by Abigail Owen
She stared, blinking. “And you know this how?”
“Levi told me.”
“Did I miss him knocking on the door?” She gave an adorable scowl. “Please tell me he didn’t see my naked ass.”
“He told me telepathically.”
Her eyes widened. “Which means he’s a dragon right now?”
That was quick. “Yes.”
“Right. Do I have time to shower?”
“No.” He wasn’t going to scare her, but they needed to get downstairs.
Finn tried not to laugh at her disgruntled expression.
“I smell like sex,” she grumped, even as she scooted off the bed and padded, barefoot and gloriously naked, to the dresser.
He couldn’t peel his gaze from her. “I hate to break it to you, but they’ll have heard everything we did. Dragons have excellent hearing.”
Her hand paused in lifting a shirt out of the drawer. “Oh.”
Her whispered exclamation reached him, and he swore he heard a little more than embarrassment in her words. More like embarrassment and a smidge of…not interest exactly, but something close.
He stowed that bit of information away for later and joined her at the dresser, hastily pulling on clothes. “Dragon’s aren’t shy about sexuality. Other than getting them charged up a bit maybe, it won’t faze them.”
She paused in the middle of pulling on her clothes to stare at him. “Charged up?”
Too late, Finn realized this might be too much for her. Then again, maybe not if he read her response about the other men right. “Dragons have a…er…healthy sex drive.”
“And hearing us will…”
Finn grimaced even as he fought back a smile. “Get their motors revved? Probably. That, plus the scent. And we have damn good imaginations.”
Something inside him lightened as realization struck. This was how he used to be. Teasing. Easier.
What did that mean?
Not that he was doing a great job. She was obviously uncomfortable, refusing to look at him as she finished dressing. Before they walked out the door, he stopped her, gently tipping up her chin. “You have nothing to be ashamed about.”
Delaney snorted, but her cheeks were still pink. “I’m not ashamed, but you try being the focus of a bunch of horndog dragon shifters’ overactive libidos.”
He chuckled. “It’s not like that. They don’t want you necessarily, though I’m sure they wouldn’t turn down any offers you made.”
“Gee, thanks.”
He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “As far as they are concerned, you’re mine now.”
That only brought on another glower. She jerked her chin out of his grasp. “Excuse me? Yours? The hell you say. No man owns me.”
She stomped off down the hall muttering about horny dragon shifters.
He followed her out of the room. “That’s not how I meant it.” Though it had sounded possessive as soon as the words left his mouth. Still, he couldn’t deny that he didn’t want the others even blinking at her with sex in mind, not the way she’d put it at least.
Though possessing that gorgeous body while the team watched, so they could see she was his—
Holy shit. Get a fucking grip.
He’d never had an urge like that before. Never.
He followed Delaney downstairs and pointed when she glared at him for directions. She entered the kitchen ahead of him to find all his team waiting, except Levi and Kanta, who were with Sera. As soon as she did, Rivin and Keighan exchanged a smirk.
Before Finn could signal them to lay off, Delaney planted her hands on her hips and stared them all down. “If you want me to continue cooking dinner, I suggest you keep your traps shut about anything you might have heard or smelled, et cetera, related to sex.”
Rivin cocked his head. “Not even—”
She snapped a hand up, stopping him before he got started. “Rivin will be making dinner tonight. Anyone else?”
Silence blanketed the room. Finn had to bite back a laugh at the combination of expressions his men sported—everything from amused to shocked to consternated to glaring at Rivin.
At least Delaney was getting comfortable with the idea of dragon shifters. Honestly, given she’d only learned that less than twelve hours ago, she was doing fucking amazing at handling everyone.
Hopefully whatever had put Levi on alert wasn’t about to scare the shit out of her. “What’s going on?”
Keighan kept a close eye on Delaney as he answered. “We had another fire at the winery.”
Delaney stilled, but otherwise didn’t react.
