And Theodore didn’t want to share her.
Not with anyone.
Not ever.
12
“Library day!” Ashley woke Stuart up with a hug and kiss and helped him get dressed. It was Tuesday, which meant Theodore was going to fly them to town for the day. They would go enjoy story time at the library with the other dragon children before having lunch at Victoria’s restaurant.
As much as Ashley loved living in the wilderness, she was looking forward to spending a day with her friends and getting to hang out with other people who had children. Theodore hadn’t intentionally isolated Stuart, but Ashley thought it would be good for him to have some friends.
When they arrived at the library, Theodore shifted long enough to help them out of the carrying basket and to kiss Ashley goodbye. They hadn’t slept together yet – not officially – but Theodore couldn’t keep his hands off her.
He also didn’t seem to care that half of the elderly townsfolk were leering at them as they kissed.
“My sweet human,” he murmured against her ear, licking it.
“My insatiable dragon,” she replied.
“You’re going to be the death of me, woman,” he said, finally releasing her.
“Holy shit, dragon, keep it in your pants,” Janae walked out of the library and frowned at Theodore. Quickly, she shooed him away and grabbed Ashley. “It’s time to learn about teddy bears and picnics, love,” she said. Before Ashley could protest, she whisked her into the library.
The Dragon Isle Library was still new. A group of elderly dragonwomen had petitioned Emerson to let them start it so there would be more children’s programs available on the island. Few would admit it, but the library had also been started with the goal of providing free and low-cost entertainment options for the dragons who lived there.
Although Dragon Isle catered to dragons, the cost of running the island wasn’t cheap. Taxes were high and food prices were always increasing to cover the cost of transporting goods from the mainland. Many families struggled financially, so the library was provided as a way to offset that. One of the women had donated the building and Janae worked for very little. As the clan leader’s mate, she didn’t really need much money, but she paid herself a small salary from overdue book fines.
“Coffee money, love,” she had once told Ashley. “It’s my coffee money.”
The building itself was a small single-story. It was brick and rumor had it that this was one of the original buildings on the island. Ashley wasn’t sure if it was true or not, but the building was beautiful. It looked like a tiny, miniature castle. Each corner of the building had a small brick tower that rose up. From the outside, Ashley would imagine the building was filled with suits of armor. In reality, each tower held a mini cozy corner for reading that was filled with pillows and books.
Today, Janae looked casual in jeans and a snug tee. Still, she was beautiful. She wore her long, frizzy hair down and Ashley thought she looked thinner.
“Have you lost weight?” She blurted out before she could think about it. Janae just laughed.
“No. Definitely not.” She looked smug, like she had a secret, but they arrived at the children’s section before Ashley could protest. Stuart had already found a spot between two of the little dragons he liked: Hat and Thomas. Ashley wasn’t sure what kind of a name “Hat” was, but the child’s mother looked too tired for Ashley to ask.
Ashley settled in on a comfortable cushion, making herself at home amongst the little shifters who were wiggling around on the ground. Most of the dragons couldn’t shift yet. Most of them wouldn’t be able to until they were older. Stuart was an anomaly, but Ashley wasn’t sure how many of the dragon mothers knew that. No one paid Ashley much attention, which was fine. It was the way she liked it.
“Hello little dragons,” Janae grinned, taking her seat in the magical-librarian-chair-of-reading. It was really a huge wooden chair she had spray-painted gold and the children had bedazzled. Even though Janae called it her “queen chair,” Ashley knew she let the kids play on it when they thought she wasn’t looking. That was the type of person Janae was: warm, kind, compassionate. She was friendly, too. Much too friendly for Ashley, who didn’t think she really deserved a friend like Janae.
“Hello Miss Janae!” The little ones squealed and squeaked, trying to find their way to a close spot by Janae’s feet. Ashley watched with amusement as the kids tumbled over one another in a disorderly fashion. Finally, once everyone had settled down in front of Janae, the quiet librarian began to read.
