While he occasionally went to Nellenston to find someone to play with, that’s all he ever found: playmates. Emerson never led anyone on, but he also never slept with a woman more than once. More than once was forming a habit, he thought, and that wasn’t something he was interested in.
He was too busy with his duties as clan leader to worry about finding a mate. The last thing he needed to do was distract himself with a little human.
Even one as beautiful as Janae.
They rode the rest of the way in silence, neither one bothering to break the solitude of the boat ride. He was surprised that Janae knew the way to the island. Perhaps Liam had given her instructions before she set out.
She pulled up to the dock on the north side of the island and waited for Emerson to hop out. He fished a wad of bills from his pocket and gave them to her. She nodded, thanked him, and took off. As the boat disappeared into the distance, he wondered how much more he’d be seeing of little Janae.
And how much she’d be seeing of him.
**
Janae stormed into Liam’s house and dropped a bag of groceries and supplies in the middle of the living room floor.
“What’s wrong?” He asked from the couch. He raised his eyebrow in mock surprise, but Janae didn’t fall for it.
“Are you serious right now?” She glared at Liam. She was pissed. She was irate. She was angry. She was so far past rational thought that her only goal was to scream at him until she lost her voice.
Very mature, she knew.
Liam scooted up on the couch so he was in a sitting position.
“What happened? Didn’t the drop off go okay?”
“The ‘drop off’?” She stared at Liam, willing her eyeballs to shoot daggers at him. “You picked the hottest fucking dragon for me to take to the island! I already didn’t want to do it. Now I have to chaperone hotties? What am I? The dorky reliable science nerd who drives the jock home after he sleeps with the head cheerleader? Shit!”
Janae dropped to the floor and spread out on her back. She stared at Liam’s ceiling, focusing on a faded water stain, while he burst into laughter on the couch. He laughed and hooted and hollered, just as she knew he would. When he was done, he took a few deep breaths, making sure he was actually able to speak coherently.
“Let me get this straight,” he said. “You’re upset because you had to give Emerson a ride and he was too sexy for you?”
“Yes.”
Liam controlled himself from breaking into laughter again. For that, Janae was grateful. She knew Liam wouldn’t understand. Of course he wouldn’t because he was around dragons all the time. Janae was not. With her button nose and her frizzy hair, she was hardly what she’d describe as “beautiful.”
She was mostly, she thought, quite ordinary.
She was of average height and average weight and average intelligence. She had average goals and average hopes for her life.
And while Janae thought it might be nice to get married someday, she wasn’t holding out hope that a random dragon would suddenly find her wildly attractive and want to mate her.
No, she mostly just wanted to survive the next month and a half with Liam so she could go back to her normal life and her normal job and her normal problems.
What she hated the most was the fact that Emerson had tried to talk with her and she was so embarrassed about her looks that she couldn’t even deal.
He was so sexy that she wanted to choke. He was tall and muscular and masculine. He had dark hair and dark eyes and lips that just begged to be licked. His voice was just a little bit high, just a little bit husky, just a little bit begging to scream out her name as he came.
Oh shit, did she really just think that?
She was such a freak.
Liam watched his sister thoughtfully for a few minutes before he spoke. When he finally opened his mouth, Janae was ready to listen.
“Look,” he said. “Emerson is a good guy. He’s the head of Lostfallen, which means he’s basically in charge of everything that happens on Dragon Isle. He’s not bad. He might be ‘too sexy,’ as you put it, but he is one of my main clients. That means you’re going to be working with him on a regular basis as long as you’re making my runs for me.”
“So I need to get used to his royal hotness.” Janae sighed.
She suddenly felt just as nerdy as she had in high school. She had never been popular or even well-liked. Sure, she had dated a few guys and gone to a few dances, but she had been excited to graduate and move on from her life as a student. She had been excited to finally enter the world of adulthood, where she could be accepted.
Then her family died.
Her family died and not only was she the nerdy girl, but she was the nerdy girl with dead parents.
And a dead little brother.
And it was all so much to bear.
She had thrown herself into her studies, focusing on earning her bachelor’s and then her master’s degree, but it hadn’t been enough.
It hadn’t been enough to wash away the pain of her life, of the sadness she felt when she thought about her parents.
They hadn’t deserved to die. That was the thing that always got her the most. It had been her fault they died. Mom had asked Janae to run to the store, and what had Janae done? She had complained because she didn’t want to go. She didn’t want to go because she had just gone through a breakup and her ex-boyfriend worked at that store.
How pathetic was that?
Mom, ever the patient one, had loaded up Connor and Dad and made going to the store a fun little family outing while Janae sat at home and pouted over her broken heart.
And they had never come home.
If only she had been adult enough to handle seeing her ex, maybe her parents would still be alive. Sure, Janae would be dead, but that didn’t matter. At least Liam wouldn’t have had to live without his best friend or his parents.
And now, for the first time in years, Janae was thinking about a man as more than just a colleague or a library patron. For the first time in as long as she could remember, Janae was imagining what it might be like to actually be physical with a guy, to actually do more than just help him find a good book.
