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

by Stern, Sophie

  “Does Stuart have any dietary restrictions?” Ashley asked, trying to focus on the job at hand.

  “None.”

  “I have a weird question,” Ashley said.

  “Go for it.”

  “Why now? Why didn’t you have a nanny before?”

  “I did,” Theodore said. “She quit about a month ago.”

  “Why?”

  “She was afraid of dragons.”

  Ashley rolled her eyes, not believing his story.

  “It’s true,” he said solemnly. Something in his eyes begged her not to ask him for details, and she didn’t want to know if he didn’t want to freely offer. Not just yet.

  “Well, I think little Stuart and I will go start some supper.” She scooped up the little child who had been playing quietly on the floor. She tickled him until he squealed. Theodore laughed as Ashley left the room carrying the wiggly, squirmy little boy. She closed the door with her foot, leaving Theodore in complete silence.

  Life at Theodore’s would take some getting used to, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.

  At least, that’s what Ashley told herself.

  She almost believed it.

  5

  When Ashley tucked Stuart into bed that night, he held his arm out for her to chain him up.

  “No,” she shook her head. “No more of that.”

  “But Daddy says-”

  “No.” Ashley was firm. “I trust that your daddy wants what’s best for you, but I’m not going to chain you up, sweetie. Now, you know where my room is, right?”

  Stuart nodded.

  “If you get scared, or you need help going potty, or you just want to snuggle, you come find me, okay? I’ll leave the door open.”

  “Thanks Ashley.” Stuart hugged her. “I love you.”

  The words warmed her heart and it took everything in her not to start crying right then. What she wouldn’t give to hear those words from her little Faye’s mouth. She took a deep breath. She couldn’t let herself think thoughts like that. That was her past and this was her future. She needed to focus on taking care of Stuart and giving him everything he needed. She could pour all of her love and energy into this sweet little boy. She could love him deeply. She could do that for him.

  “I love you, too, sweetie.”

  She kissed him on the forehead and walked out of the room. She left his bedroom door open a crack.

  “You’re good with kids,” Theodore was in the hallway, naked as usual.

  “Are you ever going to put pants on?” She asked, pointedly looking away. She knew dragons were often nude so they could shift as quickly as possible, but they were at home and this was ridiculous.

  “No.” He didn’t seem bothered by the question.

  “Not even for me?”

  “I think you like me without pants, Miss Ashley.”

  She tried not to grin, but she struggled to hold back the smile that was bursting out. Oh, this dragon was fun, but two could play his little game.

  “I do,” she said, taking a step forward, invading his personal space. His breath hitched. Oh yeah. Right where she wanted him. Ashley reached out and ran her hand slowly up and down his arm. She went slowly, teasingly.

  “You’re playing with fire,” he said, but his voice was husky with arousal.

  “I like fire,” she whispered.

  She thought he was going to grab her, to kiss her. She thought he was going to lose control. She thought, just for a moment, that he was going to make her forget about her dead husband and her dead baby. She thought, just for a moment, that she was going to actually feel something other than sadness.

  But then they heard a noise and she jumped away.

  “Ashleeeey?” Stuart’s tiny voice carried from his room. “I’m scared.”

  “Duty calls,” she said to Theodore, without looking at him.

  “It’s okay,” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I’ve got this. You should get some sleep.” He disappeared in his room and returned wearing a set of striped pajamas. He looked like a giant teddy bear she could cuddle and love.

  Ashley thought it was the nanny’s job to take care of nighttime duties, but she’d let him have this one. She was pretty tired, after all. Ashley went into her bedroom and shut the door. She stripped down, tossing all of her clothes onto the floor. She didn’t have a laundry basket, for some reason, but she should probably get one. That would be a good, adult thing to do. Maybe she could steal one of Theodore’s. For a dragon who was never wearing pants, he had more than enough baskets around his property.

