“You don’t have to go anywhere unless you want to,” he assured her.
She didn’t know how he could be so sure. This wasn’t his house. He didn’t get to say what happened here.
Dillon must have heard her heart start to thump again because he pulled back and cupped her face, so she had to look at him. He gave her a sweet, reassuring smile.
“We would never let anything bad happen to you. You’ll never be homeless.”
“You can’t promise that.” She hated how whiny her voice sounded.
“I would promise you the world and find a way to follow through,” he told her.
The hurried beat of her heart shifted from fear to desire. Before she could move into him, Dillon’s lips descended upon hers. His hands slipped lower until one rested on her neck and the other explored her narrow frame. She tilted her head back to give him full access. His tongue pushed past her lips and drew a moan from her.
She needed his touch, needed the way he made her feel. Ravenous for affection, she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and tugged him closer. He responded with his arm around her lower back.
A thunderous crash broke them apart. Isabelle’s first thought was to check on Persimmon, but the rabbit’s cage was still perched on the dresser. As she came back to the present, she realized the sound had come from somewhere else in the house.
Dillon clutched her tight, so she could feel the tension bound in every muscle of his body. Fear doused the heat that’d warmed her core, as if someone had thrown a bucket of ice-water over her.
She pushed against Dillon’s chest, but his embrace was unbreakable. Panic soured her stomach and sent bile rising along the back of her throat. She fought to break free of his grasp.
He startled, as if only now noticing her. His brows furrowed into a deep V before he finally let go of her.
Isabella pressed the heel of her hand to her chest. She hadn’t expected to feel so trapped in the arms of someone she trusted. It was like when they were at the grove and he hovered behind her, except multiplied times a hundred.
Dillon seemed wounded when he refused to look at her. “Stay here. We have a visitor.”
Alone in her bedroom, Isabella wanted to kick herself for being so silly. Dillon only wanted to protect her. He never meant her harm. The man had never given any warning signs before. Yet, she’d reacted like he’d tried to hurt her.
She covered her face with both hands and counted to ten, but guilt and shame still clung to her like heavy weights. While she tried to deal with her unreasonable panic, Dillon had gone to check out the threat. Though she was only a human, she didn’t want to leave him on his own.
Creeping into the hall, she could already hear voices. Gavin spoke to an unfamiliar visitor, both barely keeping the venom from their voices. Stepping closer, she glimpsed a man slightly older than Gavin. He had the same burnished auburn hair but kept long and tied back. A thick moustache over his upper lip added some years to his appearance.
When his eyes slid to her, she startled. But, if he thought anything of her presence, he said nothing.
“I heard you summoned one of my loyal dragons,” the man growled at Gavin.
“Don’t look at me. Casey wanted to talk to his sister. Even you aren’t so much of a monster that you’re going to keep a brother and sister apart.” Gavin turned his back to the man.
The gesture seemed to offend the visitor, deepening his scowl. “And what is it that you need her for? Do you really think you can camp out here in the middle of nowhere and make your own little clan? I didn’t think you were that stupid.”
Gavin let out a feral snarl but didn’t face the older man.
“Good afternoon, Dillon,” the man said, speaking slowly and enunciating every syllable like he thought Dillon was slow.
Isabella’s jaw tightened, annoyed on behalf of Dillon.
The man gestured to Dillon. “You can’t make a clan with trash like this. Right, Dillon? In a clan this small, you can’t possibly hope to live up to my son’s expectations.”
Gavin spun around. Isabella saw only a blur until the man’s back hit the wall. He didn’t slide to the floor but found his feet and looked as though he would launch himself at his son. Gavin appeared in front of him and shoved him back into the wall.
Isabella had known that Dillon and his friends were dragons but seeing their power in action scared her. The wall behind the stranger had buckled. Even the wall frame underneath had snapped under Gavin’s strength.
“Don’t talk about my clan like that,” Gavin growled.
The man didn’t throw Gavin off, but pushed Gavin back by standing and coming to his full height. A flicker of dismay passed over his features, as if he realized he was shorter than Gavin.
Dillon happened to look over his shoulder. He did a doubletake when he saw her lingering in the hall.
“I told you to stay in your room,” he hissed when he reached her.
He put both hands on her shoulders and tried to turn her around. She dug in her heels, but Dillon was stronger. He managed to guide her back to her bedroom and locked the door behind them.
“Who is that?” she asked, hushed and hurried.
Dillon blew a breath out through his lips. Wisps of smoke floated toward the ceiling. “That’s Zander, Gavin’s father.”
Evangeline had mentioned that the guys were living under a deadline. Instead of doing what Zander had asked of them, they’d struck out and decided to form their own clan. It seemed that Zander had not taken kindly to the news.
Dillon steadied her with both hands on her elbows. “I won’t let him hurt you. I won’t let anyone get through me.”
Before he could hold her close again, she put a hand out to stop him. She couldn’t tell him that she could barely breathe when he tried to shield her. Instead, she brought up another concern.
“What about you? Is Zander…is he going to try to hurt all of you?”
Dillon’s silence said enough.
