Table of Contents
Copyright
Chapter One – Serena
Chapter Two – Connor
Chapter Three – Serena
Chapter Four – Connor
Chapter Five – Serena
Chapter Six – Connor
Chapter Seven – Serena
Chapter Eight – Connor
Chapter Nine – Serena
Chapter Ten – Connor
Chapter Eleven – Serena
Chapter Twelve – Connor
Chapter Thirteen – Serena
Chapter Fourteen – Connor
Chapter Fifteen – Serena
Chapter Sixteen – Connor
Chapter Seventeen – Serena
Other Books By Harmony Raines
Soul of the Dragon
(Her Dragon’s Bane)
(Book One)
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Note from the author: My books are written, produced and edited in the UK where spellings and word usage can vary from U.S. English. The use of quotes in dialogue and other punctuation can also differ.
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All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.
This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.
© 2015 Harmony Raines
Silver Moon Erotica
Kindle Edition
Chapter One – Serena
“So you’ve come to offer yourself to me?” He circled her like a vulture, his eyes assessing her body.
Serena swallowed her growing panic and nodded once, not daring to move more than a fraction. The dragon was more intimidating than she could ever have imagined, even in this, his human form.
“And you know what will be expected of you?”
A small incline again, showing her knowledge of exactly what he would do to her. For the last four years, it had been made clear she was to remain pure for the sole purpose of being given to the dragon. It had also been made clear what would happen if she did not.
Refusing to do this would have terrible consequences, and not just for her: she had to think of Charlotte too. Charlotte, whom she had not seen for over two months, and who would suffer a terrible fate if Serena did not lie in this beast’s bed.
“You will come here the night of the full moon and remain here for five days, and five nights, subject to whatever I desire of you.”
She nodded.
“Do you not have a tongue?”
“Yes.” It came out at less than a whisper. She tried again. “Yes.” The last thing she needed was to offend the dragon. If he sent her away, all would be lost. She had to do whatever he asked of her, both now and when she returned. That had been made clear to her: get him to breed with her at all cost.
A shudder passed through her. Men had hurt her all her life. Hurt and controlled her, but now she was to be traded to the worst of men, a beast that could change into a dragon. She had been told that they ate the flesh of virgins that weren’t suitable as mates, or did not conceive after the moon rites were complete. She had five days to endure the touch of this creature, and then carry its offspring inside her womb. It repelled her.
So why did her body feel alive every time he drew close to her?
Her body, subjugated for most of her life, did not know what freedom was. Born to a loser mother, she had been traded into the hands of men who wanted her for their own gains. Only now did she realize the full extent of her worth to them. Her body for the dragon’s soul.
That was her secret. She could allow herself no sympathy for this creature, who now moved so close to her she could feel his warm breath on her face. The heat from his very flesh penetrated through her clothes, and her pulse beat in a new rhythm, in time to his heart. The air grew warm and time ceased to matter; only the two of them were present in this world.
Satisfied, he moved away, the bond at once broken, and she wondered if this intimidating creature of fire also contained magic. Magic that could enthral her, and entrap her. She could not let that happen; there was too much at stake.
“Strip.”
“What?”
He spoke slower now, his voice tinged with sarcasm. “Take off your clothes.”
“I...”
“I wish to see you before I make my decision.”
Tears pricked her eyes; he had control of her, and he knew it. He was the same as every other man in her life, wicked and cruel. He didn’t deserve her sympathy. That knowledge would at least make her deceit easier on her conscience.
Serena slipped the strap of her simple dress off her shoulder, and then the other one, letting it slip to the floor. She wanted to cover herself with her hands—being naked in front of anyone had never been natural. Even as a child she had been too round, her face carrying puppy fat that she never grew out of. Instead, her whole body had grown curves, leaving her with too generous breasts, and a bottom and hips lush and round.
“I said naked.” His voice cut through her thoughts.
“Sorry,” she mumbled, afraid he would send her away for disobeying him. She had to concentrate, and find a way of making him want her. Too much depended on her; she couldn’t mess this up.
Unclasping her bra, she allowed her breasts to fall free, making sure when she bent down to push her panties off her hips he got a good look at them. Men liked breasts. Her mother had told her they were her only redeeming feature in her otherwise unattractive body.
She winced subconsciously at the thought of her mother. The woman had given birth to her and Charlotte, but that was about as far as her mothering duties had gone. If she had been a better mother, a better human being even, then Serena would not be standing here now naked before one of the great beasts.
Stepping out of her panties, she straightened, shocked to see the hunger on his face. He had watched her every move, and the tightness of his pants told her he was aroused. And he was big, very big.
