Cowboy Dragon (Dragon Isle Book 7)

by Sophie Stern

  Emerson.

  She just had to get to Emerson and then everything would be all right.

  “I take it he isn’t expecting you,” Colton said.

  “You could say that.”

  “I wish they weren’t expecting me,” he said, and that surprised her. She looked up at him. She realized her hands were fisting his shirt, but he didn’t seem to mind, and she didn’t want to let go. Not just yet. Right now, he was anchoring her, holding her in place. He was keeping her from completely freaking out and she didn’t want to lose that feeling.

  “You don’t like Dragon Isle?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “But you’re a dragon.”

  He chuckled, but didn’t say anything for a minute. She leaned her head back against his chest and listened to the sound of his heart and the rush of the waves. Why couldn’t her whole life be like this? She didn’t want to get to Dragon Isle and try to explain what was happening. She was horrible at public speaking and even though she was used to speaking up in order to be heard, she didn’t like the idea of having to go before the clan leader.

  She was coming to the island because it was the right thing to do.

  She wasn’t coming because she wanted to.

  She wasn’t coming because she owed the dragons anything. She didn’t. They had never done anything for her and she wasn’t one of them. She had no obligation to them. She had no loyalty to them.

  But the idea of someone getting hurt didn’t sit well with Holly.

  She hated the idea that the dragons were in danger and she was the only one that could stop it. She had to warn them before it was too late and that’s exactly what she was going to do.

  She felt like a fake and a coward and a thousand shades of unprepared, but she would make the right choice if it killed her, and it probably would. If Emerson didn’t believe her, she didn’t know what he would do. What was the punishment for sneaking on to the island? What was the punishment for angering the lord of the dragons? What was the punishment for tricking her way into the center of an island of beasts?

  She didn’t know.

  All she knew was that she had to try.

  “Being a dragon is one thing,” Colton finally said. “Belonging to the dragons is another.”

  “You sound a bit bitter.”

  “I am more than a little bitter.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “Did you grow up on the island?”

  “I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”

  “It might help. You never know.”

  “You don’t take ‘no’ for an answer, do you?” He asked.

  Holly smiled and ran her hands up and down his shirt. His erection had faded a little and was no longer poking her right in the butt. Not that she minded. She didn’t. He could poke her butt all he wanted to. She rather liked it, but she had a feeling this dragon had a thorn in his side and no one had ever taken the time to pull it out.

  If she could help him heal, if she could help him move forward, maybe he wouldn’t dread going to the island so much. They had time, by her calculations. They had at least half an hour, maybe more, depending on the weather.

  Besides, she didn’t have to see him again. After tonight, they could go their separate ways and never have to talk to each other or even think about each other again.

  What would it hurt to talk to him?

  Maybe she could help him.

  “There’s a lot I don’t like to talk about, either,” she said. “You know, normally I don’t trust big guys.”

  “Big guys?”

  “Yeah,” she playfully patted his arms. “Big guys, like you. You’re big.”

  “I’m not that big.”

  “Comparatively,” she said. “You’re big compared to me. You’re a giant.”

  “I suppose that’s true. Why don’t you like big guys?”

  “My stepbrother was a big guy.”

  Colton sucked in a breath and his heart started to race. She thought his body got warmer, too. It seemed to grow hot. Was that normal for dragons? She really didn’t know. She was just a tech girl, after all. She wasn’t some sort of dragon expert or genius. That wasn’t her field of study.

  She was just a normal girl who came across some important information.

  She was just someone who read a file she wasn’t supposed to.

  Now she was here with a dragon.

  Now she was holding onto him for dear life.

  “He hurt you,” Colton said.

  “Yeah,” she said. “He hurt me and now I’m scared of big guys. Get what I’m saying? Little guys are weak and small and harmless.”

  “Little guys can still hurt you.”

  “Not the way a big man can. They can’t break me physically. Not like that.”

  “You’re here with me now,” Colton said. “I would never hurt you.”

  “I know.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just something about you,” she said, and she tried to figure out what it was. She couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. “You seem tough on the outside, but something tells me you’re gentle inside. Something tells me you’re kind. Maybe you’ve been hurt before like I have. Maybe you have wounds, too, so you don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

  “I would never hurt a woman,” Colton promised.

  “I believe you.”

  “You’re safe with me, little darling. You’re safe now.”

  He steered the boat with one hand and with the other, he played with her hair. He gently touched her frizzy red locks and for a little while, Holly forgot about the fear that had haunted her for so long.

  Her brother would never be able to hurt her again. He was locked up now and would never be released from prison. He would never be released into the real world again. No matter what happened, he couldn’t hurt her. Years of therapy had helped her move forward with her own life and she no longer feared the individual who had hurt her, but she still sometimes felt scared of other people who were larger than her.

  She had moved past her brother’s bad deeds. Now she just had to learn to trust other people again.

  “I know you aren’t a bad man,” Holly said. “I’m not bringing this up to be weird. I know I met you all of ten minutes ago. I just want you to know, you know, that you aren’t alone. If you’ve been hurt, I mean. I think we all have.”

