Seducing Skye

by Khloe Wren

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2014 Khloe Wren

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-019-9

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To my awesome editor, Karyn White. Thank you so much for helping mold Dragon Warriors into the best they could be.

  SEDUCING SKYE

  Dragon Warriors, 4

  Khloe Wren

  Copyright © 2014

  Legend

  Legend tells of a time, many moons ago, when there was just one plane. Humans, dragon shifters, and liaths all lived together. But it was not in harmony. The mystical liaths wanted to dominate the others. Magic fought against magic, causing great fires to rip through the land. The Goddess used her Great Wind to come and take the innocent to new planes, separating them so peace could reign. Humans were placed on Earth, while the dragon shifters were given the Land of Feury. The Goddess wanted them to thrive in their new homes, so she gave each new plane the same fruits, vegetables and livestock. All they needed to live healthy, happy lives.

  The liaths, who had started the war, were left in the burnt out plane of Dubhghlas. The Goddess did not replenish their lands. She left them to recover on their own, hoping they would grow to understand the importance of peace over war.

  Alas, over time this legend has been lost, its knowledge sinking in the mists of time…

  Chapter One

  Skye’s eyes slid closed as she leaned against the cold stone wall behind her, feeling numb down to her soul. A single tear escaped down her cheek as she mentally pleaded with her friend.

  Carina, please wake up!

  This whole situation didn't make sense, either where they were or how they got here. Skye and her four best friends, Eilagh, Becky, Carina, and Binda, had embarked on a camping trip. A short holiday so they could escape their everyday lives and rekindle the friendships that had slipped over the years. As soon as Skye had seen Carina she'd known something had happened. She hadn’t been her usual self. Then around the campfire that night, Carina had opened up. Told them about the gang rape she’d suffered. A shudder ran through Skye’s entire being at the thought of how hurt Carina must have been after having five men abuse her in such a way.

  The next day, they'd packed up and continued hiking. Deciding to go investigate when they smelled honey, they had been suddenly caught in a cyclone type wind tunnel. There was lightning, she remembered that much. Then nothing else until this morning, when she'd woken up in her underwear, along with three of her friends, while Carina had remained unconscious.

  Soon after she awoke, a group of men wearing only leather pants and all with large chest tattoos had entered the room and informed them that they had traveled through a portal and were now in The Land of Feury. A land populated solely with male dragon shape-shifters. After returning their clothes with vows that they had only been removed to check for injuries, the men had led them to a dining hall. That meal had proven to be most educational. The clan leader, Dimitri, had ordered his twin to change to his dragon form to prove they were telling the truth when Eilagh questioned him.

  Skye had freaked out. Dragons looked way too much like crocodiles for her liking. Sure, they were different colors and had wings. But the scales and teeth? They were fully reptilian.

  She'd stood up so fast her chair had clattered to the ground before she’d taken off at a sprint to get back here to Carina's side. Three of them had stayed to guard Carina while the others ate. No way in hell was she leaving her unconscious friend unprotected with these strange shape-shifting reptiles, not now that she knew what they could do.

  Since then, she'd sat here curled up at the head of Carina's mattress, leaning against the wall and thinking things through while she waited for Carina to wake up. She heard the door open with a squeak and glanced up to see six men, the three that had stayed to guard Carina and the three who'd sat with her at dinner, enter the room slowly, like they were wary of her. She huffed a laugh. Each of these men was easily over six and a half feet and built like a Greek god. The three with golden hair and green eyes quietly moved to stand near the other end of the bed where their complete focus was on Carina. The remaining three, with their vivid blue hair and warm magenta eyes, had all zoned in on her. They prowled slowly toward her, and as they closed in she noticed the look of pain and worry in their gazes, also the fury.

  "What's happened? You're not mad because I ran out of the room earlier, are you?"

  She hadn't intended to hurt anyone. She'd just needed a few minutes to process the whole dragons are real and these men can turn into them concept. Along with the fact that she hadn't dealt with her issues from when she'd been attacked by a crocodile as a ten-year-old. Naturally, seeing a ten foot scaly beast was going to bring up some issues for her.

  "No, Skye. We know you needed some space, and we followed you to make sure you stayed safe."

  "But you didn't follow me straight away. What happened that made you think I wasn't safe in the last few minutes?"

  "Rogue dragons have attacked the castle and taken two of your friends hostage."

  Skye's whole body tensed as fear coursed through her veins.

  "Who? When?"

  "Eilagh and Becky were taken after their men were drugged. Bastards..."

  Skye's mind began to spin. Eilagh and Becky were gone? Stolen by whom? She rubbed the bridge of her nose when the sound of flesh meeting flesh brought her attention to the men. The man who had spoken was rubbing his shoulder and giving another man a dirty stare.

