Onyx Dragon (Awakened Dragons Book 1) Page 4

  That thought stymied him. As much as he sometimes felt lost in this world, he didn’t want to go back to just not existing.

  Yet, while he was coming to care for Erin, he couldn’t imagine wanting to care for humankind in general.

  “If I found a human mate, wouldn’t that be enough proof?” he asked. “That I don’t hate humans I mean.”

  “If you could get her to agree to mate you, maybe,” she said. “After all, you’re terrible at hiding your feelings, and she’s unlikely to agree to be yours as long as she knows you hate her entire species.”

  He snorted. “Boo.”

  “Fine,” the oracle said. “Yes, if you got her to love you, to agree to mate you, the collar could come off.”

  Fire rose in him, exciting and hot. He could be himself again. Have his powers again. Wealth, strength, freedom…

  “But, Zach, consider if you really want a mate first, and all the responsibility that entails.”

  Responsibility? Ha. It was just about instinct. He wanted her and would protect her, and if she would have him, they would make it a forever thing.

  And they would work out the details, like how a human and dragon would live together, later.

  He heard movement upstairs, and then the door to her room opened.

  “Gotta go. She’s up,” he said.

  “Zach,” the oracle said in a warning voice, “you haven’t told her anything, have you?”

  He kept his mind blank so he could lie. “No. Nothing.”

  The oracle snorted, sounding unconvinced. “Be careful.”

  “I don’t need to be careful,” he said. “I’m basically invincible.”

  She sighed. “Maybe your skin, but not your heart.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he snapped.

  “You’ll see,” she said faintly.

  And then before he could clarify, she was gone and Erin was walking down the steps, looking at him curiously. “Were you talking to someone?”

  “No,” he said, growing tired of lying. “Maybe. Don’t worry about it.”

  She gave him a wary glare and gestured for him to follow her into the kitchen. Today she was wearing a cute, tight gray pencil skirt with a light-pink blouse. Her pinkish skin glowed in it, her cute, curvy legs accentuated in the skirt.

  Damn, he was attracted to her. Damn, he wanted to claim her. Mate her.

  He sat in a kitchen chair while she told him her schedule and laid down the rules if he was going to come and observe her at work again.

  She was perfect for him, he thought, watching her wrinkle her cute nose as she looked in the fridge.

  He would enjoy taking her. Protecting her. Spending time with her.

  But he had no idea why the oracle should be worried or what any of this had to do with a dragon’s nonexistent heart.

  Erin took Zach to a clothing store before work to buy him something that would help him blend in a little better. He didn’t like the soft clothing she’d bought him, a shirt with short sleeves and a dark, V-neck sweater to go over it.

  Plus, lighter jeans.

  It all looked too soft, unlike his leather, which was hard and shiny and sturdy, as he wanted to feel all the time.

  Especially now that he had someone to protect.

  But still, this had been her requirement if he was going to shadow her at work, and there was no way he was going to leave her there undefended.

  “It’d be easier if you let me cut your hair.” She touched it.

  He jerked out of her reach. He was a little touchy about it. He’d been growing it a long time and felt it was a sign of his masculinity.

  He didn’t understand why short hair was all the rage. No one felt like being warriors anymore it seemed, outside the shifter world.

  That didn’t mean he had to conform.

  “Never,” he said flatly.

  “All right,” she pouted. “I’d do a good job, but it is beautiful. Still, people are going to stare.”

  “Let them.”

  “As long as you aren’t going to get aggressive about it,” she said.

  “I told you,” he retorted. “I can only get aggressive if someone is aggressive toward me.” He touched his collar. “I don’t know how many times I need to explain it.”

  She folded her arms as she walked ahead of him. “There’s a lot you need to explain, like who you were talking to this morning.”

  So she had heard him. He would have to use the damn journal, and he hated writing.

  He could already imagine what an entry would sound like.

  Dear diary,

  All humans still suck.

  The end.

  Except now there was at least one human who didn’t, and she seemed to think she could convince him there were more like her.

  “Anyway,” she said, “excuse me if some of the stuff you say is just really hard to swallow. I mean, put yourself in my shoes.”

  “They would never fit,” he deadpanned.

  She laughed and shook her head. “Oh my gosh.”

  “What?” he asked.

  “I mean think about my point of view. I’m a human. The world is normal—”

  “You mean lame,” he said.

  She scowled. “No, normal. And then out of nowhere, I’m supposed to believe in mythical creatures—”

  “Not mythical. Real,” he said.

  “Stop interrupting me!”

  “Stop being wrong.”

  They both paused, facing one another, and then laughed, Erin breaking first and drawing him into a slow chuckle.

  Something about her just made it feel pointless to argue.

  She put an arm through his and pulled him forward. “Let’s not fight. I’m going to show you you’re wrong about humans.”

  He shook his head. “I’m here to learn, but I feel like I’m not going to be proven wrong.”

  “I feel like I know humans better than you do, and maybe I can get you to see them the way I do.”

