Fire Breathing Beast: Dragons of the Bayou Book 1

by Ayers, Candace

  “Excuse me?” She shook her head and pushed the boys towards the door. “We’re going home.”

  “Then I will come with you.” I shrugged. If she didn’t like my home, I would just go to hers. Maybe my little castle was not as nice as her dwelling. I didn’t know why she seemed against it, but we’d work it out.

  “Um…no, you’re not.” Nick opened the door and she practically dragged Casey out towards the dock.

  I breathed in a lungful of the hot, muggy night air and nodded to the alligator who was back in his usual spot. He whipped his head around at the three humans and hissed.

  My mate screamed and shooed the boys behind her, shielding them with her body. That wouldn’t do. I stepped past the boys and wrapped my arm around her waist to pull her behind me. Staring down at the alligator, I let out my own hiss, coupled with a flash of fire.

  It was enough of a warning to scare him away. He snapped his big jaws and slunk back into the water.

  The threat to my mate handled, I focused in on the sensation of my arm around the softness of her waist. Soft and warm, I wanted to bury my face in her curves and inhale her scent until I was full of her and dizzy with the desire to mate her.

  She let me hold her, her full chest heaving as she gripped my arm. Once her fear subsided, though, she spun to face the boys. “This is why I don’t want you doing stuff like this. You could’ve been killed! You go out into the swamp in the middle of the night and you take chances with your lives! It’s dangerous out here!”

  I was still holding her, having turned with her, and could feel her shivering against me. I flattened my hand against her stomach and pulled her flush against my body. “Remain calm, little one.”

  She spun back around to face me, her full breasts pressing right up against me like soft, sensual pillows. I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. “They could’ve been killed! There are any number of dangers out here in the daytime, not to mention at night when visibility is nil and predators come out to hunt. But for divine grace they escaped getting really hurt.”

  “I kind of wanted to really hurt the small male for making you cry.”

  “That alligator was too close…” She was crying again. Big, wet tears that ran down her cheeks and landed on her shirt.

  Nick came to his senses first. He laid his hand on her shoulder and looked up at me, then his aunt. “We’re sorry, Sky. We messed up.”

  Even the smaller one, who I was still considering eating, or at least scaring harshly, seemed to sober at the sight of her tears. “Yeah, sorry.”

  I rubbed her back, the instinct to provide comfort and protection was shocking to me, but gladly accepted. I was not known for my softness nor did I possess a particularly tender nature. I’d never comforted anyone before. I was a dragon for fire’s sake. “Come back inside. I will offer you a glass of whiskey. It will make you feel better.”

  She instantly pulled away from me and shook her head looking puzzled. “This is crazy.”

  Sky

  What the hell was I doing letting the giant, hunky hulk of a man hold me, touch me, and tenderly stroke my back? He acted like he knew me somehow. And, why wasn’t I reacting the way I should’ve been, which was to say in horror. He kept telling me he was going to keep me in his house and that I was his mate. He was clearly disturbed, maybe even Jeffrey Dahmer disturbed. Yet, the man turned me on like a light switch. Nothing and no one else had ever gotten me all hot and bothered before the way he was doing with his gentle caresses. Goodness, this was new, unexpected, and not entirely welcome on my part. I’d never even had a serious relationship with a man before. Ever.

  His arms around me ignited a fire in my belly that threatened to burn straight through my clothing. I ached to get closer to him.

  He was certifiable, though. Obviously. He’d threatened to kill Casey, faced off with a gator like it was a gnat, and he growled. Even if the growling did strangely turn me on, it was still weird. Wasn’t it?

  When I finally forced myself to pull away from him, it was not easy. It felt like there was an elastic cord tugging me back to him. I had to fight the urge to sink back into his chest. “We have to go.”

  “To your castle?”

  I snorted without meaning to. “Yeah, my castle. Sure.” Turning to the boys, I motioned for them to head to Jude’s boat. “Get in.”

