Dragon Desire: Emerald Dragons Book 2

by Amelia Jade

In the background Palin and Lilly faded away.

  “Lilly, listen, I—”

  But he got no further as his mate all but threw herself into his arms and began to shake. Confused, he wrapped his arms around her instinctively, holding her tight as she sobbed into his shirt. It took him a moment to realize just then she must have come down off the adrenaline. Her brain was going into shock, essentially.

  “I’m sorry,” she started saying over and over again.

  “Why are you sorry?” he asked after getting her to hush. “You haven’t done a single thing wrong.”

  “I never meant to put you in danger. It’s my fault we almost died.”

  Torran’s growl filled the room, silencing her immediately as the structure shook under the bass. “Do not say that again,” he stated with absolute conviction. “You did nothing. This is all Damien’s fault. He chose to do this.”

  “Yes, but I knew he wasn’t a good person. I should have just left on my own, without involving you.”

  “That is enough.” His voice cracked like a whip. “I chose to involve myself. At his house. At the ranch. Those were my choices. Not yours. Not his. You have nothing to apologize for.”

  Lilly looked up at him, stunned at being spoken to like that. “I still feel terrible. He knew I didn’t have a car, and so after he tracked me down he saw the truck show up, and he must have realized it was yours. So he cut the brakes.”

  “Maybe. It’s entirely possible. But that’s not what happened, Lilly. He almost killed you too, and if he knew you didn’t have a car, that makes it entirely likely you would accompany me places. Which means you are in danger as well.”

  “I’ll be fine,” she said. “He wouldn’t intentionally try to harm me.”

  They both knew that was horseshit, but he didn’t call her on it. “You needn’t worry about me,” he promised. “I will be fine.”

  “Yeah,” she said, sniffling at the few remaining tears. “Because you can do whatever it is you did today, can’t you?”

  Torran nodded, kissing the top of her head repeatedly. “If I need to, yes. Whether it’s to save myself…or to save you.”

  She shivered and clung to him even tighter.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Lilly

  Despite the delicious spread of chicken-wrapped bacon stuffed with some sort of cream cheese sauce, salad, and, to Palin’s obvious dismay, several platters of vegetables, Lilly tasted none of it.

  She ate listlessly, only putting food in her mouth because she knew her body needed the sustenance. It may as well have been ash for all that she noticed it going down. Her eyes were unfocused, staring blankly at one barnwood wall, thoughts anywhere but at the table. Torran stared at her, and the others mostly tried to act like they weren’t there.

  A part of her felt bad for the others, especially Cheryl. She barely knew anyone, and was now thrust into the middle of a very awkward dinner situation. Lilly wished she could be a better guest and get to know the new woman better, but in her mind she kept replaying the accident over and over again, including Torran’s actions that saved them.

  Saved them from Damien. How could her ex have gone so far as to try and murder Torran, and quite possibly herself as well? His threats before had been one thing—she figured he was just using them to try and scare her into being under his control. This though, this was something else entirely. Damien had now taken direct action and put her, her child, and Torran directly into harm’s way. The issue wasn’t going away like she’d hoped. It was only getting worse.

  After dinner was over they sat around the fire, her and Torran off to one side sharing a loveseat. He sipped on a beer, and she drank sparkling water. She’d come to grips that it would be a long time before she had wine again, but tonight it was really wearing on her. She could use a glass to help calm her nerves. The carbonated water didn’t do shit.

  “We’re never going to be able to explore whatever is going on between us fully, are we? Not with him still in the picture.”

  Torran glanced down. “Probably not.”

  They spoke in low, hushed tones, so as not to disturb the others.

  “Can you prove that it was him who cut the line?”

  “Not by anything that would stick with the courts, but I have proof, yes.”

  Lilly frowned. “What does that mean? How do you know?”

  Torran sighed, looking down the spout of his beer bottle, gauging how much was left. Then he upended it, downing the entire thing in one swig. “I can smell him on the car.”

  “You can…what?” Lilly’s attention was now laser-focused on Torran.

  “I can smell him.”

  “Right. So you’ve got a bloodhound nose now?”

  He smiled and shrugged. “Something like that.”

  Lilly was left trying to figure out what the hell that meant while he got up and fetched himself a pair of fresh beers. Probably smart, based on the way the conversation was going. One wouldn’t be enough. She didn’t blame him for that.

  “You have secrets,” she accused when he got back.

  Oddly he didn’t sit down.

  “Yes. I do,” Torran said bluntly. “I haven’t lied to you, but until now it hasn’t come up.”

  She fidgeted with her glass, spinning it around in her hand, watching the water go up and down as it swished. “Why haven’t you told me, anyway?”

  He sighed, still standing. “Because I didn’t want to scare you off, Lilly. I wanted you to get to know me first before I shared my secret with you. It’s a little hard to believe, and I felt like your world had been rocked enough lately, what with being pregnant and the situation with your ex, and then with finding me. I was just trying help you stabilize things first. I swear I was going to tell you in time though. Once you had something concrete to stand upon.”

  “You’re making this out to be a really big deal you’re hiding.”

