by Jada Cox
“Ella, whatever you think I meant, I did not.”
“I should have known. You seemed too good to be true, and now I know why: you’re just another disappointment. I’m going to bed.”
I reached for her arm and caught it as she passed me. I tried to pull her against my chest, but she fought me.
“No. No! I trusted you. I believed you,” she said, tears streaming down her face while her hands were hammering on my chest.
“I have not betrayed you,” I insisted. “These are men from my army. They’ve brought news from my home. I thought I would have more time to tell you everything, but they want me to go home immediately.”
“Of course they do. So go! Get out.”
“Please Ella, I’m trying to explain. My father is dead. My people need me. I need them. We need to heal each other now the war is over,” I said, grasping her shoulders. “But I need you, and before you can come home with me, there are realities you must be made aware of.”
“Are you married?” she asked. The tears that shone in her eyes broke my heart.
“Of course I am not married,” I said, lifting her chin to force her to look me in the eyes so that she could see I was sincere. “There are no other women in my life. There will be only you should you choose to come home with me.”
“Then why wouldn’t I go home with you? I want to be with you. What the hell is going on?”
“You don’t know where home is. It’s a lot farther away than you might think,” I said, bracing myself for what was to come.
“Are you from Europe? You have an accent I haven’t been able to place.”
“You don’t know where my home is. It’s a lot farther away than you might think.”
“What’s farther? China? South Africa?” she asked.
I had no idea what she was talking about. “Those are places on this planet, yes?”
“Yes, of course they are,” she said with an annoyed expression.
The moment had come for the truth. I had no other choice now, and Ella deserved to finally know. “I am not from this planet, Ella.”
I watched her take in that information. Watched it filter through her thoughts and ability to accept it. She met my eyes, and I breathed a little sign of relief. She believed me.
“Yeah, I kind of figured that,” she said with a sigh. “I mean, you’re fairly… otherworldly. But still, it’s a lot to take in… What else do I need to know?”
I hesitated, and her hand clenched on my arm.
“Tell me.”
Her encouraging smile soothed some of my anxiety, but I still didn’t know how to explain my dragon. The dragons of my people.
“I’m not human,” I said.
“I worked that out, thanks.”
I took another breath. Time to spit it out. “I mean, my true form isn’t that of a man.”
Ella considered me for a moment. It looked as though she was working out exactly what that meant. When she seemed to settle on some explanation, I wanted to be sure she had come to the correct conclusion.
“Okay,” she said slowly.
“Okay?”
“I think I can be okay with that. As long as this form is where you live with me.”
“I live in this form the majority of the time, so yes, it is where I will live with you.”
“What is your other form?”
I took a deep breath and stepped away, putting a fair amount of distance between us for Ella’s protection. I closed my eyes and connected with my dragon.
He lifted his head and scented the air, becoming excited at the scent of the dragons who had come to rescue me.
We embraced, and my dragon shimmered out of me. I could still see Ella, but she seemed very far away until my dragon scented her. There was that scent of home and mate under the scent of human. My dragon didn’t understand the combination but moved slowly and carefully to scent her better.
Ella stood, eyes wide, unmoving as my dragon laid his head against her neck and breathed deeply. He snorted out a little, and Ella jerked. He could sense her fear, but thankfully her scent of mate saved her from smelling like prey. Ella’s eyes were wide and terrified, but there was a taste of acceptance under them.
I pulled my dragon back and folded him back into my soul. Ella watched silently through the entire process. When I reached for her, she hesitated briefly before she came to me and the fist in my chest released my heart. “Why did it smell me?”
“He doesn’t understand why we are drawn to you when you do not smell like us. But he loves the smell of you.”
“You speak as though the dragon is separate from you, as though he has his own personality.”
“He really does. Neither of us controls the other, though often one has stronger thoughts than the other. We are separate and yet not. It’s difficult to explain, I suppose.”
