Under Fyre (Alien Dragon Shifters Book 1)

by Cara Bristol

  “She stays,” the priestess spoke. “They both stay.”

  The king blinked. “With all due respect, priestess…”

  While still in woman form, the priestess roared, expelling a fireball at the king. He dove to the side, missing incineration by a hair. The guards retreated in fear.

  “I thought you had to be a dragon to do that,” Rhianna said in a small voice.

  So did he. K’ev and everyone else gaped at the priestess.

  The king recovered first, pointing at Rhianna huddling behind K’ev’s back. “She is an assassin sent by Earth. Her people stole Elementa, gaining access to mineral and metallic compounds undetectable by our scanners, which was how they sneaked the bomb past the spacecraft’s sensors.”

  “My mate was tricked by her government,” K’ev said. “She’s innocent.”

  “Her loyalty lies with her own kind,” the king said. “She can’t be trusted.”

  The king looked at the priestess. “At your request, I attempted to settle our disputes with Earth by having them send a woman to become a consort to one of my sons, and they nearly killed him.”

  The priestess had requested it? He’d never understood why his xenophobic monarch father would have wanted a human to set foot inside the royal palace. Now, it made sense. The king couldn’t refuse a direct request from the priestess.

  She stood perfectly composed, her expression as serene as he’d ever seen. If anything, more serene. He sniffed. The scent he’d always associated with her had changed. Something was different…missing. Rain! The rain had vanished. Until meeting Rhianna and smelling her tears, he hadn’t known what grief smelled like. The aura of sadness surrounding the priestess had dissipated.

  “I speak with the greatest respect, but the arrangement hasn’t worked,” the king said. “Time has run out. Draco must proceed with relocation. If we don’t settle this now, we will continue to clash with the humans who will continue to be a problem. We have no other options. Our survival is at stake.”

  Wheezing, Rhianna puffed on the inhaler.

  “Look—they can’t even breathe our air or the air on Elementa!” He paused and drew himself up. “I must take decisive measures to secure our future.”

  “I have recalled the ships you sent to destroy Earth and the colony,” the priestess said.

  “What?” The king scowled.

  Rhianna started to cry, but in her tears was the fragrance of relief and happiness. He embraced her, pulling her close to his side.

  “Why? You have never chosen to intervene. Why now?” the king asked.

  “Because I cannot allow you to destroy my children,” she said.

  “Children? What children?”

  “My Earth children.”

  “The humans?” The king’s horns contracted as he frowned. “They have no fyre.” His lip curled with revulsion as if Rhianna’s people were on the same level as tetrapods.

  “Some of them carry the blood of dragons and have fyre. Some of them carry my blood. Rhianna and many of her people are descendants of my child.”

  I told you, his dragon said smugly. Our mate has fyre.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The priestess exploded her bombshell, and the temple went deadly quiet. Rhianna’s head whirled. I’m part dragon? I’m descended from the priestess? How could that have occurred?

  Judging from the strong emotions wafting on the air, everyone else wondered, too. Only K’ev seemed to accept it. His slight smile held satisfaction.

  “How-how is that possible?” the king asked.

  Rhianna held her breath, recalling K’ev’s admonition not to question the priestess. Would the king be toasted for his insolence? Rhianna would never forget how she’d spit out a fireball without even shifting. The king had met his match.

  “As a young acolyte, before I said my final vows and cloistered myself in the temple, my fyre called me on a journey,” the priestess said after a worrisome silence. “I accompanied an exploration team on its search for a new homeland.

  “Technology then wasn’t what it is now. We didn’t have intelligent ships, couldn’t travel at the speeds we do now. We encountered mechanical difficulties and were forced to make a crash landing on a primitive planet…Earth. We’d already determined from surveillance its climate and topography eliminated it as replacement for Draco, but visiting confirmed it. We were stranded for two years before a rescue vessel reached us.”

