Danburn: The English Dragon ― Erotic Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance (12 page)

“You’re being a pain in the ass. As I’m sure you’re aware of.” She asked him what he was talking about, she’d done nothing to anyone. “What about today, when you accosted Kendrick and my mom? I suppose you think you were justified in that too?”

“Your mom? She can’t be your mom. She didn’t even have a dollar on her to give to me when Kendrick gave me what she had. And I know she had credit cards there that she could have gotten an advance on. But she refused me. What did Kendrick say about that? I bet she was really mad.” He sat down in the chair that was brought in for him. She wanted service like that, and told the cop that had brought it for him to get her silk sheets and a nice pretty pillow. He just kept walking. “I don’t think they know what I am to you, do they?”

“And what is it you think you are to me? Other than a pain in the ass, like I said.” She wasn’t sure what he was asking her, and told him to explain himself. “I’m nothing to you right now. In a few days, when Kendrick and I get married, I suppose you’ll be my sister-in-law, but right now you’re nothing.”

“I’m something. I think I’m very special.” He only stared at her. “Where is Kendrick? I want you to tell her that she needs to come and see me. And to bring me the money that she owes me. Those men, they took what she already gave me. And you might want to tell her that she needs to hurry up with getting my rooms ready up there. I’m sick of not having things of my own.”

“How does she owe you money? And I know for a fact that you’ve been told several hundred times that you’re not living in our home.” Louisa wasn’t sure how to answer that and told him again to get her sister. “She doesn’t owe you anything, Louisa. Surely you can see that.”

“She’s my sister, and I know that she wants the best for me. I need money and she has it. Why are you making this difficult? I want you to get her for me now, and for you to go away. I don’t like you. And so you know, I wouldn’t plan on getting married to her. You can’t marry her because I don’t want her to marry. She’ll do what I want because she’s my sister.” He only looked at her like he was confused. “Kendrick wants what’s best for me. She always has. I love the fact that she provides me with a good life. I need her to keep doing that. Even after we’re living in the castle, I think we’ll not be having anything to do with you.”

“So you don’t want her to marry so you can continue to manipulate her into giving you whatever you want.” There was a trick there. She knew it, but he was too slick for her to figure it out right now. Louisa told him again to get Kendrick. “I’m not going to get her for you. She’s had enough stress from you to last several lifetimes.”

“She’s stressed because she worries about me all the time. She won’t have to worry so much when I move into the castle with her. I won’t have to try and find her all the time either, when I want something.” He said nothing again, and she thought she might hate this man. “You’re not nice at all. You know that, right? And when Kendrick gets here, I’m going to tell her you won’t do as I say.”

“No, I won’t. And Kendrick isn’t coming here. She asked me to take care of you.” Well that sounded better. She asked him how much he had on him for now. “I’m not going to give you money, Louisa. That’s not how she asked me to take care of you.”

“Then what? What are you going to give me? I know, you’re to take care of my living arrangements, but I can’t be there forever. The castle, that’s where I need to be. With my sister. I want a room of my own at the castle, and servants. I know that there are some there, but I want my own. Someone that can run a bath for me and help me pick out my clothes for the day.” She smiled at him. “This might be better than money anyway. I can sell whatever is in my room that I don’t want, right? I mean, you and Kendrick want me to have a lovely room, just the way I want it, right?”

“You’re not living in the castle.” She nodded, knowing that he’d give in sooner or later. Everyone always did for her. “You really do believe that you should have whatever you want whenever you think you need it, don’t you?”

“And why not?” She sat down on the bed that she hated and wondered why he found this so hard to believe. “I have needs like everyone else does. I want things, sometimes more than others, but I want them. Kendrick has a job, or she did, but now she has money anyway. Money that she gets from you. Why shouldn’t she provide for me, like she’s always done? As my sister, she wants to do those things she does for me. You should too. I’m not a mean person. I just know what I want, and you should want to get them for me.”

“No.” Louisa was used to hearing that word from people. They’d say it to her all the time, right up until she drove them to say yes. It was what she’d done all her life, and she didn’t see why Danburn thought he should be immune to her. When he stood up, she thought that he was finally getting it.

“I think this will work out pretty good, don’t you? And when are you sending me a car? I want to arrive in style. Can you take my picture as I get out of it? I want a big limo with a driver in a suit.” He said nothing as he folded the chair back up and put it under his arm. “Tell Kendrick that I want a room with a pretty view. Oh, never mind. I’ll pick out the room I want when I get there. I think there should be a party too. You know, in honor of me living there with you. I can give you a list if you have some paper and a pen.”

