“You can sleep in my shirt from now on.” He reached behind his head grasping his shirt between his shoulder blades and pulled the shirt off his own body, reaching it out toward her for her to take. “You don’t need another male’s clothing. You can sleep in mine, or better yet,” his eyes roved up and down her body, “You can sleep in nothing.”
She looked down at her body and quickly slapped her hands over her boobs. Now she was pissed — arrogant dick! Had she really thought that Kaid was arrogant? He had nothing on this guy. “Get out of my bathroom. NOW. Better yet, get out of my home. NOW!” she screeched at him. “I did not invite you here, I do not welcome you here! GO! NOW!”
He slowly shook his head at her and answered her as softly as he could in that rumbly voice of his, “I’m not leaving you. Where you are, I am. If you will not accept me, I will spend eternity proving my worth. I am yours, Avaleigh. As you are mine. No other shall ever touch you; No other shall ever touch me. We will have only one another. I am patient. I can wait. But make no mistake — we are.”
His words made her all tingly and lightheaded, but then she remembered that he was a Dragon, and it freaked her out all over again. She waited for him to finish his statement, but he didn't. “We are, what?” She prodded.
“Just that,” he said, “WE ARE.” He said it slowly, deliberately so that she could catch his meaning. “We Are”… Aw, Fuck, he means that We are. We exist. We are real. We are happening. Just like the sky is, the ocean is. There is a We, and we are it, and there is no escaping. Fuuuucckk, she needed to get the hell out of here, and she needed to find Kaid, fast. She put both her hands to her face, forgetting about her boobs for the moment, “Please, just let me get cleaned up, and we’ll figure all this out later, okay?” She heard his sharp inhale of breath as her boobs bounced free from her hands.
“As you wish, love. I’ll be outside your bedroom door if you need anything.” He moved to the bathroom door to open it enough to slip through, laying his shirt on the counter top to his left before he shut the door behind him.
Bam piped up from outside the bathroom door, “Me, too, Avaleigh. I’ll be keeping Daniel company in the hall.” Great, just fucking great, even Bam was on his side. Then she remembered that Bam had been the first to welcome him with a handshake last night. So she reminded herself to ream his ass later, as she stepped into the shower and let the water make her somewhat human again.
“Mav and Goldy went to find Kaid,” Bam announced to Daniel as they took up sentry in the hall outside Avaleigh's room. Daniel just smiled at the gentle giant sitting beside him and nodded his understanding. He knew from the moment his eyes met Bam’s that his was a gentle soul, an innocent. And he liked him immediately.
“Bane, my brother — do you remember Bane?” Bam paused for a moment to allow Daniel to indicate that he did, “Bane is making us something to eat. Probably just gonna warm up something that Ave had left over. She’s an awesome cook, you know. She can cook better than anybody.”
“Really?” Daniel rumbled at him,“I didn't know she could cook.”
“Yep, you got a good one, Daniel. She is sweet, and she watches over everybody, and she’s funny, and she loves all of us. Even with as much trouble as we are, she just loves us anyway. And she takes care of us, and,” Bam’s voice had begun to fade a little quieter as his thoughts caught up with his words. He looked at Daniel with tears in his eyes, “You’re gonna take her from us, aren’t you?”
Daniel’s heart actually hurt at the thought of hurting this gentle man. At the thought of taking Avaleigh from her family. Damn, yesterday he didn't even believe he had a heart; today it was hurting for a male he hadn't even known drew breath before a few hours ago.
He met Bam’s eyes and made sure that Bam could see the truth there. “I do not want to take her from you, Bam. I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else. And I especially don’t want to hurt Avaleigh. I just want my Mate. Do you understand that, Bam?”
Bane had walked up behind them in the hallway, “Truth” he said.
Bam looked up at Bane and agreed, “Truth” as he nodded once to affirm it.
“We’ll find a way to make it work so that nobody is hurt, Bam,” Daniel said. “She’d never forgive me if I tried to take her from all of you.”
