The Dragon's Bidder (Tahoe Dragon Mates Book 3)

by Jessie Donovan

  Quickly exiting the car, he was at the driver's side before Ashley had done more than unfasten her seat belt. He opened the door. "Are you going to scoot over or climb out? Either way, make a decision because you can't sit in my lap."

  She snorted. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? But it'd defeat the purpose of not getting into an accident. You'd have no blood left in your brain to make any decisions at all."

  What he wouldn't give to stand there trading barbs until he could haul her against him and kiss the living shit out of her.

  As she climbed over to the passenger seat, her dress sneaking up precariously high, Wes's heart skipped a beat, and his cock turned hard again.

  He needed to get his female safe and do everything he could to make her his. There had to be a way where Wes could protect her, and she could still help his kind.

  Ashley gestured toward the now-empty seat, and Wes sat down. After they were both buckled in and he’d shifted the car into Drive, he asked, "Where to?"

  As she rattled off directions, he did his best to focus only on the road. Because the small glimpse he'd risked a few seconds ago showed her dress still riding high and her lovely, pale thighs on display.

  Yep, Wes was truly a bastard right now. He should be thinking of her safety, and yet all he could think about were those thighs wrapped around his head while he made her scream with his tongue.

  His dragon chimed in. We might yet have that tonight.

  I doubt it, dragon. Once we iron out a few details with Ashley, we're heading home.

  His beast pouted but remained silent. That told Wes volumes—his dragon would be hatching a plan of his own, which meant Wes would have to resist both Ashley and his dragon so he could do his duty as clan leader.

  His night wasn't going to end as he'd hoped. But it also was long from over.

  Chapter Five

  Ashley did her best to sober up on the ride home. She'd been honest about not being drunk—she may not be twenty-one any longer, but she still had a decent tolerance—but it was easier to think if she didn't have to concentrate on the road.

  Not to mention she could sneak glimpses of Wes's profile from the corner of her eye as a passenger. No matter if it was in shadow or highlighted by a streetlamp, the strong jaw, nose, and his full lips were sexy as hell.

  Which made being in a short dress, inside a car with a dragonman with supersensitive senses a real test of controlling her lady parts.

  But as she let her thoughts drift to Duncan, the League, and even for a few seconds to what Wes had revealed to her about being his true mate, her focus shifted from her libido to her new set of problems.

  Ashley lived in Reno, Nevada because of ADDA's main base in the region there. Once Wes returned to PineRock, and provided his clan members didn't cross the California-Nevada border any time soon, they should be relatively safe from Duncan's political reach in Nevada. However, Ashley would constantly be looking over her shoulder. She had no idea if the League had made her their latest target or not, but living in a big city where she didn't know whom to trust wasn't exactly ideal.

  She'd already taken extra precautions over the years when going out since working for ADDA could be challenging at times, even with just regular humans. But the possible danger had become a lot more personal all of a sudden with the encounter in the bar.

  Her own safety wasn't the only issue, either. If she didn't get this mess cleared up ASAP, it could hurt both the dragon-shifters and all the human owners who'd risked so much to open their establishments to all patrons, too. Because if the League targeted Ashley, they'd follow her. Which meant her regular visits would put others in danger.

  The question was, how could she ensure anyone's safety going forward?

  Rubbing her forehead, Ashley realized this would be the biggest headache of her career in years.

  Wes's voice cut through her thoughts. "I'm guessing this wasn't what you had planned when you won me for a night out, is it?"

  She shook her head. "No. But I'll figure it all out somehow. I always do."

  Wes paused a moment before replying, "You don't have to do it alone, Ashley. I'm here. I'll always be here."

  Given her colleagues and web of contacts, she didn't have to go it alone, but she usually did. It was easier that way. No one could betray you or break a promise with disastrous consequences.

  However, as she stared at Wes's profile with the light playing on his face, she could imagine a life where Wes was at her side, giving support and suggestions until they were both old and gray. Yes, he was hot, but there was so much more to Wes Dalton that attracted her.

