“You look like a real pro. You’re not secretly a nanny, are you? Or I guess it’s ‘manny’. Because we can’t use the same word for men and women. It’s—”
“The same as the man bun, I know.” Tyler shook his head. “Take a deep breath and count to ten, you’re turning red.”
“You count to ten.” Still, she couldn’t help but smile.
Xavier let out a loud burp and Tyler switched to rubbing his back. “That feels better now, doesn’t it? And for your information,” he glanced at her, “a few of the women I dated in the past were single moms. I got pretty used to this.”
A few of the women he used to date. Of course. Bernie looked away quickly. If he wanted to be a dad, he would be. He had the chance. And if she told him at this point? Well… she was in a financially uncertain place, having to choose between the job she adored and one that would give her enough money. She needed to submit her resignation from the dig and take the job at the high school before she told him. Because otherwise, she was just a gold-digger.
So, no. She couldn’t tell him. Not yet.
Chapter Six
Tyler
Aaaarrgh. What a day. Shopping for baby things while they were on sale was a nightmare. It was more of a battle trying to get diapers than it was rescuing Bernie from those traffickers.
Tyler rubbed his eyes and yawned as he got off his bike. The saddlebags on his bike were laden with new diapers and a couple little outfits that were just too cute to resist, but he needed a little more time. Xavier was especially cranky lately. They weren’t sure why, and he’d had the baby all morning while Polly gave Bernie a massage. He’d told Bernie that he was going to stop in at the club before heading home. Dragons didn’t get drunk, so a couple of drinks wouldn’t hurt.
He yawned again as he climbed the stairs to the second floor. Who knew that having a baby in the house would be so exhausting? But it was also rewarding.
When he entered the club, it felt like everybody stared at him. Tyler glanced at himself to make sure that he didn’t have diaper gravy on his jacket, then moved to the bar. Jackson hurried through the crowd and grasped his arm.
“You better get out of here.”
Tyler’s brows rose. “What, I don’t come around for a couple of days and suddenly I’m a pariah?”
Jackson’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t a joke, Tyler. Bill is furious with you, he’s sworn to kill you.”
“What’s Bill got his panties in a twist for?”
“Don’t play games, Freeman. He knows that you stole his mate and he’s furious. You just need to lay low until he finds himself another woman to distract him.”
Well, there was a lot about that sentence that Tyler would have liked to argue with. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance. A bellow filled the air, the acrid stench of smoke hit him hard and a meaty fist struck him in the side of the head. Tyler tumbled to the ground and rolled a couple times. His vision pitched and swayed as Bill’s hiking boots stalked toward him.
“Hello, Bill.”
Bill grabbed him by the back of his neck and dragged him to his feet. “You have a lot of nerve showing up here. Do you think that your money’s going to save your scrawny little neck? I’m going to wring your head off your shoulders and burn your body to ash. And when I’m done, I’m going to make your charred bones into a marble slab and turn that into a toilet so that I’m crapping on you for the rest of your life.”
The sentiment was there. Tyler considered correcting him on a number of illogicalities but when he saw fire flickering in Bill’s mouth, decided against it. Bill hefted him up and threw him into the pool table. The thick legs held, but the bed of it cracked under his weight.
Tyler rolled, tucking his head into his chest and landed on the opposite side. The pool table was clearly dipped in the middle now. He pointed at it.
“I’m not paying for that.”
“You’re paying for everything!” Bill charged around the left and Tyler mimicked his movements to keep the table between them. “You stole my woman!”
Tyler snorted. “I didn’t steal anybody. You see, women aren’t property. Maybe you ought to take a woman’s study program at the local college before you start trying to get a mate.”
“I know what a woman is, I don’t need to study them!”
Fire lashed out with the last word. Tyler was just able to avoid it. In their dragon form, they were almost invulnerable to flame and heat. Human form was a different matter. Bill would be damaging himself by breathing flames like that. Tyler held up his hands and backed away. He had to defuse the situation before it got out of hand.
