Yet, every woman in his life seemed convinced that he would mess up. He’d never laid a cruel hand on Tiffany. Every touch had been tender and loving while he worshipped her. Somehow, she still hung onto the idea that he would lose control.
While he barely had any say over his beast, it didn’t work like that either. The beast wouldn’t hurt her even if it overpowered him. The creature would head out into the wilderness before it betrayed someone Gavin loved.
As Gavin forced himself away from the door, he found Evangeline at the bottom of the stairs. Her hair had been dyed a lovely teal at the roots. It faded to a soft mint at the ends and fluttered in the cross-breeze downstairs.
“Do you have my witch?” she asked, looking up at him.
“She’s safe and sound, sleeping off too many margaritas.”
Evangeline nodded. He noticed a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
He narrowed his eyes. “You got her drunk on purpose.”
She shrugged, nonchalant. “All I did was put the tequila in front of her. She made the choice to keep drinking. Little did you know, Nellie was already three drinks in when you gave her the water.”
“Evangeline,” he warned.
“What? She needed to let loose. I made sure she did it in a safe and secure place where no one would hurt her. Was I wrong?”
No. She wasn’t. If anyone in this house laid a hand on Nellie, Gavin would rip it off like Ford had done to Zander. Even if she kept running from him, he would keep protecting her. He had no choice in who his beast chose to love.
In who he loved…
Should he go back to Tiffany and try to make her feel loved? Or should he risk everything on Nellie? He didn’t know if he could withstand her fear of him forever. Yet, Nellie had shown defiance in the face of Tiffany’s antics. She’d come to his defense. She’d come upstairs and joined him when he’d been struggling.
His phone vibrated. Evangeline bid him goodbye as he pulled out his cell. Alone, he didn’t try to hide his disappointment from his face. Tiffany had sent him another message, asking to meet this time.
“Is this a ploy, Dad?” Gavin asked under his breath.
He knew that Zander had sent Tiffany just to screw with him, but he didn’t want to believe it, so he let doubt creep in. If Tiffany was his mate, like he’d once thought, then there was a chance they could make it work.
He knew better. He wouldn’t feel this much dread at the idea of meeting up with her if she was his mate. If anything, he should have felt hope, euphoria even. Not this imminent doom.
Behind him, Nellie slept in his bed. Curling up beside her would make his worries melt away, but she’d likely kick him out. Instead, he went up to the grove above the cabin and shifted. He stretched his wings only to glide to the roof. By spreading his weight out over the reinforced house, he could keep an eye out while making sure Nellie stayed asleep beneath him.
* * *
She woke in the middle of the night. The darkness obscured the room, but the smell of man on the sheets told her she wasn’t home. That was right. She’d fallen asleep in Gavin’s bed. Two days in one week, she’d stolen his bed from him.
Looking around, she tried to figure out what had woken her. Her brow furrowed when she couldn’t find anything amiss. She tried to throw out her magic, like a net, but nothing happened. An ache pulsed in the hollow place inside her where her magic had been.
Pulling her hand to her chest, she cradled it and tried not to cry. When would she go back to normal? She refused to accept that this would be her new normal. There had to be something she could do to get her magic back. A small part of her had hoped that the margaritas would help loosen whatever blockage was keeping that well from refilling.
“Did I wake you?” Gavin asked.
She sighed, annoyed that his sudden appearance hadn’t startled her. She was getting way too comfortable with him.
He stepped out of the shadows and sank into the chair she’d sat in before falling asleep. It took her a while, but she soon realized Gavin was absolutely naked. Darkness obscured his groin, but that didn’t stop her from peering out of curiosity.
“Were you on patrol?”
“Yes.”
“Now someone else is out there?” Her whisper slithered through the room, feeling far too loud and too quiet at the same time. She bit the inside of her cheek and wondered why she was talking at all.
“Yes,” he said again.
