Restoring The Broken (Rogue Dragons Book 3)

by Emilia Hartley

  But he broke from her, his breathing heavy. He rested his forehead against hers. Every inch of her body pulsed with sensation. She pressed her nails into his skin, eager to pull him back for more.

  The voice of reason cut through her body’s desire. She had work. Even though she’d become a dragon shifter, that didn’t mean she could forgo work. Bills needed to be paid. Life kept going, no matter how badly she wanted to give herself over to Erik.

  “I should get ready for work,” Bree said. The words felt like lead in her mouth.

  “We can set more fires another day,” he said.

  She shuddered at the heat in his voice. Desire climbed over her skin, and for a moment, she thought she would lose the war between recklessness and responsibility. Then, Erik pulled away from her. She flexed her empty hands and mourned the loss of his warmth.

  Then she recalled that she was completely naked. She darted toward her clothes, heaving a sigh of relief when she found them dry and untouched by the fire. After this, she wouldn’t be able to wear them to work, but at least she wouldn’t have to wear wet clothes when Erik drove her home.

  Chapter Seven

  Erik watched Bree from the shadows. He told himself he wouldn’t interfere in her daily life. She was her own person, not his mate. Yet, he wanted to grab the man at the bar by his hair and drag him out of the bar. Bree narrowed her eyes at the man. She could handle herself. No human man would ever be as strong as her now.

  Erik had to look away. Jealousy didn’t taste very nice. He’d kissed her while she was vulnerable. He never should have allowed his beasts to drive him into doing anything so foolish. He’d been helpless when both had urged him to take her. Only the last bit of his self-control had stopped him from laying her on the ground earlier.

  Bree might be a dragon now, but she hadn’t been made just for him. Being a greedy asshole wouldn’t help her acclimate to her new state of being. Erik needed to back off.

  He scanned the room until he laid eyes on a redhead sitting alone. She waggled her fingers at him, like she’d been waiting for him to notice her. A week ago, Erik would have happily lost himself in her plush curves for a night. Now he fought back a grimace when he watched her grab her drink and saunter over.

  She batted her fake eyelashes and took the seat across from him. “I’ve seen you around here a few times. You never leave with the same woman.”

  He couldn’t help it, he glanced at Bree. Both beasts growled with hunger. Not for food, but for the pleasures of flesh. Thankful that his sunglasses hid where his attention had gone, he turned back to the redhead.

  “What can I say? I’m looking for that forever kind of love sooner rather than later.”

  She bit her lower lip. “What makes you think you can tell if that’s what you have if you only spend a single night with someone?”

  Her fingers danced over the table until she could run her red-tipped fingernails along his forearm. He didn’t flinch like he wanted to. The beasts in him snarled at her touch, though. The green dragon, the one he had to hold back, snarled and sunk its claws into him.

  He tried not to show the pain. He was pretty well practiced in hiding it, but the beast tore deeper and deeper the longer he let the redhead touch him. The pain only receded when he pulled away from her.

  “How about we head back to my place and give your instinct a test run?” she suggested.

  Erik yearned for comfort, but when he thought of sex, only one person filled his thoughts. A lump formed in his throat. He couldn’t have what he wanted. It wasn’t fair to change Bree and then beg her to love him. Any feelings she might have had for him before this would always be tainted by what he’d done.

  He asked the redhead how she planned on winning him over and only half-heartedly listened to flirtatious description. He already knew she wouldn’t be the one. The idea that he would find his mate in a bar had always been foolish, but it hadn’t stopped him from trying to fill the void.

  First, Casey found Evangeline. Then Isabella moved into the cabin and became Dillon’s mate. Even Gavin had someone keeping him busy. He still couldn’t track down the witch that saved them the night of the fire.

  Alone and feeling like a burden, Erik tried to spend as much time as he could away from the cabin. He would be there should any of them need him, but he couldn’t stand to see their happiness. As much as they deserved the love, Erik knew he would never get the same, and it hurt too much.

  He talked to the woman for another hour while trying not to look toward Bree. He hadn’t heard anything that sounded like disaster in her direction, so he figured she was handling everything just fine. If he didn’t meet her gaze, then the guilt for what he was about to do didn’t feel quite as heavy.

  “So,” he said. “Do you want to get out of here?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  ***

  Bree replayed the kiss over and over. Her body came alive, and her core throbbed with need. Unfortunately, while her skin begged to be touched by Erik, it hated the rough denim of her jeans. She kept fidgeting with her waistband between serving drinks.

  Bree had been horny before. That wasn’t all that new to her, but she’d never been this sensitive. She risked a glance across the bar, to Erik. He sat in the far corner and nursed his drink alone, sunglasses covering his eyes even though the bar was dark.

  Just looking at him turned her sensitivity up to max. She hissed as she bent to grab something from under the counter. As she reached, her bra hooks dug into her back. They’d never hurt more than they did now. She couldn’t duck into the bathroom to fix the twisted flap that was supposed to cover the hook.

  When she straightened, two more men signaled her. One needed a refill, the other wanted a drink that she was pretty sure he’d made up just to occupy her time. She gritted her teeth, passed another beer to the man waiting.

