The Bride Hunt Box Set Books 1 - 3

by Hartnady, Charlene

  “Julie.” He said her name with that deep rich baritone that reminded her of melted chocolate or mulled wine. It was the manliest voice she had ever heard and it fit him perfectly. Rough, rugged and savage. “Eat,” he commanded.

  She ignored him. “What makes you so special? There are two females in the whole of …” She looked around. Not because she could see anything beyond the small circle of light that the fire gave. “Here and you get to have at them both?”

  “They are not the only females, there are still a few elderly females and one or two mated females. They are the only unmated females in their prime within the fire territory though.” Whatever that meant.

  “In their prime?” Julie rolled her eyes. “You do realize that you are speaking about them like they’re cattle, don’t you? A quality breeding heifer in her prime.” She made her voice deep and rumbly.

  He remained serious. “I didn’t mean it like that. I told you earlier that I do not see females as I would cattle, and for the record, neither female is fertile, so your breeding comment is incorrect.”

  Julie laughed. “I was teasing you.”

  Some of the tension eased from him. “I am a fire prince. My position of royalty has meant that I have certain privileges.”

  “You bastard!” she yelled. “You abused your position of power to have sex with them didn’t you?” No wonder Scarlet had all those awful things to say. No wonder she was the way that she was.”

  His eyes darkened up a whole lot. Maybe she had gone too far. Every muscle on him tightened … Oh shit! His mouth pulled into a hard grimace and he growled. It was a deep rumble, reminding her of the sound a lion would make. A hungry, angry lion.

  “Why do you insist on thinking the worst of me?”

  “Maybe because I don’t know you and you, kind of, kidnapped me.” Her voice was timid. She felt exposed and vulnerable.

  “Scarlet and Ash came to me. I am the strongest, fiercest warrior in my kingdom. My flames are scorching and far-reaching. My scales gleam gold.” He rubbed a hand over the markings on his chest. “I do not need to chase females. They chase me.”

  “Arrogant much?”

  “I do not know what you mean by that comment. I have simply given you the facts.”

  This guy was too much. “Yeah and you probably have the biggest dick.”

  “So what of it?” His eyes narrowed. “Please can you stop agonizing over the size of my cock. I told you that I have it on good authority that we are compatible as a species.”

  Holy hell. He was actually being serious. “So you’re giving up two chicks at a shot on me? You dragons are into some kinky shit. A dragon threesome, now …” then she had a thought. “Wait just a minute. You weren’t planning on keeping them on the side were you? Not that I agree to any of this insanity.”

  “Kinky shit?” His brow was furrowed. “A threesome? I am sure that someone spoke of it once but I can’t recall the meaning.”

  Idiot caveman! “Kinky is when …” She huffed out a breath. “Kinky is hard to explain. A threesome would be considered kinky. It means having sex with two other people at the same time. In your case, those two girls. Call me a prude, but I consider that kinky.”

  “I’ve never rutted both of them at the same time.”

  “But you slept with both of them?”

  He shrugged. “I am a male, I have needs. If either female was willing to slake those needs, I didn’t turn them away. I do not have a hold over either of them and the opposite is also true. No promises were made.”

  She wasn’t sure why this irritated her. “So the two of them were, are your sex slaves?” The irritation shone in her tone. It was sexist, immoral and wrong and that was just for starters. Her blood boiled. Why did it aggravate her so much? What these dragon shifters did was their own business.

  The brute threw his head back and laughed. “Did you forget the part where I mentioned that the fire kingdom has over two hundred virile males? Ash and Scarlet warm the dicks of many of my warriors.”

  Julie felt her eyes bug out of her skull. “Oh my God!” She yelled. “You all use them for sex.”

  “They use us for sex. It is their choice who they spend time with.” He remained calm.

  “And you don’t mind that they sleep with other guys?”

  “Why would I mind? We rutted, I made sure that it was good for them. They came back … often. End of story. I am not mated to either of them. I do not mind if they choose to be with other males.”