Her heart cinched tight, caught between love and fear. She’d just taken the first steps with Dillon. While there were plenty more that needed to happen before they could have a happily ever after, she still hoped for one. She’d found someone who could be a good father. Even though his concern for her sent her into a small panic, his protective instincts proved to her that he was unlike any other man she’d thought she’d loved.
Dillon didn’t smother her to hold her back. He did it to keep her safe. Her brain couldn’t seem to tell the difference in the moment, but now that she could see it, she could work on calming herself when it happened. At least, that was her plan.
She didn’t know how much time she had left with Dillon. Gavin held his own against Zander, but the way he spoke, she suspected Zander could summon more shifters. What would happen when Zander sent an army of dragons after Dillon and the others.
“Zander tried to throw us out like trash,” Dillon said. “He doesn’t know that he gave up on his strongest shifters.”
23
Dillon tried to be confident for Isabella’s sake, but he trembled on the inside. He didn’t believe himself or any of the others to truly be Zander’s strongest shifters. Night after night of watching over Erik and hunting down Gavin had led Dillon to understand why they were here and not with Zander.
Zander might be an asshole, but Dillon knew he could offer protection. Being on their own out here, they were vulnerable. They didn’t have the numbers to hold Zander off. If they could get maybe even three more dragon shifters on their side, then maybe they would stand a chance.
Evangeline would change and become a dragon shifter, but an inexperienced dragon wasn’t enough.
Dillon’s eyes fell on Isabella. She tugged on the ends of her curls and looked up at him like she heard the lie in his voice. He wanted to take her into his arms, but he didn’t dare while Zander was still under this roof. Dillon would need his hands free.
He sighed. “Maybe you should move out.”
She stepped forward. “I don’t want
to leave you alone! You don’t have to do this by yourself.”
He didn’t tell her that she was only a human. What could she do against Zander? Dillon’s entire being had focused on her the second he realized she’d followed him toward the living room. Her presence had brought his dragon to the surface and made it thrash with rage. How could he fight Zander and the clan if he couldn’t control himself while she was around?
Every few weeks, this clan got messier and messier. No one expected to find mates out here, but Dillon started to believe that’s just what he’d done. Isabella filled his mind all the time. Their rooms were only a thin wall apart. He listened to her when she roused in the morning, when she shuffled over to Persimmon with food.
He cupped her chin. “The only thing I will ever ask of you is that you stay safe.”
Isabella didn’t want to hide for the rest of her life. She didn’t want to be the broken creature everyone assumed her to be. While her past had left scars and riddled her with insecurities, she knew she could move forward if only the people around her would let her.
Instead of arguing with Dillon, she pressed her lips into a firm line and nodded. Though she wanted to stand alongside Dillon’s gentle soul in the face of this fight, she had to think of more than just herself now. Torn between her budding feelings, her desire to become stronger, and the small child now growing inside her, she froze.
Thankfully, Zander didn’t stay much longer. The fight between him and his son had ended in a standoff. Which was good for the cabin. Dillon led Isabella back into the living room where she could inspect the damage. She covered her mouth with her hand, all too aware of the drywall dust now coating everything.
“I’ll give Casey a call,” Dillon said before breaking off to find his phone.
Gavin paced back and forth, nearly vibrating with the tension still trapped in his muscles. Isabella kept her distance from him until she couldn’t stand his growls any longer. She whirled on him and threw her hands in the air.
“Do something with yourself!” she said. “Pick up the broken wall pieces. Sweep up that shattered lamp. I don’t care what you do, but you’re not going to feel better until you put yourself to use.”
Gavin snarled at her. She wanted to flinch, but she’d faced mean men before, and Gavin wasn’t like them. He was just riled up. So, she gave him a pleading look, silently begging him to listen to her advice.
He bent and snatched a piece of crumbling drywall from the floor, almost doing it out of spite. Second by second, piece by piece, his actions became less spiteful and more intentional.
Isabella let out a breath and rolled her shoulders. After everything, they would be hungry. While she cooked a big meal full of protein and carbs, Dillon and Casey hauled in fresh two-by-fours and sheets of drywall and began cutting away the broken bits.
She wished she could do that to herself. If only she could dump the jagged pieces of herself into that same trash bin, then she could start anew. Instead, she would have to work through the ways Tommy had changed her. It would take time, time she wasn’t sure Dillon had.
Every now and then, she snuck glances at him. She found herself entranced by his shirtless form and the way his muscles worked as he lifted the drywall into place. Tall and towering, he’d only ever shown her his gentle side. With her, he was careful.
The only issues he could have had with her had been her own fault. He wasn’t to blame for her panic. She wanted to give him a chance but didn’t want to put him through her fleeting moods. If she didn’t tell him how she felt, then she might never get a chance to tell him.
The wall had patches of drying putty, but it was once again whole. She told Dillon to order another lamp and have it delivered and then told Gavin to set the table. Gavin did as he was told and was in the process of gathering plates as Evangeline entered.
Evangeline dropped her bag near the door and stared in awe. “I didn’t know they could behave like this.”
