Dragon Isle Book Bundle 1-3: My Lord and Dragon, The Dragon Fighter, and A Dragon's Bite

by Stern, Sophie

  Janae opened her mouth.

  “This is…” She took a deep breath. “I’ve never…I’m a virgin.”

  What.

  The.

  Fuck?

  “How is that possible?” Emerson managed to choke out. “You’re so-“

  “Nerdy?” She spat out. She frowned. “Awkward? Normal? Damaged? Take your pick.”

  “Beautiful.” He kissed her. “Kind. Caring. Gorgeous.”

  He dropped down next to Janae and propped his head up on his hand. She really was an incredible woman. She was gentle and kind and caring. She had come to Dragon Isle and faced a storm simply because she knew Elma was looking forward to receiving a particular package. She brought Emerson lunch every day and barely complained. She gave up time at work to help her ailing brother.

  And she was a virgin.

  Janae stayed on her back, but turned her head to look at Emerson. His right hand was still on her. He couldn’t pull it away. He traced lazy circles in her belly, drawing invisible patterns only he could see.

  “When my parents died, I freaked out,” she admitted. “And I didn’t want to date. The entire reason they were in the car wreck to begin with,” she cringed, “is that I didn’t want to go to the store, so they had to.”

  “Why didn’t you want to go to the store?”

  “My boyfriend and I had broken up. I didn’t want to see him. I wanted to hide away at home.”

  That explained a lot. Emerson could smell Janae’s guilt. It was pouring off of her. She’d been dealing with these feelings for a long time and she’d been dealing with them all on her own.

  Emerson felt like someone had punched him in the gut. Why hadn’t anyone helped Janae? Why hadn’t her own brother helped her?

  Fuck, did Liam even know what she was feeling?

  “I never want to talk about it,” Janae answered his unspoken question. “I always push people away when they try to get close to me. It’s one of the reasons I don’t live closer to Liam. I don’t want to talk to him about it.”

  “Sweetie, you have to know keeping everything bottled up isn’t good. It’s not healthy.”

  She shrugged. A tear ran down her cheek.

  “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, I know.”

  “So after the accident,” he pushed, “what happened then? There was never anyone you wanted to be with?”

  She shook her head emphatically.

  “I threw myself into school, then into work, then into volunteering. I never had time to date. I never really felt like I deserved to be able to date. I’m the reason my family is dead, Emerson. I don’t deserve to be happy.”

  And that was the problem, he realized. Janae had been carrying her guilt alone for so long that she no longer felt like she was deserving of happiness. Instead of moving forward, of putting the pain behind her, she clung to it like a blanket, like a shelter.

  She held onto her pain and used it to avoid taking leaps and moving on with her life.

  Well, all of that was about to change.

  “Get up,” he said to her.

  “What?” Janae looked surprised. What was she expecting? Pity. Oh, Emerson had a feeling she’d had enough pity to last her a lifetime. Nope. No more pity for Miss Janae. It was time for her to experience something else.

  “Get dressed,” he was already out in the hall and taking the steps two-at-a-time. When he reached the front door, he pushed it open and walked out in the cool air. He was still naked, but that wouldn’t matter for long.

  Liam’s house was slightly secluded from the others on the empty street. Good thing, too, Emerson thought as he heard Janae coming outside.

  It wouldn’t do for them to see a dragon.

  It just wouldn’t do.

  13

  Janae padded outside to the yard in her soft slippers and thin nightgown. She was still embarrassed she had confessed to Emerson. Did she really need to tell him about the whole being-a-29-year-old-virgin thing?

  Not really.

  She could have faked her way through sex, but what if she was bad at it? What if he had realized how awful she was and wondered why? Wasn’t honesty the right choice?

  Part of her wondered whether it really was.

  She saw him standing in the yard next to one of the trees and for a moment, she just stared. He was gorgeous: lean, cut, strong. He was built like a fucking fighter. He was built like a machine.

  Janae went to him.

  “I’m taking you somewhere,” he said.

  “Where?”

  “You’ll see.” His eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief. “I need you to trust me.”

  “Okay.”

  “That’s it?” He looked at her. “Just like that?”

  “If I didn’t trust you to take care of me, I wouldn’t have told you about my past.”

  “I know.”

  He seemed to be trying hard to control his breathing, and she wasn’t quite sure why, but then he spoke again.

  “I’m going to shift. Climb on back after I do, and hold on tight.”

  Janae could only nod. Before her eyes, Emerson’s body changed from looking like an ordinary, normal man to being a huge, 20-foot-long dragon. His dark red scales gleamed in the moonlight. She wanted to stroke them.

  She wanted to stroke him.

  All of him.

  He was enormous. Though she had known about dragons for years, she had never actually imagined they would seem so majestic. The idea of anyone being able to shift into another being was hard enough to believe, but this?

  This was incredible.

  Emerson was enormous. His eyes shone and sparkling as he turned his head and looked at her. He lowered his body so she could climb on. She knew she should hurry. She knew they should try to get out of Liam’s yard as quickly as possible before anyone saw them. Though Liam’s yard was fairly secluded, there was always the possibility that a car could drive by and give them a hard time.

