Dragon Fever: Limited Edition Holiday Romance Boxset

by Serena Meadows

  Kicking the gelding into a canter, Jordan rode toward the truck just as Knox stepped out and Neil walked out of the house with Caitlyn.

  Chapter Eleven

  Hearing the sound of a truck’s engine approaching, Neil felt little alarm and suspected a neighbor might be dropping by. Caitlyn, also hearing it, ran to the kitchen door. “Wait a minute, little one,” he said. “You don’t know who that is.”

  “It’s Daddy,” she cried, staring through the screen.

  Knox.

  Quickly grabbing her by the hand, Neil stepped out onto the porch. Galloping hooves also caught his attention, but he didn’t take his focus off the blond man getting out of the dark red truck. He met Knox’s gaze and kept Caitlyn firmly anchored to his side. “What do you want?” Neil asked, keeping his voice level.

  “That’s my baby girl there,” Knox snapped. “Give her over.”

  Jordan brought the horse to a trampling halt between the porch and Knox. “Get out of here, Knox,” she ordered. “You’re trespassing.”

  “Your fucking lawyer is garnishing my wages.” Knox took a threatening step toward her. “That ain’t right.”

  “You should have been paying your child support then,” Jordan replied, and at Neil’s side, Caitlyn started to cry.

  Neil picked her up, shushing her, and Knox pointed toward them both, glaring up at Jordan.

  “You shacking up with this asshole now?” he demanded.

  “That’s none of your business,” Jordan retorted, keeping the horse between Knox and Neil. “Get off my property.”

  Knox took another step toward her, and Neil recognized the fierce intensity in his eyes, the propensity for violence in them. Unless he had a weapon, Neil doubted he could harm Jordan while she was on the big horse. Still, he turned to take Caitlyn back into the house.

  “Stay in here, little one.”

  Caitlyn continued to cry, but Neil shut the door on her with Axel also inside, hoping she’d stay in there for the next little while. Knox tried to get past Jordan’s horse, but she continued to block his way as Neil stepped down from the porch.

  “You bring my baby girl back out here,” Knox shouted.

  “No,” Neil replied. “It seems you don’t take warnings very well.”

  “Neil, don’t hurt him. Please.”

  He took his eyes off Knox long enough to glance up at Jordan. “He needs to be taught a lesson in manners.”

  As he looked back at Knox, Neil half saw the punch thrown toward his face. Knox’s fist crashed into his jaw, rattling his head, but he shook off the blow and grinned. “You think you’re tough?” he asked, his tone soft. “Come on. Take your best shot.”

  Knox aimed another punch toward his face, and Neil blocked it easily with his arm. His right fist slammed into Knox’s nose, breaking it, then his left cracked into Knox’s ribs. Knox, choking on his own blood, doubled over, coughing. Neil’s knee in his face sent him hurtling into the front of his truck.

  When Neil would have continued his ruthless punishment, Jordan’s frightened voice halted him. “Neil, that’s enough. Please, stop.”

  “I don’t think he’s learned his lesson yet.”

  Now clearly terrified, Knox scrambled to get away from him. Neil grabbed him by his shirt and half lifted him, pushing him against the truck. Staring into Knox’s face, Neil partially shifted, blinking into his dragon for a brief second. Knox screamed in horror.

  “Maybe he’s learned his lesson,” Neil went on, his tone still deadly soft. “Have you, Knox?”

  “Yes, yes!”

  “Good. Now be a good boy and go home.”

  Wrestling Knox in behind the steering wheel of his truck, Neil slammed the door closed. Knox frantically started it up, then spun out in a swirl of dirt and dust. Watching him drive away fast, Neil finally looked back at Jordan. “I had to scare him,” he said, slightly defensive.

  Her grin blossomed. “I think you did,” she replied, then laughed.

  Caitlyn emerged from the house, still crying in soft sobs, Axel behind her. Jordan dismounted the big horse and left it to stand while she took Caitlyn in her arms. “I’m sorry, baby,” she murmured. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Why is Daddy so mean?”

  “I don’t know, honey. I really don’t.”

