HUNTED BY A DRAGON: Fated Dragon Series (Book 2 of 3) (DRAGON MATED)

by Christina Wilder

“You two will want to be alone, I imagine,” Jenny said with a twinkle in her green eyes.

  “God, are we that obvious?” Not that caring for my man—my mate—was a bad thing.

  “Don’t forget,” she said with a smile. She started walking toward Drek, but turned back to take my hand to tug me along with her. “I’m mated with a dragon, too. Has Kemir mentioned the mating lust? It’s…” She fanned her face.

  Mating lust? Heat swirled through me, the closer I got to Kemir. I loved him. I would’ve fallen for him no matter where I’d found him. And I wanted to be with him for the rest of our lives. But was there some sort of chemical thing happening that made me lust for him every single second of the day?

  If so, I wouldn’t fight it, because it was beyond satisfying.

  Taking his hand, I squeezed it.

  His fingers linked with mine, and he leaned over to kiss my temple. “Once my brother and Jenny leave, I’ll show you around,” he murmured close to my ear.

  Hopefully the bedroom would be first on the agenda.

  Turning to fully face him, I pulled him down to steal a quick kiss, then whispered, “You need to tell me more about your mating lust.”

  Dragon fire flamed in his eyes, and his fingers tightened around mine. Without taking his eyes off my face, he barked out to Drek, “How about we four get together for dinner? Say, in about a week?”

  My cheeks grew hot, but Drek chuckled and Jenny giggled, telling me that they fully understood our need to be together.

  And, from the way they hurried from the room, I had a feeling dragon mating lust was consuming them, too.

  Maybe we better arrange to get together for dinner in two weeks instead.

  #

  We didn’t get two weeks. Or even one week.

  Kemir and I and Drek and Jenny were summoned by the holy ones only a few days later.

  After grabbing a quick bite to eat, Drek and Kemir flew us to the city’s temple, which was perched high at the top of a steep cliff.

  “This is where the holy ones reside,” Kemir told me, clasping my hand in his as we walked toward a large, blue-stone building that had been built into the cliffside. The rustic front was nothing like the palatial castles Kemir, Jarik, and Drek owned, but, flanked with enormous evergreens and with the entire valley as its view, it was impressive, all in its own right.

  A man dressed in a hooded robe greeted us with a short bow. He opened the large wooden entrance door, and led us into a damp, dark foyer, where he told us to wait.

  Shortly thereafter, he returned and gestured for us to follow him, into a room with three-story ceilings, arching windows that looked out at the valley on one side, and a series of alcoves filled with people on the other. As we approached a raised dais on the far end, the people left the alcoves and followed us, some grumbling, some grimly silent.

  My pulse spiked up into my throat, and my breathing grew shallow. This could not be good.

  Five robed men and one ancient woman sat in ornate, gilded chairs on the dais, with an inlaid, reflective mica wall arching up behind them.

  It was odd seeing my misshapen face reflected in the mica mirror, let alone the crowd growing behind us.

  Kemir held my now-sweaty hand as we walked closer to the dais, our handmade cloth shoes softly shuffling on the marble tile surface.

  The grim-faced men and woman sitting on the fancy chairs, dressed in fancy blue and yellow robes, said nothing as we approached.

  This world was…awesome. Overwhelming. Scary.

  I’d thought…Well, I’d thought Kemir led a rustic life in a cave lair. Instead, I’d soon marry a hot prince who lived in a glorious castle overlooking a city of dragons.

  But were these people just simple dragons, or were they gods? As if dragons could be considered simple.

  When we stopped in front of the dais, Kemir and Drek bowed slowly. The men and old woman rose and bowed back.

  Lots of bowing going on in Muraque. Since I wanted to fit in, I did the same, as did Jenny.

  “Our holy ones,” Kemir said quietly by my ear.

  I’d assumed.

  “Be aware of Ludar on the far left,” he continued.

  Tall and skinny, he had a less-than-pleasant twist to his lips. His black gaze traveled from me to Jenny, and his face scrunched up further, suggesting there was a gross smell in the room.

