Rockstar Dragon's Bride Page 9

  “Goddammit.” He reached out and grabbed her.

  She screamed and jumped back, and a guy stopped and looked at them. “You okay, miss?”

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  The guy gave her ex a hard look, and he backed off.

  “Don’t try to touch me again.”

  The hard look on his face twisted into one of sorrow. His mouth drooped. “Lily, please. Give me another chance. I’m begging you.”

  Her phone began to buzz. She glanced down and saw Garrett’s name flash across the screen, but she didn’t want him to see her ex.

  “I know that’s him,” her ex said, pointing to her purse. “I know he’s calling you. You need to get rid of him. Or you’ll be sorry.”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  “No. I’m just warning you that he’s no good.”

  “Why do you say that?” she asked. Not that she cared what he said. He was a liar and a cheater, not Garrett. Garrett had made her no promises, and she didn’t expect him to.

  “Just ask him. Ask him why he’s no good for you.”

  God, she was going to have to tell Garrett about this. Her ex had gone off the deep end, and there was no way she could allow something to happen to him. Why didn’t he have a bodyguard anyway? Didn’t most mega stars have one? She’d seen other famous stars out and about in New York and Chicago and London, and they often had security with them. It was often discreet, but it was there. Garrett had nothing.

  And now he was alone.

  She stepped right into her ex’s face. “Leave me alone. Leave him alone. Go away, or you’ll regret it.”

  He sneered and tried to grab her arm again, but she dodged him and ran. For once, being a petite woman came in handy. People got out of her way as she wove through the mass of people.

  She picked up her phone and dialed Garrett. As soon as he answered she yelled, “Where are you?”

  “Right by the entrance to the Eiffel Tower. I was about to call you.”

  Good. She was almost there. “Stay there.”

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She hung up and ran as fast as she could for the last few hundred feet.

  He was standing there, eyes alert, scanning the crowd. As soon as he saw her he rushed forward and grabbed her. “Lily. What is it? Tell me.”

  “We need to go somewhere where no one will listen.”

  He nodded and paid the valet, and they got into this car. “Okay, tell me. Now. I’m imagining worst-case-scenario type stuff.”

  She heaved a big breath. “My ex showed up.” The car jerked sideways, and Garrett peeled into a parking deck. “I can’t drive right now. I need to listen.” He parked the car and turned to face her. He ran his hands up and down her arms. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I’m fine.”

  His eyes zeroed in on her upper arm. “Then what’s that?”

  She looked down. There was a red mark on her arm, right where her ex’s hand had been. Dammit. “That’s where he grabbed me,” she said.

  Garrett’s eyes blazed. “Where is he? I’ll kill him.”

  She put her hand on his cheek. “You can’t kill him. I don’t want you to go to prison. Not because of him.”

  Garrett said something under his breath that sounded like, “not if they don’t catch me,” but surely he wouldn’t say that. Would he? Maybe she didn’t know him as well as she thought. But that was just silly. He was a rock star. He wasn’t going to murder her ex.

  Garrett closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over face. “Okay. I’m listening. I won’t interrupt.”

  So Lily recounted every moment, and everything that her ex had said. His jaw clenched a little tighter with each detail By the end, her eyes stung with tears. She flung herself across the car and threw her arms around Garrett. “I’m sorry. I’ve put you in danger. I should leave town now so he won’t come after you.”

  Garrett’s hand came to rest on top of her head. “You’re not leaving town. You’re going to stay here, and I’m going to protect you from that asshole.”

  “But what about you?”

  “Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself.” She shivered in his arms. Something about the way he’d said it was ominous.

  14

  Garrett

  He sat there in a dingy parking garage, holding Lily in his arms as she cried.

  Over him! She was worried about Garret, for God’s sake, not herself. Garrett had never fantasized about killing a human being, but now he did.

  He imagined all the ways he could make it happen. He could crush her ex’s skull with his bare hands. He could breathe fire on him. He could pick him up and carry him in his talons, flying over the ocean until they reached the deepest spot. And then Garrett could drop him from high up in the sky. Then he could drown the bastard.

