Danburn: The English Dragon ― Erotic Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance (15 page)

When she woke, Kendrick was laying in their bed alone. The room was bright with sunlight and there wasn’t any sound coming from anywhere in the room. Sitting up, she saw the flowers first, then the note. Getting up slowly, just realizing how sore she was, Kendrick smelled the fragrant roses and then opened the note.

“
I’ve had to go into town today. I’m so sorry to leave you right now, but I’ll be back around noon. Or at least that’s the time I’m shooting for
.” Sitting down, she finished the note. “
Noah is taking care of the calls for you. Should you need anything, the staff will make sure you have it. Please don’t answer the phone
.”

It occurred to her then…her sister was dead. A man that had been crushed to death by a large dragon had killed her, too. Kendrick felt the sorrow of Louisa’s death move over her in waves. It wasn’t until a voice—the dragon, he told her—spoke that she realized she’d been thinking of joining Louisa. Kendrick felt guilty for not taking better care of her when she was alive.

You should not think those thoughts.
She asked him why.
Because we need you. Both Danburn and I, we love you very much and need you with us.

I should have done more to keep her safe.
He told her that she could only do so much before she had to stand back.
And let her learn on her own? I’m pretty sure that the only thing that Louisa learned in all her life was how to get what she wanted.

She wasn’t one that went without. Even at the cost of others’ happiness. I know that you loved her very much. It is only natural that she has left you feeling lost.
She told him that her heart hurt.
Yes. I’m sure that it does. I know the feelings that you are having now. They are overwhelming and sometimes leave you to feel that you cannot go on. But you must, for Danburn and myself.

Who did you lose
?
I thought that you were only a part of Danburn. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be crass.
He told her that she was not.
Who left a hole in your heart
?

When Danburn’s father was alive—he was called Fletcher, by the way—his dragon and I, like father and son, were the same. His dragon was my sire. His mother’s dragon is my mother. When you have children, it will be the same relationship as you have with the human part of them.
She sat up in her chair, loving the idea that the dragons, even though they were a part of them, had family too.
And though you will remain a human—we cannot change someone—you will be the mother of the sons and daughters you have, as well as the dragons that are a part of them.

Danburn and you both told me that because I touched your scale to my mouth, my children will be full-blooded dragons. I don’t know how that will work. I mean...will I have babies or eggs? Your kind have eggs, correct
? She felt his laughter and wasn’t embarrassed by it.
You laugh like Danburn. Full of life
.

Because I am. And no, you will have babies, just as you should. Their dragon will be born when they have reached a certain age. In human years that will be only ten years. Their dragon will be with them, guiding them on the right paths, telling them what they will need to learn to be a good man and dragon, but they will not shift into one until their body is mature enough to take our size. And so that you will not have to care for a large dragon as a babe
. He laughed again.
We are quite large, even as small children.

She got up to go to the bathroom and get her shower.
Why is it that you can talk to me
?
I love it, but I don’t understand why you can talk to me, and I’m assuming that Danburn cannot hear
.

Because you are my mate as well. I can speak with you both at the same time, should you wish it. But I am as much your mate as Danburn is, so it is only reasonable that we can talk
. Kendrick turned on the water and thought perhaps there was more to it than that.
There is, my lady. You have given me your blood freely. We are one, you and I, as Danburn and I are
.

After she showered and dressed, Kendrick made her way to the lower levels of the castle. Smiling, she thought of the fact that she lived with a dragon in a castle. It was almost too fairy tale like to be real. But as she made her way through the living room and to the kitchen, she paused when she saw the paintings on the walls, as well as the many sculptures that were on stands and pedestals. She turned to Noah when he entered the room with her.

“That is Danburn the fourth. The blue one next to him is his son, the fifth. Each generation is here, including Danburn’s father. See?” She looked at the dragon painted there and stepped closer to it. “He was a fierce dragon. A good and kind man, but his dragon was untamed at times. I sometimes think that he died sadly. An infection befell him, when he so wished to die on the battlefield.”

Kendrick ran her fingers over the scales of the painting. They were almost real; the artist had done a wonderful job of capturing not just his body, but his eyes seemed to look right at her. When her fingers touched the wings, spread wide and tattered from his battles, she saw the signature in the corner of the painting. She turned to Noah.

