The Dragon's Secret Prize Read online

  “I met a girl,” Tyler continued. “A great girl. Pretty, smart, cares about the environment. She’s vegan, too. You know how hard it is to be vegan? I could never do it.”

  Kayla was vegan, too. And she wasn’t all preachy about it, either, which was the biggest problem Shane had had with vegans in the past. For her, it was a personal choice. She had explained it to him when he had asked but other than that didn’t bring it up. She even made her own soap. How awesome was that? She was amazing.

  “So what do you say?”

  Shane blinked, then shook his thoughts away. “I didn’t catch that.”

  Tyler groaned. “I told you that I want to take her on a trip to Paris. I think she might be the one, you know? My destined mate.”

  “Mates aren’t destined, Tyler. You choose them as much as anything.”

  “You’re such a romantic guy. It’s a wonder that you haven’t found your mate yet,” Tyler drawled dryly.

  “And you find yours every other week.”

  Tyler groaned. “Are you gonna lend me the money or not? She’s a great girl, the girl of my dreams. Come on. Please?”

  “Fine. But I want you to pay it back by Christmas. I’ll wire the money over right away.”

  “Thanks. You’re the best. So… how are you doing?”

  Shane repressed a sigh. Talking on the phone wasn’t their strong suit, even when they had something to talk about. Now, though… trying to grind out a conversation with his little brother wasn’t something that he wanted to do. Not when there was so much else weighing on his mind. “I’m pretty busy, actually. That dig that I’m funding has just started and I’m in town picking up groceries for supper tonight. So I’ve got to go. But I’ll call you later.”

  “Sure, sure. Sounds great.” Tyler already sounded distracted. “I’ll call Mom.”

  “Good. Love you, Ty. Bye.”

  After hanging up, Shane pulled up his banking accounts and transferred a couple thousand dollars to Tyler. That should be enough to get him to Paris. If his relationship lasted that long. Tyler fell in love easily but fell out of love just as easily.

  Well, it was his life. As much as Shane wanted to protect his baby brother, Tyler was his own man and needed to learn his own lessons.

  He did the shopping quickly, though his mind was elsewhere. As he was loading up the car, though, there was another unwelcome addition to his day. Gordon Hunt, driving a flashy little sports car, pulled up beside him. Shane didn’t miss the two beefy men in a jeep that pulled up on his other side and rolled his eyes. If this was Gordon trying to intimidate him, he was going to learn that it took more than a couple of knuckleheads to intimidate the ex-SEAL.

  “Freeman.” Gordon greeted as he exited his car. “Just the man I was looking for. I was hoping you and I could talk a little bit.”

  “’Bout what? I thought our business had concluded.”

  “So did I.” Gordon cleaned some imaginary dirt from off his nail. “Until I got a visit from a buddy of mine on the police force. Seems like you’re stirring up some trouble. Now is that any way to treat me after I was so generous and I let you and your little BBW walk away without any trouble?”

  Shane’s jaw clenched so tight he was surprised he didn’t crack a tooth. “BBW?” he repeated.

  “Big beautiful woman. She’s big and she’s beautiful. Those curves. A man could drown in them. Got a lot of positive responses with her, too.” Gordon smirked. “Tell me, how was she?”

  Shane refused to react. Gordon was wanting him to lose his temper. “What do you want?”

  “After you left I looked you up. I was surprised to read about your history. Wealthy, outspoken on equal rights issues. It’d be a shame if everybody found out that you had gone and gotten involved in an illegal fighting ring.” Gordon’s smile became more self-satisfied. “You see, every fight is filmed and I’ll release your display to the world unless we come to an arrangement.”

  “You think this is the first time someone’s tried to blackmail me? You release that video and it’s the proof I need to shut you down.”

  Gordon laughed. “Don’t you think that I’ve got that covered? You’d shut down this fight, yes. But me? No. Some poor local would take the fall and I’d build their family a new house or something. It doesn’t really matter the details. I’ve dealt with situations before. The cops don’t want justice, they want their paycheck and donuts.”