  His dragon was going crazy.

  Kill him. Kill him. Kill Him.

  Garrett shuddered. He felt no remorse for his thoughts. He only cared for Lily, and keeping her from being harmed.

  Overall, dragon shifters were a peaceful group. But when their mates were threatened, everything changed.

  It was time for him to start thinking about the fact that Lily was his mate.

  It was getting harder and harder to deny it, no matter how much he wanted to.

  He never thought it would happen to him. He’d never wanted it. But now Lily had come into his life.

  If he could let her go, would he?

  Fuck no.

  If he could go back in time and choose not to meet her, would he do so?

  That was also a big fucking no.

  Ideally he could have spent longer thinking this over. But the asshole ex had forced his hand. Garrett needed to tell her something about who he was, and soon.

  Damn her ex to hell. Why the fuck had Garrett gone off to take his agent’s call and left her alone in a jam-packed nightclub? Anything could have happened to her. His call could have waited. Her safety was more important than his career.

  Yes, he loved his music, and it had always been his priority, but doing his agent’s bidding wasn’t about music. It was about being a rock star. And Garrett didn’t need that. Not anymore.

  When he’d first gotten famous, he’d enjoyed the spotlight and the money, just as any young male would. But with her around, all of that faded away. Now he had a new priority: Lily.

  He held her for several long minutes until she finally wiped her eyes and sat up.

  “Why don’t you have a bodyguard?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “Security. You need it. My ex has lost his mind. I could tell he wants to come after you. Remember he said he’s been watching us.”

  Garrett couldn’t tell her that he didn’t need a bodyguard. If he was a police officer, maybe. But he was a singer. She’d never believe that he could protect himself, and her too, if he could get his head out of his ass.

  And there was no way he was going to hire some human to get in his space. Maybe Jackson would be willing… No. He had the perfect solution. Davi.

  Davi was former military, and Lily knew that. It was the best idea he had. Garrett kissed Lily’s cheek. “I’ll ask Davi. He was a highly-trained soldier in Macedonia, and did a lot of specialized missions.”

  Garrett could never mention it, but when Davi was only twenty, he’d killed a powerful wizard single-handedly and saved his entire village. He could handle one irritating human with his hands tied behind his back.

  “Thank you. I feel terrible knowing I brought this to your doorstep.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “You haven’t brought anything to my doorstep. Not anything I haven’t asked for.”

  Davi agreed to play the role of bodyguard. In fact, he even seemed pleased to do it. Carolina promised to help as well. Garrett showed them both the ex’s photo, although it wasn’t a great shot, and told them everything he knew about the ex, which wasn’t much.

  By the following evening, the four walls of Garrett’s penthouse had gro
wn oppressive, and all of them were ready to get out. Garrett was going to take Lily on a picnic date in the desert, and Carolina and Davi were going to keep watch.

  Garrett was going to quit burying his head in the sand. He’d made a decision. Lily was his mate, and it was time for him to start courting her in the correct manner. He’d need to show her he was serious about her, and then work up to telling her the truth.

  When Davi and his mate showed up to escort them out, Lily hugged Carolina. “Are you sure you want to come out? I don’t want to put you in any danger.”

  Carolina smiled at her. “I’ll tell you a secret.” She glanced at Garrett and Davi. “These two know, but most people that I meet now don’t.” She lowered her voice. “I was in a motorcycle club for five years.”

  Lily just gaped at her. “You?”

  “Yep. I’d been through a very traumatic ordeal, and I felt like gaining some power over my own life. So I came to Vegas, joined a motorcycle club full of men, and bought a bar.”

  Lily’s eyes sparkled. “I’m so impressed.”

  Carolina hugged her again. “So don’t worry about me.”

  Garrett loaded up the car with all the wine and cheese they could possibly eat and started driving, with Carolina and Davi driving separately behind them.

