Protected By The Dragon (District Shifters Book 4)

by Lola Gabriel

  “Then I guess I have a big decision to make,” Lexi said.

  “Just don’t rush into making the decision,” Chessa warned her. “I wouldn’t change my decision for the world, but this life isn’t for everyone. I’ve seen girls turn who regretted it afterwards.”

  “I have time to think. I’ve told him we can’t sleep together again, anyway, because I’m his lawyer and it shouldn’t have happened even once, but I don’t know. It was like I was drawn to him, like I couldn’t have stopped myself from doing it, even if I’d wanted to.” Lexi heard Chessa sigh down the phone. “What?” she said.

  Chessa didn’t respond straight away, and Lexi knew she was debating whether or not to tell her something. Something big.

  “Lexi, that pull you felt? It means you’re destined to be the dragon’s mate. But you can still change your mind. You don’t have to do this.”

  “Maybe not. But I do have to keep him out of jail. Thanks, sis, I knew you would know how to help me with this, and you have. I have to go. Love you.”

  “Love you too. Just be careful, okay?”

  “I will,” Lexi promised. She ended the call. She didn’t think driving over to Mitchell’s place now and confronting him with the truth was what Chessa would define as being careful, but that was exactly what she was going to do all the same. “Sorry, sis, but I have to know,” she said to herself as she gathered up her things and left her office.

  She hurried out to her car and drove straight to Mitchell’s place before she could change her mind. She parked her car and marched up to his front door, hammering on it before she could talk herself out of it.

  9

  Mitchell jumped when he heard a fist hammering on his door. He was in bed, but he wasn’t asleep. He hadn’t been able to sleep because he couldn’t get Lexi out of his mind. He didn’t think he would ever be able to sleep again, thinking of the taste of her, the feel of her velvety soft skin beneath his hands.

  He pushed back the duvet and got out of bed. The last time someone had knocked on his door like that, he had been arrested for murder, and he could already feel the dread filling him. What now?

  He went to the window and looked out. He couldn’t see whoever was at his door, but there were no cop cars lining the end of his drive, which he took to be a bonus. He looked away from the end of his drive, and then his eyes went back there quickly. He had thought he saw… He was right. Lexi’s car was parked there.

  He ran from the room and took the stairs down two at a time. It didn’t matter that he was only wearing a pair of black boxer shorts. After what he and Lexi had done this evening in her office, it was a bit late to be shy around her. He pulled the door open.

  “Lexi? What are you doing here? Is everything all right?” he asked.

  She nodded her head. He bit back a smile when he saw her eyes lingering over his abs, over his chest. She cleared her throat and looked him in the eye. “Can I come in?”

  “Of course,” Mitchell replied. He stood back and opened the door fully, and she stepped inside. He directed her to the lounge. Although he would have preferred to direct her to his bedroom, he could see something was wrong. She was agitated, on edge.

  Without asking her if she wanted a drink, he went to the small drinks cabinet in the corner of the room and poured out two large glasses of scotch. He handed one to Lexi. She took it almost absently and thanked him, sitting on the end of his couch. He sat beside her and watched as she necked half of her drink and then put the glass on the coffee table. He turned so he was facing her, one leg tucked beneath him. She shifted slightly and faced him, too. He wanted so badly to reach out and pull her into his arms. To kiss her, to make love to her. Something in her face stopped him, though. He could see her indecision on her face, her almost panic.

  “Lexi, talk to me,” he said gently. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  “Are you a dragon?” she asked finally.

  Mitchell struggled to keep his expression the same as before. What the fuck? How did she know? There was nothing in his file that would even hint at such a thing. And even if she had seen the flash of red in his eyes, it was a big fucking stretch to think he was a dragon from that.

  His first instinct was to laugh and tell her she was crazy, but he couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t be so cruel to her. It must have taken a lot of courage for her to come here and ask him such a thing, and he wasn’t going to make her feel stupid for doing it. Plus, he had told himself he would never lie to her again. Not ever. He had always known he would have to tell her eventually. She wasn’t like Lisa. She was someone he could see himself with for all his life, and she deserved to know who he really was. But not yet.

