The Dragon Warrior (Lochguard Highland Dragons Book 4)

by Jessie Donovan

  She nearly frowned at that thought and focused back on the situation at hand. However, Grant merely stared at her and kept his hands in place.

  Grant moved to meet her eyes again and finally murmured, “Tell me the truth, Faye. What do you think of me?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “That bad?” The corner of his mouth ticked up and she wanted to trace the curve of his lips. Grant rarely smiled and certainly not in such a sexy manner at her.

  She bet every female in the clan noticed when he smiled.

  Her dragon huffed. Why should we care?

  Ignoring her beast, she answered, “Right now, ‘bad’ isn’t the word I’d use.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Then what would you choose? Strong? Reliable? Handsome?”

  She frowned. “You’re not one to fish for a compliment.”

  He squeezed her hip and she wished his hand would move further down. Of course the blasted male kept it in place as he replied, “No, but the longer I keep you here, the better chance I have of convincing you that I’m the only male you should look at.”

  “Grant, we—” He ran a hand up her side, her neck, and finally to her jaw. As he stroked her skin, she whispered, “We shouldn’t, Grant. It’s a bad idea.”

  Grant continued to brush his fingers against her skin, and each pass sent a rush of warmth between her thighs. He chuckled, and the sound reverberated through her entire body. She couldn’t resist him when he laughed.

  Grant’s husky voice filled her ear. “It’s a bad idea, why, exactly?”

  He kissed her ear and Faye was grateful for the wall supporting her. Somehow she forced her brain to work. “I’m not ready for a baby, Grant. And I’m not sure I could resist the mate-claim frenzy.”

  He brushed his lips against her skin once more, and Faye clutched Grant’s shirt in her hands to help keep her steady. “You’re the strongest female I know. If anyone could contain their beast and keep the frenzy at bay, it’s you.”

  As he nibbled down the length of her neck, Faye debated whether she was strong enough or not. Her beast spoke up again. It’s not a matter of strength. He still needs to grovel.

  Faye wavered on what to do. Grant’s lips on her skin set her on fire, and she was close to pulling him against her and kissing the living daylights out of him.

  However, before she could make a decision, Lachlan MacKintosh’s voice boomed down the hall. “There’s a problem. You two need to come with me.”

  In the next second, Grant stepped away from her and looked at Lachlan. “What happened?”

  The human shook his head. “Not here.”

  Without another word, Lachlan turned around and banged on the door to the private room. Faye barely had time to smooth her hair before Grant said, “Let’s go,” and entered the room after the human.

  Her dragon spoke up. That was close. You need to stay away from Grant.

  And if I can get him to grovel for you?

  That’s not important right now. I’m curious to see what’s happened.

  Pushing aside her memories of Grant kissing her neck, Faye took a deep breath and went into the private room. She could corner Grant later and discuss the possibilities for their future. Faye wasn’t completely dead set on pushing the male away, provided they established some ground rules.

  Not that she had the faintest idea why she wanted to deal with the grumpy male on a possibly long-term basis.

  But figuring out what the hell was going on between her and Grant would have to wait. For the time being, she looked to the human, Lachlan, and waited to see what all the bother was about.

  Chapter Eight

  Grant was grateful for Lachlan’s interruption. Another minute and he might’ve allowed his dragon and cock to ruin their assignment.

  His beast huffed. I wasn’t trying to ruin it. Taking Faye would allow us to perform better.

  Even though he shouldn’t, Grant thought back to how Faye softened under his fingers. Or how she leaned her ear toward his lips, as if asking him to take her lobe between his teeth.

  Aye, Lachlan’s interruption had prevented him from acting without thinking. He would need to be more vigilant in the future. As much as he wanted Faye in his bed, the clan came first. If he failed his mission, who knew what could happen.

  His dragon chimed in. They haven’t acted in months. A week or two more wouldn’t matter.

  He couldn’t allow his dragon to sway his decision, so Grant ignored him. A week or even a few days could make all the difference in the world when a threat was concerned.

