She couldn’t help it. She grinned like an idiot. “I’m sure there are more places I could check out, but I don’t have any reservations, if that’s what you mean.”
“Great!” He grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the lobby.
She let him lead her along, uncaring of where they went, though she had to admit she was a little curious. A truck was parked on the side of the street. In the back were sheets of drywall and what looked like a new window. Kennedy pressed her lips together.
“I write a travel blog. I don’t do construction.”
“What?” Wyatt paused. He followed her line of sight and realization dawned across his face, making him shake his head. “That isn’t what I wanted to do today. Do you trust me?”
He could be stuffing her in his truck to take her out of town to his secret sex murder-dungeon and she would just smile and follow along. Her trust for him ran deep, even if they hadn’t known each other for long. Lines had been crossed, making their relationship more intimate than it should have been. She’d seen him shift forms and helped carry him when he was broken and bruised.
Kennedy got into the passenger seat of the truck. He drove out of town, which made Kennedy dig out her camera. The mountains were gorgeous, prettier than anything she’d ever seen in her life. Each small valley hid a little secret, from cave mouths to tiny lakes. When life should have been quiet and sleeping, the woods seemed alive. She could have sworn they passed a bear that waved.
When she turned to Wyatt, lips parted in question, he simply nodded.
So, there were other kinds of shifters, too. This secret world was unfolding before her, drawing her deeper. The more she learned, the more she felt like she belonged. It felt right, somehow. Like she’d been waiting for this world of magic to sweep her away. Every city she’d visited, every small town, had never been enough because it’d been missing this fundamental thing.
Wyatt.
Kennedy hadn’t known what she was looking for. She had no idea that her soul had been calling to him all this while. When she landed in a new town and looked around, excitement quickly giving way to disappointment when she didn’t immediately fall in love, it had been because she hadn’t found him.
Unable to share the knowledge with Wyatt just yet, she tucked it away for a later time. She could give him the time he asked for. If they were to move forward, his heart would have to be whole and his head clear. Kennedy wasn’t sure she could do anything to help him through that part of the healing process. Her intervention might only muddle things further, anyway.
Her attention was drawn back to the world outside when the pine trees gave way to charred earth. A vast swath of the mountain side had been cleared by flames, leaving behind blackened earth and charcoal stumps that must have been trees. Her stomach sank at the sight of it. When she turned to Wyatt, he glanced out at the wreckage, too.
He had to know what she was thinking. The world of magic she’d been searching for was not a perfect wonderland. She shouldn’t have expected it to be one. Dragons were dangerous creatures, larger than a house and capable, she guessed, of spewing fire.
“This could be one of two things,” Wyatt began. “Before I arrived, Jasper set fire to a part of the mountain while he was fighting his cousins. I was told that Griffin and Ashton managed to put it out pretty quickly. Not long after, a wildfire came through and destroyed some homes. Ashton’s mate got caught up in the second one. No one knows how it started.”
Kennedy nodded. The mountain was scorched and barren where they drove by, yet she realized that dragons were like a force of nature. They were mobile wildfires.
Wyatt pointed to a lake at the bottom of the valley. “A lot of the water sources around here are fitted with massive buckets that we can lift and pour over the fires. It helps us take care of our own messes or, like the recent fire, keep humans from having to risk their lives.”
She smiled. Her mind had already attached to a new thought, a word ringing through the empty cavern of her skull.
Mate.
“That’s not the first time I’ve heard that word,” she told him. “But I’m not sure what it means.”
Wyatt seemed confused, casting sidelong glances at her while she wrung her hands in her lap. “I said a lot of words just now. I’m not sure which one you’re talking about.”
Sheepishly, the word struggled to make it to the surface. Embarrassment heated her face. It was so easy to think, but so hard to say out loud. Maybe just then wasn’t the right time. Wyatt still had so much to work through.
So, she shook her head and waved it off. Wyatt didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push the issue. There would come another time, one that was right. It was then that they could talk about things like mates and mating and what that meant for her.
