Adored by A Dragon: A Shifters in Love Fun & Flirty Romance (Mystic Bay Book 4)

by Isadora Montrose

  “I’m sorry. We should have discussed it, Daniel. I honestly didn’t know you were concerned. In fact, I believed you didn’t bring children up anymore because you had decided you didn’t want any.”

  Where had had his wife gotten such a crazy notion? “Well, I did want some, and I still do. Your pregnancy feels like a miracle.” He kissed her.

  Angie’s lips parted beneath his. Her hands braced themselves on his biceps, kneading gently. Her teeth nibbled on his lower lip before soothing it with another sweep of her tongue. She sent her tongue on a voyage of exploration up behind his lips and gliding against his tongue in a slow sensual rhythm that brought his blood to a simmer.

  He walked with her still in his arms into the overly frilly bedroom. The four-poster bed was hung with a floral print that set his teeth on edge. The matching mound of ruffled cushions in front of the bolster and pillows added extra fussiness to the already overburdened bed.

  Angie opened her eyes and looked into his. She winked. The bed immediately transformed into a low platform with a simple headboard. Sheets the color of mist replaced the bright, overblown peonies. Two pillows replaced the masses of cushions. “Better?” she murmured against his forehead.

  “You have saved my masculinity from deadly peril,” he assured her.

  She giggled. “I think it’s pretty much impregnable, sailor. Are you ready to show your girl a good time?”

  He dropped her gently onto the mattress. Just hard enough that she bounced. By the time he had unbuttoned his shirt, she was naked. “Why are you in such a hurry?” he chided. “I’d like to unwrap you sometimes.”

  She blushed all over. From her hairline to her curling toes. “I could put my dress back on.”

  “Maybe later.”

  She was the same and yet subtly different. On the sailboat, he had not really had the right angle to inspect her altered curves. He had felt the new ripeness of breasts and belly, the rounding of her bottom and thighs, but now he feasted his eyes on her flesh.

  “You are so beautiful.” He took off his pants. “Open your thighs.”

  She turned cherry red, but she let her legs fall open so he could see her moist and rosy inner folds. How could she be so bashful after all these years? And yet somehow this was new again. As if the changes wrought by their child had restored the wonder to sex. He stripped his briefs off and caged her with his body. Kissed her.

  “Tell me what you’d like?”

  Her hands traced his biceps. Stroked his chest. Found his nipples. “Slow,” she breathed. “Really slow.”

  “We can do that.” He kissed her again. Her breasts were larger. Her nipples a deep pink. He brushed kisses over them and enjoyed the sight of them stiffening and lengthening. He traced the new curve where his baby was swelling her. Dabbled a finger in her belly button. “Does he move yet?”

  “Could be a girl. And yes, she does.”

  “I’m afraid to hope for a girl. Did you have an ultrasound?”

  “Next week. And I don’t plan to ask if it’s a girl or a boy.”

  “Hmm. I’d rather wait too and be surprised. I think from now on you should be on top. I don’t want to risk squashing our child.”

  She sighed and thrust her chest forward, throwing her beautiful breasts into greater prominence. “I think it’s okay for several more months. But on top is always good.”

  “For me too,” he assured her. He thrust both hands beneath her back and lifted her torso so he could treat his tongue to the pleasure of those rosebud nipples. Her happy gurgles and writhing rewarded him.

  She caught hold of his dripping cock. Wiped the head and stuck her finger in her mouth, tracing the outline of her lips. His heart clenched. This delicious, sexy female was his. Only his. Her evident enjoyment ramped up his own pleasure. All at once the slow pace she had requested seemed like climbing Mount Everest without oxygen. But he was a warrior. He could do this.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Angie~

  Daniel’s face was a rictus mask of arousal. His skin flushed and moist. His arms hot and every muscle taut. His cock even harder than his biceps. But he was clearly determined to give her what she had asked for. He lowered her torso back onto the bed and used his tongue to taste her from breastbone to pussy. The soft caress left sensations rocketing in its path.

