Dragon Shattered_A Reverse Harem Dragon Fantasy Romance

by Keira Blackwood

  “Don’t.”

  He pulled his head back and looked up at me. His emerald eyes were full of concern.

  I reached between us and unzipped his fly.

  “I mean, don’t stop,” I said, and freed his cock from his boxers. It was long, hard, and tempting. I’d fantasized about this since he first slid into the Escalade a month ago. I’d wanted Taylor every day since.

  Tonight, I didn’t hold back. Tonight, I took what I wanted.

  And I wanted him.

  He kissed me deep. His tongue delved between my lips and caressed mine. The sensation coiled through me, and yearning followed along its path.

  I started at the bottom and worked my way up, unbuttoning his shirt from abs to collar. His pecs flexed when I touched them, as did his abs. I coiled my fingers in the small patch of hair on his chest, and followed the path south. When I reached my destination, he smiled against my lips.

  “I’ve wanted this every day since we met,” he said. “I’ve wanted you.”

  I took his cock in my fist and he bit his lip.

  “Part of me knew it, Ari,” he said. “Deep down, I knew once I saw you—my search had ended.”

  I raised my hand slowly, and was rewarded with a moan and a drop of moisture on his tip.

  He pushed my panties aside and sank two fingers into my slick heat.

  I leaned into him and knocked him back onto the mattress. He looked up at me, green eyes ablaze.

  “Condom?” he whispered.

  Dragons couldn’t get sick, so the only concern was birth control. “I’m on the pill,” I said.

  He nodded and kissed me.

  I positioned myself over him, took his mouth with mine, and lowered slowly onto his tip.

  The stretch was too much at first. It had been so long. It felt too good.

  He kneaded my breast in his right palm, squeezed my ass with his left.

  I took more, and pulled back. Then again, a little more each time.

  I needed this. I needed him.

  I closed my eyes and pictured Slade, his huge muscles and kind eyes. I pictured Quentin, his stiffness and his nimble fingers. I pictured Marc, who’d been my everything until I’d met these men. I opened my eyes and looked at the man I loved, at Taylor. His brown hair was swept back from his face, and his green eyes sparkled with understanding, with devotion, with love.

  I sank down and took every inch he had to give, and I held tight to his shoulders.

  His eyes remained on mine, and I couldn’t look away as I began to move on his cock. He let go of my breast to grip my ass cheeks with both hands, helping me rise up and down. Every movement wound me tighter. Every movement brought my closer. The ecstasy spooled through my core, winding around me, growing denser. My legs grew tired but I couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop. The friction was too wonderful. It consumed me.

  “Ariana,” he said. “Ariana, I love you.” Leaning forward, he caught one of my nipples in his mouth and swirled his tongue over the hard peak.

  Pleasure cascaded through me as my tunnel tightened around him.

  “Taylor,” I cried, as he pulled my hips down to meet his.

  He squeezed me in his arms, and lifted my hips twice more before he closed his eyes and tilted his head back. I watched his face as bliss washed over him just as it had me. And I was at peace. This was everything I wanted—to be free, to be loved.

  I settled down against his chest and imagined the possibilities our future could hold. I was done with regret, done with self-doubt. I’d share my days doing the kind of work that made the world a better place, with my partners by my side. I’d spend my nights with them, and loving the life we’d build together.

  Chapter Thirty

  Taylor

  Ariana slept soundly at my side, curled against my chest. I should have been exhausted by our lovemaking, as deeply asleep as she was. Instead, I gazed at her curves, at the soft glow of her skin in the moonlight, at the length of her lashes fanning against her cheeks. I should have been reveling in the fact that our passion had been far beyond anything conceived by poets of old, that the chemistry between us defied explanation. I should have been resting secure in the knowledge that I had finally found my mate.

