Ruby Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 3) (9 page)

“Shit,” Sapphire said. “You took care of it.”

“Obviously,” Red said. “My mate lives here.”

Silence. “Wait. Your mate?”

“Oh yeah, I found one,” Red said. “We can talk about that later. Right now, I need you and Zach here to pick these guys up before they wake up, and I’ll need to bring Faye—that’s my mate—over to your place.”

“We can be there in ten,” Sapphire said. “Maybe faster.”

“I’ll drop them out the window,” Red said. “They’re durable.”

Sapphire snorted. “Disturbing. But probably accurate.”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting,” he said. “We’ll meet you outside.”

“Fine,” Sapphire said. “I’ll go get Zach.”

“Thanks,” Red said and hung up.

He turned back to the door Faye was behind and realized there was a peephole in it. Had she seen anything without him intending? Not that he was trying to keep her from seeing it. All he’d been thinking of was keeping her from getting involved, making sure she stayed safe.

But now he realized he probably also should have made sure he didn’t shock her.

He knocked on the door. No response. But he could hear her labored breathing on the other side.

“Faye? Let me in,” he said.

“No,” she said. “Explain what you are.” Her voice was shaky. He supposed for a human, watching your boyfriend emit a giant ball of smoke to smother people or making your doorknob glow was a bit much to handle.

“I can explain. Let me in.”

“I don’t even think I can. You messed up the door. I couldn’t even come out to help you.”

“You saw those guys. You think you really would have been able to?”

“You trapped me,” she said bitterly. “You lied to me.”

“No,” he said, touching the door. “I just didn’t tell you. Yet. But if it’s all right, I’m coming in, and we can talk for a minute before my friends pick me up.”

“What are your friends?” she asked, sounding slightly hysteric. “Do they knock people out with smoke bombs, too?”

“Not a bomb,” he muttered. “We do what we have to in order to protect those we care about.” He put his hand on the doorknob and manipulated the metal so he could open it.

She was standing there, leaned against the kitchen table, pale as fresh cream. “What did I just see?”

“Listen,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of time, and my friends are coming to pick us up. I gotta get those guys out of here and through the window before anyone comes up.”

She nodded.

“But here’s the short story, and please remember this doesn’t change anything between us. I’m actually an ancient, powerful dragon, brought back to this time to prove myself as a protector of humans. And you’re my mate.”

“What the—”

He lit a flame on his fingertip and let it glow, fluttering softly in front of him. “See? Dragon.”

She stared at him, unblinking, and he hoped for just a second she wasn’t taking it too hard.

Then her eyes rolled back in her head, and he ran forward to catch her.

He sighed at her slumped body in his arms. One more unconscious person to move. He set her down on the couch and went to deal with the wyverns before Sapphire got there.

He’d have to try and do a better job of explaining to his mate later. Once they were safe.

F
aye woke up slowly
, rubbing her head, confused by the voices around her.

“She fainted, and you brought her here?” a deep voice rumbled. “Red, that’s kidnapping.”

“I’m a dragon,” a familiar voice said, pulling her closer to the surface. “I’m not leaving my mate behind when there’s danger.”

“She’s not your mate yet,” the other deep voice responded.

She opened her eyes slowly to see she was on a green velvet couch with gold embellishment, surrounded by sparkling gray granite floors and columns. Walls papered with accents of gold and silver. A huge chandelier over a giant ballroom-like room. Her couch was against a wall at the edge of it.

Foggy figures swam in front of her. All tall. All frightening. She sat up with a start and felt a warm hand push her down. She bit out at it instinctively and heard laughter as well as a muttered curse.

“Fiery one,” a voice said. “Suitable for the fire dragon.”

She let her eyes focus and saw familiar reddish-purple hair framing a tanned, exotic face and catlike green eyes. Her mind focused in on the word dragon. Why did that feel so relevant?

She blinked, realizing it was Red in front of her. Red, who she’d just started dating. Red, who she’d just made love to. Red, who’d claimed to be a dragon. She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to sit up.

He placed a hand on her shoulder again, gently. “Hold on,” he said. “I know how it looks.”

She folded her arms. “You kidnapped me.”

“Do you remember what just happened? We were attacked by a bunch of masked guys. Would you really rather I left you behind for them to come back?”

“Seemed like they were after you, not me,” she said.

“Yeah, well, I’m guessing after the protective display they just witnessed, they realized you’re the key to hurting me. So whatever you think about me being a dragon, I’m not going to let this go until you’re safe.”

