Haunted By Her Dragon (The Dragon Guard Series) (9 page)

She
liked Lance,
a lot
. There was no denying that she was attracted to him
on an almost elemental level, something like the couples in the romance novels
Momma
Maybelle
used to read, in a made for each other
kind of way. He was special, and she was sure that his easy-going mannerisms
were just a small part of who he was. She sensed a deep, intense side to him
that he kept hidden from most. He was passion personified. If the kiss they had
shared was any indication, Lance had the ability to turn all her best laid
plans into a forgotten mountain of rubble and her into a wanton woman. She
laughed out loud at the thought of her as ‘wanton’, and then began to squirm in
her seat from the barrage of hot, sexy images of them together that flashed in
her mind. A cold shower may just be in her very near future if she couldn’t
stop thinking of her ‘hero’. Remembering what he had said in his voicemail, she
decided there was
no way
she was going to ask him to come out of his way
to get her so early in the morning after all he’d already done for her. 
Besides all that, maybe a little distance would be good. Charlie had to work
tomorrow, too. She would just give her a call. Her house was basically on her
friend’s way to the hospital anyway.

Jumping
up from her chair with her phone balanced on her shoulder, she finished the
last of her chores while calling Charlie to make sure she could pick her up in
the morning. Charlie asked about the ‘
hottie
’ she’d
seen her with at the hospital. Sam effectively avoided the question by talking
about her call with Sydney and then made an excuse to hang up. She felt bad not
gossiping with her friend like they always did, but for whatever reason, she
didn’t want to share Lance with anyone, even if it was just to talk about how
good-looking he was.

Deciding
she would order a pizza since she hadn’t made it to the grocery store and the
thought of canned soup turned her stomach; she dialed up Luigi’s and ordered
her favorite. In less than thirty minutes, the doorbell rang. She handed the
young man all the cash she had, telling him to keep the change. As she looked
up to thank him again, she caught sight of two glowing green eyes in the woods
across the street. She remembered that coyotes used to roam the woods and
wondered if she should call animal control. It would be a shame if someone’s
pet was hurt by a wild animal. The longer she thought about it, the more she
was sure the eyes looked feline, not canine, and couldn’t remember ever seeing
any big cats in the area. Just as quickly as she had seen them, they were gone;
making her wonder if she had imagined seeing them.

As
she got ready for bed, she remembered she hadn’t called Lance to let him know
she had another way to work. Never shying away from anything in her life, she
surprised herself that just the thought of talking to Lance on the phone made
her pulse race. Hoping a shower would calm her nerves, she headed upstairs. She
stood under the warm spray and thought of everything she knew about the man
that had taken up residency in her brain. The instant connection she had felt
when he rescued her, the way he occupied her thoughts every day, the feeling
that he had been watching and protecting her, and then there was the save on
the side of the road. If all that wasn’t enough, he was fixing her car. She had
never met anyone like him.

Wrapping
herself in her favorite fluffy towel, she made her way into her bedroom and
decided texting Lance to tell him her plans for tomorrow was easier than a
conversation. She quickly typed,
“Thank you so much for fixing Bonnie Blue.
Charlie can take me to work in the morning. Talk to you tomorrow. Night, Sam”
and hit send before she could chicken out.  When in the
hell
had
she turned into such a marshmallow or worse yet, a girlie girl? She was
definitely losing her mind. Momma
Maybelle
, her
foster mom, had always said a good night’s sleep would cure what ailed her and
that was exactly what she was going to get. Slipping on her Garfield nightshirt
and sliding into bed, she pulled up the covers just as the text alert on her
phone sounded. Without thinking, she grabbed her phone and read the words that
would fuel the most erotic dreams of her life.
“Sweet Dreams, Doc.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Closing his phone after
returning her message, he stood in the woods behind her house staring at the window
to her bedroom. Now that he had been there, he could vividly imagine every move
she made, everything she touched. When the lights went out, he was certain she
was snug in bed, and his body ached to be wrapped around hers. The thought of
their bodies intertwined, replete from hours of lovemaking, had been in his
mind for so long, he thought of little else. He had been sure she wouldn’t
accept his offer for a ride to work, but was willing to try anything to spend
more time with her, away from the chaos and conflict that haunted them at every
turn.

Turning
his thoughts away from his mate and to the asshole that he wanted dead, he
thought about the information they had gotten from the
werepanthers
that had infiltrated the wizard’s camp. At that moment, he was supposed to be
meeting with the other members of his Force to plan their next move, but no
matter how hard he tried, he was unable to stop the images of dark, curly hair
and passion-filled, deep brown eyes long enough to focus. Earlier, he’d made up
some lame excuse, cut the mental connection between him and his brethren, and
ridden his Harley as fast as he could just to be near her. It seemed like the
harder he pushed for the time he needed to eliminate their enemies, the more
difficult it became to resist what had been set into motion almost twenty-nine
years ago when the Universe created this amazing woman destined to be his mate.

He
needed to burn off some of the excess energy being fed by his dragon and the
mating call that pumped through his veins. Eighty years ago, he would have
called forth his dragon and flown for hundreds of miles, but in this day and
age, that was something used only when absolutely necessary. He took off
running through the woods, using his enhanced speed to mimic flight. The longer
he ran, the stronger the need for flight became, until he could no longer deny
his dragon or himself what they so desperately needed.  Deep in the woods,
several miles from Sam and civilization, he called forth his dragon. As the
magic infused his body and filled the air around his beast, he felt a freedom
and strength he missed when in human form. The golden beast’s scales glimmered
in the limited moonlight as his wings unfurled and his dragon stretched after
his long hibernation. With a burst of energy and good old fashioned dragon
magic, he was airborne. Thankfully, the night was foggy with low visibility,
providing the cover he needed to enjoy his much needed flight.

