Dragons For Hire: A Dragon Shifter Romance

by Sadie Sears

  My chest nearly burst with happiness and I hugged him hard. I hated the idea that we were essentially buying Damini, but money was the only language that her father understood. It was the quickest and easiest way I knew to get through to him.

  Theo laughed and patted me on the back. “He didn’t look happy about it, but he agreed to drop Damini and her bags off at the museum on their way out of town in about an hour. They wanted time to say their goodbyes.”

  Ben scrunched his nose. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound fishy at all.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. “I mean, from what I’ve heard you say about this guy, he sounds greedy and manipulative. What’s to stop him from asking for even more? I mean, they’re not exactly trustworthy.”

  Oh. That was a good point. “Theo?”

  “I’ll head home and stand by at my computer.” Theo reached for the door again. “If he asks for more, I can initiate a transfer from my own accounts, and if we need them, Cam has offered his as well.”

  Guilt twisted my stomach uncomfortably. “No, don’t do that. You’ve already spent so much money trying to help. If he reneges, I’ll figure something else out.”

  “Hey.” He stepped closer and put his hands on my shoulders. “We are all prepared to do whatever it takes to make sure you keep your destined mate. That’s what family is for.”

  “Yeah,” Ben agreed. “Plus, you know, ‘tis the season and all. Think of it as a present. A really expensive present.”

  Theo smacked his chest lightly. “Call me if anything goes sideways. I’ll be ready.”

  He disappeared into the snow and Sophie came up and hugged me. “Things don’t always work out the way you expect them to, but they will work out.”

  “Is that an official reading?” I asked as I hugged her back.

  “That’s the power of positivity.” She pulled back and smiled. “Now, go get her.”

  I pulled my hood over my head and Ben followed me out into the winter wonderland. The storm was coming in fast, but we turned west and headed past the Snowshoe down to the museum. I was terribly nervous—anything could go wrong—but I was also excited.

  I was more than ready to begin a new chapter in my life with Damini.

  15

  Damini

  My father walked in and signaled to my mother. He’d gone out to the car and we’d followed at first, but then he’d driven off. Mother had shrugged and perched on the edge of one of the chairs in the foyer. I couldn’t muster the energy to care where he’d gone or why. I was probably too young and stupid to know, anyway.

  He was back in minutes. They spoke quietly, laughing and keeping their voices low, near the door while I sat and looked out the window. The porter, as Mother had called him, carried the bags out to the car. He was really just the clerk who ran the front desk; the hotel wasn’t busy enough to have a huge staff. I was pretty sure he’d brought up my champagne the night before. I idly wondered if he owned the place.

  Looking back out the window, I noticed Sophie looking out the window of her shop across the street. My heart lurched. I was leaving her, too. And Lila. They’d become my friends in the short time I was here in Spruce.

  “Let’s go,” my father said once all the bags were in the car.

  I stood and dutifully followed him outside with my eyes on Sophie.

  She pressed her face nearly up against the glass and made a motion with her thumb against her fingers, the universal sign for money. Then, she pointed behind me at my parents.

  I narrowed my eyes and shrugged at her. I didn’t know what she meant. My parents owed her money?

  “Damini,” my father said sharply. “Get in the car.”

  I ducked my head and slid into the large SUV, climbing into the back third row.

  Twisting around, I looked at Sophie again, but she couldn’t see me through the deeply tinted windows. The SUV pulled away from the curb and sped down Main Street. We didn’t get far before Father pulled a big wad of cash out of his pocket and handed it to Mother. I watched over her shoulder as she chuckled and counted the money.

  It was all hundred-dollar bills. All of it. Where had he gotten that much cash? That wasn’t normal.

  “Dragons always hoard gold,” Mother muttered. “You can rely on them to have cash.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked, confused and angry. Why did she have cash from a dragon? This had to be what Sophie had been trying to tell me.

