Vladimir (Russian Dragon Heat #1) - Carole Mortimer Page 0,15
her napkin across her thighs before taking his place on the opposite side of the intimately small table.
She eyed him mockingly. “Does it begin with once upon a time, there were seven dragons?”
His jaw tightened. “There were once eight dragons, but my brother Karl died.”
She looked taken aback for several seconds before recovering. “Well, at least that confirms it’s possible to kill one of you.”
His nostrils flared. “The death of one of my brothers is not an occasion for rejoicing, under any circumstances,” he bit out coldly. “Any more than the death of your own brother would be.”
Tanya gave a shake of her head. “I’m surprised Pyotr and I aren’t already dead, since we tried to kill Vaughn.”
“You both felt justified.”
She grimaced. “I doubt Vaughn feels the same way about it.”
“Vaughn has forgiven you.”
She snorted. “Big of him.”
“It is, actually.” Vladimir also recalled his brother’s admonition earlier today in regard to Tanya—advising Vladimir to either fuck her or kill her.
Vladimir had no intention of killing her.
In light of his earlier magnanimity, Tanya felt slightly uncomfortable for having sounded pleased at learning the Romanov dragon shifters weren’t immortal after all. “So, once upon a time there were eight dragons…” she deliberately taunted as the man she believed to be Izzi’s brother entered to serve the soup course.
Vladimir’s eyes narrowed in warning, but he waited until they were alone again before continuing. “There were once ten Welsh dragon-shifter brothers,” he began pointedly.
“Ten? I thought Izzi said there were only eight.”
“There were, but only eight remain. I have chosen for my story to begin with the Pendragon dragon shifters, not because they are older than us but because their story is relevant to ours. You met Derek and two of his brothers three months ago when we came to your apartment to rescue Izzi,” he reminded.
Tanya flinched. “Is she okay? The last time I saw her, she was in the arms of the big blond-haired Pendragon brother.”
Vladimir arched one arrogant brow. “I am surprised at your concern, considering three months ago, you threatened to kill her.”
Tanya felt guilty color warm her cheeks at the memory of trying to use Izzi to enable herself and Pyotr to escape. Obviously, they had failed.
“Despite how it looked, I always liked Izzi,” she defended. “But at the time, Pyotr and I were trapped, so I decided to use her as leverage for us to be able to leave St. Petersburg. But I wouldn’t have ever really harmed her.”
“Her brother Dimitri just left the room. You could have enquired about her health from him at any time during the past three months.”
Confirming the other man was indeed one of Izzi’s brothers. “We haven’t exactly been on speaking terms, so he’s never actually introduced himself.”
Vladimir looked far from pleased. “You have existed in relative silence for all these months?”
“What other choice did I have?” Tanya found herself defending, when only hours ago, she’d been contemplating the bleakness of her imprisonment. “You were the one who brought me here and left me without introducing me to the couple who live and work here. I have no idea what instructions you gave them regarding me, but they haven’t exactly been chatty either.”
“I will speak with them.”
“Why bother when you’re obviously here because you’ve decided it’s time to kill me?”
He looked down the length of his haughty nose at her. “I have made no such decision.”
Tanya’s smile was mocking. “Somehow, I don’t believe that.”
Those dark eyes narrowed in warning. “I am not in the habit of lying.”
Tanya huffed out an impatient sigh. “Could we get back on subject?”
He nodded. “To answer your questions, Dimitri is Izzi’s eldest brother. Katrine is his wife. Izzi is now mated to Deryk Pendragon and living in their family castle in Wales. He is the big blond-haired brother you mentioned previously,” he added in a hard voice.
Giving Tanya the impression he wasn’t exactly thrilled at the fact one of his human minions was now mated to— “Mated?” she echoed sharply.
He smiled slightly. “Yet another of the subjects I wish to discuss with you.”
“Dragon shifters actually mate? For life?” Her parents’ journals hadn’t been able to cover that aspect of the Romanov brothers’ lives because at the time, none of them had been mated. “Like—like some animals do in the wild?”
“You will not liken us to animals, in the wild or otherwise!” Vladimir thundered furiously.
Tanya eyed him warily, sitting back as far as she could in her chair, unsure as to whether smoke and flames might appear any