Loved by the Dragon Collection Read online

  “We did.”

  “Well are you going to tell me or not?” Chloe demanded.

  Marcy chuckled. “We decided to name him Javier Rafael,” she said. She ran her fingers over the curve of her belly and sighed. “Is it an okay name?”

  “Fantastic.” Chloe refilled Marcy’s lemonade glass and sat down.

  “How do you feel about it? It’s almost time… you look about how I did when I was ready.”

  “I guess watching the two of you have kids finally got to me and made me baby crazy enough to risk it.”

  “You’re going to have the best healers by your side. Promise. Saul told me there’s no one better than his mother.”

  “I know. It doesn’t change how scared I am but… I can’t wait to meet him.”

  Female dragons carried their young for nearly two years, a gestation duration not shared by humans. Chloe had carried longer than the standard nine months, and still delivered a baby of just above average size. Despite that, Marcy felt more like a whale than ever as she approached the middle of her eleventh month. Her body was exhausted.

  Just one more week. One more week to give her son the time he needed to develop. She’d spent most of the last two months bedridden while Teo dedicated his waking moments to her happiness and comfort. Just one more week. Marcy was already loved by one dragon, and in only a few days, she would share her affection with one more.

  Taming the Dragon Bonus Chapter: Teotihuacan

  Teotihuacan, resort owner and centuries-old dragon, paced the floor of the administrative office with a phone cradled between his shoulder and ear. “This is a ridiculous plan,” he bit out in a terse voice.

  “You had absolute faith in this plan two days ago. Why has your mind changed?” Saul asked.

  Teo paused to glance at the security feed, his computer monitor displaying rows of tables beneath fancy cloth. He’d personally prepared each centerpiece as gifts for his guests to take home if they chose.

  It was his gift, after all, a natural born talent of earth dragons to imbue vitality in the plant life around them. He could coax the tiniest seed into a vibrant flower within minutes.

  “She loathes me.”

  “She has not spoken with you in years,” Saul said.

  “She will remember the times we have crossed paths in your home.”

  “Marceline is an incredible woman of intellect and integrity. She will forgive your past transgressions,” Saul insisted. “Hang up and go speak to her or else.”

  “Or else what?”

  “I will come and raze the entire island to the ground with such intensity that no amount of dragon’s magic will resurrect your flowers,” he growled into the phone, his best imitation of an angry, ancient wyrm.

  The silence between them lasted for five seconds until Teo burst out laughing over the line. “It will be no more impressive than the tantrums you once threw as a child.”

  “I thought you could use the laugh, old friend. Chloe and I have done the most difficult work, although I do not believe my wife realizes our plan. You need do nothing more than appear and sweep your woman off her feet.”

  Teo laughed until his sides hurt then sank into the desk chair to watch the women in the monitor. Sweep her off her feet?

  Marceline appeared as radiant as she had the first day he’d met her. The camera revealed her in deep discussion with some rich prick he couldn’t recall inviting. The man’s eyes watched her bosom closely, as if the words came from her tits instead of her mouth.

  Teo growled, a low rumble vibrating in his chest. “I will call you soon with news of my success,” he declared. He hung up without waiting for Saul to acknowledge him and marched from the office to greet his guests. Fashionably late, he swept into the room with a charismatic smile in place.

  People waved him down at once. They all wanted the same thing — to garner his favor — but Teo had time for none of them. He weaved through the room, focused on his goal. Marceline was the only human in the room who mattered.

  Luck seemed to be with him. Within moments of greeting Chloe and Marcy, another guest stole Chloe away.

  And then he stole Marcy, too, coaxing her into the special garden and attached butterfly habitat. Her eyes widened as she took in the surroundings, and for one brief moment, she warmed up to him.

  Then he ruined it in a single breath. With one ill-thought statement.

  Fuck, Teo thought. As she strode away without looking back at him, the disgruntled dragon realized his error.

  Hours after his failure, Teo retired to his personal island and stood at the shoreline, wondering how to take the next step. He paced along the sandy bank, absolutely nude from top to bottom, his fine tuxedo shredded in the water just beyond the resort’s sea shelf. The refreshing swim in his dragon form hadn’t helped to ease his mind, and if he phoned Saul, he suspected his friend would tell him to try again.

  Of the hundreds on my island, she is the only one who expects nothing from me, and yet I want nothing more than to gift her with the finest jewels.

  A dragoness would be content to accept precious gemstones and gold coins from him in exchange for her favor, allowing him the chance to later get to know her, and possibly earn her affection.

  But many human women — Marcy included — led lives that seemed backwards to him, disinterested in a man’s wealth until they had bonded.

  Then they had the audacity to want to give equal financial support!

  Such an absurd notion. Nothing should matter but the size of my hoard and that I am willing to provide for her.

  And yet, it pleased him greatly to know she could find interest in him for more than his vast wealth — that she wouldn’t be yet another gold-digging mortal searching for a favor.

  Soon, I will try again. I will give her the time to forgive tonight’s blunder, and then I shall make her mine.

