by Ruby Dixon
Fire In His Embrace
There’s only one way to tame a dragon.
Emma Arroyo knows this. She also knows that the big golden dragon captured by her brother’s biker gang is in trouble, and it’s all her fault. He followed her scent, and now his life is in danger.
She has to fix this, somehow. If she could talk to the dragon, they could form a plan to escape, both of them. But the dragon’s mind is wild and full of uncontrollable, killing rage. There’s no reasoning with him. There’s certainly no freeing him, not when he’s like this. But Emma can’t leave without him.
There’s only one way to solve this problem - a mating. When Emma approaches Zohr to claim him as hers, she realizes just what it means to be a dragon’s mate, and how much she’s in over her head…
And she learns how fiercely possessive a drakoni male can be.
Fire In His Embrace
A Fireblood Dragon Romance
Ruby Dixon
Ruby Dixon
Copyright © 2017 by Ruby Dixon
All rights reserved.
Cover Photo by Sara Eirew Photographer
Cover Design by Kati Wilde
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Contents
WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
EPILOGUE
EPILOGUE II
EPILOGUE III
Author’s Note
Fire In His Blood - Book 1
Fire In His Kiss - Book 2
Ice Planet Barbarians
Other Books by Ruby Dixon
Want More?
WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE
The year is 2023, seven years after the destruction of the known world. Back in 2016, a Rift opened in the heavens and dragons poured forth, as terrible and violent as the beasts of legend. Like ants, they swarmed over the human cities, destroying everything in their wake. Buildings crumbled, countries fell, and within a matter of months, humankind was broken. Guns had no effect on the unearthly creatures from another dimension. Planes and missiles were too slow. Riots broke out as men were forced to fight not only for their survival against the dragons, but against each other.
The people who survived those first brutal days took to hiding. Eventually, small groups of survivors banded together and formed forts where they could live safely and securely. In the After, concrete is the building material of choice, and people freely give up their rights in exchange for protection for their families. The forts themselves are isolated and corrupt, run by a power-hungry militia. The guns they carry might not be useful against dragons, but they’re more than enough to keep the people of the fort in line. Those who cannot obey a fort’s rules are cast out, to live as nomads. They are considered scum by fort-dwellers and view themselves as dead men walking. Without shelter or a permanent place to call home, they might as well be.
For seven years, humanity continues on, living in the cracks and hiding in the shadows.
Then, things begin to slowly change. CLAUDIA, a thief from Fort Dallas, is left in the wild, abandoned streets of the former city, now known as the Scavenge Lands, as bait to tame a dragon. No one expects her to live…or for it to work. Her dragon KAEL is fierce and possessive, his mind broken by the constant madness that eats at the drakoni. Despite this, he is an intelligent being and can be as kind and loving as he is brutal. After a time, Claudia stops seeing him as the enemy and starts seeing him as a partner, and a powerful one. With Kael’s help, she hatches a plan to rescue her sister AMY and her friend SASHA from Fort Dallas and its corrupt militia. (Book 1 - Fire in His Blood)
In the process, Sasha is snatched away by DAKH, a crazed male dragon who seeks a mate to fix his mind. Though it takes time for the fearful Sasha to trust Dakh, she eventually realizes that the dragon would do anything for her and that he can love just as fiercely as any male human. When Sasha is captured by local bandits, she learns that not only are the nomads working with an old enemy of hers, but the bandits are led by a mysterious stranger named AZAR.
Azar claims to be drakoni, but not like the others. He’s not crazed, he can’t (or won’t) shift to dragon form, and he has a plan to return to his homeworld. He needs someone to go back through the rift that was created between worlds, but since no one knows if it can be done, he needs a volunteer. If he can’t get one, he’ll force someone through. He holds Sasha hostage in the hopes that she can persuade Dakh to go through the Rift, even if it costs him his life. To make matters even more dangerous, Azar’s captured ZOHR, another dragon, but he remains too crazed to be useful.
Sasha refuses to pull Dakh into Azar’s dangerous games. With the help of Emma, she breaks free from captivity and escapes into Dakh’s waiting arms. (Book 2 - Fire in His Kiss)
Meanwhile, Emma remains behind with Azar’s people to try to free Zohr.
It’s only fair, since she’s the one who got him captured in the first place…
1
EMMA
No one expects the apocalypse to be quiet.
At least, I never did. But it’s the thing that continues to surprise me the most, the silence of it all. When you grow up in the city, you expect to hear sounds. The hum of electricity. The muffled chug of a distant train. Cars. Dogs barking. Someone playing their radio far too loud. You hear people and their things. People living, laughing, existing.