  As Faye entered the room, he avoided looking at her. Thankfully Lachlan spoke up as soon as Faye closed the door. “Max Holbrook went to the toilet twenty minutes ago and never came back. He left a brief note in the toilet saying he had an errand to run, but no one saw him leave the restaurant.”

  He shot a look at Faye and raised his brows slightly. If they had been alone, she would’ve stuck her tongue out at him. Grant had been right about needing to be closer to the DDA party in the restaurant.

  Aaron Caruso from Stonefire asked, “I’m not sure why you’re talking to us about it. He’s not any of our charges.”

  Lachlan’s voice remained calm as he replied, “I’m aware of this fact, Mr. Caruso. However, the exhibition is set to debut tomorrow evening. If we can’t find Max Holbrook, we can’t hold the event.”

  Faye spoke up. “Why? All of his artifacts should already be in the DDA’s custody, aye?”

  “Yes, but this event can’t be tinged with scandal. I will postpone it indefinitely unless we find him.”

  “And by ‘we’ you mean ‘us,’” Grant stated.

  Lachlan met his gaze. “Dragon-shifters see better at night than humans. It’s only logical that I ask for your help.”

  Adrian chimed in. “You’re not asking, you’re telling us. You should still ask first.”

  “We’re all working as a team for the time being,” Lachlan answered. “I’m not about to waste time when I know you want this event to be a success, just as I do.”

  Grant grunted in agreement. If the exhibition were canceled, Grant and Faye would have to return to Lochguard and he wouldn’t be able to look for his uncle or the others. For Lochguard’s sake, Grant needed to ensure the event opened on time.

  “Was the note in his handwriting?” Faye asked. “Given how important the exhibition is, it could be one of our enemies that took him.”

  Lachlan stood a little taller. “Max has a tendency to do this. Before we selected him, we vetted him thoroughly and looked into his past. He’s gone to the toilet and left a note before disappearing on digs before. And before you ask, my security team kept an eye on the hallway where the toilets are located. Since we’re on the first floor, we didn’t worry about any windows.”

  Aaron spoke up. “And that was probably your mistake.”

  Lachlan ignored the Stonefire dragonman. “My security team will look into nefarious possibilities and sweep the area nearby. I need your help in looking further afield in case he did disappear to do some digging.”

  Grant could tell some of the dragon-shifters were on the fence about helping because of their dubious expressions. As much as he wished Lachlan would plan with them, he wasn’t about to let the whole event fall to pieces at this stage. He looked to Aaron. “What do you say, Caruso? Shall we stretch our wings? Unless you’re getting too old and need to take a nap.”

  Aaron was a few years older than Grant and he ribbed the English dragon-shifter whenever he could about it.

  Aaron took one last bite of his curry and stood. “Quinn and I will fly circles around you. I only hope you can catch up.”

  “We’ll see, old man.” Grant looked to Adrian of Northcastle. “And you lot?”

  The Northern Irish dragonman shrugged. “I suppose we could help otherwise Faye and I will never get the chance to sing that song together.”

  His dragon chimed in. Ignore him. Faye was about to kiss us in the hall, not him.

>   The Welsh dragonman, Wren, joined in. “We’ll help as well, although we don’t know the Scottish countryside as well as you.”

  “No worries. We’ll form a grid pattern and divide up the work.” He looked to Lachlan. “Can we entrust our clan members to your security team? I doubt Max is part of some nefarious scheme to capture everyone, but I want to play it safe.”

  “Are they going to pay attention this time?” Adrian drawled.

  Lachlan moved his hands to behind his back and gripped them. “Once everyone is inside our accommodations, it would take an army to break our defenses. They will be well protected.”

  Grant’s dragon spoke up. I believe his words.

  So do I. Maybe we should suggest that all meals are taken inside the B&B from now on.

  Grant focused back on the human. “In case Max did go off digging, do you know of another archaeologist you could call? If there’s a special dig site nearby, even a fabled one, we need to know.”

