ROMANCE: SHAPESHIFTER ROMANCE: Dragon Baller's Bride (Dragon Shifter Alpha Male Romance) (Paranormal Romantic Suspense)

by Summer Cooper

  “How much do you want to bet she didn’t, mate?” Liam had confidence in the power of his abilities and this seemed like a harmless game.

  “I bet you a week of truck washing that you can’t get her into bed with you.” Andy challenged.

  “A week of it, eh? All on your own, you wash the truck all by yourself or I do? How long do I have to get her into bed then?” Liam asked, feeling confident.

  “Let’s say two weeks? I’d say one night to be fair to myself but as I said, she can’t see you; you might need a little extra time with this bird. How about that then? That fair enough?” Andy asked with a wide grin.

  “Sure, sure mate. I hate washing that truck so watching you do it alone for a week’s going to be a laugh.” Liam was confident in his wager and knew Andy wouldn’t be grinning as he washed the truck on his own.

  He excused himself and went to fetch a drink. Over at the bar he could hear noise coming from the convention room and wandered over to listen to what was happening in there. He could hear Ivy’s voice telling the gathered crowd about her pleasure over being given the award and started to feel something awkward and new in his chest as he listened to her sweet, husky voice. He wanted to keep her safe, to protect her from the world, and to make her his own. He’d never felt such a powerful urge before, usually he only felt desire, amusement, maybe even affection for a woman but never this tug of emotion just from hearing a woman’s voice.

  The pull was so strong Liam left his own function and wandered into the room Ivy was now holding court in and stood behind a ficus tree, watching the beautiful woman pull the people gathered in the room into the palm of her hand. Even he was pulled in by her charming speech of thanks and transfixed by her presence. Watching her he couldn’t find a single clue that she could not see the room as she moved her eyes around the room, her face and body moving in a way that made it appear that she could see those gathered before her. Nothing gave it away, though everyone in the room knew her tale but Liam. The details were in Ivy’s first book, he heard one person saying to their tablemate. He’d have to look for it. Going back to his own function as Ivy went back to her seat, Liam was determined to find out what he could and hoped she’d give him that call, not necessarily for the sake of the bet but because he’d really like to get to know her better.

  * * *

  “He’s 32, unmarried, has his own home, is a firefighter as I suspected, has no children, but has a reputation as a bit of a player.” Avery whispered as she ushered Ivy out to her waiting taxi.

  “How did you learn all of that so quickly?” Ivy asked.

  “The Internet mostly, but I also did some listening in here and there. I hope you have a wonderful evening, Ms. Simonett, and if you don’t mind me saying, I’d give him a chance if you’re just looking for a little fun.” Avery tittered as she closed the door and Ivy smiled, the comment amusing her.

  Using her mobile phone and the software that spoke to her, Ivy quickly found her camera app, snapped a photo of the card Avery had slipped back into her palm as she left Ivy, and sent the file to another app that would read the content of the photo back to her when she opened it. She would wait until she got home to do that part but for now she was content with having saved the information. She felt the weight of the award in the bag she’d brought with her and felt contentment run through her.

  The cab pulled up to her apartment and Ivy quickly found the money necessary to pay her fare. Luckily the bills all came in different sizes here, unlike in America where the bills were all the same size. That had been the most confusing thing about her holiday there a couple of years ago, the paper money. She felt the coins she was handed back to ensure she’d been given the correct change, simply a habit now, and walked into her building after bidding the driver a good night.

  She made it up to her apartment, took off her clothes, put on some sleep shorts and a shirt, and hopped into bed with her laptop. Using similar software to her phone she navigated to her social media and posted about the incredible evening she’d just had and how very proud she was. Then she did some searching for Liam Howell and found that he didn’t have much of an online presence, but that he was listed with the local fire department, as Avery had informed her. Playing the app that spoke the information from the card to her, Ivy quickly typed in Liam’s email address into her computer and then typed an email. Hitting send she sat back in bed, playing an audiobook, and waited for a reply.