Was he going to take her now? That was not what she had been told to expect. The deal was, she would come here today to strike a bargain with him. Then she must return in two days time to take part in the mating cycle, a time when dragon spawn were conceived by human women. That was the whole point, and she had to be a virgin. But if he forced himself on her now she would be lost, and so would Charlotte.
Trying not to panic, she averted her eyes from his groin, trying not to think how big he was and how much it was going to hurt when he did break her. It would all be worth it if she fulfilled the bargain and she got Charlotte back. Then they would leave, go far away. Never to be under the control of man or beast again.
He came closer. Now she could smell him, a mixture of iron and musk, the man and the beast. Peculiarly, it lulled her senses. Perhaps that too was part of the dragon magic; they incapacitated their prey with their very presence.
She shook her head, needing to stay focused. Yet now she could feel the heat of his body; it warmed her skin, and she closed her eyes to try to block out the way he made her feel. She expected him to terrify her, but this was something different. Perhaps she should be much more afraid than she was.
“I want proof.”
“Proof of what?” she asked, her voice trembling. He was so much more powerful than she could ever be. Even without touching her, she could feel him, the very air alive with his presence.
“That you are a maiden.”
The word was old, archaic in its
meaning, but she knew exactly what he meant. “I'll bring proof. A doctor’s letter.” She cringed at the thought of a doctor examining her intimately, but what would follow would be so much worse.
“You expect me to trust a man I have never met?” He spat the words at her, his contempt obvious.
“Then you choose a doctor and I will visit him.”
“No. I only trust myself.”
“Yourself?” She asked the question, but surely, she already knew the answer.
“Yes.” It was spoken as a low hiss, seductive, insinuating, sensual. His breath on her skin was warm and arousing.
What did she hate most: that he would touch her so intimately, or that he would know how turned on she was by him? That she could lower herself to the level of a beast aroused her.
“Very well. When I return, then you will know.”
He chuckled. “You misunderstand. I have no intention of making the necessary arrangements for you to stay here without first examining you.”
It took a few moments for his words to sink in. “You mean now?”
All the time he had circled her, and now he stopped directly in front of her, watching the expression on her face. She was nothing to him, a thing to tease and mock, a bug whose legs he would happily take off one by one to see how it would react. He didn’t even answer; he simply watched.
“How?” she asked, closing her eyes to blink away tears and shut him out.
“Spread your feet a little wider.”
“Here?” She looked around the large hall they stood in, draughty with many doors leading from it; anyone could walk in on them. To be naked was one thing, but to be touched by him here—it was wrong.
“If you have changed your mind.” He took a step away, and she knew she was losing him. Or was he toying with her? She couldn’t take the chance, and he knew it.
“No.” She edged her feet apart a few inches.
“More.”
Shivering now, she spread her feet wider, a little unbalanced, she tipped forward, and he caught her. So fast, so frighteningly fast. And then she gave in to him, as she had given in to men so many times before.
His hand touched her breasts, stroking them lightly, so much more gentler than she had expected. Screwing her eyes shut, she tried to block out who he was, instead trying to conjure up the face of a nice, kind man, because surely one existed somewhere in this cruel world. Over her nipple, he placed the palm of his hand, rubbing the tip of the taut bud, and she swayed against him, feeling his strength, his power underneath her hands.
Then he moved his hand lower, over her stomach, and between her thighs. His thumb brushing her clit, making it throb while her sex ached for him. She hated it. Hated him for making her want him to do this to her. But she longed to feel him inside her.
One finger slipped inside, and she gripped him tighter, her legs trembling. He pushed past her outer walls, probing her slick heat, going further until his fingers brushed her hymen. Still intact, he would be satisfied.
Yet he didn’t pull away. Instead, he stroked her inner walls, making her whimper against him like the pitiful creature she was.
His thumb stroked her clit, and she eased her thighs apart for him. Slowly he brought her towards the edge, stroking, rubbing. Different kinds of friction, with one purpose: to make her come.
And then he stopped.
She slumped against him, so close to the edge she couldn’t breathe.
“Do you want me to continue?”
She tried to straighten up, to let go of the support he gave her, but her body yearned to be allowed to float above this world for a moment. It knew that her miserable life would crash down around her when her orgasm had passed, but these moments of release were so few.
“Yes.” She would hate herself later.
He pushed a little harder into her, his finger stroking her hymen, and she held her breath, hoping she hadn’t given herself, and Charlotte, away in her selfish need for pleasure.
Then his thumb connected with her clit, and nothing else mattered, her body rose to new heights, his fingers brushing her inner walls, his thumb finding a rhythm to match his fingers. And then his mouth.
Oh, his mouth.