  Shane’s fires flickered a little higher but he shook his head. He wasn’t ready to make his move yet. And if that meant giving this slimy man money in order to buy himself time and find a way to bring him down? Well, then he’d have to pay it.

  “How much?”

  “Let’s start with ten thousand monthly. I’ve got this great little charity that you can donate to. Funding women’s shelters across Canada.” Gordon’s smile became even more pronounced. “Oh, and by the way, I’m going to need your prize back.”

  Shane’s shoulders tensed. His voice was flat and deadly when he spoke. “What are you talking about?”

  “Not clear enough? The prize that you won at the last fight. My beautiful BBW. She was only yours for the week. I’ll need her back before the next fight tomorrow.”

  Smoke billowed in Shane’s lungs. His fires roared so high that they scorched his throat. He couldn’t stop himself from growling. The beefy men started forward but Gordon held up a hand. The grin was still on his face, as though this was all a joke to him. The bastard was going down. But he had to play this smart.

  “If anybody tries to touch her, I will kill them,” Shane told Gordon, making sure his threat was clear.

  Gordon clapped his hands. “Yes! That’s the kind of spirit I want to see in my ring. I knew you’d be an excellent champion. I just had to find your motivation. So there we have it. A nice little agreement. You can donate to my charity and in the meantime fight for your lady love. She’s a beautiful girl. She’s got that wide-eyed innocent look to her that makes men want to get their hands on her. She looks like she wouldn’t know what to do with herself once you take her clothes off. I bet she’s good though.”

  Shane’s hands clenched at his sides. He could always kill this worm before him. His guards wouldn’t be able to stop him that quickly.

  “Now you come back every week to fight for Kayla. If you win, then you keep her for another week. If you lose, then I’ll give her to the man who does win.” Gordon paused a moment and nodded. “Yes, that will work. I’m sure she won’t be pleased but there are ways to make a woman compliant.”

  Shane’s hand shot out before he could stop it. His fingers curled around Gordon’s throat. But he didn’t squeeze. Gordon wouldn’t have come here with this blackmailing if he didn’t have an ace up his sleeve, some way to ensure his safety.

  The two beefy guards jumped forward but once again Gordon held up a hand to stop them.

  “Let’s not get violent, Mr. Freeman. If you kill me the video of your illegal activity is released. And that, combined with a murder? Tsk, tsk. What will all your hard work to provide dragons with better lives do then?”

  Shane forced himself to release Gordon, breathing heavily. He had dedicated years of his life to various charities and working towards making life better not only for dragons but every oppressed group. He had scholarships for poor people to attend university. No-interest loans for people starting up their own small businesses. The video was one thing but killing Gordon? The public would turn on him in a heartbeat regardless of the situation.

  His nostrils flared but he nodded. “Fine. I fight. I keep Kayla out of your hands. But even if I lose, she stays safe. She doesn’t get traded off to someone else.”

  “Yes, she does. How else will I motivate you to fight?” Gordon clapped his hands and chuckled, the true image of a supervillain. “Oh, this is good! I’ve been so bored lately. Thank you for giving me something to be excited about again.”

  “I don’t want Kayla to know about the fights.” If he had to do this, he didn’t want her t
o be constantly on edge and afraid. “And the moment she does find out? I kill you.”

  Gordon rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic. Fine, Kayla can stay ignorant if that’s what you want. Remember, tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

  Chapter Five

  Kayla

  Several weeks after the dig officially started, Kayla lay in her tent, eyes closed as she relived the dream she’d had the previous night. It had been a doozy. Shane had been in it. Their clothes had not. She could still feel the pleasant tingles that she’d slowly woken up to. Her hands had drifted between her legs as awareness of her surroundings came to her but that was as far as it had gone.

  With a sigh, she opened her eyes. The air was chilly with the early morning but the sides of her tent were well lit up. She patted next to her head for her cellphone and saw that it was four-thirty. She let out another deep sigh. Almost time to get up.

