“To forget,” Ivar said quietly.
She nodded.
“You should stay in this world, keep your memories,” Tynan said. “It’s safer here.”
She felt familiar fear well up in her, making it hard to breathe. “Not for me.”
She really couldn’t say, or think, more than that on the subject.
The fae watched her curiously, then went back to eating cookies.
“Flint is bringing over Boreas,” Tynan said finally. “I should warn you. He’s not the most pleasant fae you’ve met…”
“Ice cold,” Ivar said, nodding. “His kingdom is one of the highest, bordering mine.”
“Got it,” she said. “So what should I expect?”
“Well, you know, he didn’t want to be part of the envoy, and he generally hates humans.”
“So why did he come, then?”
Tynan smiled. “He’s interested in a human with enough fae blood to manifest. Like we all are.”
She frowned, feeling darkness come over her. Images tried to flood her mind, battering at her defenses. “Right. That happens.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure Boreas behaves,” Ivar said reassuringly. “Just don’t take anything he says too seriously. None of us do.”
“Perhaps that’s why he’s so angry,” Isabella said with a grin. “No one listens to him.”
Ivar shook his head, sharing a look with Tynan. “No, that’s not it. You’ll see when he gets here.”
Isabella sighed. “So I guess when he gets here, we should plan something big since I might not get him over here again.”
Tynan nodded. “Plus, if you can show him useful information, it might convince him to come over more often.”
Isabella sighed. “I’ll go give Chad a heads-up that Boreas is coming. See what he thinks would be an ‘appropriate’ activity,” she said, pushing away from the counter.
“You want to bother him again so quickly?” Ivar asked, looking nervous.
“Of course.” When it came to bothering Chadwick, Isabella could never get enough.
* * *
“I’m beginning to think this whole thing was a huge mistake,” Chadwick said, talking into his speaker phone, which was in front of him on the desk. “The human emissary just wants to have fun with the fae at all hours, and—”
“Let them have some fun,” Trevor said. “What’s gotten into you, Chadwick? You were never this uptight.”
Chadwick sighed. “Things have changed. We have to train the fae and get them out in the world before someone gets hurt. Meanwhile, I’m watching the territory with my visions, and—”
“Chad, the whole world doesn’t rest on your shoulders,” Trevor said. “Calm down. What’s got you so stressed? I’ve seen you deal with worse things than this Isabella person.”
“No, you haven’t,” Chadwick said. “She grates on me constantly. Flirts just to shove it in my face—”
“Flirts?” Trevor sounded amused. “She flirts with you?”
Chadwick sighed. “Is there something odd about that?”
“No,” Trevor said. “It’s just… you’re so distant and polite with women. It’s hard to picture one of them getting over your walls to actually bother you.”
“She bothers me because she’s too loud and she doesn’t take anything seriously,” Chadwick said irritably.
It wasn’t at all because she was beautiful, vivacious, and a total distraction he didn’t need.
“Is she helping the fae, though?”
“I suppose,” Chadwick said, running his hand through his hair.
“Then the reason you have time to even work is because she’s keeping them busy. So maybe you should be grateful. She’s doing this for free, right?”
Chadwick sighed. “She’s assigned to do this. Yes, she volunteered, but it would have been better if she didn’t if she wasn’t going to take her job seriously. We need these fae to blend into the human world.”
“I don’t know if that’s ever possible,” Trevor said. “But if the oracle sent Isabella for that purpose, then she’s the best we have.”
Chadwick could hear laughter from the kitchen downstairs, and for some reason, it only made him more aggravated.
Isabella was down there, probably flirting and doing nothing while pretending to do her job again.
“I’m not a killjoy,” Chadwick said. “But there has to be some kind of limit. At some point, we have to stop having fun and get back to business.”
“It doesn’t sound like you’re having any fun,” Trevor said. “Look, Petra made me realize we’ve been so obsessed with our work and protecting everyone that we never took time to appreciate what we’ve always had. A beautiful home. Friends. Support. If Isabella helps you find some enjoyment, then I’m all for it.”
“Ha,” Chadwick said. “You’d say differently if you were here.”
“I’ll be there in a week,” Trevor said. “And Petra can’t wait to meet Isabella.”
“Petra will be a breath of fresh air,” Chadwick said. “Proof that some humans can be responsible. Isabella treats everything like a joke. I don’t think she takes any of this seriously.”
“You’re being too hard on her,” Trevor said. “Hey, do you like her? Because you don’t have to mate with a triad, you know. You could—”
“Isabella is the last person on the face of this planet that I would mate. I’d rather set my own head on fire.” It didn’t ring true, but Chadwick figured if he said it enough, he’d convince himself.
“I need to go,” Chadwick said abruptly. “Tell Petra hi for me, and get back here soon.”
“Will do, boss,” Trevor said. “And remember, try to be nice. You’re a good person, Chadwick. You can be patient.”
Chad took a deep breath. “You’re right. I’ll try. Take care, Trevor.”
Then Trevor hung up, and that was that.
