A growl ripped from Wyatt’s lips. He was off the bar stool before he knew it, halfway to the table. The woman dropped back onto the seat just as Wyatt snatched the hand that had been reaching for her.
The dragon shifter cried out in pain and dismay. The woman’s eyes widened, snapping to the conflict over her head. When she realized what the man on the other side of the partition had been doing, she gasped.
Wyatt hated the sound. It was sharp with fear and dredged his beast from deep inside him. He tightened his grip on the lower dragon shifter. He wanted to hurt the man, to teach him a lesson.
“Next time you think about grabbing unsuspecting women,” Wyatt snarled, “think of me.”
Chapter Two
Kennedy hadn’t seen either coming. She’d been so absorbed in her work, in the smells and colors of the food on her plate. The slick and cold ice of fear slid through her when she saw the hand only inches from her hair. The man whimpered and slithered back into his own seat. Soon, he was nothing more than a simpering shadow on the other side of the frosted glass
She turned to her savior, but he was already walking away. His hands were shoved in his pockets, messy bronze hair tied into a low pony-tail. She scrambled up from her seat to chase after him. He took a bag from the scowling waitress and headed toward the door.
“Wait a minute,” she called after him.
When he turned, the sight of him stole her breath away. His piercing eyes gleamed with a metallic sheen, surrounded by dove grey lashes. A rugged beard grew along the sharp line of his jaw and cradled his plump power lip. This was no caveman local, she decided.
He raised a brow, and Kennedy realized how much time had passed since he’d stopped for her. Her cheeks warmed. His appearance had turned her brain to mush. She struggled to find any words to string together while in his presence.
“Dinner,” she blurted.
Already, he was shaking his head and turning away from her.
“Let me make you dinner!” she called out. “To thank you. For what you did.”
The man paused.
“Let the woman cook for you!” the old woman called out from behind them.
Kennedy was tempted to turn and stare at the woman, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off the man who helped her. She feared the moment she looked away from him, he would disappear. Her heart thumped. Hard and heavy, it clanged against her ribs while she waited for him to respond.
“I was just doing what anyone else would do.” He shoved the door open and disappeared.
Her stomach hit the floor. She couldn’t describe the feeling. All she could do was clutch her stomach and drag her feet back to her booth. The food on her plate, thick layers of stuffed French toast and candied bacon, waited for her.
People around her whispered among themselves. She caught hints of a name, Drake, but the way they said it made it sound like a family name.
One of those Drakes.
So, his family was well known in Grove, she reasoned. She could ask the waitress or the old woman, but she didn’t think she’d get a straight answer from either. It was obvious the waitress didn’t want Kennedy to know anything about Grove. The old woman, on the other hand, was probably crazy. She had mentioned dragons after all.
Drake. Dragon.
Both were kind of the same thing. Kennedy wondered if the people of the town jokingly called the Drakes dragons. It kind of made sense in her head, but still seemed like a long stretch. Kennedy truly had no idea what was going on in this town, but when she took a bite of her French toast, she knew she had to stay and figure it out.
“Is there orange zest in this?” she exclaimed around a full mouth.
***
Wyatt gripped the steering wheel. The beast inside him was screaming to go back inside. It demanded he sweep that woman into his arms and never let her go. Wyatt knew the desire for what it was, a longing to replace what was gone. He refused to reach out for the nearest woman to fill the empty hole in his life.
It wasn’t fair to him or her.
He flicked open his take-out container, shoved a fistful of bacon into his mouth, and punched the gas. The tires spun-out and the smell of rubber filled the air. He wasn’t going to go back to his solitary confinement. No, he had a bone to pick with his so-called king.
The gate was open, or else Wyatt would have crashed his truck through it. He hated the damn gate. No one should be kept off the property, not if they were going to function as a proper court. Though, Wyatt knew they wouldn’t.
Ashton and Makenna could try to tame the Drakes who stayed in Grove, but they would never make a proper court out of them. Jasper was losing the fight to his dragon. He was far too young to struggle against the beast in such a way, but Wyatt had already seen some of the fights. Jasper’s beast was doggedly determined to leave Grove.
Griffin, on the other hand, was more of a hermit than Wyatt. He dealt with Ashton and Makenna’s presence like an offended cat. There was no keeping Griffin around if he didn’t want to be around. Wyatt had taken one look at the mess and turned around.
Now, he stormed into Jasper’s house, making sure his presence was known. Somewhere in the house, he heard a thump and crash in response. Wyatt thought it was Jasper coming to find him, but the thumping continued. It echoed through the house and shook the walls. The roars of angry dragon shifters followed.
He sighed and dashed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The sound of shattering glass rang in the air. He cursed under his breath and sped up. Around the corner, he found Jasper standing over Griffin. Jasper pulled back a bloody fist, a snarl on his lips, but before he could land the blow he was flung away.
Wyatt dodged just in time. Jasper sailed past him to crash into a small, decorative table. The king of the mountain gathered himself. He extracted his limbs from the mess of wood and ceramics to rise into a shaky stance.
The two had been fighting for a while if the state of the house was any indication. A door had been ripped off its hinges and hung awkwardly behind Griffin. Several holes of varying sizes punctured the drywall, marring the apricot paint.
