by Jill Haven
I dragged my attention away from his arms and back to his face. Then I shrugged, because honestly, I wasn’t certain I could put it into words if he asked. I couldn’t explain how I knew, I just did, with the same confidence that my eyes were amber and his were blue.
Ace’s mouth curved into a particularly wicked grin, which made me swallow thickly. I fought to not take a step back or to move my hands to cover the tent that was forming in my pants. “You can admit it’s because you missed me, it’s just us.” He winked, moving closer.
I rocked back on my heels, the thick sole of the boots digging into the loam underneath them. “Do you do this with everyone?”
Ace cocked his head to the side, now only about three feet away. “Do what?” His gaze drifted over me, lingering in a way that made me want to squirm. I fought a blush, because no matter what, I wasn’t going to fall for his charms. That was all they were, after all. Empty charms.
“Flirt with everyone,” I said finally.
Ace chuckled, a low, throaty sound. “I’m hard to resist.”
I snorted at that. “Looks aren’t everything.”
“All I got from that is that you think I’m hot,” Ace said with a purr.
I just shook my head, my resolve growing. Living with my grandparents, I’d seen their relationship, how much they loved each other. I had no interest in hookups, in having sex with someone I would never see again. Consequently, it meant my sex life was…minimal, but I didn’t particularly care. I was patient.
No matter how much Ace turned my body on its head, his very presence being something I was drawn to, I wasn’t going to give in. He was like that with everyone. Probably everyone responded to him that way. He was sexy, I would give him that. It seemed his loyalty didn’t extend to relationships or the bedroom.
When I dragged my attention back to the conversation, I realized Ace was studying me with a more serious expression. It wasn’t a glare, more surprise mixed with interest. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Flirting’s not for you, then?” Ace asked, his gaze holding mine.
I swallowed despite a parched throat. Water would have been nice. “I’m not interested in someone just because they look good,” I said finally. “Besides, it’s not like you’d ever actually commit yourself to anyone. Not with the way you act.” I made sure he could see my I-totally-don’t-care shrug, because I totally didn’t care.
Except, I did.
Ace didn’t answer that with words, instead making a low humming sound that seemed to resonate through my bones and made me shiver. “I wanted to make sure you were safe,” he said finally, the words cautious, like he was afraid they would make me run away. “I think the other shifters will leave you alone now that you have protection, so I wanted to take care of that before we left.”
The thought of him leaving was like a knife to the heart, and I couldn’t completely hide the physical reaction. I half-turned away from him, my hands clenching into a fist, my breath catching in my chest. “So, you’re finally leavin’, then?” I tried to sound nonchalant. I failed.
Something close to hurt flashed across Ace’s face faster than I could follow, but it was quickly covered by a veneer of his usual cockiness. “That eager to get rid of me, huh?”
I didn’t answer that because I wasn’t really sure how. I wanted him far away, but I also wanted him by my side. I couldn’t have both at the same time.
“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone,” Ace said bluntly. “It’s just a matter of time before the shifters realize we’ve gone, and then you’re a target again.”
It was like a stalemate, the two of us standing there, amber locked with ocean blue. He didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want him to leave. Could I admit it?
I thought about the night the dragons had broken in, how helpless I’d felt. Even with a gun, I could only do so much. If they had shifted, I would have lost. If Ace left, I didn’t have anyone looking out for me that could handle the people who were after me. The fact that Ace brought out a warmth in me I rarely felt was entirely beside the point.
When had my life gotten so damn complicated? I wanted to just go back to farming, to living in a world where I kept to myself and did what I enjoyed. Grief threatened to swamp me, to send me to my knees, but I stood firm, although I closed my eyes.
I couldn’t change the past, but I could change the future. If that was what it took, I could put aside my pride so Ace could chase away the threat and I could have my life back. I opened my eyes and met his, both reassured and intrigued by the sharpness there. “There is an ending to this, right?”
Ace’s expression didn’t change. “What do you mean?”
“I mean.” I cleared my throat. “That eventually this will end, and my life can go back to normal. Right?”
It was the first time I had seen Ace speechless, his mouth opening and closing while he stood there. “I don’t know,” he answered quietly, like he knew how difficult it was for me to hear. “They may never stop.”
Stress lanced through me, panic threatening to overtake me. I saw Ace’s hand twitch, saw him half-step forward, like he could feel what I was feeling and wanted to comfort me. But that was impossible.
Either way, I had a decision to make. Trust him, or do it on my own? I knew there was no way I could do the latter. Even if I could have survived on the run, it would have meant abandoning the farm, the last remaining thing from my grandparents. I didn’t want to abandon my history.
I let out a long sigh. That left me with one option. Something had softened on Ace’s face, like he could guess what was coming and understood, to an extent, how difficult it was for me.
“Will you stay?” I asked finally, crossing my arms over my chest.
The softness vanished, smugness practically radiating from him. “I knew I was irresistible.” His gorgeous lips twisted into a smirk, making me want to punch him, then kiss him.
Irritation and fondness dueled for my attention. Now I was starting to find his immaturity endearing. Great. “It’s just for protection. Nothing else.”