  “Never trust him,” Kemir said.

  I nodded, but said nothing, because Ludar’s attention was focused on me, making me squirm.

  “Why have you asked us to come here?” Drek asked in a deep, commanding voice. But then, he was their king.

  The first thing I’d ask Kemir when we left here was how his government worked. Who held the true power.

  I’d thought Drek and, to some extent, Kemir as second in line to the throne, did, but from the way the holy ones could command the royalty to appear before them with no notice and an expectation of a quick arrival, I had to wonder.

  “The women must leave the city immediately,” Ludar pronounced, telling me right away that, while Drek ruled, the holy ones were allowed to dictate.

  “No,” Drek and Kemir said in unison.

  “I’m not returning my mate to the surface,” Drek said, pulling a stunned Jenny close to his side.

  “I’m not either.” Kemir did the same. A growl ripped through his chest, and I wondered if he was eager to shift and fly from here with me on his back. Or shred his holy ones apart.

  Wait. These holy guys—and one holy gal—had the final say on whether Jenny and I remained here in Muraque?

  I’d thought our bonds made us a done deal.

  “Be reasonable,” the old woman said in a crotchety voice. “You must’ve realized they might not be granted leave to stay.”

  “No!” someone shouted behind us from the crowd. “They must leave.”

  “They’ll kill us all.” And, “We’re in danger,” others yelled.

  “You’re the one who is not being reasonable. We’re mated,” Drek said, his arm tightening around Jenny. “We were fated to be together.”

  “The mate bonds will be broken,” Ludar said snidely. “You never should’ve sought mates from the surface to begin with.”

  “We’ll wipe their minds and send them back where they came from,” the old woman added, her steely gaze pinning me in place. So much for women sticking up for each other. “You can find other mates from among our people.”

  The thing is, they knew there were few unwed women here to mate with. Drek and Kemir had been lucky to find mates at all.

  “You’d go against the Lifegiver’s wishes?” Kemir asked, pulling me even closer, as if he would wrap himself around me to keep me safe.

  The thought of having to leave Kemir horrified me. And, since I liked my brains the way they were, I wasn’t keen on this mind scrambling thing, either.

  Ludar grumbled. “Without the dragonstone heart, our city is in grave danger. You know this. Others will follow these women.”

  “Men with weapons!” someone said behind us.

  And, “We’ll be murdered in our own beds.”

  The door to the audience chamber banged open, making my heart jump.

  “We won’t be murdered if I find the dragonstone,” a deep voice said from the doorway.

  A quick glance over my shoulder showed Jarik—dressed in only a scrap of cloth that did nothing to hide his muscular physique—weaving his way through the crowd.

  “What is the meaning of this?” the old woman asked indignantly. “You were not asked to come here.”

  “But I can help.” He strode past us.

  I did not check out his butt as he walked by. Not much, anyway. But, jeez, these dragon dudes were hot. With his red and sapphire scales encrusting most of his back and around to his chiseled jawline, plus his dark brown hair and gray-blue eyes, Jarik was stiff competition for Kemir.

  Who grumbled and lifted my unhinged jaw.

  Assuming my brain survived the holy one’s edict, I’d have to make
this up to Kemir, because I knew his—and my own—mating lust was rising all over again.

  It was going to take some time to slake it, assuming it was slake-able, which I doubted. I’d want this man for the rest of my life.

  “Since others still search for the third woman, I will stop looking for her and instead find and restore the dragonstone heart to the crystalized dragon,” Jarik said.

  “The first dragon to find this valley was the ancestor of us all,” Kemir explained to me in a low voice, while everyone gasped and grumbled around us. I could see Drek speaking to Jenny, and assumed he was sharing the same information with her. “After the first dragon died, his body turned to white crystal, and he was laid to rest in a crypt in the center of the city. His dragonheart solidified into ruby-red gypsar. The magic it emitted has protected our valley since. But it was stolen just before my father died. The holy ones have worried people will find us. Hunt us.”

