Shifter Secrets: Shifter Romance Collection

by Juniper Hart

  As the taxi stopped, she caught a glimpse of a sticker on the back windshield. The image resembled a stylized dragon’s head. Part of her wondered if it was some book series or a new video game.

  Most of her didn’t care whatsoever.

  She paid the driver and hustled up the sidewalk to her apartment complex. She was still pretty soaked. The driver had given her a special little tarp to sit on so she didn’t get water all over his seats. He’d also given out some free candies. He was gunning for a five-star review.

  Sarah surveyed the car again on her way inside the building. She’d always had a thing for anything fast and dangerous. She’d even done some dirt bike racing back in her college days before she’d wiped out a few too many times. During one race in particular, during her senior year, she’d come up to a corner and lost control, which was something she rarely did.

  She’d sailed out of the course and managed to get pinned in the bleachers through abnormally bad luck. Sarah had ended up with a serious concussion from it. When she recovered, her decisions teetered between going back into the sport or putting her wellbeing first.

  Her mom had smiled when Sarah had brought the coffee shop up that Christmas.

  “Honey,” she’d told her. “You have a lot more going on in that pretty head than just racing bikes your whole life. I’m not going to tell you what to do, but just think about your future.”

  That’s not to say that Sarah took her advice right away, thought she probably should have. However, the following year, she decided to make it work and her mom even cosigned a loan to bring her dream to fruition.

  Even with the rain, standing under the front of her building, the memory brought a smile to her lips. Her mom always said whatever she thought, she had no filter. That quality was the main reason they got along so well.

  She took one last look at the car and opened the door to her building with her dripping helmet in her hands. As she walked in, she heard her boots echo on the wooden floors as she walked.

  She tried rather unsuccessfully to stay quiet because she didn’t want to wake up Jamie, the crazy cat lady who lived downstairs.

  Sarah saw Jamie’s red door and slowed her pace. Almost there. She could see the staircases that led up to the second floor.

  The floor squeaked. Sarah’s throat jumped into her throat. She took another step…and then Jamie’s door opened.

  “Sarah!”

  “Oh, hey, Jamie.” She tried to force a smile. Jamie wasn’t a bad person, but she was a little strange and made Sarah slightly uneasy. “Sorry to wake you.”

  Jamie touched Sarah on the shoulder affectionately. Sarah pulled back, trying to avoid looking rude. Sarah was a hugger. She showed affection through touch, but Jamie didn’t know her well enough to touch her. Social norms existed for a reason.

  “Mittens is eating,” Jamie said.

  “Just Mittens? What about the other ones?” Mentally, she slapped herself. No! No! Why, Sarah? Why did I ask this?

  “Oh, they’re all sleeping!”

  Jamie had hacked up a hairball one time, which was probably the most disgusting thing Sarah had ever seen. On a merely physical level, nasty. But it meant she’d been licking her cats, and to Sarah, that was way past the line of sanity. Now, every single time Sarah saw her, she remembered that horrific moment and struggled to avoid running away.

  “You’re soaking,” Jamie said like Sarah hadn’t noticed.

  “Oh,” Sarah said, looking down at her clothes. “Totally. My bike broke down and I had to hitch a ride.”

  Why couldn’t she stop talking? All she wanted to do was go home, take a warm shower, and fall asleep in that ridiculously comfortable bed of hers.

  “How did the date go?”

  Sarah made the mistake of telling Jamie that she had joined a dating service. Bad idea. Now, every time Jamie caught her in the hallway, she wanted to know about Sarah’s dating life. Sarah didn’t want to talk about her dating life, least of all to Jamie. But now that she’d awakened that monster, it was her job to deal with it.

  “The date was two nights ago. It was fine,” she lied. “He seemed like a nice enough guy.”

  Well, that was true. He had been nice enough, but the guy had no backbone. It seemed as if his life’s mission was to apologize for everything. It was cold in the restaurant. Somehow that was his fault. How? She didn’t know. Her food had been just slightly undercooked. He felt just awful about that.