  But every time I closed my eyes, I saw the same images repeated over and over again. A spear in my chest. Hard pebbles beneath me. My wings lay sprawled across the stones, lifeless in the cold rain. An amulet seared the bare skin on the center of my chest, while cracks spread across the crimson stone. Ari struggled with the spear, crying over my prone form. Sounds of battle echoed in the distance, but it was only her anguish that concerned me. I heard her voice, the strain of it, the agony in it. She told me that everything would be okay.

  I watched as my soul left my body—not in one glimmering piece, but in three.

  Yes, I had found my true, fated mate in Ariana.

  But there was far, far more to it than that.

  Also by Keira Blackwood

  Protectors of the Pack

  The Protectors of the Pack Complete Series Box Set

  Bodyguard

  Enemies

  Heir

  Vampires of Scarlet Harbor

  Pierced

  Hunted

  Ruled

  Can’t Prove Shift

  Misdelivered

  Continue reading for a preview of Pierced!

  Also by Liza Street

  The Corona Pride

  Savage Yearning

  Savage Loss

  Savage Heartache

  Savage Thirst

  Savage Bliss

  The Dark Pines Pride

  Wild Homecoming

  Wild Atonement

  Wild Reunion

  The Rock Creek Clan

  The Rose King

  Continue reading for a preview of Wild Homecoming!

  Pierced: Chapter One

  Hannah

  For the third night in a row, no clouds veiled the near-full moon. Its bright, honey glow brought out the sapphire shade of the sky, and beckoned my inner wolf to come out and play.

  But it wasn’t just the moon that had me ready to strip my clothes and shift. It was the icy air that swirled into the night sky every time I exhaled, like smoke from my grandfather’s pipe. It was the feeling of winter that chilled my gooseflesh-covered arms and sunk in to my core. Winter was home, and home meant tearing through fields of freshly-fallen snow with my pack.

  But Scarlet Harbor was a long way from Nowheresville, Vermont. And October in Maryland was still autumn, which meant no snow. Plus, the whole point of going away to college was to be away from what was comfortable and easy. It was about not spending my entire life in a small town where I knew everyone, and everyone knew me. It was about not taking over the family shop, and settling down with a mate just because that was what was expected of me.

  Living in Scarlet Harbor wasn’t easy. Stripping naked in the city street was generally frowned upon. So was being a wolf.

  So for the third night in a row, I stared up at the moon, while I followed my roommate on a wild goose chase. It was the latest string of murders plastered all over the news that had her so worked up. I’d never met anyone so passionate about chasing down a serial killer. Okay, I’d never met anyone else who’d want to. But I could scour the earth and never find anyone quite like Ashley King.

  “The wooden stake thing, that’s not real,” my roommate explained, as she turned down a dim, damp alleyway. If I remembered right, we were headed toward the scene of the second murder. But I was sure Ashley knew exactly where she was going. She put her fist over her heart in a stabbing motion, and stuck her tongue out to the side. I smiled. She had told me all of this before, a hundred times, stake-to-the-heart gestures included. But when she got excited, she just couldn’t help herself, and I got to hear it all again. Twice as much since the murders had started. Like most people, I was convinced it was the work of a deranged psychopath. Ashley was sure it was the work of vampires.

  “Oh yeah?” I replied,
as I took in the scents of garbage and mildew, rats and discarded beer bottles. There were countless alleyways just like it in the city, not too far from campus, the affluent neighborhoods, or the postcard attractions of the harbor. Tall, brick buildings encased us, each built fifty years ago or more, each coated in a film of green growth that was resilient enough to thrive in the dark. Homeless people gathered under overpasses, junkies in dark passages—a stark contrast to the small town I’d grown up in. Maybe it was because she was from Scarlet Harbor, but Ashley was numb to the poverty and the creeps that stared at us. She was fearless. She never seemed to care who was around, unless they sported fangs. Which no one did.

  Ashley was too enthusiastic about the hunt to notice that I wasn’t paying much attention to the conversation. Instead, I listened to the little noises all around us, and kept watch for danger. When on the hunt for a murderer, I figured it was best to remain vigilant.