  The quirk to the priestess’ mouth appeared almost wry as she looked at the king. “You believe humans are less advanced than Draconians, but they’ve shown tremendous improvement. You should have seen them then.”

  Ten thousand years ago? Homo sapiens lived then, but people would have been in small tribes and clans. None of the big civilizations had existed.

  “One night, we were set upon by a small band of men. I attempted to communicate with them, shifting into human form. The others shifted into full dragon.” She paused. “It did not go well for the humans.”

  “A few men escaped—and took me with them—I believe they thought they were saving me.”

  The priestess began to pace. “I was intrigued by one of the men. He was gentler than the rest and defended me from the others—although I did not require his protection. I was young, curious, and ever cognizant that soon my life would change for all eternity. I would never experience the loving bond of a mate or the freedoms dragons take for granted. My desires would go unsatisfied.” She halted. “My fellow castaways rescued me in a few days, and many months later I gave birth to a daughter.

  “She looked human, but with perfect little horns and the cutest little tail…” Her composure cracked, and the scent of sulfur and rain filled the air. “The others called her an abomination. I hadn’t taken my final vows, so I hadn’t come into my power yet. So, when the rescue ship came, they were able to tear her from my arms and force me to board. They told me later they’d left my baby with a band of savages.”

  Rhianna’s eyes filled with tears at the priestess’ wrenching loss—at the betrayal by her own people. K’ev squeezed her shoulder, and she smelled the sadness on him, too. From the king, she sensed…frustration.

  Yellow eyes flashed blue. “When we returned to Draco, I took my vows and came into my power. As for those who forced me to abandon my daughter? Their fyre burns no more.

  “I never forgot her. I never stopped loving her, but until Rhianna arrived, revealing she had fyre by having mated with Prince K’ev, I didn’t know if my daughter had lived or died.”

  Rhianna looked at K’ev. He had the same stunned expression she imagined she had. The king’s mouth drooped, and he smelled sour.

  The priestess confronted the monarch. “Under no circumstances will you destroy the descendants of my child, my blood and fyre. You will not touch Rhianna. I have placed her and her mate under my protection.”

  The king spread his hands. “What am I supposed to do? How are we supposed to relocate to Elementa if the humans are there?”

  “That is for you to figure out. You’re the king. But, you will not move to attack or endanger the colony or Earth.”

  “They can’t all be your descendants,” the king argued.

  “You are correct. But, who can determine how many there are? To know that fyre exists even in small measure in some is enough.”

  “As you wish,” the king conceded.

  “To make it clear, this is not a request. A strike against Rhianna or her people is a strike against me.”

  Rhianna bit her lip, hesitant to ask the burning question on her mind. When would she ever get a better chance? The priestess—her great, great, great, great-many-times-over grandmother—who didn’t answer questions was in a talkative mood. “Wasn’t it kind of a shot in the dark to ask Earth for a consort? You couldn’t have known the woman they chose would be descended from your daughter.”

  The Eternal Fyre flared, expanding and shooting upward.

  “I had a vision of a woman with hair like fire and eyes like the
Earth sky who carried a burning candle.” The priestess glanced at the flame floating in the center of the temple then strode to Rhianna and clasped her shoulders. Her smile was beatific. “The circle is complete. Welcome home, my child.” She kissed Rhianna’s cheek and glided away, her long hair trailing behind her. She vanished and, moments later, a roar shook the temple.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Bugling with satisfaction, the dragon clutched Rhianna to his chest and flew to the royal palace, flying under the portico into the main gallery of K’ev’s personal apartment. The dragon nuzzled their mate before shifting and letting the man take over.

  K’ev wrapped his arms around her and kissed her with relief and desire. His fyre flared, filling him with heat and peace. Because of his distrust, he’d nearly lost his mate. An eternity would not be long enough to make it up to her, but he vowed to spend every second proving his love, and maybe one day he might be worthy of her.

