Kavaugn shook his head and the sunlight glinted off his striking red hair, as he watched the women disembarking from the taxi. He needed to begin asking more questions before he booked these tour groups. Either that or the idiots booking the tours needed to read the damn instructions listed on his website before they decided the send their employees on one of his outback adventures. The instructions were very specific and there for the safety of the people on the tour, as well as to protect him and his company.

When he began the company he had a vision. He knew what he wanted it to be and he wasn't going to see it ruined because some moron couldn't read simple directions. Most companies in Australia ran day tours into the outback, especially from Perth where he was based. He was different, he ran overnight camping expeditions, even a few trips that lasted a week or more. The tours he ran were one-of-a-kind trips and he didn't need it destroyed, not when he was finally doing so well. He shoved away from his truck and walked toward the group.

Rule number one, no pregnant women. The last woman to exit the cab was extremely pregnant. He watched as one of the other women grabbed her hand and helped pull her up and out of the taxi. Number two, absolutely no high heels, all tour participants must were gear suitable for hiking. He scowled darkly as he drew near the group, his eyes on the spiked heels one of the women wore. Of the five in the group, it appeared only one had grasped the concept of the tour. She wore jeans, a long-sleeved, lightweight blouse, and heavy hiking boots. His eyes skimmed over the other two, he could deal with them.

At least they wore jeans and t-shirts, along with sneakers. The pregnant woman needed to go and the fashionista needed to either change her outift or leave. There was no way he was going to deliver a kid in the middle of the outback and he certainly didn't want to drag high fashion Barbie along. Despite his bad temper over idiots who couldn't read directions, he plastered on a welcoming smile. There was no sense blaming these ladies for their company's incompetence.

"Hello, ladies."

The group turned to face him, all had eager expressions. Okay, maybe not all, the pregnant one looked as if she'd rather be anywhere else, she propped herself against the cab while fanning herself with a pamphlet of some sort. The one in the hiking apparel took a step forward. Ah, so he had himself a spokeswoman for the group already. There was usually one in every group, whether the rest of the group wanted them or not.

"Hi, I'm Dani, are you our guide?" his spokeswoman asked in a cheerful tone.

With a curt nod, he folded his arms over his chest. "Yes, I am. I'm Kavaugn Salvagius." His ice-blue eyes skipped over the group before coming back to her. "Before we get ready to leave, we have a couple of problems."

Her brows drew together as she turned to survey her friends as if she were attempting to find whatever issues he was seeing. "Problems?"

"Indeed, it would seem that whoever booked the tour didn't read any of the information provided. My rules are very specific and they are in place for a reason. Number one, no pregnant women." He glanced at the woman where she was still propped against the taxi. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but it's simply too dangerous for you to go."

He attempted to sound polite, but polite generally wasn't a part of his nature, he'd spent most of his life in surly contemplation of why the universe despised him. His statement came out more as a gruff command, despite the way he phrased

Yet, her features broke out in a huge grin. "Oh, thank God! I have been dreading this trip since they told me I had to attend! You, sir, are my savior, I'd kiss you if I could manage to waddle over there!"

"Wait, they forced you to come here?" He knew his voice sounded stunned at the prospect, but he couldn't help it.

She nodded. "Yes, they called it mandatory workplace bonding, blah, blah, all of it is nonsense. As if pooping in the wilderness is going to make us work together better!"

The rest of the group giggled at her statement. Their fearless leader smiled at her fondly. "Are you going to be all right at the hotel by yourself?"

"I'll go back with her, Dani. You know I'd be useless out there anyway. I didn't want to be here any more than Carry did," the fashionista said and gave a delicate shrug.

"All right," Dani said. She and the others helped them put their luggage back in the cab's trunk while the driver stood back looking disgruntled. The man had wanted to leave the moment they were out of the cab, but couldn't since Carry had been propped against his vehicle.

"Well, I suppose that takes care of our issues. If the three of you are ready to go, we can pack up and leave." He gestured toward his SUV and waited while they gathered their luggage and waved goodbye to their friends. They followed him to his truck. All the gear they would need was already packed up and stowed in the rack on top of the truck, he'd packed everything earlier in the day so he'd be ready when they arrived.

"Give me a minute, now that we've lost two of the group, we don't need to stow your stuff on the roof rack." He opened the back of the truck and flipped the rear seats down so there was more cargo room. "Go ahead and put your luggage in the back."

