“And what would you suggest?” he hissed at his partner. “How do you go about telling a mortal she’s with two dragons? Hm, what would you do, genius?”
“I wouldn’t freak out and try to tie her up!” Quill retorted, standing to get in his face.
“What else am I supposed to do, keep carrying her back in here? Now that she’s with us, she’ll be in danger out there.”
“You didn’t seem to care about that before!” Quill spat.
“Maybe I do now!”
They huffed at each other until giggles and then full-on laughs erupted in the room.
Tara was leaned on the bed, holding her stomach as she laughed. She looked at them with tears of mirth in her eyes. “Maybe I’m just tired,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Or maybe it’s just been a long day. But looking at you two now, arguing like that, I can’t help but think you’re more trouble for each other than you’d ever be for me. I don’t know which of you is more ridiculous.”
Quill grinned at her, but Drake frowned. He didn’t like being mocked. “We’re not ridiculous.”
“Yes, you are,” she said, gesturing. “Look at you. You can’t agree on anything, and if nothing else, you both seem as lost in this situation as I am, and that makes me feel better somehow.”
Drake blinked in shock as some of the tension left his body. “Okay.”
Quill calmed as well, turning to consider her thoughtfully.
“Well,” she said, putting her hands in the air, palms up. “I guess there’s no harm in waiting for an explanation about this mate thing. But no more trying to restrain me or make a move on me. Got it?”
Drake looked at Quill and then nodded. “All right. You do it,” he said.
Quill nodded. “My pleasure.”
“Can we get you some food?” Drake asked, suddenly eager to make sure his potential mate was fed and comfortable.
She looked hesitant. “Maybe after.”
Drake grumbled but agreed.
The whole room felt much calmer as Tara made herself comfortable against the headboard and Drake and Quill settled into chairs to talk to their new potential mate.
But Drake still wanted to know what that look was in her eyes when he’d almost tied her.
And he still wanted to find and kill the man responsible for putting it there.
3
A few hours later, Tara’s head was spinning as she sat on the bed, trying to comprehend what she’d just been told.
Dragons existed. Strong men who could change into monsters and who policed a magical world of mythical beings when they got out of line.
She still wasn’t sure of her place in all this.
“And I’m here why?” she asked, nibbling at the dessert Quill had brought her. It was chocolate cake, moist and fluffy, and she closed her eyes momentarily in pleasure before giving Quill a grateful look. “This is amazing by the way. So was dinner.”
After an hour or so of talking, they’d insisted on feeding her while they gave her the rest of the information. Which was good because she hadn’t eaten since she’d nearly drowned.
Quill cleared his throat and looked at Drake, who stared off to the side as if disinterested. “Actually, Drake made it all. He’s quite the cook, surprisingly.”
That was surprising. She suppressed a grin at Drake’s obvious embarrassment as she finished the cake and set the plate aside, finally feeling pleasantly full.
“So again, what do I have to do with all of this? I get that dragons work in pairs and live forever unless they’re killed and need to take a mate to complete their triad, but why me?”
Quill slowly rolled his lips together in contemplation. “Why did you go in after that boy?”
She shrugged. “Because no one else was going to do it, and I couldn’t watch someone die.”
“Exactly,” he said. “You may have a quality that is valuable to dragons. It’s called being a dragon-heart, and it means you’re so brave that when mated to a dragon pair, you get gifted with a dragon power of your own.”
She blinked. “What happens if I mate with you and I’m not dragon-hearted? What if I’m lame?” She shook her head. “Wait, just what does mating entail? Is that like sex?”
Drake snorted a laugh, and Quill glared at him before shaking his head. “No, it’s about sharing blood.”
“Um, sure. If you get tested,” she joked. “But seriously, you don’t know anything about me other than the fact that I jumped in a river and nearly drowned. What if we don’t get along?”
“I think we will, if we all give it a chance,” Quill said, studying his perfect nails. Another little thrill went through her as she studied him. He was so calming, so safe. His blue eyes flicked to hers as if he could read her thoughts. “Some of my friends recently found a mate, and I propose we go about it the same way.”
“One week,” Drake said. “To see how we get along.”
“So will you stay?” Quill asked, clasping his hands over his knees and studying her. “I’ve already ordered a full wardrobe in your size, overnight, and it should be here tomorrow. In the meantime, you can borrow something of mine.”
“Um, can’t you just take me to get my things? My car?”
Quill shook his head. “We can send someone to do that, but we only go out in case of emergency.”
“I have a job,” she said. “I have to travel.”
“If you stay with us, you have no need to work at all. We’re quite loaded,” he said.
“So what am I supposed to do, then? Just sit around?”
Quill shook his head. “No. I mean, depending on what dragon power you get, you could perhaps be useful on missions.”
“What could I get as a power?”
Drake cut in. “Why don’t we worry about that when we’ve gotten a little further into this? None of us is very comfortable right now. Except for Quill, who always seems to be comfortable.”
Quill gave a little shrug and then gracefully unfolded his body as he stood to get a drink of water. She heard it running in the bathroom.