  “That’s sick,” she blurted.

  “Sex is natural. It’s good. It’s necessary. There is nothing sick about it.”

  “Are the human women going to be passed around?” She grit her teeth. “I hope not.”

  “I won you. You are under my protection.” Out popped mister pissed off savage. “No one gets to touch you. We do not share our mates. Not ever. If another male were to pleasure you in any way, I would be forced to kill him. Am I clear?”

  Julie swallowed hard. “Yes. No sharing. Got it. For the record, I’m glad. Not that this is going anywhere but I don’t do the whole sharing thing either. No threesomes and no kinky shit.” Thank god there would be no sharing. Hopefully there wouldn’t be anything sexual of any kind.

  “Eat your food.” He glanced at the half-eaten rabbit … roast. Poor Thumper! Her stomach growled.

  Julie nodded and did as he instructed. It was just a few weeks. This would be over soon enough.

  Chapter 10

  Coal was more uncomfortable than he had ever been in his life. His back was to a tree. The fire was still burning because he’d carefully added a log every so often.

  The female cradled in his arms nestled in further and made a soft whimpering noise. You would swear by the way his dick throbbed that it had been a sexual sound rather than a simple sleepy murmur.

  Lord help him. Why was he so wound up? He found her interesting and her scent appealed to him, but she wasn’t what he would call attractive. He recalled how lush her backside had felt though when he’d gripped it. How soft and prominent her chest had felt against his. This line of thinking wasn’t helping his dick situation.

  The female moved again and he had to bite back a moan. If she woke up while he was in this state, he would scare her. She wriggled, this time almost rubbing up against him. Blast and damn. She would blame him for his hard cock. She would be angry with him.

  He needed to think about other things. Needed to remove his focus from her tantalizing scent or how her chest rose and fell. He really didn’t need to notice how the morning sun caught her dark strands of hair. Or how long and thick her lashes were. The human was not attractive. She wasn’t. Mud and grime still clung to her.

  Her eyelids flickered. By all that was clawed and scaly, she was waking up. He risked looking down past her to where his cock jutted between them. There was no missing it. No trying to cover it. His thin, cotton pants did nothing to hide his arousal. It wasn’t something that would normally be a problem but this human was as timid as she was fierce. She thought the worst of him when it came to sex. He couldn’t allow her to see him like this and he couldn’t miraculously make his dick cooperate.

  Her eyes fluttered and she muttered.

  It was now or never. Moving slowly and carefully, he took ahold of his cock and pushed it between his thighs, which he clamped shut. The female jostled on his lap and her eyes snapped open on a gasp.

  “Good morning.” He smiled down at her, clamping his dick harder between his thighs. He placed his hand on the back of his leg.

  Julie pulled away from him. She rubbed her eyes. “I can’t believe I actually slept.”

  “You were exhausted,” he said, keeping his other arm loosely around her. “How are you feeling?”

  “Um …” Her cheeks turned a pink color and she tried to stand.

  “Don’t get up just yet.” He held her. “I won’t hurt you. Take a minute to wake up first.” She had been practically asleep last night at the fire when he’d picked her up and
held her. She’d proceeded to fall asleep in his arms within minutes. Too tired to protest. It seemed that, in the light of day though, she was embarrassed about their closeness.

  Slowly but surely, she relaxed against him. “So …” She looked shy. “How did you sleep?”

  “I don’t need much sleep.” He had kept watch, for the most part, catching snatches of sleep here and there. It was all he needed.

  “Oh.” She moved further away.

  Coal touched her arm. “You scraped yourself.” There was also a dark blue bruised area on her knee. He touched that as well, with just the tip of his fingertip. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere else?”

  “I’m fine. A little stiff but okay.” She pulled back so that she could look him in the eyes. “I’m worried about my feet though. They’re pretty sore. I’m worried I won’t be able to walk all the way back.”

  Seeing her injuries and hearing about her feet helped quell the worst of his lust. “I’m going to put you down now.”

