by Kiki Howell
Bronwyn spoke up. “Ellie—I mean Mom,” the woman smiled so hard, it made Bronwyn’s heart happy, “I put my business on hold until further notice. Mac has agreed to help me restructure my business to set it up the right way.”
“Ah, I see Dragon wisdom is beginning to work through you, daughter.”
“I sure hope so.”
“Stay close to Mac for now. Your joining needs to have time to grow and strengthen. As a Dragon mate coupled with your heritage, you’ll be rarer and more attractive to some of the seedier types in our world. A lot of times when you hear of people who were held against their will and forced to work for years have Brownie blood in their background. Bronwyn, even though it’s natural for you to want to provide people with a service, I would caution you to consider carefully who you ultimately work with.”
Clear as day, the idea popped into her head. “I’m going to work with the Dragon community exclusively. Based on what I know so far, as a Dragon bond mate, none of the Dragons would dare try anything crazy with me, right?”
“Most assuredly, especially if they knew what was good for them and whose daughter you are—that would be mine!”
“All right Mom, settle down. No one has touched one of your precious kids.” Mac came over, scooped Bronwyn up and sat down in the oversized chair with her on his lap. She let a giggle slip when she saw Ellie making a face at her son for taking her away.
“You make fun, but no one ever tried to double cross you or your brother and sister.
“That’s because you could have them tried for treason and sentenced to death!”
“Well, what good is having that power if you don’t use it every once and a while?”
Not sure what to make of this conversation, Bronwyn interjected. “Mom, do you know anything about my previous landlords? They did me wrong, and I want to know if I should try to recover my rent from them.”
“Give me your hand again,” Ellie said reaching over. “I can try to see them through their connection to you.”
Bronwyn waited for Ellie to do her thing. After a few minutes, Ellie made a pronouncement.
“From this moment forward, have nothing to do with them. When they try to contact you, do not entertain them. They have sown horrible seed, and their harvest is upon them. To try to help them would be futile. What they are going through is based on their refusal to sow good seeds and deeds. They think they are winning by what they did to you and others, but every action they’ve taken against others is coming back to them exponentially. From what I can tell, they have a cursed cloud hovering over them. Must have double-crossed the wrong people.”
“Cursed cloud?” Bronwyn had to know more. The world these two had opened up for her was new and exciting.
“Uh-uh, those are areas we don’t delve into,” Ellie said. “Focus on doing right by others and yourself, and you’ll never have to concern yourself with the darker elements. Your heritage and name alone keep you on the right side of blessing.” Looking at the couple seated comfortably in the oversized chair, Ellie stood.
“You’re off, then?” Mac asked.
Bronwyn waited to figure out what was about to happen next. Ellie was unpredictable, but she was growing to like her a lot.
“Yes, I want to make it home in time to have dinner with your father.”
“He’s back from Geneva?”
“Yes, with all the turmoil coming so close, I’ve asked him to work from home, where I can keep him safe.”
Bronwyn loved how much the care and concern for family oozed out of these two as they spoke. Mac stood lifting Bronwyn up with ease.
“Tell Dad, I send my love.”
“What about Bronwyn? When are you two going to come home for a visit? Ooh, I know. You can take her on her inaugural flight with you when you all come for a visit. Send me your Dragon measurements, and I’ll have the harness ready when you two get there.”
“What type of flight? You mean I could ride with Mac when he’s a Dragon?”
“Of course, my dear. Dragon mates travel alongside their Dragons all the time.” Ellie eyed her, waiting for her reaction to that bit of information.
“My dreams make so much sense now. In them I always see us flying together.”
Ellie’s eyes glistened with moisture. Leaning in, she kissed Bronwyn on the cheek, but not before trying to sniff her again.
“Cool it, Mom, I know what you’re trying to do,” Mac said, chastising his mother one last time.
“Can you blame me? I can’t wait to get my hands on those cute little babies you two are going to have. I’ve seen them.”
“Them?” Bronwyn pulse increased as Mac began to try to get his mother out the front door.
Turning back from the front door, Ellie said, “Don’t worry, my dear, babies always come when they're supposed to for us Dragons. Enjoy your Joining Moon. Mac, I expect to see you two before the month is out, do you understand me?”
“Yes, ma’am. Good. Come lock the door behind me. Bye, Bronwyn!”
Mac came to close the door, lock it and start the climb back upstairs. Bronwyn couldn’t do anything but place her head on her mate’s chest. She’d survived Tsunami Ellie and lived to tell about it.
Chapter Nineteen
BRONWYN
“No, I don’t wish to come back to the condo.”
“Oh, Bronwyn, it was all just a misunderstanding, Sara was having a bit of a freak out when she called you,” Jonah said, trying to sound like he and his bitch of a wife hadn’t tried to ruin her life.
“Well, I’m happy she’s over whatever she was going through. I received notice from the Condo Association and vacated that same night. So, I won’t be returning—ever.”
“Okay, but hey, listen to this. What if I gave you the first month’s rent free? Would that work for you?”
“Oh, you mean you’d used the money from my month of rent I paid and still keep my deposit from before? Bye Felicia,” Bronwyn said, lowering the phone to disconnect the call.
