Dragon Guard: Earth Dragons Series: Book 1

by Hartnady, Charlene

  Shaun wouldn’t have been this caring. If anything, it would have been the other way around. Her running after him. Her waiting on him. Shaun would have sat his ass down and that would have been the end of it. Why hadn’t she seen it before? There had been very little give and take in their relationship.

  “Thank you.” She smiled at him.

  Mountain was sweet and kind and…he was great. She realized that this was the first time she had thought about Shaun in a while. For once, Page didn’t feel sad or upset or angry like she normally would. She didn’t feel much of anything. Was it indifference, or something else though?

  He fetched her a towel and a robe, which looked like it would be miles too big for her. Then he searched through a closet, finally returning with a t-shirt. “This should be fine to sleep in.”

  “That’s perfect.”

  He ordered their food while she undressed. Page stepped into the bath; the water was amazing. She held back a groan of pleasure as she sank into the suds. “Wow!” she pushed out as she sank back against the side of the tub. “That’s magnificent.” Her eyes were on the view. The sun had just begun to show above the horizon. Light shimmered and danced over the ocean. The sky was an array of purples. From a light lavender to an inky wine hue. Stars still shone brightly.

  “Sure is,” Mountain said, eyes on the view. “I never tire of seeing it.” He kept looking for a few moments and then pulled down his cotton pants, stepping out of them as he headed for the bathroom. His ass was meaty, his back wide and muscular.

  Page watched, slack-jawed until he disappeared behind the door, which he left ajar. She heard the water splatter to life and allowed herself to sink under the water. It was something she loved to do as a child. Lie in the bath, water to just over her ears, eyes closed. Warm and comforting. She could hear her heart beating and the swishing and swirling of the water.

  Page lay like that for a good couple of minutes but began to feel sleepy. It would be better if she washed up and got out before she fell asleep. She put her hand up, feeling around for the soap. There! She clutched it, pulling her hand back into the water and opened her eyes.

  Oh!

  She blinked a couple of times. Mountain stood over the tub looking down at her. He was frowning heavily. He looked angry. His jaw was tensed, his eyes narrowed. His muscles had that bulging, roped look he got when he was upset. Why would he be upset? He was naked and bristling.

  She slowly came up out of the water, staying under for the most part. “Are you okay?” She frowned.

  He grunted something that sounded like ‘yes’ and then sniffed at her. As in, he leaned forward, hovering over her head and arms, which were the only parts of her out of the water and sniffed loudly. He made another grunting noise.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, since he was beginning to scare her. “You okay?” she added again.

  She noticed that despite having gone to shower, his hair was still dry. Why was his hair dry? Also, she could still hear the sound of the water running in the bathroom. Had he decided not to get in? Why not?

  She allowed her gaze to track down his body. Down…down… Oh shit! This wasn’t—

  “Obsidian,” Mountain growled from the door. He sounded both shocked and pissed.

  Thank goodness she was in a bathtub with plenty of bubbles or…Page covered herself under the soap suds as the guy who looked exactly like Mountain continued to stare down at her, eyes narrowed, muscles bulging. Holy crap! He looked like he could do some real damage.

  “What the hell are you doing here? Why the fuck didn’t you knock first?” Mountain asked. It sounded like he was closer. “We talked about this.”

  Obsidian shrugged, looking, if anything, angrier.

  “Don’t tell me…” Mountain shook his head, walking further into the room. His hair was wet, and he wore a towel. It hung low around his hips. “You didn’t come through the door, did you? You came in via the balcony?”

  Obsidian shrugged. “Yes,” he ground out, his voice deep and gravelly. Barely human. Mountain had said that his brother was more animal than man. A shiver ran down her spine and not in a good way this time.

  “You are scaring my female,” Mountain said. “From now on you will have to use the front door.” He pointed in the general direction. “You’ll have to knock.”