  She nodded.

  He lifted her from his lap and carefully placed her on the ground next to him. Then he moved into a crouching position and picked up one of her feet. Blast and fire, she was hurt. He touched a wound. It was already scabbed over and looked like it had been made by a sharp stone, or a stick.

  When he looked up, she was watching him strangely. She was looking at him like she was only noticing him for the first time. She seemed to be devouring him with her eyes. Her gaze moved downwards. Her eyes flared as they landed on his cock. Oh hell, he still sported a semi. It couldn’t be helped. Her mouth fell open and she gasped. Then she quickly looked away, her cheeks flushing.

  He waited for a reprimand, which never came. Interesting. At least, if nothing else, the coming weeks would not be boring.

  * * *

  Coal seemed genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. He placed her on the ground and moved so that he could lift one of her feet. Okay. Julie pushed her dress down so that ‘things’ stayed properly covered. She’d told him that they were sore and he was inspecting them. It was sweet. Not savage behavior at all. Then again, he was probably just upset that they wouldn’t be able to make good time back to his lair. Thing was though, he did look really concerned.

  There were two frown lines between his eyes as he moved her foot so that he could get a better look. Coal touched her heel and she winced.

  “You have some scratches and bruising.” His jaw worked. “Your feet are soft and delicate.” He shook his head, looking angry. Okay, so he was really worried about her. Something warmed in her.

  “I’m a human. We normally wear shoes.”

  “Foot coverings. It was an oversight on our part. I’m sorry. Dragon shifters do not wear shoes very often. We do not need them. I’m sorry this happened.”

  Caring and sweet. This guy was an enigma. She had been chased and hunted down like an animal … and now this. He turned his dark eyes back to her foot which he inspected some more. She took the opportunity to assess him. Short black hair, an angular jaw, full lips. His nose was too thick to be considered good-looking. It did fit with the rest of him. Coal definitely wasn’t handsome. Not in any classic sense of the word but he was attractive. There was no denying it. He licked his lips. Those muscles on the sides of his neck screamed look at me, look at me. His tattoo was even more beautiful in the light of day. The way the golden lines caught the rays of the sun was breathtaking. It had nothing to do with his pecs or his abs … what the hell was that?

  Okay, she knew what it was, but what the holy hell was that thing? It didn’t even look like it was properly erect. Not by a long shot, yet … not a chance that was fitting. Maybe in a glove compartment but not in her. She suppressed a laugh. Not that it was funny.

  It was a pity. She’d decided that maybe breaking her dry spell while here in dragon land wasn’t a bad idea. Coal was hot and sweet. As sweet as a savage could be. She had planned on seeing if he meant it about not forcing her and looking after her, and if he did, well, she planned on making hay while the sun shone. Julie was the kind of person who made lemonade when life threw her lemons. Only, that lemon was too big to make lemonade.

  She had changed her mind. No sex. She wouldn’t give him any ideas. Shit! She realized that she was staring and looked away. Her cheeks felt hot.

  Coal had just finished looking at her other foot, he put it down. Suddenly, he grabbed ahold of his pants and tore them. There was a loud ripping.

  “What are you doing?” She sounded a bit panicked. Probably because she was a bit panicked. Why was he tearing off his pants?

  “I will make you foot coverings. I can also carry you if you need me to.”

  Julie shook her head. “Make me shoes and I’ll walk. Just, maybe leave certain parts of yourself covered … please.”

  He smiled. “I didn’t think you would like the idea of me carrying you.” His smile widened and turned a little arrogant. “I saw you checking out my cock just now. Are you sure you don’t want me naked? It would mean more material for your feet.”

  “I was not checking out your … I …” Her cheeks heated ‒ again. Damn him. “I can’t help that you put that thing in my line of sight. Kinda hard to miss,” she mumbled. “I definitely don’t want to see it. Thank you very much.”