  She walked into the en suite bathroom, turned on the water, and sat beneath it while she thought about Darin and Faye. Being around Stuart was amazing, but brought back so many memories of things she would never have again. She would never hold her baby. She would never hold her husband’s hand. She had Stuart and Theodore, but it wasn’t the same.

  Not really.

  Sometimes she missed them so much she thought she was going to explode. Sometimes she thought about finally killing herself, about just ending it all. She only didn’t because she knew Darin would never support the idea. If he were still alive, he would tell her to stay strong. He would help her stay strong. He would wrap his arms around her and promise her that everything was okay.

  It wasn’t okay, though. That was the problem. Nothing had been okay since he left her. She had turned into a shell of a person, simply existing. She had forgotten what it was like to laugh and love and have fun. How long had it been since she had laughed out loud? How long had it been since she had just enjoyed herself?

  Today she had raced around the house with Stuart. She had sung songs and played cars and danced. She had been silly. She had been carefree.

  And she had been close to Theodore. He had smelled so good, been so kind, been so attentive. He was a good dragon. She didn’t know much about him yet, but she could tell that he was good. He was strong.

  And now, for the first time since she heard her husband had been attacked and slaughtered, Ashley found herself wanting a man.

  Only it was one man she shouldn’t get involved with.

  And wasn’t that just a shame?

  She closed her eyes and leaned her against the cool tiles of the shower wall as the water rushed over and washed away the silent tears that fell as she let her sadness and loneliness take over once again.

  **

  Ashley woke early the next day. She showered and dressed before leaving her room. Stuart’s door was ajar, and she peeked in to see if her little ward was awake. To her surprise, he was not only awake, but chained to the bed.

  Again.

  What the fuck?

  “Why are you chained up?” She asked him, fetching the key from a nearby shelf. The little dragonboy shrugged.

  “Daddy said it’s safer this way.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “I think your daddy is a bit overprotective,” she said. Ashley unchained Stuart and made his bed while he used the potty and brushed his teeth. When he came back, Ashley helped him dress in comfortable play clothes, and the two headed downstairs.

  Theodore wasn’t in the kitchen, so Ashley assumed he was either still in bed or already hard at work. Her bet was on the former, but she wouldn’t judge.

  She whipped up breakfast and while she and Stuart sat at the counter barstools, she asked him what he wanted to do that day.

  “I want to go outside,” he said. “My old nanny used to take me on walks sometimes.”

  “And you enjoyed that, didya?”

  “Yeah. Walks are the best!” He fist-pumped into the air and Ashley laughed. He was so cute.

  “What else did you and your old nanny do?”

  “Color pictures.”

  “Sounds like you two had a lot of fun together,” Ashley pressed, knowing she shouldn’t. Her curiosity was about to get the better of her, though. “Why did your old nanny quit?”

  “She didn’t quit,” Stuart said solemnly. “She got s
cared. She’s scared of dragons.”

  Curious. Those were the same words Theodore had used.

  “What do you mean?” Why would you come to Dragon Isle if you were afraid of dragons? It didn’t make any sense.

  “She didn’t know we were shifters,” Theodore said, entering the room then. To Ashley’s surprise, he wore pajama pants. “Disappointed?”He winked, noticing her inappropriate gazing. Ashley blushed and shook her head.

  “What do you mean? How could she not know you’re shifters?”

  “I placed ads on the mainland, in Nellenston and the surrounding areas. Believe it or not, little human, not everyone believes shifters are a thing.”

  “That seems a bit ignorant to me.”

  “We can’t all be perfect.” His words were said with a smile, and she knew he wasn’t serious, but she wondered if that was how Theodore saw her. Did he think she was a goody-two-shoes? Did he think she tried to be “perfect,” as he put it? That didn’t seem very fair, but there wasn’t much Ashley could do about that.

  “How did your nanny get here?” The mansion was isolated. She couldn’t have taken a boat.

  “She took a boat to the main harbor, then hiked.”

