After months of barely paying attention to Brad, Tasha couldn’t stop thinking about how close he sat next to her inside David’s office. He was, what, eight inches away from her? And yet he could’ve been sitting right up against her for all the heat he radiated.
He also smelled good, a mixture of man and pine, almost as if he’d ran through the nearby forest lately and hadn’t bothered to change clothes.
She tried to inch to the farthest side of her chair, to help clear her head. Her stupid dreams of him naked and standing over her flashed into her mind. His intense gaze and hungry look making her hot and wet, aching for him in a way she’d never done before.
Damn her dreams for making her realize the dragonman was sexy.
Not that her attraction was enough to decide her entire life. Still, it made the option of staying on StoneRiver more appealing.
And it was looking like she would have to stay, at least for the time being. She hadn’t thought of any other solution. However, she had one condition to tell David first. So after the pleasantries and him asking her what she’d do, Tasha sat up straighter in her chair and said, “I’m very close to saying yes to staying on StoneRiver. However, I want to talk with Ashley Swift first. It was too late last night and then too early to call this morning, so I haven’t had a chance to get some answers from her.”
David didn’t blink an eye. “I figured as much. She’s awake and awaiting your call.”
So, it seemed the clan leader was clever, prepared, and automatically thought a few steps ahead.
That made Tasha want to trust him more.
Taking out her cell phone, she eyed first David and then Brad. “Can I have a moment alone?”
The two dragonmen didn’t argue and walked to the door. Brad stated, “We’ll be right outside,” before closing the door behind him.
Taking a deep breath, she dialed the ADDA employee’s number. Much as David had said, Ashley answered on the first ring. “Hey, Tasha. I heard what happened. And before I tell you what I think you should do, tell me what you’re thinking first.”
Ashley had always asked questions and then truly listened to the answers. It was one of the reasons Tasha had finally capitulated and opened her bar’s doors to the dragon-shifters. “Apart from mating one of the dragons here, is there any other way I can stay safe and avoid my bar being destroyed?”
“I wish I could snap my fingers and make it all go away. But I’m afraid David’s suggestion is right—staying on StoneRiver is the best thing to do. Especially since I learned how the two men who attacked you were let go with a warning.”
What the hell? “How’s that possible?”
Ashley sighed. “The League has become smarter, infiltrating local areas of power, ranging from businesses to the police. That’s why you need to stay with a dragon clan. At least with ADDA you have me, and a few other trusted employees I know, to help you.”
So she really didn’t have any other choice but to mate Brad and stay on StoneRiver. And keeping her bar was seeming more like a dream than reality.
In other words, her entire life was about to change dramatically.
Ashley spoke again before Tasha could. “I wish you could come here to PineRock, but it’s more believable to ADDA that you’ve fallen for the part-time security guard than some random guy here. Or, at least it makes it easier for me to sell. They’re still being a little iffy when it comes to random human-dragon matings outside of the dragon lottery.”
Tasha had never entered the dragon lottery—where, if selected, a man or woman would go on to impregnate or be impregnated by a dragon-shifter—or met someone who had. In fact, she’d never met anyone who’d mated a dragon-shifter until Ashley had mated PineRock’s clan leader recently.
In fact, Tasha knew nothing about the dragon equivalent of marriage and was tired of being ignorant. Focusing on what her life would probably become, she blurted, “How will I know what to do if I decide to mate Brad? There aren’t any other humans here to share their experiences and give advice on how to handle a dragonman.”
“Maybe not, but after my own Wes, David is the most understanding dragon leader in the Tahoe area when it comes to humans. If I didn’t trust him, I wouldn’t suggest for you to live there for a while, let alone promise he would protect you against any League attacks. Ask for his help and he’ll give it to you.”
Tasha’s gut said Ashley spoke the truth. Still, she asked one of her fears, needing to hear the answer. “If I do say yes to this whole thing, will I ever be able to go back to my life? Provided the whole League mess gets figured out eventually, you know better than anyone that there’s a taint of sorts attached to humans who associate closely with dragons.”
Ashley answered, “I can’t guarantee one way or the other that you can go back to the way things used to be. ADDA is trying to avoid the League problem for as long as necessary, which is making things worse in my opinion. But if you don’t stay with StoneRiver for at least a short while then I’d say your chances of leading a normal life are about 1 percent.”
“That good, huh?” she drawled.
Ashley snorted. “Well, it could be even worse. But in all seriousness, I don’t think you have many options, Tasha. If you stay with a dragon clan, then I can see if ADDA will allow you to run your business from StoneRiver. But that’s about all I can do. I don’t dangle false hope. And once the League sets its sights on you, your life becomes hell.”
While Tasha had suspected everything Ashley had told her, hearing it from her sort-of friend made it all much more real.
Which meant in the end, she had no choice but to stay on StoneRiver and be Brad’s mate.
A mixture of emotions rolled through her, mostly contradictory. How could she be disappointed and anticipate the new path? It made no sense.
Maybe because she was starting to see Brad in a new light. Or maybe she looked forward to the new adventure in a mostly foreign place.
Or maybe she just knew that she couldn’t change her circumstances and had to make the best of it.
Regardless of the true reasons—she could sort that out later—she replied to Ashley, “Then I’ll stay. Just promise me you’ll visit soon. I don’t know if many of my friends will come and set foot on a dragon clan’s land, even if they were allowed.”
“So I’m all you’ve got, huh?” Ashley laughed and then added, “I’ll work on it. My mate is a little protective of me since I’m pregnant now, but I can be persuasive.”
Tasha probably wouldn’t have brought it up by herself, but now that Ashley had mentioned her mate, she dared to ask, “Is it weird being with a dragon-shifter?”
Ashley snorted. “I wish my mate could hear that. But no, it’s not weird. Maybe a little different—you have both the human half and the dragon half to contend with. However, they can be wonderful partners. Well, provided you let them know you want an equal footing, which I sense you want as much as me. Dragonmen and women can be rather protective since they treasure family and clan dearly. So just tread carefully in that department and learn to pick your battles.”
Would Tasha even know what her battles were? Brad wasn’t exactly forthcoming, at least in her experiences to date. “I’ll remember that. Just let me know when you can come visit, okay? I think I need to learn more about true mates, mating, and all of that kind of stuff from another human with experience.”