No, that’s not really what Emerson wanted at all.
He wasn’t the marrying type.
Yet somehow, after a long day dealing with dragons who just couldn’t be pleased, Emerson wanted nothing more than to curl up in front of the fire with a beautiful female and have her promise that everything would be okay.
And how wimpy was that?
No, Emerson didn’t need all that.
Not just now.
Maybe not ever.
He closed his eyes and flapped his wings, leaping into the air, spinning straight into flight. Within seconds he was soaring high above the trees that surrounded the main village on Dragon Isle. Within minutes, he was coasting over the forest.
The world was simpler up here, quieter. The world was more peaceful.
Yet somehow, Emerson knew that without a female, his life would never stop being lonely.
Too bad he was so damaged that no one would ever want him.
**
“I don’t want to come to Dragon Isle,” Janae whined into the phone.
“It’s only for a few weeks,” her brother Liam said. “Just until I’m better. Doc Alan says it’s just a bad sprain and if I stay off my feet, I should be back to work within a month-and-a-half.”
“You mean six weeks? You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Janae! Come on. I helped you when you had that problem in high school.”
“You mean when I had appendicitis? Yeah, you’re right, bringing me a few homework sheets while I was in the hospital is totally the same thing.”
Her brother sighed and a pang of guilt stabbed at Janae. She knew she wasn’t being fair. Liam really would do anything for her, and staying in Nellenston wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to her. It’s just that she didn’t want to be near the creepy-ass island he worked by.
Dragons?
Seriously?
He had to be kidding.
“Please? You wanna hear me beg? I will, sis. Please. I really need some help. I don’t have anyone else I can trust to help me. You know what this is like. Privacy is of utmost importance. If I hire someone who lets confidential information about my clients leak…”
“Yeah, I know.”
Now it was Janae’s turn to sigh. Her brother ran a boating service from the docks at Nellenston to a strange, private island. Janae hated it. She’d never been there and had no desire to go, but anything that could be classed as something not human wasn’t worth learning about.
Liam was right, though. The dragon shifters at Dragon Isle liked him and trusted him. He and Old Willie, who was in charge of the entire harbor, were well-known for their discretion. The dragons would have a hard time dealing with Liam’s absence for six weeks, especially if he got a shifty replacement.
“Fine,” she finally said. Janae took a glance around her cheap motel room and rolled her eyes. She had been living at a hole-in-the-wall for the last month, trying to find a decent place to rent. She was going to be on the streets before the end of the month, anyway. At the very least, she could enjoy living with Liam for free.
Even if it did mean playing nurse for six weeks.
“When can you get here?” Liam asked when he was done cheering.
Janae looked around the room at her tiny suitcase and few belongings.
“Tonight.”
She got off the phone and started to pack her suitcase. In went the cocktail dress she bought for a date who didn’t show. In went the combat boots she couldn’t live without. In went the pajamas, the socks, the undies, and the long skirts.
In went her first edition copy of The Boxcar Children.
In went the faded diary.
Packing took Janae less than half an hour. It was a bit pathetic, really. She was 29 now. She should have her shit together, yet somehow, she didn’t. Her brother had a great house and a fun job that paid well. He got to live close to the ocean in a city most people would only dream of owning property in.
And then there was Janae.
She lived only an hour from Nellenston, but she lived on the outskirts of a poor, crappy city with few jobs. Her work at the local library paid almost nothing. She certainly didn’t make enough to be able to rent a real house.
Forget being able to buy one.
Janae finished throwing her last few belongings in her car, then headed back into the room. She picked up the phone and called Evelyn. The friendly librarian had been Janae’s boss for nearly three years. She treated Janae like the daughter she never had and had even offered to let Janae sleep on her couch while she looked for a place to live.
Since Janae’s landlord had decided to move back into the property she had been renting for the past few years, she had been forced to find other accommodations. While Janae loved the friendly librarian, she was an adult woman and needed her own space. She had politely declined Evelyn’s offer of hospitality.
“Strathmore Falls Library,” Evelyn answered on the first ring.
“Evie, it’s me,” Janae said.
“Why, sweetie! Hello! You aren’t scheduled to work until Tuesday, dear.”
“I know, Janae. That’s why I’m calling.”
“Oh dear,” Evelyn said with a hint of worry in her voice. “This doesn’t sound good.”
“My brother got hurt and I have to go help him,” Janae explained. She hated to bail on the old woman, but Courtney, another librarian, would be happy for the extra hours.
“Oh my word,” Evelyn sighed. “That poor boy. What did he do this time?”
Janae relayed the story of how her brother had twisted his leg climbing out of his boat. Due to the recent storms they’d been having, the docks were soaked and Liam had slipped on the slick wood planks. He was lucky that Willie had found him when he did and called for an ambulance. Otherwise, who knew how long Liam would have been lying there on the dock?
“It’s not broken,” Janae assured Evelyn, “but he’s going to need some extra help. He twisted his leg and messed up his foot. I’ll be gone about six weeks, maybe a little longer.”
