by Milana Jacks
“Oh my God, he vanished!” Seven screamed from the top and ran down the stairs. She paused at the sight of us. “Oh. Well, there you are.” She tapped her fingernails on the rail. “I better get going, then.”
“Come here,” Knight said and extended an arm.
Seven didn’t hesitate, which surprised me. She wasn’t one for hugs, but I guessed even the strongest of us could use one once in a while. So when Knight locked us into his arms, I squeezed him tight, hoping it would communicate that I’d be around for him too.
His palm rubbed my back.
“This is the sappiest shit I’ve ever experienced,” Seven said. “But I like it.”
I giggled and squeezed her tighter.
“There’s this place not a mile from our house,” Knight began. Seven and I gave him all our attention. It sounded important. “Where humans trade goods. And I happen to know there’s a vacant store. Are you interested?”
I gaped at him.
“You are a keeper, dragon boy,” Seven said and tapped his arm. He released her, and she grabbed her coat. “Where?”
“Robert’ll show you.”
“Where’s Robert?”
“Two houses east.”
She swung open the door, then paused. Something passed between her and Knight. “Thank you,” she said.
“Anytime.”
Seven nodded and closed the door.
I cupped his face with both hands and tugged his head down. His mouth opened for my tongue, and I kissed the hell out of him, yelping when he picked me up and walked up the stairs, his dick poking my bottom. On the bed, he covered me with his body. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you more,” I told him.
“Doubt it.”
A smile stretched my lips, and he kissed them.
“I should get ready for work,” I said, testing his response. “There’s this store, you know.”
Knight removed my pants and threw them on the floor. His dick was hard against my wet entrance. He hooked an arm under my knee and spread me wide so his big cock could penetrate me. I gripped his shoulders. Work would wait. I needed Knight now.
***
Hello, Milana here. Hope to have entertained you with the Storm. This book’s cast of characters are older than my publishing history. They all came from a high fantasy setting I aspired to write. I moved them from that setting and into the Ice Age. In fact, Knight and Clementine inspired this entire series. Now we’re moving onto Arthur’s book, which is the final book in the series. The following teaser is raw. I mean RAW. It’s June 11 today as I write here and prepare the kindle file for you, so I’m still working out the kinks on Fight for Her. Flip the page.
Fight for Her
uncorrected proof pending release
Arthur
“My lord, I’ve done everything I can,” Maisy told me as she took the thermometer from between Rose’s pale lips. It was the last thing I wanted to hear.
I ran a hand through my hair. “Have you tried—”
“I’ve tried everything!” Maisy snapped.
Dodger, the alpha of the northern wolf pack, slung a hand over her shoulder.
I glanced at the wolf healer, and she lowered her gaze. “If she stays here, she will die,” Maisy said.
I had promised Knight I would take Rose to the Detroit habitat, but my beast had taken her back to Ohio and into my nest. My chest constricted painfully, and my dragon clawed under my skin. He wanted to claim Rose as his spirit. Whereas before I’d only speculated about Rose being a spirit, now I was certain she belonged to me. Rose had liked me since she was a little girl, even proposed to me when she was ten. Back then, I’d paid her no mind and gotten a good laugh from her proposal. The last time I’d seen her, I hadn’t laughed. I wanted her.
“Leave us,” I said. The door closed quietly behind Maisy, and I buried my face in my hands and rested my elbows on my knees. It had been over a week since Knight had crashed the Cy ship. Colonel Douglas Strain, Rose’s father, had survived the Pittsburg habitat’s destruction and moved to Detroit, the most advanced habitat in my territory, and one where I should’ve taken Rose when I’d left Knight’s house two days ago.
But on my way back into my territory, I spotted a large military convoy heading for Detroit, which confirmed what I’d gathered spying on the Cy inside Pittsburg. The colonel wanted habitat expansion, which he knew would be met with resistance from the outlaws and from the Creatures of Earth. Hence, his units had moved into Detroit. During his previous talks with the Cy aliens, they had refused involvement in all-out war. Apparently, the colonel proceeded with his plans anyway. After Knight’s power display, destroying dragons likely made the top of the colonel’s to-do list.
So I tried to lie low, as did my brothers. I hadn’t heard from anyone, primarily because I didn’t have a bird creature with me to carry messages. My spirit—I know Rose is mine—was dying, and Detroit’s habitat wasn’t a good choice for me at this time. But it was the best choice for her. Decisions, decisions…
I scrubbed my face. I hadn’t shaved in a week, and my beard itched. I picked up Rose’s hand and squeezed, willing her to squeeze back.
“She looks so peaceful,” Dodger said.
I chuckled. “If you knew Rose, then you’d know the girl doesn’t have a pause button. She’s constantly moving, doing things, whether it’s dancing, acting, running. Stuff like that.”
“This is your spirit, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“Have you claimed her?”
“She’s Knight’s baby sister.”
“Oh shit.”
