My trembling limbs could barely hold me up. “Keep doing that, and I’m going to explode.”
“Not yet. But soon.” His fingertips pinched my clit. Rubbed. “Open your legs for me, love.”
Who needed brain cell function? Thighs splayed wide, all I wanted to do was feel. My whimper echoed around us.
“Do you like this?” One fingertip slid inside me.
“Ahh.” I arched my head back while savoring the heady sensation. “Don’t stop.”
“I won’t.”
I was wet. Ready for him already. I had been for what seemed like forever. Thrusting my hips forward, I moaned. “Jarik.”
“I live to please you, mate. Tell me what you need. This?” His thumb circled, pressed down on my clit.
I panted. He wanted speech? How could I think? My throat was tight. My lungs heaved. Between my legs…
He lowered himself to his knees in front of me and licked along my slit. Sucking my clit into his mouth, he rolled it between his teeth, stroked it with his tongue.
I keened, the sound growing louder, building to a fever pitch. “Take me. Please.” Deep inside, I coiled tight. Tension built with every stroke of his tongue.
Slipping three fingers inside, he created a rhythm that brought me so close, I was going to shatter. Fall apart in his arms.
“I can’t wait.” His deep, guttural tone made me tug on his arms, drag him to his feet.
I stared into his eyes, and my voice came out guttural. “Do it. Now.”
With a chuckle, he lifted me, and I hooked my legs around his waist. He pressed me back against the icy wall, and I writhed, because it felt awesome against my overheated skin.
Pausing outside me, he watched my face while slowly sliding himself in to the hilt.
Smoother than velvet. Harder than steel. And vibrating against my inner walls.
“That’s…that’s…”
He pulled out and shoved back inside, so forceful, I was lifted up in the air. Only his arms kept me grounded.
I shrieked. “Again. More.”
A fever took hold of me. I shifted my hips to pull him deeper. I wanted it all.
My butt pressed against the wall, he shifted his hips back and slammed into me. Over and over, until I was a melted, moaning, senseless thing in his arms, only able to focus on the exquisite sensation.
Each time he thrust forward, his vibrating cock slid along my clit, driving me toward the peak. Clutching his shoulders, I held on, while he rode me.
Stars flickered through the air, and my breath caught. Yes. I arched back, taking him deeper, then shuddered as I came.
As if sensing I was falling over the edge, he thrust faster.
Until I cried out his name.
#
We left the ice cavern, miraculously finding a door on one side of the chamber that opened into a large room filled with Noran statues. The ceiling arched upward, in a clear dome. Above the dome, I spied the top of the cavern I’d first fallen through what felt like ages ago. Or, what I believed was the cavern. Like everywhere else, bluish bugs shone bright, lighting up the cave sky.
“We’ve reached the top of the mountain,” Jarik said as we walked over to the side of the room and stared down through a wide window.
Far below, the river flowed through the valley, and tiny specks along the shore must be the crocs I’d seen while flying on Jarik’s back. The falls plunged down to the river, on the other side of the cavern.
“Will we have to pass the spiders and go through the dungeon to get out?” I asked. I couldn’t hold in my shiver at the thought.
“Nope.” Jarik slid my hair to the side and nuzzled the back of my neck. His fingertips kneaded my back, trailing down to my bare butt.
I carried my climbing suit in my hands. Somehow, after coming together, he’d talked me into walking around naked.
Jarik could talk a lake into drinking water.
I’d dress eventually, but there was something wonderful about sharing my body with my mate, like he shared his with me.
“Pretty much back where we started from.” He pointed in the opposite direction of the falls. “We can fly through the valley next to this one, plus another, and then I know a quick path to my home.”
“How much time do we have left to get there?” I asked.
“More than a day. Enough.”
Turning in his arms, I smiled up at him. “I can’t wait to see my friends.” And I couldn’t wait to deliver the heart. To think I’d make it possible for all three of us to remain here with our mates.
I chuckled. Not long ago, I’d balked at the term, mate. Now, I welcomed it.
Moving around Jarik, I strolled over to one of the statues and stopped, staring up. “Man, if this is supposed to be an elf, these guys were tall.”
Ten feet, or more. As snobby as I’d heard they were, the being seemed to stare down its nose at me from its lofty height. It wore a floor-length, white robe, with a dark blue sash belting the garment in at the middle. Big eyes. Pointy ears. Thick white hair, flowing down its back.
I walked around the room, my bare feet nearly silent on the tile floor, peering up at the elf statues, while Jarik followed, his hand warm on my side.
“What do you think they used this room for?” I asked.
He shrugged, but pointed to the raised dais ahead holding two ornate thrones. “I assume the king and queen would sit there and make pronouncements.”
Two shorter statues stood like sentinels on either side of the stairs leading up to the dais.
I walked over to one. Since it was about my height, I leaned in close to scrutinize the face. This one resembled the others, except it had black hair.
