by Juniper Hart
Every time her face lit up, his credit card was out. Daisy tried to urge him not to buy anything for her, but it was a pointless fight. Money wasn’t an issue for Nyle, so seeing her happy over something as simple as him buying her some trinkets, clothes, and books she liked, was worth more than the money spent on the items.
She was wearing the same outfit from the night before, so he bought her a few new outfits. She changed into a light blue sundress and tan gladiator sandals that complimented her skin tone. He asked the store to have the remaining clothes he purchased for her to be delivered to his penthouse. He hoped that she would keep the outfits at his house, since he figured she’d be staying with him regularly.
Nyle brought her to a quaint bookstore, which he knew would excite Daisy. He watched with glittering eyes as she enthusiastically explained her excitement over each book she had read and wanted to read. Before they left the store, he had purchased enough books to keep her occupied for days.
Nyle cherished each tight hug and passionate kiss she gave him as gratitude for each gift. Daisy was just the woman for him. All Royal Dragons were rich, and it was an important part of their culture. The entire clan was jaded by money, even himself. It was refreshing and humbling to be in the company of someone so grateful for every single dollar spent.
Nyle teased Daisy that the books would have to remain at his apartment so that she had to be with him to read them. Walking over to his Range Rover, he loaded the bag into the back of his SUV before turning to her.
Daisy wrapped her arms around his neck. “Are you tired of hearing me say thank you?” she asked.
Nyle couldn’t help but grin as his hands trailed down her back. “Not in the slightest.”
“Well, thank you for all the books… and the clothes.”
“And for the hundredth time today, you’re welcome,” Nyle replied before giving her a gentle kiss on the lips.
He leaned her against the SUV, kissing her intensely before pulling back.
“What would you like to do now? Continue shopping, or maybe go for a long drive? Catch a movie?”
“I don’t know… I’m your assistant for the day, aren’t I? So, doesn’t that make you the boss?”
Nyle ate up her playful banter, loving how carefree he could be in her presence. He didn’t feel the stress to be the strong, unwavering prince of the Royals, but rather just a man getting to know a gorgeous woman.
He looked up and down the street as he held her, trying to decide if there was anywhere else nearby they should check out. He didn’t want the day to end. As he read the store signs, his eyes were drawn to a still figure on the sidewalk. A man with long raven hair and silver eyes was staring right at them. Nyle’s eyes went wild, his arms tightening around Daisy. An Elemental Dragon, enemy to the Royals.
The two clans used to be one and the same, but when the now-Royals decided to merge with the humans and climb social and economic ladders to control them, the now-Elementals wanted to reject the humans to protect the land from the vile beasts. They split into two clans over this disagreement. The Elemental Dragon had seen Nyle kiss a human, and Nyle was nervous about the consequences of his actions.
What is he doing here? Nyle thought.
Elementals weren’t supposed to be in Royal territory, which ran along the east coast from Pennsylvania to northern Canada. Fifty years ago, Pennsylvania had been Elemental land, but Thalydias had conquered the state, and it became Royal territory. The Elementals were supposed to stay in their territory from Ohio, down to West Virginia, and over into Indiana. Nyle knew the Elemental dragon was there for a reason. He was after him.
“We have to go,” Nyle said, opening the passenger door and ushering Daisy into his SUV.
“Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost.” Daisy said, looking confused.
Nyle shut the door and hurried to the driver side before answering her.
“I don’t want you to panic, but there is someone following us,” he responded, throwing the car into drive and speeding down the road.
“Following us?” she gasped, her head snapping to look out the window, as if she could spot who it was. “Why would someone be following us?”
“Well, perhaps not exactly ‘us’, but at the very least me. And I have no idea,” Nyle explained as honestly as he could.
“Do you know who it was?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know we’re being followed?” she quizzed, clearly trying to make sense of the situation.
Nyle was slow to respond, having to think of an explanation that didn’t involve the word ‘dragon’.
