by Ruby Forrest
Dragon Protector
A WILD Security Book
Ruby Forrest
Join my Ruby Forrest Moonlight Lovers list, for all things paranormal… and dirty: http://bit.ly/2AZ6NW9
WARNING: This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language. It may be considered offensive to some readers. This book is for sale to adults ONLY.
Please ensure this book is stored somewhere that cannot be accessed by underage readers.
Copyright 2018 by Ruby Forrest - All rights reserved.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Any product or company names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them. Use of author names or pen names by Kate Blake Publishing, resembling existing author names or pen names not owned by Kate Blake Publishing, does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.
Table of Contents
Dragon Protector
BONUS CONTENT
The Alpha Male Collection
Dragon Protector
Chapter 1
Janet was sitting in a large office, staring out across the skyline. The office was at the top of the building, grand and sprawling. There were leather chairs dotted around the room, artwork hanging off the walls and a sleek desk in the middle of the room.
Janet had turned away from all of that, so that she could, instead, look out of the window and enjoy the view, take it all in and think. She wasn’t in a happy mood, not particularly, but the sting of grief had lessened, at least a little bit.
This had been her father’s office, and she found herself sitting in it now, feeling unbearably alone. She sighed, the sound heavy and far too loud in the silence of the room. This had been her father’s desk, his chair. This was where he had worked hard to build the company up from scratch, this was where he had sat and discussed the world and the changes that he was making in it. This room held her father’s presence. His ghost.
Janet turned and rubbed at her eyes, feeling a dull ache in her chest. Janet had never truly known her father, had never truly known him as a person, or as a figure present in her life. He worked hard to run the company, worked hard to give Janet and her mother a great life, a life where they did not have to struggle. He worked deeply at this every single day of his life.
He stayed late at the office and often worked weekends. He worked hard, and Janet could never be angry at him for that. Still, it left a dull sort of ache, a hole where intense grief should be. She didn’t know how to mourn him, how to mourn a man who she loved, and yet barely knew, in every sense of the word.
He had been a good father and she held no ill will towards him, but at the same time, she didn’t know how to miss him, how to feel his absence like a hole in her chest. He had never really been around enough for Janet to learn about him, to learn what he liked, what he enjoyed, what made him tick. She didn’t know what he liked, didn’t know what he enjoyed, and didn’t know why he was so driven to work and work and work. She had barely known him, when it came down to it and the thought sent a dull sort of ache through Janet, a twinge of pain in her chest.
She wished that she felt more pain and sorrow, wished that she felt his loss more keenly. Still, she was saddened by his loss, she felt the pain of everything in her life changing, everything shifting, the grief that piled and pooled around her, driven by people who knew him better than she ever could.
Janet sighed and looked out of the window. And then there was the added responsibilities that were being heaped on Janet, the added things that she had to focus on, had to think about, had to plan for and sort and do her best to make sure she had a good grip on.
With her father gone, Janet was next in line to manage the business. He had never released his full ownership of the company and so he had passed it to Janet. Janet had studied business at college- her father had insisted, but other than that, she had no real idea about what made this company tick.
It was the family business, the business that her father had built up from scratch, built up from nothing at all. It was to be revered, it was special and sacred and it was supposed to light a fire inside of her. But, put simply, Janet didn’t know what she was doing when it came to running this business. She didn’t know what she was supposed to be doing when she spoke with clients. She didn’t know what his end goal had been, and how she was meant to shape and mold this business in the right way.
She understood the basics, of course, but every company ran differently and Janet was still trying to figure out the company culture. This was her office now, technically speaking, but she couldn’t have felt more out of place. This room was full of her father’s ghosts, ghosts of a company she didn’t understand, ghosts of a man she never really got to know.
She shuddered and looked back out the window. The city sprawled beneath them, layer after layer of buildings, of smoke and lights and people. It was incredible to see it from this height, incredible to think how many hundreds and thousands of people might live in this city, might love just below, just out of sight.
Janet turned around, her hand falling on a book. It was an old book. One of her father’s favorites, full of poetry and stories with deeper meaning. Janet lingered on it for a moment before she glanced at the desk, where a ticket lay, printed out and ready to go.
A plane ticket. A plane ticket to South Africa, where her father had been killed. She shifted in her seat, feeling the discomfort creep into her chest. He hadn’t been killed by accident, and it hadn’t been a curse of crime or something like that.
No, from the reports that she had received, it sounded like this had been very much on purpose. He had been killed on purpose by an extremist faction, who was opposed to her father’s work. She swallowed deeply as she considered it.
