Taming the Alpha

by Mandy M. Roth

  “But—”

  He shook his head, cutting off her words. He took her hand and brought it beneath his shirt to rest over his heart. Her fingers trembled as she touched him. “Close your eyes, Eve, and know.”

  For some reason, she obeyed. Maybe she wanted his convictions to be true. No one had ever wanted her so terribly they were willing to cross portals for her. Kyran was kind and caring and patient. She felt that already. But now, as she touched him, she felt not only the warmth of his skin but a tingling thread being drawn from his heart into her. The sensation started as the prickling of pure emotion—heartache and fears, passion and pleasure, longing and pain, happiness and joy, rapture. The emotions collided in her like an offering of all life was and could be—not a sugarcoated fantasy but a reality that nothing was perfect but this could be close.

  From the emotion of possibilities sprang forth a stream of conscious thoughts. At first, it was merely words—beautiful, heart, don’t go, stay, stay…

  Eve gasped and opened her eyes as his voice sounded in her head. He had shifted and stood before her as a dragon. Intense eyes stared at her from the harder brown flesh his face had become.

  “I can feel you are scared, not of me but of a rooted life,” his voice said though his lips did not move.

  “I,” Eve whispered aloud. His head lowered slightly and she stopped talking. Instead, she tried to direct her thoughts back to him. “I feel you begging me to…stay?”

  He smiled and nodded.

  “You’re worried if I go you won’t ever find anyone else.” Eve felt her shoulders slump some. “But you’re wrong, Kyran. You have so much to offer. I think you just don’t understand Earth dating customs. I can help you. I—”

  “I feel you don’t want to help me because you don’t want me with anyone else. You love—”

  Eve jerked her hand from his chest and stepped back to cut off the connection.

  “It’s too late,” he continued to speak in her mind. “The connection is formed. We are truly mated. Forever. I told you, this was blessed by the gods.”

  Eve’s gaze roamed down his body, automatically looking over his shifted form. He had characteristics of what she’d call a medieval dragon, as if that creature mated with a man to create the Draig. Unable to deny the feelings swirling inside her, she stepped to him. Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him, not caring that he was unlike her. Hard skin melted into softer flesh and he kissed her back as a man.

  “I told you, we cannot mate in shifted form,” he whispered against her mouth.

  “You’re pretty confident you’re going to get lucky.” Eve grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him with her deeper into the forest as she looked for a place they could lie down.

  “I am indeed very lucky, m’lady.” He tugged her against his body and lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Her feet dangled as he walked.

  “I said get lucky,” she started to correct before she said, “Never mind. Yes, you’re very lucky.”

  He smiled into their kiss before deepening it. Kyran laid her down slowly onto a bed of short fluffy plants. It felt like cotton against her skin. He skimmed his hand over her waist and lifted her shirt.

  “You better not stop this time,” Eve thought. Kyran chuckled, indicating he’d heard her.

  The soft plants tickled her skin as he pulled her shirt over her head. She wore her black bra. He fumbled with it, trying to pull it up like a shirt. Laughing, Eve pushed up to unhook it in the back.

  Kyran removed his shirt and tossed it aside before leaning over her to kiss her stomach. He trailed his lips up the valley of her breasts. Eve’s breath caught. Their bodies were connected by more than flesh. She felt as if his heart beat next to hers. When he breathed, she felt as if the air filled her lungs. His eyes flashed with gold, drawing her deeper under his spell.

  With each aching sweep of his mouth, he stirred passion. Eve’s toes curled and she arched up. Kyran unfastened the ties at her waist with deft fingers before tugging them off her legs. As she laid naked on the alien soil, she rubbed against the cottony bed.

  Kyran stood and she watched him fully undress. The solid form of his muscles flexed beautifully. Dots of sunlight streamed through the trees to dance over his flesh. The hard length of his arousal stood powerfully tall from his hips, yet she felt no fear when his hips settled between her parted thighs.

