Dragon's MatchMate Agency: A Paranormal Romance Boxset

by Maia Star

  I laughed at her jaw dropping. “I bought out an entire flower shop.”

  “You didn’t!”

  “I totally did.”

  She punched me in the arm, and I planted a kiss on her cheek. Leading her down the steps, I helped her shrug off her shoes and let her toes sink into the hot sand. We waltzed through it all in a daze, our smiles growing in tandem, our hearts beating to a shared rhythm. Lily looked at me like I was a magical being from another world, as if she were seeing me for the first time.

  “I’m going to take a wild guess here...but you like those flowers, don’t you?” I said.

  She nodded and did her best to spin in the sand, taking in the sun and the breeze. “I can’t believe you did this. What did the store owner say?”

  “She thought I was pranking her.”

  Lily chuckled. “Well, this is as perfect a spot as any to bring this up then. Felix, we need to decide on a name for our kid.”

  “It’s a boy, right?”

  “Yeah. We’re going to have a wonderful boy.” She placed her hand over her stomach, gazing down thoughtfully. I came up behind her and embraced her, kissing her neck. “I was thinking something like Anthony, or maybe Chad.”

  I shook my head. “Too basic.”

  “You have any suggestions?”

  I thought for a moment. “How about Ezekiel?”

  Lily sighed. “That’s not any better. Too old school to me.”

  “You think that’s old school?”

  Lily stepped away from me, down to where the water lapped at the sand. The water rushed over her feet, and when I stepped up next to her, I felt the same cool sensation as she did. “Our son is going to be flying in the sky someday, just like you do. We need to give him a name to be proud of.”

  I gripped her hand, her skin warm and inviting. “Then how about Leo? It’s a bit simple, but…”

  Lily’s eyes lit up. “That’s it! Leo...our baby boy, Leo.”

  Laughing, I pulled her in for a kiss one more time, holding her body against mine as we stood amid the flowers and the water. In the distance, seagulls squawked, and we even saw some seals breach the surface of the water.

  “Then Leo it is. Now we need to think of a list of names for our future kids, and I want them all to go with Leo.”

  Lily rolled her eyes at me. “Fine. But first, I need to get the bacon off the stove.”

  Scooping her up in my arms, I ran towards the steps and up the road, watching her smile and laugh all the way.

  Dragon’s Nanny MatchMate

  Alec

  Book 2

  By Maia Starr

  Chapter One

  Naomi

  When I opened the door to my apartment, I didn’t know what else I expected to see.

  Ken, my boyfriend, was sprawled out on the couch, chowing down on a couple of greasy cheeseburgers. Oil dripped onto the rug below, staining it, while bits of bacon and lettuce slipped through his fingers. He munched away slowly, a smug grin on his face as his eyes flicked up to me. I could see the bright TV screen reflected in his dark irises.

  “Baby! You’re home late again. What did I say about coming home late?” he said, his eyes brimming with suspicion.

  I wanted to roll my eyes, but I knew Ken wouldn’t let that go without less than a slap to the face. I went to speak, but suddenly he shot up to his feet, dropping the cheeseburger onto a paper plate that sat on the ground. Before I could react, he slapped me, hard, across the jaw. My chin stung like hell, and my eyes watered...but this wasn’t anything new.

  “You need to speak faster!” Ken said, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. Or maybe I was just imagining that because I hated his guts. “So, where were you? Trouncing with Larry again?”

  He wound up his hand again, so I quickly spat my words out. “No, Ken. I’ve never ‘trounced’ around with Larry. He’s in HR, and, you know, despised by practically everyone. Why would I—”

  But he slapped me again, this time harder. I rocked backward, hitting the door and nearly sliding down to sit on the floor. It felt like my brain was rattling around in my head. Then suddenly, he bawled up a fist and hit me in the gut, forcing the wind out of me. I doubled over, mouth open and tongue lapping for air as I fell to my knees. Nausea consumed me as my world spun. Fresh tears sprung to life and rolled down my cheeks.

