Dragon's Nanny: A Paranormal Romance (West Coast Water Dragons Book 1)

by Kayla Wolf

  He was so lost in the sensation of her skin beneath his fingertips, of her lips against his, of the warmth of her body and the scent of her breath that he almost didn’t hear the knocking at the door. It wasn’t until urgent voices were raised outside that he managed to break away from her—and even then, everything in him was screaming at him to ignore the sounds, to take her into his arms and kiss her again. She was gazing at him in shock, her eyes wide and her lips roughened by his kissing as he heard familiar voices on the doorstep.

  ”Lachlan! Lachlan—it’s the wolves. The pack’s been sighted up north.”

  Chapter 8 – Serena

  Serena had never been kissed like this in her life.

  It wasn’t that she was particularly inexperienced when it came to kissing. Sure, she’d spent most of her college years studying, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t been to frat parties and made out with a few terrible business majors in her time. Kissing was fine, she supposed—not the most exciting of hobbies, but she could see the appeal. But when Lachlan kissed her—when Lachlan went dark in the eyes and closed the space between them and held her against him like a drowning man who needed her lips like he needed air—well, suddenly she knew what all the love songs were about.

  It was impossible to tell how long they kissed for—it could have been minutes, it could have been a whole week. She could feel her own mind screaming, in some distant, compartmentalized section where she’d put all her professional concerns and worries about the nature of her relationship with her employer, but just for now, she wanted to ignore all that. She’d been working so hard to fight down how she felt about this man, working so hard to keep it professional, to keep him at a distance even as she watched him and got to know him, learned more about what a good man he was, what a good father, what a caring leader, what an unbelievably hard worker—a man who put himself through twice as much as what he asked of the people he led… and the more she learned about who he was, the harder it was to keep herself from thinking about him as more than just an employer.

  And now he was kissing her. It had been bound to happen—either he was going to kiss her, or she was going to kiss him, or she was going to rupture some part of her body with how hard she was fighting down her feelings. It was almost a relief that it was finally happening—and she couldn’t help but feel a little triumphant that it wasn’t her who’d broken. It was him. But just as she was beginning to consider that the kiss might be leading somewhere—just as she was thinking some rather impure thoughts about his bedroom, the one room in the house she was reluctant to spend much time in—there was a sudden hammering on the door.

  She felt the kiss falter, felt Lachlan hesitating to break away from her… and though she knew he was only being responsible, a part of her felt a little betrayed when he finally broke their kiss to deal with whoever was knocking at the door. Feeling completely shell-shocked, her whole world rearranged by the force of that kiss, she walked stiff-legged towards the kitchen, following some instinct to disguise what they’d been doing from whoever was at the door. But the men who were hammering on the door weren’t interested in her at all. The worry on their faces was obvious as they came into the room—it was Harvey, one of the men she’d met on her second day in the settlement, and Emerson, the quiet one who hadn’t spoken much. Well, he was speaking now—the three of them lost in a conversation she couldn’t help but overhear.

  ”The pack’s up north—a few miles outside of our territory proper, but moving in. I think they saw me,” Harvey was saying through gritted teeth. “I was in the air—they might’ve spotted me. They’ll know we’re coming. If they’re going to attack, it’s going to be now—we have to go.”

  ”We do,” Lachlan said grimly. “Serena—I have to go. Can you—”

  ”I’ll be fine. Do what you have to do,” she said, trying to put the kiss behind them… or at least in a different section of her head.

  ”There might be trouble,” he said, moving a little closer to her, those pale blue eyes full of worry. “You’ll have to be ready.”

  ”I’ll protect her,” she promised, her eyes flashing. “I swear. Whatever it takes.”

  ”Thank you,” he said softly, taking her hands in his for a moment—and then, as quick as that, he was gone, leaving her with a head full of confusion and fear to work through. Well, at least she wouldn’t be bored, she thought faintly, walking in an aimless circle around the living room. What the hell was going on? She understood why he’d had to leave—it sounded like trouble—but god, the timing couldn’t have been worse. That kiss… what did it mean? Were they… together, now? Did he want her to be his? Or was it just a passing impulse he’d followed, a whim brought about by nothing in particular? Something about that seemed wrong. Nobody kissed someone like that if they didn’t feel something about it.

  God, she’d just have to put it out of her head until she got a chance to talk to him. She shook her head fiercely to clear it, headed for the shower and ran the water a little colder than she usually would in the hopes that it would shake her out of the daze she was in. But it didn’t help much. She was falling for him—she knew she was, she’d known it since the minute she’d laid eyes on him, and all the effort she was exerting to stop herself from feeling what she was feeling was in vain. He’d caught her attention and her interest, well and truly.

