Dragon's MatchMate Agency: A Paranormal Romance Boxset

by Maia Star

  Clicking off my phone, I toss it on the couch and stare out my window as cars drive up and down the street. I try to imagine how tonight will go, but I just can’t say. It’s completely up in the air. Heck, I’m still waiting to hear what beach we’re going to.

  I guess I won’t know until I get there.

  Chapter Ten

  Arthur

  By the time I run out of the flower shop that Sven works at with a whole new bouquet of flowers, I realize I’m late. Scarlet and I were supposed to meet around eight on the beach, but it’s a quarter past. Grumbling to myself as I run down the street, I come to sliding stop in front of a chocolate shop about to close. I hurry in, ask for a basket full of as much chocolate they can give me, pay quickly, and then dash out the door.

  Five minutes later, I’m stopping by my apartment and grabbing a different basket, full of sandwiches, beers, and sodas I’d prepared just in case we got hungry out there. I want to make sure we’ve got the perfect date, but that’s making me late.

  It probably looks horrible to Scarlet. I’m the one who suggested the date, but she’s gonna be the first one there. She’s always one to be on time. And not only that, but if I don’t get there quickly enough, she might think I’ve abandoned her again.

  Not good.

  Swearing, I realize that if I want to make it before she ends up just leaving, I’ll have to fly. Of course, if she sees me in my dragon form before I can explain to her what I am, then things might be over too.

  Swearing to myself, I grab my things and climb to the roof of my apartment building. Putting the baskets and flowers down on the ground, and stripping off my clothes, I quickly shift. Once I’m fully formed as a dragon, I scoop everything up in my mouth and keep it all in place with my tongue. Then I take off.

  It’s eight-thirty by the time I get close to the spot I picked out. In the distance, I can see Scarlet standing alone in the middle of the beach, her arms crossed, staring out at the water.

  I decide to land a mile out so she won’t get suspicious of me. Once I’m fully clothed, I sprint forward, running at a cool pace with my things. I stumble down onto the beach the moment Scarlet turns to leave. When she sees me, her gaze widens, though her arms are still crossed.

  “Sorry I’m late!” I shout, jogging up to her, pretending to pant hard. “I ran as fast as I could. You wouldn’t believe what my Uber driver did!”

  Scarlet just stares at me, seemingly stunned as I hand her the flowers, drop the baskets, pull out the two towels I stuffed in one of the baskets, and lay them gently on the ground. “The guy was Russian...I think. He didn’t understand English well. For some reason, he thought I couldn’t pay him when I struggled to find where I put my wallet, and then he left me on the side of the road.”

  Scarlet’s jaw drops, but she quickly brings it back up and frowns at me. “That’s the story you’re going with?”

  I scratch the back of my head as I rise to my feet and laugh. “Fine, smarty pants. It just took longer to get all these things. I thought I’d make it on time.” When I catch her staring at me skeptically, I raise a brow. “Oh, wait, don’t tell me: you thought I used this as a diversion so I could run away again, leaving you broken-hearted. This time to Peru. You thought I staged this whole thing so that I could crush any hope you had of being with me, because I’m a demon like that!” I bellow in laughter as I grip my stomach. “Looks like you might just be wrong about me this time, huh?”

  Scarlet cracks a smile. “Fine. Maybe I’m starting to see you in a new light. Though if you had come any later, I wouldn’t have believed a word you said...I was about to leave.”

  “Heroes always arrive at the last minute.” Throwing open the basket lid with all the food and drinks, I pull out two beers and toss one to Scarlet. She catches it easily and blinks at it. “Trust me. I’ve got this whole night planned out. Except for that beginning!”

  Breaking open her can, the beer fizzles a bit. “And what are we doing first? I can never figure out how your mind works.”

  “We chug a beer, and then we dance! What better way to get our blood pumping?” Popping open my beer, I clink it against hers. “Bottoms up!” I pull my head back and chug.

  Scarlet hesitantly follows my lead, but she chugs, nonetheless. After a few seconds, we’re both leaning forward, sighing happily at the beer now in our systems. We’re both smiling, and I’m grabbing her hand and beer can at the same time, tossing the latter as I pull her away from all of our stuff. “Dancing time! I hope you know what you’re doing because I’m a terrible dancer.”

