Ian's Fall (Brotherhood of Bandits (Mating Fever) Book 2)

by Minx Malone

  There’s a dragon in my bed.

  Morgan stood in the doorway to her bedroom and chewed nervously on her thumbnail. In the moment, it had seemed like a reasonable plan to drag the man, dragon, whatever he was, back to her small cabin. He was injured and she was the local healer. Helping people was her life’s purpose. But she hadn’t thought this through clearly.

  The man in her bed was huge, his long legs hanging off the end of her full-sized mattress. It had been damn near impossible to even get his big body on the cart and it had taken her a long time to pull it along the dirt road back to her cabin. Once they’d arrived, she’d had to rouse him so he could walk inside. There was no way she could have lifted him.

  He was also naked. She tried to pull her eyes away but they kept going back to the acres of golden skin on display.

  You can’t even see that much, she chided herself. He was sprawled on his front, his head pillowed on his arms so it wasn’t like she had a stranger’s business in her face or anything. But still, his rear view was compelling enough. The lean muscles in his back were flexed due to how he was laying and they led down into the round, firm curve of his ass. That was the kind of ass you could grab on to while it’s owner was taking care of business. She could bite that ass.

  Now that he was passed out in her bed, she had no idea where to even start assessing his injuries. Clearly the folklore that dragons healed quickly was true since he had no visible cuts or bruises despite falling from such a great height. Other than the fact that he’d passed out and hadn’t woken up yet, there appeared to be nothing much wrong with him at all.

  Unless his injuries were on his front side.

  Blushing, she retreated and pulled the door closed behind her. There was no way she was going to roll him over and inspect him. More than likely his front side was just as spectacular as the back and it wouldn’t do for him to wake up and find her standing over him drooling. Especially since he was a stranger. She repeated it to herself a few times since her libido was completely ignoring how crazy this all was.

  In the kitchen, she pulled out a small mason jar filled with her favorite herbal blend. She mixed her own teas and this particular one was for minor pains and also helped to relieve stress. If she could get him to wake up, she’d give him some pain reliever and the tea. She boiled water and then steeped the tea for seven minutes. She carried the cup carefully back to her room, setting it on the night table next to the bed. He still hadn’t stirred but his back rose and fell rhythmically so at least he was still breathing.

  “Hello. Wake up.” She prodded his shoulder gently and then jumped back. Having never been around a dragon shifter before, she had to admit the idea of waking one was a bit scary. What if he woke up and shifted right here? She glanced up at the relatively low ceiling in her cottage. He’d tear the roof right off the place.

  No, she would just have to be gentle.

  “Wake up. I have some tea for you.”

  He shifted slightly at the sound of her voice and she took the opportunity to appreciate the flex of his muscles as he moved. She could admit to always harboring a secret fascination with dragons. They were beautiful and majestic while simultaneously fierce.

  Rolling him gently, she smoothed her hands over the golden skin on his back. He was perfectly built and so warm. She snatched her hands back. What the hell was wrong with her? She was a professional and in all of her years she’d never had trouble maintaining her objectivity. Why now? Was it just because he was a dragon?

  Then he turned over and all her thoughts flew out the window. As he settled on his back, his tight ab muscles flexed which only brought her attention even further south. He was not only insanely muscular but incredibly aroused. The evidence of that was pointing right at her. Her dragon was big all over.

  Heat rushed to her face and she covered her face with her hands.

  A second later, his arms shot out and grabbed her, pulling her forward to land on his chest. Her squeak of surprise was muffled when he rolled them over, settling on top of her. Suddenly she was blanketed in warm, hard, male flesh and every feminine instinct inside of her flared to life. Morgan felt everything she’d been trying to avoid staring at earlier.

  It was one thing to pretend to be unaffected when she was just observing but she was no match for the sensation of his body sliding over hers. She arched under him and moaned. The sound drew an answering response from him as his arms tightened beneath her, holding her in place as he flexed his hips, grinding against her suddenly aching and empty core.

