Fired by my Grumpy Dragon (Grumpy Monster Bosses #3)

FORTY THREE

Loren

I hurl a pillow at the door, and it thuds into the wall, sliding softly to the floor with hardly any noise.

Oh my god! Could he be more of a dick? Just when I think we’re getting to really understand each other!

I know he’s worried, but honestly, it’s no big deal. Right?

I unlock my phone and read back over the message again. Maybe I was imagining the threats. There’s nothing threatening about this message.

I find one of Kiv’s shirts and put it on, intending to go find him and talk some sense into him. Maybe fuck it into him. Who knows. One way or the other, I’ve got to make him see reason.

I frown when the door seems stuck. I twist the handle again, but it doesn’t budge.

He’s locked it.

He’s locked me up like one of his artifacts!

I knew this was a bad idea. Why did I ever think this could work between us?

Kiv returns thirty minutes later, and my blood is still boiling. I leap from the bed as soon as he opens the door. “What the hell?”

“Breakfast.” He holds out the tray. It’s loaded with eggs and bacon and hot toast and coffee. The smell makes my stomach rumble violently. He gives me a smirk like he just won the argument, which only enrages me more.

“You can try to bribe me with food, but it’s not going to work.” I fold my arms across my chest. The dignity of the moment is slightly spoiled by the fact I’m in his shirt and underwear standing on the bed, and I’m only barely taller than he is even then.

I can’t help the way my eyes follow the tray across the room as he stalks past me to place it down on the table by the sliding doors. “Eat.”

“No.”

“Loren, you need to eat!” His tail lashes the air.

I lift my chin. “No. Not until we’ve talked about what the hell you think you’re doing.”

He gives a long-suffering sigh and begins dishing things out onto a plate. “I’m moving my mate into my den. End of discussion.”

“No, not end of discussion. I can’t believe you’d even think it works that way. It’s like you don’t even know me.” That bacon smells really good.

“I know you enough to know that you are your own worst enemy. If you go home, you won’t take enough precautions to ensure you’re safe. You don’t even have security in your building.”

“It’s fine. There might not even be a threat. This could all be in your head.”

“In my head? In my head?” Smoke pours from his nostrils now. “I did not imagine that poison. Don’t try to gaslight me. ”

I roll my eyes. “Who knew you even knew the term gaslight? Aren’t you, like, two hundred?”

He growls. “Are you going to talk to me like an adult or whine at me like a child?”

I glare. “Oh, you think I’m a child now? I’m pretty sure that makes this whole situation some kind of fucked up.”

He stalks over to the bed, and I dodge out of his way.

“What are you doing?”

“You need to eat.”

He lunges at me again, and I dodge. “Not until you promise to let me go home.”

“Not happening.”

This time he’s too quick for me. He feints to the left, and when I dodge right, his arm snakes out and grabs me around the waist, yanking me off my feet. “Hey!”

“You get unreasonable when you’re hungry.”

“I’m not the one being unreasonable.”

He plonks me down on a seat in front of the breakfast. The smell of the bacon makes my mouth water, and I can tell how delicious the scrambled eggs are just looking at their silky texture. I turn my face away. “You won’t win this way. I’m not eating until you promise.”

“Fine.” He throws up his hands.

I look up at him suspiciously. “Then you promise?” I can’t believe it was that easy.

“No, I won’t promise. Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to lie to you. You’ll eat when you’re hungry.”

Before I can argue, he turns and stalks from the room, slamming the door behind him. I don’t need to check to know he’s locked it again .

The bastard.

I glare at the delicious breakfast in front of me. It would be so easy to give in and eat a slice of bacon. A piece of toast.

With a growl, I push it away from me. Not until he’s finished being stupid.

The next time Kivrayn returns to the room, my stomach is staging a rebellion and my head is quietly throbbing from the lack of caffeine. “Have you come to apologize?” I mumble into the comforter.

“Why have you not eaten?” He stands over me, glaring down, his hands planted on his hips.

“I told you.” My head aches too much to shout at him. I don’t even bother lifting it.

“Loren—”

“Don’t,” I warn him. “I told you, I want to go home. You can’t keep me here like a prisoner.”

“You’re not a prisoner.”

“Well what do you call being locked in here with no escape?”

Kivrayn growls. “Why won’t you let me keep you safe?”

“Kiv, that’s what the police are for. I thought you said you made a report.”

“I did. I’m handling it, OK? Would you just eat?”

“No.” I pull a pillow over my head and pretend he’s not there. I’m really close to caving, but I can’t. This is too important. Unfortunately, I don’t do well fasting. I know. I tried that crazy-ass fasting diet once.

My coworkers and friends all regretted it.

After a while, I hear him leave. He closes the door a lot more softly this time, though.

When he returns that evening, the breakfast is cold and congealed. I know because I spend a really long time staring at it with my mouth watering even so.

He carries in a tray of roast beef with crispy golden potatoes and a whole dish of gravy. There are steamed greens and cabbage, and an array of sweets laid out beside it all.

