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

by Stern, Sophie

  But before he could give her everything he had to offer, the timer on the oven beeped, and Ashley whipped her head to the side, eyeing the oven.

  She turned back to him, but the spell was broken, and she suddenly looked a little embarrassed.

  “Don’t,” he whispered, releasing her so she could go to the stove.

  “What?” She asked nonchalantly, but he wasn’t buying it. Theodore grabbed her arm and twisted her around.

  “Don’t ever think you’re less than sexy, Ashley. You’re the most gorgeous fucking woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. I don’t plan on letting you forget it.”

  He left the kitchen, leaving Ashley to make dinner alone with only her thoughts for company.

  **

  When Ashley tucked Stuart into bed that night, she noticed Theodore waiting in the doorway.

  “Go away,” she said unkindly, not making eye contact.

  “Ash,” he said. “He needs to be tied up.”

  She tucked Stuart’s blanket up to his chin, planted a kiss on his forehead, and whirled around. She marched to Theodore, pushed him into the hallway, and closed Stuart’s door.

  Then poked Theodore in the chest and said, “Fuck. You.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I said fuck you, Theodore. Who the fuck do you think you are, tying up a little kid? What the fuck are you scared about? Sleep walking?”

  “Ashley,” he said. His eyes were pleading, but she ignored him.

  “You’re an asshole,” she said.

  “You don’t understand.”

  “No, you don’t understand.” She would give anything to have a child of her own. Didn’t Theodore understand that? Anything. She had wept for her unborn child for years. She still did. Not a day went by when she didn’t wonder whether things would have been different if Darin hadn’t gone on that camping trip. Not a day went by when she didn’t wonder if she had made the right choice in letting him go. She should have stopped him, protested more. She should have begged him to stay close to home. She should have done something.

  But she hadn’t.

  And now Darin and her baby were dead, and Theodore was chaining his child to the fucking wall.

  Like an animal.

  “Why do you chain him up?” She asked. “What are you so afraid of?”

  “Ashley,” Theodore grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. “Look.” He pointed to the claw marks and scratches that covered the floor, the ones she had noticed when she first came to the house.

  “What are those?” Even though she knew. She knew what he was going to say.

  “When he dreams, he shifts. He can’t control it yet, Ashley.”

  She stared at the floor. Some of the marks were really deep. The casual observer would think they were from an angry adult dragon: not from a child who was simply dreaming. Did dragons sleep walk? Is this what happened when they did?

  “Ashley,” Theodore’s eyes looked pained. For the first time, she wondered if she had judged him too harshly. Maybe he hadn’t meant to be cruel to little Stuart. Maybe he really was just doing what he thought was right.

  “What?”

  “I’m scared.”

  Ashley couldn’t have been more shocked if Theodore had told her he was also a werewolf billionbear who happened to live on the moon during winter.

  Theodore was scared.

  Theodore was worried that something bad was going to happen to his son, that the only person he had left in the world was going to get hurt.

  “There have to be other options,” she whispered. She moved to Theodore, wrapped her arms around him. She tried not to breathe him in, but she couldn’t help it. So what if she was a little weird? So what if she was totally crushing on her new boss?

  “I don’t know what to do. The last time I left him unchained, he had a bad dream and tore up the stairs. What if he gets outside, Ashley? What if I don’t wake up and hear him?”

  Ashley held him a little bit tighter. She knew Stuart wasn’t asleep yet.

  “I have an idea.”

  She went back into the bedroom and gathered up the sleepy little boy into her arms. Then she marched back into Theodore’s room, placed Stuart in the middle of the bed, and climbed in.

  “Well?” She nodded to the other side of the bed. “Why don’t you get in?”

  Ashley curled up next to the tiny boy, not looking to see if Theodore was joining them. She figured he would once he saw how cozy they looked. If Theodore thought the only option for Stuart’s night terrors was to tie him to a bed, well, he just had another thing coming.