Isabella ducked her head. This was not because of her. The plates on the table, circling the food she placed bowl by bowl, were there because these men needed it. They needed each other and the others they’d brought into their lives as a reminder of what they were fighting for.
Gavin and his clan weren’t fighting against Zander because they all held a grudge against him. They fought to be their own men, to be free from a power that would seek to control their every move. Isabella had fought for that very same freedom, and while it was taking her forever to finally detach herself from Tommy and how he’d changed her, she understood that she wasn’t the only one on a journey here.
Evangeline bumped shoulders with Isabella. The gesture brought up the corners of her mouth until she wore an infectious grin. She glanced around the table, watching others take their seats, and found Dillon staring at her. His lips had parted into a small O. Yellow danced around his irises like his beast was watching her, too.
* * *
Dillon stood on the edge of the ravine. Night had fallen over the mountain, but he could still see Erik’s hunched silhouette as the man shuddered under the force of his second beast. Dillon wanted to be anywhere but here.
No, he knew where he wanted to be. In the room next to his own, wrapped around the woman that had mystified him. He’d become addicted to Isabella’s soft and sweet nature. When Dillon gave everything he had to Erik and Gavin day after day, Isabella gave back to Dillon. She filled him with bright sunshine, a taste he craved even now.
But Erik needed him right now. Three times since they’d moved into the cabin with Gavin, Erik’s second beast had taken over. The monster had stormed toward the cabin each time, stopped only by Dillon. He’d gotten a couple of new scars from the feral monstrosity, but it hadn’t caused any more harm than that.
He didn’t understand how Erik could hold two dragons. Dillon was a big man and he barely had enough room inside himself for his one beast. Erik had two crammed into his narrow frame. One beast had helped them the night of the fire. Dillon had no problem with that beast. It was the second, the sickly green dragon that Erik kept locked away, that Dillon worried about.
If Dillon didn’t keep his post on nights like these, the cabin wouldn’t be standing. It seemed as though the beast had a taste for destruction and nothing else.
“G-go back inside,” Erik called out.
Dillon responded with a grunt.
Erik jerked, tossed to one side probably by his second beast. “I mean it, man. Don’t worry about me.”
Dillon sighed. If he didn’t worry about his friends, then they would end up doing things they regretted. There was no one else who could do what Dillon did. No one would stand on the edge of a ravine all night. No one would watch over Gavin when Zander paid them a surprise visit.
An incredible weight settled on Dillon’s shoulders until he thought his ankles had descended into the dirt below. He moved his feet, just to make sure he wasn’t sinking into the earth. When he blew out a breath, he struggled to fill his constricted lungs.
“M-man, I’ve b-been dealing with this bitch for almost three decades now,” Erik said from in the ditch. “I don’t need you.”
Dillon shook his head. “I need you. Can’t leave you alone and have you get hurt.”
Erik stopped and looked up at Dillon. The words seemed to have quieted the internal struggle and allowed Erik a moment to process what Dillon just said. The monster didn’t give Erik long, though, because he shuddered and bent double once more.
Both Erik and monster exhausted themselves in the struggle, falling asleep before sunrise. Dillon hauled his friend over his shoulder and carried him inside so they could both crash. After depositing Erik into his own room, Dillon staggered down the hall.
Bleary and sleep deprived, Dillon opened the door he thought was his own. Except, when he looked up, he found Isabella staring at him with wide, alarmed eyes. He jerked upright, suddenly awake and ashamed. A searing heat crossed his cheeks, but he couldn’t get his feet to back up.
He s
tood before her, trapped by the beast that had taken control of his lower half. Dillon dared a glance down and heaved a sigh of relief when he found her fully clothed.
“Good morning,” Isabella said, finally.
“Ah, mornin’.” He tried to move. He really did.
The sunlight pouring through her window painted her hair with a golden aura. The freckles along the bridge of her nose and her shoulders seemed to dance with light, like glitter. If she wasn’t a fey creature, then she had to be a witch because she had thoroughly enchanted him.
“Would you like breakfast?” she asked.
I’d like to eat you for breakfast.
He shook himself. “No. I was headed to bed.”
Her lips formed a disappointed pout that sent his stomach plummeting to his feet.
24
Isabella’s mind wandered, mostly over Dillon’s body. She shouldn’t have indulged the thoughts, but she couldn’t seem to extract herself from them. Her gaze slipped down his front, to the small slice of exposed skin from how his shirt lifted over his hips.
Dillon scratched the back of his head and the shirt lifted higher.
She wanted to close the door behind him and pull him inside so she could wrap herself around his body. As much as she told herself there was nothing sexual about the desire to hold him, her mind travelled south.
Were this like one of the romance novels she wrote, he would have swept her into his arms the moment he barged into her room. He would have confessed everything he felt for her and they would have had a happily ever after.
Isabella didn’t get stories like that. Her own life seemed devoid of that fairytale love. Dillon would realize, sooner or later, that she wasn’t worth waiting for. Would it happen when she started growing an unignorable bump? Or when she birthed a child that shared no blood with him?
She knew men didn’t like that. They wanted their women to carry children they made, not the children of others.
Isabella ducked her head. “Well, have a good rest, then.”
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 20