Once more, the world beyond the glass of her window transformed into a lush evergreen landscape. Kennedy reached to touch the mark on her neck. Even the small touch sent a wave of sensation through her. One that she savored quietly.
“When are you leaving Grove?” Wyatt asked.
Her head jerked up and fear stabbed her in the stomach. She had to remind herself he wasn’t asking her to leave, just when she would. The two questions were very different.
“I’m not sure, yet. You don’t have to drop me off at the airport, if that’s what you’re asking.”
He stole a sidelong glance at her. “Don’t you have someone expecting you to come home? Wouldn’t they be worried if you didn’t show up?”
Kennedy shook her head, pulling her lower lip into her mouth. After a moment, she replied. “No one will be at the airport, waving a sign with my name. Everyone in my life knows what I do, and they don’t care. Out of sight, out of mind. You know?”
Silence filled the truck cab. Then he nodded. “Yeah, I think I do know. Not that my cousins didn’t think of me, but that I left and never thought of them.” He propped his elbow on the door beside him and let his head fall into his hand. She watched him sink into the realization that he had abandoned his family and felt the sting of guilt.
“But you’re here now,” she reminded him. “You came back. It might not be the best situation, but you love them or else you wouldn’t have returned.”
The corner of Wyatt’s mouth curled upward in a slow smile. Then, it started to fall again. “I could have done better. Your family could do better, too.”
Kennedy shrugged. “I didn’t belong there, anyway.”
She wiggled her toes, wondering where the roots had gone. Were they still trying to dig into the ground here in Grove? Or were they winding around Wyatt?
“As for your original question, I think Grove has more for me to discover. I’m not ready to leave it yet, so I think I’ll be sticking around for a little longer.”
He tried to hide it, turning his face away from her, but she could see the happiness that overtook him. It warmed her, lighting a fire in her core. It was not a raging flame, but a gentle and crackling fire. The kind that would keep her warm all night.
Chapter Eleven
Kennedy wasn’t expecting the house outside the truck window. It was like a cabin, if someone had spent a million dollars to build it. A wall of stacked stone was cut by a narrow driveway that ended in a loop around a fountain. The mountain around them was reflected on the giant windows that spanned the front of the house.
“Do you live here?” Kennedy asked, awestruck.
“Not on my life. I couldn’t stand being under the same roof as these idiots.”
She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to understand what Wyatt was saying. He reached for her hand, and her heart did flips inside her chest. She let him gently pull her up the steps and to the door, which he threw open without invitation.
She studied him, trying to understand what was going on, but his face was guarded. The only part of him that she could read was the swirl of molten metal over his eyes. The beast inside him, she realized. As it surfaced, his grip on her ha
nd tightened, an encouraging squeeze.
“Wyatt!” someone shouted.
She tore her attention away from her dragon man and found another massive man with his hands thrown in the air rushing toward them. The man leapt from the floor and crashed into Wyatt, clinging to him. Wyatt grumbled about how much he hated the man in his arms, but held him nonetheless.
Kennedy couldn’t help but smile. The scene was hilarious and heartwarming.
“Ashton, meet Kennedy. Kennedy, this is my asshole cousin. Would you believe he actually works for the bank? Doesn’t seem the type, right?”
She shook her head. She couldn’t imagine Ashton, with his floppy and unkempt hair sitting behind a desk. Nor could she imagine him wearing a stuffy suit. Ashton leapt away from Wyatt and looked between the two of them. His lips pursed in an unspoken question.
Before he could say anything, Wyatt’s hand clamped on his cousin’s shoulder. Ashton bent, but only slightly, beneath the weight. The grin on his lips was unflappable, but he said nothing. Kennedy wanted to know what he’d been about to ask, but before she could say anything Wyatt turned Ashton around and pushed him deeper into the house.
“I didn’t think you’d show up today,” Ashton mentioned as they walked. “You’ve been so adamant about steering clear of us. What changed?”
