Dragon's Heart: Melanie's Men

by T. Cobbin

  Both he and Cole had news of their own to break to their female. Over the last week, her scent had slightly changed. A huge smile broke out on Brock’s face when he thought about the cub growing in her belly. It didn’t matter if it was his or Cole’s seed that it came from. It was their cub, and if one day, the cub wanted to know whose DNA it shared, then they would find out. Until then, and even after, it would have two fathers that would love him or her the same.

  “Scotch on the rocks please,” a male panther shifter called out to Brock, shaking a tenner in his hand.

  Making his way over to the customer, Brock pulled out a clean glass and started to pour his drink.

  Bradley strolled in from the back carrying a crate of Bud Light. “Where do you want this?” he shouted.

  “Fill the fridge for now,” Brock shouted back.

  The young lad was a hard worker. Since he’d started working there the previous week, he had proved that he wanted to fit in. Not one worker at Dragon’s Heart had complained or moaned about him even once. After they’d heard his story, they all accepted him as a member of the staff. Gradually, over the week, he’d been welcomed as family. The very first hyena shifter to do so.

  The panther’s eyes Brock was serving flashed orange. “You have a fucking hyena working here?”

  Shoving the male’s drink toward him, Brock snatched the tenner from his hand. “And what of it? Got a problem?” Brock rumbled.

  “Yeah, they are dirty, thieving fuckers.” The panther shifter leaned over the bar, glowering at Bradley.

  “Then drink your drink and get out.” Brock signaled to one of the bouncers. “And thank you for your tip.” He shoved the tenner into the till while keeping an eye on the man.

  The male shotted his drink and allowed the bouncer, who appeared at his side, to quietly escort him out of the club. Brock heard Bradley curse behind him. Turning and bending, he picked a few bottles up and helped Bradley place them in the mini-fridge.

  “You have to accept it eventually.” Brock chuckled. This had been the third or fourth person who’d been escorted out because they’d seen or smelled Bradley and disagreed with him working there.

  “But come on, Brock. You ain’t gonna have no customers soon.”

  Brock placed a reassuring hand on Bradley’s shoulder. “Boy, you’re family now. Troy don’t allow anyone to diss his staff or friends. You’re one of those. Accept it.”

  Bradley hung his head and sighed.

  Adding humor to his voice to break the male’s despondent look, Brock said, “Get back to work, newbie, before I tell the boss to dock your wages and give them to me instead.”

  Bradley stared up at him. A few seconds later, he mirrored Brock’s smile and shook his head. “Stubborn arsed bears,” Bradley threw out, his voice full of humor.

  “Fucking lazy newbies,” Brock retorted with a chuckle and went back to work.

  Troy had bought a few apartments specifically to help his staff. They paid the bills, and he pulled the rent from their wages. Brock remembered seeing Bradley’s face as he’d walked around the place Troy offered to rent to him. It was a picture of shock and happiness. The male vowed he’d never let them down, and thank you still spewed from his mouth constantly.

  “Sunday. Roast. See you there,” Brock called over his shoulder and began pouring some woman a dry martini.

  “Sure thing” was Bradley’s reply before he slipped out back, carrying an empty crate with him.

  Brock smiled and threw a glance up at the VIP room where Melanie and her friends were. He watched her move; she was dancing with Bobbie, that red dress riding up her thighs a touch. Brock’s cock twitched. He glanced at the clock behind the bar, checking the time. Giving the woman her change, he twisted toward Cole and whistled. Break time. After making sure the bar was covered enough for him and Cole to disappear, both headed upstairs to their mate.

  A fiery red ball of flame met them at the door. “Are you two really…like…” Bobbie lifted both hands and curled her fingers into claws.

  Making sure it was just the female friends in the room, Brock leaned forward and allowed his bear to extend his fangs.

  Bobbie’s eyes widened and she grinned, letting out a small squeal. Turning toward her friends, she fluttered a hand over her chest and squealed again. “That is so fucking cool.”

  The females burst into laughter.

  Melanie headed toward him and Cole. Her hand touched his chest, and he could feel the warmth flood from her to him.

  “Did you talk to your parents, Cole?” Melanie asked over his shoulder.

  Sidestepping, Brock allowed his other mate into the room.

  “Yep.” He winked. “They will be here on Sunday. They’re looking forward to tasting your cooking.”

  Melanie’s face brightened to a smile a mile wide. After being home a week, Cole decided it was time for his parents to meet Melanie. They had greeted her like she’d been family all her life. Melanie had sobbed later that evening between him and Cole. She couldn’t believe how much her life had changed. How suddenly she had a family she had craved all her life. How quickly she had more love than she knew what to do with.

