Chosen By The Dragon Read online

  The conversation lulled, but she wasn’t worried; a comfortable silence stretched between them. In a way, it was all surreal. Who was this guy? Handsome, obviously rich. Why was he walking with her drinking cheap beer? Shouldn’t his type be in the city eating caviar or something? Even as she thought about it, though, she knew that was her own insecurity speaking. He never did or said anything to make her feel unworthy. If anything, he praised her so much that it made her doubt his intentions, as ridiculous as that sounded. Even as they walked along that quiet mountain road, however, she felt that his intention was just to walk with her and talk, to just spend time around her. That, for him, seemed enough. It was crazy. People didn’t do this and enjoy it normally. Did they? She always saw this kind of stuff as something you did because you had to. She was surprised to find she was actually enjoying it. There was no pressure, no stress. Just long, slow steps, warm beer, and the night cooling around them. She couldn’t be more content.

  “So have you worked at the bar long?” he asked. It was a lame question, but she knew he was just trying to start the conversation up again. She didn’t mind so much; she liked hearing the sound of his voice.

  “A few years.”

  “You like it?”

  Wendy shrugged and took a sip of her beer. “It pays the bills and I can work my shifts around if I need to.”

  “It must be nice to have that kind of flexibility,” he said.

  “It’s helpful because my mom is sick. When she needs me I can move things around and be home with her.”

  “Oh,” he said, “I didn’t know. I’m sorry to hear it.”

  Wendy shrugged. Her mom had been sick for so long that it was no longer a sensitive subject for her. “It is what it is. She has her good days and her bad ones. When I’m working, we have a nurse stay with her. She needs constant attention and can’t be left alone. If her heart gives out or something, someone needs to be nearby to take care of it.”

  “I see. That must be rough. But you seem to be handling it alright.”

  Wendy took another drink from her beer. “You get used to it after several years.”

  “Years?”

  “Yep. Eight years now, I think. Or nine. I don’t know, somewhere in there.”

  “Wow,” he said and drank from his bottle. “She sounds like quite the fighter.”

  “Oh she is. Tough as nails, that one. What about you?” she asked, nudging him with her elbow.

  He smiled at the contact and looked at her from the corner of his eye. “Me? No, my family dynamic is… unique. Estranged, I think, would be the best way to put it at the moment, but even that’s not really accurate.”

  “So you don’t talk to your family?”

  “Not really. Once every so often, but that’s just a general check-in to see how things are. We’re all part of the family business, so that forces us to stay in contact. Other than that, there really isn’t much keeping us together.”

  “That’s kind of sad,” she said. “Family’s important.”

  “To some,” he said, and she knew he was intentionally trying to be cryptic.

  It was strange how much she didn’t mind. She knew he was hiding things from her, but she didn’t have the feeling that it was anything major or dangerous. She trusted him. Whatever he chose to keep to himself, she was sure he had his reasons.

  Even so, when she pointed to a little side path leading away from the road, she was shocked at herself. “This goes deeper into the woods,” she said. “There’s a real nice view overlooking the valley.”

  “Oh yeah?” he asked. “Let’s check it out.”

  They walked down the path, the road disappearing behind them through the trees. It wasn’t long before they walked along, side-by-side, deep into the forest. At the end of the path was a hill. When they crested the top, a beautiful view of the valley below spread out before them.

  Wendy leaned against a tree as she looked over the land. She’d been up here a hundred times before, but it felt different standing there with him. As she looked out, she felt him press up against her from behind. It was the most they’d touched, but she found herself strangely comforted. He slid his arms around her middle, and she hugged them to her.

  “It is lovely,” he said softly, his head near her own, mouth beside her ear.

  “I thought you’d like it. It’s beautiful. Very secluded.”

  “I noticed that, too,” he said, smiling at her.

  She turned her head to face him more, and he didn’t disappoint. Jacob leaned in and kissed her. She reached a hand up into the hair at the back of his head, pressing his mouth against hers. The fervor of the kiss ramped up with every passing second. She felt him grow hard against her rear. The sensation, knowing that she turned him on this much, aroused her as well.

  She pressed herself back against him, which elicited a response in him. Their breathing quickened together. His hands, once so sweetly wrapped around her middle, now began roaming the front of her body. To Wendy’s surprise, she released his arms to roam where they would. Wendy was never someone to move too quickly, but she found herself wanting him to touch her. Wanting him to take her.

  As his hands found her breasts, squeezing and fondling them, she reached behind to his erection and ran her hand up and down the length of him. He groaned against her ear, his hands squeezing her breasts more firmly as she squeezed him.

  “I need you,” he said.

  Wendy looked up into his eyes and nodded.

  His nostrils flared and he positioned her to lean against the tree. Then, lifting her skirt, he gathered it at the small of her back and pulled her panties to the side. Wendy closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the trunk. Was this really going to happen? Was she really going to let him take her so quickly? He was like an animal.

  She felt the head of him press against the wet lips of her pussy, and she realized that this wasn’t a question. Wendy pressed herself back against him to speed him inside of her. His thick head pressed in and was quickly covered in her wetness. They both moved with one another, quickly building into a passionate rhythm. Wendy moaned against the tree, her voice echoing in the empty woods.

