by Ophelia Bell
Aurum moved toward him and rested a hand on his arm. “She never stopped loving you, not once. If you want something to fight for, it’s to hold onto that love and everything that comes after, but we have to fight together.”
Behind her, the warm, welcome presence of both her mates appeared, two strong arms sliding around her waist from either side.
Nikhil stared back at the three of them. “Is it really that simple?” he asked.
Aurum laughed. “Simple? Yes. Easy? Definitely not.” She slipped her arms around both her mates’ waists and pulled them closer, reveling in the way their auras merged like a protective bubble around her. “But worth it. So worth it.”
Epilogue
Nikhil
Despite spending weeks so close to Belah he could feel her under his skin, Nikhil hadn’t been able to bring himself to seek her out. Now that he’d learned he’d have to wait three more months to even find out whether he could gain access to the Haven, the need to do something—anything—besides sit in that isolated cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains finally drove him to make a move.
Except he couldn’t drift directly to her. He tried—the link they shared meant he could sense her within his reach. Her blood still ran in his veins, so there was no denying their continued connection. He thought the drift would take him to her the way it had delivered him to the dragons’ monastery, when he’d finally released all the Ultiori captives from their Canadian facility and went to prove he could keep his word to take her to her children.
The drift dumped him at the top of a mountain in the middle of a snowstorm instead. At the edge of a cliff, no less, with a huge, gaping chasm just inches beyond. If he’d gone another foot farther, he’d have plummeted to the bottom of a deep ravine.
He sat, shivering and seething in the snow, staring across the chasm, glaring at whatever invisible barrier existed there that kept him away from her now that he’d finally given in and committed himself to seeing her again, despite his inclination to the contrary.
Through the snow, he thought he caught movement on the far side of the chasm and abruptly stood, leaning in as though a few extra inches would help him see better. Something was out there, but he couldn’t make out what it was. A bird? No …
His heart lurched and he nearly lost his footing and fell. It was a dragon. The closer the shape came, the surer he was. There was no mistaking those huge wings and that long, swaying tail. Blue scales glinted in the gray light of the snowy day. Not just any dragon, either.
It was her.
Nikhil stepped back from the edge and waved his arms in the air, almost jumping with joy and laughing out loud at the sight. He ran farther back, leaving room for her to land, but as she drew closer, something didn’t feel right. The sense of her—the part of himself that allowed him to be aware of her proximity at all times—didn’t check out. His gut told her she was no closer to him now than she’d been when he arrived.
The huge, blue shape continued barreling through the windy flurries, kicking up fluffy cyclones when it arrived. The force of its wing-beats were nearly strong enough to push Nikhil over.
But this dragon wasn’t her.
When the dragon landed, its huge, horned head dipped down low and stared at him, tilting side to side with forked tongue darting out as though tasting the air.
Finally, the dragon snorted a puff of hot air that blew Nikhil’s knit cap off his head and instantly melted the collection of icicles that he’d accumulated in his beard.
“Belah was right,” the dragon said in a deep, sonorous voice. “You’re no threat anymore, are you?”
“I will be if you don’t fucking take me to her,” Nikhil growled. “Who the fuck are you?”
The dragon’s eyes narrowed and his posture tensed. He bared his teeth for a second, looking like he might be ready to breathe fire. Then he pursed his lips and a sudden gout of red-hot flame did shoot out of his mouth, directly at Nikhil’s upper body.
Nikhil reared back and instinctively raised an arm in defense. The flame burned away the sleeve of his down parka to his bare skin, leaving jagged, glowing edges around one shoulder, which was entirely bare now, the snowflakes steadily falling and melting as they came into contact with his unmarred skin.
“What the fuck was that?”
The dragon eyed his naked arm and snorted again. “No burns … I guess you are the real deal. Sorry, I had to test. My name is Skye. If you want a ride over, don’t tell Belah I tried to set you on fire, got it?”
Nikhil shook his head and laughed. He supposed he should have expected it wouldn’t be easy to get to her, even when he had finally made the decision to follow Aodh’s and Aurum’s advice.
“I won’t say a thing, but this might be tricky to explain,” he said, raising his naked arm.
Skye regarded him for a second, then let out a fresh puff of smoke from his snout. It swiftly coalesced around Nikhil’s arm, filling in the gap in his clothing until there was no evidence of conflagration. Then he turned his side to Nikhil and dipped his head, ready to be mounted.
Halfway across the ravine, the weather suddenly calmed, the air growing warmer. When the snowfall cleared, the far side of the chasm came into view. A cliff-top city appeared, with buildings seeming to grow out of the winter-bare trees and steep slopes of the mountainside.
