Conquered Destiny (Great Plains Dragon Feud Book 1)

by Emilia Hartley

  Charlie sat on the front steps when Baylee arrived. She tried to recall the way Gale’s lips felt against her throat because she couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else touching her ever again.

  When he stood and greeted her, his words were lost on her. She heard nothing. His lips twisted with annoyance.

  Good, she thought. Me too.

  She continued past him and went inside. Her stomach grumbled, unhappy that she’d given it coffee and nothing else all day. The air smelled like home cooking, but she couldn’t wait for whatever her Mom had been working on to be finished. She grabbed a bag of shredded cheese from the fridge and sprinkled it directly into her mouth.

  When she felt almost normal again, she turned her attention on Charlie.

  He put his hands on his hips. “I came here to meet you, and you’ve been extremely inhospitable the entire time.”

  Baylee looked around, but neither her Mom nor Jensen were anywhere to be seen. She threw the bag of cheese back into the fridge and slammed it shut.

  “Look here,” she said. “I didn’t call you up and invite you to come woo me. That was my mother’s doing. Not mine. Do you really think I’m wife material? Do you think I’m going to polish your silverware and your cock every night?”

  He seemed taken aback, but quickly recovered. His upper lip curled as he narrowed his eyes at her.

  Baylee stood her ground. Charlie meant nothing to her. He wasn’t going to be the one to chain her. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight because now she knew what it was like to have someone pay attention to what she really wanted. She knew what tenderness felt like, even if she’d found it in the least likely of sources.

  “What? Do you fancy yourself a brat tamer?” she challenged him. “Well, I’m not a brat. I’m a dragon. I have my own fire.”

  Charlie held her gaze until, finally, he swallowed and looked away. “This isn’t going to work out.”

  “You’re telling me.”

  His shoulders slumped. He stole another glance at her as the corner of his mouth twisted. “Do you mind if I stay the rest of the weekend, though? Your mom’s lasagna smells amazing. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a home cooked meal.”

  “Uh, sure.” She cocked her head. “Don’t think this means we can be friends, and you can sneakily make me like you.”

  Jensen’s laughter filled the kitchen. “My sister doesn’t like anyone, so that plan wouldn’t work no matter who you were.”

  Baylee should have known someone was home. She needed to pay more attention to her surroundings. If she didn’t, then she and Gale would get caught. As it was, she watched Jensen’s nose wrinkle when he stepped closer to her. The lasagna in the oven, which made the whole house smell like tomato sauce and cheese, saved her.

  Jensen brushed past her, grabbed a can of soda from the counter, and cracked it open. Trapped between two men, Baylee wished she could be anywhere other than where she was in that exact moment. Both watched her with an intensity that made her feel awkwardly bare.

  She and Jensen had been close as kids. The age gap between them was slim. They’d only been a year apart in school—largely because Jensen had been held back a year. But, in the recent years, they’d drifted apart. It became apparent that they were headed in different directions.

  Sometimes, Baylee wondered if her brother even noticed. While his trajectory would keep him here as a Barnes enforcer, Baylee’s future was somewhere else. It was a far-off place that she knew nothing about.

  When paired with the fact that she knew nothing about herself, her future terrified her. She’d thought that she would do all the things she told Gale about but found herself floundering in the face of the looming disaster ahead. At least, Charlie had realized that she wouldn’t make a good wife.

  Now she needed to do that with every man her mother dragged in over the course of the next four years. Not a single one of them would be Gale. The thought dropped like a stone in her gut. She could almost feel his lips on her neck and his teeth begging to bite down and mark her as his mate. Would any other man pay attention to what she had to say? Would they find the truth hidden in her words when she couldn’t see it herself?

  She toyed with the tab of her can while Jensen and Charlie discussed the family business. The echo of Gale’s touch fluttered over her skin, leaving her warm and aching. If they’d had a little more time, then maybe she wouldn’t be consumed with what could have been.