  * * *

  “Hi Liam, dinner, 7:30, at the Curry House tomorrow? I may give you your heart back if you ask me nicely enough…Ivy…”

  Liam read the email out to Andy and Andy’s wife Gina who were still at the bar of the Plaza with him. “That will be point one for Liam, zero for Andy.”

  “What, what are you on about, Liam?” Gina asked.

  “Oh, just a little friendly wager, Gina, nothing serious.” Liam replied.

  “You two didn’t bet on whether you’d get a shag out of this did you?” Gina asked, looking at her husband angrily.

  “Honey, it was his idea, I swear.” Andy responded.

  “I don’t care whose idea it was, it’s disgusting, you’ll stop this at once, or you’ll be the one to pay” Gina told her husband with a meaningful look.

  “You wouldn’t?” Andy asked, clearly disturbed.

  “I would, nothing, not a thing out of me until I feel you’ve learned your lesson. This stops now or you’re cut off,” Gina told her husband with definite threat. She waited for his reply expectantly, her eyebrow quirked and her foot tapping.

  “If I give up that means I have to wash the truck for a week, Gina. On my own. I’ll be coming home late every night!” Andy whined, hoping she’d give in. “It was only a joke, anyway, it’s not hurting anybody.”

  “You two twits obviously know less about women than you think if you think that little bet won’t hurt anyone. It’s degrading and you will call it off now. Washing the truck will teach you a lesson.” Gina replied, getting up from her seat a little unsteadily. “Now, I think I need a cab home, are you coming?”

  “Yes, Gina, let me get our coats. I’ll see you Monday Liam. Have the hosepipe ready for me.”

  Liam snickered as his friend walked morosely out of the door. The bet might be over but his plans weren’t. He quickly tapped out a reply and left to find his own taxi home.

  Chapter Two

  Ivy woke to find her mobile phone was plastered to her face, and pulled it loose. She’d apparently fallen to sleep listening to the audiobook and had slept on the phone all night. Wiping her cheek she flicked the phone on and waited to hear whether there were any new emails. She had a few and listened to each one, making notes where she needed to and responding to others. Then she finally heard the one she’d been waiting on.

  “I’ll let you keep my heart, if you’ll let me have a taste of your sweet lips, 7:30 it is.”

  The man was a charmer, and definitely had a one-track mind. He was honest at least, and she knew right from the start what he was after. Maybe an affair is what she needed right now, Ivy thought, something wild and inspiring for her next novel. She sent a simple response, no more than “see you then”, and giggled hoping Emily would arrive soon. A new dress was called for.

  Getting out of bed she went into her kitchen, set the kettle to boil, and prepared some breakfast. Ivy was pleased with how things were progressing, though she wasn’t sure exactly where it would all lead. She was just happy for something new and exciting to be happening. Liam obviously thought he was the one in control, at the moment, but Ivy was soon going to turn things around on him.

  * * *

  By their third date Ivy was ready to throw in the towel. Dating a blind woman had been challenging from the first and Liam’s response was to try and coddle her, though that seemed to anger her for some reason. Ivy was always insisting on doing things on her own and all he wanted to do was to protect her. He was a firefighter, an emergency service responder, trained to save lives and give care. Letting someone
just wander out into traffic with only her hearing and a cane to guide her along terrified him.

  The tension finally broke towards the end of their first date, after Liam had shifted her glass of wine closer to her hand and she knocked it over because it wasn’t where she thought it was. Ivy wiped the spill up with a napkin, put the napkin down, and began to gather her things.

  “I’m really sorry, Liam, but this just isn’t going to work out. You have to understand that I am not helpless. Yes, sometimes I need some direction or help, but I don’t need coddling, I don’t need someone trying to be helpful that makes my life harder, and I certainly don’t need a protector. I’m blind, not a child, and that’s how you’ve been making me feel. It’s simply not going to work.” Sighing Ivy began to walk away and realized she couldn’t remember where the door was because she was just too flustered. Rather than run into something, or someone, she listened to the sounds she was hearing and realized where the door was and began to walk to it. She stopped at the front and ordered a cab, and was sat waiting outside on a bench when she sensed Liam sitting down next to her.

