Fated Mates: Paranormal Romance Series Starters Boxset

by Hariharan, Laxmi

  Dragon 3. Woman 4.

  No. No more games.

  Hope didn't need to play games with herself, not when her dragon and the woman inside were in perfect harmony.

  Both agreed on what was needed.

  His fingers slid up her arm to rest against her cheek.

  Heat from his touch bled into her, sending a pulse of such desire, such longing through her.

  Molted need tugged her belly. "Aaron." She pressed her thighs together.

  Her voice seemed to galvanize him into action.

  His head swooped down, his lips slanting over hers.

  Liquid pleasure pulsed straight to her core. She should protest and tell him he shouldn't be doing this, that this would only deepen the bond, that it would only hurt him.

  The thought had her tearing her lips from his, even as her body swayed toward him. "It's only a matter of time before the impact of the psychic bond becomes too much to bear. I can't live with myself if something happens to you. Do you understand?"

  He cupped her cheek. "I am not going to die."

  The arrogance in his tone startled a smile out of her. "You stubborn man, you. You think you can fight the impact of the psychic bond? No other species has survived mating with a dragon."

  "I am an Ascendant. An immortal." His eyes narrowed. "I am not going anywhere."

  The tenderness in his eyes mixed with a glint of stubbornness.

  "How can you be so sure?" she whispered.

  "Just look inside yourself. Tell me what you see." He covered her eyes with his fingers, so her eyelids fluttered down.

  As she sank into herself, her dragon drew her spirit to the psychic plane, and she gasped.

  The cobalt blue that was Aaron had twined with her green to form a shimmering cord that bound them, and as she watched, a spark of gold zinged down the bond from her to Aaron.

  Her dragon fire united both of them in a way that was so unique that her chest tightened. Her breathing grew shallow. They were so beautiful together.

  He gripped the nape of her neck.

  The gesture was so possessive, that her lips trembled in a smile.

  They belonged together.

  "How is it possible?" The surprise shimmered through her as she tried to make sense of what she'd seen. "It's as if our psychic energies are…"

  "In sync?" The smug tone of his voice had a smile tugging at her lips again.

  She nodded and found she could still speak. "We are beautiful together. My dragon was right all along. It's as if the force of the psychic energy was absorbed by the bond so it didn't harm you." Her pulse raced as hope bloomed inside.

  "The excess energy from the mating simply flowed out of the bond and into the psychic web Aaron shares with the rest of us Ascendants."

  The new voice had Hope turning.

  "Kris," Aaron exclaimed, looking at the tall, muscular male, who'd just walked in. "I thought you were on your honeymoon."

  "We arrived in time for the naming ceremony for Leana and Mikhail's child." The petite, curvy woman who held Kris’s arm smiled.

  Hope cleared her throat. "Did we interrupt the festivities?"

  "The mayor has postponed the ceremony until your sister is fully recovered." Kris' features softened.

  "The overflow of energy that poured through the psychic web, it didn't hurt anyone, did it?" Hope rubbed her arms and darted a gaze at Kris.

  "On the contrary," Kris chuckled, "it has given me a stamina boost." He pulled his giggling mate close to his side, leaving them in no doubt of exactly how he planned to work off that excess energy.

  The door to the operating theatre whispered open, and Vance stepped out. His face was drawn with dark circles under his eyes, but his lips were stretched in a half-smile.

  The breath rushed out of Hope. Gripping Aaron's hand, she rose to her feet. "Eve, is she…?"

  "She's out of danger but in a coma." Vance put his hands in his pockets. "It's just a way for her body to cope with the damage, giving itself the time and space to heal by shutting down everything but the most vital functions."

  Finding her knees weak, Hope swayed on her feet.

  Aaron slipped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "How long will she be like this?"

  "Hard to tell," Vance replied, forehead wrinkling. "But her vitals are strong. We just have to monitor her and wait for her to wake up naturally."

  "And Freya?" Hope asked.

  "She's in the recovery room, sedated. I reckon she'll be out for another twelve hours at least." Vance smiled. "You did well, both of you." His glance encompassed Aaron. "You can see Eve, but just for a few minutes." Vance stepped aside, beckoning to Hope to go in.

  Hope walked into the room, toward the bed where Eve lay covered with a sheet.

  There were tubes running from her, and a machine beeped in the background. Underneath it all, her sister, so vibrant in real life, lay still, face pale.

  Hope held her hand, curling her fingers around Eve's. "I'm alive, thanks to you. Don't give up on me. I need you to see for yourself the miracle that I have with Aaron. I want it for you, too, Eve. This feeling of finding another who fits you like he was born for you. A feeling so seamless that I don't know anymore where I end and he begins."

  Her sister lay quiet, and perhaps it was just her imagination, but Hope could have sworn her breathing grew calmer.

  "It's possible to mate with non-dragon shifters. Our species has a chance of surviving, and on our terms. Do you hear?"

  Eve didn’t answer. The machines beeped.

  Hope held her hand a little longer, until Aaron walked in and put his arm around her. "She needs to rest and so do you."

  When she walked out, it was to find Kris and his mate waiting.

