Dragon Weyr's Omega (Nanny Shifter Service Book 7) Read online

  “If you would’ve asked me back when I was in grad school what my life would be like when I was getting near thirty, I’d have said something about writing my first book, starting off at the bottom rung at some low-income mental health clinic. You know – normal stuff. But I never, never would’ve said this.”

  “And you like it?”

  Kelsey turned her attention back to the racks, flipping through some dresses.

  “I don’t mind the clothes, that’s for damn sure. And it’s nice not having to decide between paying my phone bill or eating nothing but ramen for the next month.”

  Then a dreamy expression formed on her face.

  “And I love –love, love, love– Jeff.”

  Jeff, her boyfriend, was as handsome and sweet as they came. He’d earned his fortune by opening up a non-profit and playing it smart with government subsidies. It had taken him only a few years to go from “average income” to “insanely wealthy,” and Kelsey happened to meet him on the way up.

  Their love was sweet and romantic, and exactly what Jessie had hoped to have herself. She cared for Boyd, but deep down, she knew it wasn’t the same.

  “But you’re not in grad school,” I said. “Does it bother you that you’ve put all your dreams aside like that?”

  She tilted her head, giving the answer some thought.

  “I mean, sure,” she said. “But Jeff and I talked it over and we both agreed that it’d be better for him to work and for me to stay home and raise the kids when we’re finally married. It’s not exactly what I’d imagined for myself, but man, am I excited to start a family with him.”

  After a little more shopping, the two of them made their way to the register and paid for their clothes.

  “Why?” asked Kelsey as they left the store and stepped out onto the broad, bustling sidewalks of Fifth Avenue. “You having second thoughts about Boyd?”

  Jessie opened her mouth to speak, but Kelsey stuck up her finger before she could get a word out.

  “Before you say anything,” said Kelsey. “Let me ask you this – does he hit you?”

  “No.”

  “Does he provide for you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Has he talked about getting married?”

  “Yeah, we’ve discussed it.”

  “And how’s his job?”

  “Good,” she said. “At least, I assume so. He never wants to talk about it.”

  “Then there you go,” said Kelsey. “A man who’s good to you, provides for you, and isn’t shy about wanting to put a ring on it. Add in the money he’s got and the home and everything else, and you’ve about hit the jackpot.”

  “Doesn’t feel like I have,” said Jessie.

  “Oh, don’t be like that,” said Kelsey. “Don’t be one of those girls who’s always looking for the guy with a little more money, a bigger dick...”

  “Kelsey!” said Jessie, blushing as a grin broke out across her face. “You’re terrible.”

  “Maybe, but it’s important not to be one of those girls, because they’re never happy.”

  Jessie knew Kelsey wouldn’t be able to get it. She was only human, after all. But there was something to what she was saying – Jessie wondered if she was right, if she only needed to lower her expectations and be happy with what she had. After all, Boyd was the perfect man on paper.

  “Come on,” said Kelsey once they’d found Kelsey’s sports car and loaded their bags into the back. “Let’s go to Lavender and get some grub. All this shopping has me starving.”

  “Sounds good to me,” said Jessie.

  Twenty minutes later, the two of them were seated in the sunny dining room of Lavender – one of this month’s current hip restaurants. A bottle of chilled white wine was on the table in front of them, and Jessie happily sipped from her glass.

  “You look like there’s something else on your mind,” said Kelsey. “Spill it, girl.”

  The other issue was something that Jessie didn’t even know how to begin to talk about. So, she let it all out.

  “It’s Boyd’s job,” she said.

  “What about it?” asked Kelsey.

  “He’s always been really secretive about it,” she said. “But recently, he’s been even more extreme. And he won’t tell me exactly how he earns his money – just says that he handles important accounts.”

  “That’s finance guys for you,” said Kelsey. “Sometimes, I think they don’t even know what they do half the time.”

  “But today, I came into his office when he was in the middle of a call and he got totally pissed at me, more than he usually does if I interrupt him.”

