Dragon's Heart, Volume 1 Read online

  Bobbie was the joker of the pack, Melanie not far behind her, always ready for a laugh or a prank. With those two in Amy’s life it was certainly not boring. Wendy was the mother hen of the group, she always had advice or a handy Kleenex. Sarah was a single parent to a five-year-old boy. She had suffered at the hands of an abusive husband, who was currently serving time for the way he had treated her. She was the hands-on, help-out-with-anything person. Since her now ex-husband had been charged and jailed, her confidence had grown. She walked with her head held high and never hid a smile or laugh. The group was pretty protective of her.

  Amy was the quietest of the group. She had never had friends during her school years, keeping to herself and hoping that no one noticed the shabby way she was dressed or the fact that her parents were never around. She managed to scrape through unscathed by doing so.

  It was Wendy who first approached Amy when she had started her job and introduced the others. Gradually, the friendships had grown full and hearty. But she did enjoy the quiet of her evenings with a good book.

  Tonight Bobbie and Melanie had turned the evening into a competition of who could flirt the most with the waiter. Every time the poor man had to refill a drink or bring an order he blushed so red a beetroot would have been proud.

  Flicking her red, curly hair over her shoulder and giving the poor man another wink, Bobbie paid the bill and followed them out. Amy knew that to anyone who might be watching they looked like a group of giggling teenagers. It felt good. Walking into the elevator, both Bobbie and Amy turned and reached for the floor button. Bobbie hit it first. Amy looked up and gasped, her breath leaving her in a blast, as piercing green emerald eyes met hers as the doors slid shut.

  * * * *

  Troy’s dragon drew him out of his shock, and he jabbed the call button, but it was too late, the doors were firmly closed and the lift was rising. Taking a deep breath, he watched the glowing numbers change. After what seemed like an eternity, with the constant push of his dragon dragging on him, the lift stopped on the fifth floor. He turned and hurried up the stairs as quickly as he could. It was her, she was in the damn lift so bloody close. The stairs seemed to go on forever. Each step seemed one too many.

  His dragon added to the excitement, a mantra running in his head. Mate. Get mate. Run faster.

  With his shifter hearing he heard the ding from the elevator above him and the worried voices coming from the females. He didn’t want to frighten them, he just wanted what was his. His mate.

  Finally reaching the fifth floor, he opened the stairway door and saw the small group standing outside a room. Taking in all their scents, he zoned in on his mate again, taking her in from top to bottom. She was the ultimate treasure. Nothing he had could compare to her. It was now or never.

  * * * *

  Wendy grabbed at Amy in the lift. “Good Lord, girl, you’re as white as a sheet. You getting ill again?”

  The girls crowded around her, staring at her with frantic eyes. She couldn’t breathe. He was there. She wasn’t supposed to see him again. Why was he there? How did he know where to find her? So many questions flew around in her brain, her body too stunned to move.

  “I’m okay. I just thought I saw someone,” she said, her voice so quiet it was almost a whisper.

  “You mean that dishy, very tall guy who came toward the lift?” Bobbie asked, a grin rising on her face. “Woo, girl, he was hot. You’d burn touching that bod.” She shook her hand as if it were burning.

  “He was the hot guy I crept out on the morning after, the one I went home with.”

  All the girls’ mouths dropped open. They, of course, had shared their dirty little stories the next morning.

  When the lift doors opened with a ding they stepped out and walked toward their rooms.

  “What are you gonna do, honey?” Sarah asked quietly.

  “Come talk to me in the bar and have a drink, I’m hoping,” a deep, husky voice said, startling the little group.

  They all turned as one to see the stunning man with a panty-dropping smile and cute dimples standing before them, not even looking winded, despite the fact he had just ran up five flights of stairs.

  Chapter 5

  Troy watched as Amy held her drink with both hands, looking deeply into it as if she could read each and every ingredient. He wanted to wrap his hands around hers to settle them, to calm her fears.

