Brown, Berengaria - Dragons Redeemed [Dragon Lovers 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (2 page)

“Yes, I agree you have a wicked knee, and one day soon I’ll get you to show us all that nifty move you did on me, but Daegan will accompany you.” Crevan nodded, and Daegan walked over to the suitcase of clothes and started pulling items out.

“What are you doing?” asked Mallory.

“Looking for a dark shirt. If I’m going out at night, I’m not wearing this one.” Daegan grimaced at the shirt he was wearing. He’d simply grabbed the first one he’d laid hands on, but really, that boy band was at least ten years out of date. Besides, a white shirt at night would simply make him the target of anyone bad who was out there.

“One or two of you can move into our old apartment, and you can shop online and get stuff delivered there. Your food, too,” said Angus.

“Actually, would you mind if Sinclair and I used your apartment? We’d like to be alone, at least for a night or two.” Jaydeline blushed.

Daegan stopped listening to the conversation as Crevan and Mark made suggestions as to what they needed to buy and where to get the items, and Sinclair promised to act as receiver and transporter for all their purchases. Daegan had a gut feeling little Miss Trudy was about to abscond. He wasn’t mistaken. Silently, and unobtrusively, she stepped through the doorway out to the roof garden and was gone. By the time he found a pair of shoes to put on—trainers that weren’t the best fit, but at least he had hopes of being able to run in them—she was nowhere to be seen.

Transforming into a dragon and flying would make her much easier to find, but then he’d be naked again.
Dammit!
If she’d used the fire stairs, she’d locked them behind her, and picking locks was not his best skill. Daegan raced back inside and rushed over to Angus. “She’s gone. Give me your keys.”

Crevan started to yell, but Angus handed Daegan a ring of keys, and Daegan was out of the room and running down the four flights of stairs to the back entry of the museum.

By the time he’d reached the street, he was mentally cursing the shoes and beginning to think barefoot would have made more sense. Daegan guessed she’d turn south away from the city center to wherever she lived, and tried to move as fast as he could without attracting attention. Although it was late, there were still people around, which was good as it would provide some protection for her. Safety in numbers and all that sort of thing.

Mentally cursing the trainers with every step, Daegan rounded the corner onto Main Street and heaved a mental sigh of relief as he saw her small figure walking confidently only a block ahead of him. Then his heart seized in his chest as a mountainous man stepped out of a doorway and blocked the sidewalk right in front of Trudy.

Immediately Daegan broke into a run, his gaze fixed on the tiny blonde. Nonchalantly, she moved around the man-mountain, but with one step sideways he hemmed her in again. The man must have tried to touch her because in the next instant the huge man flew through the air and landed with a thump on the sidewalk. And Trudy was gone, running like an Olympian.

“Sorry about your clothing, Angus,” said Daegan and transformed into his dragon shape, lifting into the air and flying after Trudy, his whole being focused on her. In seconds he caught up to her, hauled her into his arms, and lifted them both up above the rooftops.

“Fucking hell,” came a mumbled gasp into his shoulder.

He landed gently on the museum roof, holding her tightly until he was sure she was steady on her feet. Apparently she recovered from surprises quite quickly. “Were you running around the city with no clothes on? Don’t you men ever wear clothes like normal people?”

“Hey, he was wearing my new shoes!” said Mark.

“Um, yeah, sorry about that. A person attacked Trudy and I had to shape-shift—”

“No, you didn’t! I’d already taken care of him when you appeared out of nowhere and—”

Mallory appeared at the door to her apartment. “Why don’t you come in here and argue where the neighbors can’t hear every word?”

“Sorry. But I didn’t need him. I can take care of myself.”

Angus handed Daegan a pair of shorts. “We’re all out of jeans. Someone really will have to go shopping tomorrow.”

“And buy me some more shoes,” added Mark.

“And underwear. Don’t any of you ever wear underwear?”

“It gets in the way,” said William with a big grin.

