Must Love Dragonsl (Space Dragons Seek Mates Book 1)

by Michelle Ziegler

  They reached the top and pushed through the door.

  Tufts of smoke billowed out as they stepped into the charred remnants of a room. She winced only to realize it didn’t burn or sting her eyes.

  “Keep walking. You’ll be fine. My magic won’t let the fire harm you,” said Kal.

  They trudged through remains of a charred building.

  “Is this you? Or was this someone else? The other one the doctor was screaming about?”

  She felt the palm of Kal’s hand against her lower back. Guiding her through the destruction.

  “Eadric and most likely the female we encountered.”

  The roof, already collapsed in a few feet ahead, allowed the billows of smoke out and moonlight to sprinkle in.

  “How long have I been here?”

  He grunted. “Long enough. This way.”

  Leading her through what was once a wall she supposed, her feet crunched against gravel. Maddie remembered none of this.

  “Move aside while I shift. I’ll fly us back.”

  She blinked and his dragon appeared. Would she ever get used to this? He was magnificent.

  Glancing around, she stepped towards him. “Wait. What about Eadric?”

  He rolled his eyes and nodded his monstrous head.

  He’s already headed back.

  She nodded and put her foot on the forepaw offered, swinging her legs over his neck.

  Home.

  The hard, silky scales under her hands felt like home. Although the power still beat through her, she still hadn’t recovered. For the first time since she’d been taken, she allowed herself to let go. As the hard muscles of the dragon moved under her, she stopped fighting the exhaustion.

  Part of her wanted to turn back, watch as the flames grow higher. She didn’t though, better to focus on her new future. Rubbing the sore spot on her arm, she tried to envision where they were headed.

  Don’t worry about everything now.

  Of course he heard her thoughts.

  “I’ll worry if I want to.”

  The dragon turned his head, one eye focused on her.

  You mind your own business, she thought back.

  Maddie felt his snort of defiance as his body moved under her legs.

  You are my business, Mate.

  The calm of him near her settled around the sting of panic from earlier. Would she ever be able to go back to Roswell, knowing these people lurked mere miles from the town? Would Roswell be safe for anyone anymore? She’d talk to the sheriff and some other witches in town when she got back, just long enough to grab the few belongings sitting in her car and leave again.

  Then again, maybe it was just time to go. Perhaps he had been all they’d wanted.

  She’d allow Kal to take her wherever. Mars, the moon, a new galaxy, wherever. She just needed him.

  As the wind tossed her hair, she calmed and leaned in close to him.

  Dreams of a place she’d never seen filtered into her head, although she swore she wasn’t sleeping. A red sky overhead. Clouds blue instead of white.

  She smiled as she fell asleep, her body still not quite caught up to the day's events.

  Her last thought. She enjoyed playing with fire.

  15

  Kal’s paws sunk into the sand as he landed beside the ship.

  We’re back.

  He shifted and Maddie nearly slid down his flank. Something was still wrong with her. He stopped as she adjusted herself, and he noticed the movement.

  His brothers slowly walked out of the ship one by one.

  “Is this her?” asked Deo.

  Kal huffed in response. Stretching out his long neck to reach back. He nudged her with his snout. Maddie stirred as if she’d been asleep already. He watched her sit up straight and blink at him.

  I’m going to shift back, can you stand?

  Maddie looked around.

  These are my brothers. They won’t hurt you.

  He smelled the air, pulling in the scent of her as she climbed down. Something smelled wrong, but neither he nor his dragon could figure out what or why. She wasn’t afraid, though. At least there was that.

  She staggered, and he shot out a paw. Her weakness pulsed through him. Damn, he hated to see her this way. Hopefully, now that she was with him, she’d fully recover. Maybe he could finally understand what had happened.

  His dragon watched her. They both studied Maddie as she grappled with her own balance. Once Kal was certain she wasn’t going to fall, he shifted. Seconds passed before he could touch her again.

