Billionaire Dragon's Mate: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Dragon Romance Nove (9 page)

Stop faffing about, dammit. It’s
just
a girl. Get over yourself,
he told himself for the umpteenth time.

Still, the thought of undressing didn’t seem entirely bad, especially if he could peel off her clothes as well.

“Hey, stranger,” she called, her plush lips curving with an infectious smile.

He grinned back but toned it down just a little lest he seem like an over-enthused schoolboy out on his first date.

“Evenin’. Thought I’d steal you away for a bit. I feel like we haven’t had a chance to talk since we arrived.” Cillian motioned towards the spread he’d arranged (mostly with Denna’s help).

Apparently his idea of a decent picnic was potato salad, charcuterie, a freshly baked loaf of bread, blackberries and a cool six-pack on ice, and by the look she was giving his offerings, she agreed.

“I hope you haven’t eaten yet,” he said, knowing full well that she hadn’t.

Denna had been in on his plan the whole time – saint of a woman. He’d have to thank his forefathers for hiring her family all those centuries ago. Wooing was so much easier with a good accomplice.

“You’ve gone all out. What’s the occasion?” Ruby asked, taking a seat on the tablecloth and giving an appreciative glance at the breathtaking view before her.

“Just figured we needed to talk a bit, that’s all. I know I sprung the whole marriage thing on you a bit suddenly, and you haven’t really had a chance to ream me for it yet.” Cillian sat down and offered her a bottle of water, but she pointed at the beers instead – a woman after his own heart.

He obliged by tossing one to her. She cracked it open and took a swig. Seeing the liquid glisten on her lips made it nigh impossible to stay seated and not lean over to kiss her. Damn him for having vowed to be a good, well-behaved dragon. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to keep the vow for too long.

“You think I’m going to curse you out for it?”

“I would, I think. I’m not big on other people making decisions for me, and I think you’re not so different,” he said, passing a plate to her and whacking a big scoop of potato salad on his.

He broke off a piece of bread and handed it to her, and when their eyes met, he was relieved to see that he hadn’t managed to blow it yet. Dragons above, he loved it when she looked at him like that. He wasn’t sure what was going on in that pretty little head of hers, but sometimes, her gaze would linger on him and make him feel every bit the daring, impressive savior. Not that he thought she needed saving.

If anything, Ruby Accardo was the kind of woman that a hapless foe would have to be saved from. Cable and the Crimson Fang Riders had just been, for lack of a better term, an unfortunate interlude. He was glad that the ring Cable had given her was still languishing on his coffee table back in Chicago, instead of being here, or even worse, on her. The dragon stone dangled right between her breasts, casting its eerie glow and giving Cillian an unwanted additional reason for staring at her cleavage.

“You’re right,” she finally said, giving him an excuse to look at her.

He liked watching her. Everything she did was thoroughly riveting for him – a fact that further eroded the basis of his argument that the whole fated mates thing was a load of bullshit concocted by bored historians, who wanted to mess with the heads of the younger generations. He had spent the last few days keeping himself as painstakingly far away from Ruby as he possibly could, just to prove that he wasn’t falling madly in love with her and that he
could
stay away from her if he wanted to.

As was becoming bluntly clear, he’d been completely wrong. Being away from her now that he knew she existed was torture, pure and utter pain. He had a maddening desire to take her down to the hoard, chain her to it, cover her in gold and jewels and fuck her until neither of them could think or walk straight. And then he’d do it all over again. His cock hardened just at the thought of it.

“I am?” he asked, clearing his voice and telling himself to cool it with the mental images. “I mean, of course I am.” He smirked, drawing a smile from her. Good. He liked seeing her smile. “I’m a bit surprised you stuck around, though. I was half-expecting you to make a break for it.”

“The thought crossed my mind a few times,” Ruby replied, buttering the bread.

Her face lit up when she took the first bite. Denna was the best cook this side of the Bible Belt!

“And?”

“And I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

“About staying?” Cillian pressed, feeling like he was sitting on hot coals but choosing to ignore it – dragons weren’t afraid of a bit of heat.

“About you,” Ruby said simply, popping a blueberry in her mouth.

Well, that shut Cillian up for a moment. The Italian mob princess had some sass. He couldn’t say it was surprising, but he enjoyed the reminder.

“So what is it that you
do
exactly?” Ruby asked after a bit of a lull in the conversation.

The sun was ticking lower and would be setting by the time they were done with dinner, making the scenery that much more romantic. Thinking about it made him curse himself for being such a sap, but hell, victory was reserved for the brave, after all.

“I fix things.”

“What things?”

“Complicated things. I guess you could say I have a bit of a gift.” She looked at him expectantly, and with a sigh, Cillian explained.

It always felt a bit awkward to try and put what he did into words.

“I can sense solutions the way you can smell a good cup of coffee or see something beautiful and appreciate it for what it is. Most of the time, my personal expertise isn’t even really needed and the issue can be fixed with a bit of old-fashioned legwork. But sometimes, I can see solutions where no one else can. It’s a dragon thing. Or, should I say, a Greenmeadow dragon thing. All of us have different traits, my family has this.”

“It’s served you well, it seems,” she noted, looking at the keep.

He glanced in the direction of her gaze, but where she must have seen greatness, he saw a downward spiral – odd how the Greenmeadow magic seemed to work on everything but their own problems.