That sounded like the Red she knew. She sat up and patted the seat next to her, gesturing it was fine for him to sit down. Despite having a few trust issues, she still felt safest with him next to her. Especially in this new house with people she didn’t recognize.

All she knew was if there was a secret planet of super-hot men where Red had come from, these men seemed to be from the same planet.

One of them had dark-blond hair and eyes that were a striking mix of every shade of blue. The other had dark, pirate-ish hair and a dark gaze to match, along with tanned skin.

“I’m Luc, and this is Zach,” the blond one said, pointing to the other.

“Or Sapphire and Onyx,” the dark-haired one said. He nodded to Red. “And you could probably guess that’s Ruby.”

“Ruby?” she asked.

“You didn’t tell her about the gemstones?” Zach asked, scowling at Red. “What did you tell her?”

“I only got to the dragon part before she passed out.”

Zach rubbed his temples in frustration. “So if I say more, is she going to pass out again?”

“Excuse me,” she said. “But I saw my doorknob melt, my boyfriend make a giant smoke bomb that knocked out five men, and then heard the dragon thing. After a full day of work on my feet. So I think it’s a little different.”

“I’m your boyfriend?” Red asked because that was apparently all he heard, and he looked transcendently happy.

“I don’t think that’s the point right now,” Zach said darkly. “Anyway, we all have a different gemstone, corresponding to the ring we give our mate, endowing her with some of our powers.”

“Mate?” she asked, feeling baffled.

Zach sighed in aggravation and looked at Red. “Did you seriously tell her nothing?”

“Well, not everyone can pull off swaggering into a salon and blurting everything out about being an ancient dragon, Zach,” Luc, the blond one, said. “Some of us have to be a little subtler.”

“A little,” Zach said. “But for Pete’s sake, when were you going to tell her? Did you think she wasn’t going to be totally shocked?”

Red shrugged. “I just… I was more worried about making her feel safe with me as a man. I knew it wasn’t the right time to dump more on her.”

She rubbed her own temples. It made sense. She’d fought Red hard every step of the way as he’d tried to get inside her heart. No one else here could understand that. Of course he hadn’t wanted to overwhelm her or offer more info that could make her step back.

She looked into his concerned gaze and remembered the way he’d made love to her the previous night.

“Avert your thoughts,” Red said sharply, glaring up at the others.

“What?” she asked.

“Dragons can read thoughts,” he said.

“Oh. There really is a lot to learn, isn’t there?” she asked faintly.

He took her hand. “Look, all you need to know is I’m me. I’m the man you’ve been getting to know. And yeah, there is another side of me. One I’ve been dying to share with you when it was the right time. I’m sorry I couldn’t say sooner. I’m sorry you had to find out that way. But I promise I haven’t lied to you. There was just no easy way to tell you what I was holding back.”

She sighed. “I guess so.” She could feel a choice inside her, to overreact and run away, to not risk getting hurt again by someone keeping secrets. But she also could remember how he’d held her. Loved her. Protected her. Looked at her like she was the only woman in the world.

Something had always been odd about him. She’d known that from the start, and she’d still let him in. And anyone she dated would have a past.

“I forgive you,” she said and heard him let out a relieved breath.

“Thank you,” he said genuinely. “So do you want to meet the other mates?”

“Oh yeah, mates. What is that?”

He pressed his lips together. “Maybe I’ll explain that later. In private.”

She tingled with curiosity, but she was hungry, and she supposed it would be good to just go eat. “Oh,” she said, remembering. “What happened to those guys you smoked?”

“In the basement,” Luc said. “On ice until we can figure out what to do with them.”

“You have a freezer down there?” she asked, screwing up her nose as they walked into an impressive dining room with burgundy wallpaper and elegant cream carpet.

“You could say that,” Luc answered with a smile.

Seated around the table were two women. One had auburn hair and blue eyes and a soft smile directed at Faye and then at the dark-haired man, who came to sit next to her after giving her a quick kiss.

The other girl had strikingly dark hair and contrasting grey eyes, and she clearly had eyes only for the blond man who squeezed her hand before sitting next to her.

Faye sat across from them, after Red pulled out a chair for her. Nerves moved through her, as the only person who didn’t know everyone here. Everyone else was clearly chummy.

As the first course was served, a green soup that tasted amazing, she couldn’t help looking around the table. “So, um, you’re all dragons?”

