“My dragonman?”
“Do you love him?”
Ah, the age-old question of love. She had thought, once upon a time, that she loved Jesse. She had been a huge idiot. Jesse only loved himself and he only spent enough time with people to get what he wanted out of them. Once he had taken everything he needed, people were disposable to him.
Alan wasn’t like that. Alan was kind to everyone he met. From the old women he treated at the clinic to the young kids he played basketball with, he was an all-around nice guy.
And he adored Skye.
She had never felt so pampered or cared for. She hadn’t worried about a single thing while she’d been on the island. Alan handled everything for her. He fed her, he gave her clothes, he pampered her. He was the very definition of “service top,” and part of her wondered whether she could ever be enough for him.
Didn’t he deserve someone better than her? Someone who could meet every single need he had? Someone who could give back to him financially? Someone who was smarter, wiser, prettier?
“I love him,” Skye admitted. “But I don’t think I’m any good for him.”
Emerson appraised her thoughtfully before setting his glass back down.
“Liam’s still pissed at you, you know,” he said. “But I think Alan has forgiven you completely. He just needs a little push in the right direction. You need to show him that you care. You need to show him that you’ll fight for him.”
Had anyone ever fought for Alan? Had his string of relationships been less about his willingness to commit and more about the fact that women loved him and left him?
Could Skye be the one to be different?
Emerson’s phone rang and he stepped outside to take the call, leaving Skye alone with her thoughts. She really had some tough choices to make, but in reality, her choice should be easy.
She should stay with him.
She should fight for him.
She should show Alan exactly how she felt.
She loved him. He was kind and generous and giving. He had a good heart. He was sexy and dominating and passionate. In the time she’d been with him, she had already written four chapters of a new book. She’d never had that kind of progress back when she was with Jesse. With him, she had stared at her blank computer screen, silently willing it to write something for her.
But could Alan love her back in spite of her flaws?
Was she brave enough to give him the chance?
Skye had just decided that she would sit down with Alan and have a good, long talk when Emerson burst back into the restaurant.
“It’s Janae,” he said urgently. “She thinks she’s losing the baby. No one can get ahold of Alan. We need you.”
14
Alan flew around the island. He didn’t do it often. He didn’t fly nearly as much as he should have and for that, he was sorry. There was nothing quite as freeing or relaxing as spreading his wings, leaping into the air, and feeling the wind against his giant body.
Nothing that is, but Skye.
He adored her. He had only planned to keep her for two weeks, but the little human had wormed her way into his heart and there was nothing he could do about it.
Was she impulsive?
Absolutely.
Was she ridiculous at times?
Yes.
But somehow, he didn’t care about any of that. Skye didn’t know it, but Alan hadn’t been nearly as stressed as he usually was since her arrival. He hadn’t been lying awake at night, wondering how he was going to make it through another day. He wasn’t doing anything but focusing on her and loving her.
And that made him want to be better.
He wanted to show her how good the world could really be. He wanted to show her how he could improve if she would let him, if she would support him.
He loved waking up each morning and knowing that in between dealing with patients, he’d get to hang out with her. He loved knowing that his lunch break would be spent with her bent over his desk and his body connected with hers. He loved knowing that each evening, Skye would dutifully work on her writing while he relaxed or studied.
His world was complete with her.
The thought of her leaving in only a week plagued him. He wanted to beg her to stay. He wanted to tell her he was falling in love with her. No, that he had already fallen. Hard. He wanted to tell her that without her, his life was meaningless, but he couldn’t do any of that.
Keeping her would be selfish, and Alan was not a selfish man.
No, he’d let her go, and he’d mourn her for the rest of his life. Skye deserved someone better than anything Alan had to offer.
She deserved someone who could give her everything she needed and more.
She needed someone who wasn’t a dragon.
Alan flew the rest of the way around the island knowing that when she left, she would take a huge chunk of his heart with her.
And he would never get it back.
With a sigh, he returned home and headed inside his empty house. She was still out, probably getting drunk with Tori. That girl might be famous for her dragon stories, but she was legendary for her drinking skills.
Alan walked into the kitchen and picked up his phone. Had Skye called while he was out? She didn’t have a cell of her own anymore, but he knew Victoria would let her call if she wanted to. He didn’t have any missed calls from Victoria, but he did have several from both Emerson and Janae. What had happened?
Before he dialed to call one of them back, he checked his texts and his heart fell. Janae was bleeding and she thought she was losing the baby. They would meet him at the clinic.
He ran outside and shifted. He forgot to set his phone back down on the counter and it crushed beneath his claws when he shifted. Dammit. That was going to be expensive to replace. At least he had recently backed up his pictures. Audrey, the Dragon Isle photographer, told him that if he was going to use a crappy phone instead of a camera, the least he could do was keep backups.
