Matched with the Dragon: A Shifter Dating Agency Romance Read online

  “Here’s Shirley,” Jack pointed to her. “She’s our residential naughty bitch. Take my word for it, everybody, she worked at a strip club!”

  Everyone laughed and waved at her.

  “This gorgeous redhead here is Alia,” Jack then introduced me as he handed me an open bottle of beer. “She works as a model but also does part-time work at the mall. Don’t flirt with her – she’s ice cold and a virgin.”

  I punched his gut and tried to laugh to hide my shame. Damn it, why did he have to spill the beans about me being a virgin?

  Everyone laughed and I tried to hide my blushing cheeks from the crowd. Everyone sat along with us and formed a circle around the campfire. Tommy got to work, along with another guy, and finally got the fire going. We passed around some marshmallows and beer.

  Shirley and I got around talking to this one Vietnamese girl named Katie. She was pretty cool and she was bi-sexual too. To be honest that kind of turned me on and she just looked so hot too. She said she was thirty-two but she looked younger than I was. We were busy talking about Shirley’s time as a stripper when I noticed that the two guys from the pool were also there, sitting by Tommy.

  “Hey Katie,” I nudged her with an elbow and then pointed to the two men. “Who are they?”

  She looked over then back at me and Shirley. “The one with the blonde hair is Chris and the other guy’s Brandon. They used to be in the Marines and then they worked together as hired bodyguards.”

  “That’s fucking hot,” Shirley commented. “I just felt my panties rip.”

  We laughed and I couldn’t help but stare at the two guys.

  “Why, you got a thing for them?” Katie asked me.

  “Huh?” I started to panic. I didn’t want her to suddenly bring them over and introduce them to me. “Oh, uh… I just happened to see them earlier after I took a bath by the waterfalls.”

  Katie laughed and nodded when she figured what they were doing there. “Perverts. Well, they did try to flirt with me before but I didn’t bite. They’ve got killer abs and they’re hot as fuck, sure, but comparing them to a girl like you is like comparing thousand dollars to ten tons of gold. I like the thousand dollars but gold is gold. You’re gold.”

  I felt my cheeks flush red. Katie was legitimately flirting with me and I could feel an urge in me to just hug her and kiss her right then and there. However, as sweet as she was, there was just something about Chris and Brandon that tugged at me like a magnet.

  “Y-you think I’m hot?” I tried to steer the conversation away so I could stop staring at the two men. Brandon, in particular, noticed I was looking their way and he responded with a big smile. I didn’t know if I should have smiled back or something.

  Shirley laughed and Katie nodded. She took my arm and wrapped her arm around it. “You do. You look so goddamn delicious, honestly. I could already imagine how you’d look if I spread your cute legs and lick down your pussy.”

  Oh, fuck that sounds so damn good. I could feel my heart beating faster and I felt myself starting to get wet and warm between the legs. Yet, although it was Katie saying the words my attention was affixed on Chris and Brandon. It was them that I imagined pushing me down and licking my pussy before shoving their cocks into me.

  God, what was I thinking? Then I realized I flashed my tits – no, my whole body – at them earlier. What the fuck do I do now? They saw me. They really fucking saw me.

  “I think you shut her off,” Shirley suddenly said and woke me back up. “Alia’s a dumbass when it comes to flirting. That’s why she’s never fucked before.”

  Katie laughed and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You two are so cute. You ought to hang out with us more. We could use some adorable baby girls like you.”

  I wanted to butt in and say we’re both twenty-five but then I recalled they were all like ten to fifteen years older than us. I guess we did look like baby girls in their eyes. It made me wonder how I looked in Brandon or Chris’ eyes.

  Shirley was about to say something sarcastic but then thunder crackled and rain began to pour down.

  “Fuck!” Someone cried out and we all began to panic.

  “We’re just over the next ridge,” Katie said as she stood up in a hurry. “We’ve got some big tents in case you guys need some help, okay? You can both snuggle in with me.” She gave a naughty wink at us both then dashed out of our area.