  “Baylee!” her Mom cried out from another room. “Can you take the lasagna out of the oven and get the garlic bread ready?”

  Baylee sighed. She jerked open the oven and reveled in the rush of searing air that escaped it. Once she set the lasagna on the stovetop, she searched for the garlic bread. Jensen set a loaf of Italian bread in front of her.

  “That’s not garlic bread, dummy,” she snapped.

  “No shit. You have to make it.”

  She groaned. “Whoever Mom sets me up with is going to have to face the fact that I can’t cook. What does she expect me to do with plain bread?”

  Jensen shrugged. Baylee pressed her forehead to the counter while she smothered her groan. While her guard was down, Jensen leaned in and sniffed audibly.

  “You reek, Bay. What is that smell coming off you?”

  Her blood chilled. She jerked upright, shoved the loaf of bread at Jensen, and declared that she needed a shower.

  Jensen called after her, repeating her own words from only a minute ago as he waved the loaf of bread in the air.

  She cursed her ancestor, Elliana Barnes, for her disastrous affair with Logan Montoya. Had the two of them not messed everything up, then Baylee wouldn’t have had to hide her feelings for Gale. She wouldn’t have to scurry towards the bathroom to shower before anyone recognized Gale’s scent. The only thing that saved her was her family’s tendency to avoid the Montoyas.

  While they could recognize a Montoya on sight, they couldn’t always pinpoint their scents. In the bathroom, Baylee slammed the door behind her and collapsed against it.

  She couldn’t see Gale Montoya anymore. Indulging in her secret meetings with him would end in disaster. There was nothing either of them could do to make this work.

  Baylee considered Charlie, sulking in the kitchen with Jensen. He seemed like a decent guy. Perhaps she could make it work. Neither of them would be happy with one another, but she wouldn’t have to watch Gale find a mate and get married while she suffered.

  It would be for the best.

  A line that she hated to hear, but knew was true.

  5

  Gale didn’t know what he was doing. He prowled up and down the department store’s craft section with a half-baked plan in mind. Well, not even half-baked. The idea was completely raw.

  The day before, Baylee had mentioned wanting to try artsy fartsy things. Gale didn’t know shit about art, but he hated the look of misery that haunted him as Baylee walked away the day before. The image refused to leave him. His dragon kept dredging it up and shoving it in his face as if Gale could do something about it.

  He’s spent the night, convinced that his hands were tied. The longer he listened to Cash’s music from the other room, the more Gale convinced himself that there was, in fact, something he could do. Though he’d mustered the initiative to do something, Gale still wasn’t sure what that something was. He knew that he wanted to see Baylee smile.

  That was all.

  He snatched a pack of small canvas panels from the shelves, paused, and wondered what one would need to put on the canvas. Paint was the obvious answer, of course. A wall of paint stared him down. Each package boasted something different. He didn’t know the difference between acrylic and oil. The packages of watercolor paint mystified him so much that he tossed the canvases back onto the shelf and started over from square one.

  “Cash said you were acting funny,” said a familiar voice.

  Reece Montoya slung an arm around Gale’s shoulder. He flashed a half-grin in Gale’s direction before checking
out the aisle around him. Confusion flickered across Reece’s face.

  “I don’t get it.”

  Gale swallowed his growl of frustration. “You don’t have to get it.”

  Reece pulled back and held up both hands. “Whoa there. Don’t get defensive. I came to see if you wanted to get together for another bonfire tonight.”

  Buying Baylee a gift would get him caught. He never should have come here. If Cash was suspicious enough to call Reece and have him keep an eye on Gale, then doing anything for Baylee would get them both in trouble.

  Gale couldn’t keep seeing her. There was too much at stake. As much as he wanted to say that he was drawing a line to protect himself, he knew that Baylee’s future was at risk. His beast lashed its tail at the thought of her being shipped away from him. Gale could not keep his dragon under control forever. He did not know what his dragon might do if they made a wrong move and got caught.