“Look, I understand you’re upset, but really you dodged a bullet. Bernie was put on that site against her will. Her father sold her to those people and they were threatening to kill her if she didn’t cooperate. So, if I hadn’t intervened, you know what would have happened? Every time you kissed her, she’d only be kissing back because she didn’t have a choice.” Tyler took a deep breath as the flame in Bill’s mouth died and uncertainty came to his eyes. “You didn’t want that, did you? Bernie didn’t want that, either.”
“You didn’t know that she was unwilling before you went and ruined my chances.”
“I did.” Tyler hesitated then shrugged. “I know Bernie. We met last year, she works for my brother at the dig he’s funding. I know her well enough that when you showed me her picture, I knew that she was terrified. It’s not your fault, Bill. You couldn’t have known.”
Tyler almost felt sorry for the big dolt. Bill’s chest heaved. For a moment, it seemed like everything was going to calm down and they’d just go their separate ways. But then Bill pulled himself up and sneered at him.
“I would have rescued her, then. I’ll still rescue her, from men who pretend to be on her side but really just want to use and abuse her.” Bill smirked. “I know you, Freeman. You don’t care about Bernice. You’re playing the white knight so that you can get into her pants and then you’ll leave her. Like you leave all your women. You just want to ruin her for her mate, the way you’ve ruined yourself for your mate.”
Tyler wasn’t certain exactly what about Bill’s accusation riled him most. But his flames roared to life and smoke billowed into the air. Every inch of his body felt overly hot. A howl tore from his lips and he charged forward. He leapt right over the table and punched Bill hard in the face as he came down.
Bill stumbled back from the blow, his eyes widening in shock. And no wonder. Tyler was known for his alternatives to flat-out fighting. The smaller dragon didn’t give him time to recover from his surprise, though. He drove his advantage, following up the first blow with two more to Bill’s solar plexus. The air left the big dragon’s lungs.
Tyler moved to hit him again, but one of Bill’s cronies grabbed him from behind. He used that grip to pull himself up and kick another of Bill’s cronies in the chest. It propelled them both back into the pool table. This time it collapsed under their combined weight and there were several cries of protest. Jackson lingered near the edge of the crowd, shouting at them to stop fighting. Tyler ignored him.
And so did Bill. By the time Tyler was back on his feet, Bill charged him. More smoke filled the air as the big dragon wrapped his arms around Tyler’s waist and threw him to the floor. He followed up, straddling him. Fists flew at Tyler’s face. His nose cracked and blood flowed. Tyler threw an arm in front of his face to protect it, while he drove his knuckles into Bill’s kidneys.
“You little shit!” Bill moaned in pain, hunched over Tyler. He braced himself with one hand.
Tyler took the moment to reassess. Would it be possible to talk Bill down now? He needed to get home. Bernie was waiting for him. They only had half a dozen diapers left for Xavier. What had he been thinking? He couldn’t take the time to get into public brawls!
“Okay, I surrender,” he ground out. It rankled to say but he needed to get back to Bernie and Xavier.
Bill narrowed his eyes at him. “So, you’ll hand Bernice
over to me, then?”
Well, that wasn’t what he said. “Don’t be an idiot. Of course I’m not going to give her to you like a prize you’ve won.”
Bill snarled and rose his fist again. Tyler braced himself but several of the other club members dove in at that moment. Jackson yanked back Bill’s fist while the others wrestled him off of Tyler. Tyler got to his feet, groaning as the blood flow from his nose increased. This was not going to be pleasant to drive with. Hopefully, he’d have time to straighten his nose before it started to heal, though.
“I have to get home,” Tyler grunted. “Nice seeing you, Bill.”
“I’m not going to let you—”
“Seriously, enough is enough.” Tyler shook his head. “You don’t know anything about Bernie. How can she be your mate?”
“I know enough about her. She’s beautiful and a virgin and—”
Tyler snorted. “She has a three-month-old baby. She’s not a virgin.”
