Billionaire Dragon's Mate: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Dragon Romance Nove (12 page)

Cillian sat down in the main vault that reached so high that the yellow glow around him blocked out the ceiling, and stared at the vault he was supposed to fill. Could he do it? Several generations before him hadn’t been able to. So why was he better?

You’re not afraid of work,
he told himself, struggling with the smile that wanted to form on his lips.

Work – a cussword in the Greenmeadow household. Carrick was lording over the small fortune in Ireland, and Callum and Cearul were somewhere in Asia, doing lord knows what. None of his brothers would understand if he went to them, saying that the old ways wouldn’t feed them anymore. But wasn’t it his responsibility as elder to bring them out of the old times and into the new?

He knew there was gold in those mountains. He could find it, and he could make Emerald Court a bustling gold town once more. Like Devon in Gold Valley, he could blow life into an industry long dwindling. And if he could make Emerald Court live again, well, couldn’t he do just about anything?

Lazily, his fingers tracked through the gold coins under his touch, reveling in the feel of metal against hot skin. He’d thought there was nothing better than being near his gold, but now he knew that there was something even more heavenly – Ruby. He wetted his lips at the thought of her, sprawled out on his bed, those delectable curves his to enjoy and that fierce spirit to make him step up his game. She was exactly what he needed.

His emerald eyes considered the nearly empty vault once more. In his mind’s eye, he could see it bustling with treasure, just as easily as he could see his life with Ruby. Whatever she wanted, he would find her. If it was adventure, hell, he was game for that. If quiet nights at home were what she desired, he’d love those too. But all that rested on one assumption – that she would stay.

He needed to break through that shell of hers. Granted, last night had been a step in the right direction, but Cillian didn’t think her simple enough to be so easily untangled.

You’re in deep, Greenmeadow,
he told himself with a grin.

Just then, something caught under his fingertips. Pulling it out of the pile, he found a headband of pure gold, intricate swirls forming leaves along its length and dots of green emeralds making little clusters at various points. He turned it around in his hands a few times and immediately thought how gorgeous it would look in Ruby’s flaming hair. It was perfect, just like she was. Then and there, he knew what he had to do.

If he wanted the Greenmeadow name restored, he’d have to work for it. If he wanted Ruby by his side for the rest of his life, he’d have to work for that too. And he was ready and willing to do both.

As Cillian was getting up, he felt the keep rumble and shake softly. Cillian froze, a scowl immediately falling on his features. He knew exactly what that was – the sound of a dragon landing, an impatient, angry dragon.

Carrick,
he thought darkly.

The headband still in his hand, he took off in a run. Whatever his little brother wanted, he couldn’t have picked a worse time.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Ruby

Ruby stirred slowly. Something shook her from her heavy dream filled with an endless loop of pictures of Cillian’s impossibly hot body. As she teetered between sleep and waking, the long night they had spent together came flooding back to her. She smiled to herself. That man was a god, and she was glad to have caught him. Unlike most times when she’d acted on instinct, this time she didn’t regret a single second. All of it had been amazing.

His body was as if made to fit hers, and his cock filled her to the brim, making her tumble over the edge of her release time and time again. Ruby was sure that even though she was going to be sore all over, it had been totally worth it. Through her drowsiness, she reached out, feeling around for him on the bed, wanting to curl up next to him and let sleep take her again. When she didn’t find him there, sleep fell from her instantly.

She blinked her eyes, getting up on her elbows and looking around in the bedroom. She’d barely caught a glimpse of it last night, when they’d tumbled in through the doors and crashed on the first solid surface. The signs of their second interlude on his dresser were still there – books pushed down and sprawled out over the floor. It brought a smile to her lips. But still, back to the issue at hand. Where the hell was that dragon?

Reluctantly, Ruby threw her legs over the side of the bed and got up, stretching slowly. In the middle of a particularly tasty yawn, the entire building shook. With her hands still up in the air, Ruby frowned, letting them fall slowly.

Did he go out to fly?
she mused.

Looking around in the room, she couldn’t find a stitch of her clothing. They had to still be up on the roof. Grinning to herself, Ruby picked up one of his shirts and boxers and dressed in those. They smelled like him. Yummy.

Ruby was just about to head out of the room when hurried footsteps and slamming doors stopped her dead in her tracks. Through the crack in the door, she could see an obviously aggravated Cillian heading up towards the roof, but stopping suddenly when another man appeared at the door.

“Carrick,” Cillian growled, a sound so deep and wrought with irritation that Ruby had to resist the urge to take a step back.

The other man looked a lot like Cillian – the same tall form, blazing green eyes and windswept reddish-brown hair – but he looked somehow more severe. Carrick wore a high button-up, pressed and clean, and dress pants. The way he glowered at Cillian made Ruby dislike him immediately. Carrick smirked, and while Cillian’s grins carried a healthy dose of boyish charm and bad boy bravado, his was just… cold.

“Cillian, my brother,” Carrick announced, inclining his head a little. “I heard you’ve got up to no good… A wife? And no invitation to the wedding? I’m hurt.”

Cillian steamed, and Ruby watched as he shoved his hands in his pockets, his handsome features contorted in annoyance.

“What do you want, Carrick? I thought you were in Ireland.”

“I was. But I couldn’t miss my big brothers nuptials, could I? You need dragon witnesses, after all. Or were you planning on keeping this little farce a secret?”