Alan made it to the clinic in record time, not giving himself the chance to freak out too much. This was what he did. He was a lifesaver. He could get to Janae in time and he could help her with her baby. It was probably nothing, he told himself. Mothers spotted all the time during pregnancy and it was often not a big deal, but this was Janae.
What if something was wrong?
Would the clan leader ever forgive him?
He shifted back to his human form and ran into the clinic. The door was unlocked, but the office was empty. He looked around hastily. They weren’t there yet, but why was the door unlocked? He went to the receptionist’s desk to pick up the phone and call Emerson. He wanted to know where they were, but then he heard voices.
Startled, Alan walked back to the exam room and saw Janae on one of the tables. Emerson was standing next to her, holding her hand. To Alan’s surprise, Skye was there, too, sitting on the chair. She had the Doppler in her hand and, what surprised him even more, she was using it correctly.
“Everything looks normal, honey,” Skye was saying. “Alan will probably want to do an ultrasound and he can do a blood test, too, but just listen to that. That’s your baby.” The sound of the tiny dragonchild’s heartbeat filled the room and Janae looked close to tears.
“Thank you so much for being here,” she said, reaching for Skye’s hand. “I was so worried when I saw the blood. I guess I overreacted.” She blushed, but Skye just shook her head.
“There’s no such thing as overreacting when it comes to your baby. You did the right thing in calling.” Emerson looked over and saw Alan standing in the doorway and tipped his head, silently giving Alan his approval. So Skye had won over the cranky dragonman.
Imagine that.
She turned and saw Alan, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she set the Doppler aside and handed Janae some tissues to clean up her goo-covered belly. The lubricant was an unpleasant part of checking for the baby’s heartbeat.
“I’ll be right back, okay?” She kissed Jan
ae on the forehead, then walked out into the hallway to join Alan.
Before he could say anything, she wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m sorry for being stupid, Doctor Dragon,” she whispered. Skye pressed her lips to his. He was filled with surprise, but he’d let her have her say. This was the part where she said he wasn’t worth it, the part where she said she wanted to leave him. This was the part where she said she was sorry, but he was too much trouble to handle.
Alan wrapped his arms around Skye and held her tight, breathing her in. He didn’t want to let her go. His world would be so empty, so bland without her. She was such a delight to have around and the fact that she’d been comfortable enough in the office to help Janae meant the world to him.
She was caring for his patients when he couldn’t. How amazing was this girl?
“You asked me to trust you and I said I would,” Skye said. She pulled back and placed a soft hand on his cheek. “I’m sorry that I didn’t. Will you let me try again?”
He looked at her and couldn’t believe his luck. So this was what love was all about. He had messed up completely, but she still wanted to try. He had let her down, but she was offering forgiveness. She was offering hope. She was offering him the chance to be better, to be better for her.
“I love you, Skye,” he whispered.
“I love you, too.”
Their foreheads touched as they held hands in the quiet hallway. The moment was too precious to say anything else. For the first time in either of their lives, they had found someone who completed them, who made them feel perfect.
“Get a room,” Emerson’s growl came as he and Janae appeared in the doorway. Janae just giggled and patted her belly.
“Watch out, Skye,” she winked. “Pretty soon he’ll put a baby in your belly. Then you’ll have to stay on Dragon Isle.”
Emerson rolled his eyes.
“I’m pretty sure I’m going to stay with or without a baby,” Skye said. “That is, if my Dom will have me.”
“Always and forever,” Alan told her. “Like it or not, you’re mine.”
Skye had never had a place to belong before. She’d never had a place that was all hers, that filled her heart with joy the way being Alan’s did. She might not know what the future would bring, but she knew that together, they could face anything.
Skye Mortimer looked up at the dragonman who had captured her heart. She only needed one. There was a blue dragon with green wings who would love her forever and she couldn’t imagine a world without him.
***
Beware of Dragons
Sophie Stern
Copyright © 2015 by Sophie Stern
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Synopsis
Anthony and Gabriel are dragons who share certain...proclivities.
What they really want to share is a little human who has way too much on her plate.
Audrey spends her time blustering around Dragon Isle, trying to solve everyone's problems but her own.
Will Audrey let the dragon duo have their wicked way with her?
For the girls who love dragons
And know that one is never enough
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1
“Two weeks,” Audrey said with a frown on her face.
“One week,” Gabriel protested.
“Two.”
“Fine.”
Audrey smirked. She obviously thought she had won the argument, but Gabriel planned to bug her endlessly until she got the pictures back sooner. He knew she could work faster than that, but he also knew his little spitfire was a bit of a perfectionist. She always needed everything to be perfect.
If only she felt that way about her own life.
Audrey pushed away from the table and stood, smoothing her black dress. She grabbed her red hat from the table and slipped it on, completing her pinup girl look. She was forever living in the past, but Gabriel suspected it had more to do with her love of photography and the trendiness of 50s fashion, rather than a personal statement.
