Shane: Dragon’s Savior – Ménage Erotic Fantasy (Dragon's Savior Book 4) (17 page)

When she stood up, he did as well. “Are you leaving? Now? I thought you’d wait here for the truck and we’d go back to my home. You have done us a big favor by helping out Mark.” She picked up her backpack and he reached for her, just to touch her, when she drew her gun again. “I wasn’t going to hurt you.”

“No, you weren’t.” She backed up and Shane watched her carefully. It bothered him on a lot of levels that she didn’t trust him. “The kid, I didn’t hurt him. Something came out of the woods and knocked us both down.”

Keion spoke to him through their link.
She has three broken ribs and a concussion. Also, I don’t know how bad it is, but she has something wrong on her back. She winces when she has to bend.
He told him she was leaving.
I’d not let her if you can help it. The woman saved Mark’s life by not letting Bolrock get him.

Did you find out why he attacked him?
Keion wasn’t very happy as he explained. Shane actually thought it was funny, but decided to share with the woman to see if he could get her to stay. Or at the very least, let him touch her so they could form a link.

“Bolrock, the griffin that attacked, he did so because he didn’t realize who Mark was when he peed against a tree in his territory. It’s mating season for them, and he—”

“There are more than one of those things?” Her face bloomed in embarrassment. “Whatever. I’m out of here. I’m glad the kid is going to be all right.”

“But you’re not, are you? Broken ribs, a concussion? What if you get sick? Who is there to care for you?” Her footsteps back faltered a little and he took the chance to rush her. But the gun firing and the bullet slamming in the grass between his feet stopped him. “I just want to help.”

“You just might want to think about living too.” The truck coming from the right distracted him a little, and when he turned back, she was gone. Not just gone, but he didn’t even see her on any path.

By the time they were able to get Mark awake and check out his wounds, an hour had passed. He and Keion went looking for her, his other half flying the skies, but they found nothing. No trace of a car, no tent that Mark told them she had bundled up, nor any kind of help from the earth. It was as if she simply disappeared.

Finally giving up on finding her as the sun went down, they headed back to the house. Mark was still awake when he and Keion went to see him. Peck was beside himself with concern, and had asked twice if they wanted someone else to care for him.

“No, you and Mark are good for each other. I understand that you told him to stay put, but he didn’t.” Shane looked at Mark, who had lowered his head in shame. “Next time, you’ll both know better. And when you leave the house from now on, please make sure that your phone is charged.”

“I will, I promise. Did you find the girl yet? She said that her phone wasn’t working either. I thought maybe she could come here and get it charged up.” Shane told him that they’d looked but she was gone. “She told me that she was sowing her oats. I’m not sure what that meant, do you?”

“She wants to get out and be free. Did she tell you her name?” Mark said that he didn’t think so, but he did admit that he’d done most of the talking. “Well, we’ll keep an eye out for her. Maybe tomorrow we’ll have better luck.”

When he made his way downstairs, he found Keion in the kitchen all alone. Sitting down across from him, he asked where Lelani was. He shrugged and said he had no idea. Keion looked up when he snapped his fingers in front of his face.

“Bolrock said that the woman shot him three times for no good reason.” Shane said attacking Mark was good enough reason for him. “He said that she was the first human that he had ever tasted, and he would like to find her again.”

“Did he say why?” Keion said that he hadn’t, but it worried him. “Yes, it does me as well. Do you think he’d hurt her? For trying to protect Mark?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I’d like to think he won’t, but he was pretty upset with her. None of his wounds are life threatening, but he was upset.” He stood up. “I’m going to take a walk. I need to find her. She’s out there all alone and hurt.”

Shane let the rest of them know what was going on and helped Roger with dinner. Lelani said she was working on something for the woman and would be late coming in. He asked to join her.

“If you can behave.” He smiled. “I’m serious, Shane. I want to find her for what she did. Keion told me he’s out looking as well.”