It kissed her nipples, sucking first one and then the other into its moist heat. She wrapped her arms around his neck, urging him on, and then she came. His hands and mouth forcing her over the edge into those precious seconds of oblivion.
And then it was over.
Her body cold, his touch gone. The lasting afterglow of her orgasm the only thing to tell her it had happened at all.
“Get dressed. See yourself out; you may return when it is time.”
He left, leaving through one of the many doors, closing it silently behind him. She picked up her clothes and hurriedly dressed, before half walking, half running from the large mansion the dragon lived in. At the end of the drive, the gates opened for her, and she knew he must have watched her hurried retreat. When she was safely outside they closed, and she looked back at the dragon’s lair, wanting never to return, but knowing she must.
Chapter Two – Connor
He was a fool. There had been women before her, women more beautiful, women with countless riches, thinking their gold would buy his favour. All those centuries when to lie with a dragon was a blessing on the family. Now it was a curse very few knew about or wanted to be a part of.
Long ago, things were so much simpler.
Her building came into view. He knew the room; he knew where to perch to get the best view in through her window. She had no idea he watched her. Nor did the men who visited.
As he suspected, they were waiting for her. As soon as she went inside, they came. It confirmed his suspicions: someone was putting her up to this.
With only a moment’s hesitation, she opened the door, backing away, trying to put the bed between them. When he had first seen them beat her, he had watched coldly, devoid of feeling. Yet slowly he had begun to hate them, and the way they treated her.
His talons gripped the stonework, bits flaking off as the biggest man struck her across the breast. Always they hit her where no visible marks would be seen. Now he dragged her to her knees by the hair; he knew what was coming, and so did she.
When he had first seen this he had thought she must be their whore, she never fought back, never refused. He had left the first night he had watched them, and not returned for days, knowing she was trouble, cold-hearted trouble. However, he had come back.
“And I find you in your usual roosting place, brother.”
His gaze left the room, thankful for an excuse not to watch as the man grabbed her hair and forced her to suck his cock. “Zoah. I thought you had plans.”
“I do. A fistfight at nine, then bed.”
“I take it you don’t mean an early night.”
Zoah laughed. “Of sorts, but I have two buxom beauties lined up. You should try it sometime instead of watching your little whore suck another man’s cock.”
“No, thank you.”
“She came today?”
“Yes.”
“Why? There are thousands of women to bed. And why you would want to bring one more of us into this poor, overcrowded world is beyond me.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me. Before she gets you killed, tell me what it is that compels you to want to breed with her when you know it’s a trap.”
“Because I’m tired.”
Zoah laughed. “Tired of living?”
“Yes. In a way. I’ve lived for three thousand years, and I cannot see the point in living longer unless there is something more.”
“You, Connor, are having a mid-life crisis.”
“Maybe. At least I know the estate will be left in your very capable hands if this ends badly.”
“Oh, brother, there is no doubt in my mind that this will end very badly. I only hope you don’t intend to drag me into this mess. Humans are for using up and spitting out. No more.”
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��We’ll see, Zoah.”
“Well, I’ll leave you to watch your mate. At least she’ll be broken and obedient. It looks as though she’s had plenty of practice.”
He turned his gaze back to her. The men had gone. She was curled up on her bed. He couldn’t hear, but he could tell by the rise and fall of her body that she was crying big, heaving sobs.
As Zoah took off into the night, all Connor could think about was how he wanted to rip the heads off these men who tormented Serena.
Zoah was right; something inside him had changed.
Chapter Three – Serena
The taxi took her to the gates of the big sprawling mansion. The driver could go no further.
“You’re sure this is the place?” the driver asked, concerned.
“Yes. Thank you.” She gave him her fare, and got out, waiting while he went around and fetched her suitcase from the trunk.
“Listen, it’s none of my business, but I’ve been a cab driver for twenty years, and no one ever goes in there.”
She smiled at him, “I can manage from here.”
“Are you sure? I can wait.”
“No, thank you. I’m staying for a few days.”
“Just be careful. If you’re in trouble, I can take you to the police.”
“There’s nothing they can help me with, thank you again.”
“Well, if you turn up dead, I’ll give a statement to the police that I dropped you here.”
She could have laughed, but as his words sunk in she knew he meant them earnestly, and that he might be right—there was a chance she might not come out of here alive.
“Thank you, but everything is going to be fine.” She closed her hand around the small vial of blue liquid in her pocket, only hoping she would be strong enough to use it when the time came.
Pressing the button on the security gate, she waited patiently for an answer. She did not get one; instead, the gates opened, and as she walked in she wondered if he was watching for her from one of the many windows overlooking the front drive. The house was enormous, and Serena wondered how he looked after it all by himself. No cook, no cleaners: it was such a solitary life. Did he ever get lonely?
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