Loved by the Dragon Collection Page 27

  “Please don’t do this to me.”

  The minutes passed in agonizing silence, each second weighing on his soul.

  Would he feel the moment of her death through their soul bond? The macabre thought slithered into his mind and racked him with guilt. Chloe’s death would always be over his head. By bonding to her, he had signed her death warrant. He’d murdered her.

  “Come,” Mahasti said quietly. Her features betrayed nothing, filling Saul’s heart with dread. “It is done.”

  I will slay Brigid myself if she still breathes. I will never forgive the Conclave.

  They appeared moments later in the very place where the shredded remnants of Saul’s clothing littered the ground. He expected to see Chloe’s mangled body or even her funeral pyre, and had prepared himself to unleash unholy vengeance on the surviving dragoness.

  Instead, wide blue eyes met his across the field.

  “Chloe!” Relief nearly overwhelmed him and his heart felt as if it could fly from his chest.

  His wife dropped the sword and ran toward him. He met her halfway in his human form and swept the singed woman into his arms. The smell of blood and fire clung to her skin, but underneath it all, she was still undeniably Chloe. His mated. His beloved. The mother of his unborn child.

  Our child still lives. He breathed her in, delighting in the scent that was unique to her and their cub beneath the stink of Brigid’s putrid blood.

  “We did it!” she cried happily.

  “No, Chloe. No. You did it. I should have never doubted you. Not once.” Gauntleted fingers rose to his tear-stained cheek. Never in his life had he shed so many tears for anyone. Not for his deceased father, nor the loss of his mother, nor for Brigid’s many dismissals.

  Chloe was worth every tear.

  “Now you are truly Chloe Drakenstone. They can never part us.” His hand curved against her belly. “Any of us.”

  “I can’t believe it’s over,” Chloe whispered.

  Their embrace continued without interruption, her cheek to his bare chest and his fingers threaded through her pale blonde hair. Over and over, Saul whispered his thanks to his ancestors.

  As Saul finally turned to lead Chloe from the field, he saw members of their community standing idly by, the line queueing to pay last respects to Brigid’s body, or to congratulate the winner.

  A tall man with dark auburn hair approached the couple first, his face an impassive mask.

  Shit, Saul thought. Chloe’s victory over Brigid hadn’t come without a price. Few were closer to her than her father, and even fewer could tolerate her acidic personality for long.

  “My apologies that it has come to this, Maximilian. Mahasti will take Brigid’s remains wherever you wish. You need only say the word.”

  “To Mount Shasta. It… my volcano was beloved by her. It will suit as her final resting place.” Maximilian bowed his head to Saul then turned his heavy gaze on Chloe. “You fought bravely, child. May that strength serve you and yours in the future.”

  The elder fire dragon strode away and Saul released his pent-up breath. Deep inside, he had expected Brigid’s father to take the loss poorly. Brigid may have been many things, a manipulative bitch among them, but she had still been his only child. The last of his line.

  He and my father were close friends once. If things had gone differently in the past, he and Brigid would have long ago celebrated the birth of their first cub. Their fathers had dreams for them. Hopes of uniting their families.

  Three women crossed toward them and Saul briefly considered steering Chloe toward the house before the trio could reach them. But he couldn’t. It would appear cowardly, and would only throw fuel onto the fire. Brigid’s buddies were as scathing and shallow as their deceased friend.

  They appeared as three breathtakingly beautiful ladies in their mid-to-late twenties. The two redheads were fastidiously groomed and clothed in cocktail dresses, as if they’d attended a ball instead of a duel to the death. The third wore nothing, a sign of recently transitioning from her dragon form. Pale strands of platinum hair fell in sleek waves over her shoulders, spilling over the tips of her perfect breasts.

  “My, how low you have fallen, Saul Drakenstone, reduced to accepting a simpering mongrel,” a fire dragoness purred as she slipped by. “Did anyone offer Brigid the same benefit of using a weapon?”

