Scorch: Hailey Holloway, #3

By K.C. Stewart

Hailey Holloway has a serious knack for running from her problems. At the first sign of trouble, she can be found lacing up her Nikes and hitting the road. Dacea is patient with her, but a man can only handle so much. He told her before that he would not chase after her again and he is nothing, if not a man of his word. Katherine is more than happy to pick at the wound that festers between them. If she picks enough, she just might make one or both of them bleed.

War is on the horizon. Together, they need to convince the leaders of Blue and Silver to join their crusade against the Council, but can they put their differences aside and stop fighting long enough to help those in the line of fire?

• Language: English
• Publisher: K.C. Stewart
• Release date: Jan 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781536581911

K.C. Stewart

K.C. Stewart is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Hailey Holloway series and most recently, the Adirondack Pack series. All her life she had fantasized and day-dreamed on a regular basis but it wasn’t until she began writing short stories that she made those fantasies a reality. She has graduated to novels but still dabbles in the occasional flash fiction and short story. Because of her love for reading and the written word, K.C. is currently working towards her Masters in Library Science. When she isn’t taking photographs, studying or writing, she is supporting a very real gummy bear habit. Currently, she lives with her husband and pack of german sheperds.

Book preview

1

The thumping of Hailey's heart echoed throughout her head as she ran. The only thought besides run was run faster. The words consumed her, swallowed her every thought. In this moment, there was nothing besides moving forward and getting away, as far and as fast as possible. He was coming for her. She could feel him in every tingle that ran up her spine.

Following.

Tracking.

Hunting.

He could probably hear her heart thumping. It pounded so hard, the entire city of Philadelphia could hear it. She slipped into an empty guest room. Light from the hallway illuminated the room for a brief second before settling back into darkness. She plastered her head against the door, listening for the man on her heels.

It was useless. Between the sound of her pulse throbbing in her ears and her breath that she just couldn't seem to catch long enough, Hailey couldn't hear a thing. Dammit, she cursed softly with a hand over her heart in an act to try to slow everything down. She didn't have time for this. He was closing in on her.

With her forehead still on the door she rolled her head to the side to assess the room. Her eyes had adjusted in the minute she stood in the dark room. There was a queen sized bed, dresser, chair, bookshelf and bathroom. This wouldn't do, she thought, there was nowhere to hide.

Hailey pressed her ear against the cold wood of the door once more. Silent. She waited. One beat. Two. On the third she threw open the door, simultaneously ditching her guest bedroom plan and molding a new one. Hailey moved swiftly down the hall, her bare feet not making a sound. For once her body moved gracefully. It was a dance. She being the ballerina, the squeaky floorboards posed as her partner. Hailey knew them well, as all partners should. Softly, like she was gliding, she continued her sprint down the hallway bypassing every squeak and creak of the floor that would give her away.

She turned the corner and reached for the door of the study, quietly she slipped inside. It was dark, well past midnight. Small slivers of moonlight filtered through the windows. Not that she needed it, Hailey knew this room intimately. More of a library than a study, the room held more books than she could read in her lifetime. She had spent so much time in it that it was a part of her now. She knew its secrets and tonight she would take advantage of that knowledge. The vast space was filled with tables, shelves and aisles, plenty of places to hide.

Her head whipped toward the door as she heard the distinct sound of boots. Hailey ran, weaving through the aisles; she backtracked and crisscrossed, jumped over chairs and crawled under tables. She needed her scent to be everywhere. Confusion was her only hope for escape.

The study door opened.

Hailey threw herself behind an armchair and peeked over the edge. His body was framed with the light from the hallway. Her breath caught at the sight. Just his silhouette could stop her hart. She held off the urge to run to him. Wrap her arms around him. Smother him with all the emotions threatening to smother her. But this was a game of cat and mouse, and the mouse didn't run into the jaws of the cat it was trying to hide from.

Dak took two steps into the room and the door closed, locking them in the darkness together. She could feel his eyes sweeping across the room searching her out. He growled. It pulsed off the walls, down her spine and into her toes. The vibrations tingled across her scalp and down her neck where a blush heated her cheeks. Hailey took a moment to enjoy the prickly sensations of the chase snaking through her body before sneaking down the aisle, going deeper into the room.

Her heart started to pound again. From her new hiding spot she could see the door but he had moved. Sneaky bastard. Dak was definitely a predator and at this moment she felt like his aroused prey. Hailey smiled and ran down the far end of the room across from the windows. She was doing good so far, didn't need her shadow to give her away now. Peeking around the corner of a bookshelf, she stole a glance around the room but she couldn't locate her dragon. Her stomach quaked in anticipation. Now if she could just figure out if it was because of the chase or the thrill of being caught.