Who painted their walls apricot?
“What the hell is going on here?” Wyatt stepped between them. He knew from their childhood that it wasn’t the smartest move, but if he could break their focus on one another, then there was a chance he could end the fight before it got worse.
Griffin, heaving and hunched on one side, growled low, but didn’t respond. Neither did Jasper. Wyatt looked between the two men, expecting an answer when Ashton appeared. He had a bucket of fresh popcorn in his hands and a look of disappointment on his face.
“It’s over already.”
Wyatt could only glare at his cousin. “No shit, it’s over. Isn’t it your job to break them up?”
“No. It’s my job to make sure Jasper actually works for the money he earns. If he and Griffin want to blow off steam, then who am I to stop them?”
Wyatt wanted to scream. His family drove him wild. He remembered being young and eager to escape Grove. Now he knew why. Maybe, if they’d all stayed, then Jasper wouldn’t be as unstable as he was. There was no proving that, nor could he go back in time to change what was. All they could do was move forward.
“By the way,” Ashton added, watching Wyatt with shrewd eyes. “What are you doing here? You never visit us.”
Before Wyatt could bring up why he wanted to talk to Jasper, Griffin howled and leapt past him. He slammed into Jasper. The two of them crashed through the drywall and into the next room.
Ashton leaned close and whispered. “Do you know how to replace walls?”
“I hate all of you,” was all Wyatt could say in response.
He got Ashton to set aside his popcorn and help tear the two dragons apart before they killed one another. Once Jasper and Griffin were separated, they began to pick up the broken bits of the manor. Cracked drywall and broken table parts were flung out the smashed window, where they c
ould grab them later.
They were a mess.
Wyatt wasn’t sure they could ever recover from the state they were in. He remembered Jasper’s father. The previous king of the mountain had been a stout man, always in control. He’d exuded power in ways Wyatt never dreamed possible. Though few loved the previous king, his rule had been iron. No one questioned him. His son was nothing like him.
Jasper was prone to fits of rage. After the hall was cleaned, they found out that Griffin had visited to ask Jasper if he wanted lunch. Apparently, the silver dragon had asked at an inopportune time and the offer of lunch ended in a physical brawl.
Wyatt wished his cousin was more like the previous king. Wyatt would have gladly taken the bad with the good if only Jasper could act more like his father. The Drake family weren’t the only ones at risk. If Jasper let the lesser dragons run rampant, then the town would suffer. Lesser dragons would harass women, reach for power, and cause unrest among the humans.
If Jasper didn’t expose them to the outside world, the lesser dragons surely would.
Chapter Three
Kennedy did her best to find the bronze-haired man around town, feeling quite a bit like a stalker, but she came up empty handed. He haunted her mind for hours. Nothing she did could banish him from her thoughts. No amount of writing while sipping coffee, no amount of photography. Not even making reservations, which usually excited her, could pry him from her thoughts.
He was a part of her at this point.
Kennedy had retreated to her hotel room. She couldn’t sit still. Her laptop sat open on the nearby desk. The screen glowed, but didn’t call to her. She’d loaded all the photos she’d taken throughout the day and wondered why anyone would want to keep people from taking pictures. The town was beautiful, a fact she could see from her hotel window.
Snow graced the nearby mountain peaks like icing. It dusted the town and the trees with a light layer of white, creating a winter wonderland. Kennedy wondered why so few people knew about Grove. It could become a hot vacation spot if they built a ski resort on the mountain. Though Kennedy didn’t want to mar the perfect mountain with construction.
With a sigh, she grabbed her laptop. Work called, but she didn’t answer. Instead, she opened a webpage and searched for things to do in town. A local karaoke bar called to her. She dreamed of sashimi and maki rolls, a craving suddenly cutting through her. Breakfast had been heavy and now her body demanded something light.
She thought the karaoke would help clear her mind. Listening to some awful singing should finally vanquish the mystery man from her mind. So, she donned a little black dress and a faux-fur coat to ward against the mountain winds, before venturing beyond her lonely hotel room.
Kennedy couldn’t have been more wrong. She stood at the bar of the strangest restaurant she’d ever seen and could see nothing other than her mystery man. At first, she thought she was hallucinating. She blamed the crappy lighting, thinking it would turn the face of every man into her mystery man, so bad was her longing to see him again.
Then he spoke. “You again.”
It wasn’t quite the greeting she’d expected, but she would take it. He was just as beautiful as she remembered. The dim purple lights from the nearby stage highlighted the perfect curve of his cheekbones.
“I didn’t expect to find you here,” she admitted. The wild bar with plastic taxidermy cow heads mounted on the walls didn’t seem like the kind of place he would frequent. Though, she knew so little about him that she could be wrong.
He pressed his lips together and scanned the crowd. “I didn’t expect to find myself here, either.”
Kennedy didn’t know what to say to that. He was visibly uncomfortable, shying away from anyone who stepped too close. His gaze leapt from face to face before settling on her. His discomfort softened, shoulders easing. She offered a shy smile and wondered what it was about her that could set him at ease.
