by Sophie Stern
She could see space.
All of it.
Willow found herself drawn to the windows. She walked slowly, staring, not caring if she looked silly. She’d never seen anything like this before. Hell, maybe she had been wrong in not springing for the deluxe suite. This was amazing.
Before she could stop herself, she continued moving until she pressed her hand to the window. It would leave a print, of course, and someone would have to come clean it, but she didn’t quite care. From here, she could see Mars in the distance. Obviously, they were moving away from it.
Far, far away from it.
Willow’s family was on that little planet. It wasn’t little, not really, but it looked so small from here. She had spent her entire life trying to please people on that planet, and for what? What did she have to show for any of it?
Willow was 25-years-old and she had nothing.
Nothing.
She had no family anymore, no husband, no boyfriend, and no children. She had very few friends and a very ordinary job and a very ordinary, normal, boring life. This trip was her gift to herself. This journey was a present to herself for working so hard for all of those years.
Willow stared out of the window and looked at her home planet.
She felt like she should miss it. She ought to miss it. She ought to feel sad or upset or anything at all, really, but she didn’t.
The only thing Willow felt as she looked at Mars was relief.
And she realized that she really never wanted to go back.
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Beware of Dragons
Sneak Peek of Dragon Isle Book Five!
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Beware of Dragons (Dragon Isle Book 5)
“Two weeks,” Audrey said with a frown on her face.
“One week,” Gabriel protested.
“Two.”
“Fine.”
Audrey smirked, thinking she had won the argument, but Gabriel planned to bug her endlessly until she got the pictures back sooner. He knew she could work faster than that, but he also knew his little spitfire was a bit of a perfectionist. She always needed everything to be perfect.
If only she felt that way about her own life.
Audrey pushed away from the table and stood, smoothing her black dress. She grabbed her red hat from the table and slipped it on, completing her pinup girl look. She was forever living in the past, but Gabriel suspected it had more to do with her love of photography and the trendiness of 50s fashion, rather than a personal statement.
Gabriel stood as she did, his large frame towering over her small one. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was intimidated, but he did know better. Nothing scared Audrey. Nothing. Not deadlines, not arguments, and certainly not dragons.
She was the fiercest human on Dragon Isle.
Maybe anywhere.
“I have to go,” she looked at her cell phone to check the time. “I have a meeting with Emerson about taking photos of his new baby. Then I have to meet with some of the older dragons to talk about pictures for their church directory.”
“There’s a church on the island?” Gabriel said with a smirk. Audrey just rolled her eyes. The dragons were more open to sexual deviances than most humans, but the older generation still appreciated the solitude that church offered them.
“Yes, Gabe, there’s a church.” Audrey smiled playfully at Gabriel. Fuck, she was beautiful. If only he could convince her there was so much more than friendship between them. Audrey had been adopted by a dragon couple as a small child and had grown up on the island. Though she and Gabriel had grown up together and were the best of friends, she hadn’t made a move to pursue anything else between them.
And it was killing him.
Each day that passed was one more without her. Gabriel wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He needed Audrey like he needed his next breath. She was all he could think about. She was consuming him.
“Want me to fly you?” He asked, desperate for a few more minutes with her. She cocked her head in surprise and raised her eyebrows. “To Emerson’s? No. I’m going to his house. It’s not too far to walk. You can walk me, though,” she added, fluttering her eyelashes in joke seduction.
He’d take it.
Gabriel dropped some money on the table to pay for their drinks, looped his arm through hers, and led Audrey out into the bright summer sunshine.
She chatted aimlessly as they made their way through the village and to the clan leader’s modest house. The entire time, Gabriel was wondering how much longer he was going to let things stay the same. How much longer could he stand being her best friend? How much longer could her handle being the guy she ran to with all of her problems? How much longer could he be the one she cried on when some other loser broke her heart?
How much longer could Gabriel wait for Audrey to realize he was standing right there?
When she kissed his cheek to say goodbye, he held her in a tight hug for a few seconds too long, wanting the moment to last just a bit more. He knew they were reaching a turning point. He was going to break or she was, and he wasn’t sure which, and he wasn’t sure where they were going to end up.
He would always love Audrey.
But if he couldn’t have her, he couldn’t wait around to see who would.
***
Audrey watched her best friend turn and walk away before he stripped down, tossed his clothes in a nearby basket, and shifted. Fuck, if he wasn’t the most gorgeous dragon she’d ever seen. Did Gabriel even know how much she wanted him? Craved him? She doubted it. She’d had a huge crush on him since they were kids, and she didn’t know what to do about it.
She didn’t know how to tell him she was crazy about him, that she dreamed about him every night. She didn’t know how to tell him that when she touched herself, it was to thoughts of him.
She had left Dragon Isle the moment she turned 18, but she had come back for him.
And he had no idea.
With a sigh, she finally pulled her eyes from Gabriel’s retreating form and knocked on the door. Janae opened the door and Audrey was immediately greeted with the sounds of a wailing infant. Janae’s eyes were hollow and tired. She was bouncing the baby, but she looked like she was about to pass out from sheer exhaustion.