Ace chuckled, the low sound going straight to my groin. “Sure.”
“Just protection,” I stressed, aware I was trying too hard. “You’ll be sleeping in a separate room.”
Ace moved his head in an exaggerated nod. “Of course.”
I scowled at him, butterflies fluttering in my stomach at the signs that he wanted me. It was just protection. He was just looking out for me. Whatever the silly chemistry was between us, it had to go.
Too bad it wasn’t that simple.
6
Ace
I spun my phone in my hand, staring at it like it might bite me. If I called Bishop and told him I wasn’t taking on any jobs for a while, it would be real. The whole thing with Beau would go from just protection detail to something potentially more. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
Sighing, I dialed the number and then held the phone to my ear, not stopping my pacing. I was maybe five feet into the cover of the woods. I wanted to be far enough away that Beau couldn’t hear the conversation. The whole fated mates thing still felt too surreal. I didn’t want to push him toward it, or away from it. I knew from watching Mason with Seth, and the other omegas with their partners, that you didn’t try to tell them what to do or influence their decisions.
Not unless they had to, anyway, I amended judiciously. Beau didn’t have all the information yet, so if something happened, I would have to step in and protect him.
“Ace?” Bishop’s voice smacked into my thoughts like a wrecking ball. “Did you actually call me, or is this pointless?”
“Sorry.” I half-turned away from Beau’s house so that I stopped thinking about him.
That was a laugh. There was nothing in the world that seemed to get that man out of my mind.
“Yes?” Bishop asked patiently, because apparently English had deserted me as a language.
“I won’t be taking any jobs for the time being,” I said finally, feeling the wei
ght of the words settle in my chest. As terrifying as they were, in a way, they were reassuring, too. The dragon inside me was pleased at the thought of staying for its mate, making sure he was protected because I was obviously the only one who could do it properly.
“I thought that might be the case,” Bishop said, surprisingly amicable.
Inwardly, I winced. Bishop was fairly keen, but if he’d seen it, then it was likely Ten had, too. “How’d you know?”
“I saw it when you met,” Bishop answered. “It’s in the way you looked at him, like you’d seen a miracle.”
I didn’t remember making that expression, but if Bishop said I had, then I had. There was little that got past him. “He’s my fated mate, isn’t he?”
“You can’t stay away, can you?” he countered. There was an undercurrent of amusement, like Bishop could sympathize. Knowing some of what he and Evan had gone through for their happily-ever-after, he probably could.
“No,” I admitted. “Trust me, I’ve tried.”
Bishop chuckled on his side of the phone, a noise I wasn’t certain he’d ever made before unless it involved murdering someone. “How do you feel about it?”
“What do you mean?” I wasn’t sure if I was dodging the question or just wanting him to elaborate.
“You’re not known for your commitment,” Bishop drawled. “And the bond is nearly impossible to ignore.”
I grimaced, but I gave the question serious thought. “Settling down isn’t really my thing. I never wanted the domestic life.”
“But?”
I groaned, rubbing my forehead. “He screws my brain up. I’m not sure how I feel.”
“Stay with him,” Bishop said simply. “It’ll be easier to sort through your feelings around him.”
I wasn’t entirely certain that wouldn’t just be more torture, but he was the more experienced one of us when it came to the whole fated-mates thing. “Fine.”
“Take all the time you need,” Bishop said. “Keep Tennyson as backup.”
I opened my mouth for a token argument, but a loud wail in the background cut me off.
Bishop sighed, although the sound was unmistakably fond in the way it always was when he talked about his daughter. “It’s my turn to feed Stormy. Keep me posted,” he ordered, and the call ended, leaving me staring at my phone.
“Jerk,” I muttered with no irritation whatsoever. I knew, logically, there wasn’t anything Bishop could do to help. It was up to me, to who I was, to sort through all the conflict and settle it one way or another.
Giving Beau’s house another long look, I dialed Ten’s number. Before he could even say hello, I spoke. “We’re staying here.” We’d been on a day-to-day thing, but now we needed something more permanent.
“Already booked the hotel room,” came the answer.
I tugged at my too-clingy shirt as the sun dipped down below the horizon. It was impossible to stand still while I waited for Ten to join me. It’d been five days since Beau had asked me to stay, and Ten and I had been keeping full-time surveillance. There hadn’t been any signs of shifters, but it didn’t mean they weren’t close by, and even the partially shifted senses weren’t as good as being in our full dragon forms.
The faintest rustling of leaves alerted me to Ten’s presence. He was dressed like I was, all in black. It meant we could hide the clothes and then come back to them when we shifted back to human, instead of having to waltz into Beau’s house naked.
Not that I would particularly mind putting a dent in his ‘just for protection’ armor with my naked body, but there was time for that later. “Ready?” I asked Ten, the anticipation thrumming through my veins. I was itching to rip my clothes off, to change into the form that always felt the most natural to me, but it wasn’t quite time.
“The clearing’s that way,” Ten said with a nod. During his time watching over Beau, he’d also scouted out a place big enough for us to shift without doing too much damage.
