Heart Of The Dragon: BBW Romance (Her Dragon's Bane Series Book 3)

by Raines, Harmony

  “Then why did you have your guards bring me here, if not to hear what I have to say?”

  He leaned forward, his face close to hers. The blood drained from her cheeks, leaving her pale and wraith like. “Because the only value you have to me is in your silence. In here, your gift is worth nothing. Outside of these walls, there are those who would pay handsomely to see the future.”

  “But...”

  “If you do not wish to be gagged, you will keep your mouth shut.” He released her, and she stayed where she was, on her knees at his feet. Looking down at her, he sneered. “If you are indeed a wise woman, you will do as I say.”

  Looking shocked, Tara stayed where he had left her. While the Dragon Lord came to stand in front of Serena and Connor. Undiminished by the size and obvious strength of Dòmhnall, Connor squared his shoulders in a show of confidence.

  “Relax; we are not enemies, Connor Outcast.”

  “It seems you know more about me than I know about myself,” Connor said. Dropping his shoulders, he tried to appear less threatening.

  “I remember your father. And his mate. We parted under harsh words.”

  “I would like to hear what those words were.”

  “Another time. And not in front of ... those of lesser blood.”

  “Serena is my mate, she carries my child. There is nothing you cannot say in front of her, she is loyal to me.”

  Serena clenched her fists, hating Dòmhnall talking as though she were a trinket. It brought back painful memories of the way she had been controlled by Samuel. He had used emotional blackmail and pain to make her do his bidding. She reminded herself that was not how her relationship with Connor worked. However, if it was how this self-styled Dragon Lord needed to see it then so be it.

  All she wanted was to get what they had come here for and go. For a second her mind swam, and she felt dizzy and nauseous again. Only this time she knew it had nothing to do with their dragon baby, this was something more. Connor had brought her here so that she could be given immortality. Tara had somehow persuaded him that it was possible. That the Dragons of Spellholm knew the secret.

  Immortality.

  Serena repeated the word several more times. It sounded false on her tongue. How could a woman such as her be given something so rare, so precious. Did she deserve such a gift? Then the most important, the most disturbing question. Did she even want immortality?

  Chapter Twelve - Connor

  Beside him, Serena looked faint, her eyes no longer focused on the room. While in front of him stood a dragon who had banished his father from this stronghold. Why? What had his father done to deserve such a punishment? To be exiled from his brothers, from the only creatures who understood him.

  “Tonight, you will dine with me, and I will tell you all you need to know. Now you should rest, I have other matters to attend to.” His gaze skimmed the other dragons in the hall.

  Connor decided to leave him to these other duties. It worried him that Serena looked so ill. He feared the journey and the reception they received had been too much for her, and the baby. Who already seemed to be a force to contend with.

  He had never told her, but his mother always used to make jokes about how he and Zoah showed their personalities long before they were alive in this world. He had not taken much notice of the stories she told. However, now he believed his mother spoke the truth.

  “Raal, show our guests to their rooms.” Dòmhnall turned his attention to Tara. “I trust you will stay in your room, and not speak to any of my men. You unsettle them with your curse.”

  Tara nodded, and then stood up shakily. Connor offered her no assistance. It might be good for her to lose some of her confidence in manipulating others. His concerns focused entirely on Serena instead.

  Raal waited for them, while Connor picked up their bags. He offered no assistance, instead looking at them as if they were wasting his time. When they walked over to him, he simply turned around and left the hall. He expected them to follow, seeming not to care if they did or not.

  Connor had not expected this kind of welcome. Yes, he knew they would not greet him like a long lost cousin. Although in some ways he was. Related, or not, he had certainly not expected such animosity. Perhaps that came from the fact that he was not alone, he came with baggage, a mate and a witch. In the simplest terms, he had arrived with two women. Who, if he was not mistaken, were the only two women in the castle.

