Danburn: The English Dragon ― Erotic Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance (8 page)

“I never realized until this very moment how selfish you are. And how…you really expect me to just let you keep doing this to me, stealing from me because of some sense of obligation because I’m your sister? What have you ever done for me?” Louisa asked her what she meant by that. “You know, you steal from me, make me behind in everything, including eating, and what have you ever done for me?”

“Kendrick, I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing. Are you trying to impress this guy?” She laughed. “It’s not necessary. He already said that you could live in his castle with him. And you won’t want me not to have the same kind of fun. Besides, he’s not going to last and when he’s done, you and I are going to go back to the way we were before. You have to take care of me. We’re sisters.”

“Why? Why am I responsible for anything you do? Yes, we’re sisters, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you continue doing to me what you are. I’m done. Finished.” Louisa told her again that they were sisters, not understanding why she didn’t get that. “And that is supposed to be reason enough for me to continue to be hungry and poor all the time.”

“I’m not responsible for you being hungry. And if you’re poor, maybe you shouldn’t be spending your money on new clothing and stuff.” She looked at the sweater and new jeans that Kendrick had on. “I could really use something like that to wear. I need it. When you go and get them for me, I would like mine to be prettier. Okay? That way when we’re in the castle together, people at my parties will know how much you care for me.”

Kendrick said nothing. She sat down in the room’s only chair when Danburn went to stand by the window. He was pissed off, Louisa could tell, but he wasn’t really important to her. Nor was he important to her sister. Men, especially men like this one, would only want to hang onto Kendrick until someone new and shiny came along. And even as nice as she looked right now, Kendrick wasn’t really all that shiny. Louisa decided that she’d have a talk with her when the man wasn’t around. She might be able to sell some things of his to use when he kicked her out. It wasn’t really stealing from him, like Kendrick kept saying, but making sure that she had what she needed in an emergency. Louisa thought she could do well with some things this guy might have laying around his big castle to make herself a nice little place for a while.

But when Kendrick just left her, got up without saying a word and left the room, Louisa wondered what had happened. Looking at Danburn, she knew that she’d get no answers from him and lay back on the bed. When he left too, Louisa felt better. Things would work out as they always did for her. Kendrick would do the right thing by her. She was her sister, after all.

~~~

The cool air felt good on her face. Kendrick turned her face up, feeling the breeze as it blew over her, making her feel like she was getting all the cruelty of her sister blown off her. She knew it was Danburn when a shadow moved over her.

“I never realized until this minute what kind of person she is. And what a monster I created by doing things for her.” He didn’t say anything, and she wondered if he was mad at her. It wouldn’t surprise her if he was. “I can’t deal with her right now. I’ll take care of her when I can, but for now, I just need to breathe.”

“I’m going to have my attorney give her some money and a place to stay. She can have a couple of months of living there for free before I will…we will expect her to get a job and try to get her shit together. You were right in calling her selfish. She is by far one of the most selfish, self-centered people I know.” He put his hands on her arms and turned her toward him. When she looked into his eyes, she felt her heart break for what had happened in there. “You didn’t do this to her, Kendrick. Yes, she’s your sister, but you in no way made her like she is right now.”

She laid her head on his chest. It was warm and she needed to feel something other than pain and the coldness of her sister’s words right now. Kendrick thought of all the things that Danburn had told her this morning. Things about him and his mother. How old he was and how much he was worth. Then he’d asked her to marry him, to be his wife.

Kendrick wasn’t sure that she loved Danburn. If she was honest with herself, she wasn’t even sure what love was. She’d not felt anything for her sister for a long time but annoyance. Her mother had been dead to her after she’d shot her all those years ago. And the few men that had been in her life, mostly losers needing more from her than just her heart, she had never felt anything for. But this man, he did make her feel something.

“She just doesn’t think she’s done anything wrong. That everything she’s done, it’s justified because she wanted it and that I’m to forgive her because we’re related by blood.” He said he got that. “I mean, she feels like just because I didn’t die, that somehow means that I’m going to be there for her the rest of my life.”

