Hunted by the Dragon (Captured by a Dragon-Shifter Book 4)

by Michelle M. Pillow

  “It’s not like they were waiting for me. I walked by the wrong alley at the wrong time.” Jules had a feeling he knew most of what had happened to her, more or less, but he didn’t know everything. “I heard Frankie say something to Joey, using his name. I glanced over at the sound. They saw me, and Sammy Boy panicked. I ran, but the sidewalks were uneven, and I had those stupid heels on. I tripped in a puddle and fell. Two of them grabbed my legs and dragged me into the alley behind a dumpster.” She fought to keep her tone even, still unable to look at him directly. “I remember trying to grab the sidewalk, but the concrete scratched my face and hands, and I couldn’t get a good grip on anything.”

  “Jules, you don’t have to give details if it’s too painful.” He stroked her cheek.

  “No, I owe you the story.” She paused, half expecting him to insist it wasn’t necessary. He didn’t. Jules swallowed nervously. “As you know, they beat me pretty badly and would have left me for dead if not for you. The strange thing is, when I was lying there on the ground, their boots slamming into my body, I remember staring at the side of that green dumpster, covered in yellow graffiti, ‘Bobby loves Janet’. I dream about it sometimes, that dumpster.”

  Sean ran his thumb along the edge of her bottom lip. He watched her mouth as she spoke.

  “I tried to fight and managed to break Joey’s necklace. Then you came. In one moment you were there, like an angel that flew in from above to save me.”

  “I don’t fly. I am a dragon-shifter. Not a full blood. I don’t even know if full bloods exist anymore.”

  “You’re my angel. You came, and you stopped them from killing me.” Jules moved her hand down his stomach. “You took the bullet meant for me.” She traced a line from one old scar to another. “And then the bullet that was meant for Brian when he and Duncan came to help, drunk from their evening celebrating at the cop bar. You scared the evil away. When I woke up in the hospital, I thought you’d be there. No one knew anything about a man with two gunshot wounds.”

  “Brian and Duncan saw me shift. They knew your government wouldn’t let something like me be, so they took me to a private street doctor. He fixed me up the best he could, and I healed on my own. Duncan said he owed me for his son’s life. For that he would protect me like I was family.” Sean cupped her cheek. “Why did you leave? I wanted to find you, but I didn’t know how. Everything was so chaotic and new.”

  “You didn’t ask me to stay when I came to thank you. In fact, you didn’t say much at all.”

  “I didn’t know how. Earth language had changed so much.”

  “You could have asked in other ways.” Jules brushed her mouth against his.

  “You didn’t give me permission. Aside from traveling ships, you were the first unmarried woman I’d talked to. What right did I have to ask? I had nothing. No home. No way to get back to my family, to my planet, to a place where I could provide for you.”

  “They told me I didn’t see what I saw. Duncan said I was traumatized. You weren’t some supernatural being come to save me. You were just a man who did the right thing.” Jules pulled away, as she tried to distance her emotions. His hands slipped from her body.

  Sean didn’t answer. Jules made herself face him. He sat on the bed. A sheet covered his waist but left his chest bare. Shadows fell across his features, making them impossible to read.

  “They said if it weren’t for you, I would be dead, and that is why I thought I liked you.”

  “Duncan told you to leave me?” The whisper seemed to fill the room.

  “No. Yes. Kind of.”

  “He must have been trying to protect me from discovery.” Sean pushed up from the bed, each movement stiff and deliberate. “It’s different now.”

  “How? I get into trouble, and you come to save me again just like last time. How do I know what I’m feeling isn’t just more hero worship? I’m a romanticized damsel in distress, and you’re the dragon man who comes to save me.”

  “I am a man, and you are a woman. It would make sense that I protect you. I will take care of you. I have means now. I have work. I have a home in Southie. You shall live with me, and I will keep you safe. I—”

  “Sean, stop. I didn’t—don’t want to be taken care of! I can take care of myself.”

  “Is that what all this is?” His voice rose as he swept is arm over the hotel room. “You taking care of yourself?”

