Page 127 of Dragon Her Heels

The situation with my old work, which involved weekly demands I abandon my dragon for their shitty work conditions, irritated me—and made me wonder what I knew that held so much value. Bit by bit, Yuless chipped away at their firm, stealing a good employee here, rerouting a lucrative contract there, but he worked as Mr. Durant, taking care to mask where he lived and who worked for him.

My old bosses still believed Lucifer was my sole employer.

Once settled in the trailer for the night, Yuless considered me with a frown. “Race jitters or something else?”

Race jitters tended to leave me pacing and in need of distraction. Yuless had, rather rapidly, learned to take off his shirt and be the distraction. Those nights he tended to be the one leaving me worn out, allowing me to sleep.

Alligator Bait tended to relax, as she understood the next morning would be her time to shine, and she behaved right until the gate opened and she could run.

With luck, I wouldn’t make any mistakes with Elegance in Moonlight, who had learned he would receive a spa day worthy of a king if he outraced the wind. Even when he didn’t, he received his spa day, an activity he loved almost as much as my filly did.

I sighed. “I wish it was the race jitters, but I’m worried about my old firm.”

Yuless wrinkled his nose. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve gotten a nibble from that financial officer you want. He’ll be near Churchill Downs in time for the Kentucky Derby, so I lured him with tickets. He doesn’t know he’ll be in our winner’s circle suite watching you crush your enemies. I will talk with him, and he’ll leave before we meet up to make certain nobody realizes what’s going on.”

I rolled my eyes. “Some of them are enemies, but I actually like Alex when we’re off the track. He sends me pictures of his project horses. It turns out one of the mares was in foal and nobody knew it. They hadn’t tested her because she’s not even two. He actually dished out for an archangel to monitor her pregnancy. I respect that.”

“I know. I don’t even mind him, but the others are assholes who deserve to be crushed beneath the hooves of your horses.”

I engaged him in a staring contest. “You’re just mad they gave me the bucket on the fifth race with Alligator Bait. I don’t even know why they gave me the bucket, but I do know Alex was behind it. Apparently, they were making up for my Iroquois Stakes victory, as he felt I should have been given the bucket then. I’ve been put on notice. I’m getting the bucket again tomorrow should I win. This time, Maxwell Firo is behind it because he’s pissed I got accused of illegally whipping my horse. He has warned me he will be bringing numerous gallons of whipped cream so I can experience what it’s like to be whipped.”

With a low snicker, Yuless went into the kitchenette to pour himself a drink. “I’d offer you one, but you don’t get to drink before you drive. You’re not fond of Firo, right?”

I nodded. “He absolutely will beat his horses if allowed. He’s passionate about racing, but he doesn’t care if he hurts the horse with his whip. At most, I tolerate him; he does care about the other jockeys, and I’ve seen him throw a race rescuing a runaway the outriders couldn’t catch. Fortunately, it was a low point race, he was positioned poorly, and the owner and trainer weren’t angry over it. I’m just glad I wasn’t in that race. I would have tossed the race, too—and I can’t afford to toss any races. That Harthing bastard hasn’t given up on being an owner yet, and until he does, I need to crush him. Ideally, I’ll grab the win on the Breeder’s Cup tomorrow. Lucifer says that’ll be the nail in that bastard’s ownership career. If he sees he failed to take two horses to the winner’s circle, he’ll go to breeding and leave it to breeding. That’s good for thoroughbreds, because he’s good at that. He treats his breeding horses much better than his racers.”

“Well, Elegance is as ready as we could make him. Will you win? I don’t know. All I do know is that you’re going to give it your best. Are you sure I can’t eat Harthing? I feel eating him is appropriate. Will anyone actually miss him?”

Dragons. “You can’t eat him. However, if anyone tries to grab me outside of my house again, you can eat them—or skewer them and toss them into the lake to feed my babies.”

Yuless spent a rather long time considering his options. “Feeding your babies earns me some of their regard, so they may nip me less when I earn being punted across the lake. As I enjoy when you bristle and get cranky over how I’ve made your life difficult, I foresee being punted daily.”

One and all, dragons were the definition of what it was to be insane. Old age must have impaired the Destroyer of Georgia for him to stoop to being punted at least once a day. That I was the one doing the punting made his insanity tolerable. “I told you there was no chance in hell you were going to conquer me, by the way. I was right. At least I can tell Lucifer he was wrong; it’s not actually two men if the two men are the same being.”

“Well, he is the Lord of Lies, and he does lie whenever the situation benefits him. Misleading people is more his speed, though. When he misleads, his targets get less cranky about it. Since you’re still holding the destruction of your barn over his head, he’s trying not to make you extra cranky.”

“If he’d just told me it wasn’t sound, I would have at least taken my tack out of the barn first!”

“He wanted to get you new tack. But that might be why he dumped the damned barn on my head.”

“It’s a good thing you’re pretty durable. I would have been sad to be out my groom and my boss in one fell swoop.”

Yuless eyed me. “Which type of groom do you mean?”

“Both if you’re really nice to me.” I eyed him back. “I play for keeps, and I have no intention of losing.”

“I have noticed you hate losing, even when you place top three.”

“Top three is not the best, and I resent they rode better races than me. My horses are perfection and cannot be blamed for their placement.”

The Destroyer of Georgia dared to laugh at me. “Let’s make a wager, then.”

“What sort of wager?”

“Should you win tomorrow’s race, I shall accept your proposal to me with grace. Should you place in any position other than first, you shall accept my proposal to you with grace. And should you win, you will not even need to kneel, present a ring, or do anything other than express interest in such a ceremony. We can even battle by the lake over who will pay for it, and I will do so while an excellent size for punting, as you will surely wish to express your frustrations with my ability to argue over how I should pay for an elaborate and extravagant ceremony. I have never wed before, and I wish to be a proper dragon about it, as is my right as the eldest.”

The damned dragon would drive me crazy, but I worried I’d like the journey despite losing what remained of my mind. “Should I win, you shall present yourself at the winner’s circle, as is proper, to be commanded and conquered and forced into a promise of matrimony. It will be recorded, and I will delight in all those cameras pointed right at you.”

He laughed. “Tomorrow is going to be quite the interesting day, of that I am certain. How do you feel about a gift of the complete dismantling of your former employer as a wedding present?”

“Can I help?”

“Absolutely, but their end begins tomorrow, you mark my words.”

“I like the sound of that.”