Forbidden Dragon (The Bride Hunt Book 5)

by Charlene Hartnady

  Like before, Breeze was laughing and crying.

  “She looks good,” Louise said as she watched the infant punch with her fists and legs. Not in the least bit impressed with what was happening. Her skin was a healthy pink. She gave another yell, louder this time. Then she sucked in a lungful of air. It was one of the best sounds Louise had ever heard.

  She realized that her hands were shaking a tad. Her eyes felt moist. Flip, she was crying. Not very professional. She realized in that moment how afraid she had been. She’d delivered multiples before. Most had been fine. Most. She wiped the tears away.

  Louise handed the infant to her mother. Breeze cradled the little one to her chest. Volcano was openly crying. He looked up at her. “Thank you.” He gripped her hand and held it for a moment. “Thank you,” he repeated.

  “My pleasure.” And then Granite was there.

  He nestled the tiny baby in his strong arms, against his chest. There was a goofy smile on his face. He’d never looked sexier. She had to look away for a moment. “She’s fast asleep,” he announced, handing the baby to Volcano.

  “I’ll go and stoke the fire.” He sniffed as he walked away. It seemed that the big, bad shifter king had a sensitive side. Maybe there was more to him. He wasn’t just a rude, bossy asshole after all.

  Louise checked on Baby 1. Her coloring was good. Her breathing was fine. She released a pent-up breath.

  “She looks hungry,” Volcano announced.

  “This is so strange and unnatural,” Breeze said, her eyes were bloodshot. There were dark smudges beneath them.

  “I will be outside if you need me,” Granite announced. He closed the door behind him.

  “Are you talking about breast-feeding?” Louise frowned.

  Breeze gave a nod. “You Earth dragons are weird.”

  “Hey,” Volcano chuckled, “you just birthed two Earth dragons and you are mated to one.”

  Breeze smiled back. Volcano brushed a kiss against her lips.

  Louise cleared her throat. “I’ll be outside as well.” She felt like she was intruding on a special family moment.

  “No,” Breeze sounded panicked. “You have to help me.”

  “Sure,” Louise said.

  Volcano was grinning broadly.

  “How do I feed them? They need to suck on my mammary glands. Humans have a lot of experience in this.” She pulled a face.

  “Breastfeeding is very natural,” Louise said.

  Breeze shook her head. “Earth dragons are the only of our species who feed using these.” She squeezed one of her swollen breasts. “I wouldn’t know how to even start. They need to suck on my nipples?” She was frowning deeply. She sounded shocked and a bit taken aback.

  Louise smiled. “I’ve helped women before. Don’t worry about a thing.” She took in a deep breath. “I need to stay close for the next day or two to monitor the three of you. By the time I go, you’ll be a pro at it, I promise.” She turned to Volcano. “Please, can you fetch us some diapers and some hats for the babies. We need to keep them warm.”

  “I can’t thank you enough.” Breeze looked like she was on the verge of tears again. Then she looked down at the bundles of joy in her arms and smiled. Louise could physically feel the love pass between mother and child. In that moment, she’d never felt lonelier or more empty.

  Chapter 14

  Two days later …

  A knock sounded at the door.

  Granite closed his laptop. “Come in.” He frowned, he had no appointments booked.

  Sand stuck his head around the jamb. “Can I come in?”

  Granite gave a nod. “Take a seat,” he gestured to the chair on the opposite side of his desk.

  His brother did as he asked. “You said to inform you if the human makes contact with the outside world.”

  Granite kept his eyes on Sand. He trusted the human. He wasn’t sure why but he did. “That’s right.”

  “She continues to look at her Facebook account. She hasn’t posted in over a year though.”

  “Okay.” Despite trusting her, he found himself growing impatient. “Who did she contact?”

  “A male,” Sand frowned. “She has arranged to meet with him this weekend. I wasn’t aware that the human healer was going to Walton Springs.”