  She turned in the seat and pursed her lips, giving me a fake pitying look. “Vince tried to buy you. But he’s a fool and paid cash. There’s no paper trail, no contract.”

  “And no reason for us to honor the bargain,” Father added. “We’re taking you home and away from that idiot.”

  “Vince tried to pay you to leave me alone?” I whispered. My heart filled with longing, and a little hope.

  And a lot of anger.

  I snapped. They were essentially kidnapping me. “Pull over,” I yelled to the driver. “Let me out right now!”

  He slowed the SUV, but Father overrode me. “No. Keep driving,” he said in his authoritative, no-arguments voice.

  “I said, pull over!” My voice raised in pitch and panic.

  The driver looked in the rearview mirror and met my father’s eyes. Father’s head shook slightly, and the driver picked up the speed. We flew past the museum, and to my shock, Vince stood outside.

  There was no way he could see me or know I was in this vehicle, though. The windows were tinted limo dark back here. Even though it was a futile effort, I banged on the window. “Vince!” I yelled.

  Turning to face my parents, who had turned in their seats to watch me yell in vain, I glared at them. “I quit. I resign my position. I’m staying in Spruce with the man I love, and I never want to see either of you again.”

  Mother rolled her eyes, and Father stared stonily at me, not reacting.

  “I’ll remind you, Damini, that the man is a dragon. A dragon. He’s not a man, he’s not human. And you are not to speak to us in this way. It is an outrage.”

  The rage spiked through me. I was angry enough to pull the stuffing out of the car seats and, and… hit something! “You ruined my life once, nine years ago. I won’t let you do it again. You can drive me back to Boston, but I’ll just come back. And when I have children, you’ll never see them. When I get a new job and make a success of myself without either of you having a hand in it, you won’t know. Because I’m finally awake and I see you. I see you.” I worked myself up into a near panic, finally seeing all the mistakes I’d made over the years. How many times I could’ve changed things. I was such an idiot.

  Mother opened her mouth to say something, mean, by the looks of her face, but the SUV screeched to a halt, slinging all of us forward.

  I gasped when I looked past my mother to find three massive dragons in their larger forms, blocking the road from all directions. The tires squealed as we skidded forward, stopping just shy of running into Vince, who stood several feet closer than the other two.

  “Reverse, back up!” Father shouted.

  The driver changed gears, and I felt the engine alter course, but we didn’t move. “Something is blocking us from going backward!” he yelled.

  I burst out laughing as I realized what it was. Vince was blocking us from leaving with the wind. “You might as well park it,” I called. “We’re not going anywhere.”

  Pressing the button to push the seat forward, I shoved on it, knocking my mother into the floorboard and half in my father’s lap, and climbed forward so I could open the door.

  It wasn’t a graceful exit, but I was so happy to be free that I didn’t even mind that I tumbled out of the SUV and landed on my ass. I did it with a smile on my face and laughter in my throat. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

  A gust of wind lifted me off my feet and propelled me forward, but I took off running, sprinting toward Vince… and away from my parents.

  I ran at my mate as fast as I could,
putting all of my energy into sprinting away from my old life and toward my new one. I knew now what I wanted for myself, and it was roaring in front of me.

  I wouldn’t let this life escape me again.

  16

  Vince

  “Let’s go!”

  Oh, she didn’t have to tell me twice. Adrenaline surged through my veins as I grabbed her and held on to her tight. I pulled the wind I’d called up toward me and used it to push off of the ground. The snow was falling hard now, the storm nearly as bad as it had been the day I’d first rescued Damini, but I was determined to see us home safely.

  This was it. Despite her parents trying to steal her away again, Damini had made her choice. I’d seen the panic in her face, the cry for help when the SUV drove past. When I realized what had happened, that Fred had attempted to renege on the deal, my dragon had burst from my skin before I’d even thought about the next step.

  I’d refused to lose her again. All the pain and heartbreak from nine years ago shattered around me like ice. I wouldn’t endure another nine years; I had only hoped that she could break free of her own will. And she had. She’d leapt from the vehicle as soon as it stopped in front of me, and my heart soared with me through the clouds, happiness flooding through every vein.

