Dragon Wanted: A Dragon Shifter Fated Mates Novel (Space Dragons Seek Mates Book 3)

by Michelle Ziegler

  “So, that’s real. Dragons. And that girl I helped? The one you brought to the lab?”

  He shook his head. “She is not a dragon, although she is the mate of Eadric. We aren’t sure exactly what she is outside of human.”

  A slow nod was all he got at first.

  “The magic side of me could tell some of her genetic makeup is human, some of it is demon. I’ve seen it before in a lab. Before I abandoned working for a magical university, they were big on trying to understand demon chemical makeup. It’s a big thing in the magical communities. Learn how to control a whole other realm of power,” she said.

  He couldn’t hide a rumble of disgust. “No one should control demons. No one should control anyone, but demons especially. Even the ones that control the lesser, more unpredictable breeds struggle.”

  Aisha nodded. “Yeah. I agree. It’s why I left. Well, that and my dad.”

  Deo was all ears. He wanted to know about her. Know what made her who she was.

  “What about your father?”

  Her eyes dimmed as she spoke. “He got sick. Cancer. It’s not something a shifter would understand, but he was human. My mother abandoned us when I was little, and he was all I had.”

  Deo had heard of diseases here on Earth. He’d found the frailty of the human race fascinating and also a bit worrisome when looking for mates. He was worried that all the information they’d known was wrong. What if these humans couldn’t withstand their dragon's magic? What if their mate was sick and their magic couldn’t overcome the illness? What if their mates didn’t exist at all?

  Thousands of years of traditions and every generation of Amit dragon warrior had new battles to face. Apparently he and his brothers faced sassy women from Earth.

  “I understand the sadness in your eyes all too well. I’m sorry.”

  She sniffled, and her words were choked. “My father lost his battle, and I wish I could have stopped it.”

  Deo’s chest ached for her, not just because she was his mate, but also because he understood what it was to lose someone and not have been able to do a thing about it.

  “I am sorry, my Aisha. I’m sure he still looks over from the afterworld. The goddess has a plan for all of us.”

  Deo reached for a tear trailing down her cheek, catching it with his finger. Goddess, what could he do?

  Bending down, he kissed the spot where the tear had been. Deo didn’t want to see her hurting, but sometimes things were beyond even what he could fix. Gently, he cradled her chin and captured her eyes with his own soft stare.

  “I would kiss away your sadness, if you’d let me.”

  She swallowed. “I… I don’t want to feel this pain anymore. I don’t want anyone to ever feel this pain again. I want to save lives. This is why I took my fellowship here.”

  She bit her lower lip and sniffled again. “And now even that might go away. I wanted to combine magic and science to find something. But my grant request was denied, and even my colleagues have abandoned me. At least-”

  She stopped and looked back at the human male. “Even Tan is easily swayed away from me.”

  Deo titled his head, watching the human male and the woman. He then looked back at Aisha.

  “I have not abandoned you. I believe in your work. I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on you. You would change my world, and yes, I believe you will change this one.”

  Aisha turned her head back to him, looking up, and blinking several more tears away.

  “I don’t understand you half the time, but when I am here,” she stopped, and placed her hand to his chest. “I feel the truth in your words. But how do I know that what you say isn’t just what I want to hear? Have you ever heard of criminals being experts at what they do? Knowing how to prey on people or finding jobs in the field to access what they need? How do I trust you?”

  Deo thought about it. He’d never been asked how one was to know trust. You just did. A dragon warrior was bound by his word and by his honor. If one were to lie, it could jeopardize the mission. Even with honor, sometimes the fight didn’t end well, but at the very least they would die a hero.

  “I am bound by my word. Honor is all I have to offer, for now.”

  She shivered in his embrace.

  “What does that mean? For now?” she asked.

  Visions of her naked, splayed out for his taking, flashed in his mind. “Once I claim you, once you are mine, nothing would be a secret. My heart and my soul would be yours.” He covered her hand with his own. “My mind would be open for you to explore. I have nothing to hide.”

