers of Ash and Fire/Lauren Smith

Those who build walls are their own prisoners. Ursula K. Le GuinPiper woke slowly, in that hazy way one does on a winter weekend when one has snuggled deep into the blankets. Bright, clear sunlight bathed the room and bed in stark pale colors, washing everything out and making it feel surreal.She blinked and studied the bed hangings and the dying fire in the fireplace. Where was she? Bit by bit, memories of last night came back to her. She winced as she realized it hadn't been a wild and fantastical dream. She was really in Mikhail Barinov's house in Cornwall and had been forced into helping him steal the Cheapside treasure trove.It took her a few seconds longer to realize she was in a warm bed, but not the bed she'd gone to sleep in. She whipped her head up as soon as she recognized where she was: Mikhail's bedroom. How had she gotten here? Surely he hadn't She lifted the sheets and breathed a sigh of relief. She was still clothed. Nothing had happened last night, as far s

Chapter 19

Brothers of Ash and Fire/Lauren Smith

Mikhail collected the letter and carefully tucked it back into the stack before he finally answered her."My family was betrayed. Elizabeth I took advantage ofmy ancestorand drugged his wine and tricked him into revealing where he'd stored the jewels. My ancestor was forced into prison but he never forgot what she did with the jewels.""But why?" Piper asked. "It wasn't out of some kind of greed, was it?"Mikhail considered his words. "No. She believed herself to be in the right. She believed the jewels were a part of her father's royal treasury, and they had been, once. But her father had given them to the Belishaw family in the early years of his reign for their services. And the Belishaws, in turn, had given them to us. Henry, however, grew to resent the deal in his later life and no doubt told all who would listen that he believed them to be rightfully his. He was a bitter man, petty and vengeful. And there were other voices that poisoned the queen against my ancestor" Mikhail's

Chapter 20

Brothers of Ash and Fire/Lauren Smith

There were cliffs there,And forests made of mists. There were bridges spanning the void, and that great gray blind lake which hung above its distant bottomLike the sky on a rainy day above a landscape.Rainer Maria RilkeThe mist rolled through the coast of Cornwall like a silent wave, blanketing everything with dampness and chill. For the first time in a long while, Mikhail felt cold. A dragon's blood runs hot, even in the deepest of Russian winters. But today he felt a bone-numbing ache and cold. It seemed to cut deep, freezing the edges of his very soul.Belishaw's call had been a grim reminder of reality. He'd lived so long outside of the world that he'd lost track of the rules, forgotten about things like consequences. He'd involved Piper, and now her life was crumbling around her. He could see how much it might cost her, and it wounded him as much as it had terrified her. The last thing he ever wanted was to hurt his future mate.I never think things through. Not five h

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