by Amelia Jade
Dragon Seduction
Crimson Dragons Book 2
By Amelia Jade
Dragon Seduction
Copyright @ 2018 by Amelia Jade
First Electronic Publication: January 2018
Amelia Jade
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.
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Dragon Seduction
Chapter One
Corde
“So that’s it?”
He turned to look at Vanek, his…partner? Friend? It was complicated.
“What do you mean?”
The other dragon shifter shrugged and waved at the cityscape surrounding them, the tall buildings with a few lights on still at this late hour, the passersby in cars and on foot. The hustle and bustle of the busy downtown core of Barton City, their present location.
“This. I mean, think about it, Corde. They wake us up, put us through a bunch of classes to learn the language and history, then say ‘Oh by the way, we need you to fight these monsters for us. Now go find your mate before they arrive.’” The tall man with a long mane of midnight-black hair slammed a fist into his open palm, the loud smack drawing the attention of several nearby humans. “Do they not realize I spent the better part of a century looking for her before I gave up hope? What makes them think another year or two will make a difference?”
Corde was forced to agree, to an extent. “You saw the monsters, Vanek. These… Outsiders. Kallore told us about his encounter with them. They are dangerous. We need to be on our guard in case they come after us.” He scanned the darkened alley between buildings as they passed, wondering if it contained one of the matte-black creatures out of a nightmare.
Kallore, the first of the fire dragons to be awakened, had shown them the video and retold his own personal experience with the creatures from another world. Realm? Nobody really knew much about where they came from. It was more important that they seemed to want to kill everyone they touched, and only Corde and his fellow dragons had the strength to stand up to them.
That was a heavy burden to bear, and not one that he was positive he could handle. He would try his best, however, as he always had. This time it would have to be enough. If he failed this time, then he wouldn’t get another chance. He would be dead.
“Do you really think they will come to Barton City? If they were truly that strong, then they’d have just come here and killed everyone in sight. We’d never be able to stop them if they absorbed the lives of this entire city.” Vanek rolled his eyes. “Something is fishy about that story.”
“I’m sure there is a reason, Vanek. We just don’t know it yet. Either way, stay on guard until we get to our quarters.”
Vanek nodded, but Corde noticed his eyes begin to scan the crowd ahead of them with a bit more thoroughness than he’d shown earlier. The unwillingness to be a part of the team was at odds with what Corde had heard of Vanek. The other dragon was older and had been asleep before Corde came to sentience, but he’d heard of his actions, leading his dragons to victory in countless battles. What had happened to him?
“This place had better be as nice as it looked in the pictures,” he muttered as they walked through the city streets. They oriented themselves with the area, learning the scents and feel of the buildings, the press of the people and the sounds of this new human world they were joining.
There, steam rose in billowing clouds from the sewers. To his right cars honked as they tried to move through the lighting system that directed the flow. A group of young men stumbled out of a brightly lit shop, laughing to themselves with the ages-old slur of drunkenness. A pair of birds honked in the distance behind them, likely having just made a landing in the park. They passed a metal cart cooking food of some sort, and the scent of something delicious assaulted his nose.
“Vanek,” he said, coming to a halt.
The other dragon spun when he realized his partner had stopped. “What is it?”
“We’re trying one of these…hot…dogs.” He frowned. Was this truly heated dog meat? These humans were very confusing. But everyone seemed to be enjoying the long cylindrical meat on a breaded container, so he decided to try one.
“What’s good on these?” he asked, noticing the customers before him using pump-cans to add thick red or yellow liquid to theirs.
“Ketchup or mustard. Not both.” The person behind the cart gave him a weird look as he pulled out some of the local currency they’d been given and handed it to the vendor.
He put some of the red stuff on half and gave it a bite. “Mmmph!” he said to Vanek, eyes going wide. “Vis iff vry gd!”
“I’m glad. Now, can we please get to our new quarters? I want to relax.”
They were headed to something called a penthouse suite in downtown Barton City. Apparently the military, their benefactors, had bought it out as a place to house the dragons until they could find their own way. The first mission they’d been given was to enter the city on their own and find their way to it. Keys rested in the pockets of both him and Vanek.
The point of it all was to get acclimated to humanity once more. Sure, they could have been dropped off at the doorstep, but Corde agreed with Colonel Mara’s reasoning on this one. It made sense for them to do it this way. They were on their own now, to an extent, and familiarity with their surroundings was key.
Munching happily on his hot dog, he followed after Vanek, his head swinging left and right as he watched the space between buildings for any suspicious movement. The Outsiders were all black, a matte-colored armor or chitin that covered their body, capable of self-repair. Spotting them would be tough, but he suspected if they were being tracked, it wouldn’t be long before—
He froze, eyes peering down one particularly dark channel.