  His mate was part dragon, a descendant of the priestess who’d placed them both out of reach of an angry king. Her ancestry had stunned him at first, but it didn’t matter whether she was dragon or human. He’d fallen in love with Rhianna as she was. He wouldn’t change one thing about her.

  Her ancestry did explain why she had fyre. Passed along through five hundred generations, it still existed.

  K’ev cupped Rhianna’s head and held her, rocking her. She squeezed his waist and buried her face against his shoulder. Soft breasts flattened against his chest, and her fragrant arousal teased him. After all they’d been through, the desire to mate, to claim her, to bite her, had risen to a fever pitch, but the urge to comfort also arose. His mate still had concerns.

  “Is Earth really safe?” she asked. “What if the king sneaks around the priestess’ edict?”

  “He wouldn’t dare. No one defies her and lives. When she said a strike against you was a strike against her, she put you and your planet under her protection. If my father does anything to you—he’ll be put to death.”

  “By whom? He’s the king. He has an army, doesn’t he? Who would risk moving against him?”

  “If ordered by the priestess—everyone. There isn’t one who wouldn’t. But, that’s not what would happen. Remember the ones who took her child away? She said their fyres stopped burning?”

  Rhianna’s eyes widened. “She snuffed out their fyres? She can do that?”

  K’ev nodded. “She has ultimate power—which is one reason why she chose to remain uninvolved—until now.”

  “I’m glad she’s on my side.”

  So am I, he thought.

  “If some of us have fyre, why aren’t we immortal?”

  “Because after so many generations, it has been reduced to a spark. That’s my guess. Remember the priestess said she had a vision of a red-haired woman holding a lit candle? I’m pretty sure the candle represented your fyre. When we mated, your tiny spark merged with my fyre and grew into a larger flame.” His lips twitched with humor. “The next time you see the priestess you might ask her. She seems inclined to answer your questions.”

  “Maybe I’ll do that. Maybe I’ll invite Great-Grandma over for tea and a chat.”

  K’ev laughed. “Yeah, you do that.” The priestess sitting down with a cup of tea and a cookie was as likely as—humans having fyre. He sobered. He couldn’t think of anything more terrifying than having her enter his living space. Along with everyone, including the king, K’ev existed in awe. If he had to guess which was stronger, his respect or his fear, he’d probably have to go with fear.

  Rhianna patted her hair. “I need a shower. After being locked in a dungeon, I’m grungy.”

  K’ev eyed her. Her intelligent fabric jumpsuit had cleaned itself, but her hair was matted to her head and smudges darkened her face. His mate would always be beautiful to him.

  She slipped out of his arms and shot him a sideways glance. “Care to join me?”

  K’ev tore off his clothing.

  Rhianna laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  He stripped her clothing off her before she reached the shower and, naked, they tumbled into the cubicle. Water rained from above as he kissed her, fusing his mouth to hers. Tongues and teeth met in a clash of mutual need.

  He filled his hands with sweet-smelling soap she’d brought with her from Earth and lathered her hair then rinsed away the ash and soot, bringing light to the fire. He followed up with a head-to-toe body wash that left her convulsing and him smiling.

  She bathed him then, smoothing and rubbing the planes and angles with sensual focus. She grinned when he jerked and cursed as she played with a ticklish part of his tail then curved her mouth with triumph when he groaned as she bathed his cock. He would not allow her to cause him to spill his essence but lifted her up against the shower wall and impaled her. Her cry of ecstasy and his growls blended with the rushing water.

  Her pussy was still quivering around his cock as he carried her into the adjacent room, and they fell upon the bed. One orgasm seemed only the appetizer for the next. He tasted her, smelled her, and touched her, filling himself with her presence. Arms and legs tangled, hands caressed, mouths fused as they mated with exquisite, frantic joy. Hard thrusts were met with soft, rapturous moans.

  Fyres flirted, hers engaging his in a seductive exchange. Two then one. The eternal dance of life.

