“I’ve got Gabriel coming,” Emerson said simply. “He can track anything, anyone, anywhere.”
“Good,” Theodore looked around and finally took a deep breath. Time to start looking. He shifted quickly and flew up into the air, then circled around the house a few times. He could see well in the dark, but didn’t notice much.
At first.
Then he saw the outline of a figure – Ashley, he suspected – climbing up the ladder to the tree house. Why would Ashley be going there?
Unless…
**
Ashley peeked over the top of the tree house and was met by two bright blinking eyes and a shivering little boy.
“A-A-Ashley?” He stammered, as if he couldn’t quite believe she had come for him.
“Can I get a blanket?” Ashley called out into the night. “I’ve found him!” Then she finished climbing up into the tree house and looked at Stuart. She cringed as she looked around the unfinished tree house. Nails and screws, hammers and screwdrivers were everywhere. It was no place for a child.
A second later, a blanket arrived and Ashley wrapped Stuart up and held him in her lap
“Give us a minute,” she said to Emerson, and the clan leader nodded before disappearing. Ashley hugged Stuart close to her chest and sang to him softly.
“I was scared,” he whispered. “I had a bad dream.”
“I know, baby,” she said.
“Ashley?”
“Yeah, sweetie?”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, my little dragon.” Ashley sang to Stuart until he fell back into a deep sleep. He was safe. Nothing bad had happened and he was safe. Oh, Theodore was pissed, but she would be, too. He’d forgive her and they’d move forward. What mattered now was that Stuart was okay.
She tried not to cry as she hugged her little boy close, but as the realization that he really was hers sunk in, she couldn’t help herself. She pet his hair softly and squeezed him closer to her, afraid to let him go, even for a second.
She had wanted a family for as long as she could remember and now she had one. Oh, it wasn’t a normal or conventional family, but she had never felt as loved as she did with Theodore and Stuart around.
The ladder creaked and Ashley looked up to see Theodore peeking up into the tree house. She scooted over and he came up next to her. He sat and looked at his sleeping son before his eyes went back to Ashley’s.
“Ash, I-”
“It’s okay,” she shrugged.
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes,” she placed her hand on Theodore’s leg and met his gaze solidly. “It is. You were scared. I was, too. I messed up, and I’m sorry.”
He hugged her close, kissing her forehead softly.
“I don’t deserve you,” he murmured. “I’m sorry I reacted so poorly.”
“I made a bad choice,” she admitted. “I should have just talked to you instead of racing off to the club without talking to you first. It won’t happen again.”
Theodore wrapped his arms around Ashley and Stuart and simply held them for a very long time. They heard the flapping of wings and loud thuds as dragons came to help look for Stuart, not realizing the little dragon had already been found. Ashley wasn’t quite ready to leave the safety of the tree house just yet. She wasn’t quite ready to give up their solidarity.
She had finally found the perfect place for her. She had finally found a place to belong. She wasn’t perfect and neither was Theodore, but they would figure everything out together.
They were a family now.
17
Three months later
Theodore walked quietly into the bedroom where Ashley was waiting for him.
“He’s asleep,” he whispered. “All tuckered out.”
“Well, it was a big day,” Ashley smiled. The three of them had flown to Castle Naga to explore the ruins of the ancient castle. Theodore had loved visiting when he was a child and his son had enjoyed the castle just as much.
Maybe one day they’d fix it up and make it wonderful again. A restoration would take years, but would be well worth the effort. Emerson had met them for part of the afternoon and, for the first time, had seemed open to the idea.
Perhaps their clan leader wasn’t so boring after all.
“How’s my lovely wife?” Theodore asked, crawling up onto the bed. Ashley set her book down and turned to him. She reached out and traced his jaw with her fingers, then slid two into his mouth. He sucked and nibbled and bit, sending a shot of heat through her body and straight between her legs.
“Mmm,” she moaned, smirking. Theodore didn’t wait another moment. He pushed her down onto her back and began sucking and nipping his way down her body. Ashley was everything to him. He still couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea that a few months ago, she’d been just a nanny to him.
Now she was so much more.
Now he couldn’t live without her.
Theodore licked every inch of Ashley’s body until she was writhing beneath him, then he flipped them over so he was lying on his back and she was straddling him.
“Holy dragons,” she muttered, but he just smiled and thrust up into her. She squealed at the intrusion, but obediently began riding him, taking all of him deep inside her.
Ashley was perfect.
Theodore took advantage of her being on top and played with her nipples, her hair, her skin. He traced his fingers up her body then softly clawed her skin on the way down. She arched her back and cried out as she came, a combination of pleasure and pain, as Theodore continued to thrust inside of her.
He came then, too, and held her in place until he had completely emptied himself inside of her. She lay across his stomach, holding him, their hearts beating loudly in the silence of the room.
Then he nipped at her neck, softly, biting her tenderly until she lifted her head and kissed him, telling him without words that this was exactly where she was meant to be.