I nodded. Shit indeed. I hadn’t told Knight about Rose and me. I ran my fingertips over the bump on her arm caused by the unsuccessful implant test. Before I had snatched Rose from the transport ship, I found out that the colonel had cleared her for an implant. Rose was still seventeen. The minimum age of implant was twenty. I tapped the wound site. It was devastating to watch someone with so much life energy fall into a sleep from which she couldn’t seem to wake. I got up and hovered over her face, hearing Dodger close the door behind him. I hesitated for a second, but the dragon clawed at me. I pressed my lips to hers. She didn’t kiss me back. Her lips burned with fever. I picked her up and walked outside, the cold of the Ice Age immediately seeping into my bones.
The wolves waited outside, some in wolf form, some in human form and carrying belongings. They’d already packed, anticipating our move. Maisy approached. The fear in her eyes was a good reflection of how I felt. She understood what I needed to do. I needed to go back inside the habitat, deliver Rose for another implant, and attempt to save her life while making sure the cyborgs never found out I was one of the dragons. If they discovered that, they would end me, and the Ice Age would stretch until all the humans had died out.
But if Rose didn’t live, then the world could go to hell for all I cared.
****
Colonel Douglas Strain, currently in charge of all military units in the upper half of the United States, adjusted one of the numerous screws on the left side of his face. His mechatronic fingers flexed, metal clicking against metal. None of those parts came from any Earth material I could detect, or I’d be tempted to use my element and break him. He brushed that inhuman hand over Rose’s forehead and smiled. “She gets better every day. They tell me she woke up last night looking for a man named Arthur.” He glanced at me.
On the visitor’s sofa in the clinic, I crossed a leg over my knee and brushed nonexistent dust from my tailored pants. “Arthur is one of the dragons, isn’t he?” Inside the habitat, they knew me as Craig, my real name before I became a dragon.
“That’s correct. Her brother Knight’s best buddy.”
I raised an eyebrow.
Colonel Strain sat next to me, and I poured him some tea. It was only ten in the morning, and he was already getting on my nerves. I had no idea how this day was gonna end for him. Maybe I’d wring his neck, maybe not. My mood was as unpredictable as the t
he weather, and for all I knew, it was gonna snow again. We were deep into January, and spring wasn’t coming. If it was up to my dragon, we’d stay in January winter forever. Ever since Rose took on an implant, he’d grown silent inside me. I expected him to want to claim her, seeing as she was better now and had also turned eighteen on January second, but I barely sensed him anymore.
In a nutshell, I was just all around in a piss-poor mood. The fucking screws on the colonel’s face were the last thing I wanted to see. And yet, if I didn’t stick around kissing his ass, I’d fall behind on the news about the ongoing military plans. Also, I needed to see Rose awake and back to her old self. Then I’d contemplate snatching her.
The colonel sipped his tea, then put it back on the nice porcelain plate. “I’m still curious,” he said, “about how you managed to snatch my daughter right out of the dragon’s claws.”
Easy peasy. After years on the street and working in organized crime, lying came naturally. Even Knight couldn’t tell when I lied. “The creature was wounded and unconscious. I found her lying a few feet away from him, and I loaded her up in my van. I’m still human, so they allowed me into their territory without giving me a second thought. You allowed me into the upper levels, so it’s all around a lovely thing to be human.” I winked at him.
The colonel chuckled. “I can agree with that assessment. Only for her situation, though. You should consider implants.”
“Nah. I’m good, and rich enough to buy my way through the Ice Age.”
The colonel smiled. I entertained him. Good for me. I should pin a medal on my suit.
“The question is if her brother or even the yellow dragon will come after my daughter again.”
“You’ll have to ask them that.”
“Oh, I intend to.”
I sipped my tea. It was supposed to be peach tea. It was some sort of engineered crap that barely tasted like a peach, and I wanted to slap the asshole who made it.
The colonel and I shared silence while my palms sweated. Rose had suffered heart failure just as I’d brought her inside the Detroit habitat research center. Immediately, they’d taken her in for surgery while I called her father. She returned from intensive care today, and we were allowed an hour of visitation. Dread swept over me, but I had to know. I got up and approached her bed, took her hand in mine.
Aware that the colonel was watching, I squeezed her hand.
Mechatronic fingers squeezed back.
My spirit was a cyborg. Click!
About the Author
Milana Jacks grew up with tales of water fairies that seduced men, vampires that seduced women, and Babaroga who’d come to take her away if she didn’t eat her bean soup. She specializes in dark, fun & steamy paranormal romance set in dystopian world where sexy alpha males are unapologetic and supportive at the same time. Her home is on Earth with her mate and their three little monsters.
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Ice Age Dragon Brotherhood
Rise for Her #1, Burn for Her #2, Storm for Her #3, Fight for her, #4
Short stories in IADB World: Jake 1.5, Eddy #2.5
Read the complete Beast Mates series:
#0 Virgin - FREEBIE, #1 Blind, #2 Wild,
#2.5 Goddess, FREE via my Mailing List,
#3 Sent, #3.5 Their, #4 Caught, #4.5 His, #5 Free.
Jade Dober urban fantasy series:
#1 Mediator Seeks, #2 Mediator Tricks