To Wed a Dragon

by Natalie Kristen

  Edriq might be a battle-hardened warrior, but beneath that tough, fierce exterior, Edriq was loving and protective. She saw his tender expression when he talked to his niece, Tessa. Watching him interact with the vivacious five-year-old girl simply melted her heart. He doted on her and he was infinitely patient and gentle with her. Edriq was devoted to his family, his people.

  Over dinner, Edriq had told his family how they met. The way he described Nora's actions and profession told her how proud he was of her, of her job, of what she did every single day.

  Edriq admired and respected her. He wasn't like her clingy, insecure exes who were resentful of her commitment to her job. Edriq was a very busy man himself. He was the Managing Director of the FabFit fitness chain and he was a weredragon warrior.

  Nora growled and dug her nails into Edriq's undulating back. She had never been a possessive, territorial lover before. But she wanted Edriq to be hers.

  Completely and forever.

  “I want you,” she hissed, clinging to his powerful shoulders. “I want you forever, Edriq.”

  Edriq stared deeply into her eyes. The silver in his eyes had faded a little to reveal splashes of lilac. His eyes were beautiful, just like the rest of him.

  “You are mine, Nora. My mate,” Edriq said and bowed his forehead to hers. He closed his eyes and whispered something in a strange, beautiful language.

  “Wh-what are you saying?” she asked, her breath hitching.

  “It is the language of the Dracans,” he said, kissing her eyelids. “I am claiming you as my mate, and my dragon will mark you. Once you are bathed in the claiming fire of my dragon, there is no going back. Your body will be changed. Your aging will slow and your lifespan will match mine. We will be bonded forever, Nora.”

  “But I will not claim you and change you against your will, Nora,” Edriq continued. There was a flash of pain in his eyes as he swallowed. “If you say no...”

  Nora cupped his handsome face and stared into his eyes.

  If she said no, he would fight his dragon and his desire and restrain himself. The effort might kill him, but he would do it.

  “I want you to claim me,” she whispered. “Take me, and claim me.” With a lopsided smile, she added, “With fire, if you must.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Edriq looked deeply into Nora's dark, brown eyes and saw her strength and resolve. She was a strong and brave woman. Of that he had no doubt. She would be strong enough to accept the claiming fire of his dragon.

  Sliding his hands under her knees, he pushed her legs up to spread her wider.

  Very slowly, he nudged his cock into her slit.

  Nora gasped and her muscles clenched around him. Sweat beaded on his forehead. “You're so tight, Nora,” he gritted out.

  She whimpered as he tried to inch deeper into her. Leaning forward, Edriq kissed down her body and circled her nipples with his tongue. She grew even wetter as Edriq touched and caressed her.

  Thumbing her nipples, Edriq fed his cock inch by inch into her pussy until he was fully buried inside her.

  Nora sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. When Edriq began to move, she murmured her pleasure and nibbled his jaw and shoulders.

  Edriq slanted his mouth across hers as he began to thrust harder into his mate's hot, luscious body. Edriq could feel his dragon rising within him, its heat and power burning through his body.

  The sound of their heavy breathing filled the room. Edriq inhaled their mingled breaths and erotic scents deep into his dragon. His dragon roared and reared up, ready and eager to claim its mate.

  His eyes glowed pure silver as he locked his mouth over Nora's. A great, pulsing heat tore through his body as his dragon breathed its claiming fire into its mate.

  Nora's body bucked and she convulsed violently in his arms. Edriq kept moving inside her, pounding harder and deeper into his mate.

  As he roared his release, Nora arched her back and let out a keening cry. Shudders racked her body as she orgasmed again and again.

  A red dragon-shaped mark appeared on Nora's right shoulder. Her skin was flushed and hot to the touch.

  “Nora...” He smoothed her hair back and stared worriedly into her face. “Nora, open your eyes. Please.”

  For a long while, her eyes remained closed.

  Finally, she blinked slowly and stared up at him.