“Vanek,” he said softly, hot dog paused halfway to his mouth.
The other dragon swung around slowly at the warning tone.
“Down there, do you see what I see?”
Vanek peered closer. “No? I don’t see anything, but, hey!” he shouted as Corde took off, half-eaten meal scattered across the sidewalk behind him as his booted feet pounded across pavement.
The shadow he’d spotted down the alleyway bolted into action, moving in an awkward gait, yet somehow far swifter than it should have been possible. It had to be an Outsider! He knew it. They were being followed!
“To me, Vanek!” he bellowed, leaping over a rectangular fountain, ignoring the spray of water that shot up between his legs, soaking his pants. “We do battle!”
“Corde! Wait!”
But he was already going, the other dragon shifter left far behind as he
failed to come after him. Corde didn’t care. It was here, his chance to do glorious battle! After so long asleep he would catch this evil demon and separate its head from its body. Glory and praise would be heaped upon him. The fire in his blood began to sing, and he almost started to hum an ancient battle tune.
Stabbing his right hand forward he called forth some of the fire, using it to light his way as he gained on the black shape as it shuffled and humped its way through the alley.
“Stop, evil creature! Come and face your doom!”
Corde roared his challenge as he swept down on his foe. Clasping his hands together, he raised them high and to the side, calling upon the fire that was his innate friend. A shaft of fire as brilliant as the sun leapt out from between his palms, banishing the darkness. The fiery greatsword lunged up high and swung down toward the Outsider in a great arcing sweep. Muscles bunched and corded together in his forearms, bursting the shirt he was wearing at the seams as he struck his mighty blow.
Or tried to.
At the last second the shadow seemed to grin up at him, and then it disappeared into the ground. Too late Corde saw the hole it had dropped into. The momentum of his swing, now without anything to impact upon, carried him forward and out of the alley.
People all around him screamed and backed away as he emerged onto the busy city street, fiery sword completing its arc and bringing him around to face back the way he had come.
“LOOK OUT!” a woman shouted.
He spun to see where she was pointing, wondering if the Outsider had reappeared. The sword came around in a flaming circle, moving so fast it left an impression in the air behind it, like the flourish of a pen at the end of a letter.
“Where?” he shouted, trying to be heard over the screams as people left the area.
Some, he noticed, had taken out their phones and were pointing them in his direction. What was their problem? He was trying to protect them before the Outsider ripped the lifeforce from their bodies. Turning again he surveyed the rapidly diminishing crowd.
“WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT?!” he shouted. “Leave. Now! Before you are all dead!”
At his words many of the last onlookers fled. A stern look at the most hardy of them and moments later the street was empty. Corde strode back over to the alleyway and sent a stream of fire into the hole, but it was quickly doused. Water ran below there. He would never find the Outsider in that.
Angrily he looked around, unsure of his next steps His stomach growled at him, reminding him that he was still hungry, the rest of his meal lying somewhere behind him on the ground. Frustrated at himself, he stomped across the road, waving his sword at an oncoming car until it stopped and quickly reversed itself.
The people inside the restaurant he’d seen all got up and moved to the back.
“Sit down,” he growled at them as he entered. He wasn’t going to harm them, and he would protect them if the Outsider came.
Taking an empty seat, he put the sword down on the table as well, carefully controlling the fire so that it didn’t burn anything. His back was to the wall, which allowed him to see Vanek as he came across the street and into the restaurant, his frame filling the doorway as he paused and stared at Corde for a moment.
“What are you doing?” he hissed, taking the seat opposite him. The chairs creaked and groaned as both men sat, their huge sizes proving to be a challenge for the flimsy wooden constructs.
“I went after an Outsider. It escaped into some sort of sewer system.”
Vanek’s eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. “Not that you moron,” he said quietly, his eyes looking around. “I mean the sword.”
Corde’s eyebrows knitted together. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you bumbling idiot, that you can’t just run around with a sword made of fire and wave it at people. Try to look at how this seems from their perspective. You run out of an alley, swinging your sword around and tell them if they don’t leave they’ll be dead.”
His jaw worked lightly. “Yeah, that wouldn’t look good, would it?”
Vanek snorted. “Unless you wanted to make it look like you were threatening to kill them all, then no, I don’t think it would look very good.” He rose. “Now put that thing away, I’m going to the washroom.”
“Good idea,” he said lamely, trying to figure out a way to recover.
An idea popped into his head. Giving his hand an extra wave and waggle of his fingers, he made the sword disappear. “Magic?” he tried unsuccessfully.
