Dragon Fever: Limited Edition Holiday Romance Boxset

by Serena Meadows

  She grinned. “Not if it’s in the garage.”

  Thus, Kane paid cash for a rented sedan, and the minivan was parked in the lot of a local strip mall within walking distance of the rental outfit. With Megan and Lila ensconced in their car seats, Taylor drove them to her house. She opened the garage door with the control taken from her van and drove the vehicle inside. “Welcome home.”

  Lila and Megan, excited to be back, ran into the house while shrieking. Kane had begun to believe that human kids needed to raise their voices constantly. Young dragons didn’t. In the kitchen, Kane found the evidence of what Craig had tried to do to them in blood.

  Taylor brought in some of the luggage and gazed at the blood and dust on the floor. “He didn’t even bother to clean up. What an ass.”

  Craig’s service belt yielded interesting things. Kane stuck the handcuffs in his hip pocket, and the gun in the waistband of his jeans. Taylor eyed him sardonically.

  “Do you even know how to fire that?”

  He shrugged. “Point and pull the trigger.”

  Taylor put Craig’s can of mace in her purse with the comment, “Now I feel fully protected. Taser, mace, a handgun and a dragon.”

  “Let’s hope one of them works.”

  Taylor showed Kane the guestroom, a tidy place with a spacious bed and a bureau for his clothes. “I like it.”

  “There’s food in the fridge,” she went on, “I can get us beer later. Anything you need, let me know.”

  How about you? The question hovered on Kane’s lips, unasked. Though he had previously felt horror at the thought of mating with a human female, Kane now knew that feeling was ridiculous. He did want her and wanted her badly. He needed her, but whether she felt the same way toward him was another question he dared not ask.

  Ecstatic to be home, Lila and Megan played princesses in their room in their gowns and tiaras, then watched shows containing princesses on the television. Kane helped Taylor clean up the mess left behind by Craig and the police. At last, they sat side by side on the couch as the twins lay on the floor, staring at the television.

  “What is it with those girls and princesses?” he asked.

  “A phase,” Taylor replied, her feet up on the coffee table. “This month, its princesses, the next Pirates of the Caribbean.”

  “Huh?”

  “Never mind. I won’t let them watch Pirates until they’re twelve.”

  Taylor’s phone rang. By the one-sided conversation he heard, Kane guessed she spoke with her mother. He wondered if she would tell her mom about him, and that he was a dragon. But she never brought up last night at all. Only that she had invited Kane to stay in their house until Craig was arrested.

  “She’s safe from him,” Taylor said as she hung up. “I know Craig would either hurt her or use her as a hostage to get to me. Now he can’t.”

  “That’s good.”

  Liking this domestic arrangement, in a house with a mate and offspring, Kane wondered if Taylor could become his mate in truth. His feelings for her had grown, but he feared his true self, his dragon, might repel her. Yes, perhaps she liked him as a friend and protector, but as a mate, never.

  He also grew jealous of her damn phone, for it rang yet again. Annoyed, he listened, and soon discovered it was Officer Harrison on the other end.

  “Yeah, Kane is with me, and we came home,” Taylor told him with a sidelong glance at Kane. “He’s got a warrant out for him? Then he won’t come here. Yeah.”

  She listened for a time, then asked, “Look, can I keep his service belt for a while? Until he’s caught? Great, thanks. And yes, I’d love to have an officer here watching. Kane is great, but you know, he’s only human.”

  Kane gawked while Taylor smirked, making shushing noises when he would have protested. “I do hope you catch him soon, Officer, and thanks for letting me know. If I see Craig, I’ll be on the phone, pronto.”

  She hung up, still laughing as Kane scowled. “Only human? Can you be more insulting, woman?”

  “Oh, hush. I can’t very well tell him I have a dragon guarding me. Plus, I wanted the extra cops outside on watch. If Craig sees a patrol car outside, he’ll stay away.”

  “So sure, are you?”

  Taylor sobered. “I can but hope.”

  Later that night, Kane lay awake in the guest bed, literally aching for Taylor. She slept just down the hall from him, the twins in their own room on the other side of Taylor. His semi-erect shaft throbbed with need, but he dared not join her in her room. If she rejected him, he knew that would utterly destroy him.