  She got into her pajamas and headed for bed. Delilah, bless her heart, was fast asleep—Serena took a moment to just look at her peaceful face in the low light spilling in from the hallway. It was oddly clarifying, to look at the little girl. She really did care about her. No matter what she felt for Lachlan, her first priority would always have to be Delilah’s wellbeing. And it would be awful for Delilah if Serena tried to enter into some half-stupid love affair with her father… what if it went wrong? What if they broke up? She couldn’t put Delilah through that. No, it was simple… in the morning, she’d talk to Lachlan, explain that kissing each other had been a mistake and that they’d have to avoid that kind of thing in the future. If that meant spending less time together, well… that was unfortunate, but it would be necessary.

  Still, her heart ached as she drifted off to sleep. If it wasn’t for her job, she’d want to know where this thing was going… but at the same time, if it wasn’t for her job, she would never have met Lachlan in the first place. It was just proximity that had caused these feelings… proximity, and probably some confusion in his mind with the mother of his daughter. No. She had to do what she could to fight these feelings off—for everyone’s sake.

  But by the time she woke up, worry had replaced her turbulent emotions about Lachlan. A cursory inspection of his bedroom revealed that his bed hadn’t been slept in—he was still out on patrol. Delilah came toddling out, rubbing her eyes sleepily as she peered about in search of her father, and she ran to Serena when she couldn’t find him, clearly a little upset at his absence. Serena soothed her absent-mindedly, distracted herself with getting the little girl her breakfast and getting her ready for the day. She checked her phone—no word from Lachlan—and when she called him, there was no answer. Could something have gone wrong? They’d been talking about the enemy wolf pack… about the possibility of an attack. She’d been on her guard, ready to protect Delilah if she needed to. That hadn’t been necessary, thank God. But what if something else had happened?

  She scooped Delilah up and headed out of the cottage, blinking in the morning sunlight—then heading determinedly for the town square. There weren’t any people about—she frowned, concerned by the emptiness of the town. Delilah was clearly picking up on her worry. The little girl was uncharacteristically fussy, grumbling and whining in her arms, and she shushed her a little as she walked.

  ”Serena! Is Lachlan around?”

  A familiar voice—this was Alice, the settlement’s only doctor and one of the few other women who lived here. It was a relief to see a familiar face—and Delilah was pleased to see Alice, too. The woman was standing on her porch, a worried look on he
r face, and Serena could tell by the tiredness in her eyes that she hadn’t slept much the night before.

  ”I was going to ask you the same thing. He left late last night, and he hasn’t been home since.”

  ”Neither has James,” Alice frowned. She and her brother shared a cottage—they were planning on building a second one so they could both have some space, but there hadn’t been time yet. “He called me an hour ago, though. Said he’d be back soon.”

  ”I haven’t heard from Lachlan at all,” Serena said. “It’s not like him to disappear like this.”

  Alice nodded, her jaw tight. “Can you drive? You can take my truck—I’d go with you, but I need to be here in case of a medical emergency.”

  Serena hesitated. “Delilah—“

  ”She can hang out with me. What do you say, little buddy? Want to have a playdate like old times?” Delilah sniffed, but she toddled over to Alice and grabbed her hand. Alice smiled at Serena. “Go find him.”

  ”Thanks, Alice,” Serena said gratefully. But her heart was pounding with dread as she got behind the wheel of the truck and started the engine. She didn’t know her way around the peninsula at all—what if she got lost? Or what if she couldn’t find Lachlan? What if he was out there somewhere, badly injured? Or worse—what if she did find him, and he was surrounded by wolves? She’d always thought of her wolf form as a secret weapon—it had never been scary to walk alone at night, not with the knowledge that she could transform into an enormous wolf at the first sign of trouble. But when everyone else had that power too, suddenly it was less of a secret weapon and more of… well, nothing. She was incredibly vulnerable.

  First things first, she told herself, she had to see if she could find Lachlan. First, she’d make sure he was safe, then she’d make sure there wasn’t an impending attack from a pack of violent wolves. Then—and only then—she might think about talking to him about the nature of their relationship… about that kiss last night that had almost knocked her out. About how no matter how they felt about each other, they had to keep it professional. For Delilah’s sake.

  But first, she had to find him… and as she drove, she felt despair beginning to sink into her heart. There was just so much… wilderness, out here. How was she supposed to find him when there was so much ground to cover? She’d drive up as far as the mainland, then turn back, she decided, her heart pounding with worry. She was so ill-equipped for this kind of thing. Her childcare qualification at college hadn’t prepared her for the eventuality of searching for your charge’s potentially lethally injured parent after a wolf attack. The thought of her professors trying to cover that topic almost made her laugh.

  Then she saw something by the side of the road that made her slam on the brakes.

  Chapter 9 – Lachlan

  Patrolling at night felt strange. For a start, all six of them were out—it felt good to have his best friends behind him. They were all in their dragon forms, too, which meant that they could make telepathic contact at short range. Though they couldn’t speak aloud in their dragon forms, they’d always had the ability to reach out telepathically to communicate in those shapes. But there was too much ground to cover to stay within range of one another for too long, and it wasn’t long before Lachlan was on his own, winging his way above the peninsula that had become his home, scanning the ground below for any sign of interlopers who wanted to destroy everything he’d helped to build. There was cold anger in his body—anger at the wolves, for having the audacity to interfere with their home—and he didn’t envy any advance party of scouts he might happen upon.

