Chosen By The Dragon Read online

  Wendy hung up her phone as well. “Hold on.”

  She went back to the living room. “Mom, a friend is here. We’re going to talk outside. Did you need anything?”

  Her mom looked over at her, eyes tired and smile weak, but she shook her head. “No dear, I’m fine. Go enjoy your time with your friend. I think I may drift off a little, actually.”

  “Okay.” Wendy came over and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll be quiet. Sleep well if you can.” Touching her, hearing her voice, Wendy was forced to face the possibility of being without her. She pressed her lips to her head again and then put her cheek to her mother’s cheek. “I love you, mom.”

  “Ohh,” she sighed. “I love you too, sweetie. I never get tired of hearing it.”

  Wendy touched her forehead to her mother’s, gave her one last kiss on her forehead, and then went out to the front porch. She closed the door behind her quietly. “She’s going to sleep, so keep your voice down.”

  “Yeah, of course,” Jacob said.

  They walked down a few steps and sat down.

  “I’m sorry,” he started, “about everything. That man, his name is Tristan, I’ve taken care of it. He was out of line coming to you, and I made him pay for it.”

  “Pay?” she asked, raising her brows. As sadistic as it sounded, she was glad.

  “Yep,” he said, and held up his hand. The back of his hand looked like a boxer’s. The knuckles were bruised, the skin split.

  “Oh my God,” she said, taking his hand and pulling it closer to look at it. “Are you okay?”

  “Oh, I’m dandy. I had him removed from the…” his words trailed off and he scratched at the back of his neck. “He’s gone. That’s all. He has no more rights, no power. There’s no reason he’d ever come to you again because he can’t gain anything from it. Know what I mean?”

  “I think so, yeah. And, as an added bonus, you kicked his ass?”

  “Within an inch of his life,” Jacob said, practically spitting the words.

  “Good,” Wendy said and put his hand on her knee. It was amazing how calm she suddenly felt. “I can’t believe you would do that for me.”

  “What?” he asked and looked at her, surprised. “How can you think that?”

  Wendy shrugged a shoulder. “You got what you wanted and then you just stopped talking to me.”

  “Got what I—“His eyes forced themselves closed as he realized what she meant. “Oh. Damnit. No, Wendy, no. I am so sorry. It wasn’t that at all.”

  “Really?” she asked with a mirthless laugh. “Because that’s sure how it came across.”

  “This conference I’m here for, it’s big. Like, really big. They’re negotiations. Aggressive negotiations. Tens of thousands of lives hang in the balance. I’d become so caught up in how I felt about you that I was losing my edge. I couldn’t focus. The day after we were together, I almost lost a major, ah, piece of business, if we can put it like that. I had to distance myself so I could focus on my work because I wasn’t focused on it.”

  “You could’ve told me first.”

  “I couldn’t have,” he said simply. “If I’d talked to you at all, I would’ve lost all will to stay away. I’m sorry that this bled over to you and disrupted your life so much. I wish…”

  He shook his head and looked away. There was something so sincere about the way he couldn’t find his words that Wendy forgot about being upset with him.

  “You wish what?”

  He sighed. “I wish I hadn’t fallen for you so hard, that I could not care so much. Then I could work and still see you. When I’m with you, though, when I’m talking to you, it’s all I can think about. You overwhelm me, and I can’t think of life being any other way. These last few days have been hell for me. I’ve been able to work, but only because there’s this huge part of me that’s missing.”

  “Jacob,” she said and took his hand in both of her own. “I had no idea you felt that strongly. I’ve been upset with you because I was so hurt. I felt stupid, like I was the only one who cared. I really fell for you and thought you were different. With you, it was so easy. Everything. Everything is so easy. All I think about is being able to talk to you again. When we had the fight and I said to stay away, I know it sounds stupid, but it hurt when you didn’t call anymore. Secretly, I hoped you would, that you’d care enough to try, anyway.”

  “I did. I wanted to.” He sighed. “I guess we just had too much working against us.”