  “Brigid would have toasted her if she’d fought as a true woman,” the platinum blonde said. Saul never did understand what the white dragoness had in common with the reds. Her attitude revealed itself to be the common factor.

  “And now our cousin lies murdered. This is a terrible day in the history of dragonkind,” the second fire dragoness said. “What a pity for Maximilian to lose his only child.”

  “Our dear uncle will likely never have another. Brigid was a contract cub after all.”

  “How does it feel knowing you have taken everything from a man, murderess?” the second hissed.

  Chloe weathered their barbs with dignity and raised her chin. “It feels as if I have protected my unborn child and secured my mate. And as I am one for one today, I’m feeling really, really lucky right now if one of you cunts is in the mood to fight me in her honor.”

  The three women wore matching expressions of shock, their mouths agape and their words silenced. The blonde spluttered while the two redheads seethed, their cheeks mottled with hot color.

  “Come. It is clear he has mated a savage.” The ice dragon sniffed daintily and pulled her two friends along. Saul waited for steam to spill from their ears.

  “I love you,” Saul spit out impulsively to his bride. He took Chloe into his arms again, never tiring of how she molded against him.

  “Because I shut those bitches up?”

  Saul laughed. “For that and more. You are a hundred times the dragon they are.

  “Do you think they’re going to be a problem after this?”

  Saul’s uncle stepped up with Watatsumi closely behind, both clearly among those in the group of well-wishers. “Heh. Pay them no mind. It brings back memories of the dark ages for many of them, when humans with sorcery and magical weapons could hold their own against us,” Thor muttered. “You fought with the honor she lacked in life.”

  “This was a humbling, necessary reminder of our own mortality,” Watatsumi said. “I congratulate you, Chloe Drakenstone. You have earned this peace and the prosperity soon to fill your life. It is as I have foreseen.”

  “You predicted this outcome?” Saul demanded.

  “If you knew I would win, why didn’t you tell me?” Chloe cried.

  The old dragon smiled. “Too much confidence is as detrimental, if not more so, as not enough.”

  The gathered assembly of dragons took their leave in turns. Some by car, others by Mahasti’s magic, with the genie spiriting Maximilian and the mourning party away to the volcano. Eventually, the field outside of his home cleared until only a few close friends remained.

  A tense silence fell over the fire-scarred pasture. Thor shattered the somber mood with his booming voice, turning to raise both arms above his head as he shouted, “And now, the time has come for celebration!”

  “Um, first, can we put some clothes on my husband?” Chloe asked.

  “Mahasti.”

  Chuckling, the genie fulfilled Chloe’s wish and provided a replica of Saul’s shredded clothes. The cotton t-shirt was cool against his skin, fitted to his upper body. Snug jeans appeared on his lower half with another pair of casual boots.

  “And now the revel begins!” Thor called happily.

  The dragons cheered.

  “Don’t I get the chance to bathe and clean up first?” Chloe asked.

  “Uh, no,”
Saul murmured. “It is actual tradition to celebrate while covered in the blood of one’s enemy.”

  “You have to be kidding me.”

  “If only.”

  ***

  “This feels so much better. I had no idea dragons could party that hard.”

  “We have been known to carouse for days at a time.”

  “A few hours were enough for me. I almost feel guilty that we ditched when we did. Almost,” she added slyly with a peek over her shoulder and into his face.

  Saul cradled his wife in his arms while they both soaked in his massive bathtub. He’d suggested the personal hot spring, but Chloe had quickly dismissed the idea. After a fight to the death, she wanted nothing less than fragrant vanilla bubbles and bath salts. While Saul had personally prepared her bath with a variety of favorites summoned by Mahasti, Chloe washed the blood away under the shower.

  “Saul, I’m curious about something.”

  “Yes?” He paused in his washing of her back, a natural sea sponge held in one hand. He set it aside and rinsed her with his bare hands, preferring to feel her silky skin against his skin.

