Hidden Dragon Read online

  “I’m sorry to have brought this on you.” Doran accepted the opened water bottle. “But I am not sorry we have found each other.”

  “I’m not sorry either. I’m just in shock.” Fleur tore open the wrapper of an energy bar and handed it to him after he’d taken a good long drink. “You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. It’s going to take us some time to get to know each other.”

  He arched an eyebrow over an eye filled with such profound sadness that her heart ached for him and she wanted to hold him in her arms and tell him it would be okay. In some ways, he was a child. Innocent of everything that had happened in his life, and in the world that had passed him by for the last six hundred years.

  “Everyone I know is dead. And yet aside from a brief image of my brother, I don’t even remember their faces. How can I mourn the dead if I do not know them?” He took a bite of the energy bar and nearly spat it out. “What is this?”

  “It’ll give you some energy,” Fleur told him. “Strength. It will help you make the rest of the journey.” She glanced over at Jax. “Unless you want us to carry you.”

  Doran gave a short laugh. “You are good. You understand that my pride would prevent your brother or any other man from slinging me over his back and carrying me like a child.”

  Fleur took a step back and assessed his size and weight before replying, “I think I could carry you myself. I’m strong for a girl.”

  Doran’s laugh deepened. “You know, I believe you.” He bit into the energy bar. “I will eat it for the strength I need but I hope all the food in this new world does not taste so bad.”

  “Good choice.” Fleur took a long drink from the water bottle. “My mom handled five children with the same kind of psychology. I picked up a few tips along the way.”

  “I would like to meet your mother. And your father. So I can ask his permission to wed you.” Doran looked at her with an innocent expression, as if what he’d said was perfectly normal and reasonable.

  Fleur gulped loudly as she swallowed down the water in her mouth before she sprayed it over Doran. “Okay, I’ll let that go. But you need to understand something now if we are going to get along.” She put the lid back on the water bottle.

  “Which is?” Doran’s eyes danced as a small smile slipped over his lips.

  Her eyes narrowed. “You know what I’m going to say, don’t you?”

  “You are a headstrong woman, who wears a man’s pants. I can assume you are about to tell me that no one tells you what to do.” He studied her as Jax chuckled to himself.

  “I was.” She nodded, wishing she was close enough to Jax to kick him into silence.

  Doran nodded. “But I will ask your father all the same. It is customary, and we will be married.”

  “Will we?” Fleur shoved the empty wrapper and the water bottle back in the backpack before slinging it over her shoulders.

  “Of course. We are mates. So we will marry. I don’t care if we are not of the same class or if I have more wealth than you.” Doran spoke from the heart, and Fleur had to remind herself that he was old-fashioned, because he was…well…old.

  “That’s very sweet of you. But maybe I’m not the marrying kind.” Fleur arched an eyebrow at her mate and waited for his response.

  “But how can we live together and make babies if we are not married? I would make an honest woman of you, Fleur,” Doran insisted.

  Fleur patted Doran on the shoulder. “Things have changed a lot in the last six hundred years. A woman does not need to be married to be honest. Children are born out of wedlock all the time.” She pressed her lips together. “But I might consider marrying you if you are suitable.”

  With that she swung around and marched down the path toward the car, kicking Jax in the ankle as she strode past. “Ouch, what did I do?”

  Fleur didn’t answer, she just kept on walking, leaving the men to trail behind while she sorted through the jumble of thoughts in her head. Marriage and children had never been a huge priority for her. Not now, not yet.

  Was she supposed to just drop everything and let go of her dreams just because her mate showed up?

  Not happening, her bear said resolutely.

  I thought you were all for rolling around with our mate, Fleur said.

  Who said you couldn’t have a full and loving relationship with a man, a mate, without children following along right away? He needs time to adjust to the new world he’s about to discover. Her bear laughed. And if we do have babies, he could be a stay-at-home dad.

  Fleur grinned. All we have to teach him is that we are equal.