  Nick pulled a mopey and sour-faced Casey with him into the mud boat and they both sat at the front, giving me room to sit at the back and control the rudder. As I raised my foot to step inside, and the man put his hand on my arm.

  “I’m coming with you.”

  I shook my head. “No, you’re not. You’re staying here, with your pet alligator, in your big house that is oddly displaced in the middle of the bayou.”

  He stepped easily into the boat ahead of me and settled into the back where I needed to be to steer the boat out of the swamp. “Get in.”

  “You can’t go with us. I mean it. You live here. You need to step out of the boat and go on back into your house. Castle. Whatever.”

  “I’m coming.” He shook his head. “Are you always so argumentative?”

  Casey laughed. “Yes.”

  The man growled at him again. “I’m still imagining ways to skin you for your treatment of my mate. Don’t push it, small male.”

  That shut Casey up. It lit a fire under me, though. “Don’t you talk to him like that. You keep threatening my boys and I’m going to call the cops on you.”

  “The cops? Really?” He seemed amused, then frustrated. Then, he narrowed his eyes. “Are you friendly with one of them? Does he give you gifts? Shower you with attention?”

  Give me gifts? “Are you asking if I’m dating a cop?”

  “Are you?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” Then, he stood up and grabbed me. Easily lifting me into the boat, he settled me on his lap and wrapped an arm around my waist. Sheesh, it felt like a steel bar. “Hold on. Not you, Casey. It would do you good to get a dunking.”

  I pulled and pushed at his arm wiggling and trying to get away, but my efforts were in vain. “You can’t do this. You can’t just—”

  The boat started and we shot forward. He hadn’t even turned the boat light on. It was pitch black the farther away from his house we got. “I can and I am.”

  I fought harder. We were in total darkness, the light from the sliver of crescent moon was unable to poke through the thick canopy of trees and moss. He was going way too fast. “Stop! Turn the lights on! You’re going to kill us all!”

  He grumbled and leaned closer, his mouth right next to my ear. “I can see perfectly fine. And while I am still making up my mind about the young male, I would never kill you. You are my mate. I will protect you with my very life. I will care for you and pleasure you and tend to your every desire.”

  At his mention of pleasure and desires, I felt his rock-hard erection poking me. Whoa, it was big. I hadn’t realized what it was at first because of the sheer size of it. Gasping and looking back at him, I found that I couldn’t see his face, it was so dark. Submerged in total darkness, held practically immobile by a stranger, should’ve felt oppressively frightening. Yet, sitting on his lap feeling how excited he was, wasn’t frightening at all. It was the hottest I’d ever been. I could feel moisture leaking out of my core, my crazy, usually non-existent, libido was all of a sudden shooting off like fire crackers.

  “Little one, I can smell how much you want me, too.”

  I jerked upright and faced forward, instantly mortified. He was a stranger. A stark raving mad stranger who was holding me against my will and carting me off to who knew where.

  “Where’s your home?”

  Okay, he was carting me off to my home, but still. He was obviously out of his mind. And how was it he could he see to navigate?

  “Boys, are you okay?”

  They both muttered an affirmative answer, at least letting me relax slightly about that for the time being.

  I lowered my voice and spo
ke over my shoulder to the stranger. “Why are you doing this?”

  His hand flattened against my stomach again and his thumb stroked just under my breast. “You’re mine. Do you not feel our connection?”

  His. I told myself to be angry and to free myself from his grip, because that’s what a normal woman would do. But, there was something about the weirdo saying those words that sent my heart racing and fire burning through my veins. What was wrong with me?

  I told him where we lived and settled against his chest as he navigated the boat smoothly. “Who are you?”

  “Beast.”

  “What?”

  “Beast.” He repeated himself a little louder like I might be hard of hearing.

  “Beast?” I said it like it was acid on my tongue. “That’s your name?”

  “Yes. And you’re Sky.”

  “What kind of name is Beast?”

  “It’s a dragon’s name, Sky,” Casey called from the front of the boat. “He’s a dragon.”

  I sighed. “Of course. He’s a dragon. This just gets better and better.”