  "I'm Tara." The woman hugged Hope. "Kris and I will wait here and watch over your sister while you go get some rest."

  Hope began to protest.

  Tara patted her cheek. "You go on home, honey. It won't do any good for your sister to wake up and find you in a bad state. You haven't had it easy either. You need to recover your strength, so you can take care of her."

  Aaron ruffled Tara's hair. "You always know the right thing to say."

  Aaron trusted Kris and Tara, and that somehow made it easier for Hope to nod her acceptance.

  "Cain's coming in a few hours to relieve us." Kris touched her shoulder. "You’re family. We take care of each other."

  Relief coursed through Hope. Her limbs felt weak.

  Kris and Tara would make sure her sister stayed safe. Tiredness washed over her as the events caught up with her, and she swayed.

  Aaron's grip tightened on her.

  "You two get some rest." Kris jerked his head toward the exit.

  49

  Aaron

  Everyone in the infirmary had referred to Hope as his mate, and she hadn't protested. Either she had accepted it, or… No. That was just wishful thinking. Hope had only mated with him because it had helped overcome the Elysian so she could save Eve and Freya.

  No. That wasn't completely true either. The woman in her loved him as much as her dragon did, only she was too stubborn to say anything about it.

  Aaron walked with her through the quiet township.

  They passed the lit windows of the little standalone bungalows that dotted the street. Shifters, humans, and vampires who had families lived here.

  Reaching his room on the ground floor of the barracks, he opened the door, letting her precede him.

  He wondered what she made of it. It was a studio-like space with a small kitchenette at the far end. A single bed big enough for his length was neatly made up.

  To the right, the double doors opened onto a patio. The one perk of being a Guardian was that he got the sea view.

  She didn't look at it.

  Crossing the floor, Hope went to the bed. Lying down, she turned on her side where she doubled up her legs and brought them close to her chest. She pillowed her face on her arm and shut her eyes.

  Aaron lay
down next to her. Stretching out, he put his arm over his eyes.

  He must have dropped off to sleep, for a sound jerked him awake.

  When he opened his eyes, he realized it was dark but for the faint starlight that came in through the windows behind the bed. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore reached him, but it wasn't that which had woken him.

  There was another low cry, one filled with such terror that it twisted his stomach.

  Aaron curved his body around Hope's.

  Her back was drenched in sweat. She was shivering, even though it was warm in the room.

  Waves of helplessness brushed his senses through the mating bond.

  She wouldn't want to be seen as this vulnerable, wouldn't want him giving her comfort, but he didn't care. She was in agony.

  He had to soothe her.

  Curling his arm around her, he pulled her close to his chest. That seemed to calm her down, for her body stopped shaking.

  Making a small noise at the back of her throat, she pushed back into him.

  The soft slide of her butt brushed the front of his jeans.

  Heat tugged his groin. He was instantly hard. His chest felt like it was going to explode. A bead of sweat rolled down his neck.

  He should pull back then.

  Yet to do so would be to disturb the woman who was sleeping in his arms. Her chest rose and fell against the arm Aaron had slung around her waist.

  Letting the rhythm of her breathing calm him, Aaron closed his eyes.

  50

  Hope

  The warmth seeping into her skin had her burrowing in further. At her back was a wall of heat that flowed over her, wrapping her in a cocoon of such comfort she didn't want to move. Sighing, her dragon and the woman inside, both, wallowed in the sheer feeling of being exactly where they wanted to be. In the arms of their mate.

  Mate.

  Hope's eyes flew open.

  She tried to change position only to find a heavy weight around her waist holding her down.

  When her fingers brushed Aaron's forearm, a shudder of liquid want zoomed straight to her core. She knew where she was then. In Aaron's room, in his bed.

  His scent surrounded her, tugged at her.

  She wanted to touch the hard planes of his chest.

  He felt big and strong, and so sexy.

  Hope swallowed.

  Her dragon lunged toward Aaron, her fire simmering, ready to pour out into her veins, into him.

  Turning, she placed her lips at the base of his throat.

  She licked the saltiness of his skin, she breathed in his dark eucalyptus and pine scent.

  Her dragon simply wanted to fold itself around him. It wanted to be with him on the physical plane and complete the mating bond that was a living, breathing thing between them. And Hope wanted that, too. The woman inside her acknowledged that she needed him, needed the strength of his presence to anchor her. More than that, he made her dragon feel at peace, like it had found its place.

  Surrounded by Aaron's warmth, by the living energy of his heart beating against her own, Hope realized she couldn't live without him.

  As the realization rippled through her, she shut her eyes and slid into the psychic plane where her dragon's energies swirled.

  There it was. The cobalt blue of Aaron's spirit folded around the green-gold of her dragon fire…except the strands were woven over each other like a double helix.

  It was as if since she'd last seen the bond it had solidified, their spirits intertwined with each other even more.

  Sparks of gold zinged across the helix, this time in both directions. It was mesmerizing. Just like that, all her doubts fell away.

  Turning in the circle of his arms, she pressed her lips to his. The taste of him called to her. Firm, strong yet soft.