In his arms, in his bed, in his heart.
Ashley was Theodore’s.
Forever.
Author
Sophie Stern is an erotic romance novelist who lives in the Midwest with her husband. She loves hearing from readers! Please feel free to connect on Facebook or leave a review with your thoughts on the story.
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Lost to the Dragon
Did you enjoy The Dragon Fighter? Take a look at this exclusive excerpt from book 4 of the Dragon Isle series: Lost to the Dragon.
Skye Mortimer stared at the tiny boats that lined the harbor. She only needed one. There was a blue boat with peeling paint that no one would ever notice was gone. A red one toward the end of the row was nicer-looking, but smaller. That wouldn’t do. She had a suitcase to bring, after all. Then there was the huge boat close to the guard shack.
Cadence.
That boat was personal. She knew it belonged to Liam, the harbormaster. He was young, but he took his job seriously. How old could he be? Maybe 30. She’d never heard of someone so young managing an entire harbor, but then, Dragon Isle wasn’t known for its normalcy.
Skye took a deep breath and marched up to the guard shack. She raised her hand to knock and the door opened. Liam stepped out, tall and lanky. His dark hair blew softly in the breeze and for just a moment, she wondered if he was some sort of shifter. She knew that was silly. He was human. She had checked him out online before she made the decision to venture to Dragon Isle. Skye wanted to know everything she could about life among the shifters before she finally got up the nerve to come. The Internet was a wonderful place.
“I wondered when you’d finally get the nerve to come over,” Liam smirked. He crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the shack. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Excuse me?” Skye suddenly felt annoyed. How dare he be rude to her? He didn’t even know her. Wasn’t his job to he
lp people? She certainly didn’t think his job was to insult her.
“You’ve been eyeing the boats like you’re starving and they’re the last piece of meat at the supper table, darling,” Liam drawled. His voice was like warm chocolate melting on her tongue. It did funny things to her body, his voice. It made her feel wet and aroused and aware of herself. He had a crazy affect on her and she had only just started talking to him.
Thank goodness he wasn’t a dragon, or he’d know.
Judging from the grin on his face, she’d guess he knew anyway.
“I need a ride,” she said finally. “I’m going to Dragon Isle and I need a ride. Can you take me, please?” She tried to make her voice as polite as possible. She had to convince him, after all. It wasn’t every day a girl had a chance to do real, honest-to-goodness research for a story like this. Skye didn’t want to blow it. She knew she wasn’t much of a writer yet, but she would be.
She had finally decided to write her dream novel. She’d been toying with the idea for years and now she was finally ready. Victoria Thompson, the creator of her favorite dragon-shifter book series, lived on the island. She was a genius, a legend in the publishing world. No one knew much about her except that she’d gone to Dragon Isle a few years ago and had never come back.
But her books sold thousands of copies every month.
And Skye wanted a taste of what life was like with the dragons.
She had an idea for a book series about a young girl who fell in love with a dragonman who harbored a terrible secret. Only the strength of her love would be able to set him free. Skye had the entire novel and its subsequent stories outlined. She had dreamed up the characters and painstakingly named each of them. She even knew what she wanted her book covers to look like.
There was just one problem: Skye had never seen a shifter in real life.
Oh, they existed. She knew that much. It was obvious. She knew there were little villages and groups of shifters here and there. There were entire counties full of tigers or bears or leopards.
But Skye wanted the dragons.
She wanted to see what it felt like when an enormous dragon shifted and shrank into a man so shredded she could bounce a quarter off his abs. She wanted to know what it felt like to see one sink deep in between her legs, finding solace and reassurance in her body. She wanted to know what it felt like to be completely sexually devoured by such a monster.
And then she wanted to write a book about it.
“No,” Liam’s voice sounded, breaking her from her thoughts.
“No? What do you mean, ‘No’? You can’t refuse to take me.”
“Can’t I?” Liam crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the little guard shack. Oh yes, Skye knew exactly who he was. He was the softie-turned-hardass who ran the docks. He controlled every shipment that went to the island, every visitor, every guest. He knew every person who ordered something to be delivered and he was in charge of making sure it arrived.
He was the gatekeeper, and he had every right to refuse her entry to Dragon Isle.
But that didn’t mean Skye had to like it.
“I have money,” Skye insisted, not ready to give up yet. “And I’m expected there.”
“Is that so? Who’s expecting you?” Liam raised an eyebrow, and Skye said the first name that popped into her head.
“Victoria is expecting me.”
At that, Liam looked a bit surprised. He quickly calmed his face, though, relaxing his expression.
“Oh, is she now?”
“Yes! I told her I was coming and I need to get to the island. I’m expected,” Skye said it so convincingly that she almost believed herself. She didn’t know why Liam didn’t want her to go to the island, but it made her want to go even more.
Liam pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and swiped a finger across the screen, then held the phone up to his ear. What was he doing?
“Yes, Victoria? It’s Liam.”
Oh shit.