  Beast chuckled from behind me. Then, his mouth pressed against the side of my neck and his breath flitted down my neck and under the collar of my shirt. “A dragon, little one. A big, fire-breathing dragon who wants nothing more than to claim you as my own. You’re my mate, Sky. Your sexy little body was made for me to pleasure and I’m going to show you exactly what that means.”

  My heart raced and I wanted to crawl up his big body and shake him. Or ride him. I couldn’t decide which. It was awfully uncomfortable with the boys there.

  I chose to keep my mouth shut. No sense trying to carry on a sane conversation with someone who was unbalanced. A dragon. Lord ha’ mercy! God, why couldn’t I just attract a normal man with a normal personality? A nice computer programmer or accountant, hell, even a pro-skateboarder or a dog walker would do, anyone who didn’t claim he was a dragon.

  “Just relax, little one. You’ll understand it all eventually. We have all the time in the world.”

  It was laughable that he thought I might relax. The things he was saying, the way he spoke, the way he seemed to have no sense of propriety when it came to grabbing an unknown woman, calling her his and following her home… He was probably dangerous. He had to be dangerous. Yet, I found myself sinking into him again. Relaxing. Letting him hold me. And liking it.

  “That’s it. We’ll be at your castle soon.”

  Oh, lord.

  Beast

  My mate’s castle was barely a shanty. It looked as though a heavy wind might crumble it to dust. That wouldn’t do. There was no way she could remain there. If an enemy attempted to attack, they would need only to huff and puff to blow the structure down. I could not allow it. I could not allow her to remain somewhere unsafe, unguarded, somewhere she could be harmed.

  When I told her that, she narrowed her eyes and glared at me with a nasty look, then stepped away from me like I was a smelly lump of dung stuck to her shoe. When her mouth half lifted in a snarl, it was clear that she didn’t like my words, but I cared more about her protection than whether she was miffed by what I said. It was my duty to protect her. My castle was much safer.

  When I told her that, too, she actually shoved me away before storming into the unlocked back door. Unlocked! I tried to follow her, but she turned on me and pointed up in my face. “Look. I’ve been nice so far, but this is ridiculous. You need to go on back home. You’re pushy and rude and I don’t care that you’re hot. It doesn’t make up for the fact that you’re overbearing. And off your rocker.” Her face became bright red and she slammed a flimsy door in my face. “Go. Away!”

  I pushed the door and growled down at her shocked face after the flimsy thing fell off its hinges. “For some reason, your constant backtalk and sass turns me on.”

  “You’re a psycho!” She watched me casually put her door down and then stomped her foot. “Go!”

  The boys stood just inside in what I gathered was some sort of very small kitchen, staring out at us. The smaller one looked excited about his aunt being angry with me. When he caught me glaring at him, he snapped his gaze away and hurried out of the room. Nick stood trembling slightly, his back straight. He was trying to be brave and I felt myself admiring the young male. Frightened or not, he wasn’t going to leave his aunt’s side unless she forced him to.

  “I am not leaving you here alone and unguarded. This house would not stand up to an attack. I broke your door down and I barely touched it.”

  “Well, you’re a freak.”

  “A freak?”

  She sighed and threw her hands up. “Whatever. If you want to sit out here and watch over the door that you just broke down, feel free. Could you try to keep the bugs out, too?”

  “You would like me to stay?”

  “I want you to go home, but you don’t listen well.” She went around and grabbed Nick’s shoulder. “You and I are going to have a long talk tomorrow.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  They both disappeared and I stood wondering what the hell she expected me to do. Surely, she didn’t really expect me to keep the bugs out all night. I was a dragon, not an exterminator. I put the door back, a little worse for the wear, and trailed along after her.

  The hallway they’d gone down led to two rooms. Behind the door on the right, I could hear the boys arguing. Nick was angry at his little brother for getting him in trouble. Casey didn’t seem to care. Behind the other door, I heard my mate settling into bed. Her intoxicating aroma beckoned me. I stepped into her room and pushed the door closed behind me.

