Taming My Rebel: A Dragon Shifter Romance

by Sadie Sears

  I handed Draven his coffee as he scrolled the computer screen, checking various news sites and other places he said Ash had recommended.

  He sipped it then looked at me. “I think this could all work out, you know,” he said.

  I placed my hand on his shoulder and leaned over to look, my cheek nearly pressed to his. I loved being close to him. Loving, working, talking. Just close.

  And he sought me out, too. If I was on the balcony or in the gym, or out on the cliff, he found me. And sometimes Aro would take me flying and we’d talk. Or he’d listen and advise. He was good at that, and I loved them both completely. Draven and Aro communicated freely now, too—whether they were in human or dragon form—and that made some of our conversations a little more…interesting as they both loved and grew frustrated with each other in equal measure—especially when they didn’t always agree on the best course of action or what to say.

  “When this is all over, I don’t just want to stay at home and do nothing, you know?” I drew my stool up flush with Draven’s as we studied the computer screen together. As I spoke, I rested my head on his shoulder, and he brought his hand up to play idly with my hair.

  I’d never dreamed it would be so natural to be with a man. It had certainly never felt this way before, but maybe this was why. Draven was my mate. There was only him.

  “Has anyone said anything about him?”

  Draven shook his head. “Nope. In the full two months since Saul died, there have been no mentions of his disappearance at all.”

  I nodded. Ordinarily, I would have written an article about the mysterious disappearance of the eccentric rich man on the bluff above Port Lair, but I needed the world to forget he’d left, so Draven and I didn’t get dragged into an investigation. Presumably, Jo could only protect us so far.

  There would be no articles written by me based on any of this, which made me chuckle, seeing as the whole reason I’d been dragged into anything in the first place had been the invitation to Saul’s party to cover it for a local paper.

  A lot of stuff had happened since then.

  “You’re not going to keep freelancing?” Draven seemed to read my thoughts, as he so often did these days, plucking snippets out of thin air like I’d broadcast them just for him.

  I shook my head. “I’m not bothered about seeing my name splashed all over bylines anymore.” Somehow, it didn’t seem wise. “I’m thinking of something a bit more low profile.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “You aren’t in hiding anymore, though.”

  “Yeah, I know. And I’m not living a life of fear—I have you to protect me. I’m just being sensible. Plus, I think there are other things I could do that hold more value for the community.”

  “The community?”

  I laughed at his confusion as I swayed against him, jostling his shoulder. “Yeah. The dragon community. Did you talk to Chloe about our ideas yet?”

  He turned away from me as his cheeks reddened. “No, not yet.” His voice came out gruff, and I laughed.

  “What’s wrong? Are you still not over the fact she saw you stake your claim?”

  He shrugged. “Just feels like that kind of thing might be private.”

  I laughed again. “I told you. Think about it more like a wedding than public sex, and you’ll be fine with it. If I can get over the fact Grandma was there, so can you.”

  Draven nodded his head and let out an embarrassed chuckle as I slid from my stool.

  “Come on, we’ll go and see Chloe now. No time like the present, right?”

  He hesitated, but he wouldn’t deny me a visit to Chloe. He never denied me anything. But we were equal in that respect.

  Soon, we were zooming along the familiar highway into town, and I wrapped my arms around Draven’s waist and pressed my cheek to his back, almost reluctant to let go as he pulled into the parking lot of the pub.

  I held his hand as we walked to the door, never really content unless I was touching him if he was nearby.

  The new guy at the door swung it open without a word, his face stony.

  I was growing to recognize some of the guys who hung out at the bar now—Keir, slightly scary, sitting in his usual corner, and there were others who were usually around. Nox and Ryo, whom I recognized from the fight at Saul’s, and then others who were familiar, but Draven had no idea who they were and he was only slowly growing comfortable with the idea of Chloe’s larger group of dragons, so I didn’t know their names.