Her bet would be on the “little longer.” Liam was a dedicated worker. Getting him to stay off his leg long enough for it to heal was going to be a full-time job in and of itself.
“Your job will still be here when you get back, sweetie,” Evelyn’s sweet demeanor warmed Janae’s heart. The old woman was like a mother to her. “You go take care of that boy. Don’t let him get into any more trouble.”
That was easier said than done, but Janae didn’t want to worry the sweet librarian even more. Instead, she thanked Evelyn for being so understanding and promised to keep her updated. When she got off the phone, Janae checked out of the motel and hopped in her car.
She put on a CD of 80s rock songs to listen to during the brief drive to Nellenston. The drive wasn’t unbearable, but Janae hadn’t visited her brother often, so she made a few wrong turns. She hated using her phone’s GPS and would rather get lost and have an adventure than listen to the dull computerized voice tell her where to turn.
Then again, Janae also preferred paperbacks to eBooks.
So sue her.
During the drive, she let her thoughts wander. She wasn’t sure exactly what she’d be doing to help Liam, but she knew she’d have to work odd hours that would mostly consist of motoring his boat. Fine. Not a problem. She would rather spend hours at sea than having to talk to the weird shifters he liked to hang out with.
It’s not that Janae had a problem with dragons.
Not really.
She just thought that mythical creatures belonged in books: not on random islands. She knew there were shifters who lived in human societies, too, but she tended to shy away from anyone and everything, so it didn’t bother her.
Much.
She knew she was being unfair. It’s not like dragons had done anything to harm her or her family. They hadn’t attacked her or kidnapped her or affected her life in any way.
She just didn’t like the idea that something could be so muc
h bigger than her, so much stronger. She didn’t like that they hid away on an island or that her brother was basically an indentured servant.
She didn’t like any of it.
Yet here she was, pulling into his driveway, walking up his stairs, knocking on his door.
Janae sighed.
What was she getting herself into?
**
Liam had worked with dragons since he was 18 years old. Nearly a decade of his life, he realized, had been spent getting to know the dragons and their ways. He was by no means an expert, but he had found in the dragons a group of friends. He had found a place to belong.
His parents had died long ago in a car accident, along with his younger brother. Connor had been only 12 when the accident happened. Though it had been years since the accident, Liam had never quite gotten over it.
He and Janae had dealt with the loss in very different ways. She threw herself into her studies, pursuing her master’s degree in library science. After she graduated, she moved to Strathmore Falls and lived by herself. She spent her time working at a tiny, rundown library that she was completely overqualified to run. She wasn’t even the head librarian. Liam felt like the town took advantage of his sister’s good nature.
He hadn’t gone to school himself. Liam, instead, decided to hang out with the dragons. It had been a strange, choice, he knew, but it suited him. Liam had started drinking to cope with his family’s deaths, but his father’s dear friend, William, had pulled him out of it.
“Young man, you’re going to lose yourself. Is this really what your father would have wanted?” William gave Liam a place to live and a job and helped Liam begin to rebuild his life.
The dragons had never bothered Liam. He treated them with respect and they did the same for him. Perhaps best of all, they never bothered him. Most of them lived on the island not because they were in hiding or ashamed of who they were, but because they valued their privacy. The dragons didn’t want to be bothered.
Liam could understand that.
When he spotted Janae walking up the sidewalk to his house, he wondered if he’d made the right choice in asking her for help. Janae could be hotheaded at times, not unlike the dragons he frequently worked with. Chances were that at some point, she’d fight with someone or get into a heated argument that could result in lost business for him.
But Janae could also be compassionate and kind and nurturing.
She just needed to be reminded that she could.
The truth was that Liam felt bad for his sister. He knew she had been kicked out of her rental and was struggling to find a new place to live she could afford. She didn’t have any debt. Thanks to their inheritance from their parents, she had been able to pay for college without taking out loans.
The problem was simply that Janae basically worked for free at her job. Yes, she had a salary, but it was so low that it barely covered food, let alone the skyrocketing cost of rent.
He hoped that she would come to Nellenston and maybe even decide to stay there. His house was more than big enough for the two of them, at least until Janae found a job she liked and a house she adored.
Was it so wrong for him to want his big sister to find happiness?
Not really.
Janae knocked on the door, then entered without waiting for Liam to get up and hobble over. She was lugging a huge, worn-out suitcase with her. She left it by the door and came into the living room to greet her brother. She took one look at his propped-up leg and bent to hug him awkwardly.
“Hey, sis,” Liam grunted.
Janae just rolled her eyes.
“You look like shit,” she said, taking a long look at his disheveled appearance. “Have you even showered or anything?”
He blushed, and she nodded.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Janae said. “Okay, let me make you something to eat, then I’ll head to the store and buy you some stuff to get you cleaned up.”
“There’s cash in the-“ he started to say, but she waved him off.
“Don’t worry about it,” she insisted, heading out of the room. Liam heard her open the fridge and turn on the oven. He knew she would settle right into the role of big sister slash mother without any trouble. Janae had always taken care of the people around her. She had always cared for everyone else.
