Guardian of His Heart [Guardian 2] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (2 page)

Maybe he should go visit them for a while. Jake and Jaclynn had one-month-old triplets! He had only seen them a few times, but as far as Kelley was concerned, they were to die for! He could play with the babies and perhaps give the new parents some time to themselves.

Kelley’s friends, Saber and Ty, owned Saber Ranch and had a gorgeous set of twins. It was always so relaxing there, and he particularly enjoyed the twin boys, who were now three years of age. Wild and full of fun, they were always a real kick!

When the two men discovered they were mates, it was instant love, and the two were devoted to each other. Ty and Saber had worked hard to get the place back to its original glory, even building houses for everyone that worked there, as they wanted everyone to feel at home.

Saber was a prince! A real one. He went by his nickname, but his real name was Prince Domenic. His mate tickled Kelley no end. Ty was a pug shifter, a cute little dog. They had a huge wedding in Saibina, the country where Saber was from, but made sure the ranch stayed private. Of course, Kelley couldn’t tell anyone about Saber and Ty, as they liked their privacy. He could understand that.

Kelley wished he could turn into something cool like that. Anything! He thought shifters were awesome. He was envious of his brothers and Ty. They had all mated dragons. Kelley didn’t know why he was so enamored of all things dragon, but he even dreamed of them at night. Well, more specifically, just one. He could never see the man’s face clearly, but he knew the man had emerald-green eyes, and he knew he was huge. In his dreams, his fantasy dragon shifter would come to Kelley and tell him how much he loved him and couldn’t wait to find Kelley. Sometimes he had really hot X-rated sex in his dreams! He never told anyone about his dreams. The straight jacket would be dragged out, and he’d be locked up for sure.

Kelley now had a plan. He’d go visit his brothers. Bo and Kate didn’t have any kids yet, as they wanted to wait awhile. He could stay with them. Jake and Jaclynn’s home was rather full now with two girls and a boy! He couldn’t wait to see them again. He just knew they would be totally adorable. They hadn’t come from the women of his family. What a relief, as Kelley wouldn’t wish his red hair on anyone.

Jake and Jaclynn would have to wait until their kids went through puberty to see what they turned out to be, though. Jake was a wolf and Jaclynn a dragon. That would be interesting! Shifter children who had interspecies parents would be either like one or the other parent. There were no combinations, thank goodness. Flying wolves or furry dragons? He didn’t think so.

As soon as Kelley got off work tonight, he’d go home, pack, and take off for his brother’s place. Saber had built Bo and Jake their own homes on the ranch, and Kelley had a standing invitation. Yup, he was on his way.

His Royal Majesty King Frederico Domenic Tomas Dillon Dragonovic of Saibina knew the ambassador was dragging his heels. They always did when they weren’t getting their way. If the man thought he was going to be allowed to gouge anything out of his beautiful country, he could think again. There was no such thing as commercial mining in Saibina. He wouldn’t stand for his country to be desecrated that way. Neither would his people. The king wouldn’t even be in America but for other meetings here. Saibina was rich in minerals, gold, silver, platinum, and jewels of every kind. A dragon’s treasure trove. It was the main reason his ancestors had claimed the land in the first place. It was a miner’s dream, and people in his country did mine privately for their own use or to find something they could trade. But commercial mining? Never. Not in a billion years. Not if the good king had anything to do with it.

King Frederico had already lived several centuries, as dragons were virtually immortal. Especially the royal line. He himself was 869 years of age. Young for a dragon. He had reigned for the last six hundred years. His father, King Swein, abdicated after his Fae mate died in a tragic accident, taking the king’s heart with her. Unfortunately, the king soon followed her, having pined away for his lost mate, leaving Frederico caretaker over a lush land.

Saibina was a gorgeous place, a beautiful land with lush green valleys, meadows full of beautiful flowers, and magnificent mountains that reigned high above clouds. Birds of every kind flew proud, and dragons could be seen catching dinner for their families, flying down and capturing fish with their talons. There was livestock, wild horses, and pastures of wooly sheep that looked healthier than any animals he had ever seen. It was a fairy-tale land, and Frederico intended it to stay that way.

