Saved by a Dragon (No Such Things as Dragons Book 1)

by Lauren Lively

  "A picnic?" I asked.

  "You don't like it?"

  I turned to him, feeling the beginnings of tears in my eyes.

  "It's perfect."

  We settled onto the blanket and Ero opened the square basket positioned on the edge. He started pulling out containers containing a variety of foods that I didn't recognize.

  "Do you know what any of that is?" I laughed.

  "Most of it," Ero said, tilting one of the containers to look through the bottom at whatever was inside.

  He pulled another container out and I immediately knew what it was. I took it from his hand and opened it, pulling out a piece of brownie.

  "Do you know what this is?" I asked, not knowing how familiar the Denynso were with Earth foods.

  "Chocolate?" he said, sounding like he was making a complete guess.

  I nodded and pulled onto my knees so I could lean toward him.

  "Have you ever tasted chocolate?"

  He shook his head and I crawled slightly forward so I was close enough to him to hold the piece of brownie to his lips. Without taking his gaze from mine, he opened his mouth and let me place the brownie on his tongue. I watched as his eyes widened and then darkened slightly as the taste flooded through his mouth. His lips closed over my fingers and I withdrew them slowly.

  "Thank you, Ty," he muttered and I laughed softly.

  Ero reached into the container and took out another small piece of brownie. I parted my lips so he could feed me, letting my tongue slip across his finger as I closed my mouth. He drew in a breath and his face came close to mine. His lips brushed mine softly and he paused, keeping them hovering close enough that I could feel his breath on my face. He waited until I leaned closer to him, offering my mouth to him, to kiss me again. This kiss was deep, passionate, and tasted rich like chocolate. When he pulled back, we were both breathless.

  "Are you hungry?" he asked quietly and I shook my head.

  "No."

  "Come with me."

  He helped me to my feet and led me around the edge of the lake. I watched the candles floating on the surface of the water as we walked, and it seemed like their glow was guiding me away from everything in the past and toward something incredible that I hadn't even begun to imagine. When we reached the opposite side of the lake, he paused and gestured toward a steep path cut into a rock face.

  "Are you serious?" I asked.

  "Trust me."

  "Is this your way of trying to get me to lose weight?"

  I was joking, but I felt his hand come to my lower back and apply pressure to my hip until I turned around to face him. He stepped toward me so that I stepped back and pressed to the rock wall. My breath caught as I felt his body brush against mine.

  "I never want to hear you say that again, do you understand?" I nodded breathlessly, overwhelmed by his sudden exertion of power. "Because I love you," he dipped his head down to kiss the curve of my neck and shoulder, his hands coming to my hips, "Every inch of you," his touch traveled to my waist and up to my ribs, "Every single beautiful inch," his thumbs brushed across my nipples and I gasped, "I haven't seen enough of you. I want to see more."

  I nudged forward with my hips, needing more of his touch. He turned me around again and patted me on my butt.

  "Go on," he encouraged.

  I complied, climbing my way up the steep path with the motivation of him directly behind me, his hands occasionally reaching up to stroke my back or touch my hip. When I reached the top of the path, I stopped and felt my mouth fall slightly open. I had stepped out onto a wide plateau strewn thickly with flower petals and dotted with candles. The effect was dizzying in the most wonderful way imaginable.

  "This is…" I started, but couldn't find the words to finish.

  "I wanted to give you the most romantic human date I could," he said, coming up beside me, "The women said flowers and candles were always romantic."

  "You came up with this?" I asked.

  Ero nodded and took my hand again, drawing me further onto the plateau until we reached another blanket stretched out across the ground. This one was so perfectly matched to the colors of the flower petals that I hadn't even noticed it was there until he brought me to the edge of it and pulled me into his arms.

  "I am so sorry," he whispered, and I felt my heart constrict.

  "Ero, stop." He looked at me with pain in his eyes and I brought one hand up to brush the hair away from his face, "Don't tell me how sorry you are." I ran my hand down the front of his shirt, "Show me."

  Without another word, Ero ducked his head and caught my mouth with his. He kissed me with greater meaning than any words could have ever expressed, and I felt myself melting under his touch. I remembered what he said in my bedroom, that I was his mate, and suddenly I could feel it with such clarity and depth it was as though I had always carried him with me, but I had to discover him.

  Ero's hands moved slowly and gently over me, removing each article of clothing and caressing the newly exposed skin with his mouth, kissing and licking his way across my shoulders, down my chest, and onto my belly. He knelt down in front of me and unbuttoned my pants, then eased the zipper down. The movements were careful, reverent, and I could feel myself getting hotter and wetter with each touch. I was shaking with need for him by the time he eased my panties down off my hips and guided me to step out of them, leaving me finally bare in front of him.

  He hadn't removed any of his clothing, but standing naked as he knelt at my feet and ran his lips across my belly made me feel worshipped and beautiful. My hand came to the back of his head, tangling in his long white hair, as he moved his mouth further down my body until it teased at the valley between my hipbones. He paused there, nipping his teeth at the soft swell of my belly before easing down and drawing his tongue through the wet heat between my thighs.

