COWBOY ROMANCE: Devon (Western Contemporary Alpha Male Bride Romance) (The Steele Brothers Book 2)

by Amanda Boone

"We raised it. Or paid for it."

  "And in the cases in which I have taken a sheep, or a cow, I too have paid for it." He smiled across the fire at her. "As I said. We are intelligent creatures. That some of my kind choose to behave as though they are not should not have bearing on all. Certainly there are humans who fail to behave in an intelligent manner."

  Unwilling, Mairead was finding herself won over, and she smiled. That much was true. She had seen it herself in every town she rode through, every inn she bought rooms in.

  "I will give you that point," she said.

  "I wish you to know," Fintan said, "that I have not been toying with you. I am quite fond of you, and I the nights we have shared together have indeed been blessed, whatever your church may think of them."

  It was the answer to the question she had not yet managed to ask him. And yet, what would a dragon wish with a human? She slew monsters. He was, by the estimation of her own kind, just such a creature. In human form, he was vulnerable. Her dagger could be in his throat in the space of a heartbeat, if she wished it to be.

  She did not wish it.

  “Where is it we go from here, then?”

  “That depends, I think, on you.”

  For a moment she sat in silence, thinking on it, and then she nodded, and she stood. This time, it was her turn to move bootless around the fire, to stand before him. When he tipped his head down to meet her gaze, she tipped her own up and kissed him, hard as he had kissed her that first night. Her fingers tangled in his hair and drew him down nearer.

  When they pulled apart for air, he smiled at her. “A decision I offer my most definite approval for,” he said, low and warm.

  She remembered thinking before that Lyndoun had all of the danger and none of the beauty. And yet here before her stood a man who was beauty and danger in one. Perhaps he was not the only such thing in the world. Perhaps she would make it a mission to find out, and if luck smiled on her, she would do it with Fintan at her side.

  THE END

  By the way, have you solved this book’s Riddle?

  Q: This is a crime that is not punishable if committed. What is it?>>See answer

  Abducted by the Dragon King

  Dragon Shifter Menage Romance

  Abducted by the Dragon King

  Chapter One

  Margot wriggled her nose. The thick bead of sweat that had sprouted onto the surface of her tanned forehead had begun its slow descent down the side of her face. She tilted her head up, squinting at the massive, hot ball of fire that leaked UV rays all over rural Angola. Through the rays, she could see a short dirt path, created by hundreds of years of antelope-traping. It slowly faded into a line of thick brush, which dotted the looming mouth of the cave Margot had spent every free moment in during her last three weeks of volunteering obsessing about. “We’re almost there!” She tightened her core, to rip the words out from the back of her mind and thrust them out into the world. Her strained voice combined with the thumping of Ezra’s boots as he scurried up the last bit of path.

  “You’re almost there. I’ve already made it.” He stood up and placed his hands on his hips, his back to the brush and the cave.

  Margot gazed at his tall frame, her mouth hanging open in wonder at just how small he looked in front of that cave. “This is amazing!” she said in between her deep pants.

  Ezra let out a huff, raising a toned arm to wipe the glistening layer of sweat off of his forehead. “Come on, Margot. We’ve got less than an hour to get back to the village.”

  “Right.” Margot nodded as she hoisted herself over the final ledge, scurrying up the sharp incline. She stomped her final step, a smile stretching across her forehead. “Okay,” she whispered as she continued to catch her breath. She stood up, her eyes sweeping across the hundreds of miles of deep green trees, red rock and dust, and isolated rivers and creeks that covered the Angolan country-side. The air, although still steaming with heat, seemed much more dry and crisp at that altitude. “We must’ve climbed at least four hundred feet.”

  “Ha!” Ezra replied, turning to face the mouth of the cave. “You're telling me this? I’m gonna be sore for the next four days.”

  Margot laughed, reaching into her small fanny pack for one of the two cigarettes she had rolled in anticipation for this moment. “You should work out with the kids more often.” She slipped her cigarette in between her lips and lit it, sucking in her first breath of tobacco.