That’s all gone in an apocalypse.
Now, the power’s long gone and there’s no endless hum. The cars are dead. The dogs have wandered away, and all the people who used to live in the city? Most of them are dead, too. Even though the silence is unnerving, you eventually get used to it.
Until it’s not so silent anymore. And then that’s when you get worried.
I’m used to the silence, myself. It’s become a good thing. Silence means there’s no dragon taking flight overhead, roaring and flaming. It means there are no people nearby. It means I’m left alone, with nothing but peace and quiet for company.
Tonight, it’s not so quiet though. I hear the distant, cranking sound of a motorcycle long before it arrives, and the sound’s almost offensive in the peaceful night. I clutch my baseball bat —my best friend now that my gun is gone—and move silently to the window of my gas station. There’s no gas—and I’ve posted signs to that effect, but I figured someo
ne would come check anyhow. I know I would, if it was me.
Sure enough, a motorcycle roars up, and then another. My heart drops when I see it’s a full fleet of motorcycles, because that can only mean one thing. Nomads. Nomads don’t live in one of the forts. They’re lawless, outlaws who can’t obey the simple rules of After society. They’re usually dicks, take what they want, and that includes women. This means I’m in danger if they find I’m here. Fuck. Not what I wanted. I think of the store down the road, where Sasha’s sitting cozy with her dragon. I wish I was there with them. Sasha’s offered, but I never felt comfortable. I regret it now.
I watch through the grimy, dark window as one of the men leaps off his bike and moves to the gas pump. He pulls the nozzle free and sniffs it, then squeezes the trigger. Nothing comes out, of course. It’s dry, just like my fucking sign says. Dumbass. But he jiggles the handle again, then inspects the pump and calls something out to his buddies, waiting to refuel their bikes. I peer at them, trying to count. There are at least seven bikes, with tandem riders—fourteen people. I see a van, too. Fuck. I clutch my bat tighter, my pulse racing with alarm. They haven’t looked in here, but if they do, they’ll see me. There’s not much left in this old gas station—no food, just a bunch of empty, trashed shelves that I’ve pushed to the side to make room for my bedding. I can hide, of course, but the moment they see my bedroll, they’ll know someone’s here.
I watch, alert, as one of the bikers moves to the side of the gas station, probably to test the emergency shut-off. It’s not going to help things though. I did the same when I got here. This place is dry as a bone.
I brace myself when someone comes toward the door. I’ve got it chained shut on the inside—I’m not a dumbass—and I clench my teeth, waiting as they try the handle. A moment later, someone else approaches, and they throw a rock through the glass door, shattering it.
Fuck.
I rise up in my corner, clutching my bat. Ready to attack. The man reaches through, tugs on the chains to undo them, and then tosses them to the floor. Another guy pushes the door open and strolls in, wearing a baseball cap. His stance is so familiar I can hardly believe what I’m looking at—
Until he turns and sees me at the same moment I see him.
“Boyd?” I say, shocked.
His eyes widen, and I realize it’s him all right—I’d recognize that heavy brow anywhere, not to mention the unshaven, straggly beard and the wide face. When he grins, I see the one broken tooth that always gapes out, a reminder that there’s no dental care in the After. It’s my brother, all right.
I don’t know if I’m relieved or terrified.
“The fuck? Emma? What are you doing here?” My brother’s look is openly skeptical.
“Squatting, dumbass. What’s it look like I’m doing?”
He breaks out into a grin. “Fuckin’ hell, I thought you were heading to Fort Orleans.”
“Changed my mind.” I don’t point out that I lied to him. Boyd’s got a sensitive ego. “Was going to check out Fort Dallas, but word is that they’re not the friendliest, so I thought I’d hang on my own for a while.”
“Well, you ain’t alone no more,” my brother says, grinning. “You’re with my crew now.” He gestures at the fleet of bikes behind him. “Me and the boys will take care of you.”
That’s kind of what I’m afraid of, especially since my brother’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes. But he’s the devil I know, so I beam at him as if this is a relief. “Great.”
Bregaste cajita de pollo, as my dad used to say. Boyd fucked me over once and I won’t forget.
I’ve never been extremely close to my brother, Boyd. He’s a lot like my dad in all the bad ways, and my dad beat my mom on a regular basis when we were kids. Both Mom and Dad died in the Rift, when the dragons first descended, and that left me and Boyd to fend for ourselves. Boyd was fourteen and I was twelve, so we hitched along with other survivors and tried to make a living in Fort Tulsa. Unfortunately, that place was a real shithole run by the worst kinds of scum. When I was sixteen, my brother got us booted because he sold me in a card game to an old toothless fucker, and I responded by beating the shit out of the guy with my bat. That didn’t go over well with the locals, and we ended up having to run out of the city.
