The Dragon Guardian (2 page)

Gina’s cheeks flushed and she raised her chin. “I’m clearly not a virgin, so I’ve seen a man’s penis before. I’m much more interested in some answers.”

Fergus’s dragon snarled.
She shouldn’t dismiss our dick so casually. I can tell from her pupils she wants us.

Shut it, dragon. You’re as bad as Fraser.

Aye, and your twin brother has all the fun.

Gina poked his nose. “Well? I’m waiting.”

He chuckled, which only made the human poke him again. Not wanting Gina to carry out her earlier threat, Fergus answered her. “I know your name because I’ve asked the locals. You’re American, so you may not be aware of how the humans around Loch Shin view dragon-shifters.”

Gina waved a hand in dismissal. “My grandma lived here until she died and I’ve heard the stories about dragons being good luck. However, I have yet to be convinced any dragon-shifter is good luck, here or in America.”

Fergus’s job required him to gather intelligence and interview contacts. His years of experience told his gut she knew more about dragon-shifters than she was letting on.

However, Gina MacDonald wasn’t his assignment. Truth be told, Fergus needed to return to Lochguard in the next hour. The sooner he placated the human, the better. “Well, believe what you wish. Is my interrogation over yet?”

She shook her head. “You still haven’t told me why you’ve been watching me for the last six or seven weeks.”

Damn. He’d hoped she’d forgotten that bit. The thought of lying to the human didn’t sit well with man or beast, so he went with the truth. “I wanted to know your story.”

Gina blinked. “What?”

“Your story. I know all of the humans around this loch, lass. You’re new and I want to know why you’re here.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, which only plumped up her breasts. Bastard that he was, he glanced down at them for a second. He wondered how heavy they’d feel in his hands.

Gina cleared her throat and he met her gaze again. The female’s cheeks were even pinker than before. It took everything he had not to stare at her lips as she replied, “Then why not knock on my door like a normal person? Do you know how creepy it is to have a giant, black dragon watching your every move? Despite my experience with dragon-shifters, I had begun to wonder if you were going to eat me.”

His beast hummed.
Yes, I wouldn’t mind eating her.

Fergus nearly choked. He was trying to think of how to reply to that when Gina cried out and placed her hands on her belly.

“Are you faking again?”

Gina drew in a breath and shook her head. Both man and beast kicked into gear.

He gently took hold of Gina’s shoulders and rolled them until she was lying on her back on the ground. Placing a hand on her belly, he felt the rippling of her abdomen. “We need to call you a doctor, lass. Can you stay here whilst I do that?”

Gina shouted, “No. Don’t call a doctor.”

He frowned. “Why not?”

He could tell when the pain passed because Gina’s entire body relaxed into the floor. After a few beats of silence, she met his eye. “Because the baby is half-dragon-shifter. If you call a human doctor, they’ll lock me up and eventually take away my son.”

Gina had been working up the nerve for weeks to try to contact the one person who might be able to help her keep her baby, but had failed. She’d put off contacting Melanie Hall-MacLeod so long that she might not be able to seize a happy ending.

And despite the difficult life ahead for a human raising a dragon-shifter child, Gina desperately wanted to keep her son.

She cursed Travis for putting her into this predicament in the first place. His words of love and being her true mate had all been a lie. The second he’d known she was pregnant, he’d laughed and walked away. All he’d wanted was another child for his clan.

Tears prickled her eyes, but she willed them away. She wouldn’t cry in front of Fergus, even if it killed her.

The dragonman assessed her with his dark blue eyes. He still hadn’t responded to her secret. Just as she was going to ask for his thoughts, he replied, “I know someone who can help you.”

Fear gripped her heart. “But will they take my baby away?”

“We can discuss that later. Right now, you need a midwife. Luckily for you, my sister-in-law is a bloody good one.”

Fergus took out his mobile phone. Before he could dial, she grabbed his wrist. “I’m warning you, Fergus. If the person you’re about to call will take away my baby, then I’ll use my secret weapon to stop you.”

Gina reached into her pocket with her other hand and closed her fingers around the precious tube of ground periwinkle and mandrake root. The substance had cost her a small fortune to obtain, but it was the only way to incapacitate a dragon-shifter. Not only that, it would prevent him, or her, from shifting for several days, too.

