Los Diablos: A Dragon Shifter MC Romance

by Jadyn Chase

  So the Longtails kidnapped one of my brothers’ wives. Blowing up a house with ten civilians in it wasn’t enough. They really escalated their game with this maneuver.

  I set off for the trees with my mind whirring. I needed to make an excuse to cut this zoo visit short. I prayed to God that Maya would be willing to babysit Anna at short notice, but she already told me she had to work tomorrow. She was probably counting down the minutes before she could flee to her own safe little world.

  I admired the two of them across the field. I never saw Anna happier than when Maya was around. Anna beamed in beatific rapture when I hugged and kissed Maya right in front of her. If I could keep these two together, I would ask for nothing more.

  I put my foot on the grass. I could just imagine how this scenario would play out. I would sit down next to Maya and put my arm around her. I would burrow my face into her neck before I broke the news that I had to leave.

  I took one step when, out of the clear blue sky, a huge red dragon swooped down in front of me to land on the lawn. Screams and crashes broke out behind me, but the creature bellowed to drown out the noise.

  I staggered back in surprise and dropped the food. The fiend pivoted around to glare in all directions. People ran for cover, but the creature didn’t go after any of them. It shot a fearsome glint my way and rounded on Maya and Anna.

  My heart leaped into my throat. He couldn’t. Don’t ask me how the Longtails found out I planned to visit the zoo with my daughter, but here he was, this reptilian devil eyeing my daughter with that wicked glint in his eye.

  I took a fraction of a second to react. I charged forward roaring to High Heaven, but Maya and Anna were too far away. Maya gaped up at that thing with her face as white as chalk. Anna hugged both arms around Maya’s waist and screamed in petrified horror.

  The dragon yawned open his glistening fangs and vomited a blazing torch of flame at the two helpless beings cowering on the lawn. The dragon in my soul broke free and took wing to destroy this foe, but I couldn’t fly fast enough to intervene.

  The flame rocketed at the two of them. It would incinerate them where they sat, but at the last possible second, Maya somersaulted over. She tackled Anna to the ground and covered the girl with her body. The fire deflected off her jacket and the denim caught fire.

  Maya’s scream stabbed me in the guts, but I was already flying as fast as I could to attack my enemy. The Longtails ambushing Kane on the freeway was one thing. That alone earned their whole murderous crew a trip to the bottom of the ocean. Going after the two people I cared for most in the world? I don’t think so.

  I smashed into the monster’s tall sides with everything I had. I plowed into him going as fast as I could fly and bowled him sideways. His fire snuffed out in an instant, and before you could blink, I pounced on him with teeth and claws flying.

  I dove for the jugular, but he recovered so fast he took me off guard. He whipped onto his back and plunged under my chin. He punched his snout into the soft skin where my head met my neck. My breath stopped, but that only made me mad. He could fight, but he couldn’t match pure molten fury when it came to protecting my loved ones.

  I whipped my neck to one side to stop him getting a grip on my throat. I curled around and darted my teeth at his eyes, but he feinted and dodged out of the way. All the time, I grappled him in my coils. I slammed his ribs again and again with my whipping tail, but I couldn’t make a dent.

  I lost sight of the two girls. At least I occupied the attacker’s attention. He wouldn’t go after them with me around. He wrenched himself to the right and I felt his body shift under me. He was a lot stronger than me. A few more wriggles like that and he would probably be able to free himself from my grip.

  What would I do then? I struggled to formulate a plan through the fog of hatred and blood lust. He distracted me striking the most vulnerable parts of my armor. He didn’t even try to hit the bony scales. His neck undulated this way and that so I had to race to keep up with him.

  He plunged and kicked with almighty power. The harder he struggled, the closer he came to breaking loose. I couldn’t handle him on my own. All at once, he made another fateful lunge for my neck. I slithered to one side to get away, but that turned out to be another ruse. Before I could recover, he bobbed the other way and dove for my shoulder.