  She laughs, a wide smile on her face as we just do a ring-around-the-rosie. “Yes, I know! Here, let me show you.”

  She pulls me close, one hand on my hip and the other on my shoulder, steadying me. My heart and inner dragon are both hot, going wild. Life doesn’t get better than this. We sway at first, and then begin to step in all directions. Her dancing is slow and methodical, but erotic, nonetheless. She throws me teasing half-smiles, and all I can do to keep myself from jumping on her right now is to focus on my movements and her luminous gold eyes.

  Time seems to slow down as we stare at each other, our bodies pressed together, still somehow dancing. The world is becoming a bit blurry all around us, which only makes all this so much more amazing.

  Eventually, I let her spin out from my grasp, my hand holding hers. She’s laughing, and I laugh right along with her. I follow her and spin towards her, falling. She can’t stop giggling at me as I make a funny face and get back up on my feet. She accidentally kicks off one of her sandals as she stumbles, and I quickly grab it, jogging away.

  “Hey!” she screams.

  I grin like an idiot. “Oh, you want this?” I wave it around in the air. “Then come and get it!”

  I jog further up the sandy hill, which leads to a sharp cliff. Scarlet races after me, even kicking off her other sandal to throw at me. I catch the second sandal and wave them both around, running backward and slowing down as she catches up.

  She tackles me to the ground once we’re up on the flat part of the hill. Her body squirms on top of mine, her arms reaching over to grab at my the sandals, but I keep holding them just out of reach. I kiss her on the neck as she tries to climb forward, which makes her laugh, and finally, I drop the sandals to tickle her sides. Scarlet’s dying of laughter now. It’s the kind of laughter I haven’t heard in forever. Hearty and full of life. Now she’s rolling around on the ground, and I’m on top of her, kissing her, slowing down with my tickles.

  Just when I stop and lean down for a kiss on the lips, she tickles me under my armpits, forcing me onto my side as I roll over. She uses the chance to get up and stumble towards the cliff. She stops a full couple feet from the edge, clasping her hands behind her back, her sandals back on her feet.

  Jumping to my feet, I walk towards her. “I’ve missed this. God, how did I go all those years without you?”

  “Good question,” she says, grinning. “You know...I’ve been wondering the same thing. Well, I’ve mostly been going over whether or not I could trust you. I was certain I couldn’t just before you arrived. I thought it was over...but then you showed up. Even if you were late, I was surprised.” She takes another step back, just as I take a step forward. “I’ve missed you too, Arthur. If you really are ready to settle down...have kids...then maybe we can keep dating.”

  After another step back, I notice how close she is to the cliff edge. The drop is just large enough to be fatal if she falls, especially since there are some sharp rocks at the bottom. “Hey, Scar, come back this way for a second.”

  She doesn’t seem to understand me as she whistles. “You think I’m going be easy to get? Why don’t you come this way?”

  “No, no, you’re almost—”

  But it’s too late. Scarlet steps back, and she’s dropping away, her face going wide and her arms coming up to flail. I swear and sprint forward and reach for her but miss. She’s hurtling down.

  My heart pounds wildly in my
chest as I decide to shift. Scarlet doesn’t get to react to me as I shift, but luckily, my arms are suddenly long enough to reach down and scoop her out of the air. The cliff crumbles under my weight, and I’m forced to fall with her, flapping my wings to fly out over the water as I hold her to my chest. She’s shaking against my skin, so I quickly turn around and head back to the shore. Once there, I let her down and shift back, now stark naked. Though that seems to be the least of her worries.

  It’s silent on the beach, save for the gentle lapping of the waves on the sand. Scarlet is sitting on the sand a dozen feet from the shoreline, hunched over, holding herself and staring down at the sand. She’s shivering.

  “What just happened?” she asks. “It all happened so fast. Too fast. What…” Her eyes glance in my direction; her gaze widens as she stares at me. “You’re a-a dragon shifter?”