  She needed someone who could inflame her passions and take her breath away with the slightest glance. She wasn’t interested in Joe Average. She deserved more. She deserved a freaking hero.

  “Listen,” she said. “I, uh, I really want to head on up to my place and sleep. And I still have to shower. Catch you later?”

  Jamie smiled and patted Sarah on her soaking shoulder gracelessly. Jamie was extremely socially awkward, which is probably why she licked cats.

  “Sleep well,” she told Sarah.

  Sarah almost said yeah, that’s unlikely after all those dreams, but at the last second, she caught herself. She was tired, not completely stupid. Saying something like that to Jamie would mean an automatic hour-long conversation. Instead, she just wished Jamie a good night and hustled up towards her apartment, leaving a small puddle behind her.

  She saw her apartment door and started fishing for her keys. After finding the right one, she went to insert it into the lock on the door handle.

  “Hey,” a guy said from behind her. “I wouldn’t do that.”

  She jumped in surprise. He was standing uncomfortably close to her from behind, looking down at her with surprising focus. She turned and immediately knew she was looking at the owner of the car outside. He was dressed in expensive garb—a black suit and a fitted red shirt. Sarah was no fashion expert, but she could tell she was looking at custom-made attire from head to toe.

  Even though his suit was professional, his hair screamed casual. He had spiked, almost frilled, pitch-black hair and oddly-colored orange eyes that watched her with surprising intensity.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” she demanded. “You scared me half to death!”

  “Oh, Sarah…you’re so feisty.” He gave her a dashing grin.

  He was handsome, probably one of the hottest guys she’d ever seen. She noticed his unshaven face. She normally wasn’t into beards, but looking at him, she could definitely be into beards.

  “Bad day?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.

  “First,” she said, “I have no idea who you are and I don’t talk to strange men, even ones that look like you. Second, I’ve had an insanely irritating day. Third, how do you know my name?” She turned back to the door. “So, here’s what’s going to happen now. I’m going to go into my apartment and you’re going to leave. But tomorrow? I’d consider talking to you tomorrow when you’re not creeping up behind me when I am walking into my apartment alone. Sound good?”

  He was still smiling. His orange eyes glittered. He reached for her hands that she pulled away. He didn’t seem even remotely distressed by her pulling back.

  Nonchalantly, he said, “If you walk through that door, you’ll be killed.”

  2

  “Killed?” She hesitated. “What are you talking about? And you still didn’t explain how you know my name.”

  He ran a hand through his thick hair, looking away for a moment. He walked away from her. She could see his muscles under his red shirt that caught the light nicely.

  “Where should I start?” he said, as if asking himself the questions.

  “You don’t make any sense. What are you talking about?” she asked, putting her hand on a hip. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Forget it. I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed. We can have this weird conversation later…or never.”

  She turned and started to insert the key. He dashed over to her, grabbed her hands and pulled her away from the door. It all happened so fast, Sarah didn’t know what was happening.

  “Sarah, you need to listen
to me.” he warned, “Don’t. Go. In. There.”

  “It’s my apartment.” She pulled free. “And don’t touch me. I have no problem using my Taser.”

  “You have a Taser?” he seemed bemused. “I’m going to tell you something, but I’ll warn you, you’re not going to like it.”

  “I already don’t like you. You don’t have a lot to lose.”

  The mysterious man leaned in, almost as if he was going in for kiss. But, he didn’t. Strangely, she didn’t think she’d mind.

  “I know your name because… Well, I’m a dragon, and…” He paused. “You know what? I don’t want to freak you out. I think in time, you’ll remember me.”

  She nodded, putting on a face of mock belief. “Makes total sense. And what does that have to do with my apartment?”

  “My cousin set a trap for you in there. He wants you dead.”