  “It’s a bit earth-shattering. But not in a bad way. In fact, if anything it’s probably a net positive for you.”

  Lilly shook her head. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Torran was silent for a moment, thinking. Then he abruptly stuck out his hand. “Trust me for a little bit longer?”

  “Do I have a choice if I want to find out?” she joked, taking his hand. After the car accident it was easy for her to trust him. That and she was desperately curious to find out what his secret was.

  “You always have a choice with me, Lilly Jordan. I never want you to feel like I’ve forced you into anything. With me you will be free to do what you want.”

  She smiled. She’d meant it as a joke, but his passionate little speech moved her. “I am free. Right now I freely choose to follow you.”

  He took her hand and led her from the room.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Lilly

  “Where are we going?” she asked, tugging her jacket tighter. “It’s chilly out.”

  “I know. But you’ll understand. It had to be outside, and away from Cheryl.”

  That was odd. Away from Cheryl, but not Sandy and Palin? Why didn’t he care if they knew? Her questions swirled away, lost in the more important parts of her imagination that were trying to figure out what the hell sort of secret he was hiding.

  “I hope you realize I have about a million and seven questions right now.”

  Torran looked at her funny. “That’s an odd number to use.”

  “Right. Someone says a million and one questions, nobody bats an eye. But if they have only six more questions, it’s weird. Go figure that people won’t bat an eye at seven figures’ worth of questions, but an extra millionth of a percent added on, and suddenly it’s crazytown.”

  Torran started laughing. “That is why I like you. You have such a unique way of seeing things.”

  “Why thank you. That still doesn’t explain why you’re taking me out into a field where nobody can see us. If you think I’m interested in sex right now, you’re wrong.”

  “You’re not interested
at all?”

  She frowned as his teasing ignited her own desires as if he’d flicked the damn on-switch. “That’s not fair. It’s cold outside, that’s what I meant. And I just ate, so I’m not really in the mood for some dick right now.”

  Torran laughed. “It’s okay. That’s not my secret.” He paused. “Besides, if it were, you’re already onto it.”

  “Well, what do you want to show me? Keep in mind the sun is going down in half an hour, and I won’t be able to see too well.”

  “I know. I’ll make sure we get back safely,” he promised. “But I needed privacy. So I could show you the truth about earlier. The car accident. About how I knew it was Damien.”

  Lilly felt suddenly uncomfortable as his tone grew more serious. Without thinking she took a step backward. “Am I about to be abducted by aliens?” She started searching the sky, waiting for a saucer to appear. “Look, I’m not into anal. You know that. I made it clear. So I’m sorry but the idea of alien butt probes is just…no. Okay? So you can let me go now if that’s what’s up.”

  Torran by this point had both hands clasped over his mouth and was going red in the face with laughter.

  “What, you think that’s funny?”

  He nodded. “Yes!” he got out between his sputtering.

  Lilly crossed her arms and started tapping her foot on the frozen ground. “Well, mister? What’s it going to be?”

  He sobered almost immediately. “You’re ready then?’

  “I’d use the phrase ‘I’m dying to know,’ but the words aren’t really appropriate right now, even if the sentiment is. Please, stop with the suspense and just show me.”

  “Okay. But you might want to sit down on that tree stump over there,” he said, motioning her back to the side of the path that cut through the farmers’ fields.

  “Why?”

  “You’ll trust me enough to come out here, but when I ask you to sit down you get suspicious? I promise it’s not a magical tree stump.”

  She backed up, not taking her eyes off him. “It better not be.”

  “It’s not,” he said, moving into the middle of the field. “Because the magic is with me.”

  Then, before her very eyes, he transformed.

  Chapter Twenty

  Torran

  Lilly squeaked. It might have been her saying “oh,” but it was too high-pitched for him to understand.

  “Hello, Lilly,” he said as his dragon settled down into place. His wings flapped slowly, restless with disuse. It had been too long since he’d gone out in his other form, and he promised to rectify that as soon as possible.

  “You’re a dragon.”

  “A dragon shifter, yes. I’m half and half.”

  “Cool magic trick.” It was obvious she didn’t believe him.

  “It’s no trick,” he promised.

  “Really? Then breathe fire.”

  Torran smiled. “Fire is the realm of the crimson dragons. I am an emerald dragon. We breathe corrosive or toxic gas.”

  “Okay, do that then.”

  Torran gently exhaled out, feeling his powers, and used them to shape the gas. It swirled around, morphing from a roughly spherical blob into depictions of two people. One was a tall male with muscles. The other was a short woman with short, curly hair just to her ears.

  “That’s us,” she gasped. “How did you do that?”

  “I create the gas. It is part of me,” he explained. “Nothing more.”

  “You act so calm about this.”

  “I’ve known about this my entire life. For me it’s second nature. Only for humanity at large is it a surprise. And a secret,” he added forcefully. “One you cannot share with anyone.”

  “You realize that your voice is coming out of that dragon snout, right? You’re speaking English.”

  He chuckled, the sound far deeper and powerful than anything he could manage in human form. “I could speak Draconic, but you wouldn’t understand me.”

