CLAIMED BY A DRAGON: Fated Dragon Series (Book 3 of 3) (DRAGON MATED)

by Christina Wilder

“I’m gonna…” I moaned out.

  “Yes.” Pushing me forward, onto my hands and knees, he shoved himself deep. Pulled out, and plunged back in again. He went faster, his hips slamming against mine, while I braced myself against the headboard and enjoyed the ride.

  When his vibrating cock paused over my clit, shock waves flew through me. My insides spasmed. My entire body spasmed.

  I screamed his name, and he drove himself to the hilt, filling me up, stretching me even further than before.

  Whimpering, I begged for more, and he gave it to me, while I crested and peaked over and over.

  Until I was a limp mass beneath him.

  With a deep groan, he shuddered and spilled himself inside me.

  He collapsed on top of me and kissed my shoulder.

  #

  Legs trembling, but my body humming, I slid off the very tall bed and got dressed.

  “We need to look for the heart,” I said. While I had no regrets about what we’d just done, I had to do whatever I could for my friends, as soon as possible.

  Jarik got up as well, but he did not dress.

  “Want my undies?” I asked with a smile. “The thong would sort of cover you up. You’d look cute in it.”

  He lifted his eyebrows. “I’m happy as I am. I enjoy thinking about where the garment rests against your body when you wear it.” Opening the door, he walked out into the hall, turning to wait for me.

  “But, but…” I rolled my eyes, even though the effect was lost on him. “Aren’t you going to put something on? Since there’s bedding here, there must be closets full of clothing. Or we can make you a toga with the sheet.” Red silk, but hey, it would probably look fantastic on him.

  He shrugged.

  “You don’t even have shoes,” I said. “If you’re not careful, you’re going to step on a nail and get lockjaw.”

  He blinked and then shook his head. “My feet are tough, and I enjoy being dressed as I am.” He wrapped me up in his arms. “I love that you worry about me, but you must know I’m not concerned. I spend much of my life naked.” He tapped my ass and eased away. “One day, you’ll walk around naked all the time, too.”

  “Doubtful.” I couldn’t imagine being confident enough to strut through life with my boobs bobbing around, the extra flesh on my hips jiggling. Let alone my inner thighs squishing together. I followed him down the stairs, toward the lobby, grumbling. “You’re going to get hookworm, fungus, or even stub your toe, and let me tell you, that hurts like a bugger. In fact—”

  Pausing at the bottom of the stairs, he turned and tugged me close. “PJ.”

  I gazed up at him, unable to miss the humor shining in his eyes. “Yes?”

  “I’m fine. If I’m injured, I’d need only to shift into my dragon and back to this shape, and the injury will be gone.”

  Whoa. Talk about an awesome trick. “How does that work, anyway?” I asked as he led me across the open foyer, aiming for the door in the back, to the left of the stairs.

  “When I shift, my body takes on the genetic make-up of my dragon. Shifting back resets my genetic make-up to human.”

  “Does that mean you can’t die?”

  He opened the door and gestured for me to go ahead of him. “I can be killed as easily as anyone else, but shifting takes care of simple cuts and bruises.”

  “Cool.” Stepping into a long hall with doors on either side, I spun to face him, walking backward. “I can see where a skill like that could be handy.”

  His widening eyes as he stared beyond me made me stumble. “Watch—”

  The floor dropped beneath me, and I fell, reaching out and dragging Jarik down along with me.

  Chapter Eight

  Jarik

  If nothing else, we handled the situation differently this time.

  When the floor dropped out from underneath us, I grabbed onto PJ and pivoted to break our fall. Fate had other plans.

  My already-sore shoulder slammed onto a rough-cut wooden floor, and we tumbled together until we came to a stop with me lying on top of PJ.

  “While I…” She coughed and waved her hand, dispelling some of the dust hanging in the air. “While I like finding you on top of me, you’re kinda heavy.”

  Chuckling, I lifted myself up and off her and extended a hand to help her rise.

  Once on her feet, she peered around in the scant light filtering down from the room above. “Where are we?”

