Zara rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”
“What are the packs like in California? Do you have any dragons out there?”
She pulled her jacket tighter. “No. We have a lot of alpha bears. Bunch of big, dumb idiots.”
Asher made a noise in agreement. “I think you’ll find that’s just about all men. We’re all big, dumb idiots. We just show it differently.” He was quiet for a moment. “Were those bears good to you? Or are they why you’re here now?”
She heard the low rumble in his voice, that protective tone she’d felt earlier.
“The bears are okay. I left for other reasons.”
“Like snow?” It was like he could tell her mind had drifted somewhere dark. He bounced on his heels and coaxed laughter from her.
It was hard to remind herself that this man had lifted a human off his feet only twenty minutes ago. It’d been nothing to Asher. And when the drunk hit him, he barely registered it. A punch like that would have knocked her on her ass.
“Oh, I meant to ask,” Asher began. “Why did you run from me the other day? In the woods.”
She guffawed. “You can’t be serious. A giant white dragon descends from out of nowhere and you ask me why I ran?”
“No, I’m pretty sure I descended from the sky. Not nowhere. I’m not magical or anything like that.”
The fact that he was a dragon at all was pretty magical. They shouldn’t have existed, and yet one was walking her home like he was a freaking white knight.
“The world is very big when I’m in my fox form. To see a dragon coming toward me, even one as dumb looking as you, it can be terrifying. I ran before you could eat me in one bite.”
He seemed affronted for a second. “I would not eat you!”
Zara couldn’t stop the smile taking over her features. “You’re mad that I’d think you would eat me, but you’re not going to argue when I say you look dumb?”
“Hey, I already told you all men are dumb. Apparently, I come with a warning.”
“You looked like a big, white poodle prancing around the woods,” she shot at him.
He pretended to be wounded, clasping his hands over his heart as he leaned away. Being around him was easy. It shouldn’t have been. Zara had to remind herself to put her walls back up. Asher wasn’t the kind of man she could afford to keep around. Even if all men were dumb, like he said, she couldn’t afford to hang around the dangerous ones.
Especially if they were dumb.
It didn’t matter that she could feel her fox’s fur brushing against her skin like a cat trying to get attention. The creature could throw itself toward Asher all it wanted, but Zara wouldn’t give in. She would take care of any urges she might have felt by herself tonight, before Chelsea came home.
“This is my place,” she said, jerking her thumb toward a duplex.
“This place looks boring,” he noted. “I live right on the lake. You should come around some time.”
“And have to put up with more dragons? No, thank you.”
He clicked his tongue. “They’re all a lot smarter than me. Besides, if you’re away from your pack, it might help to know some big tough types in the area. My clan would be more than happy to help you out.”
She ignored his offer. It was the last thing she needed. Dragons were huge and probably attracted equally massive opponents. Zara would get lost underfoot among them. That is so long as they didn’t see her as a crunchy snack first.
Asher walked up the porch steps with her and stood outside her door. His eyes were on the night around them, like he could see threats in every shifting shadow. This was a safe part of town and no one would have followed her home. Not with Asher hanging around.
She reached for the doorknob but paused. Zara couldn’t admit that she was trying to steal another moment in Asher’s presence before she said goodbye to him forever. Heat washed off him in waves, enticing her closer. Was he always this warm? Or was it just when he was around her?
There was a similar heat burning inside her. It pooled between her legs and became a begging ache. She tried to ignore it. She didn’t need Asher.
“What do I get for walking you home?” His voice became husky.
Zara was suddenly aware of how intimate her porch truly was. The small bubble of light wrapped them in its embrace, pulling them into one another. Asher towered over her. His head was bent over hers. If she tilted her chin up, it would be all too easy to rise the few inches to his lips.
Zara shook herself, yanked the front door open, and lurched inside. Nope. She couldn’t give in to him. Loneliness had made her beast hungry for any man that gave her even a bit of decent attention. No matter what her beast wanted, it was wrong about this man. He wasn’t the white knight she needed. He was a dragon, the biggest beast of them all.
