Guardian of His Heart [Guardian 2] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove)

by Lacey Denair

  Damn it anyway! Where was she? Frederico would look until he found her. It was that simple. He would never give up now that he knew she lived.

  The ambassador finally stopped droning on, thank the Gods for that. He would love to go to that new restaurant in San Francisco tonight. His bodyguards liked it as well. Perhaps they would fly over. They had the best seafood. The king told himself to stop thinking about his mate and if would she enjoy seafood as much as he.

  King Frederico said good-bye to the very unhappy ambassador and left his office with his escort. As he was driven down the street in the limousine, his thoughts turned to his son, Saber and Ty. He hadn’t seen the twins in forever. They had just turned three, and he had brought presents from home for them. Now that he had completed his business, he could go see his son and son-in-law. He was very fond of Ty. He was just like his animal counterpart, always running around, happy with life, and fussing over the children and Saber. He envied his son. He had a kindhearted mate who loved him deeply. Ty was devoted to Saber. All he had to do was look at them to see it. One of these days.

  The king advised his escort he was going to see his grandchildren, and asked him to make arrangements. As soon as Mason, his personal bodyguard, advised him as to when they could arrive at the ranch, he made the call.

  He picked up his cell phone and called his son’s private line. Three rings and Saber picked up.

  “Father, how are you? Where are you and when are you coming to see the kids?” Saber bombarded him with questions.

  “I am currently in the colonies. On my way to that wonderful seafood place in California and then to you. I will see you the day after tomorrow. Will that be soon enough?” Frederico inquired.

  “Wonderful! I’ll let Ty know. We all miss you. See you then. Love you, Father.”

  “As I love you, my son.”

  Frederico sat back in his seat, smiled, and relaxed. He always felt better after a visit with his family. They would take his mind off other things.

  Chapter Three

  Kelley arrived at the ranch in high spirits. He loved visiting his brothers and their families. Especially with the little ones having arrived. He didn’t know how Jaclynn did it. Dragons had eleven-month pregnancies? Ghastly.

  Jaclynn and Jake let him fuss over the babies. They were just too cute. Good thing Jake already had two shotguns. He was definitely going to have need of them with two gorgeous girls and a heartbreaker boy. The only problem in Kelley’s opinion was the boy. James got stuck with the Taylor-Jordan red hair! At least it was dark auburn like his father’s.

  Kelley brought presents for the triplets, of course. Toys and adorable outfits. He had seen them online and couldn’t resist. Two toddler-sized dresses with pinafores and lots of lace. One a soft green, the other pale yellow for Joslynn and Rebecca. Of course a manly little suit in Neptune blue for young James. Having purchased many of them himself, Kelley knew they had more clothes than they could ever wear now, so he got something for later. The colors for the girls were perfect since they both had little tufts of dark hair.

  The first sundown he was there, Kelley watched as Saber and Ty took their evening stroll. They talked, laughed, and held hands, every so often turning and kissing. Kelley tried his best not to covet that with someone of his own.

  He spent his days playing with the babies and the toddler twins. Kelley enjoyed his evenings laughing, joking, and talking about everything with his brothers and their beautiful wives. He spent his mornings helping Ty the feed chickens. He helped pull weeds from the garden and feed and groom the horses. When Ty tried to get Kelley to feed the huge Angus bull, Slayer, a biscuit and scratch his snotty nose, he drew the line. Nope, he wasn’t going there. That bull was a wooly mammoth in disguise. He just knew it.

  Early one afternoon, four days after Kelley arrived at the ranch, there was something going on. Ty was running around making sure the twins were clean and presentable. He had changed his own clothes and looked freshly showered and shaved. So did Saber.

  As Kelley watched, two motorcycles and three limousines bearing small blue-and-white flags drove up the long bumpy driveway toward the house. “What’s going on, man?” Kelley asked his brother, Bo. He watched the motorcade come into the circular driveway, stopping as the middle limo came to the front of their porch.