  “Okay.” She pursed her lips. “I have an idea. How about we try this all again, but this time, let’s pretend I have time for this and that you’re not completely crazy.”

  He gazed into her eyes and a feeling of recognition swept over her. She didn’t know this man, yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen him before. Something deep in her soul stirred when she looked at him, like they had been lovers in another life.

  She almost wanted to believe the guy, but that made no sense. He had a funny little scar across his right eye, like someone had cut him a long time ago. It was barely visible, but when he turned his head, the light illuminated the imperfection on his nearly perfect face. Didn’t she know a guy with a scar just like that? Her mind searched for anything that could place his face in her memory. Nothing. It was almost like a feeling a déjà vu, but the feeling was fleeting.

  “What do I have to do to prove it?” he asked, stepping back and spreading his arms to show he meant her no harm.

  She cocked an eyebrow way up in the air. “What do you have to do to prove you’re a dragon and that someone is trying to kill me? I don’t know. Spread your wings, maybe? Fly? Breathe fire?”

  “You’re hostile today.”

  “You’ve never met me.”

  “I’ve lived a lifetime with you,” he argued.

  She looked up at the handsome lunatic. “Yeah, see, something tells me I would have remembered that.”

  He inhaled deeply and held his breath. He looked ridiculous. A grown man with puffed-up cheeks like a blowfish. What was he trying to prove? She started wondering if he was going to hold his breath until she listened to him, like a child.

  But that’s not what happened.

  After that deep inhalation, his throat changed color. It looked as if a bonfire was aflame inside his throat. His skin was glowing from the heat, illuminating the muscles of his neck.

  Instinctively, Sarah stepped back, dropping her helmet onto the bottom of the hallway. Upon a deep exhale, smoke came pouring out of his nostrils. The air that came out was toasty, like it had just come out of a hot oven.

  Her sea-green eyes were opened wide in surprise. Sarah wanted to run, but she couldn’t move.

  “What was that?” Sarah tried to remember where she kept her Taser. She’d never actually used it, but since college, she always had it in her purse or backpack. She was terrified, but fascinated. “Get away from me!”

  “You’re the one that asked me to breathe fire,” he protested. “I just did what you said. Well, I didn’t actually breathe fire. I don’t want your building to go up in flames. However, you can’t deny what you saw.”

  She took one long look at the handsome stranger as he exhaled some more smoke. “I need you to leave. Now. I’m calling the cops.”

  “At least we’re past the Taser plan.”

  “I wouldn’t count on that. If you take one more step, I’m putting that plan into action.”

  He laughed and seemed genuinely amused, like she had just cracked an old inside joke instead of threatening to electrocute him. “It’s been so long. I’d forgotten how stubborn you are. Do you want to go to dinner? I’ll explain everything on the way.”

  “Seriously? You just told me there’s a guy in my apartment about to kill me. You’ve got something crazy happening inside your body. And, I don’t know you.”

  “First, no. There’s nobody in there, just an automated trap. Second, you don’t trust me?”

  “Why on earth should I?” she asked him. “You haven’t said anything sane the whole time we’ve been talking.”

  He nodded. “Fair enough. Tell you what, Goldie.”

  She picked up her helmet, giving him the evil eye. “Goldie? Because I’m blonde? Really?”

  “It’s my old nickname for you.”

  She stared at him, hard, for a second or two, trying to see if he was just a regular guy trying to be funny by playing a joke on her. Nope. He was telling the truth, or at least he thought he was. She’d always been pretty good at pegging a person’s character. You didn’t make it long in life as a beautiful woman without being a good judge of character.

  The guy across from her really thought he was a dragon and that he knew her.

  “How about this?” the guy said.

  He had striking eyes. Even in the unusual scenario, it was hard for Sarah to avoid staring.

