Must Love Dragonsl (Space Dragons Seek Mates Book 1)

by Michelle Ziegler

  Why was he provoking Donnie?

  The air grew heavy as she breathed in. Too much. It was too much. Gasps of air, all she got in as she tried to wrap her head around reality.

  It was okay. She was in control. She would remain in control. She’d be fine. But no. No. She couldn’t rely on someone else. She broke hearts. She didn’t save her mom. She couldn’t love Donnie. She couldn’t keep her show afloat and ensure all her cast had jobs.

  The familiar darkness that followed her everywhere flowed over her, thick and heavy. A blanket of anxiety folded itself around her, choking out rational thought.

  Maybe you are in control of your own happiness, but what if others relied on you? No. She couldn’t.

  Gasping in a breath, Kal’s words were deadly serious. But how could he say any of that? What if he was wrong? She wouldn’t be his - because, what if she couldn’t? What if she wasn’t capable of being anyone's?

  Anxiety swooped in like a vulture stealing the last of her calm. Pushing off Kal’s hand and ignoring the pleas of Donnie, she ran.

  4

  His dragon snarled within him. Kal let out a growl. This human male would pay.

  They could still smell her scent in the air, hear her footfalls traveling farther away. His mate was leaving him, and it was all this little pest’s fault.

  Kal and his dragon turned their attention to Donnie. Kal fought to remain in control for the moment. He rolled his head side to side. The tension of keeping his dragon penned was enough to test even his strength right now.

  They would go after Maddie as soon as he fixed the Donnie issue. Neutralize the enemy. The sun was no longer above them; the sky darkening. Good. Fewer people to see when he lost the battle against the shift.

  “Donnie. I suggest you run while you still can.” His voice grew deeper as the dragon started to push his way out.

  The weasel of a man sneered. “No. I’m not losing her again.”

  Kal threw his head back and laughed. Tinges of red and orange streaked the horizon. It reminded him of home, and home would never be the same if he didn’t get her to go with him. This Donnie might be an obstacle, whether he liked it or not. Grinding his teeth together, Kal bit back a roar of anger.

  The leather of his jacket stretched at the seams as he strained, his muscles burning in restraint as his dragon fought to come out and play. The beast was done with Kal’s patience.

  No. Not yet.

  Compromise, if one compromised with a dragon.

  Kal’s attention focused on the enemy.

  “Look what you did to her,” Donnie yelled. “I don’t know what you expect out of Maddie, but she’s not as strong as she looks. If you think she’ll zap you a million dollars or something, then you’ve got the wrong witch.”

  Kal ground his molars as his skin scaled up. “I expect nothing of her. She is mine as I am hers. She owes me nothing. I will live to please her.” He smirked. “Far better than a small human like you could do.”

  Goddess, if she’d only let him.

  Kal squared his shoulders as his dragon began to beat his wings within their soul. They hadn’t found a worthy opponent on this planet, not yet anyhow. Would this Donnie be worthy? Kal chuckled, no, it was doubtful. Donnie was nearly a mouse.

  “Don’t you laugh at me. You have no idea what you’re dealing with. Besides, everyone’s a little human here. What makes you think you’re better? Get over yourself. You know drugs aren’t the answer. Women aren’t stupid. Maddie isn’t stupid. Maybe you look like, well, what you look like now. Everyone knows that most guys like you can’t think your way out of a paper bag,” Donnie spouted.

  Kal ignored Donnie as he listened, trying to pinpoint Maddie and realizing he couldn’t hear her footfalls anymore. This was taking too long.

  “I don’t have time for a small human right now. Go do what you will. I need to track down Maddie, and you will go away. You will not be following my mate any further from here on out.”

  Kal summoned the dragon, letting their senses reach for her. He hadn’t officially mated her, but they knew her. He could smell her, feel her. Her magic called to him and his to her.

  “What the hell gives you the right to claim her? That’s not how marriage works around here.”

  Kal whipped his head back to the annoying gnat of a human. The stupid male was still here.

