Dragon in the Rough (Elders Enterprises Book 1)

by Jo Vanz

  “Maryland,” Katie said with a sniffle. She watched as Paul shuffled through some papers on the desk.

  “What is your birthday?” he asked, not bothering to look up this time. Katie rattled it off as she stood and walked over to see what Paul was doing. He looked up as she approached. “There are four families in Maryland that lost a baby in the week surrounding your birth date.”

  Katie did not know what to say. Of all the things she was expecting Paul to be doing, looking for her parents was not one of them. “Are they still alive?” Mark asked from behind them.

  Paul turned and started typing on his computer. After a few minutes, he stood and turned back toward everyone. “Yes, they are all still living in Maryland, too.”

  Katie’s heart started to race. Her hands became moist and she rubbed them on her pants while trying to calm herself down. “Wait, do you guys not want to look for Lilith first?”

  Fabian shook his head. “It will be easier to notify your family that you are still alive than to track down Lilith and explain to her what we are and that we are her family. I mean think about it, what was your first reaction to Paul telling you about us?”

  Katie thought about it. If she had not spent time with the vampires then she would have been a lot more freaked out over them being dragons. But she was not sure she was ready to know about her parents. Yeah, she had spent her whole life wondering about them, but was she ready to meet them? Katie’s hands started shaking. Paul took a step toward her but she backed up. Turning, she ran to the bedroom and closed the door. She ran to the bed and crawled in, letting the tears fall from her eyes.

  It all just seemed too much. What had she gotten herself into? A week ago, her only goal in life was to catch criminals and to maybe one day open the envelope that would have told her nothing about her parents. Now she was head over heels in love with a dragon and so close to meeting her birth parents. Her whole world had been turned upside down.

  Katie sat there crying for about an hour before she heard a soft knock at the bedroom door. Katie did not bother to get up, Paul was already walking through the door. “I am sorry I ran out of there like that,” Katie managed to get out between sobs.

  Paul smiled at her, holding his hand up silently telling her to hold on. He walked across the bedroom to the bathroom. A moment after he disappeared, Katie heard water running into the tub. Paul showed up again and Katie started to get out of bed but he held his hand up again. Paul walked back out of the room, a minute later showing back up with two bottles of wine in his hands.

  “White or red?” he asked with a smile as he held up the bottles.

  “White is my new favorite color.” Katie winked at Paul when he laughed. He walked back into the bathroom and Katie heard the water turn off. Feeling antsy, she climbed out of bed and walked over to the bathroom. She peered around the corner and watched as Paul poured the wine into glasses and then he started getting undressed.

  “Now that is something I love to see,” Katie said with a smile on her lips. Damn, he was sexy.

  Paul jerked his head around to look at Katie. “I thought I told you to wait,” he said as desire stirred to life in his eyes.

  Katie laughed. “You did, but I am very impatient.” She stepped into the bathroom and starting taking off her clothes. As she slipped out of her underwear, she tossed them to Paul.

  He watched Katie as she stripped and caught her panties, bringing them up to his nose and inhaling deeply. “Woman, you are a tease,” he growled, his arousal showing all over his body.

  Katie walked over and reached around him for a glass of wine, making sure that her breasts rubbed against his chest. She brought the glass of wine up to her lips and took a quick swig. Once done, she looked up at Paul with a look she hoped was innocent. “Who, me? Never.” Katie giggled when Paul growled at her.

  “If you keep this up then you will not get your bath with me,” he threatened her with a grin that dared her to keep going. Katie thought about it for a second and then made her way over to the bath, slipping into the nice hot water.

  “Oh believe me, babe, I can keep it up and take a bath.” She took another sip of wine and moaned as the cold liquid made its way down her throat. Paul threw his hands up in the air, signaling his defeat. He walked over and slipped into the tub behind her. Katie settled back against his chest and let the water flow over her shoulders.

  They sat there quietly drinking their wine, Katie’s free hand rubbing Paul’s leg while he caressed her shoulders. Katie was finally feeling relaxed enough to try and figure out what was going to happen now. She turned just enough so she could look up at Paul. “When do you want to do the mating ceremony?”

  Paul smiled down at her. “Whenever you are ready to. But can I make a suggestion?” He rubbed his hand down Katie’s arms, making her shiver in anticipation of things to come.

  “Yes,” Katie replied. “As long as it does not require me to dance naked on any tables.” Katie grinned at the horror that ran across his face.

  Paul shook his head. “No dancing on top of tables unless it is for me.” He winked at her. “I merely suggest we find your parents first. This is a big deal for our kind. I know they will want to be a part of it.”

  Katie thought about it, “What if I am not ready to meet them yet?” She let out a slow breath. “I mean I have gone my whole life thinking that I was unwanted. I love the fact that I have found someplace I belong, but I just do not know how to let go of all those old feelings. Besides, what if they do not want to see me?”

  Paul wrapped his arms around Katie, holding her close. “In the past week, both of our lives have changed. We have changed. I would not have it any other way either. You are the strongest woman I know, so I know that you will get past those feelings. And your parents will want to know you. They thought you were dead and will welcome you with open arms. I know they will love you.”