  He shrugged. “Or maybe I can get you to figure out that most people are jerks, and you should run away with me and leave your world behind.”

  She stopped, her arm still touching his, setting his body on fire. She slowly pulled away, looking up at him with gentle blue eyes. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  He nodded. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “If you hate humans so much, why would you be willing to take one into your world?”

  He didn’t think telling her mating with her could break the spell and return his powers would help him much, so he stayed silent until he could think of a better answer.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. I just want to. For the first time, I want a human in my world. Willingly.”

  She snorted. “I’m so flattered.”

  “You should be.” He sniffed. But then he reached out to put his arm through hers as she had before, because it had felt good.

  She hesitated and then let him, locking their elbows as they walked. “Just as friends,” she said. “So you don’t get lost.”

  “Right,” he said, enjoying any touch he got from her. Humans were tiny and frustratingly fragile and fickle. But he had to admit they were wonderfully warm.

  5

  There were different people working that day, and Erin felt a little awkward introducing Zach to some of her co-workers. She’d decided to tell them he was considering becoming one of her hair models, as if that made any more sense than any other reason for having a giant, drop-dead gorgeous man following her around.

  But most of her co-workers had taken it in stride. They liked her as a manager and, for the most part, did what she said without question. She was always willing to help them switch a shift or give them a day off, even if it meant coming in for them.

  Only one person seemed to have a problem with it, and that surprised her, because it was someone new that she already considered a friend.

  Neil had only started working at the salon a few weeks earlier, and while he hadn’t worked a l
ot of shifts, when he’d been in, he’d been really friendly. Also, the red-haired, freckled, tall but gangly man had been interesting in that he was the only straight man to ever apply at the salon.

  He was friendly to all, and everyone liked him.

  But for whatever reason Neil didn’t like Zach, and the feeling was definitely mutual. When they’d been introduced, Zach had actually growled at him, and Neil had made a rude comment. Erin had to physically get between them and stop the arguing.

  She had promptly chewed Zach out, and now he was still pouting in his usual chair, as if he’d done nothing wrong by snubbing one of her employees.

  “I can’t believe you’re letting him stay here,” Neil muttered, walking behind the counter next to her to whisper in frustration.

  She took a step to the side, because Neil never did respect her bubble, and gave him a stern look. “I get that you two don’t get along, but you need to try. I need him.”

  Did she, though? Odd that she gave Zach such a hard time and then defended him so thoroughly behind his back.

  She looked up to see him watching them intently, his eyes narrowing as they landed on Neil. She sent him a look of warning, and he pouted again. It looked so silly on such a giant man.

  “Anyway, did you need something?” she asked.

  Sometimes Neil was almost too friendly, wanting to hang out and chat when he should be working on the floor. He was young, just out of school, and while she liked his ability to make everyone in the salon laugh and feel comfortable, she needed him to focus a little bit more on the work.

  But that could be trained.

  “Don’t you have a client right now?” she asked.

  “Nope,” he said, folding his arms and leaning on the counter. “I had a cancellation.”

  She sighed, flipping through the schedule. “Then can you help Cammy? She’s just gone over on her appointment and she has a walk-in waiting.”

  “Sure,” he said, pushing off the counter and retying his apron as he walked over to Cammy’s station. When he got there, he talked to her, and Erin saw the relief on the other woman’s face.

  Crisis averted, and Neil out of her hair.

  Still, he was a good employee, always on time. He just needed a little guidance.

  She flipped through the book, looking over the rest of the schedule, and then jumped when she saw someone standing in front of her, blocking her view of the salon.

  Zach stood glowering down at her.

  Even in his new clothes, much more proper and dressy and normal, with his bulging muscles, he still looked every bit as intimidating. And the pirate hair didn’t help.

  “Don’t hang out with him,” Zach demanded.

  “Neil?” she asked, looking over at the skinny man who was now leading a client to his station. “Why?”

  Zach’s gaze was dark, angry. “I don’t like him.”

  She snorted. “I’m sorry, but that means basically nothing to me. You don’t like any humans.”

  “I like you,” he said. “So far, I mean.”

  “Thanks,” she said sarcastically.

  “You know what I mean. More than I have ever liked a human before.” His eyes darted to Neil, heated again. “But him? Stay away.”

  “Why?” she asked, leaning forward, liking the way the big, tall man seemed to get slightly distracted whenever she came closer. She might not know what to do with him, but she liked that she had an effect on him. It was flattering.

  And she had to admit he had an effect on her, too. She definitely was getting more and more used to the idea of having eye candy around, even if he was a little weird.

  And honestly, she was starting to bond with the guy.

  Zach frowned and looked over his shoulder at Neil, as if trying to consider his words, which probably took a lot of effort for him, as usually, he seemed to just vomit up whatever word barf came into his head. “I don’t like him. I forbid you going anywhere alone with him.”

