“Ha! She can’t hold the form!” Ligeia clapped in glee.
With a flash of electricity and a wrench of bone and sinew, Hannah collapsed to the ground, panting and human again. “I’m sorry…” The words were barely a whisper.
“It’s over, human! Soren Draakki will always be mine!”
Hannah dragged herself to her feet, her eyes locked on Ligeia. She strode across the clearing, her gaze unwavering and hard with the screams of the acolytes that escaped tearing through the black sky as the Draakki flooded the forest.
Ligeia’s face tightened at the pitiful sound, and she took a step toward Hannah. “I’ll kill you, you stupid human bitch!” Soren’s illustration nearly shredded with her anger.
The sky was nearly black as the moon slid farther across the dual stars. Ignoring Ligeia, Hannah flanked Soren’s prone body. Her mark glowed bright red against her skin as she knelt to cut his bonds with Draic’s knife.
“Fear burns in your eyes, Ligeia.” Soren’s voice was deadly calm, though his body still wavered between worlds. “Your pupils are wide, and not from the darkness, and from the sounds coming from trees, your other pupils are dead.”
He grasped Hannah’s forearm the way he did when he greeted his cousin. The moment her mark touched his skin, Soren threw his head back, a roar ripping from his throat. The dark disc in the sky eclipsed the last sliver of starlight, and white hot fire erupted from their mated marks.
Hannah’s body shook with searing pain, but she gritted her teeth and held tight. She screamed Soren’s name to the black moon, and in that moment, the page in Ligeia’s hand went up in flame.
With a hiss, the siren dropped the parchment, the blank page curling and burning to ash at her feet. The curse broken.
Panting, Hannah watched strength infuse Soren’s body. His form solidified, and her fingers slid from his arm as he climbed to his feet. Every movement was predatory and dangerous. In seconds, he transformed.
The shift was breathtaking and seamless, unlike that night in the garden, and his dragon, larger and infinitely more powerful.
Mighty wings flapped, and with a scream Ligeia whirled for the trees. The red dragon rose from the ground, snatching the siren in razor sharp talons.
“Don’t eat her, Soren. You’ll have indigestion for the next millennium!”
Soren’s dragon lips pulled back, and smoke curled from his lips in a scaly chuckle.
Hanging limp and impaled, Soren shook Ligeia loose, a billow of flame blistering her to a blackened husk as she fell to the ground. Her body splintered as it hit, the charred remains crumbling to nothing.
The red dragon landed with a dull thud, and in a flash Soren shifted back to human. He stood over what was left of his captor, his face hard.
With a cry, Hannah threw her arms around his neck, kissing him all over his face before he uncoiled her arms.
She looked at him, dirt-smeared and naked, and a slow smirk spread across her lips. “Dude, don’t you own any clothes? You’re so…so…”
He growled a laugh. “Naked?”
“Yup.” Grinning, she nodded.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “Well, that’s how it started.”
With a sigh, her lips brushed his. “And I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
He kissed her hard, and then broke their embrace to step back and look at her. “You’re amazing.” His words were soft, but full of awe.
“And it seems I’m also a dragon.”
Soren laughed. “A dragon that needs lessons on how to be a dragon.” He lifted her, whirling her around. “We have all the time in the world for that, right?”
He stopped mid-whirl, realizing his simple question wasn’t so simple, and his eyes sought hers. “Where do you want us to be, Hannah?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I want you with me more than anything, but after being held captive for so many years, I would never force you into something you don’t want. I have to be here, at least for now, but if you want to go back to the surface, I won’t stop you.”
She chewed on her lip with her eyes locked on his face. “I want to be with you, Soren. Wherever that may be. Hell, we’ve already traveled twenty thousand leagues to be together, so maybe we’ll be lucky and have the best of both. Oloris and the surface world.
He laughed. “I already have the best, and it’s you.”
Epilogue
“Slow down, Soren. Where are we going?” Hannah laughed, huffing as she tried to keep up with his long strides.
“It’s a surprise. You showed me yours, now I get to show you mine.” He winked.
The flesh between her legs ached at his double meaning. God, would she ever get enough of this man? “Uhm, I think you’ve already shown me yours. So much so I think I could pick your private parts out in a line up.”
He tsked. “Such a dirty mind. I think you need to cool off. Maybe a dip in an underwater ocean will do the trick!”
Without warning he bent and scooped her over his shoulder. “Soren!” she squealed, and he ran with her down a paved path lined with gorgeous flowering bushes. “The shore is the other way! Where are we going for real?”
“To the falls. Or at least I hope so. This path wasn’t here all those years ago, but the cliffs that form Horseshoe Bay are the same. My dragon knows the way. Kind of the way you described GPS.” He winked. “G-spot Positioning system, remember?”
Hannah laughed out loud. “I know what I said, but I was kidding.” She bit the inside of her cheek not to laugh, since he seemed so proud of his human analogy.