  After he’d startled the group it hadn’t taken Amy long to convince her friends that she would be okay, but one of them—who only came up to his shoulder—had stood directly in front of him and given him the third degree. She had demanded to know his name, what he did for a living, and even went as far as to ask for his license plate number. He had calmly answered each question, including the one about his car. Amy had stood watching this with a smirk on her face. Then she’d followed him to the lift, downstairs, and to the bar.

  He breathed in deep, taking in her scent. So sweet—lavender and honey mixed in with a little fear and arousal, but also tinged with a bit of...something. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was.

  “You left in the morning, I couldn’t find you,” he stated rather bluntly. Seeing a little shock in her eyes, he laid one of his hands over hers. It looked so much smaller in his, her skin so soft.

  “I don’t normally do stuff like that... You know, one-night stands. In fact, you were the first, and probably the only one ever,” she added, mumbling the last bit. When she looked up into his eyes he could see guilt flashing through them.

  Oh, baby, yes, I will be the only one.

  His dragon nodded, agreeing with him.

  “It may have only started as a one-night stand, baby.” He shifted closer, his leg leaning against hers. “But after that night, and now after finally finding you again, I want more.” He paused and lifted her chin with a finger so he could look into her powder blue eyes. “I want you, my goddess.”

  * * * *

  Amy looked up at his face and saw only truth. It was her heart that didn’t see it. Nobody had ever wanted her. Even the one and only man she’d ever slept with had only wanted to fuck her, she supposed just a notch in his bedpost. After that one night he had never spoken to her again. It was just another brick around her heart.

  “Look,” she said, moving her chin off his finger and pulling back in her seat. “It was one night, you don’t know me! You’re just saying that. I mean, what are the chances of seeing me again? One in thousands? Millions? What do you want? Another night just because you spotted me?”

  Her heart had spoken again, pushing away what she really wanted to believe, what she deep down physically wanted. No one wanted her, not even her so-called parents. Even Adam and Rosie had left her. Not their faults of course, but they still weren’t around anymore.

  If only her mind would listen. She recalled his muscles, his toned body, and the six-pack that glistened with sweat as he had fucked her. Her nipples went hard just thinking about how he had slammed into her with passion, his body gliding over hers, their mingled moans of pleasure. She’d had fingerprint bruises on her hips for over a week where he had gripped her so tightly. She tried not to shift in her seat as her panties began to get rather damp, her pussy trickling its cream in preparation.

  Shaking her head to dispel the memories, she looked again into his eyes, and what she saw almost broke a little bit of her wall—anguish.

  “It wasn’t a mistake, Amy. Tonight wasn’t a mistake either, that we bumped into each other again. I searched for you. When I woke and realized who you were to me... I think even being as drunk as I was that night I knew. I’ve hunted, explored, even inquired, I asked many of my friends to help find you.”

  Her heart thudded a beat when he mentioned looking for her.

  “There is a lot to learn about each other, please give me a chance and listen, maybe believe what I say is the truth.”

  “What do you mean what I am to you?” she asked, a little defensive, thinking of Sarah. She had to be careful, she never wanted to
go down that road. Ever!

  Troy leaned in closer, his lips a tiny fraction from hers, leaving her feeling his breath when he exhaled. His eyes looked directly into hers. “You’re my mate, baby.”

  * * * *

  Before she could react Troy threaded his hand into her hair and leaned the rest of the way in, planting his lips firmly onto hers. He withheld a moan at the softness as they plied with his. He ran his tongue over her lips, and she let out a small gasp, which had him plunging it into her mouth, taking advantage. He could have come on the spot. She tasted like nothing he’d had before. The smell of lavender and honey grew stronger. She leaned into him, her tongue coming to life and playing with his. She wanted him as badly as he wanted her. The scent of her arousal rose in the area, clawing at his nose.

  Take home and keep.

  He freed up a little in his mind, letting his dragon come forth a fraction to share in the tasting and delight of finally being able to hold their mate again.