And eyes…That almost seemed to follow my movement.
I shivered.
“What’s wrong?” Jarik asked from beside me.
“Something…”
The elf’s mouth creaked open and a plume of inky smoke poured out.
Dizzy, I sagged against Jarik.
“PJ,” he murmured as we collapsed on the floor.
#
Darkness enveloped everything when I woke.
Only the firmness of Jarik beneath me told me everything would be okay.
He stirred and groaned. “PJ?”
“What happened?” I mumbled, my voice sluggish. It was all I could do to speak.
“Drugged,” he said slowly. “Damn elf tricksters. They had to get us. Even from the grave.”
“I don’t have a watch.” And I’d lost my phone somewhere. Maybe when I was dangling in the air. “Do you know what time it is?”
He bolted upright, taking me up with him. Staring through the windows, his eyes widened with horror. “The lunarlights. They glow in cycles. Twelve hours lit, twelve hours dark.”
“Like the sun.”
Rising to his feet, he helped me stand. “We’ve been asleep too long. We have to go. You’ve still got the heart?”
My outfit lay where I must’ve dropped it. I leapt on it and patted the pocket, my breath hissing from my lungs when I found the solid mass there. “Yup.”
After dressing quickly, I joined Jarik, who stared out into the dark valley.
“We’re going to be too late.” How could I have let this happen? My curiosity had gotten the better of me, and now, Tanya and Jenny would pay the price.
No, I’d also pay the price. Me and Jarik.
“Come,” he said. He pointed to a door to the right of the dais. “We’re leaving. I’ll fly as fast as I can.”
“Take the heart.” I tried to press it into his hands, but he held them up and shook his head. “But you’ll fly faster without me on your back.”
“I’m not leaving you here. We’re doing this together.”
Holding hands, we rushed for the door and shoved it open. An open deck waited for us, with a rail looping around the outside.
“The second I shift, climb on.” He paused. “I’m…Sorry for the height. I won’t be able to stay close to the ground.”
/> Afraid for our future, I wouldn’t even notice. In fact, I wasn’t even scared gazing over the rail, despite the hundreds of feet drop below.
“I think I’m getting over my fear of heights.” Jumping off Jarik and onto the griffin seemed to have cured me.
After he shifted, I scrambled up onto his back. We’d have to fly straight there, and, even at a furious pace, I didn’t know if we’d make it.
He dove down, the wind cutting through my climbing suit and whipping my hair back in a blue flag.
As we flew over, something shrieked in the forest.
Death wraiths?
I tapped Jarik’s spine. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll hold on. Use whatever maneuvers you need, but just go!”
As foggy wisps drifted up through the trees, Jarik plunged right, then swooped down, down, before darting left, aiming for the end of this valley.
The wraiths shot toward us, their open mouths endless blackness, their ghostly fingers outstretched. Shuddering, I had no difficulty believing they planned to suck out all my energy.
Jarik roared, shooting fire, and while the cloud of wraiths cringed, they kept coming. Reaching out, their razor-sharp fingers slicing across my arms and thighs.
When Jarik dropped fast, my butt lifted up off his spine, and I had to hold on tight as he darted beneath the death wraiths.
The furious sweep of his wings soon left them behind. It seemed they didn’t dare venture far from the forest.
We flew on, through a large valley next to the Norans’, then another and another. Eventually, he entered a long system of caves, but he didn’t shift. He kept flying, his pace never lagging.
The equivalent of dawn arrived, with the release of lunarlights glow, and I knew this was the final moment. We needed to reach Muraque soon, or we’d be too late.
A faint sparkle ahead gave way to a series of gleaming buildings. No, call them castles. Hundreds of them, as if everyone was a prince in this realm.
Flying partway across the city, Jarik suddenly dropped down in front of a large, pink-colored building with stained glass windows on either side of the gilded door. After shifting quickly and pulling on pants he found in a box sitting beside the door, he took my hand. “Hurry!”
The door banged open, and we rushed inside.
“Tanya! Jenny!” I cried. My friends stood on the other side of the long, narrow room, glaring at a man dressed in ornate robes. Tall men who vaguely resembled Jarik stood with them, their arms protectively wrapped around my friends’ waists.
“PJ!” They left what must be Drek and Kemir and raced down the aisle, passing empty alcoves on either side.
“You’re here,” Jenny said. She winked at Jarik. “See you found my friend. Thank you.”
Jarik bowed deeply. “I was thrilled to find PJ while on my quest.”
“Actually, I kind of found him,” I said with a laugh.
“We’ve got a lot to talk about.” Tanya hugged me. “But I’m so glad to see you safe.”
But were we really safe?
“If I’m not too late, I’ve brought you two a gift.” Well, a gift for myself, too. Pulling it from my pocket, I held the gleaming red shape aloft. Just like I was performing in a high fantasy movie, I intoned, “I give you the dragonstone heart.”
