Nellie rubbed her face with her hands. She’d had a long day already and it was only…she glanced at the clock. It read 3 PM. All at once, she wondered where the hours had gone and marveled that they’d fit so much into a day that wasn’t even over yet.
“Oh my god,” she whispered under her breath as she realized Gavin had seen her nearly naked and she’d seen him completely naked. “What am I doing with my life?”
She buried her face in her hands. Her life had gotten out of control. Lines had been crossed. She’d sworn to her mother’s memory that she would stay away from dragons and now she found herself craving the most dangerous one in town.
If Nellie still had her magic, she might have been on equal footing with Gavin. There was a reason dragons hunted witches. Instead, Nellie burned herself out and became as weak as any other human. She couldn’t defend herself anymore. Not on command.
She stared down at her hands and wondered where the magic had come from earlier. It hadn’t felt like the power she’d used all her life. This had come from somewhere else.
Gavin returned, leaning into the driver’s side door. “Ready?”
Nellie let out a breath and shook her head. “I think I should go home. It’s been…”
“A long day?” Gavin didn’t hide the disappointment in his voice. His gaze dropped and his jaw tightened.
She wanted to say that she wasn’t mad at him and that she didn’t blame him for what happened today, but that would be a partial lie. While she wasn’t mad, none of this would have happened had she kept her distance. If only she’d stayed away.
She had to stay away.
Even if that meant breaking her own heart. That would heal in time, just like her well of magic.
Right?
73
Nellie slid the key to the front door into the lock and felt it snap as she turned. Her stomach dropped at the sight of the broken metal lodged in the keyhole. Scanning the front of the house, she tried to think of another way to get into her own home. If she’d had one of the dragons stick around to help her out, they could have broken the lock.
No. She couldn’t keep accepting help from them. Maybe from Evangeline, but that was a strange gray area that Nellie hadn’t yet figured out. For now, Nellie needed to keep to herself. There was no one else she could rely on.
Though the old Victorian had been in her family for decades, it was falling apart. Her mother hadn’t put any work into it. The renovations her grandparents had done were crumbling. Nellie didn’t have the funds to replace a damn thing.
She decided to try crawling in through the kitchen window, as she kept it unlocked most of the time. Her foot went through the top step and sent her stumbling forward. She caught herself, but the walkway grated her palms.
To top it off, her phone rang. She yanked it out and answered without checking the number. “What do you want?”
Silence made the line hum. Then Gavin said, “I just wanted to check in on you.”
Nellie’s heart flipped like the little traitor that it was. She wanted to put her head against the walkway and pretend that the world didn’t exist. If she lay there, would the earth stop turning? Just for a minute?
“I lost the shifter that attacked us. I don’t like the way he talked about you, so I’m going to camp out on your street tonight,” Gavin said.
“No!” Nellie said, too quickly.
He went quiet again. Her heart pounded. She got up and pressed her hand to her chest only to hiss when the scrapes met fabric. Her day had gone absolutely sideways. Glancing back, she took in the broken step and noticed how rotten the other boards looked, too. It’d only been a matter of time before they caved.
“You don’t have to waste your time with me,” Nellie said into the phone. “Keep watch over Evangeline and Isabella for me.”
Gavin growled. “They have mates to protect them.”
“And you’re their clan leader. It’s your job to keep them all safe.”
“How am I supposed to do that when my clan is spread thin? I can’t protect you if you’re out there alone.” His growl reached inside her and sparked a warmth she wanted to ignore.
“Gavin,” she breathed.
The hitch in his breath was audible. Just the sound of his name on her lips did things to him. She didn’t know she had that kind of power over him. Okay, maybe she’d turned a blind eye to it once she looked back.
“I just want a night of normalcy,” she said. “There are wards all around the house. I have some renovations to work on. While I work on them, I’ll go around the house and make sure the wards are all secure.”
“Renovations? You wouldn’t have to worry about that if you came to stay at the cabin.”