Bill’s jaw hung so low that he could probably taste the peanuts on the floor. He blinked rapidly, then shrugged. “So, she’s not a virgin. That doesn’t matter. I don’t care. We’ll get to know each other. I will be a father to her fatherless child. I’ll do anything for my mate.”
What if he really was her mate? Tyler glared at him for a long moment, all the while his heart crashed into his chest, over and over again like a yo-yo hitting the wall. He had never considered that. It was said that some dragons knew their mates at first sight. He had always assumed that it was one of those things where lust was mistaken for love. God knew he had plenty of those experiences under his belt. The beautiful woman that he was certain he was destined to until he got to know her better.
But what if that wasn’t the case with Bernie and Bill? What if he really was her mate, that there was destiny involved? What if when Bill and Bernie met, she’d feel that same draw and wrap herself up in his arms.
The thought of her being with anybody else was like razorblades on his skin. Tyler shook his head and turned away. There was no point in getting all worked up over something that, in all honesty, was never going to happen. There was no way that someone as gracious and intelligent as Bernie was destined to be with a doofus like Bill.
“I am coming for my mate, Freeman! I don’t care what you’ve done to her, what you’ve made her believe. She is mine and I will have her. Even if I have to burn down this whole world, Bernice will be by my side and we will laugh as the flames consume your body!”
Tyler didn’t respond to that. He left the club and hurried down to his bike. The throbbing in his face grew worse, making his eyes water, as the adrenaline faded from his system. The question what if kept swirling in his mind but he pushed it aside. There was no point in getting worked up over that. Bernie wasn’t Bill’s mate.
She couldn’t be.
Chapter Seven
Bernie
The sound of the door shutting jerked Bernie from her light sleep. She yawned as she glanced around, then grimaced as she realized that she had fallen asleep in the chair. She checked the baby monitor quickly. It was on, but there was no sound from Xavier.
She saw Tyler creeping through the hallway and was instantly hit by everything she had been dreaming about. His mouth on her body. Hands everywhere. Soft kisses, shed clothing. There was already a pressure inside of her from the dream, but knowing he was up and on the same floor… Polly was out in her little cabin, Xavier was upstairs and sleeping.
Bernie rubbed her arms for a moment, considering. She was tight and juicy, ready for some amazing, mind-blowing sex. Even if she’d been trying not to have those thoughts come to her mind, it was undeniable that she wanted it. Right now, more than ever.
A light came on in the hallway and water started to run. Bernie clenched her hands and squeezed her thighs together. It was late at night. Even though everything was laid out for an easy seduction and her body burned to have Tyler’s close to hers, she couldn’t. Nothing between them but the sounds of their own voices, the closeness she had been missing ever since he left her. It would make the already confusing situation all the more confusing. No. She needed to just take a step back, breath and remember that she couldn’t sleep with him while she was lying to him.
And she was lying to him. So that was it. She had to tell him the truth about Xavier before she could even think about sleeping with him. And she needed to get the job stuff sorted before she told him. So, she was not going to go to him and whisper in his ear that she wasn’t wearing panties. Which—she quickly checked by shoving a hand down her pants—she was. So that would be a lie too.
Unless she took them off.
Well, if she was determined not to fall into temptation, then she needed to get upstairs and put a door and baby between them.
As she eased herself out of the chair and padded towards the stairs, there was a shuffling in the bathroom. Tyler let out a soft groan. At first, she thought that he was, ahem, pleasuring himself, but quickly realized that it had been of pain. Bernie hesitated with one foot on the stairs. She really shouldn’t… but then he let out a soft curse and she turned. Dragons were tough and if something was hurting Tyler, then she needed to see if she could help.
He was in the half-bath. A first aid kit lay on the sink. Both of his hands were on his nose. In the mirror, she saw the front of his shirt was drenched in blood. Her eyes widened as she took it in and she wasn’t able to stop herself from gasping.
