Cole's Dragon [A Dragon's Growl 10] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Read online

  A Dragon’s Growl 10

  Cole’s Dragon

  Cole is a nobody. A nothing. He doesn’t want to be seen. And he doesn’t want to be heard. A life of torture and abuse makes it hard, and frightening, to be noticed. He’d rather go unseen.

  The dragons came and freed him, and he was happy when none wanted him for a mate, but then he came along. Evzen is a strange man. Handsome, scarred Evzen is powerful and intimidating, and yet Cole can’t stay away from him. Even though he fears the pleasure Evzen can give, he is completely under the man’s spell and at his mercy.

  Evzen will teach the small shifter what it’s like to really live, because only Cole can give that to him in return. After the death of his mate, Evzen wants this second chance, though someone in his own clan is plotting against him and his new happiness, with Cole as their primary target.

  Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Contemporary, Paranormal, Shape-shifters, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 30,466 words

  COLE’S DRAGON

  A Dragon’s Growl 10

  Marcy Jacks

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  COLE’S DRAGON

  Copyright © 2017 by Marcy Jacks

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-583-6

  First Publication: September 2017

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2017 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book or print book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

  [email protected]

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Marcy Jacks likes writing about gorgeous guys in tricky and dangerous situations, angst, and HEA, you can reach her at [email protected]

  For all titles by Marcy Jacks, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/marcy-jacks

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Landmarks

  Cover

  COLE’S DRAGON

  A Dragon’s Growl 10

  MARCY JACKS

  Copyright © 2017

  Chapter One

  Cole liked cleaning the showers and the toilets.

  It wasn’t something that made sense to a lot of people. Even the other omegas in the house thought he was strange because of this, but he did it, and he enjoyed it.

  Better than being a sex slave, that was his motto.

  That used to be his job, a pleasure boy for the vampire elites Varrick would invite over to the house. He was an adult, but he looked young enough that he got called that a lot. Boy. He’d hated it, hated what they did to him, and even how they punished him when he did everything right.

  Now that the dragons were in charge of the house, he was free to do whatever he wanted. And he chose cleaning the bathrooms.

  Cole sprayed the inside the toilet. He’d just finished with the tub, and now he had on a new set of gloves with a brand-new scrubber and he got to work.

  He didn’t understand why the dragons were uncomfortable with having him clean their bathrooms. It wasn’t as if this was something others hadn’t been assigned to do before they took over.

  They’d even said he didn’t have to do it. He could find something else to do. They could clean up after themselves.

  For the most part, they already did. Cole had come across some of the bathrooms messy a few times before but never anything incredibly gross that the others liked to complain about back when the vampires had been in charge.

  The toilet bowl he cleaned was already white and pristine before he started. It just needed a fresh scrub and a new dropper in the back to keep it that way.

  This was easy work. Those servants, the cleaning servants, had nothing to be complaining about when the alternative was so much worse.

  Cole flushed the toilet when he finished, put the dropper in the back, and watched as the water turned blue. He peeled his gloves off, tossed them into his bucket, and then washed his hands in the sink.

  All he had to do now was wash the floors and the mirror and he could start on the next bathroom.

  He even managed to smile at himself in the mirror as he sprayed it and wiped it down, wiping around the sink to clear away the little hairs from the last time the dragon of this room, Stefan, had shaved, as well as the water.

  Micah didn’t do much cleaning anymore. Some of the omegas were jealous and bitter about that, but Cole understood. The man was about to pop. He was overdue to have his child, and Cole knew better than anyone how getting on his hands and knees, even for work like this, wasn’t the easiest on the body.

  It made him happy to help Micah and Stefan like this. Before leaving, he even made their bed and tossed some clothes on the floor into the hamper.

  This was good work. He wished he’d been a cleaning servant instead of a pleasure slave.

  Then he might not be so fucked up.

  Before leaving their room, he rolled his sleeves down, hiding his scarring. His pants were long enough to hide the thin scars on his legs, so he didn’t have to worry about that.

  He left the bedroom. Not a single person noticed him when he did.

  That was how he liked it. He didn’t want to be noticed. He kept his wolf ears down low against his hair, his tail tucked between his legs, and he scurried to the broom closet where he could get a new scrubber and toss away his gloves for a new pair before starting the next room.

  It was better to not be seen. He hated being seen. It wasn’t good. Nothing good ever came from it, and now that there was a whole slew of new dragons in the house, the less he was seen, the better as far as he was concerned.