  But Emerson was a fucking dragon.

  He could just eat anyone who gave them a hard time.

  She walked toward him and reached for his body. She meant to climb on him. Really, she did, but she touched him first. His scales were cool beneath her skin as she ran her hand up and down him. She walked around him, exploring every bit of his body. He had a tail. He had a literal, honest-to-goodness, huge fucking tail.

  What else did he have?

  She looked at his feet, at his claws. They could easily tear a man apart. How had the dragons not taken over the world? She wondered briefly why the dragons did their best to stay hidden. Surely there were reasons, but she couldn’t imagine why.

  This creature, her creature, was huge.

  Power radiated off him. By the time she had walked around him and was standing at his neck, small billows of smoke were wafting out of his nose.

  Was he angry?

  Or aroused?

  She didn’t want to peek at his dragon manhood. Though they had been intimate just moments before, somehow it seemed wrong to do so now, when he was like this.

  But she ran her hands on his neck and he lowered his head. She pressed her cheek to his.

  “I’m glad you came,” she said.

  Then Janae climbed onto Emerson’s back and wrapped her arms around him, trying to hold on tightly. She worried for a moment that she might fall. Emerson would catch her, though, even if she did slip. She knew that without even having to think about it.

  He would be there for her, no matter what.

  He spread his wings and leapt into the air, taking Janae with him. He flew higher and higher until the houses on Liam’s street were just little dots, and then they were gone.

  They flew through the clouds and the wind blew on Janae’s face, forcing her to close her eyes. She leaned her head against Emerson’s neck and clung to him, wondering where he was taking her.

  If his goal had been to arouse her, he succeeded. She was embarrassingly wet. Mostly, she wished she had worn more than flip flops and a thin nightgown. Why hadn’
t she put panties on? Probably because she didn’t think they were actually going to go anywhere.

  When Emerson had left the room, she figured he wanted to talk in a non-sexual situation about the things she had said, about her being a virgin, about her being inexperienced.

  She didn’t think he was going to take her to the clouds.

  Emerson growled softly, making a noise she knew to mean she should relax and enjoy the moment. If there was something Janae struggled with the most, it was that.

  And now here she was, completely helpless.

  Here she was, floating through the sky.

  And Janae Rose, in all her 29 years, had never felt so alive.

  **

  Emerson had never let a female ride on his back before.

  Ever.

  Though many dragons would carry ill and injured friends and family members in large, easy-to-grasp baskets, few were comfortable enough to allow a human or even another shifter to ride on their back.

  In Emerson’s life, he had never considered that he would be okay with allowing a human, especially one he hadn’t slept with yet, to ride on him.

  Yet somehow, Janae’s body didn’t feel intrusive or wrong. If anything, it felt perfect. Right. Comforting.

  Janae was the first human female Emerson had been interested in a long time and he didn’t plan to shy away simply because she was a virgin.

  If anything, the idea excited him.

  He could be the first to show her so many things. And, he thought solemnly, he could be the last.

  There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to keep Janae. No, not like a pet or a toy, but as a mate. She was too sweet to let go, too interesting to cast aside.

  She constantly surprised him, and that was something Emerson desperately needed in a mate.

  He flew with her to the island. She probably didn’t realize they were over the ocean because her body stayed relaxed against his. She didn’t feel worried or tense as he rose higher and higher, wanting to show her what being a dragon was really about.

  He wanted to show her the freedom.

  So Emerson flew with his sweet little female, the human who had captured his heart, and took her to his private residence on Dragon Isle.

  Unlike some of the more reclusive dragons, he didn’t have a large mansion that was hidden in the depths of the forest, nor did Emerson have a modern, stylish home in the center of town.

  No, his house was just like him: not much to look at, but comfortable.

  He landed silently: a skill he had mastered over years. Then he knelt his body down, pressing close to the ground, and Janae slid off. Before Emerson shifted, she walked around to face him and she cupped his head in her hands.

  Janae’s eyes held so much hurt and pain, captured during her years of solitude and isolation, but now they held something else.

  Now her eyes held just the slightest shred of hope.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Then she pressed her lips to his.

  14

  Janae didn’t know what to expect when Emerson shifted back, but she didn’t expect for him to stalk towards her, back her up against a tree, and kiss the everloving shit out of her.

  But that’s what he did.

  Emerson wasted no time peeling off her flimsy nightgown and running his calloused hands along her soft skin.

  He was a hungry, hungry dragon and she was the only thing on the menu.

  “I thought you didn’t want to,” she murmured. “Because of the whole, you know…”

  Virgin thing.

  She didn’t want to say it.

  “Baby, I’m honored I get to be your first,” he kissed her sweetly, swept her up in the moment, forced all of her other thoughts to disappear.

  Her first.

  This was really happening.

  Janae had waited for so long for anything to happen that she couldn’t quite grasp the idea that it was now.

  She was about to actually be with a guy.

  And it was going to be Emerson.

