The Mating Destiny: Werewolves of Montana Book 7

by Bonnie Vanak

  “Bare skin to magick iron, not a good idea,” he muttered. Alex tugged the polo shirt over his head, leaving his chest bare.

  As he sat at the window sill and wrapped the shirt around his hand, her jaw dropped. Dear goddess, he was gorgeous in clothing, even more gorgeous out of it. His shoulders were wide and strong, his chest was dusted with dark hair that stretched from one brown nipple to another, and his torso rippled with muscles.

  A small blue-inked tat rode on his right shoulder. Squinting at it, she realized it was a dragon holding a spear.

  “Seriously? You couldn’t get inked with something that wasn’t a cliché?”

  He looked down to where she pointed. “Oh, that. I wanted my clan’s symbol. Other dragons from Clan Drakon are permitted to pierce their left ears, their nipples or get inked wherever they choose. But because I am crown prince, I must leave my body untouched and unmarked.”

  Snorting, he turned back to the window.

  “Where did you get it done?”

  “Drunken night out with the guys, at an ink parlor in New Orleans. Not many know it’s there.”

  Except his lovers. She found herself growing jealous. Emma halted that emotion. It served no purpose.

  Alex tugged at the bars through his wrapped hand. Finally he growled with impatience. “Damn magick. Who owns this place?”

  “Jaeden of the Elder Forest.” She had done a little probing about her captor. One of the guards had told her a lot after she’d shown him her bare breasts.

  Emma figured showing a little flesh for his fantasy was a good exchange in return for knowing her enemy’s weakness.

  Alex blinked hard. “Seriously? The Fae of the Elder Forest are peaceful and benign.”

  “All but the one who was evicted due to his mixed parentage. Jaeden left the forest and came here to the desert to found this brothel.”

  If the bastard wasn’t so cruel, she might empathize with him, for she knew how much it hurt to feel an outsider among one’s own people.

  Alex dropped his hand and unwrapped the polo shirt. “How did he acquire so much power with mixed Fae bloodlines? Even dark magick has limits.”

  “Unless your father is the King of the Dark Fae and your mother was a wizard.”

  He sucked in a deep breath. “Damn. A real wizard? Only Mages can ascend to the title of wizard, unless they die and become immortal, like Tristan and Drust, my great-granddad.”

  “Yes, that’s why he has tremendous power. He also has learned to tap into electrical lines, and reinforce his magick. So you might as well stop playing with those bars.”

  Emma returned her attention to the bracelet, hating how she looked. She was dragon, and had fought every step of the way for what little she had. No parents to assist her, few friends within her own clan.

  Only Sabrina, bless her, who understood her thirst for knowledge and desire to improve her status through reading.

  But the damnable caste system in Clan Ciamoth could not be changed.

  Still, Alex was here, with her now. In a brothel, and he had purchased her body. Taking a break from the bracelet, for her wrist was chafed and hurt, she stared at Alex. Emma licked her lips, studying his very nice buttocks as he knelt on the seat cushion to wrap his hand and test the bars again.

  Khaki material stretched over the twin globes, cupping them tight. She wondered what it would feel like to cup his ass, to squeeze and knead that smooth skin as he lay atop her, and joined his muscled body to hers…

  Alex, nude in bed with her. Arousal filled her, the wicked thoughts that haunted her long, lonely nights. He was strictly off limits, especially now after the warning from her attackers, but a girl could still dream.

  “Is it true what they say about male dragons?” Em tried to avoid looking at Alex’s rather large, elegant hands and his long fingers.

  He turned from the iron bars. “What?”

  “That if a dragon’s middle claw, er, finger, is longer than his ring finger, it means he is, ah, endowed. At least an inch longer.”

  Alex stared.

  “You know.” Em pointed to her crotch.

  He burst into laughter. “Em, that’s a myth.”

  “Oh.” Heat suffused her chest and neck. She felt silly for bringing it up, but one of the girls in the basement had said it was true.

  Alex held up his right hand. The middle finger was considerably longer than his ring finger. “It’s two inches, not one.”

