Narrian: Discovering his Dragon (Return of the Dragons Book 6)

by Rinelle Grey

  © 2017 by Rinelle Grey

  Previously published in the Bitten by Love Box Set

  www.rinellegrey.com

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by

  Table of Contents

  Blurb

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  About the Author

  Blurb

  Bruce isn't an adventurer like his ex-girlfriend who mated a dragon prince. He's just an ordinary, English guy. Yet somehow he finds himself trekking across sand dunes in the middle of the night in search of a mysterious dragon princess, while being chased by an enemy dragon. This princess better be worth it.

  Dragon warrior Narrian is honoured to be chosen as Bruce's bodyguard. Even though the pitiful human obviously isn't worthy, she's prepared to risk her life to see that he makes it safely to the princess. It never occurred to her she might be risking her heart.

  Neither of them are prepared to find the princess's chamber to be empty once they reach it. Or to be trapped inside by an enemy dragon. Turns out, their adventure is only just beginning.

  Sign up to my mailing list for a free copy of Jayrian, the story that started it all!

  Chapter 1

  Bruce hiked up the side of yet another dune, his feet sinking into the soft, hot sand and filling his shoes with every step. His arm ached where the bullet wound from the fight a bit over a week ago hadn’t completely healed, and he resisted the urge to rub it. It was the middle of the night, maybe even the early hours of the morning, shouldn’t the desert be cold by now?

  Or at least not quite as hot.

  How many more dunes were there? He was sure he’d gone up and down at least fifty since they’d left Lisa.

  He stared over his shoulder, his eyes searching the sky, but he could see no sign of her dragon mate, Verrian, or the enemy he’d been fighting. Did that mean Verrian had won the fight, or lost?

  He gave a shiver. These dragons fought each other like they didn’t care if they lived or died. It reminded him of ancient battles and wars, hundreds of years ago. Not surprising really, since these dragon princes had been asleep for three hundred years.

  Right now though, no dragons were chasing after them, so he supposed that was a good sign.

  Up ahead, Narrian stood on the top of the dune, silhouetted by the moonlight, scanning the skyline. Every muscle in her body was tense, from the set of her jaw down to her legs, poised to run at any moment. The lack of light meant he couldn’t see her clothes clearly, but it was hard to forget how she’d looked when they’d set out—leather trousers laced up the side with a gap showing at least an inch of her leg all the way up, and a tunic fastened in much the same way.

  She made Bruce more than a little uncomfortable, and excited at the same time. Right now, she represented everything he was here for. Dragons, sex, excitement.

  She wasn’t the one he was meant to sleep with though. They hadn’t even found the princess yet. Bruce gave a shiver of anticipation.

  Anyway, it was clear she didn’t really like him. The dragon warrior hadn’t said a word to him since they’d left the others, but every now and then she looked at him, and Bruce could almost hear what she was thinking.

  He was slowing her down. He wasn’t fit to wake a dragon princess. He should be back at his home in England where it wasn’t so hot and miserable.

  Maybe that last one was just him.

  He didn’t blame her. None of those thoughts were anything he wasn’t thinking himself.

  He still wasn’t quite sure how he’d gotten himself into this, but he was going to just blame it on Karla.

  It was hard to think of his ex-girlfriend without a slight pang of regret. Only a couple of weeks ago, he’d thought they were going to be together forever. He’d even asked her to marry him. When she hadn’t been able to give him an answer, it had rocked his perfectly ordered world. He couldn’t even blame it on the hot dragon prince, because she hadn’t even met him then.

  No, he had no illusions about it being over. Now she was mated to one of those hot dragon princes, there was no way she’d even look at him.

  He trudged up the side of the dune, glad it was dark so no one could see his face burning. Yes, it was easy to blame all this on Karla.

  She was the one he’d followed here, it was her fault he’d been kidnapped by a dragon (though at least she’d rescued him). She was the one he’d been trying to protect when he’d jumped in front of the farmer’s gun without even thinking of the risk to himself. And it was because he’d wanted to prove something to her that he’d volunteered when they needed a human to wake the dragon princess.

  He wasn’t quite sure what he’d hope volunteering was going to prove. It certainly wasn’t how fit he was.

  Why was this so hard? He went to the gym three times a week and didn’t embarrass himself there. But climbing these dunes was another thing entirely.

  It had to be because of the heat. Even in the early hours of the morning, before the sun showed even a hint of rising, it was well over the temperatures of a summer day in England. No wonder these dragons were tough. Growing up out here, you’d have to be to survive.

  Narrian didn’t move, staring off into the distance, as he struggled up the last few yards. When he reached the top next to her, she glanced at him once, her eyes meeting his, their expression carefully blank, then without a word, she started down the other side.

  “Hey, give me a minute, will you?” Bruce said, holding out a hand, a little embarrassed his words were breathless and his knees felt like jelly.

  Narrian fixed her eyes on him, a scowl on her face now. “Our goal is to wake the princess.” She glanced at the eastern sky. “It will be light soon. Then we will be easy prey.” Her eyes fixed back on him. “And it will only get hotter.”