  She gave his hand a squeeze. “It’s not too late. If you wanted.”

  He looked up into her eyes. “I do want to, but I have to finish negotiations. When that’s done, we can spend as much time together as you like. We can do anything. Can you wait for me for the next few days? Can we not speak or be together so that I can finish my work? I wish I could do both, but you’re intoxicating. I just can’t.”

  Wendy took in a deep breath. His words soothed her like nothing else could. Knowing that everything that had happened had been because he cared so much did wonders for settling everything she felt. It was okay to care about him. It would all be okay.

  “Yes,” she said. “Knowing you want me, too, and that we can be together after, I can wait as long as you want me to. But, can I give you something to think of me while you’re gone?”

  “Of course,” he said. “I would love that.”

  Wendy nodded and stood. Never letting go of his hand, she gave it a gentle tug to pull him to his feet. She guided him inside, closing the door quietly behind her. She held out her hand for him to wait and to be silent, and then she snuck over to the living room. There in her bed, her mother slept quietly. Wendy returned to Jacob and put a finger to her lips.

  “We have to be quiet, she’s asleep. Come with me.” Taking his hand again, she climbed the stairs and guided him down the hallway to her room. Once inside, she closed the door quietly. Jacob looked around her room appraisingly, a small smile on his face.

  “You like it?” she asked him.

  “It’s cute. So what’d you want to give me?”

  Wendy grinned and stepped toward him. Pressing her body against his, she pulled his face into a kiss. Jacob hungrily met the kiss, his hands going to her hips. She felt him grow hard against her as she kissed him, and she moved her body to grind against him. When he groaned softly, she pulled back from the kiss, her lips only a hair’s breadth away from his own.

  “Shhh,” she whispered, “we have to be quiet.”

  Jacob smiled and pressed his lips to hers. They undressed one another, piling their clothes on the floor.

  His skin felt warm against hers. The rough skin of his hands ran along her soft flesh raising goose flesh where he touched. He pressed against her, backing her up until she fell back on her bed. It squeaked as she landed, and they both giggled quietly.

  They resumed kissing, hands roaming along every small nook and curve of one another. This time they went slowly, feeling one another, kissing along the curves of the neck or along the chest. They appreciated one another’s body in all of its carnal glory.

  When he finally entered her, it was softer motion, gentle. They moved together slowly, enjoying the exquisite feeling of being coupled. Her wetness served them well as he slid in deeply before withdrawing nearly altogether. The sweet torture as he slowly reentered her brought both a stifled moan and a grin to her face.

  “Give it to me,” she whispered. He leaned down, kissing her as he moved atop her faster, deeper.

  She couldn’t help herself, the moans came louder, more powerfuly as he filled her.

  “Shhh,” he whispered in her ear. She put a hand over her mouth to try and muffle the sounds, unable to stop herself from making noise. Jacob thrust deeper inside, moving faster and faster. The bed began to squeak gently with the motion, but by then neither of them could’ve cared less about it.

  Jacob suddenly pressed deep inside of her, groaning with the power of his orgasm. Wendy clutched him with both hands, pulling him deeper inside of her, holding hi
m to her as he climaxed.

  When he’d finished they both rested, trying to catch their breath. He kissed her lips, repeated sweet kisses he then spread to her cheeks, down her neck to her shoulder and finally rested his head on the mattress.

  “I’m not letting you go,” he said. “Don’t think that I ever would.”

  “The thought never crossed my mind,” she said, and they both laughed quietly.

  Chapter 11: Negotiations

  Jacob sat in negotiations, aware of what was happening, focused on the business proceedings, but with a small smile on his face. A smile that hadn’t gone away since yesterday. Timothy noticed, and, after guessing it was because Tristan was gone and finding out he was wrong, he gave his friend a knowing grin.

  “Patched things up, huh?” he asked.

  “Don’t worry,” Jacob said, “we’re not seeing one another anymore until after negotiations are over.”