For the first time in 10 years, Janae was thinking about what it would be like to strip away the clothes that covered Emerson and actually have her way with him.
And the thought terrified her.
3
Mrs. Helsley was back and this time, she brought reinforcements.
The cranky old bat barged into the building with two of her friends. They scurried right past Penny to Emerson’s office. The receptionist protested, but they ignored her.
“Mrs. Helsley,” Emerson said politely, standing up when she entered. He nodded at the other women, who were silently glaring at him.
He didn’t want to be nice to them, but that was part of his job. He had to keep things on the island running smoothly. Dealing with old crankpots was included in that.
“We need more programs for the children!”
Well, this was new. Mrs. Helsley wasn’t exactly known for charitable spirit.
“It’s so expensive to live here that people can’t afford to take their children to Nellenston for tutoring.”
Ah, there it was: another dig at the cost of living. While Emerson did what he could to keep prices low, they weren’t entirely in his control. Many products and food items had to be imported from other places. The truth was that unless more dragons were willing to stay on the island to start gardens and farms, prices would continue to reflect the cost of importing.
She wasn’t wrong, though. Traveling to Nellenston all the time wasn’t cheap. Even if you flew on your own, many of the townspeople charged dragons higher prices than humans. “On principle,” they would say.
Well, maybe it was time for things to change.
Maybe Mrs. Helsley wasn’t wrong this time.
“That’s a wonderful idea, Mrs. Helsley.” The other two women looked shocked at his
answer. Mrs. Helsley did, too.
She stuttered for a moment, obviously not knowing what to say to Emerson. Had she expected more of a fight? What kind of a clan leader did she think he was? Did she suspect he would put his pride before the good of his clan?
“Tell you what,” Emerson looked evenly at all three women. “Why don’t you ladies talk to some of the parents on the island and find out what resources we’re lacking and what we can use. Come up with a plan and bring me several suggestions of ways we can add new children’s programs.”
Mrs. Helsley opened her mouth to interrupt, but Emerson kept talking.
“These programs should be age appropriate and when possible, inexpensive to run. I have no desire to see parents forced to leave the island due to costs,” he paused and glanced at each woman in turn, “regardless of what you may have heard.”
Mrs. Helsley muttered something, but the other two dragonwomen smiled and nodded.
“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” one said.
“Yes, oh yes, it sure does,” the other agreed.
“Please set up an appointment with Penny to come see me again next week,” Emerson said before they left. “This will enable us to talk more thoroughly about the ideas you come up with.”
The women left his office and Emerson heard them comparing calendar appointments with Penny, trying to find a suitable time they could all return. He wanted to reach for the bottle of whiskey he kept on a shelf in his office, but he restrained. He couldn’t drink every time a dragon stressed him out. He just couldn’t.
Maybe he could go for a run later or a jog. What Emerson really wanted to do was fight, but his shoulder still hurt every time he took a swing. At one point, he’d been one of the top dragon fighters on the island. While many dragons fought in their true form, Emerson loved sparring with others as a man.
The problem with dragons is that they were too strong, even in their human shapes, to compete reasonably with true humans. If Emerson fought a human male in hand-to-hand combat, he would undoubtedly win simply because of his size and strength.
But fighting another dragon?
There was nothing quite like it.
He checked his appointment calendar and after meeting with a few other dragons about minor problems in their little village, Emerson left his office for the day. He went home and changed into running shorts, then took off down a small path near his house.
He loved to be outside, as all dragons did. Fresh air, wind blowing, the smell of grass: he loved it all. Being a shifter didn’t have to be this huge, stressful thing, he had come to realize. Sometimes it was nice just to enjoy the world around him.
As he ran, he tried to center his thoughts on ways he could improve the clan, but his mind kept wandering back to Janae. What was her story? How long would she be helping Liam? She was beautiful, that was for sure. It was a quiet sort of beauty, though, almost as if she didn’t realize how lovely she was.
Emerson hadn’t had any desire to take a woman for a long time. Yes, he loved sex and physical intimacy, but he hadn’t truly bonded with a woman in years. Thinking back, maybe he had never bonded. Perhaps that’s why he had never taken a mate.
As a young dragon, he always thought he was too focused on becoming clan leader to take a mate, but maybe he had been wrong.
Maybe Emerson had been too focused on himself to take a mate.
Maybe he’d been too afraid of getting hurt or too afraid that he wasn’t good enough.
Well, he was too old to be afraid of such things anymore. Maybe it was time for Emerson to branch out and start dating. Maybe it was time to consider taking a mate.
Maybe it was time to think about getting to know Janae while she was working nearby.
And Emerson knew exactly how he’d get to know her better.
**
“He wants me to bring him lunch every day? From Bailey’s Burgers?”
Janae looked shocked and a little disgusted when Liam relayed the phone call from Emerson. Her little brother just shrugged and went back to watching cartoons. Leave it to Liam to ignore all the weird things dragons did.