Tyler’s head jerked. He whirled, revealing a face so bruised that Bernie felt light-headed. His eyes widened.
“Bernie! I thought you’d be asleep.” He shifted a little and grimaced. “I got the diapers. I left them at the door.”
The sight of him still made her a little light-headed, but Bernie sucked in a deep breath and put her hands on her hips. “Okay. Thank you. Now, what happened to you?”
He shrugged. “I ran into a little bit of trouble. Nothing to worry about.”
“Yes, because getting diapers is such a dangerous business.” Bernie’s voice was dry as she cocked a brow. “Don’t pretend like you got decked by some woman trying to get the last package of Huggies. You’ve got blood all over yourself. Have you been sacrificing virgins on the altar of your manhood?”
There was too much blood for that, besides which in the wrong spot, and it didn’t explain the bruised-up face, but Bernie kept his gaze. He could have chatted up the wrong girl, or any number of other things. The thing was, she needed to get him talking.
“Sacrificing virgins on my manhood. I like it. I’m going to write a book and use that in it.”
Bernie had to laugh a little. That was one of the things she loved most about when she was around Tyler. Too often people told her that her puns and jokes were awful. Either that or people just didn’t understand them. She had to stop one of her favorites, a couple being like pots and pans because they’re always banging, because nobody appreciated it.
She grabbed an alcohol wipe from the first aid kit and opened it up to wipe up some blood off of his forehead. “That better not be what you were doing, Mr.”
“Why?” A bit of blood dribbled from his nose still, but it was thick and seemed to be slowing. “Are you jealous? Of me and my virgins? I would have had to sacrifice a lot of them to be this covered in blood… and very clumsily, too, come to think of it. But go on. Tell me how jealous you are.”
Was he thinking the same things as she was? Of ripping off clothes and having sex in the shower? She almost moaned as she imagined him all sudsy with soap, hanging stiff and ready for her. She squeezed her thighs tighter, then let out a slow breath.
“Of course not.” Her voice sounded far too breathy. “I’m smarter than that now.”
There was a flash of something in his eyes and she regretted her wording. But there was no way to take it back without this leading dangerously close to the shower. Despite her body’s protestation, she needed to keep the distance between them. Her heart couldn’t take more disappointment.
“What
really happened, Tyler? You’re really beat up.”
Tyler was silent for a moment before shrugging. “I got into a fight.”
“A fight? Tyler, what were you thinking? Dragons aren’t impervious. There are always ways to resolve things without violence.” Bernie narrowed her eyes at him. “Who were you fighting with?”
“Bill Johnson, the guy who… bought you.”
Bernie shuddered.
“He’s convinced that the two of you are mates. He blames me for you not being in eternal bliss together right now. He attacked me first. I didn’t make it better… actually, let’s call a spade a spade. I made it worse. But he was being so insufferable.”
Bernie shuddered. She knew that the type of man who bought a woman online wouldn’t be the kind of man she wanted to be around. It wasn’t just the eerie echoes to prostitution, either. Nor was it the fact that she had been forced to be on that site in the first place. Quite simply, a man who thought that he could just pay for a woman and then she’d belong to him was someone she didn’t want to be around.
And for him to continue thinking that they belonged together simply because he paid money? Completely ignoring her own thoughts, feelings, and desires in the matter? He sounded like a real creeper, the kind who would strangle the life out of her.
She tossed the alcohol wipe into the garbage. “Next time let me deal with him. I’ll come down to wherever you are and I’ll lay the hurt onto that creeper. I’ll get him good with herbicides and he won’t creep again.”
Tyler grinned at her.
“What are you smirking about?”
“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Except… except well, you know. You go on scolding me, ‘there are always alternatives to violence’ and then as soon as you hear the situation you’re up in arms and immediately threatening violence. So, you were scolding me for reacting the same way you would have.”
Bernie wrinkled her nose. What was she meant to say to that? “Well… maybe it’s the situation. Or maybe fighting turns me on.”
The Dragon's Secret Son Page 4