  “Edriq,” she said hoarsely.

  He let out a shout of relief and hugged her hard. Kissing her hair, her face, her hands, he murmured her name and whispered a prayer in the Dracan language.

  “How do you feel?” he asked at last. He felt her forehead anxiously. His dragon fire was still burning within her, but he could feel her temperature returning to normal.

  His Nora was indeed strong enough to absorb his claiming fire and be strengthened by it. If she wasn't strong enough, she would be burned, damaged or killed by his dragon fire.

  But she had known that she would survive. She hadn't been afraid. She was confident that his fire wouldn't kill her.

  His strong, amazing, incredible mate.

  Nora blinked again and smiled at him. “Your eyes, they're no longer silver.”

  “The big beast is exhausted,” Edriq deadpanned.

  At that, Nora broke into a fit of giggles. “Your dragon has rolled over and gone to sleep right after sex!” she exclaimed. “Does it always do that?”

  Pulling her to him, Edriq drawled, “That's for you to find out.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Edriq kissed Nora and said, “Lock the door. Then go to your bedroom window.” He hated to leave her, but he had a job to do. His brothers had told him over dinner that they would cover his area tonight, since he was driving Nora home and after that…

  They seemed to know what he would be doing after that.

  But he couldn't leave Rohan and Zul to patrol such a wide area the whole night. When he told Nora that he had to go help his brothers, she had promptly kicked him out of bed. When duty called, you answered. She knew all about it. She'd even helped him get dressed, doing his zipper and getting him all hard and horny again.

  Nora kissed him back but when he tried to feel her up, she shoved him laughingly out the front door. “Go!”

  Edriq jogged down the stairs and stood at the edge of the sidewalk. He looked up and saw Nora wave at him from her window.

  Grinning, he started to run and launched himself into the air, shifting into his dragon form at the same time.

  He flew in a circle and turned to see Nora craning her neck to stare at him from the window. Nora had no trouble seeing him in his full dragon form. He was invisible to human eyes, but Nora was his mate.

  Her eyes were sparkling with awe, pride and love as she blew him a big kiss. Edriq let out a small stream of fire in response and circled her building once more.

  Then he turned and soared towards the clouds.

  I love you, Nora, he thought to her.

  He heard her voice clearly in his head. I love you, Edriq!

  They were truly, eternally connected, a part of each other's heart and soul.

  Edriq scanned the skies for his brothers. They could hear one another's thoughts in dragon form only if they opened up their minds and allowed the other to hear their thoughts. But they could shut down the communication and block the other dragons just as easily. He definitely didn't want to have that busybody Zul eavesdropping on all his thoughts.

  Edriq reached out mentally to his brothers. Where are you?

  He heard Rohan and Zul's responses almost immediately.

  Rohan's surprise was evident. What are you doing in dragon form?

  He heard Zul's snicker loud and clear. You can't mate in dragon form, dumbass! She's not dragon, she's human! D'oh!

  I'm on patrol, Edriq answered. You don't have to cover my area.

  Zul stopped snickering and the mirth drained from his voice. Oh, fuck, I see them! Slayors! F—what the…! T
here are at least a dozen of them, and they're surrounding a house. I'm going in…

  As Rohan roared a question, Zul's dragon mind snapped off suddenly. That meant that Zul was no longer in dragon form. The guy had probably shifted to human form and dropped himself right on top of a Slayor or two.

  Edriq immediately engaged his dragon senses to locate his brother. He banked sharply and flew in the opposite direction. He knew where Zul was and he had to get to him swiftly.

  Slayors usually carried out their attacks in small groups to avoid detection. They usually hunted in twos or threes, but sometimes a larger pack of up to seven was sent to get rid of a target.

  Zul had sighted more than a dozen Slayors converging on a house. Something was not right. Well, when it came to Slayors, not right was an understatement. But—if this was a trap, he needed to get to Zul in time.

