by T. S. Ryder
"Why? I'm not looking for—"
"You are looking for a mother to your children. Don't you think they deserve parents that love each other?"
"I could never love a human!"
"Then why bother with us, huh?" Lydia's petite frame trembled with fury. "Why not just let the demons wipe us all out? And why should Amber bind herself to someone who could never love her?"
Ian snarled and turned away. "Forget about it. The offer wasn't for you, anyway. If the answer's no, the answer's no. I'll deal."
He started to walk away, wanting to get away from the whole embarrassing situation. I should have known better than to think that the humans would consider this logically.
"I'm not done talking to you." Of course Lydia had to follow.
"Talking?" He snorted. "More like yelling about things you don't understand."
Lydia grabbed his arm. "Then tell about it. Make me understand. Because right now it looks to me that you went up to a girl who has been terribly abused by boyfriends in the past and demanded that she be your baby mama."
He shook her off but stopped and glared down at her. They could have both been doing something else entirely right now, but she had to make a big deal out of it. The dragon sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep his raging fire under control. "Look, I didn't know she was abused. I was just asking. I didn't demand anything from her."
"But why? You've been coming to the restaurant for months –have you had your eye on her all this time?"
"No. The demons are up to something, and I don't have any children to carry on my work if I die. My whole family is dead. Humans killed them. My parents, my brother, my sister. I watched your people kill everybody I loved, and I hate that I have to protect humans. I hate it. But I have to, and I have to have somebody to leave behind."
Lydia stepped back, though from his revelation or the venom in his voice he didn't know. She opened her mouth, then closed it. So she wasn't going to start yelling again? That was an improvement.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I know what it's like to lose people. My parents were murdered right in front of me, too, remember? It doesn't give you license to act like an asshole."
"I am not an asshole."
"Yes, you are! You're a rich, entitled asshole who thinks that everything should be done exactly your way. I pity any woman who ends up mating with you. Heaven forbid she part her hair the wrong way or you'll send her back."
"Why would I care how she does her hair?"
Lydia threw her hands into the air. "Why should you care which way sauce was drizzled? Do you not remember anything when you're in the restaurant? I dread seeing you walk through the doors. I know that means I'm going to have at least one server in tears because you're picking on some aspect of her personal grooming or saying that the spinach in your lasagna is too wilted or not wilted enough or some other stupid thing."
"Just because I—"
"And you don't even tip! My workers are on their feet for eight or more hours a day, smiling, being peppy and polite to people who don't even see them as human. The least you could do is give them a proper tip for bending over backward to give you great service."
Ian's brow furrowed. He never understood the tipping policy. Why should he pay more when he already paid for his food? "I'm not an asshole."
"Prove it."
"If I was, I'd kiss you right now to get you to shut up."
Her eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't dare."
Something about how she said it rankled him. Or maybe he was just tired of listening to her rant about what kind of person he was, and needed her to shut up. Maybe he thought it would make him leave her alone. In any case, he took the challenge. His arms wrapped around her waist and he crushed her against him, pressing his lips to hers.
Sparks and fireworks exploded in his brain. Lydia squeaked, stiffening – and then threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him back, teasing his mouth open, rubbing her body against his. He tightened at the contact and moaned, drilling his tongue into her mouth. She responded by trying to subdue him. Their sounds became louder. Ian cupped Lydia's ass, picking her up. She ground herself against him, clinging to his hips with her knees.
"Stop it!" Amber shouted. "Put her down!"
Ian broke away from Lydia, startled. He had forgotten about the other woman entirely. Lydia still clung to his neck as they stared at each other.
"See?" she panted. "I was right. Asshole."
Ian set her down. An apology was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't know how to say it. His gaze flickered between Lydia and Amber. Lydia's flushed cheeks and heaving breasts were a sharp contrast to Amber's pallor.
What had he been thinking? This was not what he wanted. And now he'd lost his chance to get himself a mate. No matter which way he looked at it, what had just happened ruined everything.
He turned on his heel and walked away. Lydia did not follow.
Chapter Five – Lydia
Lydia's arm ached as she whisked the whipping cream to stiff peaks. She'd lost track of how long she had been going at it, but even the blasting music and the spread of ingredients ready on the table for her cake did nothing to cool the raging fires in her blood and the steady stream of dialogue in her head as she replayed the events leading up to the kiss over and over again. And, of course, every time she thought of the kiss, it left her breathless. She had never been kissed like that before.
"Why did I have to be like that?" she moaned. "Couldn’t I have left it alone? That horse was dead but I still had to beat it, didn't I? It's not like he could have known about Amber's past. But there I was, jumping to conclusions."
And then jumping all over him.
"It wasn't even that good of a kiss!"
Wow, now she was lying to herself. Yeah, it wasn't that good of a kiss…
Which was why her body was still craving his and the taste of his lips was burned onto her own. Lydia groaned. Just her luck. He wasn't interested in her, and if he was going to switch his attentions to her five seconds after propositioning Amber, then she didn't want anything to do with him, anyway.
But there was still something to be admired about a man who hated humans for what they did to him but still protected them.