  As a dragon, my vision was better.

  Barred rooms stretched for some distance on either side, meeting up with other celled corridors farther ahead of us. “I’d say the dungeon.”

  The lack of any rancid odor told me no one had been incarcerated here for some time.

  She huffed and brushed off her clothing. “Figures. Why land in a spa, when you can fall into an ancient prison? Somehow, I doubt we’re going to find your dragonstone heart down here. We’ll have to find a way back upstairs, because they must’ve hidden it up there.” Staring toward the ceiling thirty feet overhead, she said, “Think there’s an exit nearby? We’re not going back the way we came down, that’s for sure.”

  “Since we don’t know where the heart could be, but we might as well start here.” With only a day-and-a-half to find it, because it would take me almost two days to return to my city, our time was limited. In any other situation, the search would be random, but I could feel the stone. It was within the city. I just couldn’t quite pinpoint where.

  She started forward, but stumbled over a piece of wood lying across the floor. Reaching out, I caught her before she fell.

  “I don’t suppose you brought a flashlight?” she asked.

  I had no idea what a flashlight was other than “light”. “Let me see what I can do.” Taking the piece of wood she’d tripped over, I ducked inside one of the cells and approached someone who’d died chained to the back wall.

  “Is that a…? Oh, hell, no. It’s a dead person!” Dry heaves sounded behind me. “You’d think, as an archaeologist, I’d be used to seeing bodies, but the only ones I’ve worked with were well-wrapped mummies. Not people who still have scraps of flesh clinging to their bones.”

  From the multiple bone fractures, this poor soul had been tortured. “Maybe wait in the hall?”

  The Norans had been tricksters, so we’d have to take care negotiating the city during our search. And they’d been cruel, savoring causing others pain.

  While we dragons had maintained an unsteady truce with them, friendship between us had been impossible, because we couldn’t sanction their behavior. They, unlike the dragon people, had enjoyed returning to the Earth’s surface. To cause natural disasters—like tsunamis and earthquakes. Or to spread potions that caused anger, hatred, and despair. Self-indulgent, the elves thought it was fun to cause problems, then sitting back and watch others scurry about, trying to correct the issue. They’d also liked capturing humans to use for their own pleasure, only to tire of them quickly and throw them in their prisons not long after.

  While we’d negotiated treaties that made it clear they were to leave the humans alone, at great expense to ourselves, the elves had broken the agreements.

  After we’d chastised them yet again for enticing a large group of humans below ground to serve as slaves and concubines, they’d retaliated by stealing our dragonstone heart.

  We’d sent envoys, begging for its return. Offered them jewels and gold, as if we needed to buy back what truly belonged to us. We even snuck into their city to search for the heart. All without success. They’d refused to give it back and, on his deathbed, the last survivor had suggested they’d lost the heart, to our horror.

  Now, I had no choice but to find it fast. Without it, my brothers and their mates would be separated for eternity. As would PJ and me. If she consented to stay here with me, our holy ones would force me to return her to the surface with her friends.

  Assuming I located the heart and restored it to the dragonthrone in time, would she want to stay with me?

  Dr
agons fell in love fast after mating, but PJ was human, and she hadn’t known me long.

  I had no choice but to convince her we’d be happy together. I’d keep reminding her of everything I could offer. My body. My heart. My life.

  Winning PJ and locating the heart were the biggest challenges I’d ever taken on. But I’d succeed, or die trying.

  After tugging material away from the moldering bones, I wrapped the piece around the end of the stick and tied it snugly. I shifted quickly—my shoulders and hips pressing against the cell walls while in dragon form—and lit the rags on fire. Returning to human form, I picked up my torch, and joined PJ in the hall.

  “Shall we?” I asked, gesturing for her to go ahead of me.

  Her arms wrapped around her waist, shivered. “Are we going to explore the dungeon first?”

  “We’ll walk through it, but you can remain in the halls. While I’ll look, I don’t believe the stone is here.”