The screen door slapped Asher in the forehead. He hissed and leaned back, clutching his head. One second, Zara had been there. He could smell her desire. Then, the next second, she was gone. Only empty air remained where she’d been. Empty air that smelled of her.
His beast roared. Heat drew his gut tight and constricted his lungs.
Asher wanted nothing more than to scream in frustration. He wasn’t used to this. Women didn’t run away from him. They ran toward him. All save for Zara. This fox-girl dodged him left and right. He’d thought the night was going so well. They were having fun and getting to know each other.
He didn’t expect the screen door to open again. Zara hopped out and gave him a peck on the cheek before jumping back inside.
“That was for walking me home!” she shouted through the closed door.
He held his cheek where she’d kissed him. If he’d been faster and caught her, he knew she would have melted in his hands. They would have fumbled through the door and lost themselves in the heat of the moment.
But this was good, too, he decided.
Asher spun on his heel and marched down to the end of the street. When the sidewalk stopped and the woods began, he didn’t pause. Asher just kept strolling past the trees and brush. Once he was away from the neighborhood, he let loose an excited hoot.
His beast broke free of his form and leapt into the sky. Asher flew a few laps around the lake before heading back to his lake house. The fancy home was a beacon on the shore that constantly glowed. There were so many windows, and he left the lights on so that it would look like a lighthouse in the dark.
Cole told him to use some of his fighting money to buy himself something nice in the area. Asher thought it was a good idea until he remembered why he liked his tiny cabin so much. The inside of the lake house was cold and empty.
He had a bit of furniture artfully placed around, but he hadn’t picked any of it out. He’d paid someone to furnish the lake house, when he should have done it himself. The designer had left so much open space that Asher felt restless. He craved plush leather sofas and recliners, and dense layers of throw pillows that would absorb his howls.
Instead, the designer picked all mid-century modern. The couch had little wooden legs that raised it off the ground. The chairs barely had any cushioning at all. The only thing that Asher liked was the bed. He blamed the designer for the pillows, especially when Buffy teased him, but the truth was they were all his.
He was supposed to be tough. Public image mattered a lot. Or, at least, that was what his publicist repeated every other day. Asher was supposed to be rugged and manly. Which, he thought he was. It didn’t matter if he lay down and hugged a pillow close before falling into a troubled sleep.
Chelsea came home that night. Zara couldn’t believe it when her roommate stumbled through the door at one AM.
The blonde threw her purse down onto the nearby coffee table before dropping onto the couch. She pouted, clearly waiting for Zara to ask what was wrong.
Zara didn’t want to talk about Chelsea’s problems though. They always seemed to pale in comparison to Zara’s life. Zara wanted to shake her human roommate and tell her that things could be so
much worse.
Finally, Chelsea got tired of waiting for Zara to talk first. “I lost him.”
Zara rolled her eyes. “Who did you lose?”
“The MMA fighter. What’s his name? Whatever. I turned around for a second and he slipped away.”
“You mean Asher?”
Chelsea pulled her knees underneath her and tied her hair back. Her eyes were gleaming, which bugged Zara. “Can you believe someone like that is here? In this little no-name town? I mean, I never thought I’d get the chance to meet someone like that.”
“You can’t even remember his name,” Zara reminded her.
Chelsea waved her off. It dragged a growl out of Zara. If Chelsea noticed, she didn’t say anything. Zara had to be careful around her human roommate. Asher brought out the worst in Zara, especially as far as Chelsea was concerned.
“I’m going to marry him,” Chelsea announced. There was determination in the flat set of her brows. “I’m going to tie him down. I mean, the man must be made of money. This is really the chance of a lifetime.”
Zara couldn’t stand it anymore. She closed the book she’d been reading, slammed it onto the coffee table, and left the room. Chelsea called after her, but Zara didn’t respond.