“Let me take him,” Audrey said gently, and Janae happily handed the baby over before laying down on the couch and promptly passing out. Audrey carried baby Weston around the house, bouncing him quietly and singing to him. Soon the baby was calm and content, cooing up at her as she told him stories about growing up on the island.
“You’re really good with children,” a voice said from the doorway. Audrey turned to see Emerson, the clan leader, watching her with a curious expression on his face.
“Thanks,” she said. “I love babies, but who doesn’t?” She shrugged. “Janae seemed really tired, so I took the baby for a bit while she rested.”
“Yeah, she’s still passed out on the couch. He hasn’t been sleeping much at night.” Emerson looked grim. “I knew parenting would be hard, but I didn’t realize how tough it would be to go back to work and have to leave Janae with him on her own. He’s a handful, and I feel bad, but the clan needs me.”
They both turned to look at Janae, who was curled up under a blanket and snoring loudly. Audrey hadn’t realized how tired her friend had been.
“Do you still want to do infant pictures?” Audrey asked, looking down at little Weston. “I can come back, but I don’t mind surprising Janae. He seems to be in a good mood.”
“Let’s do them now,” Emerson agreed. “Who knows when we’re going to get him smiling like this again?”
When Audrey left, Janae had gotten in two solid hours of napping and Emerson had grudgingly decided to wake her so Weston could nurse.
“I’ll have the pictures back to you as soon as I can,” Audrey promised. “Probably two weeks. Maybe less.” Emerson tried to pay her, but she wa
ved him off. “Consider it a baby gift,” she whispered, then sneaked quietly out of the tiny house.
As she walked away, Audrey’s heart ached. She was almost 30. She was almost 30 and she wasn’t any closer to getting married and having kids than when she’d been 18. She bit her lip as she navigated the quiet roads. It was dark out, but she’d spent so much time running up and down these streets as a child that it barely fazed her.
She had left Dragon Isle on her 18th birthday with plans to see the world, fall in love, get a job, and have wild adventures. She had successfully gone to college and gotten a job, but then what? Nothing. Nothing else had happened. She had lived, comparing every man she met to the dragon who had stolen her heart – and her first kiss – when they were kids.
When she finally decided to go after her dreams, Audrey worried it was too late. She sold all of her belongings, told her parents she was moving back, and bought a camera. She would be the official photographer on Dragon Isle and she would somehow find a way to tell Gabriel that she was in love with him.
Somehow.
But she’d been back for six months now and she was no closer to confessing her secret love than she’d been when they were kids. And why? Because she was afraid he’d reject her? Surely that couldn’t be worse than this. This not knowing. This endless sea of nothingness she felt whenever he wasn’t around.
If she was honest with herself, the real reason she hadn’t told Gabriel how she felt was that her feelings didn’t involve just him. Her fantasies didn’t just include her and Gabriel living happily ever after.
No, Audrey was much too weird and fucked up for that kind of normalcy.
Fuck.
No, Audrey couldn’t be happy with just one dragonman. She wanted two of them. At the same time. And how strange was that? She’d been around dragons long enough, having grown up on the island, to know that some dragons were in ménage relationships. While most humans clung to the idea that true, endless marriage was for one man and one woman, some dragons didn’t mind sharing a mate.
And that’s what she wanted.
She had only confessed her deep, horrible secret to one person. She’d been drunk at a party and the next day, she’d been outcast as a super-weirdo no one wanted to go near. After all, what kind of slut wanted not only to sleep with two men at once, but to marry them?
Audrey’s thoughts consumed her. Instead of going to her small cabin, the one she rented from a kindly old dragonwoman, her feet carried her to the mansion Gabriel shared with his best friend, Anthony. The three of them had hung out endlessly in high school and kept in touch for awhile after Audrey left. For a long time, Audrey had thought he and Gabriel were gay, but in fact, they were just very close. Almost like brothers. To each other, not to her.
No, there was nothing brotherly about the way Audrey felt about the two men. Lust stirred deep inside of her, and she wished she was braver. She wished she would go after what she wanted. She wished she would just tell them.
She stood in front of the mansion for a long time, staring at it. Should she go up to the door? What would she even say?
“Hey, guys, I just want you to know I’ve been fantasizing about the two of you taking me roughly since I was about 16 years old. Sorry it took me so long to come to terms with it. Please, will you pin me down and take me? It’s best if you make it hurt. It’s the only way I can come.”
“It’s a good start,” a deep voice said from behind her. She screamed and jumped into the air, but strong arms caught her and pulled her close.
“I didn’t know I said it out loud,” she whispered. The man’s body was warm and firm against her. She could tell, even without turning around, that he was completely naked.
“You should be careful about what you say, little one,” the voice said again. “You never know who is listening.” She pulled back and looked at the dragonman who was holding her.
“Theodore?” She asked, surprised. “You’re naked!”
He shrugged. It was nothing she hadn’t seen before. Most dragons didn’t care about nudity. Theodore was no exception.