“She doesn’t deserve you. And if we keep giving in to her, she’s going to be doing this to us for the rest of her life. And long after she’s gone, she’ll be hurting you.” She looked up at him, remembering what he’d said to her that morning. She would live forever now. “Let me take care of this for you. I’ll do what you want, but I think that if you continue on the path you were on, she’s going to keep getting into more trouble all the time. At some point, it’s going to get you hurt. And I don’t think I could handle that. I can’t stand the thought of her hurting you anymore, love.”

“Yes. I know that now. I mean, why not keep going on the path that she’s on? There never seemed to be any consequences for her before this because I was always there to get her out of trouble. So why not just go about her merry way and do whatever the fuck she wants?” Kendrick still blamed herself for her sister’s behavior. “I can’t believe I let her do this to me all these years. And for nothing.”

“No, it wasn’t for nothing. You love her and she is your sister. But today, I think this is the first time....” He lifted her chin up and looked her in the eyes. “You never made her tell you the truth before, did you? You just took what she said to you as gospel, and she did what she wanted. Why today?”

“I don’t know. I saw her looking at my new things, which I love by the way, and I felt like she was going to cheapen them. I have no idea why, but I wanted the truth from her. All of it, even if it hurt me.” He asked her if it did. “Yes. But not in the way I thought it would. She hurt me because I realized then that I have never meant anything to her other than as someone she could depend on for money and other support. Love was never the reason for any of it.”

“I think she loves you in her own way.” Kendrick snorted at him. “Okay, she was a manipulative woman who rode you like the bitch she thought you were.”

“Wow. Okay, that was a little over the top.” She watched his face as he looked down at her with laughter in his eyes. “These men, you think they’ll try and get to her still? I mean, you think she was telling the truth about them hanging that man, right? What do we do about that?”

“I’m looking into a few things. I have some friends in high places that I can have see what is going on out there.” She asked him who, the president? “No. The lady of the earth. She will help if for no other reason than whatever they’re doing there has got to be affecting her realm. I’ll talk to her when I get back to the castle.”

As they were riding back, she thought of her sister. There was something very sad about her. Not the kind of down on her luck sort of sad, but Kendrick thought that her sister had led a sad life until now. She’d never had to pay for things. Never had to work hard at making a life work for herself. If it didn’t fit for her at that very moment, then she would move on and run to Kendrick. But no more. Kendrick was finished with being taken for granted.

“I’d like to handle my sister.” Danburn didn’t say anything but watched her. “I’m going to be the one to tell her what’s going to happen and how it’s going to work for her from now on. I know that it’s a lot to ask of you, but if you can please do as you suggested, have a contract drawn up for her and let me have some money, I’ll be able to…I need to be able to cut ties from her. Otherwise, like you said, her troubles are going to grow and grow, and she might pull me along with her.”

“She will.” Danburn nodded. “All right. If you want to do this, that’s fine with me. But I would like for you to take Noah with you. Not because I don’t think you can handle her, but because he could stand as your witness. He’s done enough for me over the years, and I think he could be a steady force for you as well.”

“You think she’ll try to hurt me?” He said that she’d already done that. “Yes, but you think she’d do something physically to me? To hurt me to get what she wants? I don’t know why, but I don’t think she will. She needs me too much to let physical harm come to me.”

“I think she will, honey. I think your sister is used to getting her own way and will stop at nothing to continue getting it. Even if it means bringing a shit load of hurt down on you if you don’t cooperate. It’s not your fault, not entirely, but enough is enough, don’t you think?” She did and told him that. “I’ll have my…our attorney draw up the paperwork today and you can set up a time to go over it with her. You can explain Noah being there as he can answer questions she might have. All right?”

“Yes. But you don’t have to keep saying
our
. I don’t have anything but what you want to give me.” He pulled her onto his lap so quickly that she squeaked a little. “Danburn, I’m not stupid. I know that we have nothing in common and that you have more money than I’d ever hope to have.”

“
We
have money.
We
have a castle and
we
have attorneys. Say it.
We
. I like the way it rolls off my tongue.” He kissed her then, making her feel all wet and bothered at the same time. “Christ, I wish that I could lay you out here and take you. But I have to go to work. You need to go with my mom.”

“Oh yeah.” She was supposed to go to the mall with his mom. She was going to help her get more clothing, as well as a dress for this thing that Danburn had to attend over the weekend. “I could just wear these. They’re very nice.”