  “Hmm,” said Kelsey, “weird.”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “It’s probably nothing. But I’ve got a feeling about it.”

  “That’s just you being paranoid,” said Kelsey. “He’s probably talking with some fancy-ass client who doesn’t want anyone knowing about his business. And Boyd’s just a secretive guy.”

  She took a sip of her wine.

  “You ask me, the less you know the better. You ever actually talked to one of these finance guys about what they do?”

  “Can’t say I have?”

  “Oh my god,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Then believe me – don’t ever make that mistake. You ask them about their job as a courtesy and the next thing you know, they’re going on about hedge funds and stock options and dividends and blah blah blah, and that’s when they’re not trying to impress you with who their clients are.”

  Jessie chuckled as she sipped her wine.

  “Trust me – Boyd’s doing you a favor by not getting you sucked into all that crap. I say let him do his money-moving work and stay as far away from the details as you can.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” she said. “Maybe I’m being paranoid.”

  “No ‘maybe’ about it,” she said. “You want my opinion? You’ve got a good thing and you’re trying to find out what the catch is. I know you came from a humble family like me – this all probably seems too good to be true.”

  She was right – after Jessie’s dad and brother died, other dragons quickly moved in to steal what little money her and her mother had left. They’d been forced to leave LA and move to a small town in inland California, barely getting by. Dragons didn’t stay poor for long, but her mother passed before she could start to get their fortune rebuilt.

  “But it’s not,” Kelsey went on. “You’re rich and you’ve got nothing to worry about other than cranking out tons of cute kids – cute kids that are going to be best friends with my cute kids, by the way.”

  Jessie smiled at the thought, and tried to let Kelsey’s words settle in her mind. Maybe she was right. Sure, she’d never be wed to another dragon like her, but did she even need that? She had safety and money and hoping for anything more might just be greedy.

  Later in the evening, however, as she and Kelsey sat at the bar–Kelsey just having come back from the restroom– of one of the hip lounges in the area, drinks in front of them, Jessie caught the scent of something irresistible.

  It was musky and inviting and so sexual she could hardly think straight. She crossed her legs hard as Kelsey spoke, feeling turned on beyond compare, turned on in the way a man like Boyd could never hope to make her feel.

  She bit down hard on her lower lip, her eyes searching for the source of the scent.

  “Hey Jessie,” said Kelsey. “Earth to Jessie.”

  Jessie snapped back to it, Kelsey waving her hand in front of Jessie’s face.

  “You there?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” said Jessie. “Just got distracted for a second.”

  “You looked more than distracted,” she said. “You looked like you’d seen the hottest guy in your life.”

  Kelsey glanced around the bar, her eyes going wide as she turned back to Jessie.

  “Is there someone here?” she asked. “Who’s the hottie?”

  Jessie wanted to move past it all as quickly as she could, but she was dyin
g of curiosity. She knew that scent – it was the scent of an alpha shifter. Omegas like her were drawn to them like moths to a flame.

  “Oh,” said Kelsey, “is it those gorgeous firemen in the corner?”

  “What firemen?” asked Jessie, looking around.

  Then she saw them.

  Over in the far corner of the bar, gathered around a high-top table were three men, all gorgeous beyond compare and all dressed in dark jeans and dark t-shirts, the shirts marked with the logo of a Brooklyn fire station.

  “Holy shit,” said Jessie.

  There were three of them, all beefy and brawny, packed into their shirts, their thick arms looking like they could rip the sleeves with a single flex. One was a statuesque blonde with piercing blue eyes, one was a burly redhead with emerald eyes, and the last was a dark-haired man, eyes dark and rich. They all sported tattoos on their arms, and were so sexy that Jessie could hardly stand it.

  She knew they were shifters – they had the look, that otherworldly appeal.

  Then one of them, the brown-eyed man, glanced over in Jessie’s direction. They locked eyes and Jessie felt as though she’d been put under a spell. She felt her pussy clench as she continued to chew on her lower lip.

