Dragon Isle Book Bundle 1-3: My Lord and Dragon, The Dragon Fighter, and A Dragon's Bite

by Stern, Sophie

  “What’s the verdict?” She eyed his leg.

  Liam hesitated for a second. He looked down at the floor briefly before grinning.

  “I’m feeling awesome,” he said. “Doc still wants me to rest a little, take it easy, but I mean, I think sitting around and staying off of it really helped. A lot.”

  “Imagine that,” Janae smiled. She was filled with gladness that Liam was recovering so quickly. She hadn’t really wanted to come help him out, but she had, and it turned out to be the right choice for both of them. She couldn’t complain.

  “What are you doing today?” Liam grabbed an apple and took a bite.

  “You eat as much as the dragons do, you know,” she pointed out.

  “Imagine that,” he mimicked her. “That’s what happens when you live with them for so long. You pick up all of their bad habits.”

  “Any of the good ones?”

  “A few,” Liam didn’t elaborate and Janae didn’t really want him to. She didn’t still didn’t know much about her brother’s personal life, but she was beginning to think that might be a good thing.

  “I have to go to Dragon Isle this morning,” she glanced at the clock. “I’m bringing some mail to Mrs. Helsley and Mrs. Franklin asked me to bring her a couple of books from the bookstore.”

  “Not bad,” Liam said approvingly. “You know, I was talking with Gabriel yesterday.”

  Gabriel?

  The cranky dragon who had tricked her into making herself look stupid in front of Emerson?

  Ugh.

  “Oh yeah?” Janae tried to keep her voice neutral, but it was no good. Liam laughed.

  “Yeah, he told me to tell you he’s sorry. Apparently Emerson gave him a good ‘talking to’ about the way he treated you.”

  “Oh no! He’s not hurt, is he?”

  “He’s fine. Pretty sure his ego is a little hurt is all.”

  Janae hadn’t even considered that Emerson might try to handle things with the dragons when it came to her relationships with them, but it made sense. He was, after all, the clan leader. If he felt the dragons were doing things that would damage relations with the humans, he’d step in.

  That was his job.

  “Anyway,” Liam continued, “he said all the dragons like you a lot. They want me to quit and let you handle the deliveries full-time.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Don’t go getting any ideas,” Liam’s eyes twinkled. “I told them I couldn’t promise to make you stay. You know, though,” his voice turned thoughtful. “If you did decide you wanted to stay, and I’m not telling you what to do, but you know you’d always have a place here, right?”

  “I know.”

  “Good.”

  “Speaking of staying,” Janae realized she hadn’t told Liam her good news. “I actually quit my job in Strathmore Falls.”

  “Oh yeah?” Liam didn’t seem surprised. “What made you decide to do that? I thought you enjoyed being bored all the time.”

  “Something may have happened to change my mind.”

  “If you mean Emerson sticking his dick in you, I don’t want to know.”

  Liam grabbed his crutches and hobbled back to his spot in the living room.

  **

  She couldn’t wait to see Emerson. Janae hurried to the docks with her packages and a bag of food to bring her dragonman. When she arrived, she walked over to Willie’s shack to check in on the old man.

  He wasn’t there.

  Curious, she thought. He was always in his shack. She looked around, but didn’t spot him anywhere. Maybe he was on his own boat.

  Janae dropped her packages off at Liam’s boat, then walked down to Willie’s little houseboat. It was a cute, tiny little thing he had built himself many years ago. The blue boat had been carefully painted and had the name Cadence on the side.

  While the boat was sturdy enough, Willie never took it out to sea. Houseboats weren’t made for ocean waters, he always said.

  Instead, he kept the boat tied to a short dock and securely anchored. He slept in the boat and did his paperwork there, but he still spent most of his time in his little guard station.

  It was unusual for Willie to be away from his station. Janae hoped he wasn’t sick.

  “Willie,” she called out as she approached the little boat. “Hey, William!”

  There was no response, so she stepped onto the dock and walked down to the end. She peered onto the boat. Still no Willie.

  Suddenly, Janae felt a shot of fear rush through her. She pulled out her phone and called Liam.

  “Yeah?” He answered on the third ring.

  “Hey,” she said. “Willie isn’t around.”

  “He’s not?” Liam suddenly sound concerned. “That’s not like him. Did you check his boat?”

  “I’m there now,” Janae said. “Listen, I’m going to go inside and check for him, but I just wanted to let you know what was going on.”

  “Stay on the line with me while you go on. If there’s a problem, I’ll call an ambulance from the house phone.”

  “Okay.”

  Janae held her smart phone in one hand and knocked on the front door of the boat.

  “No answer,” she said aloud. Janae reached out and tried the knob. It jiggled. It felt loose, like it needed to be tightened, but it turned easily and she pushed the door open. Janae stepped inside.

  The dimly lit room reminded Janae of a miniature camper or trailer home. A little kitchen area was on one side, complete with a table and chairs. Straight ahead was a sitting area with two small couches. To the right was a staircase leading down. Maybe that went to William’s bedroom.

  “He’s not here,” Janae said. “I’m going downstairs to see if he’s in his room. Maybe he just overslept,” but by now, Janae knew that wasn’t what had happened.

