His long fingers tightened on his scotch and his purple eyes glittered dangerously, but he nodded, setting down his drink to come over to her.
“Sit down,” she said, grabbing him by the sleeve of his violet sweater and pulling him down onto the couch between her and Tynan. “Now put your arm around me so they can see.”
Chad’s eyes widened slightly, but then he was all cool calm as he slid his arm around her, tickling the hairs on the back of her neck. His hand gently rested against her shoulder, and his side felt so warm.
Already, she felt herself reacting. How odd that there was no fear in his touch.
Then Chad pulled his arm back. “Any questions?”
Isabella cleared her throat, feeling all four fae watching her intently.
“I’ll try next,” Boreas said, standing up and rolling up his sleeves as he walked over to stand in front of her.
Looking up at him, she suddenly felt nervous. She’d been fine around all of the fae with the other lessons. But being touched by all of them in such a way would just be different.
“Chadwick,” she said, inwardly groaning as he turned to her with a stern expression of warning. “Can they demonstrate on you? I need to watch their form.”
His gorgeous purple eyes narrowed, but he nodded. “I suppose.”
“What?” Boreas looked shocked. “But we have a human female right now.”
“Isabella makes the calls on this,” Chad said, though he looked annoyed by the situation. “So go ahead.”
Tynan moved, and Boreas sat down, looking at Chadwick confusedly. “Here goes.” He slid his arm along the back of Chad’s couch, and they both looked so nonplussed about it that the whole room burst into laughter around them.
Boreas and Chad seemed less than impressed.
“That’s enough,” Chadwick said. “The rest of you get up and try it. We need to move on to other things.”
“Yes,” Isabella said, meeting Chadwick’s look with a teasing one of her own. “Like kissing.”
Chad’s eyes widened. “No. No way.”
There was even more laughter as the other fae came to try putting their arm around Chadwick.
As it turned out, the fae were fine with kissing and didn’t need help in that department, but they did need more help in knowing when it would be right to move in for the kiss.
And it was pretty fun to see Chadwick get spitting mad every time they attempted it.
His eyes would meet hers as he shoved away an errant fae, and she would try not to laugh as she kept focused on how to explain what the fairy had done right or wrong.
No matter what happened, she just seemed to have fun with him.
By the time they were done, most of them were good enough at nonverbal communication that she felt they should be able to go on a date without looking like weirdos.
Everyone was a little rumpled, but Chadwick was the only one who looked a little worse for wear.
He sent her a glare before he left the room, straightening his sweater as he went.
Boreas came to stand in front of Isabella, suddenly blocking her view with his wide chest. His sweater was a slightly darker blue than his frozen eyes. “That was helpful, human. Flint and I will be staying the night. We should talk more while I’m here.” Then his gaze lingered on her, running over her form in a way that made her distinctly uncomfortable.
He wasn’t being rude exactly, and she didn’t sense anything malicious. But he was curious about her in a way he hadn’t been when he first showed up.
“Okay, Boreas,” Isabella said. “If you want to know more about the human world, then tomorrow—”
“No, I meant I could talk to you alone,” Boreas said. “I’ve never met a human female, and I find myself impressed.”
“Uh-oh,” Flint said. “Boreas, she’s not available.”
Isabella was kind of glad Chadwick wasn’t around to watch this. “Sorry, but he’s right. I’m not going to stay in this world.”
Boreas raised an eyebrow. “Where are you going, then?”
She sighed. “I mean, I’ll be on Earth, but I’m having my memory erased. I just want to go back to being a regular human.”
He still studied her with those elusive blue eyes. “How interesting. I would still like to talk to you. Ask you a few things.”
Isabella nodded. “Of course. Maybe later. For now, I’m due for a nap.” She waved to the other fae, then headed out of the room.
She liked the fae, but sometimes she needed time to herself to relax and make plans for what to do with her life when she went back to being a normal human.
But first, she’d go thank Chadwick for all his help.
She smiled to herself as she headed down the hallway.
Chapter 6
“I’m not a goat in a petting zoo,” Chadwick muttered to himself as he strode up the stairs to the second floor. “Letting fae crawl all over me.”
Still, for some crazy reason, he hadn’t wanted them touching Isabella, so he’d had no choice but to agree.
Especially when she’d looked so nervous, her eyes pleading.
Damn, his stupid dragon was already thinking she was his to protect and take care of just because he’d gotten a taste of her.
Chadwick reached the hallway that led to his office just as he heard light footsteps jogging to catch up with him.
He sighed and turned, knowing he’d be facing Isabella.
“I’m sorry,” she said, catching up with him quickly and putting her hands on her knees. “You walk fast. Dang.”
“Is that all?” He turned to walk away again, but she caught him by his sweater, making him pause. “Because I think I need time to regenerate my personal space after the fae manhandled me.”
She laughed, standing up straight again. She looked beautiful in a teal sweater over black leggings. “I’m sorry. It was funny, though. You have to admit.”
