by Milly Taiden
BOUND IN FLAMES
DRACHEN MATES
NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
MILLY TAIDEN
Contents
BOUND IN FLAMES
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
EPILOGUE
About the Author
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Morgan Polley is an empath who helps people. When she meets Tor and his family of dying dragons, she wants to assist them in finding their mates. Except for Tor’s. She wants to keep him and make lots of babies with the big sexy man. It’s getting hard to remember her objective when her hormones go out of whack around him.
Tor Drachen is one of a handful of dragons left on earth, dying due to their mates being targeted and killed before finding each other. He’s been told Morgan Polley will be a mate to one of his kind, but who? He’s having a hard time keeping her at bay and the thought of getting her pregnant to start a family is a very tempting idea.
A breed of evil dragons is after Morgan, but Tor promises to protect her to the very end. Even if it turns out that she’s one of his brothers’ mates. If he can’t find a way to cheat fate, he will walk away without his heart.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Published By
Latin Goddess Press
Winter Springs, FL 32708
http://millytaiden.com
Bound in Flames
Copyright © 2016 by Milly Taiden
Cover by Jacqueline Sweet
Edited by: Tina Winograd
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.
Property of Milly Taiden
October 2016
A note to my readers:
Buckle your seatbelts, my curvy-loving word addicts. I'm about to take you on an epic fucking ride through the coming pages of all-night writing, cake and coffee-induced creativity nobody can match. Plus, I think this story fucking rocks! So sit your ass down, relax and read this shit because I lost sleep for you. I love you, my alpha-male-dirty-talking groupies. Peace!
—For my readers
I love you all!
ONE
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Morgan Polley glanced up from the children’s files on her desk to see who had walked into her office without knocking. Her glasses sat at the tip of her nose and she pushed them up to the right location before feeling them start to slide down again.
“It would be nice if you picked up the phone when I call,” her mother, Lara, snapped at her.
She frowned down at her files and continued making notes. “What do you want, Lara?”
“I’m here to offer you a job,” Lara told her. She stood across from Morgan’s desk and stared her down, her perfectly made up face not showing any emotion.
“What kind of job?” Morgan asked, suspicion raising her hackles. “You know I’m not even on the radar with your people.”
Lara gave a sharp nod. “You’re right. You’re not. But we are making progress with the Drachen. Those damn dragon shifters really like to make it hard to get a hold of them. I need you to come to our next meeting with one of their leaders.”
“Why?” She pulled a non-interested face. “Aren’t they almost extinct anyway? Why would I care about some meeting between the government and dragon shifters?”
“Yes, not many Drachen are left. I am trying to find out more about their powers.”
Morgan closed the file she’d been reading and took her glasses off. “This is all fascinating,” she said, not hiding her sarcasm, “but I still don’t see what this has to do with me.”
Lara pressed her lips into a thin line. “I want to know more about them, Morgan. In order for that to happen, I need someone to smooth the way.”
Morgan jerked to her feet. “You people really think you can play Let’s Make a Deal with creatures that have been on this planet longer than we have?”
Lara rolled her eyes. “Stop being so dramatic. From what one of their people told us, they need mates or they lose their powers and die.”
She sat slowly, a frown working her brow and a headache pinching the back of her eyes. “Mates? And how the hell are you going to help them get that?”
“I’m not. I want to know if they just die or if they pose some kind of threat if they don’t find their mates.” She slapped her hands on Morgan’s desk. “You can tell me that. From what we’ve learned, if their mate mark shows up, they only have one week to find the female that is right for them and mate, or they lose control of their dragon and both mate and dragon die.”
Morgan sighed.
Her mother nodded. “Yes. I’ve been told they die if they don’t find their mate. But if they lose control, will they be some kind of danger to humanity.”
“And who is it that’s telling you all this?” She watched her mother turn away from her.
“None of your business. I just need you to talk to one of them. See what you gather from him.”
“You’re not really hoping I’ll sense something, are you?”
Lara nodded and met her gaze. “Yes, I am. And if you do, I want to know what it is. You’ve always been able to sense stuff from all these creatures.”
“I’m not a lab rat and neither are they!”
Lara glared daggers at her. “I know that. But you’re going to do this because you’ll be too worried about the dragons not being able to find their mates. I know you, you’ll want to help them.”
Fuck! She knew her too well. Hearing the story of the Drachen, there was no way Morgan could sit by and not talk to them. See if there was something she could do to help find their mates.
