The Bride Hunt Box Set Books 1 - 3

by Hartnady, Charlene

  Coal sniffed loudly. He chuckled. It came out raw and deep. “You’re looking relaxed and happy. Where is your female?”

  Flame smiled some more. His cheeks reddened. “She is sleeping in my chamber. I think I wore her out.”

  “You claimed her fully so soon?” Coal sounded shocked. He was frowning.

  Flame nodded. “I am a handsome son of a bitch. I know my way around a human. Pauline is a—” he exhaled sharply, “beautiful, sweet female. I am so lucky to have her. I cannot wait for her belly to swell with our child.”

  Julie pulled out of Coal’s embrace. He tried to pull her back against him but she slapped his hand away. “I thought you guys weren’t allowed to use force.”

  “What is your female talking about?” Flame looked at Coal.

  “Firstly, I’m not his female.” She almost stomped her foot.

  Coal snarled. “I told you to be very careful about what you say. Do you want to be fair game? I will not be able to fight them all off and someone else will take you from me. You are mine, Julie. Mine. I won you.”

  “This is so fucked up!” Julie yelled. “I’m nobody’s. Not yours or anyone else’s, am I clear?”

  Coal took ahold of her wrist. “You are on dragon territory—”

  “I’m sick of hearing that. It’s not by choice.” She snatched her hand away. “This son of a bitch raped one of the women, aren’t you going to do anything about it?”

  “Flame is a good male, he may have rutted his female but that does not mean that force was used.” Coal narrowed his eyes. “Stop to think for a moment, maybe the female wanted him. Maybe she invited him to her bed?”

  Julie shook her head. “We were all afraid. We ran for half the day.” Was it possible? She didn’t even know Pauline. Hell, she’d had a couple of one night stands herself. No biggie! Girl meets guy, they have wild sex and go their separate ways. It was unlikely but possible.

  Flame looked a little shell-shocked. “I didn’t force the female. I would never” he turned to face Coal, “do such a thing. I do not wish to discuss it because it is private. My female is fine. She—”

  “I want to see her,” Julie blurted. “We were kidnapped. Kept in a room with two idiot women who fed us a whole lot of bullshit and then we were hunted like animals by, well, animals. You’ll forgive me if I’m a little touchy and if I lack trust.” Trust was hard for her on the best of days.

  Coal stepped towards her, right into her personal space. She had to crane her neck to maintain eye contact but stood her ground even though he looked, scary. “I have painstakingly explained things to you. I thought that we were becoming … friends.” He said the word like it pained him and Flame laughed, despite still looking upset. “I thought that I had won your trust. I am sorry to hear that this is not the case. You will stay close. If you dispute being my female, I will be forced to claim you in front of every male in there. I will not hesitate to do it. If need be, I will kill to keep you … am I clear?”

  Julie was stunned. She didn’t know what to say. Part of her felt angry and another felt guilty because she seemed to have really hurt his feelings. Tough luck! Claim her? What? “What does it mean to claim me?” She put her hands on her hips.

  “Back to the forcing argument. I wouldn’t rut you if that’s what you’re asking. To think we had made headway.” He shook his head. “I was wrong. I would need to show ownership but without claiming you fully.”

  Guilt overtook the anger and she huffed out a breath, letting her shoulders slump.

  “Answer me,” he demanded. His eyes on her. “I need you to understand that your actions will have ramifications. For now, you are a sheep amongst the wolves.”

  “What does that mean?” she managed to get out over the lump in her throat.

  “Not now, female,” Coal snapped. “Do you understand what I have just told you?”

  “You can’t say something like that without explaining. I’m not a sheep. You also don’t own me. I am my own person.”

  Coal sighed loudly and rubbed his eyes.

  Flame laughed.

  “This isn’t funny,” Coal said, under his breath.

  “I beg to differ, my lord.”

  Coal put his dark orbs back on her. “I said that I would explain it, just not now. Do I have your agreement? You are mine. You cannot say anything different.”