Wyatt grumbled something she couldn’t understand.
“Aw, I love you, too!” Ashton stepped out from under Wyatt’s grasp with a smooth duck and twist. “This place feels like home more and more every day. And you brought a…friend!”
Behind Ashton, the hall opened into a wide room. A sectional couch was laden with plush pillows, facing a television easily the size of a bed. An old fantasy movie about witches and fairies played on it, the modern resolution doing nothing for the eighties film.
On the left side, the room opened into a wide kitchen. Gleaming white cabinets reflected the light of the sun, making Kennedy look away. She realized, belatedly, that both rooms were empty. Ashton didn’t bother sticking around. He immediately went to what Kennedy had thought to be windows.
They were, in fact, sliding glass doors that opened onto a massive deck. Two men stood on either side of it, pointedly not looking at one another. A man with golden hair, the one who’d broken the karaoke equipment at the bar, stood over an open grill. He wore an apron that said Don’t Kiss the Cook and had a beer in one hand.
When Kennedy stepped outside, his nostrils flared, and his eyes bled into solid gold. She hesitated, heart thumping. Wyatt stepped in front of her with a growl emanating from him. He used one hand to push her behind him, like a wall of immovable flesh.
“Don’t get territorial,” the other man grumbled. “I was just checking something.”
Checking what? Kennedy wondered.
When Wyatt’s grip on her loosened, she stepped out from behind him. The smell of barbeque filled her nose. Her stomach rumbled happily. Stepping forward, she sniffed the air. She could sniff out cider vinegar, tomato, cumin, and a smoked chili pepper. Excitedly, she turned toward the gold dragon man.
“Jasper, please give me your recipe,” she begged. “I can already tell it’s going to be mind-blowing.”
Behind her, Ashton hooted. “Wyatt can give you something mind-blowing!”
Just as Kennedy turned, Makenna approached her boyfriend and punched him in the shoulder. She leaned into Ashton and whispered in his ear. The dragon man pouted, but only for a second. Then, he swept Makenna into his arms and set off running across the lawn. He was a spot of vibrant life sending ripples through the thick tension that surrounded them.
Everyone turned to watch Ashton. Makenna cackled with wild delight as she held on. Despite herself, Kennedy laughed, too. Even if she was still standing between two frightening dragon men.
She glanced at the yet unintroduced dragon man, the one with the platinum blond pony tail between his shoulder blades. He never bothered to turn or even acknowledge their presence. Beside her, Wyatt sighed.
With his hand on her lower back, he led her toward a bench and pulled her into his lap once he sat. She let him, savoring his warmth in the chill air. He wrapped his arms around her middle and held her tight.
“Jasper’s father passed away recently,” Wyatt whispered into her ear. Jasper moved from foot to foot at the sound of his name, but didn’t acknowledge them, so Wyatt went on. “Which means he inherited the role of leadership. It’s been a hot mess trying to get the mountain back together, so Ashton has instated what he calls family days.
“Once a week, we all get together and pretend we don’t want to rip each other’s faces apart. Ashton makes them play games, like beer pong or touch football. No matter what game it is, it always ends in a fight. Usually Jasper and Griffin,” Wyatt tilted his head toward the brooding blond, “trying to kill one another.”
Kennedy twisted to find the truth in Wyatt’s face. What she found was seriousness.
“I came back to help out, but I haven’t been coming to Ashton’s family days. Until now, I’d only ever seen the after effects. I figured we could get dinner and a show today.”
Kennedy didn’t know what to say. She was one of two humans in a room full of supernaturally powered men. When she looked to Makenna, the scowling waitress now had not a worry in the world. Not until Ashton shrieked and came limping back into view.
“We forgot to clean up the mess from the last fight!”
Makenna leapt out of his arms and made him sit down. She grimaced while working a piece of glass out of Ashton’s foot. In fact, everyone watched. Each face held a hint of concern, but angled so that no dragon could see. Kennedy caught it, though.
