Dragon Star (A Shifter Football League Novel) (11 page)

“Oh, shit,” she heard from behind her.

The taxi driver.
Shit.

Cass released the trigger. The barb unhooked as she swung the tazer like the workers told her.

Money well spent, she thought as she turned around, only to watch the driver run full speed to tackle her.

Shit. Oh, shit.

They collided but not fully as she stepped to the side and whacked him on the head with the butt of it. The whack didn't do enough damage and his weight fell upon her, her vision whipped, and then she heard the thud and felt the pain from landing, giving him the advantage.

Pinned down, there was nothing she could do. But her one hand was still free. He caught her left fist that tried to smack him.

She squirmed underneath him. He wouldn’t budge.

Her fingers caught the tazer and Cass put it up to his chest. Pressing the trigger did nothing but flash a blue light.

He chuckled. “No, no you don't.” His eyes wild as he picked her up and slammed her against the pavement.

It hurt. She still had fight in her though.

He grabbed her by the throat. His laughter got louder as she continued to click the trigger, nothing happening.

Screaming, he pressed down on her throat, now feeling like a collapsing tunnel fire. Cass pulled the trigger, what she thought might be her last try. A bright flash celebrated her survival as the barb flew out, sticking into his forehead.

Grabbing his eyes, he screeched, blue sparks flashing. Cass kicked him off, scrambled away, and pumped more volts into him.

After she was done, he lay like a corpse. He seemed to be alive as he was breathing. That was too bad.

She ejected the barb. Her neck was still throbbing as she fell into the back seat of the taxi.

So much for not having a dramatic entrance to the date. She would have quite the story to tell Nico.

A
fter Cass got
a few miles away she couldn't take it. She pulled into a brightly lit gas station and broke down. What had happened was too fucked up, she'd been too vulnerable. She'd almost died back there.

Jae must’ve sent his goons because it would be too obvious who had taken her with a dragon flying about. He was getting more cunning.

“I'm such a jerk.” She shook the steering wheel. “I've got to call Nico.”

Cass called him. He picked up on the second ring.

“Hey Cass,” he said, sounding a bit down.

It wasn't her intention to call him up and sob, to worry him even more, but she couldn't help it.

Tears began to flow. “I'm scared.”

“What's wrong?” Silverware clattered on the other line.

“I don't want to bother you. Don't want to ruin the date. I was looking forward to it,” she sniffled.

“It's fine. We can have the date another time.” There was the sound of footsteps on the other side, then car engines. Nico was outside and ready to come to her aid.

“Now tell me what's wrong.”

It all came blurting out. “I was attacked. I think they were men sent by Jae. They wanted to kidnap me. One was a shifter. I think I need help. I think I might still be in trouble.”

“Where are you?” he shouted.

Cass reeled back. “Don't yell.”

“I'm sorry. I'm worried about you. Tell me where you are.”

“Wait, no, I'll come to you. Where do you want to meet?”

“Listen, tell me where you are. I'll come pick you up. I'll fly you back to my place, where it's safe.”

She hunkered down in her seat. There was nobody around, but she still couldn't be sure.

“I want to go somewhere Jae doesn't know about. Can we get a room somewhere tonight? Somewhere safe. I don't want to deal with it. I want to have our date, maybe we can get room service or something? Does that sound stupid?”

“No, that's exactly what we'll do. I’m just worried about you right now. Are you in a safe location?”

“Yes, I'm in a car.” Now that she thought about it, a car wasn't a safe place, either.

Nico had a brilliant idea. After he called up a hotel, he transformed into his dragon. He kept close to her and watched over her, flying high in the skies, far enough to scout.

As soon as she neared the glamorous hotel, she wanted to jump out of the cab. At least now she was with Nico. Nico would keep her safe.

Cass met him behind some bushes, hiding out, completely naked.

“You're going to need to bring me a sheet. Unless you don't care,” Nico said.

“I'll bring you a sheet. The plan was not to attract attention.”

She smirked at him waiting for her with his cock and balls out. It was a little strange when she had to explain to the front desk what she needed. “He’s a shifter, so he’s naked.”

“No problem. We get a lot of shifters here,” the front desk manager said. “I can do better.” She opened a box kept for this situation. There was an XL shirt and some baggy pants inside.

“They usually come in big.”

Don’t they? Cass chuckled a little to herself.

With Nico all dressed, they headed up to their room, the cleanest and most elegant hotel room she’d ever been in. It was a double-room styled in velvet, grey, and brown with a view of the LA lights.

