Dragons Need Love, Too (I Like Big Dragons Series Book 2)

by Lani Lynn Vale

  We went from about sixty MPH to a full stop in less than a hundred feet.

  “That was fun,” I lied, trying to catch my breath as we stayed huddled underneath the bridge.

  Nikolai turned his face towards me.

  “I knew I should’ve had Skylar check your head for brain damage.”

  I pinched his side, causing him to squirm out of my touch.

  “Now what?” I asked him.

  He sighed, slumping forward slightly on his handlebars.

  “Go home. I thought if this turned out okay, and nobody saw us, we could do this more often, but it’s more than apparent that, without the patrols in the city to keep us safe from the hunters, we’re not going to be able to leave the house,” he admitted softly.

  A dark shape made itself visible from the shadows, and I gasped, shrinking back.

  “’Bout time you got here, dammit,” Nikolai grumbled.

  Sorry, Charlie. I couldn’t help but stay back and see where they went, Perdita said.

  She sounded so good when she was being bad! If I’d said something similar, I would’ve sounded like I was being sarcastic. Perdita, though, sounded like she was being as courteous as she could be.

  Nikolai sighed.

  “Where’d they go?” he asked.

  “A warehouse just east of the city. They didn’t even try to follow you.”

  “Fuckin’ wonderful. I need to change my license plate now…and get us new helmets. And you can never wear those clothes out again. Motherfucker, I have a headache,” Nikolai said, slumping forward with his head in his hands.

  I felt like a shithead.

  I asked him repeatedly to go out, and I never once realized that there would be danger.

  I just wanted something to do. A place to think that wasn’t the house that felt like a freakin’ cage.

  And I’d endangered us.

  But he’d never said anything!

  He didn’t want to make you feel trapped, Perdita said smoothly, her large head turning to look at me.

  I slumped into Nikolai’s back, wondering if he’d heard what I’d just said.

  He didn’t seem to notice, though.

  His eyes were focused on the traffic passing us, and it was only then that I realized that we were hidden in the shadows.

  The cars were passing us as if there wasn’t a massive damn dragon right beside the road.

  “Can you teach me how to do this shadow bend thing?” I asked the two of them.

  “I planned to start teaching you as soon as you asked; so, yes, you can learn as much, or as little, as you like. I just didn’t want to overwhelm you with too much information in such a small period of time,” Nikolai informed me.

  I smiled into the leather of his jacket.

  “Cool,” I whispered.

  Nikolai jumped up suddenly, and I gasped.

  But it was only so he could start his motorcycle back up.

  I laughed nervously at the smile he tossed over his shoulder, satisfied that he’d scared me.

  “Gonna go back into the illusion until we hit the road to the sanctuary, so don’t be afraid,” he yelled.

  Then we were gone, or my mind was. My physical body was still pressed up against Nikolai’s back.

  It was an odd type of feeling that was for sure.

  The ride was long, and there was a ton of traffic I could feel whizzing past us, but at least Nikolai was able to give me the illusion of a nice, traffic-free ride.

  I knew the moment we got within the protection of the sanctuary, because suddenly I had the ability to use all five of my senses once again.

  My eyes took in the long drive that led up to the house.

  It was a blacktop asphalt and felt so smooth as we moved up it, taking turn after turn.

  Sporadically, trees dotted the large, sprawling lawn.

  Some pine. Others oak. But my favorite was the weeping willows that we had to drive under just as we reached the carport of the house.

  Perdita flew over the house, not stopping, and I turned just in time to see the terrible three come flying at us like they were tracking down prey.

  I closed my eyes, but before they could hit me and knock me off the back of Nikolai’s bike, I was suddenly hauled off by two strong arms and placed none too gently on my feet nearly ten feet away.

  I turned in time to see Nikolai go down.

  “No ice!” he yelled.

  I wondered what he meant by the ‘no ice’ comment, but saw what he meant seconds later.

  Each and every place the triplets licked (yes, they were like a bunch of happy dogs) there was a trail of ice in their tongue’s wake.

  “Oh,” I said, looking down at my own arms.

  Reddened lines in the shaped of slithery snake tongues showed up on my arms, and I looked at the back of my hands, only then seeing the bloodied cuts.

  “What…” I said, looking up at Nikolai as he pushed to his feet. “What’s going on with my hands?”

  How had I missed hurting them?

  Nikolai frowned.

  “I thought I explained that to you,” he said. “When either one of us gets hurt, the other displays the same cuts on their own bodies.”

  I blinked.

  “No,” I said. “I would’ve remembered that discussion.”

  He held his shirt up and showed me his side, and I gasped when I saw my scar from my time in my uncle’s captivity on his own body.

  “Holy…” I breathed. “Holy shit!”

  He grinned.

  “Creepy, huh?”

  I let my hand trail down to the dragon at my feet, and slowly stroked his leathery wings.

  He was about the size of a small Shetland pony, so he reached to just about my mid-thigh.

  “What makes Perdita yours?” I asked.

  Nikolai looked up at me in surprise.

  “You mean, how am I bonded to her?” he clarified.

