Kal kissed Maddie’s shoulder as he watched her sleep. She wouldn’t wake for some time, that he could be sure of. Perhaps he should be more gentle with his new mate. Kal chuckled. No. She’d enjoyed it. Her body needed it. He needed her.
His dragon curled up in his soul as he drew comfort from her sleeping form.
Our mate.
Fate had smiled favorably on him. Her curves were delicious and Kal couldn’t look away from his mate’s beauty.
She brought a peace foreign and desperately needed. His soul finally rested rather than reaching a near destructive state. The price of giving himself to her was his soul’s stability. Maybe that would make him a better warrior.
He hadn’t been thrilled about this mission. In Kal’s mind his planet went through extreme lengths to ensure the survival of the warriors. His brothers hadn’t truly understood any better than he had. But, now, in this moment he understood.
He kissed her again. “Dream, my love.”
There was no resisting her. Kal ran a hand the length of her body, over her hips, over her amazing ass. He grew hard just thinking of what he could do to her, the millions of places they hadn’t christened.
When he got her back to his home, he was allowed as much time as he needed to mate her. Once she was settled, and pregnant, then he’d go back to active duty, but his sole purpose for the foreseeable future was to explore her. Know her. Love her.
The future seemed bright, finally. A weight lifted from him, one that he hadn’t realized. It had almost seemed too much to keep the warriors viable. Save the universe or the galaxy, fine. But to keep his species going? Too much. Finding her was as if the sun had only ever been shining with half its strength until now.
Kal cringed as a subtle beeping shattered his peace.
Fuck. What now?
It wasn’t like Kal didn’t know. It was a signal from the ship.
He opened up his mind and listened. Deo was most likely shouting to any of them that weren’t there yet.
You need to meet back here, brother. 24-hours. That was the rule.
Curling his lip, he was right as the harsh voice broke the serenity. Apparently his brother hadn’t found his mate yet, or maybe he wouldn’t be so damn uptight.
Deo, move the ship and ping me with coordinates. I found her and will bring her back soon.
He could practically hear Deo’s grunt.
No. We need to meet as a group. Nyke’s found trouble.
Kal sat up, the blanket falling to the bed. Of course he had. He’d missed out on a sense of humor the day the goddess handed that bit of personality out.
Alright. I’ll be there soon.
Kal tried to shut off the communications going back and forth between the others.
They’d at least tried to leave him alone.
“Maddie?”
He leaned over and kissed the skin of her shoulder.
She moaned and rolled over, her breasts exposed and begging to be tasted.
Well, fuck.
No. He had to have some kind of self restraint. But, fuck me. Why?
He circled a nipple, the nub peaking at his touch. Kal studied her face as her eyes fluttered open.
“Is it morning? Or afternoon?”
His hand overflowed with her as he cupped her breast. Goddess, he loved this woman.
“Afternoon, I believe. Your days are so short that I find myself very confused often.”
She stretched, the sheet further flowing down her body.
Son of a bitch.
He wanted her and instead of taking her,he had to go to some fucking meeting of the minds. Fuck those fuckers. Only, the warrior within knew you didn’t ignore your brothers. If one was in need, if one was worried, if one was happy, you joined in.
“I need to go,” he said.
Maddie’s eyes flew open, and she sat up.
“What?”
He chuckled. “Not forever. I need to go meet my brothers.”
A foreign tension struck him. It settled, and he realized it was hers. Good. They were connected. Taking her hand within his own, he felt her unravel a bit.
“Oh, okay. You’ll be back?”
He nodded.
“Brothers? How many of you are there?”
The damn temptress made thinking very difficult as his eyes were drawn back to her naked breasts.
“Here? Or overall?”
His mouth watered.
He watched as her lips puckered in thought. He’d kiss those sexy lips before he left. Kal was making his next mission to ensure she did nothing else but think of him until he returned.
“Here, I guess? Was that other guy one of them? The one I scared off when you, or well I, turned you into a chicken?”