  “I’ve been a bit of an ass, haven’t I?” Liam finally said. He’d been sitting there trying to think of what to say and that was all he could think of.

  “Yes, you have. I’ve been trying for the last two weeks to show you, to convince you that I don’t need saving. I’ve hinted at it and you just didn’t pay any attention. You continued to plough over everything I’ve said and you’ve made me feel worse than I have in a very long time. I thought you’d be fun to go out with, I thought you’d take me to parties or on wild adventures, but all we’ve done is come to this same restaurant, every single time. We sit there and talk over dinner; you move my glass, my tableware, even my plate the last time we were here, trying to be helpful without realizing that when you do that I have no idea where you’ve moved it to! Then you take me home, you make sure I get into my apartment, and then you leave. Where’s the fun in all of that? Where’s the adventurous spirit that you obviously have that I wanted to experience?”

  “I’m sorry, I just wanted to keep you safe and be helpful. I’ve never dated anyone that wasn’t sighted before and, well, I guess I have treated you pretty badly haven’t I?” Liam finally responded.

  “No, you haven’t really. You’ve been a perfect gentleman and tried to be helpful. As you say, you’ve never been around anyone like me so maybe I should have been more up front with you to begin with? I was given the impression that you were a bit of a playboy, an Alpha male, and I wanted to experience that. So, I’m doing the same thing, aren’t I? I’m judging you and not being very fair to you, at all.”

  “Shall we try this again, Ivy? I feel like such an idiot now. Hey, how about we go get a drink at a pub I know?

  “That sounds like the best idea you’ve had yet, Liam. Shall we take my cab, if I’m not mistaken that’s them pulling up to the curb now.”

  “How did you know that?” Liam asked, trying to figure the trick out.

  “You learn to pay attention to the environment when something like this happens to you. Even light can be felt, if you pay attention. This time I heard the car approaching and by the direction the car moved in I knew it was pulling up to the curb here. This is a loading area; it’s not raining, I called a taxi, it must be my taxi. I’m not always right but usually I am.” Ivy said with a grin, turning her face in Liam’s direction.

  “That is brilliant! So you’ve learned to cope in a world without sight. What else do us mere mortals not notice then?”

  They spent the rest of the evening chatting about how Ivy had lost her sight, how she’d learned to cope, and actually talking to each other. Their previous dates had been spent making small talk with no real discoveries being made about each other. Ivy kept hoping the tension would break the strangeness that seemed to grow between them with each date because each had their own hopes and expectations. Now that they’d laid it all out for each other they could relax and actually be themselves.

  Ivy sensed attraction growing between them over the next few weeks but neither took it too far. They went out and danced and Ivy learned Liam was an excellent dancer. Now that he wasn’t worried about killing her or breaking her he focused the full force of his charm on her and the little touches he didn’t seem to notice were starting to drive her mad with wanting more. Ivy stopped expecting Liam to tear her clothes off and started looking at their relationship as something that might go further than a simple love affair. Because, Ivy realized, it was quickly turning into a relationship with nightly texts, emails, and phone calls when either was working and every moment they weren’t working was spent together. But still no sex and that was starting to bother Ivy.

  Ivy was far from a virgin and liked to explore her sexuality. Liam had made intimations, whispered in here ear how beautiful she was and how much he adored her, and they’d kissed but every night Liam left her at her door. Tonight was going to change that, she was certain. She’d made plans at one of the sexiest clubs in the city, they had their own private area, she’d ordered a taxi for them both, she knew that Liam had the next few days off, and she was planning on spending it in bed with him. It was only 1 pm so she had a while to wait before Liam got off of work so she put on some music, slipped into the tub, and let herself relax.