  “That can’t happen, can it?” I asked. “You’re too deep within the center of the Earth. No one even suspects you’re here.”

  He shrugged. “I hope not, but this is why they’re concerned about your presence. They worry others will find a way to reach us, too, and they cannot let this happen. While it seems their interests are selfish, they’re actually trying to protect all of us.”

  “I want to stay here with you,” I said, my heart in my words.

  “I feel the same.” He pulled me close. “It would kill me to lose you.”

  “What makes you think you can find the dragonstone heart, when no one else has been able to do so before you?” Ludar asked Jarik in a haughty voice.

  “I’m just cocky, I guess,” Jarik said with a sly grin. “And good at what I do.”

  “Jarik is the explorer in our family,” Kemir said quietly to me. “He has enhanced our riches with his discoveries of jewels and gold, doubling our city’s wealth in the last year alone.”

  “I had stopped in again for provisions, but I’ll leave immediately,” Jarik said. “And I will bring home the dragonstone heart, restoring the magic that protects us. Then, my brother’s mates will be able to remain here forever. But I ask that you let them stay until I return.”

  The holy ones formed a circle and spoke together, too low for me to hear.

  They turned, and from their grim expressions, I expected bad news.

  “They may remain here for five days,” the elderly woman said firmly. “But if you do not return with the dragonstone heart by the end of lunarlight on the fifth day, Jarik, their minds will be wiped and they’ll be returned to the surface. We’ll do the same with the third woman, once she is found.”

  Jarik bowed. Pivoting sharply, he started to rush from the room, but he stopped beside Kemir and I. “I promise I’ll find it,” he said, his brow narrowed. “I have an idea where I need to look first.”

  “Where?” Kemir asked.

  “The Noran city.”

  “It’s impossible to get inside. The magical guards of the dead—”

  “I’ll find a way.”

  Kemir nodded. “Be safe, then,” he said, his hand tight on his brother’s shoulder. “And return quickly.”

  Jarik nodded gravely and headed for the door.

  Kemir and I, and Jenny and Drek, held each other close and stared after him.

  Five days.

  Jarik would find the dragonstone heart and bring it back in time, wouldn’t he?

  Otherwise, our hearts would be broken.

  ***

  If you’d like a sneak peek of Jarik and PJ’s story, which releases soon, turn the page! Think: Indiana Jones meets dragon shifters, and set in the center of the Earth.

  Thanks for reading!

  ~Christina

  Here’s a sneak peek of CLAIMED BY A DRAGON, Book 3, the conclusion of my Dragon Mated Series.

  Chapter One

  PJ

  It’s not every day that a girl slays a dragon.

  Wait. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me back up here.

  When Jenny, Tanya, and I fell into the hole in the back of the cave, I slid only a short distance before coming to an abrupt halt. Turning, I climbed back up to the cave where we’d sat around joking just a short time ago.

  I was the only one who made it out.

  After waiting ten minutes, and hearing nothing from my friends, I knew I had to save them. After all, I’d talked them into this adventure. In some ways, I was responsible for whatever came next.

  Standing beside the hole, I fretted. What could I do?

  Some would say I should call 911, but it could take an hour or more for them to reach us. And I’d already determined I had no cell service when we were eating lunch. I could hike back outside and to the vehicle, where my phone might find service, but during that time, my friends could be stuck somewhere in the cave system, suffering.

  There was nothing quicker I could do except wrap a rope around a stalagmite, attach it to my harness, and leap in behind them. Once I located them, we’d regroup and find our way back to the surface together.

  As an archaeologist, my expertise would be invaluable, wherever we ended up.

  I stepped down, but my feet went out from underneath me immediately, and I was swept away from the upper cave by what felt like a mini tsunami. Coughing and sputtering and spitting out brackish water, I sloshed back and forth, plunging toward the bowels of the Earth.

  It seemed I fell for days, which was impossible, partly due to the length of my rope, and also because a channel like this couldn’t extend for more than a few hundred yards. The dark must be messing with my perception of time.