She had purchased it in case Travis, or anyone from Clan BroadBay, came after her. But she’d use it on Fergus if she had to.

Fergus lightly brushed a finger down her cheek. His touch helped to ease some of her tension. His voice was gentle, yet firm, when he murmured, “Holly won’t try to take your child, lass. But you staying here in this cottage, on your own, is going to be a problem.”

Gina’s heart rate ticked up. “Does that mean you’re going to turn me over to the DDA?”

He shook his head. “No. But I do think you should come back to Lochguard with me.”

Clan Lochguard was the only dragon-shifter clan in Scotland. Gina had been trying to find out information about them for months, but still didn’t know much about them since the locals viewed her as an outsider. All she had were the tidbits she’d learned from her grandmother before she’d passed a few months ago.

She wished her grandma was still alive. Marjorie MacDonald had spoken highly of some dragon-shifters being good. Maybe it had included Lochguard’s leader.

But her grandmother was dead and Gina needed to sort the situation out herself. Gripping the vial in her pocket tighter, she gathered every bit of strength she had and made her voice strong. “I’m not agreeing to anything until I talk to your clan leader.”

“You do understand that I could call the DDA right now and hand you over to them.”

“And do what? I could just as easily report you stalking me for the last few weeks. The locals may not care about you lingering on human lands, but the DDA does.”

As they stared at one another, Gina wondered if she’d pushed too far. Especially since if another pain came, she would be completely at Fergus’s mercy. He could easily retaliate.

But then he smiled, and her fears eased away as he spoke up again. “A lass who uses her brain. I must admit I like it.” Fergus waved the mobile phone in his hand. “Let me call my sister-in-law. After that, I’ll call my clan leader and see what I can do. However, it’s entirely up to Finn to refuse a meeting. You understand that, don’t you, lass?”

“My name isn’t ‘lass.’ It’s Gina.”

Fergus grinned. “Right, then, Gina. Same question.”

The thought of living under an unknown dragon clan leader’s rules didn’t sit well with her. The dragon clan leader in Virginia, of Clan BroadBay, had determined that Gina’s child belonged to BroadBay. His solution had been for her to visit the US Department of Dragons Affairs office in Washington, D.C. to sign a contract to hand over her child after it was born. When Gina had missed her appointment with the US DDA office, BroadBay had put a price on her head.

It was then she’d decided to run to where her grandmother lived, near Loch Shin. Memories were long, and despite keeping their secrets, many of the locals had helped Gina settle in without blinking an eye after her grandmother’s passing. One of the few things they’d mentioned recently was that Lochguard’s leader, Finlay Stewart, might be a leader they could reach out to and work with. From what she could tell, Clan Lochguard was nothing like BroadBay.

While maybe not the best decision, Gina would take a chance for the sake of her child. She could always reevaluate her options later. “Go ahead and call the midwife.”