“I don’t know him personally, but he looks like he’s kin to the enemies of my family. And the safest thing for us to do is to get as much distance as we can between us and him.”
He then stomped on the gas, gunning through a red light before turning down the next street, weaving in and out of traffic as fast as he could. Every time he glanced in the rearview mirror, Nyle saw the same black car in the distance. They were definitely being followed.
“Are they going to hurt us?” Daisy asked, the worry and fear in her voice clutching his heart.
All he wanted to do was assure her that everything was going to be okay, but he couldn’t lie to her, not when she was in danger.
“I honestly don’t know,” Nyle confessed. “But I swear, I’m going to keep you safe no matter what.”
He glanced over to see her trying to hide a scared expression, killing him inside. Nyle was an idiot for letting his heart take over his common sense. He had just spent an entire afternoon walking around with her in public. What had he been thinking? How was he going to shake this guy? If he were alone, he would have headed to his parents’ place since there was no way the Elemental would go so close to the heart of the Royal Dragon Kingdom. It shocked him that an Elemental was in the city. However, he couldn’t risk bringing Daisy to his parents’ home.
Right at the apex of his anxiety, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Hoping that on the off chance it was one of the guards he could trust, he dug into his pocket to retrieve his phone. His looked inquisitively at the number on the caller ID; it wasn’t one that was saved in his phone. He thought perhaps it was the dragon following him. There was only one way to find out. Picking it up, he put the phone to his ear but didn’t say a word.
“Hello, Nylyrias,” a sultry female voice cooed into the phone.
His jaw clenched tight, grinding his teeth before growling, “Mylora. How did you get this number?”
“That’s not what’s important right now, is it?” she chuckled. “Did you get a chance to talk to him, or did you run away like a little girl?”
What in the hell is she talking about? Nyle thought. But as soon as the thought formed, he realized what she meant. Mylora was behind the man following him.
“You did this?! What the hell, Mylora? Get him off my ass,” he demanded.
“Is that any way to talk to your future wife?” she pouted.
“I already said I’m not marrying you,” Nyle stated firmly. “Idle threats aren’t going to work on me.”
“Oh, believe me, it isn’t idle. You think I only sent one to do the job?” she questioned with a falsely honeyed voice. “I suggest you get back to your apartment so we can talk about this. If you don’t, I won’t call them off, and you can only run so long with that little human before you have to go to daddy, or surrender.”
An angry snarl passed his lips, his eyes narrowed in anger and nostrils flared. He couldn’t believe she was doing this, and more importantly, Nyle couldn’t believe he had gotten himself into this situation.
“Fine, I’m coming. Now get him off my ass. I don’t want him following me home. They don’t have my address, do they?”
“Of course not.” Mylora retorted.
He hung up his phone, slamming it into the steering wheel.
“God-fucking-damn it!” he cursed.
Daisy flinched from his outburst.
Nyle
ran a nervous hand through his hair before finding her hand and squeezing it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you; that’s the last thing I want to do. I just… I really didn’t want to drag you into this kind of mess. Yet, it’s already too late.”
“What’s going on? I don’t understand,” Daisy asked with a wavering voice, her nerves getting the best of her.
“Mylora, that woman who came by the apartment this morning, sent that guy to follow us. Just to intimidate us,” Nyle grumbled, trying his best not to get worked up all over again.
It was getting hard to control his temper, his body temperature already rising.
“Guess it worked,” she said with a deep frown.
Nyle sighed. He hated that she was frightened, but frankly, she was supposed to be. How else could she really feel? There was so much Daisy didn’t know but needed to know.
“We’re going back to the place,” he informed her in a low tone, his hands gripping the steering wheel.
“Isn’t that dangerous if they’re following us?”
“She’s going to call them off. Mylora’s doing all this just to make me talk to her. I’m assuming she wants to blackmail me into marrying her,” Nyle grumbled.