“So you liked making a joke of me?” Chad asked, taking a step forward to make her back up, enjoying the way her eyes widened slightly. “Why? Why are you determined to set me off? Why am I the only one you want to torture?”
And it was torture seeing her there, her soft blond hair framing her face, her full lips pursed.
For a moment, she looked taken aback and vulnerable. Softer than the spitfire she usually was. “I’m not trying to torture you.”
“No?” He put a hand on the wall above her. “What were you trying to do, then? Is everything just a joke to you?” His mind flashed to the pool, to the heat between them. What if even that was just another thing she laughed at?
The thought infuriated him.
She shook her head, making her blond waves bounce. “No, it wasn’t a joke. I promise.”
“No?” Chadwick frowned. “Then why choose me for the demonstration? It would have been better to demonstrate on any of the fae or let them demonstrate on you since you’re human.” The whole situation still didn’t make sense to him.
She averted her eyes, and for some reason, her cheeks tinged slightly pink. “I didn’t…”
“Didn’t what?” Chad had about lost his patience with the whole day, and on top of that, he felt a vision coming.
“I wasn’t making fun of you,” she blurted out. “I swear. I just…”
“Just what?” Chad asked. God, being close to her like this was too dangerous. Just her slight floral scent made the dragon in him hungry again. All he could do was remember her taste…
“I didn’t want to touch them,” she finally said quietly. Her green eyes shimmered as they met Chad’s. “And I didn’t want them to touch me either. So I’m sorry, but you were my only option.” She pushed off the wall, moving around him as he froze for a second in shock.
“You want to touch me, though?” he asked, staring at her back.
She ignored him, and he followed her down the hall, ignoring peals of fae laughter as they walked in the direction of her room.
“Wait, Isabella,” Chad said, grabbing her hand gently before she
could reach her door.
She stopped, staring at him nervously. “What?”
Chadwick rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Why are you afraid of the fae?”
“I’m not afraid,” she said quickly, but her wide eyes told him it was a lie.
The urge to read her thoughts was strong, but Chadwick didn’t want to betray her like that. “Isabella, if there’s something I should know about…”
She jerked her gaze away. “I’m not one of the creatures under your watch,” she said sharply. “I don’t have to tell you anything about me if I don’t want to.”
He flinched slightly at “creatures” but quickly recovered. Clearly, there was more to Isabella’s story than she’d told anyone, and Chad meant to get to the bottom of it. “This is my house. If you’re going to be here, then I should know—”
“Know what?” Isabella said, putting her hands on her hips. “My past? Well, guess what? It’s not going to be relevant. Because I’m going to be leaving and forgetting all this. And the fae will find humans who deserve them, and you’ll go mate your precious dragon heart.” She sighed. “So I’m sorry it offended you that they demonstrated on you—or I demonstrated on you—but it wasn’t a joke and I wasn’t making fun of you.”
Chadwick just stood there, taking in everything she said as she opened the door to her room and slid in.
He couldn’t explain the sudden protectiveness that had burst through him when she’d first said she only wanted Chad to touch her. The possessiveness.
But then there had immediately been the worry that she was in danger or that he needed to do more to keep her safe in his care or to make her feel more comfortable.
She brought out feelings in him that no one else had, but she was still a human under Chad’s protection on top of that.
She peeked at him from behind the door as she closed it so she could make one more parting remark. “The only reason I asked is I thought you would want to help.”
Then she shut the door in his face, leaving Chadwick alone in the hallway to ponder his thoughts.
He exhaled roughly as he finally turned to go back to his office. He had missions to assign, visions to work on.
And still, all he wanted to do was go back to Isabella’s door, pound on it, and demand to know who had made her feel afraid.
I do want to help, Chadwick thought as he opened the door to his study and sank into his comfortable office chair. I just don’t know how.
Hopefully, he would soon.
Chapter 7
Chadwick liked walking the halls of his mansion late at night when the others had gone to bed.
Even when he and Trevor had been the only ones living there, Chad loved his moonlight strolls through corridors, studying the art they’d collected, reminiscing about each time period they’d been through in human history.
He really was quite a traditional dragon, unlike Trevor. He only wanted to protect humans and to—
He stopped as he heard a sound down the hall in the direction of Isabella’s room.
He should wait. She was probably just moving around and knocked something over. She’d be fine. Probably not even happy to see him after their last conversation.
Still, he padded down the hallway, keeping his footsteps as light as possible as he poked his head into the corridor that led to Isabella’s room.
Boreas was standing in the dimly lit hallway, his hand raised to knock on Isabella’s door.
Despite his haughty behavior, the fae seemed to actually be nervous about seeing her. His head was lowered as he seemed to be deep in thought.
Then he lifted his hand to knock, and Chadwick turned away, quickly moving down the stairway before anyone could see him spying.
Chad regretted allowing Boreas to stay the night when he’d been up late talking with the other fae, but he wasn’t worried the fae would hurt Isabella in any way.
The fae were highly moral and abhorred things like assault or sexual aggression. For one, their moral code deemed it evil. For two, forceful acts did nothing to further a soul bond, so it was pointless.