  So, he jerked his chin towards the beer section of the store. “Let’s get a couple of packs for tonight then.”

  Reece grinned and clapped him on his back. “That’s my man!”

  Though Gale and Baylee hadn’t made any plans, he couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt that sat heavy in his gut as he followed Reece through the store. His dragon snarled at Reece’s turned back. Gale had to smother the contemptuous beast.

  You can have another woman! Gale snapped at his beast.

  The creature was not pleased. Gale thought his dragon would rebel and try to take control, but all contact with the dragon suddenly ceased. The soundless void inside Gale’s head left him off balance. He sucked in a breath and tried to steady himself.

  How could his beast do this? Gale knew he was doing the right thing. Fraternizing with any Barnes shifter would only end in pain. Logan Barnes had proved that decades ago.

  Right?

  Everyone in the Montoya family told the tale of Logan and Elliana. They all knew what had happened. Yet, doubt crept into Gale’s mind. He knew from hanging out with Reece that any story can be modified. Reece never told a story the same way twice. Each time he recounted his adventures, they grew wilder and wilder.

  Could that have happened with Logan and Elliana’s story? Gale wondered if the two had a secret that had followed them to their resting places.

  His lip curled. What was he becoming? A hopeless romantic? He was a dragon man, not a sap.

  Gale shook himself. “I need to fight or fuck. I haven’t figured out which one it is, yet.”

  Reece pumped his fist in the air. “I’ll call every woman I know. If it doesn’t work out with them, then you can sock Cash in the face in front of his fangirls. We all know he deserves it.”

  Gale clenched his fists. The fury that would have rolled through his body never came. His dragon refused to participate. No desire sparked in him. No rush of excitement came.

  Hollowed out, he wondered what he had done. Had he courted disaster by touching the Barnes woman in the first place? Would he ever recover? Or would his beast forsake him for the scent of a woman he couldn’t have?

  Gale begged for the heat of dragon fire to sear his throat. He wanted the rush of fire and fury. He wanted to feel…something.

  Yet, he was beginning to fear that he would only feel when in the presence of one woman. The thought terrified him.

  Baylee waited.

  She sat at the top of the little cliff and scanned the skies for a sign of Gale. In the distance, she could see a tower of smoke rising from the fields. The Montoyas must have thrown another bonfire party.

  She pulled her knees to her chest and waited.

  Once the night began to slip into the first hours of the morning, Baylee gave up and crept back home. At least, this time she didn’t smell of Montoya. She didn’t have anything to hide other than disappointment.

  Charlie sat on the front porch steps, his legs sprawled out in front of him as he leaned back on his elbows. He didn’t look at her when she approached.

  “Have you figured out the rest of your life yet?” he asked.

  Baylee narrowed her eyes at him. What a facetious thing to say!

  He leveled his gaze at her, but it didn’t hold any of his dragon’s light. “You don’t need to have it all figured out right now, you know. Your life won’t end when you make a single decision. You could find yourself a husband and continue to discover yourself.”

  Baylee bit her tongue. Charlie was trying to be nice. She wouldn’t roast him for being a little ignorant. With a sigh, she dropped to sit on the step beside him.

  She tried to imagine a life with this unassuming dragon man, but she couldn’t picture sleeping with him. Every time she tried, Gale’s face hovered above her. She heard Gale’s growls and felt his hands on her again. Just the thought of him made her beast dance with excitement.

  Baylee feared that she had already made a decision—one that would ruin her life.

  “I told you,” she said. “You and I would never work out. I’m too rebellious, and I don’t know anything about cooking.”

  Charlie laughed. “That’s what cookbooks are for.”

  Oh, he really didn’t get it. Baylee didn’t want to cook! She had no desire to watch over pots of simmering sauce. Chocolate chip cookies were the best when she didn’t have to make them.

  Sex was the best when she didn’t have to fake it.

  But if she gave in to what her beast wanted, then she would lose everything. Her family would either ostracize her or tear her away from him. Either sounded like a small death.