“I’ll behave. I might not like it, but I’ll try. Roger will stay with Mark and Peck is beside himself with worry. I’m thinking he’ll not let the boy out of his sight for a long time after this.” Lelani laughed. “I’m not kidding. It wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up showering with him. I’ve never seen anyone so upset before. My dad, he said he was going to take him out when he was better to show him how to find his way home. He did the same for us.”

After she told him where she was headed, he explained to Roger where they were going. Grandda, as his Rottweiler, was going to help them as well. It was an all-out search for the woman and he was sort of nervous. He had a feeling that if she didn’t want to be found, she wouldn’t be.

Chapter 11

Jacob was really proud of the new castle. He’d never been in the old one but for the one time, and he thought that this place was just as nice. He knew from talking to Asher and the others that it was stronger. He sat down on the large bench nearest to him and leaned back. He was a mite on the tired side. When Essie came to sit next to him, he smiled at her and reached for his granddaughter. She was getting bigger every day.

“We’re going to have a huge cookout. What do you think?” He told her that he could always eat something. “Yes, I love that about you. And since I have you here, I want to talk to you about living here with us. The other brothers have said that they’re going to stay in their homes. And Simeon and Akassa are going to take over the house. But you have to live here with us.”

“I don’t know, sweetheart. I just don’t feel right doing that.” She asked him why and he leaned over to kiss his little Sally Anne before answering her. “You know as well as I that I was never meant for this kind of living. I mean, it’s beautiful and all, but it just wouldn’t feel right. Not by myself.”

“Dad, plenty of people are going to be here. Asher is working on getting some of the people around town, ones that need a job, to come and help out. We’ve even hired a new cook so that Grandda has more time to do the things he wants.” Jacob nodded but didn’t tell her that she had it wrong. “Tell me, Dad. Please? Why won’t you come and stay here with us?”

“Memories.” He felt silly for saying it, but she wasn’t letting go. “I have no memories of this place but bad ones. Of course, I did get my own Sally out of this, but there was nothing else. That house over yonder? It was where we lived, had our boys and raised them up. Both of us even passed on in that big house. I have no memories here.”

“You could make some. With us.” He’d thought of that too and told her. “I understand, I do. But I love having you with me. Knowing that if I need a breather, you’re right there to take over with Sally Anne. Lindsey said she’d come to depend on you a great deal to watch over Eve Marie too.”

He knew that too. But as much as they thought he was doing them a favor by keeping an eye on the little girls, they were actually doing him one. To think, after all this time, he was holding a little baby again.

When Essie was called away, he sat there with the baby just telling her about her grandma and stories of her dad and uncles. He thought that was the best part of having them around. Someone to hear his stories and not complain about how he’d told them that one about a million times.

“If that grandma of yours was here, she’d be teaching you how to knit up some of your own booties and things.” He laughed. “Grandma sure does wish she could touch you two. Just yesterday when I was talking to her, she said she wanted someone to show you how to bake up some cookies and things.”

Not quite true. What she’d told him was that she thought he was eating a lot of cookies and perhaps might do well to cut back a bit. But who was he to turn down one when they were offered up for him? Jacob didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings on this.

“And that cousin of yours? He cannot wait to get you two out where he can show you our exploring. We went down to the king and queen’s tomb just the other day, and he was as good as gold when we got there. Told me that he liked it there, it was soft.” Jacob liked it, too, and it was a good way to describe the peace that he got when he was there. “You two, I think you and Eve Marie are going to be a handful, and I cannot wait.”

The longer he sat there, the longer his tales became. He’d caught great whales in the pond near the house. He’d climbed the mountain to pick cherries before anyone got up to know he was about. Jacob even let on that he might have singlehandedly got mates for all his boys.

“Do you normally tell lies to someone that cannot refute you?” He smiled at Lelani. She was a hard nut to crack, but he sure did love her. “I’m to tell you that you’re staying here in this house. Actually, I was supposed to convince you of it, but I’m not any better at that than I am at being kind to strangers.”

