Page 3

Chapter 3

Pitching A Tent

Xavier

The sun slammed down into the cracked desert ground. It reflected back up, warming the dark golden scales of my underbelly. I released a languid yawn and stretched out my wings. Sunlight enveloped them in warmth.

I laid my head back onto the warm earth. I shut my eyes contentedly.

A little over a month had passed since my brother Maddox and his boyfriend, Caleb, saved the world by stopping Niazatos, the Chaos King, from breaking free of his prison. To celebrate such an accomplishment, we realized we couldn’t bake a cake and call it a day. Dawn was the one who suggested a family outing to Joshua Tree, which was what had brought us right back to our old hatching grounds.

I think you need to check up on your client , Dawn chided me. Dragons who were part of the same family had a telepathic link when they were in their scaly forms and close by, which was what allowed my sister to butt into my peaceful thoughts .

I lifted my head. Worry rushed through me. Had I been too lax? Did someone come and try hurting him while my guard was down?

Blake was by the tents, flailing his arms in the air as he ran in a wide circle. I rolled my eyes. Huffed a breath. It was a bee.

“Get it away from me!”

“Stop moving,” my brother Damien said as he pulled a fresh beer from the cooler, “You’re making it angry.”

“It’s making me angry—whoa!” Blake ducked down to the floor to avoid an aerial swipe from his assailant.

No wonder they had decided Blake could use a bodyguard.

I stretched out, flexing my claws into the dry dirt and flicking my tail a few times. The long, silky white hair hanging off the end looked more reddish brown now that it had collected some of the desert’s essence. I went to Blake, who had a difficult time getting back onto his feet. It appeared as if the bee kept watch over him. It hovered in the air above Blake one second and was snapped up by my jaws the next.

Blake blinked up at me, my large form blocking out the sun. He smiled awkwardly and gave me a wave from the ground. “Thank you.”

I chuckled. The sound came out like a distant rockslide beginning to form on one of the beige rock formations that made up the landscape. Blake got back to his feet, and I decided to get back to mine.

Shifting from dragon to our human forms came as easily to us as breathing. All I had to do was will it to happen. Golden mist swirled around me. My bones painlessly rearranged themselves, my organs following suit, my male form taking shape in under a minute. All of it happened under a veil of gold. The mist dispersed once the shift was complete. I stood there in my gray gym shorts, black T-shirt, and backward LA Dodgers baseball cap as if I’d been like that the entire time.

Blake brushed the dust and dirt off his pants. He still had some across his shoulders and back. “Turn around,” I said. I cleaned off his back. He felt firmer than I had been expecting.

This wasn’t in my job description, but I didn’t entirely mind. I’d been protecting Blake for about a few weeks now and found him pretty enjoyable to be around. When I picked up the job, I thought I’d be dealing with a prickly and snobby politician’s kid. Albeit an extremely influential politician.

I’d expected Blake to be out of touch with the real world and had no inclination to fix that.

I’d been completely wrong. That had been a pleasant surprise.

“Are you allergic?” I asked. It’s something that should have been told to me from the beginning, but I understood things slipped.

I did have to keep him far from strawberries, though.

“No, just a little scared of them.” Blake’s cheeks had a rosy tint to him. He was a funny guy. I normally stayed disconnected from my clients. They were usually all young, coked-out starlets or hypermasculine and entitled sports players. Sometimes I’d get the occasional rich businessman or sex-starved housewife. It came with the territory of being a highly sought-after bodyguard working in Los Angeles.

Blake was different in a way that intrigued me. He was shy and grounded and had quite the humor. It didn’t hurt that he was also cute. Extremely so.

“What happened?” It was Robby, Damien’s partner, coming back from a hike with my other brothers, Maddox and Warrick. Robby didn’t have a single drop of sweat on him. Maddox and Warr had sweat darkening their T-shirts. “I heard yelling. Didn’t sound too serious, though.”

I winked at Blake. “It was,” I said. “Blake had a duel to the death with a spear-carrying foe.”

“Seriously?” Warrick asked. “What happened? Where’d they go?”

“I took care of them,” I answered and faked a burp.

“You ate someone? You never do that.” Maddox sounded impressed, the blue scales above his dark brow rising along with it.

Bless him.

“It was a bee,” Blake said. That made Robby laugh, his fangs shining white. “And it’s fine. It’s all fine.”

“You ate a bee?” Warrick stuck his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “Couldn’t you have, like, I don’t know, guided it away?”

“I’m paid to protect Blake, and he was clearly in distress.”

Blake put a finger in the air. “I wasn’t that distressed. I could have handled it myself.”

Dawn joined the group, having shifted out of her dragon form. Her wavy brown hair was tied in two tight braids that landed right at her shoulders. The residual white scales of her true nature glittered like the world’s most expensive necklace. “Now that we’re all back, can we talk about dinner?” As our only sister, she wielded the power to shut down any silly conversation we were having and put us back on track.

