Klaus Read online

  Table of Contents

  Klaus

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Afterword

  Klaus

  Dragon Heartbeats

  Ava Benton

  Contents

  Klaus

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Afterword

  Klaus

  Lion shifter Klaus is Mary’s righthand man and definitely not looking for a mate. Too bad, because he’s met his match in dragon shifter Ainsley.

  Ainsley’s got a huge problem. And she can’t share it with the rest of the clan.

  The Scottish clan is headed back to Scotland. They’ve got a lion shifter with them and they’re in the dark when it comes to Ainsley’s secret.

  Can Klaus help Ainsley? Or will his presence only make things worse?

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  1

  Klaus

  There were four words which, when strung together in the correct order, could stir even the strongest man to something near fear or at least consternation.

  “We need to talk.”

  The way Mary spoke those words helped nothing—the strident tone, the no-nonsense manner in which she ordered rather than requested my time. And I’d known her long enough to know there was no question of whether I’d honor her wishes.

  I’d witnessed what happened to those like me who chose to ignore her. It wasn’t pretty.

  Since she’d already long since passed me by, continuing on her way without waiting to see whether I would follow, I had no choice but to pick up my pace in order to match her.

  We walked through the lobby of the resort, which was being boarded up in preparation for being abandoned. The sound of hammers banging nails into place rang through the high-ceilinged space and echoed on and on.

  She was waiting for me when I stepped through the door. I wasn’t accustomed to the room being so empty—the wall behind her desk, normally papered with maps into which she’d stuck multiple pushpins, was barren. Her books and papers had been packed into boxes, as had much of the electronic equipment on which she relied.

  The high-backed leather chair I associated with her nearly as closely as I did her salt and pepper hair and glasses still sat behind the desk, and she settled into it with a heavy sigh. “It’s been a long few days for us all.”

  As though I needed her to remind me. “Long and active,” I agreed. Why didn’t she come straight to the point? She normally did.

  “Have you packed your things?”

  “What things I own, yes.”

  She smiled. “I forget sometimes how monastic you are.”

  “I have what I need. I don’t believe in owning more than I can use. One never knows when they’ll be called upon to pick up and go, so where are you sending me?”

  When her eyes widened a hair at the way I finished the question, I had to laugh.

  “Come on, now. If it weren’t something you felt uncomfortable asking me to do, something you wished you didn’t need to ask, you would already have gotten to the point. It only makes sense that I’d not be coming with you, considering how you checked in with the status of my packing.”

  “You’re quite the sleuth. Sometimes, I forget how quickly your mind works.”

  I leaned against the wall, beside a bookcase which up until mere days earlier had been stuffed to the point of overflowing. “So? Where are you sending me?”

  “Have you ever wanted to visit Scotland?”

  I should’ve known. It was the only option which made sense.

  The dragons from the Appalachian arm of the clan had already left for home, leaving only their Scottish kin behind for another few days. If I wasn’t going to Montana, where Mary’s home base was located, Scotland was the only other choice.

  “Why Scotland? Why with them? Have I fallen short in some way?”

  “You know you haven’t, Klaus.”

  “Because if it weren’t for your daughter knocking me unconscious…”

  She chuckled through the brief flash of pain in her eyes at the mention of Martina. Mary’s somewhat estranged daughter had chosen life as the mate of a dragon and had flown to the Appalachians. It seemed unfair for the two of them to only just find each other, so to speak, before Martina left.

  “I don’t hold you responsible for that, and I never have,” she reminded me. “I know how… persuasive Martina can be when she puts her mind to it. If anything, it’s because I trust you more than any other that I feel you’re the right man for the job.”

  “What job would that be?”

  “Ensuring a feeling of safety once the clan returns home. Perhaps keeping an eye on what happens over there. While we were successful in wiping out the threat here on the islands, there’s no telling who else knows of the group who invaded the caves. There might be more like them over there. And they could’ve gotten word of the destruction of the lab.”

  “You’re sending me on my own?”

  “You don’t think a lion will be strong enough to protect the clan?”

  “You know I do,” I growled, as the lion roused deep inside my consciousness and let me know just what he thought about her digs.

  Naturally, I understood what my less rational side couldn’t possibly, that she’d only made that comment in order to rouse the beast within me, to inspire me to go along with her wishes in order to prove my strength.

  “I believe all will be well, now that the dragons have their immunity to iron. And, of course, now that they know of the danger which may be around them. It could be that they became complacent after so many centuries of peace, not to mention the fact that humans now regard tales of the dragons as mere myth.”