“Wait, wait, wait!” she heard him yelling.
“Why? I’m not moving back in. I have another place to live.”
“Is it as nice as our place, in a great part of the city like the condo?”
Bronwyn looked around the palatial home she and Mac were sharing, thought about some of the other properties he’d shown her pictures of that they would visit soon and said, “Yeah, I think I’m good.”
Jonah let out a long breath. “Look, Bronwyn, don’t make me beg. We’re in a tight here. We need to get a good tenant into the condo immediately.”
“Why, I thought you guys would be back by now. The week before last you told me I had to get out. Then you told your Condo Association I was living there as a squatter to make sure I got out. What gives and why in the hell do you think I would ever come back to all that drama?”
“Because you’re a good person?” he was trying it, and it wasn’t working. “But, honestly, we’re having trouble with getting back into the states. My wife wasn’t born here, and with tighter security, something came back on her history that flagged her visa.
Oh, the fact that she’s most likely a swindling criminal? Bronwyn shooed the thought away, deciding she wouldn’t pass judgment on them.
“Jonah, I feel for you—not your wife—you. I can sense that she’s the one behind a lot of your problems. What I’m not going to do is spend any more time talking to you about something that I’m not going to do. I’m not the answer to your problem. Unfortunately, you’ll have to move on to the next schmuck who’s stupid enough to deal with you.”
“Wow—that’s cold.”
“No, that’s truth. Deal with it.”
“So, I guess asking you to help us locate another tenant is out of the question?”
“Boy bye! You have just stepped over into my business. I charge for that, and I’m very discriminating with whom I deal with. Sorry, but y’all don’t fit the base criteria for my services.” Looking at the time of the call and realizing she’d
given him twelve minutes too many talking about his foolishness, it was time to end this. “Jonah, for your sake, I hope you turn it around. Do good, live well, and be blessed wherever you are. Have a great rest of your day, toodles,” and with that, she disconnected the call and added his number to her call reject list.
Her call rejects list was a wondrous thing to behold. It grew daily, but she didn’t care how large it got. She’d nurture it with vigor if that meant sticking to the promise she’d made to Mac to get serious about turning her business around.
First on the list had been Scott—all his numbers. Yes, he’d tried it, calling and begging for her to take him back. He had the nerve to say her “boyfriend” didn’t have to know. When she told Mac that he’d called, she thought she’d have to call Ellie to stop him from finding him again.
“That bitch-ass weasel,” Mac had said, stomping around to put on clothes.
The only reason he didn’t go find him was that Bronwyn stood in front of the door preventing him from leaving. Then there were the beggars and workers of perfected guilt. One by one, Bronwyn began to dance a jig as she added them to the call reject list. Within a week and her life was running smoother than she’d ever imagined.
She ended the call with Jonah in time to answer the doorbell. It was time for her two weeks checkup. The little girl standing next to Colson was his mini-me. Big blue eyes stared up at her and then past her to rush into the house. Bronwyn watched as Colson’s daughter ran through the living room like a roller derby queen. The little girl had so much energy, she would put most kids her age to shame.
“Mated life is working out great for you two,” Colson said, wrapping up his examination of her ankle and foot. “You’re almost completely healed.”
She was passing with flying colors.
“Told you I’d be a model patient.”
“That you were. Hey, Ava, stop jumping up and down on Miss Bronwyn like that,” he said to his daughter.
The little girl was beyond cute. Like Mac had said, the little girl looked like her father, the Dragon, but her hair looked like a lion’s mane. He’d brought the little girl over so Bronwyn could take a stab at combing her hair. After playing with her for an hour and running her down into the ground with a game of chase, Mac had helped Bronwyn get the little girl tired enough to take a nap. That’s when Bronwyn struck, putting her hair into two neat French braids on either side of her head. Colson was so grateful for the help, he kept shaking her hand a little too vigorously as Bronwyn’s entire body shook.
“Bye!” Bronwyn waved after the doctor and his little girl when they left.
“That’s a Dragonling,” Mac said, giving her an eye of caution. “Say the word, and we can wait.”
“Not on your life. Your mother said Dragon babies come when they’re supposed to. I’m going to go with the flow.”
“The flow huh? Well, how about we start with some positions that test out how sturdy your foot is, now that you’re truly on the mend?”
“I could see us doing that, but first you have to catch me!”
Bronwyn took off headed outside. It had been a fantasy of hers to make love to her Dragon out in the garden. Reaching the entrance to the fragrant area teeming with blossoms and color, she waited until he could see the direction she went in.
“Bronwyn, be careful of gopher holes. I don’t want a repeat of what happened last time,” she heard him say.
“Stop being such a pawpaw. Come in and catch me if you can.”
She took off, headed to the maze area of the garden. Not two minutes into her trek when he landed in front of her, changing back to human form in less than a minute.
“Not fair. I can’t fly.”
“Not yet. Mom says your harness came in today. We’ll go up and try it out on the weekend. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like you’ll still have to catch me.”
She took off once again only to be caught by strong hands.
“What am I going to do with you?” he said, shaking his head.