  9

  Theodore laid in bed for a long time listening to Ashley and Stuart snore. Damn, but they were loud. He had been surprised when Ashley suggested – nay, demanded – they sleep together. Now that he watched them, though, he had to admit that it made sense. Why hadn’t he thought of this before?

  There was so much about parenting that Theodore didn’t know, so much he had missed out on by doing this alone. Then again, it’s not like he had planned to become a dad. It had all just been thrust upon him.

  He closed his eyes and tried not to think about how sweet Ashley looked curled up next to his son. He tried not to think about how she made him feel complete or how he felt like she was the perfect person to complete their little family.

  No, he had only just met her, and Ashley probably had secrets, too. He started as he realized that he really didn’t know much about her. Ashley lived on Dragon Isle, yes, but why? It wasn’t completely unheard of for humans to live on the island. Victoria ran the tavern and Lindsey worked as a therapist. Even the clan leader’s mate was a fiery spitfire of a human. But Ashley?

  She hadn’t come here for a man.

  She had come here to run away from something.

  Theodore wondered, as he watched her curl up tighter against Stuart, what could have been so bad that she would run to dragons as a safe haven.

  What could be so bad that the monsters looked like heroes?

  **

  Ashley woke up and rubbed her back. Stuart had kicked her all night and Theodore had snored something fierce, but they had survived the night and nothing bad had happened. No nightmares, no unmanageable shifts, no sleep walking.

  Good.

  They were good.

  She slipped out of bed, noticing that Theodore was already gone, and headed downstairs to start breakfast. He was probably working in his office already. She’d bring him a cup of coffee.

  Ashley hurried to the kitchen and was surprised to find Theodore bent over the stove, pulling a dish out.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  “And you,” she nodded toward the tray of cinnamon rolls he was pulling out. “You cook?”

  “I do.”

  “I’m surprised.”

  “You shouldn’t be,” he winked at Ashley. “I’m a wonderful dragon.”

  He placed the rolls on top of the stovetop to cool and took off his oven mitts. Then Theodore turned to Ashley and pulled her close. He planted a kiss on her forehead, then hugged her tightly.

  Fuck, if that didn’t feel amazing.

  She melted into his touch, enjoying the way he stroked her hair. If only she could stay, she thought. She could feel like this every morning. A pang of jealousy shot through her as she realized that she was damaged goods. She’d never be able to have children. She couldn’t. Even if she wanted to, it was no longer an option.

  Darin’s death had taken that choice from her.

  Suddenly, Ashley felt overwhelmingly sad, and she pushed Theodore away.

  She left the room without saying anything and went upstairs to the bathroom where she could cry alone. It wasn’t fair that she was getting a beautiful glimpse of something she’d never have. It wasn’t fair that-

  Before Ashley could finish her thought, Theodore had grabbed her and pulled her into a little room she’d never noticed before. Maybe it was a walk-in closet or a storage room. She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that he was kissing her, whisk
ing away her fears and her pains and any thoughts she had.

  “I’m not sure why you’re sad, sweetheart,” he murmured into her ear, “but I’m going to make it all better, okay?”

  She nodded, believing him. She knew he would do exactly what he said. Theodore was good at that. He kissed her until her panties were soaked from arousal and her body was aching with need. He kissed her until she was grinding up against him, trying to get just a little bit closer. Needing to get a little bit closer.

  Then he pushed her clothes off, threw them to the floor one piece at a time. He kissed her from her neck to her nipples. Then he sucked one into his mouth and bit her.

  “Hey!” She squealed, trying to get away, but he held her firmly in place. He placed one hand on her lower back and pulled her into him. He sucked her harder and she moaned then, feeling the heat rush between her legs.

  “You’re fucking gorgeous, Ashley,” Theodore whispered. “I don’t know what happened to you or who hurt you, but you’re beautiful.”

  She moaned as he kissed her nipples a few more times, then he moved lower. Oh fuck, he was going to kiss her there. Even though Ashley was a warm-blooded adult female, she’d never been comfortable with that. Darin hadn’t liked it and she had never pushed, fearing she smelled back or looked strange.

