Dragon Waves: A Shifters in Love Fun & Flirty Romance (Dragon Island Hideaway Book 2)

by Rinelle Grey

  Was that really possible, or was she just imagining it?

  Audrey glanced over at Eliana, who was pulling her swimsuit out and beginning to get changed, not even thinking twice about her comment. It was clear she was feeling no such doubts.

  “How do you do it?” Audrey blurted out.

  Eliana turned to her with a frown. “Do what?”

  “Just walk away when the time is up. Do you think about them again? Do you ever not want more?”

  Eliana stared at her for a few moments, then finished tying her bikini, and came and sat down on the edge of Audrey’s bed. “That’s what a holiday fling is,” she said gently. “You know from the start that it can’t last forever, so you don’t let yourself get too attached.”

  She stared at Audrey intently for a few moments, then frowned. “You didn’t know that, did you? You’re starting to feel something for him, aren’t you?”

  Audrey shook her head quickly, turning her face away before Eliana saw the truth there. “No, of course not. How could I be? I’ve only known him for three days. That’s nowhere near long enough to form any sort of lasting attachment.”

  Eliana gave a snort. “Sure. You just keep telling yourself that. I bet you still can’t convince yourself of it.”

  Audrey stared at her, confused. “Why then? If you think you can’t fall in love with someone in that time, why do you even do it?”

  “Because it feels good.” Eliana shrugged. “Yeah, it hurts when it’s over, but if you don’t risk that, then you never have the enjoyment either.”

  Audrey stared at her. Her words sounded uncannily similar to Hayden’s that morning, about never having the experience if you don’t risk getting hurt. And they resonated with her, just as they had then.

  She’d never been a risk taker. She’d always sat on the sidelines, watching others take the risks, and wondering why she never experienced the same rewards no matter how hard she tried. She was beginning to see the answer now, but she wasn’t so sure it was worth it.

  The thought of things ending, of never seeing Hayden again, made her feel like slumping in a heap and crying. Surely there had to be some other way? Some way they could make this work? This couldn’t be all there was, right?

  “Don’t go getting your hopes up.” Eliana’s voice interrupted her daydreams. When Audrey stared over at her, Eliana said, “I know what you’re thinking. You’re trying to figure out how you can make this last longer. Thinking of stuff like long distance relationships and visits back and forth. Believe me, that never works. It just messes up the memories with cold hard reality. Much better to make a clean break, move on, and keep the memories intact.”

  Eliana’s statement was so matter of fact. So accepting.

  But Audrey couldn’t believe it so easily.

  Not that she couldn’t see a lot of truth in Eliana’s comments. A long distance relationship had a lot of problems. They’d barely see each other. And given everything else she had to deal with when she returned home, ‘seeing’ Hayden shouldn’t be one of her priorities.

  But what other alternatives were there? It wasn’t like she could move here, and she was pretty sure he wouldn’t be willing to move either.

  Hayden lived on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere. His family owned it, so it was unlikely he was going anywhere any time soon. And she had absolutely no useful skills that would help her find a job here, even if there were any.

  How could a relationship between them possibly work?

  Eliana stood up, giving Audrey a pat on the shoulder. “Enjoy yourself while you can, but keep a bit of distance, otherwise it’s going to hurt.”

  And with that sage advice, she headed out of the room, leaving Audrey feeling far less positive than when she’d entered.

  After Eliana was gone, Audrey picked up the phone to look through the photos again. But it only made things worse. How was she supposed to keep her distance when Hayden was so perfect? The expression on his face when he looked at her was so gorgeous.

  How was she supposed to walk away from that?

  Did she really have to?

  She heaved a sigh and closed the phone. Those thoughts were far too depressing to deal with. She still had four more days before she needed an answer, so she might as well use them to their fullest.

  With that thought in mind, she jumped up from the bed and decided to go for a walk. She hadn’t explored any of the bushwalking trails yet, and hadn’t caught sight of any of the local wildlife. The phone camera wasn’t ideal for capturing them, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her.

  And on the way, if she happened to run into Hayden, well, so much the better.

  Chapter 15

  The peacefulness of the bush washed over Hayrian, letting some of his cares and worries fade away. There was something about the island that did that. His worries of how his clan, how dragonkind, was going to find their place in this world… they seemed very distant here.

  He walked away from the resort at a decent pace, not wanting to let the snake go free too close to the buildings. The creatures were notorious for finding their way back to their territory over great distances. He wanted to make sure this one found a new home away from the guests.

  He really didn’t want to be chasing it again in a few days. He had other things on his mind.

  Visions of Audrey filled his head, all jumbled up—from the look of trust she’d finally given him, to the awe on her face when they’d mated. It had been the perfect morning.

  But combined with the news story he’d caught a snippet of, it created an uncomfortable dissonance in his mind. He felt so close to Audrey, as though there was something really there, and yet, he hadn’t told her who he truly was.

  Could he? Could he risk it?

  Now seemed like the worst possible time. Everything around him was in chaos. It seemed like the problems between the humans and dragons could never be resolved, not with so much mistrust and suspicion between them.

