“Hang on; I’ll be there soon.”
The line went dead. Maceo looked at his phone and noted there were no bars. Throwing on some clothes he made his way to the elevator and pushed the down button. Soon he was standing in his massive living room which covered the whole ground floor. He had chairs and couches placed strategically to make smaller corners so the occupants would feel comfortable with a sense of privacy.
Standing next to his favorite couch, he dialed his brother's number before allowing his body to collapse on the sofa.
“Maceo, how are you doing?” Alexa’s bright voice answered the phone.
He groaned, she wasn’t the one he needed to talk to right now. Alexa was his brothers–Syn’s mate. His dragon mate. They, he and his brothers lived years believing that there would never be a mate for them, and then Syn felt Alexa and went to her. Now their world was alive with possibility could there be another dragon mate out there for each of them?
“I’m doing well, but I need to talk to Syn right now.”
“Sure hold on a minute.”
He could hear her lift her voice and call Syn. His leg tapped with impatience as he waited for Syn to take the phone.
“Maceo, how are you?” Syn’s deep voice flowed over the phone.
“Fine. I need to borrow George and the plane.”
“George isn’t a servant, so you’ll have to ask him to fly the plane for you. The plane is yours to borrow. What has made you want to leave the comfort of the island?”
Maceo stilled debating whether to tell him, before deciding someone should know where he was going.
“I got a phone call today from a female—Nadia. She said you gave her my number in case of emergency. She called believing this fit the bill. A shadow is stalking her.”
“Mutufa,” Syn snapped.
“Or one of his henchmen. He tried to kill her, almost succeed, but she seems to have some internal defense system. I think she’s a dragon mate—my dragon mate. I have to retrieve her.”
“I could go with you.”
“No, you can’t. You and Alexa are the best line of defense we have if Mutufa attacks again, and you know it. I’ll bring her back safely or die trying.”
Maceo broke the connection and called George.
“Maceo, how can I help you?”
“George, I need to take the plane, and I was hoping you would be willing to fly it.”
“When?”
“As soon as possible.”
“I need to refuel it. I had it up yesterday. It will take me a couple of hours to make sure I got the last of the damage repaired from the last long flight I took.”
Maceo nodded before he caught himself. “Okay call me when it's ready.”
“Sure, I’ll call you soon.”
Dropping the phone to his chest Maceo lifted his head to watch his brother Zeno make his way across the wide living room to stand over him.
“I’m coming.” Zeno walked in while Maceo was on the phone with Syn.
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Besides the fact that you believe that you have found your dragon mate. If there is a mate for you like there was for Syn then maybe I will also find my mate. Even if I don’t, I will be there to watch you fumble around with yours. Good times.” Zeno’s mouth curled up in a smile.
“Take a seat and stop standing over me.” Maceo tried to growl at him. Zeno was the youngest and loved to rile his brothers up if given a chance.
“As soon as you say yes.”
“Yes, just because I want to give Syn some peace and quiet.”
“Aww you love me Maceo just admit it.” Zeno turned away his long legs taking him back towards the front door.
“Where are you going?”
“To pack of course,” he walked out shaking his head.
Maceo lowered himself back on the couch before giving into laughter. Of course, he was going to pack. Now that he thought of it, he may need more than the clothes on his back, getting up he went to pack a small bag also.
*~*~*~*
Hang on he said. What was she supposed to do? Well, she could cook. The truth was she spent so much time at her restaurant cooking she never cooked for herself any more. Her knees lost the battle, and her body crashed down into a chair in the living room. The thought of her restaurant poured a river of loss over her soul. She tried to tell herself it was just a building but everything she was seemed to be wrapped up into the pile of rock and concrete that burned so fast her head was still spinning from it.
She pushed herself up again feeling weak. The weaker she felt, the less she felt like whatever internal defense system she had would work. Forcing one leg in front of the other she walked into the kitchen, at least she had food. It was almost like she planned for a siege although it was the last thing on her mind. All she knew was she felt driven to keep the fridge and freezer full of food.
There was a thick juicy steak in the fridge. She took it out and prepared it to go under the boiler. Alexa kept a pantry well stocked with seasonings. After the steak was prepared. She took out some vegetables to chop them. After she put the steak on she began to Sautee the vegetables. Her stomach rolled with hunger as the smell of her food reached her.
She loved to cook since she was a child. One of her earliest memories was of her mother putting her in a high chair and then sitting at the table peeling something. Her mom used to sing when she cooked. She would come over to Nadia and place kisses on her cheek and say who’s momma’s baby. Before going back to stir a pot.
As Nadia got older, she was able to help. At first, it was just simple things like filling up a pot or putting the peels in the trash, but it was helping, and she loved it. Then her mother taught her how to make little things. Started off with eggs and progressed from there. Her mom had been a great cook. She would have rejoiced with Nadia when she finally opened her restaurant, but she didn’t make it that far. Her mom died the year before but she could still feel her when she walked into her restaurant the first time.