  He grabbed her hips, his fingers digging sensuously into the meat of her hips as he pulled her against him. He was not a small man by any means; his shaft stretched her with every thrust. In little time, her orgasm built inside of her. The warmth contained in her belly spread throughout her as the pleasure increased. When it reached its climax and released, she cried out with the strength of it. Her cries encouraged him even further, and he began thrusting wildly against her. The skin of her ass slapped against his hips as he slammed into her. He let out a loud groan and she felt him swell inside of her seconds before releasing. Heat exploded inside of her, and she shook, her right knee threatening to give out as he thrust inside of her with every pulse of his orgasm.

  They stood for a moment, shaking, panting. When he pulled out finally, she readjusted her underwear and lowered her skirt, then leaned back against the tree trunk. In her dazed state, she expected him to get dressed, make an awkward excuse and leave her there. She was kind of looking forward to it, as that meant she could enjoy the view a bit in solitude. It really was beautiful up there.

  To her surprise, he did pull his pants back up, but instead of leaving, he came over to her, leaned a hand against the tree, and smiled at her.

  “By far the best guide I’ve ever had.”

  Wendy laughed and reached up to touch his face. “You should try my midnight tours.”

  “I’d like that,” he said, as he leaned in and kissed her.

  Wendy closed her eyes and let herself become swept up in the kiss. She couldn’t believe her luck.

  She’d found herself a good one.

  Chapter 5: The Rights of a Clan

  “My clan has rights by claim!” Tristan shouted.

  All of negotiations had come to a screeching halt. Jacob had almost missed his opportunity to oppose the bid as his mind drifted off to
ward Wendy and the time they shared together. He could still smell her, still taste the sweetness of her lips. When Tristan had spoken up, however, his memories snapped abruptly and he came to.

  “Your claim is unsubstantiated,” Jacob said.

  The quiet that befall the room felt oppressive. Jacob stood from his chair, and Tristan stood from his.

  “No one has greater claim than I.”

  “I do,” Jacob said and stepped out onto the aisle.

  Tristan scowled and stepped over people he tried to force his way free of the seating and meet Jacob in the aisle. “Your clan is nothing. You’re dinosaurs.”

  Jacob laughed. “Cute.”

  “I wasn’t being cute!” Tristan shouted. “If you stand in our way, you will be pushed aside.”

  Jacob took long strides to close the distance between he and the Drathmir. “And who will do the pushing? Hmm? You couldn’t push your way out of a wet paper bag.”

  Tristan made a high-pitched screech of anger and charged at Jacob.

  Suddenly, Darren stood between them, facing neither of them, with a shoulder pointed at each. “Stand down!”

  “He disputes my claim,” Tristan screamed petulantly. It was a dragon shifter’s version of “he started it.”

  “Be that as it may,” Darren said patiently, “stand down.” Darren wasn’t just a representative of his clan, but the head of it. The power he wielded was something to behold, and one would be a fool, mad, or both to go toe-to-toe with him. Shockingly, Tristan glared past Darren to Jacob and looked none too ready to back off just yet.

  “Perhaps,” another representative said, standing from his chair, “we should place negotiations on hold for a day or two. This is not the first near altercation we’ve had, and we’ve a long road ahead of us still. Perhaps some time to cool off and regain our composure is in order.”

  “I think that is a perfect idea,” Darren said. “All in favor?”

  The room was full of raised hands and “Aye’s. Tristan growled as a few of his allies came beside him to turn him away from Darren. Timothy came to Jacob’s side, and together they walked silently toward the front door.

  Once outside, Jacob took a cleansing breath. “That was close,” Timothy said. “I saw your eyes. You were gone again. I was worried you weren’t going to catch it in time.”

  “Yeah, well, I did, so calm down.”

  “Oh, I’m calm,” Timothy said, popping a grape into his mouth from the handful he held. “That little bitch on the other hand—“

  The rest of his sentence was cut off by the sound of the front door opening. Tristan and his little posse marched from the place. The second he saw Jacob, his face turned down into a scowl. His friends kept ushering him along, but Jacob was sure to keep eye contact the entire time.

  “I don’t like that look,” Jacob said.

  “I wouldn’t turn your back on him for the next couple of days with no witnesses around. If he finds any weaknesses, he’ll pounce.”

  “Yeah, I get it,” Jacob said, holding up a hand for Timothy to stop. “I get it.”

  Chapter 6: An Unexpected Guest

  It had been a couple of days since she’d heard from Jacob. Not since they’d had sex. Wendy walked along the bar, cleaning up empty glasses and dumping them into the small sink behind the bar. The crowd that night was quiet, which was annoying. She could’ve used some loud distractions from her thoughts.

  She wanted to believe something else was going on, and not the depressing possibility that now that he got what he wanted, he didn’t need her anymore. They’d talked every day since he got into town; he had pursued her so hard. Was it just to have sex in the woods? Could that really have been his whole goal?

  She’d called him a few times, even left a voicemail, but nothing so much as a courtesy text. She wanted to believe he was different. He’d seemed different than the others. Still, in the back of her head, she hurt. She felt betrayed. It seemed like an awful lot of work for a quickie.

