The Vampire Prince’s Bride

by T. S. Ryder

  She swabbed the wound with alcohol and Brock lifted his head up and let out an anguished scream.

  “I know, I know,” Michelle said. “I know it hurts, but you have to try and be quiet.” He clenched his teeth and took gasping, painful breaths. Michelle grabbed a roll of gauze and wrapped it around his leg. It cut the smell and when she was done, Brock’s head fell back on the seat and he let out a haggard cry.

  He looked awful. His face was pale and sweaty and he could barely keep his eyes open. She didn’t have much time. He had only been bitten a few minutes ago and already the poison was taking hold. A hospital would never help him. This wasn’t normal poison, it was magic.

  The problem was, she had no idea how to deal with a dragon bite. She had never even heard of a Dragon Shifter. She knew there were people who could transform into wolves and bears, but she had never heard of a man turning into a dragon.

  Cain, it was Cain. The dragon was Cain. He would be the only person who could save Brock.

  Michelle grabbed a paper map out of her glove box and spread it out on the hood of her car. There was a crystal dangling from her rear-view mirror and she grabbed that as well. She held the crystal over the map and focused on Cain. She ignored the sirens and people and thought only of Cain. She remembered his long blond hair, his cocky smile. She could see him clearly in her mind.

  The crystal spun above the map. It moved in slow circles as the image of Cain became clearer in her mind. Suddenly, the string holding the crystal jerked twice and she opened her eyes to see that it had stopped on the edge of Lake Michigan. She took a pen and circled the spot. Taking the map, she hopped in the driver’s seat and headed around the lake.

  Brock moaned quietly behind her and Michelle forced herself to focus on the road. The only thing she could do for him was bring him to Cain. Cain would have to know how to cure the dragon’s bite. After a while there was no noise from the back and then she couldn’t help but constantly check on him. She kept glancing at Brock in the rearview mirror, making sure he was breathing.

  It took twenty minutes to find the house on the lake. It was a rustic cabin tucked away in the woods at the end of a long, dirt drive. Cain’s truck was sitting in the driveway. She had the right place. It was dark out here, they were far from the city and the only sounds were the chirping of crickets.

  The house was dark. Michelle left her headlights on, letting them illuminate the driveway. She stumbled towards the door in her high heels.

  “Cain?” She called out. “Cain, are you here?”

  There was no answer. She took the steps to the porch and looked around. It was a small, one-story hunting cabin, simple and rustic. Not like Cain’s normal style at all. She knocked on the door and to her surprise, it creaked open.

  Inside, the house was dusty and dark. There was a faded green couch over a bearskin rug, a cold fireplace along one wall and a small kitchen. She could see a bedroom through an open door, but it didn’t look like anyone was here.

  “Michelle?”

  She screamed and jumped straight up in the air. She spun around and saw a haggard looking Cain.

  “Did I kill him?” he asked, his voice thick and slurring. “Did I kill my best friend?”

  “No,” Michelle said, shaking her head. She put her hands on his arms and felt that he was shaking. “He’s alive. He’s in the car, but there’s some sort of poison-”

  Cain spun around, breaking free of her grip and stumbling towards the car. He opened the back door to reveal Brock, unconscious and splayed out in the back seat. He was covered in sweat and shaking.

  Cain pulled his best friend out of the car and hefted him over his shoulder. As gently as possible, Cain carried Brock inside, depositing him on the bed in the bedroom.

  “How did you find me?” he asked.

  “I’m a witch,” she said looking into his blue eyes. “I always knew there was something magical about you, but I didn’t know what it was. Why did you attack us?”

  He hung his head and said. “I lost control. I had been fighting it ever since I heard that you agreed to go out with Brock. I was so angry. I tried to contain the dragon. I came out here to find some peace and quiet and try to control myself. But I couldn’t...” He shook his head. “I lost control. It’s been years since this happened and now I’ve killed my best friend.”

