by Milly Taiden
Chapter Five
Tor watched the house from his car. Morgan Polley would probably hate his guts if she knew he was watching her home. Too bad. It was part of the job. If she really was a Drachen mate, he couldn’t sit by and let Sayeh find her. One of his brothers could lose a chance to have a family.
Maybe even you.
No. Not him. Yes, he found Morgan attractive. Her beautiful sun-kissed skin, sleepy hazel eyes and that smile that warmed his heart had gotten to him. Hell, those lips of hers had made him think of nothing but ways to get her on her knees with his cock in her mouth, which was messed up with her mother in the same room. Not to mention she belonged to one of his brothers.
It was easier to think of her as someone else’s or he’d never get his fucking mind out of the gutter. As it was, all he wanted was to taste her lips and slide his fingers over her face. But he’d been burned badly once. The last thing he needed was to explain to his real mate why he was so bitter about women.
There was no other way. He’d have to watch her unless she was with him. He thought back to earlier that evening. She’d smiled and touched his hand and made him feel…something.
He should focus on the fact she might be for one of the others, but his dragon loved her scent and Tor couldn’t get her eyes or her gorgeous pouty lips out of his mind. He wasn’t ready to know which of his brothers she might belong to. He wanted to spend more time with her. To listen to her soft voice and touch her. Fuck, how he wanted to feel her skin and know just how soft she really was.
He slid his seat back and readied for a long night. His dragon would stay wide awake while his human side rested. It would alert him of anything happening near Morgan he needed to check out.
He slammed the door to the main house. He was tired, hungry, and needed a shower.
Ker greeted him in the kitchen. “What’s up, big bro?”
“Not a damn thing.” He went straight for the coffeemaker.
“So, did anything happen with the lovely Ms. Polley?” Ker asked with a waggle of his brows.
“No. Why? And how do you know she’s lovely?” He didn’t like that he’d felt an instant dislike for his brother thinking of her. Or that his dragon had roused, jealousy alive and well in the fire breather.
“I saw the file photo,” Ker said, his silly grin making it harder to get mad at him. “She’s got that whole hot schoolteacher look. Reminds me of my high school English teacher. She had the prettiest blue eyes and always made time to explain everything to me.”
“You do realize you never went to high school.”
Ker tapped his chin. “Or maybe I saw it in a movie. Whatever. The point is Ms. Polley is understated sexy. I like it.”
“Keep it in your pants, Romeo. I’m watching her.”
“But what if she’s my mate, Tor?” Ker asked, his brows rising high. “I think I like the idea.”
For fuck’s sakes. The last thing he wanted was Ker having some strange infatuation to the woman he’d have to bring over so they could protect her. Maybe he should do this on his own.
“Forget it, Ker. Until we know who she belongs to, hands off.” That went for himself as well. He needed to remember that Morgan was a human and didn’t understand mating ways.
“Hey, what’s going on in here?” Clacher asked, walking into the kitchen. “I’m out to the shop. You lazy asses doing anything interesting?”
“I’d like to say I’m going to check out how my employees are working on the new builds,” Tor grumbled, “but I’m just going to watch Morgan for a few days.”
“Heads up,” Ker said to Clacher, “I think she’s mine.”
Clacher raised a mug of coffee to his lips and grinned. “You never know, kid. You never know.”
“Listen up, you two. Jae and Drayden are traveling, we’ll have to watch Morgan.” He didn’t like how that sounded. “I’ll watch her. But I’ll be bringing her here to see if she gets anything she needs to share.”
Clacher nodded and headed out the door. “Fine with me. I’m gonna be at the tattoo shop, so just let me know if you need anything or if you need me to take a shift or something.”
Tor nodded and waved him away. He turned to Ker. “She’s not for you.”
Ker grinned. “I don’t know why you’d say that. Nobody knows. So it could be me.”
The kid laughed and Tor had to calm his dragon before he threw a couple of fire balls at him. Dumbass.
“She needs protection, not some lovesick fool, Ker.” He should just ignore him, but Tor’s dragon heated up, disliking the thought of Ker flirting with Morgan, much less mating her.
If the kid was her mate, he’d have to get over it, but until then, he’d protect her from him.
“Don’t worry, Tor. I know how to be patient. Besides, if she’s not, I have a long ass time before I get mine.”
Tor thought of Sylvana. He’d been just as young as Ker, full of life and in the belief that he’d get a mate and all would be perfect. Until she’d played him for a fool. Telling him she knew who he’d mate and it was her. Telling him because she was special, there was no mate mark. And he almost fell for it. Until he saw her with Sayeh. Then he’d known it had all been a game. He’d been a pawn and the one with the last laugh had been the dark dragon. At Tor’s expense.
Chapter Six
Morgan hated driving at night. Living in a town that was so underpopulated and with so much forest surrounding their mountain, she always felt like she was in the middle of nowhere, alone.
Had her client shown up on time, she wouldn’t have had to stay late at work. At least she’d been able to use the wait time to research the Drachen family. Well, what little information there was on the Internet about them.
