Hidden Dragon

by Harmony Raines

  “You are still my mate.” She spoke the words with such strength and a belief that her voice shook. “I am not giving up and you can’t either. We belong together. The mating bond still binds us.” Then her mouth dropped open as she had an appalling thought. “Can’t you feel it anymore?”

  Had the spell destroyed their bond while at the same time binding his dragon? Didn’t he feel the same way anymore? Was their relationship over before it had even begun?

  “No, I still feel the same need for you. The same desire to have you in my life from now until eternity.” He pushed his hand into his pocket and drew it back out with his fist curled. “But if you are having second thoughts since I am not what you expected, then I will understand and respect your decision.”

  “Understand and respect my decision.” Fleur placed her hand on his chest and felt his heartbeat beneath her fingers. “I don’t want your understanding and respect. I want you to fight for me, for us.”

  “I might not be so good at fighting now since I only have my human body.” He gave a short humorless laugh.

  “Fighting for us doesn’t take muscles and fire-breathing destruction.” She paused. “Well, it does take one muscle. The heart is a muscle, it pumps the blood all around your body. That’s the part of you that needs to be strong. You need to tell me you will give us a chance. I haven’t changed my mind about anything.”

  Doran let go of her and slid down onto the floor where he drew one knee under him. “Then I have a question to ask.” He opened his fist and showed her a large emerald ring surrounded by six diamonds. “It needs a polish.”

  “It’s perfect.” Fleur stared at the ring and then lifted her eyes to meet Doran’s. “You don’t have to. I mean we’ve only just met.”

  “Does that mean you don’t want to marry me?” Doran asked in confusion.

  “No, I do. At least I do someday. But what about your dragon? We should focus on that first.” Her cheeks flushed pink and she placed her hand on her heated skin before taking a deep breath. “I don’t want you to rush into this.”

  “I’ve waited hundreds of years for you, Fleur. And I know even without my dragon that you are the woman for me.” He took hold of her left hand and asked, “Fleur, will you consent to be my wife?”

  “Yes.” She answered even before her mind had a chance to process the question. Despite all her earlier misgivings and making him promise not to ask her father for her hand in marriage, this felt right.

  “We face the future together.” He slid the ring onto her finger. “I hope you like the ring. My dragon and I chose it together.”

  She laughed, a giddy feeling bubbling up inside her. “That is never going to get old. My dragon and I.”

  Fleur slid to the floor and knelt beside him, her hands cupping his face before she leaned forward and kissed him. Doran was hers as much as she was his. If he’d been a normal human without the power to shift, she would still love him. The fact that his dragon was bound and he could no longer shift did not change a thing.

  Although she had loved her dragon ride and hoped one day they would fly over the mountains once more. Sadness enveloped her as she kissed his lips. If she missed his dragon and the sense of freedom that came with flight, then how must he feel?

  As she slid her hands over his shoulders, Fleur decided it might be a good thing to take both their minds off his bound dragon. What better way to do that than by consummating their relationship?

  After all, they were engaged now. Even an old-fashioned guy like Doran must see it was entirely appropriate for them to make love.

  She stifled a giggle as she kissed him. If she wasn’t careful, she’d end up sounding like her dragon shifter from another era. And yes, he still was her dragon shifter, and always would be.

  “It’s been a long time,” Doran said as she unbuckled his borrowed belt and pushed his borrowed jeans down over his thighs.

  “I’m sure it’ll soon come back to you.” She took hold of his hand and pulled him toward the bed. “If not, I’m a very good teacher.”

  While he sat on the bed, she pulled his jeans down over his feet and then stood before him, her fingers trembling in anticipation as she undid the buttons of her shirt. He watched with a hunger in his eyes that needed satisfying.

  Fleur intended their lovemaking to be very satisfying.

  Shrugging out of her shirt, she then undid the buttons of her jeans and pushed them down over her thighs before stepping on them as she fought to untangle her feet from the fabric. Blowing her hair out of her face, she straightened up and reached behind her back to unclasp her bra.