At least until the door to Chad’s office creaked slowly open, and Chad felt his stomach drop into his lap as he saw Isabella standing at the door.
Her green eyes were wide, her lips parted in shock. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. Then she took a step forward.
“I was just coming to tell you that Boreas is coming over.” Her mouth firmed into a hard line. “If you have any ideas for important activities, this would be a good time since we don’t know when he’ll be out again.”
Chad swallowed, throat tight and painful from the realization she might have heard everything.
It was especially ironic, considering she was here to actually get something useful done right when he’d been ranting about her.
But she had to know she’d been annoying the hell out of him. She’d been acting as if it were her singular purpose.
“Isabella,” he said carefully. “What I said on the phone…”
“Forget it,” she said, turning on her heel to leave the room. “Just text me if you think of an idea. You have my number.”
She pulled the door shut behind her, but stopped to look through once more. “And just so you know, the feeling’s mutual. I’d rather set my head on fire than mate you too.”
Then she left, slamming the door behind her and leaving Chadwick to wonder if he’d always been a jerk or she just brought it out in him.
Chapter 3
“It’s a good thing I live in a freaking mansion,” Isabella muttered to herself. “Otherwise, this would never be worth it.”
Then again, she realized as she pulled her bikini out of her bag and changed into it, that was the kind of thought that made Chad think she wasn’t taking anything seriously.
In truth, she took her job to educate the fae very seriously.
Because she knew what happened when no one was around to intervene.
If it helped her to hide behind jokes and constant distractions so she could get what she needed done, then so be it.
She pulled on a new terry-cloth robe and did the belt up, staring at herself in her bathroom mirror, trying to see what Chad
saw when he looked at her.
Blond hair, a bit wavy, down to her chin. An oval face with a wide mouth, impish nose, large green eyes. She had a smattering of freckles across her cheeks.
She was short and curvy and wished she was taller so she didn’t have to look up so far at Chadwick and the others.
She gave herself a small wave of encouragement, then headed down the hallway to the stairs that led to the downstairs pool.
Swimming always helped clear her head.
Stupid Chadwick, she thought as she stomped down the stairs, pulling on a swim cap she’d kept in the robe pocket. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.
Did he really hate her so much?
Besides, she’d never been looking to mate Chadwick. He was just the first man she’d been attracted to… well, since the guy that got her into this whole mess.
So yes, she wanted to flirt with Chad, distract herself, and indulge the idea that she might still be normal, unaffected, and able to throw other people off rather than wait for them to get to her.
She turned on the lights in the hallway as she went toward the large room that held the pool.
When she opened it, the fresh scent of chlorine filled her nostrils, making her feel oddly at home.
As she noticed a basketball hoop near one side of the pool, she realized this might be a good place to bring the fae to offload stress. Shoot some hoops. Chad didn’t realize it, but being in a new world was hard for the Fae. Relaxing and having fun helped with that.
And if it also helped Isabella, then why not?
She walked over to the hoop, wondering if she should lower it. She didn’t really know how the mechanism worked.
She stood on her tiptoes as she walked around the side of the hoop, holding on to the front of the rim as she tried to adjust it.
It creaked, rolling slightly, and Isabella cursed herself for not realizing the thing was on wheels.
It moved forward ominously, threatening to push her in the pool.
“Don’t you dare,” she told it. “I just need to adjust you… just a bit.” She pulled hard on the hoop, using her other hand to hit the small lever at the back of it.
She grinned as the hoop came loose, then slid down a few inches.
Then she heard a creak, and the front wheel slid over the pool edge, tilting the basket and stand forward.
It hovered for a second as Isabella tried to figure out how to step around it to get safely onto the pool deck.
Then it fell forward so fast Isabella didn’t have time to get her hand off the hoop as it took her into the water with a splash.
Isabella felt slightly dazed as the hoop collided with her stomach, pushing her down into the water as the heavy, squared stand sank them both rapidly.
It was the deep end of the pool, and though she tried to get free, the stand pushed her to the bottom, pinning her ten feet down to the pool floor.
She gasped, trying to push at the heavy stand with her free hand, as the other was now tangled in the netting from holding on to the basket.
Oh no, I’m going to die.
She hadn’t told anyone she was going to the pool, and any scream would simply draw water into her mouth, drowning her quicker.
Perhaps Chad was right. Perhaps she was careless. Flippant.
But all she could think was that at this moment, she didn’t want to die. She hadn’t even gotten over what happened to her. She hadn’t gotten her normal life back.
She couldn’t die like this. She couldn’t.
She was using the last of her breath to jerk at her hand again when a splash impacted the water, making her jump in fright and look up at the disturbed surface.
Someone was swimming toward her. She was safe.
The person was blurry in the water, but she saw them get to the stand and push it off her. It jerked her hand with the net as it moved, and whoever was coming to presumably rescue her quickly grabbed her hand and extricated it from the netting.
She was close to blacking out as a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her upward.
