15 Paranormal Romance Collection Boxset- Billionaire Bad Boy (22 page)

Rescued By The Dragons

Dragon Shifter Romance

By: Lisa Cartwright

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Copyright 2015 by Lisa Cartwright - All rights reserved.

In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

“Tenia, are you sure you got everything? I mean, there is still room and I have twice as much stuff as you do.” Her friend looked back at her incredulously. Surely there had to be more than the duffel bag she was bringing with her.

“We are going on a road trip Meeka, not to the moon. You can buy stuff on the way you know.” Tenia laughed and pulled her blonde hair back into a ponytail. Her excitement was palpable and she couldn’t think of a better way to enjoy the summer and the next year that she was supposed to be in school with the rest of her classmates.

Instead, the two best friends had bought a small R.V. with their graduation money and decided to go see the country. It was huge and when Tenia realized she had only seen a small part of it, the trip seemed more important than another four years in school, especially after coming off of 13 years of it already. While the two girls were opposites in every way, Tenia couldn’t think of anyone else that she would want to embark on such an adventure with but her.

“It will be fine Meeka. Really.” This was the girl’s first time away from home and she was more nervous than excited. Not planning to even go to college, it just seemed like something fun to do. She would worry about school when she got back or find her a job that she hated like everyone else she knew did.

“I just can’t believe you won’t let me bring Jeff. We have never been apart for this long before.” Her chocolate brown eyes batted, but Tenia wasn’t going for it.

“You know I don’t like him anyways. Stop slumming and maybe you will find you a real man.”

Meeka sighed and gave her a look that told her she thought she was full of shit. “I can’t help it if you dumped Roger for the trip. He was really cute.”

Tenia shrugged. Her and Roger had dated for almost the whole last year of high school, but it was time to move on and since she knew he wasn’t the one, it didn’t faze her that much to end it. He had taken her to prom and the other mandatory school functions, so it all worked out. Tenia was looking forward to not having to worry about a man anymore. They were more trouble than they were worth.

“You can have him when we get back. I am sure he will be working at the diner of something.”

Meeka acted like she was offended. “You know that is the job that I want, right?”

Tenia rolled her eyes. “It is the only one you are going to get if you don’t go to college.”

“Enough of the future talk. Let’s just get going and put some distance between us and Orson.”

***

It was a couple of days before the girls reached the first stop. They were already a day behind schedule because the coastline beach was too pretty to pass up. Tenia’s love of water sent her east to the coast as soon as they left.

Tenia wanted to hit the coast and then she planned to follow it all the way around. Stopping at the hotel in Myrtle Beach, it was the first real bed either one of them had had. Tenia was in the shower first and by the time she got out, her friend was gone. Getting dressed, she looked down into the pool and saw her getting fresh with some guy. She shook her head and went back in the room. She would never understand why some women just had to have a man.

The guy’s name was Steve and after a while the two came up into the room. Tenia knew by the way her friend was looking at her, that she wanted some private time. Tenia rolled her eyes, but decided to go out by the pool. It was night and quiet, so she figured she could relax and do a few laps. Shooting her friend a ‘stop being a slut’ look, Tenia grabbed a few things and went downstairs to the crystal-blue pool.

After a few minutes, the pool didn’t look so enticing, so she started the short walk the block to the ocean. For once, the beach was empty and sitting out next to where the waves came in, she found herself more at peace than she had been in a long time. The sea air was invigorating and after some time, she lay down on the soft sand and before she knew it, she was out. Her dreams were filled with adventure and men, not one but two.

It wasn’t until the sun was coming up that she was awoken by Meeka. “Do you know I have been looking everywhere for you? I thought you were going to the pool?”

Her neck was cricked and she had sand on the side of her face. “Yea and I thought you were in love with Jeff.”

“Don’t be mad. He was so cute.”

Tenia shook her head and started to walk back to the hotel. She was mad and she shouldn’t have been. Meeka had been that way since she started to notice boys in middle school. She had planned for her to flake out, just not so early in the trip. The two women walked in silence until they got outside the door. “He is gone, right?”

“Yes he has been gone for hours. What were you doing down there anyways?”

“I don’t know. Just thinking.”

