Bree Durell smoothed back her unruly, strawberry-blond hair and stared up in terror at the huge castle-like mansion in front of her.

It was in oddly good condition for its age, and with the overgrown but beautiful foliage all around it, it was clearly one of those private places that was hard to find if you didn’t know the address.

Which made it an even odder choice for a handyman business.

But she didn’t have any options, having been to every other handyman and contractor in range, all of them out of her budget.

When she’d called Rent-A-Dragon, apprehensive about the name, the man on the phone had stubbornly but politely refused to give out a quote unless she set an appointment to meet in person.

Maybe they were picky about who they worked with.

But looking up at the huge custom door in front of her, with the ornate dragon’s head knocker, she was beginning to feel she’d wasted a trip here and was just going to humiliate herself when she heard their pricing.

After all, if they could afford this place, they must be doing pretty well.

But she had to find out. She didn’t have any other options, and if Geoffrey made good on the threat to send an inspector after her, her house would probably be condemned. And then Geoffrey would have that much more leverage to get her back in his power.

That was a problem.

So she summoned up all her courage, remembering she didn’t get where she was by being afraid, and knocked on the heavy door.

As she waited, her heart hammered in her chest, increasing the rate of her breathing, and she told herself to calm down. Just a business meeting like any other.

Except she’d done all the other consults over the phone. It was a lot less embarrassing to say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” over the phone.

She had an urge to run, but didn’t take it. And the next moment, the door was opened.

She gaped as she looked up a long, hard body to a handsome, patient face.

He was like something from a movie, with hard, masculine features, a taut jaw that was absolute perfection, icy-blue eyes with long lashes, doubtless over six and a half feet tall.

The most striking feature was probably the long braid of wheat and white blond hair that trailed down behind muscular shoulders to a length she couldn’t make out from this angle.

“What do you want?” he asked, his voice blunt but not rude.

“I’m here to… um… to meet with Aegis,” she said.

He stepped back, looking behind him as she heard footsteps. A moment later, a man who was a little leaner and slightly less tall, but still intimidating, stepped forward and opened the door for her. “I can handle this, Titus. You can go back to your book or whatever it is you do.” She thought she heard him add under his breath, "You big loaf," but she couldn’t be sure.

“I’m Bree Dur—”

“Bree Durell, I know. I’m Aegis,” the man snapped. He had blond hair, pointed features, and a shrewd expression enhanced by green eyes. “My associate Citrine is on the phone, so you’ll be meeting with just me today.”

“Oh, um, okay,” she said, feeling even more like she wanted to run if this was who she was going to deal with.

When Aegis looked at her, she got the feeling he was staring her down to her soul, and she didn’t like it.

Plus, what kind of tall, buff man wore a green blazer?

He led her to an office and sat behind the desk, rifling through some papers before setting them aside. He opened a laptop. “I’m sorry. I’m not sure where Citrine put your client contact.” He clicked a few times. “Ah. Here it is.” His green eyes widened sharply. “Wow. What a dump.”

She cringed. She knew the house needed work. But she’d fallen in love with the land, and it was all she could afford while still getting space.

But she’d tremendously underestimated how much contractors charged. Either that, or they were all colluding to take advantage of single women who knew nothing about home improvement.

“It’s going to take me a minute to assemble a quote on this,” Aegis said thoughtfully, pulling a paper out of the stack he’d looked through and walking out from around the desk to leave the room. “Stay here,” he commanded in a firm but calm voice.

Her fingers curled around the bottom of her seat cushion as she listened to the clock ticking on the wall.

The longer she sat there, the more she was sure the man in green was going to laugh at her for being unable to pay his estimate.

Everything about this place, from the elegant, hand-carved wood furnishings to the marble columns in the entryway, bespoke quality. Wealth. Money.

And he’d called her house a dump.

It was true, but it was mean, and she didn’t think this appointment was going to get better from here.

She’d been stupid for ever coming. She stood slowly and walked to the office door, peeking out. All clear.

She opened the door, glad when it didn’t creak, and looked both ways. Even if she was just a potential client and had the right to come and go as she pleased, she didn’t want to see the look on the stern, green-eyed man’s face when he saw she’d disobeyed his order to stay put.

She crept out of the room and hid behind a table as she heard the sound of footsteps on the other side of the lobby. She peeked over it and saw Aegis with his back turned, holding a paper out and discussing it avidly with the man who’d opened the door for her, who was nodding.

Oh no, that gorgeous creature was going to know her house was a dump and she couldn’t afford their work. For some reason, him knowing that bothered her extra. Perhaps it was because something about him drew her in, made her feel comfortable, despite his height and Viking-esque demeanor.

Those eyes that were icy blue but somehow not cold.

Suddenly, the eyes she was thinking of darted quickly in her direction, and she ducked back behind the table, hoping she hadn’t been seen.

Dammit. This was not going well.

* * *

Titus stifled a smile as he turned back to Aegis, listening attentively so the man had no reason to look in the direction of the tiny, hiding human.

What was she doing over there? Why was she sneaking around outside the office like some kind of thief? The terrified expression on her rounded, heart-shaped face said she was trying to escape or something. But why? They weren’t going to hold her against her will.