  Hotter? Well, of course he knew that. He just didn’t want to hear it. Sweat was already pouring out of every pore of his body. It was downright undignified, these Australian summers. “Just five minutes,” he insisted. “Let me get my breath back.”

  He heard the sound of a breath that could have been a sigh. But Narrian inclined her head. She stood next to him, her back straight as an arrow. The only movement she made was to continuously scan the horizon, as though she expected some threat to appear at any moment.

  He hoped not. He’d seen more than enough dragons up close for one lifetime.

  She barely moved, even her breathing was imperceptible. It was like she wasn’t even trying.

  Not so Bruce. He tried to breathe quietly, not suck the air in as though he’d never taken a full breath in his life, but it was next to impossible. He slumped down on top of the dune, not even caring that he was going to get sand into all sorts of unmentionable places.

  Everything about this country was undignified. It certainly explained a few things about Karla. She used to laugh at him, when he’d complained about a heat wave at thirty-one degrees. Now he knew why. He was sure it was at least that now, and the sun hadn’t even risen.

  He still didn’t have all his breath back, but for some reason, perhaps a crazy urge to prove to Narrian he wasn’t as useless as he appeared, he struggled to his feet, trying to will his legs to not shake. “Shall we carry on?”

  Narrian’s eyes widened, and she looked him up and down.

  Bruce tried to breathe normally, but he w
asn’t sure he managed it that convincingly.

  Still, Narrian nodded, as though she’d just been waiting for a signal from him, and started down the dune.

  You’d think going down would be easier than going up, but Bruce wasn’t sure. Every footstep his feet sank into the sand, and it ran down from behind and straight into his shoes. He was pretty sure half the desert was in there by now.

  Up and down, up and down they went.

  Bruce’s lungs were burning, and he was pretty sure his legs would collapse if he went another step. He was just about to say he needed another break, a longer one this time, despite how weak it would make him look, when Narrian stopped.

  This time she didn’t scan the horizon. She stared around her at the ground.

  Bruce’s heart lifted. Was this it? Were they there?

  He squinted, looking for something different about the area. Something that might indicate this was the resting place for a dragon princess.

  But the dunes looked just the same as they had earlier.

  He didn’t really care though. The only thing he cared about was the fact that she’d stopped for a minute, and he’d hadn’t had to ask her to. Bruce lowered himself onto the sand and tried not to huff and puff too much.

  Narrian walked around, muttering something to herself, still staring at the ground.

  Not just stopping for a break then.

  Bruce fumbled in the backpack Karla had given him, and pulled out a bottle of water. It wasn’t cold anymore, nothing was cold out here, but it was at least wet.

  He drank a few mouthfuls, trying not to gulp, then splashed some onto his handkerchief and tried to wipe some of the sweat and sand off his face and hands.

  It was a pointless exercise. For every grain of sand he managed to painstakingly remove, he was sure three more stuck to his skin.

  His nerves increased. He’d already felt a little inadequate to be chosen to wake a princess. Now he was covered in sand, he knew he wasn’t worthy.

  This had been a bad idea. He should have just returned to England as soon as he’d known Karla was safe.

  Why had he let himself be swayed by the excitement of dragons and princesses?

  Back in England he might be able to pretend that he’d know how to act if he had to present himself to a member of the royal family. He had, in fact, had the opportunity to greet the queen at a parade, and he was pretty sure he hadn’t embarrassed himself.

  This was nothing like that.

  He could only hope that the princess would understand his situation, since she’d apparently chosen this sandy resting place.

  “The princesses chamber is below this sand,” Narrian announced.

  She looked at him then, her eyes narrowed. He was pretty sure she was judging him as harshly as he was judging himself. She didn’t comment though, only said, “We’re going to have to dig.”

  “Dig?” Bruce asked faintly.

  She had to be joking, right?

  But apparently not. Narrian just gave him a disdainful look. She pulled a torch out of her backpack and settled it into the sand so it shone on the patch of sand she’d indicated. Then she bent down and began to shovel sand. With her bare hands.

  Was there no end to this nightmare?

  Bruce heaved a sigh, and bent down to follow her example.

  At this point, he didn’t even care about the fact that he’d be covered in sand by the time he’d finished. He’d gone above and beyond the call of duty for this princess. She’d better appreciate all he’d done for her.

  Chapter 2

  Bruce could feel Narrian looking at him sideways, as if she hadn’t actually expected him to dig. He ignored her, focusing on digging. He felt a drip down his arm, and for a moment, he was worried the digging had opened up the gunshot wound again. But when he wiped it with his other hand, all that came away was sweat.

  The sooner they uncovered the princess’s Mesmer chamber, the sooner he could wake her, and the sooner they could get back to the lair.

  Then he’d be heading back to England.

  He just had to keep focusing on that and ignore the sweat dripping down his back and the sand itching under his collar.

  Hard as he tried though, he couldn’t ignore the fact that between digging all this sand up, and returning to the lair, he was going to be sleeping with a dragon princess.