  ***

  Teo did not drown Marcy with priceless jewels, but he did discover every second of her time to be as valuable as the relics in his cave. He lived for the moments when a smile touched her lips, and he eagerly searched for reasons to bring them together. He escorted her to his private aviary where his delicate, feathered friends took an instant liking to her.

  Later, it seemed only natural to entrust his wealth to her as well. He left her in his office with access to his account records.

  He waited for her to call, but it never happened.

  “Why do you remain here when there is a beautiful woman awaiting you?” Kekoa asked. “Does your heart no longer call to her?”

  “It does,” Teo admitted. “But she does not appear to be interested.” He clawed the damp sand and muttered under his breath. For the first time in as long as he could remember, the crashing waves against the rocks and sandy shoreline failed to soothe his spirits. Wandering his personal island always brought him joy after a swim.

  Kekoa laughed at him.

  “What?”

  “You truly know nothing of human women.”

  “And you do?” Teo shot back.

  “I know they favor attention and play hard to get. I know women of quality value time over petty gifts. Give your words to her. Seek her and show her your attention hasn’t waned.”

  Teo grumbled. “Two days have passed. How could my attention diminish in a mere two days’ time?”

  Kekoa rolled his eyes and sat beside him on the beach. “Trust me. Time passes more quickly for humans. She is not one of your dragoness bitches.”

  Teo growled and fixed Kekoa beneath a withering stare.

  His friend raised his hands, pleading for peace. “The one you had here for a visit ten years ago, and the red I glimpsed in California, are all I have to go by. They didn’t set
a good example of your species.”

  “Fair enough. Very well then. What do I do?”

  “Allow her to see more of you beyond the image you portray to the world. To your guests. Let her see the real you.” Kekoa glanced at him. “And if that fails, human women appear to have an unnatural weakness for abdominal muscles. Flash your pecs at her once or twice and that should do the trick.”

  Teo stared at him.

  Ultimately, he commissioned Marcy’s artistic talents for a portrait, combining all aspects of Kekoa’s advice into one endeavor.

  It’s been decades since I’ve had a portrait painted. Of course, I’ve always worn clothing of some sort as well, he mused. Moments after making plans to meet Marcy in his sterile, boring executive office, he cursed himself.

  Teo went to the intercom and beeped his secretary. “I need this office furnished within the next half hour.”

  “Furnished?” Judy asked?

  “Yes,” he said impatiently. “Curtains, carpets, paintings. Things a woman would find attractive.”

  “Thirty minutes isn’t enough—”

  “Make it enough,” he replied curtly before ending the call. Later, he’d apologize for his abrupt and rude behavior, but now, he had work to do. With help from Kekoa and a few of the other resort employees, they were somehow able to find furnishings and decorations in a miraculously short time, Teo himself even helping to arrange the room to his liking.

  When Marcy entered a transformed room with personality, he couldn’t wait to be rid of his clothing. Anticipation had made them stiff and uncomfortable against skin yearning to be free. His cock had already begun to tense, on the verge of achieving erection.

  Marcy’s eyes traveled downward to his dick. Her prolonged attention yielded a hot flush of masculine pride, then his cock twitched and swelled even further.

  He ached, but most of all, he wanted her to find happiness in looking upon him, to feel equal pleasure to what he enjoyed whenever she entered the room.

  “Am I to your expectations?” he asked.

  Marcy abruptly swept her attention to his face. “Did you have a pose in mind?”

  Teo’s enthusiasm deflated. Was Kekoa wrong? he wondered. Marcy did not seem infatuated with his abs or the rest of him. He felt ridiculous and inexperienced with human women, and frustrated she did not reciprocate his interest by shedding her clothes as well. It was a foolish notion, expecting her to be as free with her body, but it hadn’t changed how much he’d hoped to make progress.

  “What would you suggest?” He held eye contact with her, refusing to show his disappointment.

  At the end of their session, Teo reluctantly donned his clothes and searched for a way to prolong their time together. It came to him in a stroke of genius.

  “I wish to see you again tomorrow.”

  And tomorrow couldn’t come quickly enough, once she agreed. Teo floated through his day with dreams of confessing his feelings to Marceline.

  Later, as he and Kekoa reviewed the construction progress of the island’s new aquatics center, he absently muttered plans out loud.

  “Tomorrow I will bond with her,” he told Kekoa. “I believe you are correct. If money is the route to earning a dragoness’ love, then certainly one’s physical attributes are the way to impress a human woman.”

  “They like big cocks,” Kekoa agreed. “You defend your female dragons quite readily but have poor experiences with them. Why?”

  Teo sighed. “Loyalty, perhaps. Saul has no such qualms when it comes to speaking his mind about the fairer sex of our species, but I have always felt differently.”

  “Can you blame him?”

  Thoughts of Brigid came to mind, making Teo laugh and shake his head when he recalled her air of superiority. “Ixchel was not as bad as Brigid. She did not mean to pay you insult, Kekoa, but you were a child then and it is unlike a female dragon to show affection to cubs not of her own flesh and blood,’ he explained.