  Thus, when her shadow, darker than the night around them, crossed his doorway, he started up in a weird mixture of hope, fear, and delight. “Taylor?”

  His voice, spoken in a hushed whisper, carried no further than the door. By the way she moved, her shadow against the wall slenderer than it should be, informed him that she was naked. She reached the bed and slid under the covers with him.

  “I need you.”

  Her three soft words told him everything he desired to know. Her silky skin met his fingers as Taylor nestled against him; her tongue entwined with his aroused his lust to greater heights. Pulling her into his arms, Kane let her feel his aching erection, fearing it would make her pull away.

  Instead, she kissed him with greater fervor, lying atop him with her legs spread, her breasts hard against his chest. His arms trapped her to him, his mouth on hers, tasting her sweetness, her own desires on her tongue. His hands caressed her firm waist, trim hips, trailing down across her tight buttocks.

  Gasping for breath, Taylor half straightened, pulling away. “God, I want you,” she moaned in a whisper. “Do you want me?”

  A flippant reply rose to his lips, but Kane knew she deserved better. Pulling her back to him, he murmured against her lips, “Let me show you how much.”

  Rolling her over so he was on top, Kane spread her legs with his knees. He knew she was not aroused enough for his invasion; thus, he teased the entrance to her cave with his shaft. Taylor moaned, thrashing under him as he inserted it only a short way, then withdrew to push in again, arousing her to new delights of passion.

  “Don’t tease me,” she hissed, her mouth rising to kiss him, her tongue exploring his mouth.

  I must. Or I will hurt you without intending to.

  His arms around her, his weight pinning her to the bed, Kane unmercifully tormented her with pleasure until she went wild with crazed lust. Only then did he dare work his thick length into her. He felt her soft tunnel walls spreading under his invasion, felt her first orgasm spasm around his rod as Taylor moaned, her body shuddering beneath him.

  Fully inside her at last, Kane thrust hard. He withdrew to plunge in again, his heat rising, his lust, his need, making him sweat as he drove himself madly in her. Taylor scratched his back with her nails even as she climaxed again, her mouth on his throat, sucking, her tongue working to mark him as hers.

  Kane erupted too soon. He couldn’t control his rising explosion, and his seed blasted from his member deep within her body. He groaned, shuddering with the intense pleasure, the living death, his harsh breathing hard on her neck.

  At last, he lay on her body, still in her, panting, sweating. Taylor clutched him to her, her face nuzzling his throat, her breath hot on his flesh. Though she didn’t seem uncomfortable, Kane worried his great weight might crush her. He rolled off of her but pulled her into the curve of his body as he lay on his side.

  Pushing her hair to the side, he nuzzled and kissed her neck, his arm around her waist. Taylor laid her head on his arm, her fingers entwined with his. Her breathing became slow and regular, and Kane suspected she had fallen asleep.

  Just as he drifted off, Taylor said, “I’m falling in love with you.”

  Kissing her bare shoulder, Kane grinned into her flesh. “Good. Because I’m already in love with you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Taylor woke to the sound of giggling coming from the living room. Lifting her head, she sq
uinted at the clock. Just after six in the morning. She adored her daughters and would kill or die for them, but she really hated how they tended to rise way too early. I am so not a morning person.

  Kane’s heavy arm still lay over her, his face buried in a pillow. How he breathed like that, she had no idea. Lying next to him, Taylor thought of their passionate lovemaking, and how she had orgasmed not once but twice. With Craig, she never orgasmed at all.

  Dragons make better lovers.

  Reluctant to leave the bed, Taylor carefully gave Kane his arm, trying not to wake him. Muttering, he shifted onto his stomach and fell into deeper slumber. Her crotch aching pleasantly, she went to her own room before the kids saw her and put on a robe. Padding into the living room, yawning, she found Megan and Lila clad only in their underwear as they played with the filmy purple and lavender gowns.

  “Why are you two naked?” she asked, sitting on the couch with another jaw-cracking yawn.

  “I’m a princess,” Megan answered, waving a tiara.