“Care to tell me what happened out there in the last ten minutes? It seems to me Teivel may be a bigger problem than wardrobe malfunctions,” said Crevan caustically.

“A man seemed to think he could rob me. I got away from him.”

“A man! He was bigger than a barn—”

“And about as intelligent! The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

“Was his name Ralph?” asked Sinclair thoughtfully.

“Huh?” asked Daegan.

“I didn’t stick around to ask him.”

“That’s true. She threw him through the air and ran like hell.”

“Who’s Ralph?” asked Crevan.

“He’s huge man, all muscle, no brain. Works for anyone who’ll pay him, and Teivel may well have seen Trudy come here this morning, and decided to stop her helping us.” Sinclair pulled Jay to his side and cuddled her tightly.

“In that case, Teivel might not know we’ve transformed and are ready to fight him. We could still have the advantage of surprise on our side. Unless someone saw you, Daegan,” said Angus.

“I don’t think anyone saw me. But of course the clothes I was wearing got left behind.”

“My new shoes,” sighed Mark.

“No one will notice dropped clothing in this neighborhood,” said Mallory.

“Hold it, folks. Back up a minute. Mallory has always had the feeling someone was watching this place. That’s why she never has lights on in the ground floor after dark. I bought binoculars to check who was overlooking us, who had line of sight to us, but we haven’t had a chance to do that yet. Way too much has been happening the last two nights. But if Teivel saw Trudy come, and had time to hire Ralph to scare her, we need to find out who is watching us and where they’re based,” said Angus.

“And did they just see us fly back in,” added Daegan.

“Hell yes.”

William must have left the room when Daegan wasn’t aware of it as he returned just then with an armload of clothing and a bunch of keys. “Sinclair and Jay need to get out of here before Teivel gets any reinforcements to watch us. Jay, here’s some of Mallory’s clothes that might fit you. Sinclair, I’ve got a proper shirt for you and the keys to our old apartment.”

Mark picked up a laptop and gave it to Sinclair with a credit card. “Stay inside and order everything you need from the Internet for the first few days. If Teivel is onto us, it’ll be good to have you somewhere out of his control. Set up a new e-mail address that no one could guess is you and send me an advertisement for a penis enhancement. We’ll all start safe e-mail addresses, too, so we can keep in contact with each other.”

While he’d been talking, the other two had dressed. Now they collected their luggage and left. “We’ll go out the front door. Teivel knows you never use it, Mallory, but someone will need to lock it after us,” said Jay.

“I will,” said Penllyn, following them down the stairs.

“Stay out of sight just in case that door is being watched, too, Penllyn. And you two take lots of precautions getting to the apartment.” Crevan sounded worried.

“Don’t worry. We’re not going to risk our freedom after we’ve finally got it again,” said Sinclair.

“I think we four should go stay in a hotel for a few days as well, leaving you five alone here. The more split up we are, the more chance we have of preventing Teivel from attacking and defeating us. Trudy has to be here tomorrow to install the new security, and one of you can be in human form to help her. But I think the rest of you should stay hidden,” said Angus.

“I’m the one who works here. I should stay here,” objected Mallory.

“You’re the one in the greatest danger. If Teivel has any success with his plans, you’ll be in jail, and they’ll throw away the key because you won’t be able to tell them where the stolen goods are hidden,” said Mark.

Daegan watched in silence as Mallory argued for a while longer, but he could tell she was being swayed by logic. And logic said they’d be safer not all under the same roof. But his dick was harder than a spike at the thought of spending the night here with Trudy. She was theirs. He’d known it from the moment he saw her. And when he’d held her in his arms, she felt oh-so-very-right there. All they had to do was convince her to go to bed with them. If they could just fuck her, surely she’d feel the connection, too. Besides, she really did need their protection. She was a tough little piece. Feisty was his word for her. But feisty was not enough protection from Teivel and his many associates. He, Crevan, Graegor, and Penllyn were the only ones who could truly protect her. And they’d do it, with or without her consent. But with would make it so much easier. Especially if she was willing to share their bed.