I heard someone clearing his throat behind me, reminding me that my guards were here, too. “My lord, will this…,” My guard looked Ella up and down, “woman be joining us on our journey home?”
“Yes, she will,” I answered.
“How will you explain her to our people?”
“They will know what they need to know. That I am in love with her and she with me. That we are mated and will remain so to the ends of time.”
“You want me to go with you?” Ella asked her voice squeaking high with anxiety.
I looked at her with surprise. “Of course I do. How else will we remain together?”
She stared into my eyes with her jaw dropped open. Finally coming to her senses again, she said, “Ehm… right. It’s just a lot right now, so I don’t know.” There was another pause as she seemed to get herself together. “Will I be able to come back here at least?”
“Do you have anything here to come back to?”
Ella’s shoulders sagged, and I cursed myself for being so harsh. I pulled her into my embrace.
“I did not mean that as harshly as it came out, my little love. I meant to ask what there was here that would draw you back. What could be stronger than our love.”
“There’s nothing stronger than how I feel about you, but you’re asking me to leave everything I know and go with you to another planet. If it were another state, I’d go without hesitation, but you’re asking me to take you at your word that I’ll be happy in another part of the universe.”
“You’re right, that’s exactly what I’m asking. I’m asking you to trust that I wouldn’t ask you to join me if I wasn’t assured that my people will love you as I do.”
Ella considered my words while I waited in silence. I was willing to do whatever it would take to convince her to come with me because I knew I couldn’t go without her.
“My lord, we must begin our journey back now. They await your return on Nethuns.”
I held up a hand to bring my men to silence. Ella glanced at me and smiled.
“I don’t want to keep you from your people,” she whispered. “But I’m afraid. Before I moved to Phoenix, I’d never left my hometown. Now you want me to travel the stars and leave now.”
“I do.”
“And what about our relationship? How will it be presented to your people?”
“If you will come with me, and have me as your mate, we will celebrate our union with my people. Including them in the ceremonies will help them know you and love you as I do. We will have a week-long celebration where I will pay for the mating ceremonies of all eligible girls to their eligible boys.”
I took Ella into my arms and held her close to my heart.
“My people will love you, Ella. I promise.”
She glanced at my men.
“They don’t like me.”
“They are soldiers. They will love you when you are not keeping me from going home.”
Ella took several deep breaths before lifting her face to mine and kissing me.
“I’m trusting you more at this moment than I have any other person in
my life, ever,” she said. She looked once more to my men and then locked her gaze with mine. “If you’ve been overly optimistic or less than truthful, I will find a way to take revenge. But for now, take me home, Emiliano. My home will be where you are from now on.”
THE END
Hi there! I hope you enjoyed reading the story of Ella and Emiliano. This story is actually a prequel to my “Elemental Dragons” series, featuring Emiliano’s five very hot, very protective dragon brothers who will destroy anything to protect their mates. So, be sure to read on:
Elemental Dragons Book 1:
The Dragon’s Nanny
(release: January 15th; on pre-order now)
I’m used to taking charge.
I must be strong, because no one else will if I’m not.
But my strength is about to be tested by our gorgeous new housemate.
My little girl’s nanny.
I have this bizarre desire to kiss away all of her pain.
To mark her as no one has before.
This urge to explore every inch of her.
If anyone harms so much as a hair on her head, I’ll break their bones.
She makes my furious beast rise to the surface.
My Dragon fights for control, no matter how hard I wrestle it down.
It wants to discover if she tastes as good as she smells.
It wants to claim her.
And I might just let it.
Because I want the world to know, that in every sense of the word, she is mine.
Pre-order “The Dragon’s Nanny”
(release: January 15th)
About Jada Cox
Jada Cox has two loves in her life: writing and shifters. And so what better way to combine those two than to write hot paranormal romance stories? If you're in for steamy scenes, action, and lots and lots of romance with happy endings, you're in the right place.
When not writing, Jada enjoys long walks on the beach, sugar candy, and shopping for summer dresses that don't fit. Hey, a girl can dream, right?