Nikki’s stomach flipped. As she took a deep breath, her dragon spoke up. Good. I want everyone to notice us.
Ha! I wouldn’t be surprised if you shifted right after the ceremony so everyone can admire your hide.
I’ve thought about it. But I hate when humans scream, and I have a feeling they would.
Glad you understand that, dragon.
But don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Besides, we can inspire other dragon-shifter females with our mating. Today is important.
Even though the law hadn’t changed for all, Rosalind Abbott had agreed to consider special privileges to clans with good behavior.
It was a long way from equality, but considering how much worse it could be—such as Rafe being torn from her side—Nikki would take what she could get. She had a lifetime to enact more permanent change for her children.
Her dragon spoke up again. Thinking of more babies already? My, my, someone’s changed their tune.
Shut it, dragon.
As her beast chuckled, Nikki looked back to her dad. “Don’t worry, I’m keeping Rafe. If you’re here, it must mean it’s almost showtime.”
“Yes. I just need to collect your mother and to do this.” Her father engulfed her in a hug. “I’m glad you found your happiness like I eventually found mine.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Hector released her, and Nikki blinked her eyes quickly. “You two really should leave, or I’m going to start crying. And that would definitely ruin my Protector image.”
Her dad snorted. “It might work to your advantage if they underestimate you.”
Delphine looped her arm through Hector’s. “Don’t give her any ideas. Come, let’s take our places. I still can’t believe we’re going to be sitting one row away from the human prime minister.”
Hector patted his mate’s hand. “Only the best for our Nikki.”
Her parents waved and left Nikki alone once more.
She paced for a few minutes until Rosalind Abbott’s voice boomed through the sound system. “Thank you all for joining me today. Whether at home or here with us in an undisclosed location in Northern England, I thank you.
“The turbulent changes over the past year have strained relations between humans and dragon-shifters. I truly believe our future will be better if we work together. To symbolize a fresh start and to showcase how much I want our two peoples to get along, I wish to start my term as Director of the Department of Dragon Affairs with a mating ceremony. And not just any mating ceremony, but one between a human man and a female dragon-shifter.” Applause sounded before Abbott’s voice continued, “Since a dragon-shifter mating ceremony is between two people, I’m going to take my seat and let it begin.”
More clapping and Nikki peeked through the crack in the material partition. She spotted Rafe ascending the steps to the stage. He was kitted out in a tradition male dragon-shifter outfit. With the dark red material tossed over his shoulder and wrapped around his waist in a similar fashion to a human Scottish kilt, she wanted to lick him up.
Not just because he was sexy, though of course he was. But also, because he’d volunteered to wear the traditional garb of her kind despite the chilly March temperatures. They were inside a giant tent, but it wasn’t exactly cozy.
Her dragon grunted. It’s not that cold. Can we hurry up? I want to undress him and claim him.
Not until I claim him first.
Then get a move on.
Right, then. Taking a deep breath, Nikki stood up tall and exited the partition. All eyes turned toward her, but she forgot about everything else as she met Rafe’s gaze. With her shoulders back and chin raised, she walked to her mate. It was time to bind herself to him forever.
~~~
Rafe took his place in the center of the stage, next to a stool where the two mating bands lay in a box.
As was his custom, he took a quick scan of his surroundings. He barely paid attention to the prime minister, Rosalind Abbott, or even his sister. Rafe was more concerned about unknown threats.
The location had been one of three proposed, and the decision had been made at the last minute to hold it near Keswick, which was more accessible than Rafe cared for.
Still, Kai and all of Stonefire’s Protectors, in addition to many of Rafe’s comrades in the army, were in attendance and keeping an eye out for trouble. He’d trust them to watch his back.
Just as he finished his last survey of the crowd, Nikki walked out of the little partition in the back of the giant tent, and he stopped breathing. The dark purple of her dress made her skin glow, and her soft, tumbling black curls around her shoulders softened her face and highlighted her eyes.
Nikki was always beautiful to him, but right at that moment, he could barely string two thoughts together.
As if reading his mind, Nikki smiled slowly. He barely kept himself from frowning. No doubt, his bloody female would tease him about his reaction later.
Not that he cared. He was minutes away from legally tying himself to Nikki forever.
She approached, and Rafe put out a hand. After placing hers in his, he brought it to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. He was vaguely aware of some people “ah”-ing, but all his attention was on his dragonwoman. He murmured, “You’re beautiful.”
Nikki winked and he tried not to chuckle. She whispered, “The world is watching, Rafe. You’d better get your act together.”
“Ungrateful woman,” he murmured back.
Nikki grinned and he did the same.
Someone cleared their throat rather loudly from the front row and broke the spell. He should get the ceremony started before anyone changed their minds. The special license wouldn’t be issued until after the ceremony.
Releasing Nikki’s hand, Rafe picked up the smaller of the two silver mating bands. While he couldn’t read the strange script, he knew it was his name written in the old dragon language, Mersae.
Taking a deep breath, he projected his voice. “Nikola Helen Gray, you are clever, caring, kind, stubborn, and beautiful. I love all those things about you and more. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect woman if I had dreamt one up. I love you and will always love you. In front of everyone, I wish to make my claim. Will you be my mate?”