  Now that they were this close, even his physical discomforts couldn’t stop him feeling at least a little excited. A shiver ran through him, feeling hot and cold at the same time. He felt a little sick, though he couldn’t rule out the possibility that was from heat stroke, rather than nerves.

  If only he had some control over this situation. If he were a famous movie star wooing a princess, he’d be planning a bed with satin sheets and rose petals.

  Bruce bit back a laugh. Maybe the heat was getting to him. In his real life it would never even occur to him to try wooing a princess. In fact, he’d probably run the other way if one turned her charm on him.

  He tried to comfort himself with the thought that neither Taurian nor Verrian acted in any way how he’d expect royalty to act. Oh, sure, they had the commanding personalities down just pat, but other than that, they acted just like all the other dragons.

  Hopefully this princess would be just as down to earth.

  His hand hit stone when he’d been expecting more sand, the sudden contact scraping painfully. Bruce bit his lip, trying to rub his hand surreptitiously.

  Narrian though, was eyeing him suspiciously. “I think I’ve found it,” he told her.

  She just nodded. “Keep digging.”

  Bruce did as he was instructed, but he couldn’t help watching Narrian as he did.

  Would the princess be like her? Her dark grey braid swung over her shoulder as she bent to scrape sand off the stone. She wasn’t sweating like he was, and he couldn’t see any sign of sand stuck to her.

  Maybe that was just because it was dark, and he couldn’t see clearly?

  There was no sheen of sweat where the torchlight bounced off her skin though.

  All he could conclude was that dragon magic somehow made her immune to both the heat and the sand. That had to be it, right? It couldn’t possibly be that she was fitter, and more acclimatised to the temperature then he was, could it?

  If the dragon princess was anything like her, then he’d be fine.

  Hopefully she was a little more talkative though.

  Slowly, they uncovered a large section of the rock. Narrian shone the torch across it, illuminating the slab, an intricate pattern of swirls engraved across it. Towards the eastern edge was a small depression, as though part of the pattern was missing.

  Bruce pulled back, breathing deeply, and reached into his pocket for the medallion Verrian had given him. He stared at it for a moment, the intricate pattern of swirls and leaves reminding him of fall back home.

  He wondered, briefly, if it was any cooler here in autumn?

  Probably not, if the temperature in the middle of the night was anything to go by.

  “You need to place the medallion in the mechanism,” Narrian said, her words interrupting his thoughts. The torch hovered over the correct place.

  He didn’t bother to tell her he’d figured that part out. Just nodded, taking a deep breath, and reached across to fit the medallion into the depression, and turned it.

  A loud grating sound filled the silent night. Showers of sand fell into the hole that the moving rock created. Bruce stared doubtfully in.

  “You will be safe inside the Mesmer chamber,” Narrian urged. “Go quickly, we don’t know how much time we have.” She glanced up at the sky, as though she expected an enemy dragon to appear any minute.

  Her urgent tone didn’t settle Bruce’s nerves one little bit. Butterflies blew around in his stomach, as readily as the sand stirred up by a slight breeze.

  Maybe there would be less sand in the Mesmer chamber?

  Bruce let that hope sustain him as he stepped onto the first stone step, and felt
his way carefully down the stairs.

  Dust tickled his nose, and he sneezed, the sound echoing loudly in the stone chamber.

  Down here it was even darker. He strained his eyes. Where was the princess? He couldn’t see anything down here.

  He fumbled in his backpack, sure Karla would have included a torch in there. Sure enough, he found one, and switched it on.

  In the middle of the room was a large, stone pedestal carved with more of the swirls and leaves. Just what he would have expected an ancient princess to nap on.

  Trouble was, it was empty.

  Bruce swung his torch around the room, just in case she was hiding in a corner somewhere, but there was nowhere she could be hiding in the small, bare room.

  Just to be sure, he walked to the pedestal and checked behind it.

  Still nothing.

  His heart beat loudly in the empty room.

  Where had she gone? Had he done something wrong?

  Or had the other dragon beaten them there?

  Chapter 3

  Once Bruce had disappeared into the opening, Narrian switched off her torch, and scanned the sky, trying not to think about what would be happening inside the Mesmer chamber. She wondered what the princess would think of the human. He had surprised her more than once on the trip out here, but the princess wouldn’t see that.

  She shouldn’t have been surprised, really. Prince Taurian had chosen him to wake the princess, that must mean he had some qualities that made him worthy. She shouldn’t forget he had saved the prince’s mate’s life. Apparently he’d thrown himself in front of a gun to protect Karla, though Narrian found it hard to believe. She just couldn’t imagine the man who had struggled to walk through a few dunes doing something that courageous.

  If it really was true though, perhaps he was worthy of the princess after all.

  Not that the princess would care. All she needed was her full strength back. How she achieved that, at this point, wasn’t important.

  Anyway, that was between Bruce and the princess, and none of her business. Narrian forced herself not to dwell on the fact that for some inexplicable reason, it made her stomach turn. She had more important things to think about.