  Giving in to the temptation, she licked his lower lip, and was rewarded by his arousal thrusting against her.

  Just as she was about to deepen the kiss, his eyes flew open, and she froze.

  51

  Aaron

  The sensation of soft skin, the rustle of clothes, the scent of vanilla and hot spice, and then a surge of heat in his lower belly had Aaron fumbling up through layers of darkness.

  His arm tightened around the curves that slithered under him. Sensations of need coursed through him, stiffening his desire.

  That ever-vigilant part of his mind, which had been trained for battle and which never slept, knew it was his mate.

  She was here in his bed. He was supposed to take care of her.

  Except his skin was on fire with needing her. All the pent-up desire that he'd subdued since the day he saw Hope surged to the fore.

  When his eyes focused, it was to meet those startling emerald-green ones. The flares of gold in them sparkled and swirled. A man could get lost in those eyes and never find himself.

  She leaned in closer, so close her breath whispered over his cheek.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Isn't it obvious?" Her lips turned up in a smile.

  Hope was in his arms, in his bed. All he could think about was kissing her, possessing her, burying himself in the soft cradle of her thighs. Yet he had to ask her. "Why?" he heard himself and cursed inwardly.

  "Why not?" She smirked.

  And that pushed him over the edge.

  Ignoring the pain from his still-healing ribs, he flipped her, so he was above her, on her, surrounding her. Making sure she could feel the full impact of his desire.

  "Don't play with me, Hope," he grated out through a throat that felt like it was lined with sandpaper.

  "I love you, Aaron."

  His heart simply stopped.

  "All this time you were there, and I kept turning you away. I used the mating bond and the chance of hurting you as an excuse." Leaning up, she touched her forehead to his.

  Aaron found he couldn't breathe. His heart beat fast, the blood pounding in his ears.

  "I was afraid that you would tie me down, cage my dragon. When I woke up next to you, I realized I am exactly where I should be." She gazed into his eyes.

  Aaron couldn't look away.

  He wanted to say something but found his throat was all clogged up with a big ball of emotion.

  She wet her lips, a pulse fluttering at her throat. "My dragon soars high, safe in the knowledge it has a home here with you. You are strong enough to take the impact of the psychic bond—"

  He grabbed her chin and then fitted his lips to hers.

  When he pressed his thumb against her chin, she opened her mouth.

  His tongue slid right in, tangling with hers, sucking on hers.

  Just like that, he wanted more.

  He cupped her breast, squeezing her pebbled nipple, even as he swallowed the moan that bubbled up from her.

  The feel of it vibrating down his throat was so erotic he found his arousal surging toward her.

  Tearing his mouth from her, he gazed into her eyes. "I love you."

  She leaned up and bit his lower lip, and damn but he almost came right then.

  Hope wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  A surge of adrenaline had him tearing her shirt open, the buttons flying around the room.

  Her body trembled.

  That pleased him and turned him on even more. Dipping his head, he bit down on her nipple, and her upper body arced off the bed. It drove him a little mad with wanting.

  Placing a trail of kisses up her neck, he once more captured her lips, even as he slid his fingers down the zipper of her pants. Then, he was pushing aside her panties, and dove his finger into her wet heat.

  A scream was torn out of her. Her nails dug into his shoulders.

  Her eyes were unfocused with desire and passion and a want that was so intense he had to stop himself from sinking into her right away. Not yet.

  A second finger joined the first, and he slid his fingers in and out of her, rubbing the heel of his hand against her center.

  He had the satisfaction of seeing her throw b
ack her head, exposing the underside of her neck. He didn't stop himself.

  He bit the side of her neck—not enough to draw blood, but just deep enough to mark her as his.

  He captured her mouth with his, and dove his tongue in again, even as his fingers plunged, taking what was his.

  She came apart in his arms, her leg twined around his, her fingers buried in his hair.

  52

  Hope

  Heat from him poured into her. Her dragon strained toward him on the psychic plane.

  Both dragon and woman didn't hold back.

  When Hope looked into his eyes, the blue poured over her, bathing her in a flood of desire so intense she knew she had to have him.

  Reaching out, she fumbled with the buttons of his shirt to push it aside, only to have him swing off her.

  Standing by the bed, Aaron pulled off his shirt and then his pants, and the breath caught in her threat.

  He was so beautiful, her immortal.

  All hard planes and muscles. His chest sculpted like an impossible dream, tapering down to a stomach so flat she knew if she touched it, her hand would slide down toward the proud hardness that thrust up toward her.

  "You are so big." Her cheeks flushed with warmth.

  Hope was no prude.

  Yet even as her dragon rose inside and spread its wings and wanted him, the woman in her worried she wouldn't be able to take all of him in.

  Reaching down, he held himself, running his hand over the length of his hardness, and a thrum of desire sparked inside. The jolt was so fierce she felt herself go wet.

  Wordless, unable to articulate the anticipation and the excitement of finally being with him, the slight hesitation only making the wanting more powerful, she opened her arms to him.

  Aaron dropped to his knees in front of the bed. Holding her hands, he kissed each palm in turn, the sweetness of his gesture intensifying that liquid want inside. She simply had to have him.