She read books about dragons and books about teddy bears. She read books about princesses and knights and birds and trees and the only thing Ashley could think about was Theodore.
She let her mind wander as the children dove into worlds where fairies and magical adventures were real.
How would Theodore spend his afternoon? He’d probably work, Ashley knew, but he might put in some time on the tree house he was secretly building for Stuart. The little dragon had no idea what his dad was working on for his birthday and Ashley had promised not to tell. The tree Theodore had selected was one of Stuart’s favorites. It was a few dozen yards away from the house and overlooked the entire yard. It had been hard to keep Stuart away, but Ashley had come up with excuse after excuse.
Mostly, she had convinced Stuart they needed to have picnics on the other side of the house which always ended in a walk along the creek.
Ashley thought it was strange she missed Theodore so much. When she was at the library or the store or anywhere that wasn’t with him, she missed him. She thought of him. She craved him. She hadn’t felt that way, well, ever. Even when she and Darin had been together, it had been comfortable. They had known each other for so long that their relationship had never had this strange, illicit passion she felt for Theodore.
They had been good together.
But they hadn’t been insanely crazy.
Is that what she was doing? Ashley wondered as she eyed the group of moms and nannies who had brought the little dragons to story time. Was she chasing the passion she hadn’t felt before? Or did she actually have something for Theodore? Could they make a relationship work? Would he really be okay with the no-more-babies thing?
A chorus of laughter drew Ashley back to the present.
Everyone was staring at her.
Janae just grinned and Ashley blushed.
“Um, hi?”
Everyone laughed again.
“Janae wants to know if you’ll read us a story,” Stuart said.
“Of course,” Ashley rolled her eyes and made her way up to the queen’s chair. Then, to everyone’s amusement, she sat right down on Janae’s lap instead of waiting for her to move. She read the entire story that way and when reading time was over, she gave her friend mad crap for putting her on the spot like that.
“You loved it,” Janae joked.
“I didn’t.”
“You loved it,” Janae insisted. “Almost as much as you love sitting on Teddy’s lap.”
“What? Nobody calls him that!”
“You do, ‘cause you’re in loooove.”
Ashley rolled her eyes as Stuart wandered around the children’s section of the library. He picked up several books, but put them back down. He wanted to find the perfect book, Ashley knew. Janae kept a watchful eye on several of the children. One of her assistants, a librarian-in-training, was manning the front desk. That freed Janae up for a bit to spend time with the kids.
And to give Ashley a hard time about her boss.
“I do not sit on his lap,” Ashley insisted.
Janae looked thoughtful for a second, then asked, “What about tonight?”
“What do you mean?”
“Tonight. Will you sit on his lap tonight like a good little submissive?”
“What are you talking about?”
Janae rolled her eyes, obviously tired of Ashley’s ignorance.
“Tonight at the dungeon party.”
; Then it hit her. There was a party at Anthony’s dungeon. There was a sex party and everyone was going, but Ashley wasn’t going because Theodore hadn’t told her about it or invited her.
Everyone knew about the party but her.
He hadn’t invited her.
It wasn’t a big deal, not really. Yeah, that’s what she told herself as she gulped down her sadness. Why were tears suddenly threatening to overflow? Oh yeah, ‘cause she’d told Theodore she wanted to go to a party with him sometime, but he hadn’t invited her. They hadn’t even had sex yet. They weren’t really dating. They weren’t.
So she couldn’t be upset.
“Oh, sweetie,” Janae suddenly figured out what was happening. “You didn’t know, did you?”
Ashley shook her head quickly.
“It’s fine,” she whispered, even though it wasn’t fine. “I wonder who he’s going with.”
“I don’t know. I just heard Emerson say he was going, so I assumed he’d be bringing you.”
“Yeah. Makes sense.” Suddenly, a crash sounded from another part of the library and Janae grabbed Ashley’s shoulder.
“I’ll be right back, okay? Don’t go anywhere, Ash.”