“So what’s your goal here, Mother?”
Lara raised her brows. “Simple. I want them to find their mates. The last thing we need is uncontrollable dragon shifters flying around destroying the world.”
Morgan shook her head and got back on her feet. “That doesn’t sound like you. There’s got to be something else.”
“That’s my only drive, Morgan.” Lara pressed her lips into a thin line. “Why can’t I have the good of the world in mind?”
“Because it would be a first.”
For a second, sadness flashed through Lara’s eyes. “There’s a first time for everything.”
TWO
Tor Drachen hated these meetings. “I don’t know how I got stuck being the on
e doing this shit. Wasn’t Jae supposed to be here?”
Ker shrugged. “He said you could handle it.” He slapped him on the arm and motioned for him to get out of the car. “You’re the oldest out of all of us.”
Fucking great. “You know that doesn’t mean jack shit. I’m the last person you want talking to these humans. All they want is to get into our business. We shouldn’t trust any of them.”
“We protect them and we shouldn’t trust them?” Ker chuckled. “Do you listen to the words coming out of your mouth?”
“One doesn’t have to go with the other,” Tor snapped.
“Just go in there. Talk to the woman Jae has been meeting with. Apparently, she wants to make sure we have any and all backup necessary to fight Sayeh and the Noir Dragons.”
Tor frowned. “See, I don’t get it. Why would they care what we have? Sayeh and his people haven’t embattled the humans yet. So far, all they’ve done is target our kind.”
“She told Jae she wasn’t waiting around until humans became Sayeh’s new toys.”
Tor grumbled and got out of the SUV. The door slammed, metal against metal squeaking. He glanced into the driver’s seat. “Don’t fucking leave me. I don’t want to have to break out of these clothes,” he warned Ker. “I’m making this as short as possible.”
Ker grinned and nodded, his dimples flashing and humor lighting is hazel eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Go do your thing, bro. I’ll be here.”
He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and marched toward the office building where their meeting was set. When Jae told him about the woman who had contacted him with more information than anyone knew about them, he’d been concerned.
Humans didn’t know much. The dragons kept such a low profile, it was near impossible for anyone to find them. Yet this woman had. And she worked for the United States government. If that wasn’t fucking wonderful.
That shit didn’t sit right with him. How much more did she know? And why did she care so much about helping them?
He showed the security guard one of his many IDs and watched the guy scramble all over himself once he saw his name. It was the same for most people who saw his name. Not that he cared. Tor had left the significance of his name behind. It didn’t matter, though.
Most Americans knew his last name as one that belonged to royalty. What they didn’t know was it was dragon royalty, not human. Tor and the others belonged to the Drachen family. The name alone meant power and wealth, but humans did not know much more than that. Still, it got him quick responses and guards stuttering as they tried to use the phone to let their bosses know he was there.
A different security guard guided him to an elevator. The ride up was slow and the guy next to him didn’t say shit. They were soon on the twentieth floor, his patience running very low. He might not survive this meeting.
The entire floor was so quiet, he could hear the security guy thinking. They reached a set of wood doors. After a few knocks, someone opened them and he was gestured in by an older woman.
He glanced around the plain office, looking for others, but realized she was alone.
“I thought the meeting started at eight p.m.,” he said; he’d glanced at his cell phone at least three times when they were in the elevator and knew he was on time.
“It does for us, Mr. Drachen. My name is Lara Polley. If you would have a seat, we can chat before the other person joining us shows up.”
He gave a sharp nod but stood by the meeting table. There was a file with his name on it. He made a grab for it, fully expecting her to stop him or tell him that wasn’t for him. Her soft laugh made him glance up.
“I see Jae was correct. You do like to stir things up.”
He frowned, opened the file and glanced at a photograph of a woman. She had long blond hair with a fringe and a pair of black-framed glasses. There was a hint of a smile as if she thought about being serious but couldn’t help herself.
“Who is this?”
“That is my daughter, Mr. Drachen,” she replied and took a seat across from where he stood. She raised her hand and waved at the chair next to him. “Please, have a seat.”
“Please, call me Tor. Jae said you wanted to talk to us about something important, helping us against Sayeh and the Noir Dragons.”
She nodded and waited for him to sit. He peeled the chair back, its wheels squeaking on the carpeted floor. “That’s right.”
He sat and stared at the woman. He didn’t get any kind of vibe from her so he wasn’t sure what to make of her. “Why?”