“Even dragons have to eat,” Liam said. Janae just rolled her eyes.
“Fast food, though? Like, what? There’s no good food on the island he runs? He needs to have me bring him food? Fuck.” She ran a hand through her unruly hair. She really did need to learn how to use a flat iron. Maybe if she could get her hair under control, she could get the rest of her life under control, too.
Liam set down the remote and turned to Janae.
“Look,” he said. “Working with dragons is…tough. It’s complicated. I get that. More than most, I get it.” His eyes looked sad and tired. Janae realized for the first time just how tired and sad his eyes really looked.
“Why do you do it, Liam?” She asked.
“Do what?”
“Slave for them. Why do you give them everything? You’ve been here for almost a decade. Why? They don’t even appreciate you.”
“You’re one to talk,” Liam’s voice was suddenly flat flat. He was offended. Shit. “I love you, Janae, but you’re the walking definition of ‘not moving forward.’”
“I too have-“
“Stop.” He held up a hand and cut her off.
Janae’s mouth dropped open. Her sweet, calm little brother had never spoken to her like that before. Ever.
“Janae, you threw yourself into college. You got straight A’s. You were in every club. You graduated with honors. And I’m proud of you, sis. You worked your ass off and you’re the smartest person I know.”
Janae wanted to revel in the rare compliment from her little brother, but she knew there was a “but” coming.
“But,” there it was. “You’re also stubborn as fuck. You work at a small-town library because you like helping people. I get it. The world needs more people like you. But you, Janae, you don’t work there just because you like people. You work there because you’re hiding from the world. You were hurt when Connor died. You were hurt when Mom and Dad died. Now you’re scared of being hurt again, so you don’t let anyone get close to you.”
Liam leveled his gaze at Janae.
“And now you have the chance to actually do something, to actually try something out of your comfort zone. Only you’re so afraid of getting hurt again that you can’t even let yourself have a little fun with someone, especially not a dragon. How close am I?”
Too close.
Janae couldn’t deny that Liam was right. They both knew he was. She wouldn’t lie to her brother and say he was wrong. She was tired of lying. She had pretended for so long to be strong, to not care.
And now she actually had the chance, as Liam put it, to see the world.
She actually had a chance to get to know the dragons.
And there was one in particular she really wanted to get to know.
4
Janae pulled up to the dock with Emerson’s lunch order at noon. A quick glance at her watch made her frown. She was going to be late. He had asked for his lunch to be there at noon, and she still had no idea where the damn clan leader’s office was.
This was her first time actually setting foot on the island and she was nervous. Too nervous. There was no way she wouldn’t mess this up.
Janae tied the boat and hopped out, carrying the bag of food toward the row of buildings up ahead. Liam had given her brief, horrible directions that were basically useless, so she walked to the first shop she saw and went inside.
A little bell dinged loudly as she entered and the shopkeeper turned to her. The tall, elderly dragonwoman had an air of importance about her.
“Can I help you, dear?” The woman smiled at her, but it wasn’t a friendly smile. It was more of an I-didn’t-have-lunch-and-I’m-going-to-eat-you smile.
“Um, hello, yes. I’m looking for…” What was Emerson’s last name? What was the proper form of address for him? “…the clan leader. Can you tell me where his office is?”
Her smile v
anished. “And what would you be needing the clan leader for?”
“I have a delivery for him,” Janae motioned to the bag. “Not that it’s any of your business,” she added coolly.
“Well, I never!” The woman began mumbling and fussing, wringing her hands as if she’d never been told “no” before.
What was it with her?
“Look,” Janae said. “Do you know where his office is or not?”
Before the woman could open her mouth again, a dragonman who had been looking at a shelf of trinkets turned around and smiled.
“It’s all right, there, Elma.” He jerked his head toward Janae. “I’ll make sure the little human finds her way.” He held up a small snow globe to the woman and handed her a wad of cash, then guided Janae gently out of the store without collecting his change.
“Thanks for helping me,” Janae said politely. She felt a little bad for irritating the shopkeeper. “I’m sorry I bothered Elma.”
“You don’t worry about ol’ Elma,” the man said kindly. “She’s set in her ways and has a hard time with new people.” He nodded toward the road and began walking. Janae walked alongside him.
“You’re awfully polite,” Janae muttered, and the man laughed.
“I’m Gabriel,” the man said.
“Janae.”
“And you’re delivering food to our clan leader?”
“Yep.”
They turned down a side road. Janae noticed that while many of the buildings were small houses, like you’d see in a typical suburban neighborhood, a few were more classically designed. There were several log cabins and even one house made out of stone.
“Might I ask why you’re bringing the clan leader lunch?”
Janae thought it was strange that no one said “Emerson.” She hadn’t said it, either, but then, she wasn’t a dragon, now was she? What was the proper form of address for the dragon?
Dragon Isle Book Bundle 1-3: My Lord and Dragon, The Dragon Fighter, and A Dragon's Bite Page 16