  I wanted to scream at him, to fight and kick back, but all I could manage was hold my stomach as if to keep it from splitting open.

  Ken leaned down to whisper in my ear. I could smell all the beers he’d drunk on his breath. “I know you've been fooling around on me, Naomi. Don’t you dare try to tell me otherwise. How can you even lie to me? I thought we were supposed to be in this together.”

  Trembling at his touch, I braced myself to feel another blow somewhere on my body, to feel his hard fist connect with my jaw or forehead.

  But that didn’t come. Instead, he began to coo and make gentle sounds as he caressed my cheek and pulled down his shorts with the other. Suddenly his hand was gripping my hair, pulling my head closer to his thighs.

  “Since you’re already on your knees, you might as well get going on apologizing to me for fooling around, baby,” he said, a deadly smile on his face. I grimaced as he pulled me closer to his junk, expecting me to just start pleasuring him. When I didn’t immediately move to show him my undying gratitude, Ken growled and let me go, pointing to the bedroom we used to share. “Fine! We’ll go all the way then if that’s what you want. Clean yourself up and get in there. And hurry up!”

  I continued to hold myself on the ground as I watched him waltz away, the alcohol making his body sway and widening his gait. He even hiccupped as he passed through the doorway.

  Struggling to rise to my feet, I expected to hear him call my name again, but instead, he grunted and fell onto the bed. His loud snores came next.

  He passed out. Shaking my head, I stood on unstable feet and steadied myself against the wall. “Pathetic…how the hell did I ever think I liked this guy?”

  Touching my cheeks and hips, my anger at Ken surged forth, and I stood glaring at my abusive boyfriend from the door.

  This has to change. I need a new life. I just can’t do this anymore!

  Crouching down again, I picked up my fallen purse, checking to make sure I had my wallet, phone, and anything else that I might need.

  Suddenly, hope began to fill my mind. While Ken was sleeping...maybe I could slip away and leave him behind for good. I could go away to a different city and start over. I didn’t even need to pack anything since I’d never been the type to value my material things. Six months into this relationship, and I was finding the courage to try to worm my way out of it.

  I breathed hard, scanning the apartment I’d called home these past few months. The ceiling lights flicked in one corner, and food crumbs littered the rug and wooden floor. Junk and garbage were strewn across the kitchen counter just six feet away. The window blinds were mostly bent and crooked, allowing me to see out into the dark of night.

  I wanted to collapse and call it a night, to just rest...but I could never rest in that apartment again.

  Shaking my head, I turned back to the front door and opened it, stepping out. “You’re just a step on my journey, Ken,” I whispered, trying to sound confident to myself. When the door shut behind me, I waited to hear Ken wake up and try to follow me...but all I could hear was his loud snoring.

  Beginning my descent to the bottom floor, I picked up the pace, excitement flowing through me. I was ready to get out and start over. There were fresh bruises on my face and skin, and some people might ask questions, but I was ready to move on.

  Flying out the front door and moving out onto the sidewalk, I peered back up at my apartment window three stories up. The light streamed out from the crooked blinds, and I could just barely see the ceiling fan still going at a snail’s pace. Smiling to myself, I took out my phone, dialed up a taxi, and waited on the corner of the street, ready to begin a new life so
mewhere far from there.

  Chapter Two

  Alec

  When I got home and found my wife’s bra hanging off the edge of the living room couch, my inner dragon was ready to burn the house down. I didn’t, of course, because that would have put my son in harm’s way, but when I stomped over to my first-floor bedroom and saw Sandra in bed with another man, I flipped my lid.

  “Sandra! What the hell are you doing?” I shouted.

  Sandra had her arm draped over the barrel-chested man that lounged on my side of the bed. He grinned up at me as if he were pulling a prank. Sandra lifted a bottle of red wine to her lips and gulped down the rest of the liquid courage as her free hand drifted beneath the sheets covering them both. The other man, who I finally recognized, moaned in pleasure.