“I flew,” he answered.
“What are you doing here? Oh shit,” she blushed. “Please don’t tell them what I said. You can’t.” She had known Theodore for as long as she’d known the other dragons, but unlike her, he had stayed on the island his entire life.
He chuckled, released her from his grip.
“No worries, love, your secret is safe with me. Although,” he looked toward the house for a moment. “I don’t think you need to be as afraid of rejection as you are.”
With that, he started walking toward the mansion. What did he mean by that? Did Theodore know something she didn’t? Audrey didn’t follow at first, and he turned back.
“Coming?” He held out his hand. After a deep breath, she gingerly took it and followed him up the steps to the mansion, wondering what she was getting herself into.
Find out what happens next!
Beware of Dragons (Dragon Isle Book 5)
Red Says the Dragon
Kaira is an ordinary princess: spoiled, stubborn, and secluded.
When Kaira becomes lost in the forest, however, everything changes.
The Dragon of Naga, Sanguine, takes no prisoners. When Kaira finds herself in his lair, she begs him to spare her life.
“I’ll do anything,” she tells him, and that’s exactly what the dragon requires.
Red Says the Dragon is an erotic novel about a princess, a dragon, and the relationship they forge in the darkness of the forbidden forest.
Want more dragons? Check out Sophie’s medieval dragon book: Red Says the Dragon. You can read chapter one here. The full story is now available on Amazon.
“The forest is no place for a princess,” the King told his daughter sternly. Headstrong and determined, 19-year-old Kaira was not interested in her father’s rules.
“There’s nothing wrong with the forest, Father,” she said simply, blatantly ignoring his comment. “And besides, Ian will be there with me.”
She nodded her head toward her servant: the lowly Ian. The poor boy said nothing as the King’s angry gaze passed over him. Ian didn’t want trouble. He didn’t even want to be here today. All Ian wanted, really, was to run home to his mother and enjoy a bowl of hot lamb stew.
Unfortunately, the princess had other plans: plans that practically guaranteed a delay in his arrival home. If she did convince her father to let her go into the forest, after all, she might be gone for a day or two. Maybe, Ian thought suddenly, they would be gone for an entire fortnight.
And he wished silently to himself that the King would be able to convince his daughter that exploring the forest was a horrible idea.
“Why do you want to explore the forest, Kaira?” The King asked quietly, returning his gaze to the girl. The dirt beneath her fingernails betrayed her luscious gown. She might be a princess by blood, but she was not one in her heart.
“To see all that my Kingdom has to hold,” she replied without missing a beat. Despite the fact that she had practiced her lie a thousand times in her bedroom mirror that morning, both the King and Ian knew that Kaira was hiding the truth.
“And what is so special about the forest this week, Kaira?” The King inquired, stroking his beard. His daughter reminded him greatly of his late wife: headstrong, determined, and stubborn. He remembered the day that his queen had begged to go into the forest, as well, though she had been honest enough to tell him why and smart enough to decide against it.
“It’s just that,” Kaira paused. This was a question she hadn’t anticipated. “It’s so beautiful this week. The weather is good,” she waved her hand to the open window, where a gentle breeze was flowing inside.
No one could argue that it was, in fact, a beautiful day.
“It’s lovely out, Father. If I’m to be Queen one day, don’t you think I ought to know my Kingdom better than anyone else? Don’t you think it’s wise to let me discover all of the secrets that my land has
to hold? Don’t you-“
“That’s quite enough,” the King held up his hand and cut his daughter off mid-sentence.
Kaira looked surprised: and she was. The King wasn’t one to interrupt her speeches, nor was he one to ignore her desires. There was something about the forest that Kaira didn’t know, though, that the King knew all too well.
And King Liam was not one to take risks with his most prized possession.
It was simply not his style.
“Ian, leave us,” the King commanded. The poor servant boy stumbled over his too-big feet as he hurried to escape the King’s gaze. He closed the heavy doors behind him and waited in the hallway with the lone guard.
“Trouble in paradise,” the guard commented softly.
Ian just nodded.
**
Inside the room, the King was struggling to deal with Kaira.
“Why won’t you let me go?” She whined. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted. You just don’t want me to be happy,” she pouted. “You wish I was boring and dull like all the lords and ladies. You wish I was bored.”
The King frowned at Kaira.
“You may not go to the forest, Kaira. There are wild things – horrible things – that a princess need not know about. The castle is where you belong. You have full range of the gardens and full freedom to explore the village, but the forest is one place where you may not go. I forbid it.”
Kaira growled at her father, furious with his lack of understanding. Frowning, she turned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her like a toddler who didn’t get his way.
When she was gone, King Liam collapsed in his throne and closed his eyes. How could he tell his daughter why he didn’t want her to go? How could he warn her about the dangers that she was so frequently drawn to? He knew perfectly well why she wanted to go into the forest this week: trolls. It was troll season and all the best knights were out hunting them, fighting them, and killing them to prove their strength.