“Even Kaid?” Bam asked. Daniel looked at him, unsure of how to answer, but not wanting to lie to the man sitting beside him. So he answered truthfully, “I can’t help what Kaid feels. She’s not his. He’s angry. I’m not going away, but I don’t wish him any ill will. I do not plan on hurting him, but I will defend myself and my Mate if he provokes me.”
Bam just nodded his head as he looked down at his feet.
Bane thankfully stopped the conversation when he said, “Come on, guys — food’s ready. Ave will join us when she gets out of the shower.”
“Ave,” he shouted, “I warmed up the gumbo, come eat with us when you get out, sugar.” They started toward the kitchen, and Daniel had yet to move.
Bane looked over his shoulder at him, “Dude, she’s right there in the shower, not 20 feet away from the kitchen. Come eat something.”
Daniel looked at the door he was leaning against, “Yeah, okay.” He got up and followed the men who just may become his family, too, to the kitchen.
Avaleigh waited until she heard the footsteps of the men heading toward the kitchen. She left the shower running to mask the sounds of her moving around and stepped from the shower. She reached for a towel and dried herself off while looking around for something to put on. Her panties and her sleep shorts were on the floor where she’d kicked them off before she got in the shower. Her favorite sleep shirt was ruined now thanks to Dickhead, as she’d begun to think of Daniel in her mind. But his shirt was still sitting on her vanity, and it would have to do. She put her panties and shorts back on and slipped his shirt over her head. She wound her hair in a towel for a few minutes to get some of the water out and eyed the window above the toilet. Yep, that was her way out. She quietly moved the potpourri and candles from the tank of the toilet and placed them on the floor beside the tub. Then she stood on the toilet seat and leaned over to lift the window. It was fairly new and opened without too much resistance. She stepped on the tank lid of the toilet and lifted herself though the window. She jumped down and landed just on the other side of the rose bush that Goldy had planted for her under the window. “Easy peasy,” she thought as she hurried away from her cabin barefoot and on tip toe.
She found Kaid about 20 minutes later, lying on the bank of the little creek that meandered through their property. He was lying in the sun, on his back, in Bear form with all four legs spread out around him, belly up. He resembled road kill, and she snorted a little laugh at her thoughts. She knew he heard her coming, but he gave no indication that he knew she was there.
“Kaid?” no answer.
“Kaid?!” a little louder. “Are you pouting?” Still no answer.
“I can’t believe you left me with him in my home and me out cold.” She walked up to him and kicked him in the leg, hard as she could. He reached down with his giant paws and grabbed his leg as he wrinkled his eye brows and snarled at her softly.
“Don’t you snarl at me, Kaid Sanders! What the hell are you doing hiding up here while all your damn clan is practically handing me over to another freaking Dragon?!” She stood there with her hands on her hips, one hip cocked out while she berated him.
He begrudgingly shifted back, and sat there on the bank buck assed naked, shoulders hunched, arms resting on his bent knees. “You smell like him,” he grouched at her.
“What?” she asked.
“I said you smell like him,” he said a little louder and looked at her accusingly.
“’Course I do, I’m wearing his shirt.”
“Why are you wearing his shirt?”
“’Cause he ripped yours that I was sleeping in.”
“Dickhead,” he grumbled.
Her laugher caught him off guard, “That’s what
I said!”
He smiled at her and motioned for her to join him. She sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. “What am I gonna do, Kaid? You know better than anyone why I can’t mate a Dragon. The thought scares the hell out of me. The last one ruined me, Kaid. I can’t do that again, I can’t survive it.”
He ran one hand down his face and over his chin, sighing deeply, “Avaleigh, he’s not like Lurin. Lurin was unhinged, and he wasn't a true Dragon. You heard Amos. He’s some kind of snake hybrid or something. And for the record, I’m not pouting. I’m hurting. He’s your One, Avaleigh. Not me.”
Avaleigh looked at him sadly, “Even you are just going to hand me over, aren't you?”
“Hell, no, Avaleigh. You know better than that. If you don’t want him, I’ll stand for you. But even I know he’s truly yours. No matter how badly I wanted it otherwise, no matter how much I wished for you to be mine, you’re not. You and I both know that. You’re his. His true Mate, and no true Mate would ever hurt his One.”