  “Well, she is.” His heart beat faster. At long last she was doing what he had instructed. It should feel good, instead, it irritated him. No, it worried him. She was an asset to his people, to all of the dragon shifters, all the non-humans for that matter, particularly if she managed to cure their affliction.

  “You look worried,” Sand continued to frown. He scrutinized Granite.

  “No, it’s fine! She mentioned that she was going to contact the male, I must have forgotten about it.” He gave a casual shrug even though he felt turmoil inside. “I take it the male responded?” What he really wanted to know was where they were meeting and when.

  Sand narrowed his eyes at him. He looked suspicious. The male gave a nod of the head. “Yes, she’s going to contact him on Saturday when she gets to town. He’s keeping his evening open,” his brother smirked.

  I’ll fucking bet.

  “Would you like a copy of the correspondence?”

  Fuck, yes! “No,” he growled the word. “It won’t be necessary. Keep monitoring her internet activity, inform me of anything serious.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay? You seem,” Sand paused, “out of sorts.”

  “I’m tired,” Granite answered truthfully.

  Sand laughed. “And a bit highly strung. I saw your name down for this weekend.”

  “Yeah.” Right now he couldn’t muster any type of enthusiasm.

  “Don’t look so excited about it. I’ll take your place,” his brother smiled.

  “No chance. I can’t fucking wait!” Granite grinned. It would be good to get out. Good to unwind. “Are you sure you can handle it here?”

  “Absolutely! Besides, Volcano just became a father, he’s not an invalid. The male can step in if need be.”

  The new family was doing really well. His tiny nieces were thriving. Louise had a big hand in it. She spent the first twelve hours at Breeze’s side monitoring the three of them. She still called in several times a day. She’d even tried to get out of going this weekend but he’d put a stop to that line of thinking. Things would calm down around here come Monday. He couldn’t fucking wait for that to happen.

  “You’ll be fine,” Granite said. “Keep a close eye on the human and forward any further correspondence directly to me … to save time,” he quickly added the last. He didn’t want Sand to get the wrong impression. It was his duty as king to keep close tabs on the human.

  Chapter 15

  Saturday night …

  “You, my darling and dearest friend, are a chicken.” Hillary poked her in the ribs.

  “I know. I know.” Louise screwed her eyes shut. “I feel awful. Worse than awful. I reached out to him and then I stood him up. Poor Todd!” Louise groaned. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. He’s such a sweet guy. He’s polite and most of all, he seems to be really interested in me.”

  “Lots of guys are interested, you just don’t seem to notice.”

  “Well, there had better be one who’s interested tonight because I’m getting laid, so help me god.” It was going to happen. It was going to happen. It was!

  Hillary raised her brows and just stared at her like she was something the cat dragged in.

  “What?” Louise said.

  Hillary gave her the once-over, she had a stern look on her face. “Some guys like the school mistress look, but if you’re serious about going out there to find sex, then you need an outfit that screams ‘available’.”

  “There is nothing wrong with what I’m wearing.” Louise looked down at her well thought-out clothing.

  Hillary blew out a breath and pulled a face. “Are you kidding me? You’re wearing a blouse.”

  “What’s wron
g with that?”

  “A better question would be what’s right with the thing?” Her eyes tracked the garment in question. “You have the buttons done up all the way up to your neck.” Hillary gave an eye roll. Her friend undid the top four buttons. Hillary paused, she could see that she was thinking it over. “On second thought, take the blouse off.”

  “What? You’re nuts.”

  “You’re wearing a really cute camisole underneath. It even has lace trimming.”

  “It’s an undergarment, Hills. Meant to be worn under clothing,” Louise annunciated every word like she was speaking to a child.

  “It would be perfectly acceptable as a top. Women wear camisoles as tops all the time. I mean, look at you,” she lifted her brows. “You have perfect breasts.”

  “They’re small.”

  “Rubbish! They are most definitely there without being ridiculously huge. You could probably go braless and get away with it.”