“They are very nice, but you need more things, pretty things that I love seeing you in. You deserve them.” She still wasn’t sure about that, but said nothing about it this time. The last time she’d mentioned it, he’d swatted her on the ass. It had been sexy as hell, but also a little painful. “And have fun. You deserve that more than you do anything. You’ve been without it for a long time.”

She didn’t know how much fun she was going to be able to have. Kendrick had never been to the mall for any other reason than to hand in a job application. She’d never bought herself anything that hadn’t been marked down so much it was practically free. And her shoes were as old as some of the underwear that she’d had to toss when Danburn had gotten a look at it. He’d been very sexy holding up her clothing and then tossing them over his shoulder when she told him how old they were, but now she had nothing much to wear.

Kendrick was still getting used to having someone care about her. Now she had to go out and find clothing that would look good when she was with him. She wasn’t looking forward to this at all.

Chapter
7

Elissa watched Kendrick walk around the large shop. Any number of women were there to help her, once they found out who she was engaged to anyway. When they’d first entered, it was all she could do not to slap the piss right out of the woman behind the cash register. But the manager had come right out and fixed things. For now, anyway.

The woman had told Kendrick that she wasn’t to touch anything she didn’t plan on paying for. Elissa had been so shocked that she’d stood there for several seconds while the woman went on to tell Kendrick that things were there to buy, not to manhandle.

Elissa had nearly grabbed her up and taken her away when Kendrick had looked at the woman, pulled a dress off the hanger, and dropped it on the floor. Then she turned to Elissa with a smile on her face that did not bode well for the woman.

“Did Danburn tell me what sort of dress I needed for our wedding? I wasn’t sure if he said cheap, like they have here, or something more fitting for the queen of the castle.” Then she looked at the bitch again. “You talk to me like that again and I will not only own this shop and everything in it, I will burn it in effigy, with your picture right here in the middle of this store.”

Now they just stood back and only came toward her when she asked a question. Elissa was going to enjoy watching this woman grow into becoming the queen she claimed she was. And Elissa was looking forward to seeing the grandchildren that she gave her as well. But first things first.

“Perhaps you should just grab a few of them and try something on to see your size.” Kendrick looked at her, and Elissa saw the fear there, and the embarrassment. “Come here, child. I think we need to take a break.”

The restaurant was busy, but they were seated right away. She supposed that it was she that had gotten them to the front of the line and not the younger woman at her side. But that, too, would change, and Kendrick could command armies if need be. As soon as they sat down, Elissa ordered two iced teas and an appetizer to hold them over while they talked. Kendrick was overwhelmed, and it was showing on every part of her body.

“My husband was like you are right now. Scared and unsure of himself. He had Noah, of course, to help him when needed. But he wasn’t really born to being rich. But he did love knowing that he was secure in it.” She asked if he was going to join them. “No, sadly he passed away long ago. I still talk to him, go out to his grave and sit with him. Danburn had a lovely bench put out there, and the gardener put in some pretty flowers for me.”

“I’m sorry. You must have loved him a great deal.” Elissa said she’d loved him with all that she was. “I never really cared for my mom. I mean, even before she shot me. My mom would steal for no other reason than someone had it. And then she’d break it so that no one else could have it either. Louisa was always the special one. I didn’t really understand why until recently. She was a suck up.”

Elissa laughed. “Yes, I can see that. Danburn told me about your visit with her. She wasn’t all that supportive of you, he said.”

“No. I don’t think.... I’m pretty sure I knew she was like that all along, but I’ve come to realize that instead of seeing the problem, I gave her what she wanted. Well, let her take what she wanted rather than deal with her. She was always needy, clingy, and I would just want her to go away. I should have taken a better stand. I might have had a better life had I done something sooner. Do you understand?” Elissa nodded. She didn’t think that would have worked either, but kept her mouth closed. “You and Danburn, you have a good relationship, don’t you?”

“Yes. He’s my only little boy.” Kendrick smiled, just as she’d wanted her to. “He and I, we only had each other when his dad died. Even before that, the three of us were all we had. Fletcher, Danburn’s father, was a good man, but had a hard time getting over the fact that I loved him and cared not where he came from. You know there are more of us out there, don’t you? I mean, someday, soon I bet, you’ll have visits from them too.”