What was wrong with her? Why was she so jealous? Fury made her fingers curl into claws. She wiped her hands on her pants to see if she could get rid of the tension in them. It didn’t work. Zara’s nails grew longer, sharper.
Asher was just a man she happened to meet. She seriously doubted that Chelsea would get her way. Asher claimed to be dumb, but there was no way he was that dumb.
Zara’s door swung open. Chelsea burst through the doorway.
Zara’s jaw hit the floor. “Are you serious right now? Did you just force your way into my room? We have boundaries for a reason!”
Chelsea ran in and leapt onto Zara’s futon. “I forgive you for abandoning me tonight. I know that it must be rough picking up men with the way you dress and all. How about we do something relaxing tomorrow?”
Her friend’s apology was more than underhanded. It was a slap in the face. Zara wanted to pick Chelsea up and dump her out the window. But she didn’t. Instead, she climbed atop the futon beside Chelsea. Her roommate eyed a stuffed bat toy with clear distaste, but then she shook her head and grabbed a pillow.
“We should celebrate the last of our freedom,” Chelsea stated. “The fall semester is starting up soon. We’ll be stuck in stuffy classrooms while the last of summer fades away without us. I want to make tomorrow worth it. I want it to be our last hurrah.”
Zara raised a brow. She didn’t know about a last hurrah, but she had a thought. Chelsea would love it. And, if Zara was lucky, she might catch a glimpse of Asher again.
“We could go to the beach. I heard a certain hunk lives somewhere around the lake.”
Wait, that wasn’t what she was supposed to think. She was supposed to put every available inch of space between her and Asher. Before Zara could take back her words, Chelsea had perked up. Excitement lit across her face.
“Wait, are you talking about Mr. Tall-White-Haired-and-Hot-as-Hell?”
“That’s a really long name,” Zara told her. “You could just call him Asher.”
“Hmm, Asher? That is kind of a sexy name.”
Zara immediately regretted it. She hated hearing his name come from Chelsea’s lips. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting like this over a man she barely knew? Sure, he’d walked her home when Chelsea had basically left her on her own. Sure, he was cute and kind of funny and maybe just a little sweet, but he was still a dragon.
Her ideal mate would have been a wolf shifter. Maybe even a human. Someone who was strong enough to stand by her, but not so strong as to be a magnet for disaster. She couldn’t handle that kind of upset over and over.
Then again, the shifters that had made her early life a living hell had been her own people. Fox shifters weren’t very strong. They were quick and smart, but only marginally stronger than humans. Still, her family had managed to hurt her. They’d forced her to walk a path she hated, leading toward a future she dreaded.
In the end, did it really matter what kind of shifter a person was? Everyone had potential for harm.
Zara kicked Chelsea out after agreeing to a day at the beach. Her roommate bounded out, fingers already flying over her phone as she texted others to meet up. Zara closed the door behind her. It wouldn’t be a great day, but maybe watching Chelsea fail at seducing Asher would be funny.
How she knew Chelsea would never be able to win Asher over, she didn’t know. It was a feeling deep in her gut. The way he’d smiled just for her, how his eyes had been on her all night. Even if what he felt for Zara was a passing feeling, it meant that she had his attention when Chelsea wanted it.
4
Zara scowled down at her options. Chelsea had appeared and dumped a pile of bikinis onto the futon before vanishing once more. The strips of fabric were all bright, tiny, and flimsy as hell. Zara lifted a top by a dainty string. Her breasts were small, and she still doubted that they would fit in this top.
Chelsea had expectations, but Zara didn’t like any of the options she’d offered. Still, Zara tried them on. The first one was a macramé disaster that made Zara’s skin itch. The second was a thong that climbed up her butt cheeks. That was a definite no in Zara’s book.
Zara tried on the last bikini, thinking that maybe the third time was the charm. It wasn’t. The last bikini was a holographic disaster that would have blinded anyone who dared walk past her. She felt like a shining disco ball. It was tossed to the floor along with the rest.