She nodded. “Fair question. I want to help you because I know you will help me.”
Of course. He should have known no human could do something selflessly. He had yet to meet one in all his existence. And being alive long enough to see a lot of history, he had met a lot of fucking people. Some he didn’t care to think about because he knew it wasn’t worth his time.
“What is it you need, lady?”
“My daughter,” she pointed at the photo on her desk. “Someone is going to try to kill her.”
He raised his brows. “They’re going to try or they’ve tried?”
“It hasn’t happened yet. Soon,” she said, her eyes glazing over and a faraway look taking over her face. “But she won’t allow anyone to take care of her, so I need you to protect her.”
“Ma’am, I’m not a babysitter.”
She smiled. “I know you’re not. But Morgan is going to get a Drachen mate mark soon.”
Tor sat straighter in the chair. “How do you know? Nobody knows when a mate is chosen. One hasn’t been found in many years. Every time there is one, the Noir get to her first.”
“Exactly. They will want to kill her. Her mate mark will show up and she needs protection. She won’t believe me if I try to explain it to her. She’ll assume I’m crazy.”
He met her gaze. “Lady, I’m thinking you’re pretty crazy myself.”
She nodded. “Let me fill you in on what I know, Tor. I had this conversation with Jae and he agrees you need to protect Morgan.”
“Tell me what you know and I’ll decide for myself,” he said, placing his elbows on the table. He shoved his black hair behind his ears.
She gave a slight bow of the head. “Your kind are rare. You have fire powers that I won’t get into. There are five of you left, that you are aware of. No females because whenever someone has gotten the mate mark, the Noir and Sayeh get to her and kill her before you can mate. Once your mate marks appear, you need to mate within one week or you both die. If you or she are killed before the mating, you both die.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “So far, so good.”
“That means the ones left still have a chance at getting a mate. I know Morgan is a Drachen mate.”
“Whose?” he growled and stared her down.
“I’m afraid that information wasn’t made available to me. I only know what I see.”
He frowned. “You’re a psychic?”
She shook her head. “I’m what you would call precognitive or prescient.”
Now she really had his attention. He’d met someone like that once. Only she’d lied to him, told him she was his mate. That she’d never get a mate mark because she was special. That they would be mated for eternity. He soon found out all she wanted was to use him for whatever wealth she could gain.
“I know all about precognition. What did Jae tell you?” His brother hadn’t given much detail into what they were dealing with, only that Tor needed to handle it as the oldest.
“He said to speak with you. That you’d help me.” She cleared her throat and wiped a hand over her forehead. “I told my daughter she can help your kind by speaking with you today, but she doesn’t know she’s a Drachen mate. She feels the calling to help others, especially shifter kind, and will gladly do whatever she can to help your family.” She gave him a sad look. “I have not been the best of parents, so she doesn’t trust me.”
“What am I supposed to tell her then?”
Sh
e shoved the folder closer to him. “This is all her information. If you agree to letting her help you, we can find a reason to keep you near her and ensure nothing happens.”
He didn’t like this. Lies weren’t the way to go. “Maybe instead of making up a story, I should meet her first.”
She opened her mouth then someone knocked on the door.
THREE
Morgan pushed the strands of blond hair that came loose from her bun behind her ear and smoothed the front of her outfit. She hadn’t gone home from the office and now hated that she still wore the damn skirt suit she disliked with a passion.
Her best friend Lexi had told her to stop wearing the damn things. She had her own practice and could wear whatever she wanted, but Morgan liked giving a professional impression to her young clients.
As a child therapist, she handled a lot of cases of children who didn’t have anyone they could talk to. She became that person. The one they knew would always listen. The adult. Of course, she didn’t believe for a second those suits were comfortable for her big hips and large curves. Nope. Not even a little. Her body wanted sweats and comfy T-shirts, but did she listen? No.
She knocked on her mother’s office door and waited for someone to let her in. She’d had an exhausting day and would rather skip the whole meeting thing, but she’d had a dream the previous night about a faceless man fighting to keep her alive. The man had shifted into a massive gray and white dragon. It was scary and fascinating to watch.
Most people would assume she had dreamt of a dragon from her conversation with her mother the previous day, but she knew better. This was something else and she needed to know what.
The door swung open to her mother’s stern face. Morgan couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Lara smile. Hell, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d made her mother smile.
“Lara,” she said, knowing full well her mother had never cared for the term mom.