  “Thank you, little human.”

  “I’m nervous, you know,” she said.

  “About meeting with Emerson?”

  “I think he’s going to throw me out.”

  “I don’t think that’s something you need to worry about.”

  “Really?” She was surprised. “Why not?”

  “Because if he lays a fucking hand on you, the clan is quickly going to find itself in need of a new leader.”

  5

  By the time they reached Dragon Isle, Colton was emotionally and physically exhausted. The little human in his arms was just a bundle of contradictions, wasn’t she? She was damaged, but brave. She was tiny, but strong. She was human, but understanding. She was nothing like Colton expected when he first stepped in the boat.

  She was so much more than he could have anticipated.

  They tied up the boat and she helped him haul his bags out of the little motorboat.

  “Do you have any luggage?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Just this,” she held up a small backpack. It couldn’t be big enough to hold a change of clothes, much less a week or two’s worth. What exactly was she going to do on Dragon Isle? And how long was she staying?

  Colton found himself hoping she would stay awhile. He found himself thinking it might be nice to grab a bite to eat with her. It might be nice to get to know her a little better.

  His mother had been happily married to a human for years. Even the clan leader was married to one, from what Colton had heard. Liam’s sister, he thought. Wasn’t that interesting?
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  The idea of dragon shifters dating, marrying, and even having babies with humans was no longer strange or unheard of. It was no longer taboo. He could date Holly if he wanted to. Hell, he’d love to, but he wasn’t a good man.

  He knew that.

  He’d only known her a short while, but Colton thought Holly deserved a good man. She deserved someone who would be tender with her, who would be kind. She deserved someone who could take care of her and make her feel like a princess.

  Was he that man?

  He wanted to be. Suddenly, he desperately, absolutely wanted to be that man for her, but he just didn’t think he was. He was a simple rancher. He didn’t know how to make a woman happy or how to make her feel like she was the only girl in the world. He didn’t know how to help Holly heal her wounds or how to make her forget her tortured past. He didn’t know how to do anything that had to do with relationships.

  That wasn’t his thing.

  Cattle?

  Yeah, he could handle cattle. Cattle were simple. He knew how to take care of his cows and his ranch and his land. He knew how to fix his damn fences and how to fix his truck and how to fix his house. He could build just about anything with his bare hands and if he couldn’t, he had friends who could. He knew nature: not women. He knew animals: not humans.

  Holly seemed perfect to him. She was a spitfire through-and-through. She was gentle, but brave. She was sweet. She was timid, but she was determined.

  He wanted to know why she was on Dragon Isle. He wanted to know what could have brought this sweet girl all the way out to the wilderness. She didn’t belong here. It was obvious to anyone, but especially to him.

  “I’ll take you to Emerson,” Colton said, and Holly nodded quickly. She didn’t refuse him, which surprised him.

  “Thank you,” she said. Then she leaned in and lowered her voice. “To be honest, I have no idea where his office is. Obviously, I don’t have an appointment. I don’t think anyone is going to be willing to give me directions.”

  “Of course,” Colton said. He was happy to help her find Emerson. He was more than a little curious about why she had come to the island. Perhaps if he helped her find the man she was looking for, Colton would get to hear all about it.

  He’d come up with several theories about her unsolicited visit, but none of them seemed to make sense. Holly could be looking for someone or she could need protection, but he didn’t think so. For a brief moment, he wondered if she was pregnant with a dragonman’s baby, but that, too, seemed unlikely.

  He took her arm and began to lead her up the path to the edge of the village. They had only gone a few steps when he saw a man dressed all in black.

  “Oh,” Holly whispered, but Colton knew that man. The tall shifter took long strides toward them. His trench coat fluttered back in the breeze, revealing a black button-down shirt and black leather pants.

  Leathers?

  Interesting choice.

  Then again, Anthony had always been a bit on the unusual side.

  “Don’t worry,” Colton said. “His bark is worse than his bite.” Before Holly could say anything, Anthony’s arms were wrapped around Colton in a tight hug. He chuckled as he pat the dragon’s back and hugged his old friend. “All right, buddy,” Colton said. “Good to see you, man.”

  “And you, as well,” Anthony pulled back and looked at Colton for a minute, appraising him. Then he turned to Holly. “And who is this?” He asked. “I didn’t realize you were bringing company, Colton. You should have told me.”

  “It was unexpected,” Colton said. “Actually, before we go talk about your renovation, we need to meet with Emerson.”

  “Oh?” Anthony’s eyebrows shot up. “Might I ask why?”

  “No, but you can point me to his office,” Colton said with a hint of a snarl. “I assume the clan leader’s office is in the same building it was before.” He stared at the dragonman. Anthony looked like he was going to ask another question, but thought better of it. Good. There would be plenty of time later to talk about details and life choices and why the hell Colton thought it would be a good idea to bring a human to the island.