  “Whatever you say, Julie.” He handed her one of his pants legs and began tearing the other one off. A shit-eating grin covered his face. Note to self, do not check this guy out again. Coal had an ego about a mile wide.

  His thighs were a thing of beauty though. Not looking! The asshole chuckled as he handed her the other pants leg. She narrowed her eyes at him as she took the material. Julie began wrapping it around her foot. Coal was a savage. His people had abducted her against her will. She needed to hold onto that.

  * * *

  “We are almost there.” Coal looked at her with sympathy. She wanted to feel sorry for him too, but couldn’t allow herself to feel that way. The dragon shifters had abducted her. It was his fault she was in this awful state. He looked perfectly fine. He looked like he could sprint up the mountain and back without breaking a sweat. She was holding him back, dragging him down but he deserved it. Asshole!

  Julie limped. The undersides of her feet throbbed. Her muscles ached. Her knee was puffy and didn’t bend properly. “What’s your definition of almost?” Her breath came out in pants. There was a lump on her head where she’d hit the pavement but her headache was gone. The only thing that was looking up. Yay!

  “Another mile, two at the most.”

  Julie allowed herself to fall onto the grass. She sat with her head in her hands. Two miles, might as well be a hundred miles. Her eyes stung with the need to cry but she held back the tears. She wasn’t a quitter or a moaner. On a heavy sigh, she started to get back up when Coal put his arms around her and lifted her off the ground.

  “Put me down.” She wriggled to prove a point. “I can walk on my own.” She couldn’t.

  “Like hell,” he snapped. Coal began to walk in big strides.

  “Put me down,” she said, a little bit more harshly. The truth was that his arms felt good around her. She felt comfortable and safe but she shouldn’t and it irritated her. She was also quite capable of hobbling the rest of the way on her own. Maybe.

  Coal put her down and took a step away. He towered over her. The big savage folded his arms across his chest. “I am a strong, fierce warrior. I’m more than capable of carrying you.”

  “I’m sure you are.” She tried not to appear too sarcastic and failed. It was clear he was strong. His muscles had freaking muscles.

  He narrowed his eyes. “No, you don’t seem to get it, I’m very strong.”

  “Good for you. I’m still okay with walking.”

  “You’re not okay. You’re far from it. I don’t know why you won’t let me help you.” His muscles bulged. His thin cotton pants – now shorts – ruffled in the light breeze.

  Coal sucked in a deep breath. He turned and walked away and for a secon
d she thought that he was leaving her. She sprang to her feet, although, sprang wasn’t really the right word. It was more like staggered to her feet. After everything, now he was simply leaving her? The bastard!

  “Where do you think you are going?” she shouted after him. “Hey! You can’t just leave me here.”

  Coal kept walking and her heart sank like a stone. Just as she was about to run ‒ okay hobble ‒ after him, he stopped next to a small copse of trees and kicked his toes against a large felled tree. It was black with charred branches. It had probably been struck by lightning. He kicked it a second time. There was a loud thud. What was he doing?

  Coal reached down and wrapped his arms around its massive trunk. Even a big guy like him had trouble getting his arms around its immense girth.

  What the hell!

  She heard creaking. No way! No damned way! The trunk lifted. Slowly but surely, Coal lifted the thing. His biceps bulged, his back muscles were … who even knew back muscles like his existed. Next thing, the trunk was above his head. As in, arms out-stretched, up high above his head. No way!

  With a shove, he threw it back down to the right of where it had been. So, he was strong. Very strong.

  It didn’t seem like Coal was done. He looked around and then made for an outcrop of rocks. Next, he picked up a large boulder, lifting it above his head. It didn’t look like it was any effort for him. He lowered and extended his arms a couple of times, grinning at her all the while.

  Her mouth hung open, it couldn’t be helped. Wow! It was barbaric. It was nuts. It was also pretty hot.

  Coal threw the boulder several feet away from himself, in the opposite direction to her. He clapped his hands together and walked back to her. His muscles looked pumped. His pecs did that ‘jump’ thing and his abs looked bigger than before.