Gabriel stood as she did, his large frame towering over her small one. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was intimidated, but he did know better. Nothing scared Audrey. Nothing. Not deadlines, not arguments, and certainly not dragons.
She was the fiercest human on Dragon Isle.
Maybe anywhere.
“I have to go,” she looked at her cell phone to check the time. “I have a meeting with Emerson. I’m taking photos of his new baby. Then I have to meet with some of the older dragons to talk about pictures for their church directory.”
“There’s a church on the island?” Gabriel said with a smirk. Audrey just rolled her eyes. The dragons were more open to sexual deviances than most humans, but the older generation still appreciated the solitude that church offered them.
“Yes, Gabe, there’s a church.” Audrey smiled playfully at Gabriel. Fuck, she was beautiful. If only he could convince her there was so much more than friendship between them. Audrey had been adopted by a dragon couple as a small child and had grown up on the island. Though she and Gabriel had grown up together and were the best of friends, she hadn’t made a move to pursue anything else between them.
And it was killing him.
Each day that passed was one more without her. Gabriel wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He needed Audrey like he needed his next breath. She was all he could think about. She was consuming him.
“Want me to fly you?” He asked, desperate for a few more minutes with her. She cocked her head in surprise and raised her eyebrows. “To Emerson’s? No. I’m going to his house. It’s not too far to walk. You can walk me, though,” she added, fluttering her eyelashes in joke seduction.
He’d take it.
Gabriel dropped some money on the table to pay for their drinks, looped his arm through hers, and led Audrey out into the bright summer sunshine.
She chatted aimlessly as they made their way through the village and to the clan leader’s modest house. The entire time, Gabriel was wondering how much longer he was going to let things stay the same. How much longer could he stand being her best friend? How much longer could her handle being the guy she ran to with all of her problems? How much longer could he be the one she cried on when some other loser broke her heart?
How much longer could Gabriel wait for Audrey to realize he was standing right there?
When she kissed his cheek to say goodbye, he held her in a tight hug for a few seconds too long, wanting the moment to last just a bit more. He knew they were reaching a turning point. He was going to break or she was, and he wasn’t sure which, and he wasn’t sure where they were going to end up.
He would always love Audrey.
But if he couldn’t have her, he couldn’t wait around to see who would.
***
Audrey watched her best friend turn and walk away before he stripped down, tossed his clothes in a nearby basket, and shifted. Fuck, if he wasn’t the most gorgeous dragon she’d ever seen. Did Gabriel even know how much she wanted him? Craved him? She doubted it. She’d had a huge crush on him since they were kids, and she didn’t know what to do about it.
She didn’t know how to tell him she was crazy about him, that she dreamed about him every night. She didn’t know how to tell him that when she touched herself, it was to thoughts of him.
She had left Dragon Isle the moment she turned 18, but she had come back for him.
And he had no idea.
With a sigh, she finally pulled her eyes from Gabriel’s retreating form and knocked on the door. Janae opened the door and Audrey was immediately greeted with the sounds of a wailing infant. Janae’s eyes were hollow and t
ired. She was bouncing the baby, but looked ready to pass out from sheer exhaustion.
“Let me take him,” Audrey said gently, and Janae happily handed the baby over before laying down on the couch and promptly passing out. Audrey carried baby Weston around the house, bouncing him quietly and singing to him. Soon the tiny dragonboy was calm and content, cooing up at her as she told him stories about growing up on the island.
“You’re really good with children,” a voice said from the doorway. Audrey turned to see Emerson, the clan leader, watching her with a curious expression on his face.
“Thanks,” she said. “I love babies, but who doesn’t?” She shrugged. “Janae seemed really tired, so I took the baby for a bit while she rested.”
“Yeah, she’s still passed out on the couch. He hasn’t been sleeping much at night.” Emerson looked grim. “I knew parenting would be hard, but I didn’t realize how tough it would be to go back to work and have to leave Janae with him on her own. He’s a handful, and I feel bad, but the clan needs me.”
They both turned to look at Janae, who was curled up under a blanket and snoring loudly. Audrey hadn’t realized how tired her friend had been.
“Do you still want to do infant pictures?” Audrey asked, looking down at little Weston. “I can come back, but I don’t mind surprising Janae. He seems to be in a good mood.”
“Let’s do them now,” Emerson agreed. “Who knows when we’re going to get him smiling like this again?”
When Audrey left, Janae had gotten in two solid hours of napping and Emerson had grudgingly decided to wake her so Weston could nurse.
“I’ll have the pictures back to you as soon as I can,” Audrey promised. “Probably two weeks. Maybe less.” Emerson tried to pay her, but she waved him off. “Consider it a baby gift,” she whispered, then sneaked quietly out of the tiny house.
Dragon Isle Boxed Set, Books 4-6: Lost to the Dragon, Beware of Dragons, and Catching the Dragon Page 9
