The Dragon’s Brave Nanny (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #4)

Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

***KEITH***

“ D o you mean the beginning of dragon shifters or just the beginning of me?” Keith asked, amazed that Stella was so calm. “Because my story is easy, but explaining about dragon shifters might take a little longer.”

“Last time I checked, I had nowhere else to be,” she said, then reached out and made another taco. “You talk, I’ll eat.”

“Stella, you never cease to amaze me,” he said, shaking his head. “Are you sure you’re ready to hear all this? It’s going to challenge some things you’ve believed about all your life.”

“How do you know what I believe?” she asked, giving him a dirty look. “Don’t make assumptions, Keith. It’s not fair to either of us.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what you think about magic. You might already believe, you might already know that it’s out there, I just thought…well, the way you reacted this afternoon…”

“Can you blame me?” she asked. One minute, I was sure that Jordan and I were going to drown, and the next, I was flying over the water in the arms of a furry dragon. I’m still not sure which one scared me more.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said. “But I wasn’t about to let the two of you drown.”

Stella studied him for a second. “You know, I don’t think I ever said thank you for that,” she said. “I am really grateful that you came to our rescue, and I know you took a risk showing me…the other side of you, but I promise your secret is safe with me. I wouldn’t tell anyone even if I thought that they’d believe me.”

“I never thought for a second that you would. I trust you, Stella,” he said, meaning every word. “You’re different, tough on the outside, but soft on the inside, and in case you haven’t figured it out, you’re starting to grow on me.”

A blush appeared on her cheeks. “You’re a stubborn idiot sometimes, but I’m getting used to having you around, too,” she said, smiling at him. “But if you don’t tell me how this shifter thing works; and soon, you’re going to see that tough side.”

He laughed as a surge of desire raced through him. “It might surprise you to know that tough side of you makes me a little crazy, so you’d better be careful,” he said, locking his eyes on hers. “I might do something like kiss you, and then where would we be?”

Stella let out a little gasp, her eyes filled with desire. “Careful, Mr. Sanders,” she said, her voice husky, a challenge in her eyes. “I might kiss you right back.”

Unable to resist, he got up from the table, grabbed Stella’s hand, and pulled her into his arms, then waited only a heartbeat before he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her lightly on the lips. Stella sighed, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him down to her again, pressing her body up against his, and instinct took over. He deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth and taking what he wanted, his hands roaming over her body as the passion between them suddenly flared to life.

When his hand skimmed across her breast, making her nipple harden, Stella gasped and pulled away from him, then looked up at him, her eyes full of desire. “I don’t know if this is a good idea,” she finally said, slipping out of his arms. “You’re my boss. If things go badly, it could be very uncomfortable, I shouldn’t have pushed you…”

“It wasn’t your fault that got heated faster than I thought it would. Kissing you was better than I ever imagined it would be,” he said, grinning at her. “I probably should warn you that’s not the last time I’m going to kiss you.”

That earned him a gasp. “Keith…I mean it,” she said. “This isn’t a good idea.”

“On that, we’ll just have to disagree,” he said. “But I’m a patient man, Stella. I’m more than happy to wait while you catch up. We’re meant for each other, sweetheart. I guess you just need a little more time to see that.”

“You're impossible,” she said, giving him a dirty look, but the desire was still in her eyes. “You still haven’t told me about shifters. I’m beginning to think you’re avoiding talking about it.”

“Sorry, I got distracted,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. “Let me clean up and make some coffee, and then we’ll talk.”

“I’ll help you,” she said, picking up her plate. “And no more getting distracted tonight.”

When the table was cleared and the dishes washed, they took their coffee to the other side of the porch and settled down on the big swing suspended from the roof. Keith used his foot to get them moving, then turned to look at Stella, a bit nervous all of a sudden. He’d never told a regular human about shifters and had no idea where to start .

“Let’s see, what should we tackle first, the fact that dragons were once real or that I can turn into one?” he asked. “You decide, I’m having a hard time figuring out where to start.”

“I think dragons might be a good place to start,” she said, making herself more comfortable. “I always thought they were just myths and legends.”

“That’s what most people think. The most common theory is that the stories started with big snakes or reptiles and evolved from there,” he said. “But the truth is, centuries ago, there were dragons. Just like any species, they came in different forms, lived in different places, and evolved into unique creatures. The myths aren’t wrong. They were fierce creatures prone to killing humans who tried to get too close to them, and that’s where our creator comes in.”

“Your creator?” Stella echoed. “What does that mean?”

“This is where the magic comes in,” he said, smiling at her. “Back in the Dark Ages, dragons were considered the biggest danger to humans, and a very powerful magician got the bright idea to fuse dragons and humans together to create an army that could never be beaten. He used his magic to create dragon shifters, but it didn’t turn out quite as well as he’d hoped. Most of the shifters couldn’t control their dragon side and turned into killers.”

He paused and looked over at Stella, whose eyes were huge. “Go on,” she said. “Don’t stop now, it’s just getting good.”

“The magician had no choice but to hunt them down and kill them. A few who could control the dragon inside them managed to escape,” he said. “They fled in small groups to different parts of the world and learned to blend in. Eventually, my ancestors made it to the United States from Europe, and here I am.”

