Ashton Drake

by Emilia Hartley

  She remembered the smell of singed hair and their laughter once they put out the fire that consumed her pillow. When she looked back, she realized how narrowly she’d escaped a ball of fire to the face. While it should have terrified her, it didn’t. There was always something about being with Ashton that made her feel safe.

  Apparently, the only thing he could hurt was her heart.

  Her cheer died. Ashton’s laughter faded as he caught up. He licked his lips and reached for her hand. She pulled away, careful to keep distance between them. She wouldn’t be wooed all over again. Not by someone who proved he could leave her so easily.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see when we get there,” he replied.

  She gave him a dubious look, but got into the passenger seat of his truck nonetheless. The ride would have been quiet if it weren’t for his radio. He connected his phone to the system, a glorious example of modern technology, and let it blast old songs. They were ones she used to cover at the bars they snuck out to.

  Unable to bear the blast from the past, she reached for his phone. Getting past the lock screen was simple. She got it right on the first try after plugging in his mother’s birthday. He gave her a sidelong look, one brow raised. She ignored him and told the app to play something more recent.

  Crooning vocals and heavy bass beats made the truck vibrate. This was what she would have played if she’d made it to a record label. The thumping beats filled her empty soul and shook free all the things she couldn’t feel while she was working. The vocals spoke about cars burning from the heat of a love left to burn itself out.

  “This is what you listen to now?”

  Makenna didn’t respond. She couldn’t speak while filled with all the things kept pushed down. Ashton hadn’t been around her to get any kind of break-up revenge when he left her. He’d been miles away, with a view of the coast.

  They always thought she’d be the one making all the money. She would sign a contract and millions would fall into her lap. Not that it was about the money. It had been about the music, but they’d let themselves dream about the wild things they would do with it. Ashton had wanted to buy his own bar. He told her he’d make sure she played there every night. It would be the most exclusive bar in the world.

  None of that had come true.

  The night obscured everything but the road ahead of them, revealed by the truck’s headlights. It was only when she glimpsed a familiar, crooked sign as they turned down a beaten road that she realized where they were. Ashton parked in front of the old bar. A lot had changed since they last visited, but they’d changed a lot themselves.

  “Well, this isn’t what I expected,” Ashton said as he craned his neck to see the new sign hanging over the front door. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Makenna couldn’t help but laugh. “I can’t believe you didn’t check online to see if Harry’s bar was still there. Harriet retired and sold the place three years after you left.”

  The sign over the door was in neon, all Japanese characters. Beneath it was the title in English, Shouta’s Sushi Bar. Still, a bar was a bar. Makenna got out of the truck and made her way toward the door. Shouta’s still held a surprise for Ashton, perhaps the same surprise he thought he’d been giving her.

  Slowly, Ashton followed, still gazing in awkward awe at the sign over the door as he scratched the back of his head. She couldn’t help but grin at the way the world threw him off balance. He wasn’t as perfect as he first appeared, with his rolled-up sleeves and neatly knotted tie. Here was the real Ashton, fumbling along in life just like she was.

  Inside, the air smelled of soy sauce and rice. She breathed deep, wondering what Ashton could smell. Could he scent the fish in the air? Did it smell like the ocean he’d left behind when he returned home?

  The walls had been painted in wild, vibrant colors. Paintings of dogs in Victorian garb decorated the eastern wall while a fish tank filled with awkwardly named sea creatures swam in and out of tiny castles. She touched Ashton’s arm and pointed to the far corner where a familiar stage remained. Now, it was outfitted with two screens and a modern jukebox. His jaw dropped.

  “If you want me to sing,” she told him, “you’re going to have to sing with me.”

  “There’s no way you can get me on that stage. I’ll get so nervous I’ll puke fire on the audience.”

  She patted his chest. “We can get a few glasses of sake in you first.”

  They sat at the bar where a chef was meticulously slicing thin layers of fish to lay atop small piles of rice. Makenna didn’t bother with any of that simplicity. She ordered from a make-your-own menu and laughed when Ashton ordered a burger.

  Their plates arrived not long later. Ashton’s jaw dropped when he saw the monstrosity she’d ordered for herself. The sliced maki roll was plated to look like a slithering snake. Thin slices of mango obscured a layer of crunchy, fried coconut and sweet shrimp.

  “I can’t believe anyone would let you order that let alone make it for you,” Ashton said.

  She popped the first roll into her mouth, letting the layer of sweet chili sauce sear across her tongue. Her eyes moved past Ashton to the clock on the wall. The hours would tick away while they were here. She couldn’t let him drag her to the karaoke stage or else she wouldn’t get any sleep before her morning shift. The night before had drained her. She needed to sleep.

  “So, what did you do with your time in the city?” Makenna asked, trying to distract herself from the clock on the wall. “Did you drink champagne with models? Conquer enemy banks in the board room?”

  He shook his head, a small laugh escaping him. “I don’t know what you thought I did for a living, but you make it sound far more exciting than it actually was.” He bent over his burger, eyes suddenly distant. The beast roiled in them, as if it couldn’t stand the memories.

  “Okay, so we won’t talk about the past. How about you tell me what you’re doing back home?”