  Sighing, I come to sit over by her, but she scoots away. Her initial fear of dying is probably bleeding over into an irrational fear of shifters, so I don’t blame her. Yet I still feel a drop in the pit of my stomach. I frown as I watch her. “Yes. That wasn’t the way I meant to tell you...though maybe I earned some brownie points for saving you?” When she doesn’t respond, I sit down, ignoring how the sand is sticking to my wet skin now. “Look, I was going to tell you tonight anyway. Yeah, I’m a dragon shifter, though I don’t know why you’re so surprised. We did meet again on Fiery Hearts. It is a famous dragon shifter organization, after all.”

  “But that app is for h-humans only,” she stutters. Shaking her head violently. “Did you lie on your profile then?”

  I nod. It’s not worth it to lie again. “Fiery Hearts encourages shifters to hide their nature in many of their services now. It’s trying to help put dragon shifters in a more positive light. We’re not just beasts...we are people who want love as much as humans do.” I scoop up sand in my palm and let it all tumble slowly between the webs of my fingers. I smile. “Sorry about that. I didn’t think I’d find you on that app. But I’m glad I did.”

  Scarlet rises to her feet and begins to walk away.

  “Scarlet? Don’t go...please don’t. I’m so sorry about lying to you. Please, I just wanted to make things right with you!”

  But she isn’t listening. She’s collecting her things, walking towards the road. She won’t look back.

  I wait until she’s out of sight to jump up to my feet and pace back and forth. Boiling blood is running through my veins, and I scream out, angry curses. It even gets to the point where literal fire is spewing from my mouth, lighting up the beach for a few moments before it goes out.

  Falling to the ground, I punch the sand until my knuckles come away bruised and chafed.

  Minutes later, I’m walking back to gather my stuff. I shift and leave. My perfect date has been ruined.

  Chapter Eleven

  Scarlet

  I find myself walking home alone. After walking for half an hour on the road back into the city, I’m still stunned. I’m numb.

  Arthur had told me there was something he needed to say to me. I figured it would be that he had been married in the four years after he left me. Or maybe that he had a child. Maybe a bunch of children already. Maybe he was planning on moving again but wanted me to come with him.

  All of those possibilities had run through my head. The idea that he was a dragon shifter did not.

  I want to punch myself in the face because it seems so obvious now. Of course, he’s a dragon shifter. Hell, like he said, we met on one of Fiery Hearts’ apps. I did think it was strange that Fiery Hearts would roll out something specifically for humans, but damn, maybe I’m just stupid.

  I’ve never considered what it would be like to know a dragon shifter or to even date and fall in love with one. I’ve never known a dragon shifter in my life...or so I thought. Could other people I know be shifters that were just too afraid to tell me in case I acted just like I am now?

  I’m not afraid of shifters. I’m not...am I?

  Stopping under a street light, my shadow casting off in four different directions, my eyes begin to burn and well up with fresh tears.

  This was not how I expected this night to go.

  Continuing, and wiping my tears away, now I’m beginning to realize that all those growls I’ve heard from him, how hot his skin used to become when we slept together, the way he acts on instinct, that single-minded desire: it was all pointing to the fact he was a dragon shifter. I can’t believe I never realized before now.

  My heart is hot with anger, and heavy with frustration. Even if he saved me, I still shiver when I remember looking up and seeing a giant dragon above me, how I was cradled in its claws. At first, I didn’t even realize that the dragon was Arthur...not until we got to the beach and he shifted back.

  I wonder how other women, or even men, have dealt with finding out their partners were shifters. Are they overjoyed to be dating another species? Are they turned on? Are they grossed out? Do they become afraid like me?

  Now I’m just outside of my apartment complex, just staring up at the building. I can’t help but compare the size of the building to Arthur's dragon size. It’s such a weird concept for my mind to grasp, and eventually, I just give up and go inside.

  So what do I do now? What’s the plan from here on out?

  Shutting my front door, I lean against it and stare into the darkness of my living room. The tv is on, but muted. Cindy is taking a nap on the couch. She hasn’t noticed me yet. It’s cold in here, unnerving. I want to just fall to the floor and sit with my head between my legs.

