Dragons Need Love, Too (I Like Big Dragons Series Book 2)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  “I’m not pregnant,” I denied. “And shut your mouth.”

  Blythe bared her teeth at me like a feral kitten.

  I bared mine right back.

  “Well, at least we’re not the only ones,” Keifer said.

  We both turned to him.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  He pointed to the both of us.

  “We were fighting with our fists. Y’all are fighting with your words. Same thing,” he said.

  Blythe punched him.

  “No, it’s not the same thing. We’re fighting because we’re trying to relieve stress. Y’all are fighting because y’all are stupid and don’t want to listen to what the other thinks,” Blythe shot back.

  “And what,” Keifer asked. “Does he have to say that I don’t already know?”

  “How about the fact that the prisoner you have in the infirmary isn’t able to talk; yet you continue to treat him as if he can,” I said sharply.

  Keifer froze.

  “You say can’t…,” Keifer said.

  I nodded. “He can’t.”

  “How do you know?” Keifer challenged.

  I started walking back towards the hospital, knowing that he’d follow.

  He didn’t disappoint.

  As I made my way back into the infirmary, and into the ‘prisoner’s’ room, I stopped beside his bed.

  “Hey, you,” I said, tapping his shoulder.

  Nikolai’s arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me back so I could no longer reach the man in the bed.

  Merrick opened his eyes, and when he got a load of the entire freakin’ compound in his room, his eyes flared.

  Chapter 14

  When someone asks you if you do any dangerous sports, saying ‘sometimes I disagree with my woman’ is not a good answer. At least not if your woman is in the room with you.

  -Note to self

  Nikolai

  His eyes flared, but he didn’t look alarmed.

  He looked reserved.

  Almost expectant.

  And…defeated.

  I looked over at my brother to see him holding his sword in his hand, flexing and un-flexing his hands as he did so.

  Merrick’s eyes didn’t miss that, either.

  In fact, they followed the movements.

  Hope flared in his eyes.

  He wanted us to kill him…why?

  Then I started to look at him.

  He hadn’t been hooked up to a heart monitor since the first couple of days we’d had him here…and those he’d spent unconscious.

  As soon as he’d woken up, he’d been taken off everything but the IV that was still running antibiotics through his veins…antibiotics that he shouldn’t need.

  Because he was a bonded dragon rider.

  Everyone who was a bonded dragon rider had powers, and Merrick wouldn’t have them if he wasn’t bonded to one.

  But…where was his dragon?

  Why, in the time that he’d been with us, had neither my brother, nor I, thought of that?

  “Hook his heartbeat up to the monitor,” I ordered my mate.

  She did, taking three sticky pads from a drawer beside the bed, and placing them on Merrick’s chest before hooking up some wires from the monitor to them.

  The moment the wires were in place, I got a good look at Merrick’s racing heartbeat.

  And by racing, I mean, it was flying. It was way too fast.

  “Keifer,” I said to my brother. “Where’s Merrick’s dragon?”

  Keifer’s brows furrowed, and then his eyes widened.

  Merrick’s heartbeat picked up once more.

  And something like pleading came into his eyes.

  “That would’ve normally been one of the first things I would’ve asked…,” Keifer trailed off, and his brows furrowed.

  Merrick’s eyes closed in relief, and I finally understood.

  He couldn’t talk about it. Not just about who he was and whom he worked for, but about everything.

  “Get Ian in here,” I ordered.

  I’d known that the majority of the men were behind us.

  All but Ian, anyway.

  I heard, more than saw, Alaric leave.

  He walked with heavy footsteps compared to everyone else.

  Maybe it was because his feet were bigger than everyone else’s. Hell, I didn’t know. But I always knew when it was him coming.

  “Everyone else out,” Keifer ordered gruffly.

  The room emptied of everyone except for Blythe, Brooklyn, Keifer and me.

  Oh, and the man in the bed who couldn’t move.

  He was there to stay.

  “Ian can heal him…and search whatever he has in his mind,” Keifer trailed off when he saw the look of pure panic in his eyes.

  “We won’t hurt you,” Keifer growled in frustration.

  That was a lie.

  We would if the end game was near.

  Ian’s prodding was coarse at the best of times. He could do healing, as long as it was something on the outside of the body, just fine. The intricate stuff tended to be a little rougher on the person on the receiving end of his gift.

  Ian showed up long moments later with the cold clinging to him.

  A rush of wind followed in his wake, and I shivered when the cold hit me.

  Blythe scooted closer to me to allow Ian to pass her, and she stayed when we watched in horror as Ian slapped his hand down on Merrick’s chest, and then proceeded to exorcise him.

  Or, at least, that was what it looked like.

  Merrick’s body bowed up off the hospital bed like his chest was connected to a string.

  “How much do you want healed?” Ian growled.

  Keifer looked at Merrick with dispassionate eyes.

  “Just enough to see what’s going on in his head. Then we’ll see about healing him completely once we know more of why he’s done what he’s done,” Keifer ordered.

  Those were the words of a true leader.