  His teeth closed in the flesh under my foreleg. I tried to shake him off, but I only succeeded in tearing my own muscle even worse. His fangs sank in and hot blood gushed down my leg.

  I bellowed in agony and frustration, but I couldn’t break his grip. I hammered his sides and even his head with my tail, but he only solidified his hold. If he yanked too hard, he would tear my shoulder out of its socket.

  I felt the battle slipping through my fingers. If I went down, nothing would stop this asshole from torching Anna and Maya. I might have to lie on the grass and watch. That would be a fate worse than death. I guess the Longtails weren’t the only ones who could execute bloody revenge when it suited them.

  I writhed in agony. When I did, I spotted Carlos charging across the grass toward me. If he could only get here in time, we could team up on this Asian devil and tear him limb from limb. I already recognized the darkened scales erupting under Carlos’s skin, and a palpable wave of relief washed over me.

  At that moment, a thunderous crack shook me to my core. Something hit the red dragon in the head and stunned him for a fraction of a second. His jaws slackened and he lost his grip.

  The projectile came hurtling back the other way and smacked him hard against the jaw. The dragon shrieked and contorted around to see what it was. Pain and nausea held me suspended in a surreal cloud of confusion and uncertainty. I stared in front of me not believing what I was seeing.

  Maya stood a few feet away from the Longtail. She planted her legs wide and brandished an iron rod in his face. She snarled through bared teeth and roared at him in wordless challenge.

  Where the Christ did she pick that thing up? I couldn’t comprehend what she was doing. She hit the dragon—twice. She saved me at the risk of her own life. The shoulders of her jacket still smoked where he torched her with his breath. Patches of her hair didn’t match up where he’d singed the back of her scalp, but she didn’t back down.

  The red dragon kicked at me. Before I could get a decent grip on him, he rolled out from under me and launched at her. The whole scene unfolded before my eyes in slow motion. I flexed my legs to intercept him. Carlos’s wings thumped when he spread them to fly to our rescue, but the red dragon was too close to her. He would be on top of her in the blink of an eye.

  She took a step back, but she could never get away. The enemy towered over her in a monolith of gleaming power. In front of my eyes, he hit her full force. He knocked her flat on her back and his massive bulk obliterated her from this life.

  My being revolted against this. Not again. I couldn’t lose her when I only just found her. I couldn’t live without her. Didn’t God or whoever arranged these things understand that by now? I couldn’t face losing another woman. No man could cope with that.

  I rocketed at the dragon with all my raging strength. I collided with him, but he already covered Maya and crushed her into the ground. Carlos appeared at my side. Between the two of us, we descended on him tearing and biting and pounding him to death.

  Mind-numbing grief and devastation consumed my brain. I would burn the whole world in revenge at losing her. I would rather die than face a day without her.

  Carlos drifted back. Through the terminal catastrophe, I became aware that he wasn’t doing anything. He wasn’t fighting the red dragon. He just stood there.

  I raised my head and realized the red dragon wasn’t doing anything, either. He lay still and limp under me. I stopped in my rage to listen. He wasn’t breathing.

  I glanced at Carlos to find him standing next to me in his human form. He cocked his head and gave me a quizzical look. What happened to this fuming demon? A second ago, both of us would have drained all
our resources defeating a Longtail. Now he just laid there, unmoving.

  I stepped off him and let my dragon skin fall away. Something weird was going on, but I couldn’t figure out what. I still couldn’t see Maya under the mountain of crimson hide.

  I checked Carlos again, but he only raised his eyebrows and shook his head. I inched around to the dragon’s side and tilted over at the waist to look underneath him when a familiar voice cried out, “Help me, Roman! For God sake, get this fucking thing off me!”

  I blinked down at Maya flattened under the dragon’s body. His gaping jaws formed a tent of fangs over her face with his snout and chin plowed three inches into the sod by either ear.

  That metal rod she used to hit the thing punctured his head beneath his chin. It jutted up through his open mouth and split his skull in half. The blood-stained tip protruded from his cranium.