It was an interesting mystery, and one he wanted to solve without Aegis around, since Aegis had already apparently terrified her.

He folded his arms and nodded patiently to everything Aegis said as he ranted about the house and its condition, then took the page with the photos and looked it over.

Aegis was right. It was really going to be a tough job, and he’d better be sure he wanted to take it, because there weren’t going to be other customers for a while if he did.

They always had potential clients come to the castle for an interview, because Aegis believed strongly in fate and that the right women would be willing to come despite any reservations.

So what did that say about the one trying to sneak out of the lobby?

He’d have to figure that out for himself.

“Aegis, I think Citrine just called for you,” he said, hoping to distract the emerald dragon.

Aegis frowned. “Did he? I thought he was on a call with the oracle.”

“All the more reason you should probably answer him,” Titus said.

Aegis narrowed his green eyes to snakelike slits. “You better not be trying to pull something, Titus. Where is he?”

“In the backyard somewhere.” Titus lied. “I think. I mean, you know he likes to wander out there, especially during stressful moments.”

“Him and that damn garden,” Aegis said. “You’re right. Fine. I’ll go. The human is in the office. I don’t want you to approach her until I’m back. You may scare her. No one knows with you barbarians.”

Titus had to stifle a laugh as Aegis strode away to find Citrine, muttering.

The fact was Aegis had scared the little human, and it was up to Titus to fix it. Luckily, he had always been bigger than pretty much everyone around him, but he was good at making others feel comfortable despite it.

He waited for a minute after Aegis had left to see if she would come out on her own, but she didn’t. He took a few steps toward the table she was hiding behind, and that seemed to spark her into action.

She darted out from behind it and rushed for the door, her curvy shape bouncing alluringly under that soft, silky blouse she wore, combined with tight jeans that hugged a generous set of hips. Despite being short, she’d be perfect to fill his big hands.

He grinned as she got to the door and jerked on the handle. No way she could open it on her own. Aegis made it look easy to visitors, but the thing was hundreds of pounds.

She pulled several times, then turned around huffing, her back plastered to the door as if she were trying to be as far from him as possible.

He approached lazily, observing the terror in her almond-shaped eyes, which he noticed were like a blue-green ocean, warm and beautiful. Her little pointed nose, marked by freckles. Her wide cheeks, soft and peachy, and her little chin jutting outward.

And that body. So soft, so rounded.

He felt his body react instantly, but was this the mating instinct or something only physical?

As dragons, they had one fated mate and one only, and it was imperative Titus not waste his time with anyone who wasn’t the one, no matter how toothsome they might be.

“Calm down, little one,” he said, walking forward. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Let me out of here. Unlock this door. What exactly are you trying to pull?” Her pale face reddened as she shouted at him, and his first thought was that his mate was utterly adorable.

Mate, huh?

He kept the question in his mind as he stepped forward with folded arms, jutting a hip. “It’s unlocked. You’re too weak to open it.”

Her brows came down angrily. “Open it for me, then.”

“Say please,” he said, a tease in his voice.

“I thought you were the nice one,” she said bitterly. “I guess I was wrong.”

His expression fell. He’d wanted to tease her, but he now realized, for her, this was dead serious, and he’d never meant to cause real alarm. He strode to the door and pushed it easily open, and she let out a little hmph and walked quickly past him and out of the mansion.

He watched her start down the steps and realized with a slight sense of panic that he didn’t want her to leave.

“Hold on,” he said, following after her. “Don’t you want to wait and get your quote? That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

She turned around, her beautiful reddish-blond hair whipping in the wind despite her attempts to tame it. “I can’t afford you guys. I’m already sure of it.”

He took a step forward. “How can you be sure if you haven’t seen the quote? It might be more reasonable than you think.”

“I’m sure,” she said, a tight muscle in her jaw ticking. “I don’t need to be humiliated.”

He frowned. Dragons did a lot of questionable things, but purposefully humiliating humans wasn’t one of them as far as he knew.

“That Aegis person called my place a dump, and you all live in this… castle, mansion, whatever. No way you’re going to work with me.”

“Now hold on,” Titus said, sitting down on the steps and gesturing for her to come join him. “Look, I’m sorry I teased you before. We’re a business. We would never keep someone here. Nor would we humiliate them.”

She wrapped her arms around herself, and in the sunlight, he could just make out the sparkle of tears.

For some reason, he was devastated by it. Mate or not, he wanted to know what the problem was. And he wanted to solve it.

“Come here,” he said, patting the stairs next to him. “Look, I know you’re in trouble. I saw the pictures. Let’s just talk about it. What do you have to lose by talking about it?”

She bit her lip, tempted by his offer, but then she slowly shook her head. “You’re nice,” she said. “I guess I was right about you. But I just… Yeah. I can’t do this.”

Then she got in her car and started it, and Titus made no move to stop her.

If he chased her now, she would only run faster, be more afraid, and that was the last thing he wanted.

He watched as she reversed all the way down the long driveway and pulled out onto the main road that led down the mountain, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Mate.

The word echoed in him, and now that she’d left, he knew for sure. She was his mate, she was in trouble, and he was the perfect man to help. The only man who should help.

It was a good thing Aegis had her address.