  She didn’t look away from him. “What,” she cut herself off and licked her lips before continuing.

  “What exactly does claiming involve? Like, what do you have to do?”

  Wrapping an arm around her, Deo pulled her against him. It was a good sign she was open to talking to him. Maybe she felt what he did? Or perhaps she was at least starting to.

  “I would start by kissing you. Like this,” he said, gently touching his lips to hers.

  “Yes,” she said, her eyes closing as he moved down her chin.

  “Then I would touch you here,” he said, as he moved his hand between her legs.

  Her eyes flew open, and he smirked at her surprise.

  “I would pleasure you until you screamed my name.” His words were barely a whisper.

  Deo kissed her jawline down to the soft skin of her neck as she tilted her head, inviting him for more. Once he got to her collarbone, he shifted his position. Moving his hand to the neck of her shirt and pulling it aside.

  Licking the space between her neck and her shoulder, he spoke. “Here is where you would bear my mark.”

  He liked the way her breathing hitched and her chest pressed against him as she inhaled.

  “But, for now. I’ve asked you to trust me and you do not. So, let me show you trust. Should we go on a date? Perhaps back to your lab and look at specimens? I would do anything to see you smile.”

  He would do anything to keep her, and if that meant earning her trust, he would do what he had to.

  5

  Aisha couldn’t look away. She didn’t want to look away. His eyes were endless, like they held the answer to everything in her world. What would happen if she stopped thinking, just this once? Let him have her.

  If anything, her body might enjoy the release. But what if she believed him? Dragon shifter, it sounded real. Paranormal beings were everywhere, hiding in plain sight. Who was to say that dragons hadn’t mastered this ability?

  Who was she to deny the heat coursing through her body? Her own magic had come to life the day he’d walked into her lab. Suddenly she had made headway on some things, even if it had come too late to secure that damn grant. She wanted to believe that it was because of Deo.

  She wanted to forget more than anything. Would a few hours of being his, whatever that meant, let her forget? God, what would it be like to let him do as he so boldly implied?

  The trail of heat he left between her legs had woken up more than just a few nerve endings. A burn of desire settled between her legs and she wasn’t sure she could stop the need no matter how hard she tried.

  If he let her go, she’d collapse. Her legs were weak, a wobble setting in with her nerves. She’d known Tan for months longer and yet, she’d never felt like she knew him. Deo though, she saw everything in his eyes, and she couldn’t understand why.

  “Is it always like this?” she asked.

  A hand against her back held her tighter.

  “Is what always like this?”

  She had to think. What the hell had she meant? Lust? No, she’d had that a few times in her life. What had he called it, mating? Claiming? What did those mean? She didn’t actually know any shifters, not really.

  “This? Love?” Her heart hammered away, and she was positive he could feel it. She said the word, love. Is that what she meant? Was that what this was?

  God, his eyes. They were such an odd shade of an orange and blue that sw
irled. No, he wasn’t human.

  “This is much deeper than what you define as love. What I offer is my soul. Your soul recognizes its true mate and no, it is different for each of us. One thing is always true, though. We know our mate the moment we see her.”

  The world swam a bit. Oh crap, she’d been holding her breath.

  “I, what about that date?” she asked.

  Oh, gees. Had she just asked him out? He’d offered her sex, which she was positive would be mind-blowing if the bulge pressing against her stomach was any indication, but no. She’d just basically cock blocked herself.

  “Aisha? You’re okay?” Tan asked.

  Nope, Tan had just cock blocked her. Where the hell had he just come from?

  “I. Yeah. All is fine.”

  The sound of footsteps against the pavement had her pushing away from Deo.

  She was still engaged. Right? Or had she just agreed she was fated to be Deo’s?