  It was more than obvious that Blythe was surprised by the callousness as was Brooklyn, though, they were both trying to hide it.

  I knew my woman, though.

  Knew what she looked like body-wise when she was pissed, and man, was she pissed.

  Ian rocked back on his feet long moments later and Merrick’s body fell onto the bed with a hard thud.

  My body tensed at remembering all the injuries he had, but the harder I looked at the man, the more amazed I became.

  I’d known that Ian was a healer. He’d told me himself.

  However, I’d never actually seen him do it.

  The worst wounds on Merrick’s chest and neck were now lightly pink, showing almost perfect healing.

  His breathing was deeper, and his heartbeat was steadier.

  “What’d you find?” I asked when Ian never turned around.

  The veins on Ian’s arms stood out in stark relief as he fisted his hands.

  Then he turned, and the pain in his eyes was obvious.

  “You okay?” Brooklyn checked, taking a few steps forward.

  Ian held out his hand to stop her.

  “Don’t,” he ordered.

  She blinked, freezing.

  “You’re hurting!”

  Blythe stepped forward as well, and it was only then that Keifer and I stopped them before they could move any further forward.

  “Ian takes the pain onto himself,” I explained. “And it hurts him to be touched for a while after. Give him a little bit.”

  She shrank back at the mere mention of him taking on the pain.

  He’d done that for Brooklyn, and she would’ve never let him do it had she known that he was going to have her pain.

  That wasn’t right.

  And it wasn’t right to ask of him, either.

  “What kind of effect does it have on you?” she asked.

  His jaw clenched.

  “The
same thing it would have on the person I take the pain from. Takes about an hour to push out of me,” he answered through gritted teeth.

  “What’d you find out?” Keifer asked.

  Ian’s eyes narrowed.

  “His dragon is being held hostage, as well as about five other people at the same compound Nikolai took Brooklyn from,” Ian said, panting lightly once he was through.

  I gasped.

  “Who else does he have?” he asked.

  His eyes slid away from me, and he gave a look to Keifer that clearly said, ‘Not here.’

  I was about to ask what was going on when Merrick’s back bowed again and he started seizing.

  “Put him to sleep!” Ian said urgently. “Give him a sedative.”

  Blythe ran for the med cart while Brooklyn ran to raise the bed rails on his bed.

  It wouldn’t do to have Merrick falling and breaking a bone after he was just healed.

  “What’s going on with him?” Blythe asked once she returned with a syringe.

  She depressed the plunger and injected the meds into Merrick’s veins via the IV.

  Merrick instantly calmed.

  “That’s the side effect of using my powers,” Ian said, sounding tired. “Causes seizures and shit.”

  I whirled around and glared at Keifer. “You knew this was going to happen?”

  Keifer shrugged.

  “We weren’t getting anywhere the easy way,” he said unapologetically.

  I narrowed my eyes at him, but Ian chose that moment to pass out.

  He hit the floor so hard that I was worried he’d broken something.

  He’d fallen well, though, his head landing on my feet rather than the concrete floor beneath them.

  I crouched down and rolled him over to his back, checking his pulse.

  “He’s fine,” Keifer said.

  I growled.

  “Nikolai,” Brooklyn said through clenched teeth. “If you care for your brother at fucking all, you’ll get him the fuck out of here before I kick his ass.”

  I wisely said nothing as to how improbable that was, and grabbed my brother by the collar and started ushering him outside.

  Brooklyn

  “Fucker,” I muttered under my breath.

  “He’s protecting me,” Blythe said softly.

  I looked over at her where she was checking Merrick’s blood pressure.

  “I don’t really give a fuck,” I said.

  She flinched.

  “I know it’s harsh,” I said. “But you need to get him under control. He can’t put his people at risk to save you. When’s it going to be too much?” I asked. “What if next time it’s me?”

  She didn’t have anything to say to that, and frankly, neither did I.

  Chapter 15

  Never tell someone that their butt looks like an elephant’s. Even if you mean it in a nice way.

  -Words to the wise

  Brooklyn

  “I’m not really convinced y’all are bikers,” I said to Nikolai.

  Nikolai rolled his head in my direction.

  “What makes you think that?” he asked.

  I sat up and grabbed the pillow that was beside my hand, pulling it into my lap and leaning forward slightly on the bed as I addressed him.

  “Well,” I said. “Y’all don’t dress in leather other than your vests when you leave the estate.” I flicked up a finger. “You don’t act like bikers.” Second finger. “You don’t ride your bikes all that often.” Third finger. “And y’all don’t give off that whole biker-esque feel.”

  Nikolai raised a single eyebrow.

  “Who are you to dictate what a ‘biker’ does and doesn’t do?” he asked. “And how many bikers have you known in your life?”

  I snapped my mouth shut.

  “Well…” I smiled.

  There was Sons of Anarchy, after all. I felt like an expert.

  He grinned.

  “We’re going on a fun run next week,” he said, leaning back in his computer chair.

  As he did, he propped one foot up on the bed and made it lean back even further.

  He linked his hands behind his head and stared at me.

