Lilly: Dragon Clan

by Skye Jones

  Lilly startled at the sharp rap on her bedroom door. She marched over and flung it open to see Claire standing there, eyes shining with mischief.

  “You might want to get a bit tarted up tonight. Those two guys from earlier, Rhyndor and Callum, are coming to dinner.”

  Her stomach somersaulted, but she focused on maintaining her bored expression. “Why should I care?” Then fear hit her, and she let her façade drop a tad. “You’re not going to let them take me, are you?”

  Where would they take her? She’d heard about their other sister; she lived in a cave half the time. For the love of God, who did such a thing? She shuddered at the thought.

  “What?” Claire scowled. She hardly ever showed displeasure toward Lilly. Always upbeat and bright, as if she knew Lilly might bolt at any moment with the tiniest push. “How can you think such a thing? You’re my sister. Don’t you get it? I’d never let anyone take you or do anything to you against your will. They’re simply coming for dinner. And I got the impression, under all your fear and attitude, you kind of liked them. If only a little. And I thought a night of flirting might get your mind off Zach for a while. You talk about him a lot, and I understand he’s hurt you, but I don’t think he’s worth your tears. As I said, though, nothing against your will. Come to dinner, don’t come to dinner. Make an effort, don’t make an effort. It’s up to you.”

  Claire closed the door with a soft snick, but her pissed-off attitude had been impossible to hide. Lilly felt…guilty? Yeah, she did. Damn it, her sister had been nothing but warm and welcoming since she’d been brought to this strange place, and it wasn’t Claire’s fault that Lilly won the genetic lottery, heavy sarcasm there, and got dragon blood in her.

  Pinching the bridge of her nose, she sat heavily on the bed and pondered her options. She’d be going to dinner, no doubt about it. Already, her nipples were hard at the mere thought of those two men, and she didn’t want to explore the other feelings in farther south parts of her body. Why did they get to her so much? Yeah, so they were big, larger-than-life, gorgeous, and rough around the edges. Pretty much most red-blooded women’s wet dreams come to walking, talking life. But it went deeper. The minute Rhyndor touched her, she’d wanted to climb him like a tree. His scent, the feel of his warm palm on her back. Her face heated at the memory…but she’d almost come right there on the spot.

  Maybe she had more of this dragon blood in her than she liked to admit.

  Crossing to the wardrobe, she looked through the clothes she’d hung up. Damn, what to wear? She wanted to look hot but as if she’d made no effort to do so. Her style tended toward the eclectic and eccentric. Her clothes were often thrift store bargains, and her hair usually shone with bright shades dyed into a few thick strands at the front. It was mere chance she’d been found by Claire on one of the few occasions where her hair only wore its natural dark sheen.

  She looked down at her body and sighed. Shorter and curvier than Claire, Lilly wanted to own it for once and not wish she had an extra few inches of height and a bit fewer pounds. In the end, she settled on her favorite skinny jeans, tucked into ankle boots, a soft, gray T-shirt with a V-neck, low enough to show a hint of cleavage, and her Tiffany key necklace. She loved the damn thing. Bought on her eighteenth birthday, it was gold with diamonds, and it glinted an inch above said hint of cleavage, drawing the eye. It was one of the few things she wore that fit in with the pared-down, sleek style of most of her social set. A slick of eyeliner, some hot pink lip gloss and pale pink blush, and she was ready to go.

  Claire didn’t really do makeup, but then, she didn’t need to. At times like these, Lilly wondered about Mia. Did their other sister take more after her or Claire? And there were more of them. More dragon siblings out there, supposedly.

  Her phone beeped, and she glanced down to see a text from her friend Missy.

  Guess what? Zach and the bitch are no more. And he told me last night, when he’d gotten kind of drunk, how much he misses a certain person. You! He’s back, and he’s hot for you. This might be your chance to nail him down. lolol. When are you coming home?

  Her stomach did its familiar Zach-related lurch, but it wasn’t as potent as usual. Normally, she’d already be packing, and didn’t that make her pathetic? She hated the way he jerked her puppet strings and she danced in response, and she had no idea why he had such a hold on her.

