He didn’t know what to say.
“There’s a hunk of prime rib and a mountain of mashed potatoes in there, but I also snuck in some roast carrots for vitamins. The smaller container has a slice of apple pie.”
“With ice-cream?” he asked, hopefully.
Makenna didn’t respond, but when he cracked open the container, he found the fist-sized scoop of ice-cream melting atop the pie slice. His stomach clenched, empty and aching for the food in his hands.
“You didn’t have to…” before he could finish thanking her, Makenna had stormed away. “Hold up!”
He jogged after her, though not fast enough to get ahead because the view from behind had only gotten better with time. She spun on him so that they were nose to nose.
“Why didn’t you leave? Grove, I mean.” Ashton needed to know. He leaned around her to peer into her car, the same one she’d driven in high school. The hatchback had always had her guitar case in the back seat. Now, all he saw were different uniforms.
“Not everyone can escape so easily,” she whispered.
He should have reached out and stopped her. He should have begged her to come inside. All Ashton could do was watch as she got behind the wheel and drove away, leaving him alone in the dark.
Makenna’s life was her own. Ashton’s troubles were growing more dangerous by the day. It wouldn’t be right to sweep her up in them, but when she was around, his beast didn’t seem so intent on destroying him. Once she was out of sight, the beast had him ripping open the containers.
He lifted the prime rib and tore off a chunk with his teeth.
***
What had she been thinking? Visiting Ashton at his new place had been so stupid. She never should have asked his parents. She shouldn’t have gone anywhere near that fool.
Turns out, she was the fool.
Her foot pressed on the gas pedal while her heart raced. Seeing him again, how close they’d gotten, had awoken a hunger in her that she hadn’t felt in years. He’d been close enough to touch, and the urge to do so had made her hands tremble. She should have been done with him.
Seeing him in the doorway, the business attire replaced with a threadbare t-shirt and slouchy sweatpants that revealed a delicious slice of skin around his waist, had turned her inside out. All common sense had been replaced with a primal hunger. It curled in her core with a mind of its own, one she knew she would have to fight if she ran into him again.
In the years that he’d been gone, she could have found someone new. There could have been a whole new life around her, a husband, children, a dog or two, that would have kept her away from Ashton’s doorstep. The only problem was that her life hadn’t allowed time to fall in love.
Three jobs kept Makenna pretty busy. So busy that she’d caved and gotten herself a battery-operated boyfriend, one that fit in her side table drawer and wouldn’t leave her when a job opportunity opened up.
Makenna told herself she wasn’t going to see Ashton again. That would be the last time she sought him out. Later, she would pull her battery-operated boyfriend from the drawer and see if an orgasm would vanquish the pent-up frustration over Ashton’s sudden arrival.
She didn’t need him.
Chapter Three
It was night number two.
Ashton was counting just to see how many days he could go without shifting. Turns out, he couldn’t go more than five minutes in the rental cabin without wanting to tear down the walls. He stormed outside.
Snow had fallen thick on the mountain, thinner in the forest where the pines kept it from reaching the ground. When his beast ripped free from his skin, the snow that fell from the branches slapped him with cold. It should have cooled the fire inside him, but it wasn’t enough. The ball of flames in his throat escaped. It crashed against the ground before crackling and dying.
He didn’t have the continuous stream of flame that Jasper had. He and most of the Drake cousins could only spit fire. The mechanism inside them that brought it to life could only form so much. Still, it caused plenty of damage.
Ashton left scorched trees in his wake. Smoke rose toward the skies to curl among the stars. The beast didn’t care. It only wanted to break. To smash. It was as if all the times he’d swallowed the beast back had added to the pent-up energy inside his dragon. The creature was filled with so much energy it didn’t know what to do, and so it went on these rampages.
The feeling of his claws sinking into the earth filled the beast with satisfaction. The thundering crack of trees falling to the earth fueled the endless hunger for destruction. Ashton tried to pull back the reins, but he felt too far away. He couldn’t grasp the beast, couldn’t control his body.
If he made enough noise, perhaps Jasper’s beast would come put Ashton out of his misery. These were Jasper’s woods. Jasper’s father had passed, leaving not only the Aurum Bank in Jasper’s hands, but all of these mountains and the dragons that would become his new knights.
Ashton wouldn’t become a knight. He wasn’t fit to serve Jasper or any of the other dragons that lived in these mountains. Going to the city had ruined him. The confines of the metal and glass life broke the beast inside him, snapping whatever it was that kept human and beast on the same level.
The beast raised a clawed hand, about to bring it down on a thick tree trunk, when music reached his ears. It was only the faintest thread of a chord, a bare whisper in the night among the chaos he’d created. Slowly, his beast lowered the hand.
The soft sound of a strumming guitar beckoned him forward. The beast, curious, followed the sound to its source. Little by little, a voice joined the guitar. Familiar, it cut through the beast to the human beneath. Ashton swallowed a gulp of air, suddenly in control of his dragon form again. The beast was still there, but the balance had been found.