She blinked her eyes and pulled her steak out. It was big and thick; she licked her lips her body reminding her how hungry she was. It felt like she hadn’t eaten all day.
She placed her vegetables on the plate next to her steak and walked over to a chair in the kitchen. A cold creeping feeling fell over her settling in her shoulders blades. She cut the steak biting into it moaning even as she chewed fast knowing she needed the energy.
The enemy was back.
Chapter Three
Nadia rolled over and opened one sleep deprived eye to see the clock; it said it was well into the morning, but the darkness peering through her window called the clock a liar. Getting up she wrapped a robe around her and headed for the bedroom window; she peeked out to see the world in full swing as it went about its day. It was sunny and bright everywhere except around Alexa’s house.
Whatever was out there—this Mutufa thing, was waiting on her. She squared her shoulders she wasn’t scared. Okay, she was scared, but she would never let him know.
Maceo would come for her then everything would be all right. Nadia didn’t like to put her life in a stranger’s hand, but until she got a grip on what was happening that was what she was going to do. At least partially. She did a walk through the house looking out every window to see if there was a way of escape. After having checked out every exit, she decided the best thing to do was to lay low she could always run later after her strength built back up.
She walked into the bathroom and turned the hot water on allowing the steam to fill the room then she breathed it in slowly. Her lungs hurt so bad, and they felt dry. There was no way she was going to the hospital some sixth sense was screaming she would die if she did. Since dying wasn’t on her bucket list, she stayed put.
The steam was probably a bad idea, but when she closed her eyes, she could see it like it was happening so she gave in to it. Now she was sitting there breathing it all in. She felt better her lungs felt loser like she could process air bet
ter. This wasn’t normal, and she knew it. By that conclusion she had to admit she wasn’t normal. That was the thing she didn’t want to admit. She excelled at being normal. Alexa, her best friend, wasn’t normal, but Nadia was.
Idly she wondered if the doctors would strap her in one of those straitjackets before they took her away. No doctor she would say all you have to do is have your patients breathe steam it will heal their lungs. I promise. No, she would be keeping that little revelation to herself along with the fact that she wasn’t like everyone else.
The ringing of her phone brought her out of her musings. She ran into the bedroom to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Nadia?” Maceo’s voice came over the line.
“It’s me.”
“We’re almost there.”
“We?”
“I brought my brother with me.”
“You brought Syn?”
“No, I brought my younger brother with me he insisted. Nadia, do you know anything about Syn?”
“He’s the man Alexa, my best friend is going to marry. She told me all about him the last time she called. Why? Is there something else I should know?”
“No, I just needed to know if you knew they were getting married. Syn, as you know, is my brother and he and I and of course Zeno the brother I brought with me are alike. So the more you know about Syn, the more you know about us.”
She shuddered. Was she going from a bad situation to a worse situation?
“Is there something I need to know?”
“No, we’ll be there soon.”
The line clicked, and she promptly dialed Alexa. She had been avoiding her because she didn’t want to bring trouble to her doorstep. She was protecting her friend but maybe now she needed her friend to protect her.
“Nadia,” Alexa answered with a smile in her voice. “I’m so glad you called. I was going to call you because I keep getting a bad feeling when I think about you. I know it’s probably nothing, but I just want to make sure you’re okay. Where are you?”
“I’m at your house. I was at the restaurant then this shadow thing came in…” Nadia told her whole story and ended by asking if Maceo and Zeno could be trusted.
“They would never do anything to hurt you, they make great protectors but why didn’t you call me? I would have come after you.”
“I didn’t want to involve you. Finally, your happy and in love. Something like that shouldn’t be jeopardized.”
“You matter too Nadia don’t forget that.”
“I won’t. I better go so I can be ready when they get here. I hope they bring me to where you are so I can see you.”
“I do too.”
Nadia heard her yell for Syn before she broke the connection. If Alexa trusted Maceo and his brother so would she. Grabbing her overnight bag, she packed a few things she would need to run an extra pair of clothes and underwear. Her poor mother would have died of shock if she didn’t grab some underwear. A smile came to her face as she thought of her mom.
She didn’t hear anything, but a feeling drove her to look out the living room window. She ran down the stairs carefully and pulled the curtain back. A dark blue car parked in front of the house. Both doors opened, but the driver of the car was who captured all her attention.
He was tall with dark hair that was a little longer than his collar, but she liked it. His body was large making her feel small even from so far away. She could see that his cheekbones were sharp, but that was all she was going to get until he got closer and it was enough. Her body was thawing out like a sudden winter freeze that encountered a spring warming trend. Her middle pulsed to life, and she wanted to get to know the driver.
She held her breath until she was sure they were coming her way then she stepped back to make sure she looked good before pressing her face back to the window like a little kid eyeing the candy in the store window.
They stopped when they reached the bottom step of the porch. The driver looked up and made eye contact. He couldn’t move. They felt the same barrier around the house that she did. Like whatever followed her to the house was refusing to let her go.