As soon as Janae’s back was turned, Ashley took off outside. Stuart was still looking at books, so she had a few minutes to herself. She walked out the double glass doors and leaned against the side of the building. The bricks were cool against her shoulders, courtesy of the tank top she’d chosen to wear because it showed off her cleavage and she wanted Theodore to look at her.
Was she really going to let this little thing ruin her day? What was it to her if Theodore was going to a dungeon party without her? What did it matter if she wasn’t the girl he wanted to fuck in front of a bunch of people?
Maybe she didn’t even like that.
Maybe that wasn’t her.
Or maybe it was. Maybe it was something she wanted to do. Theodore might not want to date her or sleep with her, but he certainly liked eating her pussy. Maybe she tasted sweeter than she thought she did. Maybe she was sexier than she’d been led to believe over all this time.
Ashley had spent years trying to be the good, responsible girl, and what had that gotten her? A broken heart and years of mourning. She had missed out on many opportunities simply because she was waiting for something better, something more.
Maybe that wasn’t Theodore.
Maybe she should just go to the party anyway. She could hire a substitute sitter for Stuart and do something fun on her own, right? Besides, if Theodore was going to be having fun at the party, she wanted to see exactly what this dragonman of hers could do.
Maybe he was good with a whip.
Maybe he was good with his claws.
Maybe, just maybe, he could be good with her heart.
13
“It’s a bad idea,” Kade growled when he shifted in front of Theodore’s house. Theodore had left an hour earlier, explaining to Ashley that he had business he had to take care of. That was literally what he’d said. “Business.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Ashley said, standing in front of the mansion. She was decked out in a corset and miniskirt. Her feet were bare, as was her pussy. She knew better than to try to get away with wearing panties tonight.
“He’s not going to like seeing me there with you, love,” Kade looked her up and down. Lindsey was next to him, wearing a similar outfit. She’d been to parties like this before.
She knew how to behave.
Ashley did not.
Lindsey was quiet as Kade marched around Ashley, taking her in. She wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for.
“Do I look all right?” She finally whispered, and Kade palmed her hair, yanking her head backwards.
He growled.
“Rule number one, love. If you’re coming as my submissive for the evening, you don’t speak. Not unless you’re spoken to. Do you understand?”
Ashley nodded. “Yes, Sir,” she whispered. “I understand.”
“Rule number two,” Kade sighed, releasing her. “Stay with me at all times. Don’t leave my sight for anything. I don’t care if I’m fucking Lindsey or doing a demonstration or taking a fucking piss. Do not leave me. The Dungeon is called that for a reason. Things can get a little wild and you do not want to be a helpless little virgin wandering around by yourself.”
“I’m not a-“ Ashley started to protest, but Kade shot her a look that shut her right up. No talking. Right. She’d forgotten.
“I’ll spank you,” Kade hissed at her. “Don’t think that just because we’re not fucking that I won’t discipline the shit out of you. I am not a nice dragon, Ashley.”
She just nodded.
Lindsey stepped forward then and gently wrapped her arm around Kade’s waist. He visibly relaxed, as if he needed her touch to stay in control, as if he needed her to stay calm. What would it feel like to be needed like that? Ashley didn’t know.
“Is everything okay here?” Lindsey asked, motioning toward the house.
Ashley glanced at Kade, who nodded, giving her permission to answer Lindsey. Good. She was learning.
“Yeah, the babysitter is upstairs putting Stuart to bed now.”
“And you’re sure you want to do this? You know, you probably should just talk to him. He can’t know what you need if you don’t tell him.”
“We haven’t had sex yet. We aren’t even dating.”
Kade sighed. “Don’t you think there’s a reason for that? Maybe he’s afraid he’ll push you too hard. Maybe he’s nervous because your husband passed away. Maybe he just doesn’t think he can fill Darin’s shoes. You need to talk to him, love.”