  Chapter Five – Doran

  The water and energy bar gave a short boost to his strength and endurance, but they were not satisfying to eat. Doran longed to sit down at a table with some good strong ale and a thick meaty stew with fresh bread.

  He drooled as he imagined sinking his teeth into a tasty leg of mutton. Six hundred years without food was far too long.

  “We’re nearly back at the vehicles.” Fleur dropped back to join him as the trees thinned and the mountainside opened up to reveal a gateway. The gate looked nearly as old as Doran, but it was the thing that stood beyond the gate that caught his attention.

  “There is something shining and silver beyond the gate.” Doran kept his voice low as they drew closer. “Are we to be ambushed?” The silver glinted like a sword held in the hand of a warrior on an early morning battlefield.

  “No, that’s Jax’s motorbike and the other vehicle is my car.” She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly as Edric always did before he delivered unwelcome news. “We ride inside the car. I drive it using a steering wheel.”

  “Like a carriage.” He nodded. “Why are you concerned about me riding in a carriage?”

  “It’s a horseless carriage.” Fleur caught his eye. “But it’s not powered by magic or anything. It has an engine and we put fuel in a tank, and the engine turns the wheels and we use the steering wheel to turn those wheels in the direction we want to go.”

  Doran’s brow creased as he tried to envisage a horseless carriage. “Fuel. Like wood for the fire?”

  “Yes, like wood for a fire, but this fuel is liquid.” She smiled brightly. “We can go fast, and we stay dry and warm because there’s a heater.”

  “You think I’m going to go a little crazy and so you are talking to me as if I were a child.” He grinned. “Do not worry, I am ready for this new world where women wear the pants.”

  “Oh, they do wear the pants. At least sometimes. But in my ideal world men and women are equal. We have an equal say in any decisions we make, and I have equal rights.” She faltered, looking at Doran uneasily. “I know things were very different when you were here before. But with my help and the help of good friends and family, I’m certain you’ll do just fine.”

  “Your eyes say differently,” Doran noted. And what beautiful eyes they were. Dark, unfathomable with a deep well of emotion just waiting to be tapped.

  “I’ve never introduced a medieval dragon to the twenty-first century before.” Fleur glanced toward the gateway. “You can understand why I’m a little concerned.”

  “I will be fine. It’s not as if you haven’t warned me things will be different,” Doran assured her.

  “Yeah, you have no idea how different. From the cars to clothes. There are no marketplaces with stalls in Bear Creek, except at Christmas. Instead, there are stores. Although you might find the museum interesting since it has stuff from your era on display.”

  “Maybe we could find some clothes for you in the museum,” Jax suggested and earned himself a scowl from his sister. “It was a joke.”

  They reached the gate and Jax vaulted over to land with bent knees on the other side. He turned around to face Doran and Fleur with his hands on his hips as if trying to hide the vehicles Fleur had spoken of.

  “I am not afraid of these vehicles,” Doran said confidently. “They are mechanical and cannot hurt me.”

  “Unless you fall off th
e motorcycle or crash the car,” Fleur said. “You’re only as safe as the driver in control.”

  “Or other drivers on the road,” Jax glanced up at Fleur, who nodded.

  As Jax stepped to the side, Doran got his first look at the twenty-first century. The breath left his lungs as he stared at the car and the bike. One with two wheels, one with four, but not the wooden wheels used on wagons. No, these were black, with silver-colored spindles.

  “So, car or bike?” Jax asked. “You can either ride on the back of my bike or sit beside Fleur.”

  “I will travel with my mate,” Doran confirmed as Fleur opened the gate carefully, and waited for him on the other side.

  “I thought you might say that.” Jax sauntered over to his motorbike and slung his leg over the body of the machine. “I’ll go on ahead and warn Fiona that you’re on your way.”

  “Okay.” Fleur glanced nervously at Doran. Was she afraid to be alone with him?