Not patient enough to walk, I took off at a run. Predictably, I made it there first, and by the time Ten caught up, I was already naked and crouched over.
“It really doesn’t matter if it takes an extra thirty seconds,” Ten drawled, amusement clear on his face.
I bared my teeth at him, then turned my attention back to what I was doing. The hot air blasted around me, but it was a blissful feeling as my body returned to the form it was supposed to be in. My talons grew, bones snapped, and scales flowed over my body. By the time I uncurled, I was in my smallest dragon form but still quite capable. I shook myself like a dog, then rumbled happily as I moved, stretching limbs that hadn’t seen the sky in a while.
Heat radiated next to me as Ten transformed, the cracking of his bones loud in the stillness of the evening. Beau had seen off his second-in-command, Devin, about a half hour prior, taking over his chores so Devin could go see his daughter’s play. With any luck, Beau would be safely inside in the next few minutes. We were safe. For a moment, I could let go. I dug my talons in the ground, delighting in the flimsy earth underneath me. If we came across any other shifters, they would regret meeting us. The thought made me happy, which wasn’t something I was used to. Not when it came to violence.
I was a mercenary, I’d killed before. But I had never really enjoyed it. This, though? To protect Beau? I would kill with great pleasure, so everyone knew not to touch what was mine ever again.
There was a crunch of wood snapping underneath the loam of the forest floor as Ten came up next to me, his large head flicking so he could look at me. I nodded in return. I took off first, my ocean-colored body sticking out against the darkness. I had to stay hidden, which meant staying away from the cover of the forest closest to Beau’s house. Instead, I strained my ears, making sure that if he needed us, I would hear it.
I scented the air, mentally frowning when I could smell shifter. It was faint, like they’d been there a while back. Something felt off, but I wasn’t certain what it was.
A scream rent the air and I froze.
“Help! You stupid—” Beau’s yelling was cut off, but I was already moving.
I shoved myself out of the forest, not caring about exposure laws, just wanting to get to him. I skimmed low over the trees, my senses strained to their limit. My target was easy to spot, the kidnappers apparently not being very discreet.
Two men were attempting to drag Beau to the large, windowless van parked in front of his house. I roared, the rage flowing through me and fueling the last few flaps of my wings before I landed. The men’s curses grew louder and I started forward, not certain what I was going to do but determined to do something. Ripping them to pieces probably wasn’t the right option, as tempting as it was.
The side door opened and one of them picked up Beau’s leg to cram him in there, just in time for Beau to elbow him in the groin. Letting out a bellow, the man dropped him, the other pausing just long enough for Beau to recover and kick him where it hurt. Then Beau was scrambling away, heading blindly in my direction until he seemed to see me.
Then he froze, his eyes impossibly wide. Had he never seen a full dragon before? The squealing of tires pulled me out of my thoughts. The men had darted in and started the van while I had been distracted looking at Beau, worrying about him. I swore under my breath.
I waited until Ten landed not far away before I took off after the men, following them until we came within range of another human property. The risk of exposure was too great, even in the middle of the night, so I bared my teeth in their direction and returned to Beau’s house, making a note of the plate number so we could at least look up the vehicle.
By the time I landed again, I could see Ten talking to a shaken Beau, having already shifted back to human form. Anger lanced through me at the sight of Beau’s face, the blood dried on the side of his head, the way his hands were shaking.
I forced the shift as quickly as I could, ignoring the bone-deep pain that came from it, and bolted toward them the moment I was steady on my feet. “Where
are you hurt?” Having the advantage of being taller, the first thing I spotted was the gash on his head. Magma flowed through me like a molten core, and there was nothing I wanted more than to rip those men—
“Hey.” Beau’s words were soft, and his hands were gentle on my face. I stared at him in surprise. He was actually touching me, and his eyes were locked on mine. “Calm down. You’re smoking.”
“I’m—” I inhaled sharply, the acrid smell of smoke making me choke. It wasn’t often I got angry enough that I exhaled smoke in human form, but this apparently did it.
“It’s okay. I’m okay,” Beau said, his voice patient like he was talking to a startled animal.
Without intending to, I brought my hands to my face over his, my eyes fluttering shut as I took several deep breaths. I focused on his smell, the faint vanilla, the earthy undertones, the sweetness that wrapped itself around me like a warm blanket.
By the time I opened my eyes again, the scent of smoke had mostly faded and Beau looked relieved. I wasn’t certain where Ten was, but I knew he was around.
“Let’s get that taken care of,” I said firmly, leading him into his own house. “Where’s your first aid kit?”
“Um.” Beau coughed, and his eyes flickered toward the bathroom. “I can get it.”
“The bathroom,” I said before he finished, already stalking in that direction. There was a decently sized first aid kit stored under the sink, which I grabbed and brought back with me. “Sit.” I pointed to one of the dining room chairs.
Beau sat. I stood behind him, half of my attention on his wound and the other half on just how much I wanted to grab him, hold him, wrap my arms around him and protect him. I never should have left him alone. He’d gotten hurt because I hadn’t done my duty.