  Mountain’s brother growled, looking like he didn’t particularly like the idea. She noted a flash of his teeth, which were sharp. Good lord! She swallowed, trying hard not to panic. It was like being in the line of sight of a lion. Poised, ready and hungry.

  “Where are my manners? This is my female, Page. Page, this is my brother, Obsidian. I told you about him.”

  Obsidian grunted.

  “Um…I didn’t know that…um…your brother is a twin.” She tried to smile but only succeeded in grimacing “Hello,” she squeaked.

  Obsidian growled, more teeth flashed.

  She sank down a little more in the water.

  “Earth dragons only birth twins, and on rare occasions, multiples,” Mountain said, it sounded like he was closer. “Even our human mates have all had twin pregnancies. I assumed you knew that.”

  She shook her head. Obsidian seemed to be calming down. His focus was no longer so unwavering, nor his muscles so bunched. Thank goodness! She could almost breathe again.

  “It seems that slayers are not as informed as I would have thought.” Mountain looked like he was thinking about it. “That is a good thing.”

  “I only know what was conveyed to me. I wasn’t—”

  “Slayer,” Obsidian snarled, looking at her like he wanted to kill her.

  She shrank back into the tub, like the water might act as a barrier or something. Then Mountain was bowling his brother over. The two guys went down in a tangle of limbs and a cacophony of snarls and grunts.

  There was a knock at the door. Then someone was entering. “What the hell!?” a male voice shouted. There was a loud clunk.

  Page couldn’t move. She didn’t dare. She couldn’t do anything, for fear of exposing herself to what felt like a room full of men. Even worse, the soap suds were dissipating. It wouldn’t be long and there wouldn’t be any left. She covered herself as best she could, praying they would all go away.

  Mountain and Obsidian were rolling around on the floor, grunting and snarling up a storm. It was more of a wrestling match than a fist fight. They were so evenly matched. First one would be on top and then the other.

  “Stop that!” the newcomer shouted. “Mountain! Obsidian! Stop.” She caught a glimpse. It was Shale. He was trying to break up the fight. It wasn’t working so he turned to her and grinned, giving her a wink. “They’re like Neanderthals.”

  “Please just go away!” she yelled. “All of you!”

  “Are you okay?” Shale asked, coming over to her.

  “Stop!” she snapped. “Don’t come any closer.”

  “Oh!” He raised his brows. “I get it. You’re in the tub, so naked?” His brows went up even higher. “You don’t have to worry, I’ve seen plenty of naked females.”

  What was it with these guys?

  She squeezed her eyes shut and hunkered down as much as she could. By now there were no more bubbles left in the tub. The soap was still in her hand. Why had she grabbed it? Soap. The silent killer of bubbles everywhere.

  “Get out!” Mountain roared, jumping to his feet. “Both of you,” he added, looking at Obsidian who lumbered up to his feet as well. “Shale, I swear to fucking god, I will gouge your eyes out if you so much as see a half an inch of my female’s flesh.” Mountain pointed at Shale.

  He chuckled. “You really are completely head over heels. You’re smitten. Totally fucked.” He laughed harder.

  “Out! You too!” Mountain raged at Obsidian. “Use the door next time, or else.”

  Obsidian said something she couldn’t make out.

  “I appreciate you dropping by,” Mountain said, sounding frustrated. “Thing is, I’m not alone, Obsidian. Thank you for
caring, but—”

  “Yeah,” Obsidian grunted out the word, “I’ll leave.” He sounded gruff. Hardly even human. Then the door to the balcony was slamming.

  “I’ll see you later!” Mountain yelled. Then he was back at the tub, his muscles roping. His ass was sculpted and gorgeous. The towel, long gone. “I suggest you turn around, Shale. Leaving would be safer for you.” He put himself between Shale and Page.

  “Easy, big guy.” She could hear that Shale was still smiling. “Your brother is getting worse. One of these days he won’t be able to shift into his human form anymore. Can he even have a normal conversation?”

  “Obsidian is fine!”