  She heard the bushes rustling outside her tent and chewed her lip. So Shane was up already, too? Hopefully, she hadn’t woken him. And hopefully, she hadn’t been moaning in her sleep…

  Moving quickly, she slipped out from her sleeping bag and changed out of her fluffy PJs into something more practical for the day. Everything was starting to get a nice, strong smell to it. She’d have to go to the laundromat on her next day off. That would be in… three days?

  Kayla exited her tent to find Shane sitting on a log next to his hammock. Dark circles were under his arms and he had a first-aid kit opened up beside him. He used alcohol swabs to clean up blood from bruised knuckles. Kayla gasped and he looked up sharply.

  “What happened?” she rushed over to take his hand in hers.

  Shane shrugged. “Picked a fight with a tree. Couldn’t sleep last night so I went walking around. I guess I was a bit more enthusiastic then I thought. Don’t worry, I’ll be healed up in a few minutes here.”

  Kayla clucked her tongue at the dark purple splotches on his hands. He must have been really beating on that tree! “Dragons can’t heal indefinitely, you know. You need to take better care of yourself.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Shane smiled at her but there was something haunted in his eyes and worry lines creased his forehead. He had been looking very stressed lately. Was it because of Gordon Hunt? There had been no word about Hunt or his fights.

  Kayla kept wondering if maybe she should step forward, say something. But at the same time, she didn’t think anybody would believe her. Shane, yes, and Esther and probably Bryant. Her friends. But outside of them? The police? Lawyers? Not to mention the amount of public ridicule she’d go through if this came to light. After all, why would anybody really want to fight for her? She was just a pudgy archeologist and it wasn’t like she was all that young anymore. Thirty wasn’t old but it was old enough.

  She looked away, guilt churning in her stomach. She just wanted to forget the whole thing had even happened. So why couldn’t she?

  “I should go start getting things ready for the day,” she mumbled as she got to her feet again. “Lots of work, right?”

  Shane nodded. “I should talk to Bryant anyway.”

  He got to his feet and stuffed the bloody wipes into his pocket. Together they headed over to Esther’s camper. She was normally up by this time. Today was no exception. As they got closer to the camper, Kayla could hear voices. When she knocked, the door was opened quickly. Bryant welcomed him in. Stress lined his face and when Kayla saw Esther, her heart nearly stopped. Tears rolled down Esther’s face as she sat on a small chair.

  “What’s wrong?” Kayla rushed over to her friend.

  Esther sniffed. “There’s something… there might be something wrong with my pregnancy. It’s not progressing normally. Bryant and I want to go back to Dominque, so her doctor can check me out. The one that I’ve got here doesn’t have any experience with human-dragon pregnancies and I…”

  “We can’t risk our child,” Bryant said softly.

  “Oh, Esther.” Kayla hugged her tight. Worry twisted her insides. Bryant and Esther had a hard enough time getting together, so why did this have to happen to them? “Do you know what might be wrong?”

  Esther shook her head. “We don’t have any real idea. We just know that something isn’t quite right. And I know it’s silly, I just hate leaving the dig… it’s the first one that I’ve been heading and now what? I just have to leave everything. But the baby comes first.” Her hands caressed her stomach, which had been growing bit by bit every week since the dig had started. “It doesn’t matter what happens as long as the baby is okay.”

  Shane cleared his throat, drawing their attention back to him. To Kayla’s surprise, the dragon almost looked angry. “I’ve put too many resources into the dig to just shut it down. And all these students, they’ve carved out time to be part of it, too. We can’t just send them home. I know that you have to go and look after your child,” he added, his expression softening. “I’m not suggesting that you stay. I just want alternatives besides ending the dig.”

  “Well…” Esther looked at Kayla.

