Chapter 4

Chapter Four

N athan was carrying Hayley's second round of luggage through Stonefire's High Street and toward the cottages when his father stepped out of the Dragon's Nest pub and waved him over. He resisted a sigh, well aware of what his dad would say.

His dragon spoke up. You haven't exactly been nice toward the human. I'm sure Denise has let him know it, too, with a text message.

I wasn't rude, just not overly friendly. We're to be work colleagues, nothing more.

Hmph. She doesn't have any friends on Stonefire, and it wouldn't hurt to be nicer.

I don't want anyone to get ideas about me and the female.

But—

No. Stop, or I'll create a mental maze and toss you inside.

His inner beast huffed, glared, and fell silent.

Nathan reached where his dad stood and set the luggage down. "What now?"

His dad smiled. "I think you know what."

He sighed. "I know what Denise wants, but it isn't going to happen."

"I'm not asking you to mate the human tomorrow, just be a little less rude, for all our sakes. Maybe you could bring her by the pub tonight, to make her feel welcome and introduce her to some of the other clan members."

His father rarely asked him to do anything. To deny him would make Nathan look like an arsehole. "Fine. I'll bring her. But promise me you'll talk to Denise about not meddling and playing matchmaker. Because I saw the glint in her eyes, and I know she's thinking of trying."

"I'll do my best, son." He slapped Nathan's shoulder. "I'd offer to help you carry that lot, but you know about my back."

While his dad was in his sixties, he was as fit as most men twenty years younger. "Right. When did that happen again?"

His dad waved a hand in dismissal. "Let's not waste time on it. I've done my duty and talked with you, so I'll leave you alone. But don't keep your mother waiting too long. She has plans about Hayley's stay here and wants to discuss them with you."

"I still don't understand why Ryan can't show her around."

"Your brother's busy training with Dylan to become Stonefire's next silversmith and tattoo artist." His dad lowered his voice. "Just be patient with your mother and humor her a little. It's hard for her to have such an empty house, what with Ryan gone most of the time now. Having the human female guest around should help with that."

It was true—his stepmum had always wanted a big family, but hadn't been able to have any more after Ryan. And since Nathan was nearly twenty years older than his brother, he'd barely lived with Denise for a few years before getting a place of his own.

He grunted. "Fine, I'll be patient. Plus, a little break from her mothering would be nice."

His dad raised his brows. "You could be fifty and she wouldn't stop. My mate has a lot of love to give, son."

"A male can hope, though." He waved. "I'll see you later."

His dragon paced inside Nathan's mind but remained silent. Nathan wasn't sure whether the silence was a good or bad thing. For all he knew, his beast could be plotting for when he took Hayley to the pub.

Within minutes, Nathan reached his parents' house again and entered; laughter came from the kitchen. He approached slowly and stopped to peer inside the doorway.

Hayley laughed wholeheartedly. Her eyes sparkled with humor, and her cheeks were slightly flushed.

In that moment, it hit him how fucking beautiful she was.

His dragon grunted and finally spoke again. I've told you that before.

Don't start.

With that, Nathan left the luggage in the hallway and entered the kitchen. As soon as the two females noticed him, they quieted. Hayley quickly looked away from him and sipped her tea.

Ignoring how he didn't like that, he said, "All of your stuff is here now, Hayley. If you have a minute, we should discuss our work schedule."

She nodded. "Of course. Let me get my phone, though. Without my calendar, I'm lost."

His stepmum gave him a long look before rolling her eyes upward when he didn't say anything.

Too bad. He wasn't here to make the human laugh.

As soon as Hayley returned with her phone, Denise stood and excused herself.

For a few beats, they eyed each other. Then Hayley cleared her throat. "Well, how soon can we start?"

"Tomorrow is probably best." Her face fell, and his dragon grunted in disapproval. Nathan quickly added, "However, I thought maybe I could take you to dinner at my dad's pub tonight. You could meet some people, get questions answered, and then be raring to go in the morning."

Her face lit up. "Really? That'd be brilliant. Whilst I know I'm here to work, I'd love to get to know more dragon-shifters."