  “I understand that you don’t recognize me. It’s fine. You’ve lived many lifetimes since you’ve seen me last. I imagine it’s hard to trust me. To you, I’m just a stranger who seems crazy because you don’t understand my world. But to me, you’re the love of my life. Would you believe me if you found a trap in your apartment?”

  “You mean, would I be impressed if you broke into my apartment and set a trap for me? No, not really.”

  “I didn’t break into your apartment. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

  “Stop talking to me like we know each other!”

  She wanted to go inside her apartment, lock the door, and call the cops. But she didn’t. What if there was some truth to what he was saying and someone had broken into her apartment?

  He stepped back and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Go ahead. Open the door.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “I will.”

  “Go ahead. But step back after you open it.”

  She hesitated and brought the key towards the door. He didn’t move. He just stood there with that frustratingly familiar, knowing smirk. She unlocked her door, opened it, and stepped back.

  Boom!

  The inside of the frame exploded with a strange blue substance. It looked like glitter, but it drifted down from the top of the frame with a life of its own, darting left and right. She let out a little yelp and jumped back.

  The guy stepped forward, holding out a hand. “Give me your glove,” he ordered.

  She looked at the glittering blue substance drifting from the ceiling and then back at him. Slowly, she slid her glove off and gave it to him. He tossed the glove into the doorway.

  Immediately upon contact, the blue substance attacked her glove like ants attacking an invader of their nest, ripping into the black material until the glove was just a bunch of fuzz that drifted down to the ground.

  “Good thing I didn’t need that glove,” Sarah muttered. “Okay. Enough mysterious oh-it’s-been-so-long garbage.” She gestured towards the last bits of the glittering blue stuff. “What the hell is that?”

  “It’s gold flakes,” he replied. “Treated gold with a spell. I’m telling you, Goldie, you’re on Roland’s kill list. If you’d stepped through that door, you’d be dead.”

  She looked at the last bit of her glove as it hit the ground. “Okay, you’ve got my attention.”

  “So, you believe me?”

  “Of course not. But I think you can explain who this Roland guy is.”

  He smiled. “I’ll take that as a win.” As the remainder of the dust settled, he waved his hand in the air of the doorway. “You can go in now.”

  She hesitated before sticking her hand in. He was telling the truth. No enchanted blue stuff at
tacked her. Hesitantly, she stepped in her apartment.

  Oh no.

  She’d been robbed.

  No, that wasn’t quite right. Nothing of value was missing. Her laptop was still on the counter, and if thieves had broken in, they’d have taken that first. But, her apartment was in disarray. Someone had been there. Everything in her apartment was torn up and ripped, from her couch’s cushions to her favorite chair split.

  “Fuuuuck!” she snapped. “Seriously?” She stamped her foot, which didn’t do much except alleviate some of the tension she felt. She whirled around, coming face-to-face with the smoke-breathing man. “I swear to God, if I find out this was your doing, I will hunt you down…and…and…be absolutely furious with you!” Really, Sarah? Not much of a threat?

  He maneuvered her fingers out of his face. “I think you’re already absolutely furious.”

  She couldn’t quite explain it, but somewhere in her gut, she had a feeling that she could trust him, that he hadn’t been the one to screw with her apartment. But more than that, that his soul spoke to hers and comforted hers without even speaking.

  He seemed amused by her outburst, which annoyed her. She was a small woman, but she was rather strong and her temper was fiery. Most people took her seriously when she lost it. Some argued. Others just tried to get out of the way. But nobody just smiled. Somehow, that threw her off.

  “Who did this?” she protested, picking up a picture of her in Costa Rica.

  The picture had been on the little desk by the door where she normally put her keys. She ran her finger over the broken glass gently.

  “Roland,” he said.

  “Am I supposed to know that means? I think I deserve answers.”

  He watched her scurry around, picking up her stuff. “I told you. I’m a dragon shifter and I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”

  “Well, you found me,” she grumbled. “They ruined my crockpot! I was making soup. Ugh… that was my dinner for at least three days.”