  “Hold on there!” Louise put up a hand. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.”

  “That pencil skirt is really cute, it shows off your narrow waist but it’s really long. You need to either cut the skirt shorter or lose the blouse. I vote for the blouse to go.” Her eyes widened and she looked excited. “You would look ultra-cute in the skirt with the camisole. Those boots are perfect. John calls them ‘fuck me’ boots. I’m guaranteed sex if I wear mine. He can’t keep his hands off of me, he—”

  “Too much info, Hills,” Louise laughed. “Far too much.”

  “You will fit right in where we’re going tonight.”

  “We’re not going to that cocktail bar … I would hate to run into Todd.” Louise shuddered at the thought. She’d feel awful for dropping him after promising she’d call. Make that dropping him a second time.

  “Nope, it’s a small bar on the edge of town that buzzes on a Saturday night. Apparently it’s the hook-up hot spot.”

  Louise gripped Hillary’s arm. “Thanks so much for helping me.”

  “What are friends for?”

  “You are the best.”

  “You do realize that you’re not going to be able to sleep with a guy and just walk away, right?”

  “Of course I will!” Louise snorted.

  “How many one night stands have you had then?”

  “Um …” Louise pretended to think about it.

  Hillary burst out laughing.

  “One!” Louise shouted.

  “Really?” Hillary folded her arms.

  “That new boy in our senior year.”

  “The two of you kissed at a house party.” Hillary looked disgusted.

  Louise nodded like mad. “Exactly.”

  “You kissed … you didn’t go the whole hog,” Hillary was smiling broadly.

  “Yeah … and kissing in high school is the equivalent of sex now. Besides, he touched my ass.”

  Hillary laughed. “Yeah and if I remember correctly you were heartbroken for weeks because he started dating Jenny right after.”

  “Trevor was a total douche.”

  “See,” Hillary pointed at her. “You even remember his name after all these years. You totally would’ve dated him if he had asked you out.”

  Louise shook her head. “No way!”

  “Don’t talk shit!”

  “Okay, alright? Okay. I would’ve dated him but I’m older and wiser and I can have meaningless, really great sex and leave it at that. I’m going to have meaningless really great sex with no strings attached. Besides, even if I wanted a relationship, I’m leaving tomorrow. It wouldn’t work. Long distance relationships never do.”

  “Okay,” Hillary sounded skeptical. “If you say so, Lou. “

  “I do say so.”

  “And, you’re serious about this whole hook-up thing?”

  Louise nodded. She’d never been more serious in her whole life.

  Hillary reached up past Louise and pulled her hair loose.

  “Hey!” Louise gripped her errant curls, trying to tame them. “I can’t go anywhere looking like this.”

  Hillary grabbed her hands. “Do you trust me?”

  Louise rolled her eyes. “That’s a trick question.”

  “Do you trust me?” Hillary squeezed her hands and spoke with more conviction.

  Louise made a groaning noise. “I’m going to regret this, but yes I trust you.”

  “Forget the blouse and forget your hair, it needs to be loose. You’ll look amazing! Those guys aren’t going to know what’s hit them. They’ll be falling all over themselves to get at you.”

  Granite gestured to the bartender for another beer. The drink was placed in front of him a few moments later with a clunk.

  He leaned back against the dark wood and scanned the room. It was a small establishment. There was an upper level sitting area, a dance floor and the bar. The place was jam-packed. It was like this every Saturday without fail.

  Females visited just in case the ‘special ops’ guys were in town. Namely, them, the shifters. The various tribes all took turns and then not every eligible male would go at once. Smaller groups frequented the bar almost every Saturday night.

  As per usual, there were far more females than males in attendance. All hoping to snag themselves one of the Special Forces males. There was also a large number of human males, hoping to pick up the leftovers. Of which there were plenty. There were half-dressed females everywhere. At least half a dozen tried to catch his eye as he continued to give the place the once-over.