The tension in the room changed now that it was just her and Drake.
His size made her nervous, and she’d definitely panicked when he’d tried to tie her before. She’d quickly snapped out of it, but it hadn’t been pleasant. Even if the belt was soft and he clearly hadn’t meant any harm.
After what had happened to her, she was just kind of a control freak. She liked to be the one who decided where she was and what she was doing. That was what kept her safe. She didn’t want to be controlled ever again.
But she could tell Drake hadn’t meant to scare her. The horrified look in his blue-green eyes and then the protectiveness he’d displayed afterward made that plain.
He was overbearing and obviously tended to act out when worried, but she had the feeling he was a good ally to have in your corner.
“I am a good ally,” he said. “I’m strong and durable and loyal to a fault, once I’m with you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “What?”
He shook his head. “We should have told you earlier. Dragons can read minds. We don’t do it often. Not on purpose. Some thoughts are just so loud, though.” He frowned. “I’ll try not to anyway. Quill doesn’t usually.”
“I don’t have to,” Quill shouted from the bathroom. “I can sense feelings instead.”
Drake nodded.
She put a hand to her head, not knowing if these were good things or bad things to have in a mate. It would be nice to be understood and listened to, but there clearly wouldn’t be much privacy. Something she had valued for some time.
“So what do you think?” Drake asked, leaning forward with a thoughtful, serious expression in his beautiful turquoise eyes. “Can you give us a week?”
She fidgeted, looking down at her hands so she didn’t get distracted by his handsome features. Despite her reservations, both dragons were unbelievably attractive.
“Dragons are meant to be attractive to humans,” Drake said. “Irrationally so. It’s because we
’re meant to mate with them.”
She nodded. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to think straight.” She looked up to see him suppressing a grin, putting a hand to his mouth to cover it when she looked.
She sensed Drake could be playful at times, when he wasn’t so on edge.
“I still want to work if I’m here,” she said. “At least keep up with current orders for the companies I’m working with. I don’t want to have nothing to go back to in a week if this doesn’t work out.”
His facial features tightened, but he nodded. “What do you need? Can you use one of our computers?”
“Yes. And I need someone to get my current inventory from my car and bring it here.”
“Fine. What else do you need from us? Like, out of the arrangement in general?”
“Um…” This was the awkward part. As gorgeous as they were, she still had apprehensions about any physicality between them. In the past, sex had been disappointing at best, frightening at worst, though she knew that could have just been her choice in partner. He hadn’t cared at all for her pleasure.
Drake was emitting a low growl again, and she flushed, realizing he could hear her thoughts.
“Um, I guess if I’m staying, I’m not sure I want anything sexual.”
Drake snorted. “You can’t be serious. How can we determine if we’d be good mates if we can’t make love to you?”
Quill walked out of the bathroom to lean against the doorframe. “Don’t you want us?” He raised a dark eyebrow at her and cocked his head as if it were the weirdest possible thought to him. His long black hair streamed over his shoulder. His muscles were plain as he folded his arms.
Of course she wanted them. Her body ached from being at the center of their attention for too long.
But she just wasn’t sure, and she didn’t want to feel pressured.
“Fine,” Drake said. “We won’t pressure you.” He folded his arms. “There’s nothing in it for us if you aren’t wanting it anyway.”
Quill nodded. “If you don’t enjoy it, there’s no point.”
Drake’s gaze was heated and intense as he leaned back in the chair and looked her over. “But there would be pleasure for you. No doubt about it.” He cracked his knuckles lightly, letting muscles flex up his powerful arms and shoulders. “I’d guarantee it.”
She blinked as heat rushed through her. She needed to get out of here before she couldn’t think anymore. She needed at least a night to sleep on it before rushing in physically.
Even if something in her told her being with these dragons would be beyond her wildest dreams.
Plus, she was a little tired. She’d been despondent on the bridge, just before she’d jumped in for the rescue.
She was tired of running from Tim. Tired of long months on the road. She could get in touch with clients from here and just take a short vacation to get to know the men who had saved her life and who seemed so interested in her.
She could at least see if she was one of these dragon-hearts or whatever it was called.
She did think she’d been brave in her life. She’d had to be. Sometimes she felt afraid, but wasn’t that the definition of bravery? Acting in the face of fear rather than in the absence of it?
And here in this loft, her ex would never find her.
She hoped.
“You’ll be safe here,” Drake said quietly. “I can assure it.”
Quill nodded. “Me too.”
She looked between them and let out a sigh. “All right. I’ll try it.”
* * *
At the end of her second day in the apartment, Tara already felt more settled into her new routine. The dragons were giving her space to work and adjust but also taking time to get to know her, stopping to talk with her while she worked on the couch or visiting with her while they ate meals together.
They seemed to be on their best behavior, though sometimes an argument would still break out.
The food was amazing, and she’d forgotten what it was like to eat a home-cooked meal after being on the road for so long.
Drake had arranged for someone to pick up her car and other things and get them to a safe place for her. They’d brought her the inventory she needed to ship, and she’d gotten it done.