  Looking down at his little mate now, Brock didn’t want to think of a day without her.

  “Great.” Melanie beamed up at him. “Now, I guess you’re here because you’re on a break?” she asked, an eyebrow raising, and it was Brock’s turn to grin from ear to ear. “Well, that’s good then, because I have some news.”

  So do we, thought Brock.

  “I went to see Troy with Wendy. We both need a job.”

  Brock opened his mouth. His little mate didn’t need to work. He and Cole could look after her; she wouldn’t want or need for anything. Melanie lifted her hand and pushed his chin up, shutting his mouth.

  “I love you, but I need to work. Until I can get a job in a school around here, Troy has said both Wendy and I can work here. I know how to mix a drink or two, so he agreed that I can work with you guys, for now.”

  Oh, my friend and I will be having words, Brock growled in his head.

  “That’s awesome.” Cole picked up their mate, his hands firmly holding her waist, and spun her around. “You know what that means, right?” he asked in her ear. “We get to have you at work as well as at home.”

  Melanie slapped his chest, giggling. “Sex fiend.”

  “Only for you, sweetpea.”

  Cole and Melanie paused and stared at Brock, both sets of eyes pleading for him to say he was okay with her working at the club. With a roll of his eyes and a sigh, he gathered the pair in his arms and kissed them both.

  “We have something to tell you too,” Brock whispered into her ear. “But let’s go back to our office.”

  Melanie turned toward her friends and waved. “See you in a bit,” she called out.

  Each one of her friends waved back with a smirk on their faces.

  “We know what you’ll be doing,” Bobbie sang as the trio left the room.

  Epilogue

  Melanie sighed, slipping back into bed. Morning sickness was a bitch.

  Laying back down, she went over the events of the last few weeks. So much had happened. She and Wendy had started work at Dragon’s Heart and were enjoying doing something different. Melanie thought Todd—who was the manager at the club—was a miserable arsehole, so she’d replaced all his expensive alcohol in his office with miniatures. Boy, was he pissed.

  Then something had gone on with Pete and Wendy, causing her friend to get shot. Melanie learned then that all dragon shifters had a little magic of their own. Pete, who was Wendy’s mate, could heal. So Wendy was okay.

  Another of Melanie’s friends, Sarah, had left their little circle to move to Scotland after her ex came after her. She had also mated with a dragon shifter, Dennenth, and the pair were now having triplets. Three kids? Ouch!

  Amy and Troy’s marriage ceremony, which was held in Dragon’s Heart, went off without a hitch. It was good to see her friend so happy. In f
act, it was brilliant to see all her friends happy.

  Melanie had also made a new friend, a female dragon shifter named Porsha. She’d just joined Dragon’s Heart as a waitress. She had such a lovely, bubbly personality. Melanie had even been allowed to see her dragon a few times. It was gorgeous, the color of pure ivory.

  Bobbie, however, was still her bestie. Bobbie had also managed to worm her way into getting a job at the club. She didn’t want to go back to work at the nursery without her friends. Although each woman liked working at Dragon’s Heart, they had vowed to go back into teaching as soon as they could. Melanie also noticed that Todd always seemed to turn a little green around her friend. It made her wonder what Bobbie had done to him.

  Bradley had become a firm friend. In fact, they were so close now that he was like the brother she never had. He had a side for pranks too, which made them a fitting pair to go up against. Todd found that out!

  As for herself and her bears, they were good. More than good. The night they had told her she was pregnant, she’d felt physically sick. But gradually, after the shock wore off, a pleasant warmth flooded through her. During her entire life, all she had ever wanted was to be loved. To have a family of her own. To throw away her hiking boots and settle in one place.

  “Hey, sweetpea,” Cole crooned, walking into their bedroom.

  Melanie groaned as another wave of nausea rocked through her. “Why can’t you have this baby?”

  “Because Mother Nature deemed it to be the females who carry our offspring.” Cole sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on her forehead. Her body calmed, and her nausea settled down.

  “I always feel better with you around. When Brock touches me when I feel like this, he just makes me feel horny.”

  “Perhaps it’s the cub liking me more.” Cole chuckled.

  “Who likes who more?” Brock questioned, entering the room with a tray. Not receiving an answer, he shook his head, and stood beside the bed saying, “Never mind. I don’t want to know, right? Sit up, babe,” he ordered.

