Dragon Protector (Dragon Dreams)

by Tabitha St. George

  Mr. Mills’ eyes were steel, but Kent couldn’t just accept that.

  “Why would it ruin everything?” he asked. If he was in danger, then he would most certainly want to know about it so he could protect himself.

  “It’s sensitive,” Mr. Mills said with a small sigh. “It’s something her mother didn’t want her to know. It has to do with her biological father. Besides that, she doesn’t deserve to live in fear and paranoia. You must understand. It’s for her peace of mind, and you just have to trust that this is all for the best.”

  “Of course,” Kent said, mulling this over.

  “Great. Now come on. It’s time for you to meet my daughter.”

  ***

  The house was warm and smelled amazing. Kent’s stomach rumbled as Mr. Mills led him into the dining room.

  “Kent Black, meet my daughter, Adrian Hart. Adrian, Kent is an apprentice of mine, so to speak. He’s been doing some great work for me and I thought it would be nice for us all to spend some time together.”

  Logan stepped out of the way and Kent inhaled sharply.

  It was the girl he had met, so many months ago, the one he believed he would see again. He had left her in her hotel room quickly, unable to stand the small, confining space of the little area any longer. He hadn’t even said good bye.

  Adrian’s beautiful eyes narrowed suddenly at seeing him. They both knew they couldn’t let her father detect their friction. If he had any idea what had happened between the two of them, there was no telling what might happen.

  “Hello,” Kent said noncommittally, avoiding her eyes. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Adrian said icily, her eyes flashing in anger.

  For a moment, Kent was sure that Mr. Mills would be aware of the tension between them but he had already turned his back and was heading toward the kitchen.

  “You two get to know each other a little bit,” he said. “I’m going to finish up dinner.”

  “Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Adrian asked quickly, standing up from her seat and stepping forward. To Kent, she apparently was desperate not to be stuck alone in a room with him. He could definitely relate to the feeling.

  “I want you two to get acquainted,” Mr. Mills said firmly, fixing a stern look on his daughter.

  She sighed and sank down into her seat. When Logan had left the room, she glowered up at Kent with a look of such pure contempt, there was no reason to even bother wondering whether or not she was capable of forgiving him for the way he had just taken off.

  “So… how you been?” Kent tried, shifting awkwardly in front of the table, wishing more than anything that he had never laid eyes on this woman before. She was the last person he wanted to see, and now he was bound to her until the whole mess that Logan and Blaine were keeping from him was cleaned up.

  “I’m not speaking to you. I’m going to play nice just to make my father happy, but as far as I’m concerned, I want nothing to do with you. Is that clear?”

  Kent raised his hands in the air, a gesture of surrender and nodded.

  “Got it. Damn.”

  “After that, you’re going to leave me alone, right?”

  “Right.”

  He grinned despite himself. He could respect a woman with spunk. She told him how it was, and that was all there was to it. Still, he could see she wasn’t going to hesitate to be a pain in his ass if she perceived he was out of line.

  “Sit down and pretend you’re comfortable here,” Adrian said. “Just don’t fucking talk to me.”

  Kent obeyed, fixing a stern look upon her. She looked away suddenly, as if realizing he was only tolerating her behavior just to keep the peace. She had no idea what his role really was here, and he was going to make sure that she wouldn’t have to find out.

  “All right,” Mr. Mills said, coming into the dining room carrying a tray of food. “Dig in.”

  He served them both and soon they were eating quietly. Mr. Mills leading a polite and casual conversation that Kent and Adrian were both reluctantly participating in. Kent was sure that at any moment, Logan would catch on and demand the truth from them, but he seemed oblivious to the tension in the room. Kent did his best to hide his apprehension from the man for the sake of his career.

  “So, what do you two think? I’ve been working on my cooking skills for a while now. Ever since I lost my wife, it’s been very hard to find a satisfying meal.”

