Not His Dragon (5 page)

With a swish of his thick tail, he cleared the broken glass from the foyer floor. He closed the double doors to the dining hall. She wouldn’t need to go in there. A few strong beats of his wings had the leaves blowing out the front door.

He’d ready the ballroom. It had the space they needed. The architect who had designed the area had spared no expense. God knew what state that room was in at present.

Chapter Seven

Angie pulled out a work polo from her laundry basket and smoothed the wrinkles. Maybe she should iron it? She rolled her eyes. What was she doing? It wasn’t a date. Actually, he’d seen her covered in sweat, wearing flip-flops and a ketchup-stained shirt, so clean clothes would be taking a step up. She’d made quite an impression on Eoin when they’d met. Looking professional wouldn’t erase his memory of the pepper spray.

Using her apartment building’s Laundromat after work had taken longer than she’d expected so she only had enough time for a quick peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner. Maybe she’d make another to go. Her stomach ached with hunger. She’d only had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, since her toaster malfunctioned yesterday, and she hadn’t had time to run home for lunch. It didn’t help that Beth kept trying to order in meals, but without knowing the gender of the cook, Angie wouldn’t touch the food.

She set the polo on her bed next to her work khakis, the ones she should have been wearing these last two days if she’d done the laundry sooner. She needed to shop for more durable uniforms. Shifter fur was difficult to get off clothes. She’d tried everything from ice to hair spray to special pet brushes, but the small coarse hairs worked themselves into the fabric. What did employees at those grooming places wear?

Aprons…that was the ticket.

Before she could add the idea to her to-do list, someone knocked on her door. Damn, Ken was early! She glanced down at her outfit, the comfy yoga pants and worn t-shirt she’d changed into after work. The shifter would just have to take a seat and wait while she finished getting ready. If he could find a chair. She’d used them to separate her clean from dirty laundry.

She crossed her loft and opened the door and fisted her hands. “Ryota?”

The alpha filled her doorway. “You don’t look ready.”

“For what?” Angie recalled Ken’s comment about Ryota
letting
her break-up with him. Her stomach knotted. Did he think they were still an item?

“To go to the dragon’s castle.” He brushed past her and grimaced when he saw her apartment. “You should have let this place burn.”

She gave him a slow blink. “I don’t recall discussing this with you.”

He tossed her a smug look over his shoulder. “I’m alpha. You think either Ken or Beth would let you go there without letting me know?”

Traitors. She’d never get Ryota out of her life if she continued hanging out with werewolves.

“Don’t be angry with them, Angie. They have to answer to me, they can’t help it.”

“Oh, I’m not angry with them.” She crossed her arms and got in his face. “But I asked Ken, not you, to accompany me.”

“Ken’s busy with a flea bath. I offered to replace him.”

“Out of the kindness of your heart?”

He ran his fingertips along her chin. “You own my heart.”

She jerked away. “Don’t give me that bullshit. Shifter hearts don’t have room for humans. Our relationship is good the way it is.”

“Which is?”

“You’re my client.” She stepped out of Ryota’s reach. “Please, go home.”

“You’re brave enough to go to the dragon’s alone?” He didn’t budge.

“I’m fine. When you abandoned me with Eoin, he kept his word and didn’t eat me.” Ryota had enough alpha testosterone coursing through his blood to have resisted Eoin’s demands for him to leave. If it had been Beth who the dragon had wanted privacy with, Angie was sure the fur and scales would have flown. “He was a gentleman today.” She ignored the memory of Eoin sniffing her and the image of Eoin wearing his wet transparent dress shirt, the way it had clung to the hard muscles hidden beneath… Oh, baby…

She shook her head. Honestly, Eoin had better worry about her. Not the other way around.

Angie returned Ryota’s glare. Ken would have been a more reliable ride. What if there was a pack emergency? She didn’t want to be abandoned at the castle all night long. She didn’t trust herself to be good.

Ryota pressed his lips together. “You’re mad at me.”

“No shit.” She stabbed his chest with the tip of her fingernail, drawing blood. “You left me
alone
with a dragon. He could have barbequed me and had me for a snack.”

“You just said you trusted him!”

“I do now, but at that time, I’d just fucking sprayed him in the eyes with goddamn pepper spray. Who knows what he would have done?”

“What would you have had me do?” Ryota snarled in her face. “Would you have had me fight him for you? He would have won and left my pack leaderless.” He ran his fingers through his thick black hair. “I’m a gnat to him. He really wouldn’t have hurt you. I smelled his honesty.”