  His shoulders sank. “Jackson Drake passed away recently.”

  Everyone knew that. News of the passing of the old gold dragon had made it around the world. Not that he was a dragon, because no one off the mountain knew anything about that. The world only knew him as the bank tycoon that raised Aurum Bank to the power that it currently was.

  “Oh,” she said with a dawning realization. “That means Jasper is now king of the mountain, so to speak.”

  Ashton sighed. “Jasper isn’t doing so great. No one can figure out what’s happening, from what I’ve been told. Not that he’s let anyone close enough to figure it out.”

  Everyone in town just assumed Jasper was prowling his new territory. No one ever saw his human face, but everyone had glimpsed the gold dragon one place or another. For the first time, Makenna considered that maybe Jasper’s shifts weren’t controlled.

  She swallowed hard. “You don’t seem to be doing all that great yourself.”

  The words entered the world before she could stop them. She prayed the music around them had swallowed the words, but Ashton’s head shot up. His expression was grim. The beast was close to the surface, but when he looked at her it didn’t seem like it would try to escape.

  “The broken can’t care for the broken.”

  She almost missed his words, they were so low. Her heart flipped inside her chest. She shouldn’t have cared about Ashton but seeing him this way bothered her. It made her want to reach out and hold his hand, to grip it and promise him that being broken just meant he was alive. Life had a way of breaking everyone.

  She wished she could say that there was a way to live while broken, but she hadn’t quite figured that one out yet. Instead, she changed the subject.

  “I take it that means more of the Drake boys are coming home.”

  “No one has been able to reach Ryker, but Wyatt is on his way. Once we’re all together again, we’ll be able to keep Jasper from leaving the mountain.”

  “Leaving?”

  “That’s what his mo
ther thinks the dragon is trying to do. We can’t tell if it wants more territory or what, but the gold dragon keeps getting close to the border of our territory. If he leaves, he could expose us to the world.”

  It was one thing for the residents of Grove to know about the dragons in these mountains. Hiding dragon shifters was pretty difficult, which was part of why they so often kept to mountains. The world outside knew nothing about the existence of shifters. If word got out, the consequences would become dire. She couldn’t imagine the kinds of weapons humanity would create to fight against them.

  “All you guys plan to do is throw yourselves at Jasper to keep him from leaving?” Her voice broke.

  She couldn’t help it when the image of Jasper’s massive beast fighting Ashton’s copper beast filled her mind. A physical pain lanced through her chest when she thought about the Drake cousins fighting. Their battles would be more than just fists and manly grunts. There were claws, teeth, and fire to worry about.

  Her first fear was for Ashton.

  The realization that his safety was her first concern set her off balance. He was no longer a part of her life. He shouldn’t have even been in her thoughts let alone sitting beside her. Makenna should have been more worried about the mountains and the forests that could burn beneath their fights. Or the fact that if a tourist wandered through and caught sight of the enormous dragons, all their secrets could be lost.

  Makenna wasn’t a dragon. She truly had nothing to worry about. No one would come looking to hunt her or try to drag her back to a lab for research. But the Drake family was close to her heart. She couldn’t shake the feeling that if bad news came for the dragons, it would come for her, too.

  “There has to be another way to stop him,” she reasoned. “Jasper needs a family or a mate. A reason not to go ballistic.”

  Ashton grunted. “If you can find a mate for a reclusive gold dragon, let me know. Until then, the only thing we can do is hold him back.”

  She scowled. He wasn’t being helpful. She clenched her fists atop the counter, her appetite gone. When she leaned toward him, her voice was low and sharp like a dagger.

  “This is my home. Not yours. You left it the first chance you had. So, if you think you’re going to come back and save us, you better come up with a better plan.”

  “Do you want me to mock up some slides and write a presentation on how I’m going to save Grove and Jasper Drake? I’ve had a lot of practice.”

  “That has to be the least manly thing you’ve ever said to me,” Makenna said with a snort.

  Ashton slapped a hand over his heart, mockingly offended. He searched around the room, and she wondered what he was up to this time.

  “What do I need to do to remind you that I’m a manly man? Do I need to bench press some pretty ladies? Shotgun a beer? I could belch the alphabet for you.” He gulped down a mouthful of air, his spine straightening, and his chin rising as if he were about to perform in an opera.

  Before he could burp the first letter, she playfully slapped his shoulder. He smiled, dramatically rocking back on his stool. He reached out to her as if asking for her to catch him. Makenna only raised a brow and let him catch himself. She did, however, admire the strength of his abs as he corrected himself.

  Her mouth went dry and a hunger pinched her stomach—no, not her stomach. It was deeper, warmer. It was a feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time. Excitement and longing twisted inside her and tugged her toward Ashton. Only stubborn determination kept her away from him.

  The clock on the wall never stopped ticking. She would have to run home like Cinderella soon. There was no glass slipper for her to leave behind, but it wasn’t like Ashton couldn’t find her. He’d already proven more than capable of hunting her down.