She wanted to step closer to him but didn’t dare. He’d run away so fast that morning. If she came on too strong, she could drive him away again.
“So, ah, do you come here often?” It was a lame line and she knew it.
“Absolutely not.”
“Oh…” Disappointment dragged her down.
This was not going as well as it could have. She’d charmed enough men back to her hotel room that she should have been capable of having at least an engaging conversation with this mystery man. Her every attempt fell flat, from her pathetic questions to his curt answers.
Finally, he sighed. He turned and leaned against the bar, elbows on the counter behind him. “This wasn’t a karaoke bar before I left town. This is my first time here.”
“What a coincidence! It’s my first time, too.” She tucked a curl behind her ear. “Maybe we can discover it together?”
He shot a sidelong glance in her direction, brow raised, but he said nothing. Her heart waited, refusing to beat until he said something. Anything.
The lights dropped even lower and the static of an amp being turned on crackled in the air. A woman climbed onto the stage, grinning. At first, Kennedy didn’t recognize her. Not only was she without her waitress uniform, but she was smiling. Her eyes were downcast, but when she looked up at the audience, they held their breath in unison.
Mystery man leaned into her and whispered in her ear. A chill raced down her spine.
“That’s my cousin’s, ah, girlfriend. She’s working on her first record.”
Her voice was smooth, like whisky on the rocks. Kennedy closed her eyes and fell into the song. It wasn’t one she recognized, perhaps one of the waitress’s own songs. Kennedy didn’t really care. Not while mystery man’s shoulder was still pressed against hers. His warmth was almost oppressive. Sweat beaded along her spine and dripped down her back, but she didn’t pull away. It was like the heat of an open oven. It washed over her in gusts and promised the formation of something new.
Her heart skipped a beat. A craving rose, sharp and intense.
“Do I get to know your name at least?”
He looks as tasty as caramel, Kennedy thought. She suspected he was a salty caramel, but she liked the flavor all the same. He was the kind of caramel she would get out of bed in the middle of the night for, sneaking to the kitchen for taste after taste.
***
Wyatt didn’t know what he was doing. The dark-skinned woman’s dress hung low between her small breasts. A thin chain with a single bead hung over the exposed space, drawing him in. He should have turned away from her. His obsession was only to fill an empty space in his heart.
Perhaps he could indulge. What did they call it? A rebound?
Anything to get Nicole’s words out of his mind, the scowl and shake of her head that had haunted him for weeks. This woman’s presence seemed to clear the air around him. She smelled of butter and sugar. It made his mouth water. His mind tumbled into sensual scenes that had him pulling away from her, embarrassed by his own thoughts.
She watched him, seemingly aware of his every movement. Disappointment twisted her lips into a soft scowl, and his stomach clenched. The desire to make her happy had him blurting out his name.
“Wyatt Drake.” The words left his mouth before he could even think about them.
Her scowl unfurled and light sparkled in her eyes. His beast squirmed, writhing beneath his skin in a desperate attempt to get closer to her. It was usually such a quiet creature. He’d lived with his ex-girlfriend for years, but it had never reacted to her the way it did to this woman. He could feel its hungry teeth scraping against his insides.
Wyatt could do nothing more than shove it back, his ability to speak gone while he fought the beast. It didn’t matter, because she filled the air for him. She didn’t miss a beat.
“I’ve heard that name here and there around town, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve come across it elsewhere.” She dragged one finger along the rim of her glass, her eyes distant while she thought.
&
nbsp; He liked the way her nose crinkled, tiny like a button. A spray of freckles decorated the bridge. In the dark of the bar, he couldn’t count them, but he planned to memorize them should he run into her again.
The sound of groaning metal and snapping plastic drew his head up. Near the small stage, Jasper stood over a piece of equipment, his shoulders heaving in rage. Though he hadn’t been paying attention, he guessed the crew had attempted to get Jasper onto the stage. Wyatt’s stomach dropped. He didn’t want to leave the woman just yet. The whole room was staring at the wild king of the mountain. He needed to collect Jasper before he could do more damage.
His sigh of relief was almost audible when Ashton and Griffin rushed the stage. They hauled Jasper onto their backs like they might take Jasper crowd surfing. Poor Makenna scowled at the broken machinery.
Suddenly, the woman he’d met at the diner slapped the bar top, drawing his attention back to her. “Aurum Bank! Didn’t a man by the name of Drake start that bank?”
He was taken by surprise. There weren’t many who connected him to his family’s bank. The name Drake was simple and familiar, passing under the radar. Not even Nicole had realized his connection to the massive business. He’d kept it from her, not wanting to taint their relationship with the stress of the failing family business.
But this woman was only passing through. She would never become a permanent installation in his life. Wyatt saw no harm in telling her the truth.
“We are one and the same,” he said with a nod. “Though I never really had much of a hand in the business. Ashton was the one who donned the suit and tie.”
She stilled. The moment stretched then her lips parted, and her eyes widened. “Do you mean to tell me that your family owns Aurum Bank?”
“These days the board members own a large share of the business.” He shrugged, not telling her that the Drakes always kept the largest shares.
Aurum Court Dragons: Boxset Books 1-5 Page 15