  Kent sensed a pang of sadness from Adrian and his first urge was to reach out to comfort her. But when he looked into her eyes, he was met with a wall of anger. She wanted nothing from him. Not his attention, not his pity, and certainly not his help. Maybe having the arrangement between them being a secret was actually a better idea than he had thought.

  “It’s very good, Mr. Mills,” Kent said, smiling broadly and trying to avoid Adrian’s eyes now. They were seated right across from each other, so it was a little difficult to do so.

  “Yeah, dad, it’s great. Thanks.”

  Mr. Mills seemed relieved to hear it and they continued to eat in silence, their chatter quiet and strained, as far as Kent was concerned. He did his best not to speak too much for fear of revealing his misconduct to his boss. The last thing either of them wanted was for Logan to get a sense of their relationship with one another. Kent could only imagine how horrified Mr. Mills would be to find he had spurned his daughter after a one-night stand. He could hardly imagine a worse situation.

  The night wore on slowly, and despite their discomfort, Kent couldn’t help but admire Adrian from afar. It had been far too long for him to make it up to her. Honestly, he could have gone back any time the week she had been there to try to apologize and explain. But the truth was that he hadn’t. He had been caught up in his own life and more or less forgot about the time limit to the girl’s stay on Oak Mountain. Duty called, and not only that, but he found it impossibly difficult to speak to others about his hatred of confined spaces. It was all tied to the hardest moments of his life. He would much rather just practice martial arts and blow off steam as opposed to explaining himself to women who he wasn’t ever going to see again anyway. They hadn’t owed each other anything. In every case, both had known the deal.

  Well, at least he had thought he wasn’t going to see her again. Unfortunately, that clearly wasn’t the case.

  “Now that the two of you have become acquainted, there’s something I thought you should do,” Mr. Mills said. They had finished with their meal and moved to the living room for an excruciating amount of small talk.

  “What did you have in mind?” Adrian asked rigidly. She snuck a murderous look at Kent, who looked away quickly and focused his attention on Mr. Mills who was smiling at them both, oblivious to the tension between Kent and Adrian.

  “I want Kent to show you around Oak Mountain. All the places you can go and things you can do, and what to do and where to go in the case of an emergency, that sort of thing. You know that I’m going to be busy with my work over the next few months, and I just think it would be good for you both to learn to get along. Kent knows the mountain inside and out and I want to feel comfortable knowing you can find your way around.”

  “Dad, with all due respect, I can figure my way around this place. It’s not that hard.”

  “Honey, Kent is a bear-shifter. He can help you to adjust here. It won’t be that bad, I promise. Just a week and I’ll be satisfied. What do you say, Kent? Mind showing my daughter around?”

  Mr. Mills fixed a stern look on Kent, and he knew immediately that his answer had to be yes.

  “Of course, sir. I’d be honored.”

  Adrian’s furious glare was wiped off her face and replaced with seething rage when Kent smiled sarcastically at her. Mr. Mills clapped his hands in a business-like fashion.

  “Perfect. You two exchange contact information. Kent, you can start tomorrow. Take Adrian up to town and make sure all the locals know who she is and who they have to answer to should she run into any trouble.”

&n
bsp; “Sounds good,” Kent lied. “You know, I should really get going. I had some errands to run today.”

  “Of course. Thanks for coming. I’ll see you tomorrow, and so will Adrian!”

  “Yes, she will,” Kent said, a large, insincere smile pasted on his face. He turned to leave and felt Adrian’s eyes burning holes in his back.

  When he was safely out of sight, Kent sighed heavily. Somehow, his ability to find a place on the mountain was going to depend on his ability to get along with the one woman who would rather see him dead than even meet his eyes. What had he gotten himself into?

  8.

  “You ready?”

  Adrian’s chest tightened at the sound of Kent’s voice. He was the last person she wanted to see.

  “Can we not and say we did?” Adrian said. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the day following this cocky asshole around town.

  “Well, I wish that’s how we could work things but unfortunately, your father is kind of my boss. And if I let him down in any way, that’s going to fuck the rest of my life up. Now I know you don’t care about that, but I have to do my job whether we like it or not, so come on. We’re going now.”

