The Accidental Dragon Read online

  Tessa slid down Mick’s body, guilt all over her flushed face. She looked up at Nina. “Are you still mad at me for keeping Frank here?”

  Nina made a face. “Carl likes him, so I guess he’s okay. I’m not crazy about it, but if my zombie likes him, I’m down with it. Carl, believe it or not, is a pretty good judge of character.”

  “He said he saw Noah in the store that night,” Tessa revealed. “Do you think that’s true? Have any experience with ghosts?”

  She twisted the ends of her ponytail, her usually antagonistic eyes softening when they fell on Tessa. “Nope. No ghosts yet, but if there’s a Hell, why the fuck can’t there be a Heaven, too?”

  Tessa seemed satisfied with that answer. “Would you ask your paranormal friends? If Noah was trying to tell me something, I’d probably give my left arm to know what it was.”

  Mick’s pulse sped up. He had to tell her before Noah did. No matter what the consequences. If they were going to do this, he wanted to do it right. If she was going to walk away because of what Noah said to him that night, then he’d have to learn to live with it. But he had to be the one to tell her.

  Nina tugged a strand of Tessa’s hair. “You bet, kiddo. Now the both of you move the fuck out of the way. I need a shower and some quiet from all the yappin’. If I don’t get some vampire sleep tonight, you don’t want to know the level of cranky I can produce.”

  Tessa put her arms around Nina and gave her a hard hug. “I like you, Nina Blackman-Statleon.”

  Nina’s arms remained stiff at her sides, but her eyes twinkled when she caught Mick’s gaze. “I don’t like you—not even a little. And I damn well don’t like hugging. Get off of me, Mothra, before I pluck those wings off your back and sauté ’em.”

  Tessa chuckled, clearly ignoring Nina. “Night, marshmallow.” She grabbed Mick by the hand, and he gave Nina a smug smile before letting Tessa lead him off to the bedroom.

  * * *

  MICK slipped into bed beside Tessa, pulling the thick comforter someone had kindly washed the smoke from over them both. He reached around the incubator between them, entwining his fingers with hers.

  So much peace came with just that simple gesture, Tessa sighed. For the moment, they were safe and the baby was, too. Somehow, everyone had managed to find a place to sleep out in the living room, sprawled on the couch or sharing air mattresses on the floor. Her small cottage, overrun with paranormal people, was quiet.

  The snow outside her window fell in fat white flakes beneath a half-moon while stars twinkled in the crystal-clear sky.

  “What do you think is going to come out of that egg when it hatches?”

  “I don’t know, Tessa. I don’t care. It’s ours. That’s all that matters.”

  Tears stung the corners of her eyes. She didn’t care, either. They’d figure it out—together. “What’s going to happen when those demons find out the egg was a fake? Jeannie said the spell only lasts twenty-four hours.” She was afraid. She was so afraid they wouldn’t be able to protect the egg. Where could you hide when demons popped up out of nowhere? There was no hiding place.

  Mick sat up, taking the incubator from the bed and setting it on the nightstand. He opened his arm to her, and she gladly snuggled into his embrace. “I imagine it’ll be a lot like what happened today at the store. But you’re gonna show me how to use those wings and we’ll give them a run for their money. Nobody’s getting that egg or you, Tessa. I swear it on my life.”

  She clenched her fist against his warm chest. “Don’t say that. I don’t want to be without you. Ever,” she murmured. Not after this. Not after finding out Mick felt the same way about her that she did about him. She had so many questions—why he’d waited so long to tell her, for instance—but she knew it would only complicate things if she brought them up now.

  Yet she knew they’d have to clear the air eventually.

  Tightening his hold on her, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Then we’ll prepare.”

  Putting her palms flat on his chest, she raised herself up, an urgent need to be as close as humanly possible to Mick canceling out everything else. “Make love to me again. Right now,” she ordered, pushing the covers back and throwing her leg over his torso.

  She grabbed the edge of her nightgown, pulling it over her head and tossing it to the floor. Mick’s shaft hardening beneath her ass was an instantaneous reaction that pleased her.

  He grinned, almost relaxed, something she hadn’t seen in a very long time. “While everyone sleeps just outside the door? You’re saucy. I like it.”