  Wind swirled around us as I flew north. We couldn’t afford to get bogged down by the snowfall now, and I blew a path through the storm the whole way, fighting harder against the elements than ever before. Damini clung to me as the storm raged, but we landed safely in my yard. I released her, intending to shift down, but she clung to my leg. The love pouring off of her was so overwhelming that, for a moment, I felt what I’d always imagined ether dragons felt.

  Nudging her back just a bit, I shifted down. Her lips crashed into mine before I could fully get my bearings and we nearly went down in the snow. Dark hair whipped around us in the wind, so with a minor effort of will, I tamped it down just a bit. The storm was getting stronger by the minute and the flight had taken its toll, so I moved to get her inside.

  We tumbled through the door, bumping into the walls as we went. “God, Vince, I’m so sorry! I can’t believe I almost went along with that. If you hadn’t stopped them—”

  “Hey, hey,” I said. I soothed her hair back, brushing my nose against hers. “You got away. You’re here now.”

  “That was so bad-ass, what you guys did with the whole big dragon thing. You and Cameron, and was that Ben? You said he was your only water dragon, so I figured the blue one would be—”

  I kissed her again, cutting off the rambling before she really got going. She melted into it, sinking back against the wall. Damini refused to release me, which I was not arguing against, but she was shivering and even I could tell my house was cold.

  “Let me at least get the fire going,” I said between kisses. “You’re freezing.”

  She nodded and reluctantly pulled away from me, happy tears streaming down her face. She settled into the couch with a throw blanket across her lap while I got the fireplace lit up and blazing away merrily. As soon as that was done, she lifted the blanket and I curled up under it with her.

  “Thank you,” she whispered as she wiped at her damp cheeks. “If you hadn’t made that last-ditch effort to get through to my dad… well, let’s just say it shattered the rose-colored glasses I’d been seeing my parents through. Something in my brain switched over and I knew I needed to get back to you. I think I was just about ready to throw myself from the moving vehicle when you three landed in the road.”

  “I saw you.” I tipped her chin up and watched the firelight dance in her eyes, turning them a dark amber. “I saw what was happening and I had to stop it. I’m glad you didn’t throw yourself out, though; I would’ve felt awful if you’d gotten hurt again because of me.”

  “Well, I would’ve just had you carrying me around again.” She snuggled into my side, reminding me that I was still without clothes under the blanket. “It feels so good to finally be free from them. Liberating. I can breathe again.”

  I wrapped my arm around her. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

  “I am now,” she insisted. “There are still so many things to think about, though.”

  “Like what?” I cocked my head to look at her.

  She rolled her hands in the air. “Like, I’ve never lived outside of my home, or worked outside of the family business. How are we going to get by?”

  “You are amazing,” I told her. “We can get by on my pay until you find something you love, something that is worth your time. It may be small, but there’s plenty to do here in Spruce.”

  “Starting a life with you is both the most exciting and the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.” Damini clasped her hands together to keep them still. “Even though I know this is right, I can’t help the thoughts running through my head, you know? What if this doesn’t work between us? What if I’m miserable here in Spruce?”

  Chuckling, I kissed her again, long and slow. “All very natural and human thoughts to have. But we will be fine. We’ll work everything out later.”

  “I know. Aside from my short time in college, I’ve never been on my own before. Even back then, my parents still paid for everything. It’ll be a huge adjustment for me. All I ask of you is patience.” She slid her hand across my cheek and smiled. “Can you be patient with me, Vince?”

  I snorted a laugh. “I’ve been winning at the patience game for nine years. I’m not going to lose now that I’m at the finish line.”

  “Glad to hear it,” she said.

  Damini shuffled around under the blanket, then flung her coat to the floor behind us. She threw her leg across me and settled into my lap. My very naked lap. The heated look in her eyes made me swallow hard. If this was her version of patience, then I could be patient with her all day long.