  Kyran splayed his fingers over her chest, gently holding her down. Mindless, she reached for him. He brought his free hand between her legs and intimately rubbed her sex. He slid in her moisture, circling her clit.

  Eve dug her heels into the ground and pressed her hips up. She moaned, begging him for more. Kyran let loose a low, rumbling primal sound in the back of his throat. Releasing her chest, he tugged her hips and angled his body for penetration. His cock brushed along her sex before he eased into her. Slowly, he filled her, stretching her so that her body could take him.

  Eve gasped when he circled his hips, liking the way he hit her just right. It was as if he read her desires and knew just how to please her. A warm hand cupped her breast, delighting the hard nipple with tiny pinches. He thrust deeper, working in and out. The tension built. He rocked faster, harder. Eve stiffened, orgasming hard. Instantly, Kyran joined her, coming inside her.

  Weakened in the aftermath of pleasure, she dropped her limbs to the ground and didn’t move save to catch her breath.

  Kyran kissed her lips and whispered, “I am a very lucky man.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “It is done. We have joined,” Kyran announced.

  Shocked, Eve tried to stop walking but Kyran insistently led her into what appeared to be someone’s private office. The king looked over from where he stood in front of a row of shelves that held rolled parchments. His hand dropped from where he’d been about to grab a scroll.

  Eve’s mouth opened but no sound came out. She was far from a prude, and granted, her childhood didn’t exactly classify as normal, but she was pretty sure you didn’t announce to your parents when you got laid. Regardless of what planet you lived on.

  “Many blessings!” The king grinned. “The people will be happy to hear of this. You have set a fine example.”

  Eve tried to smile but knew her stunned expression couldn’t have looked pleasant.

  “If the rest of the princes find wives, this will solve our problems.” King Severin approached Eve. “Well done, daughter. I can’t believe I was worried that taking brides from Earth would end badly. You are a very agreeable species. Not at all contrary like the eldest of our elders have made humans out to be. Finding women should prove simple enough. We will have all the eligible males settled within a few years.”

  Eve didn’t really feel like his words were a compliment. “Ah, exactly how many Earth women do you plan on kidnapping?”

  “We are marrying them,” Kyran corrected. “Giving them a home.”

  She felt his sincerity inside of her. The connection between them was strange, and she tried to block it. “Listen, just because I’m not freaking out on you more doesn’t mean that all Earth women are like me. They expect to be wooed, romanced. Not just hit over the head and dragged through a portal to an alien land. Many of them will have boyfriends and families. You can’t just get them drunk and lead them down the rabbit hole.”

  The king looked at his son and frowned. Instantly, he darted forward and put Eve behind his back. “You struck your wife?”

  “I would never,” Kyran swore.

  The king turned confused eyes to her. “Was it an accident? Why would you say my son struck you? No man shall ever strike his wife.”

  “My meaning was lost in translation.” Eve made a mental note to be more literal. It would be hard. Sarcasm and sass didn’t go away over night.

  “So you have not been injured by my son?” the king insisted. “The joining was your doing?”

  “He has been very kind.” Eve inched back as the king stood extremely close. “And, uh…”
She made a weak noise, sure she’d never been so mortified in all her life. “He did not hurt me when we, um, joined.”

  Slowly, the king nodded. “Good.”

  “Anyway, as I was trying to say, kidnapping women will not really go over well with the Earth government. It’s also not fair to take women away from their homes without giving them a chance to decide for themselves. Things are very different since you left Earth. People are different.” Eve glanced at Kyran. “And to tell you the truth, your guys looked a little comical—” The men gave her confused looks. “It was amusing. You sent a 1950s TV cowboy, a ninja, an outlaw biker and the sailor from—well, you wouldn’t know the 70’s music group I’m talking about.”

  “You make a good argument, m’lady,” the king said. “You can instruct our men how to woo Earth women before they bring them home. You will start with Prince Finn and the Var princes.”

  Eve wasn’t sure how he took her protest of kidnapping women to equal she was offering to set up a lonely shapeshifter intergalactic dating service. Then, seeing an opening, she nodded in agreement. “I’d be happy to help. But it would probably be best if I went with them through the portal.”

