“Someone tell me what the hell just went down,” Casey demanded.
Evangeline launched into the story of how she and Nellie had knocked Nate unconscious. Casey’s expression turned from rage to pride. He, too, kept touching his mate. Seeing the similarities between the way the men acted gave Isabella hope.
Perhaps she had that kind of love after all.
32
Home.
The first place Isabella thought of was the cabin. Then, she remembered nearly everything she owned had been packed away as she prepared to move. Danger had arrived and struck hard. What had seemed like a joke had turned into an inescapable pain for Isabella.
Gavin would surely kick her out now. She couldn’t even lift boxes with her shoulder messed up as it was now. Her skin flashed with red hot pain when it connected with anything. When she flexed, the muscles reminded her of the bits that had been pierced by talons.
Dillon held her while Evangeline drove them back to the cabin, but Isabell struggled to hold onto any kind of happiness. Her relief had been so short lived. She yearned to grasp that feeling and hold it close again but couldn’t when she knew her days at the cabin were limited.
Once they stopped, Dillon directed her to the bathroom where he could take care of her injury. As they passed her room and she saw the boxes, her heart fell and dragged on the floor behind her.
“I want to stay,” she whispered, mostly to herself.
Dillon shut the bathroom door behind her and lifted her onto the counter. “I’ll talk to Gavin. He’ll understand.”
She shook her head. Dillon didn’t give her the chance to mope. He lifted her tank-top over her head. She cringed as she raised her arms. Her shoulder would never be the same. The gashes would heal, but when she twisted and saw herself in the mirror, she glimpsed the smeared ink of her tattoo.
What had been a delicate floral arrangement in black ink was now a mess of red skin.
Dillon rocked back on his heels. A downward turn tugged at the corners of his mouth. Yellow swirled on the perimeters of his blue eyes.
“This isn’t your fault,” she said.
“I was right beside you. I was looking for other dragon shifters, and I didn’t even see him.” Dillon didn’t take his eyes off her shoulder.
She hung her head. “Gavin is right. I need to leave because I’ll always be a target. Evangeline and Nellie can handle themselves, but everyone that comes to hurt you will know just by looking at me that I can be used against you.”
Dillon gently touched her chin. “You are the strongest person I know. Anyone else would have begged to be saved, but you bore this pain to protect everyone. You did everything right.”
She choked back a sob. “I still ended up in that position. If I was different, then it never would have happened.”
Dillon brought her close until their foreheads touched. His warmth washed over her and eased her tight muscles. She wanted to give in and cry but didn’t know what Dillon would think of her if she broke down now. So much had happened, and there’d been little time to process it.
“Let’s get a look at your shoulder.” Dillon leaned back.
Isabella could already tell that she would need to go to a doctor. Explaining what happened to the doctor would be a challenge, but she wasn’t a shifter. This wouldn’t heal overnight. It needed professional attention.
“Is it okay if I hold you?” Dillon asked, his voice nearly a whisper.
She spun back to him, surprised. He looked up at her with fearful eyes. Her heart hurt. She felt the pain like a physical knife, and it hurt so much worse knowing that this was her own doing.
“So, I wasn’t lying when I said that I sometimes get scared around you,” she began. She didn’t want to lie to him anymore. He deserved to know everything. She explained exactly when her body decided to panic and what she thought the reason was.
Dillon listened patiently, but his face was a mask the entire time. She struggled to get a feel for what he was thinking as she spoke. She waited for him to lean away, to march out and slam the door.
Instead, he nodded, and a small smile appeared. “I never want to make you think of him. We can take this one day at a time until every part of you knows without a doubt that I will love you and keep you safe for the rest of my life.”
Her breath left her. She swallowed another sob and threw her arms around his neck. He stiffened in her grasp.
“I don’t know how to translate this,” he said.
Her shoulder hurt something fierce, but she held on tight. “Thank you. I don’t deserve you.”
Dillon gently pulled her arms away. At first, when she saw the flat set of his brows, she worried that she’d somehow angered him.
“Don’t say something like that. You deserve so much more. This is basic human kindness.” He kissed the tip of her nose, then whispered, “Wait until I shower you with everything you deserve. You are my mate. I’d give you the whole world.”
Though she needed to get off the counter and see a doctor, Isabella knew her life would be going in a better direction from here on out. Her chest flared with warmth when she thought of the word mate. She’d yearned for that kind of love, the endless depths of affection she’d seen with Evangeline and Casey.
While they needled each other and lent each other strength, Isabella had a different kind of relationship. Dillon made her feel whole again. He showed her that she could be loved.
“I know my due date is months away,” she began. She bit her lip then decided to go for it. “I’d like it if you would be my baby’s father.”
Dillon grinned.
“You’re going to be a great dad,” she said with absolute conviction.
“I’m a baby daddy,” he said and laughed. She could feel his excitement pouring off him.
She could think of no other man better suited to be a father. Dillon’s patience and kindness were exactly what she needed, but those qualities would also help them raise a happy child, too.
“I think I love you,” she said.
