Cadmium Dragon Read online

  Cadmium Dragon

  Terry Bolryder

  C opyright © 2017 by Terry Bolryder

  All rights reserved .

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review .

  Contents

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Awakened Dragons Boxed Set

  Terry Bolryder Reading Guide

  Author’s Note

  W ait! This book is the second in the series, and while each has a standalone couple and happy ending, they are best read in order !

  You can find the first here :

  Lead Dragon (Dragons Guard of Drakkaris 1 )

  Enjoy !

  F or my husband ,

  You’re hotter than fire, make my heart fly always, and protect me with all of your might .

  Without you, there would be no dragons .

  Chapter 1

  D ing dong .

  The chime of the doorbell jerked Cadmium from the show he was currently watching—something about boring young humans living in big cities. He was more than glad for the distraction .

  It was his favorite time of day .

  He jumped up from the couch and instantly cleared the space between him and the front door. He waited a second, so as to not look like a weirdo by opening the door literally while the chime was still sounding in the entryway, then opened it. Slowly, but not too slowly .

  “Evening,” he said .

  Casey stood on his doorstep, waiting to make her delivery. Seeing her had become his daily ritual. She was bundled up in a heavy green coat, and her dark-brown hair was tied back in a ponytail .

  “Package for you. But I guess you already knew that,” she said with a hint of a smile .

  “Signature?” he asked. Cadmium was already aware of the human custom of signing for packages and had enjoyed the extra seconds of interaction it gave between the courier and himself .

  “Actually, not needed for this one,” she said, handing the small brown box over to him. He took it but ignored it, trying to take in the view of her without looking like a creep .

  Human women, he’d garnered from movies, did not take kindly to creeps .

  “So how many is it so far this month?” she asked, rubbing her hands together, her soft gloves small and cute. Outside, the sun had already set, and a deep blue-gray was cast over the darkening sky. A cold breeze wafted through the doorway, and for a second, Cadmium wished he could invite her in, out of the cold .

  But that was probably out of the question .

  “I don’t know. I’ve lost count,” Cadmium replied, unable to avoid smiling .

  Seventeen. It had been seventeen times this month .

  “Getting a lot of Christmas shopping done, I see. Big family ?”

  “Yeah. Something like that,” he replied. In fact, he didn’t even really know what she was talking about. But apparently, humans did a lot of shopping around this time .

  Which gave him the perfect excuse to continue seeing Casey .

  Ever since he and the other dragons of Drakkaris had moved into this huge, remote mansion nestled in the deep forests of a place called New York, he’d taken to using the internet to learn more about women. As much as he possibly could. He and his companions were, after all, here on Earth to find human women as mates .

  But it didn’t take long for the oracle, leader and guide for the complex society of shifters (and overall bossy-pants) to discover his innocent online communications with other women. She had used something called a “firewall” to prevent further contact .

  To his great disappointment, the firewall had absolutely nothing to do with fire. Or walls for that matter .

  But it did stop him from doing much other than ordering things through online shopping .

  It had only been a few weeks since he and his brethren had rescued Brittany, a human woman that had been captured by werewolves. And in no time at all, she and Lead, their captain and leader, had mated and relocated themselves to the basement, mostly disappearing from the world altogether. Meanwhile, the rest of them had done nothing but wait for the next mission, the next assignment .

  So Cadmium had found his own way to keep occupied .

  “Do you have any big plans for the holidays?” she asked expectantly, a twinkle of something, perhaps attraction, in her beautiful greenish- brown eyes .

  The dragon inside him would give anything, even his soul, to take her inside and show her how much that attraction was mutual .

  But that just wasn’t how things worked on this planet .

  “Not much actually. Just resting, taking it easy,” he said, trying to not gape at her perfect curves hidden under all-too-much clothing .

  “Must be easy to do that in such a nice place.” She grinned, looking up at the mansion sprawled above her .

  To Cadmium, this so-called “mansion” was a nothing compared to the expansive, glittering spires and endless halls of the palace back on Drakkaris that he and the others called home. But with no mates for them back on their home world, the only way to possibly avoid an eternity of celibacy (and likely death) was to come here to Earth .

  And besides, this place seemed to impress the humans who saw it. Most importantly, it impressed Casey .

  That was all that really mattered to him right now .

  “It definitely doesn’t hurt,” he said, trying to use his charm to the best of his ability .

  She smiled, then turned to go back to the small vehicle parked in the driveway .

  “Well, I’ll probably see you again soon, based on your gift-giving habits. Ha-ha,” she said, turning to wave over her shoulder as she walked away .

  The dragon inside him growled . Mate .

