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

by Stern, Sophie

  “The one and only.”

  “How do you know her?”

  “I live in town,” Ashley said with a shrug. “I work at Dragon’s Inn. I’m a hostess.” She sounded neither excited nor interested in her job. She simply stated it as a fact. Interesting. Most people had some sort of response to thinking about their job.

  “Thanks for breakfast,” Theodore finally managed to say. He was surprised this little human knew one of the crankiest dragons on Dragon Isle. He was even more surprised she had somehow convinced the dragonwoman to share her prized recipe.

  Strange.

  “Anytime,” Ashley said. Then, before Theodore could say anything else, she added, “If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to take a quick shower before I leave. Then I can get out of your hair.” Theodore nodded, and she disappeared.

  He turned back to his son, who was still smiling as he ate. The plate of pancakes was almost completely gone.

  “I like her,” Stuart said. “Can she stay?”

  3

  Ashley grabbed her backpack and headed upstairs to the bathroom. She closed the door and locked it, then stared at herself in the mirror for a long time. She showered and dressed. Luckily, her spare set of clothes were dry. She folded the pajamas the dragonman had loaned her and placed them neatly on the counter. Then she went back into the hallway.

  The dragonman was standing there with his arms folded across his chest. He was still naked. Did he ever wear clothes? She tried to look away, but couldn’t. He was gorgeous. Judging by his smug attitude, he probably knew it, too.

  “Leaving so soon?” He asked, nodding toward her backpack.

  “Yeah, well, looks like the storm is gone, so I should get going.”

  “Back to town?”

  “Yeah.” She wasn’t sure why, but Ashley suddenly felt nervous around the man. “Thank you for your hospitality,” she managed to say. “I appreciate that you didn’t kick me out.”

  “Why did you break into my house?” The man asked.

  “It was unlocked.”

  “Yes,” he glared. “It was. Why did you enter without knocking?”

  “I thought it was abandoned,” she said. The idea suddenly seemed silly, but she felt like she should explain. “It seems kind of run-down from the outside, and when I got inside, I noticed it was dusty.” She shrugged. “I’m not picking on your housekeeping skills. I just didn’t see how anyone would be around.”

  “A fair answer,” he said, after considering it for a moment.

  “How long did you know I was inside before you talked to me?” She asked, since they were talking. “Were you in the bedroom the whole time?”

  “I was in the kitchen. I followed you to my room. I wondered which bed Goldilocks was going to choose.”

  She smiled at that. A dragon who liked storybooks? This guy was something else. He was charming and interesting. Oh, and completely sexy. Ashley might not date much, but she wasn’t blind.

  “Well, thanks again. I’m sorry I intruded. Um, I didn’t get your name earlier.”

  “Theodore.”

  “Well, thank you, Theodore. I’ll be on my way.” She turned to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm and spun her around. For just a brief second, Ashley thought he might kiss her. She realized immediately that she needed to lay off the romance books. They weren’t doing her any favors.

  “Do you want a job?” Theodore asked. Ashley was surprised. She’d only just met him and couldn’t imagine what kind of job he was offering her. Mistress? No, he was much too proper for that sort of thing. Gardener? She killed any plant she tried to touch.

  Ashley pushed a stray hand of brown hair – she really needed to dye it a new color, maybe blue – behind her ear.

  “I have a job.”

  “Do you want a better job?”

  She did, but she wouldn’t admit that just yet. Ashley liked working for Victoria at Dragon Isle’s main restaurant. Dragon’s Inn Restaurant and Tavern offered good pay and great tips. She got to work regular hours and didn’t have to put up with crap from anyone.

  But Ashley had been there for almost three years. She was ready for something new. She knew everything there was to know about being a hostess, but she was bored out of her mind.

  “What’s the job?” She tried to seem nonchalant, like she didn’t really care what Theodore was about to say, but she wasn’t sure she came across as convincing or not.