  She hoped Willie wasn’t dead.

  She felt like she had only just arrived at Dragon Isle and though Willie wasn’t on the actual island, it seemed unfair that he should die as soon as she arrived. Hopefully he hadn’t had a heart attack.

  Hopefully nothing else was the matter.

  Janae held her phone at her side, so she wasn’t sure if Liam was talking or not, but as she crept down the narrow staircase, she hoped he would stick to his word and call for help for her.

  She had a feeling she was going to need it.

  She reached the bottom of the staircase and gasped. Her phone dropped to the ground. William was there, all right. He was crumpled in a pile on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

  The smell of death filled the room and though Janae wasn’t a dragon, she couldn’t handle the stench.

  She vomited on the carpet in front of her.

  When she stopped puking and looked back up again, she noticed a man leaning against the wall in the corner.

  “You,” she managed to get out. “What are you doing here?” She was confused. He was tall and dragon-like, but she didn’t recognize him. Was he a dragon? A human? Who was he? And why had he slaughtered old Willie?

  “Oh, this is going to be fun,” he stepped forward into the light, pushing his curly blonde hair out of his eyes. He held a knife in his hand. It glimmered with wetness. Willie’s blood.

  Janae threw up again.

  When she was done, the man grabbed her by the hair, and threw her onto Willie’s bed.

  “What are you doing?” She squealed as she landed on her stomach. He came up behind her and pressed his body onto hers, effectively silencing her. She couldn’t breathe. His weight against her back was too much. She tried to fight, then stopped when she realized she should save her energy and focus on breathing.

  As soon as she stopped struggling, the man eased back slightly, but he held the knife to her neck.

  “Don’t move, slut,” he said. “You aren’t supposed to be here, so you must deserve everything that’s coming to you.”

  “W-w-why?” Janae managed to get out. She was crying now, but she didn’t care. This monster had slaughtered Willie in hi
s own home. Willie: her friend.

  “Oh, come on,” he sneered. He pressed the knife harder against her skin. It would cut her soon, she knew. Then she’d be dead.

  “What did Willie ever do to you?” She asked quietly. She was going to die, anyway. It didn’t matter what she said, didn’t matter if she angered the beast.

  “Do?” The man laughed now. “What didn’t the old man do? He’s the one who encouraged these campaigns where dragons and humans are supposed to be friends.” He spoke with disgust. Then he pressed his nose into Janae’s hair and sniffed loudly.

  She quivered. The man had killed William and he was going to kill Janae next, just for being in the wrong place, just for being William’s friend.

  She had finally gotten the guts to start living her life the way she wanted, but it was too late. It was all about to be over.

  “I’m glad you showed up, though,” the man reached forward, rubbed his hand against her cheek. It smelled. She gagged again, trying not to puke. “I’m happy to get to send a message to that no-good boyfriend of yours. Clan leader, my ass.”

  Emerson.

  Fuck, she wasn’t going to get to tell him about her choice to stay. She wouldn’t have a chance to tell him that she loved him, that she wanted to be with him for good, for always.

  She wouldn’t get to tell him she wanted to build a life with him.

  A flash of white caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. That’s when she noticed her phone, lying forgotten on the ground. The dragon hadn’t seen it, hadn’t noticed it. What if Liam was still on the line? What if he had called for help?

  Maybe the police would come save her.

  Maybe Emerson would.

  The dragon pressed the knife into her skin once more, this time harder than before. This time he did draw blood. Her attention focused fully on the pain, all thoughts of Emerson forgotten.

  “I understand why you hate Willie,” Janae said, even though she didn’t. Not really. “But why do you hate your own clan?” Janae whispered. “What did they do to you?”

  “You stupid human,” He growled. “I’ll show you what they did to me.” He moved from the bed and yanked Janae to her feet. She screamed as he pulled on her hair. Surely he had ripped some from her head. She felt dampness on her scalp. She was bleeding.

  Then he tore his shirt off as she watched, revealing an abdomen covered in gruesome scars.

  She looked away.

  “Hideous,” he said. “Awful. My own family couldn’t even stand to be around me after your precious Emerson flamed me.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Janae whispered. Emerson had done that? Why?

  “It means, little human,” he spat the words out. They didn’t sound sweet or comforting anymore. “That your little darling tied me up, scared me until I was too afraid and agitated to shift into my dragon form, and breathed fire on me until my skin peeled off.”

  “Why would he do that?” She fell to her knees, shaking. This man was horribly damaged and he claimed Emerson was to blame, but what wasn’t he telling her? Surely Emerson had a good reason. Surely there was a logical explanation.

  Surely Emerson wasn’t the monster this man claimed he was.

  “I disagreed with him on a clan matter,” the dragonman shrugged. “And this was my punishment.”

  “But-“

  “No,” the man raised the knife. “No more talking for you.”

  “You might want to tell her the rest of the story,” a loud voice came from the stairwell. Janae’s heart soared.

  Emerson was here.

  He had come for her.

  But did he come to save her or to destroy the man?

  Or both?

  The man turned around and spat at Emerson.