The women tossed their bags into the back of the truck. He reached up, grabbed the tailgate, and closed it. He noticed Dani climb into the front passenger seat. Great, so she decided he needed a navigator, couldn't she ride in the back with her friends? He sighed and walked around to the driver's door and slipped behind the wheel.

"All right, everyone ready to go?" He waited for confirmation from them before he continued, "Okay, listen up when we're out there you need to listen to me no matter what. Understand?" They all nodded. "Good, let's get going then." He started the truck and pulled out of the parking lot. It wasn't that he hated when the tour groups were all female, but one of several things usually ended up happening during the tours. They got it into their heads that they didn't need a man telling them what to do or they pretended they were helpless and needed him to do everything for him, or there was a mixture of the two. Men were worse, they tended to believe they knew everything and didn't need him telling them what to do and how to do it.

Any of those scenarios meant that things could go fatally wrong. While he didn't take groups deep into the outback, you could still get injured or killed where they went. Sunstroke, dehydrations, and wandering off were all possibilities and all could be deadly. He wasn't even going to begin thinking about the number of deadly animals that resided out there. He was beginning to gain a good reputation as a reliable guide, he hadn't been in business long enough yet where he could be extremely choosy about who he turned down and who he accepted.

He still needed the business. More importantly, he needed the money. He could run a few early morning hikes in the dead of summer, but his full-on trips were a no-go because of the heat.

He'd only been in Perth a little over a year and his company had been in business a little less than that. Though he'd been residing in Australia for roughly four years altogether, not that he could brag about where he'd spent those first few years. Where he'd lived was a place he couldn't exactly tell people about or they'd think he was insane. It didn't tend to go over well if you told people you had been living with a bunch of dragons.

He glanced at the three women and prayed he didn't lose any of them to stupidity. At least the one named Dani seemed to have some common sense. He refocused on the road.

"How long have you been doing this?" Dani asked.

Great, and now she wanted to talk. "About a year," he answered.

She turned to stare out the window after a nod. "That's not very long. Do you know a lot about Australia?"

His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Damned nosey, wasn't she? "Enough to do my job effectively." He was quite certain he heard the two women in the back giggling.

"Oh, so are you from around here then?"

"No." If she wanted to know so much about him why didn't she just run a background check on him? He smirked, no that she'd find very much.

The women in the back giggled again and he saw her turn and send them a glare before she turned back to stare silently out the window. It appeared as if the fact her friends found her questions amusing had shut her up. He thanked God for her friends.

While he drove out to their first campsite, he pointed out landmarks and told them stories and some history about the area. He glanced at Dani a couple of times and wondered why she'd asked him so many questions. Was it curiosity or had she simply been trying to make conversation?

She might be one of those people who couldn't stand it when it was quiet. She couldn't possibly have been hitting on him. There hadn't been a flirty vibe coming from her, he knew what that looked and sounded like. As old as he was, he was no stranger to a woman's interest. He'd never been conceited about his looks, not like his sister had been, but he knew his looks garnered interest from the opposite sex. But he never mixed his business with his personal life, it didn't matter how good-looking she was, it wasn't going to happen. It would mean trouble. He didn't need to lose focus while on one of these trips.

If that happened someone could die. He held in a grimace when thoughts of his brother, Luperco, crossed his mind. Lup had never known when to keep his mind free of a pretty face when he was supposed to be concentrating on a job. It ended up getting him killed. The idiot had focused his attention on the wrong woman.

He sighed and glanced at Dani again. The light sifted through her hair, bringing out the shining copper highlights that were threaded through the deep brown locks. Nope, eyes back on the road, buddy. He needed to keep his mind where it belonged, on his damn job. When she shifted in her seat, his eyes were drawn to her legs. They were toned, she probably walked a lot or at least worked out. If her legs looked like that he couldn't imagine what her backside looked like. That wasn't what he should be looking at right now, he pinned his eyes forward. If he focused on her body then his mind wasn't on his job and they could end up in a ditch and that meant they could damage his truck and they'd be stranded.

They drove in mostly silence until they reached the turnoff that took them down the trail leading to the first campsite. The women in the back had been quiet for some time, he glanced in the mirror and grinned when he saw they were fast asleep. It appeared as if the jet lag had gotten them. One was slumped against the other. A little chuckle escaped him and he shook his head.

