Dragon Isle Boxed Set, Books 4-6: Lost to the Dragon, Beware of Dragons, and Catching the Dragon
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Contents
Lost to the Dragon
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Beware of Dragons
Mailing List
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Catching the Dragon
Mailing List
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Author
Books
Alien Dragon
Dragon Isle Book Bundle
This collection includes:
Lost to the Dragon (Dragon Isle #4)
Beware of Dragons (Dragon Isle #5)
Catching the Dragon (Dragon Isle #6)
Lost to the Dragon
Sophie Stern
Copyright © 2015 by Sophie Stern
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Synopsis
Alan works on Dragon Isle.
He's the only doctor at the medical clinic and is in charge of all dragon and human health concerns on the island. He keeps to himself, doesn't get out much, and stays out of people's business.
He leads an ordinary, boring life.
Then Skye happens.
The little human washes up on shore after getting caught in a storm. She wants to go home, but Alan insists on nursing her back to health before he lets her free.
Only Alan starts to fall for the little human, and she's quite inclined to let him.
For the dragons who are lonely
And the girls who set them free
1
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 help 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 phon
e 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 things 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.
Most of the dragons hesitated to seek medical care off the island because they were afraid of dragon poachers or of human doctors who didn’t understand their personal medical needs. Many dragons were afraid that human doctors would try to steal vials of their blood for medicinal purposes. Others simply didn’t like the idea of humans look at them like they were freaks.
At Alan’s clinic, dragons could get the care they needed from someone who understood what it was like to be different, what it was like to be scared, what it was like to be a dragon. He treated his patients with care and precision and most importantly, he built a personal relationship with each of his patients.
Alan wasn’t in this for the money. He didn’t care about a quick turnover rate. No, the only thing Alan wanted to do was help the dragons he lived with in any way he could.
So it was good, really, that he was alone. He didn’t have the distraction of a wife or girlfriend to keep him busy. He didn’t have to rush home to share dinner with anyone. He didn’t have to worry about consulting someone before making weekend plans.
Yes, it was good. It was convenient.
So why did his heart feel so empty?
2
Skye stared at the guard shack for almost half an hour before she was satisfied Liam wasn’t there. It was the middle of the night, so he was tucked away in his little houseboat. Good. She’d be able to make her escape quickly and, if she was any good, without waking him up.
She eyed the row of boats one last time. She needed to hurry. It was cold and windy and she was exhausted. She’d spent the whole day farting around Nellenston and for a port town, there wasn’t a lot to fucking do. She’d gone to every little trinket shop and bought way too many postcards, but she was that kinda girl. She like
d to collect tiny things she could easily fit in a suitcase. She didn’t need a dozen postcards from the town outside of Dragon Isle, but she had them now. There was no going back.
Even if she didn’t get a good story out of her adventure, at least she’d have her memories. She’d have something to look back on and enjoy. She’d have something to remember that once upon a time, she did something wild.
No more predictable, boring Skye.
Skye was past all that.
She didn’t know what she was going to do once she arrived on the island, but she’d figure something ought. Dragons couldn’t sense she was human, could they? Were their senses of smell that keen? She could find a cave to hide in or maybe an abandoned tree house. She had read a horror novel once where the main character hid in a tree house to escape from zombies. That character had survived. Maybe Skye could, too.
She took one last deep breath, then darted across the empty parking lot to the docks and hurried to the boat she had chosen. It was the green one with the motor that looked like it still functioned. She hauled her suitcase into the boat and let it hit the bottom. It made a noise, and Skye ducked down, hoping she hadn’t brought too much attention to herself.
Nothing happened.
Goosebumps formed on her skin as she hid there for a minute, trying to calm herself.
“You can do this,” she whispered. “You can do this.” She had to. Skye had spent way too much time in boring office jobs where all she did was make copies. She was tired of being the last girl unmarried, the last one who didn’t own a house, the last one to travel the world. All of her friends had moved on but Skye hadn’t. She had stayed in a boring, dull relationship far too long and what had that gotten her?
Oh yeah.
Nothing.
She frowned as she thought of Jesse and his stupid haircut and his stupid face. For two years she had been faithful and loyal and financially supportive and for two years he had been fucking her best friend behind her back.