  "Sorry, love. Axel doesn't always start from the beginning. My name is Calix. This is Owen, and this is obviously Axel. As you've no doubt guessed, we're brothers. Now, to give you the full story. A few days ago four dragons left the castle deciding to abandon the Clan for greener pastures. They have obviously heard about the arrival of females and returned, wanting to claim at least some of you for themselves. Eilagh and Becky were both with their males in their chambers when unexpectedly both families were attacked. The males were all drugged to allow the females to be taken."

  Skye shook her head. It was like they'd been transported into a damn book or something!

  "And why are you here, not out there looking for them?"

  "Relax, love. Dimitri has taken five strong warriors with him to go rescue his Desired and Becky. We're here to make sure the rogues don't decide to come back to take you after the others are rescued."

  She relaxed a little knowing her friends were going to be saved, even if it was by bloody shape-shifting reptiles. Weren't they meant to be a myth? She bit her lip as she thought over what Calix had said.

  "I don't know what a Desired is."

  Axel stepped forward again as his eyes lit up with molten heat.

  "It's the one female destined to complete the brothers of a family."

  Could the man be any more confusing? She just frowned at the trio all standing proudly before her like they'd just announced they knew the winning lotto numbers for the coming draw.

  "You're still not making sense, Axel. Did you start in the middle again?"

  Calix chuckled. "She's got you worked out already, brother. Every set of dragon brothers shares a Desired, a female. Fate chooses who she is to be, and she becomes the l
ight and love of their lives. The brothers will do anything and everything to keep her happy, safe, and with them because without her, they are nothing but a shell. Their Desired becomes the center of their worlds, and once bonded they all feel complete, whole, and content."

  A bad feeling crept up Skye's spine.

  "And why did you three come to protect me?"

  "Because you are our Desired. Our destined mate, the one female we will love, cherish, and protect for the rest of our lives."

  Axel just had to confirm her suspicions. Damn it!

  "This is too much. And you three? I suppose you're claiming Carina as your Desired?"

  The three golden haired giants all nodded before the older looking one spoke.

  "Yes, Carina is our Desired."

  The brother who'd not yet spoken moved to stand in front of the other two pulling her attention away from Carina's men.

  "There is nothing to fear about being a Desired, angel. You'll have all three of us to love, cherish, and protect you forever. We'll never hurt you, or allow anyone else to injure you. The three of us are all strong warriors, some of the Clan's best, and we're completely devoted to you."

  Skye's mind raced. All three men wanted her? Would they want her at the same time? She'd only had a couple of lovers over the years—and never more than one at a time. She eyed each one over. They were handsome, and big. At five foot seven Skye wasn't exactly short, but compared to these three she was tiny.

  She forgot all about Desireds and being shared among brothers when the clinic door was shoved open and Baxter, the doctor, came barging in followed closely by a purple-haired man carrying Becky. Skye went to move from the bed when Carina groaned. Skye stroked Carina’s hair and murmured to her as she began to thrash around a little, obviously in the midst of a nightmare. While soothing Carina, Skye watched Becky. Baxter cleaned and bandaged bloody wounds on both wrists. The injuries appeared to go the whole way around. Had she been put in handcuffs? Next was her ankle, with no visible injury, but the way Becky winced when it moved even in the slightest way wasn't good. It, too, got bandaged up by the doctor. At that point her attention was ripped away from Becky as, with a loud scream, Carina sprang up in the bed, burying her face in her hands. Caught between wanting to help two of her friends but not knowing how to help either one left her simply sitting behind Carina. Skye could feel Carina tense as she lowered her hands and saw the large men all standing before her. Instantly Carina scooted back until she ran into Skye.

  "It’s okay, Carina."

  ****

  Calix watched in shock as Skye and now Becky attempted to calm Carina down. What had happened to the poor female? It was clear she was petrified of men, so he could only guess what waking up from a nightmare to a room filled with large males would have done to her state of mind. He’d already considered it a blessing that the Great Wind had brought their Desired to them, and now he could see it was a blessing on other levels. Where ever these females had come from, it obviously wasn't a safe, protective environment. He and his brothers had seen the harsh scarring on their Desired's thigh when they'd stripped her for Baxter to check her for injuries when she’d first arrived. Baxter had assured him it was an old injury, most likely from childhood and had fully healed.

  Calix wasn't overly surprised when Becky asked them all to promise Carina she would be safe with them. When she then asked all the males to leave the room he struggled to part from his Desired's side. They weren't bonded yet, and his instincts were screaming to not let her out of his sight, especially with the news that two of the rogue dragons, Huro and Gyasi, were still on the loose.

  Once the clinic door was closed, one of Carina's dragons, Phelan, voiced what they were all thinking.

  "What the hell has happened to Carina? What kind of place have these females come from?"

  Drake, one of Becky's dragons, put Calix's biggest fear into words.

  "I don't know what's happened to her, but you three are going to have to take it easy on her or she'll run for sure."

  Yes, Carina would run, and Skye would follow. Calix was one hundred percent sure of it.