Chuckling, he let her slide into his arms from his shoulder and slowed his pace. “I know what a G-spot is, Hannah. After centuries being made to tap that on so many women—”
“Ugh!” She plugged her ears, humming the “Star Spangled Banner.” “I didn’t want to know then, and I certainly don’t want to know now.”
Soren pulled one of her hands away from her ears. “What I was about to say was I watched your human television when I couldn’t sleep, and then again while you were at work. I learned a lot about your world, including what a GPS really meant.” He smirked. “You’re very clever, by the way, making that joke.”
“Fire-breath, you really are a brat.” She scrunched her nose at him. “So what are these falls?”
“The most beautiful waterfall you will ever see. Rainbows everywhere you look, and unlike waterfalls on the surface, the water is violet blue. The distinct color comes from minerals only found at this depth.”
She laughed. “Forget that. I’m still amazed we’re living and breathing thousands of leagues beneath the surface of the ocean. One day I’ll wrap my head around it all. Like how your technology allows for waterfalls, beaches and surf under the water.”
“Our falls are tiered, and they feed into our underwater ocean. I found this particular grove when I was child. I used to think of it as my own personal place of magic. It’s got caves and a way out to the open ocean, though it’s barred for obvious reasons.”
With Hannah still in his arms, he turned on the path toward a secluded hollow above the beach.
“Soren! You weren’t kidding. This is amazing!” Three magnificent waterfalls shot rainbows everywhere in the churned up spray. It was easy to see how anyone might imagine this home to magic.
He put her down, but kept his arms around her waist. Dipping his head to kiss her, he nipped her lip instead.
“I’m glad you love this place as much as me, Hannah, but the falls aren’t your surprise.” He turned her around and then pointed toward the beach where two people walked toward them.
Hannah squinted to get a better look. “Looks like Aggie’s back from the surface. I can’t tell for sure in this glare, but I bet that’s Sam with her. She said she wanted him home. Honestly, I don’t know how she manages at her age.” She raised her hand to wave, but then froze, straining harder to see. “Oh my God! VALERIE!”
She whirled around, throwin
g her arms around Soren’s neck, kissing him all over his face and mouth. “How? When?” she asked between kisses.
He grinned, pulling her arms down. “Well—” He shrugged. “You were missing your friend, and you did say you wanted the best of both, so I got it for you.”
Hannah lifted her hands and cupped his face, her eyes on his. “Soren Draakki, I love you so much sometimes I think I’ll explode.”
“The only exploding I want is when you come so hard you soak my cock.”
Her mouth slanted in a sexy smirk. “That’s a promise.” She went up on tiptoe to kiss him again.
“Go,” he whispered, and she squealed, hugging him again before taking off toward the beach.
He watched her race down the path and nodded to himself. “Definitely, the best of both.”
About the Author
Hi everyone! I’m Marianne Morea. I was born and raised in New York, and there’s nothing like the city that never sleeps to inspire sexy stories and romantic suspense. I began my career after college as a budding journalist, and later earned a master’s in fine art, from The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, but it’s my lifelong love affair with words and books that finally led me to do what I love most. Write. I live in New York with my hubby and our three children, three dogs and one cat. I’m always interested in chatting with readers, so sign up for my newsletter and check out my Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram!
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Valerie Ross doesn't take no for an answer. Especially when she's hell-bent on knowing if her book loving BFF is actually happy or if she’s happily psychotic in a self-made fantasy. Shifters? Not a chance. With her friend M.I.A. for a month, and the only clue about her whereabouts a cryptic note, the truth isn’t easy to accept. Not until she's thrown together with two sex-on-a-stick shifters of her own that make her blood boil and her panties wet.
Fire and fury set this threesome ablaze when passions ignite at depths only a mermaid could love. Twice the trouble and twice the sizzle convince Valerie three is never a crowd, but when old rivalries pit their new Triad against her best friend's mate, an ancient feud threatens to tear more than just their clans apart— especially when a hidden enemy takes Valerie as his pawn. Can enemies become allies in time to save more than just their pride?
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MORE BOOKS BY MARIANNE MOREA
The Cursed by Blood Saga
Hunter’s Blood
Fever Play
Twice Cursed
Blood Legacy
Lion’s Den
Power Play
Collateral Blood
Condemned
Of Blood and Magic
The Red Veil Diaries
Choose Me
Tempt Me
Tease Me
Taste Me
Bewitch Me
Howls Romance
Her Fairytale Wolf
The Wolf’s Dream Mate
Her Winter Wolves
The Alpha’s Chase
Torn Between Two Alphas
Her Captive Dragon
Taming Their Tailfins
MT World Exclusives
Sass Master
Lucky Sass
Sass in the City
The Blessed
My Soul to Keep
Single Books
Dragon Master
CIA Rogue Operative
Dangerous Law
Her Captive Dragon: Howls Romance Page 14
