Big Bear Mountain - The Complete Series (28 page)

F
or the
first time since she moved into the cramped apartment, Olivia wished it was
further away from the diner. She hadn’t told anyone the full story before.
Shame and humiliation have that effect. If you don’t tell, nobody will ever
know what a fool you’ve made of yourself. It had worked well, up until now.

But, somehow,
she actually
wanted
to tell Declan how she’d fallen for a hot ‘bad boy’
who made her feel sexy, desirable and much loved. He didn’t give her that look
her friends gave her when they found out she was seeing him. That look that
said ‘watch out because guys like
him
don’t fall in love with girls like
you
’.

As much as she
wanted to spend time with him and get to know him, she wouldn’t allow herself
to entertain such thoughts. There were some risks that just weren’t worth
taking and trusting another guy with her heart was one of those risks. Even if
it meant not waking up next to his handsome face and to-die-for emerald green
eyes just one time. Her heart nearly missed a beat at that thought, but she
quickly quashed it.

 No way was she
going to let him get her guard, or anything else, down. She had decided long
ago how she was going to live the rest of her life and sharing any part of it
or anything else with a man did not feature in her plans. Especially someone as
dangerously good looking as Declan.

“So where did
all that blood come from,” she asked to distract herself from her irksome
thoughts. She reached up and touched her ear. “I can’t feel anything, just lots
of crusty blood.”

“Maybe I did a
good job patching you up. I wouldn’t worry about it, I’m sure some of that
blood was from the guy who’s face you smashed as flat as pizza. Nice elbow
strike, by the way.”

“Thanks. That’s
still a hell of a lot of blood though.” She shook her head, unable to come up
with a reasonable explanation.

“I looked you
over pretty good and the only thing you need is a good clean up,” Declan
suggested.

“We’ll see what
some warm water and disinfectant reveals, then. Anyway, this is my building.”
She said as she stopped outside the run-down apartment building. “Maybe I’ll
see you at the diner again sometime?”

“Oh, there’s no
‘maybe’ about that.”

“Thanks again
for coming to my rescue tonight.” She leaned into him and kissed him on his
stubble dusted cheek, pausing for a moment to savor his musky, masculine scent.

W
hile he
remained poised and respectful as she kissed his cheek, careful to keep his
arousal from brushing against her, his dragon, inflamed by her proximity wanted
to shred her clothes from her body and pleasure her in ways she’d never
imagined before mounting her and giving her and taking her like the dragon mate
he knew she could be.

Declan won out
and kept his dragon in abeyance. For the moment at least, but he wasn’t sure
how long either of them could resist. Their need for her was insatiable and
frenzied. A connection existed between them like nothing he’d experienced
before and his dragon felt it, too. Maybe more so, which was dangerous, he
knew.

“I have to go,”
he said hurriedly, looking at his watch, like he’d forgotten some important
appointment at one o’clock in the morning.

As he turned to
walk back to his bike, he asked, “When are you at the diner again?”

“In five hours,”
she replied, also looking at her watch and frowning at the thought of only
sleeping for a few hours before another shift.

Declan was about
to suggest she not take the shift, but he thought better of it and somehow knew
the advice would be both unwelcome and unheeded. “See you for breakfast, then.”

He walked back
the way they had come, not daring to look back. He knew his dragon was fighting
to emerge and he feared he wouldn’t be able to control it such, was his total
captivation by this perfect woman, even though she was a human.

He’d seen her in
battle. She was fearless and strong. There were female dragon shifters who
would think twice before going head to head with an armed gang of thugs in a
dark alley. Her body was a work of art. A true masterpiece. Glorious curves to
hold and caress. Robust enough to enjoy the roughest dragon mating rituals.
Large enough to handle the size of his dragon shifter manhood. She was perfect.
She was his perfect mate and he found her in a cheap diner. He never expected
that when he walked in there, in search of food after a night of hunting.

The bond he felt
with her, even from that first moment was electric and beyond reason. He’d
never believed in destiny, fate or any of that type of nonsense. Dragons didn’t
know such concepts. These notions were steeped with emotion, something dragons
weren’t equipped to understand or deal with. Their rigid social structure and
customs made emotions irrelevant and it had been this way throughout the ages.