  Ezra shook his head as he approached her. “No. No. No. That’s your job, and you should keep it that way.” He wrapped his hand around her shoulder.

  Margot’s lips lifted into a crooked smile. “That kind of attitude will get you fat.”

  He gestured for cigarette. “Nope. Not with my morning runs.”

  Margot lifted an eyebrow at him. “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked, handing him the cigarette.

  He shrugged. “Figured I should see what all the fuss is about.”

  “Are you telling me you’ve never had a cigarette?” Margot asked, ducking her head in disbelief.

  Ezra slipped the cigarette in between his lips, taking two awkward puffs. His chest rose as he breathed in the smoke.

  Margot watched him closely, her eyes fixed on his soft jaw and thin lips. “I’ve got to say, part of me didn’t even think this would actually be here.”

  Ezra exhaled the smoke, his smooth breath quickly eroding into a heaving cough.

  Margot laughed as she watched him. “Why are you punishing yourself like this?” she asked, taking his cigarette back.

  “I figured there must be something to it since you like it so much.” He looked down at her, bathing her in his hazel gaze.

  Margot couldn’t help but to smile. “You give me too much credit,” she said, avoiding his eyes and taking another drag of her cig.

  He shook his head. “No. On the contrary, I don’t give you enough.”

  Margot felt oddly exposed alone with her colleague all those feet in the air. She turned to face the dark opening of the cave, watching him mirror her movements in her peripheral vision. “Let’s focus on the task at hand, love.”

  He let out a sigh. “I can’t believe this is actually here.”

  “How dare you doubt the elders’ legends?” Margot asked, shoving him lightly.

  Ezra laughed, then took the first step, but Margot stopped him, her firm hands grabbing his arm. He turned to glance at her, his facial features folded into a look of deep confusion. “Oh no. You don’t get to doubt me all the way up to the tomb of the ancient dragon king and then take the first step.”

  He scoffed, but gestured for her to lead the way.

  Margot giggled, her heart swelling at just how nice Ezra treated her. She had worked at the hospital for almost four months now, and even though she had denied his every advance, he still remained the warmest volunteer she worked with. Her lips stretched into a wide, cheek-aching smile as she stepped over the thick brush. Her face fell at the sudden drop in lighting just at the mouth of the cave. It smelled of ash and smoke. “It would be hilarious if this were real,” she called back at Ezra, who had only just then began to step through the brush. She heard his laughter drift through the air towards her as she took one more step.

  A yelp leapt out of her lips as her feet slipped from under her. Her knees slapped her face, her body folding like a piece of meat. “Oh my God!” she screeched. Her long, frizzy hair slipped through the grates of a net that had suspended her five feet in the air. Her heart pounded against her chest, her stomach knotting and her skin crawling with fear. She fought the net of harsh, thick rope, turned herself over.

  “Margot!” Ezra yelled, running the rest of the way into the cave. He took her face in both of his hands, his eyes wide with fear.

  Margot sucked in breath after breath. “A knife. Did you bring a knife?” she asked, her voice echoing through the cave.

  Ezra shook his head.

  Margot’s heart sank.

  She didn’t bring one either. “Ok
ay.” Her eyes darted around their dimly lit surroundings. “Maybe there’s a sharp rock.”

  Ezra dove for the ground, patting around for something, anything. Margot rolled around in her net, straining to reach inside of her cargo pants. She prayed she had stowed a Swiss Army knife, or a pair of scissors, or something in there. Just when she was about to lose hope, her fingers touched something hard in the last pocket on his right leg. “Ezra!”

  “Marge!” He stood up.

  “My left bottom pocket.”

  He gave a frantic nod and turned his attention to her pants. She sucked in buckets of smoke and ash. “All right, Marge. It’s gonna be okay. Everything’s gonna be okay,” she muttered to herself, her South African accent bouncing off the walls.

  Ezra managed to eventually get the Swiss Army knife out, pulled out the biggest blade he could find and set to work. Margot’s eyes started to tear up at the mere sight of Ezra’s fruitless attempts at cutting through thick rope with her tiny knife. “This isn’t gonna work,” she whispered.