  A sigh of satisfaction escaped Doran’s lips as her full breasts spilled out. “You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”

  “Are you sure?” She prowled toward the bed. Her eyes fixed on him as he quickly shrugged off the rest of his borrowed clothes. “Your ever is a long, long time.”

  “I am absolutely sure.” He knelt on the bed naked, his body pale, but with perfect muscle tone. He was every inch a dragon shifter, even if his dragon was locked away.

  “You’re not so bad yourself.” The right corner of her lips twitched as he licked his lips. He wanted to taste her. And she wanted to be tasted.

  “I’m flattered.” Doran reached out his hand and she took it, allowing him to help her onto the bed which dipped beneath her weight. Shifting her weight, she lay down beside him, skin touching, sparking the most incredible sensations throughout her body.

  Doran dipped his head and kissed her lips, his hand sliding along her back to the nape of her neck before his fingers curled around strands of her hair. She gasped as he nipped her bottom lip, the pain sharp and exquisite.

  She longed to lie here next to him and explore his body, but an intense need was growing inside her. The seed of arousal he’d planted with his first touch was growing and unfurling, its tendrils spreading through her body. She wanted him. Right now.

  And after hundreds of years asleep, he must want her, too. Surely.

  If there was any doubt, it was swept aside when his hardness pressed against her stomach. Six hundred years was a long, long time to abstain from sex.

  Hooking her leg over his thigh, she guided him into her.

  Doran flexed his hips as the air hissed through his teeth. His fingers tightened around her hair and he kissed her neck, his teeth nipping her skin while his free hand cupped her breast. Sensations crowded in on her until her body pulsed and throbbed in need for this man from another age.

  Deeper, he penetrated her inch by slow inch. She savored every moment as he filled her completely. Slow thrusts in and out as he rocked his hips back and forth brought her climax ever nearer. It built slowly, with each kiss, each touch.

  Fleur kissed his neck, trailing her lips down over his shoulder and then across his chest before her tongue circled his nipple. His hips jerked and he slid his hand down over her bottom and held her close as his momentum increased.

  Her orgasm hovered in front of her. Just out of reach until with a cry, Doran came, his hot seed spurting deep inside her. The tension in her body peaked and with a throbbing, pulsing satisfaction she came.

  All their problems melted away as they rose together. Two mates eternally bound.

  Chapter Seventeen – Doran

  The sun crested the high peaks and shone through the window of his mate’s bedroom. Doran had witnessed the slow ascent of the sun as it turned night to day knowing this was the first day of what might be the rest of his life without his dragon.

  “How do you feel?” Fleur lifted her head from the pillow and rested her chin on her right hand while examining the ring on her left hand.

  His arm tightened protectively around her. “Like I have won and lost in equal measure.”

  She sat up, clutching the sheets as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up. “You didn’t sleep it off then?”

  “Did you really expect me to?” He turned over and watched as she hunted around for her clothes.
He reached out and grasped hold of the bed sheet and yanked it from her hands, leaving her naked before him.

  “Not fair!” She darted for her clothes and gathered them up, covering herself with her shirt.

  “I have seen your body and tasted your flesh, why hide from me now?” Doran slipped out from between the sheets and gathered his own clothes. “I do not hide from you and I am old enough to be your grandfather ten times over.”

  “Habit, I guess.” She let her hands drop awkwardly to her sides as she dressed, color creeping across her cheeks as she walked to the closet and opened the door. Her bottom was as pale as the moon, and he longed to stroke her soft skin and touch her intimately.

  “It is a habit I will break,” he assured her as he buttoned up his jeans and then pulled on a T-shirt. He liked the freedom of the stretchy cotton fabric.

  “I promise to break the habit when you break your dragon out of the confines of your mind.” She stopped dressing and turned to face him with her shirt half buttoned up. “Sorry, that was insensitive. Mine is a habit I can break if I try, yours might not be so easy.”