  The second put his elbows on the bar and leaned into her personal space. She backed up, wary of his predatorial smirk. But before the man could even attempt to flirt, she saw Erik moving through the crowd. A head of red hair bobbed in front of him. Bree’s gaze dipped and caught Erik’s hand in the woman’s as she led him toward the exit.

  Bree’s breath escaped her.

  “My friends didn’t think I’d be able to get your number,” the guy said. “Do you think you could help me prove them wrong? I’m not looking for anything right now. I just want to fuck with my friends.”

  Bree’s eyes would have rolled into the back of her head had she not been distracted by Erik. She slammed the guy’s complicated drink onto the bar in front of him.

  “The bet is a nice ploy, but you’re not the first to try to use that trick on me,” she said.

  His face went ghostly pale. He took his drink and dove into the crowd, probably to disappear.

  Bree paid him no attention. She darted around the bar and raced for the door. Her beast growled deep inside her. It filled her with an anger unlike any other she’d ever felt before. Fire scorched the back of her throat, hot but not painful.

  Just as she threw the door open, she heard a pained grunt. Erik stopped dead in his tracks and clutched the sides of his head. The redhead backed away from him. A bit of fear raced across her features, followed by confusion. Bree had nothing to fear, so she closed the distance between her and Erik.

  He dropped to the ground before she could reach him.

  “I can’t…have…what…I want,” he snarled under his breath.

  From the way the redhead kept backing away, Bree figured only she had heard what Erik said. The redhead was too far. When Erik pounded his fist into the sidewalk, the redhead yelped and ran.

  “That’s what you get,” Bree said before she could think to stop herself.

  Jealousy tainted her words. The ugly emotion tried to take control of her. She kept it at bay with reason, reminding herself that she and Erik were not a couple. Her logic could only do so much. Anger wrought a kind of tension in her muscles that made her want to fight.

/>   “You big dumb asshole,” Bree grunted as she hefted Erik back onto his feet.

  He laughed. “You’re not wrong.”

  She carried him around to the back of the bar where she’d told him to park. When they were out of sight, she shoved him into his truck. It shuddered and groaned under him. At least something would tonight. It certainly wouldn’t be her.

  He dragged in a ragged breath. With his sunglasses in place, Erik’s gaze was hard to read. She wanted him to look her in the eye and admit that he screwed up. His chest heaved, rising and falling so fast she thought he might be close to hyperventilating.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, a blanket question that covered everything she wanted to know

  He let out a bitter laugh and turned away from her. She didn’t hesitate and stepped forward to grab him by the front of his shirt. She did nothing but hold him in place.

  “I want…” his words trailed off when he shook his head.

  She narrowed her eyes at him. He sank back against the truck. She felt the fight bleed out of him, like he’d given in to his fate, to whatever punishment she decided to heap onto him. That wasn’t what she was looking for, though. She only wanted to know why she hadn’t held his attention more than a single afternoon.

  But the swell of her conflicting emotions held her questions back. Instead, she asked, “What’s happening to you? First the bathroom, now this.”

  He ran a hand through his hair, pulling the sandy locks back to reveal his arched brows like he was relieved she’d asked about that and not about them.

  “Give me your phone,” he said, confusing her. “I want to put in Dillon and Casey’s numbers so you can call them if you need anything. You won’t want to be around me once I answer your questions.”

  His self-loathing was so apparent that her heart broke at the sight of it. Her grip on his shirt loosened. She wanted to wrap her arms around him but held firm until she understood why he felt this way.

  He put out his hand. “Well? Give it to me.”

  “I thought you filled your asshole quota for the night.”

  A muscle in his jaw twitched. She almost smiled but managed to hold it back.

  “Did your asshole quota just increase? Do you have to keep pissing me off? Just tell me what your problem is. Maybe I can help you, like you help me.” She meant it. She wanted nothing more than to give back to him, if only he would let her.

  “No one can help me with this,” he said, voice low.

  She rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me that it’s a burden only I can bear bullshit. You’re not alone. You have me. You have a whole family looking out for you right now.”

  Bree held on to the bit of sass that was bringing humor to their conversation. Inside, her dragon roared. It wanted to know why he’d chosen the redhead over her. What kept him from wanting her the way he wanted all those other women? Was it because they were human, and she’d become a dragon?

  The kiss they’d shared earlier made her think that wasn’t a problem. She’d never been kissed like that before in her life. There’d been so much hunger, passion unlike anything she’d experienced before.

  Surely, he couldn’t find that with a human woman. Right?

  “I changed you because I can’t control myself,” Erik said. “I changed you and now you will never be able to look at me without thinking about how I ruined your life. I should have noticed you sooner, but because of him I’ll never be able to have you.”

  Stunned, Bree could only stare at him. When she said nothing, he spun around, jerked open the truck door and hopped inside. She figured out how to string a few words together, but by the time they reached her tongue, Erik had already sped away.

  She stood in the dark parking lot, wondering what Erik meant when he said because of him. Was he referring to his beast? She knew what it felt like to have her beast try to take control, but she had the feeling that wasn’t what he’d meant.

