Setting aside the box of crackers, Makenna attempted to find another kind of fulfillment. A song had been evading her since Ashton arrived. It sat in her chest, curled like a sleeping cat. No matter how she tried to wake it, all she got in return were threads of sound and jumbled words. Once more, she attempted to tease the song from her soul.
It filled the room for a luxurious moment. The way it surrounded her made her feel feather light. She thought a breeze could whisk her away to a new life. Then, she lost the words and her fingers fumbled on the guitar strings. Her skin prickled with goosebumps, cold without the heat turned on. She could sell her guitar and give the money to her landlord.
But once she did that, what did she have left?
With a growl, she slapped her hand flat over the strings. The guitar was her last connection to the person she always wanted to be. It wasn’t going anywhere. At least not until she figured out this song. She didn’t know what was stopping her. Perhaps it was the time she spent away from her passion. It was a spurned lover not all that eager to take her back. She understood the feeling. Heat filled her stomach. Lurching from where she sat, she cracked open the sliding glass door.
The smell of the mountain forest filled the room while the cold air cooled her frustration. As she stared at the shadows between the trees, she found her voice once more. This time, she didn’t sing for herself or the thing in her chest. She sang to the woods and all that it hid.
***
Makenna began her day with a frightening start, heart pounding with panic, until she realized it was her first true day off in months. The rest of the morning felt strange. She wasn’t sure what to do with herself now that time was in her hands. The months of working with no days off had filled her time, charting each day with a precise schedule.
Without it, her mind drifted to the one person she told herself she wouldn’t think of. Ashton should have been the very last thing on her mind. She should have returned to the song she’d been trying to write. She should have called her landlord and begged to have the electricity turned back on. There were a million other things Makenna could have done, but she couldn’t think of any of them while Ashton was on her mind.
With a cup of black coffee—only because her cream had spoiled—she went to sit on the balcony. While tugging a faux fur blanket over her shoulders, she paused, noticing the form laying naked on the ground below.
Ashton was sprawled out as if the dried leaves and chunks of half-melted snow were the softest bed in the world. One arm was folded under his head, while the hand of the other rested over his groin. While she knew she should wake him and send him on home without questioning why he was in her lawn to begin with, Makenna couldn’t help but admire the view.
Ashton had gone from clean cut to rugged, and she had to admit that she liked it. In his time back at Grove, his facial hair had grown in a bit more. It was becoming the beginning of a thick beard that begged her to run her hands through it. She desperately wanted to know if it would be as silky as it looked, and if the scar from the time she accidentally kicked him in the jaw with a high heel while changing in the back of her car was still there.
She didn’t count how many minutes ticked by, but it seemed Ashton was no closer to waking. Her coffee was gone, and the cup was empty. It gave her an idea. She retreated to the kitchen, poured a cup of cold water from a jug into the mug and went back to the balcony.
The air wasn’t so cold that the water froze on the way down, but it was cold enough that Ashton yelped when she tossed the water onto him. He leapt to his feet and turned copper eyes to her. His lips curled, the beast very close to the surface. Her heart did flips in her chest. She wasn’t scared. A different feeling pooled inside her core.
Was that excitement?
Makenna wasn’t sure. She hadn’t felt anything like that in a long time.
“What do you think you’re doing, woman?”
She smirked. “I could ask you the same thing. I came out to drink my coffee and found a naked man in my lawn. Just be happy I didn’t call the cops on you.”
He put his hands on his hips and glared up at her. The molten copper still swirled in his eyes. She couldn’t help but get lost in them, letting the heat of his gaze pull her in. It was a bad idea, but she went downstairs with a blanket in her arms and let him inside. Ashton wrapped the blanket around his body like one would with a towel, following her up the stairs without tripping on the blanket corners.
Before she could tell him not to, Ashton reached for the nearest light switch. The dim light of morning didn’t change. He glared at the light fixture overhead, flipping it several more times as if the first were a fluke.
Her cheeks warmed. She spun on her heel and quickly disappeared into the kitchen. It was clear in the first few moments that she’d made a mistake. There were no lights, no running water, no heat. She never should have let him inside. She wasn’t sure how to explain the lack of electricity without embarrassing herself, and she didn’t know how to kick him out without any other excuse.
An idea flashed in her mind. It wasn’t well thought out, but it was the only thing she could think of that would get rid of Ashton. He called out to her when she darted from the kitchen to the bedroom, but she ignored him and snatched an old pair of sweats from her drawer.
They’d belonged to a guy she’d had over once. He’d never come back, but he left the comfiest sweatpants behind, so she called it a win. She didn’t want to give them up, but if it got Ashton to leave, it would be worth it. Marching out to him, she thrust the sweatpants in his direction.
He looked at her as if she’d grown two heads. The way he studied her made Makenna uncomfortable. She looked away, unable to hold his gaze. Mostly because of the way his lips parted and the hunger that sparked inside her.
“I have someone coming over. A guy. A man is coming to visit me. Soon.” Makenna stumbled over her lame excuse. “You should get dressed and leave before he arrives.”