  Katie had a feeling that Paul was right. Maybe it was time that she let go of the past and move forward with her life. Meeting her parents was the first step in the right direction. “How will we figure out who my parents are?”

  “We have arranged for the four families to fly up here today but they do not know what is going on. When they get here, we will run a DNA test. We should have an answer within the next few days.” Paul stood and got out of the tub, grabbing a towel and holding it open for Katie as she followed him.

  “When do they get in?” Katie asked as she wrapped the towel around her body, loving how soft it felt against her skin, even if what she really wanted was to have Paul’s hands all over her again.

  “Their flight lands in about three hours.” Paul turned and walked into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his hips. Katie watched as a drop of water made its way down his back. She was tempted to walk over and lick it off.

  Katie walked over to the bed and laid down across it. “Good, then we have time to practice making babies.” Katie laughed as Paul turned and faced her.

  “I would be honored to, love.” He ran over and pounced on Katie, ripping another laugh out of her. Paul bent down and gave Katie a quick kiss. “I love you, Katie. That will never change.” Before Katie could reply and tell him that she loved him, too, Paul was covering her mouth with his again.

  Chapter 19

  Katie was nervous as they walked into the Elders building. She was trying to keep an open mind about the families she was about to meet. Paul had kept her nice and busy over the last few hours so that she was not worrying about it but now, she had nothing to distract her. As much as she tried, the feelings of being abandoned kept creeping back into her head.

  “It is all going to be all right, love,” Paul purred into her ear. “I will be right here beside you the whole time.” He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close as they walked to the elevators.

  “What if they do not like who I have become?” Katie stopped in front of the elevators and turned to look up at Paul. Out of all her fears, that one was first and foremost in front
of her head. She did not think that she could handle being rejected by her own parents.

  “That is impossible.” Paul sounded confident. “They will just be happy that you are alive. Nothing else will matter to them.” Katie hoped he was right.

  She looked up at Paul and cleared her throat. “Promise me something, please.”

  “Anything, love, as long as it does not involve me dancing on top of a table, clothed or otherwise. I promise you do not want to see that.”

  Katie laughed. She liked the fact that Paul could help her relax so easily. “I want to do the mating ceremony in two days, no matter what happens with these families. I want us to start our new life together.” She did not want to add that she was scared that Julie may come between them again. She just wanted to have some comfort that she and Paul were mated, thus giving Katie her full power so she could over power Julie if she tried anything else.

  “We can do that.” He smiled at Katie before giving her a quick kiss. “Just so you know, it will be a busy couple of days. With all the preparations for the ceremony.”

  Katie turned and pressed the button to call the elevator. “I can handle that. It will help to keep my mind off of everything else.”

  The elevator binged and then the doors opened. No one was in there so they stepped inside and waited for the doors to close. As soon as the elevator started moving, Paul turned to Katie, bent down, and kissed her. Katie wrapped her arms around him, pulling him as close as she could. She did not want to think about what was coming when the elevator doors opened back up.

  All too soon, there was a bing and Paul pulled away, straightening up their clothes before the doors opened up. Katie took a deep breath and stepped out.

  Mark met them outside the conference room. As Katie walked up, he threw his arms around her, giving her a hug before Paul growled at him. Mark immediately pulled away and wiped a tear off of his cheek. “Thank you so much, Katie.”

  “For what?” Katie asked, confused.

  Mark wiped away the tear from his cheek. “For giving us all hope again. If it had not been for you, we would not know that Lilith could be out there in the world.”

  Great, now Katie was tearing up again. “You do not need to thank me, Mark.” She glanced around him to see eight people sitting around the table inside the conference room. “So how much do they know?” she asked.

  Mark shook his head. “We have not told them anything yet. We wanted to see how you wanted to break it to them. This is your life so you have a say in everything that happens.”

  “Then how did you get them to drop everything and come up here?” Katie asked. She knew she was just wasting time, and putting off going in and meeting them.

  “The Elders summoned them, so they had to show up ASAP or face the consequences. Which, believe me, no one wants to piss off the Elders.” He looked at Paul. “Well, everyone except your soon-to-be mate.” He glanced back at the families. “So how do you want us to tell them?”

  Katie thought about it. She did not want to put the families in a situation where they felt they had to accept her. She wanted them to relax and feel at ease, even with this stressful situation. “I will handle it.” Katie squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and pushed past Mark to walk into the conference room.

  As Katie walked past the families, they all turned to look at her with confusion. She noted that they all seemed to hold a sadness around them. Maybe they were just as lost as she was without them. Maybe they would want to know her.

  “Who are you?” one of the gentlemen asked. Katie looked him over, taking note of how his graying hair made his silver eyes stand out. He held himself as if everyone else was beneath him. A true alpha.

  Katie stopped at the head of the table, Mark and Paul coming to stand behind her. Katie liked the feeling that they had her back. She was a female surrounded by alpha male dragons. She knew one wrong step and they would chew her up and spit her out.