  "And we'd be grateful if you could calm and claim her soon. Skye refuses to leave her side. We want some time with our Desired."

  His brothers stepped up to stand beside him as he'd spoken. He looked into each of their gazes and saw his own fears reflected back at him.

  What if she runs?

  We go after her, Axel. No matter what, we will win our Desired's heart.

  Some days being the eldest stank, but he needed to step up and give his younger brothers hope for their futures. They all fell silent as Becky came out and chatted with Denver and his brothers about Carina. The information revealed left them all in shock. The poor female had been attacked and raped by a group of human men.

  This isn't going to be easy for any of us, is it?

  No, Owen, and for now, Carina needs to come first.

  He held his brothers back while Denver, Phelan, and Hart entered the clinic. He allowed them a few minutes before he quietly led his brothers into the small room. Hart was taking the lead with Carina as they crept around the outside of the room toward Skye. He'd made his way to the foot of the bed when Carina's stomach let out a growl of hunger. Skye helped her off the mattress and out into the hall where they trailed them down to the dining hall.

  Calix pulled out a seat for Skye and settled her next to Carina before he moved to his own seat. Even though they'd eaten earlier with the others, they all piled their plates with food. He hoped that if they all ate, Carina could relax and eat because at the moment the poor female was clinging so tightly to Skye neither one could do much.

  How long before the insanity kicks in?

  Trust Axel to remember that part of bonding. Before the Great Wind brought the liaths to them, who’d created and released a disease that had killed all the females and young in the Land of Feury, if a Desired refused the bond with her fated males, the dragons would go insane and need to be killed before they went rampaging.

  I don't know, Axel. The stories all said that eventually a male would go insane, but they didn't give specifics.

  That would be right. So we have no idea how long we have then. Great.

  I think it's a little early to be picking out our tombstones, Axel. Have a little faith.

  Lost in his thoughts, Calix focused on his food as he ate. Watching his Desired without touching her was beginning to be a physical hurt. Damn. He hoped Axel wasn't right to be so worried already.

  "We need to head out to the orchard now. Your friend Eilagh's Bonding Ceremony is due to start soon. I'm sure she'd want both of you there for it."

  He looked up as Hart spoke. He didn't think either female had heard that news yet. How would Skye react to her friend bonding?

  "Bonding Ceremony?"

  It was Carina who asked. That was good. She'd relaxed enough to talk to her males.

  "Eilagh and her men, Dimitri and Max, are bonding. I believe the Earth phrase is getting married."

  Carina looked a little panicked at Hart's explanation. "I've only been out of it for half a day longer than Eilagh, right?"

  "It's been a very eventful day."

  It didn't look like Carina was going to simply take her male's word for it. "Skye, Eilagh is way too sensible to get married after one day. Are they forcing her? Are they going to force all of us to get married straight away?"

  From his position across the table Calix heard Hart's sharp intake of breath. Poor dragon, it had to hurt to have your Desired question you like that.

  "Carina? Please look at me.” He didn’t continue until she turned to him. “We promised you earlier that none of you will be forced into anything. We meant it. You will see for yourself that Eilagh is very happy and totally willing to bond with her men."

  Realizing how much time was passing, Calix got up from his chair and made his way over to Skye. "We really must get moving or we'll miss the ceremony, and trust me, you both want to witness t
his. It's very magical and rather special."

  With smooth movements he guided Skye from her chair with a hand under her elbow. Sparks of awareness flew through his system at the light touch. He knew she felt it, too, as she jumped a little and hurried out the door with Carina.

  ****

  Skye was in a daze. Weddings always brought out her sappy romantic side. Carina seemed to relax during the ceremony and happily sat with her men when they came back to the castle for dinner, so Skye had allowed herself to be led to a chair by Calix. He pulled his chair close to hers after he filled her plate. Axel sat on her other side and watched her with a heated gaze. Owen was so quiet. He'd barely spoken to her, but she could feel his molten gaze on her from where he sat next to Axel. Apparently weddings affected them, too.

  She absently ate her meal. She wasn't overly hungry as she'd eaten before the ceremony with Carina. As she laid her fork on the table and sat back in her chair, Axel moved his seat closer to her. He trailed his fingertips up her bare forearm, sending sparks through her whole body. On a moan she allowed her head to drop back. Calix moved behind her, and her chair moved away from the table as Axel leaned in and began feathering kisses over her upper arm and shoulder. She tilted her head to give him room as he moved up her neck with teasing light presses of his lips against her skin. She let her lids slide closed as Owen swooped in on her. His soft lips took hers in a scorchingly hot kiss. She groaned into his mouth as her womb began to ache with need. Her knuckles cracked as she tightened her hold on the arms of her chair. So good, these men feel so damn good.

  "Let's go back to our chambers, love."

  Calix's gentle voice brought her crashing back to reality. Carina. She couldn't leave her behind. She sat forward and leaned around Owen, who remained in front of her, to find her friend.