Opening the door, she could smell sex and it was stronger as she walked into the room. She crinkled her nose and sent her friend a look. “Alright I am going to shower the sand off and sleep a bit longer.

When she woke up, she was feeling better and the girls went down to the beach one last time before heading south. Tenia did not want to leave, but she knew there would be a better spot down the road. It took the two women almost four days to get down to Miami and then almost a week to get to the Keys. Meeka was in rare form and hadn’t brought any strange men back to the hotel, though she had banged a guy behind a nightclub in Miami.

Tenia planned for a quiet evening when they got to the hotel in Marathon, but as always, Meeka had other ideas. She had invited over some guys that she met on the dock behind the cabana and of course, there was one for Tenia.

Her ‘one’ was redheaded and while he was handsome, when he touched her she felt no passion. His mouth was on hers as they sat on the dock with her feet in the water. “You are so beautiful Tenia. I can’t believe you are single.”

She sighed and thanked him for his half-insult/compliment. She looked over at Meeka and her beau. They were already hot and heavy, body parts viewable from a distance. Tenia wasn’t feeling it and after another beer, she bade him goodnight. Sean was not too happy about it, but as she shut the door behind her, she didn’t care. It was becoming clear that maybe Meeka was not the best person to take on the trip. When two people were together too long, there will always be issues that arise. The trip was not turning out like she wanted and she knew that if Meeka stayed the whole trip, the whole thing would be her own personal fuck fest. But how could she tell her that she wanted to go solo the rest of the trip? And did she really want to?

***

“Tenia, I think we need to talk.”

“I am sorry, but that Sean guy was a jerk.”

“It’s not that, it’s just I don’t know. I don’t think you are having much fun on this road trip and I feel bad.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I think I am going to stay here with Mack for a while and then take a bus home.”

“Really? I mean, I thought we were going to go together?”

“I love you and you know this, but you are driving me crazy and I still want to be friends at the end of it.”

Tenia laughed and hugged her. “You are driving me crazy too. I think I will keep on through tomorrow. Are you sure you will be okay here, with that guy?”

“He is harmless and actually pretty sweet. You know how I am, a hopeless romantic. I haven’t given up on you either you know. I have a feeling you are going to find a man on this trip and be swept off your feet.”

“I like the ground though, so I am not looking to be swept up into the clouds.”

The two girls hugged again and though she had been thinking the exact same thing, it was hard for Meeka to hear that she didn’t want to go on. Tenia couldn’t help but agree that maybe it would be best for their friendship if they parted ways right then. “Well chica, I think I am going to head out. I hate leaving you like this. Are you sure you are going to be okay?”

She nodded and waved her hand. “Girl you know me. I am going to be fine. I still have plenty of cash and this looks like as good a place as any to get lost for a while. Can you not tell my mom though, let her think I am with you for a while more. You know how she is.”

Tenia nodded and pushed a stray tear out of her eye. “I will see you when I see you.”

Tenia was upset for the rest of the day and she thought twice of turning around to go back. In truth though, she was being pulled west and she was almost out of Florida by the end of the day. Stopping for the night at the border, there was a quietness that she just couldn’t shake. Never being one to get scared by herself it was different for her that time, being so far away from home. It was the first time in her life that Tenia felt alone and she wasn’t so sure she liked the feeling.

Trying to forget her uneasiness she got some sleep and then started out the next day before the sun could even come up. She drove for days until she started to see desert half way through Texas. She had stopped at many places along the way, places she had heard about from books and television. The pictures were never enough and as she finally made it into the desert part of the country, she was liking it even more. There were historical sites she was interested in and it wasn’t the first time she had thought of Meeka and how much she would have hated the itinerary. It was perfect for Tenia though and she couldn’t have been happier.

The night was spent camping out. She was sick of hotels and well, Tenia had never seen so many stars before in her life. The skies were so open and there was nothing for miles all around her. Pulling off to the side of the road in the National Park, she found her a spot and set up her small dome tent. She had brought it on a whim and when she was sitting next to a roaring fire, she was glad she did. The sound of the fire popping lulled her and she crawled into her tent to get some rest. The next day she planned to check out the ruins on the cliffs and she wanted to start off early before it got too hot.