  Kent’s handsome face was dark and serious and Adrian sighed, following him out the door. He started to make his way up the mountain on foot, and Adrian stopped.

  “I’m not walking all the way to town,” she said incredulously. “That’s like thirty miles.”

  Kent turned to face her, his handsome face puzzled. “Oh.”

  “Come on. We’re driving.”

  Kent shrugged and soon they were both closed up in her car, Adrian trapped in the small space with a man who smelled like earth and trees. It made her heart tremor despite herself, but she had made a conscious decision to hate this man, and no matter how her body seemed to want to react to his presence, she wasn’t going to let it sway her.

  “Take a left up here,” he said suddenly.

  She sighed, reminded of the way his voice had sounded in the heat of passion, back before she had hated him so much. Now, the same person who had made her feel so beautiful and cherished was making her feel as if everything in her world was ironic and ridiculous.

  “All right, this is the place,” Kent said. “Stop the car.”

  Adrian did, frowning as she looked around. there was nothing around for miles as far as she could tell. Just more trees.

  “What are we doing here?” she asked, following Kent as he climbed out and stretched laboriously. He sure was a tall man.

  “I have to introduce you to Coty,” Kent said. “Follow me.”

  “Coty?”

  “Just come on. I have to do what your dad asked me to, right? You get it.”

  “Yeah, I get it. That doesn’t mean I like it.”

  “Well just come on. He isn’t going to be happy if you refuse. The bears can be kind of unpredictable, you know. It’s better to know who your friends are.”

  Adrian sullenly followed, knowing her stepfather had the best of intentions. If he knew she and Kent had fooled around though, she couldn’t imagine just how disappointed in her he would be. He had always likened her to a pure soul, one untarnished by physical desires and sex because he was so stuck thinking of her as just a little girl. Part of that had come from the fact that, although she was confident, she had always been on the heavy side. Most guys she knew weren’t interested in dating big girls and because of that, she had ended up having a very boy-free upbringing.

  Her stepfather had always assumed it was her choice to hold off on dating because she was a sensible girl who wanted to achieve great things. Although that was partly true, the other part was kind of painful. She cherished her stepfather’s rosy view of her and the way he praised her priorities. The idea of changing his perception of her in that way made her feel sick. She would just have to tolerate Kent hanging around for a little while longer, until her stepfather was satisfied that she was just as comfortable and safe on the mountain as she would have been had she been born and raised among the bear-shifters.

  “Coty, come out here!” Kent bellowed.

  Adrian cringed. There was something so damn alpha about all the bears on Oak Mountain. They were all built thick and well-muscled, some with grizzly-like features, others with bushy beards. Kent had a neat, trim beard going on. Most women would think it was sexy, all that deep black stubble lining his chiseled features, but Adrian knew better. He was a scum-bag, and no matter how good he looked, she knew how he operated. He still hadn’t even told her he was sorry and the ride up the mountain had been more than long enough for that kind of conversation. The only reason he had not to apologize, as far as she was concerned, was that he wasn’t sorry at all about it. He had done what he had wanted, gotten what he went in for, and left with no remorse. End of story.

  “What are you doing out here, Kent?” Coty asked, his voice deep and growling. Adrian could tell just by hearing him that he was much, much older than Kent, even older than her stepfather.

  “Logan Mills sent me out. He wanted you to meet his daughter.”

  “His daughter!” Coty exclaimed, emerging noisily from the brush to their left. “Why didn’t you say so!”

  Adrian took a deep breath as she gazed at the man. He was just as tall as Kent and he looked almost as old as the mountain. Still, there was something strong and fierce about him. He gazed at her with cold blue eyes, nodding approvingly.

  “So, you’re the girl then. What’s your name, sweetie?”

  “Adrian,” she managed, offering a trembling hand out to the intimidating old man. “Do I just call you Coty?”

  “That’s all there is to it,” he agreed with a deep belly laugh.

