by Khloe Wren
Evernight Publishing ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© Khloe Wren
ISBN: 978-1-77130-958-5
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
Angela Castle, this one’s for you. Thank you for all your help.
BINDING BECKY
Dragon Warriors, 2
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
Waking up in a strange room, on a hard mattress, wearing only her underwear, had Becky freaking out.
What the hell had happened? Looking around at her four closest friends, she tried to remember. They'd gone camping, the five of them. They'd been hiking around Kata Tjuta when they’d smelled honey. They'd decided to go investigate when a cyclone type wind suddenly surrounded them. Becky shuddered as she recalled Carina, then Skye being struck with lightning. She remembered another bolt of lightning, then nothing.
Eilagh’s voice pulled her from her introspection. Becky had stopped paying attention as Eilagh had begun talking with the tall, muscular men who had come into the room. Lost in her desperate search of her memory for some answers, now Becky tried to focus on the conversation to work out what she'd missed.
"We'll have Baxter, our healer, look her over again shortly to see if anything is wrong. The last scan showed you were all doing well. She simply needs more rest to finish recovering."
Relief flooded Becky’s system that Carina wasn’t injured. A loud grumble left Eilagh's stomach. Becky would have laughed if she wasn't equally hungry.
"Come with us, and we’ll get you all some food. Your friend, Carina, will be safe here with Baxter."
Becky's spine straightened at this man's words. Surely they didn't expect them to leave this room in only their underwear?
"We're not going anywhere until we get our clothes back, buster.”
Becky glared at each of the men, running her gaze quickly over each one as she did. Sheesh. They were all huge, easily over six foot five. They all wore simple laced up leather pants, and their feet were bare—as were their chests. Thick muscular arms plugged into broad strong shoulders, large pads of muscle made up their gorgeous pectorals, and each had a tight six pack. They had matching dragon tattoos on their chests. Intricately inked wings covered their pectorals, the body trailing down to where its tail encircled their belly buttons. All the dragons were inked in black, except for one. His was inked in red. He was the only one who had spoken and had called himself Dimitri. He stood slightly in front of the others, staring at Eilagh, her best friend and the unofficial leader of their little group, very intently. The guy next to him, who must be his twin because they looked so much alike, was also watching Eilagh like a hawk. Noticing their hair was a deep blood red color, she looked back at the other men. They all had bizarrely colored hair. At a glance, she could see purple, blue, and a deep golden color.
As she waited for Dimitri to respond to her request for clothes, she looked over the men again. Her gaze became caught in the most mesmerizing warm, hazel one. Her breath stopped in her chest, and she felt her body begin to heat up under his intense stare. By sheer force of will she broke eye contact and moved over to the next man, who was also staring at her with intense hazel eyes. As she looked at him, a grin spread over his face. She frowned in confusion as she realized this man's stare was having the same effect on her as the other man's. She quickly looked over the rest of the men, but none of them, while all were absolutely stunningly handsome, affected her like these two did.
"Of course, you'll be able to dress before we go. You'll all find your clothes folded in the cupboard over there." Becky followed Dimitri's gaze to a tall timber wardrobe in the back corner of the room none of them had noticed earlier. "Your clothes were only removed so we could assess your injuries. Don’t worry. None of you were violated in any way. We'll leave now to allow you to get dressed. Just come out into the hallway when you are ready to go get something to eat."
All the men bowed slightly before they left, a couple of them winking on their way out.
Lost in thought, Becky got dressed quickly, as did her friends. Once suitably covered, they tried to wake Carina one last time. Disappointed they couldn't rouse her, Becky followed the others out the doorway. As they all left the room, three of the men took up positions beside the doorway, but remained outside, which was a good thing. After what Carina had told them around the campfire, Becky was certain she would not respond well to waking up in her underwear with three men in the room. Becky stopped before the bigger of the men staying to guard her friend. She stared hard into his face.
"If she wakes up, you come get us. Carina is nervous around men. You three will freak her out and she'll panic."
The man nodded slightly to her. "I promise, aside from the healer, no man will enter the room until after she wakes and has female company. She will not come to any harm."
With a nod and a quick thank you, Becky turned to follow the others and ran straight into a warm wall of muscle. With an umph she stumbled back, but before she could fall and land on her ass, a strong arm wrapped around her middle.
"Easy there, little one."
The deep rumble in her ear lit her body up like a candle, while the words he spoke just pissed her off. At five foot seven and a size eighteen, she was not little by anyone’s standards.
"Get your hands off me." She ground the words out of her clenched jaw.
The arm around her waist briefly tightened, his fingers splaying out over her tummy before he slowly caressed his way over to her hip, then slipping down over her ass before releasing her.
