To Touch A Dragon (Venys Needs Men)
Page 12
“You don’t have to.”
Esteus bangs his hand on the table. “Enough. Trust will be seen.” Father turns back to Kaos and me. “Should we worry about this other dragon?”
“No, he is fixated on one thing,” Kaos mutters darkly. “And one thing only.” His hand heats against mine, making me flustered, bringing a blush to my cheeks. “He will pursue the femdragon passing through our territories to mate with her. They will have no reason to seek you out or hurt you—as long as you don’t seek them out or hurt them,” he adds. “I suggest against the latter.”
“Young man—” Pernis begins.
“I am much older than you, human,” Kaos snaps. “Much older.”
“Kaos, is it then?” my grandfather asks.
“That is my name.”
Pernis steadies himself and glances at me before leveling Kaos a steely look of his own. “You hold my granddaughter’s hand. What do you have in mind for her?”
“To mate her, breed her, and protect her and our brood until our lives end.”
I stiffen, shocked at his omission, at the dark desire in his voice. Dropping my gaze from my grandfather, a streak of excitement and embarrassment rushes through me. My blush deepens.
It grows worse as silence falls. I swallow thickly, wishing I didn’t wonder at the thoughts running through their heads.
Then my grandfather continues, mortifying me further. “Will your children be human?”
“Yes,” Kaos states so matter-of-factly my eyes jump to him.
“Would you breed with other females of our tribe?”
My heart dies at the question.
Kaos growls and bares his teeth, startling some of the elders out of their seats. “Never!”
Pernis smiles. “Good.”
Astonished, I stare at my grandfather, his soft eyes meet mine.
“I accept you as one of us, Kaos,” he says as I gape.
Kaos’s growling stops.
“I accept you as a member of our tribe,” Father declares next.
They turn to Oled.
“I will not accept you until you prove your worth,” Oled fumes. He storms to the door and exits without a backward glance. Aida is distantly related to Oled, and yet I see their similarities. Kaos will prove his worth, I muse, relief already flooding my senses. Real, comforting relief. He will prove it in spades.
Father and Grandfather are approaching us as I look away from the door.
“Welcome to Shell Rock, dragon,” Esteus says. “Tulia!” he shouts. My half-sister stumbles into the main room from where she hid listening from behind one of the hide walls. Several more come out behind her—women of the tribe, whispering and eyeing my male.
“Yes?” she asks, smiling at me.
“Gather everyone who isn’t already… eavesdropping.” He laughs, looking to the crowd of women. “We have a celebration to prepare for!”
That evening, and through the night, we celebrated, sharing stories and endless questions. There’s more laughter assailing the air than I have heard from my people in years. Even Kaos is affected by it.
Yet my mirth grows with every second. Hope, so much hope—and love—fills me. This happiness is all I’ve ever wanted, I realize. This future for my people. They lost the last of their hope with me when Leith left, and a little bit of courage. But fate—the red comet in the sky—smiles upon me. It has returned our future.
Looking at my people, I see myself in them, sense them like I’ve never done before. Kaos meets my gaze over the fire, where he is pinned between Father and Grandfather, smoldering at me. A strange sight to see with him between my sires.
But Tulia, Nell, and my other half-sisters whisk me away before I can go to him.
They adorn me in a dress of white seashells and abalone shards. They weave shells into my hair, crown me with the colors of the ocean reefs, and drape me in netted cord jewelry. They keep going until my long hair is heavy with the gifts of the ocean and every curve of my body is emphasized by a nearly-revealing mating gown.
And when they are done—once food was cooked and drinks were prepared—they present me to him.
Kaos rises slowly to his feet, eyes glittering with awe of his own. I stare back at him mesmerized, never once imagining I’d be here, in this place, presented to a male that was all mine.
Mine, I think, as the lust in his eyes deepens, as they trail over every inch of my body, feasting.
He’s wearing several adornments too, a hide cape draped over his neck, and to my surprise… several predator bones are sewn into his long hair, holding it back from his face. I feast too.
My mouth waters.
He closes the distance and kisses me, pulling me into his arms and searing my lips with his hungry ones. It’s not how the ritual is supposed to go, but he’s not a human, not really. To me, he will always be my dragon.
My dragon.
My. Dragon.
Mine.
Our people cheer as he lifts me into his arms and carries me off into the night, his mouth still on mine. To our home. Where our journey truly begins, and the kissing never ends.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading To Touch a Dragon. If you liked the story or have a comment, please leave a review! And if you haven’t already, keep on going with Tiffany Roberts, Poppy Rhys, and Amanda Milo’s amazingly sexy dragon books in the Venys Needs Men series.
What’s next on my plate, you ask? A second dragon story following Aida and her broody, conceited alpha predator. The seventh and eighth book in Cyborg Shifters, and the third book for the Bestial Tribe.
Yes, I am going back to my series for a while. My plan is to finish both of them up within the next couple years! Keep an eye out. :)
If you love cyborgs, aliens, anti-heroes, and adventure, follow me on facebook or through my blog online for information on new releases and updates.
Join my newsletter for the same information.
Naomi Lucas
Turn the page for the blurb for To Mate a Dragon.
To Mate a Dragon
The human race is dying under the red comet soaring through the skies above...and with it, the sounds of dragons are in the air.
My name is Aida, and I was destined to lead the Sand’s Hunter tribe into a new generation—promised to mate with one of the last born males along the Mermaid Coast. But before Leith was delivered to my tribe, my younger sister came of age and the elders chose her to be his mate instead.
Then a messenger came from the north with rumors of dragons turning into virile males from a single, human touch. Fresh hope blooms within me as I plan to reclaim my rightful place as future matriarch to my people, and with that hope, I ready my supplies to hunt down one of these dragons to make my own. To touch him, to claim him, to take his seed and honor my people with a new generation.
But a storm is on the horizon.
And with that storm, soars an alpha dragon in heat. He’s heading straight for me.
He sees me.
All my plans crumble under his dark draconian stare.
Venys Needs Men Collaboration
To Tame a Dragon by Tiffany Roberts
To Seduce a Dragon by Poppy Rhys
To Desire a Dragon by Amanda Milo
To Enchant a Dragon by Amanda Milo
To Touch a Dragon by Naomi Lucas
To Mate a Dragon by Naomi Lucas
Also by Naomi Lucas
Stranded in the Stars
Last Call
Collector of Souls
Star Navigator
Cyborg Shifters
Wild Blood
Storm Surge
Shark Bite
Mutt
Ashes and Metal
Chaos Croc
(Book 7 Coming Soon!)
The Bestial Tribe
Minotaur: Blooded
Minotaur: Prayer
Venys Needs Men
To Touch a Dragon
To Mate a Dragon
Valos of Sonhadra
> Radiant
Standalones
Six Months with Cerberus