His Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance

by Piper Sullivan

  Like a petulant child she emerged from the pond and searched out her remaining clothing. She briefly ran her hand through her short, brown curls and shook the excess droplets from it. Knowing the frizz was coming, she found her bandanna and re-wrapped it best as she could and headed off down the path toward home.

  She stopped cold in her tracks when a dark silhouette stepped from the cover of foliage, standing firmly in her way. She didn’t recognize the man, but she sensed the dragon shimmering beneath the surface. She opened her mouth to demand her let her pass, but a familiar voice floated toward her.

  “My, my, we’ve been a naughty girl, haven’t we?” it whispered. “He won’t be happy to hear about your tryst.”

  “Who is ‘he’ and why are you here?” she demanded and suddenly a blow to the back of her head rendered her unconscious.

  Damien paced the parlor’s marble-tiled floor, anxiety eating a hole in his stomach. It was well after nine p.m. and Jazz had yet to make an appearance. Sera had acted shocked to see him when he’d shown up earlier, but in her eye’s deep recesses, Damien saw a flicker of knowing that told him she’d expected him.

  She’d welcomed him into her home and lavished him with attention until he wanted to slit his own throat. After an hour of gibberish, he’d finally worked up the nerve to ask for Jazz.

  Sera had graciously excused herself to fetch the girl and never came back. He’d been alone ever since. That had been four hours ago. He’d fought the urge to leave; to head back to the pool and find her. He was fully prepared to drag her back to Sera’s kicking and screaming if need be. He’d make her talk to him if he had to camp out on her doorsteps until she broke down and heard him out.

  Now, a gnawing fear had taken root in his belly. Something was wrong, he could feel it. And when Sera stepped into the parlor doorway, he knew the stricken look on her face confirmed his fear.

  “What’s happened?” he demanded and closed the distance between them. At six-feet-six-inches tall, he towered over the Elder and he used his height to his full advantage. “Where is she?”

  Sera’s eyes filled with tears and a cold ball of steel bloomed in Damien’s stomach. Had something happened to Jazz? Was she dead? No, he refused to think such thoughts. He reached out and grabbed the woman’s upper arms and shook her gently. He used every ounce of self-control not to rattle her teeth.

  “Talk to me dammit!” he roared.

  “She’s, she’s - she’s gone,” Sera stammered between sniffles and sobs. “According to Bridget, Jazz never came back from her walk.” She raised her eyes to meet his dead on. “She never came back from your meeting.”

  Damien didn’t miss the accusatory glare and he growled low in his throat. The mere audacity of the woman angered him beyond belief.

  “I love her,” he admitted between gritted teeth. “I would never hurt her nor would I allow anyone else to.” He lowered his head until his eyes were level with hers. “I certainly don’t appreciate the doubt.” His voice rumbled with his dragon undertone. He knew his eyes had lit with emotion as his vision had changed. The Elder immediately bowed her head, whether in shame or fear, he couldn’t tell.

  “I’m sorry,” she finally admitted. “I’m just so afraid for her.” Her eyes rose to his once more. “She and Bridget are the only family I have. They are my daughters. It doesn’t matter whether Jazz is biologically mine or not, I’ve raised her,” she declared and squared her shoulders. Damien couldn’t help but admire her strength and spirit. She had been the one to whisk Jazz to safety all those years ago, so he owed her a great deal.

  Had the girl remained at the royal estate, Draken probably would’ve either had her killed or exiled. Considering their females were in short supply, exile would’ve been the more rational action.

  Damien released Sera’s arms and sighed heavily. Rubbing his hands together to keep them from trembling, he coughed to clear the rising fire in his throat. He winced when he realized how close to edge he’d been and with an Elder at that. As new Prince and heir to the Water Elementals, he couldn’t afford to alienate anyone, especially the dragons’ ruling council.