  “Of course. I know someone in Wiltshire. Let me call her whilst you organize the search,” Lachlan answered.

  Before Grant could do more than nod, Lachlan took out his mobile and went into the hall.

  Adrian’s voice filled the room. “It looks as if you’ve taken charge, mate, but why do you trust him so much?”

  Grant shrugged. “He has the most to lose if the exhibition fails. That should motivate him to do whatever it takes, which includes keeping our clan members safe.”

  Aaron jumped in. “I agree with Grant. Arguing will only take away precious time that could be used finding the annoying human.” He motioned toward Grant. “What’s your plan?”

  Grant would have to keep an eye on Adrian. He didn’t need dissent among the dragon-shifters. “Since there are four pairs of us, we’ll each cover one compass direction. Since Faye and I know the landscape better, we’ll take the direction with the most potential dig sites. We’ll check in every fifteen minutes until we find him.”

  The Welsh dragonman spoke up again. “We might not find him, McFarland.”

  Grant looked the male dead in the eye. “We need to. Otherwise, you can explain to all of our clan leaders why we failed with this assignment.”

  Since Grant didn’t know Wren all that well, he wasn’t sure if the male would challenge him or fall in line. After a few beats, the Welsh dragonman bobbed his head. “Fine, we’ll look until we find him. But if I do spot him, I’m not going to be gentle bringing him back. He’s not part of my clan.”

  “Fair enough,” Grant replied.

  Lachlan walked back inside. “My contact provided me with a list of possible sites, all related to dragon-shifter history. I have them here.”

  The human turned his mobile around and Grant scanned the list. One stuck out to him. “Craig Phadrig is the easiest to access of the lot. It’s to the west.”

  Adrian asked, “How do you know that?”

  “I visited the place as a boy. It’s an old fort and there are trails that take you to the top. While’s it’s famous for the Pictish occupation, there’s been a lot of speculation that dragon-shifters once helped protect the area during its heyday. But none of that matters. I have a feeling Max would love nothing more than to do a little digging at night, without any prying eyes. Of course, he’ll have to take a taxi or a car, so we might be able to head him off. Faye and I will take the west of the city where the fort is. Northcastle can take the east, Stonefire the north, and Snowridge the south. Any questions?” When no one said anything, he continued. “Then let me give you my mobile phone number as well as Faye’s. We’ll coordinate the information.”

  Not giving anyone a chance to protest, Grant rattled off the numbers. He then looked to Lachlan. “Just make sure the DDA knows what we’re doing. I don’t want to be shot down by mistake.”

  “I’ll tell them as long as you promise to tell me directly when you find Max. The DDA will want to find a way to contain him. If he indeed ran off to do some illegal digging, then he’ll be assigned a team to watch over him.”

  Or, rather, babysit him. “That’s fine. Humans aren’t my jurisdiction. You can do what you like with him,” Grant replied. “But I do expect you to watch over our clan members whilst we’re away. And try not to lose any more of the participants.”

  Lachlan clenched his jaw, but it was the only outward sign that Grant had struck a nerve. The human replied a beat later. “As I mentioned, we’ll be going back to the B&B, where it’s more secure. No one will be allowed in or out until you all return.”

  “Good. Then let’s not waste any more time. Faye, come with me.”

  As Grant made his way out of the room, he didn’t bother to check that Faye followed. He knew she would.

  His dragon spoke up. Adrian looked less than pleased.

  Someone needed to step up, and I did. The Northern Irish dragonman can glare at me later, after we find the troublesome human.

  I’ll make sure to flash my teeth at Max. Maybe it’ll scare him into cooperating.

  I doubt it, but we can still try.

  His dragon fell silent and Grant picked up his pace. The sooner he found the human, the sooner he could corner Faye again and pick up where they’d left off. Even if he wasn’t going to claim her until the mission was complete, there was a lot he could do without initiating the mate-claim frenzy. Once Faye had a taste, he was sure she’d come around to the idea, especially if he could contain his jealousy and some of his alpha tendencies. If he wanted Faye, he needed to work on giving her room to thrive.

