by Sophie Stern
Nothing.
He seemed to realize something was wrong, because he gently reached for her chin and tilted it up.
"What is it, little kitten?"
"I don't have a home," she said.
It was embarrassing to admit. She didn't want this big dragon person to think that she was lame, or a loser, or that she didn't have anything going for her. It was kind of true, but she didn't want him to think that.
He was confused for just a second, but then he shook his head.
"No, kitten, I wouldn't leave you at your home. Even if you had one, I wouldn't do that."
"What? Then where are you taking me?"
"Kellen has a lot of friends in low places," he said. "You're not safe on your own. Not just yet. He's probably already realized you're gone, and it won't take him a lot of time to realize where you went. You're staying with me. You'll be safe with me."
"Safe with you?"
He nodded.
"I'll protect you, little kitten. Now get back in the basket."
The thought of disobeying didn't even cross her mind, and besides, she didn't want to disobey. She wanted his protection, and his care. She wanted him to take care of her and look after her and make sure that she was okay.
And most of all, really, she wanted to feel safe.
She got in the basket and he started taking off his clothes. She knew this was because he was going to change into his dragon form. He probably didn't want to rip his clothes, or to tear them. That was what shifters had to worry about, wasn't it?
They couldn't tear their clothes or ruin them. Not when they wanted to shift into their final forms. It seemed as though Zoa had a lot to learn about shifters. Maybe they weren’t all bad, after all.
"No peeking," he said, and he tucked the shirt around her in the basket.
"But..."
"Close your eyes," he said, winking at her.
She wanted to peek, though. He was broad and muscular, and she wanted to see what was under his pants. What did his cock look like? Was he shaved? She could tell he was hard when they kissed. She had felt his hardness pressing against her body while they touched. She wanted to see it, though. She wanted to see it now.
"No?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Please," she whispered, eyeing his crotch, and she was a little embarrassed that she was basically begging him to show her his dick. She didn’t have to finish her sentence for the man to know what she was asking.
It had been a long time since she'd had sex with someone. Kellen hadn't raped her - yet - but she knew he would have done that soon enough. He'd been waiting for something, but what? She didn't know. Maybe he was going to sell her. Maybe he wanted to hurt her over time.
She had no clue.
But this guy...
Yeah, she wanted to see this guy's penis.
She bit her lip, waiting. What was he going to do?
She was a little surprised when he smirked at her and pushed the pants down over his hips. They hit the sand and she looked directly at it. Was this like the sun? You shouldn't stare right at it? Only, she wanted to spend a lot of time looking at this.
Heat filled her belly, and she felt her body growing more and more excited. Shit. Was she seriously getting horny as she looked at this dude?
He sniffed the air subtly, but she noticed, and then he smiled even more.
"Naughty girl," he said, grinning. "Now it's time to go."
He brought the pants over and dropped them in the basket with her. She was kneeling up, and he gently pressed on her shoulder, urging her lower into the basket.
"There will be plenty of time for you to touch me later," he murmured quietly. "That is, if you want to do that."
Somehow, that sort of gentle promise filled her with comfort. He was full of all sorts of promises today. She did want that. She shouldn't. She didn't even know this guy's name. She didn't know anything about him.
All she knew was that he made her feel safe. He had rescued her, and she liked that.
And then he changed.
Before she even had time to think about what was happening, he had changed. It happened in the blink of an eye, really. He was a man, and then he wasn't. He was human, and then he wasn't. The beautiful dragon walked over to her, lifted the basket with one long talon, and then leapt into the air.
And they were flying.
Chapter 3
His biggest concern with the human girl was that she would accidentally fall out of the basket. He should have warned her to sit still. He should have told her that they were going to be flying pretty quickly over the water, and that she needed to sit perfectly in place. The basket might sway a little bit, and she wasn't very big. She might go flying out of it, and then where would he be?
He'd be without a human.
That much was for sure.
She had kissed him, and that was surprising to him. Oh, he loved it. Declan wasn't the type of person to ever turn down a kiss, especially from such a sweet and lovely female. He hated that she had been captured by such a total prick, but he was relieved he had found her when he had.
He cringed as he thought about what could have happened to her. It had been a close call, but Declan knew he'd made the right choice by getting her the hell out of dodge. If he'd waited, or if he hadn't been sneaky enough, he knew that Kellen would have captured him, too.
Kellen Brotella was a man with many resources: more resources than a normal person should be privy to. Declan knew that Kellen would also go to any lengths necessary to protect what he viewed as his. That might include shooting Declan with a dart or tranquilizing him or worse.
He didn't want to wait around to find out.
But he had to go back.
Once the girl was safe on Sapphire Island, Declan would be able to go back to Kellen's place to kill the asshole who had hurt her. He didn't know what Kellen's beef was against the woman, but he wasn't about to let this slide. Kellen wasn't going to be allowed to hurt anyone else.
Not ever.
That would come later, though. Right now, Declan had to get her home. He had to make sure she was safe, and so he flew.