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I know you love her, I do too,” he admitted softly and tried not to welter when she pinned him with her best protective mom glare. He’d never met his own mother, but he knew from watching Jazz and her own all those years ago, the maternal instincts of the Dragoness was a potent and deadly thing. He could only imagine how far Sera would go to protect Jazz and Bridget.

  “I knew it,” Sera confessed, but not triumphantly. Her revelation was filled with resignation more than anything. “Is that why you came? Are you here to claim her as your mate?” she asked, peppering him with her excited questions.

  Damien only managed to nod the affirmative when he suddenly found himself enveloped in a very tight and very uncharacteristic embrace. He awkwardly patted Sera on the back.

  Sera pulled back and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Damien shuffled uncomfortably from one foot to the other; not really sure how to react to such a feminine action.

  Suddenly Sera’s eyes widened owlishly.

  “She thinks you’ve chosen someone else,” she blurted and set about pacing the parlor floor. “She may have run away,” she stated. “Then again, I can’t see Jazz running from anything. She’s the bravest woman I’ve ever met. I just don’t understand,” she mumbled as she paced.

  “Mother!” a young woman called and rushed in to join them. “Mother, we just received this,” she informed and shoved a gnarly sheet of paper into Sera’s hands.

  Damien’s gut seized with fear. Looking over the Elder’s shoulder, he instantly recognized the emblem adorning the letterhead.

  “That son-of-a-bitch,” Damien spat and turned toward the empty fireplace. He waited for Sera to finish reading the note, but knew what it said. He’d been afraid of this very thing the moment his father had died. It was why he’d taken so long before coming for Jazz. His faction was in upheaval, one dragon fighting another. They were like rabid dogs seeking out the weakest members.

  His father had been right all those years ago, there had been a coup in place. He was just wrong about Jazz’s parents being involved.

  “I can’t believe this!” Sera declared and turned on Damien. She waggled the note under his nose. “Did you know about this?”

  Damien steeled himself to tell Sera the truth whether she wanted to hear it or not.

  “I suspected a coup,” he confirmed. “The four factions are at war and Jazz isn’t the only one caught in the middle. I just never thought he’d be involved.”

  Chapter Four

  Jazz moaned at the fierce pain plaguing her head. It felt as if a mariachi band was playing at top volume inside her brain. She opened her eyes and immediately closed them when the blaring light threatened to burn them from her skull. Her tongue snaked out to wet her lips and she realized her level of thirst. A Water Dragon couldn’t go very long without contact with their natural element.

  She wiggled until she was in a sitting position and looked down at her body. Thankfully whoever had kidnapped her had thought to clothe her but she didn’t understand their choice of the white robe. It was a garment usually reserved for mating ceremonies and christenings.

  Her normally smooth skin had withered a bit and small, shiny scales had erupted to salvage the remaining water in her body. How long had she been here? Wherever here was, she amended.

  “Hello?” she called softly, coughing when her parched throat balked at the effort. “Somebody, please? I need water,” she pleaded.

  Creaky hinges heralded a door opening, the ear-splitting noises echoing repeatedly throughout what sounded like a very large, open ceiling room. Then footsteps approached her from behind. She pulled the lapel of her robe more tightly against her throat and bowed her head. She was scared, tired, thirsty and hungry. She wanted to go home but more than that, she wanted Damien. A light fluttering skittered throughout her womb, almost as if the baby shared her need f
or the Prince. Slowly and carefully so as not to draw attention, she slid her hand down to the small bump already protruding from her stomach.

  She suddenly wished she’d told Damien of the miracle they’d created. Has she thrown caution to the wind and just told him, she wouldn’t be in this situation now. She wasn’t afraid for her life, her terror was all for the small life growing inside of her. By all rights, the child was the legal heir to the Water Elemental throne. It didn’t matter if she and Damien were legally and completely mated or not.

  Illegitimacy didn’t exist among their kind. Just as their ceremonies and rituals for marriage wasn’t the same as the humans.