  She stopped to stare at me. “How do you know it hasn’t been hidden in one of these cells? It could be behind a wall, tucked in a corner, or even underneath a pile of bones.” Flicking her hand around, she groaned. “This task feels nearly impossible. The clock is ticking, and this place is huge. I imagine it’s full of secret locations, like this dungeon. I’m worried we won’t find the stone in time.” Her voice choked off.

  Hugging her, I smoothed her hair. “While our task may seem impossible, our odds are good.”

  She leaned back in my embrace. “How can that be true?”

  “Because I can feel the stone. I know it’s here somewhere. I’ll feel when we’re close.”

  Her snort rang out in the quiet area. “That’s helpful.” We continued down the hall, my footsteps nearly silent, PJ’s regular thuds on the wooden floor. “Tell me. Do you feel it now?”

  “I sense…something.”

  “Let’s hope it’s not my rat friends.”

  “Rats?”

  Her sigh deflated her lungs. “It’s a long story.”

  “There are many terrible creatures in my world.” Unfortunately. While it would be easy to lie and tell her she had nothing to fear here, I couldn’t do it. If she stayed, she’d need to be completely aware of what we’d faced together.

  “I imagine you’re right.” Her shoes crunched on dirt and other small things I’d rather not outline with our light. Bones, most likely. “Where I come from, my biggest worries are random gunshots, a car accident, or maybe cancer.”

  I wasn’t sure what those things were, but to her, they were horrifying. That was enough for me. “Here, something could eat you.”

  “I’ve seen that already.”

  Knowing it could lead to rejection, I had to give her an out. “With all the dangers in my world, I understand if you don’t want to remain here. With me.”

  She took my hand and squeezed it, then didn’t let go. “You trying to get rid of me already?”

  “Never.” Said like a vow, and in many ways, it was.

  “Because…If you’ve changed your mind…I’d understand if you—”

  I stopped and lowered the torch to the ground. Pulling her close, I rested my chin on the top of her head. I leaned back, cupped her face. Kissed her. Drank her in while trying to give her a taste of my confidence. Which was shaky. What if I did everything I could to convince her she’d enjoy spending her life with me, but she still said she wanted to leave? Could I smile and let her go?

  “I’ll always want you,” I said. “But I’ll never force you to stay.”

  She hugged me, resting her cheek on my chest. “I appreciate that.”

  “Doesn’t mean I won’t do everything in my power to convince you that you belong here with me.”

  Easing back, she gazed up at me, here eyes gleaming. “How can you feel that way so fast? While we’ve…been together, we’ve really just met.”

  “Because a dragon mates for life.”

  “Mates. There’s that word again. It sounds like commitment. Like when humans marry.”

  “Even more binding.”

  “Marriage isn’t often very binding. People seem willing to fling it aside fast.”

  “I’ll never fling you aside.”

  “Hmm.” She studied my face, as if she worried I lied, but I’d never be dishonest with her. “I…need time.”

  “Take all the time you want.” I’d taken our relationship backward, but there was always wooing.

  “Thanks.” Her grin rose. “You said something about persuasion. How do you plan to convince me to stay?”

  “Know right now that I’ll use whatever tools are at hand to win your heart. And I’m not above fighting dirty.”

  Her grin became full, and she traced her finger through the remaining wraith dust on my chest. “Maybe I like dirty.”

  I groaned, wishing I could haul her off to bed again. The mating lust—and my cock—was rising already.

  “I think…” she said, drifting backward. She lifted the torch off the ground.

  “What?”

  Her fingertip slid along my chest again, and her smile was downright devious. “Where to now?”

  I grumbled, but we didn’t have time to explore this. To explore each other. Time was running out, and we were no closer to finding the dragonstone heart.

  We stood at the intersection of four halls of cells. I closed my eyes and sought whatever had originally pulled me to the Noran city. “Right.”

  “Maybe you should go first?” she said. “In case some of your world’s dangers are lurking nearby. They can eat you instead of me.”

  “Good point,” I growled. “Only I get to eat you.”

  “I’m holding you to that.”

  At the end of the corridor, we hit a dead end, a bricked-up wall.