  The moment human hands replaced his claws, he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her against him. Only then did he look back at his brothers.

  “Yes. This is Maddie. Maddie this is, well, everyone.”

  Leaning into him, she steadied. Her pulse thrummed through him, stronger at least than he’d felt at the strange compound they’d just destroyed.

  “Wow. You’re all. Well, you’re all huge, aren’t you?”

  Kal took them in and shrugged. “How else would we protect our planets?”

  “Planets? There’s more than one?”

  One of the other guys nodded. “We protect our solar system.”

  Casting a glance over her shoulder, she captured Kal’s gaze. He’d allow himself to be captured by this creature anytime. How had he lived this long without her?

  “I don’t get any of this. But, well. I’ve seen weirder,” she said to him, perhaps to everyone.

  Kal pulled her in tighter. You will see soon enough.

  Absently, he ran a hand down her side. How long had it been since he’d kissed her? Too long. Perhaps they could debrief the group later.

  “I need to get her inside. She’s been through a lot.” It was then he realized Eadric was missing. Where had he gone now? “Where is Eadric?”

  His brothers exchanged looks.

  “Get off of me!”

  Kal looked in the direction of the new voice.

  Raising an eyebrow, he looked at Cy.

  “Another one. She’s on the other side of the ship.”

  Another one? He thought.

  “Another witch. This one doesn’t seem to change anyone into anything. Eadric would probably be a bug under her shoe by now if she was.”

  Kal expected Maddie to laugh at this, but instead he realized she was nearly asleep in his embrace, her weight against him.

  “Why is she here?”

  Cy hung his head. “You and Eadric sure know how to pick mates. That. Is his mate.”

  Kal bristled. “My mate is not the issue.”

  “Sure. Not now. But, when you met her she wasn’t exactly what we’d call willing. Let’s hope the rest of us have better luck than you two.”

  He pursed his lips as they glared. “Alright. Fine. The bird thing was unfortunate. But, look how fast she came around.”

  They all nodded. Jackasses would know soon enough, it didn’t matter what hell they put you through.

  A swell of sand rose up. He closed his eyes and protected Maddie. “What’s going on? Sand storm? Was this on the radar?”

  He heard a cough and Eadric’s yell.

  “Stop with the damn sand already, witch.”

  She growled at Eadric as the sand died abruptly.

  “My name is Lillyanna. Let me go and I’ll stop.”

  Maddie stirred.

  “What’s going on?”

  Kal kissed the top of her head.

  “It appears that Eadric absconded with the witch from the compound.”

  Maddie pulled free of his arms and looked around.

  “Won’t they come looking for her?” Maddie asked.

  They all looked in Eadric’s direction.

  “Most likely. Nothing seems to go as planned around here. Perhaps we should continue with the mission and get out of here as quickly as possible,” said Cy.

  “Out of here? Like Roswell? Or…” Maddie pointed up.

  Cy nodded.

  “Come, mate. You need not worry. You
are safe here. Let’s get you to bed.”

  Her cheeks flushed pink.

  Good. Perhaps she was coming around. Resting his hand on the small of her back, he helped her move.

  “You know you’re naked, right?” she asked.

  A smile spread across his lips. “Very aware. Do you see a problem?”

  Her steps faltered. Kal grabbed her up, lifting her in his arms.

  “No.” Maddie yawned. “But, don’t your brothers get jealous?”

  “Of what? We’ve trained together since we were children. Being in human form usually meant we were naked after shifting.”

  She smiled and leaned her head into his chest.

  “Never mind. It’s no fun to tease you. You really don’t get human humor.”

  Kal growled. “I get humor just fine. What I don’t get is what you are implying?”

  Her finger absently made little circles on his chest.

  “Tell me that you aren’t all built like gods, you know, down there.”

  He glared down, but all he saw was Maddie. What the hell was she talking about? Taking a few more steps, he stopped.

  “Mate, am I not enough for you in bed?”

  She jumped and glared at him.

