Desired by Dragons: BBW Paranormal Romance (Dragons of New York Book 2) (5 page)

“That’s enough for now,” Drake said, his voice deep, aroused, but also calm.

“But what about you two?” Her heart was both silently grateful it didn’t go any further and incredibly disappointed at not getting to see these two men come with her.

“Think of tonight as just a taste of what we can do,” Quill said, coming up next to her and resting his hand over her stomach, softly stroking it. “Sex can be a little more… intense with dragons. So we’ll wait on that for now.”

Drake nodded. “We want you to be perfectly comfortable with us, and there’s no rush.”

She blinked. She couldn’t believe it. It was the furthest thing possible from what she’d experienced before. No expectations. All pleasure for her.

Both men lay next to her on the bed, and she felt safe, surrounded by their care and protection. Her body was still enveloped in the euphoria of the incredible pleasure she’d just experienced.

Quill stroked her hair gently and then ran his fingers lightly over her back. She was already blissfully pleasured, and now his touch was relaxing her into a comfortable peace.

“I’m sorry we didn’t do something for you two,” she said.

They looked at each other in confusion and then at her. “You did,” Quill said. “Everything that just happened was for us. Your pleasure is ours. Watching you go is the hottest thing in the world.”

Drake nodded, and they curled around her, spooning her on each side. She felt utterly safe, utterly protected by her dragons.

And oddly enough, at moments like this, they seemed to get along better than ever before.

Her body was still alive from their touch, aware of their muscled, delicious forms. She knew she would want to try this again soon. Taking all of what they had to offer next time.

But as the men drifted off to sleep, leaving her alone with her thoughts, she had to wonder… What was the catch?

She’d find out the next day.

T
he next morning
, things were fine, until a loud screeching sounded outside the window, followed by the sound of crashing glass and crunching metal.

Tara’s head jerked up just as Quill jumped out of his seat and ran to the window.

Drake let out an oath and pushed out of the chair, giving her a reluctant look as he went to follow his partner.

“They’re hurt,” Quill said in a low voice. She could almost feel the tension radiating from him. Several times in the last couple of days, he had wanted to go out. Both times, Drake argued him down. But this time, it didn’t seem likely.

“You aren’t going,” Drake said, grabbing Quill by the shoulder. She poked at her eggs awkwardly, not liking the tension in the room.

She could hardly believe the two men facing each other down stubbornly in front of her were the same two who had worked as one in loving and pleasuring her last night.

“They’re right there,” Quill said, frustrated. “It would take only minutes. You can’t just expect me to sit and watch.”

“Can’t I?” Drake asked, his voice starting to rise. “And what if you aren’t back in a few minutes? Am I supposed to leave our mate alone to go after you?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Quill said, rolling his eyes. “I’m the helpless loser who can’t do anything right.”

“I didn’t say you were a helpless loser, but yes, I usually have to come save your ass.”

“Don’t bother!” Quill said. “I’m fine on my own. Besides, how can you not care? There’s suffering down there. Can you just look on?”

Drake put his hands in his hair and paced in frustration. “Yes. I can. Because we have other responsibilities right now!”

Tara blinked, realizing he meant her. “I’ll be fine. Quill can go.”

She realized speaking up was a mistake when Drake turned to her, looking angry and betrayed.

“Stay out of this,” he said, shaking his head. “You don’t understand, and it’s not your business.”

She frowned. “Like hell it’s not. I hate seeing the two of you bicker, and frankly, I agree with Quill. Why should he stay here when he could be helping?”

Drake was speechless for a second, looking out the window and then back at them. “Because those are the rules! Why doesn’t anyone understand that?”

“And why don’t you understand I can’t just sit here and watch?” Quill said. “I’m going. You stay with our mate. I’ll be right back. I promise.”

Drake grabbed him by the back of the collar, jerking him to a stop. Quill whirled on him, yanking out of his grasp.

“How can you just do nothing?” Quill asked. “How can you just not care?”

Drake’s blue eyes narrowed to slits. “I do care. I just can’t care about
everyone
like you do. I have to protect what I can protect.” Drake looked from her to Quill, and Tara saw something there that Quill didn’t seem to. How much Drake worried over their welfare.

Quill shrugged away and headed for the door again.

“I don’t want to fight you,” Drake said. “Not in front of our mate. But I will. You can’t take risks like this anymore.”

“One hour,” Quill said. “Give me one hour. We can talk when I’m back. What can happen in an hour?”

“I thought you learned your lesson when you nearly died. I thought you’d be more careful.”

“I am being more careful. I’m right there, right in front of you. This is different.”