  “That was not fine.” Shale had an edge to his voice. His carefree attitude gone for once.

  “He is,” she could hear how angry Mountain sounded, “fine! I will—”

  “Okay! Chill!” Shale said. “I’ll take your word for it. I’m not here to discuss Obsidian with you. I have good news! The female—”

  “Page,” Mountain rasped. “My female has a name. Use it!”

  “I can’t believe how touchy you are about her. It’s hilarious,” Shale chuckled.

  “Keep talking and you’ll end up bleeding.” Mountain fisted his hands at his sides.

  “Relax. I brought your food and have good news for you guys. We can go and talk over there if it will make you feel better. I can’t see your female’s body if that’s what you are worried about.”

  Mountain relaxed just a smidgen. She saw the tension ease from his shoulders. “Tell me and then leave.” He began to walk away from the tub.

  “It wasn’t easy, I can tell you that much. Not easy at all, but I managed to convince Blaze to let you keep the female for your allotted two weeks. You can keep…Page, but you have to claim her today. You will have to continue to guard her and ensure that—”

  Page didn’t hear any more.

  Claim.

  As in sex. That’s what claim meant. They needed to have sex today. She licked her lips and pushed out a silent breath. How did she feel about that?

  Page smiled. Excited. That’s how she felt. Blood rushed through her veins at the thought of it. Yes! She definitely wanted to have sex with Mountain. No doubt about it.

  Chapter 13

  There was no way he was having sex with Page.

  Not today at any rate. Hopefully soon. He hoped like hell it would happen soon. Please god!

  “Enjoy, buddy!” Shale patted him on the arm. “You lucky fuck!” his friend added, his eyes moved to the ceiling for a second or two. “Although, I could do without all the commitment and just go with a good old-fashioned rut.” He slapped Mountain a second time, grinning broadly. “I can see you don’t agree.”

  That was very astute of Shale because the opposite was, indeed, true. He wanted the commitment. Wanted all of it. What he didn’t want was to end up being a rebound relationship.

  “Stop thinking so hard. Just do it! I’ll see you later,” Shale said. Mountain watched him walk down the hall. He went back into his chamber and closed the door. When he turned, his female was already out of the bath. She was wearing his t-shirt. It was very baggy and came down to her knees, but he was sure he had never seen anything more beautiful. The cotton clung to her damp curves. She was drying her hair with the towel.

  “I’m sorry about that,” he said.

  She put the towel over the edge of the bath and began to finger brush her hair. He could hear the last of the water disappearing down the drain.

  “Not your fault. You could have warned me though. What if I’d groped him by accident, thinking it was you? He’s your identical twin brother. I can’t believe that.” She sounded exasperated. Her eyes were wide. “We both have a twin. What are the odds?”

  Mountain shrugged. “I thought you knew. Like I said earlier, it’s a simple fact about Earth dragons.”

  “I had no idea that your brother would be identical. That Earth dragons have multiples.” She made a face of shock.

  “I’m sorry. I would have said something otherwise.”

  “He does look exactly like you. Well…mostly.” She smiled.

  “Don’t you dare go there.” Mountain couldn’t help but smile back.

  She rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t going to go anywhere. I happen to like your,” she glanced down, “member exactly the way it is.”

  He put his hand over his semi-erection, feeling that familiar sense of insecurity. It had been a long while since he had experienced the emotion.

  “You have the biggest…well,” she giggled, putting a hand over her mouth, “almost the biggest cock I’ve ever seen and absolutely nothing to be ashamed about.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he clenched his jaw, “Obsidian beats me out, hence all the jokes about me having small dick syndrome.” He chuckled. “I think I did suffer from it at one time.”

  Her mouth fell open for a second, but she quickly recovered. “Really? You? You have nothing to feel even remotely worried about.” She walked over to him. That shirt looked so fucking good on her. His shirt. She went onto tiptoes and hooked her hands around his neck. “In fact, I think any more…” She looked down between them. At his cock, which was hard and jutting. She swallowed hard. “Any bigger than that and we may have had a problem. You are plenty big enough.”