She glared at him. He was too big and strong for her to manhandle out of her apartment. Her jaw ached from clenching her teeth. She’d been around werewolves long enough to understand the way they thought. Their relationships were part possession. She might have walked away from Ryota but he hadn’t walked away from her. Shit, that’s what Ken meant.

If she let him win and take her to Eoin’s, then he’d try to bulldoze his way in other areas of her life.

“Look.” She bowed her head and rested her hands on her hips so she didn’t try strangling him. “I’m not sure how to act. I mean, I’m an itsy-bitsy part shifter but I don’t think it’s werewolf and I
definitely
don’t have the instincts to guide me in this situation.” She glanced up at him.

He stood quietly, his eyes still human. All good signs.

“What do you want from me, Ryota?”

He tilted his head to the side. “To drive you to the castle.” He pointed to the clock on her wall. “We’re going to be late.”

She tossed her hands in the air. “You taking me up to Eoin’s will give him the impression we’re still together. We’re not.” She should have shouted louder. Her landlord, who lived in the basement, probably hadn’t heard. He’d feel left out. Why did she care what Eoin thought? Except she liked the way he said her name and the way his body heat enveloped her when he stood near.

“I doubt the dragon will care.” Ryota gave her a small push toward the door. “Are you going to do this the hard way or the easy way?”

“I can’t go dressed like this.”

He eyed her, his gaze slowing over her breasts. “You look fine to me.”

“I’m not going with you. I’ll take a taxi.” She waved him to the door.

“So the hard way. Why am I not surprised?” He lifted her by the hips and tossed her over his shoulder.

“Put me down.” Angie pounded on his back.

“Oh baby, you know how I like it.” He purred as she put more muscle in her hits.

None of her neighbors peeked out into the hallway. They were used to domestic disputes and this was mild in comparison to the Rodriguez couple in two-twenty-three. Angie squirmed and kicked and tried to bite.

“Fuck, Angie, keep this up and I’ll take you back to my place instead. Fuck the dragon too.”

She stilled. “You wouldn’t dare.”

He chuckled and slapped her ass.

“Ryota, we’re through. Done. Caput. No more.” She elbowed him in the back of the head.

“Ow.” He rubbed the spot.

“You will not touch me again.” She dug her claws in his ass with all her strength and punctured through his jeans.

“Whoa.” The alpha half-shouted and laughed. He jumped and wiggled until they reached his car where he opened the trunk.

“You fucking wouldn’t dare!”

“Well, I fucking wouldn’t let a hell-cat like you loose in my new car.” He dropped her inside, pressing her head down so he wouldn’t knock it as he closed the trunk door.

What a fucking gentleman.

Clinging to the parapet on his castle, Eoin watched the silver sports car pull up to his front door. His black scales blended in with the night sky and as long as he didn’t move the passengers wouldn’t see him.

Angie had said she’d find her own ride to his home but Eoin bared his teeth when the werewolf alpha climbed out of the driver’s side. He’d been at her shop yesterday. The alpha’s reputation with females was legendary. Angie could do better.

Eoin leaned forward, stretching his neck toward the car. Where was the petite not-dragon?

Ryota circled to the trunk and popped it open.

Angie sat up. Even from this distance he could see the fury carved into her features.

Chips of stone tumbled from the castle as Eoin’s claws jabbed deeper into the wall. The alpha had locked her in the trunk? Eoin roared and stormed down the side of the building head first, lashing his tail to release his battle spikes.

Angie clapped her hands over her mouth. Her eyes had gone so wide Eoin could see clear through to her retinas.

The alpha spun around. As he focused on Eoin, he shifted to his beast form in his clothes and pulled the torn rags off his furry body. “Peace, Eoin.” He shouted and raised his hands, claws retracted.

Eoin landed next to the car, his wings extended fully as he loomed over them. His bedroom could use a fur rug and Ryota was the perfect shade of black. “How is it peaceful when you bring my new caretaker to me in your trunk?” Fire rolled within his chest and smoke drifted from his nostrils. He wanted to sear the alpha’s body and suck the marrow from his heat-cracked bones.

Angie’s scent coiled around Eoin and he shuddered as it filled his lungs. She made him react instinctively. That was dangerous for all of them. He needed a dunk in the glacier lake to cool off before he did anything stupid like leave New Port’s werewolf pack leaderless.
She’s not a dragon. She’s not a dragon
. He glanced back at her and sighed. Fuck, she wasn’t a dragon.