  “I can see how that would happen. The dragons know better now.”

  “Yes. They do. I only hope they’re able to return to some likeness of a normal life out there, that they won’t spend eternity watching for an enemy which may no longer exist.”

  “It’s better to be prepared for the worst, than to be surprised by it,” I pointed out.

  “I agree. You know we’re of the same mind. Even so, I dislike thinking of them looking over their shoulders all the time. I’m sure with you there, it’ll go a lot smoother for them.”

  “Did it ever occur to you that I might say no?”

  She raised an eyebrow, leaning back in her chair with her hands folded over her abdomen. “I can’t say that it did. Because I knew you wouldn’t. Because, once again, I trust you to help me do the right thing.”

  She always did know how to word things.

  The lion growled, deep within me. He didn’t enjoy being told what to do, though we’d come to an understanding on this, long since. If we wanted to survive and I wanted to live with any semblance of civility, certain compromises needed to be made.

  Learning to take orders rathe
r than giving them was one major, painful, thorny compromise with which I still experienced resistance now and again.

  No sense in delaying the inevitable. “What time are we leaving, then?”

  “The jet will go wheels-up at 0600 tomorrow,” she announced.

  “Naturally. The earlier, the better.” Rising that early had never been one of my favorite aspects of life under Mary’s protection. One more pre-dawn wake-up call for the road, I supposed. Knowing her, she found it amusing.

  At least she managed to conceal her mirth.

  Instead of going to the room which had been mine for the duration of our stay at the resort, and rather than offer assistance to the men who continued to board the building up as a means of protecting it against the elements, I walked out to the beach.

  If I had to say goodbye to it and spend untold amounts of time living beneath ancient mountains, I wanted to spend as much time as possible enjoying its beauty.

  The white sand was hot under my bare feet as I strolled along the water’s edge, allowing gentle waves to lap at my toes. The clearest water I’d ever seen. The purest sand. Palm trees swayed in the breeze which carried the scent of tropical flowers and the lush, dense jungle that covered the mountains in the near distance.

  Paradise. I’d enjoyed my time here more than I’d enjoyed any of the other locations I’d traveled to while in Mary’s service. Who wouldn’t? A morning swim had become part of my daily routine, so much so that I felt slightly off-center for the rest of the day whenever I didn’t take at least a quick dip.

  Scotland would certainly be a lot of fun. But I would adjust to the change in scenery, as always, and I would find other ways to test my body and burn off any pent-up energy. Even if I had to take up mountain climbing.

  There would be plenty of mountains to climb once I arrived.

  There was a curve in the shoreline, a profusion of trees which created a private cove of sorts. It was often where I chose to enter the water, the trees providing shelter against prying eyes.

  I’d never been shy about my physique before—far from it—but there were females present after the liberation of the dragons in the underground lab, and it was for their sake that I attempted to exercise modesty.

  One more swim before wheels-up, I decided, parting a pair of wild shrubs and stepping through.

  Someone had beaten me to it.

  There was a thin, white, linen dress lying on the sand. The way it had been carefully arranged told me much about the dress’s owner, thoughtful, deliberate, not prone to wild flights of fancy the way a balled-up, crumpled garment would indicate.

  I looked to my left, where the water stretched as far as the eye could see. A flash of a reddish-blonde head popped up over the surface, but that told me little. Most of the Scottish dragon shifter women had red hair, or some shade of reddish brown, or reddish blonde.

  Whoever she was, she and I were of a mind. We’d both decided to come out for one more indulgence.

  I couldn’t help watching as she stroked effortlessly through the waves, strength and grace combined. Her pale skin made a striking contrast to the blue of the sea and sky.

  When she came to a stop, dipping her head backward in the water to smooth her hair away from her face, I recognized her for the first time.

  Ainsley.

  We hadn’t spent much time together. I hadn’t spent time with any of the Scottish dragons aside from the few minutes we’d shared after their liberation, but she struck me as a rather flighty thing.

  Which was in contrast to the careful way in which she’d arranged her dress on the sand. Was I that poor a judge of character? Or did I simply place too much stock in what was likely a thoughtless gesture?

  Rather than leaving, pretending I hadn’t accidentally come across her clandestine swim, I decided to take a seat on the sand. Better to get to know each other sooner rather than later, I decided.

  2

  Ainsley

  I would miss the sea.

  Likely the only thing I’d miss as a result of the wretched situation my clan and I had been forced into. The feeling of skimming through the water, feeling it all over me as I glided along.