  We were lounging in bed—sweaty and exhausted and happy—several hours later when we heard a knock on the front door. Both of us scrambled to dress ourselves, Damini going with an oversized shirt of mine since her clothes were on the floor downstairs. She darted down first, scooped them up, then ran back up while I answered the door.

  “I know you’re still young,” Cam said with an amused smile, “but you really need to rein your dragon in. We have to cover the cost of repairing the steps in front of the museum where you shifted.”

  “Not like it’ll hurt your account.”

  “It won’t, since it’s coming out of yours.”

  I winced and held my hand to my heart. “Ouch, man. That hurts.”

  He handed me my phone and wallet, which had been in the now shredded clothes I’d been wearing that morning. Behind him, Shae snickered, and I stuck my tongue out at her before inviting them in. Sophie was with them, as were Ben and Dominic. Ben set a couple of suitcases just inside the door and winked at me.

  “We, uh, rescued these from the SUV after you left. Figured Damini might want them,” he explained.

  “Thanks, I’m sure she will.” I turned to see Cam and Shae in the kitchen, a few grocery bags on the island. “So what happened after I left?”

  Dom brushed the snow from his dark red hair and flopped on the couch. “I got there in time to hear her dad threatening legal action. He seems like a fun guy.”

  “Her mom was screaming that you’d kidnapped her,” Cam said from the kitchen. “Luckily there were a few witnesses that corroborated our story, or at least what they saw at the end. Local PD may still want her to make a statement, just to be on the safe side, but for now you’re in the clear.”

  “I need to make a statement against my parents?” Damini asked from the top of the steps.

  Cameron ducked out of the kitchen as she came down. “Not against them, necessarily. Just a statement that you went with Vince of your own free will and you weren’t kidnapped. I don’t know them, so I don’t know how seriously they’ll take their legal threats.”

  Damini winced, her nose scrunching adorably. “He might if the thinks he h
as a case, but I’ll send in my resignation today to start a paper trail.”

  “That would certainly help,” he replied.

  “Cam, are we cooking or not?” Shae called from the kitchen.

  Damini perked up. “Oh, you guys are cooking something?”

  Cameron gave her a sheepish grin. “I hope you don’t mind. I’ve seen this kitchen recently and I didn’t think Vince has had time to grocery shop.”

  “Not at all!” She folded her fingers together in a pleading gesture. “Do you mind if I come and watch? I’m even more useless in the kitchen than Vince.”

  Cam turned back to the kitchen. “What do you say, Chef Shae?”

  Shae appeared in the doorway and crossed her arms, looking Damini up and down. “Put her to work on the line.”

  “Yes, ma’am! You heard the little lady.” Cam grinned and winked at me as he dragged Damini into the kitchen.

  My heart was full to bursting as I watched the three of them interact. My destined mate, my best friend, and my little buddy. Sophie threw her arm around my waist and hugged me.

  “Thank you,” I whispered, squeezing her into my side. “I can’t thank any of you nearly enough for being there for me and getting both of us through this.”

  Ben’s arms circled our shoulders from behind. “We’re happy for you, man. Really. Congrats.”

  Dom looked at us over the back of the couch, one eyebrow raised. “Vince, your couch smells like sex.”

  Laughter echoed through the house. As Damini helped Cam and Shae in the kitchen, Sophie and I prepped the dining room. After the floor had been finished and the furniture moved in, no one had been back in there, including me. We cleaned up, wiped the table down, and set out mats and some nice dishes that I hadn’t known I owned. Apparently, Sophie had left them as a gift and I’d never gotten into the cabinet she’d left them in.

  “Chef Shae, that smells delicious!” I called as the scent drifted our way.

  As if on cue, Damini walked in with a large salad bowl. Cam and Shae were right behind her with a steaming pot and a few other random ingredients. Naturally, Dom and Ben came in and took their seats at that point.