  He opened the door to the broom closer, reaching up for the light and pulling on the cord.

  “Did you see the new dragons?”

  Cole stopped, frozen as some omegas passed him by.

  His heart beat furiously. For a frightening second, Cole thought someone was talking to him.

  No. They passed by the broom closet, hampers in hand, off to the laundry room.

  “I did. Did you see the guy with the rose tattoos all over his body?”

  “Yeah, why would a dragon do that? Seems strange.”

  “Don’t know, but I kind of like them on him.”

  “I know, but what about their alpha? What was his name?”

  “Evzen. He’s super good looking. I wonder if he shaves his head or if he’s naturally bald?”

  “It
looks good on him either way. Do think any of these dragons will want to mate with any of us?”

  “God, I hope so. Could you imagine having someone like that as your protector?”

  Cole stood in the doorway, watching the two omegas as they walked down the hall, still talking, laughing, and then as they turned the corner.

  Eleven months ago, they never would have dared to speak like that, with such mirth, and so loudly, while walking down the halls of this house.

  They would have been whipped so fast for that.

  Sometimes Cole didn’t understand what had changed. He knew the dragons had set them all free. No one who wanted to leave was forced to stay, and some omegas had thought about leaving, but they didn’t. Cole supposed it was in their nature as omegas. They needed a leader to follow, and Seth had presented himself.

  Still, why was everyone else in the house so happy, so lighthearted, when he was still here, still in hiding, and still terrified something would hurt him?

  Why was everyone else acting free and he wasn’t?

  He turned and went back into the broom closet. He tossed the gloves and the scrubber into the trash. He couldn’t get into the habit of reusing those things. No one had told him whether he needed to or not, and it was just something he’d picked up.

  Rinsing out his bucket, he thought about what those omegas had said.

  He knew the dragons they spoke of. Evzen was handsome, and tall and muscular.

  Cole wondered what the man’s skin would feel like. It looked so different from his own, and even the scales on the man were sharp and pointed, unlike the smooth scales he’d seen on the other dragons around here.

  Maybe that was why he looked different. Maybe his scales had something to do with it.

  Maybe it hurt. Cole hoped not. He didn’t want anyone else to be hurt.

  He refilled his bucket and turned off the light before leaving the closet.

  It was Seth’s bathroom he had to get to next. Cole wanted to get his tub and toilet done quickly. He was getting hungry and wanted lunch, and Cole still wasn’t used to eating until he finished all his chores.

  Just because he’d made these chores up for himself didn’t seem to matter.

  He shut the door, turned, and then cried out, dropping his bucket and slamming backward into the door behind him, banging his head.

  He barely seemed to notice that as he stared up at the tall man in front of him.

  The tall, bare-chested dragon who looked down at him with dark eyes that looked entirely ready to eat him up.

  Cole’s heart pounded. He didn’t like that. He didn’t know what to do about that, and the man continued to stare at him.

  Evzen. The alpha dragon the others had spoken of just minutes before as they’d walked by. What was he doing here? These were the servants’ quarters.

  Evzen bent down, taking the bucket of water by the handle and picking it up. “It’s lucky this didn’t spill.”

  He held out the bucket, as though…oh, right.

  Cole took it quickly. “Thank you, sorry, sir.”

  “Sorry?” A black brow lifted. “For what?”

  He didn’t understand. Was this supposed to be a trick question of some kind?

  “I’m sorry…for not seeing you there. And for dropping the bucket.”

  “You don’t have to be sorry for that,” Evzen said, his voice low and smooth, making Cole want to shiver. He didn’t know why, and he didn’t like this reaction in himself. It frightened him. He held back, forcing his body not to react.

  “I saw you walk down from the wing where the bedrooms are.”

  This was the first time anyone from Evzen’s clan had ever spoken to him, let alone Evzen himself. Cole didn’t understand why. After enough time avoiding the dragons who had rescued him, even they had stopped trying to speak with him. The other omegas barely said a word to him, not because they didn’t like him or thought he was beneath them but because they knew he didn’t like it.

  Evzen wouldn’t know that Cole didn’t like being noticed, but Evzen was definitely of higher status than Cole was. He had no reason to ever want to associate himself with someone who cleaned bathrooms and scrubbed toilets.

  That was sort of the point as to why Cole liked doing those things.

  Not only was it quiet and he was left to himself, but in the end, no one got any romantic ideas in their heads about his work.

  The perfect camouflage for himself. He wouldn’t have it any other way, either.