  The niggle from before, about clan leaders in good standing, reared its head again. Although why it surfaced now, when she had a shit-ton of other problems to deal with on her plate, she had no idea.

  A small voice in her mind whispered, Because you want him.

  Hell, she'd ended her engagement with her ex because of her feelings about Wes. But admitting that to the dragonman out loud wasn't a step she was quite ready for.

  She finally replied, "Thanks, but I'm not even sure of what kind of help I need right now, so I can't exactly ask for it."

  The corner of his lips ticked up. "Honest even now."

  She blew out a breath. "Which you seem to like, but it won't work with a guy like Duncan Parrish."

  "So that's his name. Tell me more about him."

  As she explained his payday loan empire in Reno and recent expansion to Vegas, as well as his higher political connections, she added, "But I had no idea his brother-in-law was a member of the League. That's going to spell trouble, I can feel it."

  Wes moved a hand from the wheel and tentatively held it above Ashley's thigh. However, he quickly pulled it away as if burned and gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Which is why you need to stay somewhere safe until you think of a plan." She opened her mouth, but he beat her to it, threading his voice with the dominance clan leaders liked to use on a regular basis. "I know you're a strong, capable female, Ash. That's not the issue. But the League doesn't always follow the law, as you well know. The only safe place for you right now is with a dragon clan."

  She almost nodded. It was true—the League talked big but rarely went after a group, let alone an entire clan of dragons. They preferred picking their targets off alone or in couples, drugging them unconscious, and smuggling them across borders.

  It seemed ridiculous on the surface since a dragon could just fly back. However, things got a hell of a lot trickier once a dragon-shifter crossed international borders without permission. In recent years, the US Government hadn't allowed them back in at all due to the anti-dragon faction having a majority in Congress.

  Which made her think the League had grown more powerful in recent years and had influence beyond what ADDA could've imagined possible.

  Still, running wasn't exactly her style. "I think what you're saying is that you want me to stay with you, but I can't."

  Wes raised his brows. "Why not?"

  The way he stated it, so matter-of-factly, made her blink. "You can't be serious, Wes. I'm not a researcher and don't do long-term observations. If I stay on your clan—especially if word got out that I'm your true mate—I won't merely be demoted, I'll be fired."

  "So you'd rather keep your job but lose your life?"

  She narrowed her eyes. "It's not that simple."

  Wes glanced at her, his pupils flashing. "For once I agree with my dragon—humans can be illogical sometimes."

  Ashley leaned forward a little. "Look, maybe some women go all gaga for your alpha attitude and desire to protect. But I've been on my own a long time, Wes. And I've worked my ass off to get where I am. Just walking away would be like losing half of who I am. Not to mention it would hurt all the dragon clans near Tahoe for the foreseeable future since most ADDA employees don't care about your kind as much as I do. How would that sit on your conscience?"

  If she thought to knock him back with that, she was mistaken. Wes grunted. "How about staying
for a few days then? Tori just had her baby anyway, and checking in on her is one of your duties. It's not unusual for an ADDA employee to stay a short while to watch a new human parent on a dragon's lands. Maybe if you're lucky, Gaby will have her kid a little early, and then you could stay even longer."

  She opened her mouth but quickly closed it. He was right—it was pretty much par for the course to observe new human parents of baby dragon-shifters. True, she'd briefly checked on the human woman named Victoria Santos recently, but Ashley hadn't filed the report yet. Also, Gaby was a dragon-shifter mated to a human and was due soon. Both fell under her jurisdiction.

  Could a few days really buy her enough time to think of a better plan?

  Probably. Especially if she could bounce ideas off Wes and his clan's chief of security, Cristina Juarez.

  She crossed her arms over her chest. "I could manage to stay for a few days, but only with some ground rules."

  A smile danced on his lips. "Of course you'd have rules. Let's hear them."