After that, we wandered on our own for a while and then eventually found Jack. I don’t think that was his real name, but he referred to himself as “Jack of All Trades” and so we just called him Jack after a while. He was a tiny guy with pale skin, glasses, a wiry build, and a bald head. He was a prepper, and that was why he was surviving so well in the apocalypse. He felt bad for me and Boyd and took us in. That went great for a few months, until Boyd got bored, robbed Jack blind, and left in the night with most of our stuff, including Jack’s valuable guns. I hadn’t seen my brother since, and that was years ago.
Jack’s been gone these last eighteen months or so and I’m alone, and somehow I’ve managed to get stuck with my shitty, no good brother once more. Damn.
After they’ve confirmed that I’m telling them the truth and the gas station is indeed dry, the fleet of bikes heads off, and I have no choice but to go with them. Boyd makes the guy sitting behind him give me his spot, and so I ride behind my brother while he shouts into the wind, telling me what he’s been up to.
Apparently he got kicked out of another fort in between now and the time he left me and Jack. He doesn’t tell me the name of the fort, of course. My brother likes to keep his secrets, and I imagine whatever he did to get kicked out was pretty freaking bad. I don’t ask for more details. After he got booted, he hooked up with his current crew of nomads. Azar’s gang, he calls them.
“Who’s Azar?” I ask. Weird freaking name. “He foreign?”
My brother just laughs. “He’s some weird fuckin’ albino, but he’s a tough son of a bitch. You don’t mess with him. I’ll introduce you later.”
Great. I can hardly wait.
One of the bikes starts to sputter, low on fuel, so the bikes all pull into the parking lot of an old chain hotel. I get a funny feeling in my gut because the place looks relatively clean and neat, and there’s a cardboard sign on the door that reads “Keep Out – No Trespassers.” I smother my objections when a few of the thugs go into the hotel, guns in hand. What can I do? Get shot in the head, too?
Luckily, the people inside—three old men, an old woman and a couple of kids—give up their home without a fight. They’re chased, sobbing, into the night, and I have to harden my heart against them. They’ll find protection somewhere else. Hopefully. It’s at least a day or so from the next dragon attack.
Again, hopefully.
I focus on watching the others in the nomad band. I don’t see many women with this group. In fact, I only see two, and both are twice my age and could be someone’s mom if it weren’t for the slutty tops they’re wearing and the way they’re hanging on the men. That’s all right. A girl’s gotta get her safety in the After any way she can. No judging. But this could be dangerous for me, considering that I’m the only young female in the group. Maybe the fact that I’m Boyd’s sister will keep me safe.
Ha.
I keep a hand on my knife belt and think longingly of my baseball bat that I had to leave behind. These thugs look like any other nomad bunch in the After. Dirty, ruthless and brutal. I’ve no doubt they’ve murdered and pillaged their way here, because I’ve dealt with their kind a dozen times before.
The thing I can’t figure out is this Azar guy.
The leader of most nomads is usually the most savage one of the bunch, the most bloodthirsty. He’ll be the first one to use his gun and the last one to put it away. So I’m a little confused when Azar stays inside the van while the others go raiding the hotel. It’s not until the place is cleared that one of the nomads heads back to the van and knocks on the back window that he emerges.
And then I try not to stare. Boyd said Azar was an albino. Maybe he is, but there’s something about the way he moves that’s a little to
o creepily familiar. I’ve seen those strange, fluid movements before, I just don’t know where. He’s covered in fabric from head to toe, like a post-apocalyptic Berber of some kind, and he’s wearing sunglasses. For all his weirdness, though, the others are deferential to him, opening the door so he can go inside, and then rushing after him, as if this guy’s approval is all they want in their lives.
So stinking strange.
Boyd bounds up to me and gestures at the hotel. “Come on, we’re staying here for a while. Looks like pretty sweet digs. Nicely stocked food pantry and everything.”
“Super.” I try to sound more enthusiastic than I am. “So…what’s with this Azar guy?”
Boyd just grins. “You’ll see soon enough. Quit asking, chota.”
Sure. I’ll quit asking as soon as I get some answers.
I get a room of my own inside. I suppose that’s a plus. It’s next to Boyd’s, but it’s got a lock and deadbolt, and inside there’s a chair that I can shove under the doorknob to make sure no one can get in. Already I don’t like the way some of the guys are eyeing me, but I’m on to their kind. No one’s going to take me by surprise in a dark corner. I’m not that kind of fool. The After beat that out of me long ago.