“How big?” Finn snapped, keeping his gaze on her back.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Keighan moved his focus to him. “We had it put out before it did any damage, but now a series of small fires have popped up trailing away from the winery and leading to a bigger one breaking out farther into the mountains. Wilderness area.”
“What do we know so far?”
“Levi is pretty sure this is all one dragon. The smaller fires literally lead to the bigger one like stepping stones. And they smell like Graff.”
“Let’s get them out fast, before the authorities are called in.” Finn moved toward the door. “I need to assess the situation from the air.”
Delaney’s head snapped to him. “Why?”
He couldn’t get a read on her reaction. Was she nervous for him, distrustful maybe, or simply curious? “I have to determine where to send my team, how many are needed, that kind of thing.”
With dawn still hours away, providing a cover of darkness, they could handle these fires as dragons for now, maybe even have them put out before humans needed to be involved.
Without another word, he spun on his heel, heading outside to shift.
He started the process as soon as the cool night air hit his skin, shifting as he walked, taking that forward momentum into a leap. Gaining altitude, he sent out mental feelers for Levi and Kanta.
“Hold your positions here until I signal the plan.”
“Yes, Boss,” they both came back.
“No wind tonight, boss,” Levi called.
Luckily, they’d had rain recently and a good amount. Hopefully that would allow them to get these fires out quickly. The last thing they needed was human interference. A rogue dragon setting fires was one thing, but Graff had already proved willing to put humans in harm’s way.
The winery was close, as the crow flew, or in this case, as the larger and faster dragon flew. Finn scented the fires in the air immediately, the smoke already heavy in the air. The glow of red-orange light cast by them, reflecting off the cloud cover, alerted him to the location of the blazes long before he arrived.
As he neared he got a better look at the trail of flames leading into the wilderness like glittering stepping stones, lighting his way in the dark. What was the purpose of this move? To draw them out?
“Boss.” Aidan’s voice came over loud and clear.
“Go.”
“We got the fire closest to the winery handled.”
“Good. Hold for now. We can’t leave Sera unprotected.” Delaney would kill him. “I’ll scout the largest fire. Each of you take a smaller one, and we’ll go from there.”
“Got it, boss. Just one other problem.”
“What?”
“Sera witnessed Kanta shifting.”
Damn. After almost three hundred years in this place, you’d think they’d be better at keeping this shit under wraps.
“Deal with it.” He didn’t have time to walk two women through the process tonight. Aidan could handle wiping her memory again.
“Yes, sir.”
As it turned out, the largest of the fires was a fair way out. Finn circled it twice, reviewing the size, the lack of wind, the locations of water and natural firebreaks. No sign of the dragon who set it appeared anywhere. Finn tipped his wings, turning back for his team.
He was going to need every man if they were going to put this out before fore
st rangers or other humans noticed, which would leave Delaney unprotected. Fucking hell. That only left him with one option. Long before he arrived back, he started calling to the team, giving instructions.
“Drake, we need Lyndi’s help.”
“Already on it, boss. Lyndi and three of her boys are on the way here to pick up Delaney. They’ll get Sera next and take them back to their place. Blake is with his grandparents, so Lyndi’s sending another two over there to keep watch.”
Finn gave a low growl at the thought of Delaney being surrounded by the delinquents who Lyndi put up in her halfway house for dragon shifters—providing motherless dragons in the Americas with a home so they wouldn’t have to go rogue. They weren’t the most stable of shifters.
Still, they were dragons, many of them full grown. They’d be able to hold off Graff if he attacked while Finn and his team were occupied. Hell, some of those guys were this side of feral. Graff would have to be a raving lunatic to mess with them on his own.
Which is exactly what he was. Killing that many mates had destroyed too much of him. Finn didn’t have a choice, though.
Not ideal, but it would work. This time.
…
He left me.
A stupid thing to be thinking. Finn had to go fight fires and save her friend’s winery, not to mention Delaney’s job. Plus, he’d said casual sex only. This wasn’t a relationship. This wasn’t making sure she was okay before he flew off to fight fires and dragons and whatnot.