  Caitlyn recovered quickly from her upset, and Jordan prepared a delicious dinner grilled outside that she called barbeque. Neil had never tasted anything like it and enjoyed the spicy flavor. “You’ll have to teach me how to make this,” he told her, nibbling on the rib bones.

  “Barbeque can be classified as an art form,” she replied with a grin.

  Caitlyn had the red sauce smeared all over her face, and while Jordan took her into the bathroom to give her a bath, Neil took the bones outside for Axel. “Don’t tell her,” he said.

  Axel lay on the porch in the early evening dusk and happily crunched his bones. Neil gazed out over the quiet land and pondered his future among these humans. “I’m really liking Jordan,” he said to the dog. “I think she likes me, or at least likes me more than just a bodyguard. If I were to fall in love with her, would I have a future with her?”

  Axel paid little attention to him. Neil thought about Knox and the threat he may still pose if he chose to forget about how close he came to getting killed earlier in the day. “If she loved a man like Knox, could she love me, too?”

  Neil knew that once the problem of Knox was solved, one way or another, he had no reason to stay on at the ranch. Nor did he like the idea of leaving, either. “What will I do if Jordan asks me to leave?”

  Neil discovered the prospect of her asking him to leave bothered him a great deal.

  Leaving Axel to his enjoyment, Neil went back into the house, and into the sitting room. Waiting for bath time to be over, he sat on the sofa and half-listened to the cheerful talk and splashing coming from the bathroom. “I’m falling in love with them both,” he murmured. “Jordan as a mate, and Caitlyn as my child.”

  But once you are no longer needed, what then?

  Axel wandered back in, licking his lips, then belched as he lay down. “That good, eh?” Neil asked him.

  Jordan and a freshly bathed and still damp Caitlyn came in, and the little girl immediately sat on the floor with the dog. “Axel, you need a bath,” she stated.

  Jordan sat beside Neil on the couch as Caitlyn turned on the TV and said, “I didn’t get a chance to thank you for what you did.”

  Neil grinned and knew not to mention specifics while Caitlyn was in hearing range. “You’re welcome,” he replied simply.

  Gazing into her dark eyes, Neil couldn’t read beyond the friendliness in them to know if there was a possibility, she might feel more than friendship for him. Nor did he know enough about human romance or courtship habits to know how to approach her that way.

  Slightly embarrassed, Neil looked away from her to stare blankly at the TV.

  An hour or so later, Caitlyn gave them both goodnight hugs and kisses and took Axel off to bed with her. Though he still gazed forward, he felt Jordan’s eyes on him. “Is something wrong, Neil?” she asked. “You’re awful quiet.”

  “I just don’t know what to say,” he replied.

  “About what?” Jordan shifted position so she leaned her elbow against the back of the couch to face him fully.

  Neil glanced at her, then down. “I like you, Jordan,” he murmured. “But I don’t know how to, uh, court you. I don’t know human rituals.”

  Jordan laughed. She reached over and took his hand. “We don’t have rituals as such,” she replied. “If a man likes a woman, he might ask her to dinner. Or something else that means they spend a little time alone. It’s called dating.”

  Neil turned to face her, also leaning his elbow on the back of the couch. “So how do I go about dating you?”

  She grinned. “It’s not always necessary. In fact, it can be challenging when one has to find a babysitter in order to go out on a date.”

  “Would you be
willing to go on a date with me?”

  Jordan scooted closer to him. “Yes, I would.”

  “Then we’ll find a babysitter—”

  Her mouth closed on his. Recovering from his surprise, Neil pulled her into his arms, then slid back on the couch until Jordan lay half on his chest. Her lips opened, permitting his tongue to explore her mouth. His arms around her, Neil felt himself grow hot, his loins stirring. Her full breasts, hard against his chest, tempted him to bring his hand around to caress them.

  Fearing Jordan would take offense to his boldness, Neil slid his hand under her shirt. She made no movement that said his advances were not welcomed, so he teased her nipples with his thumb. Jordan moaned into his mouth, moving her body slightly to give him more room to tease and arouse her.

  Suddenly, she moved away from him, making Neil think he had done something wrong. But she stood up and took his hand.

  “Not here,” she whispered, her eyes luminous. “Caitlyn might get up and see.”