  Blood and gore covered her skin and caked in her hair. Her tears streaked through the mess and left two bright pink rivulets through the darkened blood. I gaped at the sight for a fraction of a second before I let myself realize what happened. She must have stabbed the dragon through the head the minute he fell on top of her. She killed him instantly before Carlos or I got anywhere near him.

  Another horrified shriek from her snapped me out of my stupor. I jumped back and shifted. I grabbed the dragon by the neck and flung him off, and Maya staggered to her feet still howling and crying and wailing all at once.

  Anna charged her from the shelter of the trees. She threw her arms around Maya and sobbed into her side. Maya patted her on the back, but I could only stand and stare at the two of them. I still couldn’t believe she really killed that thing with nothing but a metal spike.

  Ever so slowly, I turned to look at Carlos. He wavered in a trance watching Maya comfort Anna. I couldn’t even do that, but I witnessed a change creep over his features. I only ever saw him look like that when one of our brothers either died in battle or got injured saving another man’s life. I didn’t think he would make any more remarks about getting rid of her.

  I dared to step forward and touch Maya’s shoulder. I swallowed hard before I mustered the courage to speak. “The Longtails attacked one of our houses across town. They kidnapped Kane’s wife. I’m sure this was one prong of their attack. They’ll be moving in on us from all sides. I have to….”

  “Just go.” She jerked her head sideways. “I’ll take care of Anna. Just go.”

  She cast a fleeting glance up at me and I shuddered at the spark in her eye. I found myself looking at a hardened warrior. Most guys in Los Diablos don’t develop that ferocious expression until they’ve faced numerous battles against our enemies.

  I realized right then and there I had no fucking clue what she was capable of. I grossly underestimated her. I fell for her thinking she was just a kind nurse from the hospital. Now I found out she was so much more. I probably underestimated her more than Carlos did.

  I blew my breath through my lips. “Thank you. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Go back to the house. A few guys will meet you there to guard the place and make sure no one bothers you.”

  She nodded, but her mouth twisted up all the wrong ways. I observed her fighting back tears, but I couldn’t help her now. I had business to attend to.

  15

  Maya

  I turned the page and read. “The princess leaned out of her tall tower and waved her white handkerchief to the dragon. The setting sun lit up his scales, and the princess saw the prince riding on his back. They circled the tower once, and the princess laughed in delight when she realized she was free. The wicked witch could never defeat the dragon. The prince would rescue her, and together they would break the witch’s power to conquer the land.”

  A key rattled in the lock, and Anna and I both looked up. The door opened and Roman entered. Through the opening, I spotted those two Diablos standing guard outside the house. They both carried automatic rifles and scanned the neighborhood through their dark sunglasses.

  When Roman entered, one of them closed the door behind him. The lock grated again sealing us in from the outside.

  Roman tossed his keys on the table. He cast a flinty gaze toward the couch where Anna reclined against my side with the book spread out on her lap. No doubt he noticed that I took a shower and washed all that blood and the specks of brain out of my hair and off my face, but I couldn’t change my clothes. I still wore the ruined jacket and t-shirt I had on at the zoo.

  My hair was a different story, not to mention the burns on my neck and back where that horrible creature scorched my jacket off me.

  Roman lifted his chin. He didn’t smile. “Are you all right?”

  “We’re fine. How are you? Did you get Kane’s wife back?”

  He turned his head away and nodded. “We got her.”

  I didn’t want to ask how many dead this time. It would always be like this. Every time he went out to handle his business, dead bodies would pile up all around him. I had to get used to that and that meant not asking how many dead. Longtail dead didn’t count. Only Los Diablos counted. Could I live with that?

  Roman swept the living room with his fierce glance, but he didn’t see anything. He cut his index finger sideways. “Would you please go to your room for a little while, Anna? I need to talk to Maya alone for a second.”

  She got to her feet without a peep of protest. She took the princess book and retired to her bedroom. The sound of the door shutting echoed through the house. I sat where I was and waited, but Roman didn’t say anything. He wouldn’t even look at me.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked at last. “Do you want me to leave? You were talking this afternoon about me moving in here. Did I do something to make you change your mind?”