Dillon’s brows shot toward the ceiling. His smile shone so bright, she had to blink away tears. She’d never known feelings like this before. Everything was new and scary, but also exciting in its own way.
“I know I love you,” he replied.
She fanned her eyes to keep herself from crying. They had a lot of work to do. Isabella had to learn how to be loved, and Dillon had to fend off a clan war. They had each other, though. No matter what ups and downs they experienced, they would have each other.
Dillon helped her down from the counter and gingerly pulled her shirt over her head. They formulated a plan to tell the doctor how a candle had fallen on the bed while she slept. The story didn’t cover the gashes in her skin, but she knew doctors wouldn’t pry too hard if you held to your story.
She no longer needed to be saved.
Well, except from being kicked out by Gavin.
33
The flight back to Zander’s territory took longer than Dillon expected. Perhaps it was the growing distance between him and his mate that bothered him. He yearned to rest his head on Isabella’s stomach and listen for the sounds of growth. Instead, he had to fly Nate back to Zander and drop him off as a warning.
Nate wriggled in his bindings, but Nellie had enchanted them so they would remain unbreakable until he was safely delivered. Dillon had begun to understand why dragons feared witches so long ago. Nellie was a force to be reckoned with.
He knew she had nothing to worry about with Dillon and his clanmates, though. If anything, she was safe with them.
Dillon saw the familiar shape of Zander’s mansion in the woods. Instead of swooping lower, he gleefully tossed Nate and let him plummet through the air. Dragons could withstand the hard landing. He would be fine until Zander found him and realized what a failure he was.
Gavin had opened an invitation to Nate, but the dragon man was too afraid of Gavin’s father to accept it. That gave them only one choice. Both he and Jake had to g
o back. Beside Dillon, Erik banked and flung Jake toward the ground.
They twisted in the air, all too ready to head back home. Dillon knew that no one in his new clan would betray him the way Nate and Jake had. Only months ago, they’d all been a part of the same clan. One would have thought there would be a kinship still lingering between them. Dillon knew that the two dragon men had acted out of fear of Zander, but that didn’t do much to lessen the sting of betrayal.
Especially when Dillon knew Isabella was nursing her wounds at home. She had second degree burns on her shoulder. A tattoo on her shoulder had been ruined by burns and scars.
Had Dillon carried Jake back to Zander’s territory, he would have dropped the man several times over. It was not nearly as much as he deserved.
Landing back home, on the mountain, Dillon should have been exhausted. Instead, excited energy pulsed within him. He had a mate now.
* * *
Isabella vibrated with excitement as she watched two dragon shapes coast overhead. She’d been sleeping on the couch the last few nights, as Gavin had warned her that he needed to do some renovations in her bedroom. She’d assumed he had some wiring to fix, so she hadn’t complained.
She’d kept up with her duties around the cabin while pretending to search for an apartment. The cabin was her home, and the thought of leaving filled her with dread, so she tried not to think about it most of the time. Instead, she thought of Dillon.
The small couch had only made her feel alone, though. Watching Dillon descend and land, her heart leapt into her throat. His dragon form shrank until a naked man walked toward her, a sight that stole her breath in so many ways. He paused before her, a gesture that they’d agreed would be a silent way to ask permission.
Isabella threw herself into his arms. Dillon caught her and held her tight. She couldn’t help but feel like he’d missed her as much as she’d missed him. She kissed his forehead, his cheeks, and finally, his lips. Dillon sank into her, and she realized this was their first real kiss.
It should have felt strange, knowing they’d already fooled around in her bed, but she was too wrapped up in Dillon’s touch to care. As her feet touched the ground again, his hands slithered down her waist. He growled into her mouth, a vibrating sensation that she adored.
“I never want to leave again,” Dillon whispered.
The front door slammed open. Isabella let out a yelp and shrank into Dillon. But it was only Gavin. He wiped his hands together as he walked past them.
“Your bedroom is ready.”
She scowled, confused. Dillon cocked his head. She fed him a quick explanation and then had to hold Dillon back from going after Gavin once he learned she’d been sleeping on the couch.
“You didn’t have to kick her into the living room!” Dillon shouted. “You could have given her my bed!”
Gavin stopped and half-turned. Isabella caught the small smile on the man’s lips. “No, I couldn’t. You’ll see why.”
Casey stepped through the front door and shook dust from his hair. Splatters of paint marred his face, but Evangeline appeared beside him with a big paint handprint on her ass. Isabella stifled a laugh.
“Go check it out,” Evangeline said.
Isabella took Dillon by the hand and led him toward her bedroom. Where there had been two doors, a set of double doors now stood. She cast a quizzical glance back at Dillon, and he shrugged, probably just as puzzled as she was.
The doors had no glass, so she couldn’t see into the room. She took one doorknob while Dillon took the other. It occurred to her that she should have noticed these doors being brought in. Gavin must have snuck them inside while she’d been at a doctor’s appointment. She didn’t understand what he had to hide, though.
They swung the doors open at the same time. Isabella gasped.
The room she had slept in for weeks was gone. Gavin and Casey had torn down the wall separating her room from Dillon’s. A king-sized bed sat to one side, flanked by new nightstands. Isabella slowly turned to take in the whole room and froze when she saw a crib at the other end. A mobile with crocheted dragons spun over the bedding.