  Damn it. What did any of this mean? If her soul belonged elsewhere could she really and truly actually have gone through with marrying someone else? Maybe this was why she could never see him, or anyone else as more than just a friend.

  Her soul was a bitch.

  Damn it, Dad! She wanted to curse her father next for being human. If he’d been something paranormal. Anything other than human. He’d still be here, and she wouldn’t have agreed to marry a stranger. Okay. He wasn’t a total stranger. They’d met when they were two, before her father had moved them away.

  That wasn’t what love was supposed to be. This was the modern world, and she wasn’t held to any standards being a half witch, half human. She was supposed to be free of all social expectations, not fitting into either world. Except, her father still believed in traditions. He still believed his daughter needed to be cared for. Arranged marriages still existed for her father.

  “Aisha?”

  Shit, Tan was still here. She looked at him. “Yes? Where’s your new friend?”

  His hands were in his pockets. “Home? But I wondered if we should go inside?”

  Her eyes grew wide at the murder written all over Deo’s face.

  Her mouth dropped as she watched in an almost slow-motion moment as Tan turned and started to run. Deo a blur in her eyesight as he chased him down.

  “Shit. Stop. Deo, stop.”

  Damn. She’d never seen a man move so fast, and she meant Tan. Deo was a fucking freight train. Tan had motivation.

  Aisha took off after them, trying to catch them at least until her legs burned and her damn boobs hurt from bouncing.

  Wrong fucking bra today, that was for sure. Had she known she would be running, she’d have worn some kind of sports bra, not that they ever worked. That’s why she never exercised, that and being too busy at the lab. Hell, who was she kidding. She didn’t exercise because she wasn’t built for it.

  “Deo,” was the only word she got out as she took one, two, three more steps and officially stopped. Oh, Lord. She was having a heart attack. This had to be a heart attack.

  No. No, that was what it felt like when you pushed a body that called climbing two flights of stairs cardio. Her hand rested on her chest as she tried to will her heart to slow the hell down.

  “Deo.” She tried again.

  He finally stopped a few blocks away, the black dot in the night the only thing she could make out. Tan was definitely the smaller dot.

  “Deo, stop. He lives in my basement.”

  Oh God. The world was spinning. She put a hand out as she sunk to the ground. Oh, Lord. She couldn’t catch her breath. Yeah. No. She needed to get back to running. Strike that. She needed to start. Right after she took a little nap. Here. In the middle of the street.

  “Are you all right?”

  Aisha looked up from her street view at the Deo tower.

  “Weren’t you just like a mile away?”

  He looked back down the street. “Perhaps? Does it matter?”

  She shook her head. “Yeah. No. Whatever. You’re a dragon.”

  Holding out a hand, he offered her help to get up. Lifting her lead arm, or well it seemed to be lead at the moment, she struggled to grip his hand.

  “Yeah. No. I need a second. I don’t do this running thing. Also, stop chasing off people. Tan lives in my basement apartment. I rent it out for extra income and well, when Dad brought him here, he needed a place to stay.”

  Deo eyed her. “Your basement?”

  She leaned against her hands.

  “Yes, you crazy ass dragon man. The part of my house built underground. It could be storage, but mine is a small apartment. Lord. I think I’m dying.”

  Deo kneeled next to her and put two fingers up to her neck.

  What was he doing now?

  “No. Your pulse seems normal. I would say you are fine.”

  Okay. She didn’t actually mean she was dying.

  “Right. Okay. Thanks. Well, once my legs stop shaking you can walk me home.”

  Deo nodded. “Yes. Also, should I retrieve that male? So you can tell him you don’t need him?”

  She squinted in the night distance. “Uh, yeah. No. I think he’s making good time. He’s probably circling back anyway, since you know. Home’s over there.”

  Aisha hated to admit the next feeling. Pride? No. Giddy excitement? Maybe. Mr. Sexy-dragon had just chased someone over her. Sure, maybe it had been strange. But still.

  It felt kind of good.

