by Milly Taiden
“I’ll do whatever I want with her. She owes me,” Louis roared. He lifted the gun in his hand, aiming at the man she loved.
Using shifter speed, Thane tackled him, tearing the gun from his hand. He grabbed Louis by his expensive suit and slammed him against wall. Thane punched him repeatedly. Louis tried to fight back, but Thane was almost twice his size and a lot angrier.
Blood covered Louis. Then a large group of men showed up at the open front door. Someone yelled for Thane to stop and he did. She rushed to stand by his side and grabbed his hand. If he had to face trouble, he wasn’t going to do it alone.
An older man stepped forward. He glanced at Louis’s bloody face and then back and forth between Thane and Lily.
Louis started laughing then, as if the whole thing was the biggest joke in the world. “Now you’ve done it, dragon. Your days are numbered.”
The older man frowned at Louis.
“Weren’t you married to Louis?” the man asked her with an Italian accent.
Lily nodded. “Was is correct.”
“Why did you divorce?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but Louis got ahead of her. “Because she’s a―”
“Louis!” the old man snapped. “I asked her a question, not you. Quiet, nipote.”
“Louis didn’t love me and I didn’t love him. He verbally abused me and he stole every cent I had. His mother encouraged him to mistreat me, and though we only lasted six months married, it was enough to destroy my views of marriage,” she admitted to the old man. “He still says I owe him for the time he wasted married to me.”
The old man nodded and turned to Thane. “Dreki, seems you are correct.”
“Thank you, Danitelli,” Thane said, nodding at the man.
Lily blinked, realizing they knew each other. This got more and more interesting by the second.
“What more do you know of this?” the old man asked.
Thane rubbed his bloodied knuckles. “Lily’s my mate. Your grandson has been sending men to harass and try to scare her. Luckily, she’s a fighter and doesn’t scare easily, but she’s pregnant with my child, and I will kill your grandson before he lays a hand on her.”
She gulped at the cold way he mentioned killing Louis. Her baby kicked as if to say ‘go daddy!’
The old man waved a hand in the air. “That won’t be necessary. He will never go near her again,” he said and met Louis’s surprised gaze. “Or I will kill him myself. This is not how we treat our family, Louis.” He gave his men a hard look. “Get him out of my sight before I do something I regret.”
The men took Louis away. Lily noticed he didn’t even attempt to look at her or bother to say anything.
Thane held on to Lily’s hand and met the older man’s sharp gaze. “I am going to take your word he won’t be a problem again, Danitelli.”
He older man nodded. “I apologize on behalf of my family. He won’t ever attempt to contact your mate again. Of this, you can be sure.” With this, the man and his entourage walked out and got into their cars parked along the street.
Thane closed the front door as much as one hinge would allow. Lily hurried to the couple still plastered to the wall. She threw her arms around both. “I’m so sorry,” tears filled her eyes, “I didn’t mean to bring them to your beautiful home. We didn’t know they followed.”
“That would be my fault,” Thane said apologetically. “I don’t know how my brother knew where we were.”
Carlotta wiped away Lily’s tears with her apron. “Only things,” she said, “life important most.” The little lady put her hand on Lily’s round stomach.
Thane wrapped her in his arms. “Agreed,” he said.
24
A couple days later at the cabin, Lily glanced up from the papers she held while relaxing on the sofa in front of the fire. A lot had happened in the last day and a half. Thane hired a real estate agent to find a new home for Vinnie and his wife. One large enough for little granddaughter Lucy and all her cousins to come and visit at the same time. Thane said he’d pay for it, no matter the cost.
He also sent out a message that Ramoth was certain to get it. If he showed his face again, or messed with her, Thane and Saxon would kill him. She felt sure Ramoth bugged out once his partners in crime were taken down but she’d stay around Thane for a while, just to make sure. She still wondered what Ramoth and her ex had planned together. She’d probably never know.