  Oh my god.

  chapter three

  Warm. Soft. Perfect.

  The smell of sunlight and berries washed over him again and Ian buried his face into the softness, trying to find the source. Desire clawed at his insides and he flexed his hips. A soft feminine moan drifted to his ears and he gloried in the sound. He was pleasuring his mate. He would give her everything she needed, provide for her and protect. It was his every dream come true now that he’d found her.

  Then the fog cleared and he looked up into shocked green eyes.

  “Hi.” She blushed and then looked down at his hands which were latched onto her full breasts.

  He let go as if his hands were on fire. “Sorry. Again.” When he sat back, she rolled out from under him and smoothed her hands over her dress.

  “It’s okay. I was trying to wake you up. I brought you some tea.”

  He accepted the cup she held out and sipped. It was still hot but was slightly bitter. She smiled at the face he made.

  “I know the taste isn’t the best but it’ll help with the aches and pains. I have pain pills for you, too.”

  He grunted. “Your medicines won’t work on me. I’ll be fine. Nothing hurts so I’ve probably already healed anything I injured on the way down.”

  “I noticed. You don’t have any bruises I mean.” Her cheeks went pink again and she stood up.

  “Wait. You aren’t leaving, are you?”

  “I was just going to get the herbs I dropped when I was helping you. That’s what I do. I’m an herbalist.”

  “Wait, I’ll go with you.” He put the cup down and tried to stand.

  Her eyes glazed over slightly as she watched him stretch. Ian grinned. Clearly his mate liked what she saw. When she noticed him watching her, she spun around to face the wall.

  He took a step toward her and then collapsed.

  “Oh my god!” Morgan knelt next to him and put a hand against his cheek. The cool touch almost made up for the humiliation of face planting yet again.

  Dragons liked to show their mates that they could be good providers and protectors. So it was particularly grating that the only memories his mate had of him was when he was in pain and weak as a newborn.

  “This is getting old.”

  Morgan helped him back into bed. This time she pulled the covers back and then pulled the sheet up over his hips.

  “I think you’ll need a little more time before you start running marathons. It’s okay. You don’t really need to follow me. I’m just grabbing the stuff I already gathered.”

  He couldn’t exactly stop her from going but the idea of her out there alone was torture. Distraction was his only hope.

  “Those men you saw, what did they look like?” Not that it really matter. He knew who was behind this even if their voices hadn’t been familiar.

  “Dark hair and eyes. Both of them. One of them had a tattoo on his neck. Honestly they both just looked kind of scary.”

  “Did you happen to see them in dragon form?”

  She tilted her head adorably as she tried to remember. “They flew overhead but I couldn’t really see them well at that height.”

  He squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. They’re probably lower level guards anyway. My cousin wouldn’t send his top people just to fuck with me.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Your cousin did this to you?”

  “Well, it’s a little complicated. My cousin is also the Dragon King.”

&nbs
p; She nodded. “Right. Of course he is. Why didn’t I think of that?”

  He laughed. Then let his head drop back on the pillow. “This is frustrating. I’ve been shifting since I was a child. I had no idea there was a drug that could stop shifting.”

  “You don’t think it’s permanent, do you?”

  At her whispered question, Ian froze. Fuck. It hadn’t even occurred to him that the effects of this thing might not wear off. What if he was stuck like this, not quite a dragon, not quite a man? He needed to talk to his younger brother. He made a mental note to ask Gavin if he’d heard anything about a chemical weapon that prevented you from shifting.

  “Morgan, I need you to do something for me.”

  Although she looked wary, she nodded. “Sure. What do you need?”

  Even though he was pretty sure he knew who was responsible for this, there was no way of knowing if they were still out looking for him. He didn’t want her getting caught in the middle of his war and there was no way for him to protect her properly until he’d healed. However long that took.