The crowd shuffled uneasily. Some of them had taken their seats now that it appeared he wasn’t going to kill them all, but the majority were still standing up near the bar counter. Corde sighed. He’d really fucked up this time. Once Vanek got back they were going to leave, and hopefully that would be the end of that.
A chime sounded from the entrance, and he swung his head back as a short woman entered. She had long champagne hair that fell around her shoulders and over her breasts almost to her belly button, and a pair of eyes that took his breath away. Corde had never seen anything like the hyacinth orbs, the deep, vivid blue-violet circles an instant focal point in her face.
She paused and looked at him, and then looked over her shoulder. Corde watched her long locks rustle against the large swells of her breasts, and for a tortuous, all too brief moment, he caught the smell of eucalyptus brought in on the summer breeze as the outside wind stirred the air.
As swiftly as it was there it was gone, replaced by stale bread, dried sweat, and fear as men in dark blue and black uniforms filed in after the woman, eclipsing her from view. Corde thought about trying to shuffle sideways so that he could see her one last time, to try and identify what his addled brain was trying to tell him, but it was too late.
“Stand up and turn around!” one of the men barked. “Hands behind your back!”
“DO IT!” another yelled.
It was then that Corde noticed the drawn weapons pointed in his direction and the copper-gold badges on their chest. Law enforcement. Shit. Vanek had been right; he had fucked this up badly. Thankfully the other dragon hadn’t emerged from the washroom yet, and all the attention was on him. The weapons didn’t worry him, but he wanted to put on a good look.
“Of course, officer. I’ll come peacefully,” he said calmly, lifting his hands slowly above his head as he stood up, each motion painfully drawn out so that nobody got trigger-happy. He lowered his hands and leaned up against the wall with his head as they put some flimsy metal restraints around his wrists.
They shuffled him out roughly, feeling confident now that he was “cuffed” as they called it. Corde went along, not fighting them. He towered above them all, and was able to look to his left as he exited, making eye contact once more with the woman and her violet eyes. The door chimed above his head, and the ding seemed to ignite the light in his head.
Mate!
Then the door closed behind him.
***
“You idiot.”
Corde hung his head as he slunk out of the police station behind Major Mara and Kallore.
“It was an Outsider,” he said stubbornly. “I know it.”
Neither of the pair believed him. “Then why didn’t you follow it into the sewer immediately?” Kallore asked.
“Because I saw all the innocents, and thought it might come back for them.”
Colonel Mara laughed in his face. “Corde, use your brain for a moment. If it wanted to do that, it could have done it at any point. There’s obviously a reason it’s not doing that. We just don’t know what that is.”
Corde slumped into the back seat of the military vehicle. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she snapped. “Because of the situation and your uniqueness, we have a lot of pull. But you threatened a lot of people, and they have it on tape. You aren’t getting off completely free from this.”
He frowned. “But you got me out of jail.”
“Of course. I need you out there finding
your mate, not rotting away behind bars. If I wanted that, you’d still be back at Fort Stark. I couldn’t get you out completely unpunished though.”
“Am I to be whipped then?” he snarled. “Bring it on.”
“What? No. We don’t do that anymore.” Colonel Mara grinned at him through the rear-facing mirror. “This is even worse.”
Corde’s stomach twisted into knots. “Worse?”
“Yep.”
“What am I to do?”
Her amber eyes glittered in the darkness. “Five hundred hours of community service.”
Beside her Kallore laughed evilly.
Chapter Two
Kylie
“Jose?”
“Eyyy Mami!”
She ignored the chuckles from the assembled group and kept moving down her checklist, to see who was supposed to be there and who wasn’t. The process was tedious, and she did so without the usual eagerness in her step that had been there when she started. Reaching the bottom, she got to the group that never showed, along with any newcomers.
“Michael?”
There was no answer.
“Eddy?”
Silence.
“Collin?”
Nothing.
Kylie sighed. Some days she wondered why she even bothered. There was only one last name on the list, a new addition. She frowned at the unusualness to it.
“Corde?”
Once more all she heard was the snickering of the juveniles pretending to be men as they made comments about their sexual prowess and what they would do to her if she would just “lighten up” or “have some fun.” Kylie ignored it, knowing that they were all talk. None of them would try anything, because they would be in jail for a long, long time if that were the case.
That and she carried a taser in her purse, though they didn’t know that.
After a solid five count of waiting for his name she started to mark him as absent. It would make the amount of people who didn’t bother to show up nearly half the size of those who were there. It was disappointing. When she’d first been hired to start the program, nearly everyone on the list had been there. But as the years went by, that number shrank. Year after year, no matter how hard she tried, fewer people reported. It’d gotten so bad she was beginning to wonder if it was her.