  “Oh, no you don’t.” Sky sat up in her bed. The blanket that fell to her waist reveal that she had removed her bra. Under her oversized shirt, her breasts hung free and swayed in a way that made my mouth water. “Get out of here!”

  I shook my head and stepped closer. “I am getting tired of you telling me to leave. Why do you do it? I know you can feel that we are mates. I know that you feel attraction for me as I do for you. Why do you fight it?”

  “First of all, I don’t know what you’re talking about with this mate business. What does that even mean to you? Second of all, you’re a stranger who followed me home and is now standing in my bedroom uninvited, even though I’m telling you to get out. I should call the cops and have you arrested. I should.” She pulled at her hair. “I don’t even know why I’m not doing it. I should. I should just grab my phone and call 911. You’re probably going to snap and murder us all in our sleep and it’ll be all my fault because I didn’t call for help. And all because I’m not thinking with the right part of my body.”

  I quickly stepped to her side and knelt. “I would never hurt you. I wouldn’t hurt the boys, either, because you love them and that would hurt you. Even though the male is rude to you.”

  “Nick isn’t rude… He’s just testing his boundaries.”

  “I didn’t mean Nick.” I shook my head. “Look at me. I’m on my knees. I would never hurt you. I would give you my sword and let you run it through my chest and pierce my heart before I hurt you.”

  “You have a sword? Why am I not surprised?”

  “Every dragon has a sword.”

  “Why do you call yourself a dragon?”

  “Because I am a dragon.”

  “You’re not a dragon.”

  “I am a dragon.”

  “Prove it.”

  “You want me to show you here?”

  She crossed her arms. “Yeah.”

  “Female, I am not some puny house dragon. I am a powerful, fierce fire-breathing, earth-shaking dragon. I would destroy your tiny shack if I shifted here. I would destroy your neighbor’s shack, too.”

  Suddenly, she barked out a laugh. “Oh, I get it. This is about your penis size, isn’t it? ‘Big, earth-shaking dragon’ is a metaphor. This whole thing is some weird penis joke? It’s sooo big, you’d destroy me. Uh huh. Okay. That’s great, big guy. I’m going to bed. Don’t let the door hit ya’ on the way out.”<
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  I sat back on my heels. “What? This is not about my penis.”

  “No, no, it’s fine. I’m sure it’s just massive. I’m just really tired and I have to be to work early.”

  “Little mate, you’re irritating me.”

  She made a show of fluffing her pillows. “Well, we’re even.”

  I stood up and glared down at her. “In my old world, I would not have even asked. You would have welcomed me. Begged me, perhaps.”

  “And in my old world, you’d have a really large penis and be sane. And you’d know how to use it. And you wouldn’t be coming on so strong, but you wouldn’t forget to call, either. And, you’d cook, clean, and know how to dance like the guys in Magic Mike.”

  I frowned. “What world are you from?”

  “Shreveport.”

  “I don’t understand anything you’re saying, except that you wish me to have a big dick.” I gestured to my pants. “I have a big dick. Can I get in bed with you now?”

  She shook her head. “No! You’re not getting in my bed.”

  I pressed my lips together and tried to think of a way to coax her to allow me to lie with her. I was tired but I wanted desperately to caress her soft, delicious little curvy body and hold it next to mine as we slept. She was being stubborn. “Come on, mate. I will hardly even touch you.” I knew it wouldn’t take only a couple well-placed strokes before I had her begging.

  Even though she shook her head, she looked as though she wanted to smile. “Get out of here, Beast. Whoever named you that was wrong, by the way.”

  I scowled at her, suddenly ready to leave her room. “My mother named me that because she knew I’d be strong and rule over our kingdom. She was not wrong.”

  I left her in her bed, feeling like I’d just ended up punishing myself by walking away. Perhaps I should have tried harder. I did not know how to woo a human female. Had my mate been a dragon female, it would have been easy. I would not have had to do a thing. A dragon female would have begged, pleaded for me to claim her. I did not want a dragon female, though. I wanted my beautiful human mate.