  As he flew, he tried not to think about Serena. It was important to compartmentalize—to keep all of those feelings well and truly separate from the mission he was working on right now. While it was true that they were going to have to have a conversation about what that amazing kiss was going to mean for their relationship, it was also true that he couldn’t afford to think about it right now. Not if it meant risking a life-threatening distraction. So he kept his mind on what he was doing—searching for enemy wolves, getting ready to fight them if he needed to.

  It was a long night patrolling. As the hours wore on, his anger began to fade, replaced with the creeping edges of exhaustion and frustration. Every time he passed one of his friends, they reported the same thing—no sign of any wolves. But none of them were willing to stop patrolling. The rest of the settlement was on high alert, waiting back home to defend what they’d built from the wolves… they couldn’t turn back until they’d made sure that the wolves weren’t just waiting for them to give up and go home. So they kept flying.

  Just before dawn, he spotted something. A flicker of light, so quick that he almost could have believed he’d dreamt it… if he wasn’t on such high alert. He circled down, his wings a little tired from the long night—and as he got closer to the treetops, he realized with a shock that there were two wolves, lingering in the shadow of a tree. They were in their human shapes, and one of them was holding a torch—the light he’d spotted. Two wolves? Two wolves he could take. And with a roar of anger, he landed hard in the clearing.

  But something was wrong. Neither of the wolves looked surprised to see him—they looked up at him with identical grins on their faces, then immediately shifted forms. A little confused, he readied himself to fight. Two wolves, against a fully-grown dragon? Did they have a death wish? Too late, he realized his mistake as four black shapes came blurring out of the forest around him. It had been a trap… and he’d fallen into it. He tried to spring aloft again, but the wolves were on him, weighing him down, snapping and biting at his body.

  Wolves had a way of fighting as one unit. He’d always heard that—but this was the first time he’d experienced it firsthand. It was as though every time he turned to bite a wolf, another was there, ready to block him… and a third was taking advantage of whatever gap in his guard had opened up to deliver a savage bite to his unguarded areas. It wasn’t long before he was bleeding freely. But the wolves had underestimated his speed, and his resilience—he delivered several serious injuries, and though he was breathing hard and unsteady on his feet, by the time the sun was in the sky, the wolves were beating a hasty retreat. He turned his eyes to the sky, crouching to jump into the air, desperate to get back home to the settlement to warn his friends—but to his horror, a wave of dizziness and pain washed over him when he tried to lift off. He was too badly hurt to fly.

  Injuries were always less severe when translated to his human shape. Shaking, he shifted forms again, then looked down at his human body. His clothing was soaked with blood, and there were several deep wounds in his arms and legs—but nothing was broken. He could walk—at least for now. Hopefully he could get back to town before the blood loss hit him. He wasn’t going to entertain any other possibilities.

  But by the time he reached the road, he was breathing hard. His vision was blurred, his heart pounding sickeningly… he staggered a little, leaned against a tree to wait for his vision to clear. But it didn’t. It was becoming abundantly clear that he was worse off than he thought. And just as this thought occurred to him, everything went dark. The last thing he was conscious of was his knees hitting the ground… and then, as though no time at all had passed, he was lying in the back seat of a car, being jostled by the movement of the vehicle.

  ”Huh? What?”

  ”Lachlan, thank God. Stay awake, okay?”

  ”Serena?” He blinked, trying to sit up. “How did you—”

  ”You didn’t come back, so I came to find you.”

  ”Delilah—”

  ”With Alice. Safe.”

  ”Good,” he breathed—and then everything was blackness again. This time, when he woke up, he was in a familiar room, flat on his back. Alice’s surgery. He blinked, looking down at his wounds—and discovering only neat bandages in their place. And Serena, sitting by his bedside, a look of relief on her face as she realized he was awake.

  ”Delilah—“

  ”Is having the time of he
r life with Uncle Bryce, who is carrying her around on his shoulders. He’s creating a monster.”

  He laughed a little. “Perfect. She didn’t—“ He hesitated. “She didn’t see me all bloody?”

  ”No. And Alice said you’ll be all mended in a day or so. What happened?”

  ”Wolves,” he said, grimacing as he pulled himself upright. “I need to talk to Harvey and the guys, tell them that—“

  ”We know.”

  He looked up, surprised. Harvey was standing in the doorway, a grim look on his face.

  “Glad you’re okay, buddy. They jumped you, hey?”

  ”It was a trap,” he said grimacing. “Thought I’d caught two of them alone, but there were four more in the trees.”

  ”Yeah, Daniel fell for something like that, too. He’s okay,” Harvey said quickly. “But they’re getting bold. Trying to pick us off like that. But I’ve got it under control, okay? You just get better. We’ll talk tomorrow.” He turned and walked off, Lachlan frowning after him.

  Serena was smiling to herself. “Shifters heal so fast. My mom was always amazed by that.” She hesitated. “I’m glad you’re okay.”