Owners of many businesses, the family was shrouded in mystery. Few knew they were dragon shifters. Ancient ones at that, but those in the paranormal world recognized each other. Not to mention, his eyes had given a flash of gray when he spoke to her. That didn’t happen in random conversation.
A groan left her lips. She wanted to take a nap. It was the second night in a row she’d had a horrible dream where a white and gray dragon came to her rescue. One dream had been worrisome, but two was some scary shit.
Her mind wandered, but she was still nowhere near her house. The faster she tried to go, the slower her car went until her engine stalled altogether. What the hell? She had a half tank of gas. There was no warning light on her dashboard.
She grabbed her cell phone and dialed a local towing company, but they wouldn’t be there for at least an hour. She’d be alone in the middle of a dark fucking road without anyone else. Great.
She was sitting in her car when a call came through from Tor.
“Hello?” She wished she didn’t sound so excited to talk to him.
“Morgan, where are you?” There was worry in his voice and she grinned. Hot guy was concerned for her, how cute.
“I’m fine. A few miles from my house. My car died so I’m waiting for a tow.” Wait a second, why was he calling her? They weren’t supposed to meet up for another day. “Is everything okay? You didn’t change your mind, did you?”
“No, no. Everything’s fine. I was just in the area and wanted to see if you’d like to get some dinner.”
Oh. My. God. Was he asking her out? Her heart did the mambo while she couldn’t stop the stupid smiling. If her tiny clients saw her, they’d tell her she was acting childish, which was something she’d constantly told them only kids were allowed.
Heck, if Lexi saw her, she’d probably encourage her to get naked and wait for Tor in her birthday suit. To help him move things along, of course. “Um, sure. If you don’t mind coming to get me,” she glanced around, “somewhere on the main road toward my house.”
“Yeah, I can get you, no problem,” he replied. “Morgan, be careful.”
“I am. I’m just sitting here―” she stopped talking when she saw a giant black shadow heading her way from under the bright moonlight.
“Morgan?”
he asked, urgency in his voice.
She gasped when she saw the darkness move. “What the fuck is that?”
“What, Morgan? What are you seeing?” His voice became more forceful.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “I don’t see anything but blackness.”
“Stay in the car. Don’t go anywhere.”
Really? Like she’d get out to investigate. She wasn’t some dumb blonde in a B-rated horror movie. Did she look stupid to him? Her gut screamed to arm herself. She glanced around the inside of her car but all she had was her cell phone and her big ass file bag. Fuck!
Something scraped across the metal top of her car, making a thin screeching sound she winced at. Her ears felt like they’d started bleeding from the high-pitched shriek of something scratching at the metal. Worse than fingernails down a chalkboard.
She yanked off her seatbelt and dove down, searching under the seat for something, anything, to use as a weapon. Her glasses slid off her nose and fell into the damn spot between the seat and the cup holder she could never get to.
She hadn’t even worn her heels today or she could have had that at hand. Now all she had was her cell phone and foul language, neither of which would impress whatever was opening her car like a sardines can.
Another swipe on the left side of her seat and she found nothing. A quick scan of the back seat and she saw the metal statue of an angel a client’s mother recently gifted her.
She gripped the cold metal with one hand and the moment massive claws slid through the roof, she bashed them. Adrenaline buzzed through her body, making her hyper aware of everything. Like the fact the claws were still in the roof of her car and it looked like they were going to pull the roof off. She watched the metal bend and whine.
The whole car shook as if the animal were grappling with the roof. She unlocked the door, ready to make a run for it the minute the metal above her came off. No fucking way she’d stay in the car to be turned into a late night snack.
The metal jerked above her, sides peeling away. She held on to the metal figurine and the door handle. The top of the car wrenched away and she scrambled out and ran blindly for the trees. The sound of a massive thump and the ground shaking made her look over her shoulder.
Bright moonlight showed two giant animals roaring. One shot up into the sky. Though it was nighttime, the full moon gave her the ability to continue watching the dark figure as it fought to get away from the other.
They swooped down and she got a clear view of them. One was a black dragon, his eyes bright red. The other was a white and gray dragon. She couldn’t make colors out exactly but she knew those wings and those bodies.
The black flung his tail at the white, but the white was faster. He dodged every one of the slams at his wings. She gulped back the stone in her throat. Her emotions were pulled left and right by the white dragon. Oh my god! This was the same dragon from her dreams. The one that saved her. He was there now, doing exactly what she’d dreamt.
The black dragon backed away and blew out a long red line of fire at the white dragon. It looked huge and for a second, her heart stopped but the white one was once again faster and dodged the fire. In turn, the white roared and his scales appeared to change from white to blue before her eyes.
He flew up, then down, avoiding the black’s tail. Flying higher, he put distance between them and made a circle. Then he sent a giant plume of fire that followed the black dragon as he tried to dodge it.
The black went higher into the sky and the fire cloud followed him as if having locked onto the enemy via GPS.
The fire slammed the black, sending him on a dive back to earth. She watched in horror as he almost hit the ground before his wings spread feet above the road and shot back into the air.
He didn’t get a chance for another attack. The now blue dragon was ready and roared another cloud of fire straight at the black.
The fire cloud, much bigger this second time, zeroed in on the black dragon. It followed him as he tried to shake it. Nothing worked. She covered her mouth with her hands to muffle her scream.
