OWNED BY THE SPACE DRAGON
ASHLEY HUNTER
Copyright 2016 by Ashley Hunter
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced
in any way whatsoever, without written permission
from the author, except in case of brief
quotations embodied in critical reviews
and articles.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any
character, person, living or dead, events, place or
organizations is purely coincidental. The author does not
have any control over and does not assume any responsibility
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First edition, 2016
The Morning After
Bradley Nash heard his cell phone ringing as he swam across the bottom of the pool. Even with the pressure of the water, the ringing sounded loud.
Bradley winced but kept going. Swimming his hangover off wasn't working. It took a lot to get an alien shifter drunk and with dragons, you would have to drink enough to give a human cirrhosis of the liver.
Bradley had somehow passed the limit pretty early on in the night for the unknown time in the last six months. He hadn't got drunk himself before then and now he was realizing that while getting drunk was hard, getting rid of the hangover was harder.
The phone was still ringing when he surfaced at the end of the pool. Snarling, Bradley lifted himself out and stalked towards his towel, which lay on a nearby chair. His cell phone lay on top. Snatching it up, Bradley went to throw it into the pool. He wasn't interested in talking to anyone and he could easily get another phone.
Then, he saw the number. Failure to answer the caller would give him hell. Sighing, he sat on the chair and answered.
"What do you want, Lex?"
"Have you still not learnt to answer the phone properly?"
"Of course. Just not with you." Bradley pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "What do you want? I've got a headache and I'm not in a condition to talk."
"I'm not surprised after what you were knocking back last night."
"What are you talking about?"
Bradley remembered knocking back several flaming sambucas and several dozen vodka shots but that was it.
"Have you not seen the morning papers?"
His sister's voice seemed to be getting higher with her frustration and it was grating on his nerves. Bradley winced.
"I've only just woken up, Lex. What's in the papers?"
"You're on the front page." Lex sounded like she was about to blow a fuse. "Do you remember things now or would you like me to elaborate?"
Bradley's mind cleared the fog momentarily and he remembered more of the details from the night before. Guilt flooded him but he pushed it away. He shouldn't have anything to be guilty about; he didn't start the rumours. It was always those and the comments made to his face that started the fights.
And there had been a lot of them lately.
He settled back and sighed.
"No, you don't need to elaborate. I know what you're talking about."
One of these days, he was going to have a fight where there were no cameras about, the photographers shoving them in his face as they snapped away to make a quick buck. He was big news due to his wealth and that meant a lot of money for the people who sold stories about him. Several earthlings had tried to sell a story about sleeping with him but Bradley had never heard of most of them; they just wanted the cash they couldn't get from him.
He made a mental note to find out who snapped the pictures. Someone was going to end the day on a sour note and it certainly wasn't going to be him.
"What the hell were you thinking, Brad? I thought you promised me you weren't going to get into fights anymore. It's not good for your image."
"I didn't ask for the guy to come up to me and say what he did." Bradley realized he sounded like a petulant child but he didn't care. "He deserved a smack."
"A smack?" Lex shrieked loud enough for Bradley to pull the phone away from his ear. "You put him in hospital! He's going to need a metal plate put into his jaw. You nearly smashed his face to a pulp with one punch, Brad!"
"I know! You don't have to tell me what I already know."
It was hell when you had an overprotective sister but it was worse when the sister was his public relations officer. Alexandria Nash looked after the publicity around Bradley and had been running more damage control in the last six months than she had in the last five years. His little sister knew how to put salve on wounds and make things better but she was fiery as hell behind closed doors.
Having her on his side was better than having her gunning for his blood. Lex was fiercely loyal to him and Bradley loved her to death. But she was annoying when she was going on at him.
And she knew the reason why his behaviour had gone off the rails.
Lex sighed. Bradley could see her sitting in the office in her apartment, phone on loudspeaker as she tapped away on her computer. Even now Bradley could hear the tapping of the keys. The woman never stopped typing.
"I thought you were going to those anger management classes."
"I did." Bradley rubbed at his eyes. "But I ended up punching the guy so I was told not to come back."
"Did he press charges?"
"Thankfully, no. Ron managed to talk him out of it and ran his own damage control."
Some days having a personal assistant - on Lex's insistence - was a godsend. With Bradley's many businesses, he needed someone organized to keep him in check and make sure he didn't run around in circles.
Ron Evas had kept him on task for the past two years and Bradley appreciated it. He certainly needed it that afternoon when he had attacked the counsellor assigned to him after he had patronized him one too many times.
He could almost feel Lex shaking her head.
"You need to get your anger under control or someone you genuinely care about it going to get hurt."
"You're the only person I care about, Lex. I don't care about anyone else."
And Bradley didn't. He was the dragon king, in charge of a small clan, and he didn't care about them. There might have been a time when he did care but lately only Lex meant anything to him.