  “Probably. Drive safe in your… car,” he replied, waving back to her .

  That’s what they were called, right? Or was it a truck? No, a van ?

  A deep longing slowly expanded inside him as she left, and eventually, he took the package, still in hand but completely forgotten, and closed the door .

  He’d see her again .

  He had to .

  * * *

  “S tupid, stupid, stupid,” Casey muttered to herself as she headed back to her shipping van. On the side, the green words “Ship-It-Quick, LLC” were starting to fade a bit, and the recent winter rains had turned the white paint to a light brown. She needed to get it washed .

  She needed to do a lot of things .

  Like stop sounding like an idiot whenever she spoke to the hottie at the house on Drakewing Lane .

  Just something about him always made her heart stop. Maybe it was those warm brown eyes. Maybe it was his perfect face, the kind of handsome you only saw on TV and in movies. Maybe it was that tall, rocking body he always flaunted in front of her with his fitted tee shirts and tight jeans .

  “Next time, just put the package on the doorstep and walk away,” she said, trying to will her body and mind to stop thinking about him .

  From the name on his packages, he apparently went by “Cadmium,” though that had to be a pseudonym or something since nobody had that name. He was “Mr. X” for all she knew .

  On any other occa
sion, having to make deliveries at the very far end of her area every day would have been the epitome of annoying, when all she normally wanted to do was finish her job, get home, and relax. But somehow, seeing “Cadmium” had become the highlight of her day, and she almost looked forward to it each night as she made the long drive up to his place .

  Though, even the term “mansion” was an understatement. The house was humongous, with a gigantic private drive, stone and brickwork lining the entire outside, and windows looking out in every direction on the small valley below that she called home .

  Maybe seeing Cadmium was a treat because she was finally starting to open up. Things had been rough since breaking up with her ex, Benny. Really rough. There had been a lot of lonely nights. Most, if not all, of her friends had abandoned her, choosing to side with the charming, two-faced douchebag that she’d wasted a year of her life trying to hold on to. But once she’d found him cheating, they were done, whether Benny had liked it or not .

  And since then, she’d just been trying to pick up the pieces of her fractured life, trying to move on .

  So perhaps it made sense that seeing a hot, charming guy who always answered the door with a smile and looked absolutely nothing like her ex made her day .

  Granted, the guy probably already had a girlfriend. How could he not with looks like that? Or maybe he didn’t lean that way. She’d caught glimpses of other men at the house from time to time, too. Exotic-looking men with white and gray and blueish hair, all tall, all muscled like himself .

  Yeah, he was probably gay. He was far too nice to be straight .

  She got back to her van and climbed inside, still chilled from the frozen December cold but grateful to at least be out of the wind, and turned the key. But even though the car turned on, the engine didn’t make a sound. She tried again, but still, nothing happened .

  Crap .

  She tried several more times, praying, hoping, willing something to happen. But the van was dead. And from her limited experience with cars, it wasn’t a battery problem. Which meant it was something worse .

  Dammit, why hadn’t she gotten it serviced earlier? She just hadn’t had time, with the holiday season in full bore. This was her busiest time of the year, as an independent contractor hired by larger shipping companies to work remote areas such as this .

  She pulled out her phone and dialed the number for her shipping manager, the person who coordinated her routes and pick-ups and drop-offs and so forth .

  Toby answered after several long rings .

  “Hello ?”

  “Hi, this is Casey from Ship-It-Quick. My van’s dead. Can you send help?” she asked .

  There was an annoyed groan on the other end of the line, and she thought she heard him mutter, “Not another,” under his breath .

  “How many packages do you have left on your truck ?”

  “Actually, I’m done. I just delivered the last one .”

  “Any signature-required packages still on there ?”

  “Nope. All empty here .”

  “Good,” he said, and there was a long pause .

  “Good why?” she asked, puzzled .

  “Normally, we’d have to send someone out to finish your route. But since you’re all done, I don’t have to,” he said, sounding almost relieved .

  “So wait. You aren’t sending someone ?”

  “You’re a contractor. Your truck isn’t our business. Our packages on your truck are, but that’s not an issue. Just call a tow truck and get it taken care of .”

  “But it’s late, and it’s Friday night. No shops will be open right now .”

  “Not my problem,” Toby said, and she could practically feel his finger about to hang up on her .

  “No, wait. Yes, it is. You can’t just leave me stranded out here,” she stated .

  “If you don’t want to pony up for a weekend repair fee, just get a friend to take you home and have them take care of it on Monday .”

  Not too long ago, that wouldn’t have been a problem, when she’d had a boyfriend and actual friends. Now, her one and only best friend, Jan, was the only person she could trust. And she was gone for the weekend, visiting her parents .