“I overheard your confession the first day you moved in,” Gavin said from behind them.
Isabella whirled and embraced Gavin in a bold hug. He stiffened. She suspected Gavin had to look to Dillon before he hugged her back. She didn’t care. This was one of the nicest things anyone had done for her.
When she pulled back, Gavin leaned away from her, trying to be aloof and cold again.
“This is your home, too,” he said.
Home.
Isabella could barely believe her life. For the first time ever, she had everything she could have ever wanted. Surrounded by love, Isabella’s heart expanded. She put her hand over her breastbone like she could somehow hold back the wave of emotion about to run her over.
She could blame her hormones all she wanted, but she’d always been an emotional person. She felt deeply, and now it finally felt like she was giving her affection and attention to the right people.
“We didn’t know if you’re having a boy or a girl,” Evangeline said as she pulled Isabella into a hug. “So, we tried to keep the room gender neutral. Both boys and girls can like dragons.”
Isabella looked at Dillon. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched Isabella with pride written all over his face. He no longer looked as though he wanted to escape or like he was trapped inside his own mind. She didn’t know what wounds he’d had, but she had a feeling that she’d helped heal him, too.
Everyone filed out and left Isabella and Dillon alone. He fell back on the bed. She crawled across the new mattress to join him. When she curled into his side, he wrapped an arm around her and held her close.
“Erik’s going to get kicked out,” Dillon said.
Isabella peered up at her mate.
Dillon met her gaze and smirked. “Gavin can only have one baby under the roof at a time.”
She playfully smacked his chest. “I hope he finds a mate before that happens.”
“That’s asking a lot of a woman. She’s got to be a special kind of crazy to want to deal with that man,” Dillon said.
Isabella wanted to refute him, but his fingers crept under her shirt and started a fire in her core. She pressed against him and reveled in the heat. His fingers found her breasts. She moaned.
When Dillon paused and asked if it was okay to go further while she was pregnant, she laughed and assured him it was very much okay. He went to shut and lock the French doors before rushing back to her. Dillon showed her all the ways he loved her, with his hands, with his lips, and with his heart.
Restoring The Broken
Rogue Dragon Series - Book 3
34
Bree Halstead watched another woman loop her arm around Erik Beck’s shoulders. Rage turned Bree’s cheeks red hot as she watched the woman’s manicured nails tickle Erik’s earlobe. Bree could do nothing more than duck her head and fill another cup with ice.
She wasn’t Erik’s girlfriend. She wasn’t even sure Erik knew she existed. He leaned on the bar, his smoky sunglasses obscuring his eyes. The woman cajoled him in a clear attempt to take him home.
Every woman in the bar wanted a night with Erik Beck, but no one knew him like Bree. She was the one who’d spent the early parts of her shift listening to him. She was the one he’d saved from a rowdy group of college-aged boys looking for rough fun. The other women had him for a night. Bree knew she would have him for the rest of her life.
She snuck another glance at him and wondered if he was looking at her from behind those sunglasses. He almost never took them off. She’d seen his eyes, though. One blue and the other green. She didn’t understand why he felt the need to hide them. She yearned to see that mismatched gaze every day of her life.
Her co-workers had warned her not to develop feelings for any of her patrons. They’d cautioned against even sympathy, but Bree had thrown all advice out the window the moment Erik stepped into the bar.<
br />
The others gave him a wide berth and claimed he was a freak. They whispered about the crazy fights he and his friends had started in the bar. Others shared stories of Erik starting a fight in the streets. Bree ignored them all.
There had to be some reason behind those incidents, something that an outsider wouldn’t understand. She knew Erik wasn’t the monster they all thought him to be.
She pushed a frothy beer toward an older gentleman. The guy gave her a nod, but his eyes were glued to her breasts. She bit back her sigh and tucked his meager tip into her pocket. Another bartender had told her that this man would tip better if she bent and gave him a full view down her shirt, but the idea of it made her skin crawl tonight.
She fisted her hand at her side, the other hand going to the small bump in her pocket. Her tips were awful. She’d had better nights. Since Erik had entered her life, it seemed as though her ability to withstand creeps and pervs had vanished.
Once more, she snuck a glance at Erik. Except, he wasn’t on his stool anymore. She caught a glimpse of his back as he lurched away. Concern made her stomach roll. Before giving her decision much thought, she told her co-worker that she’d be right back and ducked out from behind the bar.
Monty raised a brow but didn’t say anything. He went back to flirting with the closeted middle-aged men at the bar.
Bree pushed through the crowd, keeping Erik’s jacket in her sights. Then, a door swung between them, and she came face to face with the sign for the men’s restroom. She jerked back. Chewing her lip, she debated giving up.
You can’t stalk him into the bathroom! What’s wrong with you? Bree admonished herself.
She stepped back. Monty needed her at the bar. Saturday evenings were busy, and the bar would only get busier. A sound like a snarl echoed in the men’s room as she turned. Bree froze and strained to hear more.
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 27