  To her utmost surprise, they both agreed in unison.

  Just like that. Yes. She was free to travel back to Earth.

  “See, the gods know,” King Severin said to his son, grinning. “I will tell the queen of this arrangement. You should show the princess under the palace.”

  When they were alone, Kyran pulled her into his arms. “My father really just wants an excuse to seek out my mother.”

  “Under the palace?”

  “The portal is in a cave system that runs under the palace. We actually created another entrance that requires less climbing and is reachable through the forest where we spent our first night together. However, it can still be reached by taking the stairwell down.”

  “So you will really let me go through the portal?” she asked. Somehow the idea of escaping didn’t excite her as it should have. She should want to go home, but with Kyran’s feelings swirling inside her, she was confused. Logic told her she needed to get away from him to think without his presence clouding her emotions.

  “It is true not everyone is allowed to go through, but you, my princess, have very special knowledge that can benefit us greatly.” Kyran swept her into his arms and held her as if it was the most natural thing in the world to hold his woman in such a way. Complete trust moved through them. She also felt his desire for her. It flowed openly as if he had no reason to hide anything from her.

  “I know you wanted to dine with your family tonight, but do you think we might make other arrangements?” She tugged on his arm and gave him a meaningful look.

  Kyran answered by carrying her through the door and rushing down the hall. Eve tossed back her head and laughed, lightly kicking her feet. One thing was certain. With Kyran, she would never be bored.

  ***

  Kyran held his wife closer, wishing to never let her go. In all his years, he’d never understood just how life altering finding a mate really was. Eve was the piece he’d been missing without even realizing it.

  His blood simmered at her nearness. The softness of her skin contrasted his harder muscles. How could he have known humans were so fragile? The delicateness of her called his protective instincts forth. She wasn’t like the female dragons. Her eyes were playful and she said things that made no sense, and yet he always seemed to understand her.

  “You are remarkable,” he whispered, nestling his face into her hair. “I am truly blessed by the gods.”

  Eve made a small noise and placed her hand on the side of his face. “You’re very lucky you did not pick up a high-strung woman, prince dragon.” She started to laugh before stopping to add, “Hey, there’s that guy again. I swear I see him everywhere.”

  Kyran turned only to catch a glimpse of a servant’s tunic as the man turned a corner. He laughed. “He works in the palace. You will have to get used to seeing servants around.”

  Eve kicked her feet lightly. “Keep walking.”

  Kyran hurried with her through the halls toward their home. “I wish to be with you again.”

  She gave a sultry laugh. “Only if you promise me one thing.”

  “Anything your heart desires, m’lady.”

  “Don’t go announcing to anyone afterward that we joined. I mean, sure people probably know we’re having sex, but I’m not comfortable talking about it with your family.”

  It took a moment, but he realized what she meant. “You think…no, no. I said our joining was done, our connection as mates. It is the final step to marriage.”

  Eve blushed. “Oh, okay, good, so he wasn’t talking about me sleeping with you.”

  Kyran shook his head in denial and felt her relief. “Not at all.”

  Once inside their home, he carried her to the bedroom. She practically melted against him, her body relaxing into his. Eve pressed kisses to his neck, each touch sending a shiver along his body.

  He laid her on the bed and eagerly stripped out of his clothing. Eve pushed her pants from her hips, baring her legs. Kyran paused mid-movement to stare at her. Emotion overwhelmed him and he couldn’t speak. This was everything a man could want—a wife, hope of a family, a future he could commit to.

  Eve grinned and took off her shirt. She threw it at him. “Come here already.”

  Kyran obeyed, crawling over her. Her lips parted, accepting his kiss. She lifted her arms and spread her legs, accepting his body. She made tiny noises of pleasure, so soft and feminine. He never wanted to stop kissing her.

  He ran his hand over her naked hip. The contact of their skin caused an electrical current to run between them. He felt her desire as if it were his own. Eve closed her eyes, gasping and trembling.