  She raised a finger. "First and foremost, I won't be staying with you specifically."

  He raised his brows. "Did I ever say you would be?"

  "No, but given how you revealed I'm your true mate tonight, it had to have crossed your mind."

  His voice was even as he replied, "What I want and what I do are two very different things."

  The last traces of any alcohol-related haziness cleared her brain as she realized something that had been in front of her all along. Wes also gave up a lot to keep his position and fight for his clan.

  Just how hard was it for him to resist her this long? They'd known each other for years.

  She already respected him for his work, but that respect ticked up a few notches.

  Softening her voice, she said, "I'm sorry. I don't intentionally try to be such a pain in the ass. My guard and defensiveness just go up after so many years of dealing with assholes who think I can't do anything simply because I have a vagina."

  Even in the dim light, she saw his pupils flash. "Considering my head of security is female, and I respect the hell out of Cris, you should know by now that I'd never dismiss a female's capabilities."

  "I do, Wes. It's just…habit. Probably like you using your dominance on me. So how about a sort of truce? Let's be equals. Agree to that, and I'll stay a few days on PineRock, and we can bounce strategies off one another."

  She motioned for him to turn into the apartment complex and told him where to park. Once he did, Wes finally angled his torso toward her. His pupils flashed quickly as he answered, "Equals, but only once we reach PineRock. I'm going to be an overprotective bastard until we do."

  She snorted. "I wouldn't expect anything less." Ashley gestured toward her apartment on the second floor. "I'll go pack some things right now, and we can head to PineRock tonight provided you promise to do the driving."

  He grunted his approval before exiting the car. She followed suit.

  As they made their way toward her place, she openly watched Wes check every dark corner for enemies, pausing at the slightest sound. Seeing him in his element, unlike back in the casino and bar, made him even more attractive to her. For crying out loud, she couldn't stop staring at his broad shoulders and trim hips like some starstruck teenager.

  Get a grip, Ash. She'd never been around him for more than a day before. The next handful of days were going to test her in all sorts of ways. However, she'd have to pass any and all tests because failing would cause too much pain and suffering for the dragon clans in the area.

  And after everything she'd worked toward, she wasn't about to let that happen.

  As Wes drove the last few miles to PineRock, he kept glancing over to Ashley's sleeping face in the passenger seat.

  He could hardly believe his female was going to be staying on PineRock. True, they had a mountain of problems to wade through, but it also gave him hope.

  Hope that maybe, just maybe, they could find a path where they both kept protecting dragon-shifters while also snagging a small bit of happiness.

  Because he was determined to make Ashley happy.

  And also himself.

  His dragon spoke up. My, my, look who's singing a different tune now.

  The human men all but threatening Ashley had made Wes realize a few things about what was important. If there's anyone who can find a way for an ADDA employee and a dragon-shifter to have a chance together while not losing their jobs, it's Ashley.

  His beast snorted. That's the only reason you changed your mind, hmm? It has nothing to do with her heated looks or short dress tonight?

  He mentally growled. Of course she's fucking beautiful. What do you expect, for me to say she's hideous?

  Now, now, calm down. I'm on your side.

  Are you sure about that?

  Ignoring his beast, Wes made the final turn toward the road that led to PineRock's main entrance. He only paused the car at the keypad checkpoint to enter the security code. Once the gates opened, he drove slowly through the tunnel carved into rock and out into the main area of his clan.

  Even in the dark, a sense of peace came over him at the familiar streetlights, the odd house with a light in the window, and the quietness apart from some nocturnal animals brave enough to venture near PineRock.

  He was home. He glanced at Ashley and mentally vowed she would never be harmed on his land. PineRock was the one place he possessed complete control, as well as the resources to make that promise a reality.

  Wes drove a few minutes longer before he parked in front of a two-story house painted light green with beige trim. Even though he could've repaired it, he still spotted the claw marks in the siding from his early years of shifting into a dragon, when he'd thought to try jumping from the roof before he'd had lessons on how to fly.