  “Ashley,” Theodore looked up at her. “You’re beautiful.” For a moment, her heart stopped and she believed him completely. It didn’t matter, just then, what she looked like or where she’d come from. It didn’t matter that her husband was dead or that she’d lost their baby. It only mattered that right now, she was with Theodore.

  And he thought she was the most gorgeous woman on Dragon Aisle.

  He kissed her pussy then, softly. He licked up and down her soft folds, tasting her wetness. She spread her legs and moaned, bracing herself against the wall. She’d never felt anything quite like it before. Even if Ashley felt a little nervous, Theodore didn’t. He was right at home.

  He licked back and forth, reaching up to play with her nipples as he did. A heat formed in her core, burning and expanding until there was no room for anything else but him.

  “I’m close,” she murmured, but he already seemed to know. He stopped playing with her nipples and slid two fingers inside of her. Then he began to gently touch her ass, eliciting a soft cry of surprise as he slid two fingers in there, too.

  The sensation was not uncomfortable at all, but it was unexpected. The surprise was just the push she needed to go over the edge. Soon she was shaking, burning, exploding in his arms. She was falling over the edge, but he was there to catch her.

  He was there.

  She opened her eyes and found that she was in his arms just then.

  “Oh,” she murmured.

  He kissed her. She tasted herself on her lips.

  “Oh, indeed.”

  10

  “How is everything going with your new job?” Lindsey asked Ashley, crossing her legs in the way therapists often did. Ashley didn’t even think Lindsey knew she was doing it. While Lindsey was the perfect little slave for Kade, she was all business when she was at work. That was part of the appeal, honestly. Lindsey was a little bit weird, so she was less likely to judge when other people – or dragons – were, too.

  Ashley had never considered going to therapy until Lindsey had started working at the Dragon Isle clinic. Now, Clan Lostfallen’s new therapist had more business than she could handle. Ashley was grateful that Lindsey still managed to squeeze her in for discounted sessions each week. Ashley hadn’t made a lot of money as a hostess. She wasn’t sure how much she was making now. It had been nearly 10 days since she started to work for Theodore. Surely he would pay her soon. Right?

  “I like it,” Ashley told her friend. She considered Lindsey to be a friend. Maybe it wasn’t true. Maybe Lindsey really jus was a good therapist, but Ashley liked her. The woman had been through hell and still had a few scars from an attack by a brutal dragon, but she was kind. She was a good listener. She was honest.

  “Tell me more about what you do for Theodore.” Lindsey had a notepad, but she hadn’t written anything on it. She rarely did, which Ashley liked. Lindsey would think about things and bring them up t the end of the session. Sometimes she’d think of something and email Ashley later. Either way, Ashley liked being treated like a person and not like a problem. If Lindsey had spent the entire session taking notes, Ashley would feel even more broken than she already did.

  If that were possible.

  “A little bit of everything, I suppose. I take care of Stuart during the day and handle meals. I do the housework stuff. I guess I’m kind of like a live-in mom.” She had been there for nearly a month. She loved it. Sometimes Ashley thought she liked her job far more than she should have.

  “And you’re happy with this arrangement?”

  “Yeah.” She actually was. She wasn’t sure how it would work out at first, but Ashley was comfortable. She liked Theodore and Stuart was adorable. She liked feeling needed. She liked feeling important. She liked knowing that she meant something to them. She enjoyed the way Stuart looked at her when he was done drawing a picture, like the only person whose opinion mattered was hers.

  She liked knowing Theodore wanted to eat her pussy.

  “Are you sleeping with him?” Lindsey asked, an amused glance on her face.

  Fuck.

  Ashley had retreated into her imagination in the middle of a therapy session. She hadn’t done that in a long time.

  “No.”

  “But you want to.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Yes.”

  “Have you been with anyone since Darin died?”