  She stiffened. He had a point. She was on the run from a crime family, and if he stayed with her, he’d be on the run too. “I don’t want to talk anymore. What we have is chemistry, simple sexual attraction. Don’t mistake that for anything more. We’re just two people whose paths have crossed a couple of times.”

  “Fine.” Sean went for his suitcase and then pulled on a pair of jeans. “Get some rest. Don’t try to run. I can track you.” He didn’t look at her as he turned toward the door.

  “Sean, I…” Jules wasn’t sure what she should say.

  “Get some sleep. I’ll be back.”

  “Sean,” she tried again.

  “I dislike these words you are saying. I need to go for a walk.” He held up his hand to stop her from speaking and strode barefoot to the door. It slammed shut behind him.

  Not knowing what else to do, Jules crawled onto the bed and pulled the covers tight around her body. She rolled onto her back and rubbed her temples. This was the way it had to be She couldn’t ruin his life by being a part of it. A cold emptiness surrounded her, but part of her still hoped Sean would come back into the room, hold her in his arms and tell her everything would be all right. He didn’t, and she was left alone more confused than before.

  Chapter 16

  How had life come to this? Sean felt lost on a strange path, far away from where he should be. Once, he understood exactly what his life was. He’d been a palace guard, like many in his family before him. He worked, maintained the family honor, hunted, rode ceffyls, shifted in the forest, camped with his brother, and prayed to his gods that one day he’d help to secure his people’s future by bringing potential brides through a portal.

  A hard knot formed in the pit of his stomach as he looked up at the sky. He missed home. He missed his brother. He missed being around other shifters whose ways made sense. Honor was important. Duty must be done. Mates were for life. Love was not questioned.

  How the fuck did this happen? One miserable night. One miserably unlucky forsaken night. He had accepted that he might die when he volunteered to be the first from his generation to step across the universe. No one could guess what Earth would be like after centuries of his people being away. Death in service to his dragon-shifter kind was a reasonable risk. Even dying to protect a strange human woman was reasonable. What wasn’t reasonable was finding the one woman in all the universes he should be with and realizing she didn’t want him back. It broke his heart. The pain was worse than death. There was nothing he could do. His dragon had bonded to the woman, and there would never be another.

  “I can’t believe you found Jules. It’s so romantic the way you saved her, and then lost her, and now found her again. Is she coming home?” Teresa Flaherty had him on speakerphone.

  Sean’s hand twitched, and he nearly crushed the device. Apparently, Brian had called everyone else in his immediate family to tell them what was going on.

  “It’s about time you got a girlfriend.” Fillan was evidently there, too. He was the second oldest of the four Flaherty brothers and the only one who’d married.

  “It’s not Sean’s fault,” the youngest brother, Rory defended, before teasing, “that he’s a loser with the ladies.”

  A loud smacking noise sounded followed by Rory’s cry of protest and their father’s gruff words of warning.

  “Brian had told us about Hector. Don’t worry. We’re all keeping a close eye on his crew,” Duncan said. “He won’t make a move in this city without a cop on his tail.”

  “He’s not in the city,” Sean said. Then, not wanting to scare Teresa, he added, “Duncan,
take me off the speaker.”

  “What—?” Teresa protested.

  “Teresa, hand me that phone,” Duncan interrupted.

  “Duncan,” Teresa warned her husband, using the firm tone reserved for occasions when she wanted to have her way in no uncertain terms. “I have a right to know what’s happening with my boys.”

  “It’s police business,” Duncan said.

  Her disapproving sigh proceeded a click over the line, indicating she’d agreed but not happily so.

  “Yes?” Duncan asked.

  “Hector’s out for blood. She’s safe for now. We’re at a hotel so Jules can rest. But when I caught up to her he already had her.” Sean relayed what had happened at the truck stop, ending with, “He was planning to kill her. I didn’t stick around for him to wake up and I’m not sure what happened. If they discover we were in there it won’t look good—a dead body, Jules’s prints, possible security cameras.”