Part log, part stone, one larger structure stretched across with dozens of balconies at different heights, seemingly tacked on as afterthoughts. Nothing appeared completely planned, and Nikhil was reminded of strange birds’ nests that sprouted randomly from the mountain, some held up with wooden stilts, others grown directly out of boulders. Every single one had a plume of smoke coming from a chimney and warm, glowing lights flickering from within.
As they neared, Skye banked and aimed for one of the mid-sized perches off to the side of the largest building. Up close, the structure wasn’t as small as it had first appeared, having a wide, deep porch along the cliffside and rooms that seemed to extend deep into the mountain beyond.
“Welcome to the Turul Enclave,” Skye said as he slowed and flapped his wings to halt their progress so he could land.
Once the dragon had settled, Nikhil slid off his back. Abruptly, Skye’s gargantuan form shimmered and shrank until a naked, and very fit, blond man stood before him.
“Sorry, man. You’re a catch, I’m sure, but I’m very attached to the mates I have.”
Nikhil blinked, then realized he’d been staring a little too long in surprise. He scowled at Skye’s wicked grin.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“One of her mates’ cousins just hatched a daughter. She’s with the families celebrating.”
“Show me.”
Cautiously, Skye said, “It’s not a good idea for you to go to her, so she asked me to bring you here.” He slid open a heavy glass door and motioned into a room covered in colorful, patterned rugs and lit with a huge fire and dozens of lanterns. “She’ll be along with Iszak and Lukas as soon as the party’s over. She said to tell you to make yourself at home.”
Skye stood at the open doorway waiting. Finally, Nikhil nodded.
“Thanks. And thank you for coming to pick me up. I know I’m not the most popular person in the world. I forgive the test.”
“Honestly, I knew you were on the level before I landed.” He tapped his temple. “Emotional radar, and all that. I just couldn’t resist seeing if the legends were really true. You didn’t feel a thing when I set you on fire, did you?”
“Just heat,” Nikhil said. “You could throw me off that balcony and it wouldn’t kill me. It’d hurt a hell of a lot, though. If you were Belah or any of her siblings trying to torch me, it’d be a different story. I aim to stay on their good side from here on out, though.”
Skye grinned, his blue eyes sparkling. “I doubt you’ll have a problem with Belah. Her aura lit up like she was on fire
when we all sensed you out there. She almost came to get you herself, but then the little girl’s egg finally cracked. She promised the mother she’d give the girl a blessing when she was born, so she couldn’t leave yet. It shouldn’t be long now.”
Nodding and thanking Skye again, Nikhil stepped into the sprawling abode and closed the door behind him. Through the glass, he saw Skye shift again and fly off.
He shed his coat and shirt, tossing them onto a low chair nearby, then kicked off his snow-caked boots and damp socks. Shirtless and in nothing but jeans and bare feet, he went to stand near the fire to try to thaw out a bit before she arrived.
With his back to the fire, he studied the room with interest, picking out the details that were uniquely Belah. Some, however, he wondered about. There were two massive, exposed posts that supported the upper floor. Both were entirely cut from huge, hardwood trees with the bark removed, the wood polished and lacquered to a bright shine. On all four sides at the top of each post were sturdy eyehooks that at the moment supported hanging plants.
The beam across the ceiling that connected the two posts was similarly outfitted, with plants hanging all along, taking advantage of the abundance of light that flooded in from the wall of windows facing the ravine.
Nikhil would bet his left nut that come sundown, those hooks had a very different use. Whether they’d been Belah’s idea or that of the pair of turul she’d mated, he couldn’t say.
Looking around the room again, he saw a huge, elaborately ornamented chest against one wall with a mirror hanging above it. It was similar to the one he still possessed that held treasures particularly dear to him for their sentimental value to the woman he loved. He wandered over to it and brushed his fingers along the gilded decorations on the lid. Several neatly arranged bundles of multi-colored silk rope lay on the top near a bowl of carabiners of varying sizes. Any casual observer would see these and assume the residents were rock climbers, but Nikhil knew better.
“It’s exactly what you think,” a sultry voice said.
Nikhil’s gaze shot to the mirror, his eyes widening at the sight of Belah. He was struck speechless, and worked to swallow—to even breathe.
Belah glowed with abundant health, her black hair hanging loose in shining waves. She wore a bulky sweater and snug jeans that did nothing to hide her glorious curves. A door closed somewhere, and two other figures appeared from around a corner.
Nikhil took her distraction as an opportunity to gather himself and turn to face the trio, closing his eyes to try to remember the little speech he’d prepared while he waited in the freezing snowstorm on the other side of the ravine.