  “I’ll see you there.” Jax inserted a key into the bike. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

  “Absolutely.” Fleur took out a key and pressed a button. The car lit up with orange flashes and made a strange noise which startled Doran. “I’ve unlocked it. The beeping sound and the indicators flashing is quite safe.”

  “Beeping.” Doran nodded. It wasn’t just the sights that were new, but the sounds, too.

  “I’ll see you soon,” Jax called out. “And Doran, I just want to say, if you hurt my sister, I’ll break your legs. Dragon shifter or not.” Jax turned the key and a sound like thunder ripped through the peace and tranquility of the mountain. Doran covered his ears as the sound grew louder.

  “Show off!” Fleur yelled at her brother as he shot off down the mountain trail like an arrow from a crossbow.

  Doran’s heart hammered in his chest as the motorbike and its rider disappeared from view at an unnatural speed. “Before I slept, my dragon was the fastest thing in the world.”

  “That’s not the case anymore,” Fleur told him as she opened the door of her metal car and ushered him inside. “Come on, let’s go see Fiona and find out if she can help. Then I’ll take you home so you can meet my parents.” She pointed a finger at him. “As long as you promise not to ask my dad for my hand in marriage.”

  “I promise not to ask him,” Doran agreed.

  “Really?” Fleur asked.

  “At least for one day.” Doran gave her a wicked grin before resting his hand on the roof of the car. “I sit here?”

  “Yes.” She waited for Doran to slide into the car seat before she pulled out a harness and crossed it over his broad chest. “And then you put this seatbelt around you and snap it into here.”

  Doran leaned forward, and the harness moved with him. “What is it for if it doesn’t hold me in place?”

  “It moves if you move slowly, but if you snap forward…” Fleur grabbed the harness and yanked it hard. “It stops. Seatbelts save lives.”

  “Interesting and clever.” He waited for his mate to release the seatbelt and then leaned forward fast, the seatbelt cut across his chest not allowing him to move forward. “So I would not go through the glass.” He tapped the window in front of him.

  “You got it.” Fleur looked down the road in the direction her brother had gone. “We should go.”

  “Are you afraid to be alone with me?” Doran asked as he ran his hand along the fabric seatbelt and then stroked the hard surface in front of him. “What is this?”

  “The dashboard, it’s made of plastic.” Fleur shut the car door and went around to the other side, slipping in next to him. The car seemed very small and she was very close. He let out a long breath as he fought to contain the urge to grab hold of her and kiss her. “And no, I’m not afraid. I can take care of myself.”

  “Why were you here?” Doran asked as Fleur started the engine. Thankfully, it was not as noisy as the motorbike.

  “The land is for sale.” She backed up the car, turning it around so the nose pointed downhill.

  “The land is for sale.” His brow wrinkled as he sought an elusive memory that tried to escape him, but he mentally reached out and grabbed hold of it. “But the land is mine. It belongs to my family.”

  “It might have once.” She gave him a sideways glance full of pity. “But it doesn’t anymore and probably hasn’t for years. The land belongs to Mr. Devizes. He hired my boss to sell the land.”

  “But the land belongs to my family. I have been hidden underground all this time so that the land of my ancestors and my treasure would remain safe,” Doran insisted.

  “That was a long time ago and the world has moved on. Mr. Devizes has the deeds to the land, I’ve seen them.” Another pitying look. “We can move your treasure. I’m sure Fiona and the other dragons will help. If we do it in the dark, no one will know.”

  “You expect me to skulk around like a thief in the night?” Doran asked hotly.

  “The alternative, if you really wanted the land, would be for you to sell some of your treasure and buy it off Mr. Devizes.” Fleur’s suggestion was too much for the awakened dragon.

  “Buy back what is already mine?” Doran asked incredulously.

  “It would barely make a dent in the amount of treasure you have.” Fleur turned the wheel in her hands to expertly guide the car down the bumpy road where it met a smoother paved road. She turned left and put her foot down on the pedal beneath her feet which made the car go faster.

  “It’s the principle of the thing,” Doran retorted.