  “We just have to be quiet. No screaming ‘do me harder,’” she joked.

  “But what about dragon junior?”

  She giggled, stretching like a cat, letting her hard nipples caress his chest, more comfortable with Mick than she’d ever been with anyone. “The baby can’t see anything yet. I have it on good authority.”

  “Arch?”

  “He’s like Ask Jeeves. He knows everything.”

  “We owe him big. If not for him, who would have known we had to do this in order to ensure the baby hatches?” Mick wiggled his raven eyebrows, grasping her arms and kneading them.

  Tessa sat back, rolling her hips against his abdomen, relishing the hard outline of his cock straining against his underwear. “Out of the million and two ways we could have gotten together, leave it to us to turn into dragons and somehow conceive an egg.”

  Mick’s eyes became serious. “Did I tell you before that you’re beautiful? That you’re everything I thought you’d be and more?” he asked, reaching up to tug her nipples to life.

  She splayed her fingers over his chest, running her fingers through the sprinkling of dark hair between his pecs. “I don’t remember.”

  Mick ran his hands over her naked flesh, caressing the indent where her waist met her hip. “Then let me tell you now. You’re as perfect as I imagined,” he said, husky, low, his words thick with desire.

  Leaning forward, she licked at his lips—luscious, delicious, full lips. “Did you imagine me like I imagined you?” She needed to hear the words. She needed to know he’d wanted her as much as she’d wanted him for so long.

  Slipping his fingers between her legs, he grazed her already wet flesh. “I imagined you over and over. It was always you, Tessa,” he groaned against her mouth, licking at her lips.

  Her heart clenched. So much wasted time. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?” she asked, shoving his boxer briefs down over his legs, setting his hot shaft free. She settled it between her thighs, letting the head of his cock caress her clit. Soft heat began to simmer in her belly, her nipples tightening.

  “I’m telling you now,” he growled out the words, rolling her to her back, spreading her legs, and driving into her.

  She planted her open mouth on his shoulder, fighting a scream of exhilaration as he filled her, stretched her wide. Her legs instantly went around his waist, taking all of him.

  But Mick stilled for a moment, the tension in his body vibrating against hers. His fierce eyes stared down at her, glittering in the dark. “I need you to hear this, Tessa. It’s always been you, and it always will be. Now say it,” he demanded.

  Tessa curled into him, wrapping her arms tight around his neck. “It’s always been me.”

  Mick stared at her hard one last time before he drove upward inside her, hard, forceful, stealing the breath from her lungs. She clung to him, her eyes closing, her body responding to his muscled bulk above her, pressing into her, filling her up until she thought she’d scream from the pleasure.

  As their bodies fused together, Mick’s lips found hers, and he slipped his tongue into her mouth, thrusting into her until release seized her and she came in hot bursts of intense pleasure and a sharp pang of ever-growing love in her heart.

  Mick stiffened against her, his lips falling away from her mouth, his hands slipping under her ass as he took one last thrust into her, whispering her name against her ear.

  Burying her face in h
is neck, Tessa gulped for air, holding Mick, keeping this new bond they’d forged as close as possible.

  She needed this to sustain her, to tide her over.

  Because she’d had people taken away from her before.

  Those demons were out of their minds if they thought she was giving this up without a fight.

  A beautiful platinum blond woman greeted Tessa from the living room couch when she padded out of her bedroom to muster up some coffee. The strange woman’s smile was somehow comforting.

  She’d slept better than she had since this had all begun. Being wrapped in Mick’s arms was the healing balm she’d so longed for.

  “Morning, Tessa!” Wanda said cheerfully, rising from the couch and rushing into the kitchen to hand her a plate of eggs and freshly made biscuits smothered in butter and marmalade. “This is Katie Wood. She’s a veterinarian and a former client, now a good friend, and the closest thing we have to a doctor for baby dragon. We thought it’d be a good idea for her to take a peek at the egg. Just to be sure everything’s all right.”

  Tessa rubbed the sleep from her eyes and smiled, silently trying to figure out what kind of paranormal Katie was as the veterinarian made her way across the floor toward her. She was beautiful in a fresh summery way, long limbs in jeans, a curtain of braided hair, and beautiful clear skin.