He didn’t pull out any paper, and he didn’t seem to have a pen with him. As he moved down the hall, Louisa shouted at him that she’d be here when he got back, to not wait too long. About an hour later, she was still thinking of things to have at her homecoming party when another man came to stand in front of her little room.

“Did Danburn send you here to make the list? I’ve been thinking that it might be better if we have it the day after tomorrow instead of when I get home. I’ll need some new clothes to wear before then.” He just stood there, and she stood up see if she needed to take something from him. “Did Kendrick send you? You have money for me from her?”

“No. I have nothing from your sister or English.” She didn’t know who that was and asked him about it. “Danburn English. And you’re going to get me into his house.”

“Oh yes, I can do that. They’re throwing a party for me, you see. And I’m going to make sure that they invite the entire town to it. And gifts too. Everyone will want to bring me a gift, being that I’m related to Kendrick and all.” He pulled out a key and unlocked the door on her room. “Thank you very much.”

Just as she moved by him, ready to tell him all about the party they were having, he jerked her to him and put a cloth over her mouth. She felt her body swaying even as the man told her she was going to be very helpful indeed.

There were sounds that hurt her ears as the man carried her out of the cell. She knew that she was on his shoulder, because she could see his butt and the floor was moving. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get her mouth to work to tell him to put her down. And that her belly was sick.

Loud popping noises seemed to wake her from a dream. Noises that reminded her of the time in the lake, when those men tried to kill her for no reason. A memory of that time tickled at her head, but she was sick now and felt like she was in one of those carnival rides that swung you around over and over.

When she opened her eyes the next time, she knew that she’d been put in a box or something. And the way she was being tossed around made her think that perhaps she’d been put in a van for reasons she could not even begin to know. She wanted a limo, not a van. Trying to lift her hands to take the cover off her mouth, she realized that she was tied up.

Kidnapped. She’d been kidnapped. Louisa was giddy at the prospect of being kidnapped, and could not wait to see Kendrick’s face when she paid the ransom and got her home. This was going to make them give her everything she wanted, that was for sure.

Chapter
11

Danburn lifted his head from the water. No more than a few inches, enough that he could see her sitting on the bank and watch her. He was afraid of scaring her, and more afraid of making her hate him. But she only stared at him as he moved closer to the edge of the water to see her.

“You’re very large, aren’t you?” He nodded, just making it so that his head moved and the water stayed still. “Are you going to come out of the water, or do I have to guess at what you’re hiding from me?”

I’d rather just stay here.
She nodded but only sat there.
Yes, I’m very large, much too big to want to come out of the water until you’re ready for me.

“So this wasn’t going to be me seeing you. It was going to be you hiding in the water like some wimpy dick.” He lifted his head out of the water a little more, just so she could see his nose but not his mouth. “Do you have monster teeth?”

Yes.
He slowly brought his head out of the water, careful to keep an eye on her as he did.
Aren’t you worried that I might come at you? Hurt you?

“No. I worry about a lot of things, but not you hurting me. Come out of the water to your shoulders. I’m assuming that you have them.” He said that he did, but he wasn’t pretty. “You are to me. Handsome, I guess you’d be.”

I’m a beast, not one of the pretty dragons that you see in movies.
She leaned back on her hands, and he lifted his head.
I have hands that would kill you with just a touch.

“But you won’t hurt me. Come out, Danburn. I want to see all of him.” He should have thought this through better, he realized. Showing her his dragon would give her bad dreams. He knew there were some things that no one could be prepared for. “If you don’t come out of the water for me, I’m going to go home and leave you here all alone. And I had such plans for us on the grass.”

Like what?
She lifted her blouse up and over her head, and lifted her bare breasts up to her mouth. When her tongue touched a hard tip, he growled low.
You are not playing fair.

“Come out of the water.” He moved then, slowly so as not to overwhelm her. But he should have known better. There was nothing about this woman that was like other people. As he stretched out, his wings spreading to dissipate the water from them, she lay back on the grass and he lifted his body from the water completely.

It had been a very long time since he’d been free like he was now. She looked very tiny there below him, and he was extra careful where he stepped. She said nothing when he put his claw down to touch it to her skin, and when he nicked her, causing the smallest of wounds, all she did was watch him as he lowered his head to lick the wound closed. His tongue was bigger than her, his teeth, long and sharp, would have impaled her from head to toe with more left hanging. Danburn had never had his size be so obvious to him before.