  “Sometimes you have to put your principles aside.” She kept her voice even as she spoke. Her tone reminded him of a mother talking to her child. “I understand it might not seem fair, but you have been asleep for a very long time. It would be difficult for you to prove the land was yours when Mr. Devizes has the deeds.”

  “I have never shied away from difficulty.” Doran was a dragon, he was used to making difficult decisions and he certainly didn’t like the thought of backing down without even making a challenge for what was his by rights.

  “Let’s talk about it later. We’re nearly at Fiona’s house.” Fleur turned the wheel and they drove up a narrow road that wound uphill back into the mountains. After a couple of miles, which went by much faster than if they were in a horse and wagon, but not as fast if he was on dragon wings, they reached a small house, where Jax’s motorbike was waiting outside. There was no sign of Jax.

  “Should we wait to be invited in?” Doran asked. “Dragons are territorial beasts.”

  “We can knock on the door. If Fiona breathes fire in our faces, then we know we’re not wanted. But she’s not that bad, honestly.” She unclipped her seatbelt and opened the car door by pulling a small lever. Doran did the same, glad to be out of the vehicle and standing on his own two feet.

  “If Fiona breathes fire at my mate, I will be forced to retaliate.” Doran flexed his muscles, which were not as strong and toned as they once were. If this came down to a fight between two dragons, he hoped his dragon was in better physical shape.

  “Relax,” Fleur told him. “You need to work on that testosterone making decisions for you.”

  “Testosterone?” Doran asked.

  “Oh, you have so much to learn, but let’s see if we can figure out how to retrieve your past before we work on the future.” She turned to face him and placed both hands on his shoulders. “Listen, this is as weird for me as it is for you. Well, maybe not as weird, but I certainly didn’t expect to find my long dormant mate in a dragon’s lair today.”

  Doran nodded. “I believe if I had my memories I would make better sense of what is happening around me. It might also explain why the land was sold.”

  “Perhaps Mr. Devizes is one of your relatives. You might be his ancestor and the land was passed down to him.” She tapped him on the shoulders before sliding her hands down over Jax’s jacket and tugging it straight. “Have you considered he might be a dragon, too?”

  Doran’s eyes lit up. “Yes, a relative.” He rol
led his shoulders and stood up straight. “This is the first step we have to take together for the rest of our lives.”

  “Now you’re talking.” Fleur held out her hand and he slipped his large hand into hers, and as his fingers closed around her hand, he had a sense of how right this moment was. How right they were together.

  And how they would conquer whatever the world threw at them. Even if it was a fire-breathing dragon named Fiona.

  Chapter Six – Fleur

  Before today, Fleur knew dragon shifters existed. But since Fiona and the rest of the dragons had been searching for more dragons for the last couple of years, with no luck, it had come as a complete surprise to find one, let alone be mated to one.

  She wasn’t scared. Instead, excitement bubbled up inside her. Perhaps because what Jax had said was true. When she was a little girl, her favorite bedtime stories had been those featuring dragons.

  “Okay, Doran, if you need to hide behind me, that’s fine.” Fleur summoned her best real estate agent armor and marched up to the front door of the house. Dragons were territorial. Showing up on the doorstep with a strange dragon might not be a good idea. However, they needed specialist help. Her mate needed specialist help and she was willing to risk singed eyebrows to get him that help.

  But before she reached the porch, Doran grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back toward him. “I’ll do this.” He gave her a half smile. “I haven’t turned so weak over the last six hundred years that I need my woman to do this for me.”

  “Your woman.” She folded her arms across her body defensively. Doran made it sound as if she were his property. She wasn’t, and the sooner he realized that, the better.

  “Are you denying you are my woman?” Doran inched closer, the heat of his body emanating outward, sending a thrill of excitement through her veins. As he lowered his head and skimmed her lips with his, she was willing to be his woman, or just about anything else he might want her to be.

  “I’m not your possession.” She looked up at him through her lashes, as her tongue snaked out and moistened her lips. A first real kiss would break the tension between them.