by Sam Crescent
“My name is Gideon. Gideon Jackson the Third, to be precise, but who’s counting?” He winked at me and then spoiled it all by continuing. “Annie Taylor. Suits you. Tell me, is that Annie short for anything or…?” He reached out to touch said ID and I slapped his hand away.
“Private property, mate. Don’t touch what you can’t afford. And it’s just Annie, thank you very much.”
Another rumble came from his big chest, the likes of which I’d never heard before. It was akin to the deep, throaty roar of a motorbike. Clearly, I had bikes on the brain, but that sound shouldn’t come out of a human’s chest. No animal’s chest either; none that I’d ever met, anyway, not even in the zoo.
“I wasn’t aware you were for sale, just Annie.”
He did not just say that. My fingers itched to plant my fist on that annoyingly perfect and straight nose of his, and to wipe that knowing smirk of the guy’s face. I refrained—barely—the good old ladies would have hysterics, and I was too aware of this guy’s minions lurking behind him, huge grins on their faces, as though this was the most amusing interchange they’d ever witnessed. Damn the lot of them.
“I’m not. How dare you insinuate—”
“I’m only drawing the natural conclusion from your comment of not touching what I can’t afford, and…” He stepped back and made a big show of studying me. “I could most definitely afford you.”
That did it. I saw red. In the absence of a weapon, I picked up the tome and lobbed it at his head.
A collective gasp went into the air from the ladies in the library, his cohorts hooted in laughter, and the annoying man hunk simply ducked, which meant the heavy book sailed over his head and kadunked on the floor with a loud thunk.
The librarian in me winced. Lord only knew what damage that had done to the book’s spine, and I shot out of my chair, rounded the desk, and gingerly picked up the book again.
The wolf whistles that erupted as the action made my pencil skirt rise up my legs rung in my ears, and too late I realized we were now surrounded by the entire group of bikers. I glared at them all in turn and then took a step back when this Gideon advanced on me.
“A man could get jealous over the way you’re clutching that book.”
He smiled at me, and I shoved the offending piece of literature at his impossibly broad chest.
“Here, have the damn thing. It’s not one of ours anyway. I…” Our fingers brushed as he grasped the heavy object, and whatever I was going to say fled my brain. The spark of electricity zinged up my digits and woke up every erogenous zone in my body, and a few I didn’t know I had.
What the hell?
I bit my lips to stop myself from uttering those words out loud. Especially as he looked at me as though I was dinner. That was really the only way to explain the intense hunger in his eyes, as he pinned me in place with his sheer will. I didn’t think I could have moved if my life had depended on it. A ridiculously fanciful notion, I know—oh, believe me, I know—I wasn’t the sort of woman to drop her knickers for any man, but…
Yeah, said items of underwear were in serious danger of self-combusting. Maybe I was more like those heroines in my book after all. Heaven forbid!
At least I wasn’t the only one affected. A quick glance at his groin showed that bulge had rather grown in dimension, a bit like the man himself, who appeared to have gained a few inches. He seemed taller, wider, altogether more menacing somehow, yet I wasn’t afraid of him.
“Gid, remember where we are.”
The growled words from one of the men circling us sent shivers down my spine, because that voice didn’t sound human. Not that I could tear my gaze away from the man hunk in front of me to check who had said that, because his eyes bled back to a warm amber, and after a deep inhale, he shook his head and appeared back to his normal self. Or rather just a devastatingly handsome, if incredibly cocky specimen of a man, who I absolutely under no circumstances wanted to climb.
If I said that to myself often enough, I might even believe it.
“You haven’t checked inside, so how can you be so sure it isn’t?”
My mind dragged itself out of the gutter with some difficulty as his words registered.
“I don’t have to check. I know the books we have in our library, and—”
“Annie, actually…” Barbara hopped up and down behind the man hunk like a rabbit on speed. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.
“What?” My reply might have been a tad too curt, but really. What the hell was her problem?