“You did this.” He nodded and moved to the other paintings, ones as old as this castle, she’d bet. His name was on them all. “You did them all. You painted them.... You were alive with each of them?”

“I was their keeper. Each male dragon born to the family, I moved to care for them.” He bowed low and smiled at her when he rose up. “And when you have a child, a boy dragon, I will move to care for him, never leaving the household here, but taking care of the man he becomes.”

“I thought you were.... I guess I just thought you were like me. A human that came to be a part of a dragon’s family.” He told her no, he was the keeper. “So you have been.... Wow, you’ve been around for a lot longer than I thought.”

“I have been around for a lot longer than anyone thinks. And I should like to keep it that way, if you please.” She nodded. “Someday I shall paint you, and you will hang with the other lady dragons and their mates.”

“But I’m not a dragon. I’ll look sort of out of place, don’t you think?” He nodded down the hall, one that she’d only just noticed, and she followed him. “Oh Noah, this is beautiful.”

“It’s called the family hall. Soon after the house was made, I asked Danburn for a room. One to put all my paintings in and a room I could paint in. Several days later, he brought me to this hall and told me to hang them here. There was no hall here when the castle was built.”

She moved down the hall, looking at the pairs of dragons as they stood side by side. Generations of them, from the beginning of time until she got to Elissa and Fletcher. In all the portraits, there was only one human.

“She was a woman of worth, Lady Paige was. She bore her mate only one child, but he was a great man, like his sire.” Kendrick stared at the dragon that stood over his mate as Lady Paige sat upon his hand. She had on a dress of chainmail, Kendrick noticed, and a sword in her hand as she smiled at them. “When her mate was killed during a siege on their castle, she lay beside him, her heart broken, and died as well. Their love was that which romance is based on, I believe.”

“She looks like she could conquer worlds if she had to.” Noah said that they had. “I would like to be like her. Strong and dependable.”

“But, my lady, you are much like her.” She turned to look at him, shaking her head. “You are. You vanquished the man who would harm this family without thought to what it would do to you. You avenged your sister’s death by confronting the man who killed her. You saved this family, all of us, when you stood in front of the murderer and never backed away.”

“The dragon killed him.” Noah said that the dragon was only the instrument. She was the one that wielded the power so that it could happen. “I’m not brave. I’m afraid of my own shadow.”

“You are stronger than you think. And as for your shadow, you should see it the way we do.” Kendrick asked him what he meant. Instead of answering her, he took her to the small slit of a window and stood her in front of it. “Look at it. Your shadow.”

It took her a moment to see it. But there she was, a dragon that seemed to grow from her feet and stretch out from there to the wall in front of her. And as Kendrick watched, her dragon spread her wings wide, showing her that she was there for her and that they were one. Kendrick felt the tears prickle at her eyes when she realized that she wasn’t helpless at all.

“She’s mine.” Noah nodded and took her back to the painting of Lady Paige. There he showed her the shadow that stood so proudly in front of that woman too. “Oh Noah, thank you so very much.”

“It is my pleasure, my lady.”

Chapter
13

Danburn was in his office when he heard a woman speaking in a loud screeching voice. Getting up to see what was going on, he was surprised to see Julia there. The two men with her were holding her back, but it was obvious to him that she’d meant to harm Connie.

“What’s the meaning of this?” No one moved, and Julia stopped yelling to look at him. “I thought you were in jail. Why are you here harassing my staff?”

“I wanted to talk to you.” Danburn leaned against the doorjamb. “Not out here. Somewhere private. Where we can be uninterrupted.”

“I don’t think so. Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it here or not at all.” She actually stomped her foot. “What is it that you think you have to say to me, Julia? I have a lot of work to do before I go home to my wife.”

It felt good saying that. It wasn’t actually true as yet; tomorrow they were going to have a short ceremony at the castle, and a few guests, mostly staff, were going to celebrate with them.

Danburn looked over at Jake when he laughed. “You have something funny you’d like to share with me?” Julia looked terrible, and when she turned on Jake, Danburn realized that he was a lucky man that he’d found out what she was before it was too late. “I don’t think anything about this situation is the least bit funny.”