  He licked at the fading mark in the crook of the shoulder. Mine. My mate. Forever mine. She arched her neck. He sank his teeth into her. She cried out and convulsed in rapture. Sensation coiled in him and snapped. With a dragon-like roar, he climaxed, his essence pumping from his cock.

  “I love you,” she said, when the heat had cooled enough to speak.

  “I adore you,” he said, folding her against him and wrapping his arms around her. “I am so sorry for ever doubting you.”

  She pressed a finger to his lips. “It’s over. It’s done. We had a history of misconceptions and fear to overcome. But, we did it, and I’m just grateful.”

  “I don’t deserve you.”

  “What I deserve is a mate who will love me forever.”

  He smiled. He would love her and their little dragons, and their little granddragons… He inhaled her scent, savoring her fragrance, his scent on her. My mate. Together for always. Their family would be descended from the priestess herself. No one else on all of Draco held claim to that.

  Rhianna stroked his face, her exploratory finger following the jut of his jaw up to his temples to tease the protrusions of his horns. Blue eyes narrowed in concern and question as she traced a line from the corner of his eyes to his throat. “Your scar on your dragon was thicker, redder, I noticed.”

  “We cried for you.” How could the near loss of a loved one not leave one scarred?

  He’d always wondered, but never dared to question, why the priestess manifested in human form. Only once had he caught a glimpse of her dragon, her face disfigured by scars. How much and how long had she cried for her child that she became so deformed? A few might dare to suggest she tried to hide her scars out of vanity, but he believed the manifestation paid homage to her daughter.

  A little spark of her daughter’s fyre had returned to Draco.

  “What are you thinking?” Rhianna asked.

  “About the priestess and her daughter.”

  “I can’t imagine being forced to leave my baby.”

  “You have brought her great peace, I could tell. Her fyre flickers in you. I wonder how many more descendants are on Earth?”

  “Millions? I couldn’t begin to guess.” Rhianna paused. “Things are about to get complicated, aren’t they?”

  “I imagine so.”

  Too much talking. More loving.

  “What did the dragon say?”

  “He said I needed to have my wicked way with you again.”

  “Wicked way?”

  “Isn’t that one of your Earth sayings?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t think you would know it.”

  “Ever since I met y
ou when you were a child, I tried to learn everything I could about Earth. I think your fyre called out to mine even then.”

  “Aw, you’re so sweet—now. You were a jerk back then. You threatened to eat me.”

  K’ev waggled his horns. “I still might.”

  Rhianna laughed and wound her arms around his neck. “Do your worst.” She nibbled on his ear.

  “Lucky for you, my worst is also my best.” He kissed her.

  Epilogue

  The king’s roiling emotions preceded him—wariness of her, which showed his wisdom—residual anger, which tried her patience—and traces of guilt and shame, which showed there was hope for his redemption. So many emotions, the priestess’ nose itched.

  When she entered the main chamber, she found him kneeling before the Eternal Fyre.

  She signaled, and he rose to his feet.

  King K’rah wasn’t a bad man, just a hotheaded monarch who believed in old customs of Draconian justice when death served as the penalty for nearly everything. The old ways had changed; he just didn’t realize it yet. For all their technological advancement, dragons were simple creatures. Humans, for all their lack of technological advancement, were complex ones. They lied, and they loved. They stole, and they gave. They were stupid, and they were crafty-smart. They hurt one another, and they committed selfless acts of grace no dragon could match.

  Rather like the duality of dragons, they were one, and they were the other.

  “You’re wondering why I summoned you,” she said.

  “I wonder. I would never ask.”

  She’d had another vision. Seen another woman with blazing-red hair, this time with emerald eyes rather than blue, but also carrying a candle. A big wind began to blow, and her candle flickered wildly, in danger of being snuffed out. Another child, this one in grave danger.

  “Your son, T’mar, he is unmated, is he not?”

  “My oldest, yes.”

  “He would be served by a consort from Earth.”

  The king winced. “Priestess, please…I’ve accepted K’ev’s mate—”