“You’re still running off where I can’t protect you and risking getting killed.”

Quill’s eyes narrowed on Drake, and Tara could feel the effect of so many years of unsaid words and feelings between them. The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on.

“You’ll never trust me, will you? You don’t need me, you don’t think I’m useful, and you don’t think I can do anything. But guess what? The people down there do need me. And I’m going to do what I was born for. Even Tara agrees.”

She nodded, though she was aware she didn’t understand the full situation.

Drake’s arms dropped in shock, and Quill took advantage of the moment to slip out. He shut the door behind him, and Drake let out a roar and slapped his hand on the wall hard enough it seemed to shake the whole apartment.

She didn’t know what to say, so she quietly continued to poke at her eggs.

“What are you looking at?” Drake snapped, folding his arms. “It’s your fault. You made it impossible to stop him.”

“He wanted to go,” she snapped back, angry now. “What would you have done, tie him down like you tried to tie me?”

Drake threw up his hands again and faced her with angry eyes. “You don’t understand. There are reasons dragons stay together and work in pairs. We have a lot of enemies, doing the work we do. In fact, we haven’t had as much work as usual because Quill only recently recovered from being kidnapped and nearly killed a few months ago.”

“You said dragons are immortal.”

“We live forever, yes. Unless someone murders us. We’re hard to kill, but it’s not impossible. Well, I in particular can take a lot of damage. I never really need Quill’s healing. But Quill? A lot of people would like to get their hands on his blood.”

“So you think he could be in danger right now?” she asked, panic rising in her.

“Of course,” he said.

She sighed. “Well, with all your yelling and blustering, sometimes it’s hard to tell when you’re making sense. I guess you better go help him.”

Drake blinked. “I have to stay and protect you.”

“I’ll be fine. He’s just right out there. If he’s really going to go without you, then go and keep him safe. Then bring him back here, and we can talk about how to handle this in the future.”

Drake glared. “We have enemies. We can’t leave you here alone.”

“Well, we can’t leave Quill alone either, and I’m much safer here than he is there!”

Drake looked angry but couldn’t disagree.

“Go get Quill,” she said. “None of this works without him. And when he’s back, we need to have a talk. All three of us. Because I don’t want to be the one complicating what you two are dealing with. And I don’t want to be the reason you can’t protect your partner. If we can’t work something out, I’ll have to go, because I can’t stand to put either of you in danger.”

All the air went out of a Drake as he looked out the window and then at her. “I’m not losing you,” he said. “Don’t give up on us.”

She nodded. “I won’t, but I need to know we can work something out. I can’t complete a triad with two opposing sides. It’s not fair to me.”

“I know,” Drake said, looking into her eyes. “It’s why I was reluctant to take you home.”

She met his gaze. “And do you still regret it?”

“No,” he said. “I can’t imagine life without you.”

“Then bring him back safely so we can work things out,” she said.

Drake nodded, looking reluctant but resolute. He rose to his full height and reached for the door handle. “I’ll be back soon.”

She nodded back. “I’ll be waiting.”

“Don’t open the door for anyone,” he said.

“Fine.”

Then Drake was gone, the door shut behind him.

Tara rested her cheek on her hand and sighed. She jumped when her cellphone beeped beside her. She glared at it warily, not sure who would be texting her now.

She unlocked it and stared at the message on the screen.

Found you. You should be more careful about sending packages with sender’s address. Fancy loft, huh? We’ll see how long you last there. You and your friends.

Her heart thudded in her chest as she calmly set aside the phone.

She thought through the orders of the past few days. She couldn’t think of anyone who could have been her ex, but had something slipped through when she was preoccupied thinking about the dragons?

She stood and looked down at the street below flashing with cop cars and sirens.

Were her men down there now?

All of a sudden, the apartment didn’t feel safe, like a retreat. Without the dragons there, she felt oddly trapped, like a mouse waiting at the center of a maze for a cat to catch her.

In the past, when she’d been found by her crazy ex, she’d been able to run to a new place to avoid being found.

But if he really did know, and his words about the loft seemed to suggest that, she wasn’t safe here.

She looked down at the road. If they didn’t get back here soon, she might have to run.

And she didn’t want that to happen, not when she was just starting to connect with them. Not when last night had been so wonderful.

And then someone knocked loudly on the door, startling her. Was it her dragons, or had her ex reached her already?

Tara stared at the door, calculating her next move. The only way out was through the door. But she could go to the kitchen, find a knife…

To her surprise, the doorknob rattled and then after a moment, clicked and unlocked.

How in the hell?