  Needing a shower, also needing to get her daughters dressed appropriately, Taylor felt too sluggish to do either immediately. “I suppose it’s socially acceptable for you to be naked in your own home.”

  “Naked,” Lila exclaimed.

  Watching them, Taylor couldn’t help but remember how close the two small, cheerful innocents had come to being killed the day before yesterday. Craig, you have a lot to answer for. A feeling of unreality washed over her. How had her life turned upside down so fast? Only a few days had passed since she had gone on her desperate bender to escape for a time, and now Craig was trying to kill them and she had fallen headfirst into love with a dragon.

  “I need coffee.”

  In the kitchen, Taylor put on a pot to brew and leaned against the counter to gaze out the window. Birds fluttered in the backyard tree, chirping, as a squirrel ran up its trunk. The neighbor’s dog barked from next door, reminding Taylor of how the twins had begged for a puppy. So many ordinary events occurring in the midst of a nightmare.

  Filling her mug with coffee, Taylor went to the bathroom to shower while sipping it, thinking of a potential future with Kane. Once Craig had been tossed into jail, that was. Under the hot water, washing away last night’s sex, she wondered where Craig was. Taylor felt certain that being burned by a dragon would not stop him for very long.

  Craig’s need for vengeance at what he perceived as her betrayal would have him gunning for her again.

  Toweling dry, Taylor got dressed and then refilled her cup from the coffee pot. Lila and Megan had taken their game to their room and were busy trying to dress themselves. She took a quick peek into Kane’s room, seeing him still asleep, then assisted her daughters with their clothes.

  Megan and Lila sat at the table in their high chairs, eating their cereal without the benefit of a spoon, when a knock came at the door. Alarm raced through Taylor, fearing for a moment that Craig stood out there. Yet, she told herself, he had a key and could enter at any time. I need to get the locks changed.

  Peeking through the curtain, Taylor suddenly breathed easier. Two uniformed cops stood on her porch, and she recognized one of them as Harrison. “Hi,” she said, opening the door to let them enter.

  Beyond their cruiser parked at the curb, another sat there with a cop behind the wheel. The one sent to keep an eye on them.

  “Morning, ma’am,” Harrison said as he and Adams followed her inside. “Hope it’s not too early to visit.”

  “My daughters are early risers. Want some coffee?”

  “Sure.”

  Leading the way to the kitchen, Taylor hoped they had come to inform her, personally, that Craig had been arrested. “Have you caught Craig?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Harrison replied. “Not yet anyway.”

  Though she was used to Craig in uniform, these two seemed to fill her kitchen from one end to the other. Lila and Megan gawked from the table, milk dripping from their chins. Adams grinned at them, waggling his fingers.

  “They’re so cute,” he commented.

  As Taylor poured them coffee, she asked, “You guys have kids? Please, have a seat.”

  Both accepted her invitation and sat at the table with Megan and Lila, who dipped their fingers into their bowls to pluck out bits of cereal to eat. Both giggled as Adams made faces at them.

  “I do,” he said. “A boy about their age.”

  Taylor set their cups in front of the two cops, and Harrison answered, “Not me. Don’t even have a mother picked out yet.”

  Taylor laughed. “Christmas is coming, and maybe a store will put them on sale for you.”

  Harrison chuckled and picked up his mug, then glanced past Taylor. Kane stood in the doorway, fully dressed, but his hair still tousled from sleep. He gave the cops a half-smile and said, “Morning, Officers.”

  “I’m glad you’re still here watching over these ladies,” Adams said to Kane. “Westerman could be anywhere, and we suspect he’s armed.”

  Taylor thought of what Kane had said about Craig’s gun as slag and folded her arms over her bosom. “He’s dangerous enough without being armed.”

  Harrison nodded. “We came by to inform you that he’s been indicted for assault. For his sucker-punching a handcuffed prisoner. He’s lost his job now; he may be pissed when he learns of it.”

  Taylor felt a shiver of anger run through her veins. “What about all of his assaults on me? Do they matter?”