  “Do I look like a dragon?” It wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t even an outright denial, but he still felt guilty. Lexi smiled and shook her head.

  “No. But my sister doesn’t look like a bear. Until she shifts into one,” she said.

  This time, Mitchell couldn’t keep his face neutral. His jaw dropped open, and he stared at Lexi for a moment.

  “Your… your sister is a bear?” he asked, sure he had misunderstood.

  “Yeah. She’s mated to the alpha bear of District 175, Noah. Do you know him?”

  “I’ve met him once or twice. I wouldn’t say I know him that well,” Mitchell said.

  Noah’s mate. Chessa Lord. Lexi Lord. Of course she was Chessa’s sister. That meant there was a better than average chance that she carried the Sanmere protein in her blood, that she could turn, and they could have eternal love. He was getting ahead of himself, and he knew it, but his head was reeling.

  He drained his drink in one swallow. Lexi hadn’t taken her eyes off him. “It’s true, then? You’re a dragon.”

  He nodded his head. There was no point in denying it now, even if he hadn’t vowed not to lie to Lexi. She knew. It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

  “I know I should have told you, but it’s not something I can go around telling people, Lexi. You understand that, don’t you?”

  Lexi nodded. “Yeah. To be honest, if it wasn’t for Chessa, I never would have believed it was even possible.”

  “Exactly. And knowing about this stuff is dangerous. And I don’t want you to be in danger because of me.”

  “You sound like my sister.” Lexi smiled. “I’ve known about her for a few years now, and I’m fine.”

  “Yeah, but you’re a long way from her and her pack. People won’t necessarily associate you with her. Lexi, I’ll find another lawyer in the morning, and—”

  “Like hell you will,” Lexi interrupted him. Mitchell raised an eyebrow, and she shook her head. “Don’t even think about it, Mitchell. And this isn’t about my career. I can withstand being ditched by a client or two along the way, and honestly, I think Jared would be relieved. This is about us. I refused to acknowledge my feelings for you, because I was worried they would influence the way I represented you. But I see it now. Me liking you, it doesn’t make me a worse person to represent you. It makes me better. Because I have a personal stake in getting you acquitted.”

  “But you could be in danger,” Mitchell said.

  “I’m a defense lawyer, Mitchell. I could be in danger in ninety percent of my cases. If I let that worry me, I’d be a contracts lawyer or something. Besides, I’m pretty tough for a short girl.”

  “I think you’re pretty tough full stop,” he teased her.

  “So now that the big secret is out, do I finally get to hear where you were during the murder?”

  Mitchell nodded and stood up. “Yeah, but first, I think we need another drink.”

  Lexi smiled and drank the rest of her drink, handing her glass to Mitchell. Her fingers brushed his as he took the glass from her, and she gasped, pulling her hand away. Mitchell knew why. She had felt the sparks flying through her arm from where their hands touched, just like he had.

  “Or we could just forget about the case for the rest of the night,” Mitchell said, grinning at her.

  She sho
ok her head. “No. I meant what I said. No more of that until the case is done. I may have had an epiphany moment about emotions, but there’s no way I can concentrate on all of this if all I keep thinking about is you making love to me.”

  Mitchell opened his mouth to argue with her, but then he nodded his head instead and went back to the drinks cabinet to pour them another drink each. She was right. They had to keep their minds clear, their heads in the game. And now she knew his secret, and she hadn’t run away screaming. She had even admitted to having feelings for him. They would have plenty of time after the case for everything else.

  He returned to his seat with their drinks and handed Lexi hers. He smiled as he watched her take it, careful not to touch him. He realized then he hadn’t told her that he felt the same way about her, that he had feelings for her, too. He didn’t want to tell her the full extent of them. Even if the dragon thing didn’t scare her away, talk of eternity together just might, but he did want her to know there was something between them, something worth fighting for.