  “Do you agree to take me to see Pauline?”

  “Later.”

  “Right now.” She grit her teeth. “I need to be sure that she’s okay. I want to see all the women, for that matter.”

  Flame choked out a laugh.

  Coal made a grunt of frustration. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You can see the females still on fire territory.”

  “What does that mean?” she demanded.

  Flame stepped forward. “The dragon territories are divided between four kingdoms. Each with their own king. We are the rulers of the four. We won three females. Two of the them are no longer here. I assure you that they are fine.”

  “You will need to prove it.”

  “If Flame says that they are fine then they are fine,” Coal said.

  She shook her head. “You will need to prove it.”

  He was silent for a good long time then gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine,” he said between clenched teeth.

  Flame laughed even louder. “You have your hands full, my lord.”

  “I’ll clip your wings, you insolent little prick,” Coal grit out between clenched teeth. He didn’t look like he meant it.

  “Nah …” Flame slapped him on the back. “You’ll be too busy to find time for that. Pauline is sleeping, you will find her in my chamber.” He glanced at her and then back at Coal before chuckling some more. He walked back in through the door. It was loud inside. A whole lot of voices. All male. Her heart fluttered. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

  Coal turned to face her. Shit! He didn’t look happy. “Ready?” His voice was rough and short.

  “And if I say no?” Why did she insist on causing shit with him?

  He didn’t answer, instead he hooked an arm around her. “No is not an option. You are mine,” he growled. “Mine!” he added, more forcefully.

  A shiver raced up her spine. Her hands felt damp. Her legs felt like Jello. The thing was, she wasn’t sure if she was more afraid of what was waiting inside or the man who was beside her.

  She sucked in a deep breath and nodded anyway.

  Chapter 11

  Coal leaned up against the wall at the door. He folded his arms.

  Julie knocked again. There was still no answer.

  “She’s sleeping … peacefully,” Coal said, his eyes on the opposite wall. The rooms and hallways within this … lair … it wasn’t a lair though, not really. More like a massive castle or mansion. No, a mansion was too small for what this was.

  “She could be tied and gagged.” Julie narrowed her eyes at him.

  The lair was tastefully decorated, yet quite sparse for such huge rooms. There was no expense spared and the pieces appeared to be antiques. Large Persian rugs, pewter candle holders. At least, she assumed it was pewter or possibly white gold since non-humans were allergic to silver. There were ornate crystal chandeliers throughout.

  After waiting half a minute, she knocked a third time.

  “Can we go yet?” Coal asked, his voice low. “I’ll bring you back later. I promise.”

  Julie shook her head and prepared to knock again.

  “Coming.” She heard a croaky voice from the other side of the door. It was definitely a woman’s voice.

  Julie smirked at Coal who huffed out a breath.

  It still took another minute or two for the door to open. Pauline was in a thick, toweling robe. Her hair was mussed and her eyes had that sleepy, just woken up look. She smiled and ran a hand through her hair. “Hi,” she said, before stifling a yawn. “Sorry, come in.” Pauline gave Coal the once over before turning and heading back inside.

  “I’ll be back
in just a minute,” Julie said to Coal. It was her way of letting him know that he wasn’t welcome. She needed to speak to Pauline alone.

  Coal nodded once. “I’ll wait here. It’s unsafe to walk around by yourself.”

  “Yeah, yeah … in case someone else tries to take me for themselves.”

  His eyes darkened. “It’s not a joke.”

  “I’m not laughing.” Julie closed the door behind her.

  “Are you okay?” Pauline asked, then she smiled. “Was that your dragon? He’s cute. Not nearly as cute as Flame though.” She smiled over her shoulder. “These dragon shifters are awesome, aren’t they?” Her smile was about a mile wide and her cheeks were flushed. Then she frowned. She looked more closely at Julie and must have picked up on her unease. “Oh shit! Did you get a bad one? Are you hurt?” She took a step closer and looked Julie up and down. “He seemed nice. You look okay except for your knee but surely he didn’t do that.” She narrowed her eyes.