Fergus dialed and put the phone to his ear. Gina only hoped she hadn’t made another poor choice. The past year had seen too many of them.

~~~

Waiting for Holly to answer, Fergus studied Gina MacDonald. For a human, she had quite the backbone. Even with labor possibly looming over her, she had stood her ground to get what she wanted.

He wondered how such a lass could end up in the wilds of Scotland alone and pregnant with a dragon-shifter’s child.

However, before he could think too much more on it, his sister-in-law, Holly, answered, “Hello?”

Fergus replied, “Holly, I need your help. How fast can Fraser bring you to the northwest shore of Loch Shin?”

“As much as I always want to help you, I need more details than that before I commit to anything.”

He frowned as he studied Gina’s face for any signs of pain. Luckily, the lass hadn’t cried out again. “I have a human here who is pregnant with a half-dragon-shifter child. She’s had some pain and I’m concerned.”

Holly sounded confused. “Lochguard doesn’t have any humans currently pregnant. Even Stonefire only has one, Samira James, and I talked with her and Dr. Sid about thirty minutes ago. Who is this human?”

Fergus’s dragon growled and he sent soothing thoughts to his beast as he lowered his voice. “If you trust me at all, Holly MacKenzie, then save your questions for later. All I know is the human is very pregnant and she had some pain in her lower abdomen.”

Holly answered, “Okay, but I’ll bring Layla with me. She’s free right now.”

Layla was Lochguard’s junior doctor. “No, don’t. The fewer people involved, the better. I’m calling Finn after this, so just hurry up. Tell Fraser it’s the white cottage with a chicken coop right behind it. There’s also a stack of firewood next to it. There aren’t any other cottages around here with both those features.”

“Okay, but—”

Fergus ended the call. Just as he was about to dial Finn’s number, Gina sucked in a breath. Reaching a hand out, he cupped her soft cheek. “Tell me what’s wrong, Gina.”

“Pain.” She closed her eyes. Fergus stroked her cheek and she leaned into his touch.

He wondered what it would be like to have a female of his own who always did the same.

Pushing aside that thought, he focused on the human. “Keep breathing, lass. I have help coming. If they fly, they can be here in the next five minutes.”

Gina finally let out a breath. Opening her eyes, she touched his arm with her hand. “They won’t try to take my baby, will they?”

Seeing the strong lass’s fear made his dragon snarl.
She should never be unhappy. Cuddle her close. Our touch will help her.

But we’re naked.

Right now, does that matter?

His dragon was correct. A female with pregnancy pains wasn’t going to be thinking of hot sex with a dragon-shifter. “No, they won’t take the bairn, Gina. Has the pain passed for now?” She nodded and he continued, “Then let me hold you in my lap until they arrive. For whatever reason, my touch relaxes you. Don’t deny it.”

She bit her lip. His beast growled out,
Don’t let her say no.

What is wrong with you? I’m not Fraser. I don’t give in to my dragon’s tantrums.

It’s not a tantrum. Our female must never be in pain, if we can help it.

She’s not our female. Her male could be coming at any time.

His dragon remained silent. That meant his bloody beast was thinking of a plan.

Realizing Gina hadn’t answered yet, Fergus stroked her cheek again with his thumb. “Come on, lass. I bet you’re curious what it’s like to feel all these muscles wrapped around you.”

As if on cue, she narrowed her eyes. “Muscles mean nothing if you’re a bastard. I don’t know you well enough to make that judgment.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to say he wasn’t a bastard. But his dragon’s possessive urge to hold Gina surged through his body, igniting his human half’s own hidden desire.

Tired of playing nice, Fergus leaned over, placed his hands underneath Gina’s armpits and maneuvered her to his lap. Before she could make a sound, he wrapped his arms around her and leaned his cheek against hers.

For a second, she tensed. Then she leaned against him. Fergus chuckled. “I told you.”

She turned her head to meet his eye. “Only because you’re helping me will I allow it this once. But don’t get any ideas.”

His dragon hissed.
We should be able to hold her whenever we want.

Not now, dragon.

Ignoring his beast, he reveled in the heat and scent of the human in his lap. It reminded him partly of why he wanted a mate—so he could share this type of closeness every day.

But Gina wasn’t his and most likely never could be. He needed to forget about her and focus on his clan’s safety. There were too many unknown variables with Gina; she could be a potential threat to Lochguard. Not that he wanted to believe it.

Keeping his tone light, he answered, “You should be more concerned about the DDA. Or, hell, meeting with my clan leader for that matter.”

“Exactly. Which is why you should be talking to him on your cell phone instead of keeping me captive in your arms.”

He should call Finn that instant, but instead, he murmured, “I’m holding you captive?” He hugged her tighter against his body, loving the softness of her arse against his groin. “Then maybe I should start taking advantage of the situation.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Hey, you’re the one making me out to be the villain.”

Gina opened her mouth to reply when the baby kicked against his arm. A yearning he’d hidden for years, of wanting to be a father, flooded his body. Moving his hand to the same spot, the bairn kicked again.

He expected Gina to push his hand away, but instead, she placed her warm fingers over his. Gina’s voice filled the room. “Strange. He’s been a quiet baby. Yet with you, he’s all but dancing and causing trouble.”

Afraid moving would break the spell, Fergus kept his tone neutral. “Maybe he can sense another dragon.”

Fergus met Gina’s eyes. The lass searched his gaze while keeping hers neutral. For the first time, Fergus had the chance to admire her green eyes flecked with gold.