In the end, Zara reached for her own bathing suit. Just like everything else Zara owned, it was black. Because her breasts were so small, the deep slit down the front suited her. She didn’t risk falling out every time she moved. It even showed off the little black line tattoo at the base of her sternum.
“You’re wearing that again?” Chelsea groaned as she leaned in the doorway unannounced.
Zara startled, letting out an accidental growl. Again, Chelsea didn’t hear it. The girl was oblivious to anything she didn’t want to hear.
“That’s just so…boring. What was wrong with what I picked out?”
Zara shrugged and lied. “I don’t know. I didn’t try them on.”
Chelsea pouted, but said nothing as Zara retrieved her giant, black sunhat. Knowing that it would be a long day, Zara grabbed a book on astrology and tucked it into her beach bag as well. Maybe she could hide out in the shade and get some reading done. She should have brought along one of her books for the upcoming semester, but she didn’t feel like reading about advanced statistics just yet.
She would avoid math for as long as possible. Perhaps taking a math-centric major was the wrong decision. It was the only one that promised a job right after graduation, though. She needed to be able to get into one if she was going to avoid returning to California. Or if she was going to have any sort of power if she wanted to visit home.
As long as she had a good job, an important one, she would have the power to tell her family no. Not Oscar and Regina. They made all of this possible for her. It was her blood relatives who still hounded her to marry an older man. As long as Zara could prove that she was capable of doing something good with her life, then she would have the confidence to tell her biological parents everything she’d ever felt.
Well, she wouldn’t tell them everything. She would probably just tell them no. Which was the most important word in her vocabulary at this point. No, she would not marry an old man. No, she would not have his children. No, she would not be a fox-mill.
Zara collapsed onto the edge of her futon. She was failing all of her classes. They were abysmal. If she couldn’t get her GPA up this semester, she would be kicked out. Where would she go then? What would she do with her life? Her biological parents would find her. They would use her failure as proof that she was meant to be a mother.
A ripping sound echoed throu
gh the room. She looked down to discover that she’d torn through the cover on her futon. She couldn’t afford to replace it. There had to be a sewing kit somewhere in the apartment. She could try to fix it later.
First, she had to get through Chelsea’s last hurrah of summer. When Zara met her roommate in the kitchen, the bottle of vodka was sticking out of Chelsea’s beach bag. Zara sighed. She made every attempt to be friends with her roommate because it meant better living conditions, but she and Chelsea couldn’t be more different.
Outside, a Jeep engine roared. Chelsea grabbed Zara’s hand and dragged her outside. Two guys Zara barely knew drove them to the beach. She suspected that Chelsea didn’t know these guys all that well either. One kept looking at Zara in the rearview mirror. She hated the way his lips curled in a smile every time.
It wasn’t like the way Asher looked at her. This guy eyed the narrow slit down the front of her swimsuit. If he thought she was as easy as Chelsea, he would be wrong. Zara wanted far more than Chelsea. She wanted the kind of love that her adoptive parents had. She wasn’t going to find it with some man who eyed her excuse for cleavage.
She’d hoped that when they got to the beach, they would all go their separate ways. Instead, Chelsea and the unnamed guys set up camp together. Zara swallowed her groan and pulled out her beach towel to lay it under the shade of the umbrella they brought.
“You don’t like sunshine, do you?” the guy asked her. “You’re really pale.”
“Goth life forever,” Zara muttered.
“What was that?” he leaned in, far too close for Zara’s comfort.
Her beast wanted to snap at him. She took a step back instead. He had put on too much cologne. It filled her nostrils and choked her throat. Heightened senses were one of the few shifter perks she had, but it was a pain in the ass around certain people. Guys like him bought spray cans of cologne by the box. She suspected that he showered in cologne, not water.
She gave him a tight smile. “No, I don’t really like the sunlight.”
Asher (Keepers Of The Lake Book 4) Page 3