  She understood instantly what Esther was meaning. Kayla’s eyes widened, her heart starting to thump against her chest. Could she take over the dig? They were going to wait a few years until Esther could move onto what she really wanted, and Kayla had more experience, before getting to that point. But everything was already arranged. The students were here. From this point on it was mainly just making sure schedules were being kept…

  “I think I can do it,” Kayla said, her eyes starting to brighten. Her chest warmed as she imagined it. “At least until you can come back. And maybe we’ll have to bring in another person to help out but—”

  “But maybe it’s a good idea if you left, too,” Shane said his voice low. “Maybe it would be better if the whole project was put on hold after all.”

  He didn’t think she could do it? Kayla flinched and looked at the floor. But even as she did so, determination rose up in her. So what if she didn’t have as much experience as she would have liked to have? So what if this was a daunting challenge? It wasn’t as if she was the type of girl to back down from a challenge. Maybe someone like Shane couldn’t understand it but this was something that couldn’t just be given up because it was going to be hard.

  But then, Kayla mused as she looked at him, In the time I’ve known him I’ve never seen him back down from a challenge, either.

  “I can do this,” she said, infusing her voice with confidence. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “But—”

  “Like you said, you’ve put a lot of resources into this project. And the students are counting on this dig, too. To shut it down would screw over a lot of their plans. No. This is my life’s dream, and I’ve put it off long enough already. I won’t be alone. Bernie’s here. She should be here in a few minutes.” Bernie always overslept and was a few minutes late to the morning meetings. Kayla took a deep breath. “This dig is going to run smoothly. I’ll fight you on that one.”

  Shane yawned. The dark circles under his eyes seemed more pronounced and he shook his head. Not in a way that seemed like he was arguing with her, more in that way that indicated he knew when he was defeated.

  “Okay. If you think you can do this… I’m tired of fighting. I hope that you find everything is fine,” he said to Esther and Bryant. “Let us know either way, okay? In the meantime, Kayla will be in charge of the dig.”

  Kayla threw her arms around the dragon. “Thank you! You won’t regret this, I promise.”

  He hugged her back. Their bodies pressed together reminded her of her dream and a spark lit inside of her. Heat seeped through her limbs and her eyes fluttered shut. She had to resist the urge to bury her face into his neck and inhale his scent deeply. And then nibble at his skin, kiss his most kissable lips and—

  Whoa, now. She pulled away as a flush started to rise in her face. Best stop those thoughts right there. Still, she couldn’t help but continue to beam at him as she clasped her hands and nodded.

  �
��You won’t regret this,” she promised again. “You’ll see. Everything will be just fine.”

  Shane nodded and smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “It better.” This was Esther. She wiped her eyes as Kayla turned back to her. “Because if you mess this up, hoo boy. I’ll have to kick your ass. And you won’t like that.”

  “It’ll be fine. You just concentrate on your baby. Think positive thoughts.”

  Kayla squeezed her friend’s hands, though the worry was starting to seep in again. What sort of things could go wrong in a dragon pregnancy? They were so much harder than humans… But Esther was human. Everything that could go wrong in a human pregnancy could go wrong with hers. Couldn’t it? Were there additional complications because Bryant was a dragon? Kayla wished she knew more about these things but the truth of the matter was that she didn’t. She’d just have to wait and see what was going to happen, just like the rest of them.

  Bernie got to the camper shortly thereafter, and Esther explained the situation. Bernie was understandably worried but promised to help Kayla the best she could. By the time everything was sorted, the students were up and starting to move around. They left the camper to inform them about the changes. Shane grabbed Kayla’s hand and pulled her back before she could leave, though.

  “Are you sure?” he whispered. “Are you sure you want to stay and do this?”

  “Yes.”

  Shane’s eyes stared intensely at her. For a long moment that was all he did, then he nodded. His gaze was still so intense that she opened her mouth to ask what was wrong. Before she could, though, his arms were around her. Then his mouth was on hers.

  The smoldering fires that had been toasting her ever since she woke up from that dream sprang to life. His lips moved against hers, hungry and demanding. She moaned as she threw herself at him, holding him tightly. Her hips rolled as though they had a mind of their own, grinding against him. She teased his mouth open.

  And then he slipped out of her grasp. His eyes were bright and cheeks red as he shook his head.