  “Oh. Ohhhh.” Now the blush spread like wildfire across her face.

  A wicked grin touched his full, handsome face. “Would you like to see the evidence?”

  “Um, that’s okay.” She rose off the bed and went to the table that held fruit and a pitcher of ice water to pour herself a glass. She drank deeply and set the glass down. It was getting hot in here. Too hot.

  He took his polo shirt and studied the black marks magick had left behind on the knit fabric. Powerful magick indeed. The darkest kind. He put the shirt back on.

  “I’d offer to launder that for you, but I’m afraid I don’t know where the washing machines are.”

  “Em.” Alex twisted the gold signet ring on his left pinkie. He always did that when thinking. Maybe the ring was hard-wired to his gray matter. “This is serious.”

  “Don’t I know it? I’m trapped here in a brothel, you bought me for the night and I don’t even know if they have my favorite pasta here or cable. I’m kinda out of luck. Plus I lost my phone. I hate it when I lose my phone. How am I supposed to tweet now? I was so looking forward to posting on Instagram and Facebook that I’d been dragon-napped and I was at a brothel, forced to wear a harem outfit and learn to like grapes and cheap wine.”

  Crossing the room, he enfolded her into his arms. “You’re shaking.”

  Like a leaf in the wind, but no need to tell him that. Even if she could disguise her fear with jokes, he could detect her scent. Dragons were excellent at sniffing out fear.

  It made prey all the easier to track down, and kill.

  She lifted her head and saw him staring down at her. “I’m not going to hurt you, Em,” he said quietly.

  “Or eat me?”

  The question was a hoarse whisper, though she’d intended it to be light and teasing. Alex’s mouth quirked in a slight smile.

  “Not for dinner.”

  But she caught his racing pulse, his dilated eyes and heard the heavy beat of his heart. “Maybe for…dessert. With whipped cream and a cherry on top.”

  “No need for a cherry. You did buy a virgin, you know.”

  His beautiful blue-green eyes widened to dinner plates. “Em…”

  She cut in, not wanting to pursue that particular thread. “Alex, remember last year when you and I snuck into the Trolling & Strolling strip club because you left your wallet there after that bachelor party, and you saw the python in the stripper’s dressing room and you realized how hungry you were…because the strip club offered only cheese and crackers and hard liquor…and you ate him?”

  “Em…”

  “And I had to grab your wallet and the manager saw us and shifted into a grizzly bear and threatened to bite your balls off? Remember how scared I was?”

  “Em…”

  “This is worse.” She swallowed hard. “Much worse. I’m trying hard to pretend this is all a nightmare or a dream, because you are here and it’s a dream to be with you, but I’m so scared I feel like my heart’s jumping out of my chest.”

  He smoothed back a tendril of hair from her cheek. “Em, I’m here. I will not let anything happen to you.”

  She searched his expression, fierce and protective. Alex was serious. He would not let anyone or anything hurt her, just as he’d promised he’d get them out of the strip club without anyone knowing.

  “I trust you. I just…don’t trust myself with you, Alex. Do you understand? Because we’re alone here, and you paid all that gold to be with me, exclusively, and maybe this is a dream and I don’t want to awaken except I hate this place. But not who is
here with me…”

  “What are you saying, Em?” he asked, but she felt the tension increase in his body, a different tension.

  “I’m saying maybe you should get your money’s worth. Maybe I want you to get your money’s worth.”

  Alex’s gaze turned darker. “Em,” he said in a husky voice. He lowered his mouth to hers and brushed the gentlest of kisses against her lips.

  An electrical charge tinged between them, and they both pulled apart. Startled, she touched her mouth.

  Alex frowned. “It must be the magick from the power lines feeding this place.”

  “Maybe we should try it again to see,” she said hopefully.

  And then he lowered his head to hers and kissed her, and all thoughts fled.

  No sweet, innocent kiss, this. Not from this dragon who was rumored to be an excellent lover. He kissed her as if all her tomorrows had turned to ash and all they had was tonight. Alex kissed her with consummate skill, making her dizzy and unable to breathe or form a single coherent thought, except one.

