A Dragon's Heart: (Dragons of Paragon - Book 1)

by Jan Dockter

  “Don’t say a word Astrid.”

  “Oh, please do speak. You have such a pretty voice, as well as, ahem, other attributes.”

  Tem’s face turned red. “You keep your scaly claws off of her, you traitor.”

  “What is this?” Prime Minister Abalon said as he rose from the desk. He stubbed his cigar in an ash tray. He sniffed like a dog would to catch a sent. “Have you mated with the human? Now, Tem, you know my mother won’t put up with that.”

  “Mother?”

  “Try to keep up, sweetheart,” leered Abalon.

  “Rhea,” said Tem through gritted teeth, “is his mother.”

  “And your cousin?” said Astrid.

  “Oh, she is precious, Tem,” laughed Abalon. “Yes, we are cousins. But that hardly mattered to my mother. She made him her general anyway, a position that should have gone to me.”

  “Well, you know your mother. She can’t stand the idea of someone trying to take her throne from her.”

  “And what do you know of it?” said Abalon. “You weren’t even hatched yet.”

  “Wait,” said Astrid. “Was he the dragon Lord that took a human mate and the dragons went to war over it?”

  “Very good!” said Abalon. “You do go from zero to sixty in three seconds. My, aren’t you sporty?”

  “Automobile references aside,” said Tem with annoyance, “what the hell are you doing here?”

  “Here? In my own house? Oh, that’s right. You didn’t know that the government confiscated your property. But thanks for revealing that dragon hoard. I didn’t know it was there. I’ll make sure it receives a good home, along with that tasty bit of yours.” He smiled salaciously at Astrid.

  “You will leave Astrid alone!” roared Tem. “She is my mate.”

  “Ah, a mate bond? Too bad I don’t remember mine. Mother was quite good at erasing it.”

  “So you betrayed her too,” snarled Tem, “by giving your mother permission to do that.”

  “As you said,” said Abalon coldly. “Mother wasn’t going to allow me to take her throne. The prophecy warned her. Either I allowed her to erase the mate bond or go to my death. I chose to live.”

  “Yes, after many good dragons died for your cause. You don’t deserve to lead the dragons.”

  “I will,” said Abalon smugly. “Because I will cause the humans to rise up against our kind. It’s already begun. And thank you very much for raising panic in the country. The military is clamoring for the chance to root out and destroy the dragons here. By the time we are done, I will give mother a choice. Abdicate or face the extinction of our race.”

  “You’re despicable,” snapped Astrid. “You’d use humans for your ambitions?”

  “What else are humans for, dear? Now, come along. I have a nice cell for you.” Abalon stepped forward and grabbed Astrid’s arm.

  “I told you,” growled Tem. “Keep your hands off her.” He rushed at Abalon, who backhanded Tem with such force that Tem flew across the room into a glass fronted bookcase. The glass shattered around Tem and he slumped to the floor groaning.

  “Tem!” screamed Astrid.

  “You really must try to forget him, dear,” said Abalon, tightening his grip on her arm to painful levels. “He will face the executioner in a few days’ time.”

  Astrid twisted furiously in the Prime Minister’s arms, but he was too strong. He pulled her toward the door and flung it open. Relentlessly, he marched down the hall and into a great atrium. He pulled at the door.

  “Stand down, stand down,” he called. “I have one of the prisoners.” He yanked Astrid through the door with him and Astrid saw a line of heavily armed soldiers pointing their guns at the house.

  “Stand down,” he yelled again and the men lowered their weapons. An officer came forward to take Astrid, but before that could happen a great roar shook them all. Astrid twisted to see Tem holding on the doorway glowering at Abalon. With his blood streaked clothes, his hair in disarray, and the fierce look on his face, he was absolutely frightening. Then he launched forward and in mid-air shifted into his magnificent dragon form.

  Tem landed on Abalon and raked his face with his talons, causing Abalon to cry out. But then Abalon also shifted too and became a silver dragon whose scales shone in the dull sun. The two great dragons writhed on the ground, doing battle, roaring and hissing. Each of their jaws snapped noisily as they tried to sink their cutting fangs into the other’s neck.

  The soldiers stared in disbelief as the two dragons rolled on the grassy lawn in a mass of snarling reptile flesh. It was the most frightening thing Astrid had ever seen.

  Abalon roared and broke away as blood streamed from his neck. He rolled, coming close to Astrid, then shifted. In one swift move, he jerked Astrid forward and held her against him.

  “Surrender, Tem, or I’ll kill your mate!”

  The soldiers raise their rifles and waited for an order to fire.

  “Don’t!” screamed Astrid. “Save yourself!”

  Tem roared with rage and flapped his wings, but the right one, though it moved, still wasn’t right.