  Suddenly a bucket of barely-warm water hit the top of her head, washing over her like the heavy rush of a waterfall. She moaned as her body began pulling the life-saving droplets through her pores like a vacuum. Slowly, as if one at a time, the small opalescent scales receded leaving behind only lush, hydrated skin.

  By the time her body had finished regenerating, the robe had dried completely. Her short, curly hair still hung in limp spiraling strands, but for the most part she was a tad more comfortable.

  She pushed a few pieces from her eyes, wishing she had a bandanna and cast a weary glance up at the figure towering over her. She inhaled sharply when her eyes met very familiar ones.

  “Elder Coffer?” she asked in confusion. “What’s going on? Why am I here?” She pulled her knees to her chest and pulled at the robe until it completely covered her from neck to toe. “Where am I?”

  The youthful - yet powerful - man chided her gently with the cluck of his tongue. He dropped the now empty water pail onto the cobblestone floor and pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket. He first mopped the few droplets of water that had managed to spatter in his face when he’d dowsed her and then used it to clean his hands thoroughly before replacing it in his right pants pocket.

  “All in good time, my dear,” he murmured. “All in good time.” He hitched up his two pants legs until the hems rested way above his ankles and squatted in front of her. He reached forward and grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to meet him eye-to-eye.

  “But for right now,” he murmured and twisted her face so he could study her from several different angels. His motions disturbed her much more than his touch.

  It reminded her of the time she’d visited the small, family owned butcher shop in Negril, not long after Sera brought her to the island. She watched through the large glass window as a man studied a hanging piece of meat with large ribs. Armed with a cleaver, he’d plotted his course of action and set about quartering the carcass into edible portions.

  “What’s the matter dear,” he asked with a smirk. “Does my touch bother you?” he whispered and rubbed his thumb back and forth across her chin. “I suggest you get used to,” he advised. “You and I will be much more acquainted after tonight’s ceremony.”

  She sat ramrod straight at his declaration, her mouth gaping in shock.

  “What are you talking about?” she demanded.

  “Oh, did I forget to mention it?” Elder Coffer mocked, clearly enjoying this little game of cat and mouse. “I shall be taking you for my bride tonight,” he informed.

  “I don’t understand,” Jazz claimed although she had an uncomfortable idea where this was headed.

  Coffer’s eyebrows quirked and he tilted his head as he continued to study her. He jerked her head roughly to one side before releasing her. He stood back up and glowered down at her as if she were no more than an ant; a tiny, disgusting ant.

  “Then allow me to explain,” he countered. “After all, I haven’t been able to boast of my plans. Who better than my intended mate to be the first?” He chuckled and she caught the maniacal hint in his laughter. Physically he appeared no older than thirty or so, but she knew that the Elders were much, much older than any other dragon. They were what some used to refer to as The Ancient Ones.

  They were among the first of the race to occupy this planet. The Council maintained twelve members - three for each of the four factions. If one died, another was ready to take their place within hours.

  She knew Sera was grooming Bridget to succeed her. Although the young woman had fought her mother fang and claw, she’d eventually had to step up and accept the responsibility. Since Jazz wasn’t a biological child, she could never fill Sera’s shoes, not that she’d wanted to.

  “You need an heir,” she announced flatly as it all suddenly made sense.

  “I do indeed,” he agreed with a pleased grin spreading across his face. He looked like a fox invading a hen house.

  “Why me?” she asked. “I’m not exactly your type.” She tried to keep her voice conversational, with as much neutrality as possible. She understood that the other Factions had very few females left, which was the reason the Elders had decreed that all four Princes take a mate.

  Prince Jaxen Monroe, leader of the Earth Elementals had taken one about four months ago and then Prince Axel Ashwind of the Wind Elementals had married shortly after. But as far as she knew, both men loved the women they’d married.

  Prince Jax’s mate was a human/dragon hybrid and Axel’s was the last female Wind Elemental. Jazz’s own Water Elementals had quite a few more women that either of those. But what she couldn’t figure out, was why Elder Coffer of the Fire Elementals would try and take a Water Elemental for his mate.

