Kiss the Dragon (Maidens Book One) (3 page)

The orange-haired biker, Niall, was already there, arranging a plate of cookies. He waved me over to the table. “Just have a seat, anywhere will do. Cookies and tea coming right up.”

I settled onto a bench, startled when Alec sat right next to me. The other men each took one of the other benches and we all waited quietly for the food to be ready. Even Gavin, who looked like he might want to say something once or twice, but quickly shut his mouth when Alec glared at him. Taking their lead, I bit my tongue too, acting like nothing weird was going on.

“Come on, Niall,” Alec said. “It doesna matter how the cookies look on the plate, mate.”

“Coming,” he said, hurrying over with the plate of cookies and another plate of what turned out to be finger sandwiches. Apparently, bikers in Scotland observed high tea.

Niall passed out plates with an elegant pink floral pattern and teacups with purple thistles running around the edge. The china’s delicacy made me blink as it clashed against the contrast of their leather jackets and tough-guy machismo. Who dressed like these guys did and then served food on platters fit for the queen? No one I knew.

After the plates came the food followed by a tea pot and a decanter of some kind of alcohol. Given our location and its amber color when poured, I surmised it must be Scotch. The men all added a healthy dose of the booze to their tea. Alec held the decanter over my dainty teacup, but I covered it with my hand and shook my head.

“No thanks. I don’t drink.”

Alec raised an eyebrow as if he’d never heard of such a thing.

“I’m a terrible drunk,” I said and then I stuffed a cookie in my mouth to stop myself from saying anything more. No one needed to know what the voice was like under the influence of alcohol. That little piece of information could be used against me.

The cookie had a bright lemon flavor with a sugar crust that gave it texture and sweetness. I made an appreciative ‘mmm’ sound which caused Niall’s face to light up with pleasure. “Glad you like it. It’s an American recipe.”

I washed the cookie down with some tea, enjoying the way its bitterness served as a foil for the sweetness of the cookie. Niall had balanced flavors nicely. “They’re really good. I’d love the recipe.”

“You would? Do you cook?” He sounded absolutely delighted.

“I run a cupcake shop in Inverness. Right on the main drag,” I said, leaving out the part where I’d abandoned ship.

“Oh excellent.” Niall beamed at me. “Since you’re a professional, I’ll tell you the secret is to dip the cookie dough in water first and then the sugar. That’s what makes the crust.” He topped off our tea, pouring from a dented copper kettle. All the men quickly added more booze while I went for one of the sandwiches.

Catching me peeking between the bread to see what it was, Niall said, “It’s chicken salad with watercress and cucumber.”

“Sounds very English,” I said.

The men went still and all four of them gave me a look.

I straightened in my seat. “Was that a bad thing to say?”

“We’re not bloody redcoats,” said the dark-haired one with a frown. His intense blue eyes flashed with what I took to be irritation.

“Oh, my bad. Sorry guys, I’m from the other side of the pond,” I said with a shrug. The intricacies of the English-Scottish rivalry were not my strong suit. I took another sandwich and snagged one more cookie. If I didn’t, they would all be gone. These biker dudes ate fast. “So, who are you guys? What’s with the fireballs?” I gave Alec the side eye and he shifted uncomfortably.

“I’m Malcolm,” said the guy with the dark hair. “These are my brothers, Niall, Gavin and Alec.” He pointed to each of the men in turn.

Niall gave an amicable wave, which I returned. Gavin snapped his teeth again, which made Alec tense up beside me. I put my hand on his arm again. “Don’t worry, I’ve got his name
and
his number. Gavin, class A asshole.”  I smiled sweetly at the blond. “Or would you prefer the term jackass?”

His face darkened with anger for a moment, but then cleared as he lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I’m a good arsehole to have in a fight.”

“Well, maybe you should save it for the fighting then,” Alec growled, reaching for a cookie. Gavin got to the plate first, swiping the three remaining cookies and stuffing them into his mouth.

