Page 3 of Savage (Savage Dragons #1)

Savage was still sitting at his desk, a horrific thought of sitting here all day, when his computer signaled that he had a message. Pulling it up, he nearly snarled at the computer when it told him the message was from the new mayor. He wanted to get with him and talk about the new projects that he had in mind for the town.

Brenin joined him just as he was ready to tell the other man that he had plans too then wanted to ask him if he wanted to come to those meetings about his house or not. Lucky or not, Brenin asked him to delete the message and wait for him to take the email.

“I have a question for you.” Before his cousin could ask, Savage told him his plans for getting rid of his home and starting anew. “Good. That was my question. If you were ready to start looking for a new place. Not a new town. I don’t want to move from here but just start fresh in our own lives, like a new home or something like that. Something that takes us out of—hanging around Kaida has given me a fresh outlook on things. Her no-nonsense attacks on things make me think outside the box, so to speak. When she speaks her mind, it makes me feel like she’s rattling my own mind in opening my eyes to things I’ve never seen before.”

He looked at Brenin and thought of his own arguments or talks with Kaida. Leaning back in the chair at his large desk, all he could think about was how much he enjoyed just hanging out with her. Sitting up abruptly, he narrowed his eyes at Brenin.

“Little dragon.” Brenin told him that he knew what that meant. “No, I mean…she’s my little dragon. My mate. At least, I think so. I didn’t get what the big deal was when, just yesterday, she told me that she was healed from all the wounds that Mac gave her. She seemed to think that it was a big deal that she was nearly healed with very little scarring. I just wrote it off because that’s what happens to me. But…Christ, Brenin, she’s my mate, and I didn’t even realize it.”

“How do you think she’s going to take that? Last I heard, the two of you were fighting over something about her going back to work.” He said that he wanted her to get her home before it was too late. “Oh, so you told her to spend her hard-earned money on a home so that she can enjoy it before she dies. Good one, that. Did you part with any more information about her impending death that you shared with her?” He snorted. “Gee, little cousin, you have a knack with women, don’t you?”

“She didn’t take it that way.” He thought about her anger with him and thought perhaps Brenin was correct. She had been out of sorts with him. “I’ll let her pick out the house that we’ll live in, and that will make it up to her. Don’t you think?”

“I think if you continue on in the way that you are, you’re going to be a lonely dragon longer than we will be.” Brenin snapped his fingers. “I’m going to take notes about you. How not to treat my new mate so that she doesn’t remove my head before I get it out of my ass and make her happy.”

“You’re insufferable. Did you know that?” He just laughed and let him sit in his office. Savage was fine with that. If he didn’t have anything better to do than to make fun of him, he could go home. Savage decided to go and find his little dragon. Let her know what a fine life she was to have now that he was a part of it.

It took him most of the afternoon to look into places he thought that she might be. Then, another hour to find her in the backyard of Kingston’s home digging up herbs. Apparently, she found some she didn’t have in her extensive window garden at home.

“I’ve been looking for you all day. You seemed to be avoiding me.” She said that she’d been doing things that she normally didn’t when she didn’t have any time off from work. “Well, you should have told me.”

“Why?” He didn’t have an answer to that and told her she should have known that he’d be looking for her. “Why would you be looking for me? I have shit that I have to do now that I’m going to be dying soon. Isn’t that what you told me. That I should get on the stick about living my short life?”

“I did not say that. I only pointed out that if you didn’t buy your home soon, you’d not be able to enjoy it all that long. But that’s not right now. You’ll live a long life now, thanks to me.” He wanted her to be excited to ask him what he meant, but she only turned from him and began putting her little plants in the containers that she had with her. “Perhaps you didn’t hear me. I said that you’d be living a longer life because of me. Aren’t you interested?”

“If I pretend to be interested, will you go away? I have things that I’m doing.” He told her this was important. “So is what I’m doing. Tell me or not. I’m busy right now.”