  I didn’t bother to look for Chris or Brandon. My eyes darted left and right to look for Jack and Tommy. Jack was already putting our cooking utensils and other stuff into a large tent. I found Tommy calling Shirley and they were trying to nail the other tents down.

  Without a second thought, I rushed to kill the fire, get the food packed into some plastic containers and then shove them into the car so that they wouldn’t rot or get lost in the storm. I glanced back and saw everyone running back to their camp site and then I saw Shirley zip her tent shut before she ran into Tommy’s tent.

  She got what she wanted. She’s going to do everything she can to seduce him and I bet he’ll give in. She’s hot, he’s a pervert, and they both get to have some nice sex as the storm passes by.

  My tent was already nailed down since I took the time yesterday to get it done. I just screamed shit at them and then pointed to my tent. They got what I wanted to say so I just headed inside, zipped my tent shut and then tried to change my clothes into something dry so I could get some sleep. I didn’t want to lie there in my tent, all alone, as a storm raged outside. At least if I was asleep I could let it pass and when I awoke it would be over. Everything would be all right.

  Chapter Three

  Crash!

  Another lightning struck and thunder rolled. The rain outside my tent was wailing down with a vengeance. I tried to get as comfortable as I could in my small tent. I at least had the brains to put some wood underneath so that the water wouldn’t seep in.

  Fifteen minutes went by and I curdled when I couldn’t fall asleep. The chaos outside was scary. I just didn’t want to wake up with water filling the tent. I’d drown in an instant, especially if I couldn’t unzip the entrance. What if the whole camping site was filling up with water? We’d all drown anyway.

  Crash!

  Shit that one sounded awfully close. I turned on my phone and used the light to look around. So far, my tent was doing fine. I tried to text Shirley and the boys but there was absolutely no reception this high up in the mountains.

  Let’s get back to nature. No phones, no laptops, it’ll be amazing! Those were the words we all repeated when we were planning this stupid trip. Now it all sounds stupid. How the fuck was I supposed to contact them for help?

  Crash!

  “Ah!” I let out a scream when the last roar of thunder and lightning seemed so loud and close I swore my tent would be the next thing to flash and burn.

  Crack!

  “What the fuck?” I turned on my phone again and looked up. Something in my tent was creaking. I looked all over and checked the corners and just as I was about to peek out the window flap one of the nails just popped out of the ground, sending a portion of my tent to topple. Water began to flow into my tent and I rushed to unzip the entrance.

  Heavy rain slammed against my face when I ran outside, barefoot and in just a pair of shorts and a shirt. I looked at my tent and saw that one of the holding flaps that kept the nails down had blown off. If I wanted to get things back in order I needed to strap it back down.

  I turned around and glimpsed at Shirley, Tom and Jack’s tents. They were all still standing but Shirley’s was starting to crumble down as well. Her tent was more expensive than mine, which probably meant it was sturdier, but she was a lazy bitch and it was just a matter of time before her tent would collapse. She was damn lucky to be sleeping in with Tommy tonight.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I muttered to myself as I tried to run through the woods and get the damn flap back. It had been blown off to the bushes and I needed to get it before the wi
nd kicked up again and threw it over the hill. I didn’t want to have to go down a slippery, muddy slope in the midst of a thunderstorm.

  “This is so fucking stupid!” I screamed but the roar of the storm drowned out my voice. I ran as quickly as I could but just as I was about to grab the flap it blew away and descended down a small hill leading over to the pool I bathed in.

  Should I chase after it? I worried that the storm might have turned that small creek into a raging river and I could drown in an instant if I slipped in.

  “Ah, what the hell,” I decided and chased after the stupid flap. I figured if it got too dangerous I’d just go back and crash in with Jack.