There was silence in the air, torturing Nyle with every empty moment that passed as he sped toward the apartment.
“Blackmail you with what?” she finally whispered.
“With you,” he answered honestly.
“With me?”
Nyle let out a heavy breath, feeling that it was harder and harder to control his temper. If he didn’t calm down, he was going to be forced into a shift. He ran a hand over his face and brought his mind to a peaceful place before placing his hand back on hers.
“I promise you that once I’m done meeting with her, I’ll explain everything. Okay? Let me get through this meeting, and then we’ll talk,” Nyle practically pleaded with her, needing her to be patient a little while longer.
He couldn’t have the whole I’m a dragon-shifter-and-the-reason-you-are-a-problem-is-because-you’re-human talk with her in the time span he had before meeting Mylora. He wanted to tell her the right way—not in a rushed situation when he would have to leave her alone with her thoughts right after telling her.
His eyes gazed over to her; Daisy’s stormy eyes were wide, and her brows lifted with concern. It was clear on her face that she wanted to protest or to leave the situation entirely. As terrible as it was, though, he couldn’t just let her go at that point. If that Elemental had gotten a good look at her, they could track her down. And if they got to her when he wasn’t around… Nyle couldn’t finish the thought.
“Okay,” Daisy finally let out, relief instantly washing over him.
Nyle didn’t give a damn about the speed limit, ripping through the city streets as fast as he could, his eyes continuously going to the rearview mirror. Eventually, the black car was gone from sight and didn’t return. He pulled into the private garage at his building and got out of the car. Daisy joined him at his side as they walked over to the elevator. Nyle placed his fob over the sensor, and the elevator ascended to the penthouse.
Both were silent and completely enveloped in their thoughts. As he stared up at the lights dreading his meeting with Mylora, two slender arms wrapped around his ribs. Nyle glanced down; Daisy hugged him with her cheek to his chest. A warm smile spread over his face, one arm going around her. He felt lucky. Even though she was his soulmate, he was certain many women would have run for the hills after being chased down the second day they knew each other. While she was scared and uncertain of it all, Daisy was hanging in there. Nyle there was something special between them, something that would be worth the trials they had to go through.
The elevator opened to his floor. Much to his dismay, Mylora was waiting for them by his door.
This is going to be a nightmare.
7
The tension was tangible as the two walked down the hall. The ashy blonde was leaned against Nyle’s door, her arms crossed over his chest and a mischievous grin on her face.
“Did you guys have a nice day out?” she asked.
Nyle glared hard at her, keeping Daisy under his arm protectively as they approached the penthouse door.
“Don’t speak, or even look at her,” he warned Mylora, knowing all too well that female dragons were just as dangerous as the males. She could lash out in jealousy, and that would be the end of Daisy.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” she cooed condescendingly, playfully picking up a lock of Daisy’s hair as Nyle unlocked the door.
Daisy instinctively shuffled away from Mylora and leaned further into Nyle. Without taking his arms off of Daisy, he picked up the bags of clothes that had been delivered from their day shopping.
Nyle wanted to rip Mylora’s entire arm off for touching Daisy. Hell, he wanted to do a hell of a lot more for what she was doing to them, but he didn’t need a dead Royal in his apartment.
Pushing the door open, he held Daisy back and let Mylora strut into the apartment first. The blonde seductress walked directly to the couch and sat down with both arms on the back of it and her legs crossed. She looked like a starlet in a skin tight black dress that showed more cleavage than necessary. Guiding Daisy through the door, he could see the concern and weariness growing in her expression.
“Go wait for me in the bedroom, all right? Don’t come out until I come for you,” he whispered.
Reluctantly, she nodded, and Nyle gave her a kiss on the forehead before she headed upstairs. He handed her the bags of clothes to take upstairs with her.
He made his way over to the bar and poured himself a stiff whiskey.
“Is that really necessary?” Mylora mused, earning a hardened glare from Nyle.