  Neil wanted to kick himself for not thinking of that and followed her as she took him into her darkened bedroom. Half closing the door, she turned to him, reaching up to lay her arms around his neck and kiss him. His own arousal spread, making him hard, filling his jeans. Sliding his hands under her shirt, he pulled it off over her head, then bent to suckle first one breast, then the other.

  Moaning, Jordan’s hands in his hair pulled him more tightly to her. Caressing down her firm waist, Neil unbuttoned her pants, then slipped his fingers inside. Jordan’s mouth broke away from his with a sharp inhale of her breath as his fingers toyed with her button.

  “Oh, yes,” she muttered thickly, her fingers restless in his hair. “God, yes. It’s been so long.”

  Taking his mouth from her nipples, Neil licked and sucked at her throat even as he pushed her pants past her hips. His thickened shaft throbbed in its tight confines, straining against his zipper. Jordan stepped back from him to finish pulling her pants off, then her fingers worked at his jeans.

  She helped him undress and her hands stroked up and down his staff. “It’s so big,” she whispered.

  Her touch electrified him. Both of them now naked, Neil held her tightly to his body as he backed her toward the bed, then lay her down on it. Lying beside her, his shaft aching to be buried deep into her cave, he took time to make certain she was fully aroused.

  His fingers in her warm, wet crevice made her moan and thrash, his lips and tongue busy at her breasts and throat. Jordan clung to him, begging him in soft whispers. “Do it. I want you in me.”

  Unable to control his needs any longer, Neil rolled on top of her and spread her thighs with his knees. His tongue in her mouth, he gently pushed his head into her. Gently, fearing his size would hurt her, he slowly worked his shaft in deeper. Jordan moaned into his mouth, her nails digging into his back.

  He had thrust only a few times, driving himself into her, when he felt her orgasm. Jordan arched her back into him, crying out as her nest undulated, quaking around his rod. Her juices gushed over him, giving him greater lubrication as he thrust harder and faster, deeper.

  Breathing hard, Neil let the pleasure wash over him, her mound tight around his driving shaft, the incredible carnal sensations stoking him into an even faster pace. Jordan’s soft cries of her pleasure sinking into his ear as he possessed her body. He licked and sucked gently on her neck, some dim part of his mind warning him not to leave bruises.

  Heat built up behind his balls. His climax grew, approaching fast, but he hoped to bring Jordan to another orgasm before he exploded. Driving himself in deep and hard, he felt her body shiver under him. Her gasping moans in his ear told him she was close.

  Neil groaned as his shaft burst with his climax, Jordan’s body shuddering under him, her legs locked around his thighs. Her nest convulsed around his shaft as he thrust hard, moaning, his pleasure centering around his rod and balls.

  At last, he relaxed on her, drained, exhausted, her hands still around his back. Jordan kissed his cheek, his throat, until he finally rolled off of her. Pulling her into the curve of his body, he swiped her hair away from her neck so he could nuzzle it.

  Her fingers, entwined with his, rested on her stomach. Burying his face in the curve of her neck and shoulder, Neil kissed her sweet-scented flesh, listened to the beat of her heart slow. “Is this part of your courtship ritual?” he murmured and was rewarded by her low laugh.

  “Yeah. It is.”

  Chapter Twelve

  After paying a long visit to the emergency clinic, Knox made his slow, painful way to the Mule’s Shoe. X-rays showed his ribs were not cracked, even though they felt busted, but his nose was. Wearing a bandage over it, both eyes black, his lips swollen from the bastard’s knee in his face, Knox held his left arm over his chest as he walked in.

  Most patrons rudely stared as he shuffled to the bar, and he caught a rapid glimpse of Fred’s smirk as he joined Jimmy and Darren. Both gaped at him in shock.

  “Knox, what the fuck happened?” Jimmy demanded, his hand on Knox’s shoulder.

  He could not very well tell them about Jordan’s new squeeze beating the living shit out of him. Whenever he remembered the bastard’s cold eyes, and how, for a brief second, he changed into a monster from hell, he shivered involuntarily and almost pissed his jeans. “Car accident,” he muttered. “Face hit the steering wheel.”

  “Jesus,” Darren exclaimed. “You gonna sue ‘em?”