  Strange, he would have expected at least one or two of the dragons to have found their mates. Unless they were like his father, and had lost their true mates due to normal human ageing.

  Connor wished he could talk to Tara, but she was some way behind him. He did not want to wait for her, his priority was to take care of Serena. Later he would find her. He needed to ask the witch why she thought the dragons here knew the secret to immortality.

  If they did, he was beginning to think they did not use it. Which led him to the question why?

  Chapter Thirteen - Serena

  Raal had shown them to a room, and left them with no word about what they were supposed to do. Instead, he had closed the door on them, and taken Tara elsewhere.

  “You need to follow them and see what they do with Tara,” Serena said, suddenly coming back to herself.

  “You’re worried about her?”

  “No. But she has answers to a lot of questions I have buzzing around in my head. I want to speak to her.”

  “You should lie down and rest.”

  “I will, for now. But tonight, when you go to dine with Dòmhnall, I am going to have a little chat with Tara.”

  “Serena, don’t antagonise these dragons.”

  “I don’t plan too, and anyway they haven’t told us to stay in our room.”

  “Let me see what I can get out of Dòmhnall. Then we can talk to Tara tomorrow.”

  “If she’s still here. What if they get rid of her in the night?”

  “She would know, and circumvent it.”

  “Damn, Connor, you don’t get it do you?" He looked at her bewildered, and so she carried on, spelling out to him what was now so obvious to her. “She’s already told us she can’t see her own future. Well I’m certain she can’t see Dòmhnall’s either.”

  “So? She said it’s not a totally infallible gift.”

  “Have you never questioned why she wanted to come here?”

  “I try not to think about what goes on in that woman’s head.”

  “Connor, I’m certain she came here because Dòmhnall is her mate. Or she is his mate, if that’s how it works.”

  Connor shook his head. “No, you have it wrong. That’s impossible; she wouldn’t have been able to keep it to herself.”

  “I am sure she can’t see his future because it’s too wrapped up with her own. She has no idea what he’s going to do next. That’s why she didn’t move when he went to grab her. And why she was so shocked when he told her he didn’t need her gift.”

  “No. It’s only because it’s her future,” Connor insisted.

  “She knew what Kier was going to do when he changed into a dragon, she ducked in time. But she didn't have the slightest idea Dòmhnall was going to grab her like that.”

  “Maybe it’s part of her plan.”

  “Connor, I’m pretty sure she no longer has a plan.”

  He stared at her for one moment longer, and then turned and disappeared out of the door.

  ***

  “I hope I can remember the way to her room. I would hate to burst in on a dragon. That would take some explaining.”

  Connor put his hands on her arms and looked at her directly. “Calm down, you will remember. Down the hallway and turn left. Pass two more corridors on the right, and then take the third. Her room is the fifth on the left.”

  “Why so far away?” Serena asked.

  “So that we wouldn’t know where she was. I’m only hoping they haven’t locked it.”

  “I don’t think she dares leave there. Do you? Dòmhnall made her a
ware of the consequences, and I don't think he was joking.” She could still picture the Dragon Lord's face. “What if there’s a guard?”

  “Then you make some excuse, and turn around and come back here. You are my mate, Serena. Nothing is going to happen to you, not while there is breath left in my body.”

  “That’s what worries me. Do they care if we live? I think we’re simply a distraction that they don't need. They have this quiet little life here, living out their dragon years in seclusion.”

  Connor came to her, lowering his head and nuzzling her neck. “That reminds me of someone else you know.”

  She turned her face, and cupped his chin so she could tilt it upwards. Their lips met, and he kissed her, making everything seem right in the world. No matter where they were, if they were together, that was all that mattered.

  “I still wish you’d told me why you wanted to come here so badly.”

  “I’m sorry. Tara said it wouldn’t work out right if you knew.”

  “What difference can it possibly make?”

  “I don’t know. But she has been right about so much. You heard her today. She knows their secrets.”