  They drifted apart, breathless, his hand still firmly in her hair, unable to let go.

  “Baby, I want to prove it wasn’t just one night. Take a chance on me?” He was sure—in fact, bloody positive—he would get on his knees and beg if he had to. There was no way he was letting go of this precious gem again.

  * * * *

  Amy’s body ached with sexual tension, her clit throbbed, and her nipples peaked so hard they pushed uncomfortably against her bra. The pull to be with this handsome man was immense. She wanted to scoot over and straddle his lap, rock her hips into his groin, to kiss him senseless until there was no breath in their lungs. She couldn’t understand it, she didn’t know this man, but felt as if she did, right down to his very soul.

  “Troy, we don’t know each other at all. As I said before, it was supposed to be one night, never to meet or see each other again.” She looked down sadly, not wanting to look into his face. She picked up her purse and started to rise from her chair.

  “Don’t, please,” he said, a tint of panic to his voice. He placed his hand over her arm, stopping her from rising. “Let me take you to dinner?”

  Looking at her watch, she saw it was almost midnight.

  “It’s very late and I have a full day of boring courses tomorrow. If I don’t attend them, I could lose my job. Plus, I’ve already eaten.” She let out a small chuckle, thinking of her friends’ escapades that evening. This time she rose, ready to leave the small table in the bar area where they were sitting.

  “Tomorrow evening.” He stunned her, standing in front of her before she could blink. “After your courses,” he insisted. “I’ll be here at seven PM to pick you up.”

  His hands closed around her biceps and pulled her roughly against him, his lips quickly pressing against hers, his tongue dipping inside to tease hers. She couldn’t withhold a moan as the tantalizing taste of smoky cinnamon rippled over her taste buds. They were both panting as he pulled away. He lifted a hand from her arm and gently cupped her cheek, the pad of his thumb lightly caressing it.

  “Goodnight, my goddess. I’ll see you tomorrow.” And with that, he turned and strode out of the bar toward the foyer.

  Totally and utterly amazed, she stood there and watched him leave. Her gaze briefly flickered over his jean-covered, taut backside, thinking back again to that night. Tonight, instead of a crisp, white shirt that was tucked into a belted pair of black trousers, he had worn a deep blue jacket over a v-neck pullover along with some tight jeans that showed his well-defined butt. A heated flush crept over her. Hot damn, what had just happened?

  Pulling herself together, she made her way upstairs to the room she shared with Wendy.

  Mate...what did he mean mate? And did he just demand her appearance tomorrow? So many questions and scenarios ran through her head right then she was sure it would pop off, roll down the corridor, and explode in a mushy mess. Eww, what a thought! She had definitely been around children too much.

  She knew all too well that Wendy would be up and waiting. Watching her earlier fire question after question at Troy had been oddly funny. No matter what the day ahead held, Wendy would want to make sure she was safe—she always did—and of course nose into what happened with Troy. What Amy hadn’t expected was to see all of her friends sitting on the double bed in the room. The television flicked off and four heads twisted around as the door closed.

  “Oh, come on, you have got to be kidding me.” She sighed, looking at each of their faces as she set her purse on one of the bedside tables. “All of you?” It was going to be a very long night.

  It was after two AM when they finally dispersed to climb into their own beds. Amy had recapped everything that had gone on. This led to a debate, questions, answers, and an awful lot of advice given out. At several points during the conversation Bobbie had let out excited screeches, leading to numerous fits of giggles from them all.

  When Amy finally managed to close her eyes—if only for a few hours—she slipped into the welcome void of sleep and dreams of a hunky, green-eyed man.

  Chapter 6

  Troy couldn’t sleep. He had been tossing and turning for hours. He had left two of his best security people at the hotel to keep an eye on his mate, not wanting to leave her alone or unattended for even a minute. Pete and Dennenth were both dragon shifters, so they knew the importance of finding and keeping a mate. The fact that Pete and Dennenth were watching over Amy offered Troy a little peace, but not much, knowing that he was the one who was supposed to be with her, curled up beside her lush body, his hands roaming her skin, her eyes looking into his as she writhed beneath him.