  “Wild Turkey?” Fred asked, his smirk veiled but still there.

  Knox nodded, in too much pain and fear to want to challenge the man. He needed the booze to forget about the horrible sight of whatever it was Jordan’s boyfriend turned into. Nor could he tell his friends, for they would never believe it. He hardly believed it himself.

  Knocking back a few shots dulled some of the pain, but every time he blinked, he saw that—thing. He listened to Jimmy and Darren talk about past accidents, and the consequences, yet hardly contributed to the conversation.

  “You gonna be at work tomorrow?” Darren asked. “You should call in sick.”

  But sick days were not paid, and now that the bitch was taking most of his paycheck, he needed every penny she wasn’t taking. “No. I got to work. Can’t risk losing the job. I do, I won’t get my kid.”

  “That’s for sure,” Jimmy commented, then took a long gulp from his beer. “Have to have a job to get custody.”

  “Maybe you should just aim for shared custody,” Darren suggested. “Might go better that way.”

  Knox slowly shook his head, gazing at his empty shot glass. “I want that bitch dead. Her boyfriend, too.”

  Unfortunately, the bartender was close enough to hear him say that. So did a couple of other patrons, all of whom glanced at once another when Knox lifted his head to see them staring at him. “Well, now,” the asshole Fred drawled. “I did hear the man make a threat against his ex-wife and her friend.”

  “We should call the cops,” said another guy. “If someone gets killed, then they’ll know just who to look for.”

  Jimmy leaned toward him. “You just gotta shut up about killing her, Knox,” he hissed, his tone furious. “You’ll get Darren and me into shit along with you.”

  Knox realized that he had indeed shot his mouth off when he shouldn’t have. “Aww, I didn’t mean it,” he muttered. “I ain’t gonna kill nobody.”

  “Just in case something does happen to your ex, Knox,” Fred said conversationally, “I plan to remember this moment. For the evidence, you understand.”

  “Just you mind your own business,” Jimmy snapped. “He won’t do anyone any harm.”

  “We’ll just see about that.”

  The bartender moved off to attend his customers, but the other guys who had heard him still stared, muttering to one another. Infuriated, Knox tried to play it cool until he paid for and received another shot of Wild Turkey.

  “She’s garnishing my wages,” he complained, his voice low. “Back child support.”


  “Sorry, man,” Darren said. “It’s not like she needs the money, what with all the land she got. She can sell some cows and make a mint.”

  “Yeah.”

  Jimmy made no comment and watched the game on the TV to the left of the bar. Knox wondered if he had pissed Jimmy off with his comment about wanting to kill Jordan but couldn’t bring himself to care. He had few friends but losing yet another one wasn’t something he’d cry over. Still, Jimmy had been loyal once.

  But he wouldn’t agree to helping Knox kill Jordan and her pal.

  Half-watching the game, half-listening to the chatter from the bar’s patrons, Knox wondered how he could pull off killing Jordan and her boy-toy. Maybe I should let them live. Just go in and grab Caitlin. Then scoot across the border with her.

  He pictured Jordan’s anguish if he did that and almost laughed to himself. That might be even better than killing her. Take his kid and go and leave her to mourn what she could no longer have. That would serve the bitch right.

  Maybe she’ll have another kid with the boy-toy. Live happily fucking after. Knox grinned to himself. Feeling better for having made a plan, he paid for more shots of Wild Turkey, kept his mouth shut, and watched the game.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Don’t squeeze your legs,” Jordan ordered. “Relax. Sit back. No, loosen the reins, dammit.”

  She watched Neil try to obey as he rode the quiet gelding around the round pen, but she also recognized his alarm. Not fear, for why would a dragon be afraid of riding a horse? No, Neil worried about something else, but she wasn’t sure what it was.

  “Mommy, why are you cussing at Neil?”

  Caitlyn sat on the top rail, also watching as Neil sat like a sack in the saddle. “Don’t cuss.”

  “I know, baby,” Jordan admitted, taking a deep breath. “Sorry, Neil.”

  He stopped the gelding with an impressively light touch on the reins and rubbed the horse’s neck with a grin. “I just keep expecting him to bolt.”