“I don’t want to talk to him,” Ashley frowned, brushing off Kade’s concerns. “I want to see what this party is all about. I want to see what happens. I want to see what everyone does. I might not even like it.” She shrugged, trying to seem casual. Maybe she wouldn’t be into BDSM. Maybe she wouldn’t be into public sex.
“What if you do like it, Ashley?” Kade’s voice was deep. How did Lindsey ever get anything done? Ashley had the feeling that if a big, bad Dom was ordering her around in that voice, she wouldn’t do anything but sleep and fuck.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
“You don’t know?” He asked, stepping forward, letting Lindsey loose. He got into Ashley’s space. Fuck, Kade smelled good. How would Theodore smell tonight? Would he be wearing anything at all at the party? Was it more of a sex club? Ashley wasn’t sure. She only knew that tonight, she wanted to be the toy he played with. Tonight, she wanted him to grab her and ravage her. She wanted Theodore. All of him. “Try again, pet,” Kade said.
“If I do like it,” she whispered, “I guess I’ll have to find someone who can give me what I need.”
Kade sighed, but wrapped his arms around Ashley, pulling her close. She tensed at first, then relaxed against him, hoping Lindsey would know she didn’t mean anything by it. She wasn’t hitting on her man or anything. Luckily, Lindsey didn’t seem to notice or give a shit.
“Pet, tonight is going to be strange. It’s going to be difficult. You’re going to have to stay with me and you’re going to have to obey me or I’ll be forced to punish you. You understand that, don’t you?” He pulled back, placing his hands on Ashley’s shoulders, staring into her eyes.
She nodded.
“If you disobey me publicly, I’ll have to punish you,” he repeated. “That’s how this club works. Fuck, I shouldn’t even be thinking about taking you. You aren’t a trained submissive. You don’t know anything.” He looked pissed. Ashley guessed he was doing this as a favor to Lindsey and nothing more.
“I’ll be good,” she promised quickly, quietly. “I’ll be perfect.”
**
“And that’s really all there is to it,” Theodore sat back from the computer, pleased with his work. He had just single-handedly designed a new marketing plan for Anthony’s dungeon. Anthony wanted to branch out and have the dungeon partie
s he hosted become a formal sex club. The Dungeon, as it would be officially called, would be a club where dragons could safely play together. There would be an official membership acceptance process, including STD and psychological screening. Dragons would have to pay membership dues, as well, which would enable Anthony to buy new equipment and focus more fully on his club. He currently worked on the mainland as the CEO of a large corporation, but he hated his job and wanted to quit. Running a sex club would enable him to do so.
“You’re a genius,” Anthony grinned. He rubbed his hands together excitedly. Theodore thought he looked like a little kid who was dreaming up mischief.
Only Anthony’s mischief involved collars and chains.
“Well, now that you have the business side of things set up, I can get the website up and running by the end of next week. Potential members will able to review the vetting process and then you can start scheduling screening appointments with Lindsey and Alan.” Even though Alan wasn’t a psychologist or counselor, he was one of the best men Theodore knew. He was great at reading people. He doubted any psychos would be able to get past Alan.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Anthony leaned against the wall. “I’m sure it goes without saying, but you’ll have member access, of course.”
Theodore nodded. He knew Anthony would offer him the run of The Dungeon, but could he really come play with someone besides Ashley? Oh, he knew she said she’d be open to coming, but he knew her better than she thought. Sweet, timid little Ashley would never set foot in a place like this. It was part of the reason he hadn’t told her where he was going that evening. Did she really need to think he was a pervert?
Theodore didn’t consider himself to be a hardcore Dom. He liked to dabble in BDSM. He liked to play. He was a voyeur and an exhibitionist, but he wasn’t the kind of dragon who wanted a full-time human pet. He didn’t want a 24 hour submissive. He wanted a partner he could share his life with who occasionally liked to be tied up and spanked.
What he wanted was Ashley.
Dragon Isle Book Bundle 1-3: My Lord and Dragon, The Dragon Fighter, and A Dragon's Bite Page 31