  They made love slowly, exploring and discovering. When he finally entered her, pressing his arousal into her warmth, the moment was perfection. Only when he felt her body tremble did he let himself have release.

  “My princess,” he whispered against her neck.

  She wound her fingers into his hair. “Meeting you has been a surreal adventure.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Kyran felt his wife wasn’t in the room the moment he opened his eyes. Stretching his arms, he tossed the covers aside and hopped off the platform bed. Excitement filled him at the thought of Eve. He wanted to shift and run the forest, roaring his happiness to the trees. He wanted to hold her forever, worship at her feet, make love to her until they couldn’t move. He didn’t need his head to tell him what his heart innately knew. She was made for him. He’d known it the first moment he saw her on stage. Her song had been a shockwave that shook him to his very core.

  “I love you, Eve,” he whispered, never having been so sure of anything in his life.

  Eager to tell her, he found himself tossing on clothes and going in search of her. She wasn’t in their home. The connection they shared was still new, but he tried to sense her location anyway. He detected nothing. Letting the shift ripple over his body, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply to catch her scent. It was faint but there.

  Without thought, he followed her trail. To his surprise, it led him deeper into the palace, away from the main section to the narrow old tunnels and finally the steep stairwell. His heart pounded heavily. He’d told Eve about the tunnels. It had never occurred to him that she would use them to leave him.

  The old tunnels were treacherous, which was why the shifters never used them, but he smelled her down there amongst the damp stone. In fact, it was the only thing his dragon senses could focus on—finding his wife.

  He heard the activated portal before he saw the soft purple glow of its power. The valley entrance was blocked and so the air of the cave was stagnant. Dragons and cats were carved into the stone chamber, pointing away from the portal, a symbol of their exodus from Earth.

  The elders called it magic. Their scholars called it technology. Kyran didn’t know who to believe, he only
knew that the portal worked. Without thought, he went after his wife. He couldn’t force her to stay with him, but he wouldn’t let her go without a fight. He would tell her how he felt. He would beg her to stay, for without her, he could never be whole.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Passing through the portal stirred Eve’s memories. However, she didn’t have time to dwell on them as she was tossed to the hard ground on the other side. Her body tingled from the trip, the pins and needles of slowed blood returning to normal speed. She felt as if a piece of herself had been ripped out, left behind with her dragonshifter husband.

  Husband. The very thought caused her to fill with joy and sorrow. It was the first time she’d allowed herself to think of him in such a way. But something had happened in her short time with him. She’d found her purpose. She’d found a family. The full ache of having that ripped from her left sharp pain in her chest. It was true when people said you didn’t know fully what you had until it was taken away. Desperation filled her and she tried to crawl back to the portal—only it was gone. She was trapped on Earth.

  “Get up,” a gruff voice demanded.

  Eve looked up at the shifted cat-man who stood over her. Kyran had called him a servant, but she wasn’t as sure. When he’d first approached her, she’d ignored her instinct to run. Oh, why hadn’t she run? Years on the street had taught her to trust her gut. This man had been following her. She shouldn’t have ignored it.

  She looked behind her to the cracked rock wall that they’d come through for a hint of how to get back to Kyran. It was useless. The portal was gone. How would Kyran find her? Would he even know to look? When she left him he’d been sleeping. Not wanting to wake him with her insomnia, she’d merely thought to walk the halls. They were peaceful and quiet in the night hours.

  “Just tell me what you want?” Eve said, not for the first time.

  “I want your kind off my planet. Your weak blood will taint ours, turn us feeble.” Brown hair framed wild eyes as he reached for her. At least he’d shifted back into his man form. He grabbed her arm and dragged her toward an old white building she didn’t recognize. Shouts sounded in the distance followed by singing. They emerged from their hidden alcove to a courtyard. His eyes glowed with the power of his shift, but there was more. There was hate in his gaze, disgust. He sniffed the air and curled his lips. “Such drunken filth. Your kind has no discipline.”