  Swimming had always come naturally to me. I’d swum the length of the loch closest to our mountain. Dunsapie Loch was as much home to me as our caves ever were.

  But swimming it was nothing akin to swimming in living, moving, surging seawater which moved in waves, the current pulling it away from the shoreline only for the water to somehow find its way back. Once I’d gathered up the courage to allow my feet to leave the sandy bottom and let the water carry me, I’d taken to it as easily as I’d taken to flying.

  The thought of flying stopped me.

  Just like that, I was no longer enjoying myself. My stomach clenched tight, like a fist, and I had no choice but to tread water and wait for the feeling to pass.

  Would that it were that easy.

  What was I supposed to do once we returned home? I could no longer hide the change which had come over me. I could no longer hide my shame.

  If there were an actual noose around my neck, tightening incrementally with each passing moment, taking me closer to returning to Scotland with my clan, I wouldn’t have been a bit surprised. I felt as though I was choking either way.

  Who would ever have imagined feeling this way? When I had done nothing but long for home ever since the moment we’d been taken captive. When my dragon had screamed and thrashed against the power-stripping iron shackles which had bound my wrists and ankles all throughout the nauseatingly rough, stressful journey.

  I would’ve given anything to be back at the caves. To wander through the enchanted trees which comprised the woods surrounding the mountain we’d called home for centuries, for longer even than almost any existing castles or monuments had managed to remain standing.

  The enchantment placed on the woods so long ago had kept us safe—up until that day. That final day. What had gone wrong? Had the enchantment worn thin? Had we lived in a fool’s paradise, believing ourselves untouchable?

  I shivered in spite of the warm water, in spite of the sun’s loving rays. Even the quality of sunlight felt different here, more… simply more. I never thought I’d come to love it so.

  Would that I could stay.

  Such a thought. Just another thing I never would’ve imagined otherwise, the very idea of living without my clan. My kin, my blood, those for whom I’d gladly lay down my life.

  Some of them had laid down their lives for me, after all. But to what purpose? They were dead, while I and the others had still been captured and imprisoned in that laboratory. And used.

  I allowed myself to sink under the surface until the water touched my chin. I would never feel clean, not ever, not after what he did…

  “Hello, out there!”

  I was barely able to bite back a scream when I heard his voice. My head swiveled back and forth, my eyes trained on the beach.

  Who did I expect to see? The doctor? No, he was dead, I’d never see him again except in my nightmares. He was no longer a threat. He couldn’t hurt me anymore.

  Who was it, then? I lifted a hand to my forehead to block the sun, and once I did, I recognized Klaus. He was seated on the sand, legs stretched out in front of him while he leaned back on his palms. And if I wasn't mistaken, it was my dress which he sat next to.

  “What are you doing?” I called out, grateful for the presence of another. I wouldn’t have to sink deeper into dark memories. Not for the time being, anyhow.

  “Relaxing on the beach. Why? Must there be a reason for my being here at this moment?”

  “Do you want an honest answer?”

  “I asked an honest question.”

  I rolled my eyes, glad he couldn’t see me at a distance. “You must realize my clothing is at your side. Surely, you’re intelligent enough to understand that.”

  “I am.”

  “Therefore, it ought to go without saying that I’m not wearing that dress at this momen
t. Correct?”

  “Correct.”

  “Does it not occur to you, that I might not wish to come out of the water dressed in nothing but my underwear while you are present on the beach?”

  “It did occur to me.” He looked up at the palm trees which hung over his head. “And I’ve given quite a lot of thought to my course of action.”

  “What did you finally arrive at?”

  He chuckled. “I decided it was only fair to announce my presence. I must admit, I hadn’t thought past that point.”

  He had a nice sense of humor. I could see myself getting along well with him, especially since he seemed to be as big a talker as I was. I’d been known as the clan chatterbox since the word “chatterbox” came to be.

  “I see. Allow me to remind you that I can’t stay out here indefinitely. My skin is beginning to prune.”

  “But you won’t tire out, will you? Don’t bother using that as an excuse.”

  I rolled my eyes again. “I wouldn’t dream of insulting your intelligence.” As a lion shifter, he knew what it was like to possess strength worlds greater than the humans we only appeared to be.

  “I was just strolling along the beach, wanting to go for a swim of my own.”

  “Thank you for that insight into your day.”

  “Don’t you want to know why?”

  “I have the feeling you’ll tell me no matter what my answer is.”

  He laughed again, the sound floating across the water. I told myself he was merely being friendly, which was not exactly something all of Mary’s soldiers—if that was, indeed, what they were—had taken pains to do.