  “Saber’s father is here! Try to be on your best behavior okay, Kelley, please?” Ty pleaded with big eyes.

  “I’m always on my best behavior. When haven’t I?” Kelley asked. All that comment got him were three sets of disbelieving eyes from Saber, Ty, and his brother, Bo.

  Kelley remembered Saber saying his father was king of Saibina and his name was Frederico. But that was about all Kelley knew about the man. He wondered if he was supposed to bow or something. How did a person behave when introduced to a king?

  The four men watched as limo doors opened. Seven huge men and three almost equally large women got out, looking in all directions. They had to be bodyguards as they were all massive, even the ladies! Finally satisfied with what they surveyed, one of the men opened the back door of the middle limo.

  Out stepped King Frederico. Saber and Ty rushed to meet him with the boys in their arms. The moment the king spotted his family, his face broke into a huge smile. “Hello, my loved ones! How are you? What are you feeding these young lads? They’re gigantic! And so handsome, just like their grandfather.” He laughed.

  As the family got reacquainted, Kelley stood back, watched, and kept to his own thoughts. He noticed that Saber’s father was two inches shorter than his son, which made him six foot seven, and he probably weighed in at around three hundred pounds of hard muscle. The man had dark, curly hair that touched his collar, and as he turned looking around, Kelley saw emerald-green eyes. What a hunk! Oh yeah, he wouldn’t mind getting some of that USDA prime beefcake anytime!

  Just then the afternoon breeze changed direction. Kelley noticed the king’s expression suddenly change, his body going stiff. His nose went up slightly as he scented the air.

  The king’s bodyguards immediately went on alert.

  Frederico just looked around until his eyes fell on Kelley, and then they halted. Their gazes locked. Both men stood perfectly still as they stared at each other.

  When Frederico finally snapped out of it, he walked toward Kelley. When he stood no more than two feet away, Frederico looked down upon his mate for the first time. He slowly began to smile.

  “Hello. You have no idea how long I have looked for you,” Frederico whispered. The king’s dragon begged to be let out. It wanted to claim their mate before the beautiful young woman got away, but the man in him forced the unruly beast to behave.

  “You are as I dreamed you, stunning.”

  Kelley’s eyes got big. He couldn’t move. He could hardly breathe. This was the man in his dreams? Holy shit. It couldn’t be, could it? He just stood there staring at the king, speechless for the first time in his life. It occurred to Kelley everyone was looking at them. When the king leaned down and inhaled deeply, slowly, Kelley didn’t care about anything at the moment but the man before him.

  Frederico couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You’re human, my love? How delightful. You are too tempting for words. Will you do me the honor of accompanying me?” Frederico asked as his voice became impossibly lower. Both his human and dragon sides were in shock. His dragon should have been roaring in his ears, bellowing smoke and trumpeting at the top of his lungs, “Mate!” But the usually unruly beast simply sat, staring at their mate in amazement, after 819 years. Here before them stood their mate. Finally. Frederico didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The king would have dropped to his knees grabbing her, holding on for dear life. Worshipping her for all to see. He didn’t however feel that would make a good impression on his mate. So he simply held out his hand for her to take. “What is your name, little one?” Frederico inquired.

  “Kelley Taylor-Jordan, enormous one,” Kelley said with a smirk.

  King Fr
ederico raised an eyebrow at the comment but decided to let it slide. Just this once. “I am Frederico Domenic Tomas Dillon Dragonovic. Please, call me Frederico or darling. Sweetheart?” The king smiled as he said it.

  When their hands met, Frederico looked at the intertwined fingers and knew he had just come home. Never again would he be lonely. He had found his mate. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Fly through the air roaring, breathing fire, and announcing to the world he had found his mate! The king just couldn’t get over it as his heart and soul rejoiced.

  As the king escorted Kelley into Saber’s home, he felt monarch butterflies flutter in his stomach. The other men of the ranch frowned and looked confused, shocked, and generally baffled at what had just taken place. Even the king’s bodyguards were looking at each other bewildered.