The women laughed. The one with gray eyes gave her a smile. “No. Just Zach and Luc. And your guy there. Red, was it?”

She nodded.

“Yeah,” the auburn-haired one said. “We’re their mates. My name is Erin, and this is Hallie.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Faye,” she said.

They gave her friendly grins, and she felt herself settle in slightly. Yes, it was all still a huge shock, but at least these seemed to be nice people. Nice women. If they could deal with the whole being a dragon’s mate thing, so could she.

“So what does being a mate mean?” she asked, wanting to hear it from mates themselves.

Erin twisted a gold ring on her hand with a black stone in it. “It means some of their powers are transferred to us, for one thing. For protection.”

“Powers?” Faye asked.

“Yeah,” Hallie answered. “Each of the dragons has different powers corresponding to their representative gemstone, and some of those are imbued in the ring. Mine, for instance, gives me rapid healing, since Luc is able to heal. I don’t have his freezing powers, though.”

“And mine gives me diamond skin,” Erin said. “Well, onyx skin, but it’s hard as diamond.”

Faye looked over at Red. Sure enough, he had a gold ring on his right hand that had a red ruby shining in it. “What are your powers?”

“I’d really rather talk about it in private,” he said, glaring at Zach, who was smirking.

“I bet you would,” Zach said. “He has sexy powers.”

“What?” she asked, nearly spitting out her soup.

“He’s seductive. Or didn’t you notice?” Zach asked.

“He’s beautiful, yes,” Faye said. “But I wasn’t immediately ready to date him. So I guess not so powerful after all.”

“I still won you over,” Red grumbled. “Besides, I’m glad it wasn’t just my powers making you like me. But yes, I have an effect on women. Kind of a dubious power, but I suppose it gives me influence. Lately, I haven’t been grateful for it. But also, as you saw, I can manipulate fire, heat, and smoke. Those are my offensive abilities.”

“I wonder what your ring would do,” she said thoughtfully.

He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. “You want to try it on and see?”

“Hey now,” Erin said, grinning. “Just know once it’s on, it’s permanent. You’re mated.”

“Oh,” Faye said. “Good to know.” She glared at Red.

He shrugged. “I would have told you. Probably.”

She had to laugh at his gall. Ever since she’d met him, he’d been slowly squeezing himself into her life.

She heard a hiss from outside the room and then the screeching of claws skittering over marble and looked in the direction they’d come. Another familiar yowl, and she looked at Red curiously. “Oh my gosh, did you bring Pumpkin?”

Red looked indignant. “Of course. I wasn’t going to leave her alone. What if the bad guys came back?”

She laughed as she stood to go check on what was going on. A little black cat was limping alongside a hairless cat as they both cautiously approached Pumpkin, who was, as usual, ensconced under a table.

“Maybe I should go warn them,” she said.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Zach said, holding up scratched arms. “That cat is nasty.”

“She likes me,” Faye said. She left the room and walked over to Pumpkin, who was hissing and swiping at the others with her claws. “Move back guys,” she said to the other kitties. “I got this.” She reached out, and Pumpkin purred and rubbed her hand with her face. Then she allowed Faye to pull her out and into her arms, where she relaxed.

Faye sort of understood Pumpkin. What it was like to be afraid all the time and want to hide under things, swiping at people.

But she also knew someone being willing to overlook that and reach out without fear made all the difference.

She could be to Pumpkin what Red had been to her.

She carried Pumpkin back to the dining room, and it went quiet as she walked in.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Zach said.

“Language,” Erin scolded.

“Darned.” Zach corrected himself. “Look at the demon cat.”

“She’s not a demon,” Faye chided. “She’s just scared.”

Luc smiled. “I can see why you like her,” he said to Red. “She’s good at taming wild animals.”

“Shut up,” Red snapped. But his eyes were on her, shining with admiration. Warmth. Heat. And something else.

If she didn’t know any better, she’d say that look in his eyes was love.

“Well, I think I’ve got some explaining to do,” Red said, standing and walking over to join her.

“Try not to explain too loud,” Zach said, earning a punch on the arm from his mate. “Even if we did put you in the back wing.”

“Can’t promise,” Red said. “Better keep your doors closed.”

Faye flushed as he pulled her from the room. She was almost nervous to be alone with him again. When there had been other people to focus on, to get to know, it had been easier.

He led her to a large staircase covered in burgundy floral carpet, rich and baroque, and began pulling her up it.

“Come on,” he said. “I’ve got a lot to tell you.”