  “There has to be some cure for the poison,” Michelle said. “What’s the cure?”

  “There is a way, but there’s not enough time. He won’t survive.”

  “Please,” Michelle said, reaching across Brock’s prone form. “I have power. Tell me what the cure is and we’ll find a way to do it.”

  “He has to complete his transformation. He has to become a Shifter like me. If he can survive it,” Cain shook his head.

  “How does he complete the transformation?” Michelle asked.

  “There has to be a third. Someone needs to be a conduit. The magic has to pass from me to the conduit and then to the infected,” he looked up at her sadly. “It’s rare that it works. There aren’t that many of us, most don’t survive the change.”

  “I’ll be the conduit,” Michelle said. “Let me help you save him.”

  “No,” he said. “I won’t ask that of you.”

  “I’m not asking for your permission.”

  Chapter Ten

  Michelle frantically searched through the cabinets. Sage, myrrh, wine, candles. Thankfully, as a fellow Magical, Cain had all of these things within arm's reach. That was the end of his helpfulness. He stood over Brock watching as his friend shivered and writhed in pain. Brock was moaning quietly, sweat beaded on his forehead.

  “Pull the bed out away from the wall,” Michelle ordered and thankfully, Cain was able to follow simple instructions. Michelle poured a circle of salt around the bed and then stepped over the barrier. She wasn’t sure what being a conduit included, but she needed to be able to protect herself if it put her in a vulnerable state.

  She put a cast iron pot on the floor within the circle and threw in a few ripped out pages from a paperback and lit them on fire.

  “Sit,” she ordered Cain and he obliged.

  She threw in the sage and myrrh, filling the air around them with a sweet and smoky smell. “I don’t know what to do, you have to guide me.”

  “I’ve never...I’ve never done this before,” he said kneeling on the bed.

  “Trusts your instincts, they’ll guide you,” Michelle said. She poured a glass of deep red wine and staring Cain in the eye she took a sip, she handed him the cup and he took a sip, after that they lifted Brock’s head and he sipped the wine down as well.

  The smoke and herbs were swimming in the air around them. Even though it had only been one glass of wine, she felt a little tipsy. It was a strong wine, but even stronger was the magic she put into it.

  She stared at Cain and his aura erupted around him as he squeezed her hand. Below them, Brock’s aura was an undulating white and green, both colors mixing together, but not blending. The green was slowly overtaking the white.

  She took Brock’s hand in hers and kissed his knuckles, looking down at his shivering form. Still holding Brock’s hand with her right hand, she took Cain’s hand with her left hand next, and repeated the action, laying a series of kisses along his knuckles.

  “Show us the way,” she whispered. “Save him. You know how to do it.”

  He leaned forward and kissed her, his hands holding her by the neck and pulling her closer and closer. The herbs and smoke and wine were mingling and she felt that strange weightlessness that came from magic. Spells were otherworldly, they were something else. They didn’t follow the normal rules of the physical world.

  She kissed him back as the smoke blossomed and grew. It was more smoke than her small fire could have made. The smoke was thick and swirling, but it wasn’t burning her lungs or her eyes. The smoke was like a hurricane. It was swirling all around them, obscuring everything else in the room. But they were in the eye, the small bed with
the three of them was free of smoke, the air was clear.

  Everything was clear. Everything was standing out in harsh light. The sensation of Cain’s hands on her body was intense. It was like electricity coursing through her veins, lighting along her skin. She felt charged. She gasped as Cain moved down to her neck, kissing and licking the sensitive skin there. She leaned into him, desperate for more. Her hands were tangling in his hair.

  She looked up at him and saw not his crystal blue eyes, but the dark, yellow eyes of the dragon. She was not afraid. She reached up and caressed the skin of his cheek. He leaned into her touch as his hand moved down her neck and to her breasts.