  Ashley’s jaw dropped open. “She hiked? A nanny?” Well, wasn’t that something? Ashley loved the woods and hills, but she couldn’t imagine a random nanny enjoying a two-day hike to get to the house from the harbor. That took guts. Or stupidity.

  Maybe both.

  “Want breakfast?” She changed the subject, motioning toward the plate of eggs she had made. Scrambled, of course.

  “I’m okay, thanks. Just wanted to say good morning before I started work for the day.” He kissed Stuart on the forehead and patted Ashley’s hair, then left the kitchen.

  “He’s not always grumpy,” Stuart said through a mouthful of food. “Just sometimes.”

  **

  Ashley and Stuart spent the day exploring the grounds. Though Ashley had stumbled upon their house while hiking, she hadn’t really seen much of the surrounding area. She had been so focused on finding a place to seek shelter that she hadn’t bothered with sightseeing.

  “This is my favorite place,” Stuart led Ashley to a particularly large tree. Its branches were low and thick enough to make it perfect for climbing. It was the kind of tree she would have loved as a child, the kind of tree she would have gone crazy over.

  “It’s perfect,” she said. She grabbed the first branch, planted her foot on the trunk, and hoisted herself up. She reached down for Stuart but he laughed, giggled, and shifted, effectively shredding his clothes.

  And wasn’t he just the cutest little teal dragon she’d ever seen.

  Ashley thought her heart might burst open. Tears formed in her eyes as the tiny little dragon, who wasn’t much bigger than a dog, spread his wings and half-flew, half-hopped up to the branch. He snuggled up next to her on the tree, and if she didn’t know better, she’d say he was purring.

  Ashley pet Stuart’s hard scales. They were a bit cold beneath her hand, but smooth. She wrapped her arms around him and he turned his head toward her. He nuzzled her. He was like a little kitten, like a sweet, little pet. She held him and kissed him softly on the snout.

  Oh, she could stay here forever.

  She sat with Stuart in the silence in the tree for what felt like hours. He couldn’t speak in dragon form, of course. She wondered what his old nanny had thought when he randomly changed into a dragon.

  It was unusual for a child to begin shifting so early. No wonder Theodore had thought hiring a human nanny would be fine. He had no reason to think she’d ever discover their secret. Not out here, not in the wilderness.

  The woman must have been scared and confused. Shit, she probably thought she was crazy. Wasn’t that a strange thought? What must she have thought when Stuart shifted? Ashley considered all the ways someone might rationalize what they’d seen.

  Maybe the woman thought she had a brain tumor and was hallucinating. Maybe she thought the dragon had eaten Stuart. Maybe she just was so confused by what had happened that she ran away.

  Whatever had happened, though, Ashley knew one thing: it was in the past. Though Stuart had enjoyed spending time with his caregiver, he was obviously content right now with Ashley. Good. Ashley might not be his mother, but she was going to do a great job caring for him.

  She loved working at Dragon’s Inn, but Ashley didn’t get the same thrill from caring for adults that she got from caring for children.

  Taking care of Stuart made her feel like she was getting a second chance at motherhood, and as crazy as she knew it was, she didn’t want to blow it.

  He was too perfect.

  “All right, come on, little dragon.” She climbed down from the tree and held out her arms. Stuart wiggled his little body, then leapt from the tree. Mid-air, he shifted back to his human form and landed in her arms: a muddy, wiggly little boy.

  He was perfect.

  6

  Theodore watched from his office window as Stuart dropped from the tree and landed in the arms of his adoring nanny.

  Ashley was perfect.

  How she had managed to stumble into his house, of all houses, he would never know. He just knew he was thrilled she was finally there, finally a part of his family.

  He had worried all week that she wouldn’t show, that she wouldn’t really be interested in caring for his son.

  His request was selfish, he knew. He and Stuart could get along just fine without a nanny. He felt like he needed Ashley, though. He wanted to keep her as soon as he saw her, wanted her around, wanted to see what she did.