The ordered food was a guilty pleasure. They brought up a smorgasbord of food, all of it top of the line from their four-star restaurant downstairs. At the end she had various truffles and a glass of wine just how she liked it.

By the end of the dinner she was calmer than Nico. Who she had convinced to dress down to nothing, wrapping himself up in a sheet, because the clothes were a little too baggy.

She was convincing like that. The whole time she ate, she had eye candy.

“Do me a favor, and just don't worry about it tonight.”

“That's going to be difficult,” Nico said, looking out the window, the lights of the city all clear from his vantage point, like he owned it all.

He turned to her.

“I should kill him.”

“Yes, I know, but not tonight. And no, actually you shouldn't do that, ever. Remember what happened last time?”

“He needs to die for this,” he said under his breath.

“I heard that.” Cass huffed and fell back to the cushions.

“Can you tell me what happened? Give me more details?”

As she began to recount it, the room felt like it was spinning. She sat back up to steady herself.

“Sure, there's not much more to say. The taxi driver kidnapped me, like you know. Then there was a panther shifter waiting there, who I can only assume was hired by Jae.”

“Of course it has to do with him...” His fists clenched.

“Are you going to be okay?
I
was the one kidnapped you know. I should be the one who is pissed.”

He flinched. “Sorry.”

“It's fine.” She actually quite liked how protective he was. The only issue was how far he would take it. “I bought a tazer from a shifter defense store.”

Nico noticeably snarled.

“I know, I know, they can be...a bit...extreme, with how they view shifters. But if it wasn't for what they sold me, I wouldn't be here. I tazed them both and got away. With little scratches too.”

She peeked over her shoulder at the small cut. Other than that and some slight bruising that would appear in the morning, she'd be fine.

His eyes roamed over her as she lifted her shirt a little. He took a sharp inhale, his abs flexing.

The sight shot a bolt of sexual energy right through her. Cass lost her train of thought.

“Jae still wants you back. He's not going to stop.”

“He's afraid to do it himself, though. Afraid of the consequences. He might want me, but he wants that gold championship ring as well.”

“You might be right. This shows he's afraid of going at you directly after all the publicity and heat he got last time. There would be no question who did it, and with how popular you now are, all your Twitter followers would have a meltdown.”

“Who knew how many Twitter followers and Facebook likes a person has could end up saving their life?”

Nico huffed. He rolled his eyes. “I wish we would go back to the days of carrier pigeons. Back then, you didn't have to hear everyone's opinions you didn't care about.”

“Carrier pigeons. Just how old are you?”

“Old enough where this is scandalous.”

“No, really. And I don't mind. I happen to like older men.”

“One hundred and fifty years old. Which makes me a youngin'.”

“So you've seen a lot. Lived a lot. Done a lot. This must seem pretty boring to you.”

“No,” he stated immediately. “Not at all. I'd say this is the most I've been alive in a long time.”

Cass wanted to pry more. Did he ever have a wife?

No, that wouldn't sit right with her, prying like that.

She instead slid back to the headboard. She brought her knees to her chest.

“I'd do anything for my life to be a little normal. A little boring.”

He crossed his arms like a shield over his chest. They were freakin' huge. “We'll get you safe and then you'll be watched. Personally, by me. I won't let that asshole come near you. I give you my word.”

“Thank you. I can't ask that from you, though. You've done enough.”

“No, I haven't nearly done enough. That's where you're wrong.”

He crossed over to her side of the bed. The giant shifter loomed over her. Being horizontal, Cass had to realize just how
big
he was. This was a California King. Still it seemed like it might not be long enough.

Wagging his finger, he said, “Come here.”

Cass probably looked like a meek little kitten that had done wrong as she crawled closer while peering up at him with big, curious eyes.

He took her chin, pulled her closer, and then dipped down, planting a scorching hot kiss on her lips. His tongue caressed hers in a loving twist before pulling away, leaving her breathless.

That kiss made her want more. But she'd been out of her mind since the stressful events of the evening. She didn't trust herself, not right now.

It’d be just like her to ruin this when stressed.

This was new, scary territory for her. It had come at the best time, and the worst- when she’d hit rock bottom.

“Thanks,” she said, eyes sparkling at him.

Hopefully he wouldn't feel bad about the dismissal. It was simply the wrong time, even though her body craved more.

“You don't need to say thank you. I'm not doing this as a favor. I'm doing this because I want to.” Not just a favor. He
needed
to do this it seemed.

“Come into bed with me,” she said with a pat next to her.

Cass rolled over.