  “Lexi?” he said. He waited until she was looking at him. “The feelings you mentioned earlier. I feel it, too.” He saw the relief on her face before she laughed.

  “You’re not getting out of telling me your alibi that easily,” she said.

  “This will never hold up in court. And you can’t tell anyone about this. About any of it. You know that, right?”

  She looked down into her lap for a moment, and Mitchell had a feeling of dread. She’d already told someone. He could feel the guilt coming off her in waves. His dragon stirred, but he ignored it. Finally, she looked back up at him.

  “I told my sister. I’m sorry. I just had to know I wasn’t being crazy, that I was right about you being a dragon.”

  “She’s the only person you’ve told?”

  “Of course. I’m not stupid. I know this can’t get out,” Lexi said. Mitchell felt the dread turn to relief, and he smiled.

  “I don’t care that you’ve told your sister. She’s a bear herself. She knows not to talk. I was a little worried you’d told a friend or something,” he said.

  She laughed and shook her head. “No, of course not. Even if I wanted to, who would believe me? And don’t worry. I have no intention of getting up in open court, or anywhere else for that matter, and trying to win a case using an alibi that involves a dragon.”

  “Yeah, I can see how that would go. So, the day in question, a man came to me. His sister married a vampire, so he knew about the supernatural world. His girlfriend had been taken by a Matchmaker. Do you know what one of those is?”

  Lexi nodded. “Yeah. Chessa was taken by one before she turned. Noah and his friend saved her.”

  “Right,” Mitchell said. He still couldn’t believe that she even believed in any of this stuff, and here she was casually announcing her family history with all things supernatural. It was crazy, but in the best possible way. “So I went to rescue the girl. And that’s where I was between two and three on June 30th, frying a Matchmaker and saving a girl from being sold to a shifter and turned into one against her will. So you can see why I couldn’t tell you the truth now.”

  “Yeah,” Lexi admitted. “I can see it.” She stood up, and Mitchell looked up at her. The fire was back in her eyes. She had some sort of a plan. “We need to go and see these people. Now,” she said.

  Mitchell’s heart sank. “You don’t believe me?”

  “What? Of course I believe you.” She put her hand on his shoulder, and he felt the sparks running through him. “Look at me,” she said, not taking her hand away. He finally allowed himself to look up. He could see the truth in her eyes. She did believe him. “Mitchell, you’re right. We can’t use that alibi in court. But you did save that girl’s life, and she owes you one. We can still use her as an alibi. We just have to change the story a little bit. Come on.”

  “Lexi, it’s the middle of the night,” Mitchell said, getting to his feet.

  “I don’t care. If someone did for me what you did for her, you’d better believe I’d answer the door to them in the middle of the night and not be even a little bit pissed off about it.”

  Mitchell followed Lexi to the hallway.

  “Let me go and put some clothes on,” he said. “Her hero or not, turning up half naked is just weird.”

  Lexi laughed and nodded her agreement. Mitchell hurried upstairs. He threw his jeans and t-shirt back on, and then he stood for a moment, thinking. He had to find a way to talk Lexi out of this. He thought she was probably right, that Tilly would agree to do it, but he couldn’t help thinking of the danger that could put her in. He didn’t think that would be enough to convince Lexi to drop this, though. She would insist Tilly owed him one, and if danger was the price of that, then so be it. He didn’t want to just refuse to do it. He didn’t want them to argue, not when she had accepted him for who he was so readily. Not when she had confessed to having feelings for him.

  He headed back down the stairs and got his car and house keys. Lexi followed him out of the house and waited for him to lock his front door. She started towards her car.

  “Where are you going?” Mitchell asked.

  “To my car,” Lexi said, frowning.

  “It’s okay, I’ll drive,” he said.

  She stood for a second, shrugged, and followed him to his car. He unlocked it and opened the door for her. She smiled, pleased with the gesture, but Mitchell could see she was more focused on the job now. He was going to have a hard time talking her out of this.