  “Why did those three classless bimbos say Brigid was a contract cub? What’s that?”

  “Finding one’s true mate is not always an easy thing, my love. Sometimes dragons enter into breeding contracts.”

  “So Maximilian didn’t have a mate?”

  Saul recognized the guilt-stricken tone in Chloe’s voice. He kissed the top of her head and hugged her close against his chest. “No, he did not. Brigid’s mother, as I recall, was a much older dragon who passed away shortly after she weaned her daughter and passed her to Max.”

  “That’s so sad.”

  “Indeed. He spoiled her rotten, a fact he discovered far too late.” Saul shook his head. “Despite Maximilian’s loss and my heartache for him, my soul also feels lighter, as if all worries were vanquished with Brigid.”

  “They were vanquished with Brigid,” Chloe said. She twisted around in his hold until she straddled him, her slim thighs positioned on either side of his hips. “Worrying is now a thing of the past. Vindictive dragon skank defeated. Concerns gone. Poof, gone.”

  “Is that right?”

  “It is,” she replied. “It is one hundred percent correct, Mr. Drakenstone, and I dare you to tell me otherwise.” Chloe leaned in for the kiss he’d craved since the end of the festivities, parting their lips and thoroughly claiming his mouth.

  “Mm… one would think you had devious intentions, Mrs. Drakenstone,” Saul spoke against the corner of her mouth. He dragged her closer by a grip of her ass, introducing her to his hardening dick. Her wiggling trapped it between their bodies then she nipped his shoulder playfully. “I certainly do.”

  “Oo!” she cried sharply, flinching.

  Her sudden outburst instantly killed the mood, like popping a bubble. “Did I hurt you?” Saul dropped his hands from her.

  “No. Not you.”

  “Were you injured during the fight? Why did you not—?”

  “No,” Chloe repeated, shaking her head. She seized Saul’s hand and moved it to her abdomen, gliding his palm over the gently curving bump beneath the water. Something touched his palm in return. A gentle something, an indescribable flutter of pressure.

  “Is that…?”

  “It’s our baby,” Chloe confirmed with tears in her eyes. “I was startled, not in pain.”

  “He has a vigorous kick.” Saul slid his hand over her belly, searching for the baby’s elusive foot again. “We will have a strong and robust son to carry on the Drakenstone name.”

  Chloe aimed a big grin up at him. “It’s a girl.”

  “How can you know so soon?”

  “I know,” she insisted. “She feels like a girl, and I’ve been talking to her and calling her a girl.”

  A daughter, he thought in wonder. In seconds, his idealizations of the perfect son vanished, replaced by visions of a little girl with Chloe’s smile. A precious baby girl as beautiful as her mother. “Then what shall we call her?”

  “She needs a special name, for a special girl,” Chloe mused. “Do you have any ancestors you want to honor?”

  Saul grinned. “You would not wish their names. They are a mouthful, much as Teo’s is, or Watatsumi. I was quite fortunate and born of a generation who chose to move away from such traditions.”

  “Point.” Chloe giggled. “Okay then, what about Freya? Or is that name already taken and used by someone?”

  Thor’s mother would never forgive us if we named a halfbreed after her. Or perhaps it would honor her. He considered it, but ultimately shook his head. “The true Freya is a mighty white beast who slumbers still in Scandinavia,” Saul said with caution. “As a rule, we avoid reusing names. We are each unique.”

  “Fair enough.” Chloe pursed her lips thoughtfully. “What about the name Astrid?”

  “A name worthy of Norse royalty and our little one.”

  Chloe’s fingers wrapped around his thick cock beneath the sudsy water. It twitched eagerly, always responsive to the slightest touch or moment of her attention. “Now, where were we before Astrid interrupted?”

  “We will disturb her rest,” Saul protested.