Dani arched a brow at him. He smiled and pointed toward the backseat. She twisted around and grinned when she saw her friends. "I guess the jet lag finally caught up to them."

"So it would seem. It hasn't gotten you yet though."

One of her shoulders lifted then dropped. "I've traveled a lot, I guess I'm used to it. I also got here yesterday." She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut, almost as if she'd been about to say more but thought better of it.

"How much is a lot?" Okay, where did that come from? Now he was the nosy one.

"Just, you know, a lot."

That wasn't much of an answer. He supposed it was as good as any of the answers he'd given her earlier. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

He caught her staring at him out of the corner of his eye as if she was considering what he'd said. They were both quiet for the remainder of the drive to the campsite. The campsite was in a small clearing he used often for his tours. He liked it because there was a small lake nearby. Not only did that mean easily accessible water, but they occasionally got to see animals who used it as a watering hole. If they got into any trouble, there was a tiny shire nearby called Bruce Rock.

The view was nice and it seemed as if the more annoying critters disliked the area and stayed away, though he had no idea why. If he called his Uncle Fredrick out here, he was certain Fredrick would be able to figure out the reason.

"All right, here we are." He parked and shut off the engine. They both exited the vehicle. He stepped around the SUV and began pulling equipment from the rack atop it.

"It's beautiful out here."

He glanced over his shoulder at Dani. She was standing nearby, her back to him, as she stared out into the distance. He smiled. "Yeah, it is. Give me a little bit and I'll have the camp set up. I think we should let your friends sleep a little longer." He grinned at her when she turned. He moved things around on the roof rack. The company had never confirmed the number of employees it was sending on the trip. He'd brought four of his larger tents, plus one of his smaller ones, and the tent he used for himself. He'd worried there would be too many people and he'd have to call someone in to assist with the tour, which meant he'd have to put out more money. It had been somewhat of a relief that the group was small.

Dani appeared beside him as he tossed gear to the ground. She chewed her lip a moment. "Hey, I know there's only three of us and I'm sure this is going to sound off the wall, but I kind of would like my own tent if it's possible."

He blinked at her. "You're kidding?"

Her cheeks turned pink. "I'd rather not have to explain it if I don't need to. It's ... embarrassing."

Things would be different if he didn't already have the extra tents. He didn't want to embarrass her by asking for an explanation. "Fine, whatever, I have extra tents since the group is small."

"Thank you! Don't worry, I'll set it up so you don't have to do the extra work."

It wasn't something he generally allowed, he usually set up camp on his own to limit liability, but he found himself sorting through the equipment and holding the tent out to her. "If you need any help, let me know."

"No problem, I got it! Thanks!"

When she reached out to take the tent from him she seemed to suddenly take notice of the tattoo on his wrist. She froze for a moment and stared at it.

He sighed as he watched her. The tattoo consisted of a dragon-like beast stamped on the inside of his left wrist. The beast's head was on his forearm, and its tail wrapped around his wrist as if it owned him and refused to release its grasp. For a time it had.

She looked up and stepped back immediately as if she realized she'd been staring. "I'm sorry, I was admiring your tattoo. I've never seen one like it. It's unique."

"Thanks, admire it while you can, I've been trying to find the time to get it removed. It's a reminder of a past I'd sooner forget." To remove it would require a visit to his uncle. The damn thing had been applied with powerful magic and removing it would be tricky as hell.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's very nicely done."

He turned away from her with a grimace. The poor woman had no idea what the thing represented. In her mind, it was probably a pretty little dragon tattoo. In reality, it wasn't anything of the sort. It was a wyvern, the enemy of the dragons. The thing was proof he'd once served the beasts, proof of the monster he had once been.

"Yeah, thanks. The people I used to hang around with would have been pleased to hear that, I'm sure." And that was all he was going to say about the damn thing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you or remind you of anything bad."

He wanted to tell her to take a flying leap, instead, he took a deep breath while he reminded himself he was being paid well to be nice to her. She knew nothing about what the tattoo meant and it wasn't her fault he was surly about the damn thing. He needed to be nice, he needed not only her employer's money but a good review that would hopefully bring in more business.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. My tattoo, my problem." He let herwalk away with the tent clutched in her arms as he sorted through the equipmentand pulled out the other two tents he would need.