Her eyes fixed on her gorgeous man sitting in the recliner, laptop on his thighs.
“You know,” she started, “I never asked how you knew the Danitelli clan. Is that where you went when you left Vinnie’s?”
Thane looked up from his computer. “I saved the old man’s life and that of his father, twice.”
Her eyes got big. “You were around that long ago?” She bonked her hand on her forehead. “Never mind. I forgot you dragons live a few years longer than we other shifters do.” She read somewhere that pregnancy made the expecting mother say stupid things. Well, not exactly, but she’d blame the dumb question on that.
A grin lightened his face. He was so handsome when he smiled. “There’s somewhere I want to take you,” Thane said.
He stripped out of his clothes and walked toward the back door.
She tried to keep up with him, but with a huge dragon baby in her belly, it was hard to do. “Thane, what are you doing? It’s cold.”
He turned and winked at her. Damn sexy man. This was how he’d gotten her to agree to everything lately. All he did was give her one of those ‘I’m going to fuck your brains out’ looks and she turned stupid. Maybe that was the problem with her.
“Put your coat on, love,” he said and grabbed a bag as he walked out.
She lifted the massive blanket he’d gotten her which he called her coat and threw it on. The thing was so long, it landed at her ankles, but fit roomy like a dress.
Once they were outside, he put the bag down and shifted into his dragon. She never tired of the iridescent blue scales and his gorgeous wings. She’d never seen a sapphire dragon and knowing she was mated to one was almost too much to believe.
The dragon lowered to the ground and motioned with his head. “Get on, sweetheart.”
She frowned, still getting used to the idea they could communicate telepathically. She picked up his bag, slipped it across her body and climbed on his neck. “Is this safe?”
“Would you rather I carry you in my claws?”
She thought about it. “If you promise to go slow, I will ride your back.”
“Sweetheart, I’d never allow you to get hurt. Slide your hands between my scales to get a grip to hold on.”
On his back, she slipped her hands under a set of scales and felt Thane’s skin pulsing hot. She wrapped her hands around other scales and then they were off. Flying over the mountains, she got a chance to see the rivers and sunset as he soared farther from their home to land she didn’t recognize. After an hour, which felt like an eternity when she had a baby pressing on her bladder, they landed in an open forest patch.
She wasn’t sure where they were, but it wasn’t as cold as their mountain. She got down and watched him shift into his too sexy human body. He took the bag from her and threw on the jeans and T-shirt in it, not bothering with shoes.
Arm in arm, he guided her through the trees. In the distance, she saw a big Victorian house. It was massive. Almost mansion-like.
“Whose house?”
“You’ll see,” he said and helped her inside. They went in the back door. There was a note on the kitchen island from someone who said they left food in the fridge and the pantry stocked.
“I’m getting the feeling you know this place,” she said and followed him into what looked like a huge parlor.
He continued holding her hand. They stopped in front of a massive fireplace that could fit ten people standing inside. He pointed up and she gasped.
“This was my family home for a while. My parents, sister, brother, and I lived here wh
en we came to America.” He squeezed her hand. She glanced away from the huge family portrait to his stony face. “Father had it made to resemble our homes in Norway and England.”
She blinked. Shit, how many homes did he have?
“Who’s that?” she asked, seeing the smiling family.
“My father and mother, sister and brother, Saxon.”
“Wow, you all look so much alike.”
When he didn’t respond, she glanced at his face and saw him staring at the image of his sister. “I’m sorry about your sister. What was her name?”
“Anna. She was the nicest girl. But she fell in love with a human and he mistreated her. She died of a broken heart.”
She hugged herself to his side and wished she could take the pain she felt drifting from him. “That’s horrible. For a man to do that to someone who loves him.”
He turned to face her, not really looking at her, more looking through her. “I would never do that to you. I treasure your love. I’d give my life for you.”
Lifting a hand to his heart, she smiled at him. “I know. I trust you.”