  PJ chuckled and traced her fingers along the stones. “So much for your spidey sense, since it pulled you in this direction. I think your intuition needs an overhaul.”

  “Spidey?”

  “Just sayin’.” She turned to head back up the hall, but stalled and gasped. “Oh, God.” The words rushed out of her.

  “What?” Pivoting sharply, I crouched to take on whatever threat I’d find waiting.

  Spidey was right.

  Because a pack of knee-high arachnids scrambled toward us, their jaws working feverishly, as if they had our limbs between their teeth already.

  Chapter Nine

  PJ

  “Turn into a dragon and fry them,” I shouted, clinging to Jarik’s arm.

  “Their armor is impervious to flames. And the hall is too tight. I won’t be able to maneuver if I shift.”

  “Unless you have a better idea, then we’re about to become spider chow.”

  Claws clicking on the floor, the huge black bugs rushed closer. Their teeth gnashed in anticipation, and their big orange eyes narrowed on us—their prey. Drool leaked down their chinless-faces.

  I shuddered and backed away, hugging my waist, pressing myself against the wall.

  While I always assumed I’d die on a dig—hopefully while unearthing an exciting find—I never dreamt my demise would come from being eaten alive by ginormous spiders.

  “Is this the point where you tell me these creatures are actually cute children in disguise?” I joked. No way could they be friendly.

  “Unfortunately, no.”

  My heart slammed against my ribcage, probably hoping to escape and make its way back to the Earth’s surface. My hands were so clammy, my fingers slipped on my palms.

  Spinning, I clawed at the wall, but couldn’t scrape out a speck of mortar. It must’ve been constructed by the best bricklayers in the world.

  Elves, huh?

  “Move back,” Jarik shouted.

  There wasn’t much room, but I squeaked into the corner between the brick wall and the bars of the cell behind me. Wait. Could we fit between the bars? Maybe the spiders wouldn’t be able to follow.

  No time. Jarik hunched forward and his breath hissed from his lungs. In seconds, sapphire and red s
cales rippled across his skin, his neck elongated and his snout appeared. A tail popped out from his backside.

  What a glorious dragon he was. Even while my flesh crawled at the thought of the spiders, my jaw dropped as I took him in.

  But he was right about the tight fit. The spiky ridges on his back rubbed against the ceiling. His flanks and shoulders were jammed against the walls. And his tail snaked around me, making it impossible to move. It was all I could do to suck in air.

  Forget being eaten by giant spiders. I was about to be squished to death by a dragon.

  Jarik kicked with his back legs, and the brick wall shuddered. Another thrust sent part of it tumbling. A third blow created a hole large enough we might be able to squeeze through.

  He shifted back to his human form and pushed me toward the opening. “Go!”

  Scrambling up over the pile of crushed mortar and stone, I shoved my head and shoulders through the opening. My butt? Well, hopefully, it would follow.

  How was Jarik—taller and broader than me—going to fit?

  Fortunately, this part of the underground was better lit, because our torch had been left behind.

  Wiggling forward, I tugged my hips through the hole, bracing myself on the earthy, downward slope on the other side.

  Pausing, I shoved my hair out of my eyes and gasped.

  “Go back!” I shouted to Jarik.

  He just shoved my butt. At any other time, his hand on my backside would be welcome. But this was a drastic situation.

  “There’s nothing here but a tiny ledge,” I yelled. “I don’t think it’s even wide enough to stand on.”

  A large, dark, circular cavern stretched ahead of me, but other than the narrow strip of stone, which snaked around either side of the room like a pouting lip, our only option was the black hole leading downward.

  “No choice,” Jarik said from right behind me. “Hurry!”

  Ugh. Heights had been my kryptonite since I’d gotten stuck on the top of a rollercoaster when I was ten.

  But we had no choice.

  Gulping back my fear, I scrambled forward, pulling my legs through, then turning to find purchase with my heels on the narrow strip of stone encircling the cavern. I rose on unsteady feet, bracing my palms on the wall beside my hips, and inched over to the right, making room for Jarik to come through the hole in the wall.