It made him gallop toward the sound. He would bottle it up and keep it on his person like an antidote. Makenna’s voice was sad as she crooned into the night. He found her on a balcony of a carriage house apartment. She sat on a low stool, the familiar guitar in her lap and her eyes closed as she sang.
Gone was the cold woman he’d seen at the diner, the one who’d run away from him at his cabin. Here was the woman he remembered. The siren song flowed out of her as if she shared blood with mythical mermaids, luring him to his demise. At least it would be a serene end. The beast didn’t scream for release. It didn’t try to tear through the world as if it needed to leave its mark.
Her voice trailed, and the guitar suddenly stopped. Ashton looked up to find her watching him warily. Her elegant fingers held the guitar strings, so they stayed silent. He ached for more, but not in a way that sent the beast into a rage. For a long while, they stared at each other. His hunger for her music grew sharp and aching. The beast began to rise again.
He tossed his head as he fought the creature back into balance. He couldn’t stay. He refused to hurt her again.
Turning, the beast lashed his tail with annoyance. He led it away from Makenna. Ashton had failed many times in his life, but no failure haunted him more than the way he’d failed her. Had she built a life with no room for him, he might have walked away for good. If the door behind her had opened and a lover appeared, or a child ran to her knees, Ashton would have walked away and never looked back.
Makenna seemed just as alone as he was. The sad song she’d serenaded the forest with filled him with a new resolve. If there was room in her life, he would fill it. Not just because she had the magical power to tame his wretched beast, but because he wanted to hear joy in her music again. The sorrow she sang would not be everlasting.
Chapter Four
Makenna could feel the dark bags under her eyes weighing her down. They made each step draining, her feet dragging against the floor. A fellow waitress poured her another cup of coffee and pushed it toward her. Makenna downed it like a shot, but it wasn’t enough.
Nothing could help her sleep the night before. She’d had a glorious orgasm with thoughts of Ashton Drake on her min
d, but it had left her troubled after. The hollowness that she thought she’d filled after Ashton left her had reopened. It howled inside her, a lonely beast calling out to another.
To silence it, she’d rolled out of bed and dragged her guitar into the cold night. The chill air had banished the last of the desire that clung to her skin, but it did nothing to quench the need in her heart. So, she poured it into a song. With a notebook by her side, she did her best to write her first song in…ages.
How long had it been since she attempted to do anything more than strum a few chords? She’d played at friend’s parties and a couple of open mic nights at the local café. Neither had been anything special, relying on covers to get a quick fix. There wasn’t time in her life for music.
The exhaustion slowing her down was evidence.
To make matters worse, a familiar copper dragon had found its way to her apartment while she sang. She’d hoped to fly under Ashton’s radar, but they kept crashing into one another. The impact was never life-altering, but it always left her jarred.
“Two fried eggs, scorched bacon, and a side of rye toast,” a familiar voice ordered.
Makenna’s stomach turned, but when it landed, her core tightened. She gritted her teeth and bit back a groan. A waitress walking past wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
What was Ashton doing here? She thought he’d go to other places, places where his money would be appreciated. That was the whole reason he’d left her after all. The money he sought in the city had been worth more than what she could have given him.
Funny thing, how money had freed him and trapped her.
Instead of heading for the front counter, she grabbed her plates once they came up and ran for her row of tables. Morning diners ran the range from grumpy recluses to cheery over-talkers. She placed a plate in front of Mr. Chen, who hid behind his newspaper to avoid conversation, and paused near Old Georgia, who always sat at a table with a view of Mr. Chen.
“Looks like that boy you used to run with has come home,” Old Georgia said, very loudly. “Much better than some of the mongrels that ogle a woman from afar.”
The man on the other side of the partition, a dragon shifter low on the power scale, suddenly turned away from them as if he’d never been openly staring at her. The weaker dragons were always vying for mates, but everyone in town knew Makenna’s history with Ashton. No dragon dared trespass on that history.
Makenna tried to hide her cringe behind a wide smile, but nothing stopped Old Georgia. The woman curled her short, violet hair around a crooked finger and went on, getting louder and louder with each word.
“He was a fine boy back when he lived in Grove. It looks like the city hasn’t done him any good. He needs some fresh air and a good woman to tame that monster inside him. You should hop on that train before another one of your waitress friends snatches him up for his money.”
“Thank you for your advice, Georgia. Would you like another cup of coffee?” Makenna was tempted to lace the rim with glue just to keep the old lady’s mouth shut.
“Oh, no. I think this old heart needs a break from the hard stuff. What I would like, though, is to see you chat up that boy. Remember what I said…” Old Georgia tapped the dial on her watch, eyes flicking between Makenna and Ashton.
To make matters worse, when Makenna turned, Ashton was staring right at her. Flames erupted over her cheeks. He had changed once again, more himself now that the business suit was gone. His hair swooped in a rising wave, giving him a daring kind of charm. She ducked her head and booked it back to the kitchen where she could hide in peace. She put her hands on the freezer before touching them to her face to soothe the embarrassment of being on the dining room floor.