  Fed up with not sleeping, he threw off the red silk sheets and drove to his house by the ocean. He couldn’t fly in the city, and that was the only place he could. When he arrived at the beach house and got out of his car, he looked up at the full moon in the night sky, soaking in the luna rays. Living by the ocean was ideal. It allowed him the ability to release his dragon and fly. He could skim over the water, feeling the splash of the salty waves hitting his dragon’s scales, the sea air brushing over his wings. The utter peace of just letting go. Of course, he had to be careful, but still, if anyone spotted him who would believe it?

  Tonight that was just what he needed. He walked to his private beach behind the house and slid down his silky pajama pants. Holding out his arms, he let forth his dragon.

  There was no pain in the shift, just the feeling of two halves meeting in the middle and swapping over. He slid inside his mind and relaxed, letting his dragon come forward. Emerald green scales coated his growing body mass. His fingers and toes became thick, clawed talons. His face shifted, elongating into a firm and sturdy snout, his eyes burning with the fire from deep inside.

  With a leap and a bound and a swish of his long, thick tail he was airborne. No words could ever describe the feeling of freedom he got every time he flew. He hoped with all his heart that his mate would accept this side of him; he had to have faith that she wouldn’t run screaming for the hills.

  For a dragon, once its mate was recognized it was simply take, mate, and keep. For two shifters finding each other it was basically the same, but with the addition of learning each other as time went on. However, when a shifter found a human mate it was more difficult. Although the human felt a significant pull to the shifter they tended to be wary. The shifter would often have to hold his or her dragon back and try to placate the thing until the human mate was made aware of the secret. Troy had done things backward and knew he was going to have problems rectifying it.

  Landing on the beach a short time later, feeling more at peace, he let the change ripple through him again. His dragon let out a contended purr, curled up in a ball inside of him, and rested. Troy walked toward his house and made plans for the things he had to take care of before tonight.

  “Feeling better?” his mother asked as he strode toward the kitchen area where she was warming milk for her nightly cocoa. The beach house was something he shared on and off with his parents. It was the safest pl
ace to fly, so when any of them wanted to release the beast they would come and spend some time until it was placated.

  “Yes,” he replied, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “I’m going to free a few days up at the club. I’m sure Todd can handle things. I need to be with her, Mama. I can’t lose her again.”

  “I know, son. We have to learn from our mistakes or we will keep losing things we hope to gain. I’ll make dinner for us on Sunday, would you bring your Amy?”

  Troy could hear the hopeful hint to her voice and melted.

  * * * *

  Dragon’s Heart was Troy’s baby. He had found a typical old building in the right area and built it from scratch. It had been an expensive project, but he had more than enough funds. Since dragons lived a long life they were able to amass great wealth, which was handy since they loved all things that glittered and sparkled. When Dennenth had moved to London Troy had helped him and his dragon build a den under his home in Kensington where he currently stockpiled his treasures.

  The main doorway of the club had a rounded archway over double scarlet red steel doors. They led into a foyer with a cloakroom and several bathrooms. Walking in further brought you into a massive domed room with its upstairs floors encircling a crystal chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling. On the bottom floor was a round, hardwood dance floor encircled by white marble walkways and table areas. Marble pillars rose from floor to ceiling, and the walls were a deep red. At the back of the spacious room was the stage for the live bands.

  The second floor held glass, bubble-shaped rooms for VIPS or special occasion parties, if you had the money. The third floor was private. Staff rooms, offices, and one or two rooms that weren’t advertised to just anybody, those had king-size beds in them. He’d used them himself once or twice to take a woman upstairs and have sex with them. But no more. No, he had Amy now. She would be the only one who would ever sleep with him anymore.