  “What? No. For crap’s sake. I just meant don’t you guys have jealousy or contests to see who’s bigger, or who’s slept with more women. I mean, seriously. I don’t want any of their mates to see you naked, that’s all.”

  His shoulders relaxed. Kal hadn’t realized her question had him tensed and ready to murder one of his brothers.

  “Shush, dragon boy. You’re plenty for me. I’m not sure anyone could ever come close. You’ve set a high standard.”

  Her hand rested over his heart.

  “This is just going to take getting used to,” she finished. Before Kal could get onto the ship, he paused at the yelling. Eadric might have one hell of a time with that one.

  “Won’t one of you help me? This is kidnapping. Let me go, and I won’t tell anyone about you.”

  Deo stepped up. “Eadric, tame this one.”

  She gawked. “What is wrong with you? Maybe you are all just monsters like my father believes.”

  The girl stopped yelling long enough to rest her eyes on Kal and Maddie.

  In her moment of distraction, Eadric finally caught up to her and grabbed her wrist.

  “I’m not kidnapping you. If you’d just listen, you’d understand. Don’t you feel anything?”

  Maddie raised her head and whispered to Kal. “I’ve never seen her before. She seems, uh, nice?”

  Kal bent his head to her ear. “Yeah. She seems like someone you’d like.”

  Maddie tried to sit up in his arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He pulled her closer and lowered his voice. “It means we have another woman that might give us more than we bargained for.”

  “I am the only woman you will need to worry about. He can deal with her.”

  Kal breathed in his mate. “You have no reason to be jealous.”

  She scoffed. “Ha. Jealous. Never.”

  She nestled into him. Safe. Finally. Now he could spend the rest of his life reassuring his mate that she was all he would ever want. All he would ever need. He paused as the girl, Lillyanna, shook free of Eadric.

  “You, you’re the reason I’m in this mess.”

  Kal shielded Maddie.

  “You are in this mess thanks to fate. You should perhaps take this up with the man you refuse to talk with,” Kal said.

  Lillyanna started to storm towards him, only stopping when Eadric wrapped his arms around her.

  “All I had to do was keep you away from her long enough to capture you. No. You ruined everything by bringing this guy. All I had to do was protect the labs. He’ll never forgive me.”

  Kal really didn’t care what she was going on about.

  “Eadric, deal with her. I’m taking Maddie in . Let us know when we’re heading to the next spot.”

  Ignoring the angry growls, he held tight to the only one who mattered to him. The only one that would have the power to calm the dragon within him. Right now, their soul ached to touch every inch of their mate. To ensure that she was okay. To explore her body like it was a map to his dreams.

  He ducked under an exposed duct in the ship and headed down the hall.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, her words terse.

  He liked when she had a bit of fire to kiss away.

  “To bed, mate. To bed.”

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she smirked. At least she figured out he wasn’t letting her go. Not this soon.

  “Don’t you dare distract me, Kal. I’m still mad about that comment. The one where you said I was more than you bargained for. What did you expect? A bunch of women all just waiting around for some dragon-alien thing to rescue them from their everyday lives?”

  He thought for a moment. Yeah. That had pretty much been the point. Something in him said that wasn’t the answer his Maddie would appreciate though.

  “If I say no, will you stop and let me show you just how much I love you?”

  16

  Maddie’s heart raced as she opened her eyes to a pitch black room. No windows. Sucking in the air, her heart threatened to jump out of her chest. Where was she?

  A moment later a familiar touch reached for her.

  “Maddie? Are you okay?”

  The warmth of his chest pressed against her “You’re safe, mate. No one would dare hurt you.”

  Right. She was safe. She was with Kal. On a spaceship. Right. So weird. Got it. This was home for now. She waited for doubt to hit and it didn’t. No. Anywhere Kal was would be home.

  “Right. Sorry. Nightmare. Are we still in Roswell?”

  An orange glow filled the room as Kal’s tattoos lit up.

  “Yes, although not for much longer. I asked that you have a chance to say goodbye to your mother.”