  As soon as the vampire talk started, I tuned out. It didn’t matter anyway, I already knew what she was going to say. ‘You have to destroy the heart,’ and ‘a lot of the rumors were actually started by those who wished to conceal their true weaknesses.’ Ashley’s obsession with vampires was all-consuming, and had been since before we’d been assigned to live together freshman year. With people getting slashed up and eaten two miles from campus, she’d only grown more eager, and had conducted more research. She was convinced that the chatrooms and wiki pages online had given her the ‘real’ facts about vampires. I loved her anyway.

  “Yeah, I mean, if you completely destroy the heart, that’ll do it,” she said, and adjusted the book bag on her shoulder. “But it doesn’t have to be wood. That’s how they kill each other, you know, rip out the heart and drink the blood. But that’s pretty rare.”

  “Right,” I said. With a deep breath, I took in the cool, crisp night air. I could smell him before he bolted from between metal trashcans, paws flickering in a flurry of fear. A little, black cat. The lid of one of the cans clanged as it hit the ground, and echoed through the alleyway. Ashley’s green eyes sparkled with excitement as she scanned the alley for the source of the noise. But there was still no vampire, so she kept talking. And I responded automatically. “Yeah,” I said.

  “And they especially love to eat girls named Hannah who don’t listen to their friends.” I heard her words, somewhat, but my attention was on the cat that hid from us. His tiny heart fluttered as quickly as his legs had moved. I had never wanted to be a cat, but I envied his ability to roam the city. If I shifted, ran around on four paws instead of two feet, there was no way I could blend in so easily with the surroundings. If there was a shifter in the city, other than me, he’d probably be happiest if he could change into an alley cat. Or maybe even a rat, though I’d never met a shifter that could do either. People went running when they saw a wolf. A cat, not so much.

  “Sure,” I replied, noticing that it was my turn to speak.

  “Hannah, what did I just say?” Ashley asked, as she turned with her hands on her tiny, model-sized hips. A crease formed between her perfectly-shaped, dark brows, as she scowled at me. And I knew I’d spaced just a bit too long.

  “What?” I asked, . Ashley’s plum-painted lips pursed. Busted.

  “I don’t get why you don’t believe me,” Ashley said, dropping her arms. “With the whole werewolf thing going on, you should be more open-minded. There’s plenty of doubt out there about your kind too.”

  “Wolf shifter,” I replied.

  “Whatever. Paranormal weirdness, no offense.”

  “None taken.” I said; and I meant it. After only a year and a half together, Ashley and I were like sisters. She knew my secret, and she didn’t care. Maybe she even liked me more for it. I knew she wasn’t prejudiced against my kind. “But that’s my point. Until I moved here I lived with other wolf shifters my entire life. I’ve met bears, tigers, foxes—I’ve even heard stories about dragons.” Ashley’s green eyes lit up.

  “Stories,” I repeated; and her shoulders sunk. “But I’ve never seen or heard of vampires outside of books and movies.”

  “Maybe they’re just that good at hiding, or maybe there aren’t that many of them. Maybe we’ve seen them a thousand times, every time we come out here hunting. And maybe when we find them, they just glamour us into forgetting the whole encounter.”

  “Maybe,” I said.

  “I wonder if there’s anything that can stop a glamour. Or maybe just some hypnosis therapy that would allow us to check back in time, to the deepest recesses of our memories. You know, just in case.”

  My skepticism must have showed, because Ashley sighed.

  “I guess we should get back to campus,” she said, defeated. Even though I thought the idea of real vampires was silly, I hated to see her disappointed.

  “How about just one more block,” I said, and took her hand. Ashley smiled.

  “Thanks, Hannah.” We strolled out of the alley and waited at the light for the little walking man symbol to glow green. Midtown was still busy at this time of night. Cars flew by in both directions, cheap and ritzy alike. It was one of the things I liked most about being in Scarlet Harbor—a microcosm of the world, people from different backgrounds, from different places, all crammed together in a hundred-mile radius. Every metered spot along the curb was taken, rustic bars and restaurants packed and full of life.