  “Except Dòmhnall’s. And she’s made an enemy out of Marcas; I don't see that ending well.”

  “I wish she would let us in on what she sees. She purposefully riled Marcas. I’m sure she has a plan. Damn if she would only tell us his secret. He certainly doesn’t want the others to know what it is. I bet she’s hoping her room is locked so he can't get to her.”

  “He would have access to the key if it was; he is the strong arm of the Dragon Lord after all.” She did an impression of Marcas. Blowing her chest out and holding her arms out to the side, striding around the room before collapsing into a fit of giggles. “You dragons are so typically male. All brawn.”

  He grabbed her and pulled her to him, his hard length pressing into her thigh. “I would like you to sample my brawn,” he said, as more giggles erupted from her.

  “I bet you would.” She placed her hand on him, stroking him, feeling him harden under her touch. “I don’t think they particularly want us wandering round either. So we have a couple of hours at least to fill.”

  “What did you have in mind?” A thrill of excitement filled her. Maybe it was the feeling of taking a risk, of someone walking in on them. Perhaps it was the relief at making it here alive. Whatever was to blame, she didn’t care, she wanted him. Right now and she didn’t need Tara’s gift to know that he wanted her too.

  Connor lifted her off her feet, and took her to the small bed, which was pushed against the wall. The whole room was so sparse; these dragons must do their entertaining elsewhere. They appeared to live the same way Connor and Zoah had lived for years. No doubt going out into the wider world to find their sexual release. Always returning to the castle, but never with a woman.

  While Connor kissed her neck, she closed her eyes in bliss. Despite his lips, she couldn't help musing on why none of the dragons living here had no mate. Connor had not mentioned his father's exile. However, she had her suspicions about the true reason. It appeared dragons here were not allowed mates.

  Did that mean Dòmhnall wouldn't give them the information they needed for her to become immortal? She only hoped that he would never find some way to make Connor give her up. She was stupid to worry, because that would never happen. Least of all because she had their child growing inside her.

  Connor shifted his hand, sliding it up her thigh, lifting her loose skirt up. She had changed from her warm clothes once they were inside. She wanted to look pretty and feminine, to counteract the whole maleness of the castle. It was as if a woman had never set foot in there before today. But a woman was here now. One that was about to be pleasured by her mate, in the dragon stronghold. How many years had it been since that had happened.

  "Ohh," she gasped, his hand reaching the origin of her need. His fingers running along the length of her slit, probing into her heated depths. She opened her thighs wider, allowing him to push deeper. For the moment, she forgot everything around them. The only thing that mattered in this world was right here with her.

  Serena began to fumble with the shirt he wore. Unused to having to undo buttons to get access to his hard muscled chest. "I prefer it when you don't cover yourself up."

  "I'll bear that in mind. But I don't think my dragon cousins have the same taste in daily attire."

  She giggled against him. "You mean they like to wear shirts?"

  "Isn't that what I said?"

  "In your own lovely old fashioned way." She kissed him, her hand threading around his neck.

  "Then it is a good job that pleasing a woman has never gone out of fashion." He lifted his body up, and undid his belt. Pushing his pants down, he exposed his hard length to her, and she couldn't resist the temptation to touch him. But, it seemed, he wasn't in the mood for anything other than being inside her. He lifted her skirt up, and pushed her panties aside before burying himself deep inside her.

  Serena wrapped her legs around his waist, and he plunged into her. Each hard thrust taking him deeper. Pushing Serena towards that inevitable climax, he always drew from her. Today he needed to lay claim to her body in this castle, the place where his ancestors had lived.

  His hand gripped the iron bedstead, and he leveraged himself to impale her on his cock. She clawed at his back in her excitement, each thrust pushing her nearer to the point of no return. Then he came, his cock spurting deep inside her. A chain reaction started in her body. Her sex gripping his cock as it swelled inside her, and then a throbbing, pulsating climax took hold of her. She cried out, nipping his neck to stifle the sound.