Her smile made his heart skip a beat.

Which was ridiculous. Ignoring the stupid organ, he grunted. "It was my parents' idea, not mine."

"That doesn't matter, as long as we go." She rubbed her hands together. "I really can't wait to get started tomorrow morning. Although, I should probably warn you that once I get going on a job, I work long hours. I like to get things done as quickly as possible."

"Whatever you want. I'm used to pressure and long hours from my job with the Protectors."

"Oh, that's right. Well, I can be a bit much for even die-hard workaholics, so make sure to tell me if you need a break."

His dragon spoke up. I can think of ways to distract her and make her take a break.

Shut it, dragon.

Nathan replied to the human, "I'll be back in an hour to take you to the Dragon's Nest. You can, er, change clothes."

For a second, hurt flashed in her eyes, and his dragon growled. Don't upset her. That wasn't nice.

What? She spilled something on her top.

You didn't have to point it out. It's not like you're Mr. Fashionista yourself.

Ignoring his dragon, he blurted, "If you want to, that is. It's fairly casual at the pub, though. As long as you're dressed, that's fine."

His dragon sighed. What, is she going to show up naked? Humans don't like that.

Even dragon-shifters need clothes to enter the pub.

Maybe she doesn't know that. Prepare her for what she might see around the clan.

She was here before.

But mostly inside the Protector building.

After clearing his throat, he asked, "You do know that you might see a naked person walking around Stonefire, right?"

"Um, what are you talking about?"

He cleared his throat again. Humans and their bloody modesty. "Well, when we shift, we don't have clothes on. Or they get torn to pieces. At any rate, when people are in a hurry, they sometimes forget to dress after shifting back into their human forms. Hence why I said you had to be dressed to enter the pub."

"Well, yes, I'd hope so. I mean, I wouldn't want to sit somewhere a naked butt had just been."

She slapped a hand over her mouth, and Nathan's lips twitched. "Neither would I."

Hayley removed her hand and smiled at him. For a second, he didn't hear what she said because that little smile shot straight to his cock.

He quickly brushed that thought aside and focused on her words as she said, "I'm not sure I could walk around the clan naked and not be embarrassed. But I'll do my best not to stare at anyone."

His dragon grunted. She shouldn't stare at other males.

Why does it matter?

I don't like it.

Warning bells rang inside his head, but Nathan ignored them. His dragon was just desperate for sex and nothing else.

He nodded. "Right, then I'll be back in an hour."

With that, he waved and raced out the door and straight to his own place. Images of Hayley walking around naked kept flashing inside his head, and by the time he reached home, Nathan jumped into the shower.

A very cold shower.

Once Nathan left, Hayley placed her hands over her cheeks. Had she really just been discussing naked dragon-shifter butts with a near-stranger?

Why yes, yes she had.

With a sigh, she reached for her mug and drained the last of her tea.

Denise walked in. "You'd better hurry. Nathan's always early, so he'll be here before you know it. Although making him wait for a little while can be entertaining. He starts pacing and grunting and is fun to tease."

It took her a second to remember dragon-shifters had supersensitive hearing, which meant Denise had probably overheard their entire conversation. Hayley would need to be more careful about what she said in the future. "It won't take me long. But is the pub truly casual? I don't want to show up and look out of place."

"You'll be fine, whatever you wear. And my mate will give you anything you want, on the house."

"No! I can't let you do that."

Denise raised a hand to stop her protests. "For tonight, let him treat you."

Then she remembered what Nathan had said. "I can bake! So, if you ever want anything, let me know."

The dragonwoman didn't even blink at the sudden change of topic. "I'll remember that. We never seem to have enough biscuits, so maybe you can make some chocolate chip ones. Those are everyone's favorite."

"Consider it done. Well, as soon as I can do some shopping. And after I start sifting through the records. Oh, dear. It might be a few days before I can manage it."

"It's fine, truly. What you're going to do for my kind is far more important." She motioned with her head toward the stairs. "Go get ready, lovey. Don't worry about anything else for tonight. Just have a good time and maybe convince my son to do the same."