  For a brief moment, I think of going to see how Kai is doing, and then I remember he’s probably asleep in his room.

  And then I remember Kai is Arthur’s son.

  For about a minute, I stare into the darkness silently, my jaw hanging open. My brain simply won’t work. I’m blank.

  When I finally come to, I start to laugh hysterically, rubbing my forehead. Here I am, worrying about how Arthur is a dragon shifter when something much more important is sitting right in front of me. Kai, our son, is also a dragon shifter. He’s gotta be one. Right? Isn’t that how it works? Kai has never shown any signs of breathing fire or growing horns or a tail or wings, yet he’s still Arthur’s son. He’s got Arthur’s dragon blood in him.

  I’m stunned. I don’t know what to say. It’s like I’m playing a game of chess with Arthur, a game he doesn’t even know he’s playing, and he’s just gone on the offensive. How else am I supposed to make sense of all of this?

  Flipping on the lights, I shield my eyes from the sudden brightness. Once my vision is fine, I walk into the kitchen and pour myself a refreshing glass of water. The water hits the back of my throat and gives me renewed energy. I gently place my glass in the sink and then pull out my phone.

  I can sort through this mess. But I need to take it one step at a time.

  Cindy yawns and sits up, stretching. “Hey, Miss Martinez! Is your date over already?”

  “Hi, Cindy. No, no, I’m…I was worried how Kai was doing. There’s nothing...off about him, right?”

  “I’m not sure what you’re asking, but Kai is doing fine. He’s as normal as ever.”

  “Nothing weird has happened? Like a fire accidentally started...or does his skin look...scaly?”

  Cindy giggles on the other end. “Oh, Miss Martinez, is this a prank? I didn’t think you’d be into those.”

  “No, no! I just wanted to check in...see how things were going.”

  “Great, well, things are fine. Kai’s asleep right now, as you’ve probably guessed. How’s the date going?”

  “It’s...fine. Just fine. Well, I’m gonna take a quick shower and then go. You’re still fine to stay over?”

  “Yep! My mom is fine with it. Have fun, Miss Martinez!”

  “Thank you, Cindy.”

  I walk out into my room stand in silence, my thumb hovering over Arthur’s contact. Sooner or later, I’m going to need to get answers from him, so maybe now is the right time.
It’s still fresh in my mind. Even though I certainly hurt him with how I stormed off, I need to talk to him about shifters in general. Maybe I’ll even broach the subject of Kai.

  Or maybe that will be too much for me at the moment.

  Sighing, I press call on Arthur’s number and bring my phone up to my ear. I wait, fidgeting. I’m not sure I can handle hearing his voice now, but I can’t afford to push this to the side. Not only do I want to find out more for Kai’s sake, but I want to find out why he kept this a secret from me.

  On the fifth ring, Arthur picks up. “Wow, this is a pretty quick turnaround. I didn’t think you’d want to hear my voice for a long while.”

  “Well, I want answers, Arthur,” I say, walk over to my bed and plop down on the edge. “I’m sorry I stormed off. I wasn’t in my right mind. Maybe I’m not now either, but I need to speak to you about all this.”

  “I understand.” He sighs on the other end. “I was serious when I said that wasn’t how I wanted to tell you. It was supposed to be a magical experience, where I asked you to sit on my back and hold on tight while I flew you over the strait.”

  I smile slightly. I completely believe that. “Yeah, well, I didn’t mean to step off that cliff either. I thought I had more room. Stupid me…”

  “No, no, it was my fault for making you drink before we danced. Not your fault at all, Scar. So, should I come over to your place to talk, or do you just want to talk over the phone?”

  “No, I want to talk in person. Can we talk at your place?”

  He chuckles. “Yeah, that’s fair. Come on over. I’ll text you the address. And, seriously, I’m sorry about lying to you, Scar. I hope you know I’m very serious about you now. I just don’t want to screw this up with you.”

  “Yeah, you’ve gotten that across, I think.” I cross my legs. “I’ll be there in an hour or two. I think I want to shower and get some of this sand off first. And then I’ll be over. That sound good?”