Hailey weighed her options. Stay and wait him out? He might think she had snuck out if enough time passed. Or she could keep moving through the room. Two more steps backward, she'd wait here; maybe even get another glimpse of him before running again. Another step back and she hit the wall.

A hand wound around her waist and another covered her mouth as she let loose a scream. His breath was hot on her neck. The skin prickled everywhere he touched. She calmed almost immediately when his lips ran down her throat.

Found you, Céile, Dak's heavy voice whispered in her ear. Lips closed over the pulse in her neck and sucked. She tossed her head back onto his shoulder, her moan muffled by the hand that still covered her mouth. Again, he mumbled against her throat before releasing her and slipping back into the shadows.

Holy crap she was hot for him. Her hand rested on her chest willing her heart to calm down. This game needed to end now so they could get to the touching, licking and biting. Dak? Hailey took a few steps in the direction he went and ran straight into a chair. Shit! He messed her up, made her nothing more than a lustful klutz.

Dak stepped into a pool of moonlight, his amber eyes shining brightly in the darkness. It was one word that got her head back in the game, one word that had her giggling out of the study and down the hallway looking for a new hiding spot. His smirking smile and gruff voice only spoke one word.

Run.

---

She had started this game of hide and seek. After another long and drawn out meeting dealing with logistics and strategy on taking Red rogue, he had come home to a note taped on the front door Find me. Dacea had growled with delight. He never knew what he was going to come home to, but this was something he deeply approved of.

Hailey was good at blending into the background and all but disappearing when she wanted to, but he knew her scent. After a day apart he would enjoy rubbing his own scent all over her until they became indistinguishable from each other.

The house was dark except for the kitchen where the night security crew lingered over coffee. Dane, once a detective with the city of Philadelphia and now his head of security, informed him that they had been given very specific instructions to not leave the first floor and ignore any sounds coming from upstairs. She had threatened them with babysitting Boo and litter duty for a week. At some point Silas's cat became Hailey's cat and no one, save Hailey, was happy about the feline.

Dacea stalked until he caught a fresh line of her scent. It was new and wild with anticipation. He found her first in the study she had taken a shine to, but he and his dragon were having too much fun to end the game there. Out of the room she ran in a fit of laughter. He waited, giving her a head start and then followed her path. It was a serpentine down the hallway, in one room, out another, left side of the hall and then the right.

He sniffed the wall and inhaled the lingering notes of citrus. She had run her fingers along the wall as she ran. Dacea could picture her looking over her shoulder as five little lines of her fingers drug over the wall. She looked for him, never knowing when he'd show up for the capture.

Hailey had abandoned the second floor to go up. There were not as many rooms on the third floor. His bedroom and bathroom took up the left side, whereas the right held a private living room.

Hailey hesitated at the bedroom door but went right instead. She still didn't see all this as hers too, especially the bedroom, which was theirs. Instead she went to her own bed each night. Yes, it was on the property and he could see her house from his bedroom window, but he wanted her closer. Craved her proximity. Then again, he had been preoccupied lately and hadn't had time to dwell anything other than dragon politics.

He would give her tonight and any night or day she wanted after that.

Inside the room, she stood in front of the window, the fire cast a warm glow on her winter pale skin. Her heartbeat had calmed to a determined steady beat. After a moment his own settled in tune with the tempo she set. Hailey had found resolve somewhere between the two floors. She stood bare to him. Dacea let his eyes wander down the long curve of her spine. Puffy lines marred her back where the skin had stitched itself back together after being tortured by one of Silas's guards. She said it gave her texture, he said it showed her strength. Hailey didn't flinch anymore when he touched them, but he knew it was a conscious effort on her part.

Dacea had come silently but closed the door with an audible click. She stiffened, the muscles in her back tensed knowing he was there watching and savoring the lines of her body. His fingers twitched at his side with the need to touch her.

Céile, I believe I told you to run. He crossed the room at a casual pace. From this angle he could see where he had kissed her earlier. A bruise was beginning to surface on her neck from where he sucked and bit at her flesh. His dragon heated in approval of the mark.

With needy fingers, he reached out to roam over her curves. Dacea pushed her mass of brown locks from her shoulder and let his fingers glide over the mark. Her pulse beat steadily under his touch. Do you concede defeat? Hailey didn't speak but nodded slowly. His fingers had made it down to her hips, with a quick tug she fell back against his chest. And do you surrender to me as the victor? His lips brushed against her shoulder, then her neck and once more over the bruise while his hands roamed over her body. She trembled in his arms.

Céile? Dak whispered in her ear. He stopped moving, kissing, touching and waited for her response.

I concede, she breathed out.

They ended up, after a time, in his bedroom. Her hair fanned out over the pillow in a wild mass of chestnut tangles. She slept peacefully beside him. Laying on her stomach, the sweat dampened sheet clung to her naked body.

