Caught Between Dragons Read online

  Caught Between Dragons

  A Shifter Romance Series

  Meg Ripley

  Copyright © 2017 by Meg Ripley

  www.redlilypublishing.com

  All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be used or reproduced in any form without written permission from the author, with the exception of brief quoted passages left in an online review. This book is a fictional story. All characters, names, and situations are of the author’s creation. Any resemblances to actual situations or to persons who are alive or dead are purely coincidental.

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only; this copy is not available for resale or to give to another reader.

  Disclaimer

  This book is intended for readers age 18 and over. It contains mature situations and language that may be objectionable to some readers.

  Book 1

  CHAPTER ONE

  Sweat beaded at the base of Becca’s neck and rolled down her back, underneath her blouse, as she walked down the street from the bus stop to her job interview. For the millionth time, she checked the email on her phone to confirm that she had the right address and time. As the sweat slipped into her waistband and was absorbed, she desperately hoped she’d have time to visit a restroom and freshen up before the interview.

  The street was empty except for a few passing cars and Becca had a feeling that this wasn’t a part of town where girls should be walking alone. However, she told herself that she was safe on this sunny May afternoon and she needed this job if she didn’t want to work in fast food.

  Her short heels made her steps echo from the concrete sidewalk and off of the tall brick buildings. In the lots that spaced the buildings apart, she saw abandoned cars and large moving trucks. At the end of the block, she came to the address 4238 West 9th Street, where bright blue letters on the door read Ladon Brothers Moving and Shipping.

  A scribbled note taped next to the doorbell informed her to ring for entry. Becca did, and upon entering, found herself standing in an empty hallway with a closed door off to her left, a questionable staircase off to her right and an entryway to a sitting room directly ahead. Thankful for the air conditioning, she wiped her face and neck with a handkerchief from her handbag. Stuffing the handkerchief back into her purse, she decided that straight ahead might be where she would find Mr. Ladon.

  The room before her was richly furnished; the design was Rococo inspired with a lovely dark wood trim and jewel-toned floral upholstery on the couch and chairs. Her heels made sharp clicks against the hardwood floors even as she tried to walk with her lightest steps. On the coffee table in front of her sat a silver tray with a porcelain tea set with steam coming out of the spout of the pot and a plate of what looked like lemon squares.

  Movement upstairs brought Becca’s attention away from the rich decor and she headed back towards the hallway as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She gripped the shoulder strap of her purse and took a deep breath as the black and white Converse sneakers stepped off of the stairs and into her view.

  “Hey, you’re Rebecca Turner, right?” His enthusiasm surprised her as much as his appearance did. She had imagined from the formality of their emails that Mr. Ladon was some generically boring businessman, not this young, fit man in a t-shirt and jeans, with shining black hair, and a beaming smile on his face.

  “Becca,” she stammered, feeling embarrassed and overdressed in her blue button down blouse and black pencil skirt. “Mr. Ladon?”

  “Please, call me Jeremy,” he said as he took her hand and shook it firmly. Without letting her go, he pulled her along with him asking, “Do you like tea?”

  “Yes, I-”

  “Great!” He steered her over to the couch and sat her down before she could gather a single coherent thought. “You have a preference? I just got this new citrus and mint tea that I wanted to try, but you can try something else if you’d like. I used to be a coffee drinker but then got turned on to tea a few months ago, and now I’m obsessed with it.”

  He spoke quickly and Becca found it hard to do anything more than nod her head and stare with a polite smile plastered to her face.

  Jeremy Ladon was a lot to take in all at once. He bubbled with bright energy and seemed to not notice that he was attractive to the point of being a distraction.

  His tall form perched gracefully on the edge of the couch next to her as he prattled on about tea while pouring them each a cup. The only pause in his chatter was to ask her if she wanted sugar in her tea, and as soon as she nodded, his tea talk picked up where it left off.

  Becca watched his hands as they handled the delicate tea set with gentle precision. Her eyes moved up his arms following the lines of the muscles as they flexed minutely with his movements. His shoulders pushed against the constraints of his shirt sleeves, pulling the fabric taut over his chest.

  Jeremy turned to Becca as her eyes roamed over his body and she felt herself immediately turn bright red. Raising an eyebrow he handed her the teacup on a saucer and offered her the plate of lemon squares.

  “Oh, thank you,” she said as she accepted the tea and took one of the treats out of polite obligation.

  “I know it’s an awful pairing,” he said as he took one of the squares for himself. “But they’re from this sweet old lady whose husband used to work with us and even though he’s retired she still brings by these baked goods. They’re so delicious and I don’t have the heart to turn her down.”

  Becca let out a small chuckle as he stuffed the whole square into his mouth and watched her with wide blue eyes as he licked the powdered sugar off of his fingers. He looked almost innocent except for the smirk that pulled at the corner of his mouth as he sucked on his thumb, making it difficult for Becca to swallow her tea.

  “So, ready to get down to business?”

  Becca nodded as she set her cup back down on the saucer. Jeremy took a large drink from his own to wash down the confection and winced afterwards.