  He'd ended up at the clinic with a fractured wing.

  His mother said those marks would stay until she was no longer around, as a reminder to him that not even Wes was invincible.

  A light switched on in a window on the second story—his mother's room. He didn't want to wake her up, but Ashley needed to stay with someone he trusted. Well, someone he trusted and thought would be a little welcoming and not swamped with clan duties.

  He said, "Ash, wake up."

  His human merely grunted and went back to softly snoring.

  It seemed she didn't wake easily. Yet another reason Ashley needed to stay on PineRock, in case someone tried to attack her while she was sleeping.

  Time to try another tactic.

  Wes risked touching her cheek with his fingers and resisted sucking in a breath at her soft, smooth skin. What he wouldn't give to wake her up with a kiss.

  However, he wasn't going to kick off a mate-claim frenzy. So he lightly poked her cheek. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

  "Why?" she muttered, her eyes still closed.

  He poked a few more times, but she didn't do more than swat him away. So he resorted to some more extreme measures and tickled his fingers against her side.

  She jumped and wiggled as she battled a frown with laughter. When he finally stopped, she glared at him. "What the hell, Wes? You could've just asked me to wake up."

  "I did, and poked you, too. But it was almost like you were under some kind of sleep enchantment. If tickling hadn't worked, I might've had to dunk you in the lake."

  Her brows came together. "I didn't wake up?" He shook his head, and she continued, "That's odd. I'm usually a light sleeper."

  His dragon hummed. She trusts us. That's good.

  While his human half was also pleased, Wes ignored the feeling. If he didn't act a little more in control when he introduced Ashley to his mom, who knew what sort of ideas his mother would come up with.

  His dragon muttered, She probably knows the truth anyway. Mom knows everything.

  He spoke to Ashley again. "I know you're tired, but I need you to stay awake a little longer. We're on PineRock, and I've brought you to my mom's house."

  Her gaze took in the house
dimly lit by a porch light. "Your mother's house?"

  He nodded. "You'll stay with her for the next few days. And no, she doesn't know about what I told you tonight—I'm keeping it vague since dragons can hear more than you want to know—so don't worry about it. She'll just be pleased to have someone stay with her. She's been alone ever since my younger brother joined the dragon unit of the Air Force last year."

  Ashley rubbed the lingering traces of sleep from her eyes. "Please tell me she's not super chatty and a night owl. I'm so tired right now, and if I don't get some sleep, my brain won't work well enough to start tackling our mountain of problems in the morning."

  He smiled at the slight frown on Ashley's face. He loved seeing her more vulnerable side. He replied, "I'll tell her to let you sleep tonight, but I can't make any promises about breakfast time."

  His mother didn't much care for being alone but had refused to even think about another mate since Wes's dad had died.

  She was lonely, and Ashley staying with her would be good all around.

  The front door opened and his mother's voice drifted out. "Come out right now, Wesley Dalton, and tell me why you're here in the middle of the night."

  Ashley laughed, not that he could blame her. His mother wore a fuzzy, bright pink bathrobe that was four sizes too big. But his mom liked to be warm and didn't care about how silly she looked.

  Of course, on her short-for-a-dragon-shifter's frame, it made her look like a teenager. Albeit one with graying hair, but still not a middle-aged former dragon soldier.

  Ashley managed to control her laughter. "Sorry, but I was expecting a much taller or intimidating woman to emerge. For some reason, that's what I picture when it comes to a clan leader's parents."

  "Oh, don't let appearances fool you." His human shot him a curious look, but he ignored it and opened the car door. "Come on, or she'll drag us out by force. And that's not an exaggeration."

  He exited the car and Ashley followed. Wes kissed his mother's cheek and murmured for her ears only, "I'm going to take her to the spare bedroom straight away. She's tired and needs some sleep. You can begin your interrogations tomorrow."