The Bride Hunt Box Set Books 1 - 3

by Hartnady, Charlene

  Blaze almost smiled. “I have two brothers and a sister.”

  “You’re lucky, I’m an only child. There were complications when I was born. It’s a condition called placenta previa. I almost died, my mom almost died as well. She was bleeding out so they had to remove her uterus.”

  His eyes widened and he looked distinctly uncomfortable.

  “Let me guess, too much information? Sorry, I have this bad habit of over-sharing and talking too much when I’m nervous.”

  “There is no need for you to be nervous. Not with me.” His eyes looked dark in the firelight. They were so intense, especially when focused solely on her.

  She nodded. “Okay. I’ll try and relax. This is just, so different.”

  Blaze licked his lower lip. Even such a simple thing was ridiculously sexy on him. “We’ll either be compatible or we won’t.” His voice was deep and husky, like he was thinking about having sex with her right then. “Either we’ll get along or we won’t. It’s really quite simple, Roxy.”

  Holy shit, hearing him say her name was just about the sexiest thing she ever heard in her whole entire life. Maybe he was right, maybe having an over-the-top attraction for another person wasn’t such a great idea.

  She needed to change the subject and right now. “One of your brothers is Coal right? Julie mentioned that she’s mated to him.”

  Blaze nodded. “Yup, and then there’s Inferno and my sister Ruby.”

  Roxy tucked her hands between her thighs to try and get them warm. The fire had died down. Blaze must have noticed because he leaned forward and threw a couple of logs onto the dying flames. A few sparks flew and there was a cracking noise as the new wood began to kindle. “Inferno,” Roxy murmured, almost to herself. “I’ll have to try and remember that. You’ll need to point him out to me so that I don’t embarrass myself.”

  “Ummmm… okay… sure.” Blaze frowned deeply.

  “Does the king wear a crown or something? Will I need to curtsy to him?”

  Blaze chuckled.

  “What’s so funny? I don’t want to look like an idiot or anything in front of the king.”

  Blaze all-out laughed, a ton of the tension he’d been carrying seemed to dissipate, he even leaned back onto his elbows.

  Oh god but his abs were a thing of pure beauty. Her mouth actually watered for a taste. Not going there. She quickly looked into the flickering, lashing flames.

  “You did just fine.” He finally murmured, in that deep baritone he was so good at.

  “What?” Roxy frowned, not sure what he was talking about.

  “Introducing yourself to the king, that is. You did just fine.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” She felt her frown deepen.

  “I wouldn’t have minded a curtsy but jumping into my arms and sticking your tongue in my mouth was good too,” Blaze winked at her.

  Oh shit! It finally dawned on her what he was saying. Blaze was the king. Blaze was the freakin’ king. The guy in charge. The head honcho. The freaking king of all the dragons.

  Roxy felt her mouth drop open. “Oh… oh…. Um… right… I didn’t know.” She shook her head so hard that her ponytail bounced around. “I’m okay with you being the king.” Her voice had that high pitch to it. Definitely a tad panicky. “Um… not that it matters to me either way. It doesn’t. I mean it’s great and everything but it’s…”

  Blaze gave another chuckle. “Relax. It’s not a big deal.”

  “Well it kind of is. Am I supposed to curtsy to you or treat you differently or… I mean, this isn’t going to work for me if that’s the case. I’m looking for a partnership, equal ground, is that going to be a problem?”

  Blaze turned serious and shook his head. “No, as my mate you would be the queen and a partner in all aspects of the word. Don’t treat me differently. I like how you stand up to me.”

  “Well, no wonder you’re so bossy and so arrogant.” Dammit! She hadn’t just said that, out loud. Had she?

  Blaze cracked up laughing. He raked a hand through his hair. “I guess I’m used to getting my way.”

  I’ll bet. She managed to keep it to herself. Roxy nodded.

  “Don’t treat me any differently now that you know. I would prefer to keep things open and honest and as uncomplicated as possible.”

  “That would work for me. Besides, I tend to say things before thinking them through anyway.”