When they broke the surface, Isabella took in a huge gasp, drawing air into her lungs as hard as she could, desperate to get rid of the burning pain of not having oxygen. Her rescuer pulled them over to the wall and pushed Isabella onto safe ground before climbing out himself.
She hadn’t realized how much she still valued her life until she’d realized how easily she could lose it.
She took a few more breaths, then looked over at the dripping person who was sitting back on his butt, legs in front of him, panting with exertion.
Or worry?
It was Chadwick.
He was breathing hard, like he couldn’t catch his breath, and when he pinned her with that unique violet gaze, she felt her heart stop. “What on earth were you planning to do with that thing?”
He took a deep breath and composed himself somewhat, and Isabella tried not to look at his pecs and biceps, which were revealed in his wet, now-translucent tee shirt.
“I was trying to adjust it,” she said, still gasping somewhat. “I didn’t think I was going to die. That shouldn’t just… fall off like that.”
“It never has,” Chad said hoarsely, putting a hand over his chest. “Damn, I thought I wasn’t going to make it in time.”
She leaned back on her hands, finally feeling the tension leave her chest like her body was only just now realizing she wasn’t going to die anymore. “How did you know I was here?”
Chad shook his head, and droplets flew off his short dark hair in every direction. He looked younger like this. More innocent. Less world-weary.
A normal man in his thirties, not an uptight executive trying to keep everything running perfectly.
He put a hand in his wet hair, pushing it off his face. “I had a vision. I ran down here. I almost had a heart attack when I saw you under that thing.”
She sighed. “I’m glad you didn’t. And I’m glad you showed up. Thank you.”
“Of course,” he said. Then, as if things being soft between them was too awkward, his expression hardened. “Though, you really should be more careful. I can’t just leave my office every time you decide to do something reckless and put yourself in danger.”
She’d pushed herself up and was already dropping her robe onto a chair, but she turned to glare at him once he’d spoken. “You know, you were almost being nice for a minute, but I forgot you’d rather light your head on fire than be with me.”
“I was being hyperbolic on the phone,” he said. “You had to know that.”
She pulled off her swim cap and dropped it on a chair, along with her soaked robe. “What’s your problem with me anyway? You’ve been rude since I got here, and you’re not rude to anyone else.”
“You’re the only one who gives me a reason.” Chadwick folded his arms, and Isabella tried to ignore the way his pecs and biceps flexed under his see-through shirt. The way his long legs were spread hip distance apart as if he were a sailor on a deck.
She took a step toward him, her heart pounding, though whether it was still from drowning or not, she wasn’t sure. “Oh yeah? What’s the reason?”
He eyed her warily as water dripped down from his forehead. “Huge things are happening out there. People are getting hurt. I need to be able to focus so I can have my visions and save them. Like I just saved you.”
Her heart was going faster now, but Isabella couldn’t back down.
There’d been something between her and Chad from the first moment they saw each other, and she wasn’t going to leave it alone anymore.
Not when she finally saw something more than apathy in those astounding purple eyes.
She saw anger and indignation and something like hunger.
“You come in and turn everything upside down,” Chad said, pacing now, his hands in tight fists. “The world is in danger, and you’re holding punching contests?”
“I’m teaching them how to—”
He put up a hand. “And you’r
e constantly doing something, dragging them with you. They hang on your every word.”
“I’m trying to help them be comfortable with humans.” She took another step forward, glaring. “That’s my job.”
“They’re comfortable, all right. You let them hang all over you.”
She raised an eyebrow, an odd tingle running through her. “That almost sounds like jealousy.”
“Ha!” Chadwick turned away, facing the pool arrogantly. “Never.”
“Really?” She came even closer so she was just a foot from his back. She could reach out and touch him. He wasn’t even watching. “You sure you’re not even a little tempted?”
He shook his head, not even bothering to turn around. “Of course not. I’m head of my region, and I will do my duty. After all, you’re not even a dragon heart. You’d never be suitable—”
“I’ll show you suitable.” Isabella grunted, lunging forward and knocking him into the pool with both hands on his back.
Chad turned midair, shock on his face, but managed to grab her by the hand and pull her in with him.
They came up by the wall, panting, and Chadwick glared at her. “Mature, human.”
“I’ll show you mature,” she said, planting both hands on either side of his face.
Then she kissed him hard on the mouth.
She didn’t know what prompted her to do it. She just wanted to wipe the smug look off his face.
She wasn’t prepared for the instant, raging heat that went through her.
Or the way he growled and pushed her up against the wall, pinning her there as his lips fiercely claimed hers.
His tongue swept into her mouth, owning her and making heat burst through her as her legs kicked at the water.
Finally, she pulled back, gasping, and Chadwick stayed there, hands on the wall on either side of her, keeping her pinned. His eyes ran over her, making her nearly melt with heat.
“I can’t stand you,” he said, his voice gruffer than she’d ever heard it.
This wasn’t the composed Chadwick she liked to tease. This was a different Chadwick. Maybe the real Chadwick.
Dragon in Love Page 2