He needed to get up. Dane had to be appraised of the developments of their rogue status. It was official as of one o'clock that afternoon. Three weeks prior Hailey, Silas, and Dacea had met with the Council. They were to reconvene in a week's time but it never happened. Both sides knew their stance and neither was willing to compromise. Today Dacea sent his official notice of leave from the Council.

But all that was before he came upon the note on the door. Dacea ran his fingers down her arm. The last few weeks had been hard on her, on everyone for that matter. Dacea and Silas were busy night and day. Planning and prepping, gathering supplies and men and more importantly, trying not to kill each other. They were doing something that had never been done before in their culture.

His people were scared, but excited. This was a long time coming. The system, the Council and the septs were all dated. Back in his father's reign it was the way of the world. Kings and Queens ruled the lands, the people and the government. Republics and democracy were silly concepts. Dragons had always blended in to human society. Too many species had perished because of their resistance to change. Dragons held on. They learned early, when the humans became more than just cattle to the creatures of the world. They evolved and dragons took notice.

Dacea's great, great grandfather was one of the first to change shape from dragon to human. He saw their potential and the opportunity that lay with it. Magic changed him, allowed him to blend in with mankind and adapt to the new world.

It was a new beginning and would eventually threaten their species. Dragons stopped changing back to their natural form. They either forgot how to or just didn't care. They then bred with humans instead of other magical beings. The blood became weak; the magic that once thrived, only belonged to a handful anymore. Now only the elders of the race knew how to revert back to their dragon.

As the world changed, his kind became complacent, but not anymore. Dacea would change their archaic ways to fit in the modern world. He would do it not for himself or the dragons of his sept. He'd do it for Hailey.

She didn't understand the hows and whys beyond her own involvement. Any blood that would be shed, she believed, would be on her hands. He looked at her small porcelain hands. Her nails were all rounded save the pinky on her right hand. It was the one she chewed on when she was nervous. That nail was short and jagged, being recently bit off.

He had been busy, too busy to sit down and explain it all to her. So she worried. She chewed her nail and paced the property while Silas and Dacea worked out the logistics. In hindsight, it was a mistake to leave her out of it. However, her way of getting his attention was entertaining.

Dacea smiled and kissed her hair. He'd fill her in tomorrow. Clear her conscious so to speak. For now he would enjoy the fact that she was in his bed...their bed, willingly and not fighting it.

There was work to be done, but he had neglected his Mate for too long. For the rest of the evening, even if they only slept, he would share his body, heart and bed with her. Dacea slipped out from the covers to relight the fire. He snapped his fingers but only produced a splattering of sparks. Two more snaps and fire burst out of his fingertips and gathered in his palm.

He stood after lighting the fireplace, smothering the fire between his hands and stretching his arms up overhead. Her eyes were open when he turned. They devoured him like a midnight snack. The sheet had been pushed down to below her hips just to the crest of her butt. Hailey continued to lie on her stomach, her eyes sleepy and only half open as they watched him move.

Dacea crawled back into bed and gathered her in his arms. She snuggled against him and murmured something unintelligible.

What was that, Céile?

She yawned and turned to face him. The sleepiness was melting away. Her eyes looked out from beneath the tangles of hair with a spark of sass. The smirk was the real giveaway that she was about to cause some mischief. Hailey blinked a few times then stated with the utmost seriousness. I'm ready to surrender again.

2

S ir, Dane nodded as Dacea turned the corner into the kitchen.

Still up?

Not for long. I wanted to give you this before I head out. Another one came in the mail yesterday. He took a letter from the inside pocket of his jacket and laid it on the counter. The familiar curling script printed Dacea's name largely across the cream colored envelope. This is the third one this week.

Dacea scowled at the paper and reluctantly picked it up. I know. I'm handling it. Not very well, he might add, but he was handling it. Katherine had changed tactics once more and was now sending him love letters. Well, most were love related but some were vibrant descriptions of how she was going to kill Hailey and then castrate Dacea.

Needless to say he didn't like those letters very much.

If there is anything more I can do to help... Dane and Dacea held a mutual dislike of the letters. Sharing the first few with him had been a mistake. Dane now took it upon himself to receive the mail each day and be near Hailey when Dacea wasn't around. He appreciated Dane's commitment and loyalty but the man rarely slept and was lurking around every turn. Dacea was just waiting for the day when he woke to Dane in bed with them. Protecting and whatnot.

I'll let you know. Dacea poured a cup of coffee and left Dane mid yawn. In his office he settled in at his desk before opening the letter. Right off he knew this would be an angry one.

Last night I dreamt that you were chained naked to my bed. We made love but you called out HER name. Why do you do this to me? Can you not see how much it hurts me when you are with her? I was so upset that I skinned your dick with my nails. Inch by inch I peeled