  “Perhaps it should be easy.” He walked around the bed and sat down next to her. “Perhaps if I tried really hard, I could force my dragon back out.”

  She half turned to face him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Well, magic sex didn’t work so I’m open for us to try anything.”

  He laughed as he put his arms around her shoulders and held her close. He loved the warmth of her skin and her humor. “Magic sex. Was it magic for you?”

  “Oh, yeah. It was out of this world.” She placed her hand over his heart and leaned forward to kiss his lips. “It was magical. Being with you…it’s like we just fit. You know?”

  “I do know. We share a connection that goes deeper than any other I’ve known. You are part of me now.” He kissed the top of her head. “And my dragon is still part of me. I can feel him inside me fighting to get out. I will free him.”

  “We’ll free him together.” She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, then she pulled away and stood up. “Come on, we have a meeting with George at the museum. He should be able to help us, he has access to the museum archives.”

  “Is he expecting us?” Doran asked as he gathered his jacket and pulled on a clean pair of socks.

  “Yes, Jax spoke to him last night and he’s expecting us at ten. That means we have enough time to get some breakfast and then go into town to buy you some clothes.” She opened the bedroom door and went into the hallway. “You can’t wear borrowed clothes forever.”

  “I should go and get some of my treasure to pay for these new clothes.” Doran had come to terms with the need to fund his new life with a small amount of his treasure. Since the binding spell had been unleashed on him, he’d also decided that buying Woodacre was a priority, since the ruins there and the underground caverns might hold the answers he needed.

  He paused, his memory of Edric coming back to him, knocking the breath from his body. Edric was not his real brother. And at the end, Edric had not been a real friend.

  “Doran?” Fleur stopped at the top of the stairs and looked back at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “You have such a happy and supportive family.” He swallowed down the pain he’d experienced when his restored memories altered his perception of the conversation he’d had with Edric. “My brother betrayed me.”

  “Edric? I thought he helped you. I thought he was the one who tried to protect you from the dragon slayer.” Fleur came back to him, her hands reaching out for his. “Tell me.”

  Doran winced as he recalled realizing the truth when it was too late. “I don’t believe there was a dragon slayer. It was a story made up by my brother so he could convince me to use the binding spell, which he then switched for Ancient Slumber. He planned to steal my treasure to provide a good life for him and his mate.”

  Fleur covered her mouth with her hand and her skin paled as the shock of what he’d told her sank in. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “There’s no way your memories could have become jumbled up, or perhaps it’s a false memory implanted in your head at the same time as the binding spell.” Her eyes grew large, imploring him to tell her it wasn’t so. To his mate, family meant everything. And yet to Doran, it had led to a deadly betrayal.

  “The memories I have are true,” he confirmed. “Edric, my stepbrother, betrayed me. It wasn’t always that way. As children, we played happily together. Our parents were best friends. But then a plague visited the village where I was born and Edric’s parents died. My mother took him in and raised him as her own. Since I was an only child, we became close.”

  “Like brothers.” The pained expression on Fleur’s face hurt him almost as much as the memories of Edric’s betrayal.

  “Yes. Like brothers. Until I came of age. It was then that we moved from the small village I’d always known as home and came here to Bear Creek. We moved into the small cottage on the side of the mountain in the place you call Woodacre. Until then I had no idea I was a dragon shifter.” He raked a hand through his hair as emotion filled his voice.

  “You didn’t know?” Fleur rubbed his arms, trying to comfort him as he fought back a torrent of emotion that had been building inside of him for so long, he was afraid to unleash it. “So you never knew your father?”

  “No, I never knew my father and my mom wasn’t a shifter. She raised me without telling me who I was or what I was.” He gave a short laugh. “Which was strange, since Edric knew he was a bear shifter and had bragged about shifting for as long as I could remember.”

  “Your mother wanted to protect you.” Fleur nodded.