He has your taste now, his own taste of you.
She asked him what that meant.
That he can find you should you be lost to us. You’re his too. You know that, don’t you?

“You talk as if he were another being. Is he?” He wasn’t sure what she meant and asked her. “Do you think of yourself as a whole, or are you two different people?”

There are times when he takes me. Anger or fear will cause him to consume what I am. I believe that he does this so that I cannot know what sort of monstrous things he does when it’s needed.
He sat, leaned down beside her, and put out his hand.
Should you like to have a ride, my love? Not in the sky…we can do that later when the darkness can hide me. But now, as I walk around the forest.

She readily climbed into his outstretched hand and they moved into the trees, taking the path that he had worn down over the decades. She had put her blouse back on. He was slightly disappointed, but less distracted by her nudity. When she laughed, he felt his dragon grin at him. This was what it must have been like when dragons roamed the earth.

“How do you hide from the humans of the world?” He let his body merge into the trees, the color of his scales matching perfectly with the trees around him. His legs were brown in some places, green and dark like the earth in others to fade into the grounds as he stood beside them. “That’s fantastic. To be so hidden in plain sight like this.”

It has its handiness. Several times over the years I’ve had to use this method. When a family came to picnic by the lake, unknowingly on my property, I had to stand still for over three hours. I was only glad that I had gone to the bathroom just prior to me noticing them.
He laughed when she did.
I should like to swim with you now. If you’ve a mind to.

“The water will be so cold, won’t it?” He told her that it was as warm as a bath year round. “The earth does that for you?”

Nay, I for her. She can replenish her waters and fish for me. When the dragon is here, he will feast as much as he can.
She asked him if he enjoyed being his dragon.
Never have I as much as I have today.

Moving into the lake with her in his hand, he held her up as he lay back. When she stood upon his belly, walking the length of him, Danburn thought that this was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. To have a mate that cared not what he looked like as his beast.

She is yet unaware of the dangers that lurk around us.
The voice of his dragon startled Danburn. It had been so long since he’d had to speak to him that he paused before asking him what he meant.
The men from the woods, they are seeking vengeance against you. Should she be hurt, there will be no stopping my fury.

Any person, human or not, that touches her will die.
His dragon agreed.
We’ll have to make sure that she’s safe while they’re about. Can you feel them, when they move upon the earth?

I can. You can as well, but not as well as me. The man who you spoke to on the speaking device, he is light in step. I feel he is glad for something. I will speak to the lady of the grounds, see what she has to share. But not yet. Yonder comes your man, Noah. He is not light, his steps are fast and hard. I feel he is bringing bad news to our happy time.

Just as Noah appeared in the tree line, he pulled Kendrick to him. He had no idea if Noah was being chased or not, but he was going to protect her with his life.

“I should like to speak to you, my lord. Now.” Danburn sat Kendrick on the shoreline and moved beneath the water to shift. It wasn’t necessary to do so, but it was painful for him sometimes, and he didn’t want her to be fearful of this after having such a glorious day. Dragon spoke again.

He has kidnapped a young woman. She is in trouble even as we speak.
He asked his dragon if he knew her.
I do not. But he is most happy with the turn of events. I think him mad with the power of it.

Danburn pulled his body up and out of the water, taking the towel that Kendrick handed him. She turned just as he moved toward Noah and picked up one of his scales. Without hesitation, she kissed it and then tossed it into the water that he’d only just left. He stood staring at her as the implications of what she’d just done moved over him.

“What?” He shook his head. Now was not the time to tell her that not only had she touched his scale, taking some of the magic from it to her, but other things as well. “Did I do something wrong?”

“On the contrary, what you did was wonderful. I’ll explain later. We must see what Noah is upset about.”

As soon as he reached them, he knew. He had no idea how he knew that Louisa was the woman that Bullock had, but he listened while he explained what had happened at the police station.

“Four dead, three wounded. The man came in, shot the officer behind the front desk, then shot out all the cameras as he came to them. We have a single blurred picture of him, and I believe it to be Bullock’s man, Collier.” Noah glanced at him before looking at Kendrick. “He took your sister. As best we can tell, he used chloroform on her and took her out over his shoulder. Then as he left, he turned and shot up the outside cameras before leaving the area. I’ve taken the liberty of notifying the Feds too. They will be most displeased at the turn of events.”