  As I swooshed along with the water, I didn’t see Tanya or Jenny. After their first few shrieks, I no longer heard them, which scared the hell out of me. Were they unconscious and unable to cry for help? Or worse? My heart ached for my friends.

  Sadly, the only sounds were my grunts when my body hit a hard corner and the rush of the water.

  I had to admit, if I wasn’t so frightened for Tanya and Jenny, this ride would be cool. I’d always loved waterparks, action, and adventure. The breeze from my movement whipped back my long, blonde—no, make that bright blue—hair, colored in honor of Tanya’s birthday. My body zipped along, cresting small hills, then plunging down the other side. I took corners higher than if I competed in an Olympic luge event, flattening out as I skimmed along the top of the walls. I could swear I even looped in a complete circle.

  Just when I was beginning to believe this natural waterpark ride would never end, I spied a solid stone wall waiting for me ahead.

  Oh-oh.

  I scrambled, clawing at the sides of the channel, trying to slow my plunge, because it looked like I was about to become a PJ pancake against the solid granite.

  Then I spied three holes, evenly placed along the lower part of the wall. Daylight gleamed from beyond the holes.

  The water took a sharp turn left, but, oddly enough, my body was swept to the right, aiming for the farthest opening, as if the cut-out had been made just for me.

  Feet first, I flew through.

  With my heart jumping up into my throat, I shot out into an enormous, open cavern, where I kept falling like I’d leapt from an airplane without a parachute.

  As I plummeted through the air, I could swear I saw the ruins of what had to be a lost city below me. Lost, because I hadn’t heard of any discoveries like this beneath the cave systems in western Georgia. Believe me, I not only would’ve heard, I would’ve been down here exploring already. On a volunteer basis, if they wouldn’t hire me on at the dig.

  My rope pulled up sharply, bringing me to a jarring halt and knocking the wind from my lungs. I was left gasping, hanging in space.

  Gulp. I bit back my scream, because I did not like heights. A huge flaw in my chosen career. But then, I only got out in the field during summer, and when I did, I worked on ground level.

  For the rest of the year, I rode a desk at the university.

  Just call me Indiana Jones. Actually,
it’s PJ.

  “Help!” I squeaked. Not that there seemed to be anyone around to jump to my assistance. Above my head, I dangled from the hole in the top of the cavern. The ceiling around me appeared to be covered with blue-green twinkle lights. Stationary, they lit up the enormous cave, essentially substituting for the sun. I shook my head, because I’d never seen or heard about anything like this before.

  Being suspended from a rope a hundred feet below the top of a huge cavern, with at least eighty feet of air beneath me, was not my idea of a fun way to spend an afternoon.

  Maybe I needed to rethink my love of adventure.

  I peered around. No Tanya. No Jenny. Had they fallen through the same hole, or had they somehow been sucked through the others? Strange. Almost as if it was fate.

  “No way,” I whispered. Who believed in fate, anyway?

  As soon as I got out of this predicament, I’d find my friends, but there was nothing I could do for them at the moment.

  Despite my nausea-inducing fear of the height, let alone my valid concern about falling, this place fascinated me.

  Why hadn’t I heard of it before?

  The city ruins appeared to be made up of dusty-tan stone buildings in various sizes and shapes, although most were covered with vines.

  And what a city. It had to span at least a mile. I ached to yank off the vegetation, pull out my excavation tools, and begin a new dig. There was nothing better in life than unearthing a new find’s secret treasures.

  A lush forest surrounded the ruins, stretching away in all directions. In the distance, I spotted tiny meadows filled with colorful flowers. Insects hummed as they zipped through the air around me, and high-pitched chirps coming from the woods told me there could be animals and birds living among the vegetation.

  “This is freakin’ awesome,” I said.

  Imagine the headlines when I returned home and shared my discovery. Articles would be written about my great adventure. The internet would be on fire, with people calling, asking for my take on what I’d found. Grant money would pour in, everyone eager to become part of the excavation, which I would head, because this was my find.