Not His Dragon (21 page)

Chapter Thirty-Five

The forest blurred below him until he came to a clearing where a metallic blue dragon swayed in the grass caught in the grip of the mating dance.

Angie crouched, shivering among the wild flowers. The intense drive to mate must be physically painful by now. That she had been able to resist Zechariah this long spoke of her love for Eoin.

Taking a page from Cedric’s attack strategies, Eoin dove from the sky and tackled Zechariah. With his claws, he dragged the blue snot across the field and away from his Angie. He’d pound the little fucker into the ground until only his tail stuck out. Wait until the tourists took a picture of that.

Zechariah snapped at Eoin’s throat, but thankfully the angle was wrong, and the younger dragon inexperienced. They landed in a twist of arms and wings and tail, rolling to a stop against the far wall of trees with grunts.

“Did you think you could steal her from me?” He grabbed Zechariah by the horns and slammed his face into the ground repeatedly.

In between slams, the blue dragon shouted his response. “Not. Really.”

Eoin hesitated and twisted Zechariah’s head to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “What did you say?”

“I said,” Zechariah spoke with a lisp since his lips were swollen. “I said, not really. But she just showed up out of the blue in the throes of the mating bond. I’m not as much of an idiot as you think I am.” He swatted at Eoin’s hands holding his horns. “Let me go. She’s yours. I’m not stupid enough to fight you even when you’re half dead. Fuck you, Eoin. And the horse you rode in on.” He shoved himself to his feet and glanced over Eoin at Angie. “You’d better finish the dance soon. I don’t think she can take much more magic.” Zechariah took off on his wings and flew wherever.

Eoin didn’t give a shit as long as he left him and Angie alone.

As he approached her, Eoin could sense the bonding magic within Angie. Her feathers trembled as if stirred by the wind, but the air was still. She crouched low to the ground with her neck and head curled around her body. Her eyes closed tight.

“He’s gone.” At the sound of his voice, her eyes snapped open and her golden eyes almost glowed with power.

She rose to her feet. “Eoin.” She sounded breathless and he wanted this moment to last forever. “I waited for you.” With a snap of her wings, she extended herself to her glorious beauty and continued to dance where they had left off by the lakeshore.

Angie’s heartbeat was the rhythm that the mating dance followed. The music was internal and instinctual, as were the moves. Her soul rose in spine-cracking joy that Eoin had found her. She’d buried herself deep inside while Zech had done his best to seduce her from her true mate.

Injured and obviously having some trouble moving, Eoin joined her. They danced as one. The magic burned her from the inside out, finally releasing, and she could see its flow from her to Eoin binding them together. The song faded and the urge to dance followed, but she still heard the beat.

Eoin ran his muzzle along her neck. He drew her hand onto his chest above his heart. It beat in time with what she could hear. “Can you hear it?”

“Yes,” she said with a touch of awe.

“I hear yours as well. No matter how far apart we are, I’ll always be able to find you by listening for your heartbeat.”

“So you can never run away from me?” She smirked and nipped his jaw. Part of her was joking but she’d been abandoned so many times that the insecurity was palpable.

“Why would I want to? I love you so much, Angie.” He cradled her jaw in his large clawed hand and lifted her gaze to meet his. “I can’t believe that you resisted Zechariah for so long.”

“How could you doubt me? I love you just as much.” He’d fought two dragons for her. Nothing would ever make her uncertain of Eoin’s loyalty. She ran her hands over his side and they came back covered in blood. Her stomach rolled. She didn’t want to experience throwing up as a dragon with this long-ass neck. “We need to take care of your wounds. Are you capable of flying back to the castle?” It hurt to see him injured. He’d taken these wounds for her. For them.

“Yes, but I wouldn’t be able to carry you.” He leaned heavily on his left side and a small pool of blood was forming under his body.

“You need to go then. Just point me in the right direction and I’ll meet you there.” Nine-one-one responded to human emergencies, not to supernaturals. The hospitals wouldn’t know how to take care of an injured dragon, let alone have enough space for his huge body. “Is there someone I can call for help?” The only person that she could think of was Ryota and he’d make her pay. She cringed at the imagined conversation.

“No, Angie, I’m not leaving you here alone.” His eyelids looked heavy and he seemed to struggle to keep them open.