  Deo reached for her. “If you’ll let me, I will carry you home?”

  “Oh. Okay.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he lifted her. This was new, and she liked it.

  She really liked that she didn’t need to try to make her legs function again for a few minutes.

  6

  Deo stood on her porch, listening to her lock the door. He would not leave until she was safe. Or at least until he knew that Tan would not be coming back.

  He expected to hear her feet as she walked away, doing whatever it was a woman might do. But instead, a soft rustle against the door caught his attention.

  He sniffed the air. She was still there. Still close. He put his hand up against the wood, as if he could feel her through the surface. The dragon in his head snarled. She was so close. They could take her. She wasn’t leaving. She was close. She was staying. They could claim her.

  Deo fought back the need for her. His muscles burned with restraint against his dragon, who was pissed they were waiting. His dick throbbed. Denying what he was meant to do sucked. She was his.

  His hand shifted from dragon claw back to human as he argued with his soul. He would not push her. Again, Kal had proved that point. Eadric, however, he’d taken things slower. Much slower and it had paid off. Deo would learn from them.

  Maybe. His dragon's claws dragged against the wood as he pulled them away.

  The door swung open and inside was Aisha, breath-taking, flushed. Deo felt his own breath catch. Goddess, he wanted her.

  He wasn’t strong enough to resist. Before he knew what he was doing, he grabbed her up and kissed her like his very life depended on it. And perhaps it did. She healed the ache within him. The ache of loss and failure and the fear of losing himself to the dragon.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist as he walked inside the doorway, slamming the door closed behind them with a kick.

  She tasted like heaven. Deo couldn’t stop his hands from wandering, gripping her ass as he pressed her into the wall. She moaned against his mouth as he pressed his aching dick against her. He would not hide his intentions. He wanted her, needed her. God, he needed her.

  The scent of her arousal pushed him forward. She wanted him.

  Running his hand over her back, up her side, he rubbed his palm over her breast, feeling the taut peak under the fabric of her shirt. He gently pinched the nub and enjoyed the moan it elicited.

  He growled at the fabric. There were entirely too many layers between him and his mate.

  Clenching his teeth, he fought the need to ma
rk her. It wasn’t time, not yet. But he could take the edge off a bit. A moan rose in his chest as her hand slipped down his waistband.

  Fuck.

  He broke the kiss, dragging in a breath of air.

  Goddess, her touch.

  She pulled her hand out of his pants and frantically started yanking at the snap.

  He wanted to tell her to stop. He needed to work on the trust he’d promised her but fuck it.

  Claiming her lips once again, he lowered her feet to the ground, giving him better access to her own pants. They needed to go and now. His dick sprang free as she lowered his zipper, and he nearly lost it as she grazed her hand over the head.

  No. He would pleasure her over and over. And only then would he allow himself to come.

  She kicked off her shoes as he released the button of her pants and yanked at the zipper. She wiggled out of the fabric and frantically went back to working on him.

  Her soft palm grazing the soft sensitive skin of his hard on. He breathed through the pleasure and desire before he lost control and grabbed at her hips, lifting her again. He did not want to wait.

  Running his hand between them, slicking his fingers in her juices as he slid a finger down her slit, spreading her, Deo explored Aisha. He found her sensitive nub and rubbed it between his thumb and finger. Her hips bucked against him. Sliding his fingers lower, he found her entrance and slipped a finger in, eliciting a whimper from her soft swollen lips.

  As he stroked her, Deo slid in a second finger. She began to pant under his touch, and her muscles quivered around his fingers. He pulled his fingers out and rubbed her slick heat against his own hard on.

  “Yes,” she moaned.

  Deo needed no other invitation to quench his own throbbing need.

  With one quick thrust, he pushed in, her tight muscles stretching around him. He bit back his own groan of pleasure. Her legs tightened around his waist in answer to the new pace he set, all need and desire. Instinct.