  “What’s a fun run?” I asked.

  “It’s just a fun ride. We have a destination in mind,” he said. “But sometimes we go further than that.” He shrugged. “Just depends on our mood.”

  “You’re going by yourself?” I asked warily.

  He snorted.

  “Like I’d leave you here by yourself,” he said.

  I narrowed my eyes.

  “You don’t think I can take care of myself?” I questioned him.

  “It’s not a matter of you taking care of yourself,” he said soberly. “It’s a matter of people knowing our weaknesses, like Merrick did.”

  “You know as well as I do that Merrick couldn’t control what he did,” I said.

  And Merrick was dead…practically.

  He wasn’t dead yet.

  But he would be.

  Soon, according to Ian.

  And Merrick’s sister and dragon were missing in the meantime.

  He had to die knowing he wasn’t able to save them.

  Nikolai raised his hands and tiredly rubbed them over his eyes before he ran his hands through his hair roughly.

  “I know. God, don’t you think I know that?” he snapped.

  I raised a brow at him.

  “Is there something bothering you?” I asked.

  He sighed.

  “I don’t like that you’re spending more time with him than me,” he admitted.

  I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped my mouth.

  “I freakin’ work there. What’d you want me to do?” I asked.

  He stood up and started pacing.

  “I don’t like the way he looks at you. I don’t like the way he can hide what he doesn’t want us to know. I don’t like the way he can get you to do whatever the fuck he wants you to do, either,” he snapped.

  “Is there anything you do like?” I snapped back.

  He glared at me.

  “What?” I asked. “He had no control about telling you those things due to the geis he had on him,” I said. “You’re really going to hold that against him?”

  Nikolai shrugged like he could care less what Merrick did and didn’t have that was keeping him from speaking.

  “You’re annoying me almost as much as your brother did today,” I muttered darkly.

  Nikolai snorted.

  “You’re being childish,” Nikolai snapped.

  I rolled over and glared at my mate.

  “You’re kidding, right?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No. I’m not.”

  I lifted up onto one elbow.

  “How,” I asked, “am I being childish?”

  The fight Keifer and I had this morning had been pretty big.

  I wanted to go out to the store for more supplies. He’d said no, then refused anyone to take me.

  I hadn’t left this Godforsaken place in well over a month, and I was getting claustrophobic.

  Nikolai sat up as well, not liking that I was above him with that much venom in my words.

  “Keifer has hundreds of people that depend on him,” he said. “The feelings of one woman don’t outrank the wellbeing of hundreds. And you need to stop thinking with your heart, and start using your brain, because like it or not, this is your life now.”

  He got up and left, leaving me a large amount of time to think on his words.

  Was I being childish?

  I didn’t know.

  And I’d pissed off my best friend today, too.

  So I couldn’t really talk to anyone right now.

  Fucking perfect.

  ***

  I was walking down by the lake when I saw the big dragon.

  Angus.

  Hello, pretty lady, Angus replied.

  I
smiled despite my bad mood.

  “How’s it shaking?” I asked him.

  How’s what shaking? he asked in confusion.

  I smiled.

  “How are you?” I amended.

  I couldn’t really be sure, because to be honest, I wasn’t good at reading dragons still, but I could swear he smiled.

  I’m fine, little one. You, obviously, are not. What’s wrong? he asked.

  I sat down on the bench that’d been moved down close to the water. For my best friend. A best friend that I’d pissed off because I’d pissed her husband off.

  So I explained that I’d pissed everyone off, not leaving anyone out.

  “So, was I childish?” I asked once I’d finished.

  Let me get this straight, he said. You asked Keifer to allow someone to take you to the store so you could get supplies, supplies that you wouldn’t tell him about. Then you yelled at him in front of five people, one of whom was his wife. Do I have that correct?

  It sounded bad when he put it like that.

  “I wanted to buy Nikolai a birthday present,” I said huffily.

  The dragon rumbled out a laugh.

  And you couldn’t just order it online like everyone else does? he asked.

  I shook my head.

  “I feel like I can’t breathe,” I said. “I’ve been trying for weeks to order it online, and it’s not in stock,” I mumbled. “I’ve run out of options, and I really want to get it for him.”

  I dropped my head into my hands and shivered in the cold night air, silently berating myself for not grabbing my jacket in my haste to get out of the stupid mansion where everyone seemed to be in every room.

  “Your first mistake was going about it the way that you did,” Keifer said from behind me.

  I jumped, then dropped my head, sighing.

  Shit.

  “Your second mistake was yelling at me in front of the others. I will take a lot from you, since you’re my brother’s mate, but I’m not going to take you yelling at me in front of them. It makes me look weak, something which my brother told you the last time you raised hell seeing as I was listening when he did,” Keifer continued.

  I gritted my teeth.

  “Your third mistake was saying that in front of my wife. She may be your friend, and owes a certain loyalty to you, but she’s my mate. She’s my other half. She’s co-ruler to me. She can’t be seen arguing against me, just as you can’t. You’re a princess now. It’s time to act like it,” Keifer finished.