“You get to be my mate.” She turned then and looked at him. When she stood up, he thought that she was finally getting on board with what news he had to impart with her. The punch to his face knocked him back some, and he was pissed about it. But one look at her face and he thought perhaps that he’d been right about her last week. She didn’t understand the workings of a dragon. “Let me explain this better to—”

“Oh, you’ve explained this well enough. I get to learn a whole new life in living with you as your mate and I should be thrilled beyond words that you figured it out for me. Did you think that I was too dumb not to have figured it out before you did? I did. I’ve known for at least since the day after we met. I tried several times over the last few weeks to give you hints, but you just didn’t get it. I guess it only means that I get to be your mate. Isn’t that what you said because you finally got your thick head out of your ass and figured it out on your own? Christ, you’re stupid. Not only that, but you don’t seem to have one lick of manners in your whole body that would make a woman want to be with you.”

When she started to storm off, he backed away from her when she came back toward him. But all she did was pick up her little plants and carry them to the little basket she had by her water. The growl, low and full of anger, had him taking a few more steps back until he was flush with the barn in Kingston’s backyard.

It was the first time in his life that he’d ever been afraid of something smaller than him. Even when things were larger than he was, he knew as a dragon that he was much meaner and stronger. But this little slip of a female human had his dragon backing up and his entire body feeling like he might well live longer, at least not hurt as much if he were to leave her to her business of picking herbs out of the yard. He was certain, too, that if he brought up the fact that she was his mate again, she’d remove his head with a swipe of her hand, magic or not. She seemed ready to do him bodily harm for some reason.

When she left him standing there, Savage fell to his knees. His heart was pounding, and his body felt like he’d run a great long run in just the few minutes that he’d been standing beside her. He had a little thought, one that he was determined to keep to himself. He was not going to cross words with her again. She was much too dangerous.

The rest of his day he tried not to think about Kaida. But he would find himself at odd moments not only thinking about her but holding the phone in his hand to call her. Each time, he put it down quickly in fear of him somehow connecting with her. He could not believe—yet he did too—that she had brought such thoughts of him being powerless and her being the one that held all the magic. Magic or not, he knew that she was going to catch him unawares, and he’d be toast.

After contacting another realtor, he had him looking for him several places where he could live. He would have asked Kaida for her input, but frankly, he was giving her as much time as she needed to get in a better mood. Not that he’d say that to her, no way, but he would tread quietly around her until then.

Women were just odd, he told himself. Why was she taking things out on him, for Christ sake? So what if she’d figured out before he had that she belonged to him. Why didn’t she thank him for it instead of making him go all over the place looking for him? Women? Why did a dragon need a mate in the first place? Of course, to have more dragons, but he didn’t think that was a forever thing. His parent certainly never were around for him.

But then he was bitter about that, too. He couldn’t really make up his mind in what he wanted anymore. Did he want a mate? Not particularly. But he didn’t want to be alone either. It was scary at times when he was alone. Thoughts of finding someone to remove his head or to kill him as a human were forever invading his thoughts. He was lonely, even with his cousins around at times.

There were other times when he wished he could find himself a cave and live out the rest of his life there. He wondered what Kaida would think about that and decided that she would probably be just fine with him living out his life in a cave. It would be without her, for sure. She would be just like that.

Savage was of the opinion that he didn’t know what he wanted. He liked hanging out with his little dragon a great deal. She was funny and witty. Mean, sure, but he liked that too. Perhaps there was something wrong with him? Maybe he was off his own rocker and needed his head removed because of that. Savage had no idea. Whatever it was, he knew that she was the one that was causing all the trouble he was having.

He realized that she was standing in front of him in that very moment and asked her what she wanted. It took him several seconds to realize that she was crying, and he hurt him on a level that he didn’t understand.

“What’s the matter with you?” He didn’t like the sound of her crying. It did all kinds of things to his chest and heart. “You’re crying. Stop that right now.”