  Chapter Eight

  After her shift, Bree didn’t go home. Erik had ignored all her messages. Annoyance built behind her breastbone like a pressure she could do nothing about. If she could yell at Erik, if she could get more answers out of him, maybe then the pressure would go away.

  Her feelings for him didn’t dwindle, either. She should have walked away from him and his horrible decisions. She didn’t deserve a man who would go home with another woman the same day he’d kissed her. She told herself this wasn’t about her feelings, though.

  Erik hadn’t just changed her. He’d become her friend along the way. She needed to make sure he was alright.

  So, she found herself in a field in the dark hours of the morning. Even though she didn’t have Erik coaching her, she rolled her shoulders and struck a deal with her dragon. It wanted to see him, too. She told the beast that if she could fly to the extravagant cabin up the mountainside, then they would be able to find Erik.

  Bree figured that if the beast had full rein, then flying would be easy. It seemed to know everything. She’d never been more wrong in her life. She still hadn’t acclimated to her altered point of view after shifting. Worse, even, were her attempts to walk on four legs.

  She couldn’t get them all to work together. She hoped using her wings would be a bit easier. Stretching them out felt amazing, like finally getting up after being curled into her favorite reading chair for hours. She savored the sensation before turning her attention skyward.

  Stars dotted a clear night sky. She imagined herself soaring between heaven and earth and her heart skipped a beat. This change, between human and dragon, filled her life with more excitement than she’d ever known before. Bree had always wanted more but thought that would come in the form of love.

  Becoming a dragon had forever changed her life for the better. Every step forward frightened her, but also brought with it new possibility. She would have liked to share this first flight with Erik, but she needed to find him first.

  Thinking that she had to imitate an airplane trying to take-off, she charged forward. She opened her wings and reveled in the air beneath them, but her feet soon tangled. The ground rose as she lurched forward. The impact reverberated through her skull and along her spine. She dug her talons into the earth to push herself back up.

  Bree tried everything she could think of. She galloped with her wings tucked into her body, just to get used to her own feet. She stood still and flapped, hoping it would lift her into the air without the use of her legs. When that didn’t work, she tried jumping and flapping, but that made her feel silly.

  The night drifted away, and morning light stretched into the sky. Time had run out. If she somehow figured out how to fly soon, she would risk being seen by humans.

  “This would…” She sucked in a mouthful of air, struggling to breathe after shifting back. “This would be easier if I had a car.”

  Exhaustion weighed her and tried to tug her onto the ground. Bree couldn’t recall the last time she’d slept. It seemed so far away. She’d shifted twice in the span of twenty-four hours, one shift causing a war with a beast that had nearly stopped her from shifting back altogether.

  The beast muttered a small apology for the incident and lent her a burst of energy. She surged to her feet, heart racing all of a sudden.

  “I didn’t know that was a thing.”

  Wary of how long this energy might last, Bree gathered her things and walked back to the road. A few passing drivers offered her a ride to her destination, but she turned them down out of habit before remembering that she would be stronger than anyone who tried to overpower her now. Any human, at least.

  An hour passed before she saw the cabin through the trees. Just like she’d hoped, Erik’s truck was parked in the driveway. Bree walked up the pavers that led toward the front door before finding Isabella. The blonde had a laundry basket at her hip. Behind her, a comforter hung from a clothesline strung between two trees.

  Isabella paused. “Don’t you work nights? It’s a bit early for you to be up.”


  Not what are you doing here or it’s too early for visitors. Isabella had expressed concern first. A warm tingling jumped along Bree’s fingers. She itched to hug Isabella but didn’t know if it was appropriate.

  Isabella nodded her head toward the back of the cabin. “I think Erik spent the night out back. Dillon should be back there with him, still.”

  Bree didn’t ask what that meant before thanking Isabella and taking off. She should have asked questions, because she found Dillon standing over a small ravine with a green-scaled dragon fast asleep in it. She eyed the dragon and felt a twinge of déjà vu even though she could have sworn she’d never laid eyes on the beast before.

  “Dillon,” she whispered to get his attention. “Isabella said I’d find Erik out here.”

  To that, Dillon jerked his chin toward the green dragon. Bree understood that the dragon was asleep and was already doing her best to stay quiet. She wondered if the beast was Gavin, but she didn’t think he would be green. For whatever reason, she’d assumed he would be red with golden highlights, much like his hair.

  This green dragon… reminded her of Erik’s one green eye much the way his blue beast reminded her of his blue eye.

  “That’s…Erik?” she hissed.

  A man of few words, Dillon nodded. She didn’t think he would say anything until he offered a short explanation. “We have nights like these sometimes. Usually the beast doesn’t get out. Usually it causes havoc if it does. He’s just…sleeping.”

  Without giving it much thought, she slid down the ravine. Dillon tried to grab her, but she moved faster. Rocks and clumps of dirt gave way beneath her feet. She leaned back and caught herself the last few feet, so she didn’t tumble forward into the muzzle of the green beast.

  She hadn’t been as quiet as she should have been because the dragon cracked open one eye. Her pulse should have raced in the face of this Jurassic beast, but she wasn’t scared. Though she’d never seen this side of Erik in person, this was still the same man.