  “I’m fine,” Julie said, feeling like a bit of an idiot. Pauline clearly had the look of a woman who had just gotten it all. Her lips were swollen, her eyes sleepy with a contented look. “Sorry, it’s just that I was worried about you and the others so I asked to check in. I can see that you’re fine.”

  Pauline smiled. “More than fine.” She widened her eyes. “I can’t believe I actually slept with him so quickly.” She lowered her voice. “I’ve never been this forward with a guy before.”

  Julie tried to smile. This was too much information but Pauline was too excited to notice her discomfort it seemed.

  “When we arrived back here I was really tired but also really worked up. Flame is just so sweet and so sexy. The sexiest guy I’ve ever met. He tucked me in and slid in next to me and I may have made a move on him.” She was blushing wildly. “He actually tried to turn me down. How sweet is that? He said that I should get some rest. That took care of any reservations I may still have had. I had the best sex of my life.” She giggled like a teenager before turning serious. “Those dragon women were full of BS. They told us complete rubbish. The sex was off the charts and there was no forcing of anything. Flame has been the perfect gentleman.”

  Julie needed to get out of there. Now.

  “I take it you haven’t … you know?” Pauline raised her brows.

  “Um … no, I … w-well …” She felt like an idiot. “We were stuck in the forest all night so …” Was she actually giving excuses as to why they hadn’t slept together? Surely not.

  “It was amazing for me!” Pauline blurted. “I’ve never been with a guy with that much stamina. Flame was a little rough around the edges but it was like his sole existence was to make me happy. To do what it took to ensure that—”

  “I get the picture,” Julie blurted. She couldn’t take any more.

  “I’m not so sure about actually living here and having his children. It’s a bit soon for that but I’ve decided to get to know him and to see where this goes.” Pauline smiled.

  “That’s nice,” Julie remarked.

  “You don’t think I’m crazy, do you?”

  Julie thought back to her original assessment. If a group of these dragon shifters walked into a bar, they’d have a chorus of panties dropping in a matter of minutes. “Not at all.” The crazy thing was, she meant every word. “They are pretty hot,” she added. It was the truth. They were damned attractive.

  “I just figured that while I was here, I should make the most of it.” Her sentiments exactly. “Flame is just so sweet. You never know … maybe he’s the one.” Pauline looked sincere.

  The one.

  Really? Now that was crazy talk. Humans and shifters didn’t belong together. They were just too different. She thought about Coal. He was an attractive guy. His dragon was beautiful and although he was a bossy boots, he was also sweet. The man did have ulterior motives though, namely to get her to mate with him and to have his babies. Sex was one thing. She still wasn’t sure about his man parts. Sex with Coal would probably be intense since he was so intense but she couldn’t imagine staying in dragon land. No way. There was a whole world out there. Adventure waited. This couldn’t be it for her. She wasn’t ready for a relationship. She’d probably never be ready for one. People let you down. It was a given.

  “You never know,” Julie finally said, noting that Pauline had that faraway look again. “I hope that Flame told you that if it doesn’t work out that you can go back to Walton Springs.”

  Pauline nodded. “Yes, he did.” Her face clouded. “Not that there’s much to go back to.”

  “Good, you should know your options.” Julie smiled. “I’m glad you’re okay. We should chat in a few days. I’m going to check in with the others.”

  “I saw Lisa. She was really angry. She shouted about suing the dragons for all they’re worth. That poor guy she’s with looked like shit. She had him cringing. A big, strong, dragon shifter was afraid of her.” She choked out a laugh. “It was hilarious.”

  Julie had to laugh as well. She actually felt sorry for the poor shifter who landed the heiress. Lisa was something else.

  “You didn’t see any of the others did you?”

  Pauline shook her head. “No, but Flame assured me that everyone was okay, so I’m not worried. They’re not at this castle. One of them is with the water king and the other is on earth territory.” She pulled a face like she didn’t really know what she was talking about.