  And yet, Hayrian knew that wasn’t always the case. His parents had been mated for over thirty years. His brother, Damrian, and his new mate, Zara, had no such issues and were just desperately in love. And from the little he’d heard, many other dragons in the clan had also found human mates.

  So obviously things could work between humans and dragons. It was only when it came down to greater numbers and less knowledge about each other that it became a problem

  Hayrian sighed. At this point, relations between dragons and humans on a grand scale wasn’t his problem. Only the relations between him and Audrey. And that, so far, was going great.

  But was that only because she didn’t know who he was?

  He had no answer. There was no easy one. By now he was far enough away from the resort to release the snake. Hayrian found a good spot near a large fallen tree trunk and undid the hessian bag. Gently, he tipped the bag until the carpet snake slithered out. It headed straight for the log, disappearing under it.

  Hayrian watched for a few moments, but it didn’t reappear. “You stay out here, away from trouble, hey?” he told it.

  Then he turned and started back down the path towards the resort. But the closer he came to home, the less he felt like going there. His mind was still in too much turmoil, and his heart wouldn’t settle. He was sure they needed him, Rowan seemed as if he’d been run off his feet, but he did have his radio.

  He just needed a little space, a little bit of time to clear his mind. So instead of returning to the resort, Hayrian took a path to the right, heading off towards the cliffs overlooking Calm Water Cove. It would be deserted there. And he needed the peace.

  When he came to the point at the end of the trail overlooking the deserted cove and the ocean below though, it wasn’t quite enough. Yes, it was peaceful, but no matter how hard he tried to focus, he just couldn’t help feeling a disconnect.

  What he desperately wanted was to fly. To soar over the ocean and dive through the waves, not caring who saw him.

  That was what his
heart craved. Maybe it was some sort of metaphor related to not being able to tell Audrey who he really was, or maybe it was just that he was sick of hiding.

  This had bothered him long before Audrey had arrived at the island, long before even the drama with the appearance of the dragon clan in the news. When he thought about it, he realised it had niggled at him ever since he was a child.

  It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the reasons for it, the news story he’d caught a moment of only emphasized that. But he wished it wasn’t so.

  Normally he didn’t indulge in pointless, unachievable wishes. But right now, he had two of them. If he had to pick just one though, it would be that Audrey would stay here on the island with him forever. That she would agree to be his mate.

  The two wishes were tangled up together, at least partly because he couldn’t have one without the other. He could never ask her to be his mate without telling her who he was. And right now, he wasn’t sure if he dared.

  He shook his head, tired of the doubts, tired of the uncertainties. He stared out over the ocean again, and the urge to fly consumed him. He glanced around the cove, but there was no-one below. Not sign of boats on the horizon as far as his enhanced dragon eyesight could see.

  There would be no harm in one short flight, especially not if he stayed below the line of the cliffs. No one would see him, and perhaps it would clear his head a little.

  He didn’t think it through any further, lest he decide it was too risky. Hayrian quickly stripped off his clothes, leaving them in a neat pile on the top of the cliff. Then he held out his arms to the sky and let his body transform.

  The process was as wild and brutal as it always was and yet completely liberating. He felt his skin stretch, his bones buckle and change, and a huge sense of freedom washed over him as he spread his wings for what felt like the first time in weeks.

  Launching himself off the edge of the cliff and gliding down towards the water felt magnificent.

  Somehow, all his worries seemed to disappear when he was in dragon form. Everything seemed so much simpler, easier.

  If he wanted to mate with Audrey, he had to tell her the truth. That’s all there was to it.

  He swept over the beach, letting the tips of his wings brush the sand, then low out over the water, scanning the horizon every few minutes. But no ships entered the cove. He was alone.

  And it felt glorious.

  *****

  Audrey was huffing and puffing as she climbed up the steep incline. She was sure Hayden had come this way. She’d caught a glimpse of him turning down this path and had hurried to try and catch up with him, but he’d moved faster than her, and she hadn’t seen him since.

  Ahead, she could see blue sky through the trees, as though they were coming out into a clearing. Hopefully that was where Hayden had stopped, because she wasn’t sure she could go much further.

  As she came closer to the edge of the tree line though, she realised that it wasn’t a clearing, it was a cliff. She caught glimpses of white tipped waves below, but no sign of Hayden. Where had he gone? Maybe there was a path down that she couldn’t see.

  She huffed and puffed up the last few metres, then stared in confusion at the top. Near the edge of the cliff was a pile of clothes. Clothes she knew were Hayden’s, because she’d watched him take them off earlier.

  Had he… what? Gone swimming?

  She edged closer to the cliff, searching for any sign of a path down, but the cliff face was steep enough to make her stumble back in fear. There was definitely no way down there.

  That was when she saw it. Skimming over the water, almost the same colour as the waves below.

  A dragon.

  Audrey stumbled back, grasping at a tree to stop herself from falling over in shock.

  The blue dragon was unaware of her presence, dipping its wingtips in the water, causing it to spray across its back. It seemed to be… playing?

  Audrey stared, not sure whether to be terrified or delighted.