  He looked a little embarrassed. Was that possible? Ashley hadn’t known many dragons to shy away from anything, especially not something related to work.

  “I need a nanny,” he said finally. “And Stuart really likes you.”

  “A nanny?” Now Ashley was surprised. “You want me to take care of your kid?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you would pay me to do this?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you would want me to live here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Done.”

  Theodore looked shocked.

  “We haven’t even discussed salary,” he sputtered.

  “Don’t care,” she waved her hand as if she didn’t give a shit about money, which she didn’t. “Where’s my room?”

  Theodore pointed to the door at the end of the hall, the one in the middle. She hiked up her backpack and walked over, opened the door, and went inside. Theodore followed her and watched as she tossed her backpack on the bed and started looking around the room.

  “I’ll need a couple of days,” she said. “I need to give Victoria my resignation and I need to get everything from my cottage.”

  “Your cottage?”

  “Yeah. I rent a little by-the-week cottage in town. I’m all paid up until Friday.” It was Sunday, so she had plenty of time to get her stuff gathered up before returning to Theodore’s. Not that Ashley particularly had a lot of stuff. She had brought almost nothing with her when she moved to Dragon Isle. Once she arrived, she realized that she enjoyed living with few belongings, so she never purchased anything to fill her new home.

  “You don’t have any questions about the job?” Theodore seemed completely surprised that he didn’t have to convince her to stay.

  “Act like a mom to the sweetest little boy in the world. Keep him safe, teach him things, feed him, and don’t lose him. That about cover it?”

  “About.”

  “Anything else I need to know about him? Is his mom a psycho?” She wondered what this guy’s ex-wife was like. Theodore was a tall, sturdy dragon. She thought he looked like a mix between a model and a soccer player. Maybe ex-military. He was tall, probably a little over six feet. He was muscular, though, not lanky. He was strong.

  She liked that.

  “No,” he said. Was Ashley a little disappointed? A bit, but then Theodore added, “She’s dead.” Then Ashley felt like a real asshole.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “Were you married long?”

  And then Theodore laughed out loud.

  “Gross,” he said, which only confused Ashley.

  “I’m sorry?” She said, posing it as a question. Why was she sorry for asking how long he’d been married to his dead wife?

  “Not your fault. Stuart isn’t my biological son. I adopted him. His mother was my sister. She and her husband were killed when he was a baby. I’m the only family he has, so I adopted him immediately. Obviously, I’m not the best dad, but I want to be better.”

  “That was very noble of you,” Ashley commented, but Theodore didn’t say anything else about it. Ashley was no stranger to death, obviously, but she didn’t have any words of comfort to offer.

  There were still days when she could barely get herself out of bed, let alone worry about helping other people.

  She knew better than to try to pretend she could take away Theodore’s pain with a few correctly placed phrases.

  “I’m sorry for your loss” and “God has a plan” didn’t do much to numb the horror that came from losing everything.

  “Are you okay?” T
heodore’s words cut through Ashley’s thoughts.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Just tired.” She looked around the room again. It seemed nice enough: bed, desk, dresser, bathroom. This must be the master suite, she realized. Strange that Theodore didn’t sleep in this room.

  “Is it to your satisfaction?” He asked, obviously amused with the way she was staring at the room like she’d never seen a bed before.

  “Why don’t you have this room?” She asked bluntly. “This is the master suite, right? Why do you sleep in the small room?”

  His face went grim, but he said nothing. Then it hit her.

  “Oh, this was their room.” She was really failing at this whole “tact” thing. How could she have been so stupid? Of course he wouldn’t want to take this room. It would seem completely unbearable to him.

  Theodore nodded. Ashley didn’t speak for a minute. The fact that he wouldn’t take the main bedroom for himself, but would trust her to respect and honor his sister’s memory meant a lot to her. Most people wouldn’t understand, but she did.

  “Thank you,” she said. It was really all she could say. “I have to get back. I need to take care of some stuff. Why don’t I come back on Friday?”