  “Shhh…” Chloe silenced him with a touch of her fingers to his lips. “She’s floating in her own little pool and absolutely clueless about what’s happening in our world out here.”

  Saul’s head fell back as his wife directed him into her waiting channel. Hot and exquisitely tight, she was all his, her inner muscles clenching around him as if by reflex. They joined in a puzzle-pieced union, and once she was full of him, Chloe’s hips began to move to a rhythm of her own choosing. Saul was swept along for the ride, absolutely lost in each rise and descent.

  At the end, once Chloe tensed against him, fingers grasping at his chest, Saul dragged her head back by a handful of hair, kissing her roughly until the last shudders left her body.

  Then he made love to her again on his own terms, both of her hands on the lip of the tub. Afterward, the dragon washed his wife again, toweled off her sore and aching body, then took her with him to the bed where they snuggled amidst the thick comforters and found steaming mugs of hot cocoa awaiting them on the bedside table. Beyond their bedroom window, the party continued into the night, revelers from the paranormal community celebrating in honor of Chloe’s acceptance into their world.

  “I love you,” she whispered dreamily against his shoulder.

  “And I love you. Forever and always, Chloe.” His fingers glided over her curved stomach. “If you are my heart, then Astrid will certainly be my soul. I will never allow either of you to come to harm or know threat again.”

  Taming the Dragon

  Chapter 1

  Marceline Vargas lay in the driver’s seat of her sporty little coupe with the back of her hand over her eyes. It was an evening ritual after a stressful day on the job in a career she’d come to loathe. Working as the regional finance manager of Burke Brothers Department Stores had become a demanding drain on her life.

  “Maybe Matt’s made dinner for me,” she mused.

  Hell, it wasn’t like he had work or anything, since he’d lost his job and spent most days at home on her computer. He assured her he was actively seeking new employment and submitting applications. It was only the middle of the second month of his unemployment, but she’d strangle him with her own stockings if things didn’t change.

  Groaning, Marcy stepped from the car and climbed the stairs to her upper level apartment. Bass pounded from inside, greeting her with the thump of hard rap. She tore down the printed sheet of paper taped to the door and scanned it before entering.

  Ms. Vargas,

 
Under the stipulations of your rental agreement, you have agreed to refrain from excessive amounts of noise that will constitute a disruption to the peaceful environment expected by your fellow tenants.

  We are writing to inform you of numerous complaints received by this office since our second and last written warning on the date of March 14, in regards to your failure to adhere to the noise policy of your rental agreement. Further infractions may lead to disciplinary action, leading up to eviction.

  Remember that you are allowed to entertain guests on the property, but ultimately their noise is your responsibility.

  Numerous complaints and another written warning? Marcy spun on her heel and stormed down to the main office in time to find the clerk closing up for the day.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Oh, hello, Ms. Vargas.”

  “Don’t ‘Ms. Vargas’ me, Julie. What is this about?”

  Julie averted her gaze. “Well… I wrote you two other notes, Marcy. Everyone is complaining about the noise during the day.”

  “Two other notes? This is the first note I’ve had,” Marcy gritted out.

  “Really?”

  “Uh, yeah. I wouldn’t be down here waving this about in your face if I received another, don’t you think? If there were problems, why didn’t you call me?”

  “We made calls to the apartment and Mr. Jones said he would pass the message on to you.”

  Molten red flashed before Marcy’s eyes and became a furious curtain over her vision. Her head pounded like the music thundering from her apartment. “This will be remedied post haste, Julie. Next time there’s a problem, you come to me .”

  “I’m sorry, I thought—”

  Marcy whirled and exited the office. Less than a minute later, she’d run in her heels up the stairs to her walkway and charged into her unit. Her boyfriend didn’t budge from the couch to greet her. He reclined with a bag of Doritos on his lap, her laptop on the table, and a bowl of hot cheese on the coffee table beside it. He was playing Candy Crush. She breezed by him and snatched the television plug out of the wall.