"Because he has to!" Lydia threw cocoa powder and sugar into the bowl and folded it into the whipped cream. "So what if he lost his family and I lost my family. That's not enough to build a relationship upon. And who said anything about a relationship? Nobody, that's who. At most, he wants a brood mare to pop out babies. How does a human give birth to a dragon, anyway? Would I lay an egg?"
Whoa, why the sudden first-person pronouns? Her face flared up as she mixed the chocolatey cream into the rest of the batter and poured it into the pan. Even baking wasn't getting her head back on straight. If she didn't get herself in order soon, she was going to be screwed.
Amber hurried into the kitchen, glancing over her shoulder as she did so. Lydia tensed. Was Ian harassing her again?
"Did he approach you again?" she snarled, headed for the door. "I'll punch his lights out."
"No," Amber said. "I haven't seen him since… but I can't sleep. I just… I hate it here. It's so huge and empty and it's only you, me, and him here. He could do anything and we couldn’t stop him. And his talk about mates… What if—"
Lydia grasped her hands. "No. Don't think like that, Amber. It's not going to happen."
Amber shuddered. "But you heard him. He hates humans. I don't even know why he saved us. And the restaurant would have had two bodies in it. What if he set it up so that he could have us declared dead? Nobody is looking for us, so we're going to be his prisoners forever."
"No, that's not what is going to happen." Lydia hugged her friend, trying to reassure her. "We haven't seen anything about the restaurant on the news, and something like that should be front page. That means he must have had it cleaned up. Maria is going to be furious that we aren't at work, 'kay? She's looking for us."
A quick glance
at Amber's face showed that her words didn't mean anything. Lydia sighed. Usually, it was Amber calming her down about whatever sticky situation they found themselves into. Why Lydia was so calm about being held by Ian in his mansion was a mystery. Maybe it was because she didn't feel like a prisoner. There were no bars on the windows or deadbolts that they couldn't get past. Even the forbidden area upstairs was open via a staircase. They could just waltz out if they wanted to.
"So, I was thinking that maybe we can get an initial investment for our restaurant from Ian," Lydia said, trying to distract her friend. "It's the least he can do for us after all this."
"You think he would do that?" Amber frowned. "Assuming that he's not going to keep us here forever."
Lydia repressed another sigh. She slid her cake into the oven and set the timer. "You know what? Why don't you cook up something? You always say that cooking helps you relax. I've had a look around the kitchen, it has everything you need. So why don't you whip up some steak or something? You haven't eaten much since we ended up here."
"And what are you going to do?"
"I will be back to take the cake out of the oven. In the meantime, I'm going to go talk to Ian. I'm sure he'll let us use his phone now… Maybe I can convince him to put us up in a hotel instead of being here."
Amber's brow furrowed, but she nodded silently. Nerves turned in Lydia's stomach, but she managed another smile before she left the kitchen. Now, where to find Ian? She looked in a few rooms before finding him in the library. He was watching a video about a wildlife rehab center where a woman was tenderly cleaning up a bobcat kitten with diarrhea.
"Hey," she greeted him as she came closer. Her cheeks flushed as she remembered the kiss, but she was determined not to think about that. At least, not right now. Maybe later, when she was in bed… Wow. No. She wasn't going to think about it. She focused on his computer. "I didn't peg you as a kitten video kind of guy."
Ian glanced at her and shrugged. "Sometimes I just need to remind myself that there is good in the world. Good among humans. I forget and let myself fester in my grief… I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier."
"Me, too. I think I may have overreacted. That doesn't mean you're not an asshole, though."
Ian offered her a wan smile. "Good to know. Apparently, I have a reputation to uphold. But I'm sorry for frightening your friend. I should know better than to act like I've been acting."
Lydia slid into a chair next to him. "How old are you?"
"Three hundred, give or take a few years. I know I don't look it."
"So Dragons age differently than humans?"
"Yeah. Up until eighteen or nineteen, we age the same way, then we just slow down and only age according to the grief we experience. My parents were both nearly a thousand, and they looked hardly older than I do now." He swallowed hard, ducking his head. "I've been on my own for a long time. I'm tired of being alone. And you're right, I am an asshole. I need to work on that."
Lydia snorted. "You mean being a bigger one?"
"Yes." He rolled his eyes but laughed, surprising her. "So what brought you here, anyway?"
"I want to use your phone. Amber and I want to make sure our friends know we're okay. Also, Amber is worried that you're trying to keep us as prisoners. I thought maybe tomorrow we could go out or something. Get a hotel room? She's just so scared and I don't know how to reassure her."
"But you're not? Scared, I mean."
Lydia shrugged. "I should be. I shouldn't trust you. But for some reason… I kinda do. It's not like I trust trust you. You won't be getting any more smooches from me." Was it just her imagination or did a flash of disappointment cross his face? "But I don't think you're out to hurt us. I think you are trying to protect us. And that's worth something."
"I see." Ian closed out the web page and shut down the computer. He pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to her. "No hotel."
Lydia narrowed her eyes.
Ian gave her a wry smile. "Look, I get it. She's scared, and if she were around other people, it would be reassuring. But you're a Paladin. It could be that the demons won't come after her if you part, but they might. I can't risk it."