He flew and flew until he started to see the large, wild trees that filled most of Sapphire Island. Like the other islands in the Chrysolite Isles, this one was remarkably beautiful and extrinsically lovely. The trees lined the beach so tightly that if you didn't know better, you might suspect the entire island was uninhabited.
That couldn't be further from the truth, though.
This time, Declan didn't land on the beach. He flew over the trees, moving lower and lower, and then he kept on going. He saw mountains up ahead and he soared up and over them. He wondered what the human girl was thinking, and he regretted, just a little, that he couldn't speak to her in his dragon form.
He wanted to so very badly, but there were limitations as to what a dragon could do and verbalizing his thoughts while in shifter form was impossible. There had been many times throughout his life when he’d wished he could speak as a dragon. It would make life much easier. Now, as he flew, he imagined what he might say to her when they landed.
Would she think Sapphire Island was a lovely place?
He did.
It wasn't because he'd never been anywhere else, either. He had. He'd been to plenty of places, and he'd seen plenty of things, but Sapphire Island was always the place he wanted to return to. It was the place he felt most comfortable, and the place he always believed was the most calming to him in his dragon form.
Being a shifter wasn't easy, but somehow, being a shifter on an island seemed a lot better than anything else he could have imagined.
Somehow, when he was flying around the island, he felt like everything was going to be okay. Even when it really, really wasn't going to be okay, this place filled him with a sense of wonder. A shifter needed a place they could feel safe. He’d found that in this island.
He flew over the mountain, and then he passed the biggest city on the island. It was the one wher
e Christopher and Brian lived, and the one where their huge building was. Monster Brothers Security was located there, and Declan spent more of his time there than he probably should have. He needed a life outside of work, he knew. His brothers told him that frequently.
He kept flying. The city wasn't where he lived, though he worked there every day. The city was the life for someone like Christopher, sure, but Declan was different. He needed peace, and he needed quiet, so he kept flying until he reached a forest, and then he flew a little bit more.
Finally, he arrived at his home, and he stopped outside of it, set the basket down gently, and shifted back. He waited for a moment. What was she going to say?
"A treehouse?" The shriek the woman emitted was more of a squeal, and Declan chuckled at the happy noise. She scurried out of the basket hastily, tripping a little as she did. She seemed wildly happy to be out of the basket.
This time, she barely seemed to notice Declan’s nudity. Instead, she squirreled toward the treehouse. She walked awkwardly and hastily. He’d healed her external wounds with his tongue, but her body was probably still sore.
“A treehouse,” he managed to say, nodding
She stopped just next to the steps that led up to the treehouse. It was a two-story house he’d built himself. To access the first floor, visitors climbed a spiral staircase that wove around the trunk of the tree. At the top, there was a hatch that opened into the living room of his home. It was a design he’d spent years working on, and it was nice to see that it hadn’t been in vain.
The realization that someone else liked his creation and wanted to explore it was a satisfying feeling. Declan was used to his brothers who, while wonderful people, were often busy with their own problems and their own issues. Both Christopher and Brian were often wrapped up in themselves. Neither one of them particularly cared that Declan had made himself a treehouse to live in
“Did you make this?” the woman asked, looking over at him.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“With wood and nails,” he said.
The woman laughed and shook her head. It was a nice sound: her laughter. He wanted to make her laugh over and over again.
“No,” she giggled. Then she ran her hands over the railing, touching the wood. “How did you learn how to do this?”
“I just figured it out,” he told her.
“You must be very talented.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Just look at all of this. You crafted something truly incredible.”
“I wish my brothers liked the treehouse as much as you do,” Declan said with a chuckle. He turned toward the basket and grabbed his clothing. Although she’d seen him naked, and she’d seemed to like the way he looked when he was naked, he realized that he should probably put some clothes on. Something about being naked around a practical stranger felt a little uncomfortable, even for a shifter.
“You have brothers?”
“Two of them,” Declan confirmed. He tugged his pants on and then started to button his shirt. “Brian is the oldest. Christopher and I are next.”
“You have a twin?”
“We’re triplets, actually. Brian just always makes a big deal about the fact that he’s the oldest. So, when you meet him, be ready to deal with that kind of snarky comment.”
He couldn’t believe he’d basically just told her he was going to introduce her to his family, but he knew it was coming. He was going to need his brothers to help him kill Kellen. The fact that Brotella had been allowed to exist this long in the world was bad enough. He wasn’t going to live much longer. Not after what he’d done to this sweet lady.
The woman looked excited. Well, that was interesting. Declan knew that her parents had passed away. She’d told him that. She’d also said that she was all alone in the world, so it was possible that she didn’t have brothers or sisters.
“Do you have siblings?”
“No, it’s just me.”
Declan reached into the basket and pulled out his tablet and other supplies that he’d brought to Kellen’s. He wasn’t looking forward to checking his email. He was certain he’d have a couple of nasty messages from Kellan, but he didn’t particularly care about that. The only thing he wanted was to get the woman inside and make sure she was safe. Then he was going to gather his brothers, and they’d go slaughter the monster who tried to hurt this sweet girl.