The company dealt in diamonds, which was always a touchy subject around the world. It was important that she made sure she understood the climate in the diamond industry and she had been reading up about it. Evidently, the extremists were claiming that her father’s company traded in blood diamonds, and lives of their countrymen in neighboring countries were being slaughtered for profit.
They had been angry when they had killed him and Janet felt like a stone was dropping into her stomach. She had no idea if what they were saying was true or not, but the thought made her sick to her stomach. She didn’t want to believe that her father had done anything wrong, and the fear at the thought of him being attacked and killed like that, lingered like a bad taste in her mouth.
What if she was attacked next? What if they went after her instead of her father? She felt a pang in her stomach. It was silly to think like that, silly to let fear creep into her mind and stay there, lying quiet and waiting. It was silly to be driven by what ifs, especially as she had a job to do.
Janet steadied herself and took a deep breath. It had been a lot to take in, a lot to try and handle and consider and figure out. It was a lot to manage in her head and try and learn about this all at once, but Janet was determined to try. She didn’t want to take up the family business and try to smooth out the latest business deal. She didn’t want to take charge of it all and keep the company afloat, but Janet didn’t know what else to do.
This was still her father’s company, her family’s security and dream. She couldn’t
just let it all crumble around her while she sat and did nothing. She was intelligent and hardworking and she could figure this out.
At least, that was what she repeated to herself over and over. Finally, Janet pushed herself up, her legs aching from being still for so long. She grabbed the ticket and stuffed it into her wallet, tucking it away and making sure that it was safe and hidden. Then she looked and checked her cards, her passport and other identification. She checked that she had all the business documents, hotel room numbers and other numbers that she might need.
In a spur of the moment decision, Janet pocketed the book as well, sliding it into her bag. Satisfied that she had everything she needed, Janet made her way to the door of the room. Somehow, it was always hard to leave this room.
On one hand, she was eager to leave, leave the ghosts and the responsibilities behind her, cast it off and go back to how life was before. But, on the other hand, it felt like turning her back on her past, turning her back on her father and the life that he had built for them.
She lingered, her hand resting on the door frame as she stared back into the room, into the darkness that was starting to descend on the furniture, “I’ll be back.” She whispered, murmuring the words almost like a prayer. She would be back. She’d sort this out.
She’d manage the company, she wouldn’t let it crumble. Somehow, she would learn as she went.
Chapter 2
Janet stopped by the house to pick up her suitcase, and dropped it into the car. She had a personal driver now. Of course, she had the option growing up, but she had always declined and chose to live a more normal life instead.
Now, as the head of the company, with a potential bounty on her head, Janet took the option given to her and used a personal driver instead. She sat in the back seat, watching the city swirl by her. She couldn’t help but consider how terribly different the city looked from this perspective. It was a lot busier, and the layers all but disappeared into nothingness when you were this close to the ground.
Janet continued to watch as they headed towards the airport and she settled back in the seat. After a few moments, she glanced at her bag. The book of fairy tales and poetry that her father had left in his office…it was calling to her. She felt a lump in her throat. He hadn’t spent a lot of time with her, hadn’t really read to her very often. But when he had, it had always been from this book. She smiled, feeling the prick of tears, which she blinked back.
She lifted the book out of her bag and thumbed through it, trying to find the page of her favorite story, the story of the golden bird. She scanned the pages until she came to the most well-worn part of the book.
“How long until we’re at the airport?” Janet asked the driver, leaning forward.
“A few more minutes.” Janet nodded and glanced down. She could finish whatever she didn’t read now, in the plane. Eyes down, she began to read.
A specific lord had an excellent garden, and in the garden stood a tree which bore brilliant apples. These apples were constantly checked, and about the time when they started to develop ready it was discovered that consistently one of them was no more. The ruler turned out to be extremely irate at this, and requested the nursery worker to hold observe throughout the night under the tree. The planter set his oldest child to watch; yet around twelve o'clock he nodded off, and early in the day one more of the apples was absent. At that point the second child was requested to watch; and at midnight he excessively nodded off, and toward the beginning of the day another apple was no more.
At that point the third child offered to keep watch; yet the nursery worker at first would not let him, for fear some damage should come to him: in any case, finally he agreed, and the young fellow laid himself under the tree to watch. As the clock struck twelve he heard a stirring commotion noticeable all around, and a winged creature came flying that was of unadulterated gold; and as it was snapping at one of the apples with its nose, the plant specialist's child bounced up and shot a bolt at it. In any case, the bolt did the flying creature no damage; just it dropped a brilliant plume from its tail, and after that took off. The brilliant plume was conveyed to the ruler toward the beginning of the day, and all the board was assembled.