“You’re letting me go, aren’t you? You’re gonna send me away,” she swallowed a quiet sigh.
“I am not letting you go. You belong with us, just as much as you belong with him. This is your home, baby. I just haven't figured out what exactly to do about any of it yet.”
“I don’t want to leave, Kaid,” breath hitching as she said this to him through silent tears, “But if it will keep ya’ll safe, I’ll go, so the Dragon will follow me and leave ya’ll alone. I won’t have you hurt because I won’t accept his claim. And I can’t, Kaid. I can’t accept him. He’s a fucking Dragon, and you know what the last one did to me…” She gave in to the tears, softly crying as her voice cracked on her last word.
He wrapped her in his arms and let her cry. “We’ll figure it out, baby, don’t cry. We’ll figure out what to do. But remember what I said, he’s not like Lurin. As much as it pisses me off to admit it, I think he’s a good guy. You should have seen him last night when you passed out. I thought he was gonna cry, and the fear coming off of him was stagnating.” She tucked her head into his chest and snuggled there for a while, letting him soothe her. Just a few minutes later, and there was a Wolf snuggled up to her against her back, and Goldy was laying back on his arms just above them, legs crossed at the ankles, head against hers and Kaids, soaking up the sun.
“He’s a good guy, Baby Girl,” Goldy told her.
“Fuck,” was all she said.
“Avaleigh, open the door, love,” Daniel called to her through the door. No answer. He knocked again and raised his voice just a little and called again. Still no answer. He tried the door, and it was locked, so he gripped it tightly and twisted slowly until he heard the metal stretch and the lock snap. He swung the door wide and immediately noticed the opened window and the trinkets placed on the floor near the toilet. “Son of a bitch!” he swore to himself as he turned and rushed out of the room and down the hall. Bam and Bane jumped up and followed him out of the cabin. “What’s happening?” they asked as they ran around Avaleigh's house behind him.
“She went through the window,” he answered as he stopped under the window and inhaled.
“Why are you smiling, Daniel?” Bam asked him.
“Because she’s wearing my shirt, she smells like me.”
Bane spoke up, “She probably just went to find Kaid. They have a special connection. Even if she was mad at him, she would still worry about him, and she knew he wouldn't talk to her if you were here.”
“I need to find her.” He turned to scent the air as he started up the hill towards the woods at the edge of the clearing.
“You mean we need to find her,” Bane said. Daniel shot him a look as he followed his nose toward the tree line. They walked for about 15 minutes, her scent and the imprint of her perfect little toes in the mud as they followed her trail leading him on.
Bam noticed him looking at the ground as they passed another soft area with her toe prints in it, “Look, Daniel, there’s her toes. She’s got skinny ones, and they are long, too, so I know they’re hers.”
Daniel was absorbed in following the scent of his female and didn't realize how he answered, “She’s got perfect toes, and perfect fucking tits, every damn thing about her is perfect,” he muttered distractedly as he continuously sniffed the air. Bane snorting behind him made him realize what he’d said, and he stopped for a second to grin at Bane bringing up the rear behind him. “Don’t tell her I said that. She probably won’t like me telling you she has perfect tits.”
Bam thought he was helping when he told him,“Oh, don’t worry, we already know that. They’re round and look really soft.”
Daniel had to remind himself who the comment came from, so he wouldn't snap the man in half. He knew Bam really didn't mean it the way it sounded. He took a deep breath and concentrated on the sent of his woman as he continued on the path.
Chapter 13
Just before they emerged from the woods, Bane decided maybe he should prepare Daniel for whatever sight greeted him in the clearing they were obviously headed to. Neither he nor Bam had offered him any guidance when they started on this trek to track down Avaleigh, but he obviously didn't need their help. He was leading them right toward their favorite spot on the property, and Bane had no doubt that they would find both Avaleigh, Kaid and most likely Mav and Goldy lounging there near the creek, too. “If you want Avaleigh to even consider you, you can’t go all Alpha on her. She hates being told what to do,” Bane offered. Daniel just hmpfd at him and kept walking. Bane tried again, “She and Kaid have a very special connection. If you try to come between that, you’re going to lose. They need each other.”