  Out in the desert, the stars shone brightly.

  “I’m so glad I’m here,” Lily said, lying back on the blanket. “Virginia is beautiful, but this is so different. It’s like another planet.”

  “I thought the same thing when I came here from the coast of Oregon. No big patches of green grass, no rows of trees, no endless days of rain.”

  “Have you been to Virginia?” she asked.

  “Yeah. On tour. I’ve done some concerts in Richmond, Virginia Beach and Norfolk.”

  She huffed. “That’s right. I forget sometimes who you are.”

  Garrett picked up her hand and kissed it. “I like it that you forget.”

  Just as he was leaning down to kiss her, the hairs on the back of Garrett’s neck stood up. He pushed himself up, standing over her.

  In the distance, he heard Davi’s voice, and then a loud growl, a growl that sounded like a wild animal.

  Carolina came jogging up from behind one of the rocks. She squeezed Garrett’s shoulder. “You need to see this. Go find Davi.”

  Garrett looked down at Lily, but Carolina plopped down beside her. “I’m still hungry,” she said. “I’ll sit here and have a snack with Lily while you go.”

  “What’s going on?” Lily asked.

  “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll let you know when I get back,” he assured her.

  Then he took off running in the direction of his friend. Thanks to his dragon shifter senses, Garrett could tell exactly where Davi was with no effort.

  As soon as he got closer, two things became very clear. One, Davi had found Lily’s ex, and was holding onto his arm, and two, Lily’s ex-fiancé was not human.

  He also wasn’t a dragon shifter either.

  What was he?

  He smelled like a canine of some sort. Or a wolf maybe? Garrett had heard his clan speak of the wolf shifters that lived in Europe and parts of Canada, but he’d never met one, and neither had most of his family.

  The ex had his teeth bared, and he was growling non-stop. But he looked fully human, with no signs of transitioning to a wolf.

  “Is he a wolf shifter?” Garrett asked.

  Davi nodded, and turned his mouth down with disgust. “I know his kind,” Davi said. “They kept my friend Nora captive for four long years in a remote part of Russia. They are cruel and violent.”

  The wolf quit growling and laughed, but it was a cold, inhuman sound. “You know nothing about me or my kind. We blend in. We live with humans. I’m not cruel. And I’m not violent.”

  “That’s great,” Garrett said. “Congratulations. But Lily doesn’t want to see you. I thought she made that clear last night.”

  With no warning, the wolf spun and sank his teeth into Davi’s arm. Davi lunged for him, but he pulled away and dropped into a crouch. Davi threw himself forward, grabbing for him, but it was too late.

  In the blink of an eye, the wolf transformed from a man into a beast.

  He flew forward, toward Garrett’s mate.

  No.

  This animal would not get close to Lily.

  Garrett would not allow it.

  He ran behind the wolf, gaining speed. The wolf was fast, but Garrett was faster.

  Above him, the air swished.

  Garrett took a second to glance up. It was Davi, already transformed into his dragon form, and he was flying above them. Thank God. He was ahead. He’d get to Lily first, before the wolf.

  As they approached, Carolina stepped in front of Lily, shielding her from the beast. Davi landed in front of both of them.

  Davi let out a warning roar, and opened his mouth, breathing fire.

  As the flames shot out, licking the wolf’s dark fur, the wolf stopped in his tracks.

  The wolf screeched, a sound of primal fury.

  “I suppose wolves aren’t too fireproof, are they,” Garrett said to the wolf. He wanted the animal’s attention on him, and not on Lily. As the wolf shrank back, away from Davi, Carolina, still human, took the opportunity to drag Lily behind a rock formation.

  Davi and Carolina would keep Lily safe. Garrett was going to go after the ex.

  He was going to try to reason with him first. The closer he got to him, the more he felt like the wolf was freaking out, but not murderous. Garrett was hardly skilled at detecting the emotions of other dragons, much less wolves. But he got a very strong sense of panic and despair from the ex. It was coming off of him in waves.