  Saber felt conflicted. His father had just found his mate? Kelly Taylor-Jordan was now his father-in-law? Oh my Gods. It couldn’t be, could it? No. No way. Of all the people in the world for his father to mate, Kelley? Kelley, whose temper rivaled that of his father’s own legendary wrath? Strong-willed, hard-headed, stubborn Kelley? His father was so screwed!

  Then a horrible realization began to creep over Saber. Saber’s world tilted to the left. He must have looked like it, too, as his mate, Ty, asked if he was all right. No, he was not all right.

  King Frederico had many times over the years spoken with his son about mates and such. There was always one recurring theme his father knew absolutely down to his bones. His mate was female! Oh shit! How in the hell was Saber going to tell his king and father, he had just found his very male mate, especially in-your-face, completely flamboyant, gay man Kelley? As he shook his head, Saber knew he was so screwed!

  The family and its newest member spent the rest of the day chatting and just enjoying each other’s company as they visited and played with the twins. Everyone retired early, as it had been a long day and Saber had a lot of thinking to do.

  The next morning, Saber made the supreme effort to tactfully advise his father that Kelley was in fact a man.

  Frederico just laughed, thinking his son was having a bit of fun with him.

  “I don’t think so, my son. I will admit Kelley is rather flat chested for a female. But look at her. She’s a sprite. I don’t mind. I think she is perfect!” asserted Frederico. When he saw the glow on his beloved father’s face, Saber knew he was in trouble. He tried again.

  “Father, I am making no attempt at humor. I am absolutely serious when I tell you Kelley is a man.” Saber felt uncomfortable when his father began to frown.

  “Exactly how would you know this? You are mated. How would you be in possession of such knowledge, my son?” Frederico tried not to sound jealous, but his dragon was agitated to say the least, and it was pushing the king hard to bite and bond with their mate. They hadn’t claimed her yet. No one should see their mate disrobed but them!

  “Kelley’s siblings have all been what Americans refer to as ‘skinny-dipping.’ As young ones, the children of a family will see one another in a state of undress while swimming in a pond or stream. It is a form of recreation they enjoy,” Saber continued.

  “Bo and Jake have laughed about it at different times.” It seems Kelley has always been a little different from the rest of the boys. One family joke has it that Kelley is a ‘screaming queen,’ I believe they refer to him. I assure you it is said with affection and to his face. The family is very protective of him, especially his brothers. Even with that said, the brothers have stated, if they hadn’t seen ‘the equipment’ they never would have believed he was male. His sisters are all taller and heavier than Kelley. Not to mention all the brothers, except Kelley, are built like Bo and Jake. Bo said Kelley takes after his mother.”

  With this news, Frederico began to look perplexed. When he paled, Saber’s dragon wanted to hide. This was not a good emotion for a king. They didn’t respond well to the experience of being confused. The next thing Saber knew, Frederico arose from the porch swing, walked directly into the house, looked at Kelley and said, “Are you man or a woman? I need to know.”

  “Being Kelley,” as his family referred to it, he went right into fight mode and was more than ready for an argument.

  Squinting his eyes, he said, “What do you mean by that? I’m a man just as much as you are, but you know that already. Don’t you?” Kelley rose from the couch where he and Ty had been whispering about loving on a dragon. Kelley couldn’t wait to get his hands on Frederico, but now?

  Frederico looked down at his mate. “What do you mean you are a man? I never dreamed of a man. I would not know what to do with one. Are you sure? You do not appear to be a man!” the king bellowed, smoke curling out of his nose.

  Frederico looked down at Kelley, who had walked to the king, looking way up at him.

  Kelley placed his hands on his hips and yelled right back. “Who do you think you are bellowing at me like that, and what’s with that smoke coming out of your nose? I have to tell you that is so not a good look for you!”

  Saber pulled his mate out of danger. The kings’ son knew what was about to happen, and he didn’t want his mate in the line of fire. He lowered his head and said, “Duck and cover.”

  Chapter Four

  Saber braced himself as he knew the war was on!