Goddamn him.

He sets it where the breakfast tray was and looks at me. “Eat.”

“No.” I bury my face in the pillow so I don’t have to smell the peppery, savory scent of the meat.

Kivrayn sighs. “Loren, what will it take?”

“You know.”

I don’t answer him when he tries again, and eventually he gives up and leaves.

He returns that night when it’s completely dark outside. I hear him walk to the table, and I know he’s inspecting the tray to see if I ate anything.

I didn’t.

A moment later, the mattress dips as he sits on the side of the bed. “I will take you home to collect your things.”

I sit up. “That’s not good enough. You have to trust me.”

“How can I trust you when you’re acting like this?”

We glare at each other. I try not to let my gaze linger on the ridges of muscle on his belly or the way his arms bulge as he folds them across his chest. His tail flicks against the bed .

“You just don’t get it, do you?” I flop down onto the bed again, turning my back on him and shuffling to the furthest edge of the mattress.

When I feel the heat of his skin on my back I snap, “Don’t!”

There’s another long sigh, but I feel the shift of the mattress as he lies down not touching me. When I sneak a glance, he’s lying on his back, a grim expression on his face.

We don’t speak all evening. I’ll be damned if I’m going to break the silence, and he sure as hell won’t.

It makes me wonder where all this will end. So much for fated mates. How can we possibly be right for each other when we’re fighting like this mere weeks in?

I wake with a throbbing head and a dry mouth. It takes me a moment to remember, but then I look over to see Kivrayn standing looking out the window. His back is to me, but his shoulders are tense. His wings lifted at a strange angle.

When I sit, he turns. “You’re awake.”

I say nothing. What is there left to say?

He runs a hand through his hair. “Loren, will you drink some water? Some tea, coffee? Something?”

For a moment, the desperation on his face almost makes me feel guilty until I remember he’s the one holding me prisoner!

He takes a step toward me, then freezes. “I need to go back to England to make sure the threat is dealt with, but how can I leave when you’re being like this? ”

I shrug. It’s a mindfuck trying to get inside his head to understand what’s going through his thoughts.

“Loren, would you talk to me? I’m worried about you.”

“Then let me go.” My voice comes out raspy.

I fall silent.

With another growl, he paces in front of the window, tail lashing. “I’m going to go and make sure the threat is ended, and then we can talk about you going home if that’s what you insist on doing.”

“If you don’t let me out, if you hold me here, then I promise you, the mate thing is done. There is no chance for us.”

He rounds on me. “It will never be done. Dragons don’t work like that. You will always be my mate no matter what you say or do.”

I stare at him. “Too bad humans don’t work like that. Because you’ve never been mine. And now you won’t be. No matter what you say or do.”

He reels back, wings snapping out for a moment before he settles them behind his back. “We will discuss this when I return.”

I don’t bother correcting him. I just wait for him to leave. There’s a knock on the door as he storms toward it, and he opens it for a staff member with a tray of food. The short human woman gives me an apologetic smile as she walks by the bed.

“Leave it there,” Kivrayn says. “Bring another every hour until she’s eaten. Tell security to make sure nothing gets in here while I’m gone. I will pay triple rates for every member of staff to stay on duty until then. ”

“Yes, sir.” The woman sets the tray down and turns to leave.

I don’t bother asking for her help. It will only get her in trouble, and she doesn’t owe me her job.

When she’s gone, Kivrayn turns back to me with a pleading expression. “Please eat something, Loren. I only have your best interest at heart.”

When I say nothing, he eventually gives up and leaves.

I give it what I guess is half an hour. Enough time that I think he’s gone.

Then I hurry to the breakfast tray and stuff my mouth with food. I try to go slowly, but I’m too hungry for proper restraint. When I’ve eaten a bowl of yoghurt, about a pound of berries, and five pieces of toast, my belly aches. Then I have to wait another thirty minutes for my hands to stop shaking.

While I’m waiting, I take paper and pen from his desk and write him a note. I’m not running out without an explanation like last time. This time I need him to know why he can’t keep chasing me. I just hope he actually hears me this way. Because he sure as hell didn’t listen when I tried to explain face-to-face.

Finally, I go to the bed and pull off all the bedding. I’ve seen this in old movies. It can’t be that hard right?

It’s lucky Kivrayn seems to have actually left because it takes me far too long to tie everything into a long rope. I leave the breakfast tray outside the room to show the staff I’ve eaten so they don’t bother me. Finally I tie one end to the foot of the bed and trail it out the door. It doesn’t reach the ground, but it’s close enough.

It will have to do .

Lucky the deck has no balustrade and cuts off straight into empty air. Lucky my captor is a dragon with no fear of heights.

Unlike me.

I swallow.

Without Kiv holding me, I feel really high up.

I force down my fear. I can do this. I’m going to do this.

No way I’m going to be his prisoner a moment longer. I’m not that girl.