  “Do you need help moving?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I know dragons in high places.”

  Then Ashley left. She walked straight downstairs and out the front door, leaving behind Stuart and Theodore and heading back to her past. Just a few more days, then she’d be able to embrace her future head-on.

  And what a future it was going to be.

  4

  Ashley returned to Theodore’s house on Friday afternoon. He didn’t have a way to contact her, so he didn’t make any promises to Stuart. The last thing he wanted to do was get the little tyke’s hopes up and then have Ashley fail to show up.

  To his surprise – and delight – she did.

  She arrived by dragon, which surprised Theodore a little. Few dragons enjoyed carting around humans, and when he saw which dragon had brought her, he was even more surprised.

  “Kade,” he said, stepping out of his house and greeting one of the most private dragons he’d ever met. He had worked with the dragon on occasion, doing contract jobs together. He hadn’t seen him much since his wife died, and not at all since he’d taken a little human mate.

  “Theodore,” Kade nodded, helping Ashley and his mate, Lindsey, from the basket that carried Ashley’s belongings. He then grabbed a pair of loose-fitting pants from the basket and slipped them on before shaking Theodore’s hand.

  “You were right,” Theodore said, turning to Ashley. “You do know dragons in high places.” Kade chuckled and Lindsey blushed, but Ashley just shrugged.

  “I don’t lie much,” she said. She and Lindsey began carrying her belongings up to her room, but Theodore and Kade talked for a moment.

  “How do you know the little human?” Theodore asked. Kade wouldn’t tell him much, if anything, but it was worth a shot. He had known Kade long enough to know that the dragon was discreet in all things.

  “Lindsey is a therapist in town,” Kade answered. That was all he said. Interesting. So Ashley was what? A patient? For what? What could have possibly happened to the little human that she would require counseling? Maybe she was just one of those whiny types who needed to pour her troubles out to another person.

  Stuart came screeching out of the house and Kade smiled as the little man approached their small group.

  “Your son,” he said. Theodore nodded. Kade had never met the small dragon, but he knelt down on one knee and held out his hand. “I’m Kade,” he said to Stuart.

  Instead of shaking his hand, Stuart ran full-force into Kade. He wrapped his arms around the dragon and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

  “I’m so happy to meet you,” Stuart said. Then he hopped down and ran back into the house, singing “I have a nanny! I have a nanny!” Obviously, Ashley had given him the good news.

  Kade and Theodore said nothing about the kiss, not needing to discuss personal matters. They were dragons, after all. Though Theodore deeply respected Kade, he wouldn’t do anything to push the dragon. Few people would. Not with his reputation.

  They grabbed the rest of Ashley’s pitiful belongings and carried them inside. Was this all she owned? Theodore wanted to ask her about it, but knew there would be time for that later. She’d been on Dragon Isle long enough to have accumulated a huge house full of “stuff,” yet she hadn’t. Why not?

  When the two dragonmen reached the bedroom, Lindsey and Ashley were putting things away. Stuart was flitting around the room, running and back and forth excitedly. He seemed to be having the time of his life.

  A blast of pain shot at Theodore’s heart as he saw how excited the little guy was to be around the two women. Real women. What would he be like if Karen was still around? He missed his sister deeply and knew his son did, too. She was a great mother. She would have been amazing with Stuart, helping him grow up.

  Sometimes Theodore doubted he was really up for the job. He was still jaded in many ways. A lifetime of bad relationships and poor decisions had the ability to do that to a dragon, but still. He was all Stuart had. He wouldn’t screw this up.

  He couldn’t.

  When the ladies had finished talking, Kade motioned to Lindsey.

  “Come, pet,” he said. “Let’s allow Ashley and Theodore to get settled in together.” He said it as if they were a couple, but Theodore knew the dragon didn’t mean anything by it.