  Kal rolled his eyes as he looked down at Donnie. The little man had actually come closer. “You play a dangerous game, human,” Kal said.

  “Listen here. No matter what you are, don’t you dare think you’re better than me. You fucking shifters. Thinking all women are yours for the taking. Someone needs to teach you assholes a lesson.”

  Kal took another step forward and the muscles of his arms corded as he let talons rip from his hands.

  Control yourself, dragon.

  Kal was forbidden to reveal his true form. Shifter it was, for now. He would go with shifter.

  “And, I suppose you’re the mundane human to teach me?”

  Kal enjoyed watching the man’s skin burn red in anger. He could smell the spicy scents of rage.

  “I’m half Fae, you asshole. My father was a guard in the Fae courts.”

  Kal shrugged. He knew of stories of the Fae, another creature that frequented humans throughout history. Fascinating to see they too needed this species.

  “Should that make me afraid?”

  Donnie didn’t back away.

  Interesting.

  Perhaps this would be more entertaining than expected. Kal stepped forward, stopping a foot away from him, the darkness of dusk taking over.

  Time to play, little mouse.

  Kal knew Donnie would see him shift. Perhaps he’d see enough to frighten the halfling.

  He flexed his shoulders, letting the ripple of the magic control him, his dragon clamoring to come out.

  “What the hell are you?” Donnie asked.

  “Perhaps you’d like to find out? Show me what being part Fae really means? If you think you are worthy.”

  Kal advanced on him as his teeth began to morph into those of his dragon.

  Donnie scowled. “Maybe I don’t glow like you or have some freaky-ass eyes, but I don’t need to prove myself to you. She will come back to me.”

  Kal grew hot as his anger boiled within. No one would touch his mate.

  Leaning in, he whispered his next words while he still could, before the dragon fully emerged. “You touch her and you will die.” Standing to his full height, he glared down at Donnie.

  “You kill me and she will never forgive you, shifter. It doesn’t matter what you are. She loves me.”

  Kal reached out to grab Donnie and scowled as his grip came up with air.

  “I told you I’m not just human. I’m very fast. Perhaps you should take those fucking gym muscles and leave town.”

  A game. They liked games.

  “She may love you. Most humans love pets.”

  Kal grinned as he let his dragon take hold. His jaw began to protrude, making room for his razor-sharp teeth. His voice grew deeper, his skin fully morphed and fell away into scales as they grew in size.

  “What the fuck?” Donnie stuttered. He retreated until his back hit the door to the bar with a metallic thud. Reaching for the doorknob, his hand fumbled. Kal folded forward onto all fours.

  Fear was something Kal could work with.

  Drool dripped from their dragon mouth, and just as they approached, Donnie ripped open the door. His last words were muffled as the door began to close, “you’re not winning this one. I’ll be back.”

  The deep rumble of the dragon's voice vibrated as they laughed. Right. He’d be back, and Kal would be ready all the same.

  The dark of night fell, his dragon shaking off the long trip cooped up within Kal’s soul. Their tail whipped back and forth. Did they wait for the little man to come back? Choices, choices.

  Shitty human. Thinking he could beat us. Now for the hunt.

  The dragon laughed and
then pulled their large body around to face the direction of Maddie’s scent.

  Yes. Let’s go find her.

  Using the power of their rear legs, they shot up into the darkening sky. Kal allowed the dragon to take over as they searched the darkening streets. He needed to find her. How many hours before he had to report back? Not like he would report back without her. No. Kal refused to step back on that damn ship without her.

  Kal could sense his brothers, all different directions. They needed to focus on the mission.

  He wondered how the rest were faring, although right now he couldn’t deal with that. Not until he found her. This was more than saving his own soul.

  The dragon soared through the air. Not even the freedom of the skies could distract from the gnawing ache he’d never felt. Not until Maddie.

  His dragon kept their senses open. She wasn’t far.