“And all these years, no one ever found out about you,” Stella said. “How is that possible? Especially now with all the technology around us.”

“If someone really wanted to expose us, I suppose they could try, but just like you said, it would be a tough sell,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Ever heard of the Nessie or Big Foot? How about Yeti? It’s not that people haven’t tried. They either didn’t know what they were looking at or didn’t have enough proof.”

***Stella***

It was a lot to take in, and Stella sat quietly, letting herself absorb it all, realizing that Keith hadn’t been completely wrong, she was suddenly looking at the world a little differently. “Are you okay?” he finally asked, shifting on the swing to look down at her. “Should I have told you less?”

“I’m okay. It’s just a lot to absorb, and you weren’t wrong. It does make me look at the world a little differently,” she said, looking up at him. “It’s like finding out something you thought and hoped was true really is. You’ve always known that magic was real, but I’ve never been sure.”

“And now that you know?” he asked. “Does that change things?”

“A little, but it might also explain a lot,” she said. “Miracles, fate, intuition, I don’t know what else. I need to think about this some more. It might help explain why my life is suddenly such a mess.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it a mess,” Keith said, clearly a bit hurt. “You’ve got a good job and a free vacation to a tropical island. I know today was hard, but it can’t be all that bad. I’m sorry if I was acting like a jerk before. I just had all these conflicting emotions, and the job…well, I won’t let it happen again.”

She hadn’t meant to say the last part out loud and regretted it instantly. “Oh, Keith, that’s not what I mean,” she said, then hesitated, remembering the U.S. Marshall’s instructions not to tell anyone who she really was. “I was talking about… my apartment burning down.”

The lie came easily off her lips, but she instantly regretted not telling him the truth and started shaking her head. “Wait, that’s not…” she started, but the sound of the baby crying interrupted her.

“I’ll go check on him,” Keith said, leaning over and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Hopefully I won’t be gone long.”

He was gone before she could tell him the truth, and she sat feeling guilty, listening to Keith trying to calm the baby, promising herself that she’d tell him as soon as he came back. It wasn’t like she’d done anything wrong. She’d been an innocent bystander, stumbled on something that had been none of her business, and besides it would all be over soon. If she’d lied, it had been to protect herself, Keith would understand, an innocent lie, one told to protect herself.

Ready to blurt it all out to him, she waited, but when Keith appeared on the porch, it was with a still-crying Jordan, a helpless look on his face. “I think he’s teething again,” he said. “He’s chewing on his fist, and I think he has a little fever, and nothing I do is calming him down.”

“Let’s start with a teething ring, and then we’ll see about giving him something for the pain,” she said, getting to her feet. “It’s going to be fine, Keith. You just have to hang in there. Come on, bring him inside. We’ll handle this together.”

The look of relief on his face made her smile, and she gave him a kiss on the way by, all her problems forgotten for the moment. She opened the freezer and handed Keith the little frozen ring. “Put that in his mouth,” she said. “He’ll know what to do with it from there.”

As soon as the teething ring hit his gums, Jordan stopped crying. His little hand reached up and took it from him with a pleased grunt. “Well, that worked,” he said. “Maybe you’re magic, too.”

Stella laughed, “If you think that was impressive, wait until you see my next trick,” she said, leading him to the bathroom. “This is a magic elixir. It will dull the pain and lower that fever.”

Keith laughed, then became serious. “How much do we give him?” he asked, taking the bottle from her. “What if I give him too much?”

“There are instructions on the bottle,” she said, turning it around in his hand. “See that chart? You just need to look at his weight, and it will tell you.”

“Okay, I see it, he needs 15 mls,” he said, then looked over at her. “What the heck is an ml?”

“A milliliter, you know, metric,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s a pretty common measurement in medicine.”

Keith shook the box. “This stuff is a liquid. How do I get him to take it?” he asked. “And how do I measure it? Why is this all so complicated?”

“Relax, it will be easy,” she said, taking the box from him and opening it. “See, it comes with a handy little syringe.”

“Do I have to give him a shot?” Keith asked, his eyes wide with fright. I don’t think I can do that.”

She opened the bottle, attached the syringe, filled it, and then handed it to him. “You might want to try putting it in his mouth,” she said, grinning at him. “It’s cherry flavor. Kids usually like it.”

Keith gave her a dirty look. “You could have told me that from the very beginning,” he said, then looked down at Jordan. “Okay, kiddo, take this medicine like a good boy. I really don’t want to smell like cherries for the rest of the night.”

Jordan slurped down the medicine, then took the syringe out of Keith’s hands and chewed on it for a while before losing interest and letting it fall to the floor. “Good job, Dad,” she said, picking it up. You passed that test with flying colors. I’ll wash this off. Why don’t you go read him a book and see if he’ll go back to sleep?”

When she came out of the bathroom, Keith was curled up in a chair with Jordan, reading him a book, and her heart filled with warmth. Not wanting to interrupt, she stretched out on the couch, content to listen to Keith’s deep voice, but it wasn’t long before her eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted off to sleep.