“So we wait now.” Danburn didn’t like the calmness of Kendrick. When he told her that they’d hear from him soon, knowing that this had to do with the cove, she nodded and smiled at him. “She’s going to get her wish, I guess. It was her dream to be the headlines in some paper because someone had taken her. And she told me it would be my fault.”

When Kendrick walked away, moving toward the castle, he and Noah both stared after her. When Noah asked him what he should do now, Danburn wanted to tell him that he had no idea, all his energy was focused on Kendrick right now.

She will be fine. She is stronger than you think.
His dragon chuckled a little
. I would not be surprised if she were to take care of this herself. And when she does, you must let her. If she runs into trouble, we will be beside her to help.

She tasted your scale.
He said he was aware of that as well.
We will have a child and he’ll be dragon. Do you think she’ll mind?

I think that whatever happens now is out of our hands. But I must say, I am most happy about it.
So was Danburn, but as his dragon had said, the damage, as it were, was done.
But to think that she did this on her own. Without...she will need to be.... A dragon child. I never thought that...a child of yours and hers will be great.

As he made his way to follow her, his own step a great deal lighter, he gave little thought to Bullock and Louisa. He was more focused on the babe that would be theirs. A child, their child, would come to them, and he’d be a dragon like him. Moving to the castle, finding her on the steps of their home, he picked her up and held her as she cried. Later, he thought, he’d tell her later what she’d done, when they had Louisa back with them.

~~~

Bernie looked at the woman tied to the chair. He wasn’t really sure if this was the worst idea he’d ever had or the best. But as of yesterday, he was living on the edge. The shipment that had gone out despite the lack of docking had never arrived. He knew that English had everything to do with that. And he was going to pay and pay well for his mistake. Now he was awaiting a call from the man who had been set to receive it.

The woman wasn’t as pretty as he’d hoped. She was nice looking, yes, but not pretty. When Collier had brought her to him, he’d thought there had been a mistake. He’d seen pictures of the other woman, the sister, and had thought they’d look some alike. This woman was plain in comparison.

The desperation in his situation had driven him to have Collier go to the jail. He needed things working his way, and having him kill anyone who dared to try and stop him in getting the woman might have been slightly out of proportion to what he had to deal with. But anger had made him rash, and now he had to live with it. Danburn was going to pay for him losing his temper like he had.

As she started to come around, he sat down and tried to have the look of a bored man. He wanted her to think that he did this sort of thing all the time, when in truth, he’d never kidnapped anyone before. Killed, yes. But not simply kidnapped.

“Hello, Louisa. That’s your name, isn’t it? Louisa Barrera?” She told him it was and told him to let her go. “It doesn’t work that way. I make the rules and you will follow them.”

“Call my sister and tell her what you want. She’ll give it to you. She takes care of me.” He asked her about Danburn. “He’s not a nice person. I think he’s an asshole. Did you know that he has this big castle? They’re supposed to send a car for me to take me there, but I think something happened and.... Why am I here, anyway? Are you taking me there? To the castle? I so want to live there.”

“As do I.” She smiled at him and he thought of sharks. He had no idea why, but that was the first thing that popped into his head. “You’re going to call your sister for me and tell her that I have you. Then when she pays up, I’ll let you go.”

“I’d love to talk to my sister, but your way won’t work. The only person I get to talk to is Noah. And he won’t give the phone to her no matter what I tell him. And trust me, I have tried and tried until he stopped answering my calls. Even talking to her when I get to see her, she tells me to call him.” Bernie frowned as she continued. “I need for you to use softer rope on my wrists. This is cutting into me. And a chair with more cushion. You should also know that I have to pee.”

“I’m not going to tie you with silk and give you a more comfortable chair. This is a kidnapping, not an outing with lunch.” She asked him what he was serving her for lunch. “I’m not serving you anything until I get what I want.”

“You’re not very nice. My sister isn’t going to like you treating me this way. She takes care of me, and when she finds out what you’re doing to me, she is not going to be happy with you.” Louisa pulled on the ropes. “When are you going to put softer ropes on me? This is really painful. And the chair, is it coming too?”

Bernie wondered if she was touched in the head. The longer she sat there talking to him, simply ignoring what she didn’t want to hear, the more he thought that having her around was going to be more trouble than it was worth. Finally, he told her to shut the fuck up.