Oh shit.
Oh shit oh shit oh shit.
Skye bit her lip and turned away. He was going to find out she was such a huge fraud. He was going to know and he’d be pissed, but what could she do? She’d already said that she knew the wife of one of the most badass shifters ever to roam the island.
Yes, the story of Victoria falling for her dragon-shifter stepbrother was wild in the romance readers’ community. Everyone knew their story. Everyone loved their story. Hell, Skye had masturbated to their story at least half a dozen times.
“Yes, it’s good to talk with you. Been awhile. Listen, I have a visitor here who says you’re expecting her.” His eyes shifted to Skye and he asked, “What’s your name, girl?”
She should lie.
She should lie again and maybe he wouldn’t find out who she was and what she was doing.
“Amber.”
Liam frowned.
“Try again, girl.”
Fuck. How did he know?
“Skye.”
“Better.” He turned back to his phone and lowered his voice. Skye couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she imagined it was bad. They were going to call the cops. They were going to call the cops and find out what she was doing and that she had tried to sneak to the island to get her story.
Skye couldn’t let that happen.
This was her only chance.
Liam hung up the phone and turned back to her with a frown. Skye just shrugged.
“Had to try,” she said simply. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, then grabbed her baggage and walked away before he could say anything else. She wanted to get away before she could further embarrass herself.
Liam said something about the incoming storm, but she ignored him and kept walking. She would come back later under the cover of darkness. Skye might not be the world’s best researcher and she might not know that much about dragons yet, but she knew how to start a boat and she knew how to navigate to the island she could barely see in the distance.
“Don’t you worry about me, dragons,” she whispered, staring back at the boats. “I’m coming for you.”
**
“You look fantastic, Janae,” Alan put the Doppler away and spun around on his chair to make a notation in her chart. “Baby looks good with a nice, strong heartbeat.”
Janae made a squealing sound and grabbed her mate’s hand. Emerson was usually the picture of seriousness, but he grinned down at his wife before planting a kiss on her forehead. Alan might not admit it, but he lived for this stuff.
Oh, he loved the rush he got when he saved someone’s life or when he was performing emergency surgery. He loved knowing he had been the reason someone got a second chance at life. He loved working quickly to save someone who was on the verge of dying.
But what Alan loved, more than anything, was telling a couple they were going to get to have a baby.
He loved the mushy gushy moments between mates when they heard their baby’s heartbeat for the first time.
He knew Janae and Emerson had been trying for awhile to have a child. Janae had worried she was too old, and Alan had spent the better part of last year convincing her that 30 wasn’t “too old.”
“I can’t believe it’s real,” she whispered. She looked up at Emerson like he was the only dragon in the world, like there was no one on Earth but the two of them.
“Me neither, baby,” Emerson kissed her then and Alan slipped out of the room, allowing them some privacy. He knew leaving them alone while their emotions were raging was a gamble. The inhabitants of Dragon Isle weren’t exactly known for their sexual discretion. He just hoped the exam room would still be in one piece when he returned. Emerson wasn’t exactly quiet or gentle when he showed his wife how much he loved her.
Janae was his last patient of the day, so Alan retreated to his office at the end of the hall. He closed the door gently behind himself and poured a glass of scotch. He needed it.
Alan had been on Dragon Isle long enough to understand that thi
ngs weren’t always what they seemed. His immigration to the island had been rough. A rogue dragon who was secretly evil had spread a myriad of rumors about both Alan and his time in Ireland. While he had gone overseas to study the medical care of dragons, there were still inhabitants who had strange ideas about him. Some thought he was a secret spy for the Irish government. Others thought he only pretended to have an American accent.
The only thing Alan wanted was to be left alone, to practice medicine, and to care for the dragons he had grown to love.
He didn’t want to be bothered with drama or romance or children or a mate.
No, Alan was quite happy on his own, thank you.
He took a seat at his desk and, after finishing his drink, began making notations in Janae’s chart for future reference. She was a healthy young human who would be a great mother. Alan didn’t expect there would be many problems with her pregnancy. Even if there were, Emerson was so overprotective that he’d get her in to the office right away.
The scotch warmed Alan’s belly, and as he began to relax after a day of standing on his feet, he began to think about his own future.
What would it be like to have someone to care for the way Emerson looked after Janae?
What would it be like to come home after a long day at work and be able to curl up in front of the fire with someone?
What would it be like to feel truly accepted and adored, despite his shortcomings?
Unlike many of the dragons on the island, Alan had never been married. Oh, there were always rumors floating around about his dark and mysterious past, but the truth was that Alan had never experienced a serious relationship. He’d had girlfriends and submissives he played with in sex clubs, but he had never been in love.
He’d never felt that protective instinct that guided him to be rash or crazy. No, Alan had always been in perfect control of his life and his relationships. It was one of the reasons Emerson had selected him to lead the Dragon Isle Clinic. Alan was responsible. He was trustworthy. He was discreet and he was good at what he did.
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