  She wouldn’t stay forever. She couldn’t. He knew that now, yet he didn’t care very much. He just wanted to enjoy her while he could, to have someone to keep his mind off the pain he’d been carrying alone for so long.

  His dragon side yearned to keep her, wanted to find a mate to help him raise little Stuart, but Theodore knew it would never happen. Even if he somehow convinced Ashley he was worth it, who would want to move to the middle of nowhere to look after an unstable dragon and his crazy shifter son?

  He sat back at the computer, feeling defeated. He knew he couldn’t offer her much, if anything, yet Ashley made him excited. He had woken up that morning looking forward to the day. He hadn’t felt that way in years.

  Yes, he had little Stuart to care for, but sometimes a man needed more than that. Sometimes a man needed to be reminded exactly who he was.

  And who better than a sweet, lusty little human?

  Theodore needed to get his mind off of Ashley or he’d never get any work done. He opened up his email program and began sorting messages. His personal assistant, Penny, had sent him several updates on clients that he needed to look over. She was gone for the day, so he’d have to handle everything himself.

  Penny was a shifter who also worked for Emerson, the clan leader. Theodore wasn’t sure if Emerson knew that Penny took on freelance clients like himself. Somehow, when he thought of the possessive dragon, he doubted it.

  He wouldn’t say anything, though. Penny needed her secrets and as long as her other clients didn’t interfere with her work for Emerson, Theodore didn’t think the dragonman could complain.

  Theodore’s first email was from a client who needed a complete website overhaul. Good grief. That type of project was something Theodore needed to schedule. He couldn’t exactly redo an entire website in a single day, but his client didn’t seem to understand that. Oh well. He’d pencil it in for next month. He had a few days free when he needed something to do.

  His next email was from Elma, the sweet old dragonwoman who ran a little souvenir shop in town. Why Dragon Isle needed a souvenir store, he didn’t know. It wasn’t like they encouraged tourism or even permitted it, really. Still, she insisted on running her little store and people shopped there, buying postcards and toys and little presents.

  Theodore reviewed Elma’s request quickly. She wanted to expand her website to include an online sto
re. Theodore currently managed her social media pages, which provided her customers on Dragon Isle with updates, coupons, and specials. It would be no problem to adjust her current website to include an online shopping cart, though he wouldn’t be able to do the site for a few days.

  He sent her back an email, trying to focus on suggestions for the old dragonwoman, but found that his mind was mush. He kept coming back to Ashley. She knew many of the dragons from the village, it seemed, so how had he never come across her before? How had he never met her?

  Yes, Theodore was smitten with the young human. He knew he was a bit of a recluse. He didn’t get out nearly as often as he should. He had thought for awhile he should probably try to take Stuart to a playgroup or to the park.

  Isn’t that what all the good parents did? He wasn’t sure. His nanny had handled most of the raising-a-child stuff, allowing Theodore to focus on his work. He only wondered if he had focused too much on work.

  Now, his little boy was growing up much too fast.

  Soon Stuart would be ready to go off on his own, leaving Theodore in isolation.

  **

  Ashley found herself in the kitchen with nothing to cook. Seriously, how did the dragons live like this? They had plenty of food for breakfast, but after that, nothing. There was just nothing.

  “Seriously?” She grabbed an old, expired box of Mac ‘n’ Cheese from the cupboard, wondering how she could even make it. The fridge didn’t have butter, milk, or cheese. Ashley turned to Stuart, who was sitting amicably on top of the counter. “What do you usually have for dinner?” She asked him.

  Stuart shrugged. He pointed at the box. “Noodles.”

  “Anything else?”

  Stuart shook his head.

  Fuck. They’d have to go to the village. Ashley sighed loudly. The last thing she wanted to do after the end of her first day was ask Theodore for a ride, but what else could she do?

  “Come on, little guy.” She set Stuart up in the living room with a few toys and headed off to Theodore’s study. She would ask him to take her and drop her off. No big deal. He could return home and she’d find her own way back. Surely that wouldn’t be too inconvenient, right?