by Juniper Hart
“Ah! Cara mia!” the fatter of the two men cried happily. “You’re awake now!”
“What is this?” Nora rasped, her mouth like cotton.
“Luca, get the lady a glass of water, will you?” the same man ordered, and the lumbering giant behind him hurried to oblige his request. “I am Tony, honey. I’m friends with an old friend of yours. Ansel Williams?”
Nora’s spine tensed.
“Is this how you treat mutual friends?” she demanded, annoyed.
“It ain’t personal, baby,” Tony explained, drawing closer to her. “Your boyfriend screwed me over pretty good. I’m just trying to regain some of my losses, you know?”
Nora did not bother to ask what he meant.
“Whatever business you have with Ansel has nothing to do with me,” she informed him as Luca approached with a glass of water in his hand. “Furthermore, I don’t take kindly to being kidnapped.”
Tony hooted. “You English broads are so fancy! You don’t take kindly, huh? You get kidnapped a lot?”
You’d be surprised, Nora thought ruefully, but she wisely said nothing. She wasn’t strong enough yet to unleash her hand.
Luca put the water to her lips, and Nora guzzled it thirstily.
Ansel, love? she called out to him. I think we may have a small problem. I’m being held in a room with an obese Italian man and his bodyguard.
“Listen, baby,” Tony said, “I just want you and me to be friends.”
“I have enough friends,” Nora bit back. “But I will make you a deal. If you untie me, I will walk out of here like nothing happened, and I won’t tell Ansel what you’ve done.”
Tony whooped, but his black eyes glittered with malice.
“Your boyfriend ain’t here to protect you now, sweetheart,” he rasped, pushing his face against hers. “He’s done enough damage to me for a lifetime, and I’m gonna take it out on your ass.”
“Are you?” Nora purred, smiling dully at him. “Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?”
Tony glowered, his hand closing around her throat. “Maybe I will just kill you. Something tells me you’re gonna be more trouble than you’re worth.”
He reached into the waistband of his pants and pulled out a gun.
In her mind, Nora could hear Ansel saying something to her, calling out to her, but she couldn’t quite hear it over her anger. Her brown eyes turned amber, glinting in the low lighting of the room, and Tony gasped, firing the weapon at her. The bullet hit her cheek, and a searing pain tore through her face.
“Holy shit!” Tony screamed, firing off another round. “She’s one of them, too!”
Luca found his firearm, and together, they continued to empty rounds into her stationary body.
A low, terrifying growl emanated from Nora’s body, and she began to shift into a fearsome iridescent beast. The men fell backward as a high-pitched scream of pain radiated from Nora. Her head flipped downward, and she bared her teeth, nipping at Tony’s face as he screamed in terror.
Luca tried to flee, but Nora released a blast of fire, catching him mid-run and turning him into a charred ball. Blood poured from Tony’s face, and Nora flipped her tail, sending him flying into a wall.
Suddenly, another dragon appeared on the balcony, and Tony howled like a terrified baby. Ansel burst through the doors, snatching Tony by his teeth and dangling him over the edge of the twenty-fourth story balcony.
Nora fell back, the searing holes in her body immobilizing her as she tried to catch her breath. Despite the black spots dancing before her eyes, Nora gritted her teeth.
You will fight through this, she told herself. Just take deep breaths until you begin to heal.
The agony was almost too much to bear, but she had been through worse. She had just grown weaker after not being engaged in battle for hundreds of years. Ansel would think she had become a pathetic beast. They were only a few wounds—Nora could fight them. She could fight them.
She faded into unconsciousness before she could realize it.
The clink of a tray caused Nora to immediately sit up. As her eyes flew open, she expected to see Collette sitting at her side, carrying a tray with her breakfast. Instead of her old housekeeper, she saw Ansel.
“What… what happened to—?” The realization that she had fainted after being shot a few times with mortal weapons rushed back to her, and she slapped her own forehead. “Ah, damn it!” she cursed, throwing the blankets aside to look at herself. Her wounds had all healed perfectly, and there was not a single scratch on her.
“How are you feeling?” Ansel asked with a small laugh.
“Well, my pride is wounded,” Nora admitted. “But I’m fine.”
Ansel perched at her side, brushing a strand of dark hair out of her face. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner.”
“It is not your responsibility to take care of me,” she growled, pulling her head back. “I am a dragon. I can take care of myself.”
He nodded agreeably.
“Yes,” he replied. “You are, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have someone watching out for you.”
“Like you?” Nora retorted.
“Yes, like me,” Ansel said. “I have always had you to look out for me. I can’t remember a time when you weren’t at my side, even if you were fuming mad or fighting me about something.”
Nora’s face fell into a smile, but it looked like Ansel had more to say, so she let him gather his thoughts.
“I… I have been stubborn and blind,” he started. “I should have told my father centuries ago to get stuffed, but I didn’t because I was afraid. It took me this long to realize that the only thing I should have ever feared was losing you. You are the only thing that has ever been right in my life.”
Nora narrowed her eyes at him. “Have you been drinking?”