“Come with me.”
They walked through the first level of the house. She realized the place was a lot bigger than she anticipated. When he said left wing and right wing, she knew she would get lost without him.
He took her through a solarium filled with plants and a marble fountain with baby angels in the center. It was kind of creepy.
They reached a set of double doors that opened to a spiral staircase, and for a second, she hesitated going down. She wasn’t afraid or anything. Okay, she’d seen enough movies to know there wasn’t anything good in a basement.
“Thane…I don’t know about this.”
25
Lily’s stomach flipped. He turned to face her and grinned. “Trust me, love.”
Great. She was a sucker for love. He helped her down the stairs. At the bottom, they were inside what appeared to be a deep cave. He guided her down a long hallway until they reached another set of doors. Older metal doors. They cranked open with an eerie hiss. It took a second to realize the doors were a foot thick. Holy shit! What the hell did he keep in there?
He flipped on a set of lights and she gasped. “Oh my god!”
Cases of jewels sat scattered over the giant room. Gold. Diamonds. So many precious stones of all colors, shapes, and sizes. She took a step forward and stopped, glancing around the cavernous room. “It’s like every missing treasure from every pirate ship in history found its way in here.”
He barked a laugh and moved to the other end of the room. “You have a very creative mind, sweetheart.”
The whole place was surreal. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was like being inside Tiffany’s. “What is this place?”
“This is my lair. Every dragon has one. I moved my treasures down here when I inherited the house.”
“But how did you get so many jewels? I mean,” she did a full circle, “there must be like billions of dollars in this room alone.”
“There is,” he said in a serious tone. “I’m close to a thousand years old, Lily. I’ve had many jobs and got paid for a lot of them with jewels.” He opened a giant safe in the far wall. “Plus, I’ve found a lot of things in my travels across the sea.”
She opened her eyes wide. “Oh my god! Were you a pirate?”
He shook his head, grabbed something from the safe, and closed the heavy metal door. “No. Nothing like that. I’ve just defended a lot of castles in my time and been repaid with jewelry and gold.”
She walked to one of the clear glass cases. There were earrings and necklaces made with every colored stone known to man. Lots of diamonds and gold. So much gold. “Tell me this stuff is insured.”
“Yes, but it was a lot more expensive to get insurance when I refused to take it all to a bank vault.” He stopped in front of her and grabbed her hand. “Why would I shove my treasure in a bank vault? The point is for me to enjoy looking at it.” They heard a click behind them.
“And now it will be mine to enjoy spending.” Lily and Thane turned toward the entrance. A naked Ramoth blocked the entry, a gun in his hand.
Thane stepped in front of her, keeping her out of sight. She tried to look around him, but his hands kept her in place at his back. He was protecting her and their unborn child. She got it. She’d do her best to do the same. In fact, she’d start now by squeezing behind the case they stood next to. It leaned against the wall, the bottom pushed out several feet.
She crawled to the other side to see where that put her in relation to Ramoth. Both men stood within sight.
“A gun?” Thane said. “Really, little brother? You come to fight a dragon with a human gadget? I thought you were smarter than that.”
Ramoth grunted. “Stop with your taunting already. I’m so sick of hearing you brag about how much better you are than everyone else—how much smarter, richer, good-looking you are. You’re nothing but a piss-ant.”
Thane shrugged. “I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks.”
“You know,” Ramoth’s eyes narrowed, “Father loved me more than he did you or Saxon. You didn’t love Father. He wanted me to be his heir. You don’t deserve anything. He wanted me to hunt you down and take everything you have.” Ramoth paused, a slow smile growing on his face. “Including your mate and child.”
Thane bristled and stepped toward his brother. “You touch anything that belongs to me and I will kill you slowly. You cannot threaten my family and live.”
“Your family,” he slurred, “how sweet. You were so close to letting yourself die. Why couldn’t you have gone as easily as Anna did?”