His offer tempted her more than she would have liked. She saw images of her and Evangeline painting murals in Isabella’s nursery. She imagined herself sprawled out in Gavin’s plush bed every morning.
“This house has been in my family for generations,” she said instead.
Not this is my forever home. Not I don’t want to live anywhere but here. There was a reason she spent most of her time at work. She’d rather rearrange her body jewelry case for the hundredth time than come home and face the crumbling structure that was her family home.
She’d woken up alone and afraid here. She’d spent a week alone and confused after her mother’s disappearance. A week before Evangeline noticed and asked her grandfather to take Nellie in. These walls held memories, but Nellie didn’t like the ones she’d given them.
“If you want help with the renovations, I can talk to Casey. His business has been lucrative…”
“You don’t owe me anything,” Nellie said. She got up and climbed over the collapsed step to go back inside. “You don’t have to keep a lookout for me. You don’t have to hire anyone to fix my house. I can do it with my own two hands.”
“I understand,” he said, sadly. “Tell me, when was the last time you had a panic attack?”
She froze in the foyer. “How do you know about those?”
“I’m a dragon. I can hear a lot of things, even if no one wants me to.”
She yanked open the fridge door and plucked a hard cider from it. Normally, she would have used her magic to pop the cap. She had to rummage through the crowded utensil drawer to find the bottle opener, which gave her time to figure out what to say.
While her hands were busy, Nellie realized her last panic attack had been outside the tattoo shop a few days ago. Since then, she’d lost her magic and found herself alone with Gavin more times than she’d like to count. He didn’t incite panic attacks in her, though.
The big bad dragon she’d been afraid of wasn’t so scary after all.
“That’s what I thought,” he said, smugly.
“May everything you eat taste like ass,” she said in her most curse-worthy voice.
Gavin laughed. She thought she could hear the echo of it outside, but she told herself that she was only imagining things.
She took a swig of her hard cider. “Watch over your clan tonight. My friends need you to keep them safe.”
“Who’s going to protect you, then?”
Nellie didn’t have an answer for him, so she hung up. He didn’t call her back. The phone stayed silent as she grabbed a bag of nacho chips and a tub of cream cheese. She sat down with her unhealthy and weird dinner, one she’d picked up from Evangeline’s grandfather.
She wondered if Gavin would give her a weird look like others did or if he would sit down and join her. Evangeline’s grandfather had been the kind of man to mix whatever he had on hand until something tasted good. Nellie had learned a lot of weird combinations from him that she still loved.
Gavin, with his luxury bathroom and koi pond, didn’t seem like the kind of man who could appreciate such a low-brow meal. Nellie shoved another chip into her mouth and shook her head. She and Gavin would never work out.
Not in a hundred years.
* * *
The sound of construction jarred Nellie from sleep. She
groaned and rolled out of bed, fully prepared to yell at her neighbors for making such awful sounds this early in the morning. The smell of coffee drifted up from the first floor and drew Nellie to a complete stop. Soft murmurs soon joined the pleasant aroma.
Fear hit her first, like a punch to the gut. Someone had gotten into her house. Then, she heard Evangeline’s familiar voice.
“Don’t touch a witch’s shit,” Evangeline snapped at someone.
Nellie didn’t bother putting anything on before rushing down the stairs. She came to a halt at the kitchen entrance. Evangeline jerked upright at Nellie’s arrival. Her friend’s warm smile and welcoming wave was at odds with her unannounced presence.
“What are you doing in my kitchen?” Nellie asked.
Evangeline looked her up and down before a small smirk quirked the corner of her mouth. “Nice pajamas.”
Nellie hadn’t changed out of Gavin’s shirt, but she’d swapped his sweatpants for a pair of silken shorts that had a dinosaur fossil print. When Evangeline’s gaze slid to the left, Nellie followed suit and found Gavin by the back door. His eyes had bled gold while they dragged up and down her.