Gideon raised one eyebrow in that devilishly effective way men had, not that I’d ever noticed anyone doing that before, and it did not have any effect on me. Well, not the one he was no doubt hoping for. Made me want to lob the tome again and make sure I didn’t miss this time, and I didn’t even believe in violence.
“Well, that looks like an original copy. A bunch of them went missing a good thirty years ago. Look in the inside cover for a stamp, my dear.”
She was still bouncing, and it was starting to make me feel queasy, or maybe that was just the effect being this close to man hunk—I really must stop calling him that in my head—was having on me. We were practically breathing each other’s air, and what was it with the urge to lean in to all of his muscles and drink in his masculine scent? Was this what heat stroke felt like? The air conditioning must have given up its ghost completely because perspiration collected under my over-generous boobs and ran down my spine. I could only hope I wasn’t leaving sweat stains on my blouse. That would be so unattractive, not to mention unprofessional.
That thought pulled me up faster than anything else could have done. I was here to do a job, and like it or not, that meant dealing with this Gideon person. Reluctantly, I forced my attention back to the book in my hands and sure enough, there on the inside cover was a faded stamp. I squinted at it and could just about make out the words.
Property of Rabbenstall Library 1873
My mouth fell open. Good Lord, that couldn’t be right. That was the year the library opened.
“How did you get this?”
Chapter Two
Gideon
The little human did have the most expressive face. While she didn’t say it out loud, her mistrust was written all over her features. It made me want to turn her over my knee and spank that luscious butt of hers for making assumptions about me and the rest of the Dragoons for that matter. The days of causing havoc on the sleepy streets of Cumbria had long passed, yet folks had long memories and mud stuck, as they say. My dragon roared, all ready to spit fire, and I had the devil of a job containing the beast. I couldn’t believe I’d almost lost it earlier when her soft skin touched mine.
Of all the places I had to find the one woman I was destined to be with—the universe was having a great big fucking laugh at my expense giving me a human mate—it had to be here in the library, my one safe haven. I loved books, always had, and my father used to despair at the amount of time I’d spent in the library as a child.
Being a dragon had its advantages when it came to sneaking in and out of places unnoticed, that was for sure. Magick was a wonderful thing once you learned how to use it. Only reserved for the elders of the clan now, but I’d come into my powers early and had used it shamelessly for my own needs.
Not that I would be able to do that anymore. Not as the Alpha and certainly not here. Not with my mate working here. Fuck me sideways, I had to get out of here, or my dragon would want to claim her, consequences be damned.
Leonard, my second in command of the clan, cleared his throat and shook his head at me. The most infinitesimal of moves, that none of the human occupants would notice, but I got his warning loud and clear. Since my father chose to abdicate his responsibilities, I’d relied on Leonard to show me the ropes. I never wanted to be the next Alpha, thought I had years yet, but then Mum had been run off the road by a drunk driver. Caught in her human body and with no access to her own kind to help her shift, her in
juries had proved catastrophic.
By the time the rest of the clan had managed to get to her, it’d been too late. She’d died peacefully in my father’s arms, and the best parts of him died with her.
We all knew he hadn’t just retired from his responsibilities. He’d flown off into the distance to die, to join the one woman he couldn’t live without, and we would never see him again.
Emotion clogged my throat, made my dragon roar inside, and my reply came out much more forcefully than I’d meant it to.
“If you were mine, I’d put you over my knee for the assumptions you’re concocting in that pretty head of yours.”
That brought her head and ire up so fast it was a wonder she didn’t give herself whiplash. Had she been a she-dragon, I’d be doused in a stream of fire already, and my dragon curled itself into a satisfied ball and grinned. I failed to see what was so damn amusing about all of this. Even Leonard’s stern features cracked into a grin, and I heard Annie’s co-worker’s whispered exclamation loud and clear.
“Oh, I say.”
My mate, of course, had no such compunctions to keep her voice down.