“We wondered what took you so long,” a deep, gruff voice said.
“Yeah, man. Didn’t peg you for such a goddamn cocktease. You made us a promise, and then you disappeared.”
Nikhil opened his eyes and blinked, unprepared for the unabashed look of lust in the eyes of the long-haired man on Belah’s left. The short-haired, bearded man on her other side chuckled.
“Forgive Lukas, he always gets right to the point. But he’s not wrong. We’re a little annoyed you didn’t come sooner. She’s a hard woman to keep up with, and the baby’s cravings are getting kinkier by the day. Almost makes us wonder if we’re really the fathers.”
Belah shook her head. “I told them it couldn’t have been you, but that week we spent together could have influenced the conception somewhat, even though we never made love.”
Nikhil studied them, considering his options. This was a moment he couldn’t waste, and didn’t intend to. He’d avoided taking this step, believing that he needed to make amends in a different way—to seek out and kill their mutual enemy to prove himself, to “get square with his conscience,” as Lukas had said.
Now, however, he understood that the true amends were much simpler than that. He would still complete his original task, of course, but for Belah’s sake, and his conscience, another tactic was required now.
Turning, he grabbed a bundle of rope off the chest and held it up.
“Making love to her is the one thing I want most in the world at this moment, but I need the two of you to make sure I’ve properly earned it. Are you prepared to do that?”
He lobbed the bundle of rope to Iszak, who deftly caught it. Nikhil tossed a second one to Lukas, whose hand shot out to pluck it out of the air, a wide smile spread across his face.
Nikhil unraveled a third bundle and made a quick loop out of the end, which he wrapped around one wrist, twisted around his other wrist into a quick figure eight, then looped a knot and tightened it with his teeth. He moved to stand in the center of the room facing Belah, right between both sturdy posts. He lifted his hands up into the air above him, waiting.
Belah strode over and stood in front of him with a smile, arms crossed over her chest. “And what am I supposed to do. Watch?”
He smiled and pointed his chin at her abdomen. “You do whatever your little beast tells you to, ‘Iilahatan. I am at your mercy.”
Immortal Dragons Book 4
DRAGON REBEL
If Assana looked up the word “nymphomaniac” in the dictionary, she might expect to find her own image in place of the definition, especially after meeting the immortal red dragon, Gavra. The timing couldn’t be worse for her to discover the mate that Fate intended—the one she’d be willing to let go of her tightly bound hold on her deepest sexual desires for—the one who literally drives her mad with lust. Now that she needs her sanity more than anything to regain control of her race’s home from her own insane mother, she’s faced with the inconvenient desire to lose control and be that primal nymph she keeps locked inside.
Thank Gaia for Silas. The handsome young ursa male is blessed with magic that can calm the lust-filled madness threatening to consume Assana’s mind. She needs him more than ever now that she has no choice but to spend her days in close proximity to the dragon she desires more than anything… yet doesn’t dare touch lest she give in to that ancient, primal need all nymphaea are born with.
For red dragon Gavra, he can only put off having the beautiful nymph maiden for so long, or the ursa male who Fate has promised him. Once Assana’s crazy mother is out of the way, nothing will stop Gavra from claiming and marking them both as his.
Pick up Dragon Rebel
Books by Ophelia Bell
Sleeping Dragons Series
Animus
Tabula Rasa
Gemini
Shadows
Nexus
Ascend
Rising Dragons Series
Night Fire
Breath of Destiny
Breath of Memory
Breath of Innocence
Breath of Desire
Breath of Love
Breath of Flame and Shadow
Breath of Fate
Sisters of Flame
Immortal Dragons Series
Dragon Betrayed
Dragon Blues
Dragon Void
Dragon Splendor
Black Mountain Bears
Clawed
Bitten
Nailed
Paranormal Dating Agency
(Kindle World Books)
Hot Wings
Standalone Erotic Tales
After You
Out of the Cold
About Ophelia Bell
Ophelia Bell loves a good bad-boy and especially strong women in her stories. Women who aren’t apologetic about enjoying sex and bad boys who don’t mind being with a woman who’s in charge, at least on the surface, because pretty much anything goes in the bedroom.
Ophelia grew up on a rural farm in North Carolina and now lives in Los Angeles with her own tattooed bad-boy husband and six attention-whoring cats.
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Immortal Dragons
Copyright © 2017 Ophelia Bell
Cover Art Designed by Dawné Dominique
Photograph Copyrights © Fotolio.com, DepositPhotos.com, CanStock.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used.
Published by Ophelia Bell
UNITED STATES
Contents
DRAGON BETRAYED
Trigger Warnings
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