  “You did the right thing,” Duncan assured him.

  “Hector saw me shift,” Sean added. “There were no cameras in the room. I don’t think he can prove it. He might have the impression I wore a mask.”

  Duncan didn’t speak for a long moment. “He’s a criminal. No one will believe him. You need to come home as soon as possible, Sean. We can take care of Jules here. It’s time to circle the wagons.”

  “I don’t know how wagons will help, but we’ll be home tonight,” Sean answered. He took a deep breath, not wanting to climb back into a small space with her and all the while knowing he had to. “She’ll just have to sleep in the car. I should never have stopped.”

  Jules didn’t know where she was going when she slipped out of the motel room. She just knew she needed to leave. Running had become second nature as if the sound of her feet hitting the pavement somehow erased whatever happened around her. She didn’t make it five steps before a hand grabbed her elbow.

  “Good, you’re packed.” Sean maneuvered her forcefully toward the truck. The strap on her shoulder slipped, causing her arm to drop under the weight. “We should get back on the road.”

  When he’d said he could track her, she had thought she’d make it more than three feet out of the door. Jules didn’t protest. What was the point?

  Sean locked her in the truck, grabbed the rest of their belongings from the motel room, checked out, and had them driving down the road within ten minutes. The vehicle bounced and Jules closed her eyes, exhaustion filling every limb. She let the numbness of sleep take over her. For the moment, she decided not to fight.

  Chapter 17

  Though the hour was late when Sean pulled into Boston, Teresa had waited up for them, watching the passing cars from her front window. He saw her face as he drove by. The members of the Flaherty family lived within a three-block radius in their Southie neighborhood. Sean’s home was two houses down from Duncan and Teresa, and across the street from Brian.

  Sean lived in a square brick home technically owned by Fillan, who was helping him learn how to remodel whenever they had spare time, which wasn’t often. The repairs had been slow going. It was more house than he needed as a single man, but it had come on the market after his arrival on Earth and since he’d saved Brian’s life the family insisted Sean live close so they could protect him. With five bedrooms, Teresa said it was perfect for raising a family, and she often instructed him to bring a woman home. Carrying Jules’s sleeping body up the front stairs to hide her from a sociopath was not how he imagined Teresa meant for that to happen.

  Teresa appeared behind him carrying an armful of clothes, sheets and whatever else a woman might need. Sean wasn’t exactly set up for the finer things. What little decoration he had around the room came from the Flaherty women taking pity on his bachelor ways.

  “She looks thin,” Teresa observed, her voice low to keep from waking Jules. The woman had a stern brown gaze. Her eyes pierced in a way only a mother’s could, like she knew every secret and just waited for a confession. She saw everything, or at least gave the impression she did. Sean had a feeling she already knew all about Hector and Jules’s trouble at the truck stop. Duncan never could keep things from his wife, just as marriage should be. “And worn. You should have let her rest at the motel.”

  “She’s safer here in Boston than out on the road. You didn’t need to bring sheets, I have—”

  “Pish,” she dismissed with a short chuckle. “I’ll bet you haven’t even changed your bedding this week. It will take me only a moment.”

  He hadn’t been home all week, but Sean didn’t argue. Jules sighed in his arms but didn’t open her eyes. He held her easily as Teresa changed the bedding. If he wanted to, he could have protested. It wasn’t as if he lived dirtily. His home, though lacking in furnishings, was kept immaculate. However, Sean had learned never to dispute Teresa’s good intentions. It was easier to let her have her way.

  “You make sure you two come over in the morning for breakfast,” she ordered on her way out the door. “Everyone will be there.”

  Sean laid Jules on the bed before going to lock his door. He kept an eye on Teresa through the front window as she walked back home. Even when she was no longer in sight, he was able to focus his shifter hearing on her footsteps. When she was safely inside, he said, “You could have said hello to her. She likes you.”

  He turned from the window to where Jules stood in the hallway. He knew when he’d laid her down she wasn’t sleeping.