Angie climbed out of the car. “When did I become your caretaker?” Her question caught Eoin off guard and extinguished his fire.

“Uh, you’ll being caring for my scales?” What other title could he have used?

“So that makes me your
official
caretaker?”

“It’s not like we’re married or anything.”

Her eyes roved over his form, traveling over his shoulders to his wings.

Reflexively, he extended them fully and flexed his chest so his wings wouldn’t quiver from the strain. A dragon’s best asset was his span. Maneuvering his body between her and the werewolf, Eoin managed to guide her closer to him. “Are you injured?” He asked her without taking his eyes off the alpha.

“Slightly bruised.”

“Why did you treat her this way?” He lowered his head to meet Ryota’s gaze. The werewolf smelled of fear. Like he should. Even though the different races ruled themselves there was a hierarchy among supernaturals. A food chain of sorts, and Eoin’s kind sat on top.

“She wouldn’t come willingly.” The alpha raised his chin and set his feet as if ready to fight.

“That’s not true. I was willing to come here, just not with you.” She moved around Eoin’s arms and confronted the alpha, nose to muzzle. “I can’t believe you put me in your trunk.”

“I can’t believe you kicked and clawed me.” He pointed to his ass.

Eoin rumbled with amusement. “You clawed his ass?”

Both alpha and human turned to face Eoin at the same time. Their combined fury should have fried him; instead, it just made him laugh harder. Angie had the spirit of a she-dragon to go with her scent. “Go, Ryota.” He shoved the alpha toward the car. “I’ll keep her safe.” He winked at the shifter over Angie’s head. “I’ll bring her home unmolested.”

She jumped at his comment. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That I won’t take a taste.” He swept her toward the front entrance, using his tail to herd her away from the alpha. He lowered his head above the car and the werewolf. “Don’t come back here uninvited,” he whispered. “I spared you for your pack’s sake. I won’t be so merciful next time.” With the tip of his claws, he scratched the alpha’s hood, leaving four distinct marks.

Chapter Eight

Angie scooted ahead of Eoin’s tail before being impaled on the spikes. Just before touching her, they retracted inside the flesh. She halted mid-step with her jaw unhinged as his tail slid up along her legs to her hips and continued to push her farther from the car.

The scales felt softer than she’d expected, like hard, warm leather. Eoin hovered over the sports car and whispered something to Ryota, who went rigid before climbing back into his vehicle.

The alpha tossed her a sharp look, as if torn. She’d yelled at him for leaving her alone with Eoin and here he was being forced to do it again, except this time she didn’t feel frightened or abandoned. “Ryota!” She leaned over so she could see around Eoin and meet the alpha’s gaze. “I’ll be fine. Go home.” The alpha tended to act irrationally, at least in her opinion, when it came to his territory. She just hoped he would stop thinking of her as his. For everyone’s sake, he needed to let her go.

“You have your cell phone?” he shouted.

She held it up.

“Call me when you get home or if you need anything.”

Eoin made a noise that was close to a hiss that ran along her nerves like broken glass.

The alpha shuddered and gunned his car back toward the city.

“I will never understand werewolves.” Eoin shook his head as he watched the alpha drive away.

“You and me both.” She caught herself shaking her head as well. “He means well, in an asshole kind of way.”

The dragon slowly turned, snaking around as if boneless, to face her. He lay on his stomach and held his head to the side so she could see his bright blue eye. The tattoo by his eye still showed in his dragon form. A quick scan proved that none of the other tattoos had. “Tell me, are you and he involved in some mating ritual?”

She took a step back and tripped over his tail. He’d curled around her so silently that she was good and trapped in the center of his body. “No.” She cradled her elbows within her hands. “Well, not that I know of.” Shifters took mates but she didn’t know how. Those kinds of things weren’t public knowledge, no matter how much the press speculated.

“That explains his recent behavior. Has he bitten you deep enough to scar you?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Actually, it is. If Ryota has claimed you as his mate, then I am in the wrong and you have placed me in an awkward situation.” He raised his scaly eyebrow, waiting for her to answer.

She stared at his feet. “No bite marks. I don’t view biting as foreplay. It hurts and is gross.” Ryota
had
tried the last time they’d been together and she’d elbowed him off her. It hadn’t felt right and something drove her from his condo at warp speed. She’d refused to see Ryota socially since that night.