Her phone rang, she pounced on it. “Hello?”
“Nadia, it’s Maceo. We’re standing outside.”
“I see you. Can you get on the porch?”
“Not without a fight and when we do we won’t be leaving anytime soon. Do you have enough food in the house for three?”
“Do you like meat?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re good.”
“Stand away from the door. We’ll be there as soon as possible.”
She cut the connection and stuck the phone in the back pocket of her jeans as she watched Maceo and Zeno talk looking up at her from time to time. Getting into this house would be just as hard as getting out of it. Maybe she should see if she could go out instead of having them come in?
No, again she was going with a gut reaction, but she didn’t think she could leave of her own volition and still live. It was better for them to come in.
The house shook she looked out to see that they had managed to put a foot on the bottom step. A quick look around showed no other houses shaking just this one. If that shadow could implode this house, she knew he would do it. Causalities wouldn’t bother him as long as she was one of them.
Why? That question had been hovering in the back of her mind for a while now. What was it about her that bothered the shadow so much? She wasn’t anybody just a busy working individual like everyone else. Was being Alexa’s friend that much of a sin?
She clutched the window sill as the house shook again. They were on the next step now. Four more to go. Their hands were moving fast, and sweat was pouring down their brow.
Nadia took the chance to examine Zeno the male who was in the passenger seat. He had the height of his brother with the same tan skin, but his hair was a light brown. His body was slimmer than his brothers not as muscular but still attractive. Very attractive Nadia thought if only she could stop looking at Maceo.
The shadows expanded, and they bounded up the rest of the steps there was a roar as they rushed towards the door. Nadia flew over to it and opened it up allowing them to run into the house instead of the closed door.
“We made it,” Maceo said from his spot against the wall.
Zeno just huffed a little louder while Nadia quickly put the code in and then reset the alarm hoping not to hear from the company.
“That was Mutufa,” Maceo claimed standing up.
“How? We locked him up.”
“Well you didn’t do a good job of it, but I’m down with you trying again.” Nadia’s voice came out sounding like silk.
“You’re right but we can’t try now. Could you show us to the kitchen? We both need something to eat. Steak’s if you have it.”
“Follow me I took a few out for you. I’ll cook them. Alexa will kill me if I let anyone mess up her kitchen. After you eat then, you can explain what’s happening.
Maceo nodded and followed her to the kitchen.
*~*~*~*
His mate was beautiful. Nadia was thick and curvy; he could already feel her delicious weight on him as she rode him. His dragon was turning over with joy imaging her on their back flying high in the sky. She smelled delicious; he wanted to eat her up.
Casting a look at his brother he felt a roar trying to come to the surface. If he tried to claim Maceo’s mate, it wouldn’t be pretty.
“What’s that look for?” Zeno asked carefully.
“She’s a dragon mate,” Maceo answered.
“But she’s not my dragon mate. She smells like Alexa,” Zeno said.
“What do you mean by that?”
“She smells like do not touch if it were a perfume, and she washed her body in it.”
“I never noticed that with Alexa but maybe because I knew she was Syn’s mate bonded from the beginning. Nadia is mine.”
Zeno clapped him on the back before embracing him in a one arm hug.
> “I am glad for you brother you deserve a mate bonded you have been alone for a long time.”
Maceo heard both the joy and sadness in his brother’s voice, and he understood.
“Are the two of you coming or are you going to stand outside the kitchen whispering all day.”
“On second thought,” Zeno said to Maceo. “Good luck.”
Maceo gave a small laugh before he walked into the kitchen with Zeno following behind him.
“One steak for each of you.”
“Could we have two?” His smile made her heart beat faster.
“Seriously? That’s a lot of meat.”
“Seriously.”
“All right but only if you promise to eat your vegetables.” She gave them a devilish smile.
Maceo frowned, she said vegetable’s plural, sucking in a big breath, he agreed to eat his vegetables.
“Good boy,” she whispered not knowing that Maceo could hear her.
She took out two more steaks while they sat at the table.
“So your brother’s. How many of you are there?”
“There are four of us. Syn is the second born then there is me, last is Zeno.” He reached over to ruffle Zeno’s hair like he was five.
“Stop that. It stopped being cute a thousand years ago.”
Nadia laughed. “A thousand years ago. Your brother is calling you old.”
“He has no room to talk. He’s close to my age.”
She laughed and slid the steaks under the burner.
Chapter four
Dinner was served, and the kitchen was now clean. She led them into the living room and took a seat.
“It’s time for answers.” Nadia gave them big smiles as she got comfortable.
Maceo turned to look at Zeno who shook his head no.
“She’s your mate I just came along for the entertainment.”
Maceo threw him a hard look before turning to look at Nadia.
“Mate?” She raised a brow, challenge in her eyes.
“Let’s start from the beginning.”
She nodded and waited.
Nadia's Dragon: Nadia's Dragon: A BBW Paranomal Romance (Dragon Mates Book 2) Page 2