  “Just as your mother protects you. I see the same look in her eyes, she would do anything for you and your siblings. Even if it meant giving up her own life.” Doran’s eyes flashed and fire coursed through his veins, but his dragon was still out of reach, still locked away from him.

  And it was all Edric’s fault.

  “So your mother eventually told you that you were a dragon shifter. And then Edric found out about your treasure and wanted it for himself.” Fleur filled in the blanks, but she had no idea of the pain and betrayal that beat like a drum in his heart.

  “My mother told me not to tell Edric or anyone what I was. She begged me to keep my treasure a secret. Which I did. Edric never knew where it was hidden. I suppose deep down, even though I loved him like a brother, I didn’t trust him. Yet I allowed him to convince me the same dragon slayer who had killed my father was in town and the only way to protect myself and my mother was to bind my dragon. Why did I believe him?” Doran’s rage grew as he recalled Edric telling him this was the only way to protect our mother. Our mother!

  “Let’s go outside and get some fresh air.” Fleur grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him forward as the smell of singed wood drifted into his nostrils.

  He lifted his hand which had been resting on the top stair rail and revealed a handprint burned into the wood. “I’m sorry. I’ll repair the damage.”

  Fleur turned to face him as she tugged his hand and pulled him down the stairs. “It’s okay.” A smile flashed across her face. “You do understand what just happened?”

  “I marked the wood of your parents’ stair rail.” Of course, he knew what had happened, he wasn’t stupid.

  “Yes, but how did you mark the wood?” She guided him toward the back door of the kitchen.

  “Everything all right?” Tansy looked alarmed as she watched them rush through her kitchen. She slammed the fridge door shut and followed them outside. Her nose wrinkled and she asked, “Do I smell burning?”

  “Doran singed the handrail on the stairs,” Fleur answered quickly.

  “Sorry, I will repair the dam…” Doran was cut off by Tansy throwing her arms around his shoulders and hugging him.

  “That’s fantastic news.” Tansy let go of Doran and then immediately hugged Fleur. “What triggered it?”

  “Doran was te
lling me how his brother betrayed him. Edric convinced Doran that he should use the binding spell for the sake of his mom,” Fleur quickly explained.

  “No mother would want you to bind yourself for her own sake,” Tansy said firmly.

  “Well, Edric was after Doran’s treasure.” Fleur made a rolling action with her hands. “Go on, tell the rest of the story. There’s nothing out here you can burn.”

  “Except my onions,” Joe pointed out as he came to join them. “What’s going on and who is burning what?”

  “Doran burned the handrail upstairs,” Tansy told her husband as he sipped a mug of hot coffee.

  “Oh.” Joe sighed. “I guess I’ll repair it today.”

  “But don’t you understand what that means?” Tansy asked, her eyes wild with excitement.

  “That Doran has hot hands…” Joe’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. “Oh. Oh, of course.”

  “Perhaps someone could tell me the signif…” He held up his hands and rolled his eyes. “Now I get it.”

  “Your dragon is there, right under your skin. There’s no other way you could burn wood with one touch.” Tansy pointed to the door leading back into the house. “If you promise not to burn the house down, we can go inside and eat breakfast and then you and Fleur can go talk to George.”

  “If there is anything that might help you in the museum, he’ll know.” Fleur looked a lot happier and Doran wished he could share the family’s enthusiasm. However, knowing his dragon was right there, just out of reach, didn’t help restore their full connection or enable Doran to shift.

  It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch. The frustration was terrible, but he had to keep calm and try to work through the anger and rage that built inside. His restored memories only fueled that same rage. If he could reach back in time and rip Edric’s head from his treacherous shoulders, he would.

  Although he promised himself that if his dragon was restored, he would build his life with Fleur and harbor no bitterness or rage for the way his trusted brother treated him. Edric had sought to ruin one part of Doran’s life, he would not ruin the second chance he’d been handed with Fleur.