"As you wish, little one."
She spun to glare at this ogre of a man. "Stop calling me that. I am not little by any definition of the word."
She watched as his hot hazel gaze slid down her body, and her damn nipples tightened as his gaze brushed over them. One purple eyebrow rose up, as he obviously noticed her body's reaction. He continued his visual journey all the way to her feet before heading back up. When his gaze locked on hers she became breathless. Which pissed her off all over again. She was not some girly-girl who tripped over herself because some hot guy showed some interest in her. Driving dump trucks around mines for the last few years had toughened her up even more than her four brothers had. Always a tomboy, Becky had nev
er been able to stand macho-alpha-male bullshit. So many men thought they could strut around acting all tough and get whatever they wanted from whoever they wanted it from.
Not on my watch, baby. It just ain't. Gonna. Happen.
"But you are. Compared to me and my younger brother you are indeed little. I can look clean over your head."
Damn. The affect his velvety voice had on her was lethal. Suddenly, a warmth at her back got her attention. A large warm palm ran down her arm and took hold of her hand.
"Come, sweetheart, we need to head to the Dining Hall and get you fed. The others are waiting."
Sweetheart ... did he just call me sweetheart? Oh, these two were heading for an ass kicking all right. She tried to snatch her hand back, but he wouldn’t release her. He just began moving down the hall. She dug her heels in.
"Let. Me. Go."
She felt like a two year old being dragged along by her parent, and it wasn't sitting well with her. He released her hand. Before she could sigh in relief, the other man had his palm on her lower back guiding her along. She wanted to tell him to remove it. But his touch was sending tingles all over her skin, and she was suddenly breathless.
Before she knew it, she was being seated at a large table with everyone else. The men took a seat on either side of her, each of them claiming a hand like it was the most natural thing in the world for them to be doing. She pulled them back and shook out the tingles their touches had created. Before she could say anything to them, Eilagh's voice traveled across the room from where she sat at the head of the table between the two red haired men that had been watching her so intently earlier.
"What do you mean dragon? You look human."
"We are shifters, so we have two forms. We can be either human or dragon."
Dimitri's response was so matter of fact, considering he had to be talking crazy.
"But dragons aren't real, and shifters are just a myth."
Becky so agreed with Eilagh on that one. She watched as Dimitri smiled sweetly at her friend and palmed her cheek.
"We'll show you, to prove to you we’re speaking the truth. But not until after you’ve all eaten."
Becky turned back to the man on her right, the older looking man.
"What does he mean? What will showing us involve?"
"I'm guessing he will ask one of us to shift to dragon form to show you all. He'll probably get Max, his twin, to do it."
Becky sat there silently pondering the fact dragons may be real, but her thoughts were cut short when she had a plate, piled high with roast beef and all sorts of roasted vegetables—all looking exactly like the vegetables back on Earth—was placed before her. It smelt heavenly so she dove in. Once the bulk of her hunger was satisfied, she slowed her eating and looked around the room. It dawned on her that she and her friends were the only women. She turned again to the older man.
"Where are all the women?"
She watched his expression drop in sorrow. "They’re all gone. The last visitors the Great Wind brought us, the liaths, created a virus and released it. It was meant to kill all of us, leaving our land free for them to inhabit. It backfired and only worked on our females, young, and elderly. That was seven years ago. Dimitri has been working hard to try to find a solution before we die out, but it would seem the Goddess beat him to it."
"What do you mean—"
The man on her other side cut Becky off before she could ask any more about what he was talking about.
"So, why don't you tell us something about yourself, sweetheart?"
One look at the pain in the older man’s eyes and she let the previous topic drop—for now. She turned on the younger one.
"You haven't even told me your names yet, and you want me to give up information? I think you two need to spill some details before I tell you anything about me."
"You're right." The older one interrupted as he grabbed up her hand. He pressed a kiss to her palm before he continued. "My name is Drake, little one. I am a Dragon Warrior. I work with plans and logistics. Basically, I help Dimitri keep everything running smoothly around the castle, and when we have to go into battle, my work really picks up."
Before she could process the sudden sense of dread she had that Drake had to fight in battles, a finger under her chin turned her face to the other man. He ran his knuckles down her cheek before he leaned in and kissed her neck, just below and behind her ear.
"I'm Drake's younger brother, Savren. I handle the upkeep of the castle, repairs, extensions, that kind of thing. What about you, sweetheart?"
When he finished speaking he slowly pulled back from her skin, allowing Becky to finally catch her breath.