Anna? That was Thane’s sister who died from a broken heart, or did she?
Thane took another step. “What do you mean by that, Ramoth?”
“Nothing,” he said nonchalantly, “only that humans are easily controlled. Especially when given riches beyond their dreams. They’ll do about anything, even leave a loved one behind.”
Holy shit! Did she hear correctly? Ramoth paid off Anna’s husband to leave her. In essence, he killed her by doing that.
Thane’s hands started to shift into claws. Ramoth raised the gun and shot twice into her love’s chest. Thane staggered back a step, but that was it.
“You know well enough that bullets don’t stop us,” Thane said, but he didn’t advance on his sibling.
Ramoth laughed. “I do. That’s why I shot you with poisonous slugs. Ones loaded with enough toxins to take out a dragon. A big dragon.”
“What?” Lily couldn’t stay in her hiding place any longer. Her mate had deadly chemicals flowing through his body that would kill him. She climbed to her feet. “You son of a bitch. I will kill you myself.”
“There you are, “ the dick said. “Nice to see you again…my mate.”
Thane roared, then fell to his knees. The toxin was already working on him. She rushed to him, but Ramoth grabbed her arm.
“You’re coming with me, love. We need to rid you of that child and put mine in you.”
Lily’s tigress went crazy, but she couldn’t shift or the baby would be killed in the process. Ramoth dragged her through the entrance, then stopped and poked his head through the doorway.
“By the way, brother, thanks for leading me straight to your lair. I would’ve never found the entrance without you.” He slammed the vault door closed.
“No!” Lily fought his hold. Her hand shifted to claws and she tried to rake them across his face, but he was too fast.
His fist came up and smashed into her head. “You’re not being a good girl,” he said. Her vision spun and legs gave. The bastard’s grip on her arm kept her from hitting the ground.
At the clearing in the woods, Ramoth pulled her around to face him. “Since I’m feeling magnanimous, I’ll give you a choice. Either climb onto my back after I shift or I’ll crunch your bones between my teeth in one bite.” To emphasize his point, he leaned into her face and snapped his jaw inches from her
nose. She jerked back from the dick.
He laughed and shifted. She had little choice. She couldn’t run, couldn’t attack, couldn’t shift. Ramoth was going to kill her child and impregnate her with his own. She’d kill herself and her child before she let him lay a hand on her. She’d end it on her terms, and she knew how.
26
Thane lay on the floor of his lair, poison racing through his bloodstream. After all these years, finding his mate, and giving life to a baby, he would die at the hands of his bastard brother.
No, he couldn’t die yet. Ramoth had his mate. He would remain alive until he saved her and killed the little shit. He would stay alive. Climbing to his feet, Thane felt his head spin, but shook it off and made his way out the door and up the stairs. He stumbled onto the front porch and saw Ramoth launch into the air, Lily on his back.
Thane fell to the ground and forced his body to shift. He told his dragon to stop being a pussy and get his ass in the air. Their mate and child needed them. A shot of adrenaline whipped through him, momentarily overcoming the effects of the toxins. He spread his wings and took off after Ramoth.
Being bigger with stronger wings, he easily gained on his brother. He spoke telepathically to his love. “Hold on tight, Lily.” Her head snapped around and she saw him. So many emotions raced through her gaze, mostly love.
“Thane! You’re alive,” she thought to him.
“Yes, my love. We need to get you to safety so I can finish him.”
She faced forward and looked to hunker down. Thane dove closer to Ramoth and chomped down mid-way up his tale. The smaller dragon roared and pulled back. If Lily hadn’t a solid hold, she would’ve rolled off Ramoth.
Ramoth sent a plume of fire at him. He wasn’t as nimble as he usually was and unable to dodge the flame. His scales blackened, but he wasn’t too injured. He opened his mouth to return the fire then realized the true situation. Any attack he initiated on Ramoth could hurt Lily. He literally could do nothing to Ramoth.