  She reminded Tessa of sunshine and buttercups.

  Katie grinned again, sticking out her hand. “Cat. Cougar to be precise,” she offered, then threw a hand up to keep Tessa from apologizing. “Don’t bother to apologize. It comes with being a part of the OOPS family.”

  Tessa took a cup of coffee from Marty with a grateful smile. “I’m still adjusting. Sorry if I was staring.”

  “No big deal,” Katie said, pushing her long braid behind her shoulder. “So can I take a peek at the egg? I don’t know that I’ll be a great deal of help. I mostly specialize in dogs and cats, the occasional exotic, but nothing quite this exotic.”

  “I don’t mind at all.” She ran to the bedroom to get the incubator and realized that Mick wasn’t in bed anymore. But the rumpled sheets brought a smile to her face. It was like they’d always been together. Like they’d always climbed into bed with each other every night. Like they’d always made such fiery love.

  And she didn’t want it to end.

  Scooping up the warm box, she drew her hand over the egg. “Morning, sunshine,” she whispered. The egg rolled into her palm, nestling against it just like it had the night before.

  As she made her way to the kitchen, she heard Nina greeting Katie with warmth. Yet another friend these women had made along the way to forming their crisis hotline/support group, making Tessa wonder how many of these crises they’d handled.

  Nina tugged on Katie’s braid with a grin. “How’s Shaw and those babies? Haven’t seen them since last Christmas.”

  Katie’s smile brightened. “Shaw’s terrific. He’s in school, studying to become a vet now. We finally decided the twins were old enough to go to day care. So he gave up being a stay-at-home dad to start school. And the twins—yikes. What a handful. They’re into everything as always—shifting, shedding, eating way more protein than I can seem to keep in the fridge. But it’s an amazing life,” she said on a happy sigh.

  “Teeny?” Nina asked with another one of those fond grins. “How’s my favorite smart-ass?”

  Katie lifted her shoulders. “Teeny’s, well, still Teeny. My grandmother,” Katie said on a laugh as an explanation to Tessa, settling into one of the breakfast bar chairs. “We’re still hiding cigarettes from her, and she’s still giving everyone in town hell.”

  Tessa set the incubator down in front of Katie, plugging it into the outlet.

  Katie was silent for a moment, shaking her head, a tear slipping from her eye. “Honest, I don’t know that I’m ever going to get used to the kind of miracles this life brings us. Who would have thought you could have a baby, Nina? And now this. It’s amazing—I’m so awed.”

  Nina clapped Katie on the back. “It’s good to see you. I’m out for a little bit, but don’t leave without saying good-bye, huh? I don’t see you enough.”

  Katie gave her a hug. “You bet.”

  And again, Tessa was flabbergasted by Nina—flabbergasted by the friends she’d collected along the way. Astounded by the strength of her loyalty.

  Nina grabbed a coat and a scarf from the coatrack, now nearly so full with coats from so many different people you almost couldn’t get out the door, and waved Carl to the door. “C’mon, Carl. You and me got a date with a toboggan, buddy.”

  “Wait! What if someone . . . you know, sees him?” Tessa asked, keeping her voice low so as not to insult Carl, but fearing for him just the same.

  Nina popped the tip of Tessa’s nose with a fingertip. “I’ll make ’em forget. Now go listen to baby dragon’s heartbeat.”

  Frank sat alone on the couch, his hands folded neatly in his lap, his watery eyes staring at the fire. Tessa put a hand on his shoulder. “Frank? Did you eat?”

  Nina pulled Carl’s stiff hands through the sleeves of the jacket. “Of course he ate. I made sure he did. C’mon, Frank. You’re coming, too.”

  “Oh, no,” he whispered with a hitch in his voice. “I’m fine here, thank you.”

  From behind the couch, Nina pulled a hat over the top of his head and patted it into place. It was pink and had earflaps, but it would do. “Nope. You’re comin’ with us, minion.”

  Frank shivered, looking up at Tessa, his eyes pleading. “I’m afraid of—of . . . her.”