“Really? Because I do.” Jake looked at him as he continued. “She thinks to come here and tell you that she’s going to have your kid, when we all know that’s not even close to being the truth. The doc confirmed it as a lie a few days ago. And I think she wants you to drop everything and bail her out. Something about you two being best friends. Are you, Danburn, her bestie?”

“No.” Julia stomped her foot again when he answered Jake. “Okay, so that’s taken care of. You’re lying, as usual, and I’m not going to bail you out of anything. What you did, you did all on your own.”

“He made me do it.” Danburn couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing. “Well, he did. He said that once I got you where we wanted you, then I could have you. What could I have done under the circumstances? I love you, Danburn.”

“So do I.” Everyone turned and looked at Kendrick when she emerged from the elevator. She looked amazingly beautiful, and he put out his hand for her to come to him. Instead, she moved in front of Julia, and he watched as Jake and the man with him backed up. Jake held onto Julia, but not as tightly as he had been, Danburn noticed. “What do you think you’re doing here? Poaching? I’ll have you know that I’m very protective of Danburn, and I’d really hate to have to hurt you.”

“Hurt me? You think you can hurt me any more than he has by claiming there was nothing between us? Did he tell you about me? About all the nights that we spent together in bed, fucking like animals?” Danburn started to speak, but Connie put her hand on his arm to stay him. “We were meant for each other, him and me. And he’ll soon regret not taking me when he had the chance.”

“I’m sure that will never cross his mind. But as for you being an animal? Yes, he told me about you. How you were greedy in bed. Never seeing to his needs. What sort of woman does that to her lover?” Kendrick looked Julia up and down and nodded. “Okay, I guess that answers my question. You’re a bitch.”

“Why, you fucking cunt.” As Julia struggled to get at Kendrick, Jake winked at Danburn as he let her go. As Danburn took a step toward the two women, Julia knocked her body into Kendrick. Never missing a single beat, Kendrick drew back her fist and hit Julia right in the face. Blood poured from her nose as she fell back on the floor. You hit me. You fucking, bitch, you hit me.”

“Yes, and if you get up, I will gladly do it again.” Kendrick actually put out her hand to help her up, and Julia didn’t take it. “Well, that’s too bad. I was really looking forward to knocking you on your fat ass again.”

As she was led away, screaming about suing Kendrick, Danburn took his love in his arms. He felt her shaking and thought she was crying, but when he looked into her face, he could see tears, but they were from laughter, not sadness.

“You are a violent little thing, aren’t you?” She grinned and nodded. “I guess I’ll have to remember you have a hell of a right hook. Christ, that was amazing.”

“It felt good too.” He took her into his office and closed the door behind them. When she sat at his desk, Danburn waited by the door. He knew that there had to be a reason for her to just show up like this.

Her sister’s funeral was yesterday. They had buried her in the family plot and given her a lovely stone to mark her passing. Danburn also knew that Kendrick had gone to the attorney’s office earlier today, filling out the paperwork to claim part of the money that had been found at the Bullock massacre.

All the men and women who had worked there had been murdered and left in the building before Bullock had come to the lake to kill him. Even the women who worked in the kitchens had been shot dead where they had stood working.

“They’re saying that any claims made at the Bullock estate will be divided up between the families of the victims. I know that we can afford to have her buried and everything, but I applied anyway. I want to use the money to start a scholarship fund for the local high school in Louisa’s name. The attorney said that it might only be about five thousand dollars, but that’ll help someone, don’t you think?” He told her they would add to it every year too. She moved around the room, picking up items and then putting them back in the same place. When she got to the window, he asked her what else had happened. “Nothing really. I just thought I’d come to see you, see if you wanted to have lunch with me. Then she was here.”

“She’s gone now, and I’m free for lunch.” Even if he wasn’t, he’d clear his calendar for the week if she wanted him to. “I have to go to the food pantry for about an hour after lunch. I’d be honored if you were to go with me.”

“How much do you donate to the local charities?” The question caught him off guard, and he had to think. “The reason I ask is, one of the families at the lawyer’s office handling the money looked like they could use a hand up. I mean, like a handful of hands up. Their son was one of the dead. He’d been sending home a few dollars a week when he was paid to help his parents raise his children. I want to...how do you go about having a fundraiser around here? On a large scale?”