“God save ye, Gav.” Malcolm swatted the back of Gavin’s head. “Stop it. I mean it, or you’ll be looking for someplace else to rest your head, brotherhood or no.”

“What? I’m hungry.” Gavin’s eyes went wide with feigned innocence as he reached for the sandwiches, but Niall swiftly pulled the plate away.

“Brotherhood?” I asked over Gavin’s whining, finding the word odd.

The table went quiet at my question. Finally Alex sighed. “You ken there’s magic in the world, right?”

At my nod, Malcolm said, “We’re dragons.”

“All of you?” I looked at each of them in turn, squinting to see if I could spot scales or something dragon-y. All I saw, though, were four handsome men. If Alec hadn’t been throwing fire earlier, I would have doubted the truth of Malcolm’s words.

“Aye,” Alec said.

“And every dragon must find his maiden afore his fire burns him up inside,” Niall added.

“So Alec and I, you think we’re…” I trailed off, pointing from the big man to me and back again, unable to finish the sentence.

Malcolm nodded. “You’re his maiden.”

“What does that mean exactly?” I looked from Malcolm to Alex trying to make sense of what they were telling me.

“We’re destined to be together,” Alec said.

“What does
that
mean?” I asked again.

“In the old days, you would have been married the day you met,” Gavin said with a smirk. He reminded me of a cat that liked to toy with its prey. I wished I had a spray bottle I could shoot him with. That had always worked when my cat got out of line.

“I can’t get married,” I said, horrified. Suddenly, I wished I had some of that Scotch in my tea. I could have used the liquid courage. I looked at Alec who didn’t seem any more thrilled than I was.

“Don’t you feel it, lass?” asked Niall looking confused.

“Feel what?”

Alec cut me off. “Aye, she does.”

“How do you know what I feel?” I glared at the man.

“Because I feel it, too.” He turned his head, hazel gaze meeting mine square on. “What do you think that kiss was about?”

“I-I don’t know,” I said. The voice had pushed me into that kiss, literally shoving me into Alec like I was a dog in heat. My stomach sank as the truth hit me.

You set me up,
I thought at it, furious.
You knew this would happen.
My hands curled into fists and I resisted the intense urge to pound myself in the stomach. The voice couldn’t be punished or hurt or touched, but I could. I’d learned that the hard way.

“We’ve been waiting on you for a long time,” said Malcolm.

“Me?”

“Not you specifically. Someone like you. A maiden. A true mate,” added Niall. “You’re just the first one to show up.”

“How many are you expecting?”

“One for each of us. That’s how I set the spell.” Malcolm added more scotch to his tea as he spoke.

My eyes widened. “You called me here?”

He nodded. “You seem to be more than a maiden, though lass. Why don’t you tell us what you are and why you’re in trouble?”

“Mayhap we can help,” Niall added.

I dodged Malcolm’s question by draining my teacup. I barely knew these men. There was no way I could tell them what I was. No way that wouldn’t lead to more problems for me. Worse, they were meddling in my life with their spells.

Tell,
said the voice.

Are you crazy? Not happening,
I seethed at the voice. Outwardly, I smiled as Niall jumped to refill my cup while the other men sat patiently waiting for my response.

The voice kept pushing.
Tell. Tell. Tell.

I shoved back.
No way in hell.

Power surged through me, spreading from my gut until it covered all of me. The voice was taking over, forcing me to do things its way. I bit back a scream, turning it into a grunt instead. All the men instantly went on high alert, aware that something was happening.

“I havna felt such power in a long time,” Malcolm said, his eyes narrowed and expression guarded.

I gave in, letting the voice have its way. If I didn’t, it would tell its own version of the story and I wanted control over how my secrets came out. That didn’t mean I liked it, though, and when I spoke, it was through gritted teeth. “I was hit by lightning ten years ago.” I lifted my shirt to show them the white lines that criss-crossed my stomach. The lines ran up and down the right side of my body, marking the ripples of electricity that had shocked me. “I died three times. At least that’s what the doctors told me. When I came to, I had this voice, this thing inside me.” I gestured to my stomach, where I most often felt its presence.