  Thing was, Granite wasn’t feeling it. Not even one bit. It pissed him off.

  “Hey! Are you listening?” The human female beside him gave his arm a tug.

  “Ah … yeah.” He locked eyes with her.

  She gave him a wide smile. The female was very pretty. She was tall and curvy. Her hair was blond and fell down her back to just below her shoulder blades. She had an easy smile and a relaxed disposition. “I asked if you were enjoying yourself.”

  “I’m enjoying myself just fine.” He was bored to death and couldn’t understand why.

  The side of her mouth tipped up. “What is my name?”

  “Why is that relevant?”

  “You should at least know a girl’s name if you’re going to take her home.”

  He couldn’t help but smile. Granite liked her candor. He still wasn’t feeling it though. “Is that right?”

  “Yeah, it most certainly is.” She licked her lips. They were a bright and fiery red.

  Why was he delaying? He’d sworn to himself that he would grab the first single, willing female and be done with it. Here she was.

  “It’s Jessica, Jess for short.”

  Granite gave a nod.

  “You’re supposed to tell me your name. That’s how this works.”

  He picked up his beer and took a swig. The female pulled her lower lip into her mouth as she watched his throat work. He set the beer down and gave another slow nod.

  After a long paused she continued. “Then you buy me a drink and we talk.”

  Talk? Nope. She could forget that.

  “We’ll laugh and then you’ll whisper something really dirty into my ear.” Her pupils dilated. He could scent her arousal. It did sweet fuck all to his own libido.

  The fuck?

  He took another sip and folded his arms, his eyes on her big blue orbs. “Then we’ll high-tail it out of here. You won’t be able to keep your hands off of me in the back of the cab. We’ll kiss. We’ll—”

  A flash of red at the door caught his attention. Bright red. No way! Curly red. No fucking way.

  It was the little doctor. She laughed at something her friend was saying. Her hair. By Claw, it hung down her back, thick and heavily curled in tight spirals. It seemed brighter somehow. It was the kind of hair a male might fist during rutting. It was definitely that kind of hair. The wild kind.

  She was wearing more than most of the females in this place, yet she was half-naked in comparison with her normal attire. Her breasts. Fucking perfec
tion. Like two ripe peaches. Soft and small but big enough to suck and squeeze on. His dick woke up.

  The fuck?

  “Hey …” Someone leaned in against him. “Are you listening? It’s rude not to listen when a girl is telling you exactly what she plans on doing to you.”

  He glanced down at the pretty blonde and then back at the doctor.

  Louise’s eyes widened and she took a step back. She’d recognized one or two of his males. She’d realized where she was.

  Smack bang in the middle of the Stag Run.

  It was funny how her eyes zoned in on him. It happened immediately, like she could feel him staring. Recognition flared in their depths.

  Then she turned back towards the door. Fuck! She was going to leave. Her friend grabbed her by the arm and spun her back around.

  “What’s up? What’s wrong?” Concern etched her voice.

  “Um … I can’t be here.” Louise’s eyes tracked back to him and then quickly back to her friend when she caught him still watching. “We’re going,” she ground out. “Now.” There was a pleading edge to her voice.

  “Why?”

  “Please, just trust me on this. Please don’t argue,” quickly delivered.

  The other female gave a nod and they made their way to the door.

  Not a fuck!

  “Hey, big guy …” the blonde cooed, putting a hand on his chest. “What’s going on inside that head of yours? A girl might get worried.”

  “I prefer women.” Granite extricated himself from the female’s grip. “Have a good evening.”

  Her mouth fell open but he didn’t give a shit.

  Without overthinking it, he moved towards the exit. He needed to speak with the little doctor. She shouldn’t leave on their account, on his account. That was bullshit. She had just as much right to be here as anyone else. Besides, at least if she stayed he could keep an eye on her. He realized that he’d been worried about her out with some asshole male. Nope, she was staying right here, right under his nose