  What now stood in the middle of Ty and Saber’s living room were two equally outraged males screaming at each other, making the napping twins upstairs cry.

  “Wait a damn minute!” Ty said to both of them after sticking his fingers in his mouth and whistling loudly to get their attention. Two faces turned to look at him, and Ty said, “Gentlemen, take it outside. You’re scaring the children!”

  Saber watched as the king’s bodyguards suddenly found the limousines on the side away from the combatants fascinating.

  The king and Kelley stomped outside only to take up battle positions.

  The opponents took to their respective corners.

  Saber just knew this was going to be good, as in one corner of the boxing ring, at three hundred pounds, stood an old-world dragon, old-school, eight-hundred-sixty-nine-year-old, extremely angry King Frederico Dragonovic, absolute ruler of Saibina.

  His mate was female. He was a monarch with a monarch’s mentality. He gave orders, and they were immediately obeyed. He was a man’s man. End of story.

  Saber sighed and watched as in the opposing corner stood, at one hundred twenty five pounds, a new-world human, laptop-using, twenty-eight-year-old, enraged redhead Kelley Taylor-Jordan, absolute American.

  His mate was male. He was American, from a democracy. He did not know how to follow orders. He was a flamboyantly gay man. End of story.

  The bell rang, and Saber felt like a referee.

  Saber watched as Frederico and Kelley proceeded to get nose to nose, so they could argue better. As much as a six-foot-seven and five-foot-five man could. They faced off and started in. Kelley gave Frederico’s chest a mean finger jab.

  Saber wasn’t getting any help from the peanut gallery either.

  “Twenty bucks on Kelley,” Jake said quietly.

  “Same here,” Bo said.

  “I’ll take that bet,” said Crusty, the ranch foreman.

  Kate and Jaclynn just looked at each other, shook their heads, and walked away.

  In the ensuing days, Saber tried his best to talk to Frederico while Ty worked on Kelley. Then they’d swap. As Ty and Saber saw it, those two had absolutely nothing in common. Not a thing. Was this really going to work?

  Saber knew Fate must be laughing her ass off at this pairing. There was no way the Gods could have intentionally put the squabbling men together on purpose. They were worse than kids, and at most times more trying and just as loud.

  Frederico and Kelley fought about everything!

  Kelley being a man. Frederico being totally inflexible.

  What the king expected from his consort. What Kelley would do.

  The king acted like a male chauvinist. Kelley ac
ted like a redheaded, freckled demon from hell. On and on it went. Saber started to cringe every time the two were in the same room.

  Saber tried to talk to Kelley but failed dismally, as the young man had it firmly entrenched in his mind that he would not be someone the king could run over. He would not be docile, didn’t know how, and never would.

  On the other hand, Frederico expected his orders to be obeyed summarily and couldn’t for the life of him understand why Kelley didn’t conform to his ideas.

  Frederico loved roses. Kelley thought they were too commercial. He loved wildflowers.

  The opera? Not in Kelley’s lifetime.

  Cocktail parties? Society events? Yeah, sure, Saber knew Kelley would never go for that one.

  Frederico liked his limo. Kelley said it was a gas hog that polluted the air.

  Saber just signed when they slept at different times, ate different foods. They both believed in the Gods, just different ones. They didn’t even like the same color.

  The king did not like Kelley wearing his clothes so tightly. He commanded Kelley to wear looser, more appropriate clothing. Kelley couldn’t wait for the next day to arrive, so he could wear something impossibly tighter.

  Kelley’s music? Not even in the same hemisphere with what the king would listen to.

  Kelley didn’t understand why he should read books when he could watch the movie. Were books even made of paper anymore? All those poor dead trees. The list of their differences kept growing by leaps and bounds.

  It became easier for Saber to keep a scorecard of what the king and Kelley did have in common, rather than what they didn’t.

  Saber tried ever so hard not to lose his own temper when the two men fought over what to have for lunch. Saber might as well have waved a red flag in front of them.