  He gave her clit a tiny caress with his open mouth, breathing her scent in deeply. His hands held her thighs apart and nibbled from crotch to knee and back again. She could hear her own breathing becoming as harsh as his own. A desperate song emerged from her throat.

  Another kiss on her throbbing, aching clit. A brief foray of fingertip inside her. She opened her eyes. He was tasting her juices as she had tasted his semen. His cock was still dripping. She stretched, caught the bead of moisture, and painted her lips.

  “Kiss me,” she begged.

  The mingled tastes of both their juices was a homecoming. They blended so well. Her essence and his complemented each other, intensifying both. His cum was delicious on its own. Mixed with hers, it was an aphrodisiac beyond all imaginings. How had she been so lucky to find this one male who was made for her pleasure?

  He left her mouth bereft to continue the sweet torment of her thighs. Not until he had suckled the quivering flesh of her other thigh did he return to her soaking pussy. Her folds were stiff and fluttering with longing. He grazed them with the edge of his teeth, sending spears of delight through her entire body. The probe of his tongue in her pulsating vag pushed her over the precipice.

  “I’m going to come,” she panted.

  His head didn’t raise. “Go ahead,” he rumbled against her sex.

  Her orgasm convulsed her. Her passage spasmed repeatedly. Waves of release surged through her buttocks and pussy. Daniel continued to stimulate her clit with the flat of his tongue. A cascade of orgasms followed, each one spreading joy and intimacy through her body.

  She was flying. Swooping through the air. Singing a song of love with her dragon. She landed with her legs straddling his hips. Daniel had swung her above him and rolled onto his back. He was breathing like a man who had just completed a marathon. She lowered herself onto his cock, holding it steady so her trembling body could take his full length.

  “Fast?” she asked. “Or slow?”

  “Lady’s choice,” he ground out. He was clearly past thought.

  She put him out of his misery. Put herself out of hers too. Rose and sank in a rapid canter that couldn’t last long. His hands clutched her waist fiercely and held her still. He flooded her, triggering another series of explosions inside her. She collapsed onto his sleek chest and laid her cheek against the slippery polished marble of his skin.

  Their mutual climax merged their auras and amplified the tumultuous, shared bliss. “Do you feel that?” His deep voice throbbed with masculine satisfaction. “That’s our love.”

  “Yes.” It was. It grew and encompassed the tiny life in her belly. Their child chose that moment to begin a staccato polka.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Wonder replaced the swagger in his tone.

  “If you think it is our child.”

  “It feels like being bumped by a hummingbird.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Don’t go to sleep on top of the covers.”

  “I won’t,” she lied.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Robin~

  “The Spicers are ecstatic, of course,” Melissa finished. “But as I warned them the council’s approval is required.”

  “You can tell the Spicers that they may rent to whomever they please. Their title does not restrict them in any way. The Lindorms can move in tomorrow if they want.” Robin sighed. “Selling to them or anyone else is quite another matter. It will have to be put to a vote. No matter who wants the property. I couldn’t begin to guess which way the council will vote. Does Walter have any ideas?”

  Melissa leaned forward, blue eyes bulging and excited. “He thinks that the council should agree to be bound by the
decision of the Old Ones. He likes both of the Lindorms and believes the trees will say yes. They sure as heck didn’t care for those Spicers.”

  Melissa was correct. The Spicers had alienated all their neighbors including the Old Forest. The Old Ones were known to be particular about who they permitted around them. And they had strong views on hunters. If Angie and Daniel obtained their approval, most probably the council would go along with their verdict.

  “That’s a brilliant suggestion,” Robin said. “I know that Angie has visited the forest several times, but have the trees ever encountered Admiral Lindorm?”

  “That I don’t know. But there’s no reason why they should take against him. Quinn Drake or Lloyd Furlong could take him over there some afternoon.”

  “So they could. I’ll make it happen. For what it’s worth, Melissa, I’m in favor of the Lindorms’ purchase of the Spicer property. They are in a position to purchase the entire parcel and leave it intact. Which ought to please the council. You get your paperwork in order and I’ll approach the councilors individually.”