  “And talk about what?” Jules joined him at the window. “Sorry about bringing yet another murderer to your family’s door? Sorry about Brian almost being shot that one time, hope it doesn’t happen again? No, thanks. I think I’ll skip the awkward moment.”

  “Jules…” Sean let go of a long, wearied breath. He rubbed his forehead in frustration. “I’m too tired to deal with you right now. This new attitude of yours—”

  “It’s not new,” she interrupted.

  “It’s new to me.” Sean felt so many things when he looked at her—desire, rage, aggravation, hope. Torn between the desire to strangle her and the need to kiss her, he ran his hands through his hair, trying not to reach for her. “I don’t understand you, Jules. You’re so…”

  Her expression hardened and a cold wall went up between them.

  “What happened to you?” he asked. “Why is Hector after you?”

  “You saved me from him today. You should know what you’ve gotten yourself into. I guess I owe you that much.” Jules paced across his living room floor and paused long enough to kick off her shoes.

  She traced a hand along the back of his blue couch and faced a large television he rarely had time to watch. The bookcase on one side was filled half with worn paperback mystery novels and half with DVD movies. It was how he learned about Earth culture and expanded his vocabulary. On the other side of the television, a black and white poster-size photo of a vase holding dried flowers hung on his wall, put there by Fillan’s wife.

  Jules didn’t look at any one object for too long. “I saw Hector and Juanita shoot two prostitutes. One was just a kid, barely legal. I had the murders and other things on tape. I was going to drop it off anonymously to the police just as soon as I figured out who I could trust with it, but somehow Hector discovered I’d witnessed them.”

  “And how exactly were you there?” Tension rolled over him.

  “I live in East Boston. Most of my neighbors are part of the Spanish speaking community. They’re respectable people. Devout. Hard working. Honest. Giving. They feel sorry for me because I don’t have family. I’m up to my eyeballs in sangria and paella.”

  Sean frowned. He stepped into her path to force her to either face him or turn around to continue her pacing.

  She did neither, instead taking up residence by the window. “Like any community, a few rotten apples spoil the orchard. The Velázquez family is a blight. They terrorize, kill, traffic in drugs and immigrants. Everyone knows it, and no one knows how to stop them. We can’t exactly wait around for someone to kill off t
he remaining two siblings. So, I decided to do something about it. I integrated myself into the club scene and watched them. Most of what I have is drug deals, a few assaults, but then I hit the mother lode.”

  “You hit a mother?”

  “It means I found a lot of evidence.” Jules swiped at her eyes. “I didn’t think they’d kill them. I wanted to get them incriminating themselves on tape. I wanted them to say something concrete. Instead, they each pulled out a gun and shot those two girls. Juanita and Hector then argued. It got pretty heated. One of the girls had a family. Juanita laughed and said she would kill them all if they came sniffing around. Hector called her reckless. He said she should only use orphans in the trade so no one will look for them.”

  “Jules, what were you thinking?”

  “That I could stop them,” she answered defensively. “I did everything right. I took the tape and hid it in my apartment. I went about my life like usual so no one would notice anything. I told no one. I don’t know how they found out I was there, but the next thing I know Hector’s goons are chasing me from my gym and out of the city. I’d been on the run three days when I stole your car. I didn’t know it was you. I saw a man with a fast car and thought you were an easy mark.” She began to pace again. “I shouldn’t even be here. They’ll find me. They’ll—”

  “They’ll find you with me. Let them come. I’m not frightened of them.”

  Lights steadily moved over the wall as a car passed outside. Jules automatically ducked back from the window, hiding against the wall. Her head turned to the side, her eyes fixed as she watched the taillights. “I should never have come back to Boston.”

  “They don’t know my last name or where I live. They don’t even know what I was driving. We’re safe here for the night. You need to rest.” Sean’s mind raced. Though physically tired, he did not believe he could sleep. “I’ll sit up.”

  She looked like she might argue. Glancing out of the window to find the street quiet, she finally nodded. “Make sure the doors are locked and your gun is loaded.”