Nikki nodded and Rafe slipped the cuff around her tattoo-free upper bicep.
She picked up the larger silver cuff engraved with her name in the old dragon language. Never taking her gaze from his, she said, “Rafe Daniel Hartley, you are brave, intelligent, strong, and determined. Oh, and stubborn enough to outdo an ox.” There were a few chuckles and Nikki continued, “You bring out the best in me and showed me the world in a way I never thought possible. I love you, Rafe, and treasure the fact I can take a human for my mate. Will you accept my claim?”
“Yes.” He turned his bicep toward her. “Hurry up.”
With a mini-eye roll, Nikki slid the silver band around his muscled bicep. Pulling her close, he kissed her slowly.
He was tempted to hike her leg around his waist but knew the world was watching. He would just have to claim Nikki properly later.
Breaking the kiss, he laced his fingers through hers and faced the crowd. Cheers and applause broke out. Glancing at Nikki, he and his mate shared a private smile.
Despite the odds against them, a human male and a female dragon-shifter had found love and a way to stay together. The next step would be changing the world for their children and with Nikki at his side, he didn’t doubt they would find a way to do so.
Epilogue
A little less than eight months later
Rafe wiped the sweat from Nikki’s brow. “You’re doing brilliantly, love.”
His mate growled at him as her pupils flashed. “If this baby is as big as it feels trying to come out, then I will win the bet. Only a male would be this fucking huge.”
“Maybe, maybe not. We’d have settled this bet long ago if it weren’t for the dragon-shifter tradition of waiting to find out the gender upon birth.”
Nikki grunted,
and it took everything he had not to coddle her. His mate hated it. Not only that, it would signal his worry.
He’d prod her instead. “But you’re a soldier who can handle anything. Remember?”
“Rafe Hartley, I’m this close to punching you in the balls.”
“I somehow doubt it. All I have to do is this”—he backed a foot away—“and I’d be safe.”
“Get your arse back here or I’ll ask one of the doctors to hold you in place so I can punch you.”
Dr. Gregor Innes chuckled. “I’m not sure you’re going to have much time to do that, lass. The bairn is about ready to come.”
Dr. Sid snorted. “Nikki could give birth one second and still find the energy to punch Rafe in the next. Don’t underestimate her just because she’s female, Gregor.”
“Is that a warning of what’s to come, Cassidy?” Gregor asked.
Sid raised her eyebrows. “You’ll have to wait to find out.”
Nikki grunted again and Gregor focused on his task. “It’s another contraction. Time to push, lass.”
Rafe took Nikki’s hand, and he didn’t so much as peep when she crushed his fingers.
Gregor nodded. “That’s it, just a little more.”
Tilting her head back, the tendons in Nikki’s neck strained as she pushed. Rafe wished he had the power to take away some of his mate’s pain. But he was in a rare circumstance when he could do nothing to help her beyond offering his support.
Just as he was wondering how much longer Nikki would have to push, a baby’s cry pierced the air. Soon, Gregor held up their tiny, pink child. “Say hello to your daughter.”
Rafe leaned down to kiss his mate. Smoothing the hair from her face, he smiled. “A daughter.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t said, ‘I told you so.’” Nikki murmured.
“Right now, I don’t bloody care about the bet,” Rafe answered.
They merely watched as Sid worked to check and clean up their child.
When Sid finally brought their daughter over, she gently laid the bundle in Nikki’s arms. Nikki lightly brushed the cheek of their baby. “She’s beautiful.”
Rafe placed his hand over Nikki’s on the small bundle. “And to think she’s here because I finally surrendered to the charms of a stubborn dragonwoman and kissed her.”
Nikki met his gaze. “I’m glad you did, Rafe. Otherwise, our darling little female wouldn’t exist.” She paused and kissed their daughter’s forehead. “Although are you ready for our next adventure? It might be our toughest assignment yet.”
He grinned. “I think we can handle little Louisa Catherine Hartley-Gray.”
“Our little warrior.”
Louisa meant “warrior” and Catherine was for Catherine the Great of Russia. Both he and Nikki had high hopes for their daughter.
Kissing Nikki’s forehead, Rafe settled next to her on the bed and held his new family close.
The stresses of his new job as army liaison, the recent attacks on Stonefire, and the tested alliances with the various dragon clans didn’t matter. At that moment, he was with the woman he loved and their daughter. Everything else could wait.
*~*~*~*
Did you enjoy this story? Then please consider leaving a review. :)
The next Stonefire Dragons story is Cured by the Dragon and will feature Dr. Cassidy “Sid” Jackson and Dr. Gregor Innes. It will be out in early October 2016, but in the mean time, have you checked out my Lochguard Highland Dragons series? Or, my Cascade Shifters series? Turn the page for an excerpt of The Dragon’s Dilemma and for glimpses of my other works. Also, make sure to sign-up for my newsletter for updates, new release alerts, and exclusive contests.