  Ezra shook his head. “Don’t fucking say that.” Then he started to cut even more rapidly, despite the fact he was hardly halfway through one bit of rope. “We have all the time in the world.”

  Margot was struggling to find it in herself to believe him when she heard footsteps coming from deeper inside of the cave. They were heavy, authoritative.

  “What is that?” Ezra asked, his fingers freezing.

  Margot gulped as the steps got louder and louder. “I don’t know. Ezra you don’t have time…”

  But she trailed off at the sound of an earsplitting roar ringing through the cave. Margot clutched at the ropes, bracing herself as the net swung back and forth. Margot’s stomach flipped as Ezra continued to cut. “Ezra,” she said, reaching for his hand.

  He shook his head. “Margot, not now. I have to cut this.” He didn’t even hesitate enough to look at her.

  There was another roar. It shook at the walls of the cave, resonating through Margot’s bones. “Something is coming and you won’t be able to fight it!” she yelled over the sound. As soon as the roar faded, she could hear the footsteps again and they sounded as if they were right behind her. Margot gripped the ropes as she turned to see what it was that was responsible for her capture.

  “Impossible,” Ezra whispered as he stood up, his eyes wide.

  Margot gulped, listening to the clank of her knife slipping through Ezra’s fingers and landing on the ground. Her eyes widened at the sight scales everywhere she looked. This thing, this thing with scales glistening in what little sunlight made its way into the cave, with beady eyes and fangs longer than her arms, stood before the two of them, its massive chest rising and falling with its every smoky breath.

  “Ezra, run!” she screeched, for she knew he had no chance of being able to fight it.

  “No—” he started, but just as this thing, this… dragon, dipped its head low, he turned and leapt away.

  Margot screeched as it slid its head under the net, the scales on top of his head scratching against her torso. Another deep, guttural roar filled the cave. Margot’s jaw swung open, an ear-splitting scream slipping from her lips, just as she watched the mouth of the cave fill with fire.

  Chapter Two

  Anya sat on a throne just below King Orion. She flipped her bleached blond hair over her shoulder as she met his fiery anger with her own cautious stare. The dragon king huffed hot smoke, his bushy eyebrows jammed together, forming a hairy wall above his sharp, sapphire gaze. She watched his strong jaw move ever so slightly back and forth as he ground his teeth in frustration.

  Anya pursed her thick, red lips. “Orion. Calm yourself.”

  Orion dismissed her, shifting his gaze away just as his guards pulled the stone doors open. There, standing just behind the threshold was Cohen, the dragon man who was supposed to be responsible for the security of the tomb and the mouth of Orion’s covert palace.

  He had obviously failed.

  Anya watched Orion stare at the dragon in his tall, human form. “You have allowed a human to see your true form.” His booming voice filled the room. Anya could feel a tingling in between her legs at the sound of it.

  Cohen bowed his head, his long hair falling to either side of his face.

  “Look at me,” Orion ordered as he stood and stepped down from his throne.

  Anya slipped to the edge of her seat, waiting in anticipation of what she knew he would do next.

  “I’m sorry, I—”

  Orion lifted a hand. “Never mind your petty emotions.”

  Cohen clamped his jaw shut.

  “Where is the woman?”

  “A holding cell, my king,” Cohen said, bowing his head again.

  Orion gripped his chin, forcing Cohen to look at him. “I am immensely disappointed.”

  Cohen’s violet eyes flashed wide. Anya could tell from the lone tear streaming down his face that he knew exactly what would happen next.

  Orion did not disappoint. He wrapped his hand around Cohen’s neck and lifted him off of the ground.

  Anya leaned forward, wincing at the resistance from her hard corset as she watched the execution take place. Cohen’s feet wriggled as his face changed from a light pale hue to a slightly pinker shade. He grabbed Orion’s arm with both of his hands, his survival instincts kicking in as he scratched and clawed at the king’s tough, dark skin. Orion let out a dark chuckle as he tilted his head back. He opened his mouth, taking in buckets of air.