  That was the dumbest idea I ever came up with. As soon as I stepped on the downward slope I slipped on mud. Instantly I crashed onto the side of the hill and rolled down, my body crashing through bushes and small, thorny trees. I could feel every inch of my body crack each time I bumped into a small rock and my whole journey down halted with a sudden slam against a pine tree. Fortunately for me, I hit it with my shoulder and the pain wasn’t so bad. It would probably bruise in the morning but the adrenaline was keeping me up and alert.

  I tried to get up but now my legs were shaking. I was covered in mud and leaves and so much fucking dirt I wanted to scream. When I looked at myself I realized my knees were a little bloody, perhaps from a few small cuts on the way down. Nothing was too painful, however, so I figured I was still okay.

  The rain continued to pour down and when I glanced up the sky looked as dark and gloomy as ever. “Fuck this shit,” I told myself and figured I should just head back before I ended up harming myself further.

  I tried to go back up the way I came but the pathway was too muddy and slippery. I looked around and saw there was another way back up but when I checked what was close to this road I saw the creek. Just as I figured, the rain made it swell and it was raging fast and dangerous.

  “Fuck, this is ridiculous,” I said to myself. The only pathway I had of going back up the hill and to the camping site was situated right on top of the damn river where I’d drown in minutes if I slipped into it.

  I made my way to the beginning of the pathway and then looked up. Now that I could see the destination, it wasn’t really that far. The plateau where we camped at was probably less than a fifth of a mile up. I took one step up and –

  – slipped on a branch.

  “Oh, shit!” I cried out as I fell backward. I tried to look back, knowing the raging river would engulf me in a moment’s notice. Time seemed to come to a standstill as I descended down the small hill and, just out of nowhere, I felt my head slam against a tree trunk instead of a body of water.

  I blinked for a moment, wondering how far I was from the water, and passed out.

  ***

  “I think she’s okay,” I heard a deep, male voice mutter.

  “You think? It looks like she hit her head hard,” said someone else.

  My eyes fluttered as I tried to look at my surroundings. At first, my vision blurred and all I could see was white. I feared that knock on my head blinded me. Fortunately, after a few more minutes, my vision faded in and I realized Brandon was looking down at me. He had me cradled in his arms, my head resting on his leg. Sitting beside him was Chris. I checked up and realized the sky was clear and that it was already early in the morning.

  “W-what happened?” I asked as I tried to sit up. Nausea quickly hit me and I leaned back to rest.

  “You fell down the hill, looks like it,” Chris answered. He was covered in mud and also had a bruise on his forehead. “We thought you were dead because your body was leaning on a tree log and the river was up to your chest.”

  “You’re lucky you didn’t drown,” Brandon said. He had some leaves stuck to his arms and was completely shirtless. “We got lost ourselves. One of our bags was blown away and fell down the hill side. We chased it but the rain tossed us around and we had to swim down the river just to find a suitable place to rest. That’s when we found you.”

  I looked at them with shock. “Wait, what? How far are we from the camping site?”

  Chris shrugged back. “I don’t know. We swam for a long while. I guess you got lucky and managed to land on a log floating in the water. That probably saved you and prevented you from drowning. My guess is we’re a good eight or nine miles away from the site.”

  “Holy shit,” I muttered. I finally got the strength to sit back up. “What the fuck do we do?”

  Brandon helped me back up to my feet. I only stood a good five-feet-one and he was about a foot taller than me. I looked like a little girl next to him it almost made me forget we were all wet and covered in mud. I blushed like an idiot.

  “First of all, we need to find a safe spot,” Chris said. “Let’s get out and away from the river. Maybe we can find some lodgings or another camping site so we can attend to our wounds, change our clothes or whatever.”

  That sounded like a genius idea. I was all game for that. I looked like shit and I felt even worse.

  I grabbed Brandon and Chris’ hands, sandwiching myself between them. “Yeah, please, let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter Four

  It took us a good three hours just to find a decent, safe spot. We moved away from the river and tried to head back West, using the sun as our directional guide. We knew the general direction of the camping site but we were still miles away and nothing here looked familiar.