Daniel replied this time, “She needs me.”
“Maybe,” Bane answered, “but she needs Kaid, too. There are some things only he gets, and he can soothe her hurts, just like she soothes him. You need to realize that, or like I said, you’ve already lost.”
Daniel spun on him, smoke curling out of his nostril. “She will have no other male, but me,” he stated quietly, but with barely contained untold force.
Bane bowed up to him, refusing to back down. Not much frightened Bane, not even this Dragon. “It’s not like that. Kaid has been trying to complete the claim he started for months now, but Avaleigh wouldn't allow it. And, honestly, other than bring it up from time-to-time, Kaid really didn't push that hard for it. They don’t sleep together, well, yes, they do sleep together.” Daniel snarled. “But they don’t fuck,” Bane rushed out. “There’s no sex, they just… sleep. They are bound in a different way, not Mates, but they are bound nonetheless.” Then he took it even further. “We are all bound to her, we are her family, she belongs with us, Daniel, and we belong with her. Do not take that lightly is all I’m saying.” Daniel stood there for a minute taking in all Bane had told him. Finally, he nodded a time or two and turned to continue leading them through the trees.
As they finally stepped into the clearing, Daniel took in the sight in front of him and just about lost it. Kaid was lying there, totally nude, Avaleigh curled up against him with her head on his chest, a Wolf curled up at her back watching him as he stepped from the trees, and a red-haired biker laying at their heads, his head also leaning partially on Kaid's shoulder against Avaleigh's. Daniel’s growl rolled up his throat just as Bane placed his hand on Daniel’s shoulder.
“Control it,” Bane whispered. “It’s not anything other than exactly what you see. Scent them, there is no desire.”
Daniel did just that and managed by the grace of the gods to maintain some semblance of control. He approached them slowly, deliberately, never taking his eyes from his woman curled up against Kaid's side. As they got to the group lounging on the grass near the creek, Bane and Bam broke off to stand a little closer to their clan. Daniel did not miss this show of solidarity to their family. It made him feel strange, like he wished for that loyalty, that unwavering support and the peace and security that came from knowing that you were loved unconditionally. The security that c
ame from being part of something bigger than yourself and valued just because you were you. And in that moment he knew what he had to do, and he had absolutely no issue with it. As he came to a stop in front of the clan spread out on the grass near the creek that was to his back, he dropped to his knees and exposed his throat to Kaid, “Alpha, I request sanctuary.”
Kaid looked at him from where he reclined on the grass, Avaleigh's head still on his chest. Kaid tapped her shoulder to indicate she should move a little and allow him to sit up. “I’m not your Alpha,” Kaid responded as he looked Daniel in the eye.
Daniel smiled slightly as he answered him respectfully, “You will be if you grant me sanctuary.”
Avaleigh couldn't believe what was happening, and from the look on Kaid's face he was actually considering this. When he didn't answer Daniel immediately and just took his time looking at the male, Avaleigh couldn't take it anymore and hopped up and started striding toward the trees and the same path that had brought Daniel to their clearing. She was crying, from frustration and from confusion now, too, and the others could smell her tears even if she refused to allow a sound to escape her as she cried.
Kaid called out to her, “Ave?” She didn't answer, neither did she stop. He called her again, this time with more oppressive force that caused a sharp whine from a few of the others, “Avaleigh!”
She stopped, but she did not turn around.
“Do NOT leave our property,” Kaid called.
She responded with one single sharp nod of her head, but she did not turn around to make eye contact. When Kaid said no more, she resumed her path toward the trees.
Kaid turned to Daniel, “We need to talk.”
Daniel had watched his woman walking away from him. The pain and the scent of tears wafting from her was almost more than he could bear. He and his Dragon dredged their mind for any helpful information, but there was simply no explanation for why she hated him so much. He had given her no reason, and he would give his life for her, happily. She was human, but she was part of a shifter clan, so surely she knew this. He turned his attention to the males in front of him. “Why does she hate me so much? I would never hurt her,” clearly hurting himself, he looked from one to the other of them.
I'm Not A Dragon's Mate! Page 13