There was a coyote that howled in the distance and then several more that answered. She felt surrounded and Tenia realized how thin the fabric of the tent was. There did not seem to be much between her and the animals outside. Hunkering down further into her sleeping bag, it was a while before she got to sleep. One of the mangy animals smelled at her tent, but got side tracked by howling in the distance. The animals left and she was able to finally get some sleep.

The next morning she was up early and Tenia changed before she got out of her small tent. She closed her eyes and reopened them, sure that she was not seeing clearly. Her R.V. was gone and everything in it as well. She looked around her, like it was hiding somewhere, but there was nothing for miles. The traffic was not very heavy on the state highway and the woman saw no one when she was packing up her tent.

She grimaced when she saw her half-f bottle of water and a granola bar that she hadn’t eaten the night before. Her money was with her, but there were no stores for miles and miles. Tenia’s only hope was to be lucky enough to have a passerby to help her. The passerby didn’t come and by mid-day, Tenia was quickly running out of steam.

There had been one car that passed down the desert road and she had been crouched beside a stand of cactuses, trying to get any shade that she could. Her water was long gone and it was starting to make her feel groggy. By the time she had gotten up from her sitting position, the car was long gone and her hope was fading fast.

After that loss of hope, she started to stray from the road, as it didn’t seem to be helping her. She had to find water and she was convinced that there was some in the bottom of a canyon. It didn’t look that far away, but it was dark before she got to the bottom of the long, winding canyon system. Exhausted and with a small mud puddle found, Tenia set her tent up right there and tried to forget about her growling stomach.

That night she was more afraid than the one before. She had plans to go back to the road after she filled her water bottle up, but the more water she drank, the less she wanted to leave the place. It was the desert and she knew that she may not be so lucky the next day. She laughed to herself at the idea of luck and tried to ignore the night sounds that still terrified her. She was too tired though and was out quickly after she lay down.

Tenia didn’t notice the clouds rolling in above her, or the feel in the air. She was blissfully sleeping, unaware of the danger that was about to befall her. Tenia’s luck was never good and it seemed to be getting worse and worse by the minute.

***

Bradey was out in the night, the feel of the rain was a welcomed change from all of the dry nights that him and his brother had spent out. Raild was nowhere to be seen and Brad enjoyed a moment to himself. The two were out there looking for the enemy. Land shifters and sky shifters had always had issues, but the brothers did not get into the picture, unless they had to. Too many sightings of the wolf shifters had been seen in the area. Most people had thought them coyotes, but he knew what they were and more importantly, what they were after.

Every year the land shifters went a little crazy at the beginning of summer. Like the animals that they were, they would hump anything in the vicinity when they were in mating season. While the Dragonkin did not like to get involved, it was their duty to make sure that their secret stayed just that. The flyers were the rulers of the shifters and it was only when the mutts were kept in line, that everything went smoother.

It had started long ago, way before Bradey was the leader. Werewolves were caught and the stories began. Dragons are in the stories as well, though no one ever thinks that they are shifters. No dragon has ever been caught shifting and if they were, the witness was not left around to tell anyone. That left dragons mystic creatures that ruled the sky and the Dragonkin liked it that way. There was safety in the world not knowing they existed. But that existence had a tendency to be lonely from time to time.

Bradey was too busy musing and he was right up on someone in the canyon when he passed by. He could see something warm through the nylon material and Brad was about to pass by when he heard the roar coming in the distance. The rain had started to fall and the canyon was the perfect place to funnel it all into a raging flood. With a moment of indecision, he decided to go against the rules and help one of the humans.

Sweeping down from the sky, Bradey stopped short of the tent. He looked over to his left and knew that he did not have much time. Even something as big as he was at the moment, could be swept up in the rushing waters. Nothing could withstand the powerful river once the rain started, not even the rock that it had cut a path through over the years.

There was no more time to muse and he grabbed her out of the tent seconds before the fifteen foot wall of water was upon them. The woman screamed and thrashed so much that he almost dropped her. When she finally opened her eyes and saw the earth moving beneath her, Tenia was beside herself in fear. She did not know what was going on, but she had enough wherewithal to see the flash flood engulf her tent. If whatever it was hadn’t saved her, she would be dead.