  “Mmmm…” Blaze gave his lower lip a lick. Why did he keep doing that? “I had noticed.”

  “It’s got me into trouble over the years.”

  “I’ll bet.” At long last the tension between them seemed to ease up.

  “So what’s it like being the king?”

  “It’s hard work. It often means putting my own personal wishes to the side. I always need to put my people first. So being the one in charge is not always easy.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure…” A loud moan punctured through the darkness.

  “What the hell?” Roxy jumped to her feet.

  There was another loud moan. Her heart rate jumped up. “That sounded like Lily. She sounds like she’s in pain.” Her own voice was laced with panic and concern.

  Without really giving it any thought she turned to face the area where the noise had come from and was just about to take off in that direction when Blaze grabbed her ankle. “She’s not in any pain.”

  “Yes, she is. Didn’t you hear…” Roxy felt her cheeks get super-hot. “Seriously? They’re doing the wild monkey dance? Is that what you’re telling me?”

  Blaze let go of her ankle and gave a short chuckle. “Yup.”

  There were a couple of louder drawn-out moans. “Good god, yes!” The other woman shouted. Right! She felt like a total doofus. They were definitely doing the two-backed rodeo.

  Lily moaned… again.

  Roxy’s clit woke up. Okay, maybe it stood to attention. She’d never heard other people having sex before. “So rude,” she muttered. She didn’t know what was worse, that they were doing it within earshot of other people or that Roxy was getting oddly turned on by listening to them go at it. “They must know that we can hear them.” Roxy sat back down. She grabbed ahold of her thighs and pulled them to her body.

  The groans had turned into high pitched cries. Why the hell was her body reacting? This was beyond embarrassing.

  “I think they’re beyond caring and, for the record, they’re not having sex.”

  “It sure as hell sounds like it. How would you know anyway?” She glanced at Blaze.

  “Supersonic hearing,” he pointed to one of his ears.

  “What is he doing to her then?” She held up her hand. “Never mind.” Why did she have to ask such a stupid ass question? Lily made this loud keening noise that had orgasm written all over it. The noise went on for what felt like an age. No way in hell could a pants party last that long. She had to be faking. It didn’t sound fake though. At long damn last, there was silence.

  “Thank god,” Roxy muttered. Her panties felt damp and she squirmed trying to stop the ache inside her. Sex with her ex had always been good, well mostly. There was the odd occasion when he got too excited, but for the most part it was good. They’d had a healthy sex life right up until they had broken up. It was one of the things Roxy missed. She didn’t miss Ben, she missed orgasms with another person.

  Blaze threw a few more logs on the fire. That pissed, tense look was back. “We should get some shuteye. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

  Much to her dismay, Roxy’s clit was throbbing. His words disappointed her. Not that she wanted to do anything about her wet panties and achy nub, but a little make-out session would’ve been nice. It wasn’t like they hadn’t already kissed or anything. Forget the make-out session, a small sign that he was even a little interested in her would be fantastic.

  “Use your pack as a pillow,” he handed her, her backpack.

  “Thanks.”

  “That jacket looks warm.” He glanced down at the
garment in question. “Don’t worry, we have plenty of wood, I’ll keep the fire going so that you don’t get cold.” Blaze was frowning. He scooted further away from her, putting his back to the fire and inadvertently to her.

  Roxy wasn’t sure what she had expected but this sure as hell wasn’t it. Body warmth was important. Snuggling up to a shifter sounded nice. Maybe he was trying to be polite. They didn’t know each other. It wasn’t like she would normally sleep—as in get some rest—with a guy on the first day of meeting him anyway. Even if he had offered to snuggle with her she would’ve turned him down, so maybe it was a good thing he hadn’t offered.

  She lay down, also putting her back to the fire. Two could play at this game. When he finally did make a move on her, she was totally turning him down flat. She had already jumped him once so she refused to be the first one to do it again. It was on him… the king of all the dragons. Shit! She hadn’t really minded either way. Royalty or not. Part of her had hoped for a regular guy… shifter. He kept on saying that he didn’t want to complicate things, yet she got the distinct impression that being with a guy like him was complicated to begin with.