Conversation clearly done, Gavin didn’t move from where he sat. He didn’t head toward the door to leave her alone. He didn’t move toward the bed either. A lump stuck in Nellie’s throat. She didn’t know which she wanted more. In the dark, when it was only him and her, a well of emotion opened up. Hunger, gnawing and biting, filled her.
She must have lost her mind. Maybe she’d become one of those danger seekers who jumped off cliffs for the thrill of it. Her heart raced faster and faster as she waited for Gavin to approach her, to rise out of the chair and crawl across the bed to her like he wanted no other sanctuary but her.
Being alone with him in the dark was dangerous.
She threw off the blanket over her. “Do you want your bed? I can go find somewhere else to sleep. The couch. A futon in a spare room if you have one.”
He stood. Against her will, her gaze dropped to his groin, but she still couldn’t see much in the dark. Her night vision had always been crap.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll leave you alone.”
When he started toward the door, her heart nearly stopped.
“Don’t go!” she cried out.
He froze and slowly faced her. Even in the dark, she could see the surprise on his face. It thrummed in her own chest. What had she been thinking? Why would she call him back like that? Didn’t she want to be as far away from him as possible?
Yet it seemed like they had some kind of tenuous truce. When it was just the two of them, they could be their real selves. Gavin didn’t need to feel bad about who he was and what others might think of him.
No, that didn’t sound right. She’d made it very clear that she feared Gavin and everything he was. Her family had burned countless times at the hands of dragons. She should have gotten out of bed and scurried her ass home before she completely lost her mind.
It was too late. She patted the bed in invitation. Gavin stood stock still. Her breath caught in her throat. She had no intention of trickery or deceit, but she understood if he was wary of her after everything. He’d been hurt by his last relationship, and Nellie hadn’t exactly been the kindest to him.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice throaty and hoarse like he was holding himself back.
She trembled on the inside. When she spoke, even her voice shook. “No, but I can’t seem to help myself. Just make sure I die happy, okay?”
His growl filled the room like smoke. “There isn’t a soul in this world who could hurt you while I’m around.”
Those words curled around her heart and squeezed. She wanted to believe him, but he could say anything. He could tell her that he had the moon in his hands, but that didn’t mean it was true.
Still, she wanted to believe him. Alone in the dark with him, she wanted to curl into his chest and breathe easy. Maybe then, her fear of losing her magic forever would slip away and let her breathe for the first time in days.
Gavin put a knee on the edge of the bed and paused. He watched her cautiously, like she might leap out the window if he moved too fast. She chewed her lower lip and forced herself to relax.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
She laughed quietly. “I’m not asking you to come here and pound my cervix. I didn’t want to kick you out of your own bed, was all.”
He lowered himself onto his hands and knees. “You have a foul mouth.”
“Blame Evangeline’s grandfather. I picked up a lot of bad habits from the old man.”
The gold in Gavin’s eyes swirled. She wondered if the man and the beast were fight
ing. What would they have to fight about? Did his beast not want him near her because Tiffany was his forever mate?
“I-I can leave,” she offered, halfway off the other side of the bed.
He caught her and pulled her back onto the mattress. His body covered hers before she even knew what had happened. He didn’t weigh her down, though. Instead, he hovered above her, his weight on hands placed on either side of her head.
Looking up at him, she marveled at the beard growing along his chiseled jaw, at the luminosity of his eyes in the dark, and the lush hair that framed his face. She noticed that his breath had quickened and that he traced her features with his eyes the same way she’d done to him. The knowledge made her stomach flutter.
She put her hands on his chest and savored the warmth of his bare skin. He sighed as she let her hands slide up to his neck. He lowered himself slightly and hung his head so that his hair grazed her shoulders. She couldn’t see his face or the war between him and his beast anymore. She could still feel it in the tremor that raced through his body.
“I should let you go back to sleep,” he whispered.