  “One other thing, Mayor,” Melissa said hesitantly. “The admiral wants to keep his offers to lease and or buy a surprise.”

  Robin let her amusement show. “Good luck with that. As soon as you call the cleaners in, it will be all over Mystic Bay.”

  Melissa shrugged. “What can you do? Mystic Bay is what it is.”

  Since Melissa’s own mother was one of the biggest rumormongers, she was in a position to know. Robin nodded. “What will you do about furniture? I understand the Spicers cleared the place out.”

  “They did. Admiral Lindorm said he’d charter a boat to deliver furniture from Portland, and he told me to hire a groundskeeping crew too. And to have the boathouse and steps rebuilt. Just how much money do they have?”

  Robin smiled gently. She understood Melissa was asking for a credit rating before she risked her neighbors going unpaid. “The Lindorms are very wealthy indeed. Whatever they are spending on this property will be a drop in the bucket to them. But ask for an advance if it makes you more comfortable.”

  “The admiral already gave me a check. I took it to the bank. But they won’t let me have the money until it clears.”

  “That’s normal. Don’t worry. The check will clear,” Robin assured her. “Why don’t you ask Morley Parker to check out their finances?” Morley was president of the bank.

  “Old Nosy Parker is the biggest gossip of them all. He’s worse even than my mom!”

  “Then the cat is already out of the bag,” Robin said. “Even as we speak, Morley is sitting the Bean regaling his cronies with hints about that check, and the size of the Lindorm fortune.”

  “Oh, no. The Admiral will back out for sure!” Melissa wailed.

  “I doubt it. He will just have to get used to the idea that there are no secrets in Mystic Bay.” And Robin would have to make sure that if it was necessary Angie pretended to be surprised at his romantic gesture.

  “Say that again, Mayor. By the way, do you think Melody Warnocki is strong enough to perform a healing ceremony? The Lindorms don’t care for the atmosphere in the house. No more do I.”

  Melody was a high-grade crystal healer. “She’ll easily purify the ambiance,” Robin assured the rabbit. “But you can tell her I’ll help.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Three days later,

  Daniel~

  The overhead lights of the museum boardroom illuminated the long table. Daniel had divided the cartons of cracked and splintered remnants into nine distinct groups. He, Dr. Alister Drake, and Anton Benoit circled them gloomily.

  “Which ones are most complete?” Anton asked. He used a cotton-gloved fingertip to gently move the scraps of wood in Group G.

  “No way of knowing until we actually put them back together,” Daniel said. “I sorted them by age and builder. Group A looks most like a ship, but it’s a composite of at least three different classes of ship. No one ever sailed any such vessel. It’s going to need to be taken apart and rebuilt. Some of the pieces may belong in Group D.”

  “Shift,” Dr. Alister Drake exclaimed. “Is it even worth doing?” He rolled his wheelchair closer to Group H. “What about these pieces? They don’t even look like they belong together.”

  “The last two groups are still mixed up,” Daniel explained. “They are divided into two because they are the work of two separate craftsmen in two separate eras. But I can tell you for nothing, that there are not enough pieces here to make nine complete ships. If you want them rebuilt, you’ll have to accept massive restoration.”

  “You can tell all that from just these bits and pieces?” Anton asked skeptically.

  Alister and Daniel exchanged glances. “You tell him,” Daniel suggested to the younger man.

  “Dragons usually have a talent for valuables,” Alister said. “It’s part of our talent. Touching objects tells us with certainty about the artisans who made them, their thoughts at the time, age. Knowledge tells us their worth. I think that we can accept Admiral Lindorm’s judgment.”

  “I’m guessing the incompleteness based on an estimate of the probable weight of a finished model of the right scale,” Daniel clarified.

  “Well, this is all very interesting.” Anton stripped off his gloves. “But it doesn’t tell me why I’m in here instead of at my desk looking into the provenance of that Squamish Nation canoe you’ve been offered, Al. I can’t help you with figuring out what is what. It all looks like so much rubbish to me. No offense, Dan. Unless you think you bought a forgery, Al, I should get back to work.”