  No wonder Draven was confused when I talked about his community—he’d operated as a loner for so long, it was like he hadn’t known he had a whole host of people just like him on tap, here at Chloe’s pub. An entire family Chloe was finding and bringing in.

  “Hey, guys.” Chloe greeted us with a smile. “Good to see you.” She glanced at Draven. “We don’t really see you often enough.”

  Draven smiled then opened his mouth. “Can it, it’s under control,” he muttered, and Chloe laughed. His skin flushed. “Sorry, Chlo. I wasn’t talking to you.”

  She laughed again. “I can imagine. Having a dragon in your head gets annoying, right?” She tilted her head and pouted. “All right, all right.” Then she looked back at Draven. “Apparently we should be grateful for the wisdom.” She winked. “I was told to tell you that.”

  I laughed as Chloe passed a soft drink to Draven and a glass of ice water to me. “We wanted to come and talk to you about an idea we’ve had.”

  “Oh?” She lifted an eyebrow.

  “Yeah. I’m thinking about going legit.” Draven’s tone was dry, almost like he couldn’t believe his next career might be a legal one.

  “It’s probably about time,” Chloe’s gaze wandered to the booth where Draven had told me Saul liked to sit to conduct his business transactions. “What are you thinking?” She leaned against the bar.

  “Finding lost things,” I said. “I mean, Draven has a talent for that.”

  “He sure does,” Chloe agreed. “And there are lots of folks who need family heirlooms tracked down and rare items rediscovered. I think they’d be prepared to pay for that kind of expert help.” She nodded slowly.

  Draven looked embarrassed again. “It’s pretty much what I was doing anyway.” He glanced at me, his expression softening. “And Mae is great at research.”

  Chloe nodded again. “Let me know when you get up and running, and I’ll help spread the word.”

  I took Draven’s hand and squeezed his fingers gently. This would all work out. I could just feel it.

  “I’m glad you came in, though. I wanted to talk to you, too, and now you might be able to help me.”

  My heart sank at Chloe’s words. It sounded like an ominous kind of chat.

  Draven must have felt the same way. “Oh?” But he didn’t ask anything further.

  “It’s about Saul.” Chloe lowered her voice and beckoned us to an end of the bar, farther away from any of the other customers.

  “Are people investigating his disappearance?” My breath hitched at the thought. That was probably my biggest fear. Just because my web searches hadn’t turned anything up wouldn’t mean Chloe didn’t know something.

  “No one that would cause me any great worry. There are people who know he’s missing or gone, but they aren’t the kind of people who care for his welfare, I’m sure. No, this is more about what his end game was.”

  “It was Mae,” Draven said.

  “Actually, I think it was more than Mae.” Chloe frowned. “The same demons who reinfuse demon-dragons when their demon blood begins to thin seem to be able to sniff out dragon mates, which makes sense, I guess, because finding a potential mate has a massive effect on a dragon’s demon blood.” She paused for a moment and looked at the door as it closed behind Keir as he left. Then she glanced between Draven and me. “I think someone is deliberately trying to seek out dragon mates using the demons like tracker dogs so they can eliminate the problem at the source before the dragon even meets their mate.”

  Draven s
ucked in a breath and wrapped an arm around me, drawing me close.

  “I think Saul or someone above Saul targeted Mae specifically by inviting her to that party. They must have known she was a mate. And there are other women turning up missing.” Chloe pressed her lips tight as she finished.

  Draven cleared his throat. “I don’t know if it helps, but Saul mentioned a guy named Vincent a couple of times. It’s only a name, but…” He shrugged.

  I glanced beyond Chloe to the TV set she never seemed to have turned off the news channels—national news, local news, she listened to all of it—and a small shiver worked up my spine, lifting every fine air on my body.

  “Aha!” Chloe pounced on the information Draven had just offered her. “So you do know things. You can help me find these missing people.”

  “Lost things, Chlo. I want to find things.” Draven’s words were quiet but with a note of pleading.

  “You found Mae.” She lifted her chin.