  “You freak!” He yelled, running at him. He dived at Emerson’s chest and as soon as he hit him, the two of them went barreling through the side of the boat and landed in the water with a loud splash.

  Well, that was interesting.

  19

  Emerson shifted as soon as he hit the water and he knew Arthur would do the same. The dragon was an asshole, but he wasn’t stupid.

  Well, if he thought he was going to get away with killing Willie or threatening Janae, he had another thing coming.

  And that thing was Emerson.

  Emerson felt his bones changing, growing, expanding. His skin changed to scales and his body lengthened. He felt each wing blossom from his back. Then Emerson shot up, out of the water, and into the sky.

  Arthur was right behind him.

  As soon as Emerson, the red dragon, spotted Emerson coming from the water, he dove at him. He nailed Arthur right in the chest, right where his scars were.

  It would hurt there.

  Arthur let out an unruly roar. The sound would carry from the harbor and into the village of Nellenston.

  So much for those “good” dragon-human relations. After this, the people of Nellenston would probably go back to being terrified of dragons. All of Emerson’s hard work to show the humane side of dragon society would be for naught.

  Yet Emerson knew he had to win this fight, if only to save the townspeople.

  If only to save Janae.

  Janae.

  Was she all right? When Liam had called Emerson, the dragon hadn’t thought of anything but saving her, of anything but getting to her. He hadn’t wasted time calling the police or even hanging up the phone.

  He had just gone.

  He should have known Arthur would be behind the attack. The dragon had been harboring a grudge ever since Emerson’s punishment. It was only a matter of time before Arthur lashed out again. Emerson realized his mistake far too late: he should have killed Arthur long ago.

  At least he had arrived in time to save Janae.

  At least his little darling would be all right.

  His mind on Janae, Emerson hadn’t noticed Arthur circling around to come up behind him after that last hit. Arthur inhaled loudly, about to breathe fire, but Emerson’s attention was brought back to the present and he spun around and breathed a long, heavy flame at Arthur.

  The dragon’s scales were already damaged from his last encounter with Emerson.

  He did not survive this one.

  As he fell into the ocean, he shifted back into his human form and screamed as his body, engulfed in flames, dove through the sky.

  Emerson could not find it in his heart to care.

  He waited for a moment and watched the dead dragon sink below the surface, then he headed back to the houseboat.

  Janae was outside of the boat, standing on the docks. Emerson could hear police sirens in the distance. Surely they were coming to arrest the vagrant who attacked William. That he knew. He also knew Janae probably needed medical attention, but he didn’t care about that right now.

  He swept down toward her. She didn’t flinch. Obviously, Janae expected him to shift back into human form, but he didn’t. Instead, he neared her, grabbed her shirt with his talons, and lifted her into the air.

  Janae screamed as Emerson carried her away from the dock.

  He carried her away from the horrors she had just seen.

  And from the horror he had just committed.

  **

  Emerson dropped Janae in the water near their favorite private beach. She came up out of the water, sputtering and coughing and yelling. He had already shifted back and was nearby in the water. As soon as her eyes locked on him, she headed toward him.

  She opened her mouth to scream again, but Emerson crushed his lips to hers. All the fear, anger, and sadness melted from her body in that kiss, as if Emerson had somehow taken it away from her.

  As if he had somehow relieved her of that burden.

  He kissed her until she stopped fighting him, until her body stopped resisting, until her mind cleared of every thought but him.

  Emerson.

  He tore her clothes from her body, not caring that they were still in the water, not bothering to move to the beach or
the grass. His lips didn’t break from hers as he stripped her, freeing her from her clothes.

  “Emerson,” she murmured against him, but he just kissed her harder, deeper.

  Once she was naked, Emerson lifted Janae. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he impaled her on his cock, pounding into her as he held her against his body. Her breasts bounced against his hard chest and his hands gripped her ass as she rode him in the waves.

  The water splashed around them, on them, between them, but she barely noticed.

  The only thing that mattered was him and her and their connection.

  The only thing that mattered was the moment.

  Emerson slipped his fingers between them and gently flicked Janae’s clit, bringing her closer to the edge. She moaned as she approached orgasm, knowing she would push him over the edge when she did, knowing he was holding back his release just for her.

  He fucked her harder and her body tensed, tightened, and finally exploded on Emerson’s dick.

  She screamed as she came, unable to hold back her shouts, not caring who heard, not caring about anything but the way she felt.

  Emerson’s own release followed, and he whispered her name as he came inside of her, thrusting until she had nothing left to give, thrusting until he had nothing left to take.

  Then he dropped her back in the water and wrapped his arms around her, and as the emotions of the day came pounding back into Janae’s head, she cried against Emerson’s chest until she couldn’t cry anymore.

  20

  Janae held Emerson’s hand as they made their way to Dragon’s Inn. He had called a clan meeting to discuss the future of the village. It was her first time attending a clan meeting or any sort of official function at Dragon Isle and she was a little nervous.

  Emerson assured her she didn’t need to be.

  “You already know many of the dragons,” he shrugged. “Almost all of them love you.”

  “Almost all of them?” She said with a laugh.