“Do you have one pit of compassion in your chest at all? I mean, is it your norm to go around snapping at people when they come to ask you a question?” He asked her what she wanted. “I wanted to know if you’re right and that I’m going to die soon? How much time do I have left?”

“I told you that you don’t have to worry about that anymore. Because you belong to me, then you’ll live as long as I do. When I die, it’s said that your heart will be so broken that you can’t stand to live without me and die too.” She told him that she might well hurry him along to death to test that theory. “Why are you forever testing me? Sometimes it’s all right, but there are times when I just don’t care to have you around.”

“Well, that feeling is mutual. Do you suppose you could cut out being so fucking honest all the time and just answer the questions nicely? Doubtful, but let’s see. I was wondering why you hate me so much? Try not to say the first thing that pops into your head.” He said that he didn’t hate her, just didn’t like that she was human. “All right. Since I can’t change the fact that I’m human, what else do you dislike about me?”

“Actually, you’re not human anymore.” They both turned to Kingston. “I would have called out when I found your door open, but I heard the two of you arguing again. As for you being human, the moment that you met Savage you were no longer human. You have magic that he might well have shared with you that neither of you realized. Also, you might well have things that we’ve shared with you because we’re related and older than him. Not much, mind you. A couple of hundred years, but it might be something that you got from us.”

“I don’t know if you realize this or not but a couple of hundred years to me is a long time. What kind of magic?” He pointed out things that she’d already figured out on her own, like healing quicker. “So if I were to fall and break my leg, it might well have healed better than it would have a couple of weeks ago?”

“Did you fall and break your leg?” She said that she thought that she might well have when she was at her apartment this morning. “Climbing around might not be such a good idea until we get things figured out. None of us have a good handle on things about mates and how they are taken care of by us. So hold off on doing things that might get you otherwise killed, please?”

Kingston had Kaida try a couple of simple magic things that they could all do. She could heal herself easily. Also, if she wanted something like a glass of water—the simplest thing that they could think about, she could make it appear as well. Other things too, the simple magic of making sure that she could be found and will herself to someplace else. He’d only had her go to the next house he’d been thinking of buying, but she wouldn’t give him any kind of opinion about it until he did her. Women. They were all just too complicated.

~*~

She agreed to go on the house-hunting trip with both men. Kingston was calmer than Savage was. He was also easier to talk to. Sometimes, he’d get into it with his cousin, but since it didn’t involve her, she just let them go at it. To her, their arguments were sort of stupid. Who cared who had the most scales or had done something several hundred years ago that the other didn’t. She was just glad to be not at work.

Which she was going to go to tomorrow morning. They’d called her back this afternoon, and she was actually looking forward to having something normal again. Not that she’d seen their dragons, but hanging out with them wasn’t all that fun. They argued too much.

Then, there were the feelings that she was beginning to have for the stupid dragon. Well, all of them were nice, but Savage was something more. He’d sent her to her room in tears on more than one occasion. At least once a day, she thought. Then there were the times that she wanted to simply bash his head in and be done with him. Knowing that wouldn’t kill him, she wondered if he slept with one eye open and watched for her to come and remove his head. For all she knew, he slept in the yard as his dragon just to keep her from doing him bodily harm.

Wandering off from the two of them, she entered the kitchen to find that it wasn’t even up to the last couple of centuries. Someone had tried to salvage the room, but it was too far gone to do much more than to tear it out to the studs and start over. She thought that the entire house needed to be done that way. Kingston asked her about the house.

“One of you should shift to your dragons and burn it to the ground. It’s not worth the money that one might pay for it, even if it was only a couple of dollars. It doesn’t even have enough room for the refrigerator but for the small one in the corner. I don’t need to see the rest of the house to know that no one has done a thing to it since you guys were born.” She turned to look at him. “What does Savage say?”

“Nearly word for word what you said.” She shrugged and turned to leave the room. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” She didn’t have it in her to lie to the other man.

“I don’t know what I feel for him. Other than I want to break his neck most of the time and others…well, there isn’t much difference in how I feel about him in any way. He’s not nice to me, and yet I find that I want to be around him for the once in a great while nice things that he can say.” Kingston nodded. “What does that mean?”