  His dragon chimed in. Now you’re trying to take credit for my ideas.

  Since we are one and the same, they’ve always been our ideas.

  That’s not quite true, and you know it. Next time, I’ll keep my ideas to myself until I can wrestle away control from you.

  Grant resisted sighing. How about we just focus on retrieving the human? We work best together when it comes to tracking. It’s also something you like to do.

  His beast paused a second before replying, Okay. But only because of what awaits us when we return.

  As his dragon fell silent, Grant hoped his beast wasn’t coming up with a plan of his own to win over Faye. His beast could be persistent and liked to take control. Grant wasn’t sure how Faye would respond to that approach.

  ~~~

  Faye had known Grant was a leader, but since her accident, she’d had little chance to witness him in action. He was far more commanding than she remembered from their time in the army.

  She was a big enough person to admit he was a good choice for head Protector.

  Her beast chimed in. I never doubted his ability to lead, only his ability to notice other people’s feelings.

  We’ve known Grant our whole lives. He’s never really been someone who displayed his own feelings, let alone was able to gauge others’ easily. His family wasn’t as open as ours.

  He’s lived on Lochguard most of his life. There’s no excuse for his behavior.

  Then let me ask you this: Would you want him to act like our family? I don’t know about you, but living with someone like one of our brothers or cousin, Finn, would be…tiring.

  Her dragon paused a beat before answering, Maybe.

  Good, then we’re on the same page.

  I still think he needs to grovel.

  She tried not to laugh at her dragon’s petulant tone. I didn’t say I was going to sleep with him or have his babies. But it was nice to have his attention for a while. Just imagine what all of his intensity could do if focused on us.

  Speaking of the devil, Grant looked over his shoulder at her. Faye quickly pushed aside thoughts of Grant’s attentions and tilted her head. “So, great leader, care to tell me when you went to Craig Phadrig and how you know so much about it?”

  Grant grunted. “Now’s not the time.”

  “We’re on the way to the castle to shift. There’s not much else we can do before that. You have a minute or two. I know silence is your default setting, but how about humoring me?”
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  He checked his mobile before answering, “Dad liked to watch that human archaeology show, Time Team, when it used to air on the telly. It was the only time the entire family sat down together to watch anything. Most of the time he was busy fixing or building houses, but on the rare occasion, he would take me and my brother to archaeological sites to look for old dragon-shifter artifacts. Craig Phadrig was one of them.”

  She couldn’t remember ever seeing the McFarlands out together as a family. Truth be told, she didn’t know much about them. She hoped to rectify that shortly.

  Her dragon spoke up. And why is that? I knew it. You do want to have his babies. Just know that I won’t let you give in to him too easily.

  Ignoring her beast, she caught up to Grant so that they walked side by side. “You’ve never talked much about your family, even before some of them left the clan. Not even to me. Why?”

  He glanced at her. “No one wants to hear about difficult times.”

  She touched his bicep. “I want you to be able to tell me anything, Grant. I mean it. Everyone should have someone they can confide in.”

  For a few beats, he remained silent, and she wondered if she’d pushed too far.

  His voice filled the evening’s air again. “Only if you do the same, lass. You might be outgoing and laughing on the outside, but I’m not the only one with demons in my past.”

  She frowned. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “You never met your dad, Faye. He died the night you were born. I’m sure it haunts you from time to time.”

  When Faye’s mother had been in labor, her dad, Jamie MacKenzie, had raced home during a storm to be with his pregnant mate. Since he had been killed by lightning en route, he’d never seen his only daughter.

  Faye tried not to think about her father much. Doing so almost seemed like a betrayal to her mum, who had worked doubly hard to be enough for her children. Still, she wished he’d survived the storm. While all of the stories said her dad had been a little more serious, like Fergus, he had treasured his children and mate.