“My mom would know. She’s done it in the past. Not on a huge scale, but she had a fundraiser about four years ago to help fill the pantry for the holidays.” She nodded but didn’t say anything more. “I’m sure that she’d help you get it started.”

“I want to raise money for two different groups, if that’s possible. Mental illness and depression. I was thinking that would cover a lot of people. Give some hope where they might not think there is any.” He nodded. “Then I want to raise money to help with the pantry, now that you mention it, and gifts for children.”

“Those are very good causes, love.” She nodded. “Kendrick, tell me what happened today…besides the family you met. You were in such a wonderful mood when you left the house.”

“Did you know that there used to be a homeless shelter in town? It’s been closed for nearly ten years, I guess. I stayed there one time when I was in a bad way, and Louisa, she...well, I couldn’t go back. But it served food once a day to as many as there was food for, and they gave out blankets and coats when they had them. The funding was hard to come by, I guess, and doctors decided that it really wasn’t worth their time to go there and help either. After a while, people stopped helping and it had to close up.” He moved toward her, sitting in the chair across from his desk as she continued. “Pierce said he’d help me get it going with the doctors again. He also knows of a lot of grants and low interest loans we can get to help get it going. He said that he’d work there when he wasn’t needed at the estate, and that he was sure there were others that would help out as well.”

“I’ll give you the money.” She told him that she didn’t want that. She wanted to do this on her own. “Okay, but we can donate what you don’t get from the rest.”

“Thank you. I’ll need to figure this out, but I don’t want to sit around and wait for you to come home. I want to have something that I can call my own. Even if I never get paid for it in money.” He was so proud of her that he wanted to pick her up in his arms and hold her. “I want this to mean something to more than just those we help. I want the community to be a large part of it too.”

Danburn had no idea what had made her start thinking in this direction until Dragon spoke to him.
A man down on his luck asked her for her change, and she had none. Not even a dollar, and she felt badly about it. Instead of walking away, she took him to the deli around the corner and tried to buy him something to eat. They turned him away because of what he was. She was so furious at the woman at the counter, she called Noah and had him look into buying the place so she could fire her.
He asked Dragon what the man was.
Homeless, my lord. Nothing more than a man down on his luck.

“When do you want to start this? We have two buildings in the downtown area that would be perfect for this. One of them was a former hotel.” She turned and looked at him, and he could see she really wanted this. “We can start the work on them to bring them up to code today if you want.”

“I do.” He nodded and reached for his phone. “I might have purchased a restaurant too, just so you know. I’d like to...there is this woman there that I want to fire. Or I did. But now I want her to work there if we get it, and serve all the homeless that come in as a sort of penance.” He laughed as the phone rang at his ear. “I guess you heard about it.”

“A little.” He told her that he loved her. “And you should know that if you want it, then it’s yours. I love the way your mind works.”

Two hours later not only did they have a crew of men going to start on cleaning up the hotel, but he had two people interested in helping run it. His staff, it seemed, liked the idea as much as he did. As he was headed to the door to take his lovely future wife to lunch, Connie stopped him.

“There is a young woman in the lobby that is in need of a place to stay.” He asked her what was going on. “She’s like you, sir. A lady dragon.”

He nodded. It wasn’t the first time that he’d been approached by another of his kind, but now he wanted to help instead of sending them on their way. But before he could tell her to set up an appointment with her, Kendrick spoke up.

“Find out if she can organize and help me. I’m going to need myself a Noah before this is all done.” Connie smiled and said she’d find out. “Good. And find her a place to stay as well, please, and whatever else she might require while we figure out what to do with her.”

As they went down in the elevator, he pulled Kendrick into his arms and kissed her. She asked him what it was for, so he kissed her again.

“You keep that up and we’ll never make it to lunch.” He said that was fine by him. “No, I’m starved, and you owe me for making me late for breakfast this morning.”

“Yes, but you scream out your releases so prettily. I can’t help it if you’re so delicious.” She smacked him on the chest. “I love you, Kendrick.”

“And I love you, but you’re still taking me to lunch, buster. I’ve had an eventful morning.” If he had his way, she’d have a more eventful evening.