The king loved his country and its people with a passion. He had devoted his life to it. As much as he wished it, the constant attention required to help preserve its way of life, never quite made up for the fact he had yet to find his true predestined mate. Dragons matured at fifty years of age. From that time on, for 819 years, he had looked for his true mate. It was the dream every dragon carried in their heart.

The only consolation he had at this point was Frederico now knew his mate lived, because of the mating dreams! All he had to do was find her. The dreams were a little confusing to him, as he never fully got to see her. He knew the woman had red hair the color of fire, and pale-gray eyes. He could clearly see her breathtaking eyes. She wore a charcoal color around them, which made the color stand out. He knew she had a viselike grip and felt like heaven when he entered her. These dreams had gone on for several years, in fact, and it frustrated him to no end that he couldn’t figure out where his mate was.

She was a willow of a thing, virtually flat chested and small of stature, but Frederico didn’t mind. He had always preferred full-bodied women, as they could take a proper pounding in bed, but he would just have to learn to be gentle. After all, he didn’t want to break her, and he knew she was not a dragon. There were no female dragons ever built like that! The females of his kind were full-bodied and built sturdy. Besides, big boobs were overrated anyway. He just wanted to find her. He didn’t care at this point if she had warts with hair sticking out of them and was a troll! He was so tired of being alone. The women who came to his bed only wanted him because he was king, not for the man himself. What he would give to find his mate. He hoped she was fiery like her hair to challenge him. No one did anymore. It made life dull. What the king would give to spend eternity with her, laughing, fighting, and loving! To have her in his bed every night in his arms and waking with her and bathing with her. He secretly loved bubble baths! Would she as well?

Damn it anyway! Where
was
she? Frederico would look until he found her. It was that simple. He would never give up now that he knew she lived.

The ambassador finally stopped droning on, thank the Gods for that. He would love to go to that new restaurant in San Francisco tonight. His bodyguards liked it as well. Perhaps they would fly over. They had the best seafood. The king told himself to stop thinking about his mate and if would she enjoy seafood as much as he.

King Frederico said good-bye to the very unhappy ambassador and left his office with his escort. As he was driven down the street in the limousine, his thoughts turned to his son, Saber and Ty. He hadn’t seen the twins in forever. They had just turned three, and he had brought presents from home for them. Now that he had completed his business, he could go see his son and son-in-law. He was very fond of Ty. He was just like his animal counterpart, always running around, happy with life, and fussing over the children and Saber. He envied his son. He had a kindhearted mate who loved him deeply. Ty was devoted to Saber. All he had to do was look at them to see it. One of these days.

The king advised his escort he was going to see his grandchildren, and asked him to make arrangements. As soon as Mason, his personal bodyguard, advised him as to when they could arrive at the ranch, he made the call.

He picked up his cell phone and called his son’s private line. Three rings and Saber picked up.

“Father, how are you? Where are you and when are you coming to see the kids?” Saber bombarded him with questions.

“I am currently in the colonies. On my way to that wonderful seafood place in California and then to you. I will see you the day after tomorrow. Will that be soon enough?” Frederico inquired.

“Wonderful! I’ll let Ty know. We all miss you. See you then. Love you, Father.”

“As I love you, my son.”

Frederico sat back in his seat, smiled, and relaxed. He always felt better after a visit with his family. They would take his mind off other things.

Kelley arrived at the ranch in high spirits. He loved visiting his brothers and their families. Especially with the little ones having arrived. He didn’t know how Jaclynn did it. Dragons had eleven-month pregnancies? Ghastly.

Jaclynn and Jake let him fuss over the babies. They were just too cute. Good thing Jake already had two shotguns. He was definitely going to have need of them with two gorgeous girls and a heartbreaker boy. The only problem in Kelley’s opinion was the boy. James got stuck with the Taylor-Jordan red hair! At least it was dark auburn like his father’s.