  She slid off her seat despite Ashton’s protests. He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. Her breath caught in her throat when her front collided with his chest. She forced herself to look up and meet his gaze, but that only made things worse. Ashton could probably hear the way her heart thumped when she looked into his honeyed eyes.

  “Stay a little longer?” His voice was quiet, drifting between the two of them like they were the only two people in the world. He jerked his chin behind her. “Sing with me. Just one song?”

  “Nope.” She pried herself from his grip. It wasn’t hard. Ashton wouldn’t hold her against her will.

  But he did block her exit. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of her again, standing between her and the door. A woman at a nearby table stared at Ashton, a slow smile curling over her painted lips as recognition bloomed in her eyes. Makenna immediately stepped toward Ashton. She stared down the woman in a fit of jealousy that was unlike her.

  Immediately, she cast aside the tension that tightened her shoulders and let out a breath, forcing herself to calm down. Why should she care if another woman tried to sink her claws into Ashton? It would rid her of his irksome presence once and for all. Maybe he would even find a mate.

  The thought didn’t sit well with her, curdling like sour milk in her stomach. She pressed her lips together and fought back the queasy feeling that tightened her shoulders all over again. Ashton was no longer her problem. If that was true, then why was she feeling so possessive?

  She wanted to blame it on years of history, but when she thought about it, they’d been apart longer than they’d ever been together. The few years they shared in high school had been overtaken by his years in the city, her years struggling to keep up with three jobs.

  “Sing one song with me and I’ll leave you alone,” Ashton offered. “Does that sound like a fair deal? Sing and I’ll stop showing up at your job. I won’t even go to the diner. The only place you’ll be able to find me is here.”

  Makenna wished she could say her upper lip curled at his persistence, that she accepted the deal only so that she would never have to see him again. The truth was something she did her best to ignore because it made her feel weak and out of control. She couldn’t afford to lose the careful balance she’d crafted in her all-too-busy life, and yet she let him lead her toward the low stage glowing under multi-colored lights.

  Her heart thumped against her ribs. She looked out at the uninterested audience while Ashton chose a song on the juke box. No one cared who she was or that she held a microphone in her hand. Notoriety was never something she’d wanted. It was the power she craved, the power to send chills through someone through her voice, or the power to lift someone from a bad break-up through her verse.

  Ashton scowled at the machine as he clumsily dragged his finger along the touch screen. Songs scrolled past. Some of them were familiar, ones he would know well. He bypassed them all until he shouted with triumph and slapped the screen. It happened too fast. She didn’t catch the title of the song.

  When a thumping bass rumbled in the air, traveling through the stage and up her feet, she realized what song he’d chosen. It was the same one she’d played in the truck. Makenna hadn’t realized Ashton was paying attention.

  She didn’t tell him how long she’d stared at this stage yet been too afraid to approach it. Nor did she mention how she’d craved the unmistakable sensation of being in front of an audience. It was a desire she’d forbidden. She scarcely had time to exist let alone indulge in fanciful longing. She knew this karaoke would get her nowhere and so she’d stayed far away in case the craving and longing became worse.

  Chapter Six

  The woman on the stage was not the one he remembered. She wasn’t his teenage sweetheart anymore, but a siren that called the whole room to turn toward her. Even Ashton felt the unmistakable pull of her voice. His beast rose to the surface but did not fight to escape. Instead, it lingered and listened. He felt adrift. Not in a bad way, but in the way that one floats upon the ocean on vacation.

  Ashton desperately wanted to be a part of her life again. He hadn’t realized the gaping hole he’d torn in his life when he left her, but she didn’t seem to want him back. That was alright. Ashton would
settle for any scraps of attention she could bear to throw his way. He told himself he would be happy just being her friend again.

  It was a lie, but he accepted it for the time being because in that moment there was nothing more than the two of them and her voice.

  She tore her gaze away from the audience and found him. His need hit him like a truck. The beast’s claws sank in deep. Its lust-filled growls echoed in the back of his mind. He wanted to stay and watch her finish the song, but if he stayed, he would do something he regretted. His control was not so awful that he would embarrass Makenna on stage, even if this was nothing more than a karaoke bar on the edge of town.

  Ashton found a familiar side door. Only a couple of employees dared snap at him while he dashed for a quick exit. Outside, he could still hear Makenna’s voice. It was soft and low, muffled by the walls and the whistle of the chill wind outside. Neither did anything to the way her song affected him. He still felt the inescapable pull dragging him back toward her.

  The only problem was she didn’t want him.

  His beast growled. It thought it could make her want him again, but Ashton knew that wasn’t true. Winning Makenna wouldn’t happen through epic shows of masculinity or pretty dragon scales. It would take time and patience and a whole lot of forgiveness on her part.

  The empty life he lived without her was glaringly evident once he was beside her again. He would do anything to see her smile the way she did when he offered to burp the alphabet. Her low growling voice when she told him to keep her town safe tightened things inside him.

  Makenna was his woman. She would belong to no one else.

  Could he wait long enough for her mind to change? Could his beast last until she found it in her to love him again? He wasn’t sure. The creature was already squirming beneath his skin. It wanted to smash and rampage. The sensation of things breaking, shock vibrating through the world, echoed in his palms.