“You sent here by which one of them?” She told him and sat down. When he offered her Sally Anne, she told him no. Just like that, no. Jacob secretly thought she was afraid of the babies, but wasn’t brave enough to find out. “You tell Asher that I was making my own decisions long before he got to put that crown on.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Not today. He’s in too good a mood. I’ll do it when he’s all pissy. He can do pissy better than anyone I know.” She leaned back in the big easy chair. This room, the library, was filled with books older than he was. Some new too, but not a great deal of them. And chairs that were so soft and comfortable when he sat in them that he usually took a nap. “I wanted to ask you something about before. About the time of my mom and sister.”

“You go on ahead and ask away. If I know the answer, you know that I’ll tell you.” She nodded, but seemed to be taking her time in asking him. “When we first moved to the house down the road, did you know that there was nary a garden around? And there were few people that we could trust to get it plowed up for us. Then one day, we came out of the house and there was a hand plow, and also a big dray horse. I’ll tell you, we had us a big wonderful garden for the rest of our days.”

“Elbert still has it out in the barn. He said it’s turned more dirt than a grave digger had. But this family, my mom told me once that you and Miss Sally had a man working here. It would have been about the time she was killed. That he was just a human and he was off in his head, she said. However, she had no idea what he was. I think, and this might be wrong, but I don’t think my mom could tell the difference between someone human or not, even by touch.”

“Let me think on that. And while I am, you tell me what you have going on. If you don’t mind.” She said that she didn’t mind, but she thought perhaps she might have run across something that belonged to his family while she’d been in town. She’d been window shopping for something for the garden for Essie and had gone into the pawn shop. “Cain. He was the oldest boy of one of the men who had worked for the castle. Might have been killed that day too, I don’t rightly know, but Cain, he couldn’t talk much. Had him a bad case of the stutters if I remember correctly. But he could cane a chair faster than anyone that I ever met. What makes you think this person is part of his line?”

“I work with old tapestries; I think I told you that.” He nodded. “Well, I was looking at one that they had in the window of the shop and I went in to ask them where they’d gotten it. Turns out that someone had left it there when no one could figure out what it was worth, if anything. The man, he told them they could have it then, he’d find something else to sell. I think perhaps it might be one that was here in the castle at one time. It depicts a farm with a great dragon in the sky. A pair of them actually, but one is on the ground.”

“Can you tell for sure if you can get your hands on it?” She said that she already had. “So you’re for sure that it belonged here? And these people, you thinking they might have pilfered it after the fall or something?”

“Or something. I’m not sure, but according to the story that the man said was told to him, the king had given it to this person’s family when a child had been born. But that when the child had been born with a defect, which as you know could have been about anything back then, they tried to return it to the castle when the child had been put out.” Jacob asked why the connection to this boy. “Story is that he was a wild child when he came here, and that you and Sally had given him something he’d never had. My mother thought that you should have drowned him like unwanted kittens, but then you know how she was.”

“Sally was forever taking in anything and everyone that needed a little lift. For years I would think she was going to be murdered in her outings as she called them, but knew what most didn’t; she was stronger than she ever looked.” Jacob looked at her. “Like you. To see you right now one would think that you’d be an easy target. But I know better.”

“I’m not an easy target.” He laughed. “Anyway, if this boy was that man, then the tapestry should be repaired and given back to the man. It’s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, even for the condition that it’s in now. Thomas, the owner of the pawn shop, he said the man was really down on his luck.”

“And if you repair it? That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it? To have it repaired for them?” She nodded. “How much, darling?”

“Millions. And I’d gladly pay that for it for the chance to work on it for the castle. While they have a great many things that the queen and king saved for them, there is nothing that was in the castle that night, during the siege.” Jacob nodded, wondering why she’d want to help this man’s family. “His name was Cain and he was kind to me, Jacob.”