With that, Denise smiled and left the room.

Getting Nathan Woodhouse to have a good time would be a lot of work, but she would try. For Denise's sake.

Hayley rushed to change. She had to settle for a dress since her luggage seemed to have eaten her best jeans. After quickly brushing her hair and deciding to leave it down, she heard voices downstairs. She grabbed her purse and raced down them, tripping over the last one. As she sprawled and prepared to fall, muscular arms caught her and held her against a rather warm chest.

For a beat, she merely inhaled the spicy male scent and reveled in being this close to a man again. It'd been far too long.

Then she heard a familiar voice. "Are you okay?"

Nathan. Of course he'd be there to see her trip and fall. First the stained clothing, and now this.

Willing her cheeks not to heat, she scrambled backward and smoothed her dress. "Thank you, but I'm fine." He raised his brows, as if not believing her, and she stood a little taller. "I am. I was in a hurry and sometimes I don't pay attention like I should."

"There's no need to hurry. I'm early. And I don't want you to hurt yourself, because then I'll never hear the end of it from my mum."

His pupils started flashing rapidly, and he scowled, as if irritated. Before she could stop herself, Hayley blurted, "What's your dragon saying?"

There I go again, talking without thinking. It was strange since she could usually restrain herself around strangers or clients.

Nathan's pupils returned to round and stayed that way. "Nothing. He's just being a pain in my arse."

His pupils flashed again, and she smiled. "It must be fun having a constant companion in your head."

Nathan frowned, but then shrugged. "Most of the time. But truth be told, I can't imagine not having him there to chat with. He's been a constant presence since I was six."

She was about to ask if that's when his dragon had first talked with him—even though she knew inner dragon personalities didn't come out until sometime in childhood—but he moved toward the front door and said, "Come on. I don't know how long Dad can hold the best seats in the house for us."

She managed to keep quiet the entire walk by focusing on her surroundings. The cottages ranged from old with thatch roofs to newer ones with slate roofs. In the distance, she saw some building works. Without thinking, she asked, "Are they building more houses?"

"Yes. With the influx of human mates and growing families, we're running out of room."

"That's a good thing, right? Not that long ago, dragon-shifters were struggling to reproduce at levels to avoid extinction."

Okay, maybe talking about extinction—mostly because of human government restrictions—might not have been the best idea.

However, Nathan merely nodded. "Since dragon-shifter populations skew male, it was creating quite the problem and unhealthy competition. But now, some are open to trying to find human mates."

"Some, but not you?"

Again, Hayley, with blurting out inappropriate questions? She needed to find her usual decorum, and fast.

Nathan glanced at her and away. "I don't hate humans. That's all I'll say."

Which wasn't much. "Well, at least I know you don't hate me. I think."

He shook his head. "No, I don't hate you."

She wanted more than that, but they arrived in front of the two-story building with stained glass windows and a sign above the door that read, "Dragon's Nest" and she couldn't help but say, "Dragons don't lay eggs, though."

"No. But humans love to have us do that in stories, so it's kind of an inside joke."

"Ah. They do come up with all kinds of things about dragons in stories. But I have yet to see any dragon-shifter sitting atop a mountain of gold, hoarding it, and burning knights to a crisp."

"A lot of us wished we could breathe fire when it came to the Dragon Knights, before they were destroyed."

"That's right—they were one of your enemies. Now you just have the dragon hunters left to deal with. Will you be able to defeat them soon too? I've been cheering for you all to do so."

Nathan glanced at her. "I'm not at liberty to say. I'm a Protector, even if it's not the flying-into-danger variety."

"Hey, what you do is just as important in this day and age. Oh, that makes me sound about seventy, doesn't it? But it's true —computers and the internet can be just as dangerous as an in-person fight."

"I won't argue with you there."

An unfamiliar male voice came from behind her, in the same Northern accent as most everyone else on Stonefire. "Nathan's not going to argue? Wait, let me take a picture so I can remember this moment."