  She needed them. Not just him, but them.

  All of them.

  “Hey, Jessie?” asked Kelsey.

  Jessie came back to the moment, dazed.

  A realization occurred to her: between the attraction and the booze and the scent and everything else, there was no way she could resist those men. She had to leave, and now.

  “I need to call it a night,” she said, throwing down some cash as she got out of her chair.

  “What?” asked Kelsey.

  “I’m not feeling well.”

  “Sure, sure,” said Kelsey, surprised. “Let me give you a ride home.”

  Jessie rushed out of the bar, taking one last look at the men at the table. Sure enough, the dark-haired man was still staring at her, a sensual, confident smile on his lips.

  Once back outside, Jessie felt relief. But she hoped the men hadn’t realized she was a fellow shifter. She knew they probably did; the scent of an omega was like a drug to an alpha.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Kelsey as they made their way down the street.

  “Just...worried about Boyd,” she said.

  “What? Why?”

  “He always texts me when it’s late and I’m not home yet,” she said. “But he hasn’t. It’s weird.”

  She’d said it as a cover, but it was true. Boyd texted her like clockwork, but she hadn’t heard a thing from him since she’d left that afternoon.

  It didn’t sit right with her.

  “He’s probably busy with work,” said Kelsey. “You said he seemed like he had some major thing going on tonight, right? Maybe it’s that.”

  Then she went on.

  “Was it those guys in there?” asked Kelsey. “I mean, they were hot as hell but you look totally shaken up. Did they say something to you while I was in the bathroom?”

  “No,” said Jessie. “It wasn’t them.”

  “We can go to another bar if you want. I mean, it’s Friday night in New York.”

  Jessie knew she had to get home. She was so close to temptation that it scared her.

  “No,” she said. “I need to get back.”

  “Sure, sure,” said Kelsey. “Just...promise me you’re okay. I’m actually kind of worried.”

  Jessie took a deep breath, feeling calmer. The faces and bodies of the men were burned into her mind, but away from their presence and scent, she could relax.

  “I am,” she said with a smile. “Just need to get a good night’s sleep. We can hang out tomorrow night.”

  Kelsey grinned.

  “Good,” she said, “because me and some of the other girls are going out dancing and you have to be there. You’re the only one of them I can stand sometimes.”

  “Deal,” said Jessie.

  They got into Kelsey’s car and minutes later, were in front of Jessie and Boyd’s home.

  “That’s weird,” said Jessie. “The lights are off.”

  “Maybe Boyd’s in bed,” said Kelsey.

  “No way,” said Jessie. “If I’m out that means Boyd’s going to be home with a pizza in front of him and a PlayStation controller in his hands. This is odd.”

  “You want me to wait here?” asked Kelsey.

  Jessie considered it.

  “No,” she said, not wanting to worry her. “I’ll call you if anything’s up.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “See you tomorrow.”

  They hugged, and Jessie was soon alone and in front of her house. She opened the doors slowly, hoping to see Boyd in front of his laptop in the dark.

  But no – no sign of him.

  “Boyd?” she called out, her voice carrying through the house.

  Nothing.

  She flicked on lights, looking around the first floor. Once she realized he wasn’t there, she went up the stairs to the second floor.

  The first thing she noticed was that the doors to Boyd’s office were wide open. This was strange – normally, Boyd made sure that his office was locked at all times.

  It was a bad sign. She stepped up to the office doors.

  She gasped at what she saw.

  The place was a mess. All of the computers were gone, files and papers everywhere. The place looked like it had been ransacked.

  “Boyd!?” she called out.

  Nothing.

  Her heart began to pound and she realized something was terribly, terribly, wrong. Then, on the glass desk, she noticed a piece of paper, her name written on it in large letters in Boyd’s handwriting.