  “I need you to bring me a phone and for you to stay inside. Those men could still be around and I can’t protect you like this. Can you do that?”

  There was something in her eyes that he couldn’t categorize as she stared at him. Just as quickly though it disappeared and she smiled politely. “I can do that. Let me just get my cell phone from the kitchen.”

  She stood and collected his empty tea cup from the table next to the bed. When she left the room, she glanced over her shoulder at him once more.

  Morgan deposited the empty cup in the sink and stood staring at it for a long moment. She needed to get her thoughts together. Something had happened in that room when he was talking about protecting her. For those few moments, she hadn’t even questioned the logic of him wanting to take care of her. It had seemed natural that he’d care so much for her well-being that he’d try to get out of bed even while sick to watch after her.

  The moment when reality had intruded and reminded her that he couldn’t possibly care about her that much had been like being dunked in cold water. It had taken all of her composure to keep a straight face and not throw herself on his chest the way she really wanted to.

  She retrieved her cell phone from the counter and carried it back to the room. Ian had pushed himself up slightly so he was sitting against the headboard. He took the phone and winked at her before dialing. It would be polite to leave the room so he could have some privacy but instead she found herself puttering around, straightening the extra blankets at the end of the bed and picking up the clothes on the floor. All so she’d have an excuse to stay near him.

  With a disgusted sound, she dropped the sweater she was holding and walked back up front. If she wanted busywork, she might as well do something that was actually useful, like clean the kitchen. After loading the dishwasher, she walked back to the room to find Ian was still on the phone.

  “So, you’ve never heard of anything like this? Can you ask your contacts if there’s been any chatter about a new weapon? Okay. Yeah, yeah whatever.”

  He hung up and held out the phone. When she took it, his fingers brushed against hers and the desire she’d thought was an anomaly returned with a vengeance. Morgan clenched her thighs together and tried to look anywhere other than his lean chest above the sheets.

  What was going on? She’d never responded to a man this way. The way he’d grabbed her earlier, well, she should have been terrified or even appalled that a stranger would manhandle her that way. But instead it was like something awakened inside of her. Something she’d never experienced before.

  “I guess your brother didn’t know anything?”

  He shook his head. “He’s just as determined to figure it out as I am, though. A weapon like this is a threat to all of us. Right now, it’s just used to incapacitate but it’s hardly a leap to imagine that someone might use it to kill.”

  “Are you hungry? I could make something. Although I’m not sure what you like to eat. I usually just eat a salad or something.”

  He glanced around. “You live here alone? Is anyone going to be upset that I’m here?”

  He moved around until there was space on the bed next to him. When she didn’t move, he looked down at the space pointedly. Morgan blushed again. If anyone else did that, she’d think it was incredibly presumptuous but there was just something about him. Those bedroom eyes and that lazy smile. Oh yeah, he definitely knew what he did to women.

  Ignoring his pointed look, she crossed her arms. “No, it’s just me. My parents live close by but I doubt they’ll just drop in and I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “That’s hard to believe.”

  At his words, she dropped her arms. “What does that mean?”

  He smirked. “Look at you. Why would you be alone? Between those gorgeous eyes and that figure, there isn’t a man alive who wouldn’t give up a limb to be where I am right now. So that must mean you had a boyfriend and broke the guy’s heart.”

  Morgan tugged on the ends of her hair. “That is not true. I haven’t had a boyfriend in a long time. And my figure… isn’t really what’s popular these days.”

  He gave her a disbelieving look. “Some things don’t go out of style. Excuse me if this is too blunt but breasts fall in that category.”

  As if aware they were the topic of conversation, her nipples tightened, pressing against the material of her bra. There wasn’t usually anyone around to notice so she hadn’t bothered wearing a padded bra. Ian’s eyes went right to the tight points and his jaw tightened. If she’d had any illusions that he was just humoring her, the tent in the sheet proved her wrong.