A battle raged inside her. While she knew better, she couldn’t help the curious attraction taking over. No man had ever boggled her so much as Gavin. Strong and ferocious, he should have been fearsome. Instead, she found solace in his arms. Beneath him, she knew the rest of the world would wait for fear of angering him.
“I want you too much to lay beside you and not be able to touch you. I’m afraid I’ll keep you up all night.”
Her blood boiled. How could she want him this badly, too? Her skin had come alive. She wanted to arch into him and feel the press of his body against hers and whatever fires that might ignite. A man like him shouldn’t want her. Every word that came from his lips was most likely a lie, and yet she let herself believe them for now.
Just…for now.
“Just because I’m a fat girl doesn’t mean I’m willing to get kinky with you,” she warned.
Gavin lifted himself so he could look her in the eye. “I’m not thinking about what you can do for me. Everything I do for you will have you screaming my name, and that’s more than enough for me.”
He pushed off and rolled to the edge of the bed, leaving her cold. She curled her fingers in the empty air where his chest had been and fought the urge to scrabble toward him before he could leave.
Nellie rolled onto her side, facing Gavin as he sat on the edge of the bed, and extended a hand toward him. She brushed his lower back with her knuckles just to let him know she was there. Though she didn’t understand what was going on between them, she hated how alone he seemed.
He reached back and held her curled fingers. The touch comforted her and sent her drifting.
70
Once again, Evangeline hooted when Nellie came down the stairs. Isabella tried to purse her lips to mask her grin as she handed out plates for breakfast. Nellie could deny it all she wanted, but her friends seemed determined to believe that she and Gavin were becoming a thing.
After the night she’d had, Nellie couldn’t help but wonder if maybe they were. She didn’t want to approach the subject, and so, she stayed quiet while her friends teased her. They were free to believe whatever they wanted, but Nellie needed time to figure herself out.
“Do you ever go back to your own place?” Nellie snapped after Evangeline jabbed her in the ribs with an elbow.
Evangeline made an exasperated sound. “No. I was on patrol duty this morning. Instead of driving all the way back up here for my duty, Casey and I crashed in a spare room until the time came.”
Then, Evangeline wiggled her brows. “What’s your excuse?”
“You got me shitfaced last night and I passed out in someone else’s bed.” Gavin’s bed to be exact, but Evangeline probably already knew that.
“Did you sleep well?” Evangeline asked suggestively.
Nellie clutched her plate and told herself not to throw it at her friend’s head. Thankfully, Isabella came along and put a hand atop Evangeline’s head and told her to simmer down. As Isabella was the resident mom-friend, they listened to her and shut up.
For a short while. Then Evangeline piped up again.
“Whatever happened to that cloaking spell? Did you drop it so you could start hanging out with us?”
Nellie froze. Her gut churned. No one but Gavin knew about her sudden lack of magic, and she wasn’t about to tell anyone. She should have been able to confide in her best friends, but this wound had cut her too deeply. She didn’t want to admit her failure to anyone.
“Yeah, you convinced me to give it a try,” Nellie said as she got up to put her plate in the sink.
She’d barely eaten anything, but her appetite had disappeared. She should have stuck around to hang out with her friends. Evangeline’s insinuations were starting to get on Nellie’s nerves, and if they approached the subject of magic again, Nellie didn’t have another lie ready.
Upstairs, she passed Gavin. It seemed she couldn’t escape him any longer. Everywhere she turned, he was there. His presence barely bothered her. She breezed into his suite and collapsed face down onto the bed.
His chuckle followed her.
“Go away,” she grumbled into the bedding.
“If you keep coming to my bedroom, I’m going to start assuming things.” The floor creaked as he came closer.
She imagined the feel of his hands running along the backs of her thighs and up her waist before he mounted her, but he didn’t stop by her. She turned her head and watched Gavin, a towel wrapped around his waist, head over to a walk-in closet.