  Mountain groaned, her eyes had turned greedy and she licked her lips. Page was talking about rutting. About them rutting. “About that. I—”

  “I know. I understand what claiming is and,” she smiled at him, sexy as sin, “I’m okay with it. I’d like to have sex with you. You said you could show me…more, and I want to feel…want to know more. With you.”

  He rubbed his hands up and down her sides. “I want to. More than anything. I can’t wait to be inside you, to—”

  “Okay then…” She smiled, stepping away from him and gripping the bottom of her shirt.

  “No.” He took her hands, stilling her. He let her go.

  “Oh.” Her blue eyes widened. “Oh shit! Of course. You must be starving after running for all those hours, and tired too. Exhausted.”

  “That’s not it. I would love to fuck you…” He shook his head. “No, that’s not true.”

  She frowned hard. “You don’t want to,” she paused, pulling in a breath, “to have sex with me? I thought that—”

  “I do! I’m so damned attracted to you. I want inside you more than I’ve ever wanted it before, but I want it to be more than just fucking.”

  She frowned even harder. “What do you mean? That’s what claiming means, right? It means having sex, doesn’t it? Or am I missing something?”

  “I…” Shit! How did he explain this without scaring her off? Mountain paced away from her as he gathered his thoughts. He turned and walked back. “I like you, Page.”

  Her lips curled into the start of a smile. “I like you too.”

  “I enjoy spending time with you. I think you are beautiful…” His eyes dipped down to her breasts, her tight nipples trying to poke holes through his shirt. At how full they looked under the baggy fabric. He so wanted to rip the shirt off her. His gaze dipped to her legs. Long, shapely, lush. “No, I like you a lot.” He looked back into her beautiful eyes. “We haven’t known each other very long but I know we could be good together. I know that already. I feel it.” He put his hand to his chest. “Here.”

  “Oh.” She sounded unsure. “That is soon.”

  “I wasn’t talking shit when I told Granite that I had feelings for you.”

  “I see.” She worried her bottom lip, something she did when she was thinking.

  “I know this is more than likely a rebound relationship for you. Maybe even a way to…get back at your ex. Or to,” he shrugged, feeling a pang, “even out things between you. He fucks around. You fuck around.”

  “No!” She sounded pissed. “That’s not it at all. I don’t fuck around.” She looked pissed as well. “I told you, I’ve only ever had one partner and that’s Shaun.” Now she looked upset. �
�I wouldn’t do that.”

  “I don’t mean it like that.” He tried again. “It wouldn’t be intentional. I don’t want to screw things up between us. I don’t want to get hurt either, Page. There, I said it.”

  “You want more out of this?”

  “Definitely,” he answered quickly, “and you can’t be sure about what you want at this point.”

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry. It’s just that it’s too soon. We hardly know each other, Mountain.”

  “I know what I want. You see, this has never been about anything other than finding a mate for me.”

  “What?” Her eyes were wide, her chest heaved. “What do you mean?”

  “When I set out a few days ago, it was on a hunt. Human females signed up to take part.”

  “Why humans?”

  “Sheesh! You really are out of the loop.”

  She smiled. “I’m not a slayer.”

  “Not a chance!” He smiled back, but he quickly turned serious again, as did she. “We don’t have enough females of our own. That’s why we’ve had to take human females. We’re compatible as a species. We started off kidnapping females who met a certain…criteria, and then set about trying to convince them to accept us. It didn’t work out all that well.”

  “I can imagine.” She huffed out a breath.

  “There are so many of us males and so few females that, about a century ago, we devised something called a hunt. The females have a head start and the males track behind them. We are not permitted to kill one another but there are many casualties along the way. Strength, stamina, agility, tracking skills, intelligence and then a good dose of communication skills are tested. Once a male captures a female, he must still convince her to mate with him, or it will all have been for nothing. He has two weeks to do so.”