“What’s your name?” He hadn’t asked her before. They’d been together the better part of the afternoon, and he hadn’t bothered to find out who she was.
“Zoa.”
“I’m Declan,” he told her. “It’s very nice to meet you, Zoa.”
“Likewise.”
It was a pretty name, and she was a pretty girl. She was dirty and injured and messy, but he’d help her get cleaned up. He would take care of her. He was suddenly filled with the totally overwhelming urge to just protect her. Where had that come from?
“All right. Let’s go inside.”
He led the way up the little staircase. Zoa followed Declan into the treehouse where he lived, and she gasped as she looked around. She clapped her hands together, and Declan was reminded of a little child getting a special gift on Christmas.
“It seems like you’re a fan,” he chuckled.
“More than a fan. I think it’s safe to say that I’m a super fan!” Zoa walked around the room, touching things and running her hands over the little pictures and trinkets and shelves. She grabbed a book and touched it carefully before setting it back down. Then she looked at a picture of Declan’s family.
“That’s my mom,” he told her. The picture Zoa was holding was taken just months ago. Declan, Christopher, Brian, and their mother had all gone on a wonderful hike together. They’d snapped a picture after to commemorate their adventure.
“She’s pretty. I like her necklace.”
“She never goes anywhere without it,” Declan commented. His mother was quite particular about her jewelry. That necklace was something she’d had since before Declan was born. He wasn’t sure she’d ever actually taken it off.
“It looks enchanted,” Zoa commented. “Like the kind of magical necklace that you’d read about in a fairytale.”
She shrugged and moved away from the picture. She walked around the room a few times before settling down. Once she seemed to be feeling a little more comfortable in her surroundings, Declan took charge.
“You need to shower. You can get changed after and you can take a nap. You’ll stay here for now.” He didn’t ask her or invite her. He’d never done anything like this before. He hadn’t rescued someone. He wasn’t particularly sure how he was supposed to go about doing it. In some ways, he worried that Zoa would see him as a kidnapper the way she saw Kellen, but he needn’t have worried.
“That sounds really nice,” she told him. She smiled. “Thank you, Declan. Thanks for saving me and helping to keep me safe.”
She trusted him, he realized. That was the difference between what he was doing and what Kellen had done. He’d made himself trustworthy, while Kellen had made himself a monster. Declan had no interest in hurting the human. He just wanted her to feel like everything was going to be okay.
“It was nothing.”
“That’s not true. You could lose your job,” she pointed out. “If your boss finds out you upset a client...” Zoa shivered, obviously unable to accept the idea.
“Don’t worry,” Dylan said wryly, “I’m sure my boss will understand.”
“You have a nice boss? The two of you get along?”
“I own my own company with my brothers,” he admitted. It wasn’t something he often talked about. Declan didn’t bring a lot of girls home, but when he did, he didn’t like talking about his company. He was always a little bit worried that someone would try to use his business against him, so he found that it was best to just focus on other things.
“That’s impressive,” Zoa said. “It sounds like the three of you really get along
.”
“We do.”
Christopher and Brian had always been there for Declan. No matter what he faced, he didn’t have to deal with it alone. They had his back 100%. Now he was relieved about that. He was facing a new situation today, and he was lucky that he knew his brothers would be there to help him with it.
No matter what happened next with Kellen, Christopher and Brian would be there to keep Declan safe. They wouldn’t ask too many questions, and they wouldn’t try to talk him out of killing Kellen. They’d just accompany him. They’d probably help him bury the body if he needed assistance there, too.
“Okay, time for you to go shower.” Declan pointed to a ladder that led to the second floor. “Go on upstairs. There are clean towels in the bathroom, and I’ll set some clothes out on the bed for you.”
“Thank you again,” Zoa smiled at Declan, and when she did, he felt something swelling deep inside of him. She was sweet, he thought, and cute. When she’d wanted to see his cock, it was just about the biggest self-confidence boost he could have imagined. Now he was about to send her upstairs to take a shower and then probably a nap.
The most beautiful girl he’d ever met was in his home, and she was looking at him like he was her hero.
Yeah, a dragon could get used to this.
Chapter 4
After a long, hot shower where Zoa cried more than she ever had before in her life, she reluctantly headed back into the bedroom. As promised, there was a set of clothing laid out on the bed. She wasn’t really sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t unicorn-printed PJs.
Zoa picked up the fabric and looked it over. It was soft. How the hell had this guy gotten pajamas in her size so quickly? Had he run to the store? Or had he already had these available? She wondered if he brought a lot of women back to his little treehouse hideaway.
Maybe these were just the pajamas he gave out to everyone. Perhaps they were a sort of souvenir. If you had sex with the dragon, you got unicorn pajamas. If you did a really, really good job, you got a postcard, too.