  They’d been on and off lovers for years. She’d been his girlfriend from a young age, before either of them truly understood what it meant. She’d been new in the States then, and he’d taken her under his wing. The popular boy and the nobody, a fairy tale come to life. The kid from the UK with the weird accent and the striking features, who got bullied endlessly until the hot jock noticed her and put her under his protection. Then it all changed for her, and she’d been kind of cool, if only by association.

  Zach hadn’t only saved her school days from becoming torture, though. He’d welcomed her into the bosom of his family, one so different from her own. Just as wealthy, but a whole lot more loving. His family was large, noisy, and chaotic, and she’d loved it. There, she fit in, basically because no one possessed the time or energy to focus on one person for more than a few moments. None of her weird tics was noticed, let alone commented on. Her occasional Britishisms, her love of reading, and what some saw as a childish love of horses and puppies. Her geeky interests and her awkwardness in social situations. All the stuff she couldn’t hide but stopped her from truly becoming one of the in-crowd. It didn’t matter at the Haslams’, because no one really noticed you. Zach had three brothers and two sisters and a whole host of uncles and aunts who showed up on a regular basis. His family home was as large as hers, but instead of housing only three people and two members of staff, it homed a large, loving, if combative family.

  But then, things changed between them. Zach started to notice other girls, and he’d tell her they needed a break. The breaks always coincided with him falling head over heels in lust with someone else. He’d slake his lust, and after a few weeks, or months, it would end, and he’d come slinking back. Like a little fool, she’d take him back. Needing to be once more amongst the only people she’d ever felt at home with.

  She wiped at a tear, not wanting to smudge her makeup. But she had somewhere else she fit now, didn’t she? Or could have, if she made a rudimentary effort.

  She had a sister, two sisters, and their mates as her family now. And Nathan said it ran deeper, and the whole clan was basically her family. But talk about a shock to the system. Her new family came with the ability to change form, breathe fire, and do scary magic. They also lived away from all humanity and shunned society. So sue her if she hadn’t been too enthusiastic. She’d thought she wanted to be Mrs. Zach Haslam. To belong. Now she wasn’t so sure, and with time away, she’d started to see Zach in a different light. A less flattering light.

  Ugh. She shook off her melancholy and tossed out her hair. Okay, show time. She left her room and followed the scent of food.

  Entering the opulent dining room, she once more thought how odd it was to have all this wealth and basically hide it away in this mountain community so no one knew about it.

  Not like back at home, where appearances were everything. From day one, she’d been a target because of her background and looks. Her nickname changed as she spent more time at the posh school. From Orphan Annie, it morphed into Gypsy Girl, and then simply, The Witch because one of the boys said she’d cursed him with her weird eyes, and everyone believed it. Sick of her reminiscing, she turned and planned on heading to the kitchen to see if she could help, when she walked smack-bang into a hard wall of muscle.

  She looked up and stalled. Deep amber eyes looked at her, so warm and rich she wanted to drown in them. God, but Callum was one beautiful, beautiful man. His full lips quirked up into a smile.

  “Lilly. Nice to meet you again.” He wrapped two big hands around her upper arms to steady her, and once more, an intense wave of desire washed over her. She almost whi
mpered. It was followed by the awful heat snapping at her skin, making her clammy and faint. He let go of her and stepped back.

  “Do you need a drink of water or something?”

  Great, she’d probably gone all red and sweaty. Talk about attractive. Not that she cared if she attracted him or not. Right…?

  She shook her head. “I’d love a glass of wine, though.”

  Bottles sat open on the table, red, and sweating in ice buckets, white.

  “Red or white?”

  “White, please.”

  Callum took the correct glass and poured her a serving of wine. These guys said they’d been living amongst humans, so maybe they weren’t as uncouth as some of the dragon males who’d been to see her and try to entice her. Some of them didn’t have a clue when she mentioned her favorite films or books.

  “Callum.” Dominic came into the room and inclined his head at Callum.

  The other man dropped his own head in return.

  “Where’s Rhyndor?” Dominic went to the table and poured himself a large glass of red.