“The Goldplains are coming as witnesses. You’re not needed,” Cillian said, sounding like he was inches from grabbing the man by the collar and punting him out on his ass. Apparently there was no love lost between the brothers.

“But I am. I must meet this bride of yours. I hear she’s quite the little firecracker. Especially considering the tossed clothes on the roof. Italian? Mother must be spinning in her grave. Not that she wasn’t already, what with how you look,” Carrick said, giving a long, pointed look at the tattoos running up Cillian’s arms.

Ruby bit her finger, trying to remain quiet. If it had been anyone else, she was sure Cillian would have decked him already.

“Carrick, I don’t want you here. I don’t need you upsetting her. She’s my mate, and I won’t allow you to disrespect her. And our mother was the biggest nonconformist in the world. You would have known if you’d ever bothered to notice she existed.”

Carrick shrugged leisurely, looking less than phased by his elder’s outrage.

“She had nothing to teach me. Father was the one who carried the dragon ways, and I think you should have paid more attention. What’s this I hear about you…
working
? We’re not that poor, brother. Can’t believe you’d shame the family like that. And this mate business. I don’t believe you. I think you’re just getting some bitch to stand in so I couldn’t challenge you. Is that it?”

He couldn’t say another thing, because Cillian had sped across the corridor and slammed him against the wall, his elbow forced against Carrick’s neck, cutting off his oxygen. Carrick struggled against him, grabbing his shirt and finally tossing him away from him.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, brother,” Cillian said, spitting out the last word like it threatened to freeze his tongue if he kept it in any longer.
“If you want to challenge me, go right ahead. I don’t want to crush you, but if you make me do it, I will. And I won’t regret it. The world is changing. We can’t just pretend like it isn’t.”

“We’re dragons! We can do whatever we want,” Carrick hissed, clutching his neck with one hand.

“No, we can’t,” Cillian said, straightening up.

He cut a powerful figure, his wide shoulders and rigid stance making her think of admirals and generals, capable of moving the world. Tears brimmed in Ruby’s eyes.

God dammit. Not again. Can’t I do anything without hurting people?

“This is not over,” Carrick promised, his lips pulled back in a snarl.

Smoke rose from both of their nostrils, their chests heaving and hands balled into fists. Carrick spun around and headed back up the stairs, disappearing onto the roof. Cillian stood there, looking hard as stone. He was as if rooted in place until the keep rumbled again, signaling Carrick’s departure. Cillian hung his head, and Ruby could see sadness in his eyes.

Her heart constricted in her chest. The last thing she’d wanted was to cause any pain to that wonderful, exciting man. A tear rolled down her cheek, and when he turned to walk into the bedroom, she slipped out and sped past him. She couldn’t face him, not now. It was too much.

I’ve got to get out of here… Just… Clear my head. Fucking hell, why this and why now?!

“Fuck. Ruby!” he called, reaching for her, but she dodged his hand. “Don’t run,” Cillian said, his words ringing in her ears as she sped down the corridor.

Whatever she did, it seemed that she couldn’t stop making a mess of things. And like all the times before, running was the easiest option.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Ruby

Ruby sat down under the shade of some trees that swayed in the wind to their own rhythm. Her heart wanted to burst out of her chest. She was still wearing his tee, but she’d managed to snag a pair of jogging pants off the clothesline and a pair of hiking boots she kept by one of the back doors.

There you go again, running from your problems,
Ruby thought grimly, spinning a grass leaf between her fingers.

She wasn’t far from one of the roads that led to the keep, and she’d not gone too far. The big castle could still be spied, standing over the forest like a wise father overlooking his young.

So, what happens now?
she asked herself, tucking her hair behind her ears.

It’s not as if she had a plan. It wasn’t even that she desperately needed to go; she’d just wanted a moment to herself. One moment to sort out her feelings before she’d have to face Cillian, with his dazzling green eyes and that smile that made her weak in the knees.

She’d been hard at work trying to deny her attraction for the man since they met, but last night had destroyed every inkling of her resolve. He was just too… right. The perfect mix of stability and wildness – the kind of man she could see herself growing old with and not missing anything that life had to offer. He’d be game for anything, just like she was.

But didn’t he deserve better? Someone, who had their shit together? Someone, who knew exactly what they wanted?

Well, she did know what she wanted. She wanted him. But that wasn’t enough to build a life on, was it? Her lips pressed into that trademark Accardo line, making her seem older and wiser than she actually was. The days spent at the keep had given her plenty of time to think. With distance between her and her family, things didn’t seem so dire. Yes, medicine was something her father pushed her into, but it didn’t mean she loved it any less.

Helping others was balm to her soul – it felt good knowing that she could soothe someone else’s worries with the right care and some well-applied words of wisdom. It felt almost magical. It’s strange how fixing the lives of others could seem like the most natural thing to someone, who was always struggling with fixing her own.

But she also knew she didn’t want to do it in Chicago. The Accardos were cleaning up their game, but her father wasn’t known as the Butcher for no reason. He was ruthless, jaded and hard – all things Ruby didn’t want to become and had rebelled against. Strength didn’t have to be brutal.

Take Cillian. He was the strongest person she knew, but it hadn’t hardened him, hadn’t taken away his humanity. The pit of her stomach filled with warmth at the thought of the man, how he’d sprung to her rescue so readily in Chicago, and how he’d stood against Carrick on his own turf.