  He wanted her badly, and he would have her. And she was helpless to stop him, helpless to prevent the passion from consuming her like living flame.

  Alex bought her, lock, stock and dragon, and she belonged to him. Bill of sale completed. And amid the haze of pleasure, she felt a tingle that shot all the way from her heart to her toes.

  Alex pulled away and then nearly dropped her, looking distressed. “Aw shit, Em.”

  Ok, that doesn’t sound good. Did I do something wrong? Too much tongue? Not enough? Bad dragon breath? Do I offend?

  Very gently, he reached out and touched her chin. “I’m sorry. I took advantage of you. I forgot. You make me so damn crazy, all I want to do is strip you naked and toss you on the bed.”

  Sounds like a plan to me!

  He fisted his hands and released a low curse. “I forgot what happened to you.”

  Oh. That.

  Was her assault going to be her defining days for the rest of her life? Might as well slap a label on her forehead—Emma the Damaged. Fifty percent off sale. Used goods.

  “They didn’t do it, Alex.” She took a deep breath. “They didn’t rape me.”

  He turned from the door. “What?”

  Spreading out her arms, she faced him. “They beat me up, tore my clothing, and, ah…touched me. But they didn’t rape me. They didn’t even touch me…in that way.”

  “I thought…”

  “You assumed.”

  His expression turned dark and stormy. “Em, it doesn’t matter if it wasn’t rape, damnit. They fucking abused you. They touched you when you didn’t want to be touched! They hurt you! I swore I would avenge you, avenge your honor.”

  Offering a sad smile, she looked downward. “Even if I didn’t want it? I told you, Alex, let the clan handle this. You can’t get involved because there’s more at stake here than what happened to me.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re the crown prince, not a dragon security guard and you shouldn’t be involved with me. It draws too much attention to me…attention that I don’t want. Attention that makes others sit up and pay mind simply because we’re together.”

  For the first time, he looked stunned. Then again, he had not asked her opinion, he had foolishly charged into the fray, attacking red dragons who bore the same marks she had mentioned. Dear, feckless Alex!

  The Don Quixote of royal dragons. His lance was fashioned from his claws, and instead of tilting at windmills, he fought four dragons much larger than himself.

  All for her honor.

  Suddenly, her honor didn’t mean as much, and neither did something else she’d hung onto for far too long.

  Her virginity.

  Chapter 5

  He’d never been so enthralled before.

  All the months he’d known Em as a friend, the only dragon he could talk to about everything from discussing philosophy and ogre rights to their mutual love of fast motorcycles, he kept her at arm’s length. Other than hunting sessions, meeting her was always done in secret just as their excursions on the bikes, for as crown prince, his keepers worried he would injure his royal ass on a crotch rocket.

  Or much worse—fall in love with a commoner dragon.

  Em, always refused to treat him with awe and never hesitated to sock him in the arm, or criticize his hair or make him laugh.

  With Em, he felt free and alive, not wrapped in layers of wool and stuffed into a box to be paraded around for ceremonies.

  That kiss made his cock stand straight and his blood thrum. He felt an instant connection, and a tingle that he’d heard happened only with true dragon mates. But Emma was a half-dragon, and only full-blooded dragons found their true, forever mates.

  It was the magick crackling and sputtering inside the brothel, that’s all.

  She stared at him with huge eyes, brown as caramel swirls. Alex studied her kiss-swollen mouth with a glimmer of male satisfaction. So lovely. Oh Sabrina was considered a true beauty with her petiteness, full curves, tumbling dark curls and delicate features. But Emma, with her golden hair, and cute button nose, full, sensual lips made for kissing, and statuesque build, appealed to him more.

  Sabrina was a Grecian statue, perfect and remote. Emma was real.

  Emma sometimes complained about being too chubby, and her legs too fat. Alex couldn’t fathom such nonsense. He imagined those plump thighs soft and warm as he settled between them to take her in the dark of night.

  But not here, in this place of darkness reeking of evil. Focus. He sat on the bed and she joined him.