“You’d think so,” he said, a hint of bitterness clinging to his words like a bad hangover on a good Sunday.

“It hasn’t?” she asked, popping another berry in her mouth.

It was like being tied to a rack and whipped every time he had to watch her lick her lips or bat her lashes or well, do much anything. But the alternative – being away from her – had been ten times worse. So he persevered and filed everything away for a later time, when he could stop judging himself for wanting her so badly.

“Well, yes and no. Yes, because we’re still here. Not many dragon families are these days. But my kind has stood firm. Some here, some back in Ireland. If anything, we’re a stubborn, hard to uproot race of shifters.”

He took a chug from his beer, liking the way the cool drink felt against his always flaming insides. 

“And no, because while we’re still here, there’s not much left. By human standards, we’re ridiculously well off. And for at least a good few generations, the Greenmeadows will be okay. But dragons aren’t meant to be just okay. We’re supposed to be so stupendously wealthy that losing a couple of trillion would just be something to discuss over dinner. Vehemently, yes, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I know how it sounds to anyone other than a dragon, but I swear, it’s a legitimate problem,” he said, grinning a little.

Ruby was wearing an enticing smirk, and a lock of her hair was caressing her cheek. At least she wasn’t laughing out loud at how preposterous his words were. That was more than he could hope for from most humans.

“Is that why you’re a fixer? To deal with the dent in the family coffers?”

“Sort of. Being a fixer won’t make us rich again, but it might stave off becoming destitute for a while. Again, by dragon standards. Us Greenmeadows have never really worked much. Which, of course, is the reason we’re in this predicament now.”

“You haven’t? How’d you get all the, well, everything, then?” she asked, looking honestly interested.

Cillian always felt uncomfortable discussing his awry family, but with her, it seemed almost natural. Like he was talking to a close friend.

“There are different types of dragons, to put it bluntly, some who grew with the times and some who got stuck in how things used to be. Most of the latter group have died out by now, and I have the feeling the Greenmeadows may be among the last few hanging on. While many of the dragon families that are now doing well, have moved into business in one way or another, we never really did. The way we made out fortune is a bit more… old school. You know those tales of dragons safeguarding vast hoards of loot, breathing fire on intruders and generally being a nuisance?”

“Yeah, sure,” Ruby said, quirking a brow at him.

“That’s us. My forefathers guarded the treasures of the old kings, and as kings are oft to do, they died far before the dragons did. And since our allegiances were to the king or their family, there was nothing stopping us from making off with the bounty when the king got dethroned. And we did, for countless centuries.

The problem is, there aren’t that many kings left, and there certainly aren’t any unclaimed caves filled with treasure out there to loot. So we’ve sort of been coasting, basking on top of our piles of gold and waiting for the return of the good old days. I doubt they’re going to return before we run out of fortune, though.”

Cillian smiled absently, feeling the familiar tug he got every time he thought of his family’s situation. His father had been a staunch supporter of the old ways and recklessly blind to progress – it had cost them all dearly. Cillian could only hope to be better. The first thing on the agenda was figuring out how to return the Greenmeadows to glory before history whisked them away into the annals of time, and though he had a good idea how to do it, he was yet to act on it.

“I guess I can relate. The Accardos used to be an institution in Chicago. Say the name and doors would open, or close in fear, whichever was needed. Now, not many know of us. Father still rules the city, but it’s different now than it used to be when his father ran things – all subterfuge and hidden politics. Not that I mind, though. I hear things used to be a lot bloodier than they are now.”

“And you’re okay with that? Your father and your whole family being in the mob?” Cillian asked, keeping his green eyes squarely on her.

He couldn’t stop them from wondering down those tasty curves every now and then, but he thought he was mostly doing a good job at behaving. She shrugged in response, making the dragon stone pendant bounce a little. He needed to get more gold on her. Some of
his
gold, to mark
his
bride. He’d have to go down to the vaults as soon as he could and find her something worthy of her. He’d been putting it off in the hopes that his sudden obsession would pass, but there seemed to be little hope for that now.

“It’s like someone asking you if you’re fine with being a dragon. It’s not something I can control. I’ve never been a part of it myself, and I don’t want to be.”

“Your father seemed to have a different take on things.”

“Yeah?”

“He thought you rebelled because he kept you away from the family business. That it was why you ran away.”

Ruby snorted, taking a swig of her beer. Even irritation looked hot on her. He had to wonder what she’d look like if he
really
pissed her off. How those high cheekbones would take on a red tint and how she’d maybe snarl a little when he pinned her arms above her head, right before moaning and melting into his arms when he kissed her neck and her mouth and her…

Focus.

“That’s not why. I never wanted anything to do with the family business. I wasn’t a big fan of extortion or racketeering. I just wanted to be allowed to do something that
I
wanted to do, not what was sanctioned by the family and heavily discussed over every dinner with half our extended cousins before I was given the green light. You should have seen how they picked on my junior prom date. It wasn’t about who invited me.”

Her nose crunched at the memory.

“Oh no. It was all about what family they came from, if they had any Italian blood, if they were in the business, and so on ad nausea
m.  When they finally settled on a boy they liked, every guy
along with their families had been so thoroughly scared that the boy who ended up taking me to prom was shivering the whole time, expecting to get a bullet between his eyes if he even held my hand. It wasn’t the greatest way to grow up.”