Disappointment surprised her. They weren’t shrouded by the night anymore. What had happened in the dark stayed in the dark, apparently. All the things he’d told her, all the yearning that had radiated off him, had vanished. She didn’t know what she should have expected.
Men always tried to keep her hidden. They didn’t want their bros to know they were sleeping with a fat girl. But men like that didn’t send her giant stuffed sloths or other expensive gifts.
She rolled over and got to her feet. “I need a shower.”
Gavin stepped out of the walk-in closet. He wore a pair of jeans that dipped dangerously low on his hips. He pulled down his t-shirt with one hand while holding a hoodie in the other. He tossed the hoodie onto the bed and jerked his chin in a silent follow me command.
Her jaw dropped after he opened the door near the bedroom entrance. The golden wood floor shone brilliantly next to the dark slate tile steps leading into a soaking tub. To her right, a vanity hosted two ceramic sinks that floated above a slate countertop.
“Holy shit,” she breathed.
“There’s a shower around the corner from the sinks. Feel free to sit in the tub if that’s more your style.”
She did a double take, looking between rugged Gavin and his sleek bathroom cut out of her dreams. She pressed a hand over her heart and debated marrying him just for access to this room alone.
“I’m not a diva,” he said. “While I do like pretty things, I made sure my cabin had this because I still had a sliver of hope that I would become happily mated someday. Now…”
He’d had all this installed for a woman? Then Nellie remembered the reason Gavin had come to her small part of the world. He hadn’t done this for just any woman. This luxury had been meant for Tiffany.
“So, you always thought she would come back?”
Gavin stiffened. She watched the muscles of his jaw work. Finally, he ducked his head and said, “Have fun. Bathroom’s all yours.”
She watched him walk off. While confusion and dejection fought a battle to the death in her gut, she made her way down to Isabella. Bel always had the best bath products. Nellie refused to believe that Gavin would have anything close to a bath bomb in his quarters.
Isabella gave her a weird look, but then eagerly dragged her into the bedroom she shared with Dillon. Just as Nellie had suspected, Isabella had a bountiful stash of bath and body produ
cts. A lot more than Nellie remembered, actually. Dillon must have been showering Isabella with gifts.
Nellie took a couple of dark green bath bombs and a radio upstairs. She ran the bathtub until the water warmed and even found a set of jet controls. Her awful morning had just turned around.
Nellie sank into the colorful water. The bath bomb had turned it a deep, dark green like an ancient forest. The scent was called Green Man or something similar. Nellie couldn’t remember. All she knew was that she absolutely loved it.
Just when her tension began melting away, the bathroom door creaked. Nellie cracked open an eye and found Gavin creeping in. Just as she was about to let out a surprised yelp, his hand covered her mouth. He held a finger to his pursed lips, removed his hand, and padded over to the giant windows at the end of the bathroom.
He craned his neck and peered down. All of a sudden, he looked as though he’d been hit by a truck. His shoulders fell and his knees started to buckle.
“She’s back. Isn’t she?” Nellie asked from the tub.
“Sorry,” he said, turning back and running his hand through his hair. “She won’t think to check in…” His words trailed off.
Nellie had forgotten to cover herself, and breasts like hers happened to float. Gavin blinked, his eyes flooding gold. His lips parted, and he made a strangled sound. She hurriedly covered her nipples and pulled them underwater, but it was too late. He’d already seen everything.
“They’re pierced,” he breathed. She bit her lower lip.
“Don’t do that. I’ll end up crawling in there with you if you make that face.” The growl in his voice told her it wasn’t a joke.
Her cheeks warmed. She had to stop flirting with Gavin. This would end up going places she didn’t want it to go. But the rage she felt when she saw how Tiffany made him feel drowned her worry about her own safety.
She let go of her breasts. His gaze dropped to the water’s surface again. The sound he made sent red-hot heat directly to her core. She never expected him to look at her that way. He could take home any woman he wanted. Nellie wasn’t conventionally attractive. Why want her when he could have Miss Universe?
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 59