  Anya noted how his chest rose, inflating with oxygen, before he turned on Cohen. He pressed his mouth against Cohen’s quivering lips and blew as hard as he could. She squinted at the ray of blue flame that streamed out of his mouth, completely obliterating Cohen until he slipped between Orion’s fingers, reduced to nothing more than ash and smoke.

  Orion gestured at one of the guards to take care of the mess before returning to his seat.

  Anya barely waited for him to get comfortable. “The human male is no problem. No one will believe him if he told what he saw.”

  Orion gave a curt nod. “I know. It is the woman that concerns me.”

  “You couldn’t have killed her. That would have invited human inquiry.”

  Orion rubbed his thumb against each of his fingers as he thought through the predicament. “Kidnapping her was hardly a better option.”

  Anya’s glowered at him, an idea coming to mind. “What if you made her a vessel?”

  Orion averted his gaze. “I have no interest in making a vessel.”

  Anya bit her lip. This was going to be much harder than she thought. “But you need an heir.”

  “Not right this minute.”

  “Then when?” Anya stood up, rounding his throne to face him. “We have been looking for a way to produce one for centuries. It must be fate that she landed right in your lap.”

  Orion shook his head.

  Anya pursed her lips, throwing her hands up on frustration. “You have an able-bodied woman in your palace. Either kill her or make a surrogate of her, but I will not tolerate this indecision from you.”

  When Orion did not immediately return her gaze, she bent over so that she was at his eye level, grasping his chin and forcing him to look at her. “You are becoming weak. Your existence will soon meet its end. Make. Me. An. Heir.”

  Orion took in a sharp breath, grasping her small neck with his large hand. “I do not take orders from anyone, especially you.”

  His image had begun to blur in Anya’s eyes before he finally let her go.

  Chapter Three

  It took Ezra two hours of harsh terrain and dirt roads to make it to the US embassy in Luanda, Angola. After hours on hold and a short conversation with an infuriatingly nonchalant official, Ezra had deduced that the only way to get anything done would be to contact them in person. Now, he was fidgeting in his chair on the other side of the desk of a female agent with a tag on her left breast that read, “Demba, A.”

  She closed the folder from which she had b
een reading, then folded her hands on top of it. “So, let me get this straight,” she said.

  Ezra leaned in, as if that would somehow make her accent much more understandable.

  “You were hiking in restricted territory with a colleague when she was trapped, by what looked like…” She re-opened the folder, her dark eyes scanning the page for something, before adding, “A human dragon.”

  Ezra pursed his lips. It wasn’t until he was sitting right across from a government official, listening to her repeat his recount of events in that condescendingly dry voice of hers that he realized that by telling the whole truth, he had made it impossible for them to take him seriously. He wrung his hands together, biting his lips and swaying back and forth in his chair. “Look, I know it’s hard to believe but—”

  “It’s damn impossible to believe.” She leaned back in her chair, her eyes never leaving his face.

  Ezra felt like he was under a microscope, and wouldn’t have put it past this Demba to assume that he was just on some sort of drug. “It happened.”

  Demba nodded. “And how do you know this was a, uhm, human dragon and not just some sort of trick of the eye?”

  Ezra huffed a quick breath. “I saw it. It breathed fire…” He could see the whole thing behind his eyes as if it were happening just as he spoke. “And then it, for lack of a better word, it morphed into a human… and it chased me.”

  Demba nodded. “Uh-huh. And how did you outrun this fantastical human-dragon?”

  “I didn’t. I just jumped over the edge of the landing-thing and started tumbling,” he said, wincing at the memory of the creation of the cuts and bruises that covered his body. “When I got to the bottom of that… that hill and stood up, he wasn’t following me anymore.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “Tall, tan. His skin looked like it was glistening in the sunlight. Like he was covered in golden glitter or something.” When Ezra looked back up at Demba, he found her raising skeptical brow.

  Demba nodded, standing up and pushing her chair underneath the desk. “So then tell me, because I’m a little confused. Tell me just how you can care enough about your little colleague to trek all the way down here, but not enough to stay by her side in that cave. Why did you run?”