Everybody concurred that it was worth more than all the abundance of the kingdom: yet the lord stated, 'One plume is of no utilization to me, I should have the entire feathered creature.'
Janet smiled faintly as she read the words, ghosting her fingers across the page. It struck her, suddenly, that her father was a bit like the king in the book. He wasn’t happy with a small business, but he strove to build an empire. He wasn’t happy with one feather- he wanted the entire bird.
The car jolted to a shuddering stop and Janet lifted her head. They were surrounded by cars, many, many cars and the bright lights of the airport terminal. Quickly, Janet slipped the book back into her bag, resolving to read it while waiting for her plane, or perhaps on the plane itself, to pass the time.
She sat up slowly, double checking the time and that she had everything that she needed for the trip. Then she stepped out of the car. The driver had finished paying for parking and had grabbed her suitcase for her. She smiled in appreciation, and they walked towards the building.
Inside, it was busy. The night air was cool around them, but within the building, it was bright and bustling and busy. Janet drank it all in and took a deep breath to settle the buzz of nerves in her heart. Everything was going to be just fine. Everything was going to work out and there was no reason for her to worry as much as she was. She headed towards the checkout bays and presented her ticket and identification. Her driver helped slide the luggage through, although Janet kept her carry-on bag close. It didn’t take long to process everything and she turned to her driver with a smile, “Thank you for your help.”
He nodded politely, “Shall I stay, miss?”
Janet shook her head, “No thank you. It’s late, and I’m sure you have somewhere to be.” She smiled, “I’ll arrange for pickup when I know my return dates.”
He nodded and smiled, “I hope that you have a safe trip.”
Then he turned and Janet watched him weave through the crowd, watched him until he disappeared, watched him until he was gone, until she could not see him anymore, until she could not see even a glimmer of him in the crowd.
Then she turned around, and headed towards the admissions gate. She showed her ticket and was scanned accordingly. She was searched, she had her luggage checked and then she was allowed through.
She made her way into the terminal itself, shuddering at how busy and bright everything seemed. She held her bag tighter. She needed some time to breathe. Looking around, Janet spotted a coffee shop. She hurried towards it, ordering herself a cup of hot coffee, before she found the most secluded spot she could.
She looked up, watching the screens flash with the flight times. She still had a little while before she had to board. She was lucky enough to avoid the hour or two wait time, purely because the company’s human resource team had flashed her name and position while they were booking her tickets.
She shivered a little. It only served to reinforce the idea that she was in trouble, in some sort of danger, just by existing and the thought was not one that Janet was comfortable with, not in the slightest.
She tried to ignore her worry and focus on something else instead. She grabbed the book back out of her bag and flipped through the pages until she found her place again, and continued where she had left off.
Then the plant specialist's oldest child set out and thought to locate the brilliant fowl effortlessly; and when he had gone yet a little way, he went to a wood, and by the side of the wood he saw a fox sitting; so he took his bow and made prepared to shoot at it. At that point the fox stated, 'Don't shoot me, for I will give you great guidance; I realize what your business is, and that you need to locate the brilliant feathered creature. You will achieve a town at night; and when you arrive, you will see two motels inverse to eac
h other, one of which is extremely lovely and wonderful to take a gander at: go not in there, but rather rest for the night in the other, however it might appear to you to be exceptionally poor and mean.' But the child contemplated internally, 'What can such a brute as this think about the issue?' So he shot his bolt at the fox; yet he missed it, and it set up its tail over its back and kept running into the wood. At that point he went on his path, and at night went to the town where the two hotels were; and in one of these were individuals singing, and moving, and devouring; however the other looked extremely filthy, and poor. 'I ought to be senseless,' said he, 'on the off chance that I went to that ratty house, and left this beguiling spot'; so he went into the brilliant house, and ate and drank at his simplicity, and overlooked the feathered creature, and his nation as well.
Time passed on; and as the oldest child did not return, and no greetings were known about him, the second child set out, and a similar thing transpired. He met the fox, who gave him the solid counsel: however when he went to the two motels, his oldest sibling was remaining at the window where the fun was, and called to him to come in; and he couldn't withstand the enticement, yet went in, and overlooked the brilliant winged animal and his nation in a similar way.
Janet chuckled a little. This part of the story always seemed a little bit odd to her, but she was enchanted with the talking fox. She was enchanted with the idea that a fox could speak, could be so much more intelligent than a human. She was enchanted with the magic of the story, the choices that were so impactful to the people within the book. She sighed and began reading the next paragraph.