  “We have to get you out of here,” he warned. “I don’t trust that troll that he won’t return in the five hours I paid for your company.”

  Emma bit her lip and he nearly groaned, the desire he felt threatened to override logic and sense. The scent of her, like the most fragrant floral perfume, swam in his senses, cutting through the undertones of rank, dark magick tinging the bars and the walls.

  “I can’t leave here with you. Not without the others.”

  Damn. Should have known she wasn’t the only victim. “What others? How many? Where?”

  “Five girls, mixed blood, from my clan. He keeps them in the basement. They’ve been there for a week.”

  “Why haven’t they been sold?”

  “I think he’s waiting for the arrival of another Fae from Europe. I heard something about shipping the girls overseas to sex markets. They sold me because…the ones who kidnapped me wanted me ruined as quickly as possible.”

  That last statement said quietly, almost matter-of-fact.

  Something didn’t add up. “Em, the ones who kidnapped you, were they the same dragons who assaulted you?”

  She lifted her troubled gaze to his. “Yes. They did this on purpose.”

  “Why?” He searched her face. “Was it because of me, and our friendship?”

  A small nod.

  “Who were they, Em?”

  “I can’t tell you,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “Not now. I want to get out of here.”

  Good point. He would question her further once she was free of this awful prison. Escape came first.

  “Tell me about the girls.”

  They’re low on the dragon totem pole, just like me, all half-breeds. And Jaeden takes advantage of this, of their vulnerability and the fact my clan isn’t as protective of them as they are of full bloods. Half-bloods are easier to kidnap and abuse.

  “Em, I know about the unfairness. I promise I’ve been working to amend it, but—”

  “No, you can’t know,” she burst out. “All your life you’ve had nothing but privilege. You never had to fight for scraps or put up with the humiliation of others mocking you for something that isn’t your fault—for who your parents were. Not being judged for who you are, but for what you are.”

  Alex caught her hand in his. “Oh? I don’t know? Can’t understand being judged for what I am? I’m the Crown Prince, Em. Everyone thinks I shou
ld act in a certain manner, and restrain myself as if I wear a damn strait jacket instead of a suit. I can’t even fly without someone snapping a photo, the photographers from the clans following me around like I’m a celebrity. It’s only with you that I was able to be myself and feel free.”

  He slid a hand beneath her chin, lifting her gaze to meet his own. “I vowed I’d do anything to protect you, Em. Anything to keep you happy, and safe. And when I failed in that promise, when those bastards fucking abused you in the forest because I was late in meeting you, I wanted to tear and rip and roar. I failed you, Em. I was furious with many, mainly myself.”

  Her mouth wobbled slightly. “Why, Alex? Why do you like me so much? Our friendship has meant the world to me, you mean the world to me, but I’m bad for you. Everyone thinks so.”

  “I don’t think so.” His voice went husky. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I was so lonely before I met you. No one wanted to know the real me. They were too busy keeping company with my title. You’re the only one who dares to speak to me like an equal.”

  His hands went to her shoulders, and squeezed gently. “But that’s a conversation for later, when we have time to talk. Tell me what you know about where the girls are kept.”

  It wasn’t good. The basement was forged from dark magic and guarded by two ogres with firearms. There was one entrance and exit and the window too narrow to fit through.

  But he’d scanned the brothel for weaknesses, both in the building and its occupants. The biggest weakness was the troll auction master’s greed, the look in his eyes when Alex had handed over the gold coins to the Fae in charge.

  He had no more gold. Alex twisted the signet ring on his pinkie. Except this. The ring had been placed on his finger at age 21, after his first shift and the coronation ceremony appointing him as the crown prince and heir presumptive.

  Giving it up would be like cutting off one of his wings. But without his magick, he could not shift and he didn’t dare leave Em here in this foul place.

  They might put her on the ship with the other girls and she’d sail off to Europe, impossible to track. He slid a hand around her neck, caressing the silk hairs on her nape, loving the texture of her long golden hair. At night he dreamt of her in his bed, those silky locks spread over his pillow as she curled against him, his arm securely around her, holding her fast and keeping her safe.