  When he was completely spent, he dragged the covers over them. There they spent the rest of the day making love. In silent agreement, they avoided the many questions that needed answers.

  Until he met with Dòmhnall, they had no idea if what they had come here for was even possible. Even if it was, would the Dragon Lord give it to them? When something about dragons having mates did not sit well in their stronghold.

  Chapter Fourteen - Connor

  A knock at the door. He was ready to leave, his sense warning him of the dragon approaching. Only courtesy stopped him from opening it before he was summoned.

  "The Lord Dòmhnall awaits your company."

  "Thank you," Connor said. Turning to Serena, he smiled. "I will see you later."

  She bowed theatrically, out of sight of the dragon at the door.

  Connor winked at her, and then followed the dragon out into the hallway. Flame torches lit the darkened passages, leaving a smell of pine and wood smoke.

  “Do you not have electric lighting?” Connor asked.

  “No, there is no electric here. Dòmhnall likes to keep things as they have always been.”

  “Does he? And what shall I call you?” he asked the dragon who was one of the four who had accompanied them through the forest.

  “Arran,” he answered shortly.

  “Arran. How many of you are there here?”

  “Dòmhnall will tell you everything you need to know.”

  They had arrived back at the great hall. Where Dòmhnall was now seated at the big table at the far end of it. Connor half expected to see his bed here too. He had the sense that Dòmhnall never left the hall. However, a quick glance around told him that was not true. He must have a room somewhere in the castle, unless he curled up on the floor in front of the fire like a dog.

  But this man was no dog; he was a beast, strong and powerful. He stood almost twice the size of Zoah, who he had never considered small. It was no wonder he was the leader here, and Connor pondered how old he was. Perhaps he was the most ancient of the dragons. Although his human form looked no more than thirty years of age.

  “Ah, it is good of you to join me.”

  As if he had a choice, Connor mused, but to Dòmhnall he said, “Are the rest of your men joining us?”

  “No. I wish to speak to you alone.” Dòmhnall motioned to a sea
t along the table. A place had been set there; the food already filled the table. Whatever Dòmhnall had to say he did not want overheard by anyone else.

  Intrigued, but also alert to danger, Connor walked to the table, pulling the chair out to sit down. Arron had already left, the big hall sealed off from everything outside.

  The great Dragon Lord could kill Connor, and no one would ever hear his screams. A chill settled over him. Dòmhnall’s men could also be going to his room right now to fetch Serena and hurt her.

  “Don’t worry, Connor Outcast you and your mate are under my protection.”

  Connor did not acknowledge this had been his fear. Instead, he asked, “Why do you call me that?”

  “Before I answer, fill your plate, and your goblet. Then we will talk.”

  Connor was famished. He had hardly eaten anything all day, and the smell of the chicken, beef and venison assailed his senses. His mouth watered and so he piled his plate high with meat. He added potatoes and vegetables as a token gesture. He was a dragon, not a vegetarian.

  Dòmhnall laughed, “You have a good appetite. You've not become so tame that you watch your diet.”

  “Why do you think I am tamed?”

  “You have a mate and a child on the way. That changes your priorities, you allegiances.”

  “Is that why you exiled my father, because he had a mate? Was my mother already carrying me at the time?”

  “So many questions.” Dòmhnall lifted the decanter and filled the goblets once more. “Drink.”

  Connor did so, feeling the warmth of it seep into his blood, firing his senses. “This is good wine.”

  “Is it? I simply get one of my men to bring up a bottle.”

  “I have collected wine for a long time, this is good. Expensive.”

  “Money has little use here. We hunt in the forest, and sell gold and jewels we collected in the old world.”

  “You don’t venture out of Spellholm?”

  “I never leave here. I have developed a healthy mistrust of the people outside of these walls. Take your friend the witch for example. She comes and presents herself to me as though she is doing me a favour.”