But if Boreas did even the slightest thing to upset her…
Chad’s knuckles cracked. His fists were so tight they hurt as he walked down into the main foyer and out the front door.
Right now, he didn’t have any right or reason to interfere. He was just being a stupid, possessive, overprotective dragon.
He needed cool air, and a walk on his beautiful grounds would do perfectly.
The lawns were still except for a mild breeze rustling the grass, and the moon was bright overhead, casting the beautiful scene in twilight.
Navy blue, deep green, trees, and stars all around.
Having so much beauty around him was how Chadwick had been able to focus on his work and nothing else in his life and still maintain some kind of calm.
But there was another kind of beauty drawing him now, and he found himself subconsciously wandering in the direction of Isabella’s window.
Maybe he’d just stroll by and make sure nothing distressing was going on between her and the fae.
Her room was on the second floor on the right side of the house, and Chadwick kept his breath quiet as he walked because he didn’t want Isabella or Boreas to think he was spying or eavesdropping.
He was just taking a midnight stroll. No law against that.
But as he turned the corner to glance up at her room, his mouth fell open in shocked dismay.
“Bella? What are you doing up there?”
“Um.” She was standing on the ledge to the side of the window, balanced precariously as if she were avoiding someone in her room.
Chad’s jaw shut tight as he tried not to convict Boreas without reason. He jogged underneath her position and looked up, relieved that, though he had a fairly scandalous view up her nightgown from here, she was definitely not going to fall before he could reach her.
“Look away!” she whisper-shouted. “I’m fine.”
Chadwick put his hands on his hips. “If I look away, how am I supposed to catch you?”
Her eyes widened at that, looking so green in the moonlight his heart ached. “I’m going to go back inside on my own. Once Boreas is gone.”
As if to make her point, she began to shimmy along the wall back to the window. She’d gone about a foot when she almost fell.
“Oops,” she said, looking down at Chadwick.
Chadwick rolled his eyes as he walked forward, extending his arms. “I’ll look away. Jump, and I’ll catch you.”
She eyed him imperiously. “Right.”
He let out a sigh of impatience. “I can shift into a dragon and fly up, but—”
“No,” she said quickly, her fear of anything paranormal clearly winning out. “I’ll jump.”
He stood there, arms out, using his peripheral vision to track her movement and trying not to think about the silky red panties she had on.
She was a human. He was a dragon. She was under his protection.
He had to remind himself of that fact again as her lush curves landed in his arms, and the relief on her flushed face nearly did him in.
He set her down gently but quickly, as if worried about the effect if his hands were on her too long.
She let out a sigh and slumped to her butt on the grass, putting her hands over her face. “Whew, glad that’s over.” When she’d regained composure, she stood, brushing her hands over her black robe. “What are you doing out here?”
Chadwick folded his arms. “What are you doing out here? I didn’t give you one of the best rooms in the house so you could risk your life on the window eaves.”
She glanced up at her window nervously, which was still open. “Boreas.”
Chad stiffened, his hands in fists again. Already, dragon wings were sprouting from his back as he made to jump up to the window.
If the oracle had lied to him about the fae and that stupid fairy had endangered anyone in Chad’s protection—
“Wait,” I
sabella said, running forward in front of him. Her eyes were huge as she looked at his wings, purple and miniature compared to his dragon but still quite a sight behind a normal man. “Don’t. It’s not what you think. I said that wrong.”
Chad stepped back, letting his wings abate. He was relieved she’d stopped him, but it honestly made no sense for him to react so quickly without getting enough background info.
He’d simply wanted to sink his dragon fangs into Boreas’s throat at the thought that he’d done something to Bella.
Then again, nothing made sense when it came to her.
“So what did happen, then?” He folded his arms, studying her face as she flushed, looking guilty.
Now that was an odd expression.
“He didn’t do anything too terrible,” she said. “He was just knocking on my door with a request.”
Chad’s brows lowered. “And what was that?”
Her cheeks went scarlet, and Chad had to work to keep the anger down.
“What did he ask?”
“Just… asking me if I wanted to try bonding with him,” she said, lowering her gaze. “He seemed to think it a great privilege.” She laughed, meeting Chadwick’s gaze with eyes that weren’t smiling.
“What did you say?” Chadwick felt his heart pounding unevenly as he hung on her answer.
“I told him no. Of course.”
Chad fought back the urge to sigh openly in relief. Why should it matter to him if one of the fae bonded with her?
But it did. It really did. It especially did after that moment in the pool where he’d gotten to taste her.
But those thoughts weren’t going to serve him well right now.
“Good,” Chad said. “So why did you have to hide outside your window?”
She blinked at him, looking abashed. “You know. I just freaked out a little. I know he didn’t mean any harm, but suddenly, I was like, what if I say no and he doesn’t take it well? The next thing I knew, I was on the windowsill.”
So it had been some kind of traumatic reaction, not Boreas’s fault at all.
Chadwick grabbed her hand, pulling her along with him back the way he’d come.
Dragon in Love Page 4