Her shift would end in a couple of hours. Then it was on to job number two. Ashton wouldn’t know where that was, giving her a few blessed hours free of his presence. She couldn’t stand to look at him every day, all day. It would drive her mad.
Mad with feelings she hadn’t felt since she was a teenager. Those were the feelings of stupidity and recklessness, she told herself.
***
Ashton rested his elbows on the counters. His button-down shirts had been traded for Ryker’s old band tees. They were thin and damn near see-through but made from the softest cotton he’d ever felt. Instead of combing his hair, he’d merely run his hand through it for a devil-may-care look. At least, that was what he hoped it looked like.
“I don’t get that girl,” the cook said, leaning against the bar as they both watched Makenna run and hide in the kitchen. The cook shook his head.
Ashton knew why she hid from him. Maybe there was still a part of her that cared, but it would never get past the hurt Ashton had caused. He’d thought he was giving her room to heal and move on when he disappeared from her life completely. Maybe that hadn’t been the right decision.
“When does she get off work?” He knew her co-workers weren’t allowed to reveal the information, but the cook didn’t miss a beat.
“If you’re looking to take her on a date, you’ll never catch her in a free moment. Mac has three jobs and nary a day off for years.”
When Ashton asked why, the cook only shrugged. It seemed Makenna didn’t like to talk about herself. She came and did her job with a smile before ducking out and racing off to the next job. Ashton wanted to pull her aside and make her pause, if only for a moment.
The dark circles beneath her eyes made the beast in him growl. He didn’t want to see her so strung out, so close to her limits. If she pushed herself any harder, she would likely fall apart. The thought made his beast slam against the barrier between them. His head throbbed from the impact, but he did as the beast asked.
Ashton scarfed down his breakfast as he made a plan. With the cook’s help, relaying information Makenna probably didn’t want Ashton to know, Ashton figured out what his next step would be. He couldn’t make her love him again. That time had gone. He’d ruined that himself.
What he could do was make her stop and take time for herself.
When they were teens, music had been the driving force in her life. He remembered driving her out to distant bars all over the mountain, so she could play. They’d gotten her a fake ID to get her through the door, but he never let her use it to drink. They both thought she’d go on to sign with a big record label. Makenna could have left this mountain behind for fame and glory.
If Ashton could figure out what made her stay, then maybe he could help her escape it. To see her smile again would set his beast to rest and perhaps fix the imbalance between them.
***
She gritted her teeth.
Ashton had found out about her second job. She suspected her co-workers had something to do with it. This time, she was trapped at the counter, forced to be face to face with Ashton Drake.
This close, she could see the copper gleam of the brown scruff on his cheeks. She wanted to run her hands over it, to feel the sensation that hadn’t been there years ago. To keep from reaching out, she clenched her fists at her sides.
“When do you get off work tonight?” he asked her.
She raised a brow and didn’t answer. Let him stew in the silence, she thought.
Ashton wasn’t fazed. He called out to one of her co-workers, who promptly responded with a time two hours earlier than what her time-sheet said. She opened her mouth to argue, desperate for those two hours, but her manager wouldn’t hear a word she said.
Trapped, her throat started to close. She needed those hours. She needed the money. The bills were piling up. She felt like she would never be free of them. One day, they would rise, and she would drown beneath them.
Ashton had no right to step into her life and steal her away from her job. Whatever he thought he was doing, all he was succeeding in was pissing her off. She opened her mouth to tell him where he could shove it, when he grinned at her.
The grin was disarming. His canines were still sharp, snagging on his plump lower lip. He should have been on the cover of a ma
gazine as one of the most attractive available business bachelors. Financial magazines did things like that all the time. Right? Maybe he had been featured and she’d missed it while she was trapped in Grove.
“Come out with me tonight,” Ashton begged her. The beast danced in his eyes, so close to the surface that she could see the echo of its narrow pupils.
The thing inside him craved her company. She’d seen how tenuous his control had been. He could barely stand the company of his own family the other day. How close had he been to shifting when she brought him dinner?
“One night, Drake. That’s it. Then you leave me to do the things I need to do. I don’t have time for you.”
She could see the words hurt. He flinched, but quickly recovered and hid the pain she’d inflicted. It wasn’t her fault that he couldn’t handle rejection. She knew the sting of it and that what she’d given him was only a taste of the pain she’d endured.
Chapter Five
Makenna didn’t dress up. She didn’t even know where they were going. Quickly exchanging her work uniform for the plain clothes she kept in the back seat of her car, the cold still crept down the back of her neck. It wasn’t until the cold vanished that she knew Ashton was nearby.
All dragons gave off an insufferable amount of heat. It was as if the fire in them never truly banked, burning every moment of their lives. If that was the case, it explained why they were always so quick to anger and violence. The older dragons calmed as their scales began to oxidize, but the younger ones were always rambunctious.
“I remember the first time you blew fire,” she recounted.
He grinned, probably remembering the disastrous incident. They’d been about to sleep together for the first time, both virgins, dumb and in love. The beast inside Ashton had gotten a little too excited. Without shifting, what Ashton thought was a nervous burp became much more dangerous as a ball of fire erupted from his lips.
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