  There was Lindsey: blunt. Honest. Harsh. She asked questions that kept Ashley rooted to the moment. The last thing Ashley needed was to drift off into daydream land again. Not now.

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “I haven’t wanted to.”

  “But you want to now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Theodore makes me feel alive.” It was the simplest way she could describe it. How could she explain? “When Darin died, when our baby died,” she tried not to rub her belly, but she did. She always did when she thought about their unborn child. “I felt like I should be dead, too.”

  “Of course you did,” Lindsey nodded, unsurprised. “You had survivor’s guilt.” They’d talked about it before. Lindsey felt that Ashley thought she should have died, that Ashley felt she had done something wrong by living when everyone else had been lost.

  “I think when I came here, I was kind of looking for a fresh start, but I was mostly running away.”

  “What were you running away from, Ashley?”

  Lindsey watched her now. Her eyes were calm, but calculating. Lindsey reminded Ashley a little bit of a cat. She was sleeker now than when she’d first arrived on the island, thinner. She was shrewd. She was cautious. Kade took good care of Lindsey, but Ashley had a feeling that Lindsey took care of him, too. She wouldn’t let anything hurt her man. She wouldn’t let anything hurt or damage Kade.

  “I didn’t want to hurt anymore, so I just shut down. I stopped feeling.” Food had lost its flavor. Hobbies had become uninteresting and dull. Even dancing, which Ashley used to love to do, no longer held any appeal.

  “And now?”

  “Now the only thing I can think about is getting his cock inside of me.”

  “Well then,” Lindsey uncrossed her legs, stood up, and offered a hand to Ashley. “I’d say we’re making progress.”

  **

  Ashley passed by Alan, the Irish shifter who ran the clinic.

  “Hi Alan,” she murmured, brushing past him.

  “Doctor Alan,” he said. “Doctor Alan! What does a man have to do to get any respect around here?”

  “I thought you were just a nurse,” Ashley said, surprised. “I’m sorry, but are you actually a doctor?”

  He shot her a glare that could have bu
rned straight through her.

  Fucking dragons.

  “It’s just that-“ She stopped mid-sentence, as soon as she realized she had been about to bring up a horrible memory for him. Alan had been thrown under the bus, so to speak, when Melissa, another dragon, had gone a bit crazy and tried to kill Lindsey. She had told everyone on the island that Alan wasn’t a real doctor. Though it had been more than a year since the incident, dragons on the island were still trying to figure out which of Melissa’s tall tales were lies and which were truths.

  “Go ahead,” Alan said, his voice clipped. “Finish that sentence.”

  “No, that’s all right,” Ashley said, turning. “I’m sorry to bother you, Doctor Alan.”

  But then his hand was on her arm, and she was forced to turn back.

  “Try again.”

  Ashley looked at her feet.

  “Ah,” Alan said, sounding surprised. “A bit submissive, are we?”

  “No,” she shook her head, but still didn’t look at him.

  “Look at me,” his voice was deeper, more serious.

  Ashley immediately looked at him, and Alan just chuckled.

  “No wonder Theodore likes you,” he said, suddenly all smiles. “I hope to see you both at the next dungeon party.”

  Ashley bit her lip. Dungeon party? Theodore hadn’t invited her yet. He hadn’t even mentioned it. And even if he did plan to go, was she the one he’d want to take? Part of her couldn’t imagine him wanting to take a timid little thing like her. She wasn’t strong. She wasn’t brave. She wasn’t even really that pretty.

  “I wouldn’t like the thoughts going through your head right now, would I?” Alan let out a low growl. A Dom growl. Ashley had been around the kinky dragons of the island long enough to know that.

  “No, Sir,” she whispered.

  Alan tipped her chin up so she was looking at him.

  “Why did you think I wasn’t a real doctor, love?” His eyes were still harsh, but his voice was softer. Ashley wasn’t attracted to Alan, but she felt safe with him. She didn’t mind that he called her “love” or that he was touching her. She knew he wasn’t going to do anything dangerous to her.