  “Yes, Master,” Lindsey said. This surprised Theodore for a moment. He knew Kade was on the “kinky” side of things, but didn’t realize he and Lindsey had a serious BDSM relationship. Then he noticed Lindsey’s collar. He had seen it, assuming it was some sort of fashion statement, but hadn’t made the connection until now.

  Lindsey hugged Ashley and nodded politely to Theodore, then the two made their way downstairs and out the door. Ashley watched from the upstairs balcony as Kade shifted and took both Lindsey and the little basket away.

  When they were out of sight, Ashley turned back and smiled. It seemed almost nervous. Why? Didn’t she want to be here? He knew he had given her the job on short notice, but Ashley had seemed awfully quick to accept the position. Now, though, she seemed tired, almost sad.

  “Do you have some sort of contract or work agreement you need me to sign?” She asked Theodore. Ah, maybe she was just stressed about starting a new project. Ashley seemed like a hard worker, and she had been at her last job for years, so he knew she was dedicated and loyal.

  “What kind of dragon would I be if I didn’t?”

  “Let’s get to it, then.”

  **

  Theodore’s study was on the first floor of the house. Stuart followed the couple into the room and made himself at home with a pile of toys in the corner.

  “You work from home?” Ashley asked, taking a look around. The study was not what she would have expected from a badass dragon type. It didn’t have the huge mahogany desk or the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Instead, it had an ordinary desk in the center of the back wall that faced a large window. One corner of the room had toys and picture books. The wall to the right had two plain bookshelves that were full of hard covers.

  “Almost exclusively,” he said. “I run an online marketing business. Occasionally I have to meet with clients in person to help with specific website problems and issues, but most of my work is done from right here.”

  “Pretty fancy,” she looked around the room. The wall was covered in pictures. Some of them featured a couple holding a baby. Some were of Theodore and Stuart. Some were just of Stuart. One picture was just of Theodore and a woman. She supposed it was his sister.

  “Nice of you to keep all the pictures out,” she said. “Some people wouldn’t bother.”

  “It’s for Stuart,” he said, then sat down at the desk and pulled out a piece of paper. He swiveled back around in the chair and handed it to Ashley.

  “Th
e contract?” She asked. It was only one sheet of paper.

  “Yep.”

  Ashley looked around for a place to sit, but Theodore was in the only chair. Whatever. She perched on the edge of his desk, pushing a few documents out of the way as she did, and read over the contract.

  “Don’t be a dick?”

  “Yep.”

  “That’s the only stipulation?”

  “Yep.”

  “Um, okay.” She signed her name at the bottom. What a weird-ass contract. Why even bother? Would any of it even hold up in court? The contract seemed like a complete joke, but whatever. It didn’t list anything about getting paid and to be honest, she didn’t care enough about that to ask. She made fine money at Victoria’s restaurant, but she was ready for a change. She didn’t care if it was a pay cut. She didn’t need money.

  Victoria. Damn, that woman had been so kind and understanding when Ashley gave her all of five days to find a replacement. She was lucky to work for someone who understood needing to change your life drastically and all at once.

  Victoria had come to Dragon Isle years ago when her mother passed away. Instead of hating it, the way she thought she would, she had fallen in love with her former stepbrother and stayed. Daniel helped her run Dragon’s Inn and the pair couldn’t be happier.

  Maybe Ashley would find a love like that someday.

  Then again, maybe Darin had been her only shot.

  She pushed the thought from her mind. She hated the feelings of loneliness that welled up in her when she thought about him too much.

  It had been a few years since the accident, but his death was still just as fresh as when the rangers showed up to tell her he was gone. He had been her best friend, her companion, her true love. They’d only been married a year when he died. Not a day went by that Ashley didn’t think about him or the life they were going to share.

  When someone you loved died, things changed. The way you viewed the world changed. Your heart changed. For a long time, Ashley had wondered if she would ever be able to love anyone again. Sometimes she still wondered.