  Harrison and Adams glanced at one another, embarrassed. “They do, ma’am,” Harrison admitted. “Not all of us went along with—what happened. While we can’t do much about the past, we can also get him for attacking you and your little ones the other day. When we catch him, he’ll be in jail for quite a while.”

  “And some of our officers owe you an apology,” Adams added, his voice quiet. “You may not get one. But you’re owed it.”

  Taylor nodded. “Thanks. I know you didn’t go along with it, and I thank you for that. It’s just hard, feeling like I’m not protected and can’t get justice.”

  “You will, ma’am,” Harrison replied. “I do promise you.”

  “Where do you think Craig is?”

  “Most likely some motel,” Adams replied. “Unless he has friends he’d go to.”

  “All his friends are officers,” Taylor said with a glance toward Kane. “Would any of them harbor him?”

  “Not likely,” Harrison told her. “The word is out about him, and he’s managed to piss off everyone remotely close to him. Lieutenant Johnson has also warned that if anyone does help him out, they are flat fired. So, I don’t think he has anyone to go to.”

  “Does he have parents or siblings?” Adams asked, then drank from his mug.

  “His parents threw him out when he was eighteen,” Taylor replied. “Won’t have anything to do with him, he has said. He has a sister someplace, but I’ve never met her. I don’t know where she is.”

  “Does he have a passport?” Harrison asked. “He may make a run for the border.”

  Taylor frowned, thinking. “Let me look. He had one once. I’ll see if he took it with him.”

  Leaving the kitchen, Taylor went to the bedroom she once shared with him and rifled through the drawers in the desk where Craig kept papers, a checkbook, pens, and stamps. She had been forbidden to touch anything in there, but she did anyway on occasion.

  Locating his passport, she took it into the officers. “It’s here.”

  “Unless he runs to Canada by the back roads,” Adams commented, “he ain’t going there.”

  “We’ll find him, ma’am,” Harrison said with a smile. “We know his car, and every cop in the city knows to look for him.”

  And how many will look the other way? Taylor didn’t ask that, as these guys were on her side. It would do little good to antagonize them now. Thus, she merely nodded with a small smile. “I know.”

  The two cops stood, Adams grinning at the kids again, making faces. “You have this guy here helping you out,” Ha
rrison said. “You’re protected. Westerman won’t hurt you again.”

  Taylor caught Kane’s eyes and his nod, then she showed the two officers to the door. “Thanks for everything,” she told them as they walked through it.

  “You bet.”

  She closed the door without watching them leave, leaning her back against it as Kane eyed her quizzically.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I’m just, I don’t know, angry, frustrated. The city will bend over to find him for hitting a cuffed suspect. But when he puts me in the hospital, the cops don’t do jack shit.”

  He strode toward her and pulled her into his brawny arms. “Cops are humans,” he murmured. “They got blinded by one of their own. One way or another, he will not hurt you again. And he’ll get what’s coming to him.”

  His hands burned.

  Even through the haze of the narcotics and the booze, Craig still felt the pain. It seemed to come from a long way away, true, as though it belonged to someone else entirely. But the bandages on his hands declared the pain was his. It never went away, not even when he fell into a half-sleep.

  Craig sat on the bed of a cheap, seedy motel room, pillows behind his back and a bottle of Scotch on the table beside him. The television was on, but he had no idea what it was he watched. The place had only the basic cable channels and no HBO or Showtime with interesting things on them. He wanted shows that kept his mind off of Taylor and his pain.

  Both tormented him. Morose, he stared at dancing cartoon dogs, Taylor’s triumphant face mocking him superimposed over the screen.

  “Bitch,” he muttered. “I’ll fix you.”

  Able to grip the bottle without flaring agony or dropping it if he was careful, Craig took a long drink. He’d been in this shitty room for four days, living on narcotics, booze, and take out. Empty pizza boxes, spilled rice, and kung pao chicken lay on the floor. Craig’s hands slowly healed, he knew, as every day he endured the agony of changing his bandages.

  He needed his hands. He had to take care of them. Almost religiously, Craig anointed them with a cream the doctor gave him, then rewound the wraps. Without his hands, he could not kill Taylor. Without his hands, he could not slay the monster she was sleeping with. And the monster would die.