  “Is there something I can do to…help you?”

  Cole jumped. Evzen was still talking. He was still trying to talk to him. Why? Why was this happening to him?

  “I don’t…thank you very much for the kind offer, but I’m fine on my own.” Cole swallowed hard. His heart wouldn’t stop beating so fast, and he could feel the body heat radiating from the other man. He didn’t know what to make of that. Not really. He knew he kind of liked it.

  Vampires who noticed any of their servants liking anything physical tended to take advantage of such a trait with swift precision. Cole needed to avoid that with the dragons who had come to roost in this house.

  “It wouldn’t be a bother. Let me walk with you. Was there anything else you needed to grab?”

  He looked at the apron Cole wore, where he’d stuffed his clean gloves, spray bottle, and new rag.

  “Here, let me take this back,” Evzen finally said, as though noticing there was nothing else he could take.

  Cole was helpless but to let the man take the bucket.

  Now Evzen had Cole’s bucket. An alpha was holding something that Cole used to clean bathtubs and scrub toilets with.

  His head was going to explode, and he was going to die from the shame of this. He really was.

  “Th-thank you,” Cole said, somehow managing to keep his insides settled and non-explosive in his skin.

  Evzen nodded, and together they walked, slowly, awkwardly, back through the halls of the servants’ quarters to the stairs leading up and then to the wing of the house where all the rooms were that needed cleaning.

  Cole felt like a robot that hadn’t been oiled in a long time. His bones squeaked and protested with every step. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience, and his fingers still burned from when Evzen touched them after taking the bucket from him.

  Why was that?

  “Where were you going?”

  “Huh?” Cole immediately tensed. Such a rude reply would have warranted him a lashing if the vampires were still here.

  Evzen was not a vampire, obviously, because he didn’t seem to notice the slight. “Which room were you going to? Would you…” He seemed to hesitate. He seemed awkward and unsure. It was a strange look on a man such as himself. “Would you like me to help you with your chores?”

  “Help?” If Cole’s back tensed anymore, he was going to end up snapping his spine. There was nothing else he could do about that, so he hoped Evzen didn’t say anything else that would shock him.

  Evzen nodded. “The sooner you’re finished, the sooner we could perhaps get to know each other.”

  “Know each other?”

  His spine didn’t stiffen further, but the floor did feel as though it was falling out from beneath his feet. The beating in his heart picked up, and he suddenly had trouble catching his breath.

  Get to know. He knew what that meant. He knew what people who said that sort of thing wanted from him, what they wanted to do to him.

  Evzen nodded. “I was thinking it might be a—”

  Cole interrupted the man’s words when he quickly reached out, snatching the handle of his bucket from the dragon’s hands, yanking it free, and rushing into Seth’s empty bedroom.

  He slammed the door quickly behind himself, locking it so Evzen wouldn’t be able to get inside.

  “Or not,” Evzen said through the door.

  He expected to hear hard pounding on the door, shouting, enraged shouting. The kind that he wouldn’t be able to ignore because it would be ordering
him to come out, to face the man who wanted Cole in his bed.

  Nothing of the sort happened.

  Cole still sensed Evzen’s presence outside the door, knew the man was there, waiting to get in, but he did nothing. He didn’t break down the door, didn’t make threats, didn’t do any of the things Cole’s terrified heart worried he would do.

  When the man walked away, Cole sank to his knees and thanked God.

  He also cursed God because now he couldn’t make his erection go away. Why did it have to show up now? He hadn’t so much as become hard since Seth and his dragons came, and now…

  He didn’t even want to look down at himself. He was disgusted. This was the worst thing in the world that could have happened.

  He wanted to clean toilets and tubs because it was supposed to keep him safe from situations like this.

  Now, here he was. He was completely stuck with his stupid dick making a tent out of his pants and apron, and an alpha wanted Cole for his body.

  He could cry. He really could.

  Chapter Two

  Evzen tried not to growl as the little red-eared wolf locked himself inside the bedroom of another alpha, a clear terror in his eyes, and hid himself away from Evzen as though he worried Evzen was about to grab him and rape him.

  He managed to hold it back. Seth had warned him this might happen, for a number of reasons.

  Evzen was new. The omegas here didn’t know him or his men yet. Many were fearful of him and his dragons, and the others were in lust and tittering about who might take whom as a mate.

  Evzen wanted to roll his eyes at that. No one would be taking anyone else as a mate. He could tell that much. He didn’t even want anyone for a mate. He was only doing this because…