As she rattled off directions, he did his best to focus only on the road. Because the small glimpse he'd risked a few seconds ago showed her dress still riding high and her lovely, pale thighs on display.
Yep, Wes was truly a bastard right now. He should be thinking of her safety, and yet all he could think about were those thighs wrapped around his head while he made her scream with his tongue.
His dragon chimed in. We might yet have that tonight.
I doubt it, dragon. Once we iron out a few details with Ashley, we're heading home.
His beast pouted but remained silent. That told Wes volumes—his dragon would be hatching a plan of his own, which meant Wes would have to resist both Ashley and his dragon so he could do his duty as clan leader.
His night wasn't going to end as he'd hoped. But it also was long from over.
Chapter Five
Ashley did her best to sober up on the ride home. She'd been honest about not being drunk—she may not be twenty-one any longer, but she still had a decent tolerance—but it was easier to think if she didn't have to concentrate on the road.
Not to mention she could sneak glimpses of Wes's profile from the corner of her eye as a passenger. No matter if it was in shadow or highlighted by a streetlamp, the strong jaw, nose, and his full lips were sexy as hell.
Which made being in a short dress, inside a car with a dragonman with supersensitive senses a real test of controlling her lady parts.
But as she let her thoughts drift to Duncan, the League, and even for a few seconds to what Wes had revealed to her about being his true mate, her focus shifted from her libido to her new set of problems.
Ashley lived in Reno, Nevada because of ADDA's main base in the region there. Once Wes returned to PineRock, and provided his clan members didn't cross the California-Nevada border any time soon, they should be relatively safe from Duncan's political reach in Nevada. However, Ashley would constantly be looking over her shoulder. She had no idea if the League had made her their latest target or not, but living in a big city where she didn't know whom to trust wasn't exactly ideal.
She'd already taken extra precautions over the years when going out since working for ADDA could be challenging at times, even with just regular humans. But the possible danger had become a lot more personal all of a sudden with the encounter in the bar.
Her own safety wasn't the only issue, either. If she didn't get this mess cleared up ASAP, it could hurt both the dragon-shifters and all the human owners who'd risked so much to open their establishments to all patrons, too. Because if the League targeted Ashley, they'd follow her. Which meant her regular visits would put others in danger.
The question was, how could she ensure anyone's safety going forward?
Rubbing her forehead, Ashley realized this would be the biggest headache of her career in years.
Wes's voice cut through her thoughts. "I'm guessing this wasn't what you had planned when you won me for a night out, is it?"
She shook her head. "No. But I'll figure it all out somehow. I always do."
Wes paused a moment before replying, "You don't have to do it alone, Ashley. I'm here. I'll always be here."
Given her colleagues and web of contacts, she didn't have to go it alone, but she usually did. It was easier that way. No one could betray you or break a promise with disastrous consequences.
However, as she stared at Wes's profile with the light playing on his face, she could imagine a life where Wes was at her side, giving support and suggestions until they were both old and gray. Yes, he was hot, but there was so much more to Wes Dalton that attracted her.
The niggle from before, about clan leaders in good standing, reared its head again. Although why it surfaced now, when she had a shit-ton of other problems to deal with on her plate, she had no idea.
A small voice in her mind whispered, Because you want him.
Hell, she'd ended her engagement with her ex because of her feelings about Wes. But admitting that to the dragonman out loud wasn't a step she was quite ready for.
She finally replied, "Thanks, but I'm not even sure of what kind of help I need right now, so I can't exactly ask for it."
The corner of his lips ticked up. "Honest even now."
She blew out a breath. "Which you seem to like, but it won't work with a guy like Duncan Parrish."
"So that's his name. Tell me more about him."
As she explained his payday loan empire in Reno and recent expansion to Vegas, as well as his higher political connections, she added, "But I had no idea his brother-in-law was a member of the League. That's going to spell trouble, I can feel it."
Wes moved a hand from the wheel and tentatively held it above Ashley's thigh. However, he quickly pulled it away as if burned and gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Which is why you need to stay somewhere safe until you think of a plan." She opened her mouth, but he beat her to it, threading his voice with the dominance clan leaders liked to use on a regular basis. "I know you're a strong, capable female, Ash. That's not the issue. But the League doesn't always follow the law, as you well know. The only safe place for you right now is with a dragon clan."