She turned and looked up, up, up at an extremely tall dragon-shifter. He had black hair, dark brown eyes, and light brown skin. "Pardon?"

The man smiled, making him far too handsome, before he replied, "Nathan loves to be contrary, at least with me." He put out his hand. "I'm Luke Woodhouse, Nathan's cousin." He lowered his voice dramatically. "If you ever need help dealing with him, let me know. I can even give you my phone number for emergencies."

Hayley blinked and readjusted her glasses with her free hand. "Er, I'm not sure how to respond to that."

Nathan grunted. "Don't. It'll only encourage the bastard."

Despite the words, Hayley heard the love behind them. They had to be close, like her and her sister.

Luke stated, "I'm surprised to see you here, Nathan. Taking the female out on a date?"

"No. Definitely not."

His firm tone irked Hayley. She turned away from him and smiled at Luke. "Nathan and I will be working together on a project. I just arrived today, and Denise asked Nathan to take me here and show me around."

Luke grinned. "Well, then I'm going to invite myself to join you, too."

Nathan growled. "Aren't you running behind on your building project?"

Luke rolled his eyes, looked at Hayley, and explained, "I help my dad with his construction company. We're working on the new cottages." He moved his gaze to Nathan. "And we've finished for the day. Even if we can see just fine in the dark, no one wants to freeze their bollocks off at three in the morning."

"You're out fairly late most nights anyway, so you should be used to it. What was her name again?"

"No one."

As the two dragonmen stared at each other, she sensed undercurrents she couldn't begin to understand. Wanting to break the tension, she said, "Well, I'm going inside. When you two finish your argument, come find me."

She walked into the pub and stopped to scan the room, but didn't spot anyone she knew.

But then an older guy who looked a lot like Nathan waved at her. She went to the bar, and he said, "You must be Hayley. I'm Paul Woodhouse. Didn't my son accompany you?"

"Yes, but he's outside with his cousin."

"Right, then let me get you something to drink whilst you wait." She glanced at the door, but Paul said, "Don't worry about them. They're more like brothers and they can row for a while."

Hayley gingerly sat on the bar stool, ordered a soda, and did her best not to keep looking at the door. Instead, she studied her surroundings, noticed someone setting up a karaoke machine, and decided she would have a go and relax a little.

Yes, singing a song at the top of her lungs was just the thing she needed. And so she put in a request, sipped her drink, and waited for her turn.

Nathan glared at his cousin. "Why the fuck are you stirring the pot?"

Luke put on a fake, innocent expression. "Me? Why would I ever do that?"

"Yes, you, and it's exactly the kind of thing you'd do."

His cousin laughed. "You kept stealing glances at her, so I wanted to test something. Is she your true mate?"

Nathan blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Luke crossed his arms over his chest. "Is she? You definitely fancy her, and when I tried to flirt, your pupils started flashing rapidly."

He asked his dragon, Is she?

I don't know. We haven't spent much time around her, and both of you have been extremely formal and distant. But I like her.

Oh, fuck.

Stop it. Would it be the worst thing in the world?

Yes.

And they say dragons are dramatic.

Luke asked, "Well?"

"I don't know."

His cousin slapped his shoulder. "Well, you should find out. She's already better than Tracey ever was, in my opinion, and Hayley clearly isn't afraid of us. Not just because she became interested when my pupils flashed earlier, but also because she was biting her tongue to keep from asking what my beast was saying. If I were a betting male, I'd say she could handle an inner dragon and a mate-claim frenzy."

"So says the male who knows who his true mate is and stays away."

Luke glared. "It's complicated, and you know it."

It was, for many reasons. Still, Nathan never held back with Luke. "You could find a way to make it work, if you wanted to."

His cousin gave a double finger salute. "You can stand here and talk about fairy tales, but I'd rather spend time getting to know the interesting new female. At least one of us can be charming."

After Luke headed inside, Nathan took a deep breath to calm down.

His dragon spoke up. Just forget about everything else tonight and have fun.

You know it's not that easy.

Maybe not. But you've grown up here. It should be okay.