"I wasn't saying send her to a hotel. Both of us."
"Staying in the same hotel room won’t help." Ian put his hand over hers. "We can't be separated. And if we are at a hotel when the demons attack, other people might get hurt. That's kind of against the oath I took to protect the planet. But I will get you both phones so you don't have to feel so isolated."
"Thank you." Lydia wasn't sure if that was going to be enough for Amber, but it was a start. She found herself leaning in, breathing in Ian's scent, and pulled herself back before he could get the wrong idea. Or she could start kissing him. "I mean it. Thank you. Have you figured out what the demons are up to?"
He shook his head.
Lydia hesitated for a moment. Maybe if he wasn't such an aloof, intimidating figure, Amber would feel more at ease. "Want to join us for supper? Amber's cooking us up some steaks. Just for her and me, but I'm sure I can convince her to add another to the mix. I know you like your meat almost raw."
"I… Sure. That sounds good." He smiled.
She smiled back but waved a warning finger in his face. "But you can only join us on one condition. Praise every single bite you eat and don't you dare try to send it back."
Chapter Six – Ian
Ian stretched his wings, enjoying the feel of air against his scales as he drifted lazily through black clouds. Lightning flashed over his body, giving him a pleasant tingling feeling as his body absorbed the shock. It was only on days like this, when the skies were black and thick with clouds, that he dared take his Dragon form outside and actually fly.
It had been almost a month since he took in Lydia and Amber. He hadn't found any indication about what the demons were planning, but he had been working with Lydia to try to unlock her inborn talents as a Paladin.
She was meant to be able to channel heaven's fire through her body as defense and to lock into the flow of the earth to heal wounds, but so far the best she could do was withstand the puffs of fire he sent at her. That in itself was quite impressive, but with their timeline, it wasn't enough. She needed to be able to defend herself against the demons when they attacked again – because they would attack again.
Amber remained terrified of him. He always made sure that Lydia was with him if he ever needed to talk to the chef, and he tried to make himself smaller and less intimidating near her. Sometimes it seemed to be working, other times he didn't think anything would help. Mostly, Amber stayed in her room. He had given her a new phone and was worried that she was going to call the cops on him. It would be a headache to sort out, but so far nothing had happened.
Another burst of lightning skittered over his skin, making his blue-green scales glow. Maybe he had been hasty in asking her instead of Lydia to be his mate. He had thought Lydia was too loud for him and that Amber's calmer personality would suit him better, but now he realized she wasn't so much calm as more frightened.
After three hundred years, he needed someone who would call him out on his behavior, not recoil before him. Lydia wasn't afraid to do that. Not to mention she was also incredibly sexy… Not that that mattered.
His mind made up, he dropped from the sky, keeping his wings tucked in tight to his body to fall as quickly as possible. He hit hard, sending a plume of debris and dirt shooting up from where he landed. Maybe a little harder than he intended. The joint in his left wing cramped. As a Dragon, he was nearly invulnerable, but that hurt a little.
Shaking it off, he clambered out of the crater he made and shifted. The rain on his skin felt like a high-powered shower turned to ice-cold. Too bad this form wasn't as strong as when he was a dragon. Still, he grinned as he jogged naked across the yard, stopping in the garage to dry off and dress before he entered the house itself.
He quickly made his way to Lydia's room and threw open the door. She squealed, jumping, and put her han
d to her heart. "What are you doing?"
Hmm… Maybe this wasn't the way to do this. Ian pressed on. It wasn't like he had another reason to be here. "I realized I made a mistake asking Amber to be my mate. I should have asked you."
"Uh... okay?"
Ian stared at her.
She stared back.
"Well?"
Lydia scratched her head. "Well, what?"
"Well, will you be my mate? I'm rich."
Lydia opened her mouth and closed it again. Massaging her temples, she shook her head. "Yeah, no. You can't just walk in here and be all, 'Be my mate. I'm rich.' It doesn't work like that."
"So, you don't want to be my mate." A pang of disappointment hit him in the stomach. "But you are sexually attracted to me. I can tell by your reaction to our kiss."
"That's not the point. We could jump into bed right now and have mind-blowing sex, but that doesn't mean we have any sort of emotional connection. A relationship needs more than sex. You're three hundred years old. You should know this. Three hundred. You're too old for me."
Ian shifted from side to side and shrugged. "Anti-social misanthrope here. Keeping up with human conventions isn't exactly my strong point. The mind-blowing sex part sounds good, though."
He grinned when she flushed. Humans were cuter than he had given them credit for, he was finding. At least this human was. She sucked her lower lip between her teeth, hesitating, but shook her head.
"We can't. This is an uncomfortable situation to begin with, and I'm not going to make it more complicated." Her gaze fastened on his mouth. "Besides, I have a policy not to date assholes."
"Not asking for a date. I'm asking you to be my partner for life and the mother of my children." Ian moved forward, encouraged by the way her pupils dilated. He could almost taste her arousal in the air. "And as for emotional connections… Well, those take time to develop, right? We're already bound together by this whole demon thing… Makes sense for it to be—"