Read Online Moon Dragon by J. R. Rain - Free Book Online Page A

relationship with Kingsley, and had mostly kept his distance, only occasionally dropping hints that he might want more.
    “Well, that’s good,” said the werewolf in bed next to me. “Because I will rip his head off if he makes a move on you.”
    “You mean that metaphorically, right?”
    Kingsley grunted.
    I laughed nervously and patted his chest. The truth was, I wanted to be right here, in Kingsley’s arms—and nestled in that warm nook between his shoulder and jaw.
    Shortly, I was asleep...and I dreamed of nothing.
    Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
     

 
    Chapter Fifteen
     
    It was the strangest popping sound. Like hundreds of soap bubbles bursting at once. I was just turning to see what the hell it was when I heard, “Your son is very skilled.”
    I gasped, mostly because no one had been standing next to me just a few seconds ago. I was certain of it. Somehow, I managed to calmly turn and look at whoever was standing next to me, whoever had managed to sneak up on even me, which, I was certain, was virtually impossible to do.
    “It’s you,” I said.
    “It is me, yes,” said the man I instantly recognized. “Is this section of the mat taken?”
    “No,” I said before realizing that I probably should have said yes. Not that it mattered. Any man who could sneak up on me—and the Librarian, too, for that matter—was going to talk to me whether I wanted to or not.
    The man nodded and I almost—almost—sensed that he could read my mind. He was dressed a little too nicely for a boxing gym. Hell, a little too nice for Fullerton, in general. His black suit was immaculate, if not a little dated. His thick black hair was slicked back with some sort of oiled wax—Brylcreem maybe—and combed perfectly. Although his clothing and hairstyle seemed a little dated, there was nothing old-fashioned about the brightness in his eyes. They flashed over me quickly and appreciatively, and he made a show of sitting down by unbuttoning his jacket and flipping up the longish tails as he sat. I had a mental image of a maestro taking a lunch break.
    As he sat, I caught sight of his claw-like fingernails. I also sensed the impenetrable wall around his thoughts and a distinct lack of an aura.
    He was a vampire, and, I suspected, a very old one.
    He sat smoothly, in one fluid motion, his narrow limbs coming to sharp points. In fact, he didn’t use his hands at all. He dropped down, legs folding under him neatly, like a collapsible picnic table. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said he glided down.
    Meanwhile, in front of me, my son danced in the ring with Jacky. Granted, Jacky wasn’t doing much dancing these days, but he kept pace with my son, using the punching mitts, urging my son to keep his hands up. My son, for his part, seemed to revel in the workout. Heck, he even seemed to enjoy Jacky’s good-natured verbal abuse. Once, after a flurry of devastating punches, he reached over and ruffled the Irishman’s gray hair, to the old man’s surprise and, I believe, delight. This got a swift condemnation from Jacky, but they did pause, and I caught the two of them laughing in the corner of the ring a moment later.
    “Your son has phenomenal control and power,” said the man sitting next to me. He had an accent that I couldn’t quite place. Then again, I’d always been crappy with accents.
    “Long story,” I said.
    “I would like to hear it someday,” said the man.
    I shot him a look. And the more I looked, the more I could see the fire blazing just behind his pupil. It was, I was certain, the brightest fire I’d seen yet. What that meant, I didn’t know. But there it was, a single flame leaping and crackling and snapping. I should have found it distracting, except I found it to be the exact opposite.
    I found it hypnotic.
    So, I shifted my gaze to his long, slender nose. I had to. I felt myself...slipping into his own flames. So strange. I said, “You assume I’ll see you again or that I’ll want