The wardrobe they’d ordered for her was extensive and incredibly lavish. She didn’t want to know how much it had cost. Probably more than she’d made in the past five years of working.
Right now she was wearing a soft cashmere sweater over the softest sweatpants she’d ever felt in her life. Her comfort seemed to be the dragons’ number one priority.
In fact, despite the oddness of the situation, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so safe, so comfortable.
She was starting to get to know them better too. Drake was the classic overprotective boyfriend. Always cooking and making sure everyone ate. Quill was the emotional supporter, always taking time to talk or listen or entertain.
Most of the tension in the house came from conversations about missions. It seemed Quill was constantly wanting to go out and Drake only wanted to go when assigned.
And they were currently on break for a week since they were supposed to be trying things out with a new potential mate. She wasn’t complaining. Things were perfect currently.
Except for one thing…
One thing that was walking across the living room and making it impossible to focus on the last order she’d had to put through for a client.
Drake was shirtless, as he often was when getting ready for bed, and he was completely oblivious to the devastating effect it had on her. His powerful upper body was on full display. Perfect, rippling, washboard abs. Cut obliques that tapered down to narrow hips cradled in low-cut pajama pants. So much gorgeous, tanned skin. She wanted to see more of it.
He looked at her over his shoulder as he opened the fridge. Okay, maybe he wasn’t completely unaware of his effect on her.
Quill walked into the room and sighed. “Put some clothes on, Drake.”
She giggled, and Quill gave her a shrug.
Drake just rolled his powerful shoulders as he took a tiny-looking jug of orange juice out of the fridge and downed it in one go. “I’m wearing more than I usually do to bed.”
“It’s true,” Quill said, giving her a wry glare. “He sleeps naked.”
“Um, when we make love, if we make love, do you two…?” She looked between them, and they gave her puzzled glances.
She gulped. “Do you… um…?” She gestured between them, and Drake finally got her meaning.
“Oh. No. I mean, not that dragons don’t use touch or affection with their partner at times, but sexually, we are one hundred percent focused on pleasing our mates,” Drake said, folding his arms.
“So, like, at the same time?” she asked.
Quill nodded. “We both enjoy giving pleasure more than anything else. So unless you would derive some pleasure from us being with each other, we wouldn’t be motivated to do it.” He grinned, sharp white canines flashing at her and sending heat straight to her center. “We’d be completely focused on you.”
The thought was hot. Even with her prior reservations, it was so damn hot.
If only she could get over her issues. After watching the men the past couple days, how attentive they were to her, how they constantly cared how she was feeling, she already knew things would be different.
She just didn’t know exactly how.
But the tension was building with every minute she spent in the apartment, and she just didn’t know how long she could go without tasting what they had to offer. Here, where she was starting to feel safe, she could feel something waking up in her that was long dormant.
She was a woman, and she wanted to be made love to.
Drake and Quill had begun arguing about his state of undress, and she quietly snuck off to her room while they were distracted. She shut the door and willed her hormones to calm down. There was no rush.
But that’s not what her body
said.
Damn dragons.
A knock sounded on the door, and she sighed and then opened it to see them both standing there.
“Is something wrong?” Quill asked, jerking a thumb in Drake’s direction. “Is this guy bothering you?”
“She likes it,” Drake muttered, folding his powerful arms in front of him.
I do like it, she thought, gulping. She liked Quill’s lean, masculine beauty and Drake’s hulking strength. “I’m fine,” she managed to choke out over the roar of her hormones. She hadn’t expected it to happen this fast. Would she never learn?
Quill’s eyes turned narrow and knowing. “Ah. I see. You want to try something with us, but you’re reluctant.”
She nodded, biting her lip. “I don’t know. I’m so inexperienced, and it just wasn’t great in the past, and…”
“Well, if you need some persuading, we can definitely do that,” Quill said, grinning.
“I just…” She trailed off, trying not to stare at Drake’s perfect torso in front of her. Every muscle, from his perfect row of abs and bulging pecs to his wide shoulders, was large and defined. Yet every movement he made was swift, intentional, agile. Perfectly honed.
Drake pushed Quill back. “She’s overwhelmed, stop.”
“She wants us,” Quill said. “It’s radiating off of her.”
Drake closed his eyes and scented the air, and when he opened them, she swore she saw red flashing there, just for a second. “Regardless, it’s up to her.” He tilted her chin gently up to meet his gaze. “Tara, what do you want?”
She wanted to be brave. She wanted to try something new. She wanted to prove she wasn’t broken for not enjoying sex. To prove that it had all been Tim’s fault.
But she was also scared.
“Another night, then,” Drake said, stepping back.
Her heart sank in disappointment. She wanted to take the next step with these two men. “Wait.”
They turned to her questioningly.
“I’m not sure,” she said shyly, trying to be bold. She looked to Quill. “Maybe I do need a little… persuading.”
Drake raised an eyebrow, but Quill grinned, his perfect lips curving up at the sides. He stepped close to Drake.
Desired by Dragons: BBW Paranormal Romance (Dragons of New York Book 2) Page 3