He rolled his eyes. That was a shitty memory.
“Yes. That was one of them.”
Pulling her knees up, she got comfortable.
“Are you all so, so, uh, huge?”
His eyes narrowed.
“I don’t think I like what you’re insinuating. I am enough for you, mate. You do not need anyone else.”
Maddie let out a loud musical laugh. He liked the sound, but it confused him.
“You are a fool for being such a cocky ass.”
He righted himself on the bed. “I’m sorry?”
Rising on her knees, she came to him.
“I just wanted to know if you were all dragons and if you were all muscle-heads. You stick out like a weed around here. We may need to help them blend in a bit more. Help them figure out how to talk with women. No one else needs to be a chicken, do they?”
Kal shuddered.
Maddie wrapped her arms around his neck as she raised her face to meet his.
“Oh. Perhaps you might help. But, not right now. Right now, I want you to sleep. Be ready for me when I come back. Your only job today is to lay here and ready yourself for when I return. You will not be getting much sleep tonight or for the foreseeable future.”
He liked the stutter of her breath as he wrapped his arms around her.
“I see. And how, the hell, should I ready myself?”
Maddie pulled away, enough to slip a hand between them. His eyes followed her as she ran the palm down her breasts, her stomach, down, down, slipping her own fingers between the vee of her thighs.
Well, fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Maddie. You’re killing me.”
Licking her lips, she smiled. “Am I? Because to me, you look to be quite alive.” Her eyes flicked down to his erect dick.
“Woman. You need to tame yourself or I won’t be able to leave and that would be very, very unforgivable.”
“Fine,” she said, as her hands flew up in the air. “At least I tried.”
He got out of bed slowly. Good goddess, he needed his dick to settle down.
Grabbing up his pants, he slid them on and stood there.
Well, shit.
Maddie’s laughter had him scowling.
“Do you have a problem there big boy?”
He stood, hands on hips.
“This is your doing, mate.”
The vision of her crawling towards him nearly had him bursting.
“Maddie. What are you playing at?”
Kal didn’t like the look on her face. Trouble.
“I’m just coming to help you. It looks like that guy,” she pointed to his erection, “isn’t going to fit into those tight pants.”
He cocked his head. “And, what exactly are you going to do to help that?”
He didn’t wait long before the warmth of her mouth slid down the shaft and his eyes nearly rolled back into his skull.
What the fuck was he supposed to do? You don’t say no to your mate.
His brothers could wait a bit longer. Long enough for him to fit back into his pants, anyway. He’d be quick. Her tongue did something that he’d fucking dream about for the rest of his life. Yeah. He’d be fast. Those assholes better have news worthy of him having to leave her.
9
Her dragon wasn’t enjoying himself, well, tough. Kal had given in to going out. Of course he had. Kal returned in a pissed off mood, ranting that they needed to leave immediately.
She’d waited for the panic to hit. The idea that she’d be leaving not only this crappy town, but earth. Right. Insane. It was insane, but the dreams of Kal’s home told her she wasn’t crazy.
She was more than happy to leave this town, but this time she wanted to do it right.
“Come on, Kal. It’s my last day on earth.”
He scowled further.
“Those men have been watching you all night.”
Maddie shrugged.
“And those women have been checking you out all night.”
“I don’t care.” If looks could kill, someone would have been dead by now.
She smiled. Kal wasn’t going to ruin this. She had one re-do. One chance to leave everything the way she should have.
“Really? Kal, you don’t care about all of these girls, like literally all these girls in this whole place are checking you out.”
He closed the inches between them.
“I have a mate. I don’t need any of them. What I do not like is someone looking at what is mine.”
Maddie craned her head around, because seriously, who in the hell would want her? Besides the insane and incredible sexy dragon-alien-man holding her, which was still a mystery.
“Kal. You need to chill. Let’s go have fun.”