“What was it?” asked Gavin leaning forward, his attention rapt.

“It’s the future.” I rushed the words out, afraid if I gave myself time to think I wouldn’t say them at all.

“You have the sight then,” Malcolm said, calm save for a spark of excitement in his eyes.

I shrugged. “I don’t know what it is, but I know what I can do.”

“Tell me.” Malcolm motioned for me to continue.

“I read energy, like the vibe of people and things around me.” I waved my hand to indicate the room. “This voice talks to me and sometimes I have visions.”

“Is that why those men were after you?” Alec asked.

I nodded. “I made the mistake of telling people and showing them what I could do.” I worried my bottom lip, gathering my thoughts, trying to decide how much I should say. “I turned down all the job offers, but there are people and…
other things
out there who aren’t interested in employing me. They want to own me and make me serve their purposes. I’ve been on the run for years, trying to keep away from them.”

The men gulped down their tea in unison, taking a moment to digest everything I’d said.

“Can you take it away with your magic?” I asked Malcolm, curious. “Can you turn me back into a regular human that no one would want?” I didn’t know a lot about magic, but if he’d brought me here with a spell, maybe he could get rid of the voice.

He pursed his lips and thought for a long moment and then said, “I donna know, lass. I will have to research it.”

Alec put an arm around me. I stiffened at the contact at first, feeling a violation of my personal space but that soon gave way to a sensation of comfort. Giving me a squeeze, Alec said, “But I do know we can keep you safe, lass. You don’t have to run anymore.”

“And in return, you can break our curse,” Malcolm said with a smile.

I went still for a moment and narrowed my eyes at Malcolm’s words. “Excuse me?” Just when I thought I couldn’t be surprised, something else popped up to prove me wrong.

“We’re cursed,” Alec said. “And without our maidens we will remain so.”

The food I’d eaten turned leaden in my stomach. “You think I’m going to save you?”

“Aye, we do,” Malcolm said with a decisive nod.

Chapter Three

Alec took me to the turret after we finished the dragon biker version of tea and crumpets, curses and fireballs (oh my!). His brothers had abruptly left after dropping the curse bomb on me, filing out of the kitchen and shooting pointed looks at Alec as they went. I had a feeling he’d been given the task of filling me in on the rest of the story. I should have run earlier and I should have run then, but I stayed, mostly because I was tired. The castle seemed safe enough for me to risk one night. I would find a way out tomorrow. Until then, I would play along.

Outside, the sun managed to push a few meager rays through the gray cloud cover. The wind helped by blowing strong enough to make the clouds roil, creating gaps for more sunlight to pass through.

“What do you think of all this?” Alec asked me as he peered over the edge, taking in the ground below. “Do you believe in dragons?”

I lifted my head to the sky, preferring the wind to the weight of the earth. It smelled like rain. Again. Scotland was a wet place.

Soon
, agreed the voice.

Oh shut up,
I thought at it.
I don’t need you to state the obvious.
To Alec, I said, “I guess I do now. I don’t really understand what’s going on though.” He started to speak, but I held up my hand. “I get that you’re looking for your maiden to break your curse, but I can’t be it. There’s no way. There must be a mistake.”

“I donna know, lass. It feels right to me.” His hazel eyes searched my face. “That kiss--”

I cut him off. “Was an accident.”

Alec shook his head. “No, lass. It wasna. It rang through me like church bells, sweet and holy and
right
.” When I tensed, he stepped away as if not wanting to crowd me. “I’ll give you time, lass. There’s no rush. I’ve been waiting for two centuries, it hurts me none to wait more.”  He strode over to the turret wall and climbed up to perch on its edge.