“That’s just because you haven’t met the right lover.” His body uncoiled around her, leaving her a path to his home. “Ryota will have to soothe his own ego. Mating rituals are a bitch and I don’t want to get caught in the middle of one.”

“I wouldn’t know.” She led him inside the dark castle.

“It’s hard to describe the instinctual urges to humans. The call is something to be felt, not discussed, and when it grips a shifter, there’s no stopping it.”

She opened her mouth but her question vanished as she crossed the threshold. It had been too dark outside to view the castle that sat on the edge of the mountain’s cliff-face, but inside hundreds of candles burned in the foyer. The warm yellow light danced with the shadows against the stone walls. Her gaze traveled up, up, up to the dark ceiling above where the roof sections must meet at the crest. “Wow.”

Eoin glanced over her shoulder with a confused look. “What?”

“I’ve never been in a castle before.” She took the steps into the foyer one at a time. This could be her last visit here and she wanted to soak in Eoin’s home. The thick, scarred stone suited the dragon. Scorch marks stained the walls and some of the windowpanes were empty. “How long have you lived here?”

“A hundred years, give or take a few. This castle has been in my clan for centuries though. It was given to me when I moved to New Port.”

“People make it sound like you’ve lived here forever.”

“For some humans a hundred years is forever.” He continued moving.

She passed by a stone staircase carved out of the walls that led to different levels. What was up there? Not a single piece of furniture decorated the room, just a dusty old chandelier and candles.

“We’ll work in the ballroom. Follow me.” Eoin stepped around her and moved deeper into the shadows, almost vanishing into them if not for the candlelight.

Angie scurried after him, afraid of losing her way. The castle seemed like a maze in the dark. She stepped on something roundish and twisted her foot. Catching her balance with a hand to the wall, she spotted electrical extension cables the length of the hallway. She limped in the direction Eoin had taken and slowed as she discovered their destination until she made a complete stop.

Eoin had used electric spotlights placed around the walls to light the massive room. The stark modern, metallic fixtures didn’t diminish the elegant beauty in the marble walls and ceiling. A huge dome carved with arches sheltered their heads.

Angie spun slowly. A terrace circled the walls just below the dome with intimate alcoves carved into the walls. Anyone who stood on those balconies could clearly observe those below. To her right, a long, heavy table held all sorts of antique metal pinchers and files. They would look more fitting in a torture chamber than a refined ballroom.

The open space and stained glass windows and the arching domed ceiling…the room was missing dancers and music.

“Angie?”

Or not, because a dragon stood in the center. She tried to blink but her eyes wanted to drink him in.

He rose on his hind legs, wings resting to the sides. His long muscular neck moved with a fluid grace as he bowed his head toward her. Teeth like daggers lined his mouth as he spoke eloquently. He was terrifying and strange and beautiful. “You will need to climb on my back.”

Eoin watched Angie sort through his tools and get accustomed to them. The sour smell of fear didn’t tangle with her natural scent this time. No denying it, if he closed his eyes, his nose would tell him a she-dragon was in the room. It made no sense. Even a halfling wouldn’t have smelled this pure.

Something was wrong.
Angie
was all wrong. The werewolves swore she was human. They didn’t smell the same thing he did. Eoin couldn’t figure out Angie. How could she be both?

She turned around holding a saw. “What am I supposed to use this on?”

“Fractured scales need to be cut away.” He answered with a calm voice, though inside he wanted to shift to human form and rub his scent all over her. The raw longing awakening in his body made it hard to breathe. How did she have such an effect on him? He’d only known her for two days and already he would disembowel Ryota to protect her.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Eoin.”

He blinked afraid he’d spoken his thoughts out loud. “What?”

“Won’t this saw hurt?”

He drew closer to her. “My scales have no nerve endings. It’s like clipping toenails, just a lot harder.” No dragon would deny their true identity and pretend to be human. His nose must be wrong. Maybe the rot was so bad it affected his mind? “Angie, what do you know about your shifter ancestry?” He would get to the bottom of this.

Her gaze narrowed. “We discussed this already. Stop beating a dead horse.”

“I can’t help it. You’re a puzzle and it’s been a long time since I’ve met anyone as interesting as you are.”

“Are you flirting with me again?” Her tone took on a dangerous edge.

“I don’t think I ever stopped.” As soon as he spoke the words he heard the truth. Well, well, looked like Angie really was his type after all.

“You’ve an odd way of flirting. All we’ve done is argue.”