“I’m thinking pizza?” Maddox said. He looked odd without Caleb at his side, his boyfriend arriving tomorrow morning. Those two had become inseparable since they’d become official. It was really nice. Madds never had anyone for too long. He’d been a serial dater before Caleb. Seeing my brother find someone so perfect for him gave me hope there was a chance for me.

“Hold on.” Blake looked around and scrunched his brows. He had a thinking face that made me chuckle. Never out loud, though. I’d come to realize after these last few weeks that Blake didn’t have the highest self-esteem. For being one of the most powerful and connected twenty-six-year-olds in America, he had quite the confidence issue.

Something that wasn’t exactly difficult to relate to. For anyone.

“Where are we cooking this pizza? Or are you talking about getting delivery?”

“We’ve got the ingredients to make one from scratch,” Madds said. I realized then that maybe I had missed telling Blake about one big part of this trip.

Blake scanned the campground. There were six tents circling a sitting area around the campfire. Someone had brought comfortable beanbag chairs and a small wooden table, where a stack of cards sat.

“I’m not seeing anything.”

Dawn pinned me with a glare. “Did you make him think we were really camping?”

Damien chuckled. Robby appeared to squeeze his hand. Damien winced and straightened up.

“I forgot to tell you. We own a house here. Right around that rock formation, actually.” I scratched the back of my neck. Smiled. Blake cocked his head and looked at me through narrowing amber-golden eyes.

“But, but, I had to watch a long-as-hell YouTube video on how to pitch a tent.” Blake blinked a couple of times. “I spent an hour and a half on mine! We’re not using them?”

“It’s tradition,” Warr answered with half a grin. “Our mom used to get pissed every time we’d come as kids and ask to camp out halfway through the trip. So she had us all make a camping ground first and then decide. That way, if anyone does want to camp out while we’re here, it’s all set up. Plus, it’s just a nice time to be outdoors and working together on something.”

A cold shiver down my spine battled with the gentle warmth of the setting sun.

“I guess that makes sense,” Blake said. He gave a sassy eye roll.

That was cute.

“Do you want to come in and get settled?”

Blake tipped his head in a nod before seeming to change his mind. “Actually, you know what, I think I’ll camp out the night.”

Interesting. What had caused that quick shift?

My job had me naturally observing people and supernaturals, sizing them up as threats or not. I could usually tell when a shifter was about to swipe a taloned hand or a Marvel was about to access their threads of mana. There were twitches in the face, body, and general demeanor. I enjoyed doing it—people-watching.

With Blake, I found myself observing him just for fun.

“Suit yourself,” Madds said. He twisted the heavy silver chain on his neck so that the clasp was to the back. “Want me to bring out some pizza?”

“Sure,” I said.

Dawn stroked her braid. “Alright, well, if you guys need anything, we’ll be inside.”

My family started heading toward the house, the structure appearing to blend directly into the beige stone it was built against.

“Oh, you don’t have to stay out here,” Blake said. A loose strand of dark brown hair fell to his forehead. “I’m sure nothing’s going to happen to me out here.”

“And I’d like to be extra sure of that. So I’m staying.” I crossed my arms. His eyes darted down toward my bicep. Was I flexing them a little? Sure. Did it seem to have the desired effect?

“Yeah, yes. Stay.”

“Great. Now, come and help me unpack our shit. The tents are up, but we still have to make them nice.”

“I thought you were my bodyguard, not my boot camp instructor.”

“I could be a lot of things for you.”

Blake stumbled on a rock. I grabbed him by the elbow to stop the fall. “You know, for a shifter, you aren’t very agile.”

“And for a dragon, you aren’t very, uh, scaly.”

“Want to see them?”

Blake rolled his eyes. “I can already see the ones on your bicep.”

“Not the ones I’m talking about.” I lifted my shorts so that they bunched up around my crotch. Blake dropped his head, and then I noticed his jaw twitch, like it was going to drop just the same. His attention bounced off my crotch and onto the slash of golden scales that wrapped around my thigh.

He started a series of slow nods. Licked his lips. I could almost see the strain in his face from trying to keep his eyes on mine.

“That’s, uh, actually really beautiful.”

I winked at him. “Thank you. Maybe you’ll get to see all of them one day.”

His eyes opened wide, like a puppy being offered a bone. “You have more?” Blake did that sudden switch again, his eyes flinching the tiniest amount. “Actually, uh, forget that. Don’t answer it. That’s probably not good.”

I let my shorts drop. “What’s not good?” I asked.

“Knowing so much about each other. This is a work relationship. It’s probably bad if we make it anything else.”

“You keep saying probably.” I cocked my head, smiled.

“Yeah?”

“I like to deal in certainties.”

And something that was absolutely certain? My growing attraction to Blake King.