“How dare you.” She looked all set to throw the book at me again but then seemed to think better of it and hugged the damn thing to her chest. The action pushed her impressive rack up and my already hard cock ached seeing the way her breasts strained across the fabric of her sensible blouse. No doubt in reverence to the heatwave we were experiencing, she’d left the first two buttons of her blouse undone and the shadow of her cleavage brought my primitive caveman side to the forefront, kicking and snarling. My dragon was all too on board with the erotic thoughts bombarding my brain. All that passionate fury she unleashed on me would make for one hell of an explosive ride in the sack.
I did like my women snarky and intelligent, and little Annie Taylor was just the kind I went for. I supposed there were small mercies in that. Gaia might have set me up with someone I wasn’t at all compatible with. The goddess was known for her mean streak, especially with those she considered shirking their duty, and I was all too aware that my refusal to join the clan and procreate hadn’t gone down well with anyone.
Dragon numbers were dwindling fast and we were desperately in need of fresh blood, but a human?
Damn it all to hell and back.
“You try and lay one finger on me, and I’ll have you arrested faster than you can say ‘misogynistic asshole.’”
My dragon’s amusement fled, and I took a step toward her before common sense won out. I was too volatile to have this out with her right now. This was a discussion to have in private, and we would have it, but not yet.
“Little Annie, I’m many things.” Try as I might, I couldn’t keep my dragon’s growl out of my voice, and no doubt she saw the beast in my eyes. Her eyes widened, for sure, her breathing sped up, and fuck me, if she didn’t grow wetter. Her sweet feminine musk hit my nostrils, damn well near drove me insane with the need to sink my cock into her and claim her in the most primitive way.
Jeez, meeting my mate clearly had turned me from a reasonable, intelligent, modern man to, well, not what she was accusing me of, but… Somehow, I managed to engage my brain cells and ground the next words out through gritted teeth. “I have never, nor will I ever force myself on a woman, or belittle her opinion, as misguided as it might be.”
She spluttered for air and looked all ready to interrupt me, so I didn’t give her a chance.
“I found that book and many more in my father’s collection when I was going through his things, and I felt it only right to return this to the library. I’ll pay any outstanding fines, of course, so kindly work out how much they are and send me an invoice. You’ll find me on the computer. I have a membership here.”
I forced myself to step past her and the boys fell in line behind me without a word. I sensed their amusement and their silent excitement at the fact that their Alpha had found his mate, and I told them all to “Shut the fuck up.”
Their joined laughter echoed in my head, and I revved the engine of my trusty Harley hard to drown out their thoughts.
“You did well keeping it together in there, son.” Leonard’s thought came through loud and clear and I nodded at the approval in his voice.
“Why the fuck do I have a human mate? What the hell do I do with that?” I sent that thought to Leonard only, or so I’d intended, until everyone laughed inside my head.
Scratch my earlier thought. This damn Magick was a pain in the ass.
“Ride it with it, son, nothing else you can do. Dragons mate for life. All you have to do is to convince that little spitfire that you’re the one for her.”
I glared at Leonard before I pulled my visor down and took off while telling the rest of them to go take a hike. What I needed to do was to get away, to shift, to let my dragon soar and fly and work out some of this pent-up frustration while I came up with a plan to convince an unsuspecting and fragile human that she was indeed a dragon’s mate.
****
Two weeks later, I was no closer to figuring that one out. Somehow, I doubted my turning into her stalker would help my quest, yet my dragon wouldn’t and couldn’t stay away from his mate for any length of time. The beast was getting more and more volatile, and when I barely stopped myself from creating a freaking forest fire, I knew something had to give. My sanity, more likely as I soared high in the air above the forests surrounding Rabbenstall and released a stream of water I’d sucked up from the nearby lakes. It took several fly-overs to bring the fire under control and I winced at the firefighters who shook their heads at the sky.