  “He’ll be here in a moment. He’s kind of nervous. As you can imagine.”

  Dominic took a sip of wine. “I think Nathan is, too. So far as he ever gets nervous about anything. He’s tying himself up in knots, wondering how to do right by Steffan and help you guys, too.”

  “I know we put you in an awful position, but when we heard you’d received lots of bonded males visiting to see Lilly, we couldn’t leave it alone any longer. Imagine if she’d liked a pair and been claimed. She’s made for us. We know it, and you do too.”

  “Excuse me.” Wow, talk about rude, discussing her as if she weren’t in the room! “I’m not made for anybody. I’m not a doll or some possession.”

  Callum laughed, and she nearly swooned, because his laugh made him more stunning.

  “Sweetheart, don’t go getting all riled. You are made for us, and we are made for you. Nothing to do with you being an object or a possession. Simply the three of us match in a way rarely found. It’s beautiful and unique, and as much as you’d be ours, we’d be yours.”

  She huffed out an annoyed breath, but secretly, deep down, a little part of her thrilled at his words. She’d belong to someone, and they to her. The elusive thing she’d been searching for ever since she’d lost her first adoptive mother to cancer and been plunged into the care system, and then adopted by a family who cared for her needs, but were cold and aloof.

  And then the other one came in, the one with all the dark, long hair, and those deep, deep eyes. His beauty was only dimmed by the shroud of sadness and guilt he wore. It covered him like some sort of fog, heavy and sad and always present. She wanted to take it away, to lighten him up. What? Where did such an idiotic idea come from? Scrub that, she didn’t want to take it away; he was of no concern to her.

  “Drink?” Dominic held up the red wine, and both Callum and Rhyndor nodded.

  Claire and Nathan entered the room, and Nathan indicated the table. “Please, be seated. Food is being served.”

  They all sat, and she found herself with Callum to her left. Nathan sat at the head of the table, Dom to her right, next to Nathan. Claire took a seat opposite Dom. It left Lilly with Rhyndor across from her, with his eyes and all his strange but powerful good looks, and Callum next to her with his gorgeous scent. It literally made her mouth water, as if someone had opened a jar of fresh baked cookies and put them under her nose.

  She fidgeted in her seat, her skin warm again, the air damp around her. Humid. Yet, it couldn’t be. They were in a house in the frigid Scottish Highlands in late autumn, not the place or time for humidity.

  Servants came in and began to place steaming dishes on the table. Roast beef sat on one platter, sliced chicken on another. Vegetables, roast potatoes, and a big silver gravy boat full of sauce completed the table. Her stomach rumbled, and she wanted to disappear under the table. An elbow nudged her side, and she turned to Callum.

  “I’m ravenous, too.” He winked at her, then let his gaze slide down her body, and the word ravenous took on a whole other meaning.

  Despite her nerves and her unease at being seated with these men who made her feel so much, in the same room as her sister, which seemed somewhat wrong, her body responded to his dark tone. Between her legs, moisture gathered, and her cheeks flushed at the realization.

  Rhyndor took a breadstick, snapped it in half, then took a bite with perfect white teeth. He chewed for a moment, swallowed, and then focused on her. “So, Lilly. What do you do?”

  The question threw her. What did she do? Other than pretending to enjoy the partying, carrying out her boring part-time job in an office, and waiting for Zach? Nothing, other than her volunteering, and most people she talked to about her work at the shelter got a glazed look or frowned as if she’d gone mad. Her aunt had said, “Good Lord, Lilly, can’t you join the charity ball board like any normal person, instead of scrabbling around in the dirt at some awful kennels?”

  God, she must seem so boring and useless. Claire used to be a cage fighter, a legit, bona fide cage fighter, and Mia painted gorgeous pictures. Her? She mostly mooched off Mommy and Daddy while she decided what to do with her life and hoped she’d marry Zach and get the perfect family to replace the one she’d never had.

  “Not much.” She flushed.

  “You write.” Claire began to dole out vegetables, focusing on them as she spoke. “Lilly loves to write, don’t you? She has a blog, and it’s popular. I can understand why, having read it. And she volunteers at a local animal shelter.”