“It's been a long day. With a lot of room service. I'm not sure how long I'm going to make it, but I'd love to spend every minute talking to you, learning more about you. I'm sure you have a lot of stories to tell.”

That's exactly what they did. She enjoyed staying close by him, listening to him talk about how he used to go flying with his mother and father, how they used to take trips that would span across the entire world.

He'd had a few friends too before most of the dragons were wiped out. Or his friends killed each other in the dragon wars. They loved to go adventuring to exotic places across the globe. Cass found herself jealous.

Jealousy was better than being terrified for her life. It was a good distraction.

The conversation drifted on. She wanted to ask about his love life at some point. If there was someone out there that was his fated mate, Cass didn't want to impede that.

But another kiss planted on her lips sank her back to the cushions.

“Rest, now. You had a long night, Cass. I'll be here the entire time. Don't you worry about a thing while you're in bed with me. I'll take care of it all.”

“Take care...of everything?” she asked.

“Yes, everything, but don't worry about that now. Just close your eyes. There's no better guardian at your bedside than a dragon.”

Her eyes were closed. “I'm not even tired.”

“Quiet and kiss me again.”

She did as he asked. His kiss was sweet, excitement pumping through her like a break in the clouds, letting the sunshine in.

She felt free again, able to breathe. There was no longer a cage around her. Her need to get closer, even closer to Nico, took control of her again. She wanted to reach up, pull him onto her, have all his weight press against her.

The closer he got, the better.

Yet, she became aware of a distant beating in the air. It sounded like a plane at first, then it got closer, sounding like strong gusts of wind heading in her direction.

The beating got louder until she couldn't stand it. She cupped her ears and sprang from the bed. Only to have the front of the wall ripped completely off, the ceiling above crumbling with it.

In its place, the red dragon, Jae, stuck his head through the hole. His eyes were glowing like fiery hot pokers.

This was what she saw before she was burned alive.

Screaming, she scrambled off the sheets…

There was no fleeing. In a desperate move, she took the bedside light and threw it at him. It didn’t even reach.

“You’re weak.”

The dragon roared, its fiery breath erupting from its open mouth, spreading through the room until it all consumed her.

Then she jumped up with a shout. Her mouth was open, but she didn't know what she was saying. The room looked fine. All of the walls were in their proper place.

Nico had her waist in his hands and he was staring at her, trying to get her attention. Everything was dull.

“Hey, hey,” she heard Nico saying.

“Jae. He's here. Jae's here.” She frantically leapt for his shoulder.

He caught her hands before she could get there.

“Hey, listen to me. Jae's not here. It's me, Nico. You were having a bad dream. You're fine.”

“Oh.” She took some deep breaths. She wiped a hand over her sweaty brow.

This was embarrassing.

“Here, have some water.” Nico got up and handed her a glass.

“Thanks,” she said hoarsely after taking a gulp.

“You have nothing to be worried about. Trust me on that,” he said, sitting down, stroking her lower back.

After putting the water down on the bedside table, she looked at him, trying her best to look confident. She imagined she failed spectacularly.

“I’ll protect you. I promise you that. He gives dragons, and shifters, a bad name.”

“And you give dragons a good name,” she commented. Her eyes began to twinkle.

That had been quite the shock. For a second there, she really believed she'd been a goner.

“Yes.”

“But what about when you leave?”

“I won't leave.”

Cass laughed. “You have to leave sometime.”

“No, I won’t. We’re on the same team, and…look, you’re not leaving my side. This is about us now. You're my mate. I couldn't leave you if I tried.”

She was speechless.

“I'm...your mate? What does that mean, exactly?”

“It's kind of complicated.” He shrugged, getting defensive. “Don't worry about it right now.”

It seemed like something she should be worried about...

There was no fight left in her, however, as she lay back on the bed.

Which was where she should've stayed. Except what he said couldn't stop repeating in her head, it seemed to echo throughout her entire body.

You're my mate. We're doing this together.

If she wasn't needing him before, she would be now. She'd never felt needier for sex in her life. Before she'd thought it was something she could live without, now it seemed more important than air.

His well-toned body pushed closer to her. She could smell him, like exotic spice and masculine musk with a hint of burning firewood, such a tantalizing swirl that had her toes curling.

That gold ring around his eyes, even that was getting her wet. Cass tried to ignore it, but she could ignore it no longer.

“You can go back to sleep now,” he said. “I'm not going anywhere.”

Instead, Cass took his hand and placed it on her breast. “What if I'm not sleepy?” She grinned at him mischievously.