  Soaring above the humans, they tried to remain far enough as to not attract attention. Streets emptied as the darkness grew. If they didn’t need to worry about the IGF, Intergalactic Force, finding them on an unsanctioned mission, they had to worry about mass hysteria breaking out on the planet. Shitty choices. Kal had to worry about space police that thought a lot about themselves or his soul bursting into flames. Just another fun week.

  The wind parted around him as he searched for her. His dragon sniffed the air, and snorted out. Not the same as home, so many new scents and not all good. A faint trail caught their attention closer to the ground. They could feel her, but now they could see a trail of her own magic. So many threads here. But this was Maddie.

  A pulse within his head had his dragon squeezing their eyes shut. His powers grew every day, as they should. The problem was, if he had no balance to his fire, someday he’d burn too bright to exist outside his dragon’s form.

  Yes, time was running out for them all.

  Time was the enemy.

  She was close, her presence the only thing breaking past this new pain. He glanced down, trying to make out her figure, the tattoos visible from his vantage point.

  He wouldn’t worry about anything but her right now. The Amit goddess’s gifts were both a curse and a blessing. If they found their mates, the curse wouldn’t matter anymore. Maddie would balance out power, help him control his curse.

  Swooping down as he spotted the invisible trail, she was so close he could practically feel her in his arms again. What should he do though?

  Kal was supposed to get what he wanted. Earth woman should have worshiped him, and instead, Maddie seemed immune to his charms. He thought back to his own mother and tried to envision how his father had acted around her. It had been a few too many years. His father, killed in one of the many battles that raged through the solar system. A great reminder they weren’t gods. Right. Way to see the world as a half-full glass.

  Kal turned towards the ground. She sat in a small park. He wouldn’t blend in here, not well, hopefully he could reach the ground before anyone noticed. Thankfully, there were no lights. Maddie was the only beacon he’d need.

  Straining his hearing as his massive paws hit the ground, Kal could make out her voice.

  Kal crouched forward, not willing to shift yet. Not until he knew there were no new threats.

  The air smelled of wood. He slid a paw through the loose chips at his feet and sniffed the ground. Odd that they put wood on the ground. He took a step closer. A small bug flitted around his head. He snorted at it and paused as he heard her speak.

  “Mother, where are you?”

  Watching, he stood still. She twirled around in a circle and yelled to the air.

  There was no one. Who was she talking to?

  The dragon’s eyes looked for heat signatures. Nothing. Narrowing his eyes at a sparkle of magic within the air, they stepped back again. Odd planet indeed.

  He wanted to shift back, but this place confused him, and Kal would be damned if he let something unseen get the best of them.

  Maybe though, staying in this form would have him screwing things up less too. The dragon chuckled. Remaining in this form, he couldn’t say anything to piss off Maddie.

  They lowered themselves down, crouched on their front paws and waited. The dragon strained his neck further, curious at the sparkling in the air. What was it?

  Maddie turned around again. She wiped at her face and finally stopped talking, her focus on the same spot he studied. This magic was different from Maddie’s.

  They waited

  The dragon enjoyed this game. He enjoyed being out and free. Kal didn’t like it though. The only thing this dumbass dragon did was act on instinct and right now, instinct had done nothing but screw up something with their future mate.

  Shit.

  5

  “Mother? Where the hell are you?”

  The pain in her chest twisted like a rubber band around her rib cage. Too tight.

  The emptiness. God, the emptiness. She’d run far away, or as far as she could before her body protested. The emptiness had dulled, or maybe the pain from her body and the unexpected exercise overpowered it.

  Maddie gulped at air like a fish. She couldn’t get it in. “Mom?” She screamed. Nothing. So much nothing. Who knew silence could be so deafening? Her mom was here somewhere. She’d called her here.

  Just like her, make her daughter come, and then be cryptic.

  Her mom would come though. Any minute now. Because she always came. Why wouldn’t she? The hope that, at some point, Maddie wouldn’t feel this stab of pain and sadness died as she stood here realizing she’d never lose the hope to see her mom. The pain of losing her mother filtered back in. It had never really left, but the stabbing ache had been so much easier to ignore when she wasn’t here.