  “Wounded,” said Abalon in Astrid’s ear. Good.”

  “Fire!” he yelled.

  Just as that instant, a gray-green dragon dropped from the sky and landed in front of the line of soldiers. He laid a line of hot fire in front of them and the grass burned hot and fast, forcing them back.

  “Calvin!” cried Astrid.

  Calvin turned and regarded Astrid and Abalon. He shook his head and Astrid saw the anger in his eyes. His clawed feet shook the ground as he moved forward one step after another. Abalon clutched Astrid tighter, using her as a shield against the clearly enraged dragon. Calvin shot a line of fire above Abalon’s head and the smell of burnt hair filled Astrid’s nostrils. He shrieked and his grip loosened. Astrid turned and jammed her knee upward and the dragon howled and fell backwards.

  Tem shifted to human again and advanced on Abalon with murder in his eye.

  “Give it up, Abalon” said Tem. “All these men have seen you turn into a dragon. You’re finished as Prime Minister now.”

  “Don’t think so,” said Abalon. Astrid, Tem and Calvin watched as Abalon strode through the fire raging on the ground and in the line of soldiers behind it. He ripped a grenade launcher from the surprised soldier holding it. Then he yanked at the man’s ammunition belt and tore away a couple of the grenades while the man protested. Abalon laughed and tossed the grenades in the air and shifted. He caught them in his dragon mouth as easily as if he was snapping up marshmallows in the air.

  “What is he doing?” said Astrid.

  Avalon laughed as his stomach rumbled. The soldiers stared in disbelief.

  “Retreat, retreat,” an officer called and all the men scrambled to find safer ground. But Abalon opened his mouth and breathed molten orange death on the soldiers. Men screamed as they died and the ammunition in the soldiers’ ammo belts exploded in fitful pings. Abalon rose in the air with a great flap of his wings and poured more fire on the men and equipment ringing the house. Vehicles exploded into roaring flames igniting the shrubs and trees close to the house. More men cried out in their death throes and both Calvin and Tem roared their rage at this unspeakable act. But they were in the middle of an inferno. If they did not escape they would be casualties too.

  Astrid ran toward Tem.

  “We’ve got to go,” she said.

  He nodded and gestured to Calvin. The elder dragon moved closer and extended his foreleg. Tem and Astrid climbed to his back and, with one final roar of disapproval, Calvin rose into the flame filled air and bore them away.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Tem

  Tem and Astrid sat on the hotel bed watching the news. His hands were clenched as he saw how Abalon spun what happened at Tem’s estate, or rather, his former estate. That house and land wasn’t his anymore. He regretted that. He loved the place and had looked forward to settling there again.

  “He made you responsible for every
thing,” said Astrid bitterly.

  “Of course he would,” said Tem. “I made things easy for him. The humans in the UK are mobilizing for dragon hunts and the rest of the world is being whipped into a frenzy over our supposed crimes. It won’t take long for Rhea to strike back, especially if any dragon is harmed.”

  Tem hated how it had all turned out. Innocent men were dead and Abalon still held a position of power he never should have had. And now he and Astrid were not just fugitives in their own country, but world-wide fugitives. Their pictures littered the newsfeeds and social media platforms.

  Astrid stared out of the hotel window.

  "I've always wanted to visit Paris with the man I loved," she said wistfully.

  Tem put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

  "Paris is for lovers," he said.

  "Are we?" she said. "Lovers?"

  It struck Tem that he had not said those words to Astrid. He could make excuses. Everything happened too fast, their meeting, their mating, the impossible situation they were embroiled in. But Astrid didn't deserve excuses. She saved his life and not just when she unlocked his chains in Hawthorne prison.

  "Are you sorry," he asked, "for meeting me?"

  "Oh no!" she said quickly. "Yes, things have turned out poorly, and they don't look like they are going to get any better in the foreseeable future. But I'd rather be with you during the worst time of my life than anyone else in the best."

  "That," he said, "sounds a bit dotty."

  She gave a rueful half laugh. "I suppose. But it's as if I've been looking for you all my life. I know it sounds incredible, but I feel like you have been calling to me each day of my life."

  "Now that really does sound dotty!"

  Astrid picked up a pillow and hit him on the head.

  "Hey!" he said laughing. "Watch it. You are a danger with that thing."

  "The only thing dangerous here is you, Tem Rawlins. Big. Bad. Dragon."

  She leaned in and gave him a searing kiss. Her juicy lips pressed into his and he put his arms around her waist and flipped her to her back. He claimed her mouth, as the world fell away and it was only the two of them, here, now.

  "You are so beautiful," he said as he peppered her neck and breasts with kisses. “So very sexy."