  I cried out, reaching for something to grab onto but finding nothing so I settled for digging my nails into his back. This seemed to only fuel him further and he used one hand to ease my thighs apart so he had better access to my core. His tongue continued its skilled movements until I felt the pressure building through me and I pushed him back.

  "Get undressed," I said, my voice smoky with desire.

  As Ero complied with my request, I eased myself onto my knees so that when he was completely bare I could touch my body to his and finally feel all of his skin against mine. We both drew in breaths as our skin touched and our bodies became still, both trying to preserve the moment for what it was. Finally he rested his forehead against mine and his eyes drifted closed. He kissed me gently and rested his hands on my hips.

  "Please let me make love to you," he whispered.

  My body clench and any reservations I had crumbled around me as I wrapped my hands around his neck and carefully lowered myself onto my back and let him part my thighs so he could settle in between them. The tip of his erection settled at my opening and he moaned when he felt how ready I was for him. I bent my knees so my legs drew up beside his waist, causing him to slip inside me slightly. I gasped. He had been inside me before, but I hadn't had the opportunity to really cherish feeling him enter me, and now I was welcoming him, allowing him to gradually move deeper into me until finally I enveloped all of his hard, thick length.

  Ero withdrew slowly and then sank in again, eliciting a deep groan from his chest that made a new wave of desire roll through me. I lifted my hips slightly and he plunged into me harder. He maintained his control for several minutes, rolling his hips so that he thrust in long, slow strokes that seemed to massage me and nurture me toward the edge. I reached up and touched his face, and Ero turned to kiss the inside of my wrist.

  I could feel the tension building through my body and I ached for release. I gripped his head and pulled his down so that he kissed me, catching himself with his hands on either side of him. Lifting my hips higher in the air, I nudged him and bit his bottom lip.

  "Please, Ero," I whimpered.

  He understood my plea and started pounding
into me with such intensity that I cried out with each thrust and within seconds, my body was contracting around him in a series of hard, blissful tremors. He gave a deep grunt and I felt him pulse inside me as his streams met each of my spasms.

  Ero fell forward onto me and we were suddenly back in the same position we had been in the forest. He kissed my neck softly and I ran my hand down his sweaty back. This time I had no compulsion to get up and run away from him. I wanted to lie there with him forever.

  "I don't want to go to my house tonight," I whispered to him.

  He nuzzled closer to me.

  "I'll be there," he whispered back.

  "You will?"

  "Samira took the house that had been set aside for you."

  "She did?"

  Ero pulled himself up so that he could look at me and I smiled at him, fulfilled and enthralled by the orange of his eyes and the rise and fall of his chest.

  "I thought it only appropriate considering you don't need it anymore."

  "I don't?"

  "No. We're bonded for life now and if I can help it, you won't be out of arms reach except when I'm on patrol, which means you will be coming home with me."

  I smiled and lifted my head to kiss him. I knew that I was never going to live on Earth again. I would keep my house there, just in case Ero and I wanted to go on an interplanetary honeymoon. Maybe I would take my Denynso students, whoever they turned out to be, on field trips now that my mate had proven that their kind could successfully travel through space. I was his now, completely and fully his, and wherever he was, I knew that that’s was where I would be.

  (To be Continued in Part IX… )

  Book 9 – Smitten by Sweetest Alien

  Chapter One

  Dear Diary,

  I still can't believe this is actually happening. One minute I was hiding at Zuri's house trying to decide what I was going to do next and being terrified that at any minute my evil son of a bitch of a stepfather was going to show up and kill me, and the next minute I was following Zuri and some warrior who is apparently in love with her to the university space shuttle to head to Uoria. I still can't believe how easily Ero made him go away.

  I just re-read that sentence. I can't believe I am still not brave enough to even write his name. I am literally on another planet, nowhere near anywhere where he would be able to get near me, and I still can't bring myself to write it. Maybe one day I will get over everything that he has put me through since my idiot of a mother decided to marry him. I will never understand that.

  What am I doing here? It seemed like a fantastic idea at the time when Zuri and Ero suggested that I come along with them when they returned to Uoria. Anything to get out of his line of fire for when he finally got over the shock of Ero scaring the living hell out of him. That and I really didn't have anywhere else to go and wasn't sure where I was going to live or what I was going to do for those little life details like food. Coming here was a way for me to stay with Zuri, who is the only person in the entire world that I trust, know that I will have somewhere to live and stay safe while I figure out what the hell I am going to do with my future, and use some of my chemistry and biology knowledge to actually do something good rather than just filling out tests.

  I have only been on Uoria for a couple of hours and I am still so overwhelmed by everything that is going on. I thought that I would be spending time with Zuri, maybe getting a chance to talk to her about everything that had been going on with me in the last few weeks. As soon as we got here, though, Ero whisked her away somewhere and I got handed over to the human women and to a man named Ty. I was happy to see Leia, even though we don't know each other terribly well. To be honest, though, I was happier to see Ty. I wouldn't say this to anybody but you, but he is the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my entire life. He is huge beyond description and so gorgeous I couldn't even talk to him for the first few minutes. From what I understand, he is my own personal protector for while I'm here. That could make this experience much more pleasant.