  “Well it’s nice to meet you, Coty,” Adrian said. Although to be truthful, she wasn’t quite sure how she really felt about this. She trusted her stepfather implicitly, but she didn’t know how she felt about Coty, and she already knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she hated Kent, whether he was handsome and good in bed or not. What was she doing out in the middle of nowhere with two men she didn’t trust?

  “She’s a pretty little thing, isn’t she?” Coty said, glancing over at Kent. Kent stiffened and nodded, looking down at the ground without speaking. Adrian shifted uncomfortably. She had never been comfortable with men commenting on her appearance. Even though she was completely comfortable and confident with her body now, it brought her back to the days when she wasn’t, when the boys in her peer group had been nothing but cruel and judgmental. Sometimes she wasn’t sure whether the men were actually complimenting her, or teasing her.

  “So, who are you, Coty? Why would my father want me to meet you?”

  “Oh, I suspect it’s because I’m the keeper of the mountain,” Coty said, leaning back and taking a long, unwavering look at Adrian. “I’m kind of a big shot around here. One of the most powerful bears in this countryside. If you have any issues, little missy, any issues at all, I’m the guy you want on your side. Just give me a holler.”

  Adrian nodded. So this man wanted her to come to him in times of need or danger. Nothing sketchy about that. It wasn’t like young human women in danger were vulnerable or anything. But if her stepdad wanted her to meet him, she decided she would just have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

  “Thank you, Coty, that’s very kind of you.”

  “No kindness about it, missy. That’s just what I do. I gotta keep the riffraff in check. Elsewise Blaine won’t let me keep in the Valley no more.”

  “Why wouldn’t he let you stay in the Valley?” Kent interjected.

  “Valley’s a dangerous place these days. Blaine thinks I’m getting too old for this nonsense, but I say it keeps these old bones young! I’m not going to be one of those assholes who goes into retirement and just wastes away in front of the television set, you know. Gotta keep active, or it will kill my spirit. And my spirit doesn’t want to die! I live for these woods. And the Valley is like a second home to me.”

  “Right,” Kent sa
id, still keeping his eyes to the ground as Coty spoke. The old man didn’t bother turning to face Kent, he kept his eyes on Adrian, as if attempting to determine something important about her.

  “You ought to hear some of the stories I have about your dad,” Coty said with a grin. “He was quite a rascal back in the day. You’d be surprised.”

  The way Coty’s eyes were sparkling good-naturedly made Adrian feel more at ease. She had a pretty good sense about people most of the time, Kent clearly excluded,. so she decided to trust her instincts and allow herself to like this pleasant old man.

  “I bet he wouldn’t want me to hear about them,” Adrian replied.

  “Well that’s not up to him. The facts are the facts, so if you want to hear them, there’s nothing he can do to change the past or keep my old mouth from running about it. You’re always welcome here, Adrian, and if you ever find yourself in some trouble you can’t solve on your own, just give a holler and I’ll come for you.”

  Coty dug into his pocket and pulled out a whistle, offering it to Adrian. “Everybody worth their salt around here has one of these. It’s a way of summoning me at a moment’s notice. You keep that on you just in case, all right? That’s how I earn my keep around here.”

  Adrian took the whistle, smiling at Coty. He seemed friendly enough, and soon, they were all saying their good byes. Adrian waved at Coty as they drove away, and Kent remained silent until they were back on the road.

  “I think that’s enough for the day,” he said finally, sighing deeply and leaning back in his seat. “I’ll come back tomorrow and take you to town. You can just drop me off here.”

  Adrian frowned. “Are you sure about that? I don’t want you to get in trouble with my dad.”

  “No, he’ll understand. Just let me out. I hate cars.”

  Adrian felt a pang of pain from Kent’s insistence that she release him. It was as if he couldn’t stand to be with her for one second longer than he had to be. And whether he liked cars or not, it was pretty rude of him to just insist on being let out. How was she supposed to have known that? He could have mentioned it sooner.