  Claire’s words surprised her. She had no clue her sister read her blog. It was mostly boring, wasn’t it?

  “I love the stories you tell about your time at the shelter. You manage to make them full of pathos, but funny too. I bet the animals you feature always get adopted.”

  The praise warmed her, making her glow inside.

  “Wow, you volunteer at an animal shelter?” Rhyndor smiled at her, and dimples formed either side of his luscious mouth. Shoot her now! “That’s cool. Giving your time to such a worthy cause.”

  She shrugged. Her mom always said it was simply more dallying about, and she should be at college or getting a proper job. Her parents wanted her to study law, but she hated the idea. When she’d said she wanted to work with animals, she’d been pressured to become a vet. But she didn’t want to do that either. The idea of having to hold the power of life and death in her hands over some defenseless animal terrified her. She would have quite liked to have been a veterinary nurse, helping but not having the ultimate responsibility, but her mother had been horrified at Lilly thinking of taking such a lowly role.

  “You have a real way with words and can make a story come alive.” Once more, Claire’s praise warmed her.

  “Thanks.” She didn’t know what else to say. Something struck her then. How little praise she’d received in her life. Her best friend, Missy, rooted for her—and for Zach when they were “on.” But most of her friends viewed her as the odd one in the group. The eccentric one, whom they laughed at. Gently maybe, but they still laughed. And her parents simply wanted her to sort herself out and get a suitable job and an even better husband.

  “I like animals.” Rhyndor spoke in that gruff, sexy way of his. “I’ve always wanted a dog. But we never settled anywhere that seemed to be permanent, and so we never got around to getting one. I’m hoping we can change things once we’ve talked with Steffan. I’m hoping we can settle down somewhere. I still want to travel, don’t get me wrong, but it will be nice to have a permanent base.”

  Claire wrinkled her brow. “I thought you were based in New York?”

  “We spend a fair bit of time there. We have an apartment on the Upper East Side, but I want to sell,” Rhyndor said. “I’ve been missing nature more and more. We’ve rented a house the last few months in Connecticut, on a lake. And it’s gorgeous, but it isn’t home. We still go back to the city for extended periods of time, and we’ll always visit p
laces like New York. But the apartment is worth a fortune, and I’d rather be elsewhere. I want to come home. Back to the UK.”

  Lilly flushed and heated further at the idea of them living in the same state as her, and then her spidey senses tingled and she wondered about the coincidence of it all. Something more was definitely going on here, but the what eluded her.

  “Back to living in a clan?” Nathan asked, dragging her attention back to the conversation.

  “Nope.” Callum shuddered dramatically next to her. “No way. We’d live near a clan but separate.”

  “Property is not cheap in the UK these days.” Dominic chewed on a mouthful of beef.

  Callum shrugged. “Our place in New York is worth over thirty mil.”

  She choked on her wine. What the hell? Thirty million? And she’d thought her family was wealthy with their ten-million-dollar home. Jesus!

  “I bought it many years ago,” Rhyndor said. “Before property went crazy. It was a mess when I bought it and still a mess when Callum found me. He paid a designer to do it up, give it a facelift, and now we’re sitting on a whole ton of money in the property. We’d like to buy somewhere in London, or maybe Paris, and a place here in the Highlands possibly. Near to clan land. And we’d give the rest of the money from the sale to the clans, for any dragons who fall on hard times.”

  “And some to your animal shelter, Lilly,” Callum said with a cheeky wink.

  Not that these guys had included her in their plans at all, but they had made it clear they wanted her. For a moment, she let herself wonder if she’d be happy leaving Connecticut to live in the UK. And splitting her time between London or Paris and somewhere more remote.

  They finished eating, and she heaved a sigh of relief when the plates were cleared away and Nathan suggested they retire to the lounge. The stilted conversation and long silences grated on her last nerve and reminded her too much of home. Things weren’t normally strained here, and she realized she’d enjoyed evenings without the frosty silences. God, would she and Zach end up like her parents?