But she still couldn’t shake the nagging sensation of total wrongness. He’d just left. Not even a glance at her, or at the very least, an explanation. She hadn’t expected a warm embrace or anything, but even a simple goodbye would have been…
Hell, she’d almost thought the word nice.
Delaney tried to pull back her shoulders, only she was wedged in the back of Lyndi’s car between two burly young dragon shifters named Coahoma, which apparently meant red panther in Choctaw, and Mike, who’d grinned and told her his name didn’t mean anything dragon-y.
Sera rode in the car behind them with another hulking guy. Apparently, she hadn’t been the only human to learn about dragon shifters tonight. Lyndi warned her that Sera’d witnessed Kanta shifting and Aidan had wiped her memory, which sounded wrong to her, though she got why. The lack of choice on Sera’s part was what bothered her. Good thing Finn had never wiped her memory.
Apparently, Aidan did a good job, because all Sera said when they picked her up at the winery was, “Do you think they can keep the fire away from the grapes?”
That was it, though Sera had appeared to be in a mild state of shock. Maybe the hysterics would come later?
Delaney had hugged her friend, her heart breaking because, again, this was her fault. Maybe the time had come for her to disappear. Really disappear—head off into wilderness alone so that Graff wouldn’t have anyone he could attack to try to get to her.
Every so often, Delaney turned to check that the other car was still there. Meanwhile, Lyndi kept flicking her glances in the rearview mirror, her face pinched with worry. While Delaney appreciated the other woman’s concern, she didn’t need it. “Where are we going?” she asked to redirect Lyndi’s focus.
“I run an orphanage and halfway house for young dragons.” The smile came through in Lyndi’s voice, though Delaney couldn’t see her lips.
Really? She glanced at the men making up the two ends of a Delaney sandwich. These guys needed that kind of help? They appeared terrifyingly self-sufficient to her.
Coahoma, a blond giant with pale eyes that would probably glow under a black light, must’ve caught the gist of her thoughts, because he nodded. “Yes ma’am. Some dragons need a place to go.”
“Why?” she asked. “If you don’t mind my asking.”
Coahoma and Mike exchanged a grim look, similar experience passing between them that bonded them together in a way she’d probably never understand.
“Male dragons won’t raise another man’s offspring,” Mike said with a bitter twist to his lips.
“No matter if his mate might be willing to,” Coahoma muttered.
Delaney wasn’t sure what, exactly, they meant and had many more questions, but held them in, suspecting that, though they lived it every day, this was a tricky topic for the two young men guarding her.
“How far are we from where you live?” she asked instead.
“Not far,” Lyndi said. “Drake insisted I stay close.”
“So, Finn isn’t the only overprotective one?” Delaney scoffed.
Lyndi snorted. “Nope. They’re all built that way. Even these two.”
“Aren’t we protecting you right now?” Mike pointed out.
Delaney grinned even through her anxiety. “Good point.”
Minutes later, Lyndi pulled off the highway, then spent another ten minutes following a series of back roads to a massive home. Nothing ostentatious. In fact, it appeared slightly run down, but large nonetheless. What was with dragon shifters and huge communal houses? Though, Delaney allowed grudgingly, for an orphanage, it made sense.
Once inside, they went over where they’d be sleeping. Lyndi had decided to keep all the humans in one place—the living area that had two couches that converted to beds. The young men in the home would guard them in pairs and in shifts, staying awake through the night.
Still with hours before daybreak, she and Sera lay down. Lyndi, meanwhile, took up the first watch, claiming she couldn’t sleep now anyway. She sat in a leather wingback chair, her feet propped on Delaney’s bed and crossed at the ankle.
Delaney couldn’t shut off her mind, so she rolled to face her hostess. “How many boys do you take care of?” she whispered.