  “It’s not that.” He mumbled into his collar and turned his head even farther away so he couldn’t see me. “You just…. You never saw me before.”

  I sifted through a thousand possibilities trying to decipher what he meant. Then I realized and the puzzle pieces slotted into place. “You mean as a dragon.”

  He nodded into the corner. “I guess you know now what it’s really like. I’ll understand if you don’t want to go any further.”

  I clamped my eyes shut and shook my head trying to shift my brain into gear. “You think I would change my mind because I saw you as a dragon?”

  He rounded on me spitting the words through gritted teeth. “I saw the look on your face. I know I’m a monster to you just like the Longtails. One dragon is as good as another, right? I get it and I don’t blame you. Just go. I can get the guys to unlock the door and….”

  “Roman!” That came out a lot louder than I planned, but I had to stop this. I couldn’t listen to any more talk about leaving.

  I stood up and strode toward him. His broad shoulders buckled under an intolerable burden. I didn’t know what I was doing. I only knew I had to stop this, to stop him hurting. He wanted me here. He needed me here and so did Anna.

  I walked up to him. Without meaning to, I cradled his face in both hands. I turned him around so he had no choice but to meet my gaze. “I want to be here, Roman. I saw you and I still want to be here.”

  He blinked. The depth of pain in his eyes made my heart ache. “You do?”

  I pulled his mouth to my lips. He tasted so impossibly sweet. “I do.”

  I put my arms around his neck and sank into the mesmerizing sugar of his mouth. Man, he felt good after everything that happened today. His presence erased all the horror and danger.

  His lips took a few seconds to wake up, but when I continued prodding his mouth, he melted. His stiff muscles relaxed. His arms drifted around my waist and his hands touched the raw burns on my back.

  I leaped and cried out in pain. “Aaargh! Be careful!”

  “Oh, you poor thing!” He turned me around to examine my bare back.

  I cringed in anticipation of more pain, but he didn’t touch the burns again. He took hold of my ruined jacket and peeled it over my shoulders. His fin
gertips traced the hypersensitive healthy skin along my waist. “Does it hurt much?” he whispered.

  “Only when something touches it.”

  He hummed under his breath and eased my shirt off, too. Now nothing threatened to accidentally brush the burns, and I stood naked to the waist in front of him.

  Out of nowhere, his hot mouth closed on my shoulder. He took a succulent bite and left a patch of steamy saliva on the skin. “Your patches,” he breathed. “Your badge of honor.”

  I didn’t know what he was talking about, but it didn’t matter. His mouth dropped blistering bites down my arm and up the back of my neck until his wicked breath breezed into my hair.

  All mixed up in the pain and tension, that familiar tendril of molten desire crept into my heart. I wanted him to hold me in his arms. I wanted to dissolve into him, but he moved so slowly I never had to worry about him hurting me again.

  His kisses stayed on the whole skin. His fingertips glided around my waist to find the button holding my pants. He and his warm palm came to rest against my belly. It flooded my being with softness. Juicy, fruity wetness rushed to my crotch.

  I groaned in agonized delight when he pushed my pants down. He eased me back against him and sat me down on his lap. Where did his clothes go? I couldn’t think. He slithered his ridged manhood into me and I was safe in that holy place where nothing could ever harm me.

  16

  Epilogue

  Maya

  I puffed out a broken breath, but my heart wouldn’t stop hammering. My pulse pounded in my ears. Was I really going to go through with this?

  Yes, I was. I threw back my shoulders and forced myself to march into the living room. Twenty men formed a circle shoulder to shoulder. They took up the whole room and their eyes hardened to glittering flecks of iron.

  My eye skipped around the room. Marcos. Logan. Carlos. Jaxon. Miguel. Felix. I knew every man here, but they kept their distance like strangers, like blocks of marble for all the familiarity they showed me.