  Once she was sitting up, he placed the tray over her legs. There were several ginger biscuits on a plate and what looked and smelled like ginger ale in a glass next to them. Even this small gesture, from this huge, bulky, muscled bear shifter had Melanie’s eyes misting. Stupid hormones. Both men had done what they could to help her, to be with her when she vomited day or night.

  “It will all be over soon,” Brock crooned, sitting beside her on the bed.

  “You know there is no way I’m getting pregnant again, right?”

  A look passed between her two men that told her this house was going to be full of cubs, one way or another. Well crap!

  About T. Cobbin

  Trish Cobbin started to write books as an escape, but she took a break when she became a full-time mother to three children. Once her children were grown and flew the coop, expanding their own families and giving her three wonderful grandchildren, she was left with some spare time and decided to put pen to paper again. She lives in the UK with her faithful dogs Jellybean and Puddin’, and her youngest son, and a door that is never closed to family.

  T. Cobbin’s Website:

  www.tcobbin.co.uk

  Reader eMail:

  Pinchmeitsreal@gmail.com

  More Beachwalk Press Titles by T. Cobbin

  Dragon’s Heart: Troy’s Trouble

  Dragon’s Heart: Dennenth’s Darling

  Dragon’s Heart: Pete’s Precious

  Box Set: Dragon’s Heart, Volume 1

  Whisper Pride Pack

  The Tranquil Hunters Pride

  The Alpha’s Chick

  The Enforcer’s Destined Mate

  Running From Eden

  Free From Eden

  Untamed Shifter Love

  Dragon’s Heart: Troy’s Trouble

  It was just supposed to be a one-night stand, but it turned into so much more.

  Troy spends his days and nights running his nightclub, Dragon’s Heart. Despite his busy schedule, he doesn’t lack for female companionship. He’s never had a problem attracting women, or a problem saying goodbye to them the next morning. Then one night he meets a beautiful young lady at his club, and she changes all that.

  Initially, Troy thought it would just be another one-night stand, but he discovers he’s very wrong. This woman is his mate. However, the next morning he wakes up to an empty bed with no way to locate her. He doesn’t even know her name. He’s determined to find her though—he has to. But how will she react when she discovers he’s a dragon shifter?

  Amy is a nursery teacher who lives a quiet life. She isn’t one for sleeping around, but something about Troy pulls her in. She decides that just this once she’ll relax and enjoy herself…enjoy him. She has no idea that one night will turn her world upside down. Not only is she about to enter a whole new world she had no idea even existed, but her past is about to rear its ugly head, and she may not survive.

  Content Warning: contains strong language, some violence, and lots of hot, steamy sex

  Dragon’s Heart: Dennenth’s Darling

  Sarah knows her past will catch up with her sooner or later, but a red dragon catches her first.

  Dennenth moved to London from his beloved mountains in Scotland, leaving his family, in the hopes of finding his true mate. Accepting his friend’s job offer, he works as a bouncer in a nightclub. What better place to meet women?

  Sarah is a single mother with a past she wants to forget. But having a psychotic ex-husband who will come looking for you as soon as he’s released from prison isn’t something you can get away from. She has enough on her plate, and she’s not looking for a man. And she certainly doesn’t expect to meet one who can…shift into a dragon. What the hell? But she soon finds herself caught up in Dennenth’s world, shocked even more when the sexy man informs her that she’s his mate.

  When Sarah’s past finally catches up with her, can Dennenth save her in time?

  Content Warning: contains strong language, some violence, and lots of hot, steamy sex scenes

  Dragon’s Heart: Pete’s Precious

  A dragon shifter finds his mate, but now he’s put her in danger. He has to protect her at any cost, because he can’t handle losing another person he loves.

  Pete had his heart ripped to pieces years ago when his family was murdered in their home. He left the island his family owned, vowing never to return.

  He’s spent years searching for his mate, someone to help ease the pain and give him a reason to live. As soon as he sees Wendy he knows she’s the one. And for some unexplainable reason he feels the needs to take her to his island and show her where he grew up. With her by his side, he thinks he might be able to face the scene of the crime, and maybe he can even forgive himself for not being able to save his family.

  And while they’re there he plans to tell Wendy the truth about himself—he’s a dragon shifter. Surely that won’t freak her out, will it?

  Arriving at the island, Pete quickly discovers he’s put the woman he loves in danger. Someone evil—the person responsible for his family’s death, he believes—is lurking on the island, and now he’s coming after them. But Pete refuses to lose another person he loves to this lunatic.

  Content Warning: contains strong language, some violence, and lots of hot, steamy sex scenes