  “That’s good,” he said, “but with the lemon squares, it’s a little too much citrus for me.”

  Becca tried not to laugh as she took another sip of her tea.

  “Anyway, about the job,” Jeremy said as he sat down his tea and ran a hand through his dark hair. “Ever been convicted of a felony?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Ooh, sir,” his eyes lit up with excitement, “I like that.”

  Becca blushed and looked away.

  “No, no. I’m sorry.” His hand reached out and rested on her knee. “I’m terribly immature. I don’t mean to be unprofessional.”

  “It’s fine,” she assured him with a small smile. His touch was warm and she was mildly disappointed when he withdrew his hand and proceeded with the interview.

  “Um, what was next,” he muttered to himself before letting out a small exclamation upon remembering his train of thought. “Any substance abuse problems?”

  “No.”

  “Any experience as a personal assistant?”

  “No, sir. I just graduated with my BFA and my focus was in apparel design. I’m sure I can do this, though. I’m a fast learner and, honestly, my only other option at the moment would be some crappy fast food job.”

  Jeremy had the teacup raised to his lips and was taking a long sip as his eyes stared at her from over the edge of the porcelain. Becca bit her lip as she waited for his response. The intensity of his gaze was too much for her and she looked away in shy embarrassment.

  After another moment, Jeremy sat the cup down and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Well...you’ve got the job.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah,” he said as he extended his hand which she shook gratefully. While he had
her hand, he pulled her in close and confided in her, “Between you and me, you’re the first girl to come in here and not look like an escort.”

  Becca laughed and felt herself blush even more. She was sure that Jeremy was going to think that her face was always red if she didn’t get in control of herself.

  Jeremy released her hand and finished off the last of his tea in one large gulp before jumping to his feet and stretching audibly. Becca carefully set her cup and saucer back onto the silver tray before picking up her purse from where it lay at her feet and stood as well.

  “Come on,” Jeremy said, waving a hand to motion her to follow him. “I’ll show you around the office.”

  He took off down the hallway and bounded up the stairs like a ball of energy. Becca did her best to keep up, self-conscious of the clacking sounds her shoes made on the hardwood floors.

  CHAPTER TWO

  It was Friday and Becca was enthusiastic about finishing her first full week of work. She was excited for this job, despite the fact that shipping wasn’t all that exciting to begin with. The dress code was casual—which meant that she got to wear her superhero t-shirts—and she enjoyed working with Jeremy, who happened to love her superhero t-shirts. It was only the two of them manning the office, with drivers and mechanics mostly stopping in to fill out reports exchange keys when necessary.

  The bookkeeping system was easy enough for her to learn and Jeremy always had something to talk about to keep her entertained. For the most part, he liked to talk about his twin brother, Jadon, a reconnaissance marine who also happened to be the face of their most prominent client, Maltech, a weapons manufacturer who used Ladon Brothers as their primary company for shipping within the country.

  Becca opened the front door of the building with the key that Jeremy had given her and noticed the smell of baking cookies coming from down the hall. She walked through the sitting room to the little kitchen that existed just opposite from the restroom. There, she found a man that looked just like Jeremy, except she knew that Jeremy was never here before 8:15 and was a terrible cook.

  “Mr. Ladon?”

  The man who turned around to see her swept her up in an unexpected hug and jubilantly exclaimed, “Becca!”

  She let out the most undignified squeal in her surprise at being picked up off the ground. The sound turned into a giggle that matched the laughter of her captor.

  “Jadon?” she asked as he set her back on her feet and handed back her purse, which she had dropped on the ground.

  “How could you tell?” he asked.

  “Jeremy tried to cook lunch yesterday,” she said, trying not to laugh. “He almost set the place on fire by boiling water.”

  Jadon let out a boisterous laugh of his own. “Of course. He never did know what to do in the kitchen. So, did you eat breakfast this morning?”

  “Mmmmaaaybe….”

  Jadon turned to reach a chocolate chip cookie off of the cooling racks set up on the counter. “Here,” he said, “can’t have a long day of work on an empty stomach.”

  He held the cookie up to Becca’s lips, pressing it gently until she opened her mouth and took a bite. It was gooey and the chocolate melted on her tongue, making her giggle as Jadon held onto her, a captive until she ate the entire cookie.

  “So how do you like the work so far,” Jadon asked as he turned away to retrieve the next batch of cookies and turn the oven off.

  “It’s great,” she said. “I mean, there isn’t too much to it. I help Jeremy with the books. He doesn’t have too many meetings or anything.”

  “That’s good,” Jadon said. “I imagine he mostly hired you just because he gets lonely here in the office.”

  “And here I thought it was just because I was pretty!”

  Jadon let out another laugh. “Well, you certainly are, but I imagine there’s much more to you than that.”

  Becca blushed, and before she could respond, they both heard the front door open and shut. Jeremy’s voice floated down the hallway greeting his brother and inquiring as to whether or not he had made the delicious smelling cookies.