Liam just worried that she did too much.
With all Janae did for other people, shouldn’t someone take care of her?
2
Emerson frowned at the dock manager, William.
“What do you mean, ‘there’s no boat today’?”
Old man William shrugged. Emerson wasn’t sure what the man’s official title was. He seemed to own almost everything at the docks. He rented spaces to people with boats, he handled imports and exports, and he took care of charters and travelers. He seemed to be a one-man operation. When he finally croaked, there was no telling what would happen to the boats that filled the harbor.
“Liam got hurt,” William explained. “His replacement won’t be here until tomorrow.”
“Replacement?” Emerson’s frown deepened. He had flown to Nellenston while it was dark out. Under the hidden shadows of the night, he had been able to easily get into town, shift into his human form, and spend the evening seeking pleasurable company.
Now he wanted to return to Dragon Isle, but it was the middle of the day. He didn’t particularly want to spend his afternoon waiting around for darkness to fall.
“Yes,” Willie said. “His replacement. Tomorrow.”
“Is there any way we can get the guy here in the next half hour? I’ll pay triple his usual rate.” It was extreme, but Emerson didn’t have any other way to get home. He couldn’t fly in the daylight. That was just asking for trouble. While there wasn’t a serious problem with dragon poachers, they did exist, and he didn’t feel like dealing with them today.
He just wanted to get home.
Willie held up a hand, signaling Emerson to wait for a moment, and stepped into his little shack. He picked up the phone and made a call, which lasted several minutes. Finally, he returned.
“Your captain will be here in twenty minutes,” Willie said. Before Emerson could thank him, Willie went back into the shack and closed the door, leaving Emerson to find a spot to wait.
Emerson picked a small, shabby bench. It was well-worn, but comfortable, and there was a tree nearby that offered shade. He felt bad that Liam had gotten hurt. He was a good kid.
Though Liam was probably in his late 20s, he still had a boyish appearance that made Emerson think of him as a younger brother. In all the time Emerson had spent on Dragon Isle, Liam had been a faithful worker.
He always showed up with shipments and deliveries on time and he never talked about the things he saw on Dragon Isle.
In other words, he was perfect.
Emerson just hoped the boy’s replacement would be as good.
He hadn’t asked Willie who the new guy was. Part of Emerson didn’t really care at the moment. He was tired. He’d spent the entire night barhopping and drinking, trying to relax after a long week of working on local affairs.
Not only was Mrs. Helsley in a tiff about who-knows-what, but several other dragonmen and women were complaining that the new counselor, Lindsey, was booked for the next month. They all wanted to get in and talk with her about their problems.
Emerson wasn’t sure what to do about that one. He couldn’t exactly force Lindsey to clear her schedule for new patients and the poor human was already working 50 hours each week as it was. Her Master, Kade, wouldn’t let her work more than that. He had made that clear to Emerson.
And though Emerson didn’t always see eye-to-eye with Kade, he respected him and his wishes.
Lindsey wouldn’t have to take more patients.
After what felt like an eternity, a small green Hyundai rolled into the harbor and parked near the guard shack. A slender woman with long, brown hair hopped out, slammed the door, and marched to the shack. Before she could
even knock, Willie was outside and talking to her about something. He pointed to Emerson, said a few more words, then disappeared back into the little hut.
Was this his captain?
She glanced at Emerson wearily before walking over. Surely she wasn’t afraid of him. He didn’t scent fear as she made her way to him. If anything, she seemed curious, but on guard.
“Are you Emerson?” She asked when she got close. She seemed confident and determined. And damn, did she smell great.
“The one and only,” he answered.
The woman rolled her eyes and motioned toward a small boat.
“Come on,” she said, dangling the keys in her hand. “Apparently I’m floating you home.”
He followed her to Liam’s boat. He knew it well and had been in the small boat many times. He and Liam had shared many long conversations about dragon-human relations, about the best places to go fishing, and about the history of dragons.
Liam had not, however, ever mentioned having a girlfriend.
The woman was quiet as Emerson took his seat in the boat. She untied the boat and kicked away with her foot. She was stronger than she looked. She appeared to be just as confident in the water as she was on land, and Emerson couldn’t help but wonder what had her panties all in a twist.
She started the engine and they took off, heading directly toward Dragon Isle.
“So,” Emerson decided to try talking with her. “How long have you and Liam been dating?”
“Ha!” She said, not looking at him. “Do you always ask such personal questions?”
“Sometimes,” he said.
“We’re not dating,” she responded. The woman didn’t offer anything more than that. Emerson realized he didn’t even know her name.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“Janae.”
“Where are you from?”
“Strathmore Falls.”
“What do you do?”
“Well, for now, I’m a boat captain.”
This wasn’t going to be easy, Emerson realized. She was gorgeous. That much was obvious. She was also human, which meant there was no chance in hell Emerson would ever date her. He didn’t waste his time with humans. Hell, he didn’t waste his time with any female.
Dragon Isle Book Bundle 1-3: My Lord and Dragon, The Dragon Fighter, and A Dragon's Bite Page 15