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  He walked around the side of the house, and I followed, waiting patiently for him to explain.

  I followed behind him, watching him.

  “I was standing right,” he stopped. “Here. When I bonded to Perdita.”

  I looked at where he was standing, and then up at the house.

  He was standing under what I thought to be his window.

  “How old were you?” I asked.

  He looked up at the sky, completely ignoring the three dragons that kept jumping up to nip at his fingers.

  They were like a mixture of a dog and a cat. Playful like a dog, but lithe and graceful like a cat.

  “It was the eve of my nineteenth birthday,” he explained. “And I was sneaking out my window to go to a party with some new friends I’d just met earlier in the day.”

  I blinked.

  “You snuck out?” I asked in surprise. “For real?”

  He nodded.

  “I was in the rebellious stage of my teenage years. My father had just died about a year before, and my mother hadn’t said a word in the same amount of time. I went from having total iron control of my senses to absolutely none. My father was my best friend, besides Keifer. When he was no longer there, I didn’t have the same outlook on life,” he explained.

  He started walking again.

  “And that night I’d planned to try drugs for the first time. I had a pocket full of weed to share, and I was ready to get lost.” He pointed. “I was looking over that tree right there when the first jolt of power hit me, bringing me to my knees.”

  I was listening intently, waiting for him to continue.

  And when he did, my heart broke.

  “I laid there for nearly two hours before Perdita finally showed,” he said. “Normally, the dragon finds you well before the change, drawn to you by your scent.”

  “And what happened that Perdita didn’t find you that fast?” I asked.

  He sat down on the cool grass, then laid down until he co
uld see the sky above him.

  “Perdita didn’t want to come,” he said.

  “Why?” I gasped.

  “I wasn’t in a good place. I was an asshole to the tenth degree. I was rude, offensive, and hated everyone. And she saw that. Saw how I treated people. Didn’t want to come to me, but the pull was too strong, and in the end she did come, even though she didn’t want to,” he said to the sky.

  I looked down at him, but he was completely oblivious to my gaze, instead staring at the sky, contemplating memories that I couldn’t see.

  “That’s sad,” I admitted, taking a seat beside him.

  I ran my hand down the leathery feeling wings of the closest dragon and laughed when he started to make a sound that was perilously close to a purr.

  We sat like that in silence for a few long minutes while he watched the clouds pass overhead.

  “Perdita got over it. But she didn’t give all her tricks to me at first. Refused to teach me almost all of it. I had to work on it all on my own, and I’m still not convinced that she isn’t keeping things from me,” he admitted.

  “Haven’t you proven yourself trustworthy yet? I asked.

  He sighed.

  “She said, in the beginning, that I’d have to earn every piece of information she had, and, apparently, I’m not done earning it yet. I’m twenty fucking eight, and I still feel like I’m that nineteen-year-old shithead who was so lost he couldn’t ever be found,” he closed his eyes.

  “Seems like you’ve turned your life around. From what I’ve learned from Blythe, she loves you. Your brothers love you. Your sister as well. I don’t hear much about your mother, but I’m sure I will eventually. You’re an amazing computer whiz, and I haven’t seen a day that has gone by that you haven’t come out here and spent time with the little terrors. What is there to find?” I asked.

  He shrugged.

  “Me. I still feel like I’m paying for sins that I committed ten years ago. Perdita and my family never let me forget that I used to be a fuck up. But,” he placed his hands under his head. “Seems Perdita’s finally happy that I chose correctly for once.”

  I cocked my head slightly to the side.

  “Chose correctly?” I asked.

  His eyes opened, and those beautiful green orbs stared through my soul.

  “You. I chose you correctly,” he said.

  Confusion clouded my features. “But I thought you didn’t choose me?”

  “I didn’t. You’re right. But according to her, I have the correct attitude when it comes to you. And, apparently, letting you choose the pace is the right way to go about having a relationship such as the one we have,” he informed me.

  “Oh,” I said. “So you letting me call all the shots made Perdita happy. Got it.”

  “That first week that I came into my powers were a nightmare. Keifer didn’t help me, either. It was like I was all alone. I never saw Perdita again for another six months, although I always felt her close,” he said. “It was torture.”

  “I read about the Meridian and how dragons had to be around it to keep their eternal life. Is that the same with you and her?” I asked. “Do you have to be around her or you’ll die?”

  He shook his head. “No. But it’s uncomfortable. It’s like I have this well of knowledge, with no way to tap into it. She centers me, and I center her. It was a little bit of torture for us both when she stayed away that long.”

  I leaned down until I was leaning on his strong, washboard abs, and stared at him until he opened his eyes.

  “You’re a good man, Nikolai. You’ve proven that to me for months now. The majority of which I wasn’t even awake. You’ve protected me. Sheltered me. Saved me. In my book, it doesn’t matter what you used to be. All that matters is what you are now,” I said. “You know I used to be Amish, right?”

  He nodded.

  “I hated my life. Not that it was a bad life, per se, but it wasn’t something I could see myself doing for the rest of my life,” I said. “I woke up the day of my sixteenth birthday, and knew I wouldn’t be able to stay there anymore. Technically, I still had time to spread my wings, so to speak, and then be baptized. However, after my first ever movie, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to do it anymore.