She frantically slapped her hair, trying to tame the medusa waves.
Gavin had a toolbelt hanging low on his hip and sawdust flecked in his waves like glitter. The look awakened something primal in Nellie’s brain that liked a man who could do physical labor. She wanted to squeeze his biceps and run her hand through his hair so she could watch the sawdust flutter to the ground.
“Are the two of you doing some sort of construction?” Nellie blinked, thoroughly confused.
Evangeline pushed a cup of coffee into Nellie’s hands before leaning in and whispering: “I can see your nipple piercings through that shirt.”
Nellie almost said that Gavin had seen them, but Evangeline surely knew. It had been Evangeline’s idea that Gavin hide in the bathroom with Nellie the day before.
“Ev,” Gavin warned.
Evangeline wiggled her brows suggestively before flitting past Nellie. Alone with Gavin, Nellie brought her gaze up to his and watched the swirl of color that told her both man and beast were watching. Her breath caught, and her heart raced.
Though she’d spent the evening convincing herself that she and Gavin would never work, she couldn’t escape the image of him pressing her into the counter as he kissed her senseless. She wanted to know how gentle his hands could be while wrapped around her throat. She wanted to know if he would fit between her legs while she sat on the countertop.
Nellie’s cheeks heated. She lifted the coffee cup to her lips in an effort to hide her face, but Gavin’s grin told her that it wasn’t working.
He ran a hand through his hair. “I stopped by earlier to see what needed working on. Your porch is a disaster waiting to happen.”
Nellie peeled a hand away from her coffee cup to show him the scrapes on her palms. “Yeah, disaster struck yesterday. I answered your call while I was face down on the walkway.”
He gently took her hand and ran his fingertips over her skin. His touch was featherlight and sent chills up and down her spine. She swallowed, unsure if she wanted more, or if she should pull away and wipe her hand on her shorts.
With genuine concern in his eyes, he opened his mouth. Nellie cut him off before he could say anything that might send her over the edge.
“And Evangeline? Why is she here, too?”
He chuckled and released her hand. “She caught me snooping around your house. Once I explained what I had in mind, she joined in.”
“You don’t have to do any of this, you know. My life isn’t your problem. This house isn’t your problem.”
His voice dropped, becoming husky and filled with need. “If you believe that, then you haven’t gotten it yet.”
Her core sparked with warmth immediately. She swallowed, her mouth dry and an insatiable need rising inside her. No other man could make her feel like this with only his voice. Gavin could tell her to come, and she might orgasm on the spot. Was it the lure of the forbidden, like a witch tempted by dark magics?
Or was this something else? Like what Casey and Evangeline shared?
“We swung by the lumber store. I saw these, and I thought you might like them.” Gavin gestured to two potted cactuses that had pink spots along their green leaves. “They’re cute and prickly. Kind of like you.”
She had to hold back her laughter. Reaching out, she ran a finger along the sharp needles. They dragged along her skin and reminded her that she was alive. Beside the cactuses sat a donut box.
She let out a sigh. “You’re going to make me even fatter if you keep bringing stuff like this into the house.”
His voice was closer when he spoke. “What does that matter?”
His heat cascaded along her back. She closed her eyes and savored it. The heat grew more and more intense.
“No man is going to want me if I keep growing,” she whispered.
Gavin pressed against her back. His fingers grazed her neck as he moved her hair out of the way. She expected a kiss, soft and sweet on her neck, but his lips found her ear instead.
His breath caressed her skin. “That’s a lie. You know I want you.”
She shouldn’t want him. No, she couldn’t want him. Knowing that didn’t stop her body from reacting to him. Wet need pooled between her legs. She leaned back into him so more of her body touched his.
He ran his massive hands over her thighs, letting his fingertips sink into her flesh. He tugged her into his groin, and she let out a small sound of need. Breakfast had been forgotten. She didn’t want donuts. She wanted Gavin and nothing else.