"Ah, um. I'm Becky, well Rebecca Mulda is my full name, but everyone just calls me Becky—not little one or sweetheart." She sent them both a glare. They both simply grinned, and Savren winked. They were saved from any further grilling by Dimitri, whose deep voice demanded the attention of everyone in the room.
"Now that you've all had your fill, allow us to prove that both dragons and shifters are indeed very real. Max, my twin, will shift to show you. Max? Would you be so kind?"
The man sitting on the other side of Eilagh stood and moved to the front of the room. He turned so he was holding Eilagh's gaze, and then the room was filled with a bright flash of light. Becky's hand flew up to cover her eyes out of reflex. As she lowered it, she gasped in shock.
"Oh my—bloody hell, you really are dragons!"
****
Drake had watched Becky closely as Max flashed to his dragon. Initially, she’d shielded her eyes from the brightness, but once she lowered her hand and saw Max, she’d looked shocked. Drake wasn't sure if it was a good or bad kind of shocked, but he didn't like the way her face had suddenly paled. He reached for her, and she scooted back and stood up, knocking over her chair with a loud bang in the process. Her wide-eyed stare had gone from Max to him. The second he'd reached for her, her gaze flicked up over his shoulder, and she lunged forward, calling out to her friend.
"Stop! Eilagh, don't go closer! Please … come back."
Without leaving his seat, Drake caught her around the waist to stop her from getting to her friend. As soon as his skin came in contact with hers, he felt heat sizzle through his blood and harden his cock to an almost painful level. He was just wondering what to do with his little live-wire when Dimitri sent a telepathic group order to all of the dragons in the room.
Leave at once, take the females. Do not come back any time soon. We're going to be busy for some time. I hope.
Drake looked over his shoulder with a grin. Dimitri was pressed up against Eilagh's back, whispering to her by the look of it. Max was wrapping his wings around them to give them privacy. Without releasing his hold on Becky, Drake stood from his chair. Savren was right there with him, crowding Becky in so she pressed back against him. Just as Eilagh's first loud moan permeated the air, he swooped down, and placing an arm behind Becky's knees, lifted her into the cradle of his arms with ease. She predictably tensed up on him.
"I can walk on my own, you know. And where are we going? I'm not leaving Eilagh with that … that dragon."
Savren stepped closer to her other side and took her face between his hands.
"She is in no danger from Max or Dimitri, no matter what form they are in. She is their Desired. They would both rather die than cause her pain. You can hear her moans. Does she sound in pain? As to where we're taking you, sweetheart, Dimitri has ordered us all to leave the room, so we're heading back to our chambers with you."
"What do you mean their Desired?"
"She is the one female destined to complete them. She is the missing piece of their hearts and souls. With her in their lives, they are now complete. There is nothing a dragon warrior would not do for the sake of his Desired."
Drake tried his hardest not to laugh as Becky turned her face out of Savren's hands and pushed against his chest, trying to break free from his grip.
"I can still walk on my own two feet."
Their female was a tough, independent little thing.
"I'm sure you can, normally, but, little one, you look a little pale, and I fear you would pass clean out, if I let you walk."
Drake had to bite his tongue to stop his laugh this time, as she glared at him so hard, that it was like she was trying to shoot daggers at him with her eyes. She really didn't like being called little one. She'd get used to it, because to him she was little and precious and, most of all, desired.
He strode out of the room with her securely in his arms and Savren walking beside him. As soon as they were in the hall, Becky tensed up.
"What is it, little one?"
"Why are you two taking care of me?"
"Because, Becky, you are our Desired."
"Oh no. No way. I'm not that kinda girl. I don't need some alpha male—or two—bossing me around. Uh-uh. Now put me down. I'll go stay in the clinic."
Drake tightened his grip on Becky as she struggled in his arms. They were nearly at their chambers. He quickly made his way in before he gently placed her on their sofa.
"Becky, can't you feel it? The heat, the spark every time we touch? That's the start of our bonding with each other.” He reached toward her and took hold of her hand, weaving their fingers together so she couldn't pull away. He watched her mouth part and her breathing pick up as the heat spread up her arm—just as it was spreading up his. While she was distracted, he began speaking to her again.
"Little one, you can take time to learn us. But this is now your home. Each family of dragons has their own chambers in the castle. You're welcome to explore. There are four bedrooms, an office, this family room we're currently in and a kitchen. Each bedroom has its own bathroom."
What Drake didn’t mention was the fifth bedroom, the one with a locked door. While most of the dragons had neglected the master bedroom of their chambers and other things that revolved around the female of the family, he and Savren had kept theirs pristine and up to scratch. The toys in that fifth bedroom had taken them both years to get just right. They knew females would return at some point, and they'd wanted to be ready.