“It means that he feels something for you, I think that he’s in love with you but terrified that you’ll leave him when he least expects it. Or perhaps he’ll expect it daily. I don’t know if it matters or not but he has never loved anyone but us. And at times, I’m sure that he thinks that he’s incapable of love.” Kaida said that was sad. “It is. And while I’ve never met his parents I’m sure that they were just as incapable of love as well. Did you know that he had a sister?”

“I heard him talking to you guys about her. She must have been a real diva.” Kingston laughed and said that was her in a nutshell from what he’d heard. “They all died from a poison, I heard. I didn’t think that was possible.”

“Only as a human was it. I think that it was someone from the pageantry that she was in. They were forever winning something for her beauty. I never met her either but I’ve heard that she mostly used magic to make herself beautiful. Sad really. Savage is a great man and could be a better mate to you if you were to give him a chance.” She asked him if he was blaming her for him being an asshole. “No. Gosh no. I only meant that you could change his mind on being a good-minded person if you were to…well, bash it into his head what an ass he is. I’m sure you’d have no trouble with that.”

“Are you saying that I’m mean?” When his cheeks pinked up, she laughed. “I was only kidding. But I will admit that he hurts me in ways that I’ve never hurt before. It’s like he’s out to destroy me.”

“Perhaps in his own way, that’s what he’s doing. To destroy any kind of love you might have for him because he’s never felt anyone love him before. And if he keeps you at arm’s length, just to keep himself from feeling anything for you—at least acknowledging it, he’ll not have to hurt again like he did with his parents.” She didn’t know his parents but could easily hate them for the damage that they did to him. Kaida said as much to Kingston. “No truer words could be spoken. As I said, I’ve never met them but from what I’ve heard, they were never kind to anyone. Not even each other. My parents didn’t like them, nor do they care for—they actually hate Savage. I don’t have any idea why. I don’t know that they’ve ever met him, but they didn’t care for his parents, and I guess they figured that he was just like them when it couldn’t be further from the truth.” Savage joined them in the kitchen and said that he’d lost track of time.

“I was wandering through the house and decided, if that’s all right with you, that there is nothing redeeming about this house. Not only is there no charm, but it would be better off left to rot or to be torn down and rebuilt.” She told him that she agreed with him. “Good. Now, we have three more houses to look at but I’m starved. Let’s go get something to eat and then move on from there. The realtor has given me the codes for the next houses so that we can take our time. Philly isn’t at all like her mother, Sally Glenning, is she?”

“I don’t know her. I’m sure it was before I was born.” They both laughed then Savage asked her how old she was. After telling him that she was twenty-seven, he agreed with her in saying that she hadn’t been born. “Gee, thanks.”

The three of them decided that they’d eat a light lunch and then go from there. She didn’t know what they would think of a heavy lunch for what they ordered but they ate a great deal if you were to ask her. She had a taco salad, and they ate two large subs apiece. Plus fries which was something that she had never cared for. Having her fill, it was Kingston who finished her salad and they were off again. This was trying looking at places, but she was having fun as well.

They didn’t even go into the second house on the list. From where they were sitting in the car, they could tell that it was no better than the first house. Savage hung up the phone and said that he bought the first house in order to tear it down.

“While I don’t know what I’ll do with the property, I know that the land will be worth more without that eyesore sitting on it.” Kingston agreed and told her that land wasn’t plentiful, but houses were. She supposed that made sense. It wasn’t like there would be any more land made around the world.

The final house was the kind of house that she’d dreamed of owning her entire life. It was a little larger than she would have hoped for with having six bedrooms, but the yard was large, and there was even a fenced in back yard for the dogs that she wanted. The wrap-around porch was wide and well-maintained. There were even hooks to hang baskets of flowers if she wanted.