  Garrett wanted to talk, so he stayed human. “I know you want Lily back. But that’s not going to happen. So I need you to turn back into a man, and let me escort you back to the airport, where you fly back to wherever you came from, and Lily never sees you, or hears from you again.”

  The wolf lifted his head and howled.

  “Jesus,” Garrett said. “You really do howl at the moon.”

  The wolf glared at him. Then he charged again, this time right toward Lily. Garrett dove for the wolf, but he was wily, and hard to hold on to. Garrett had trouble hanging onto his fur. In front of Lily, Davi was ready, but Garrett wanted to be the one to take him down.

  Garrett finally got a good hold on him, and the two of them rolled over and over in the dirt.

  Not far away, he could hear his mate screaming. She wasn’t in pain, nor was she afraid.

  She was angry. She was full of rage at being kept in the dark, by not one, by two of the men she had cared for. She was demanding answers and yelling at Carolina.

  Garrett knew Davi and Carolina would protect her, no matter how much she lashed out at them. She couldn’t hurt them. They’d understand how angry she was.

  Garrett transformed into a dragon. With his much larger size, he was able to hold the wolf down and pin him to the ground.

  Within seconds, the wolf changed back into a man. He lay beneath Garrett, nearly pierced by Garrett’s sharp claws. Wary of him, Garrett slowly let go of him. He nodded toward the ground, indicating that the ex should stay down.

  Quickly, Garrett turned back into a man.

  “Are you going to go toward her again,” he asked.

  “No. I swear.”

  “Okay. Then get up. Go find your clothes. Put them on. Do not run. You know we can catch you.”

  The guy nodded and took off. Garrett found the remnants of his clothes and pulled what was left back on.

  When the ex returned, with his own ripped up clothes on, Garrett grabbed him by the back of the neck. “We’re going to go talk to Lily, and you’re going to tell her you’ll leave her alone.”

  “I’m not going to hurt her,” the wolf shifter said.

  “Yeah. I don’t trust you. But we are going to talk,” Garrett said.

  As they walked toward the others, it finally hit
Garrett that he’d just turned into a dragon, right in front of his mate.

  He’d had no time to warn her, no time to prepare her. He just hoped she could forgive him.

  15

  Lily

  Lily stood next to Carolina and Davi, who was now a man again. She watched as the man she had been engaged to walked toward her. Just minutes ago, he’d been a wolf. And next to him, was the man she was quickly falling in love with.

  Yes, she was falling for him. Fast.

  But just moments ago, he’d been a dragon, complete with scales, wings, and bright yellow eyes.

  His friend had even flown in the sky and breathed fire. And when she’d seen that, all of it, she’d lost her shit. She had not stayed calm. She had screamed at Carolina, and tried to pull away from her. But Carolina wasn’t impressed. She maintained her cool and let Lily rant.

  She didn’t try to placate her or even offer an explanation. She just said. “It sucks when you’re kept in the dark, and you don’t tell the person you’re with the truth. I get it.”

  Lily sensed there was more to the story, but she wasn’t going to ask. Instead, she bottled up the rest of her fury, and she held onto it.

  She didn’t even know how to begin processing what she’d seen. Her ex, who she had loved, even if it was a shallow kind of love, was able to turn into a wolf. At will.

  The new guy, the famous rock star who’d helped her pick up the pieces, could turn into a massive dragon. At will.

  As could his friend.

  She turned toward Carolina. “I’m assuming you can do that too. Turn into a dragon?”

  Carolina nodded. “We’re born that way. I’ll let Garrett explain the rest.”

  Lily doubted Garrett would be explaining much of anything to her. She wasn’t going to stick around for that.

  Yes, she was falling in love with him. If she was honest, she was probably already in love with him. But she couldn't take this kind of heartbreak again.

  Maybe it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t like he could tell her he changed into a mythical creature as soon as they met. She wasn’t even going to blame him—much. But that didn’t mean she could keep seeing him.