Maddie let the beat of the odd Fae music pull her into the trance, the dance floor full of people. As they reached the edge of the crowded space, Kal paused.
“Kal, come on. If I have to go with you somewhere, you can at least help me have no regrets leaving.” Maddie sputtered in laughter as she looked up. His eyes wide as saucers, and his normally tanned skin, white.
“It’s just dancing,” she yelled over the music.
“I don’t do this kind of dancing.”
Kal looked over her head and back down at her. “How is this acceptable in front of others? Mating is a very private thing to my kind.”
Maddie laughed. “They aren’t mating.” She stopped and took in the crowd. “Probably.”
Shaking his head, he tried to pull her away from the crowd.
“Kal, come on. I want to dance.”
Someone came up behind her, hugging her in a drunk-girl grip. “Maddie. Come on. Let’s dance. Grab your boyfriend, I’ll take his back.”
Kal blanched. “She isn’t taking my anything.”
Pinching her eyes closed, Maddie breathed through the laughter.
“It’s fine. She just meant she’d, never mind.”
Maddie watched Kal glance from her to the crowd to Ellen. Oh, this should be good. She couldn’t exactly hear his thoughts, and she was thinking that right now maybe, it was a good thing. Maddie could still use what was coming next.
“I’ll stand here and watch you.”
Yup. That was pretty close.
“Okay. Because that’s less creepy, Kal.”
If he wasn’t so damn hot, maybe this would bug her more. For now though, she’d keep him around.
Ellen grabbed Maddie’s hand and started to walk.
“Let’s go. I need to get my dance on!”
A second glance back at Kal’s scowl. One chance, this was her one chance. She shrugged and went. He’d be fine. Or well, he should be fine. He could take care of himself. Tonight was for her. Her last night. Tomorrow they’d leave to find the mates of the others and then off to wherever home would be.
Ellen led her out into the throng of people. She slid through a couple grinding. Pushing her too-wide hips through this crowd was a pain. Maddie had never felt sexy in her life, not until she’d met Kal. Until she could feel the beat of Kal’s heart when he looked at her.
Raising her arms, she started to sway with the rhythm.
“I knew this place would be a trip,” Ellen shouted.
Maddie smiled.
She felt sexy and confident. Hopefully Kal could see her dancing.
Closing her eyes, the music flowed through her. She wouldn’t miss Roswell. She never really did. She just missed her mom. Maddie pushed that away. Her mom would find her before she left. She knew she would.
A humming flowed through her body, radiating from her stomach. In the back of her mind she figured that was probably the drinks, the Fae always did things like that. She didn’t care. Peace wasn’t something she’d felt, ever.
The rhythm of the music pulled her. Maddie’s body flowed in movement to the trance. Letting all the stress of the day, her week, her life be taken away with whatever magic laced this place.
In her own world, she liked herself. She liked her newfound confidence in life. She liked that for the first time she didn’t mind knowing her future, or at least who her future would be with.
The beat changed slower. Her cares seemed to float away.
Someone came up behind her. Her mind wouldn’t work the way it should. She should have known to stay away from the drinks here. She just didn’t or perhaps hadn’t cared.
Alarm tried to push through the fog. It wasn’t Kal. She knew that. Maddie could feel the beat of his heart, could tell where he was without thinking. Kal was here, close, and this wasn’t him. Opening her eyes she blinked, nothing cleared, she still felt underwater and everything muted. Worry, concern, life, a dull matter.
The heat of the person behind her was too close though. Panic should have kicked in by now, but she’d have to push through the murky swamp of the Fae magic, and that just wasn’t happening.
Maddie followed Ellen’s lead and danced without care. Then an unwelcome hand rested on her hip.
“Hey beautiful.”
Maddie, still magic drunk, funneled her newfound power to her fingertips and burned his hand.
He squealed.
“Ah. Shit, Maddie. It’s me.”
Everything seemed so slow as she turned.
“Donnie?”
He smiled.