  Unable to control myself, I darted forward, ripping the bottle from my wife’s hands and throwing it behind me to shatter against the wall. Sandra simply laughed drunkenly. “Oh, what? Are you a mad that your woman was fucked by a better man?”

  I’m sure my face burned a bright red, filling with rage as I grabbed Sandra by the wrist and tossed her into a chair behind me. I glared at Levi, my rival alpha shifter, as he turned and laughed right along with Sandra. “She’s got a point, Alec. I’ve always been better than you at everything. Fighting, charming words...sex.”

  My mind went so blank with rage that I flipped the bed over, bedframe and all. But Levi was already on his feet, naked from head to toe, hands on his hips. “Careful, now. This is your house, after all!”

  Hot fire brushed my lips, surging up from my throat. I lunged towards the alpha who screwed my wife, attempting to knock his teeth in. He dodged nearly all of my shots, laughing, even when I nicked his shoulder and kicked his leg. Levi began to fight back, and soon enough, we were throwing each other into walls, shattering vases and nightstands. Sandra scrambled from the bedroom, calling out to our son, all while she was still stark naked. “Fallon! Fallon, dear, come down here and follow me out the front door! Your father’s being an asshole again.”

  “Shut up!” I shouted, grabbing Levi by the shoulders and throwing him through the window. Levi tumbled outside, some of the glass shredding his skin. His blood was left on the windowsill, but he still didn’t seem fazed when he stood on the grass and rolled his shoulder. His wounds healed slowly, and suddenly there was a feral look in his eye.

  “Your days as alpha are numbered, Alec!” he said. “Sandra and I were just having a bit of fun...but if you want to get serious, then let’s get serious!”

  Suddenly he shifted into his dragon form, nearly half the size of my house, and breathed flames, lighting the outside on fire. I charged out the front door, shifting myself, ready to tear into the guy.

  My dragon form was practically the same size as Levi’s, though a bit taller. My scales turned gold as I grew, and wings sprouted from my back. I lashed out with my claws, roaring, ready to tear his head off. He couldn’t exactly dodge me, but when I turned lashed out with my tail, he managed to duck, and I made a wreck of the second floor of my house. I spied Sandra pulling Fallon, our son, out the front and door and attempting to run off with him. He gazed up at Levi and me and tried to wrest his grip from her.

  I lost my mind again as Sandra pulled him along while Fallon tried not to look at her. She had no shame.

  Snapping around, I jumped away from Levi and surrounded Sandra and Fallon, scaring her enough to let Fallon go. She burst into a sprint, leaving her son behind as if he were an afterthought now. Her life came before his in her world.

  When I turned back around, I saw Levi flitting past to scoop Sandra up in his claws and fly away. I wanted to go after them both, but I felt Fallon’s cold, clammy, nine-year-old hands touch my arm, and I softened.

  In the distance, police sirens wailed as I shifted back to my naked human form. I hugged Fallon close, running my fingers through his hair, pressing his sniffling face into my shoulder so that he could let out a good cry.

  “What’s happening?” he said softly into my shoulder, his words muffled.

  I glanced back over my shoulder to spy Levi’s fire slowly consuming my house. I grimaced, trying to stow my anger for the time being. “Mommy...made a bad decision.”

  “By r-running off with Levi?”

  “Yeah…”

  I wanted to go on a rampage. Sandra had always gotten on my nerves but she’d never gone this far. Even if we married because of Fallon...I never thought she’d betray me like that.

  Fallon stepped away from me and sat on the curb. I did the same, staring back at the house I’d lived in for years now. How long had Sandra been cheating on me? A mere human woman, smugly sleeping with my rival alpha dragon. And she did it all while Fallon was at home!

  “Fallon...did you—”

  “I heard them,” was all he said.

  I didn’t push him. Now was not the time to get into a talk about the birds and the bees.