Gaia only knew what it must look like to have water descend from a cloudless sky. Little Annie was watching too. My damn scales itched as her gaze followed me around the sky. It was almost as though she could see me such was the accuracy of her gaze, but that was impossible. Cloaked as I was, I didn’t even leave a shadow when I flew across the sun, yet still, her expressive brown eyes seemed glued to my flight path.
She was also in a great deal of pain. The closer I flew to her, the more intense I felt it. Toothache was a bitch at the best of times, but this was more than that. Even without my dragon senses and being so utterly tuned into my mate, I’d have known something was wrong. She was running a fever, and her muscles tensed as she rode out the waves of pain. She would so pay for not looking after herself better, once she was mine.
Her co-worker—what was her name again?—Barbara handed her some painkillers and a glass of water and my gut twisted at seeing the desperate way she swallowed them down.
Why the hell hadn’t she been to see a dentist? I knew my card was on the noticeboard in the library because I’d placed it there myself in an effort to drum up some business when I first set up my practice. It was still there and even if it wasn’t, my practice had been thriving, and I had a waiting list a mile long. Then again, the only other dentist in the area was a human so ancient and set in his ways, he gave dentists a bad rap all around.
I clung to the side of the clock tower and cursed a blue streak in my head as my claws dislodged the old rubble.
“Oh goodness, me, the mayor really needs to do something about that.” Barbara shaded her eyes to look up the clock face, and Annie grimaced.
“Well, it’s old and the council doesn’t have the necessary funds. Let’s hope the summer fete we have planned will bring in some much-needed cash. What we need is a local celebrity that will bring in more of the tourists or you know … ow.” She held the side of her mouth and my dragon growled his annoyance. Her head flew up and her gaze zeroed in on my location with unerring and unsettling precision. Maybe there was some dragon blood in her ancestry somewhere because she sure as hell shouldn’t be that attuned to me without the mating bite. I’d pored over the ancient volumes of dragon mating rituals involving humans in my father’s library for hours in a vain attempt to find some answers to my dilemma, to no avail.
Waste of time it had been, and I was beginning to wonder whether my time would
n’t have been better served looking into Annie Taylor’s history in greater detail.
All I had been able to ascertain, with the help of Leonardo, who was the computer whiz kid of my clan, was that Annie had been left on the steps of an orphanage when she’d been a day old. They’d never found her mother or father, but, at least she’d been adopted by a human family. An only child, she’d been doted on by her adoptive parents until their early demise in a freak train accident when Annie had been away at University. She’d never finished her studies and had chosen to settle here in our sleepy little town in the heart of Cumbria, securing the position of librarian.
It was a wonder I hadn’t run into her before now. Then again, clan business as well as my dentistry had kept me busy. One way to avoid wondering about whether my father was still alive out there.
Seemed both of our lives had been touched by tragedy, so we had that in common.
“Did you hear that?” Annie asked while continuing to stare at me.
“What, my dear?”
“That deep rumble coming from the clock tower?”
Barbara looked at her as though Annie was losing the plot.
“No, but I do hope we get some rain soon. That should dispel this suppressing heat. What we need is a good thunderstorm, or the next time a wildfire breaks out, we might not be so lucky. Lord only knows where that freaky rain came from, but thank goodness it did. That fire could have been nasty.”
Guilt sat in the bottom of my stomach. I was supposed to protect my clan and the humans we lived amongst, not endanger them with my dragon’s instability.
“Yes, well, it could have been thunder, I suppose.” Annie winced anew, and Barbara clucked her tongue.
“You really ought to go and see a dentist. I’ve heard good things about the one in the village over. Daring Smiles, it’s called. You should go and visit them, dear.”
Annie recoiled in seeming horror. “I hate dentists, I told you that. This will pass. It always does. I just need stronger meds, that’s all.”
I could’ve no more stopped my dragon’s snarl at that stupid comment than I could have stopped breathing. My mate had a rip-roaring infection setting in and would lose that damn tooth if she kept this up.