“No,” Ansel declared. “I am in love with you. If we have learned anything over these last few days, it’s that we can overcome anything together, no matter what kind of mess we find ourselves in.”
Nora laughed lightly. “I thought you had learned that a long time ago.”
Ansel smiled at her. Then he reached into his breast pocket, and Nora’s eyes widened when he opened it, revealing a ring inside of it.
“In some ways,” Ansel said, “I already feel as if we are married, but I think it is high time we make it official. Nora Chambers, will you marry me, finally?”
Nora gaped at him in amazement before turning her glance to the ring.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked. “If we do this, your father will never allow you back into the Kingdom.”
“I disowned that life a long time ago,” Ansel told her. “As you said, I do well enough for myself, and for both of us. I could build you that art studio you always wanted in the house in London, or we could move to the countryside. I just want to go anywhere you are.”
Nora thought of her isolated art studio at the chalet and shuddered.
“I am perfectly content being in the city,” she assured him. “Maybe you can hire me as your boxing manager.” She winked to show him she was only joking, but Ansel did not smile.
“I would give it all up to be with you,” he said, his eyes intense upon hers. “And I will for eternity, Nora. I swear it.”
Nora sat up and stroked his dark hair, pulling him in for a tender kiss.
“I believe you,” she said. “And I accept your proposal. I should warn you that while I do not come with a dowry, I do possess a lot of baggage.”
Ansel chuckled, and Nora joined in. He reached for the ring and slid it on her ring finger, smiling at her with affection.
“We are officially betrothed,” Nora murmured, smiling back at him. “Although, I daresay we will have a very small guest list.”
Ansel fell onto her with a laugh, nuzzling his nose into her neck. “I don’t care if it’s the two of us and a justice of the peace. We are the only ones who matter.”
“I think this calls for a celebration,” Nora co
mmented, glancing at the tray he had brought in. “No champagne?”
“I ordered room service, but I held off on the champagne. I wanted to make sure the answer was positive before I popped the cork.”
Nora stared at him for a long moment.
“Did you really believe that I wouldn’t accept?” she asked in disbelief. “I have longed to be with you forever!”
“I thought you may have finally come to your senses,” Ansel replied, and Nora laughed, placing another kiss on his forehead.
“At least we live in an era now where divorce is commonplace,” she joked, causing Ansel to laugh again. “Hey, by the way, whatever happened to Tony?”
Ansel waved his hand dismissively. “Tomorrow, we deal with the aftermath of today, but tonight, we celebrate.”
“Why do I feel like that is going to be part of our wedding vows?” Nora asked, raising an eyebrow as Ansel picked up the phone to order champagne. She fell back on the bed, inhaling deeply, and she waited for a sense of unease to follow. She was ecstatic to find that there was nothing but a deep, warm pleasure radiating through her body.
Things are finally the way they’re supposed to be, she thought happily. It has taken seven hundred years, but we are precisely where we should be. Some things are worth waiting for.
Nora stared at the glittering gem on her finger. It fit perfectly, of course.
Ansel hung up the phone.
“They will be right up,” he assured her, nestling back against her.
“Do we have time for a quickie?” she teased.
“There is always time for a quickie,” he replied.
Epilogue
Three Months Later
The easel was awash with a myriad of colors, a stunning contrast to anything Nora had created in the recent past.
I may be getting my groove back, she thought, smiling at the piece as she wiped her hands on her apron.
“Nora? I’m back from my run!” Ansel called from the kitchen. “Do you want some coffee?”
“Yes, thank you!” she yelled back. “I’ll be right out.” She slipped off her smock and cast one last look at the painting before slipping from her makeshift studio into the kitchen, where Ansel stood gleaming with sweat as he chugged a glass of orange juice.
“Were you painting?” he asked, and she nodded, a smile illuminating her features.
“I think I may be recalling how to use color again,” she informed him brightly. “I’ll show you when you have a minute.”
“I always have a minute,” Ansel said, stepping toward her for a kiss. Nora ducked her head to the side before his lips met hers.
“Turn that up!” she cried quickly, pointing at the television on the counter.
Ansel rushed over to find the remote, and his eyes widened as he turned to see what had caught Nora’s attention.
“—pled guilty yesterday afternoon,” said a newscaster, “but the judge is calling for an evaluation of Mr. Valducci’s mental faculties, as he has consistently rambled on about dragons and hellfire since a rash of bizarre fires have followed him. The gun used to kill Carolyn Halpstern was found in Mr. Valducci’s possession the evening he was arrested, next to the charred remains of his hired security, Luca Giovanni. The cause of Mr. Giovanni’s death is unknown, as the cause of the fire has not been determined. In other news—”
Ansel hit mute on the television and glanced at Nora.
“Well,” he said flatly. “I guess you know what happened to Valducci now.”
Nora stared at him for a long moment.
“Did he really kill her?” she whispered. “That girl?”
Ansel let out a deep sigh. “I believe he did, yes.”
Nora moved toward the entranceway.