Her voice had gone sad, low but full of sadness. Jacob wanted to ask her what he’d done for her, how he’d touched her this way, but he wasn’t sure that she’d tell him for one thing, and Jacob wasn’t sure he wanted to know either. Whatever the memory was for her, it was painful and he didn’t want her to hurt over it.

“You let me do some digging around, and I’ll talk to Daniel too. He has more history on this area than even Elbert does.” She thanked him and stood up. “This kindness that he did for you, can you tell me if he was hurt from it? He just disappeared one day, never to return.”

“He was killed. Saving my life.”

He nodded and she did as well. When she was gone, leaving him there with the sleeping baby, he pulled her to his heart and held her tight enough that she fussed at him. Looking down at her, her face so much like her momma’s, he had to hug her once again. Tomorrow he was going to take the girls to see their grandmas again.

~~~

Getting out of the bed proved much harder than she’d thought it would be. Winter had settled in overnight and Lelani was pretty sure that snow was going to hit them soon. And being between two men that she loved more than she did anyone or anything else made it too tempting to just stay where she was. But she had something to do. And today, it had to be today.

It had only just occurred to her last evening that it was her birthday today. To think just how old she was kind of depressed her a little. To have lived so many lifetimes, and she thought about all the people she had met and lost. Friends, there had been few of them, but they had meant a great deal to her at the time.

Lelani made her way to the kitchen and waited as Roger not only handed her a thermos of hot tea, but a heavy leather sack, as well as a blanket. The sack had been hers, given to her for one of her thousands of birthdays by someone that had meant all the world to her. Lelani asked him where he had found it. But then she realized that she shouldn’t have been surprised…he had been with her forever, it seemed.

“You have had that look in your eye for days now. And I also know what this date is. You have not told them, have you?” Lelani shook her head. “I shall keep the men here while you do what you must. I know as well what was done for you. You go, talk to her. Remind her of the love that she told you of, and that you’ve found it finally.”

“No one was ever better to me. Never treated me as she did.” He nodded and hugged her to his warm body. “I had no idea that she’d passed.”

“Nor did I, my lady. Had we known, perhaps we could have come to see her a final time.” She nodded. “Go. Go now before I get weepy. T’would do us no good to be found here in the kitchen sobbing like this.”

Making her way to the little cemetery, she wasn’t surprised to find herself alone. Jacob spent a good deal of his morning here and sometimes late in the evening. But today, she had risen even before him. The sun wasn’t yet up; the moon still gave the sky a nice glow. Thanking the earth for such a bounty of light enough to see by, she pulled out the warm scone she’d been able to smell in the kitchen. Eating it as she walked, she thought of the woman buried here.

Sally Benson had been someone…actually the only person that she’d ever trusted. Not just with her love, which until recently Lelani thought her incapable of feeling again, but also to trust. Sometimes in her life that was the most difficult thing for her to do.

Spreading out the blanket on the cold ground, Lelani put her hands to the earth and asked for forgiveness, but asked for a little warmth. Not only did the ground around her warm, but the air was warm enough that she could no longer see her breath. Laying out the things in the sack, she took her time with setting them along the headstone, telling the woman there what she remembered about it.

“I have no idea why you took me into your heart. And you told me over and over that you did love me. It took me awhile to realize the feelings that I had for you were love, but you were so patient with me. To this day I think of the advice you gave me, things to remember on how to cool my temper. I will admit that over the years I’ve lost the art of doing that. Sometimes, most of the time, it’s easier for me to hate than it is to risk having my heart ripped from my chest again and again.” She picked up the first item. “I was ten when you gave me this one. I treasured it for months after when I found it. Still do, I guess. The note, I’m afraid, has long since been destroyed. Moving as I have, it couldn’t last.”

The small doll, made from scraps of this and that, had been so wonderful to find with the ribbon tied around her waist that she’d thought it left by someone richer than her, and had been careful not to touch it at first for fear of being arrested. She had thought her mother would have put it out there to trick her into having to give it to her sister. Then she’d beat Lelani for taking it.