He headed out over the
ocean, able to cover many, many miles quicker than even the fastest jet. The
deep, dark water provided a mirror of sorts, and once again, he was in awe of
the beast the Universe had paired him with those many years ago. Covered with
brilliant golden scales from stem to stern and all around, his dragon was fierce
in battle, massive in his own right, with huge horns that protruded above his
eyes, curled back over his head, and straightened with points able to tear the
toughest of flesh. A line of smaller, but still incredibly imposing spikes ran
all the way down his spine, ending just before the
featherful
,
a formation of deadly spikes that tipped his tail. What he liked most were the
thorn-like talons that protruded from the thumbs and tips of his wings and the
razor sharp claws that extended from every toe. They were smaller than his
beast’s other weapons and appeared unassuming but were deadly in their own
right. Everything about this incredible creature made him proud to share his
being with such a mighty warrior.

 He
looked at the marking, a miniature representation of the beast within, that ran
across his chest and torso daily, but nothing compared to witnessing it
firsthand.

Time
ceased to exist while he was flying, and not until the feel of the air changed
against his hide did he realize that he had to have been flying for hours.
Turning with the expertise of almost a hundred years of flight, he headed back
to the woods where he’d flown from. Several times he felt the air thicken,
indicating a magic practitioner; not one that practiced the dark arts, but one
whose roots were more elemental. He took note of the location for later
inspection and the fact that the magic felt feminine in its origin, while
hurrying to his destination. Unable to stop himself, he let the beast fly past
Sam’s window in the hopes that his dragon would catch a glimpse of the
magnificent creature that was to also be his. The Heavens smiled upon them for
there
she laid her face lax in sleep, more gorgeous than he
had remembered.
Damn!
He was not thinking straight.
He had it bad!
All the lovesick, sappy shit he had watched happen to Rayne and Aidan was
happening to him; no matter how he had sworn in the past it would not. What the
hell was he going to do? ‘
You’re
gonna
lose your
fucking mind just like all the others that have found their mates, dumbass.’
He laughed at himself,
‘But before that, you are
gonna
get your ass busy and catch that stupid son of a bitch traitor.’

The
beast landed in the woods with a stealth and grace not expected from a being so
large, and within seconds, the dragon was replaced by the man, dressed in the
clothes he was wearing before the transformation. Just one of the many wonders
of dragon magic that he had learned to accept without question from the moment
the heart of his beast had settled into his soul.

Making
his way to where he had parked his Harley, he heard the sound of large paws
hitting the fallen leaves on the forest floor. Using his enhanced sense of
smell, he located the two
werepanthers
quickly
approaching his location. Continuing his trek, he was joined by Max in human
form, wearing only a pair of jeans, and a huge golden brown cat with deep hazel
eyes aiming a throaty ‘
tsk
tsk
tsk
’ in his direction. He looked to Max and pointed
at the cat on his other side, “I’m not sure, but I believe I’m being scolded by
the fur ball.”

The
cat in question hissed as Max answered while laughing, “Yes, it appears Juan
Carlos does not agree with your evening flight.”

“Well,
not all of us can change into something small enough to slink around in the
dark and drink milk from a saucer.” He laughed at his own joke and was rewarded
with a growl emanating from deep in the
werepanther’s
throat.

Max,
still chuckling at his side, spoke up, “Alright children, let us play nice.”

“Yeah,
I’ll play nice. You
gotta
rubber mouse I can throw
for Sylvester over here.”

Juan
Carlos’ growl grew until Lance could see his body vibrating, “Chill out JC. I’m
just messing with
ya
.”

“Juan
Carlos does not ‘chill out’ very well,” Max answered for the still growling and
hissing cat. “Finish patrolling this area and I’ll be right with you,” the King
instructed his lieutenant.

Lance
figured he was about to get a lecture he really wasn’t in the mood for, so he
decided to head it off at the pass, “Anything out of the ordinary?”

“Nothing
since we found those latent traces of black magic. After thinking about it, I
believe they were from the first time she was kidnapped. I am sure they had
originally planned to take her from here, but
were
unable to find the chance and opted to abduct her from the hospital parking
lot.”

“You’re
probably right,” he answered while still considering what the Leo had said and
almost missed the next revelation.

“I
believe your mate may have seen me earlier this evening when…”

“Samantha…
Her name is Samantha, and how the hell did she see you?” Lance rounded on him,
unable to control his emotions when it came to his mate.

He
saw the amusement in Max’s eyes; he knew…
Busted!
  Standing still,
he waited for the Leo to answer. “Had you not been so quick to correct my use
of the word
mate
, you would have known that I am sure she only saw my
eyes shining in the dark as she retrieved her pizza from the delivery man.” Max
shook his head and chuckled at his expense. “She only looked for a split second.
I am sure she explained it away in her own mind. I simply wanted you to be
aware in case the subject presented itself.”

Instead
of apologizing, Lance opted to ignore the whole damn mess and moved on. “I’m
sure you’re right. Thanks for keeping watch while I try to track down Andrew
and his merry band of losers.”

He
could see that Max wanted to say more, but in true regal fashion, took the high
road. “You are most welcome. It will benefit all of us when this mess is
brought to an end.”

“Damn
straight. Well, I’m sure I’m due an ass chewing from Rayne. I’ll be back in the
morning. Thanks again.”

“No
need for thanks. Just make sure I am invited to the mating party.” Max laughed
and winked, making Lance’s hand itch with the need to punch the King right in
the jaw.

Before
he could draw a breath to correct his friend and major pain in the ass, Max
changed back into a large black panther and sauntered off through the woods.
“Damn cats just cannot mind their own business,” he mumbled to himself as he
walked towards his bike.