  “Good,” Timothy said, and pointed a finger at him. “I’d hate to see anyone else get pummeled to hell.”

  “No you wouldn’t. You’d love to see that.”

  “I would love to see that again. That was just sexy.”

  The memory of that conversation made Jacob laugh softly to himself just before claiming a bid on the current share being discussed. Now that the Drathmir were no longer represented, seven of the clans had little opportunity to grab influence. Whatever the Drathmir had been planning had been shot all to hell. It was a satisfying feeling, knowing that he’d been the one to do it.

  With all of that out of the way, things proceeded quickly. They would be finished tomorrow at this rate.

  When Jacob’s phone buzzed, he furrowed his brows, confused. The only person who had that number was Wendy, and she knew they weren’t going to talk anymore until business was done. When he pulled his phone out and looked at it, he realized he actually had missed a text and two other calls. The text simply read “911!”

  Concerned about what could be going on, and unable to help himself, Jacob got up from his chair and hurried to the back of the room.

  “Jacob,” Darren said, breaking the flow of the meeting.

  “Sorry,” he said, but answered the call anyway. “Wendy, what’s wrong? I can’t really talk. At all.”

  “Hello sunshine.” Tristan’s voice, broken, shaking with emotion, told Jacob everything he needed to know.

  “Tristan,” he said loud enough for the rest of the conference room to hear, “what are you doing?”

  “I told you that you were going to pay for what you’ve done.”

  “Tristan, stop. You won’t gain anything by doing this. You can’t do anything about what happened, so don’t make it worse for yourself. You’ve been excommunicated from the negotiations, but don’t do something that’ll make you clanless.”

  “I am clanless! Do you think they would’ve kept me after being kicked out of The Negotiations? They had plans, Jacob. Now they’ll have to wait another twenty-five years before they can do anything. Because of me! If I survive the week, I’ll be surprised. But you know what? You know what Jacob? I’m not going alone. No, I’ve brought company. We’ll leave this world together.”

  Jacob’s body began to shake as the cold fingers of terror slipped over him. His mind had raced with what he could possibly do, but when he heard that last sentence, everything stopped.

  “Let her go.”

  There was the sound of wind buffeting against the phone as Tristan moved. Suddenly Jacob could hear Wendy’s muffled whimpering. “You really picked a good one,” Tristan said. “Special. She makes for wonderful company. I should thank you, really. Without you, she and I never would’ve met.”

  “I’m going to kill you,” Jacob said. “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you slowly.”

  “Come find us,” Tristan said, his voice cold, dark.

  With a beep, the call ended. Jacob looked back to the other representatives. “He’s lost it.”

  “Are lives in danger?” Darren asked.

  “Yes.”

  Darren closed the book and set down the gavel. “These proceedings are closed for the day. Jacob, handle it.”

  “Thank you,” Jacob said quickly and ran for the door. There would be blood by the gallons before the sun set that night.

  He’d make sure of it.

  Chapter 12: A Prisoner

  The wind howled along the cliff face. IT was freezing this high up the mountain. Wendy was bound, her hands behind her back. In her mouth was an old rag with a strip of duct tape over her lips to keep her mouth shut. The man was there, Tristan.

  He paced a furious path in front of her, ranting about how Jacob had done him wrong. His face looked like it had been shoved through a meat grinder and then pieced back together by a drunken five-year-old. His words slurred around his swollen lips. Wendy was no doctor, but she suspected he had a broken jaw, or at least a severely wounded one.

  As he yelled, he held onto his side as though trying to keep everything inside his body from spilling out. Jacob had really worked him over!

  “You’re dead,” Wendy tried to say to him, her words lost in the rag.

  “Hmm?” he said, turning an ear toward her, a small stream of dried blood crusted down the canal to his jaw. “I didn’t quite catch that. I’m sure you think your prince will come for you, huh?”

  Wendy nodded in large, obvious motions.

  “Cute,” he said. “Very cute. And very true. There’s a lot you don’t know about your dear love. No matter where you go, he’ll find you. He’ll always find you. And do you know why that is?”