Sometimes Nathan could handle a big crowd, and sometimes not. Even if he knew almost everyone inside the pub, it would still be draining.

And since tonight was karaoke night, it would be packed.

A song started playing and a female voice belted out a tune, one he didn't recognize. After he opened the door, a tone-deaf singing voice assaulted his ears, and he looked to see who it was.

Hayley Beckett stood on the slightly raised dais, singing loudly and dancing in place, clearly without any sort of rhythm.

His beast said, And yet, she's happy and smiling.

It was true—Hayley beamed as she sang and attempted to dance. Her hair swayed around her shoulders and her skirt kept swishing around her legs.

Everyone watched her, and if anything, Hayley sang even louder.

Her eyes eventually met his, and for a second, time stilled. He wanted to go up there and sing with her, to see what it felt like to not care about crowds or people judging his awful singing voice. He'd attempted karaoke exactly once as a teenager, and the pity claps afterward had convinced him to never try it again.

His dad appeared at his side and said, "She knows how to have a good time, that's for sure."

Before Nathan could reply, Hayley finished, and everyone clapped. He joined in for a few beats before he saw a group of single dragonmen heading toward her. One of them was Lucien Fox, a charming male he sometimes worked with for IT projects.

When Lucien took Hayley's hand and kissed the back of it, Nathan growled.

His dad whispered, "Act fast, son, or Lucien might win her over. He's looking for a mate, after all."

Without saying another word, Nathan made a beeline for Hayley and reached her in record time. He heard Lucien say, "I come to karaoke every week. Maybe we can sing together sometime?"

Nathan grunted. "Hayley and I have an early start tomorrow, so don't tire the human out."

Hayley frowned at him a second before smiling at Lucien. "I may not be twenty any longer, but I can stay awake past six o'clock. I'd love to have a singing partner."

Lucien smirked at him and replied, "Then we'll do a song together, love. I'll put us on the list. What should we sing?"

She shrugged. "Pick anything popular from the last twenty years, and I'll probably know it. Surprise me."

Lucien leaned forward. "Right, then I'll come find you when it's time."

Nathan glared at Lucien as he left with his friends. Once they were as alone as two people could be inside a pub, he growled, "Be careful of Lucien."

She raised her brows. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

"I'm just saying, he's a huge flirt."

"I know. Considering I have to watch people's reactions closely for the smallest tell in court or during interviews and interrogations, I think I can handle a charming dragonman inside a pub."

His beast growled. Don't insult her. She's an intelligent, strong female who has put some big names into prison.

After clearing his throat, Nathan said, "I know you can. But still, I just wanted to warn you since you're new here, and I don't want anyone taking advantage of you. And despite his best intentions, sometimes Lucien makes females fall in love with him when he's sworn off ever doing so himself."

"Okay, that's a story I need to hear someday."

"Maybe. But for now, let's order some dinner."

He nearly put his hand on Hayley's lower back to guide her, but resisted. Instead, he motioned with his head and followed the human to a small table off to the side, one with a Reserved placard. After she sat down, he said, "I'll fetch us some menus. Did you want anything to drink?"

"Just some sparkling water."

Once he ordered, he kept an eye on Lucien. But thankfully, the male was laughing with his friends and not paying any attention to Hayley.

His dragon asked, And why do you care?

As I said, females fall in love with Lucien too easily.

Right, tell yourself that. It's okay to fancy her.

I don't fancy her. I won't fancy any human ever again.

His beast fell silent, which was never a good sign. But Nathan ignored him and returned to Hayley, doing his best to glare at any male who tried to come close to the table.

Hayley tried to figure out what Nathan was up to. One second he was grumpy and distant, and the next he glared and tried to warn off other men.

The easiest answer was that he fancied her a little. And yet, while she normally voted for the easiest explanation, she couldn't quite buy it.

Maybe his contradictory behavior had something to do with the human woman who'd hurt him.

Not that Hayley was going to ask about that. Nope, no way.