Lyndi wiggled her toes in a stretch. “Five right now. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes fewer. We try to find them groups of dragon shifters to integrate into, but it can be hard when several want to remain together or stay close by.”
Whoa. She hadn’t seen that coming. “Why so many?” As communal-minded as the shifters seemed, she was surprised how many were alone.
Lyndi flicked a glance at Sera whose light snores were audible in the otherwise silent room. “Dragons don’t marry like humans. They mate. It’s more than an agreement because only couples who are destined can mate. A magical bond forms between a mated pair, like two halves finally becoming whole. It’s special, allowing them to feel each other, sometimes speak to each other through the link. I’ve heard the connection is incredible. Soul deep.” She gave a wistful sigh, then blinked away the expression. “But if one mate dies, so does the other, leaving their children orphans. Like Mike said, most male dragons won’t raise a child who is not their own. Their family lines are too precious. So sadly, given the constant fighting, not only among dragons, but with other supernaturals, many young dragons are left to fend for themselves.”
Mike’s comment about male dragons made more sense now. She suspected he and Coahoma had experience with that particularly cruel form of rejection. “So, they go to orphanages?”
Lyndi propped her chin in her hand. “No. This place…” She glanced around. “It’s unique. The only one of its kind as far as I know.”
That pulled a frown from Delaney. “What do all the other orphans do?” she whispered, aware that one of Lyndi’s boys was also in the room, probably listening in with that super hearing they all had.
“They die,” Lyndi said simply.
Whoa. She’d thought humans were bad about protecting children. Her heart broke—not just for the boys here, they were the lucky ones it sounded like—but for the others. “Why?”
Lyndi shrugged. “Orphaned dragons generally have two options. Fend for themselves among their clan—most don’t make it, either starving to death or being unable to control their shift the first time and going feral. With no one to teach them, they have to be put down like a rabid dog.”
Jeez. This was getting worse by the second.
“Or…” Lyndi continued.
There was m
ore?
“…they separate from their clan and go rogue. Rogues are traitors, criminals, and otherwise unwanted. Most didn’t live long on their own, hunted down and killed either by other dragons who don’t trust those without an allegiance, or by other supernaturals who have a beef with dragon shifters and considered a rogue open season.”
“That’s awful.” Not that she understood everything. All the talk of clans and kings was a bit over her head. Some kind of global hierarchy, perhaps? “So, you started this place to help.”
Lyndi’s face softened, her lips drawing up in a smile. “Best thing I ever did.”
“Have you thought about…er…mating and starting a family of your own?” Delaney pulled a face. “Sorry for all the questions. I’m just…”
“Curious?” Lyndi poked her with a toe and smiled. “I get it. So…the rare few dragon shifters born female are sterile. A female-born dragon usually ends up taking care of her brother’s family, like a spinster aunt.”
“How…nice of them.” Delaney tried to be polite, but that sounded like they were being used to her.
Lyndi snorted. “That life held zero appeal, not that Drake has produced any family for me to help with. We have six other brothers, but I didn’t want to be tied down, so I followed Drake here as soon as I could. Eventually, I turned all those mothering instincts to providing for those abandoned by our society. I made my own family.”
“Good for you.” And she meant it. Delaney secretly suspected the other woman longed for the ability to mate, to bond with another dragon in that magical way she’d described. To take the knowledge that she never would and flip it on its head…Lyndi was amazing.
“Aidan was one of my boys, not that he was much of a boy when I found him. I’ve never been as proud as when Finn went to bat with the powers that be for him to join the team.”
Delaney had a hard time picturing Aidan as a boy. His serious ways, highlighted by his darkly handsome, but often brooding good looks, made that an impossible task. But she could see from how Lyndi glowed that his being included on the Huracán Enforcers was a big deal. “Finn doesn’t choose the team?”
Lyndi shook her head. “In our society, those sent to man a team in the colonies are some of the best fighters and leaders in their clans. They’re appointed to the role by the king of their clan. It’s considered a huge honor.”