But, she was a
free spirit. That much was clear. She showed no interest in him and he had to practically
force her to return his kiss. Even as an emotional human, she showed no sign of
feeling the special bond between them, as he did. No, she was a single girl and
a damaged one at that. Her life plan was to stay alone and not couple with a
mate. Ever.

Dragons mate for
life. Once they form a bond with the mate chosen by the Elders, they are bonded
forever. The mating rituals which form the sacred bond have worked for
centuries and are well documented in dragon lore. However, Declan clung to the
notion that there might, indeed, be some truth in the ancient legends which
told of dragon shifters taking a human mate.

It suddenly
occurred to Declan that her being damaged and not wanting to take a mate was
the least of his problems. He’d been so focused on her and her issues that he’d
forgotten one critical factor that could be the showstopper to end all
showstoppers.

What’s she
going to say when I tell her that I can turn into an enormous fucking dragon?

T
he events of the night replayed over and
over in her mind, like a movie reel on an endless loop, as she lay in bed. From
the moment she first set eyes on him to the moment he took her in his caring
arms and kissed her as if she had stirred some deep passion within him.

The logical part of her brain knew he was
just like all the rest and that he couldn’t possibly find her attractive. She
just wasn’t his
type
and she knew it. But another part of her, a part
she tried so hard to keep locked away in a dark recess of her heart, felt drawn
to him in a way that both frightened and exhilarated her. He was everything she
found attractive in a man. Unconventional, strong, protective, drop dead
gorgeous and just comfortable to be with. But there was something else.

He was dangerous.

But what scared her the most was that that
realization didn’t actually scare her at all. Quite the opposite. She was drawn
to this edgy, commanding man because she sensed that beneath his lean, fit body
was a caring and loving heart. She sensed that even before she regained
consciousness after the shooting. She didn’t know how, she just knew.

At the thought of the shooting, Olivia
reached up to her ear, now pristine and clean after a long, very hot shower.
There was nothing there. No gaping wound, no scar and no pain whatsoever. It
didn’t make sense. She remembered being shot, moving evasively just enough that
she didn’t take a bullet in the head, but she vividly recalled being shot and
feeling the searing heat of the bullet as it tore through her flesh before she
passed out.

So what happened to the wound? And why
was Declan so adamant that I was drenched in someone else’s blood?

Something was off. She didn’t know what,
but she knew he hadn’t been totally honest with her. Maybe he was only lying by
omission. Either way, he was trying to deceive her. Yet, despite his deceit,
her mind replayed some of the lewd fantasies she enjoyed as she showered. She
recalled how her nipples hardened like pebbles as she imagined his strong,
calloused hands touching her breasts and grazing her nipples. The heat that
rose in her sex as she washed her mound with warm, soapy water and allowed her
fingers to tease open her folds …

She pushed aside her lusty thoughts as she
felt the aching need to be filled well within her, yet again as the heat
radiated from her sex. The alarm would sound in a few hours and she needed
sleep. She didn’t need some dreamy biker getting into her head and her bed,
turning her into a dizzy, love-struck teenager. Not while she was working her
ass off trying to pay off a mountain of debt from her last big romance.

Another day, another dollar. At that
rate, I’ll be all square in … half a million days.

With that thought, she let the soft cloud
of sleep roll over her affording her a brief respite from the crushing weight
of her responsibilities.

T
he night
was far from over for Declan and his dragon. They still had much to do.
Although his human was weary from the late hour and the stress of seeing his
mate nearly shot to death, his dragon was eager to hunt and had a mission to
complete. Once a dragon made a commitment to something, there was no stopping
it. With laser guided focus, Declan made his way to the street corner where his
target operated his seedy business.

Drug dealers and
dragons have one thing in common. They are both territorial creatures. Drug
dealers stake out a small piece of territory like a street corner, at first,
and then slowly their influence spreads like a festering tumor throughout the
neighborhood which, over time becomes a lifeless, soulless shadow of its former
glory. Dragons, in sharp contrast are highly protective of their territory and
equally protective of those who share their territory and live under their
protection, whether those inhabitants realize they’re being protected or not.