“Hey, Gavin can you…” Evangeline’s voice trailed off. “Oh. I—uh…I’ll leave the two of you alone.”
Nellie yelped and leapt away from Gavin. Her heart pounded. Evangeline wore a sly smile as she slipped away without another word. Nellie dared a glance at Gavin. The golden light in his eyes remained. It seemed they were always gold around her.
“I’m going to go…freshen up.” Nellie raced for the stairs.
She hated the way her body betrayed her. Over and over, she reminded herself that Gavin was dangerous, and yet she seemed determined to court him anyway. His flirtations weren’t just for fun. She could feel his own desire. Everything he said, every move he made, came from a place of need.
Nellie slammed the bathroom door shut behind her and tried to calm her wild heart. It refused to relax, even though she’d put a wealth of distance between them. Just knowing that Gavin stood in her kitchen made her pulse race.
The small voice in the back of her head asked her when she would give in. It saw nothing wrong with giving into Gavin. He could probably show her things she’d never felt before.
Why was she even considering this? Gavin was…the kind of man to bring her breakfast, to fix her shoddy porch, and to let her soak in his extravagant bathtub. He wasn’t the monster she’d painted him out to be. Though she knew her fear of dragons was valid, this clan wasn’t a threat to her.
They weren’t out to burn her. No one in the clan wanted to use her. Even if they did, Evangeline and Isabella would never let it happen. Nellie knew, without a doubt, that Evangeline would never put her faith in the kind of man who would use Nellie.
She waited by the bathroom door, hoping he might follow her so she could give in to her feelings. Yet, he never came. Instead, she heard the sound of construction outside once more. While a saw buzzed outside, she started her shower.
By the time she finished, she’d cooled down considerably. Her body no longer begged for what she’d been denying it. Her heart, though, still clenched tight in the hopes that Gavin would eventually break down Nellie’s barriers. She could tear them down herself, but a selfish part of her wanted him to do the work, so she would know he was committed for sure.
Gavin had gotten her favorite donut. She snatched one and took a bite. Fear of the sugar and fat didn’t bother her. The way Gavin touched her had banished her worri
es for the day. Maybe she would think about it again tomorrow, but for now she didn’t care.
Outside, he bent over the makeshift saw table. Sweat dripped down his features and made him gleam in the warm sun. Her core tightened. She did her best to ignore it and looked around for Evangeline.
“Evangeline went to open the shop for the day. She wanted me to tell you that you have the day off,” Gavin said without looking up.
Nellie opened her mouth, but there was no use in arguing this with Gavin. She needed to take it up with Evangeline, who was still trying to play matchmaker. Did Nellie still care, though? She’d admitted to herself that she was attracted to Gavin. Yet, attraction wasn’t long term.
Gavin might be a good man, but that didn’t mean she would end up falling for him like Evangeline probably wanted. Right?
Maybe Nellie could take him to bed and get him out of her system. Then she wouldn’t have to think about the sweat dripping between his collarbones or the way his shirt kept lifting to reveal his chiseled stomach.
“Since you have the day off,” Gavin began.
Her core clenched in anticipation.
He looked up, his features open and vulnerable. “Could you help me with something today?”
She gestured to the new top step of her front porch. “I owe you that much, don’t I?”
He lifted a brow. “You don’t owe me anything. I’m doing this because I can. You don’t have to repay me.”
“Okay,” she said as she dropped to sit on the porch steps. “But you can’t ask me for any spell work. I still don’t have my magic back.”
She’d been distracted by Gavin’s presence in her life and hadn’t been as worried about her magic as she should have been. What she’d tapped into the day before was new and unusual. She should have tried to use it again, but there was just too much going on at all times.
“That’s not what I wanted to ask. Before I tell you what I need, remember that you’re more than welcome to say no.”
She gave him a wary look. “Well, now it sounds like you’re trying to proposition sexual favors.”
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 62