The Dragon’s Dilemma
(Lochguard Highland Dragons #1)
In order to pay for her father’s life-saving cancer treatment, Holly Anderson offers herself up as a sacrifice and sells the vial of dragon’s blood. In return, she will try to bear a Scottish dragon-shifter a child. While the dragonman assigned to her is kind, Holly can’t stop looking at his twin brother. It’s going to take everything she has to sleep with her assigned dragonman. If she breaks the sacrifice contract and follows her heart, she’ll go to jail and not be able to take care of her father.
Even though he’s not ready to settle down, Fraser MacKenzie supports his twin brother’s choice to take a female sacrifice to help repopulate the clan. Yet as Fraser gets to know the lass, his dragon starts demanding something he can’t have—his brother’s sacrifice.
Holly and Fraser fight the pull between them, but one nearly stolen kiss will change everything. Will they risk breaking the law and betraying Fraser’s twin? Or, will they find a way out of the sacrifice contract and live their own happily ever after?
———————————
The Dragon’s Dilemma is a full-length book and is available on Amazon / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU / Amazon DE.
———————————
Excerpt:
Chapter One
Holly Anderson paid the taxi driver and turned toward the large stone and metal gates behind her. Looking up, she saw “Lochguard” spelled out in twisting metal, as well as some words written in a language she couldn’t read.
The strange words only reminded her of where she was standing—at the entrance to the Scottish dragon-shifter clan lands.
Taking a deep breath, Holly willed her stomach to settle. She’d signed up for this. In exchange for trying to conceive a dragon-shifter’s child, Clan Lochguard had given her a vial of dragon’s blood. The money from the sale of that dragon’s blood was funding her father’s experimental cancer treatments.
All she had to do was spend the next six months sleeping with a dragon-shifter. If she didn’t conceive, she could go home. If she did, then she would stay until the baby was born.
What was a minimum of six months of her life if it meant her father could live?
That’s if you don’t die giving birth to a half-dragon-shifter baby.
Readjusting the grip on her suitcase, Holly pushed aside the possibility. From everything she’d read, great scientific strides were being made when it came to the role dragon hormones played on a human’s body. If she were lucky, there might even be a way to prevent her from dying in nine to fifteen months’ time, depending on the date of conception.
This isn’t work. Stop thinking about conception dates and birthing babies. After all, she might luck out and never conceive at all.
Holly moved toward the front entrance and took in the view of the loch off to the side. The dull color of the lake’s surface was calm, with rugged hills and mountains framing it. Considering she was in the Scottish Highlands in November, she was just grateful that it wasn’t raining.
She wondered if it was raining back in Aberdeen.
Thinking of home and her father brought tears to her eyes. He was recovering well from his first course of cancer treatments, but her father’s health could decline at any moment. If only dragon’s blood could cure cancer, then she wouldn’t have to worry.
But since cancer was one of the illnesses dragon’s blood couldn’t cure, surely the Department of Dragon Affairs would grant her another few weeks to help take care of her father if she asked.
As the taxi backed down the drive, Holly turned around and flagged for the driver to come back. However, before she could barely raise a hand, a voice boomed from the right. “Lass, over here.”
She turned toward the voice and a tall, blond man waved her over with a smile.
Between his wind-tousled hair, twinkling eyes, and his grin, the man was gorgeous.
Not only that, he’d distracted her from doing something daft. If Holly ran away before finishing her contract, she’d end up in jail. And then who would take care of her father?
The man motioned again. “Come, lass. I won’t bite.”
When he winked, some of Holly’s nervousness faded. Despite the rumors of dragon-shifters being monsters, she’d followed the new
s stories over the last year and knew Lochguard was one of the good dragon clans. Rumors even said the Lochguard dragons and the local humans had once set up their own sacrifice system long before the British government had implemented one nationwide.
It was time to experience the dragon-shifters firsthand and learn the truth.
Pushing her shoulders back, Holly put on her take no-crap nurse expression and walked over to the dragonman. When she was close enough, she asked, “Who are you?”
The man grinned wider. “I’m glad to see you’re not afraid of me, lass. That makes all of this a lot easier.”
Before she could stop herself, Holly blurted, “Are you really a dragon-shifter?’
The dragonman laughed. “Aye, I am. I’m the clan leader, in fact. The name’s Finn. What’s yours?”
The easygoing man didn’t match the gruff picture she’d conjured up inside her head over the past few weeks.
Still, dragons liked strength, or so her Department of Dragon Affairs counselor had advised her. Her past decade spent as a maternity nurse would serve her well—if she could handle frantic fathers and mothers during labor, she could handle anything. “You’re not a very good clan leader if you don’t know my name.”
Finn chuckled. “I was trying to be polite, Holly.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Some say we’re monsters that eat bairns for breakfast. I was just trying to assure you we can be friendly.”
Confident the smiling man wouldn’t hurt her for questioning him, she stated, “You could be acting.”
“I think my mate is going to like you.”
At the mention of the word “mate,” Holly’s confidence slipped a fraction. After all, she’d soon be having sex with a dragon-shifter to try to conceive a child. That was the price all sacrifices had to pay.
Surrendering to the Dragon (Stonefire British Dragons Book 7) Page 24