  “You liked her.” Kekoa leaned forward, curiosity on his brown face. “Enough to be her mate?”

  “I did,” Teo admitted. “Black dragons are a rarity among my kind, our females even fewer. I had hoped our year together would… inspire feelings between us beyond the contract to conceive young.”

  “She treated you badly,” Kekoa said. “I loathed her for that more than I hated her for the things she said to me.”

  Teo snapped his head around to look at his friend. “What things did she speak to you?”

  The wereshark hesitated, and spoke only when Teo gestured for him to continue with an impatient movement of his wrist. “She told me I was unwelcome and that if not for your pity, she would have eaten me. I was to leave once the cub was born, as you would no longer have an interest in guarding my life.”

  A bolt of fury streaked through Teo, knotting his stomach with anger. He clenched his jaw. “You didn’t think to bring this to my attention?”

  “Forgive me, Master. I thought you were aware.”

  Teo gritted his teeth and set one hand on the young man’s shoulder. “No. At no point was I ever aware of her abusing you while beyond my hearing. You were a child, Kekoa. A child. You were my responsibility. I brought you here to this island to protect you, and had I known…”

  I would have made her dwell on the mainland in one of my other homes. Visited her there for our matings. I would never have brought her home to upset you.

  Kekoa nodded his head. “I apologize. I should have told you. Ah, I should go and conduct the interview scheduled for this evening. Already, there is a vast amount of interest in this new compound. Forgive me for becoming distracted.”

  “Ah, yes. That man.” Teo crinkled his nose in distaste. A well-known doctor had applied for the position of director over the aquatics center, and while he was as sharp as a tack, Teo’s feelings toward him remained undecided.

  “I will prepare the cabana in the morning.” The young man stepped away from the metal frame dedicated to the facility’s future shark tank.

  “Kekoa?”

  The young man paused to glance back at him. “Yes, Master?”

  “Teo. Call me Teo. Take the evening off to go spend time with Dante. I insist. He mentioned a desire to have company out on the reef and I mentioned you may have an interest in showing him the reef. Enjoy yourselves. I will handle Doctor Castlebury. If he is as eager as his cover letter implies, he will not mind waiting a half hour or so for my arrival.”

  “But your plans—”

  Teo waved him off with a hand. “I will manage.”

  “Thank you… Teo.” Kekoa tested the word out, as if it felt strange to his lips without the preceding title. “Tomorrow, we will meet at the private cabana. I have an idea.” Smiling as he waved, he then turned and strode away to search out his new friend.

  And Teo was left to his own thoughts, filled with hopes of earning Marceline’s heart.

  ***

  Teo was not prepared for the intensity associated with falling in love, and underestimating it nearly cost him everything he had fought to build between them. As days passed and they eventually bonded, it seemed only inevitable he would chase her away again.

  He spent the first few days in disbelief, waiting for her to return. When the longing for Marcy surpassed his pride, he phoned Saul for advice.

  “An angered woman requires time,” Saul cautioned. “Did you apologize after upsetting her?”

  “No, of course not. I did nothing wrong.”

  Saul made an exasperated sound and groaned into the phone. “You’ve broken one of the simplest rules of having a human woman,” he grunted out. “You must apologize to her at once.”

  “Why? What wrongdoing have I committed, s
ave for giving my expectation of having her for more than a passing moment of my life?” Teo inhaled a deep breath. Few things frightened him like the potential loss of his new mate to old age.

  “If you require me to answer this for you, Teotihuacan, then you do not deserve her,” Saul said simply. “Consider her feelings and place yourself in her shoes. How would you feel if she were to command you to give up your dragon shape and live a mortal life?”

  “I would n—”

  “Have you not asked her to do similar?”

  Teo remained quiet.

  “To accept your seed and bear your child is to forsake her humanity , Teo. Neither dragon nor human, she will watch all of her friends, family, and loved ones die.”

  “Saul…” Teo sagged in the seat and gazed across the sand into the crashing waves. “I have been a fool.”

  “A lovestruck fool,” Saul said gently.

  “What must I do?”

  Saul chuckled into the phone. “Marceline is a fiery creature with strong opinions. Stubborn. Give her time to cool and consider how you might apologize.”

  “You have the talent for words,” Teo grumbled. “What would you say in my place?”

  “Marceline, I have behaved as an idiot. An absolute buffoon. I beg your forgiveness and promise I will never foolishly give commands regarding your body and well-being again.”

  “Asshole,” Teo grumbled. “I wanted flowery words.”

  “Save the flowery words and voice your feelings. Speak to her from your heart.”

  Words from my heart. How do I tell her that with her beside me, my heart feels as large as this vast ocean, and without her, it is as empty as its surface?

  “I will ask Chloe to speak with her,” Saul offered.

  “I… feel lost without her,” Teo finally admitted. “She has taken part of my soul to Texas.”

  “Then tell her so. Give breath to your thoughts and let her know she is loved, once you are ready.”