  There was a loud groan. Distinctly male. Sound sure did travel in the woods at night… unfortunately. “Oh fuck, you’re good with your mouth,” Thunder growled out the words.

  “Really?” Roxy huffed, turning back towards the fire and giving her bag a punch to try and make it more comfortable to lie on. It seemed that hearing a guy in the throes of passion turned her on just as much as hearing Lily earlier. It was plain gross but she couldn’t help it. She needed sex and badly. Roxy stared across the fire at Blaze. His back was muscular and broad.

  “Ignore it and get some sleep,” Blaze sounded royally pissed off—royally pissed off, ha ha! She’d find that funny if she wasn’t so damned horny. He didn’t sound like the others having sex affected him in any way. He might be arrogant and bossy but at least he wasn’t a pervert. Not like her. Roxy squeezed her eyes shut — along with her thighs.

  Thunder was loud and made more noise than Lily. Grunting, growling and plenty of dirty talk. He said things like take me deep and suck my balls. The guy also had a ton of stamina because it seemed to go on and on and on. His orgasm was quick and loud. A roar that echoed through the entire forest. He sounded like a grizzly bear. Not that she knew what a grizzly bear in the throes of orgasm sounded like. He probably scared away all the wild animals in a wide radius, including the grizzly bears.

  A laugh slipped out. She managed to stop it quite quickly.

  “What’s so funny?” Blaze didn’t sound happy.

  “Nothing.”

  “Get some sleep, dammit,” Blaze growled at her.

  “I’m trying but it’s hard with all the noise.” Asshole! What was his problem?

  Just as she was dozing off, Lily started up again. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Roxy unzipped her backpack and pulled out her spare set of jeans. She then proceeded to lay back down. Her pack wasn’t as comfortable without the extra padding but at least she had something to cover her head. More importantly, her ears. It definitely muffled the cries. And then the weirdest thing happened… she fell asleep.

  Chapter 9

  They woke up at sunrise the next morning. Lily and Thunder were snuggled in each other’s arms. I’m not jealous! They kissed each other continually and called each other by endearments. It was sickening. You would swear that they had been together for ages.

  After a quick breakfast of deer steak, they’d set off. Blaze carried her. The guy smelled incredible. How was that even possible after spending the night in the wilderness? His arms felt good around her. Too damned good. She was disliking him more and more. He didn’t speak to her. Her only solace was that he didn’t seem keen on speaking to any of them and when asked a direct question his answers were short.

  Within a few hours, they went their separate ways. It was a couple more hours before they reached the fire castle. They traveled in complete silence. It was such fun. The guy was as entertaining as they came. Roxy gave up trying to talk to him ages ago. His yes and no answers were riveting. They put her to sleep more than once.

  Then without giving her any warning, Blaze put her down and changed into this huge dragon. There was a cracking and a popping sound. One second a beautiful man stood before her and the next, a majestic dragon. His scales gleamed in the sunlight. Glorious shades of greens and blues. His chest was golden and reflected the sun. Not so much that she couldn’t look at him but a pair of shades would have been good right about now.

  Again, without so much as a warning, he flapped his wings and took to the sky. Using giant, scaly talons, he picked her up around her waist. She couldn’t help but squeal but his touch was soft and careful so she forced herself to relax.

  Her stomach lurched as they rose into the air with a speed. Blaze rose up over a large stone patio and then slowly descended. He released her just as her feet hit the ground. He moved to the side and landed with grace and finesse. Especially considering he had to weigh at least a ton. If not more.

  There were fewer cracking noises as he changed back into his human form. Oh lord! His ass was a thing of sheer beauty. His glutes pulled tight as he walked inside the building through a glass side door. No tan lines. The guy had beautiful sun-kissed skin with not a tan line anywhere.