It is if you want me to remain calm, he thought bitterly to himself.
He took a huge swig before pacing over to her. Nyle plopped down in an armchair next to the couch and dug into his jacket for his cigarettes. Placing one between his lips, he lit it with a snap of his fingers.
His lungs filled with the smooth blend of smoke as his eyes fluttered closed to let the aroma soothe his nerves before speaking.
“What do you want, Mylora? To blackmail me into marrying you, even though I know you’re somehow in cahoots with the Elementals?” he asked with a raised voice as his eyes opened slowly.
“I’m not in cahoots with all of the Elementals. Just enough to make your life a living hell,” she grinned. “I struck a deal with a couple of their rogue dragons. In return, when I become queen of the Royals, I’ll give them sanctuary in our lands. They don’t quite follow the Elemental beliefs,” Mylora chuckled.
She stood up then and sauntered over to him, Nyle watched her closely as she reached into his jacket pocket and grabbed his cigarette case.
She placed one between her red lips and smirked at him, “Mind giving me a light?”
“Light it your damn self,” Nyle grumbled.
She reprimanded him, “That’s no way to speak to your future wife.”
Mylora then leaned down over him, with her face just inches away from his. Nyle wanted her out of his face, so he flicked his fingers at the end of the cigarette to light it. She took a deep puff and blew it in his face before sitting back down.
“So, all of this is just for power?” Nyle questioned.
“And money. But they are about equal in motive.”
He sat in silence, staring up at his ceiling as he tried to think. Back when he first picked out the penthouse, Nyle had an artist come in and do a golden print on the ceiling, just like the one at his parents’. What could he say, Nyle loved his childhood home; he just didn’t like being there.
“If I decide to go along with all this and stage this marriage with you, will you leave the human and I alone?” he questioned.
A sickly smirk was on her face as she took another puff of the cigarette. “My sweet prince, there is no more you and her. I don’t like sharing. She has to go. You can break things off with her, or I
can have my men handle her.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why? Neither of us would be marrying for love.”
“We have to make this look legitimate, and we don’t need some human fucking it up. Why does it matter so much? She’s a walking pig,” Mylora snorted.
Ah yes, ‘walking pig’. The oh-so-clever nickname some dragons used to refer to humans.
“You really shouldn’t waste your time on her anyways. Are you trying to hurt her?”
Nyle wouldn’t dare tell her that Daisy was his soulmate, knowing that she would be out for Daisy’s blood. Out of habit, his fingers drummed against the armrest of the chair. He was at a loss; he didn’t have a clear game plan for his next move. Of course he didn’t want Daisy to end up getting hurt, but at the same time, Nyle didn’t want to live without her. She was his, and he was hers. There was no way he was willing to let her go yet, if ever. Was there a way out of this? He needed to seek out the wisdom of a Royal elder. One of them could help him understand the bond he felt with Daisy and how it was possible that his soulmate was a human. He just had to find an elder that wouldn’t run straight to his parents.
A heavy silence permeated the room as he drank his whiskey and finished off his cigarette, still trying to think of any way to get out of the current situation. Why in the hell had his parents forced this evil vixen into his life? He had enough going on without being blackmailed into choosing Mylora the Succubus.
“This isn’t fair…” he said. “I’ve done nothing to you.”
“Oh?” she exclaimed, sitting up in her spot. “Why does there have to be a personal reason behind it? You’ve been on top your entire life, Nylyrias. And while all Royals may have a taste of the good life, for some of us, it isn’t enough. I have the means and the right to be on top, so I’ll do what I have to do to get there. And if becoming queen means ending the life of your little sex toy, then that’s a price I’m willing to pay.”
Mylora stood, savoring the enraged look carved onto Nyle’s face. She put her cigarette out on the surface of his coffee table. “I’ll give you some time to think it through. Have an answer by morning, Nyle. I won’t ask twice.”