  “Because I can smell her,” Jacob said.

  Wendy couldn’t believe it. When Tristan spun around, they both saw Jacob standing there, looking pissed.

  “You did this,” Tristan shouted. “You brought this on yourself. You brought it on her. You did this!”

  “No, you little weasel. I played by the rules. Even when I destroyed your face, I did it within the confines of our law.”

  “This will heal,” Tristan said, pointing his hand at his face, “but when I throw your sweet love off this cliff, that won’t.”

  “I came here to kill you,” Jacob said, “but now that I’m looking at you, I’m filled with pity. You’re pathetic.”

  “I’ll show you pathetic!”

  “I’m offering this once: leave. Go now. Never return. Live in banishment without anything living and beautiful, but live.”

  “I hear your proposal,” Tristan said, “and I reject it. Allow me to counter-offer.”

  Then, right before Wendy’s eyes, Tristan began changing. He lurched forward, falling to his hands. His neck jutted out, and as it did, his face stretched and grew.

  “In front of a human? You’re despicable!” Jacob shouted, looking disgusted. Wendy tried to ask what was going on but the rag muffled her words. “I’m sorry,” Jacob said to her.

  Before she could say anything, he pulled his arms back and shouted to the sky. Jacob’s chest swelled near to bursting, his arms and legs growing. Scales covered both Tristan’s flesh and Jacob’s. In moments, they became full dragons. Dragons!

  Wendy was ready to pass out from the shock of it, but the two beasts crashed into one another. Tristan was a blood color, Jacob a deep blue. Claws slashed at one another, gripping at arms, tails, whatever they could reach.

  The combat was furious and brutal, but when Tristan made the mistake of clamping his jaws on Jacob’s arm, it was over. In one smooth motion, Jacob flipped Tristan onto his back and crashed the back of his skull against the stone mountainside. Twice, three times and Tristan’s body went limp. Roaring his fury, Jacob lifted the limp dragon into the air, and then threw him off the side of the cliff.

  The dragon stood, watching as his enemy disappeared. Jacob slowly turned back into a human, his face filled with worry as he turned to look at Wendy. She couldn’t believe it. Even now, her mind reeled with possible explanations as to what had just happened. Jacob came and knelt in front of her. Grabbing the corner of
the duct tape, he looked her in the eye.

  “One, two, three…”

  The tape stung as he tore it free, but it was still minor in the face of everything she’d just experienced. Jacob reached two fingers into her mouth and removed the rag. She coughed; part of the corner had worked its way down her windpipe and it scratched as he pulled it out.

  “What the hell?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I said it was over, and then this happens. I’m sorry.” He went behind her and began trying to free her hands.

  “Jacob, you’re not responsible for what he did, but what the hell was that? Did that really just happen?”

  “That was technically against our laws, so if anyone asks, you didn’t see anything. But… yes. What you saw did actually happen.” After ripping the tape from her hands, he helped her to her feet. “I’m here meeting with other dragons from the major areas of the world. Our clans run things. We manage the world. I should never have dragged you into this, but my feelings for you… I couldn’t ignore how I felt. I’m sorry.”

  Wendy looked past him to the cliff face where Tristan had disappeared, then back to Jacob. He was a dragon. Strangely, alarmingly, Wendy found she was okay with it. “No matter what you are, you came for me. You stood up for me, rescued me, and were there for me when I needed it. I don’t care what you are, because you are the kindest, most amazing man I’ve ever come across in my life.”

  Jacob took her hands in his and held them to his chest. “Stay with me. Be with me. I’ll take care of you and your sweet mother, and I promise I’ll never let anyone harm you again.”

  In lieu of an answer, she put her arms over his shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss. He held her close to him in the sweetest embrace, and, for the first time, Wendy felt like she was in the safest arms that could ever be.

  Thank you for reading another Imogen Taylor novel. For more tantalizing novels and future releases please follow her author page!!!