  “It’s okay, Frank. I promise you. I wouldn’t let you go with her if I thought she was going to hurt you.”

  Nina wrapped a scarf around his neck, too. “Yeah, Frank. It’s okay. Now get up. You’re keepin’ me from the fresh powder. You don’t want to do that because I’m just startin’ to adjust to the idea of you. Darnell says I should give you a break. I say he’s a damn bleeding heart, but I respect his judgment.”

  “You promise you won’t eat me?”

  “Can a vampire eat a minion, Frank?”

  “I don’t know,” he blustered.

  “Then don’t make me effin’ find out.”

  Frank rose, but it was with stiff legs. He made his way around the couch and toward the door, his pink hat crooked, his purple and blue scarf trailing along his back.

  As the door closed and Tessa returned to the women in the kitchen, she realized Nina was taking Frank at his word by including him in her outing with Carl. That maybe he really was like Darnell—caught up in a bad situation he couldn’t get out from under.

  Katie pulled a stethoscope from her jacket pocket and held it up. “May I listen?”

  Tessa nodded, taking a sip from her coffee mug, watching intently as Katie warmed the stethoscope with her breath before placing it on the egg. Her face didn’t register anything serious, allowing Tessa to breathe comfortably.

  Katie shook her head; her face had more wonder written all over it. “The baby’s heartbeat’s strong, Tessa. Really strong. That’s good.”

  Tessa inhaled, leaning into Marty when she wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Thank goodness.”

  “So Wanda tells me you’ve been hearing cooing noises from within the egg?”

  “Yes. We all heard it.”

  Katie tucked the stethoscope back into her pocket. “So call me crazy, but I have nothing to go on but gestation for, say, a chicken egg. Now, I know that’s an odd comparison, but an egg’s an egg. Usually, when you start to hear peeping from the egg, it’s close to hatching. But Arch tells me in order for the egg to actually hatch, you have to fertilize it? A little backward, I suppose, to have movement and sound before fertilization, but it is a dragon, something we mostly know nothing about.”

  Her stomach fluttered. “So we’re almost there?”

  Katie nodded, her eyes warm. “Likely. And that’s mostly all I can tell you. I don’t know if I’m right or not, but it’s probably best to start preparing for the bab
y’s arrival.”

  Tessa finally asked the question she knew the other women were wondering. “What do you think will hatch from the egg? I mean, will it come out human like Mick and me, or will it be a baby dragon?”

  Katie’s lips curved into a smile. She reached over and patted Tessa’s hand. “Well, we’ve all had human babies with paranormal abilities—because we were impregnated by full paranormals after we were turned and we’re all half human. That goes for Marty, Nina, and me, too. So I’d say chances are, you’ll have a baby that looks human who’ll sprout wings and breathe fire eventually.”

  It didn’t matter to her. Not really. She’d already decided that if the baby came out looking like Puff the Magic Dragon, she’d take it somewhere secluded and figure it out. She loved it just the same, but being able to raise this child amongst the rest of the world would be a relief. She’d do what everyone else in this group had done.

  Blend.

  And there was something else she was concerned with. “The egg, it’s so small. I mean, relatively speaking. It doesn’t look much bigger than those oversized eggs the stores use for decoration at Easter. How can that possibly produce a baby who’s full-term?”

  “That I can’t answer. I’ve researched from here to kingdom come since Nina emailed me, and I can’t find anything on dragons that doesn’t have to do with supposition and folklore. Everything is very vague. But if the baby is of preemie size, I’ll be here to help, okay? Nina will fly off to get me just like she did today, and we’ll figure it out. Don’t stress about anything right now. Everything outwardly looks good. I’d do an ultrasound, but because the baby is in an eggshell, I worry about exposure. So for now, we’ll just have to be surprised.”

  Tessa stayed silent, overwhelmed. At least with a human pregnancy, you had nine months to prepare, read a book, take a class. But this . . . everything was happening so quickly.

  “I can see something’s troubling you, Tessa. Why don’t you tell me about it?”

  She looked into Katie’s face, so kind, so open, and more tears formed at the corner of her eyes. “It’s all happening so fast. I don’t know anything about being a parent. Not a single thing. My mother . . .” She gulped the words back.