“From what I’ve witnessed, you seem to like my kind of flirting.” He lay on his stomach and offered his wing to climb. “The patch you need to work on is on my lower back where I can’t reach.”

She glanced at the table. “What will I need first?”

“We’ll start by tearing away any rot on or under my scales. Take some pinchers and scissors to start with. We’ll use the saw as a last resort.” Dragon half-breeds were extremely rare. Human lifespans didn’t last more than a blink. He guessed it was possible for her to have a distant dragon relative. Genetics could do weird things. Either way, he should report her existence. She-dragons were in high demand. Maybe Angie could produce children with his kind? As long as they could shift they would be considered dragon.

When her slim fingers gripped the edge of his wing, desire flared in his blood. Angie was a hundred more times dangerous to his well-being than any knife forged. She didn’t need a weapon to penetrate his scales. She was already slipping past all his defenses.

He snapped his teeth together and focused his gaze on the distant wall. Gods above and below, he wouldn’t let the weakness of his flesh bring him to his knees. Dragons didn’t fuck around with their own kind. It was disrespectful. If a male wanted a she-dragon, he mated her. If he wanted something to keep him warm at night, he found a human or a shifter. Not a vampire; they were never warm.

So what was Angie to him? Both? Neither?

Angie sat on his spine and kicked her flip-flops off. “I’ll have a better grip on your scales barefoot.” She padded over his back to the itchy spot.

He stared at the cheap sandals. Who wore flip-flops? All evidence pointed to the fact that Angie was as clanless as he. She
worked
for a living. She mustn’t have any treasure.

“Eoin?”

He jumped. “What?”

“Whoa, take it easy. Don’t knock me off. It’s a long way down. I found the spot. It’s like a black fungus has taken hold on your scales.”

He sighed. “Yes, a fungus. Rip away. I can take the pain.”

She ran her hand over his healthy scales. “Isn’t there any way I can do this without hurting you?”

“No.” He watched her over his shoulder. “I’m not human. This won’t bother me like you seem to think it will.”

She plucked gently at the spot with the pinchers and tossed the rot to the floor in a neat pile. She worked in silence, concentrating on each scale with meticulous care.

“Why aren’t you afraid of me anymore?” Since her arrival, he hadn’t gotten a single whiff of fear.

“Because who else would be crazy enough to care for your scale rot if I mysteriously disappear?” She smirked as she pried a particularly large piece of gray fungus from under his scale.

He snaked his head around back as far as he could and rested his chin not far from her. “Touché.” He liked how her fingertips trailed over his scales as she searched for more rot. “Not to mention the uproar your absence would cause among the shifter community. I mean, they’d have to scratch their own backs, right?”

She snorted. “Says the dragon paying triple my price.”

He narrowed his gaze. “Why did you break the alpha’s heart?” Eoin couldn’t imagine why Angie had left Ryota. The alpha had money, power, and youth. What more could a female want?

She dug the tip of her sharp nail deep into the tender flesh under his scale.

“Ow. What the fuck?”

“I didn’t break Ryota’s heart.” She yanked out her nail and had the audacity to turn her back on him.

He swung his head around the other way so she’d be facing him again. “He sure looked heartbroken this evening.” Eoin might be reading too much in the alpha’s scent. He could have been grieving the scratches on his paint job.

“Ryota is possessive and hates that I dumped him first. It has nothing to do with love.”

“You’re absolutely certain he wasn’t courting you as his mate?” If he was going to get Angie out of his system, he wanted to make sure of no prior claim. Fucking someone else’s potential mate was tasteless.

“God no, we argued more than we made love.”

“Some shifters would consider that foreplay.”

“Not me. He’s never had a relationship that lasted more than three months. Our time was up, and good riddance. He treated me more like a pet than a woman.”

Eoin took mental notes. From his experience, a lot of women preferred to be taken care of, but he found independence was sexy as hell. This didn’t bode well for Angie. “So…” He ran a claw over the ballroom’s tiled floor, leaving a deep groove. “About your ancestry?”

“I’m
not
a dragon, Eoin.”

He winced as she scraped a patch raw with her razor little claws. “Well, you have to know something about where you get your fucking nails of torture.” His words came out gruffer than he intended.

“I was an only child and my parents didn’t have any family. When they died in a car accident, I was ten, so forgive my lack of knowledge.” She grabbed another handful and ripped it from his flesh with a vicious yank. “Satisfied?”

Eoin’s eyes watered. “Yes.” This possibly wasn’t the best time to talk about her family.