  “By the way, have you met—” Jeremy stopped when he came into the small kitchen and saw that Becca was there with Jadon. “Well, I guess you have met my lovely assistant.”

  Both Ladon brothers grinned and Becca thought she was caught in a scene from Alice in Wonderland, with indistinguishable twins smiling so devilishly at her. They began to chuckle and Becca felt herself blushing for a reason she could not quite understand. All she knew was that she was trapped in between two of the most attractive men she had ever met, and the heat growing in her cheeks was not going to stop any time soon.

  “So, I assume you’re not just here to hang out,” Jeremy asked his brother. “Did Robert send you over here for something?”

  “Yeah, they’re getting ready to test a new product so you’ll have a whole bunch of shipments soon. All the details are already up in your office.”

  “Sounds good,” Jeremy said. “Things have been kinda slow here lately. Are you staying in town for a while?”

  “Yeah.” Jadon moved the cookies from the tray to the cooling racks, handing one that had already cooled to Becca. “I’ll come stay at your place like I always do, if that’s cool.”

  “Sure thing,” Jeremy said as he took the cookie that his brother offered him. “I’ll meet you at Dave’s for a drink later, alright?”

  Becca found herself enamored with watching the two brothers. Their movements always seemed to mirror and echo one another, like a choreographed dance that they had spent years perfecting. The glimmering looks they gave one another seemed to communicate on a frequency that only the two of them operated on. She couldn’t shake the feeling that there was an entirely other conversation going on in this room and that it was spoken through the glances that the Ladon brothers gave to one another.

  The kettle on the stove began to whistle and Jeremy moved in closer to get his morning tea while his brother made fun of him for giving up coffee. Jadon turned to Becca as they both moved out of Jeremy’s way and he asked her, “What do you prefer?”

  “Eh,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I was raised to always have a glass of milk or orange juice in the morning. I’m not much of a caffeine drinker, honestly.”

  “How do you get up in the morning?” Jadon asked. Both brothers laughed as Becca blushed and shrugged again.

  Jeremy looked at them as he stirred his tea. His blue eyes were intense as they stared at her and Jadon. Becca looked up at the twin standing next to her and saw that his eyes reflected the same look back at his brother. There was no denying that there was some unspoken statement between them being made.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Jadon stayed at the office for a while and the two brothers regaled Becca with stories of their childhood, how they had grown up moving from place to place because their father was in the military. Both brothers had attended military school, but only Jadon had gone into the military himself.

  Jeremy was business-minded and had gone on to receive his MBA after high school. While Jadon was off fighting in the war on terrorism, Jeremy was struggling to keep his small business afloat. It wasn’t until he had made the deal with the weapons manufacturing company, Maltech, that things had finally started to turn around.

  When Jadon returned home, he found work with the same company that had saved his brother’s business. At first, he worked with field testing—because, as he put it, he loved any excuse to play with a new toy—but when the executives at Maltech noticed his good looks, he was quickly transferred and became a face for the company.

  As they spent the morning talking, Jadon decided to stay and at least make lunch for Becca and Jeremy. After a delicious meal of Chicken Marsala, creamy mashed potatoes and microgreens, Jadon took his leave and Becca and Jeremy finally climbed the stairs to the office to get some work done. The afternoon seemed to fly by for the two of them, and it wasn’t until Becca received a text
from a friend asking if she was coming to her gallery opening that she realized it was already well past 8.

  “Oh, wow. Hey, Jeremy,” She called out across the office as she rushed to gather her things.

  “Hm?” He looked up from his computer. His eyes were glazed as if he had been in a trance, but cleared after a couple of blinks.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I have to go. My friend, she’s having her first big show in a gallery and I promised I would be there. I didn’t realize how late it was.”

  “Oh.” Jeremy stood and looked out the window at the fading evening light. “Here, let me walk you to your car.”

  “I ride the bus,” she reminded him as he caught her arm at the top of the stairs.

  “Right.” He held on to her arm for a moment while his brow furrowed with thought. “Would you like me to walk you to the bus stop, or give you a ride?”

  “Oh, I couldn’t—”

  “I insist,” he said as his grip tightened on her arm a bit. “A beautiful creature like yourself shouldn’t be waiting alone at a bus stop this late. I’ll drive you to your friend’s show.”

  Still, his decisive tone comforted Becca and instantly calmed the anxiety that had grown inside of her when she realized she was running late. Jeremy held onto her arm as he escorted her down the stairs and Becca thanked him in a small voice.

  “It’s my pleasure,” he insisted.

  As they walked around the back of the building, Becca saw a few of the drivers either arriving or departing. They nodded or waved politely as she and Jeremy passed by on their way to his car.

  Becca was impressed when they came to the end of the lot and she saw that Jeremy drove a midnight blue Corvette. She didn’t know much about cars, but she thought it was very appealing aesthetically.

  “My lady,” Jeremy said as he opened the door for her.

  She smiled as she climbed into his car and he closed the door. The car smelled like him, a sweet with a hint of spice that Becca inhaled deeply before he entered. The vibrations from the engine when he started the car pulsed through her whole body.