“The post is here!” she called. “I hope there are more RSVPs. I am getting tired of second guessing.”
“What is our count so far?” Ansel asked as she scooped the letters from the basket.
“Fifty-six. Still waiting on another fifty plus guests.”
“What ever happened to you and me and a justice of the peace?” he teased.
“That was your idea, love, not mine,” Nora reminded him. “And I thought you were the one boasting that you could afford it.”
“That was before you started cooking for me,” Ansel argued. “Now I’m gaining weight, and Louis warned me that I’m getting too fat to fight.”
“You’re a heavyweight. You’ll be fine.” Nora ripped through the envelopes, relishing Ansel’s grimace.
“We have letter openers for such things, love,” he told her.
“Not everyone was raised a prince, dear,” she shot back as she pulled out the letters one by one. Ansel sat back and watched her expression. His brow furrowed when he noticed Nora smiling after she had opened one of the letters.
“What is it?” he asked, and she turned to smile at him.
“Your father and his new wife are attending,” she said. “And there is a note here saying that he has also asked your brothers to come.”
Ansel gaped at her.
“What?” he gasped. “You invited my father?”
She nodded her head. “I didn’t want to say anything because I thought he might say no, but it seems like he has come to his senses, after all.”
Ansel’s eyes narrowed, and a conflicted look crossed his face.
“Why did he agree?” he wondered. “He was always so against us being together. I feel like there is something underhanded going on…” Then he turned back to her. “What did you say to him?”
Nora shook her head.
“I merely sent him an invitation,” she replied. “And this is his response.” Ansel, however, still didn’t look convinced, and Nora sighed deeply. “It may have something to do with the present I gave him a few months ago, too.”
“What present?” Ansel demanded. “You didn’t tell me anything about a present.”
“It didn’t seem important at the time.”
Ansel narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. “What did you send him?”
“I delivered it myself, actually,” Nora answered sweetly. “I gave him a Frenchman.”
Her fiancé stared at her uncomprehendingly. “What? He loathes the French!”
“I know. That is why I sent this one along.”
For a moment, Ansel did not seem to understand, but then his eyes widened in surprise, and the corners of his mouth turned up. “Did you… did you really…?”
Nora grinned and nodded her head. “I gave him Jerome, love. I delivered a Frenchman in shackles for your father to do as he wishes with him. Last I heard, he makes an excellent court jester and sleeps at His Highness’ feet. I do hope he brings him to the wedding as an ottoman.”
Ansel’s jaw dropped open, and he stared at her for a long moment before he burst into laughter.
“You are truly something else, you know that?” he snorted. Nora leaned in to give him a kiss.
“Yes,” she said. “That’s why you love me.”
THE END
The Misty Woods Dragons Collection is now available on Amazon. Download to read the romance stories of all six Misty Woods Dragons brothers.
Dragon Desire
Hollow Earth Dragons
Legend of the Hollow Earth Dragons
Long before there was a distinction between man and beast, all lived together in the belly of the earth, united in harmony. It mattered not who had the sharpest claws nor the most gnashing teeth, for the utopia they had found was unhindered by war or famine, each creature caring for the other in a vast village of compassion.
Magic had a home there, spawned by fairies and valkyries who cast their impish pleasures over the ogres and giants, the wizards and sorceresses, even the bloodthirsty vampires and lycans, who learned to curb their sanguine lust. Even the most dangerous beings recognized the entrancing beauty of their lives and inherently wished to protect it, but against what, they could not say.
Somewhere, in the depth of every form—no matter their shap
e, no matter their proclivities—a knowledge that danger lurked beyond the sanctuary of their underground lair hung above them like a pendulum ax, ready to decapitate their fragile existence without warning.
The bewitching Eden they knew as home was untouched for thousands of years, a legend among the rising population that grew over their heads, but their world was nothing like the one below.
Above the hollows, an evil was birthing, one even the humans could not see.
It started innocuously, a slow drip that spread like poison, infecting the innocent with its stain, the rot suctioning the good from the unsuspecting souls until the world on the outside was corrupted by the devastation the undergrounders had managed to escape for eons.
While the realm closest to the sun burned fraught with perils and anguish, greed and destruction, the insular society retreated further into itself, hearing their cries of torment but unable to help without endangering themselves. Inevitably, the toxin scorched the earth, and whiffs of the sin beyond wafted into the pure lungs of the untouched, who began to feel the unrest among them.
Almost overnight, the magical touches of the fairies transformed into something more sinister, and where there was once only play, a subculture of darkness fell.
The blood-lusting immortals suddenly craved the flesh they had learned to forsake, and the wizards cast spells to ward them away, knowing that they could no longer be trusted. Slowly, the immortals ventured out of the caves to feed their desire for flesh, opening a sealed door which should never have been touched.
Into the world they went, dazzled by the glow of the sun, an object they had never known. Their conditioning, however, kept them lurking in the night shadows, and both the vampires and the lycans developed an unhealthy obsession with overtaking the other. Only one species could return to the hollows, and neither would stop until their nemesis was eliminated for good.