The fire burned a massive hole into the black dragon’s side, taking his wing in the process. He hovered over trees in the distance before freefalling back to earth.
She gulped and stood, shaking. Her mind had frozen on the moment she saw that hole in the black dragon. Her stomach clenched like it’d been filled with acid. She doubled over from the pain, falling to her knees. He was dead. She could feel it in the coldness seeping to her bones.
The pain she felt from the black dragon as he passed was too severe to stand. There wasn’t a chance to find out about her white dragon, she fell to the ground and let darkness take her.
Chapter Seven
Tor carried Morgan into his bedroom and laid her on the bed. She looked good there, perfect. Like that was her spot. He ignored his dragon and watched her, but she was out. She’d passed out shortly after he’d killed Sayeh’s man.
It was exactly like he’d thought. They’d sent someone to kill her. He didn’t know how they knew she was a Drachen mate, but now that it was clear they wanted her dead, he’d never let her out of his sight.
“Hey, Tor,” Ker said from the bedroom door; his eyes widened. “Is that her?”
Tor growled, hating that Ker was there at all, but the kid worked on computers so he spent his life in the house. “Yeah.”
“If you need me, just call,” he said.
Tor was shocked the kid hadn’t gone on about her being cute or possibly his mate, but he was too concerned with Morgan and the fact she’d lost consciousness to think about it.
The sound of buzzing from her bag got his attention. He’d taken her belongings when he decided to take her to his home. She’d be safer here. Her cell phone was ringing. Ten missed calls.
He didn’t like looking at someone’s personal stuff, but he knew she had a roommate. Sure enough, the calls were all from her friend Lexi. While he held it in his hands, it started ringing again.
“Hello?”
“Oh, thank god,” she choked. He could hear the tears in her voice. “Who is this?”
“This is Tor. You must be her roommate.”
“Yes! Tor. I know about you. She’s supposed to see you tomorrow, but that doesn’t matter right now.” She sniffled. “How do you have her phone? Where is Morgan?”
“She’s with me. Her car had problems and I picked her up.”
Another loud sniffle. “Is she okay?”
“Yes. I’m keeping her safe,” he said, glancing at the woman on the bed. His dragon was keen on staying near her. She needed his protection.
Lexi gave a sigh. “Okay. Listen, please tell her to call me when she wakes.”
“How do you know she’s not awake now?” he asked.
“I know a lot of things. Like the fact her being with you is the best place she can be at this moment. Take care of her,” Lexi said.
They hung up and he turned the phone off. He didn’t want her battery to run out in case she needed to make calls. He knew nothing of her and yet he felt completely at peace watching her. It was unusual and should worry him, but strangely enough, it didn’t.
He glanced out the window at the main house. The castle-like structure sat at the edge of a cliff high on the Piedra Mountain. Nobody went up there unless they were in a helicopter. There was a solo road up the mountain and they had enough security to know when someone was coming their way.
He wanted to talk to Morgan and ask about her gift. He’d seen her fall to the ground, a wild scream coming from her. It tore him up to know she’d been in so much pain.
He pulled up a chair and sat by the bed, watching her. It was an hour before her lids fluttered open. She sat up in a rush and rubbed her stomach.
“How do you feel?”
She met his gaze, a world of pain visible in her eyes. He wished he could take it all away. “I’ve had better days.”
“What happened?”
She gulped. “Could I have some wat
er?”
He scented her wariness and immediately got up and marched to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. When he returned, she was still sitting in the same spot, her face pale and her lips pinched.
She gave a soft smile and took the glass, drinking greedily. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Feel any better?”
She nodded. “I’ve never felt anything that strong before. It was like the pain the dragon was experiencing was passing through me.”
“I saw you fall and I didn’t understand what was going on,” he asked.
“You were there,” she raised her gaze to his. “The white?”
“Yes.”
She slipped her tongue over her bottom lip. “How were you able to go from white to blue? I didn’t realize your scales could change.”
He gave a wide smile. “You paid a lot of attention when it was so dark.”
“The moon gave me enough to work with. What happened to my car?”
“I had it towed since it was totaled. My guys will get you a new one.”
She frowned. “Your guys?”
“I ordered you a new car. Better than waiting to see if your insurance would believe you were attacked by dragons.”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah. That’s really nice of you. Did you find my glasses in the car?”
He smiled. “They’re in your bag with your cell phone.”
She sighed. “Thank you so much. You’ve been incredibly helpful.”
“Whatever you need, just ask.”
She grinned. “I still don’t understand how your scales changed colors. Can you tell me?”
“The Drachen have unique fire powers, as do their mates after they receive the mark. We are all fire breathers, but the color of our scales will determine the fire type.”
She frowned and turned to face him more. “I don’t understand. I saw white and then blue.”
“As a white and gray dragon, I am limited to small puffs of fire. They won’t cause enough damage when attacking.” She stared at him so intently that he wanted to run a hand over her face and see what her reaction would be. “The more energy needed for the attack, the more likely my dragon’s scales change color. Blue allows him to fire clouds of fire that seek and target the enemy.”