  There was only one way Julie was believing it and that was by seeing them for herself. “Okay. You go back to bed.”

  “Yeah.” Pauline yawned a second time, putting her hand in front of her mouth. “I’m bushed. I’ll see you soon.”

  Julie nodded. The door opened before she got to it. Coal was waiting for her. “Jeez, you weren’t lying when you said you had better hearing than us.”

  He turned down the hallway. “Lisa is just down the hall.”

  She nodded.

  Coal walked right next to her. He didn’t try to touch her though. They passed one other shifter. He ogled her until Coal growled. It was really low, almost inaudible but that just made it all the more intimidating. The guy averted his eyes and slunk away. It would’ve been laughable if it weren’t for the deep frown creasing Coal’s forehead.

  “It’s this way.” He turned a corner and they headed down yet another long, wide corridor.

  The way he had growled just now reminded her of the big room they had entered when they first arrived. Coal called it the great hall. It was filled with men. Big, burly shifters. All clothed in the same pants … well mostly. There were one or two naked guys as well. Coal’s whole demeanor changed. He went from hardcore to lethal. His eyes were narrowed, his jaw tight. His muscles seemed to grow. Impossible right? Wrong. They not only looked bigger, they were bigger. He snarled at a guy who dared get too close and his teeth seemed bigger too and sharper. His eyes … they had that same slitted look he had when he was a dragon.

  Another guy dared get close and he snarled again, this time making her jump. He held her tighter. She smelled smoke and turned her head in time to see some of it curl from his nostrils in big white tendrils. It was freaky. It was hot … and not just in the physical sense.

  If she was a dragon shifter guy, she’d stay away from him. Coal had death written in his eyes. His whole stance shouted to the rest of them to back the hell off.

  Just before leaving the hall, he turned to the large crowd of men. “Mine,” he warned. She was surprised he didn’t beat his chest while he said it. Then, he turned back and ushered her from the hall. No one dared approach.

  Once the big double doors closed behind them, she glanced up. “Was that really necessary? That whole ‘mine’ thing was a little over the top.”

  Coal kept his eyes on the hallway ahead. “It was as much for you as it was for them.”

  What was there to say?

  No.

  Forget it.

  Or maybe, ‘sure thing’, but just for the next few weeks.

 
Coal had been in this dark, brooding mood ever since their conversation. He was angry because she didn’t trust him. Well, boo-freaking-hoo and sorry for him. She didn’t trust anyone and wasn’t about to start now. When you trusted you opened yourself up to getting burned. He could be pissed off with her and giving her the silent treatment for as long as he wanted, she was enjoying the quiet.

  Just as that thought entered her head, a loud moaning punctured the silence. Then a groan. Then a high pitched whimper. There was a banging noise. It was rhythmic and insistent and growing louder by the second. Then again, so were the moans.

  Oh … no … surely not. Hell no!

  “Are you going to knock or should I?” He looked completely deadpan although that twinkle was back in his eyes.

  The moans had turned to shrieks. “Yeah!” Lisa shouted. Really loudly because they could hear her quite clearly. “That’s it big boy … right there … oh god … yes … I’m going to come … I’m going to …” The knocking grew so loud she was sure that the wall might crack.

  Lisa screamed.

  It was loud.

  It was so laced with pleasure that Julie felt her own body react. Why was she in the middle of a dry spell? Argh! Her clit throbbed, she was pretty sure that things got a little wet as well. Shit!

  “I guess I’ll do it then.” Coal moved towards the door and lifted a fist, intent on knocking.

  “No!” Julie yelled. “No,” she said much softer. She could feel her cheeks heat. “I think she’s okay.”

  The knocking started up again and so did the moaning.

  “You have got to be kidding me. Where are the cameras? This has to be some kind of joke.”

  “It is no joke.” Coal’s frown was worse. “I assure you that all of the females are fine. Lisa is quite okay. She might be screaming and calling out but—”

  “I know what sex sounds like,” she blurted. Then she sighed. “Okay, you can take me to my room now.”