  He got in the car and put it in gear. He headed in the right direction, although he had no real intention of letting Lexi go into the house and demand Tilly help him. He hadn’t saved her so she would owe him one, he’d saved her because it was the right thing to do. If it had come to it, and he’d told Lexi everything and he couldn’t get her to believe him, he might have gone to Tilly then and asked her to back up his story, but that was different. It wasn’t dangerous, and it didn’t carry a prison sentence if she got caught.

  That was when inspiration hit him.

  “Lexi, do you really think this will work?” he asked cautiously.

  “Yeah.” She frowned at him. “Why?”

  “Because I don’t,” he said. “Look at how easily you were able to disprove the story Samuel and I told you.”

  “Yeah, but, no offence, you two are idiots. You gave a story that was easy to fact check. We won’t be that stupid.”

  “Some offence taken.” Mitchell smiled for a moment. “Think about it, Lexi. We don’t know Tilly from Adam. We don’t know how good a liar she is. We don’t know if the DA will threaten her with perjury charges and she’ll cave. You said you didn’t want to be blindsided in court. This feels like you’re almost inviting it.”

  Lexi didn’t respond, but Mitchell could see that he was finally starting to get through to her. It was finally time to play the last card in his hand.

  “You said you were worried your emotions would get the best of you. That’s why we have to keep our relationship professional until the case is over. Lexi, that’s what you’re doing now. If I was just a client who you felt nothing for, even if you believed I was innocent, would you honestly be even thinking about doing this?”

  “Well, no, but—”

  “No buts,” Mitchell said. “You wouldn’t, and you know it. And you can’t do it now. I won’t let you do it. You’ve worked hard to get to where you are, and I won’t let you throw it away on this. On me.”

  “It wouldn’t be throwing anything away. I won’t let you go to prison for something you didn’t do,” Lexi said, and that fire was back in her voice.

  “We’ll find another way,” he assured her.

  She thought for a moment, and then she nodded. “Okay, you’re right. We’ll try to find another way. And if we can’t, we can always contact Tilly later.”

  Mitchell knew that was the best he was going to get. They would have to make doubly sure they found another way now, and if it came to it, and t
hey couldn’t, then that would be a fight for another day. He pulled the car up, and Lexi looked out of the window. She laughed softly when she saw where they were: outside of her house.

  “You knew you’d talk me out of it, didn’t you?” She looked at Mitchell, who nodded.

  “I hoped I would,” he admitted.

  “What about my car?” she asked.

  “It’ll be fine at my place. I’ll come and get you in the morning, and you can come and get it,” he said.

  “Or you could stay here and take me with you in the morning.” She smiled.

  Mitchell raised an eyebrow. He wanted nothing more than to go in and spend the night with Lexi, but he didn’t think he could do it and not be able to touch her.

  “Lexi, I want that more than you know. But I can’t. I don’t have the willpower to not kiss you, to not hold you.”

  She looked Mitchell straight in the eye. “Good.”

  Mitchell couldn’t hold back any longer. He had stopped Lexi doing one stupid thing tonight. That was his limit. He leaned across to her, closing the gap between them, and as their lips met, fire flooded his body. Lexi kissed him as ferociously as he kissed her for a moment, and then she pulled back. Mitchell looked at her questioningly. Had she changed her mind?

  She smiled at him and reached for the door handle.

  “Come on. I don’t want to give the neighbors a show.”

  10

  Lexi took Mitchell by the hand the second the door closed behind him. He leaned in to kiss her, and she danced out of the way, laughing. He frowned good-naturedly at her avoiding his kiss, and she smiled.

  “In the bedroom,” she whispered.

  “We can end it there, but it starts right here,” Mitchell replied.

  This time, when he leaned in to kiss her, she didn’t move out of the way. Instead, she moved into his kiss, dropping his hand and wrapping her arms around him. She could feel her body responding to him instantly as his tongue moved into her mouth.