After the accident, the only person he gave a damn about was his sister.
As he briefly remembered the scar on his side, one that his shifter healing abilities couldn't get rid of, itched and Bradley resisted the urge to scratch it.
Lex knew the anguish he was going through. She hadn't been there but she had seen the aftermath. It had been Lex who had refused to leave Bradley's side for three weeks until he was willing to leave his house. Lex was his everything and that wasn't going to change.
"You know what happened was not your fault." Lex's voice had softened. The typing had stopped. "Mom and Dad wouldn't blame you."
"Try telling that to my conscience." Bradley grunted. "It's been weighing on me since that night."
"I wish you weren't like this." Lex sniffed. "I want the brother I had back. I love you but I miss the old Brad."
Bradley missed his old self as well. He closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath.
"It's not going to be easy, Lex. I'm carrying a lot around with me. How am I going to get rid of it and go back to how I was? My magic's good but not that good to change me back with a snap of my fingers."
"You're going to need to get the he
lp we want you to get. I know you won't accept it but you need to get help."
The damn woman was stubborn.
"You're going to go on about this until I give in, aren't you?"
"Absolutely. I don't want anything to happen to you or your businesses because you've lost your temper one too many times. People who know you don't recognize the person you used to be."
"I had a short fuse then."
"But you had it under better control. You know the responsibilities you've taken on. You need to remember those and not what's going on in your head."
"There are only twenty of us in the clan, particularly of our race, Lex! They can take care of themselves. After all, we’ve successfully blended in with this planet’s community. Thanks to our great ancestors who chose to leave Planet Maeeze for good all those centuries ago."
"That's as maybe, but we're all waiting for you to get back on your feet. This is going on too long. You're going to get people jostling for the position of dragon king." Lex huffed. "You need to get yourself sorted."
Bradley knew this conversation would go on for days if he let it. But because he loved her he decided to appease her now.
"Okay, fine." He sat up. "I'll try another anger management course. But on my terms."
"As long as you get it sorted." Now Lex was sounding grim. "You've got until the end of the month. That's exactly four weeks."
"Four weeks? You've never set an ultimatum before."
"That's not from me. That's from Daniel. He says if you haven't got your act together exactly a month from today, you are going to have to fight for your title, blood and inheritance be damned. He wants to be the king."
Bradley was stunned. Daniel was one of the lesser dragons. He chose to be in the background instead of being actively involved.
"He wouldn't stand a chance."
"Do you want to wait to find out?"
If he was honest, Bradley wasn't in a position to fight. He needed his anger under control first. He sighed.
"Okay. I'll get Ron to find someone."
"Thank you." Lex's voice softened. "I love you, Brad."
"Love you, too, sis."
Bradley hung up and stared at his phone. He loved his sister and he didn't want to lose her and the positions they held if Daniel won. Daniel had had his eye on Lex for years and while Lex had made it clear she wasn't interested Daniel wouldn't let that stop him from forcefully taking her as his mate if he became king.
Bradley didn't want Lex to be mated to a man she hated.
He found Ron's number and listened to three rings before his personal assistant picked up.
"Yes, sir?"
"Come down to the pool house, Ron." Bradley stood and picked up his towel. "I need another anger management counsellor."
#
Cassidy Glen stood in the doorway of her office, watching the chaos leaving the clinic. The husband was still struggling and yelling obscenities as the two uniformed police officers dragged him out of the clinic.
His wife was being held back by Dan, the clinic's security guard, shouting at her husband that she was going to kill him. Cassidy's colleagues had also left their offices at the commotion and were watching the scene.
She was glad her boss wasn't in that day or he would see the mess.
Cassidy sighed. Another marriage counselling session had ended in violence. When the husband had started kicking off about his wife's cheating, the woman had retaliated by goading him about the size of his manhood. Evidently a man with a big ego, he had lashed out and shoved his wife.
Cassidy had buzzed for Dan and had ended up with the husband pinning her to the wall with his hand at her throat. Her neck was still burning and she was sure there would be bruises. From everyone looking at her Cassidy knew that her flesh was bright red.
Her secretary approached her, a deep frown between her eyes. She touched Cassidy's arm.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Cassidy touched her neck. Wincing, she reiterated her statement. "I'll live."
Brittani Downie didn't look convinced. But she didn't pursue it; she didn't need to. They had worked together since Cassidy had come to work at the clinic seven years before and Brittani knew Cassidy well enough to know when Cassidy said what she meant.
Cassidy shook her head and moved back into her office. She rubbed her hands over her face. After that explosive half-hour she was mentally drained.
"People like that give me a headache." She complained. "I don't know why I keep agreeing to marriage counselling when I wasn't even hired for that."
"Because you're good at what you do." Brittani grinned and shook her head, her glossy black curls bouncing around her face. "And you can't say no to your boss."