  Alister frowned at Benoit. Daniel had developed great respect for the younger dragon. Alister had been badly wounded in Afghanistan in his twenties, ending his career in the US Army. In the years since he had acquired a string of degrees to equip himself for his new career as a curator. Landing the directorship of the Drake was nepotism, but he was clearly up to the job.

  Now he looked disconcerted. But only for a moment. “Wouldn’t matter if they were replicas,” Alister said. “They were donated.”

  Daniel shook his head. “There are no modern pieces that I can detect. The problem isn’t modern corruption, it’s that they have been stored in the damp and humidity. They have disintegrated. The materials are all eighteenth and nineteenth century. We don’t want you to find a forger, Anton. We want your workshop so I can put them back together.”

  “Do you know what I use it for, Dan?” Anton asked unhappily.

  “No idea.”

  “I carve sea shells.” Anton held up a big hand. “Don’t laugh. Conchs. I gotta tell you that even with a dust hood and a pretty good air-exchange system, my shop is one big, dusty mess. I run the extractor fans twenty-four-seven and I still need to wear a respirator. You couldn’t work on this stuff there, it would instantly be covered in fine particles of calcium carbonate. Which would get right into the grain of the wood. You’d never get it out again.”

  “Crap,” Alister stole the word from Daniel’s mouth. “We’ll have to think of a plan B.”

  “You must have room for a workshop out at the Spicer house,” Anton said easily. “I know the boss of Bear Claw Construction pretty well. I bet I could get Gabby to build you a workshop in a hurry.”

  “The sale of the Spicer property is still before the town council,” Daniel said repressively. “And it was supposed to be a confidential matter.”

  Anton and Alister chuckled. “Can’t be anyone left in town who doesn’t know you want to buy the Spicer place. Or that Melissa Babcock wangled you a two-month lease,” Anton said. “You’ve got a lot to learn about the grapevine in this town.”

  “Does Angie know?” Daniel asked. So much for his surprise.

  “What do you think, Al?” Anton asked.

  Alister smiled ruefully. “People do talk. And naturally there’s a lot of chatter about whether the sale should be allowed. Everyone has an opinion. But people aren’t mean. They probably haven’t said anything around Angie. When do you
move in?”

  “Tomorrow. Providing the furniture arrives.”

  Anton rocked a hand. “She may or may not know. Does it matter if she finds out?”

  Daniel could feel his face flushing. “I hoped to surprise her.”

  “Be a more romantic gesture for sure,” Anton agreed.

  “Hmm.” He had certainly thought so.

  “Tell you what, Dan,” Anton offered. “I’ll go over there with you after work and take a look. Figure out the best spot to put a workshop. Can’t arrange it for tomorrow, not if your furniture arrives on time.”

  “What do you mean?” Daniel barked.

  “I hear you chartered a boat for the moving truck.” Anton smirked. “Scheduled for 0900 hours.”

  “That was also supposed to be a secret.”

  “I have news for you, Dan, there ain’t no such thing as a secret in a small town.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Angie~

  “Where are we going?”

  “To the Spicer property. The council has agreed it needs to be exorcised before it can be sold. I thought you’d enjoy the ceremony.”

  “Exorcism seems a little over the top,” she murmured. “But I’m all for anything that fumigates that place. Black magic residue is nasty stuff, and there isn’t a room without some. Who’s doing it?”

  “A bunch of locals.”

  Why was Daniel being so uncommunicative? Beneath his usual calm, he was patently humming with excitement. She regarded her dragon indulgently. From the moment he had agreed to stay on West Haven for a month, he had been treating their compact like one of his military campaigns.

  Witness this SUV. He had ordered it from the mainland, claiming that they needed a vehicle if they were going to explore West Haven. He had also made a determined effort not to complain about Hyacinth Cottage.

  She had tucked away most of the bric-a-brac and embellishments, streamlining the decor. It was still too overblown, but when Daniel accepted that something had to be endured, he endured cheerfully. Another trait to appreciate in her man. Angie decided to relax and allow him his secrets.