“I just want to get used to the two dragons I know right now, thanks. Noah told me that he thought that Danburn was a snob when he talked to him about me. I’m not sure what that conversation might have been like, but he said he was sorry for thinking the things that he had about me. I just thought Danburn was an ass.” The appetizers were set in front of them, and Elissa handed her part of it on a plate as she laughed. “He’s so bossy all the time. I know that he’s working on it, but there are times when I want to throat punch him.”

“Yes, well, I would refrain from that. He’d never hit you back, but he might be hurt. Dragons have a different body frame than humans. Danburn’s dragon’s heart is close to his throat.” Kendrick nodded, and Elissa was glad to realize that Danburn had told her a few things about himself. “But back to my husband. When I met him, he had less than you did when you met Danburn. A great deal less.”

“I don’t know how that’s possible. I had nothing and owed out more than I’d ever be able to pay. I’m sorry. That sounded crass. Danburn said that his dad was a great man. What did he do for a living?” She told him he was a cinder man. “I’m sorry. I thought, well, I thought he was like you and Danburn, a dragon.”

“He was. That was what made him so successful as a cinder merchant.” Kendrick looked like she was going to ask why, then smiled. “I see you get it. He could have fresh cinders whenever he wanted. But like I said, he was like you when it came to his station in life.”

“You mean poor.” Elissa nodded. “I could have been something, I think. I mean, I know that I could have. I had a scholarship when I graduated from high school. It wasn’t much, but it would have given me a hand up. But my sister…I let her mess up a great many things in my life that I’ve come to regret. Mostly, it was just my life. Your husband…did he get used to having money? Spending it on things that he wanted? I’m not sure how I’ll get used to that either.”

“You were some at fault, but not all. You had no support system in place. None that would help you. And yes, he did eventually get into spending money. Mostly on Danburn and I, and he so enjoyed the holidays. When we all moved into the castle together, he made it his mission to fill it with things that no one else would think to have. Tapestries from all over the world. Art and pottery that he admired. He even bought the first lamp we have in the house, when electricity was invented for the masses.” She leaned back when the plate was empty. “My husband loved life. Not when I met him, but after we came to be one. It was…difficult at the beginning. He’d been walking the neighborhood when I could smell what he was. It took me days to find him. From the fires that he would light with his magic, his scent would linger for days after he was gone. I’d follow his scent for days before I’d come to realize that he hadn’t been there for hours. But when I found him, it broke my heart to see what someone had done to him.”

Elissa thought of her giant of a husband. Not in stature, but in heart. He’d been trying to get enough coin to eat. He’d been digging in trash heaps for a long time and had only wanted to have a good meal, he’d told her, one that had been prepared for him and not leftovers. She thought she might have fallen in love with him then.

“He’d been beaten, again. Apparently, this happened to him a great deal. I helped him to stand, only to have to carry him nearly all the way back to my home. My family had left years before, to find a quieter, a more…I guess you would say accepting place to live.” Kendrick asked her if they had found it. “Nay, sadly, they only met with their deaths. I’m not sure, but there were times when it first happened that I thought they had left me so they could die in peace and with each other. My parents were old, set in their ways, but they had good hearts. They were just closed off to change.”

The waiter brought them menus, and they both ordered. Elissa was glad to see that Kendrick ordered a big meal, not one of those kinds that only a bird could live off of. She grinned at her after he left them.

“I feel hungry all the time now.” Elissa nodded but didn’t mention why. Danburn was keeping her very active, she’d bet. “Danburn said that he burns a lot of calories just sitting around. Which I doubt he does all that often.”

“No, he likes to keep busy.” She asked what happened to Fletcher when he got to her home. “He healed for the most part. He was never very healthy. I think it had to do with his upbringing, the way that he had to live to survive. But we were happy. We loved each other very much. Then we had Danburn and our life seemed to be complete.”

“That’s a wonderful story with such a happy ending. I hope someday.... I don’t love him. Danburn, I mean. I like him most of the time.” Her face turned a deep red as she continued. “He makes me feel good about myself, and while he’s still really bossy at times, I like talking to him about his day. He doesn’t treat me like he did at first. More like his equal, though I don’t know why he’d think that.”