  Maddie was used to being alone, but when she was here, home, she had to face her reality. Alone. God, maybe that had been one more reason she’d left Donnie. He hadn’t filled the void, but it had never felt like this before.

  Maddie couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t get the air in past the tightness, the burning of her lungs, the pain in her chest that had nothing to do with running away. Donnie’s face still looked betrayed. Time apparently didn’t heal all wounds, not his. Not hers. Too bad they were both very different wounds.

  She pressed her palm to her chest trying to force the panic down, or maybe the air in. She didn’t know.

  How could Donnie not have moved on yet? How had she been able to ruin his life simply by following her own destiny? Her mother had said that Donnie wasn’t right. Her mom had sworn she’d tell Donnie the same once Maddie had gone.

  “Mother? Show yourself. Fix this. Fix something.”

  Honestly? Right now, Donnie wasn’t really why she was upset. Was it? No.

  Wind blew by, tickling the hairs on her arms, but nothing told her mother was showing.

  Maddie backpedaled, wandering without a purpose until she backed into a swing. Mindlessly she sat, pushing her tiptoes against the wood chips, rocking herself. A playground. A place to be happy. Fitting she stopped here, she supposed.

  Alone. Always alone.

  She sat swinging back and forth, back and forth. When was the last time she’d gone to a park? Years.

  The wind blowing through her hair, the cool night air, her legs pumping in and out making her go higher and higher. There was nothing.

  There was no grasping her past, not that she wanted to go back.

  Closing her eyes, she felt nothing. Numb, finally.

  Her skin began to itch again as her magic started to jump. So much for that.

  As she came back down, the swing moving back up, she ignored the needy magic. Maybe she could figure out where she’d been and where she needed to go.

  Of course she ran into her ex. Like the guilt of dumping him a few months from their wedding would have gone away. She didn’t miss him, but she didn’t like that she’d hurt him.

  The world flew by as the swing came back down and swung back up. Her ex had been one of her first attempts as an adult to defy her
mother’s know-it-all attitude. She’d been so sick of her mom spoiling everything, all the time.

  That date won’t work or, he’s not right for you.

  Of course, she was always right, Maddie had just wanted to live her own life. Just once in her life Maddie had wanted to date blindly and think just maybe he could be the right one. Donnie had been sweet and kind. He’d been a great guy and there had been no reason for her to say no.

  Then her mother died, and the emptiness set in. The anger.

  Maddie let her hair fly forward and fly behind her with each tilt of the swing. The wind cooled the heat starting to burn against her skin again. No, no. She didn’t need that again. Breathing around it, she conjured up a colder wind and let it blow over her. Better. For now.

  Her lips tingled with memories of Kal. She wanted him, but no one fell in love in minutes. He had been real though, hadn’t he? Where was her mom now to tell her it wouldn’t work? Only deep down Maddie knew that her mother wouldn’t say that. Not this time. Or maybe she would and that scared Maddie more. What if this, this hunger for Kal wasn’t the real thing?

  She needed to push it all away, only she couldn’t. This town brought all the memories of her mother's funeral back, flooding her. The memories of what her mother hadn’t done. She’d refused to do anything to stop her death. God, that was her mother in a nutshell. She believed everything she saw and decided long ago that there was little reason to fight the visions. Maddie wondered if her mother had gone off the deep end right around when her father had returned to hell. Her mother had seen him leaving and couldn’t find any way to stop it. Demons, unpredictable shits.

  Dust picked up in the surrounding air, the light breeze disrupting, and then blowing more fiercely as she closed her eyes against the churning sand.

  Unfamiliar sounds filled the park, and she dragged her feet against the wood chips on the ground to slow the swing. Maddie peeked out of one eye. She opened both eyes when nothing flew at her and looked into the dark.

  The glow of her skin broke the pitch of the night, the tattoos filling in like rivers of fire. As she looked away from her own skin, she caught the glimpse of a large animal. An animal that glowed in markings. A beast that strangely resembled something that didn’t exist. Her eyes grew wider, taking him in. Or did they? Because he was a massive dragon.