  “My name is Katie. You all have been summoned here by the Elders on a matter that will be hard to understand and accept at first. Rest assured that we are doing everything we can correct this issue quickly.” Katie took the time to look each of them in the eye, noting that some bowed their head and others looked back in a way that made Katie feel like they were challenging her. She did not back down until they nodded for her to continue.

  “So what is this all important issue that caused me to put my life on hold?” a lady with long dark hair asked. Her husband reached over and grabbed her hand, Katie guessed it was a warning to the woman to watch what she said.

  “If you will bear with me, I will explain everything. In order to do so, I think there are a few things you need to know about me. About my life. So if you could, hold all of your questions until the end.” Katie watched as each and every one of them nodded their heads.

  Pushing past the lump in her throat, Katie took a deep breath. “I only recently found out that I am a dragon.” She watched as even more confusion crossed their faces. “I was abandoned as a baby and left in the human foster care system. I felt like I was unloved and unwanted, bouncing around from house to house. It was horrible being told I was freak my whole life.”

  Katie paused to calm herself down. She needed to push her emotions to the side for right now. Before she could say anymore, the same woman from earlier stood. “I hope you are not suggesting that one of us would abandon our child!” she screamed at Katie.

  “I am not saying that at all,” Katie snapped back. “Now, may I finish?” Katie waited until the woman nodded and sat back down before she continued.

  “Now, as I was saying, I met Paul about a week ago. He thought that there was a possibility of me being a dragon but we were not sure until my eyes started to change.” Katie looked around again. All eyes were on her. She cleared her throat again. “So naturally, we started looking into my birth parents. But we hit a dead end, well, until we started looking into other possible dragons.”

  Katie reached behind her and grabbed Paul’s hand, giving it a tiny squeeze. She really did not want to be the one to tell these people. “I will not go into detail as it is still an ongoing investigation, but it seems that Julie Embers was the one who dropped us all off with the humans.” Katie watched as their faces went from confusion to shock.

  “How is that even possible? She was not mated, so she could not have had any children. And what does this have to do with us?” one of the men asked.

  “It was possible because they were not her children. She was crazy. She thought if she got rid of all the females that she would have a better chance of finding her own mate.” Now the hard part, Katie thought. Paul squeezed her hand, reminding her that he was there for her.

  “She would help deliver the babies, then when a female was born, she would switch the child with a dead human baby. The parents would think their child was dead and then the female would grow up with the humans.” She watched as the looks of shock and confusion turned to horror. Katie could not watch them anymore. She turned her head and buried it into Paul’s chest. She was relieved when he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

  Mark stepped forward and cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. “What I believe Katie is trying to say is this. Julie has been doing this for fifty years now. She has slipped past everyone’s radar until Katie came along. She did it to each and every one of you sitting in this room. Each of you may still have a daughter out there that needs you. Now, you all have been brought here today because you each lost a baby girl in the weeks surrounding Katie being abandoned.” He paused and looked at Katie now. “This woman right here could very well be your daughter.”

  “How will we find out?” another woman asked as she wiped away a tear that ran down her cheek.

  “We can do a DNA test as soon as you are ready. It will take a few days to get the results,” Paul said as he rubbed Katie’s back. They all looked at Katie with wonder in their eyes. Katie wanted to do a happy dance. She now knew that it may not be
easy, but she would have a family.

  After what seemed like forever, the gentleman with silver hair stood, tears streaming down his cheeks like a river. “If she is my daughter, then I would like to know.” Katie looked around as everyone nodded their heads in agreement. “That being said, why wait for a DNA test? It is clear that she has already started the mating process, so why not just do the ceremony? It is the quickest way for us all to get an answer.”

  “Sorry, I am still new to all of this. How would that be faster than a DNA test?” Katie asked, looking around.

  The man smiled. “My wife and I are earth dragons. Smokey and his wife are fire dragons. The Tempests are wind. Then the Crests are water dragons. You could not have picked four better couples. If you are one of our children, then your dragon will match us.”

  Katie knew that she was ready to finally know. They were already planning on doing the mating ceremony in a few days, so why not just go ahead and do it now? She looked up at Paul, asking the silent question. When he nodded, Katie turned to look at everyone. “We will do it.”

  “Give us a few hours to pull everything together. You will have your answers by the end of the night.” Paul gave Katie a quick kiss before he leaned down and scooped her up into his strong arms. Before anyone else could say anything, he turned and carried Katie out of the room.

  They were silent as they took the elevator down to Katie’s office. Once inside, Paul kicked the door closed and made his way over to her desk where he sat her down. “We do not have to do this so quickly if you do not want to, love.”

  “We need to do this. Not just for us but for those families, too. We all need answers.” Katie paused, pushing past her emotions. “I just cannot help feeling that one family will get the best news ever tonight while the other three will be devastated.”

  “They will not be devastated, Katie. They will be hopeful that their little girl is still out there waiting for them to find her.” He wrapped Katie in another hug. “We will all work together to bring every child home.”