"That as well." Cassidy eased herself to sit behind her desk. Her shoulder blades were sore from slamming into the wall and it was uncomfortable leaning back. "Did you want me for something?"
"There's a Mr Ron Evas on the phone." Brittani gave her a meaningful look. "He says he's Bradley Nash's PA."
Cassidy's breath hitched. She felt her heart pounding and her pussy clenching when she heard that man's name.
"Bradley Nash the millionaire?"
Not that she needed to ask. There was only one Bradley Nash she knew if. He was the reason her vibrator had worn itself out.
"That's him." Brittani smirked. "He wants to speak to you."
For a moment Cassidy thought she meant Bradley Nash himself but then remembered it was his PA calling. Tamping down on her disappointment, Cassidy tried to look casual as she crossed her legs, squeezing them together to stop the throbbing.
"I wonder what he wants."
"It's probably something to do with his escapade last night." Brittani grunted. "It was in the papers this morning about another fight he had got into with someone who works on Wall Street. That man has shown a short fuse that keeps getting significantly shorter as the months go on."
"He did lose his parents in a car crash and they did die in his arms." Cassidy pointed out. "I think he's entitled."
"Does that entitle him to beat the crap out of people?"
"I'm not defending him, Brittani. I'm not condoning what he's done."
"Yeah," Brittani smirked, "You're not defending your dirty fantasy."
Cassidy groaned. She wished she hadn't told Brittani about her secret crush. But that was when she hadn't been expecting his staff to call her asking for an audience. She looked away, aware that she was blushing.
"I'll take it now. Thanks, Brittani."
She heard Brittani giggle and leave the office, closing the door behind her. Cassidy reached for her office phone, which had one light flashing, signifying there was someone waiting for her to answer. She pressed the button and picked up the phone.
"Hello, this is Cassidy Glen."
"Good afternoon, Miss Glen." The voice on the other end was a deep bass and smooth. "My name is Ron Evas. I apologize if I've interrupted you."
"No, you haven't. I'd just finished a session and it overran a little." That was an understatement. Cassidy sat back gingerly, braving putting pressure on her back. "What can I do for you, Mr Evas?"
"You know who I work for, don't you?"
"Who doesn't? Bradley Nash is notorious in more ways than one."
"Is that good or bad?"
"Depends on who you're talking to, I guess."
Cassidy kept up with anything involved Bradley so she knew the ins and outs of his life, including who made it into his employ or started working out a deal with him. If it had been anyone else she would have been called a stalker but Cassidy mentally justified it as a harmless crush from a distance. She wasn't good enough to meet the man himself and they would never be in the same circles.
Evidently, that was going to change.
"Well, I'm sure you've read the papers about the recent fights and his loss of control. His sister has told him to clean up his act and Mr Nash is accepting that he needs an anger management counsellor."
Cassidy t
ensed. That was what she had primarily trained for but barely did nowadays. Counsellor the millionaire would be an amazing experience but his past with other counsellors was less to be desired.
"A friend of mine was his counsellor a few weeks back. That didn't end well."
That was another understatement.
"I think he'll be more susceptible to a pretty face." Evas said. "And from your website and your biography, you've got the credentials we're looking for."
Cassidy heard this and knew what he was saying. But it was taking a while to sink in. It felt a little like her fantasy was coming true.
"You're asking me to become his counsellor?"
"I'd like you to. You'll be just what Mr Nash needs." Evas paused. "You'll be paid extremely well for your services, plus room and board."
"Room and board?"
"Mr Nash has said specifically that you're to stay in his house for the month you're in his employ. That's he's to be your only client for that time. No arguments, it's one of the conditions he's imposed."
A whole month in Bradley Nash's house with the man himself. Cassidy felt like her body was being licked by heat. She wondered if her body was going to cope and made a mental note to invest in a few vibrators to stave off the lust.
Then, she remembered that she had a job and she couldn't just drop everything.
"But if I did that, it would mean I could lose my job. I can't just disappear for a month like that."
"Mr Nash is prepared to speak to your boss once he's got you on board and he'll help you get your colleagues to take your cases for then. And he'll pay handsomely to cover that as well."
On top of the pay, she would get for working on him. Cassidy didn't like money leading her but she was tempted.
"How much are we talking about?"
When Evas quoted the amount, Cassidy nearly fell off her chair. With that money, she could pay her rent on her apartment up front for the next five years and still have lots left over.
Hell, that could buy her a house in a very decent area. She wouldn't need to scrimp and save for the deposit. That money could buy her the house, pay off the mortgage in one go, and she would have lots of change. She might not even need to work again if she didn't want to. Cassidy wanted to work but it was nice to know there would be a nest egg in case anything happened.
Alien Romance: The Space Dragon's Owned: Scifi Alien Abduction Romance (Alien Romance, Alien Invasion Romance, BBW) Page 1