So, when ‘The
Shark’, so nicknamed because he could never stand still, took up dealing on a
corner in Declan’s neighborhood, swift, decisive action was needed. There was
no way Declan and his dragon would allow the fidgety, pock faced little weasel
to get a foothold in his territory. The Shark had to go. Him and every swinging
dick he’d recruited to peddle his vile crap.

With a
purposeful and menacing stride, Declan approached The Shark and his three
cohorts at a rapidly accelerating pace, closing the gap faster than humanly
possible. As he got closer, his eyes burned a fierce, almost demonic red as
they shifted to dragon eyes, ready to track his prey using thermal scanning.
The closer he came, the further he shifted. By the time he reached the
speechless, scared shitless bunch of dealers, one of them had passed out and
the others were too petrified to do anything other than stare at something
every molecule of their being told them couldn’t be happening.

But it was
happening because right before them reared an enormous, winged dragon complete
with lethal looking barbed tail which swished from side to side as if waiting
for an opportunity to strike. Dwarfing the mortals, the dragon opened its huge
jaws, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth as it roared an ear shattering scream
designed to disorient its prey.

It worked.

Any thoughts of
running were shattered as they clutched at their ears in a vain attempt to
muffle the acutely disturbing and frightening sound. If the word sound could
even be used to describe something so horrific and destructive. As soon as the
dragon finished its bellowing roar, they looked up, blindly terrified of what
might follow.

The fearsome
beast spread its wings and threw its head back, as if preparing the strike at
them, when a bright glow began to emanate from its mouth, building in intensity
until it became a jet of liquid flame.

Huge, claw like
talons dug into the roadway effortlessly as the massive creature prepared to
strike. It’s leathery, shiny skin undulated, hinting at the vast and
unstoppable strength that the dragon commanded.

They were about
to be burned alive by a fire breathing dragon. That was the last coherent
thought that went through their minds before everything went black. And very,
very hot.

H
e sat at the end of the counter, away from
the other breakfast diners, most of which were regulars who sat at what they
considered to be their reserved seats. Cab drivers, delivery drivers and an
assortment of other nocturnal workers frequented Mal’s Diner for breakfast
because it had the best eggs and griddle cakes in the district.

Mal didn’t hold with the modern notion of
the ‘all day breakfast’. At Mal’s, you ate breakfast at breakfast time, lunch
at lunch time and dinner at dinner time. It was as simple as that. The last
thing he wanted was to attract a bunch of soy latte drinking hipsters to his
diner by trying something new. Olivia had given up trying to get him to move
with the times and build the business back to what it used to be in its heyday.
She had enough problems of her own without taking on someone else’s.

Trying not to look too keen, Olivia made
her way to Declan’s end of the counter to take his order. Her body betrayed
her, though, as her legs carried her like she was a catwalk model, giving her
hips a sexy sway. She didn’t even realize she was doing it until she noticed
how he was looking at her, with desire in the eyes he could barely tear away
from her hips.

He’s looking at my curves. I should have
worn something less revealing. Damn it!

“You look so graceful when you walk like
that. Would it be inappropriate to say ‘sexy’?” he said as she stopped in front
of him.

“Yes.”

“OK, I won’t say it, then.”

“I didn’t say it wouldn’t be appreciated,
though, did I?” She smiled as she said it. “You’re very smooth, aren’t you …?”

“Declan. And please don’t insult me by
pretending you’ve forgotten my name. We both know you haven’t, right?”

“Ah, yes. Declan. So, what will it be? Our
famous griddle breakfast special?”

“Sounds perfect,” he responded and was
about to continue before Olivia interrupted.

“I know, I know. Rare, right?”

He winked at her and gave her a knowing
smile.

He’s onto me. Why even pretend I’m not
interested. Ohmygod, what am I even thinking?

As she walked toward the kitchen to place
his order, something bothered her. Something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t
quite figure it out. Something was different or not as it should be.

As she looked back at him, still staring at
her hips, she realized what it was. His hand. There was no longer a bandage on
it. Not only that, but the big, ugly craters where chunks of flesh had been
torn out were completely healed, like they had never been injured.

Not only was he a street brawler, as his
injuries attested, but he healed at an unnatural, if not alarming rate. Olivia
was no ER doctor, but she knew something very strange was going on with her
mysterious guy.