  She felt someone behind her. He touched her skin and his touch was fire. She cried out in pleasure, as he traced fire over her shoulders and neck. It was Brock. He was breathing deeply. It was the harsh ragged breath of the dragon. He pulled her back against him. She could feel his erection pushing against her back as his hands came up and captured her breasts.

  Brock was laying kisses along the back of her neck and then Cain was in front of her, kissing her mouth, his tongue dancing with hers. The sensations were too much, she couldn’t tell who was touching what, but she wanted none of it to stop.

  “Yes,” she cried out, throwing her head back. Cain took the opportunity to lean down and kiss her chest while Brock unzipped her dress. He traced kisses down her back as the zipper went lower and lower. Goosebumps erupted on her arms when Cain pulled the front of her dress down until she was in nothing but her bra and panties.

  Brock unsnapped her bra and Cain pulled it off. He took her breast in his mouth. Cain licked her nipple and then bit down gently, making her shudder. She tried to pull away, but that only pushed her back into Brock. They were both so powerful and strong, all of their attention focused on her. Their hands and lips and tongues were moving over every inch of her skin teasing her and driving her wild.

  She brought Cain’s head up from her breast and kissed him. The she looked behind her and kissed Brock. She looked between the two men and finally they looked at each other and then they were leaning in and kissing each other while their hands explored her.

  It was the hottest thing she had ever seen. These two huge strong men in bed with her. Brocks’ hands pushed her down on the bed and her panties slid off of her.

  “Undress each other,” she said quietly. She wanted to watch. She laid on her back and as Cain slipped Brock’s shirt over his head, Brock unbuttoned Cain’s pants. She was so turned on, her body physically ached from wanting them. She couldn't stand to just watch. She reached up to their strong shoulders and pulled both of them down onto bed with her.

  They were a tangle of lips and hands and arms and legs. She didn’t know who was who or where they were. There was nothing but the inescapable pleasure of the three of them moving in bed together. She felt someone slip their fingers into her and she arched her back, clinging to someone’s hard shoulders as fingers spun within her. Strong fingers were gentle and teasing, caressing her most sensitive places.

  Another set of hands massaged her breasts as a mouth came down to kiss her lips. She was awash in sensations, straining for their touch. Someone’s tongue circled the tip of her breast and she buried her hands in his hair urging him for more. She was writhing on the bed, unsure of where she was and what was happening. Michelle was overwhelmed with the dedicated attentions these two men were paying to her body. She never wanted it to stop.

  Cain and Brock were on the bed kissing and touching each other and her. She didn’t know where she ended and they begin. Her orgasm was building up inside of her, growing more powerful with every lick and touch. She arched her back and cried out the word YES! when Cain entered her. Her body strained to contain him. Fire coursed through her veins as he slid into her and began to move in and out in a heady rhythm that matched her heartbeat.

  There was something else. She could feel the magic enter her and course through her veins. It was red and green and yellow and it was taking over her body as it moved into her. It felt wonderful and amazing, driving her wild from the inside out. She could do nothing but writhe underneath him and beg for more, her breath catching in her throat. Brock leaned over her and kissed her as Cain continued to thrust.

  She slipped her tongue over Brock’s lip and felt the magic pass through her to him. He breathed in the scent of it and kissed her harder, desperate for more. His hands were on her shoulders and then her breasts. She was holding onto him as her orgasm built up inside of her.

  A wave of pleasure was passing between them, growing with every second. Every touch and every movement sparking the shared fire within them. They were nothing but pleasure and sex and love and friendship and sweat, all moving together in a perfect rhythm. It was too much, too big for one person to contain. Her body tensed as the last of the dragon’s magic passed through her lips into Brocks’ and the wave of pleasure crested and crashed down on all three of them.

  She was awash in pleasure, reaching out to hold onto both of them as her body moved out of control. The smoke around them swirled to a fever pitch. With a dragon’s scream, Cain finished and the spell was broken.