“You are his equal, love. In all ways. Do you plan to work?” She said that she had to. “No, you really don’t. I mean, I know that you’ve been told that there is plenty of money.”

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for the money. I’ve figured out over the last few days that it’s really nice having beautiful things. But I don’t want to feel like I have to ask for every penny I want to spend.” Elissa asked if Danburn had told her she had to. “No. But I still feel that I need to ask. It’s really not my money no matter how many times he’s told me it’s ours. I mean, he’s very nice to make it so I have pretty things. But I do need to be able to stand on my own two feet. And he has asked me to marry him. I’ve not answered him yet, not really, but I can’t think that this will work out for us. Do you?”

“And why not?” Elissa was very proud of the girl for wanting to work. She was impressed that she’d not just said yes to marrying her son right away, but thought about it first. She wanted her to, more than she could have ever thought, but she loved that she wasn’t just blindly stepping into something that would change her life forever. “I’ve explained that coming from different classes works out, haven’t I?”

“You explained to me that you and your husband worked it out. Whatever happens between Danburn and me isn’t like you and your husband. Danburn is…he’s very set in his ways, isn’t he? I mean, he is trying to be different, but I don’t want to be ruled any more than I’d bet you would.” She told her to stand up to him. “Oh, I have no problem doing that. Just today he and I had a terrible fight about the credit cards that he wanted me to have.”

“I heard.” Elissa laughed when Kendrick turned red again. “I think, and this is just me, but I think he argues with you just to see you get upset.”

“That’s insane. Why would he want me to be pissy with him?” Elissa could see the moment that she got it. “Oh. Make up sex. That doesn’t make it any less insane.”

“No, but it’s funny to me.” When their salads came, Kendrick played with hers. There was more to this than just him pissing her off, and Elissa waited. “Did you know that once we get done shopping here, we’re to go and get our hair done?”

“Great. Another thing I’m not going to be any good at.” Before Elissa could ask her what she meant, Kendrick continued. “They’re going to ask me what I want, or who cut my hair before. It was me. I chopped my hair when it no longer stayed in a ponytail. And as for color? I have no idea what color my hair is. Black? No. Is it brown? Who the hell knows? And don’t even get me started on wearing makeup. I could never afford it even if I had any idea how to smear it all over my face.”

It took all Elissa had not to laugh. The girl was honest to a fault; she’d say that for her. As she cut up her lettuce, all the while keeping an eye on Kendrick stabbing at the tomatoes like she had a vision of some monster in mind, Elissa tried to think what to say. Then she thought, what the hell. Honesty deserves honesty.

“No one will say a word about who has cut your hair. They’re going to be too amazed that you’re Danburn’s future wife and that they get you in their chair to care if you have bright blue hair or orange. I have no idea what color your hair is either, and see no reason for you to care what they think. It’s pretty, leave it at that. Makeup?” She did laugh a little then. “I don’t think you want to begin smearing it on your face this late in the game. You have a beautiful fresh look about you, and I heard Danburn remark to Noah that he loved the way you looked when you got up in the morning. I think there might have been something about smell too, but I didn’t catch it all.”

“I’ve been using his crap in the shower. So if I smell, it’s his fault.” Elissa added another shop to her list of places to go. As they both ate, she wondered aloud if Kendrick wanted to change anything in the castle. “Change? You mean like furniture or something? No. I love it just the way it is. It’s beautiful and homey. I’ve never lived in…well, I don’t know many people who have lived in a castle, but I bet those that have would love it too. I think everything about it is perfect. Just the way one would imagine a castle to look.”

Their lunches arrived, and Elissa could see that Kendrick was much more relaxed. She hated to bring it up now, but they had a lot to do before they could head back home. Before she could mention it however, Kendrick spoke.

“I don’t know how to buy clothing that doesn’t have a clearance tag on it. I know nothing of brand names or matching outfits. The only pair of heels I’ve ever worn was at a job interview where I ended up taking one of them off to hit the guy with it.” Elissa told her she might not want to mention that part to Danburn. “Yeah, I got that he has a jealous streak going. Though I have no idea why. I’m surprised that he wants me, much less that other men do. Anyway, that lady in the store, she doesn’t trust me and I know it. And the staff there smell like dogs.”