  She should be afraid. She’d heard Mark speak of the dragons enough. He’d attended several meetings with them only last week. He’d said they were a menace to society, and if they were allowed to have a place among humanity, life would never be the same again. He’d said they would cause violence and death wherever they went.

  But then again, if there was one thing she’d learned on this trip, it was that Mark’s opinions couldn’t be trusted.

  This certainly didn’t look like violence. It looked like beauty, like grace. It looked like fun.

  And she was pretty sure Hayden would agree with her. Where was he? He must have seen this dragon too and tried to get to it. That must be where he’d gone. Except… why would he have taken his clothes off?

  She crept closer to the edge and stared around, but she could see no sign of Hayden anywhere.

  When she glanced back towards the water, the dragon was coming straight towards her.

  Audrey gave a startled, muffled scream, and stumbled back into the trees, her only thought a need to hide.

  Because as beautiful as it was, there was no denying the dragon had claws, teeth, and horns, and as it landed on the edge of the cliff where she had been standing a few moments ago, it was huge.

  But not for long. Audrey held her breath, watching, as its body seemed to ripple and change right before her eyes, until Hayden stood there naked. He mustn’t have seen her, because he began to pull on his clothes as if nothing had even happened.

  Audrey’s heart though, felt like it had stopped dead. And she found it almost impossible to draw a breath.

  Hayden, the man she had made love to, the man she had trusted, was a dragon.

  For a few moments, that fact blinded her, and she couldn’t see anything else. She might theoretically know that dragons existed, but that knowledge was still so new that this experience seemed almost incomprehensible. Her mind struggled to take it in.

  Then, as that started to sink in, more thoughts tumbled over and over in a giant mess.

  Hayden was a dragon. And it hadn’t even occurred to him to mention that fact—not when he’d been telling her she could trust him, not when he’d been encouraging her to take risks, and most definitely not when they’d been making love.

  Apparently, any ideas of this maybe being something special, something that could last beyond this week, had all been on her part.

  Fury built up in her almost as strongly as it had when she’d seen Mark kissing Louise. The betrayal felt almost the same somehow. Or maybe she was confusing the two.

  Either way, the anger overwhelmed any hint of fear, and she strode out of the trees towards him. “You lied to me!”

  He looked up then, one leg in his jeans, the other only part way as he hopped on one foot, his face a picture of astonishment. “Audrey? What are you doing here?”

  “I was looking for you,” she spat out. “I thought maybe I could see a bit more of the island, maybe we could spend some more time together. Lucky I did because you weren’t ever going to tell me, were you?”

  Hayden had caught his balance now, and he pulled his jeans on silently, buying time. When he looked back at her, his face was a prefect mask of innocence. “Going to tell you what? That I went for a walk in the bush? I was letting the snake go.”

  Even now, when she’d seen it, he wasn’t going to admit it. Not if he didn’t have to. The deception made her heart ache.

  She’d almost hoped he’d had an explanation for not telling her. Something that she could believe. But he wasn’t even trying. At least Mark had protested.

  “You’re a dragon. Go on, deny it.” Audrey put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

  He stared at her, and for a second, his pupils narrowed to slits, and his eyes whirled. Further confirmation, as if she needed it, of his non-humanness.

  “I wanted to tell you,” he said softly. “But it’s complicated.”

  Complicated. He had that right.

  “I bet. There’s a lot to explain, isn’t ther
e. ‘I’m a dragon and I’m not telling you’… hmm… no, I think that pretty much sums it up.”

  “Audrey.” He took a step towards her and held out his hand. “It wasn’t like that.”

  Somehow, Audrey knew that letting him touch her would be a mistake. She remembered how his touch affected her. But now that felt tainted. Had all those amazing feelings been because he was a dragon? She knew they had some kind of magic that affected the people around them. Mark had told her the stories.

  She’d thought her feelings for Hayden indicated something special between them, but now even that was suspect.

  “What was it then?” she demanded.

  “I care about you,” he said, his face firm. “I wanted to tell you. But it isn’t my secret to tell. You’ve got to understand. I’ve been taught not to let anyone know since I was a child. It’s second nature to me after all this time. And right now, if the wrong person found out, it could destroy the resort.”

  She shook her head, struggling to trust what he was saying. Did he really believe it?

  “You told me to trust you, and I did. I took a risk on you, knowing that it could all backfire. But you couldn’t do the same, could you? What did you think I was going to do, run to the newspapers? Shout it to the world? You talk about trust, Hayden, but you can’t even do the same thing in return.”

  Audrey felt her eyes fill with tears. Tears she didn’t want him to see. So she spun on her heel and headed back down the path as quickly as she could.

  “Audrey. Audrey, please…”

  Hayden’s voice behind her tore at her heart. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to trust him. But she didn’t see how she could ever again.

  She didn’t stop, and she didn’t look back.

  Chapter 16

  Hayrian lay on the bed in his room at the main house and stared at the photos on his phone. Photos Audrey had sent him earlier that day.

  Before she’d found out he was a dragon.

  He’d looked so happy. He knew now that he could never have used these photos on the resort social media sites. They gave away far more than he was prepared to share. He stared at the stupid grin on his face as he looked at her—he’d been so happy.