She tried to stay calm as her heart tried to beat out of her chest. She put her hands up in fists. She’d be able to fight better if she focused. She took a few steps back, keeping her eyes pinned on the door, and then gasped when it opened.

She was expecting her ex. Tall, seedy-looking, dirty with dark hair.

Instead, she got two men she never could have expected.

And she’d bet anything they were also dragons, based on how beautiful they were.

The first had dark-brown hair in a warm, silky chocolate color and eyes in a light, vivid purple. He was tall and well dressed, and there was something regal in his bearing as he smiled warmly and looked down at her, folding his arms.

Why did dragons look so naturally arrogant? She supposed it had something to do with all of them being super handsome and rich.

The man behind him was equally striking for different reasons. He had lean, sharp features, short silver hair, and silvery-blue eyes framed by dark lashes. He was wearing a button-up shirt in light gray and matching gray chinos.

His eyes held a piercing intelligence that seemed to look straight through her. Just who was he?

Still, she was nearly bowled over by the charisma of the man standing in front of her. His dark hair waved back off his forehead. He wore a purple sweater with dark jeans and had a watch on his wrist that looked like it cost more than she made in a year.

He was well muscled and tall, and when he stepped forward, it felt like her eyes were drawn to him magnetically.

“Who are you?” she asked, stepping back.

The silver-haired one eyed her warily. “Why are your fists up? You think we came to hurt you, human?”

The brown-haired one gave her another gentle grin. “No need for that.”

She felt her hands lowering, as if pushed by an invisible force, and gasped. This was how the lock was undone. One of these men could move things, somehow. Her hands felt restrained by her sides as surely as if she’d been bound by rope.

But still, there was something reassuring about the man in front of her, and she willed herself not to freak out.

“Let me go, please,” she said.

“Promise you won’t attack us?” the dark-haired one asked. “My partner here is overprotective, and I can’t say what would happen if you tried something.”

She nodded, looking from him to the silver-haired man. She shuddered to think what his power was, if he was the attacker in this partnership.

The brown-haired man nodded, and she felt her hands freed almost instantly. She rubbed them, in shock, still trying to process what was happening.

“What are you doing here? This is Quill and Drake’s home.”

The silver-haired one nodded, wandering lazily into the apartment and looking around casually. Still, he gave her the impression of a coiled serpent, ready to strike at anytime. He flicked his eyes to her, a cold expression on his face, and she remembered dragons could read thoughts.

She tried not to think about anything.

“That never works,” the silver-haired man said. “Trying to think of nothing is a perfect way to think of many things. Instead, you’re better off picking something to focus your thoughts on. It’s much easier to try to think of something particular.”

The brown-haired man nodded. “No one understands the mind like Sterling.”

She raised an eyebrow. That was a weird name.

“And Quill is normal?” Sterling retorted.

“And I’m Gentry,” the brown-haired man said, coming forward. “And your name?”

“Tara,” she said quietly. “But I don’t think you should be here when they’re out. They’ll be home soon. Maybe you should come back…”

Gentry looked at Sterling, and she wondered if they could read each other’s mind.

They turned back to her, a silent decision having been made. “You’re coming with us,” Gentry said, putting a hand in the crook of her elbow.

“Wait,” she said, digging in her heels. “I’m not going with you. I told them I’d stay!”

“You can’t stay here alone,” Sterling said. “And if those two idiots are too busy quarreling to watch out for you, then you shouldn’t be with them anyway. Trust me. There is always a place for a dragon-hearted individual. If they can’t work things out, I’m sure we can find someone better.”

She tried to yank out of his grip, unsuccessfully. “No!” she said. “I want Drake and Quill.” They were perfect for her. Sure, they might have some problems, but they’d saved her life and had been saving her ever since. From loneliness and fear and isolation. She wasn’t ready to give up on them yet.

Gentry raised an eyebrow. “Really? Very loyal. Maybe we’ll even take you for our own. But in the meantime, we really should get going, right?”

“I’m fine here. I’m safe.”

Sterling snorted and looked off to the side, and Gentry continued to pull her to the door.

“Look, I can see the future, and I saw your ex coming to this apartment. So until we know why exactly he can find a dragon’s domain and whether he’d be able to enter, we need you to come with us,” Gentry said.

“But Drake and Quill…” she said, trailing off.

Gentry sighed, and a lock of soft brown hair lowered over his forehead. “Look, we’re the ones who assign them missions. If we tell you to come with us, there’s nothing they can do about it. We’ll take you for now, but we’ll tell your dragons where you are. And when they’re back, they can come for you.”