Ashton didn’t move. He just watched her. If he thought she was going to break, then he would be wrong. She kept her mouth carefully shut to avoid confessing the truth. Ashton never reached for the offered sweatpants. Instead, she heard him sniff the air. Her stomach flipped.
“It doesn’t smell like you’ve had a man over in a long while. Is he new? Or did you make him up to get me to leave?”
Crap, he was on to her.
“I did not make him up,” she declared. Daring a glance at Ashton, the shadow of his collarbone captured her gaze. Her brain was momentarily scrambled. “His name is, ah, Bertrand.”
Bertrand? That was the best she could come up with?
Ashton didn’t buy it. Not if the way he grinned was any indication. Before she could throw the sweatpants at him, the blanket fell away from his body. He stepped around her outstretched arm and into her space. His naked body was only inches away from hers. The proximity made her skin come alive.
It tingled with the memory of his touch. Her mind blanked. Would his hands still be as soft as they had been? Or would they be rough? Would he still fit inside her like he once did? Or had too much changed, leaving them totally incompatible?
“When is Bertrand coming over?” Ashton said the name with clear disbelief. He leaned his head over her, making her tilt hers back to look up at him.
That was a mistake. Her lips hovered near his, and she was painfully aware of it. All she needed to do was lean forward, only barely, and their lips would touch. She craved his kiss, the taste of him. She could already tell he would be sweet. His touch would sate her like a lifelong craving and leave her aching for more.
This wasn’t smart. She couldn’t let him back in. He needed more than she could provide.
A stray thought crossed her mind. It made her pause, helped her pull away from the intense desire that was trying to drown her.
“Why were you naked in my lawn?”
Ashton laughed. It was a gentle sound but held a touch of bitter humor. The sound made her want to reach out to him
, run her hands over his chest and soothe away whatever was bothering him. Whatever hurt he’d caused her was in the past, not forgiven but set aside. Now, all she wanted for him was a better life. The beast inside him was unruly. Why it dragged Ashton to her lawn was beyond her. Makenna could do nothing to help him tame his beast.
“I keep hearing a siren in the woods,” he began. “She calls me to your lawn almost every night. I didn’t think to tie myself down to anything or plug my ears, so here I find myself.”
“A siren?” she asked, skeptical. Then it hit her. “You mean me? My singing?”
She couldn’t believe what he’d said. He was joking with her or just trying to make her feel better about the dream she had to give up. It backfired. Backing away, she shook her head.
“You don’t have to lie to me like that. It doesn’t make me feel good. Just tell the truth. Your beast got the better of you and you lost control.” The words didn’t feel good as she spoke them. They were greasy and uncomfortable.
Ashton didn’t follow her. Not right away. He gave her the space she needed to figure herself out. Though, him standing naked in her living room didn’t help. Her gaze slid to him every so often, trapping her there with his toned butt or very open junk. Was it just her bad memory, or was he much bigger than she remembered? Could a man’s dick grow?
Or, was he happy to see her?
“I can’t think with you standing there like that!” She threw her hands in the air.
“Like what?” Ashton played the fool, pretending like he didn’t know what she was talking about. The dimple in his cheek gave him away. “Oh, you mean naked? Do you need me to put on clothes? Or am I so distracting you’ve forgotten all about your suitor, Bertrand?”
Shit.
She sighed. “Okay. There’s no one named Bertrand coming over today. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
Just when she thought Ashton would grin, a low growl slipped from him. Before she could turn to look at him, he was in front of her. Her back touched the wall. The growl slipped over her skin like that caress of silk. It didn’t scare her. It raised something primal inside her. The primal feeling reached for him. Her hands were on his shoulders, moving without her permission.
“The idea of someone else in your life makes my beast angry,” he whispered.
A shudder overtook Makenna. She swallowed and tried to find her voice, but it was gone. All she could find was need. Her fingers tightened on his bare skin. His growl deepened and he stepped even closer. His body pressed against hers, pinning her to the wall.
He reached to cup her cheek, her hair falling over the back of his hand. “I don’t know what you need, Makenna, but I need you like I need air. Ever since I came back, I realized I can only breathe when you’re around.”
His cock pressed against her lower stomach. Excitement was a hot flare inside her core. It flashed, filling her body with chills. She should have told him to back away and find another woman. He deserved someone who could do better for him. Ashton needed patience and love, not sarcasm and constant unavailability.
Yet, she couldn’t let him go. She held on fast, claiming him as hers the same way his beast claimed her.
“Do you think we had it right back then? That we could be mates?” Ashton said the word as if he were afraid of it. It packed no small punch, gutting her in one smooth motion.
She was left trying to gasp for air. The idea of being a dragon mate settled into that newly gutted space and made home inside her. It couldn’t be right. She didn’t think they could be mates after the past they’d had. Ashton never would have left her if a mate bond sat between them. But they’d been young and dumb.
Maybe the time away had allowed her to grow. It had changed them both in many ways. She didn’t feel like she’d grown all that much. If anything, she felt like the time had whittled away at her. Her spirit had been stolen by the bills in her mailbox and the fact that her lights wouldn’t turn on.