  A young man came into the bar. He was good looking in a way, though maybe a little soft. He came around to the bar and sat at the stool nearest Wendy. “Can I get a beer?” he asked her.

  “Sure,” she said, “what would you like?”

  He shrugged a shoulder. “What’ve you got on tap?”

  “You must be part of that conference in town, huh?” she said and grabbed a frosted mug.

  The young man gave a small laugh. “What gave it away?”

  “Other than your hand-sewn, tailored suit? The fact that you guys, with all of your money, take whatever’s on tap.”

  He laughed again and plucked at the lapel of his jacket. “It’s that obvious, huh?”

  “Look around you, pal.”

  “Well I could say the same thing about you,” he said, leaning in smoothly.

  “Me? How so?”

  “A precious stone amongst a river of coal. Look at you,” he said, holding both of his hands as though she were a piece of art on display.

  She was still so hurt by Jacob’s rebuffing that she allowed herself to indulge a bit in this man’s flirtations. It felt good to be wanted, and what was the harm? If Jacob didn’t want her showing attention to anyone else, he should’ve returned her calls. This was his fault. Wendy smiled.

  “Thank you. It’s kind of you to say.” Then with the mug she pointed to the line of taps. “Your beer?”

  “You have an amber ale?”

  “That we do,” she said, and tipped the mug under the tap as she pulled the lever.

  “You’ve got great hands,” he said. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

  She laughed. It was a cheesy line, but cute in its own way.

  “Come on,” he goaded, “be honest. This isn’t your first time.”

  “No,” she said, smiling. “I’ve done this once before.”

  “Ah, so you’ve had a chance to work out all of the kinds in your technique.”

  “Kinks?” she asked and set the mug in front of him. “There are no kinks. Flawless since day one.”

  “I’m going to put that on my license plate boarder.” They laughed together and he took a sip of his beer. “Not bad,” he said, and she could see the lifelessness in his eyes that said he was lying. “So are you seeing anyone?”

  “Sort of,” she said. “You still haven’t paid me for the beer.”

  “Sort of?” he said. “What’s that mean?”

  “It means sort of. Pay for that or I’ll make you pay for it.”

  “This special guy of yours, he got a name? What’s he like?” He tipped back the mug and drained off half of it.

  “All right pal,” Wendy said, all sense of flirtatiousness gone, “get the hell out of here. Raul!”

  A few other bartenders picked up the call for Raul, the call traveling out the back to the patio outside.

  “How’s your mom?” the man suddenly asked.

  A cold shock went through Wendy’s system. She couldn’t formulate an answer. Her mind was completely stuck. All she could do was stand there and stare at this man that just brought up something few people know about.

  “She having a good day today? Maybe she’d like some company, since her piece of shit daughter is out gallivanting all night with untrustworthy types. Do you know where your sort of boyfriend is right now? Or, more to the point, who he’s with?”

  “Get out,” Wendy said, her voice shaking with each word. There was nothing she could do to control the quivering of her lower lip.

  The man drained off his mug, and then slapped a 20-dollar bill on the bar. “You tell Jacob I stopped by, huh?”

  “I don’t even know who you are, you asshole,” Wendy said. By now all attention in the bar was centered on the two of them.

  “Don’t worry,” the man said, smiling as he squinted his eyes. “He does.”

  Standing from his chair just as Raul came in from the back, the man winked at Wendy.

  “See you around.”

  Raul came up and stood between
them. “All right, you’re out of here. Move it or I’m moving you.”

  The man chuckled to himself as Raul escorted him out, but Wendy felt sick.

  Chapter 7: A Constant Distraction

  Jacob sighed as his phone vibrated again in his pants pocket. He didn’t need to check to see who was calling. He knew who it was. Still it was a strange compulsion that made him fish it out and look. Wendy had been calling almost nonstop for the last half hour. He’d been trying to keep his distance, but this was getting ridiculous. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Timothy was right, he was getting distracted. He almost lost a major point in the negotiations and all just because he couldn’t stop thinking about Wendy.

  She was all he wanted to think about! That was a problem. Maybe any other time of the year, hell, the next twenty-five years, it would be fine. Right now, at that exact moment, he couldn’t do with the distractions she was causing him. Ever since their time together, his mind was locked in that place, in that time. The feel of her skin, the smell of her hair…He wanted nothing more than to be back to that place of intimacy with her. He could not scratch that itch. He needed her and he needed to have her all the time.

  Either he stopped this now and let himself enjoy her for the rest of his life or he gave in to his poor willpower, let himself get swept up in the passion of it all, lose negotiations for his clan and potentially lose everything he’d spent centuries building. It was unfair to her, and he obviously had no way of explaining it, but he had to make this choice. Really, it was in everyone’s best interest.

  As he mulled these thoughts over, the phone rang again. This was what he was talking about! She was a distraction! Still, this didn’t look like it was going to end any time soon. He put the phone to his ear. Before he could get out “Hello?” her voice was screamed at him.

  “Your little friend came to see me today, Jacob. He came to my bar, pushing my buttons, threatening my mother!”