  Fortunately, we did reach a small glade where there was nothing but soft grass and a rocky center that wasn’t filled with mud. The trees around this area were all evergreens and I did spot what looked like a blueberry tree.

  I crashed down in the center and lay on my back. “Fuck. We’ve been walking for forever and we’re nowhere near the camping site.”

  “If we keep going like this it’ll be nightfall and we’ll be exposed out here,” Chris pointed out. “Without the rain, all the wild animals out here will go out and we’ll be up high on their hunting list.”

  “So we need a place to camp out until we know a bit more about this place,” I said. “Don’t you think our friends are looking for us?”

  Brandon nodded but he then pointed to our environment. “Sure they are. I bet they’re all worried about us. Even if they are looking for us it could take days before they find us or before we manage to get back to the camping grounds. It’s best we find a safe spot, rest there, and then each day try to trek further out until we know where we are and how to get back to them.”

  That sounded reasonable. I had no survival skills, however, and I wanted to let them know I’d be pretty much useless out here. “I do have to admit though, I suck at this. I can’t build a fire, I can’t really cook unless it’s with my usual appliances and I don’t know the first thing about first aid.”

  Both men laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked with a frown on my face.

  “Don’t you worry,” Brandon said. “We were both in the Marines. We can take care of you, little baby.”

  Little baby? Oddly enough, it kind of felt nice to be called that.

  “Yeah,” Chris added in. “We can handle all this. You just sit back and stay pretty.”

  That got a laugh out of me. “Really, you guys think I’m pretty?”

  “No,” Brandon answered. “We think you’re goddamn fucking hot. You’ve got nice tits, too.”

  My jaw dropped and I looked at him with a blank expression on my face. I didn’t know what to say to that.

  “Yeah, we know you saw us peeping at you when you were taking a bath,” Chris said with a big grin on his face. “You loved flashing those perky tits at us, didn’t you?”

  I seriously wanted to smack them both in the face. “Okay, I enjoyed it. Can we go now? I’d rather find a roof to sleep under instead of discussing whether or not I enjoyed flashing for you guys.”

  They both laughed again and to be honest, I appreciated the light-hearted moment. Ever since
it began raining I was filled with dread and worry. This was legitimately the first time I felt a little okay.

  “Are any of you guys hungry?” Brandon asked. “We could get some berries and then look for shelter. There’s probably a cave here or some fallen logs and branches we could use to make a hut or something.”

  Berries sounded like a good idea. A place to sleep in sounded even better.

  “Yeah, that sounds like a genius idea,” I said. I got up and headed over to the berry tree. Brandon and Chris followed suit. Chris ripped what was left of his shirt and made a makeshift bag out of it. We dumped some berries into it and looked around for something else we could use. Chris took off for a bit and said he was going to look for a tree to climb and see where we were.

  We spent about twenty minutes harvesting food when Chris suddenly hollered out.

  “Hey! I found something!”

  I looked at Brandon and he looked back with a confused shrug. We waited until we saw Chris running back.

  “Whew,” he said as he finally caught up to us and leaned down, trying to catch his breath. “I saw a cabin, just a little ways out North. It’s between some trees and it looks like it’s in good shape. Not sure if anyone lives there or not. It could be an old office lodge of the camp site managers or something.”

  “I hope there are people,” I told him. “Whether from the camp site administration or not, someone will be able to help us get back.”

  Just saying it out loud gave me a strong feeling of redemption and hope.

  We walked along a clear path between ridges of trees and after just a few minutes we managed to spot the cabin. Up close, it looked a lot bigger than how Chris described it to be. It was a bungalow but it was long and made of thick logs. The windows were dark and there were no lights turned on, inside and out. That kind of dampened my hopes as it meant no one was there to help us. When we got even closer I realized two of the windows were shattered and there were vines crawling in.