  “Right. Draconic, of course. How silly of me.” She tittered, a laugh that sounded very much on the edge of hysteria, much as she had back at the site of the accident.

  “Stay with me, Lilly,” he begged, fighting the urge to take a step toward her. In this form that might do more harm than good.

  “Yeah. Okay. Dragons.”

  “Yes. There are more of us. We hide from humans because many would reject us, and others would try to control us. So we just stay hidden.”

  “Why are you here?” she asked, still sitting on the tree stump, but now gripping it so she didn’t fall over.

  “The human military is in a fight against…” he paused. “Damn. Okay, I guess in a sense I sort of lied to you, though I didn’t mean to.”

  “Huh?”

  “The military is up against some aliens that are much tougher than humans. They need our help to fight them.”

  “So there are aliens?”

  “Yes. I was thinking about myself when I said that. I’m sorry.”

  She laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about it.” Then to his surprise she stood.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making sure this is real. I’m coming over there to touch you.”

  Torran nodded, lowering his head to the ground as she approached, one nervous step at a time.

  “You know, your words and the hints I caught prepared me for a lot of outcomes. This…this was not one of them. I’m freaking out.”

  “That’s to be expected. But I promise, I mean you no harm. You are important to me, Lilly. In ways you can’t understand.”

  “Yeah,” she said distractedly, touching his neck, feeling the cool emerald-green scales that covered his body everywhere but the wings and around his face. “Say, does this mean I get to go flying?”

  He rolled his eyes. Both Palin and the dragons he’d talked to at the base had said that was one of the first questions they were asked. Flying. Can we fly? I want to fly!

  “Yes,” he said. “After the baby is born though. I will not risk that.”

  Lilly paused, touching her stomach. “Right. That’s probably a smart decision.” Her expression changed and she backed away from him.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked, trying to contain his nervousness. This is what he’d feared the most, that she might reject his true nature, and say she didn’t want him around. That would destroy him.

  “If I decide I can’t be with anyone right now, what happens then?”

  He swallowed. “You are my mate, Lilly. The only one meant to be with me. We are bound in ways that humans are not.” He looked away.

  “Will you kill me to keep me silent about your secret?”

  Torran looked at her in horror. “Absolutely not! If that is what you choose, then I will honor it. After all, who will believe you when you say this guy turns into a dragon?”

  “They might not believe her, but they’ll believe this video.”

  His neck whipped around as he heard someone else speak.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Torran

  “Torran? Torran, what is it?”

  He ignored Lilly, his attention elsewhere.

  Rising up, he peered into the darkness. The shadows played havoc with his normal vision so he flicked his eyes over to infrared. Immediately the bright red of a human body revealed itself.

  “Oh shit,” the person said, taking off for the edge of the field and the road.

  Torran couldn’t see what lay beyond the tree line, but he had an idea.

  “Come back here,” he rumbled, taking off across the ground.

  “Shit shit shit.”

  He growled, recognizing the voice, and the scent now that he was trailing them.

  Behind him Lilly shouted out for him to come back, but he couldn’t. Not if he thought that that the interloper had video of him.

  “Stop!” he shouted at Lilly’s ex as Damien ran pell-mell for the tree line. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

  The biker didn’t even bother looking back; he just ran on
and on, arms churning wildly as the huge dragon came after him, the ground shaking slightly with each step of his monstrous paws. Dragons were not the most graceful creatures on the ground, nor were they the speediest. The gap was closing, but he wouldn’t reach him until the other side of the trees.

  Damien shouted something and the sound of motorcycles revving up reached his ears. There were more of them out there. The gang. Things were about to get ugly.

  He charged through the trees at a mad dash. Pine branches went everywhere as he tore down the slope like a mad demon from hell, trying to stop the group before they got away, but his desire to end things early betrayed him. The group had Damien’s cycle up and running when he reached it, and they sped away, leaving Torran behind.

  “Well that sucks,” he muttered, his longer hind legs bunching behind him.

  Wings spread wide, he leapt into the air, swiftly winging after the six vehicles, closing on them with ease. Shouts went up as he was spotted, and they began to put on speed. Torran might be slow on the ground, but in the air he was death on wings, and he easily caught up to them as they reached a corner.

  Stooping low, he tried to scatter them, aiming for Damien. He didn’t want to hurt them; he only wanted the phones.

  “Just give me your phones, and you can go free,” he roared as they started trying to shoot him.

  The bullets pinged off his scales and one of the bikers cried out in pain as he was hit by a ricochet. Talk about bad luck.

  “Stop that!” he shouted, gaining some height to better pace them. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  They ignored him, and he went after Damien again, his jaws snapping, trying to grab his clothing. Or an arm. Either would be okay. But the biker was surprisingly agile and leaned over to the side, balancing himself precariously as he avoided getting caught.

  He retreated to the air once more, only to notice that two of the bikers had dropped back and were now pointing their phones at him instead of guns. Torran weighed his options and sighed. At any point now they would reach a crossroad that led somewhere, and he would be unable to keep them together.

  “Please don’t make me do this!” he pleaded. “I don’t want to. Just stop and give me your phones.”