“Um, how about fuck me in the garden? Yeah, I like that idea.”
Like a Dragon worthy of his name, that’s exactly what Mac did, thoroughly and with great flare and finesse.
Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER...
“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”
Cheers exploded around them as Bronwyn leaned in for a sensual kiss from her husband, MacMillan Kelnar. Scooping her up in a bridal carry as was his preferred way of transporting her around, Mac walked the length of the aisle to take her back inside his parent’s home to change. Placing her on her feet with care and practice, he kissed her again and then bent down to kiss her slightly rounder belly.
It seemed like a lifetime had happened in the last six months. Not only had Bronwyn changed her business completely around, but she was also the premiere Lifestyle Architect for the most influential and affluent members of the Dragon and shifter worlds. As a consultant, she didn’t have to leave home to meet with dignitaries, powerful business people, or top entertainers. Ellie had helped her home in on her gifts as a Brownie-Fairy. Mac had sharpened her skills as a business owner.
Bronwyn discovered that like Mac she was a connector. She’d find the right people, match them for the services, goods, and events they wanted to transact and then get paid for the service. Instead of running around doing grunt work for pennies each day, in a few short months, her company had hired a staff that would do work for a premium or find the best resources for their clients to have the lifestyle experiences they wanted to have.
“Ooh, hello, someone’s awake now,” she said, loving the sensation of life growing inside her.
Their baby boy’s kick felt like a heavenly flutter in response to having his father near. That was happening more and more when Mac gave her belly attentiveness. It was as if the kid knew his papa was giving him love and attention.
“Did you feel that?” she asked, marveling at how great her life was now.
“Yes, but are you all right, my love? I don’t want you over doing it. Do you need to eat anything? I know that little rug rat is sucking up all the nutrients as fast as you can give them to him.”
That was true. Instead of gaining weight she was losing. Colson had given her vitamins to help her keep up her nutrients, but this kid had her hungry non-stop. Mac made sure she ate heavy, warning her against eating sugar and other stuff that would make for a hyper baby Dragonling; asking if she wanted to have a little Ava running around whenever she wanted to give into sugar cravings.
“I could eat,” she said, trying not to laugh.
The ceremony had been short, but it had been over two hours since she’d eaten. As was her way, Ellie came through the door with a little plate filled with Swedish meatballs and a few raw veggies. Passing her the plate and winking, her mother-in-law who had become more like her real mother gave her a quick peck on the cheek and was off to host the party.
“Your mother is the best.”
“She has her moments,” Mac said, trying to douse the smile of pride that rode his gorgeous face. “I know one thing, I’m counting down the time until I can get you alone again.”
“By my count, we have five hours and forty minutes.”
“Why do you know that?”
“Because I can’t wait to get you alone too.” Bronwyn’s appetite for her mate had grown to the point where they joked about who’s thirst was bigger.
Pregnant a month after their joining, Bronwyn had thought she’d return to normal. Nope, her need for her mate was strong. He met her need with equal hunger. She understood what the blessing of being well met meant now. Before she could steal another kiss from him, he encouraged her to eat as he popped a meatball into his mouth.
“We won’t get a chance to eat properly until tomorrow. Feed my kid, so you don’t get hangry,” Mac said, laughing.
Four quick meatballs in and Mac’s sister was poking her head in for them to change and join the rec
eption over in the party tent. His family’s home was more like a compound on several acres. She loved it up here and had Mac bring her here to fly with him as often as possible. After the reception, they would go over to Mac’s private cabin he had on the property. It was luxury in the woods, and Bronwyn had specifically asked for them to spend their first human honeymoon night there.
When Mac’s sister whisked her away to change out of her wedding gown, she blew kisses to her husband. Changed and in full party mode, Bronwyn danced and had the best time with her new family. When the party was winding down in the wee hours of the morning, Mac looked over at her as she sat eating again and said, “Thank you for accepting all of me, my love. Anything in my power that you want, let me know, and I’ll move heaven and earth to give it to you.”
“I have everything I want. I have you and our little Dragon. Thank you, baby. You love me so well.”
THAT NIGHT IN THE CABIN, Bronwyn allowed Mac to lead her to the area he’d set up in front of the fireplace. Soft with cushions and what she could only think was some sort of portable, high-quality mattress, she sank onto the platform that felt more like pillow clouds with the plushness of it.
The way the firelight danced in his eyes, Bronwyn could see Mac’s Dragon side smiling back at her. There was so much love in everything thing he did for and to her. Used to his desire for her to tell him what she wanted during their lovemaking she pushed him back onto the pillows and straddled his torso. He watched as he helped her sit on top of him.
“Mr. Kelnar, I have been cataloging all the ways you could screw me, and I’ve decided you have so much more to show me. Is my assessment correct?”
“Why yes, Mrs. Kelnar, your assessment is accurate. Care to elaborate on any particularly interesting ways you’d like to explore?”
“I thought you’d never ask.” She leaned over as far as her slightly rounded belly would allow while he raised up to meet her for a kiss. When he released her tongue with a hard suck, shivers of pleasure ran free and wild through her body.