Thankfully, Nathan returned, handed her the menu and her drink, and sat back with his arms crossed. After pushing her glasses up, she asked, "What do you recommend?"

"The Irish Stew is good. Or the chicken curry."

"I've never really thought about this before, but are there any dragon-specific dishes?"

"I'm not an expert, but from everything I know, it was fairly simple back in the day—soups, stews, roasted meat, that kind of thing. However, there are a few traditional soups we make that you couldn't eat because some ingredients are poisonous to humans."

Without thinking, she replied, "Those dishes would've been an easy way to get rid of enemies or unwanted guests a thousand years ago. Just offer them a meal and they'd all keel over."

He frowned. "Do you routinely think of ways to murder people?"

"Not usually. But I've worked on a few murder cases with my colleagues, and I had to try and think like a killer." She shuddered. "It's not a fun place to be, by any stretch of the imagination."

"I would think not. I sometimes have to investigate dragon hate groups online. And even after all these years, some of what they post still shocks me."

She lowered her menu and placed a hand on his arm. Ignoring how hot and hard it was under her fingers, she said, "I'm sorry you have to see any of that."

"It's my job, and it helps my clan."

"Still, it can't be easy. I mean, people have these irrational fears of what's different and some of them go to extremes to blame others for their problems. When, in reality, it has absolutely nothing to do with dragon-shifters."

He grunted. "I know."

Not quite ready to change the subject, she asked, "But your work has led to finding and turning in some of these people, right?"

"Not as much as I'd like. And whilst we were busy dismantling the Dragon Knights, the hate groups not only grew in size, but the dragon hunters got far more clever and cautious. That makes our jobs even harder."

"Perhaps. But the British government also wants to find and destroy the dragon hunters, so at least you're both on the same team. For now."

His pupils flashed a few times before returning to round. She blurted, "What is your dragon saying?"

Tilting his head, Nathan studied her. "Why do you want to know?"

She lifted her menu and pretended to read it. "Well, your dragon half is an essential piece of you, of every dragon-shifter. And if I don't get to know both halves, I don't really understand the whole person. If that makes sense?"

Hayley snuck a peek, and Nathan's pupils flashed again. Had she upset his inner beast?

"Not many humans think about that, in my experience."

Whew. So he wasn't angry. "It's not like you've met every human in the UK. Some of us want to educate ourselves but don't know how to ask more about it. Or if it's even okay to ask questions about it. I figured since we have to work together, I have some leeway with you."

The corners of his mouth twitched, but he never fully smiled. He replied, "You do. Although it doesn't mean I have to answer everything. However, when it comes to dragon-shifters in general, ask me anything and I'll try my best to answer."

"Truly?"

"Yes."

She dropped the menu and grabbed one of his hands. "Thank you! I have so many questions, and now that I don't have to pretend I don't want to ask them? It's freeing. I'll probably be able to concentrate better. Oh, and better understand previous dragon-related cases and rulings. Who knows what we'll find buried in the records. It'll be like a treasure hunt."

"Er, dusty, faded records aren't really treasure."

"But they can be. After all, something we find in them could allow one of your clan members to achieve the future they truly want."

"Perhaps." He cleared his throat and gestured at the menu. "You should probably decide what to order now. The rush will start soon, and then we'll have to wait longer."

Nathan removed his hand from hers, took out his phone, and tapped on it.

Normally, Hayley hated it when people did that. And yet, it allowed her to steal glances at the dragonman as she pretended to read the menu. There was so much more to him than she'd gleaned at first.

Maybe by the time she finished her law database project, she'd finally have a deeper understanding of dragon-shifters. That way, she could become an even bigger advocate.

The fact she'd be spending time with a sexy dragonman was just a bonus.

And you can only look. Hayley had grown tired of dating and games and men pretending to accept her intelligence only to later want her to ask and accept their opinion on everything. Mansplaining made her want to punch someone, and she usually wasn't a violent person.

So, right, she'd collect the information they needed, complete her project, and then go back to her life in London with no strings attached.

Sounds like a plan. Provided she could avoid any disasters, Hayley should be able to finish this project in no time.