  A tear pricked her eye. Well, son of a crabapple. Mr. Muscles was sweet. She turned to him and smiled.

  “You really are the man of my dreams and so much more.” Maddie leaned in and kissed him.

  Pulling away, her eyes adjusted to the light.

  “Can we go back to the house? Or is that too dangerous?”

  He studied her for a moment.

  “Deo has been monitoring the area, and it looks like they are looking about twenty miles west of here. No one has gone back to the house. If you promise to be quick, we should be able to. Do you think your mother wouldn’t find you here?”

  She shook her head. “I honestly don’t know. I just wanted to grab something from there.”

  Maddie ignored a burning in her arm. She’d been through so much that it was only fitting something would still hurt. Her head beat to an invisible drum of a hangover.

  “Okay. Get dressed and we will set out soon. It’s almost night, better to get there and back without detection.”

  She nodded. “How long have I been asleep?” Getting out of bed, she looked for her clothes. She needed to grab a few more clothes, and lucky for her she’d never unpacked. It felt like she’d been back in this stupid town for weeks and in reality it had only been what, a couple of days? God, if someone had told her she’d meet the man of her dreams and fall for him in a matter of days she’d never have believed them. Maddie barely believed her own eyes.

  “It’s been a few hours. We moved the ship, but not far enough for my comfort. We’ll take one of my brothers as well. Better to have backup.”

  Rolling her eyes, Maddie sat on the edge of the bed. When would she ever feel like herself again?

  “Kal, I love you. But, remind me. Why am I so important? Why the backup? Why don’t they move the ship and then we can just come meet them.”

  He shrugged into his shirt.

  “Maddie. We came for our mates. Our mission is you. Or well, one for each of us. If one of us can’t find their mate, we will all search. The magic of our dragons is too much for our human forms to han
dle without our mates. Don’t you feel the power?”

  She sat there quietly. She had felt it so many times in the last day but she hadn’t realized what it meant, really.

  Closing her eyes she sat very still. Invisible tides swam through her, foreign magic exploring her. Her own magic sparked as if playing with a new friend. So crazy.

  “Okay. Fine. So somehow I’m supposed to be what? An anchor? And, now that you found me. You won’t what? Die?”

  Maddie grabbed at her chest. Oh, was that what he’d meant? They’d die without mates? Well, hell.

  He grunted in response. As if he were one with her, Kal came over and planted a kiss on her forehead.

  “No, mate. I will not die. You are my everything.”

  Kal grabbed his jacket and Maddie couldn’t help but admire his thick chest as he zipped it up. Damn, he was hot. Maybe she should thank fate, right after she said goodbye to her mom.

  It was hard to breathe all of a sudden. Shit. This wasn’t supposed to be the hard part. Mom had been dead for so long, yet it still seemed like yesterday.

  “Ready?” Kal asked.

  She nodded. Maddie couldn’t trust her own voice right now.

  Kal pulled her along into the hallway. Her feet struggled to move today. At least, with a little rest her head seemed more clear, and she finally noticed the ship. They walked over a solid floor, not what she’d imagined. Grates or something, cold metal. When she’d imagined a spaceship, she thought of wires and duct work too. Sure, everything was metal, it was still simple, but it didn’t feel much different from some kind of contemporary design.

  “This is not what I expected.”

  Kal smiled down at her, giving her hand a squeeze.

  “What did you expect?”

  Maddie shrugged. “Have you ever heard of Klingons?”

  Kal let out a chest-rumbling laugh.

  “They aren’t real, but yes.”

  Oh, good. Aliens knew about pop culture, or at least hers did.

  “Well, I guess that’s what I thought. This is simple. The lighting is soft. I dunno, it’s not scary.”

  She squeezed his hand back.

  “Well, I guess I’m glad that you don’t find us to be scary. We are protectors, not the enemy. I can’t say every species out there is like us. Now, let’s get your stuff and move out of the area.”