  They flopped down in bed, a heap of tangled limbs as the smoke around them slowly dissipated. Brock was to her left, leaning on her bare shoulder and she saw that his fever had broken. He had stopped shaking and his skin was back to its healthy color. He looked normal again.

  His aura was different. The bright, innocent human light was gone. Now it matched Cain’s. It was burning with yellows and angry reds that flickered and licked the air around him. They had saved him. Brock was no longer a normal human man. He was a Dragon Shifter now.

  *****

  THE END

  Taken by Two Football Dragons

  Description

  A shy, curvy newspaper reporter PLUS two disturbingly sexy athletes PLUS an indecent but sizzlingly hot proposal...

  Rachel Forbes is ready to move up in her career and find a boyfriend. She’s excited when it seems like one of her wishes is coming true. She will get to write a serious piece for her newspaper and finally escape the advice column.

  There’s only one problem. The assignment takes her into the world of sports- something she knows nothing about.

  Up and coming NFL star Michael Pryce is reluctant to do an interview. All he wants to do is play the game he loves and stay out of the spotlight. He fears fame will make it more difficult to hide his secret.

  But then, Rachel walks into his locker room and he’s suddenly into the interview and the sexy journalist. The attraction between them is undeniable.

  Rachel meets Michael’s best friend Sloan Ryder and finds his bad-boy charm alluring. She knows it’s best to do her job and get away from both of them, to keep herself out of trouble, but she finds herself drawn into a passionate love triangle. Should she choose one man or have her fun with both?

  Michael and Sloan share everything, including women. If they both desire Rachel, claiming her together shouldn’t be a problem.

  Chapter One

  A large, serpentine creature was gliding in the night sky. Its powerful wings were spread wide and its scales were iridescent in the moonlight. The creature searched the ground below before swooping downward, landing on four feet. It lifted its head, detecting the slight rustle coming from the bush ahead. It sniffed, gauging whether its company was animal or human. The source of the disturbance in the foliage emerged.

  “Having fun?” the deep male voice drawled.

  The dragon grunted, its shape contorting and shrinking into that of a man. Michael Pryce grinned at his longtime friend, Sloan Ryder. He reached for his clothes, neatly folded and tucked behind the thick root of a tree.

  “I always have fun soaring through the night sky. What the hell are you doing here? I left to give you some privacy with your female friend.”

  Sloan shrugged. “I got hungry. I sent her home to avoid having her for a midnight snack.”

  In the process of buttoning his pants,
Michael froze. “You didn’t choose to snack on any campers by any chance?”

  A wicked grin spread across Sloan’s face, and he remained silent.

  “Sloan,” Michael growled.

  Sloan chuckled. “Relax, no humans were harmed. Okay, I’ll admit it, I followed you to make sure no one witnessed your little night flight.”

  “Thanks, but I’m always careful. You’re the reckless one, remember?”

  Sloan’s eyes narrowed. “Screw you, Michael. I’ve managed to keep what we are a secret just as well as you have.” He huffed. “You’ve had your fun, and I’ve had mine. Let’s go home, shall we? I need some shut eye before practice tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, let’s go,” Michael agreed.

  Both men strolled casually through the Colorado woods, at ease in the night. The area was their usual nightly playground. They could hunt smaller animals with a low risk of discovery.

  ***

  “Mr. Carrington, don’t you think it’s time for me to start getting more serious assignments? No, that won’t work.” Clearing her throat, Rachel Forbes tried again. “Mr. Carrington, I have been with this paper for one year. It’s time I started getting more serious assignments. No, I demand that I get more serious assignments.” Rachel stared at herself in the mirror, putting on her fiercest expression.

  She let out a groan. Who was she kidding? There was no way she could walk into her boss’s office and make demands. She didn’t have the balls. Her shoulders sagged in defeat.

  “I’m going to be stuck writing the damn advice column forever,” she grumbled. Scowling at herself in the mirror, she huffed. She didn’t work her ass off for the four years of her journalism degree to write the advice column. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.