“Yeah. You look amazing. I’ve never seen you wear a skirt like this before.”
Maddie thought she’d stopped dancing, but the room still swayed.
“Yeah. It’s like a new confidence thing.”
Her hands smoothed down the skirt she’d borrowed from Ellen as she tilted. Thankfully, or unthankfully, Donnie stopped her from falling.
“Careful.”
Ellen’s head swam. The skirt. Right. The skirt she liked. Donnie? Ex, she didn’t. But the skirt, right? Kal. Kal had liked it. And if Kal liked it. Maddie liked to be in it. Hell, if Maddie liked it she was going to start fucking wearing it from now on. Kal. Right. Where was Kal?
“I like this new you. So you are back for real?” Donnie’s voice broke the fog.
Why was his voice getting through to her? Fae, he was part something she thought she remembered.
His hand reached out to pull her close. Maddie tried to pull away.
“Don’t,Donnie.”
He scowled.
“Why not? I’m glad to see you ditched that weight lifter dude. He was so wrong for you.”
World swimming again. Man, she hated Fae magic. This wasn’t working for her.
“And why is he wrong for me? Because he was good looking? Because he wants me?”
Oh, crap. She started to feel dizzy. Breathing, she regrouped. What had she been doing?
Oh right. Kal. “Because the sex is the best damn sex I’ve ever had?”
Donnie’s lip curled and his eyes narrowed.
“You slept with him? Fuck, Maddie. What the hell. Whatever. It’s fine. It's not like we’re together again or anything. Not yet.”
He reached for her again and she attempted to pull away. The world moved a lot slower than she remembered.
Kal. All she could do was think of Kal. As Donnie got too close, Kal’s massive hand reached from behind her, grabbing his forearm and stopping him.
She
blinked at the spinning.
Oh, good. The only words going through her head.
Kal growled, a muted but familiar sound in her foggy haze.
“She has already told you no,” Kal growled.
Maddie tried to smile, pity wasn’t really her thing though.
“Donnie, Kal. Kal, this is Donnie.”
Donnie grabbed his arm back.
“Don’t you dare touch me, you freak.” Donnie’s eyes grew wide. “What the hell are your tattoos doing?”
Maddie glanced at her arms and shrugged.
“Glowing.”
Donnie glanced back at Kal, Maddie following his glare.
“What the fuck. Why do his glow too?”
Maddie would not get to break it to Donnie softly. There was no way to soften anything, and she didn’t owe him anything. Not anymore. She’d done everything she could, except marry him just because he believed he loved her.
“She’s my mate. You will keep your hands off of her,” Kal said.
Kal ran a hand down her bare arm, sending shivers up her spine.
“Mate?” Donnie’s voice screamed over the crowd. Maddie half expected everyone to stop and turn to look at them.
Maddie’s movements were slightly slower than normal as she reached up and laid her palm against Kal’s cheek. Reassuring him and reassuring herself, she supposed.
“Yes, Donnie. Wife, mate. Same thing really. But yes,” she shouted over the crowd. Somehow it didn’t seem as loud now though. Wow. These were some good drinks.
A rumble vibrated through Kal’s chest, waking her a bit.
“No. Mate. Wife is not for an eternity, a mate cannot leave, ever. We are soul bound.”
Donnie’s face turned a few different shades of scarlet.
Sort of pretty, Maddie thought.
“Maddie, don’t do this. You don’t understand. These guys, they are bad news.”
Kal’s arm encircled her and she smiled. He was the only kind of trouble she’d ever need.
“I might not know everything, but I promise you, Donnie, I’m safe.”
In her relaxed state she tried to reach out to Kal with her mind.
I think I’m ready to go.
His arm squeezed tighter.
I thought you’d never ask.
Kal pulled her away and dragged her in front of him.
“Wait!” Donnie called.
They didn’t.
Must Love Dragonsl (Space Dragons Seek Mates Book 1) Page 8