  “But people aren’t my forte. I’m not sure I can help you.”

  “I’ll help.” I blurted my offer, but I meant it.

  I wanted to help the human women who were going missing, whether they were taken or killed or worse.

  “Thank you, Mae.”

  “I can research the backgrounds and see if we can come up with any similarities and things like that.” My mind was racing ahead, already working out which leads would need exploring.

  “Hey, hey.” Ash walked in from the back of the bar, smiling, unaware he’d interrupted our conversation.

  “Why don’t you tap Ash up for his skills?” Draven asked, pointing at his friend as he spoke. “Just because he’s been promoted to barback now doesn’t mean he shouldn’t get his finger out and do some proper work from time to time.” There was humor in his tone, but I could also feel his low-level fear that he still wasn’t good enough to help Chloe do what she wanted.

  Draven also worried that finding people was too close to hunting them. He’d confided that to me in the darkness of our room one night, and I’d cursed the demon that had gone but still left its mark on my gentle dragon shifter’s soul.

  Ash held up his hands. “This is real work.” He turned to Chloe. “Right, boss?”

  Before Chloe could answer, I spoke. “Leave Ash alone, Dray. He’s a good guy.”

  Draven spluttered with fake indignation. “And how could you possibly know that?”

  I took a deep breath. I’d planned to share this news with him later, privately, but these guys had seen our claiming, and they were as close to family for Draven—and now for me—as it got. “I can see how good he is. I can see a lot at the moment.” I watched Chloe’s face burst into a wide grin, but Draven’s brow tugged in confusion. I placed my hand on his knee. “I’m pregnant, Dray. We’re going to have a baby.”

  For a moment, he didn’t say anything, and all the blood seemed to drain from his face. Ash whooped his joy and reached for the bottle of bourbon and some shot glasses, which clinked together as he set them down.

  “What?” Draven’s voice was hoarse, his eyes were wide, and a single tear tracked along the side of his nose.

  I nodded, barely able to keep my smile escaping off my face as it tugged my cheeks wider and wider. “You’re going to be somebody’s daddy.”

  He pulled me into a fierce bear hug.

  “And you’re going to be fantastic,” I whispered against his ear. “No little girl in this world will ever have been so loved.”

  “Little girl?” He drew back, his eyes shimmering.

  I nodded and touched my fingers to my still flat belly. “That’s what she feels like to me.”

  Chloe hurried around the bar and wrapped her arms around both of us. “Congratulations, you guys. Our first Dragon’s Lair baby news.”

  Draven nodded, still looking slightly dazed. “Yeah, baby news.” Then his eyes widened again. “Shit, how am I going to get you home? Ash, can I borrow your car, dude?”

  Ash laughed as I nudged my mate. It was going to be a very long pregnancy if Draven planned to be this overprotective the whole time.

  “Long rest of your life, then,” Draven murmured before he claimed my lips in a sweet kiss.

  24

  Jo

  I slammed my sticky desk drawer shut—damn thing—and twisted the key to lock it with unnecessary ruthlessness. I was still no closer to finding out what exactly had happened to Rhett, even after all these months. And it wasn’t for lack of trying—but every avenue I tried to explore presented roadblock after roadblock.

  And I could kind of see why—the paranormal community wasn’t exactly out in the open, but still. I should have been able to find out a lot more.

  Especially after all I’d found out during the recent events. Actual demons. I shuddered at the memories of those half-shadowed beings rocking my car and preventing Mae from climbing inside. I should have been able to take her to safety—that was my oath, right? To serve and protect.

  I sighed. But she’d have chosen him, anyway. Even when it was clear he was evil, she chose him. I shook my head. Something was wrong with these people. Just like something had been wrong with Rhett to have chosen his boyfriend.

  His boyfriend. Always simply his boyfriend. I never thought of him as Ryo, never applied a name to him. That made him too human when he was simply a monster.