  She squirmed beneath him and he smelled her arousal at his touch.

  "Astrid," he said seriously looking deeply into her eyes.

  "Yes, Tem."

  "I have to say this. I want there to be no doubt for whatever happens in the future."

  Concern filled her lovely eyes.

  "Yes, Tem?"

  "I love you. Now, and forever."

  She smiled brightly. "Oh, is that all?" she said in a teasing voice.

  "Yes," he growled. "That is all. There isn't anything else."

  "Well, good. Because I love you too."

  He descended on her again with many kisses up and down her body, growing hard with her writhing and moaning underneath him. How he wanted this woman.

  But before they could really get started, there was a knock on the door.

  "Don't answer it," said Astrid.

  "We can't let Calvin stand in the hall while we take our pleasure."

  She giggled. "Sometimes you say things in the most formal way."

  "Hah, you should have heard me in Elizabethan England. Now that was a time when people fell over themselves to speak the Queen's English in the most interesting ways."

  "Just how old are you, Templeton Rawlins?"

  The knock at the door became more urgent.

  "A dragon never tells," he said with a wink as he pushed up from the bed. Astrid stood too.

  He checked the peephole and confirmed Calvin stood at the door. When he opened it, Calvin swept in carrying a number of bags. Astrid took a number of them from his hands and set them on the small table by the window.

  "You owe me big time," said Calvin. "That gold dealer was a thief! Took a twenty percent commission for converting the gold to cash."

  Tem rummaged through the bags.

  "You've got enough gold, old man, to buy and sell anyone."

  "You still owe me," grumbled Calvin.

  Tem smiled at Astrid as he dug his hand in one bag with delicious smells. "Don't ever try to separate a dragon from his gold. For all he complains, I will be paying him back big time from my own hoard."

  "And mind that you do." said Calvin crankily.

  "Sushi, Calvin?"

  "We are in Japan. It's all over the place."

  "I don't mind. I love sushi. I just hope you got a lot of it."

  "There's not enough sushi in the world to fill your dragon belly, but I did purchase enough to feed twelve humans."

  "That should be enough for now."

  "Here," said Calvin slinging a backpack to the chair. "There's a hundred thousand American dollars there, spendable almost anywhere."

  "Almost?"

  "Not popular in certain countries, but I doubt you'll be going to any of them."

  "How much is that in pounds?" asked Astrid.

  "82,000 give or take."

  "That's just to get us situated," said Tem. "When things die down, I'll contact some of my banks and get what we need."

  "Won't the authorities be looking out for that?" asked Astrid.

  "Where I bank, the authorities don't care."

  "The perks," said Calvin, "of doing business with people for centuries instead of years. Here," he said, tossing a box to Tem and then to Astrid. "You can go red," he said to Tem. Astrid I got you black. I hope that works."

  Tem turned over the box of hair color. "You think this is necessary?"

  "Yes, you shouldn't make new passports using your old pictures."

  "But Tem can fly us anywhere we need to go," said Astrid.

  "You'll need some sort of identification wherever you are."

  "Okay," said Tem. "We'll take care of this."

  "Here is the address of the man who will make the passports and IDs for you. He's expecting you anytime this afternoon."

  "Sure, thanks, Calvin."

  "Then I better get going. Rhea will start getting suspicious if I stay away too long."

  "You don't have to do that," said Tem. "You can stay with us. It's a risk to go back to her palace."

  "Someone has to keep an eye on Rhea and right now she thinks I'm one hundred percent loyal."

  "I still don't understand why Abalon didn't tell the press about you," said Astrid.

  "He'll make me into a monster when he wants to. Right now he wants to keep the conduit open to his mother. And that means me not falling into the hands of the authorities."

  Astrid threw her arms around Calvin's neck and Tem had to restrain a growl. She just didn't know what it did to him to see her touch another male.

  Hush, you, Astrid sent. It's just a friendly hug.

  "Take care, Calvin, and keep in touch."

  “You keep your head down and take care of that woman” Calvin said to Tem over Astrid’s shoulder.

  “You can be sure I will.”

  Tem shook Calvin’s hand and the door clicked shut behind him.

  "So," said Astrid. "Here we are."

  “Yes, here we are.”

  “On the run,” said Astrid.

  "With sushi," said Tem.

  "Uh huh." She took one from the package and held it out to Tem.

  "I can get used to you feeding me," said Tem with a sly smile.

  "Hah," she said and pulled it away playfully.

  "Hey," complained Tem.

  ‘Okay, okay,” she laughed and held it out to him. “After this though, there is going to be dessert.”

  “What’s dessert?”

  “You,” she said with a wicked smile.

  The End

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  Kissed by The Dragon

  K.T Stryker

  © 2017

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