  Roxy decided she was definitely a pervert because she felt disappointed that he was already dressed in another pair of those loose-fitting pants by the time she got her legs to work. She looked around the space. It was big, as in, very high ceilings and sparse furnishings. From what she had seen so far, she realized that this was normal for dragons. They liked big, open spaces. Even the hallways were high and wide.

  The room was tastefully decorated. There was a desk and chair, as well as a sitting area. There was also a large bed. Her eyes were drawn to it.

  “This is my chamber,” Blaze didn’t sound happy and when she looked at him, he was frowning. “Make yourself comfortable. Your things will be brought in shortly. I’ll have food delivered.”

  “Where are you going?” It was out before she could stop it. It sounded like she didn’t want him to go, which was partly true.

  “I have things I need to attend to, four kingdoms to run.” His body turned slightly towards the door.

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “Okay… fine.”

  “I’ll be back later. Refuel, get some rest. Wash up.”

  She must stink. Back to armpit problems, it had to be it. And, he was the king, so it made sense. Roxy wanted to ask him when she would see him again but she didn’t want to sound too needy.

  “I’ll see you later,” he growled. He was already half out the door when he turned back. “Don’t try and go anywhere without me. Someone else might try to claim you and I would be forced to kill him.”

  Blaze left before she could say anything. He was joking. Although, he had looked deadly serious. Okay, maybe he wasn’t joking. Exaggerating then maybe. Yeah, that had to be it.

  Roxy showered and changed. About a half hour later there was a knock on the door.

  “Come in,” she called. The action felt a bit strange, considering this wasn’t even her place.

  Julie stuck her head around the jamb. “Are you decent?”

  Roxy laughed. “Yeah, come on in.”

  Julie did as she said and put the bag down at her feet. She proceeded to put her hands on her hips and give Roxy the once-over with a strange look on her face.

  “What?”

  Julie smiled. “So you got Blaze,” she made a snorting noise and shook her head.

  “It’s not a biggie, is it? I mean, maybe it is since he’s the fire king and all.” It made her feel a bit nervous.

  “He’s actually pretty down-to-earth, but he does have a giant stick up his ass. I’m hoping he’ll relax a bit when he… forget I said anything.” She gave a wave of the hand. “What would you like to eat?”

  “He’s pretty intense and a whole lot serious, but…” Ro
xy wanted to say that she thought he was nice but nice didn’t fit the big, brooding shifter. Neither did sweet.

  Julie nodded. “Yeah and he acts like he has a stick jammed right where the sun don’t shine. Don’t tell him I said that. We’re only just starting to get along. He didn’t like me at first because I didn’t want children and the whole purpose for us being here is to procreate but then it just kind of happened.” Julie cupped her belly which was a bit distended now that Roxy was close enough to really get a good look at Julie’s profile.

  “Oh wow! You’re pregnant,” Roxy gushed. “Congratulations!”

  “It’s unexpected but we’re really happy about it,” Julie smiled broadly. “I’m a little nervous with the laying approaching.”

  “Laying? As in an egg?” Roxy felt her eyes widen, she could hear the shock in her voice.

  Julie nodded. “Yup. Fire dragon offspring are laid, as in, yes, there is most definitely an egg.” She didn’t look too sure about the whole thing.

  “How far along are you?” Roxy was expecting the other woman to say that she was a couple of months.

  “Two and a bit weeks.” Julie must have read the shock on her face because she continued. “I will carry for six weeks and then it takes about another six weeks for the egg to hatch. Although, we’re not entirely sure how it’s going to go down since I’m the first human to carry a fire dragon egg. A royal egg for that matter.”

  “That must be scary for you.”

  Her eyes widened. “You have no idea. Coal is really wonderful. He’s going to be a fantastic dad.” She took a deep breath. “There have been human and dragon shifter births before that went well so I’m sure I’ll be okay.”

  “Well, that’s fine then.”

  “Yes and no. Air and water dragon females bear live young so it’s very different. It’s uncertain about the earth dragons who are very secretive about their offspring. We don’t know for sure how earth dragon babies are born although it is suspected that they have live young as well.”