  Morgan had no idea how to respond. It was crazy that he considered her some kind of dream girl. At twenty-six years old she’d had boyfriends, sure, but the relationships hadn’t been able to weather her determination to stay near her parents. Her high school boyfriend had gone to college and never come back. Then she’d had a brief relationship with the cousin of one of her neighbors. He’d been visiting his family and she’d been mesmerized by his stories about all the places he’d traveled. But ultimately he was looking for someone who was willing to drop everything and travel with him. That wasn’t Morgan, no matter how much she wished it could be.

  The only guy who’d asked her out lately was Paul from next door and she suspected he only asked because his mother liked her. He was such a mama’s boy that she couldn’t imagine him doing anything without her approval.

  More than anything, old Maude probably just wanted to get the medicine for her random assortments of aches and pains for free. Morgan was giving them to her at cost as it was.

  “So, that’s a no to dinner.”

  Ian laughed softly. “You don’t need to cook anything special for me, angel. I’m honored to share whatever meal you prepare.”

  “Okay. I’ll be back.” Morgan rushed out of the room and went directly to the refrigerator, hoping the cool air would calm her raging hormones. Who knew how long it would take him to regain his strength? He might be there for a while and she couldn’t exist in a constant state of wet panties around the man. Looking like he did, there was no doubt he was probably drowning in female attention. Flirting was like a second language to guys like him so she had to take his compliments with a grain of salt. After taking a few deep breaths, she was finally able to focus.

  “Now, what do you feed a dragon?”

  chapter four

  Morgan yawned and buried her face in her pillow. How was it morning already? She was exhausted. That’s your own fault, her traitorous conscience whispered. It had taken her hours to fall asleep last night. Her mind had been busy generating images of her houseguest.

  After fixing a simple dinner of baked chicken and salad, she’d scrounged up some magazines for Ian to look at while she finished mixing up some skin products and steeped the sage for her neighbor’s stomach tonic.

  He had seemed completely fine entertaining himself while she worked w
hich was a shock. Paul always seemed annoyed that she spent so much time working and they weren’t even dating. She could only imagine how much worse it would be if he was actually her boyfriend. Men didn’t seem to like their woman having something that took time away from them. But working for yourself meant you didn’t keep normal hours. She had to complete her orders when she could.

  Despite the fact that Ian hadn’t needed her to babysit him, she’d still spent quite a bit of time thinking about him. In fact, she was going to have to double check every order she’d put together last night to make sure she wasn’t sending her customers the wrong products. She couldn’t count how many times she’d zoned out while working, wondering what Ian was doing in her bed. After checking on him one final time, she’d bunked down on the couch with a blanket.

  A masculine groan sounded right next to her and Morgan froze. Her eyes popped open. The picture on the wall was the same one she woke to every morning instead of the bare wall in the living room she’d been expecting.

  Was she in her own bed? Which meant…

  A strong arm curled around her waist, holding her captive. Her breath caught in her throat. Did she come in here to check on Ian? Or maybe she’d gotten up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and then just come back to her own bed out of habit. How embarrassing. She couldn’t explain why she felt this draw to him but there was no denying it. He was magnetic.

  She pushed the covers down slightly and peered over her shoulder. Ian rested on his side breathing deeply. He was holding her in an iron tight grip but it didn’t seem that he actually knew she was there. Maybe he was dreaming. She wrinkled her nose imagining the kind of women he was probably used to waking up to. She inched to the side, slowly moving over the mattress until his grip loosened and his hand fell to the sheet next to him.

  The bed dipped slightly as she stood but he still didn’t stir. Thankful for small favors, Morgan pulled on a sweatshirt and then closed the door to her room behind her. It was best if he never knew about this. He was a flirt, probably did it without even trying, and she didn’t need to give him any ammunition. She wasn’t stupid enough to think a guy like that was serious when he made those comments about her looks. It was better for everyone involved if she kept things friendly.