  Just then, there was a tap, tap, tap on her window, and Casey’s heart leapt as she saw a face outside her car door. She almost screamed and dropped her phone. Then she realized it was Cadmium wearing a sweater and standing hunched next to her van .

  She never could get used to how he looked. Refined, handsome features, golden, dark-blond hair to his shoulders that was usually in a ponytail. Warm, sparkling brown eyes that always seemed to be teasing her .

  “What’s up?” he asked, his voice muffled through the window .

  Apparently taking her silence as agreement, Toby spoke again. “Just get your van fixed and let me know if you need someone to take over your route while it’s in the shop.” At that, there was a click, then silence .

  She sagged into the seat of her van. Stranded with no means of getting home and probably a huge repair bill waiting for her on the horizon .

  The weekend was already off to a great start .

  “Is everything okay?” Cadmium said again, worry starting to show a bit in his deep- brown eyes .

  Finally, she rolled the window down, not wanting to be rude to her favorite client .

  “No, everything’s fine .”

  “Then why are you still here? Wanted to stick around in the hopes of seeing me again? Have any more surprise packages I didn’t know about?” he said, grinning .

  Even with existential dread filling her soul, she had to suppress her body’s reaction to him, so near, so much man. Even the van seemed small next to him .

  “No. My car, it’s dead,” she said, finally fessing up to the ugly truth. Worst case scenario, she might have to ask him for a ride and leave her van parked in his beautiful driveway like some beached whale .

  Then she saw real worry in his eyes, and it almost melted her heart .

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Can I help?” he offered .

  “You wouldn’t happen to know any mechanics around here, would you ?”

  “Nope. Not at all,” he said, shaking his head. “I have no clue how these contraptions work .”

  Funny way of saying that .

  She rubbed her forehead, tension building there like a spring. She’d only barely just moved, a new place where she was sure Benny couldn’t find her. The only person in the world she’d told of the move was her best friend, who she’d sworn to secrecy .

  It still baffled her how cheaters could think they had a right to stalk their exes, follow them around and try to convince them to come back .

  And Benny, despite the tool he was, somehow had the crazy ability of charming people into doing or telling him whatever he wanted them to. Sure, she could see through the bullshit, but that didn’t mean she could trust her former friends to not rat her out the second Benny came creeping .

  “You want to come in?” Cadmium asked, interrupting her thoughts .

  “Huh ?”

  “Inside. Would you like to come in? Get you out of this cold?” he said, making an exaggerated brrrr as he rubbed his hands over those broad, rounded shoulders .

  Somehow, something about him made her feel she could trust him. At least long enough to get out of her quickly freezing van and into some warmth. Besides, he wasn’t home alone from the looks of it, and she’d keep her phone on her in case things got dicey .

  But those brown eyes, like warm, dark coffee. That kind smile, his gaze that showed actual care, not fake interest, was unlike any man she’d ever met before .

  If worst came to worst, she’d call a cab, even though it would surely cost her a whole day’s pay (and then some). And that was the last thing she needed while trying to recuperate her savings, which had been blasted from the sudden move .

  She closed the window, then opened the door, and he moved out of her way, respecting her personal space. She locked the van, then followed him as he led her
toward the cascade of lights that lit up the entryway into the gigantic mansion .

  Besides, what could a few extra minutes hurt with the hottest guy in the state of New York ?

  Chapter 2

  A fter only a few minutes inside Cadmium’s house, Casey was already wondering just where in the world she was .

  True, she was in a mansion in a secluded part of New York, but aside from that… it sort of felt like another world .

  First, there were enough hot men in here to fill a male revue. She saw them darting around corners, almost as if they were trying not to be seen, but she caught peeks of them here and there .

  As she drank the hot chocolate Cadmium had served her, she released a deep breath, wondering what her next move should be .

  “What do you want for dinner?” Cadmium asked, rummaging in the fridge somewhat frantically. “I imagine you are hungry after such a long day .”

  “Long day? What do you mean ?”

  “I know that your kind start work very early in the morning, and given the time, it is quite late. By now you would have been eating, I imagine .”

  “ My kind ?”

  He bit his full lower lip, sending a frisson of heat through her. She kind of just wanted to push him back against a wall and ravish him .

  What on earth? She’d never had thoughts like that .

  “Your kind… meaning delivery people,” he said somewhat nervously .

  Why nervous? Did he think she was ashamed of her job? Because she wasn’t .

  “I guess so,” she said. “That’s an odd way of putting it .”

  “Is it?” he asked, pulling a Tupperware out of the fridge and sniffing it. “This one’s safe .”