Kelley brought presents for the triplets, of course. Toys and adorable outfits. He had seen them online and couldn’t resist. Two toddler-sized dresses with pinafores and lots of lace. One a soft green, the other pale yellow for Joslynn and Rebecca. Of course a manly little suit in Neptune blue for young James. Having purchased many of them himself, Kelley knew they had more clothes than they could ever wear now, so he got something for later. The colors for the girls were perfect since they both had little tufts of dark hair.

The first sundown he was there, Kelley watched as Saber and Ty took their evening stroll. They talked, laughed, and held hands, every so often turning and kissing. Kelley tried his best not to covet that with someone of his own.

He spent his days playing with the babies and the toddler twins. Kelley enjoyed his evenings laughing, joking, and talking about everything with his brothers and their beautiful wives. He spent his mornings helping Ty the feed chickens. He helped pull weeds from the garden and feed and groom the horses. When Ty tried to get Kelley to feed the huge Angus bull, Slayer, a biscuit and scratch his snotty nose, he drew the line. Nope, he wasn’t going there. That bull was a wooly mammoth in disguise. He just knew it.

Early one afternoon, four days after Kelley arrived at the ranch, there was something going on. Ty was running around making sure the twins were clean and presentable. He had changed his own clothes and looked freshly showered and shaved. So did Saber.

As Kelley watched, two motorcycles and three limousines bearing small blue-and-white flags drove up the long bumpy driveway toward the house. “What’s going on, man?” Kelley asked his brother, Bo. He watched the motorcade come into the circular driveway, stopping as the middle limo came to the front of their porch.

“Saber’s father is here! Try to be on your best behavior okay, Kelley, please?” Ty pleaded with big eyes.

“I’m always on my best behavior. When haven’t I?” Kelley asked. All that comment got him were three sets of disbelieving eyes from Saber, Ty, and his brother, Bo.

Kelley remembered Saber saying his father was king of Saibina and his name was Frederico. But that was about all Kelley knew about the man. He wondered if he was supposed to bow or something. How did a person behave when introduced to a king?

The four men watched as limo doors opened. Seven huge men and three almost equally large women got out, looking in all directions. They had to be bodyguards as they were all massive, even the ladies! Finally satisfied with what they surveyed, one of the men opened the back door of the middle limo.

Out stepped King Frederico. Saber and Ty rushed to meet him with the boys in their arms. The moment the king spotted his family, his face broke into a huge smile. “Hello, my loved ones! How are you? What are you feeding these young lads? They’re gigantic! And so handsome, just like their grandfather.” He laughed.

As the family got reacquainted, Kelley stood back, watched, and kept to his own thoughts. He noticed that Saber’s father was two inches shorter than his son, which made him six foot seven, and he probably weighed in at around three hundred pounds of hard muscle. The man had dark, curly hair that touched his collar, and as he turned looking around, Kelley saw emerald-green eyes. What a hunk! Oh yeah, he wouldn’t mind getting some of that USDA prime beefcake anytime!

Just then the afternoon breeze changed direction. Kelley noticed the king’s expression suddenly change, his body going stiff. His nose went up slightly as he scented the air.

The king’s bodyguards immediately went on alert.

Frederico just looked around until his eyes fell on Kelley, and then they halted. Their gazes locked. Both men stood perfectly still as they stared at each other.

When Frederico finally snapped out of it, he walked toward Kelley. When he stood no more than two feet away, Frederico looked down upon his mate for the first time. He slowly began to smile.

“Hello. You have
no
idea how long I have looked for you,” Frederico whispered. The king’s dragon begged to be let out. It wanted to claim their mate before the beautiful young woman got away, but the man in him forced the unruly beast to behave.

“You are as I dreamed you, stunning.”

Kelley’s eyes got big. He couldn’t move. He could hardly breathe. This was the man in his dreams? Holy shit. It couldn’t be, could it? He just stood there staring at the king, speechless for the first time in his life. It occurred to Kelley everyone was looking at them. When the king leaned down and inhaled deeply, slowly, Kelley didn’t care about anything at the moment but the man before him.