Ashton ran his hand down her neck, his thumb grazing her throat. She felt the drag of a nail over her skin, the edge of danger pulsing inside her. It wasn’t something Ashton would have done before, but she could feel his beast. When she looked up at him, the copper filled his eyes, glowing with a terrifying intensity.
His hand tightened. A snarl ripped from his lips. She didn’t cower or run. Instead, she let her head fall back and revealed her throat to him. Ashton would never hurt her. Whatever he would do, she would survive.
Hell, she might even enjoy it.
He bent his head. Lips touched the soft and vulnerable hollow of her throat. It coaxed a whimper from deep inside her. She trembled in his hands. Not from fear. It was need that she fought back, leaving her weak.
“Now, tell me why your lights don’t work.”
His words left her jarred. Her jaw dropped. He backed away from her, though she could see the way his jaw clenched. All Makenna could do was swallow down the feelings he’d summoned. They didn’t go down easy, dropping like a stone. Her breath was shaky, but she had enough presence of mind to glare at him.
“Remind me why I let you inside my apartment again?”
“Because I looked like a lost animal and you took pity on me,” he said flippantly as he went through the stack of mail on her coffee table.
She leapt forward and snatched the envelopes from his grasp before he could peer inside any. She didn’t need Ashton messing with her life. It was bad enough that he had so much power over her libido.
“Seriously, Mac. What the hell is going on here? I’m a dragon, and I can still tell its freezing in here. You can’t live like this.”
She didn’t know what he expected. It wasn’t like she could march to the breaker, turn the electricity back on, and say voila. It didn’t work that way. Her bank account was empty. There was nothing she could draw on to pay the overdue bill. The only thing she could think of was off the table.
Her sanity would not survive selling her guitar.
Ashton, quicker than any human with his shifter speed, plucked an envelope from her fingers before dashing away from her. She tried to catch him, but he held it high over her head as he pulled out the unpaid bill. She watched his eyes rove over the paper, left to right, left to right. Slowly, his jaw began to descend. His hands fell.
When he turned to her, she had nothing. No words came. Nothing would come out save for useless tears. They hit her hard, coming all at once. She pressed her fists into her eyes and willed them to go away, but nothing worked.
Ashton said nothing. He just wrapped his arms around her and pressed his cheek to the top of her head. She slammed her fists against his chest, but he didn’t move. He stayed right where she needed him. Slowly, she leaned into him until finally she fell apart.
It’d been a long time coming. She cried and cried until there were no more tears to cry. Ashton lowered them both to the couch, pulling several blankets over her body. His scent and his warmth were as comfortable as her favorite blanket. Exhaustion from the episode pulled her into darkness.
***
Ashton knew Makenna’s constant busy schedule was more than an avid desire to fill her empty time, but he never thought he would step into her home and find it like this. The air was chill with the mountain winter. Anger heated him. Not at her for letting it get this bad, but anger that she was forced to live like this.
He saw the numbers on the one bill he pulled. He could only guess that the rest she’d stolen back from him were just as bad. When she collapsed in his arms, he didn’t want to upset her further by asking questions. The answer was obvious.
The whole time he’d been back in Grove, he’d been obsessed with Makenna’s attention. He gave no thought to anyone else. Now that he was forced to stop, he saw what was lacking. Makenna’s aunt was gone. The return addresses on the bills were from doctors and hospitals. There was even one from a funeral parlor.
His stomach dropped.
He pressed his eyes shut and held Makenna for a moment longer, savoring her touch. She’
d fallen asleep on him. The gesture was slight but meant worlds to his beast. The fact that she felt safe in his arms pleased him. She would always be safe with him.
Slowly, he eased out from beneath Makenna. He laid her head on a pillow and tucked the layers of blankets in around her to keep her warm. Against the far wall was a fireplace filled with decorative candles. He claimed the sweatpants she’d brought him earlier and went outside to chop wood.
The dull axe didn’t agree with him, but he put his shifter strength to use and forced it through the wood of a few dead trees. Little by little, he dragged them back. While he worked, he tried to formulate a plan. It was his fault she’d had to go through any of this alone. If he hadn’t been a young fool, if he’d given her more instead of pulling away, then maybe she never would have had to suffer alone.
He didn’t blame her for not reaching out for help. He’d left her behind and given her no bridge to cross. She’d needed him this whole time and he hadn’t been there. The beast growled at him. It wasn’t happy.
Makenna was theirs to protect and he’d failed her.
That wouldn’t happen again. He promised the beast he would do everything in his power to fix this. The one thing that Ashton had was money. She didn’t need to ask. Money was useless to him. He wasn’t the kind of dragon who felt the need to hoard. Not when his mate needed it more.
There was no questioning what she was to him. He would need to convince her, if he could, but Makenna was the only woman he would ever want. Should she decide she couldn’t live with him, he would respect her decision no matter how badly it hurt. Still, he never let go of the hope that she would come around.
He only needed to try.
Inside, he removed the candles from the fireplace and stacked the logs he’d chopped. All she had for fire was a small cigarette lighter. It wouldn’t start a fire fast enough, so he pulled on the beast’s fire inside him. It scorched his tongue but slammed into the logs with curling flames. Soon, a fire roared in the hearth.
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