  The Factions weren’t interchangeable. They couldn’t successfully interbreed. They’d tried many centuries ago and the results had been gruesome and lethal. Every child born of an inter-elemental union had been rabid, ravenous, unintelligent monsters. The Elders had stepped in and killed the majority of them but a few escaped and created much havoc on the humans. They nearly wiped every being off the face of the earth before a secret sect of dragon hunters were hired to track them down and kill them.

  The mated couples were separated and each re-mated with a fellow Faction member. It had been a very low point in the history of their species.

  “But, we’re different Elementals,” Jazz insisted and gazed up at him. She wished with everything inside of her that this was all a mistake, that he’d mistaken her for someone else.

  His eyes widened slightly and a small glimmer of hope slipped through her heart. Then he threw his head back and roared with laughter.

  “Yes, my dear,” he admitted between gulping bellows. “Yes, we are.” And his expression suddenly shifted from maniacal joviality to sinister malevolence.

  “You and I are going to create a new race of dragon-kind,” he announced and bent to wipe a tear from her cheek. She hadn’t known she was crying until his finger touched her face and she couldn’t stop from shrinking from his ministrations. “Together, you and I will sire the next generation. Just call it evolution dear.”

  He lifted the finger holding her tear and studied the small drop almost like he’d never seen one before. Then with a shrug of his massive shoulders, he stuck his finger and the tear in his mouth and suckled.

  “Tastes like surrender to me,” he announced triumphantly and brushed past her. “I shall see you again shortly my dear,” he called over his shoulder. “Please make yourself presentable.”

  Jazz waited for the creaky hinges to announce his departure and then she dropped her forehead to her up-drawn knees, surrendering to the tears building within her. Even though her rational mind told her she had no hydration to spare, she let the tears build and fall until her chest heaved in great sobs. How could this be happening to her? She’d finally accepted the fact that her soul mate didn’t want her and tried to move on. Then he’d shown up in her literal backyard for one last encounter.

  What would happen once Coffer realized she carried the Prince’s child? Would he kill her and the child both? What exactly were the Elders conspiring? She wouldn’t allow herself to wonder if Sera were involved. She knew her adopted mother well and refused to believe she’d be a part of such a heinous plan.

  She wrapped her arms around her middle and leaned forward
as if to shield the growing baby inside her.

  “Don’t worry little one,” she murmured. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Chapter Five

  Damien and Seraphina sat aboard the Prince’s private jet awaiting take off. The Prince’s mind whirled with thoughts. He knew a silent coup was in place, he’d rooted a few members of his own Faction out shortly after his father’s death. But what shocked him the most, was that half the Council of Elders was involved.

  His eyes went to Sera and he merely studied her as she rambled instructions into her cellphone. She’d momentarily fallen apart over the news of Jazz’s kidnapping, but with a strength he could only admire, she’d quickly pulled herself together and rallied the Water Elementals. Each branch was forming a search party and making preparations for war. Between the two of them, they’d managed to put a few puzzle pieces together from the note.

  Elder Coffer, along with five other Elders, felt that Dragon-kind needed new direction. They’d set their devious plans into motion many years ago and were now reaping the fruition of their labors. Damien scolded himself for not supporting his father with more conviction. He’d wasted so many years being angry with the late Prince for taking his mate from him, that he hadn’t noticed the betrayal directly beneath their noses.

  Draken had warned him and his court. He’d spent the last years of his life fighting to keep their faction united.

  “You were right Father,” Damien murmured and crumpled the note in his fist. “I should have listened to you earlier. I shall not make the same mistake again.”

  Sera snapped her little silver phone shut and glared up at him with a fire raging in her eyes.

  “You know what this means?” she asked forcefully. “The Four Factions are at war with the High Council. They also have to clean their own houses - so to speak - and root out all opposition. Coffer and his supporters have been working on this for centuries so there’s no way to know just who you can trust.”