  Charlie leaned forward on his elbows. “I don’t get what’s going on here, but I’ve heard some of the rumors.”

  Baylee swallowed the truth rising out of her. She had no one she could tell. No one wanted to listen to her gush about the feelings she had for a man she shouldn’t even know.

  Charlie twisted and grabbed something from behind him. “So, I took the liberty of hiding this package from your family. Your beau isn’t the smartest man.”

  He passed a box to her. The delivery label had her address but had Gale as the recipient. She covered her mouth to muffle her laughter, even though a trickle of fear ran down her spine at the same time. This could have given them away. The small show of kindness could have been the end to everything.

  But Charlie had saved them.

  She turned to him and asked, “Why?”

  “Hear me out,” he said. He paused, as if expecting her to leap to her feet and run away now that she had the package. When she didn’t move, he continued. “I had hoped that you and I could connect, but that’s obviously not going to happen. I’m tired of this parade, too. If you agree to marry me, then I won’t object when you visit your beau. Of course, that means you can’t be mad when I do the same.”

  Baylee’s brow furrowed. Had Charlie asked her for a marriage of convenience? That was something straight out of a cheap romance novel. In stories like those, the fake lovers always fell for one another. She had the feeling that no such spark would ever ignite between them.

  “If this is another ploy to get me to like you, then it’s not going to work,” she warned.

  He snorted. “You’re thinking too hard about it. This is about convenience. Nothing more.”

  To steal time so she could think, Baylee dug her nail into the tape on her package and tore it open. She paused a moment to make sure no one inside the house had heard, but when no one stirred she ripped it open the rest of the way.

  A printed note sat on the top.

  I thought about buying you canvases but figured you’re the kind of girl who would rather make the world her canvas.

  She gripped the note tight while peering into the box. Cans of spray paint stood upright like soldiers waiting to be called upon. The urge to pluck one out and shake it nearly overwhelmed her. She managed to keep her hands to herself and not make too much noise.

  An idea struck her. She let loose a soft cackle.

  Baylee shot to her feet. She glanced down at Charlie, who had a quizzical bro
w raised as he stared at her. “I need a night to think about your offer.”

  Before he could answer, Baylee bounded off into the night.

  Cash grumbled and slammed the front door. Gale watched his cousin and wondered if someone had pissed in his guitar at the party.

  “It smells like Barnes outside,” Cash growled.

  Ice flooded Gale’s veins. The sensation was quickly washed away by flames as Gale’s beast reared with fury. He lurched into action, following the sound of Cash’s voice. If Cash found Baylee and hurt her…

  Gale’s dragon snarled. Red washed over Gale’s vision. His fingers curled into tight fists.

  “Gale! Get your ass out here! We were visited by a Barnes in the night.”

  The fight fled Gale’s body.

  Visited? As in…past tense?

  Curious, he followed Cash’s stiff movement as the man shoved the door open and led him around to the side of the house. Gale almost laughed. He had to shove half his fist into his mouth and bite down to keep from giving himself away.

  The paint had dripped, but there was a proud dragon now gracing the side of their house.

  Cash flung his hand toward the nearly life-sized graffiti. “Why the hell are the Barnes fucking with us now? If they think this is funny, I’m going to burn one of their fields.”

  Wrath consumed Gale upon hearing the threat in Cash’s voice. Gale blew out through his nose, but the heat wouldn’t subside. He sucked in another breath and managed to keep his fists to himself.

  What he couldn’t tell Cash was that this was his fault. Gale had decided to break things off and wanted to leave Baylee one last parting gift. He should have known that someone as feisty as Baylee would do something reckless with the gift he’d given her. Spray paint had seemed like the perfect medium for her when he’d bought it.

  Baylee wasn’t going to lay down and disappear. He’d started something that would go up in flames eventually. Maybe Gale could talk to her and work something out. He wanted to believe they could come to an agreement, but he feared what would happen if he saw her in person again.