She was nearly giddy with the prospect of touring the house. Even if Savage didn’t purchase the home, she was going to. It even had a place for flowers to plant in the front of the house that she wanted. No fence, but she could easily do that on her own.

There were minor things wrong with the house once she got close enough to look at it. There were places on the porch that needed to be repaired before someone went through the flooring. There were also a couple of windows that were broken out and she could see that someone at some time had boarded them up.

Inside the house was wonderfully exactly what she wanted. A large kitchen with an eat-in area. And herb window over the sink that looked out over the expansive backyard. There was a pool to which she liked, but the hot tub was a nice addition as well.

“You like this one?” She nodded to Savage and told him that if he didn’t buy it, she was going to. “Will you allow me to live here with you? I can easily pay cash for it, but I have a feeling that you’d hit me if I were to suggest such a thing.”

“You’re right. I don’t know that I have enough for a down payment, so if you’d like to live here with me then I’ll have to ask you for help in the mortgage as well. And don’t pay cash for it. That hurts the economy if you were to do that.” He told her that he would do whatever she wanted. It took her several seconds of staring at him before he asked what he’d done now. “You’re being odd again. Have you had a change of heart or something? Or did you grow one?”

“That was just mean.” She told him she was sorry and that she’d been used to him being mean to her. “I guess that’s right. You might well see me be mean again, but I’m working on it. You make me want to be a better person.”

“I don’t know that I’ve done anything of the kind, but I appreciate you being nicer.” They toured the rest of the house, and she loved that it wasn’t perfect. It would be something that they could—or she could work on between her shifts at work. She’d have to keep her job now, as she had a house payment to take into account even if he were going to pay half of it.

As she had no idea how to make an offer, Savage did it for her. When the realtor called them back within minutes, she was worried that they were going to turn them down. Instead, they had a counteroffer of less than they offered just to get it off the books. She’d not realized that it was part of a bank repossession and was thrilled when it came back at about half of what they’d offered.

As the house had been empty for some time, Savage hired a crew to go in and clean the place from top to bottom. There were five bedrooms, including the master and she was thrilled that he wanted to keep things just the way that they were. That way, they could move right in and be enjoying the house sooner. She’d never once in her life lived in a house without wheels, and she was thrilled beyond reason that she was getting her dream house in this one.

“We’ll need to get something to fill it out with.” She asked him if he had anything from the other house that he wanted. “No. Christ no. I hate everything about the place. We can either donate what is there if we can’t sell it of burn it all for all I care. It’s the most hideous house I’ve ever lived in. And I lived in caves that had more charm than that one does.”

She laughed. It wasn’t long before she felt herself relaxing around him, and that made her nervous. As soon as she let her guard down, she knew that he was going to attack her again. Keeping her emotions to herself, she asked him if he had some kind of storage which he kept his old stuff in.

“No. I think that Brenin and Cassian do. Did I tell you that they’re brothers? Hatched on the same day from what they’ve said. I don’t know if that makes them twins or not, but that’s what I’ve heard from them. They also have a sister too, Margo but they have very little to no contact with her.” She asked him about Kingston. “He might have everything he owned in the house that he has now. I don’t know. But he’s looking for something new as well. I think that we all are. Not a new town but new homes.”

The rest of the afternoon into the evening they measured and took notes on the house. Kingston left them so that he could work on looking for houses, too. Savage told her that he thought that they all needed a good change for now. They’d been living in their homes for the past thirty years and had had enough.

He’d been right. They had been around here longer than she’d been living. It saddened her to know that she wasn’t going to have anything to compare her life with his. He’d seen so much that he more than likely could tell her stories of his life that would make the hair on her arms raise up and tingle. Shaking her head, she continued on with the house to make sure that whatever happened in the future, she was about as prepared as she could be about it.

However, she wondered if her heart could be prepared at all for their departure. She was nearly about as in love with the man as she was with anything she’d ever felt before. Kaida wondered if being in love with the big dork was going to be anything that she could recover from once he decided that he’d had enough of her like he did his home. Him moving on scared her to no end.