  I'm going to try to get some sleep. They gave me my own house to live in while I'm here, which is a major change from what I'm used to. There won't be anyone to bother me or to tell me what to do. Or to do anything else to me. Maybe I'll get lonely at some point, but for now this is all just too incredible for me to get my mind around. I might only have six months here before our exchange period ends and we have to go back to Earth, but I'm not going to think about that. I am going to take advantage of every moment that I have and deal with whatever is ahead of me when it comes.

  Samira

  I finished my diary entry and tucked the notebook under my pillow. I know it is a completely outdated form of recordkeeping, but I had always found comfort in being able to actually write down my thoughts. I never read back through the stacks of notebooks I had accumulated throughout my eighteen years, but I figured that if I ever wanted to relive any of those moments, at least they would be there. On my darker days I figured that if my stepfather ever got his hands on me and I wasn't able to get away, at least the people who found me would have my journals to follow what had happened to me in the last several years of my life.

  The house that the Denynso had put aside for me was small but comfortable and I settled back on the bed. It had taken some convincing for the human women to actually leave me alone in the house rather than staying with me and helping me get settled in. I didn't want to be rude to them, but the last thing I wanted that night was to sit around and regale them with the stories of what led up to coming with Zuri. For now I was more than happy to let them believe that I was just another exchange student who had joined the program for people of Earth to come to Uoria and exchange knowledge, ideas, and cultural traditions. Unless I had the chance to spend time with Zuri, I would rather be alone. Well, Zuri or Ty.

  As soon as I saw Ty, I knew that I wanted to spend more time with him. He didn't have the gruff, aggressive feeling that the other men did and I found myself wondering if he was a warrior like Pyra and Gyyx, the Denynso mates of Eden and Leia, or if he was something else like Ciyrs, the mate of Eliana. The three human women seemed so happy with their Denynso men, and I found myself curious about the quiet, calm man entrusted with guiding me to my house and who said he would be my guide and protector while I was on Uoria. I wanted to know more about him, to find out what lurked behind those eyes and gave him an energy and presence that made me feel almost safe and comfortable near him.

  Chapter Two

  "What the hell is wrong with me?" Ty asked, pouring a few more ingredients into the huge bowl in front of him and going at it with a spoon with such intensity Pyra took a step back.

  "What do you mean?" the enormous warrior asked.

  Ty paused his assault of the cake batter and looked at Pyra.

  "If you haven't noticed, my apron has a bit of a tent situation going on here and I haven't been able to think straight since last night."

  Pyra glanced down at the front of Ty's apron and saw exactly what he was talking about. Though better concealed with the thick white apron hanging over him than it would have been if he was just standing there in the soft tie-front pants that were the usual wardrobe of the Denynso men, it was still pretty obvious that he had a raging hard-on. The baker shifted slightly and Pyra looked up at him with a knowing grin.

  "Yeah, I've noticed. Why are you even asking? You watched me go through it months ago, then Ciyrs, then Gyxx, and now Ero. It seems that the efforts to communicate and cooperate more effectively with Earth have had a much different impact than we originally anticipated. These human women get here and the Denynso men start dropping like flies. It looks like you are the one that came under the line of fire this time."

  He reached out and dipped a finger in the bowl of batter and Ty pulled it away from him roughly. Even though he was baking a cake specifically for Pyra to bring to his mate Eden, who happened to be a couple of months into her first pregnancy and constantly in the throes of either a dramatic emotional situation or a
craving, Ty didn't like when Pyra stuck his fingers in the batter. Not only did it just seem pretty unsanitary, his perfectionist ways made Ty feel like it threw off the entire balance and measurement of the batter so the cake wouldn't turn out exactly as he had wanted it to when he first started baking it. In the back of his mind he knew that that was being a little bit ridiculous, but he couldn't help it. Just like the warriors couldn't shake off their compulsion to fight and protect, Ty couldn't fight off his compulsion to create and perfect.

  "That can't possibly be it," Ty said, adding a few drops of dark brown liquid from a bottle he kept on the top shelf of his spice cabinet.

  "Why not? I was there when Zuri got back with that new girl. Anyone with eyes can see that she's beautiful."

  "Samira."

  "What?" Pyra asked, running the tip of one of his fingers through a mound of sweet powder on the counter and licking it off.

  "The new girl. Her name is Samira."

  "Uh-huh. I guess your big old orange eyes definitely noticed that she's beautiful."

  "My eyes aren't orange!" Ty protested, then picked up a cookie sheet so he could see his reflection. Sure enough, there were streaks of orange through the usual brown of his eyes. "Shit."

  "Yep. They might not have made their complete changeover yet, but those eyes cannot deceive. They know that your mate has shown up, and unless you are preparing yourself to fight Ero for Zuri or you are going to break into the space shuttle and try to pry out that little flight attendant who always runs and hides the minute that the ship lands, that means that your mate is Samira."

  "She can't be."

  "I don't get it. Why are you so pissed about your mate showing up? You have the whole nurturing and taking care of someone thing down pat. You've been taking care of all of us warriors for as long as I can remember. And you are plenty old enough to get mated."