  We crossed the busy street, with a crowd of men and women, all dressed in jackets and coats, scarves and hats. A group of guys about our age laughed loudly, and an elderly couple held hands. Skin tones ranged from pale as snow to dark as chocolate. All together moving as one. Diversity really was the best part of the city. Plus, when I’d taken the tour, there wasn’t a single scent of another shifter. Scarlet Harbor was so different from home. Which was exactly why I chose this university.

  When we reached the other side of the street, the crowd dispersed, and I led Ashley down another alley, just like the last. This one too was empty of human and vampire life. The streetlights faded behind us as we turned behind the row of buildings. Just like the last, the walkway smelled like garbage.

  Our path ended with a fifteen-foot tall chain link fence stretching from the warehouses that flanked it. Barbed wire topped its twenty foot height. Maybe it was a prison. Either way, we weren’t going any further. “Okay,” Ashley said, “let’s head back.” I nodded and we turned around, only to find three shadowy figures blocking our way. Impossible.

  “Pinch me,” I said.

  “What?” Ashley asked.

  “Is this a dream?” I asked. “Ouch.” She really pinched me. And I wasn’t dreaming. There was no way I could have missed their approach. With the advantage of being a shifter, I should have heard their footsteps. Their breathing. Their heartbeats. There was nothing. No scent. Nothing. They moved closer, three dark figures that I shouldn’t have feared. Something about them was wrong. A knot formed in my stomach. My hair stood on end. My instincts screamed 'shift and run like hell.' No way I was leaving Ashley. I squeezed my friend’s hand and prayed that my instinct was wrong.

  Get Pierced now on Amazon!

  Wild Homecoming: Chapter One

  While the Ford Raptor barreled over the mountains, Jackson stared at the road through the windshield, looking between Will and Hayley, his brother and sister, who sat in the front seats. They were quickly approaching the Washington border. So close to home. But as always, they’d careen right past it and head up to Canada.

  Always on the run. But after driving around the US for four years, it was hard to feel any fear. If the boogeymen were still after the Jaynes siblings, they’d have caught up by now.

  Jackson’s phone buzzed in his lap, and he glanced at the screen. Another notification from one of the Licorice Fiddles’ social media accounts. His sister turned around, watching him from the front seat, while he unlocked his phone and scrolled through the comments on SocialBook.

  “Didn’t you just check that?” she asked, her bright blue eyes narrowed in jud
gment.

  “Hayley,” he said. “It’s my job.”

  “Dick nozzle,” she said, her voice affectionate, “they don’t pay you to monitor their online stuff all the time.”

  “What else am I gonna do?” He gestured at the constantly changing scenery beyond Will’s giant pick-up truck. Now, it was autumn, and the deciduous trees were changing color, peppered in among the evergreens.

  Will, as always, drove with his hands looking relaxed on the steering wheel, although Jackson knew “relaxed” wasn’t possible with Will.

  “I don’t know what else you could do,” Hayley said. “Get a life of your own, maybe?”

  He flipped her off, and she flipped him off, and then she turned around to face the front of the truck.

  The message icon at the top of his screen lit up—a personal message, not something intended for the band whose accounts he managed.

  SMG: Where are you today, Mr. Globetrotter?

  Jackson’s heart lifted in his chest, and he had to look outside to make sure it wasn’t because of a sudden rise and drop in the road. Nope, there was nothing wrong with the road. He was just reacting to another message from Summer.

  JRJ: Approaching the Washington border and fighting with my little sister. #FamilyRoadTrip #FromHell

  She sent back a laughing emoji.

  He noticed she didn’t ask whether his family would be stopping near Huntwood.

  The little town of Huntwood, with its nearby Paris Lake, was what he and Summer had in common, and it was the element that had kickstarted their online correspondence. She lived there now, and up until four years ago, Jackson had lived there his whole life. Huntwood had been the closest town to his family’s territory of Dark Pines, which bordered the lake.