“Shit, Eoin. Stop being a hard-head. If you pass out here, I can’t drag your ass back to the castle.” He was twice her mass and she hadn’t a clue where home was. She blinked. “Shift to human form.”

He gave her a confused look. “Why?”

“Because I can carry you in that form.”

He ran the back of his claws along her jaw. “That’s my girl.” He changed form quickly, but his injuries still remained serious.

She had to lie on her stomach and lower her wing to help him climb onto her back. Bright red smudges stained her new, muddy feathers, and that concerned her because of the amount that Eoin was losing. “Point where I need to go.” Angie ran to the forest as fast as she could. Ignoring tree limbs getting caught in her wings and scraping her scales, she finally spotted the castle towers above the tree line. “I see the castle.”

He didn’t respond.

She glanced over her shoulder at the still form on her back. “Eoin?” Silence answered her. “Fuck, fuck, fuck…” Panic gave Angie’s feet new grace and speed. She raced to the castle. When she arrived, she used her shoulder to crash open the front door and searched for her cell phone in Eoin’s bedroom. All this time, Eoin remained on her back nestled between her folded wings. With claws too large to handle the small instrument, she finally got her phone out of her purse and used the voice command to call Ryota.

It went straight to his answering service. God, where was the alpha when she was ready to sell her soul to save Eoin? Maybe Beth knew of a shifter doctor who could take care of a dragon. “Eoin?” She couldn’t stop herself from calling out to him again. Her ear strained to hear his heartbeat. The sound was faint. She was going to lose him all over again.

Abandoned.

Someone cleared his throat behind her.

She spun around and bared her sharp, little teeth. “Cedric.”

The older dragon was in human form and dressed in a three-piece suit. He held an ice pack to the large lump on his forehead. “Peace, Angie. I see that you have both mated. The front door was…broken so I didn’t bother to knock.” He moved to have a better view of Eoin. “How is he?”

“Why would you care? You were trying to kill him not long ago.” She was no match for Cedric but she would go down with teeth and claws before she’d let him continue to hurt her mate.

“I don’t care. Not about Eoin, but no one should have to see their loved one die on their mating day. Besides, Eoin could have killed me, but he left me to live. Let me return the favor and I can clear my debt to him.” He pointed to the bed. “Lay him there.” The other dragon obviously was used to everyone following his commands without question. It irked her to comply, but he was their only hope.

She angled her body to the bed, slid Eoin off her back and let him roll onto the mattress.

“You can shift back to human form now.” Cedric eyed her.

She wasn’t going to admit to this ass that she couldn’t do it without a little guidance. “I’m fine this way. If you do anything stupid, I can bite you in half.”

Cedric chuckled. “I knew you would have made a good mate.” The other dragon took off his jacket and rolled his sleeves before sitting next to Eoin. He set both his hands on his chest and closed his eyes, speaking a few words. Angie couldn’t see the magic like during the bonding, but she could sense it flowing from Cedric to Eoin.

The wounds marring Eoin’s tattooed skin mended together without a scar and his breathing grew much easier.

Cedric wiped his hands on the bed sheets and gave her a low bow. “It’s all done. Let him sleep and he’ll need to eat when he wakes.” He unrolled his sleeves and put his jacket back on before strolling towards the bedroom door.

“Cedric?”

He hesitated at the threshold and glanced at her.

“Thank you.”

He nodded and closed the door behind him.

Angie melted to the floor in a quivering mess of tears and snot. She couldn’t catch her breath. Oh God, she’d come so close to losing him. She crept to the edge of the bed and with a pop stumbled against the mattress as she shifted form to human. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, she needed to get a handle on this. What if she’d done that while carrying Eoin? He would have surely died. She wiped her face on a dirty t-shirt on the floor and crept into bed next to Eoin, pulling the blankets over them.

Nestling his head on her chest, she stroked the velvet stubble on his head.

He made a pleased noise and cupped her bare breast. “I want to wake up like this every morning.”

She flung her head back and laughed. “Of course, you would.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

The gallery was making more sales than Eoin had expected. He tugged at the bowtie constricting his throat. Angie had insisted on the tux. He didn’t understand why, since he’d attended all his other art shows in jeans and a t-shirt, but the way her eyes had heated when he’d tried it on convinced him to comply. He’d pick up a jar of Nutella she’d been teasing him about last night and see how much this tux was worth.