  Clapping Fallon on the back, careful not to use my full strength and send him flying, I hugged his shoulder to mine. Sandra tried to take him while I was fighting, which only made me angrier. It was one thing to sleep with my rival, and another entirely to take my kid from me. If there was anything I could hate her for now, it was that.

  “Now what?” Fallon suddenly asked, looking up at me with wide eyes.

  I eyed the cop car that rolled to a stop in front of us. A fire truck came barreling down after it, halting and dropping off the firefighters that scurried out to get a handle on the spreading fire. I gripped his shoulder harder.

  “Now? Well, we go find a new house, I guess. And get some good rest.”

  Chapter Three

  Naomi

  When I was finally dropped off in San Francisco, it had been three days since I’d left Ken. Thankfully, he wasn’t the type to follow me...but he was the type of abuser to consistently call me in anger.

  The first time he had called, I picked up, though I hadn’t meant to. I wasn’t looking at the caller ID and picked up while I rummaged through bags of Cheetos at a convenience store.

  “You left me! You bitch! Come back home right now,” he shouted, his voice so loud that a man looking over a newspaper rack raised a brow at me. My cheeks had heated, and I ducked my head in shame, immediately ending the call and stowing my phone. He continued to call me so frequently, I powered down my smartphone and stashed it in my purse.

  By the time I stepped out of my taxi in front of the Belden Inn, my ex-boyfriend had given up. It made sense, given he could barely do anything himself without my help. Hell, he practically lived off of the money I made at my old job.

  But now it felt a bit unreal that I hadn’t heard Ken’s angry voice in nearly three days now. It was...unsettling, as if the city I found myself in now was fake, and I was never meant to have come there.

  No, shut up, me! Don’t let those negative thoughts overwhelm you. Take a deep breath and take another step.

  And that’s what I did, gulping and taking a quick step forward, realizing that there was no one to stop me from taking a second and third step. Before I knew it, I was practically rushing inside to the front desk, enjoying every second of freedom I had. When I stepped up to the front counter, the man on the other side looked up at me from behind his computer monitor and gave me a once over.

  “Looking for a room?” he asked blandly.

  “Yes, sir! One room for me...as long as you have one open, right?”

  He looked me up and down again as if he weren’t exactly sure what to make of me. “You look like a model...what would someone like you be doing at this shabby little motel of ours?”

  As I began to feel his gaze intensify, I blushed slightly and rolled my shoulders. I still had a few bruises from the last time Ken hit me, so I’d been expertly covering them up in the meantime. “Can you book me a room or not?”

  The man grunted and rolled away from his monitor to hunch over a blue binder on the other side of his desk, his chubby fingers flipping through the pages wi
th ease. “First floor or second floor?”

  “Um, first floor, I guess.”

  While the man went about wiggling out the key for my motel room, I leaned forward on the counter and caught a glimpse of the news on his monitor. It was muted, but I saw clips of a man bursting out of a window and shapeshifting into a dragon while another man came out the front door of said house and shifted as well. It was hard to make out the features of the men, though it wasn’t hard to see the destruction they created.

  I read the headline out loud. “Two dragon shifters get into fight over wife...destroy house.”

  The thought of even being involved romantically with a shifter made me shiver. Shifters of all kinds were just that dangerous. If that’s how a shifter reacted to finding out his wife cheated on him, then that wasn’t for me. Though it’s not like I planned on cheating on anyone...or seriously dating anytime soon.

  “Yeah, that’s been all over the news recently. Them shifter folk can get wild, can’t they?” the man said as he dropped the key on the counter and slid it over to me.

  I nodded, picking up the jingling key and stowing it in my pocket. “How much per night?”

  “Hundred.”

  Sighing, I forked over the cash and thanked the man before heading off into the parking lot to search for my new temporary home. I seemed to walk around for an eternity before I finally found the room tucked away at the corner of the building at the far end. I hauled my luggage inside and shut the door, listening to the quiet of the room. For a split second, I imagined Ken appearing from the bathroom, or crawling out from under the bed, ready to spit at me and call me all sorts of degrading names.