  As Ivy relaxed in the hot lemongrass and lavender scented water she thought about the last few weeks. The low-growls Liam couldn’t hold back when she danced against him, the gasps as she kissed him with abandon played in her memory and made her body tingle with awareness. The way his hands always lingered on her willowy hips was enticing, even now when he wasn’t near her. The memory of that one time when they’d been dancing and she’d turned around in his arms, her bum nestled into his groin, and the way his hands had clenched her tightly to him for a moment as he inhaled sharply, it made her pulse race. All of these things played through her mind and her hands were just starting to slide down her body when her mobile rang.

  Chapter Three

  “Hello?” Ivy’s voice shook as she answered the phone, the phone’s chirp said that it was Liam making her pulse race even more.

  “Ivy? This is Andy’s wife, Gina. Liam’s been in a bit of an accident at work. We thought you’d want to know. He talks about you so much, we thought it only fair you should know.” Gina’s voice sounded just as shaky as Ivy’s and Ivy felt panic begin to rise.

  “What do you mean, hurt? Is he alright?” Ivy asked, panic obvious.

  “The roof of the house they went into collapsed on him, he was trapped but Andy pulled him out. It might be better if you can make it down here to explain it all. I’ll send someone to pick you up if you’d like?” Gina offered.

  “Yes, please, I would very much appreciate that. My address should be in Liam’s phone. I’ll get dressed now. Thank you so much for thinking of me, Gina.” Ivy rang off and bolted out of the water, not bothering to dry her hair, she just threw on whatever came to hand when she reached in the closet and practically ran down to the exit of her building. She waited on the curb, impatience obvious in her demeanour.

  As she waited Ivy reminded herself that injuries were possible in Liam’s line of work. She assured herself that he was fine, maybe with a few burns and some muscle pain, perhaps even a broken bone but he was going to be fine, Gina said so. Well, no, she didn’t but Ivy had to believe that he was going to be or else her panic would override her good sense.

  Chewing on a thumb she sat silently in the car, unsure of who Gina had even sent to pick her up. Realizing she was being rude Ivy spoke to the driver, at last.

  “I’m sorry, I’ve been so upset I didn’t even realize I didn’t introduce myself, I’m Ivy Simonett, thank you for coming to pick me up.”

  “It’s no problem Ms. Simonett. I’m Jake, I work with Andy and Liam. I’ve been lost in my own thoughts, as well. Liam’s a good friend.”

  “Can you tell me anything about what happened?” Ivy asked.

  “I’m not really su
re myself at the moment. I’d just come in to work when the call came in that Liam had been injured, then Gina called to have me pick you up. We’ll both find out in a few minutes, we’re at the hospital now.”

  Jake guided her to the room Gina had texted that Liam was in and Ivy walked in, not sure what to expect. Gina took over for Jake and guided Ivy to a chair and let her know Liam was in the bed in front of her. Ivy reached out a hand, feeling for Liam and clasped his hand when she found it.

  “He’s not awake at the moment; they gave him some pain killers that have him knocked out. He may have to go into surgery later so they’re just trying to keep him sedated for the moment.”

  “Surgery, sedated? Exactly what’s wrong with him? Should I be touching him, are his hands burned? I’m not hurting him am I?” Ivy asked, concerned that she was hurting him.

  “No, he’s not burned at all; it’s more damage from the impact of all of that building material landing on him. He received some lacerations; his left leg is broken as is his collar bone. He’s also got a lot of bruising. The main concern is the head injury he sustained. He has some swelling in his brain.”

  Ivy’s world stopped at that moment, the words so familiar. She knew what brain swelling, pooling of blood, and inflammation meant.

  “He’s blind isn’t he?” Ivy asked quietly.

  “Right now he is, yes, but it may return. That’s why they may do surgery later, if the swelling continues they’ll have to relieve it. He was awake an hour ago, screaming, so they sedated him. Not because he was screaming but because of the pain. The board that hit him in the head had a nail in it so they’re also worried about infection. I’m not even sure he realized completely that he couldn’t see or how big a hole he has in his head.” Gina was firing information at Ivy now and Ivy tried to take it all in.