  Zooming in on Zul's location, Edriq made a quick, silent descent and shifted to human form. He dropped to the ground in a crouch, his knives in his fists.

  He was in front of a stately double-story house. Edriq leaped over the fence and was running hard towards the house when he heard a scream.

  The scream died almost as soon as it started.

  Edriq cursed viciously as he kicked the front door in and barged into a blood-splattered living room.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Edriq saw the bodies of a middle-aged couple slumped on the couch. The cushions were red with their blood and the body of the Dracan male was horribly mutilated. From the position of his body, it looked like he had died trying to shield his human wife, but he couldn't save her.

  The female's throat had been slit from ear to ear.

  The twitching bodies of two Slayors lay on the floor, their black blood seeping into the carpet. Another was crumpled at the foot of the stairs, his pale, yellow eyes open and unseeing.

  Sounds were coming from the back of the house. There was the sound of glass shattering and as Edriq ran out the back door, he saw Zul tearing across the backyard in hot pursuit of seven Slayors. The big guy was covered in black blood and his face was a mask of raw, uncontrolled fury.

  Edriq let his knives fly and brought down two of the fleeing Slayors.

  Zul didn't look back at him, just kept charging after the Slayors.

  Edriq saw Rohan drop out of the air at the other end of the street, cutting off the Slayors' escape.

  Between them, Rohan and Zul would finish off those Slayors.

  Edriq turned back to the house. The house was silent and heavy with the stench of death.

  Edriq stared at the dead couple on the couch and swallowed. He and his brothers were too late to save them. But maybe they could save the rest.

  There had to be others. It didn't make sense to send so many Slayors just to attack a defenseless couple.

  Very quietly, Edriq pulled out his gun and ascended the stairs. A floorboard creaked but the sound wasn't made by him.

  Edriq raced up the stairs and saw a long, dark shape moving silently across the floor.

  Edriq pulled out his gun and shot at the Slayor, but the black serpent slithered under a door and disappeared into a room. Screams and terrified cries pierced the air.

  He was right. There were more Dracans in the house.

  “Shit!” Edriq wrenched at the door knob. The door was locked from the inside.

  He rammed his shoulder against the door. The door slammed open and Edriq saw two black snakes advancing towards the bed.

  The couple's three daughters were huddled together on the bed, using their pillows as shields.

  Zul had stopped the Slayors from reaching the rooms upstairs but he had overlooked the snakes. Two of the Slayors had shifted to snake form and slithered along the shadows to reach the girls.

  The eldest daughter was a young woman in her twenties, and she was bravely trying to beat the snakes back with a pillow as her two teenage sisters clung to each other behind her.

  “Get away!” she shrieked. “Get away from my sisters!”

  The smaller snake launched itself at the youngest girl. Edriq fired three shots in rapid succession.

  The girls screamed as the snake thudded to the floor. Its venom landed on the bed covers and ate a hole through the fabric.

  “Look out!” Edriq bellowed as the other Slayor spat a jet of venom towards the girls.

  The girls instinctively raised their big, fluffy pillows to shield themselves. The venom landed on one of the pastel-colored pillows that were covered with hearts and burned through the cover. A jagged, hissing hole appeared where a pretty, rainbow-colored heart had just been.

  A knife whistled through the air. The blade struck the snake in one eye and the Slayor screamed as he shifted violently back to human shape.

  Half blind and mad with pain, the Slayor roared and charged straight at the three terrified girls.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Edriq squeezed off two shots and the Slayor jerked as the bullets burrowed into his chest. But the bastard slowed down only to yank the knife out of his eye socket.

  With a horrible non-human cry, the Slayor raised the dripping knife and lunged forward. The blade slammed down as Edriq fired again and again.

  The Slayor collapsed on top of the screaming girls. With the blood roaring in his ears, Edriq rushed to pull the dead Slayor off. Did the bastard bury the knife in one of the girls as he fell on them?