  “Excuse me?” she asked, incredulous. Sure, Zach was cute. And if she allowed herself, she could admit the longer she was with him, the more she was probably developing a little bit of a crush on him, despite knowing there were huge problems in the whole thing, given all the weird stuff going on.

  But this? This was just stupid, possessive male jealousy, and she wouldn’t stand for it. She was allowing him into her life, trying to deal with all his weirdness, but he was not going to tell her what to do.

  She was the one who understood humans, not him. “I’m not going to avoid one of my employees,” she said. “So you’ll need to get over your jealousy.”

  He leaned over the counter, arching his eyebrows. “Jealousy?” he asked. “That’s all you think this is?”

  She nodded. “You’ve decided I’m your little project and you don’t want anyone interfering.”

  “Not my project, my mate,” he growled.

  She kept her voice low and narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t know what that means, and you don’t even know me.”

  “Well, you’ll come to find out. But in the meantime, you should trust me. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”

  She sighed. “Zach, this is ridiculous. I said you could hang around me. I’m trying to get to know you, to believe you, and help you fit into the human world. But you can’t control me. And I’m not going to just do what you say.”

  He frowned. “Not even for your own safety?”

  “No,” she said. “Not even for what you believe is my own safety.”

  He threw up his hands and went back to his chair. “Fine! Fine! Stupid humans.”

  Rage burned through her as she slammed the book shut and walked over to her station to clean up for her next client.

  Who did he think he was? Just because she let him stay over and went shopping with him and went arm in arm with him like they were friends, it didn’t mean he could call her stupid.

  Several heads had turned his way at his statement, but most just ignored it.

  They were used to him being odd already, and besides, with his looks, there was nothing he could do that would get the women to stop fawning over him.

  Though, to his credit, he didn’t give any attention when they tried to get close.

  She bit her lip. Why should that be to his credit? Why should she care who he consorted with? Flirted with?

  She swept the hair at her station into a dustpan and got rid of it.

  He didn’t belong to her. He could do what he wanted.

  So why did the thought of it kind of hurt her?

  Nothing made sense anymore.

  For the rest of the day, she did her best to ignore Zach. She got him lunch when it was delivered for everyone, but other than that, she stayed focused on work.

  When she did happen to look over at him, she would see him looking out at the street, watching people there, or studying the others in the salon.

  Whether the rest of his story was bullshit or not, he did seem to be trying to come to some kind of conclusion.

  She felt a little bad for being so harsh with him. He just wasn’t like anyone she’d met. But whether he was handsome and protective or not, he didn’t have the right to run her life.

  No one did.

  She was finishing up at the register when Neil came up to the counter. He sent a nasty side look at Zach and then leaned forward.

  “Can I talk to you in private?”

  She bit her lip. For just a second, she considered what Zach had said about not being alone with him, about regretting it if she did.

  But that was silly. Zach was clearly just jealous, and after all, if he were some kind of creature from another time who thought she belonged to him, it made sense he would be.

  And he hated all humans, not just Neil, so that didn’t help either.

  “Sure,” she said. “What did you need to talk about?”

  She looked around to see the other stylists were mostly gone. One had finished clearing her station but was now talking to Zach, who, for once, was a
ctually being open and smiling at someone other than her.

  She hoped the other girl left soon.

  “In the back room?” he asked.

  She frowned. “That’s an odd place to talk.”

  “I don’t want him around,” he said, pointing at Zach. “If we just go outside, he can follow us.”

  She nodded. Neil was still her employee and she his manager. If he needed to talk to her about something, she would make herself available.

  She walked toward the back room where they kept all the dyes and supplies, and she could feel Zach’s eyes following her as she went, Neil behind her.

  But screw it. She could prove right here and now that there was nothing to worry about.

  She walked in and sat on the counter where they usually mixed dyes and clasped her hands on her knees, turning toward Neil. She’d been on her feet all day and had no desire to stand during this.

  He shut and locked the door behind them, leaning on the counter across from her.

  For just a minute, a shudder of apprehension went through her as he looked over at her, but then she calmed herself. She’d always had faith in people. She wouldn’t let Zach and his paranoia take that from her.

  But when Neil continued to look at her and not say anything, she was beginning to think this was a bad idea. She stepped down from the counter, but he blocked her way.

  “Sorry,” he said. “You can sit. I just have to gather my thoughts.”

  “We can talk out there,” she said.

  “No, not with Zach out there.”

  “Come on. If it’s work related, it doesn’t matter if he hears it. Do you need a day off?”

  “No,” Neil said, sitting on the counter across from her as she slowly moved back to hers. “But I thought we should talk about us.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Us?”

  He gestured between them. “You know, this thing we’ve got going on.”

  “There’s nothing going on,” she said. “I’m your boss.”

  He laughed. “Come on. You know what I mean.”

  She rubbed her temples. “No, Neil, I really don’t. You’re going to have to explain it to me.”

  Then before she could even squeak in surprise, he was there, standing between her legs, pushing her back into the counter as she tried to push down her skirt.