Susannah Scott - Luck of the Dragon

Interesting.

Alec smiled wider, baring his own teeth. He liked a challenge. He reached past her, and his arm brushed her breast. Luciana stepped back with an indrawn breath. Alec affected a dispassionate mask and leaned around her to press his thumb to the glass. Immediately, the case next to her opened with a click of efficient electronics.

Luciana narrowed her eyes, as if she were afraid he might touch her again. She chewed on her lip and then seemed to make a decision. She reached into the case and removed a blue sapphire the size of her palm, set in Byzantine gold. “All the cases open with your fingerprint?”

“My fingers can be very persuasive,” Alec said.

She ignored him.

Luciana replaced the sapphire and picked up a jewel-encrusted dagger sheath. Pulling the wicked looking blade, she turned to him. “This piece is priceless, slag-free crucible steel, and the handle is 18-carat gold inlaid with rough-cut rubies and emeralds. It’s probably Viking, 800 AD, but I’ll need to test it to be sure.”

Alec knew exactly where the dagger had come from. “ Everything in here is priceless to me.” Luciana replaced the knife and leaned back on her heels, her features tight, looking like she might run. Back off, you’re scaring her , Alec’s human mind interceded. “We need to have your appraisal done before we can open the exhibit to the public in September,” he said, his voice casual. “When can you start?”

“But there must be fifty cases in here.” Luciana peered over his shoulder and pointed behind him. “Are all the cases as full as this one?”

“I was told you were the best?” Alec let the challenge dangle.

“I am. But getting an accurate value on this many gems will take time. And it’s going to cost you. A lot.”

Alec laughed and ignored the urge to touch her again. “I imagine I can afford your price.”

Lucy scowled. “Let’s get something straight. I’m not interested in your private collection of obscure etchings …or anything else private you might have.”

“How do you know? The reviews on my, what did you call them… etchings are quite flattering.” Alec watched her face, liking the way heat flushed her pale neck, and her brown eyes snapped with annoyance.

“I am a gem appraiser. That is it.”

“But etchings can be so very stimulating.” Alec brushed her arm again, feeling the warm tingle in the tips of his fingers.

Lucy shook her head. “Quit messing with me, or you can find another appraiser.”

“Okay,” Alec said. “No more messing.”

“Okay?” Lucy stepped backward—heel to toe, heel to toe—to the stair landing. “Just like that, you’re going to back off?”

“Just like that.” Alec held still, waiting to see what she would do. “What do you need to start your appraisal tomorrow?”

Lucy looked behind her to the steel door on the bottom level. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t think this is a good idea.” She clomped down the stairs, the sexy sway of her hips completely gone in her hurry to escape.

The exhilaration of the hunt flared through Alec’s system.

Silly woman. You should never, never run from a dragon.

“One hundred thousand dollars.” He followed her flight down the stairs with a light step.

“What?” Lucy stood in front of the closed steel door, her eyes wide and unbelieving.

“One hundred thousand dollars now. And an additional one hundred thousand when you finish the appraisal.”

“That’s three times my usual fee,” Luciana said, anger again firing her face. “I told you, I don’t do etchings .”

“The fee is just for appraising the exhibit, but you must begin tomorrow and be done in a month.”

“Mr. Gerald, thank you for your generous offer, but I’m going to have to decline.”

“I have important guests arriving specifically to see the exhibit.” Alec let his aggravation coat his words, but from the way Luciana’s eyes flitted from him to the closed door, he could tell she wasn’t listening. She wanted out of the room.

Alec closed in on her and considered her nervous side-to-side movements. If she hadn’t taken his keycard for a surprise rendezvous, what was she up to?

“I want to leave now .” Luciana met his stare but couldn’t disguise the strain in her voice.

“Dr. De Luca. Is there something else going on here? Something you need to tell me?” Alec let the question dangle, and the woman’s quick averted glance told him he was right. She was hiding something.

Something big. His predator’s instincts flared and his keen hearing picked up the pounding of her pulse under her skin.

“Of course not,” she insisted and put her hands on her hips, affronted. “Open this door.”

Again with the demands. Alec smiled, admiring her bravery. He reached around her and pushed the door release, letting the back of his hand brush her bare arm.

Luciana jumped at the contact, and Alec smelled the sharp release of adrenaline as it rushed through her body. She was scared. Why?

Alec stepped out of her way and swept his hand to the beckoning hallway. “After you.”

Luciana gave him a quick nervous glance, seeming to sense that his words were more than just gallantry. Then she fled, as if she knew she had just stolen from the very lair of a dragon.

Lucy squeezed through the opening exhibit door and rushed through the medieval timbered corridors as fast as her Manolos would go. The massive casino had no windows, no clocks, no way for guests to be distracted from their pleasurable pursuits with the call of responsibility from the outside world.

“Which way?” She slowed down and took a deep breath. Think. Alec Gerald had rattled her good brain. The man exuded sexual chemistry like a tomcat on the prowl.

Make that a panther on the prowl.

God help her, she needed to focus.

The keycard lift had gone remarkably well—now she just needed to find the drop spot and get the hell out of there. Luciana took another deep breath in, held it, and released it slowly. Alec’s card rubbed inside the band of her hose and bit into her inner thigh, making the stowaway card inch downward. Down, down, downward…

She was on the north side of the building, near the gem exhibit and upscale shops. She needed to cut across the gaming floor to get to the drop in the south-end bathrooms.

Easy peasy.

“Luciana, wait,” Alec called behind her.

She hobbled away. Around her, hundreds of people pulled levers and grasped plastic containers filled with coins.

Luciana hurried by, avoiding eye contact. She glanced over her shoulder. Alec still followed her at a distance. She ducked past the slot machines to the poker tables, where tavern wenches dealt cards of Texas Hold ‘Em on green half-moon shaped tables.

“Dr. De Luca,” Jane’s voice called just as she cleared the poker area.

“Jane,” she said politely, but lengthened her stride. The right hose gave way and slipped to the top of her knee.

“Mr. Gerald has asked me to escort you to his office.” Jane moved alongside her, matching her stride.

Luciana ignored her, but when Jane stepped into her path, she couldn’t avoid slamming into the tall brunette. “Umph.”

“Sorry.” Jane steadied her with a hand to the shoulder, her face determined. “You need to come with me.”

“What?” Luciana gave Jane her most withering princess-to-peasant look. “Please. Tell Mr. Gerald that I will not appraise his collection. Not for any price.” Lucy pushed past her to the far edge of the gaming area and saw the welcome silhouette of a wench on the ladies’ bathroom door.