He’d been standing in the same corner for the last hour, nodding and smiling to the spectators. No one had been brave enough yet to shake his hand. That was perfectly fine.

Angie mingled with the populace. He stared at the form-fitting red dress that caressed her curves so tightly that it should be illegal. She chatted with his agent on the other side of the room. They both turned toward him at the same time and laughed. Great. He didn’t want to know. Somehow he had survived the fight with Cedric, so he’d survive this night. He still didn’t understand completely why the old dragon had saved him. Maybe there was a heart beating in that hollow chest after all. Even though he’d eaten a dragon-sized meal prior to the show, his stomach growled once more. It was past time to go home.

He crossed the room toward Angie. The crowd parted before him like the Red Sea.

“Eoin, I was just telling Angie how well you’re doing tonight.” Roger raised his glass of champagne to him in salute. “We’ve sold all your statues and there’s a bidding war on that piece that you called Angie.”

The hungry feeling in Eoin stomach vanished. “I told you that piece wasn’t for sale.”

His agent held up his hands. “I know, I know. That’s been explained to them but the bids still keep coming in. There are now five zeros following the last bid.”

Angie slid her hand within Eoin’s and she leaned against him.

He gave her a small smile. “That statue is priceless. It belongs to me and only me. They are lucky that I let them see it in the first place.”

Angie squeezed his hand. “Lorenzo said he has a list of commissioned work for you. I think we can call this show a success.”

“Commissioned? I’ve never done anything commissioned before. I better talk to Lorenzo before he gets me over my head in work.”

As Angie watched Eoin search for the gallery manager, she spotted Beth having a drink with Ryota. She excused herself from Roger and joined the two shifters.

Beth greeted her with a big smile. “You’ll be happy to hear that nothing has broken in the shop today and your schedule is full for next week.”

Angie returned her best friend’s high-five. Things were finally starting to look up at Scratch Your Itch. If her business kept rolling this smoothly, she’d make back the money she lost to the witch in no time.

Ryota cleared his throat.

Angie held her breath. She didn’t want any more trouble with the alpha. She just wanted to be friends.

He held out his hand. “I hear that congratulations are in order.”

She shook his hand hesitantly. “Thank you.”

“I want you to know that I am truly happy that you have found your roots and your mate, Angie. Nobody deserves happiness more than you.” She suspected Ryota was being sincere. She half expected to hear
Twilight Zone
music in the background.

“That means a lot coming from you.”

Eoin slid in next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders possessively. “Ryota.” He nodded to the alpha. “Angie, I think it’s time to go home.”

She sighed in relief and leaned against the strong body. “I couldn’t agree more.” She couldn’t wait to peel him out that tux one torturous button at a time. They took one of Eoin’s sports cars back home. Angie was looking forward to her lessons with Beth tomorrow.

Eoin held her hand after they parked the car in the garage and walked to the front door. On the front steps, they found a letter sealed with a wax stamp. Eoin picked it up and led her inside the castle.

She tried to glimpse the name over his shoulder. “Who is it from?”

He lit a lamp so he could examine the seal. “It’s from Cedric, but it’s addressed to you.” He held it out for her.

“Cedric?” She stared at it. “Is it safe?”

“Would I have handed it to you if I didn’t think so?” He quirked an eyebrow.

Curious, she broke the seal and read the precise and elegant script out loud.

“Dear Angie, I hope all is well with both you and Eoin. I have taken the time to research possible clans that you may have descended from. Not many have feathers in their gene pool. I have narrowed it down to three.”

She stared up at Eoin.

He blinked. “And?”

She folded the letter and set it back on a side table. “I don’t want to read anymore. I’ve been doing fine without a clan. I don’t see why I need one now. Not when I have you.” Eoin completed her.

He yanked her against him, pulled something from his pocket and held the ruby stud earring between his fingers.

She gasped and hugged him. “Wait.” She pushed him away. “You paid off my loan?”

He shrugged. “
Our
loan. Mated now remember?” He rested his hand over her heart.

“How could I ever forget?” She plucked the stud from his fingers and slipped it into her ear.

He pulled another thing from his pocket and held up a jar of Nutella.

She purred. “Oh baby, you know what I like.”