Before she could stop herself, Evie blurted out, “But I discovered a loophole for that.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what would that be?”
“You’re not going to like it.”
“Lass, I already don’t like this. Just tell me what you’ve found or you’ll lose any chance of me helping you.”
She absolutely hated that Bram held all the cards. Still, giving in to someone was better than ending up dead.
Taking a deep breath, she said, “While buried deep into one of the bylaws, there is a clause that legally allows a human to mate a dragon-shifter without being a sacrifice first, provided the dragon-shifter in question is a clan leader.”
“Since when? Your government does everything it can to dissuade human-dragon-shifter interactions outside the sacrifice system.”
“Yes, but all of their ads and talks are very careful not to mention it’s illegal for all dragon-shifters. They use intimidating language and propaganda, and of course people assume it’s illegal because of those messages. But when the sacrifice system was set up in the late 1980s, the British government was careful to keep the old law concerning marriages between clan leaders and humans intact just in case things devolved. After all, the old law was used in the distant past to help keep peace between human lords and dragon-shifter leaders.”
If she’d surprised Bram with her words, he didn’t show it.
“And how, exactly, do you know about this?”
She shrugged. “I have a friend obsessed with everything to do with the dragon-shifters. I reckon she knows more than just about any other human in the world. Well, at least those not living with the dragon-shifters.”
Evie left out the part about how she’d been just as obsessed as her friend until she’d joined the DDA. Working for the DDA had killed any romantic notions she’d had of a dragonman sweeping her off her feet.
Bram frowned. “Right, and I’m supposed to mate you and feel grateful since I can’t have a sacrifice myself? Or because I can’t take a dragon-shifter mate without ruining my clan’s future of independence?” He shook his head. “I don’t know how you humans view marriage, but we dragon-shifters take mating seriously.”
Evie felt her future begin to slip from her fingers. If she didn’t say or do something, she’d lose her chance. Bram was by far the most understanding dragon-shifter clan leader in the UK.
Standing up, she took a few steps toward Bram to test out the waters, but he didn’t retreat. After taking a few more, she looked up into his eyes and said, “I’ll admit that when I first came up with my plan, I didn’t take your needs or wants into account. I researched how best to seduce a man, and was going to try everything on that list to snare you, but I never expected for there to be this overwhelming attraction between us.”
For just a second, his stern façade slipped and Evie pounced. “Before you try to deny it, kiss me. Just once. If you can pull yourself away and claim there’s nothing there, then I’ll leave and see if I can make it to America to seek out the number two most likely candidate on my list. Sure, the dragon hunters will probably find me first, but I’ll do anything it takes to try to live. I’m not about to let the bastards kill me without a fight.”
As Bram remained silent, her palms began to sweat. She’d just put all of her cards on the table. If this didn’t work, she’d have to attempt to not only evade the dragon hunters probably waiting outside Stonefire’s gates for her, but she’d have to find a way to America to try and seduce another clan leader.
Of course, that plan had been easier to accept in the abstract. Now she’d met Bram, she didn’t think she’d ever forget him. No man’s touch had ever set her body on fire before, and she wasn’t daft enough to think the touch of the next dragon-shifter leader on her list would be able to do it too.
Bram was her best chance at safety, yes, but she also wanted to know what it’d feel like to be kissed by the dragonman standing in front of her.
Chapter Four
After Evie threw down her proposition, Bram’s dragon instantly said, Yes. Kiss her. We need her. She needs us. It is a good match.
Stop being so bloody opaque. Tell me why.
His beast growled. No. Kiss her and think later.
If not for the human female in the room, he would have let loose a string of curses. Since he knew his dragon was too fucking stubborn to ever back down, he could either listen to the beast and kiss the lass, or he could face days or weeks of the dragon arguing with him.
Looking over at the red-haired human, he had to admit he liked the way her skin felt against his. Not only that, despite working with the DDA for seven years, she’d maintained her spirit and her backbone. If not for the dragon hunters trying to attack his land, that combination might’ve succeeded in seducing him.
Now, however, he needed to make a rational choice without his cock getting in the way.
If the human became his mate, she could divulge all kinds of information about the inner workings of the DDA. Since Melanie Hall-MacLeod was writing a book about his clan to garner human understanding, Evie’s detailed knowledge of human and dragon-shifter law could help Stonefire avoid any kind of lawsuit or possible backlash.
In addition, if she had a way of contacting this dragon-shifter obsessed friend of hers, Bram could find out more about the old laws
and what he could or couldn’t do in the present day.
Yet if he took her as his mate, not only would his chances of having children go from one percent to zero since all DDA inspectors were incompatible, he might never find the partner he so desperately wanted to help with clan matters. As he eyed her body in that tight yellow dress, he knew he’d enjoy fucking her, but he wanted more than just sex. He wanted what Tristan MacLeod had found with Melanie.