  Right now, he just wanted to get Holly’s visit to Emerson over with so he could get settled in and so he could start getting to know her better.

  He definitely, absolutely wanted to get to know her better.

  She probably wasn’t planning to stay on the island very long, but he could convince her. He could ask her. He could pleasure her until she forgot why it was a bad idea. He could make her come again and again until the idea of saying “no” wasn’t even an option.

  “Follow me,” Anthony responded simply, and turned to walk. The three of them made their way down the road with Colton in the center, Anthony on the left, and Holly on the right. They made a strange trio, Colton thought, but no one spared them a second glance. A few shifters were walking around and there were a couple of shifters in their dragon forms who were lounging in yards as they walked past.

  It wasn’t extraordinarily common for shifters in Honeypot, Colorado to hang out in their shifter forms. Not just out in the yard, anyway. No one really looked down upon it. It was just that shifters there tended to be a bit discreet. Colton had gotten used to it during the time he’d lived there. He shifted often at home and in the fields and flew around regularly, but he rarely just lounged around in front of his house in dragon form.

  Dragon Isle was different.

  Colton had forgotten.

  It was good to see people just being themselves, just being in their true forms. It felt good, he thought, to be around other shifters who were as big as he was. He didn’t mind the tigers or the bears or the little cougars who roamed around Honeypot. That was fine. They were good people, good shifters.

  But dragons?

  Oh yes, he’d forgotten this part.

  He’d forgotten how much fun they could have.

  Colton had gotten hung up on all the things he hated about Dragon Isle. He’d gotten hung up on the little details. He’d spent all of his time thinking about how he felt sad after his father died. He’d been so focused on his sadness and pain that he hadn’t really appreciated the people who lived here.

  They were his people.

  They were part of him.

  “Wow,” Holly murmured, and both Colton and Anthony turned to look at her. “She’s so beautiful,” she whispered. She had stopped walking and was watching one medium-sized dragon who was resting in front of a little blue house.

  “Holly,” Colton asked, suddenly wondering something. “Have you ever seen a shifter before?”

  “No,” she shook her head, never letting her eyes leave the dragon. “I have friends who are shifters, but I have never seen any of them change, and I’ve never seen a dragon. Holy tigers, Colton. Look at her.”

  The dragon had light pink scales with pale blue tips. The coloring was strange for a dragon. Her colors were almost too bright, too bold, but Colton bet they matched the woman’s personality. The dragon watched them from her spot, but didn’t move, and eventually closed her eyes and seemed to fall back asleep.

  “She’s majestic,” Holly said, still staring.

  “All right, little gawker,” Colton said, taking her hand. “Let’s get you to Emerson, all right? That’s what you came here for, after all.”

  “Yeah,” she said, swallowing hard, and a wave of anxiety rolled off of her. Anthony shot Colton another questioning look. Colton knew Anthony was dying to ask who Holly was, why she was here, and what she wanted with Emerson.

  He wasn’t about to stop to answer questions though. There was no time for that right now. He had made Holly a promise and he intended to keep it.

  Besides, something told him this was important.

  He didn’t know why he suddenly trusted her. It didn’t make any sense. Holly was, for all intents and purposes, a complete stranger to him.

  He had only known her for an hour or so, but he thought she was sweet. He thought she was determined. He thoug
ht she was desperate.

  And he thought they needed to get moving.

  “Hey,” he put his hand on her shoulder, suddenly feeling an urge of protectiveness. “It’s going to be okay, all right? Everything is going to be okay. No matter what happens, no matter how this all plays out, it’s going to be fine.”

  He thought his words would encourage her. He thought his words would calm her, relax her. Colton was surprised when Holly shivered and shook her head. She rubbed her hands on her shoulders, then started walking again.

  “Nothing about this is okay,” she whispered. She spoke so quietly that if Colton hadn’t been a dragon, he wouldn’t have been able to hear her.

  But he was a dragon.

  And he did hear.

  6

  Emerson was a big man who didn’t look like he wanted to talk to a human.

  He looked like he didn’t enjoy having unexpected visitors.

  He looked like Holly was ruining his day, and she hadn’t even told him the bad news yet.

  Emerson’s receptionist seemed kind and gentle and was gracious enough to give Holly a cup of hot tea, but Holly couldn’t drink it with Emerson watching her like this.

  He sat at the desk and glared. He was big and his shoulders were broad. He was strong: a fighter. She could tell. No wonder he was chosen as clan leader. She thought that if Emerson got in a fight, he would win. There was no question, no doubt. He would conquer and destroy and defeat anyone who opposed him.

  Suddenly, she wished she had just called Dragon Isle instead of trying to come in person.

  Anthony and Colton stood behind her, blocking her exit. Even if she wanted to leave now, she couldn’t. She had one shot at this and she wasn’t going to blow it. She wasn’t going to leave. She was going to see this thing through. She just had to hope they believed her.

  “What do you want?” Emerson said, looking pointedly at the clock. “It’s late. I’m tired. I don’t know you. What exactly is it that you need?”