  I sighed and tried to stem my frustration. My brother had died for his choice, and no one deserved that. When I’d first seen a dragon shifter, back when Rhett had been alive and happy, I’d teetered on that border where I could have been sucked into their world. It was the coolest transformation I’d ever seen. From a man to a huge, regal-looking beast with intelligence in its eyes.

  It was nothing like the wolf pack where I’d grown up. Well, it didn’t seem it at first, anyway.

  But then Rhett had died. Been murdered. And there wasn’t another explanation for how it happened. And after everything I’d seen, I could easily believe a dragon was to blame. They were clearly pure evil.

  Like the shifter that had bitten Rhett and turned him, but the dragons were so much worse. True murderers.

  I stood from my desk, my old chair squeaking in protest at my movement and headed out of my office.

  “I’m calling it a day, guys,” I announced as I walked to the door.

  A few of them ragged on me for going home early, but none of them meant it. Of any of them, I pulled the longest hours on our cases, going over details and photographs again and again to make sure we hadn’t missed anything that could catch a killer. So why couldn’t I do the same with my brother’s case? Why was it causing me such difficulty?

  Perhaps I was too close. But I couldn’t exactly ask anyone else to investigate a case where my primary suspect was a dragon shifter. I’d get a police escort all the way to the local asylum.

  Even the captain would just wave at me as I left. Even him.

  I adjusted my bag over my shoulder and pushed out of the main doors into the June sunshine, going over my theories as I walked to my car.

  The sun shone in Port Lair as we ramped our way up to the warmest month of the year, and I strode across the parking lot. I had to go to The Demon’s Lair. It was like venturing directly into the lion’s jaws in search of his last meal, but it seemed to be the hub of everything dragon-based.

  And hiding in plain sight with a name that obvious. I scoffed as I settled myself behind the wheel.

  Whatever was going on, it was probably big. I couldn’t help feeling like I was right on the edge of a major crime organization or something. The secrecy was a big tip-off. The scary creature involvement was another.

  Rhett had been really in love with his boyfriend, and I was sure the boyfriend had loved him from what Rhett had said. But then, for a long time, I’d also thought Michael loved me. Abusive bastard.

  Trees began to pass by in a blur, and I eased my foot off the gas. I wanted to arrive at the pub sharp and ready for action, not half mangled and wearing the latest in body bag
fashion. These damn dragons were killing enough innocent people without me taking myself out of equation for them. Who would make them pay then?

  I shook my head as I returned to my previous thought. Rhett’s boyfriend had definitely loved him. From what I’d gleaned from mythology and random sections of obscure publications, it was too dangerous for a dragon to live any other way. They didn’t give their hearts away foolishly.

  Rhett had gone missing first and turned up dead several days later. And I’d been watching our local cases of missing women climb, so what if it was all connected? I tapped my finger absently against the steering wheel as I returned my thoughts to the personal investigation I had going on.

  It made sense there were mostly women going missing because Rhett had probably been in a minority as a gay man in love with a dragon. In that respect, he’d just been unlucky. So… Women… From the outside they were only going missing, still might show up dead, that was up in the air. And what difference did a few more missing women make in the news?

  I shrugged to myself. It was something to explore later. I’d let the thoughts of the missing percolate a little.

  But there were also women on the inside. What made them different? Was Mae like some kind of last woman standing? My final girl in the horror movie, the figure of resistance—the one who got away?

  Or maybe Chloe was my red herring. The brains behind the operation, the one enacting all the wicked deeds. A true traitor to her sex. A shiver worked across my skin as the thought occurred to me.

  I conjured up a memory of the pub owner as I swung into the parking lot. She certainly had the intelligence for it, and she had a shitload of local knowledge. And there had been that time she’d warned me off while I was questioning Draven. She’d been both protective and territorial.

  She probably didn’t like me sniffing around, but what secrets was she protecting? Irritation fizzed through me as I backed neatly into a space—facing out in case I needed to leave in a hurry.