Despite everything Wyatt said about the fighting, it felt like any other family. There would always be tension among families. That was what happened when people were shoved together. Here, it was made worse by the beasts inside the men, but she didn’t think that they hated each other the way they pretended.
If they did, none of them would be in the same space. They could just as easily hide in separate rooms or take to the skies to escape one another. Instead, they were making an effort to be a family.
Kennedy liked it. They were more inviting than her own family. They took interest in one another. As soon as Ashton’s foot healed over, right before her own eyes, he was back on his feet, leaping onto the deck to antagonize Griffin. The platinum blond dragon man served Ashton with a cold glare.
***
Wyatt wasn’t sure why he’d brought Kennedy to the family day. He didn’t know what he expected to happen. It wasn’t like Kennedy was his mate. But, when she leaned her head just right and he caught a glimpse of the mark he’d left on her neck, pride swelled inside him.
While the Drakes snapped at one another, Wyatt waited for Kennedy to run away. He wouldn’t have blamed her if they were too frightening. She’d already had too many run-ins with the dragon shifters in town. Yet, she remained calm in his lap. She leaned into him and watched the drama go down like it was an afternoon soap opera.
This was a slice of life Wyatt never thought possible. He’d always feared that he would have to keep his two families separate, that any woman he loved would run in fear of the Drakes. Kennedy was taking everything in stride, surprisingly.
This time, Ashton dragged everyone together for a game of charades. Wyatt and Griffin adamantly refused to play, but Jasper was dragged in no matter what he said to escape. The king of the mountain glared at his court before trying to imitate the word Ashton gave him. The gold dragon’s movements were robotic, like he didn’t know how to move.
Kennedy hid her laughter behind her sleeve, but it was the sound that seemed to break the tension in the room. As it echoed in the air, Jasper’s shoulders slouched, and he released a breath. His movements became more languid.
“Are you George Washington crossing the Delaware River?” Makenna tested, face scrunched in thought.
Jasper growled, perhaps the only indication he would g
ive that she was wrong. He moved as if to pick something up from the floor and raised his arm into the air again. Over and over, Jasper did the same movement until Ashton was rolling on the floor with laughter. Makenna gave her mate an unamused glare.
“I’m King Arthur, you fools!” Jasper finally roared.
A chorus of oh sounded around them. Wyatt didn’t know how to express a legendary king through charades, but it had been fun to watch his king try. Next, it was Kennedy’s turn. Ashton dug through his bowl of words, checking each one until he found a word that made him cackle. Wyatt raised a brow at his cousin, but Kennedy just smiled at the word on the paper.
She marched over to where Griffin was standing, leaned against the railing and locked one of her ankles behind the other. Griffin twisted to give her a warning look, a scowl growing. Wyatt was seconds away from launching himself at Griffin when he saw the similarity.
“You’re Griffin!”
Kennedy leapt in the air. “Yes!”
Ashton was near tears, doubled over and gasping for air as he laughed himself silly. “That was not the griffin I had in mind, but you win!” He straightened and held up both hands. “Game over! Kennedy wins charades.”
Jasper mumbled something about the game being a waste of time and retreated back to his grill, even though he kept glancing back at the gang gathered on his deck. Kennedy bounced back to the bench beside Wyatt. He was disappointed when she didn’t sit in his lap again, but he reminded himself they were supposed to be taking things slow. It was why he brought her to somewhere that wasn’t so private.
Here, Wyatt and the others could be themselves without hiding from tourists who could expose their secret. But being around the others gave him a good reason to keep his hands to himself even though they itched to hold Kennedy. He wanted to fold her into him, to drown in her scent.
While she’d been on his lap, it’d been impossible to hide his desire for her. The way her ass pressed into his cock had lit a fire inside him. The fire still burned, flaring brighter every time she stepped closer. It burned incredibly hot when she twisted and flashed a big smile at him.
Aurum Court Dragons: Boxset Books 1-5 Page 21