  “Where are we?” She managed to ask through the haze of emotion that covered her. She knew they had flown for awhile, but she had lost all sense of direction in the sky. Instead of worrying about it, she had allowed Emerson to take care of everything.

  And wasn’t that a lovely feeling?

  Being able to give up control, just for a little while?

  She had micromanaged everything in her world for so long that giving up a little bit of her freedom to Emerson was a relief. She had never been able to just let go before, to just allow someone to lead the way.

  And after carrying the weight of the world alone for so long, she felt like Emerson was offering her the best gift she could think of.

  He was giving her a chance to let someone else take care of her, in everything.

  “Dragon Isle,” he whispered.

  Dragon Isle.

  She had never been outside the city, and never at night, but somehow, the world seemed quiet and small.

  It was their own little haven, just for the two of them.

  “This is your house,” she said, peeking over his shoulder. There was a small cottage there. She guessed it probably only had one room.

  Maybe no rooms.

  “Yes,” he said, smiling as he kissed her again. “Would you like to come inside, m’lady?”

  Janae giggled, her laughing filling the silence of the night air. She nodded emphatically and Emerson looked his arm through hers and guided her to the cabin.

  He pushed the door open, swooped her into his arms, and carried her inside.

  It was dark inside the cabin, pitch black almost, but she could make out a few shapes.

  “Don’t move,” Emerson whispered, and left her there.

  “Where are you going?” She said into the darkness. Her voice seemed to echo throughout the room.

  She was a grown woman. She shouldn’t be afraid of the dark.

  “Sorry,” he said after a moment. Then his face was glowing. He had lit a candle. “I’m not used to having non-dragon company over. We can see pretty well at night, so I rarely leave the lights on.” He set the candle on the kitchen table and walked toward Janae. “Next time I’ll leave the porch light on, just for you.”

  The tiny flame flickered and bounced, lighting the room slightly. They were in a main room that doubled as both a kitchen and living room. A closed door off to the right held the bedroom, she supposed.

  Emerson moved forward and placed the candle on a table near the sofa. The room glowed.

  “Do you even have modern electricity here?” She asked, immediately feeling like a huge dork. Modern electricity? As opposed to what? Non-modern electricity? Her arousal was really giving her a hard time, wasn’t it?

  “Yes,” Emerson wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. “But I prefer candlelight when I’m about to fuck a beautiful woman.”

  He kissed her then until she thought her legs might fall out from under her. Then he picked her up and brought her over to the couch. He sat down with her on his lap. She was straddling him, facing him. His hardness pressed against her belly.

  “You’re beautiful, Janae,” he whispered. “And I think about you all the time.”

  She kissed his neck, slid her tongue down his throat, tasted his salty maleness.

  “I never would have expected to meet you. I can’t believe how lucky I am to know a girl like you.”

  She scraped her nails gently down his chest, allowing her instincts to guide her.

  “I’m aching, dying to be inside you.”

  “I’m nervous,” she whispered, suddenly unsure of what to do next.

  “It’s okay,” he rubbed her back, running his hands up and down her skin. “Just do what feels natural. You’re on top. You control this. You’re in charge here.”

  She nodded. She could do this. Hell, she’d been waiting her whole life to do this. Janae raised herself up and Emerson gripped her bottom tightly, squeezing her, kneadin
g her body. That alone felt amazing. She didn’t want him to stop.

  Then she lowered herself down slowly, lowering herself until she felt his tip pressed against her core.

  This was going to hurt. She knew that. Suddenly, she wondered just how much it was going to hurt. Was she really ready for this? Girls in high school had talked about their first times, comparing stories, talking about whether or not they had bled.

  Emerson wasn’t some high school football player. His cock was big, yeah. It was dragon-big, though, not highschool-student-big.

  She hesitated, but Emerson leaned forward and bit her shoulder. He thrust up into her at the same time, taking her.

  She was overwhelmed with a feeling of fullness. She felt sore, a little, but the pain began to dim. She just felt owned.

  “I thought you said I control this,” she muttered.

  “Thought you could use a little guidance, sweet darling,” he told her. “You seemed a little nervous.”

  “I was,” she said. “Now what?” She bit her lip, embarrassed. She had seen porn before, but those girls were pros, and they were usually handling more than one cock at a time. What had they done during the woman-on-top position?

  “What feels natural?” Emerson asked gently.

  “I want to rock my hips,” she said.

  “Then rock your hips.”

  He gripped her ass with one hand and rubbed her lower back with the other as she rocked back and forth on him. Then Emerson leaned down and took one of Janae’s breasts, sucking on her. She moaned, unable to hold back her emotions, unable to hold back how good it felt.

  Was this what she’d been missing this entire time? Pangs of regret hit her as she realized she’d avoided relationships out of fear when things could have been so good.

  At the same time, she thought, maybe things were so good because they were with Emerson.

  Maybe things were better because she’d waited for so long.

  Janae continued moving on top of Emerson, feeling every part of him within her, branding her, owning her.

  Nothing had ever felt so fulfilling before.

  She began raising herself up and lowering herself down, feeling him impaling her over and over again. Emerson groaned. That was a good sign. He was enjoying this just as much as Janae was.