  “I went wild. Did some questionable things that I can’t really remember. Went to movies. Parties. Drinking. Things I’m not very proud of anymore. But I turned my life around. Became who I wanted to be. And it looks like you’ve done the same,” I said softly.

  His eyes melted.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  I smiled down at him, then leaned forward until my lips hovered over his.

  “You made the right decision,” I whispered softly.

  My breath brushed over his lips, and he inhaled deeply, almost as if he could pull me that little bit closer so that my lips would touch; but it wasn’t to be, sadly.

  Three dragons chose that moment to ambush the both of us at once.

  I rolled with the attack, crying out in mock terror.

  Nikolai did the same, but he was obviously the larger target, because soon I was left by the lone one who’d taken me down, and all three worked on Nikolai; nipping, throwing their bodies around and growling.

  It continued for long minutes until Nikolai was too tired to play any longer, causing him to flop back on his back, lungs heaving for air.

  “You’re good with them,” I said, moving closer until our hips touched. Him facing one way, me the other.

  I breathed deeply, letting my feet tangle in the grass.

  I’d lost my boots sometime during the altercation, and the grass felt cool against my bare toes.

  Nikolai moved his head until it rested against my foot, and I pinched his hair between two toes.

  “Oww!” he said, jerking slightly.

  I grinned.

  “So how long are Keifer and Blythe going to be gone?” I asked.

  He shrugged, making the dragon on his chest grumble at him for having his bed moved.

  “I guess as soon as they find what they’re searching for,” he finally said.

  Apparently, they’d found what they were searching for.

  Chapter 7

  Nikolai is a weird combination of ‘he’s so sweet, my parents love him’ and ‘don’t ever fuck with that guy, he’s a crazy mother fucker.’

  -Brooklyn’s secret thoughts

  Brooklyn

  I opened my eyes to darkness, and a solid massive male, who wasn’t Nikolai, standing over me.

  And I might, or might not have, reacted badly.

  Out of sheer instinct, I launched myself off the bed, then hovered there in the corner.

  Then imagined myself being protected by Nikolai, and suddenly, I was.

  Nikolai appeared as if out of thin air, and he was spitting mad.

  He launched himself at my unwanted intruder. The two of them went down in a pile of big limbs, strong punches, and bellowing roars.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” the man that looked like death reincarnated, screamed.

  Nikolai didn’t talk, only kept attacking.

  Except, the more I looked, the less and less real it seemed.

  Because Nikolai wasn’t doing much more than distracting the intruder, stepping in front of him, knocking him down.

  It wasn’t anything like the fight I’d seen last night.

  What the fuck was going on, indeed.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw movement in the doorway, and looked to see a crowd huddled there, Nikolai in the very front.

  He was looking at the scene with an impressed air about him, and suddenly, I wasn’t scared any longer.

  Which meant the illusion I’d unwittingly created dissipated in a cloud of smoke.

  “What are you doing out there?” I asked Nikolai in confusion.

  Then understanding dawned as he grinned and watched Keifer stand up and brush off his shirt before turning to me.
>
  Why he was hovering in the doorway in a dark room scaring the ever loving crap out of me while I was sleeping was beyond me.

  It wasn’t Nikolai who answered.

  “I was letting your cat back inside, she wouldn’t shut up,” Keifer explained.

  “Ahhh,” I said. “How’d she get outside?”

  Nikolai shook his head and finally breached the room, walking to the bed, and taking a seat like there weren’t fifteen people in the room.

  Well, more like five, but who was counting?

  He was wearing exactly what he’d had on last night when we’d gotten into bed, which wasn’t much of anything, corroborating his story.

  The night before, Nikolai and I had fallen asleep in his bed, talking about this and that.

  We’d…or at least I’d…had a great time.

  We’d stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, talking about dragon riders. My life with my parents. Nikolai’s life before he’d come into his powers. What I wanted to do with my life.

  And sometime between my explanation and his offer, I’d fallen asleep.

  Only to be woken up so rudely by the behemoth standing at the end of the bed, glaring down at me like I’d outsmarted him, and I was an interesting new toy.

  “Hi,” I said, waving.

  “You have a mating tattoo,” the man said.

  “That’s very observant of you, Keifer,” Nikolai said dryly.

  Keifer turned his glare to his brother.

  “How long has this been going on?” he challenged.

  Nikolai grinned. “Since you left.”

  Blythe, who’d been standing in the doorway, gasped.

  “And you didn’t tell me?” Blythe said accusingly.

  I held up my hands. “I was just trying not to freak out. He said to give it time, so I did that by not talking about it…at all.”

  Blythe’s lips tightened and she turned to regard Keifer, revealing a small bump that I hadn’t seen before.

  “You’re pregnant?” I screeched.

  Blythe blushed.

  “You’re accusing me of not talking to you, and you have something this huge, and you didn’t tell me?” I yelled, standing now.

  “I’m not huge!” Blythe screeched back.

  I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling.

  “That’s not what I said, and you know it,” I stated.