  She approached it slowly, as though it were a trap. With shaking hands, she picked up the piece of paper and turned it around, her eyes frantically scanning over the words.

  Once she’d read it all, she shoved the paper in her pocket, unable to believe what she’d read, and rushed out the door in fear.

  Boyd was gone. And not only that, all of the money was too.

  She was alone.

  CHAPTER 3

  JESSIE

  “Read the note again.”

  Jessie cleared her throat, and with trembling hands, took the folded up piece of paper out of her pocket.

  Jessie-

  I can’t tell you much. But I can say this – if you’re reading this note, I’m no longer in New York. My recent clients, the ones I’ve been so secretive about, were criminals. I’ve been laundering their money, and up until now, it’d been happening without incident. Tonight was supposed to be the last job I’d take for them, but it went bad. The money was spotted in transit and another gang is after them.

  And me too.

  The money’s all been confiscated, and my accounts have been frozen. The phone, the cards – everything- they’re all gone. And you can’t go back to the house. People are looking for me and if they find you, they’ll take you and keep you as a hostage to get me back. But they don’t know what you look like. Keep a low profile, and you should be safe as long as you don’t go back to the house.

  You’re on your own.

  I’m sorry.

  Jessie, still in a state of total shock, set the letter down on the table. She was at Kelsey’s place, Kelsey seated in one of the living room chairs.

  “I don’t believe it,” she said. “That has to be some kind of joke.”

  “It’s not,” said Jessie. “Boyd would never joke around about something like this. And I checked the phone and my cards – they’re all turned off.”

  “What about the bank accounts?” asked Kelsey.

  “They were all in Boyd’s name, so it’s not like I ever had access to them.”

  “You don’t have an account of your own?”

  “I do, but I never used it. I’ve got less than a thousand dollars in there.”

  Jessie stared blankly ahead.

  “That fuck,�
� said Kelsey. “That miserable fuck. Should’ve known he was a goddamn crook.”

  Jessie felt the same way. She knew she should’ve been more suspicious about how secretive Boyd was, about how he never let her know anything about his work.

  “I don’t have anything,” said Jessie. “Everything I owned was in that house, and now I can’t even go back to get it.”

  “But you’re safe now,” said Kelsey. “Whatever shit Boyd got himself into, you’re not going to get caught up in it.”

  “You read the letter,” said Jessie. “They want to use me as a hostage.”

  She shook her head.

  “I can’t believe I’m even saying this,” she said. “Two hours ago, I was having drinks, and now I find out my boyfriend was a fucking mobster and my life is over.”

  “It says you’ll be fine as long as they don’t see you,” said Kelsey. “And I know this is totally crazy, but it is what it is. And...you can stay here for as long as you need to get back on your feet.”

  “No,” said Jessie. “I’m not going to get you sucked into this mess.”

  “Jessie,” she said. “You’re my friend and I’m going to be here for you whether you want it or not.”

  “I need to find my own place,” said Jessie. “I...I...”

  “You can do that,” said Kelsey. “You can get a job and get an apartment and get back to normal. Sure, you might not be living in a three-million-dollar Upper East Side townhome, but you’ll make do.”

  Jessie opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She was shocked, shocked to her core.

  For the second time in her life, she was at the bottom.

  “Right now,” said Kelsey. “You need to get some sleep. We can figure all this out in the morning.”

  Jessie knew she was right. But she wondered if she’d even be able to get a moment’s rest.

  Kelsey led her upstairs to one of the extra bedrooms. Moments later, Jessie was under the covers, a major fatigue taking hold of her as soon as her head touched the pillows.

  She was totally shocked by the last image in her mind before she drifted off to sleep.

  It was the three firemen, all of them staring at her with the same sensual, hungry smile.

  JESSIE WOKE UP LATE that next morning. When the reality of her situation cut through the fog of sleepiness, part of her wanted to crawl back under the covers and hope that she’d be able to sleep through it all, that she’d go to bed and wake up weeks later with all of this taken care of.