  Edriq flung the body away and saw the knife sticking out of the shredded pillow. He almost sagged in relief.

  “You're safe now,” he said, extending a hand to the girls.

  “They killed my parents,” the eldest whispered. Her voice quavered but she refused to cry. She was trying to stay strong for her younger sisters.

  “Who are they?” the youngest girl sobbed.

  The other teenager hugged her little sister and turned her tear-strained face to Edriq. “What are they?”

  Edriq glanced at the eldest sister. How much had their parents told them? He knew that some Dracan families didn't tell their children and grand-children about where they really came from. Draca was no more. Earth was their home now, and they didn't want the younger generation to be haunted by the specter of war and violence. They wanted a different life for their kids, a better, safer, more hopeful life.

  “They are Slayors,” the young woman said at last. She lifted her eyes to Edriq and gulped. “You saved me and my sisters,” she said in a brave, steady voice. “May we know your name? I'm Julia Taekka and these are my younger sisters, Jayne and Jaymin.”

  Edriq nodded. “I'm Edriq Haeken.” He turned around at the sound of footsteps behind him. “These are my brothers, Rohan and Zul.”

  Julia held her sisters close to her as she stared at the three fierce, formidable males in the room.

  Swallowing repeatedly, Julia said, “You're the three soldiers. The last three Draca's Dragons.”

  When Edriq gave a subtle nod, the young woman went on shakily, “When I was a young girl, my dad told me a little about our past. But he never told my sisters. He told me our grandparents came to Earth on the last ship out of Draca. He said three soldiers defended the whole ship of civilians against the Slayors. When I asked him, he said that we have nothing to fear now. We're safe...from the Slayors,” she said in a pained whisper.

  “Your dad didn't lie to you. For a long time, we were safe. But the Slayors found us,” Rohan said grimly as he stepped forward. “We will fight them. I promised my father I will protect our people. I will keep my last promise to him.” After a pause, Rohan asked softly, “Do you girls have someone you can go to? A relative or friend...”

  Julia nodded. “I'll take my sisters with me. I live with my fiance, Mario. I came home tonight to spend time with my parents...” A small sob escaped but she pulled herself together and continued, “—and have a sleepover with my sisters.” She managed a tiny smile. “I'm getting married.”

  “I'll get rid of this now,” Zul said and sta
rted dragging the Slayors' bodies roughly out the door.

  “What are you going to do with the bodies?” Julia asked.

  “We'll incinerate them,” Rohan answered. “We're...”

  “Dragons,” Julia finished. “I know.”

  Rohan turned to the two younger girls and said, “Pack quickly. Take what you need and go with your sister.” Then he said to Julia, “The police will be receiving an anonymous call soon. They'll send a squad car out here, and they'll discover the crime scene. There will be no evidence of Slayors so it will look like a burglary gone wrong or a senseless, random act of violence. When they question you...”

  “I'll say that my sisters were having a sleepover at my place,” Julia replied without hesitation. “There's no need for the humans to know that we're aliens. Being hunted by Slayors is bad enough. We don't need to be hunted by humans too.”

  Smart woman, Edriq thought.

  “Once you're ready, Edriq will fly you back to your place,” Rohan said.

  Edriq nodded to acknowledge the command. When Rohan and Zul left to take care of the bodies, Edriq stood guard at the room door. He heard the two girls questioning their big sister about Slayors and dragons, and he heard the anger and accusation in their voices. “Why didn't you tell us? We tell you everything! What else are you not telling us?”

  Julia was going to take her sisters back to her fiance's place. He wondered what Julia was going to tell her fiance.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Nora knocked on the door and shuffled her feet anxiously. She had rushed here straight after work. Her shift ended in the afternoon so it was still nice and bright. But even if it was pitch dark, she would still have come. Mario wasn't just her colleague. He and Julia were her friends, her only friends, come to think of it. The rest were just acquaintances, people you had a drink with but didn't know you very well.