Turning with a smile, I tried to hand it to Jarik, but he grinned and nudged my hand away.
“You found it,” he said. “It’s your right to restore it.”
“What is the meaning of this?” a tall man said in a snooty voice. With a swish of his robes, he strode down the aisle and stopped in front of us. His thin lips twisted when he took in the man standing at my side, but they turned down farther when he spied the heart, pulsating in my hand. “You are too late.”
“It’s never too late to protect our people, Ludar,” Jarik said, wrapping his arm around my waist. He kissed my cheek. “I’ve not only brought back the heart, I’ve claimed a mate.”
“You needed to return within four days.”
“And today is the fourth day.”
“Was the fourth day.” He waved toward the window, where the lunarbug’s fading light barely created colorful shadows. “It is ending.”
“Then we’d better hurry.” Jarik grabbed my hand and tugged me around Ludar. “Come on, love. We’ve got one more job to do.” Opening the door in the back of the room, he urged me down a wide set of stairs.
“Where are we going?”
“The crypt. Hurry.”
First a dungeon, now a crypt? Great. Would this adventure never end?
At the bottom of the stairs, we stopped, and my jaw dropped.
An enormous crystal dragon rested, like it slept, on a wide, gleaming gold platform.
“Is this the ancestor you told me about?” Reverence filled my voice.
“He’s been missing his heart for far too long.”
“Here,” I said, trying to hand him the dragonstone. “You restore it. Make him happy again.” Make the magic protect this valley again. I wanted to remain here in peace, secure with Jarik and my friends.
Heck, I wanted that thatched cottage, the stew in the crockpot, and the baby on my hip. A dragon shifter baby.
The others joined us at the bottom of the stairs.
“I said you’re too late,” Ludar said. “Even if you restore the heart, the women will have to be mind-wiped and taken to the surface.”
Mind-wiped? That sounded ominous.
“I think the dragon needs to decide our fate,” Jarik said. He nudged my back, encouraging me to walk forward, though he remained with me, his fingers warm on my side. “Restore the heart, PJ. Make the dragon complete.”
I approached the crystal creature, hoping it wouldn’t rear back its head and blast me with fire. Or ice, like the griffin.
But it slept on, appearing almost peaceful. As if it didn’t care if anyone came near. Without its heart, it might not.
I climbed up the short set of steps and gaped at the creature. The size of a house, it rested on its belly, its back legs tucked underneath its sides, its front legs stretched forward, far enough to hold its resting head.
The dragon’s eyelids remained closed, but I could swear they twitched as I walked around its side and approached its chest.
“How in the world am I supposed to do this?” I whispered. It wasn’t like I could grab a stalactite, stab down through its spine, then shove the heart inside.
Jarik stood below me, on the stone floor, my friends and their mates flanking him.
Jenny held her cupped hands beneath her chin. “Do it, PJ,” she whispered. “Do it.”
Tanya’s eyes gleamed. Trembling, she leaned back in Kemir’s arms.
If I failed, I not only harmed myself, I’d hurt my friends beyond measure.
Ludar glared from the bottom of the stairs. “Leave this room. We’ll return you to the surface with no knowledge of what has happened here. As far as you’re concerned, you were asleep and you woke on the ground.”
While there were some things I’d be happy never to think about again—like the spiders—how could I forget Jarik? My gaze met his, and in his gray-blue eyes, I found the confidence that had been building inside me since the moment we met.
His surety had kept me going.
Fuck Ludar.
I wanted to stay here with my mate and take whatever life dealt us, good or bad. If that meant strutting around naked, with my boobs jiggling, or even battling death wraiths and snakes, then so be it.
Because I refused to go on without him.
Turning on my shaky knees, I took a deep breath. I climbed up the crystal dragon’s leg until I stood beside its chest.
Piece of cake, huh?
It was anyone’s guess how to do this, but something told me I should…
I drove my hand forward, the heart tight in my fist. My fingers passed through the external structure as if they floated through air.
I released the heart, and it settled in the crystal dragon’s as if it had never been sto
len.
It throbbed. A dull thud rang out in the room. More thuds, until a steady rhythm jarred my spine, making me stumble backward, down off the dragon.
The beast arched its back, making its spikes ripple. A big yawn consumed its mouth, revealing long, spiky teeth.
It lifted its head and stared down at me, before stretching out its neck to sniff me. Warm air puffed from its lungs, heating me through. The dragon tapped its snout on my forehead, as if in blessing. As my body shook from a mix of fear and excitement, my skin blazed, my ears rang, and my pulse raced double-time.
“I will not stand for this!” Ludar leapt toward me, his walking stick lifted over his head. The end flew off, revealing a gleaming blade.
Crap, he was going to kill me.
I gasped, and Jarik thrust me behind him.
Before Ludar could reach me, the crystal dragon roared. Flames rushed around me, cold when they should be hot, and hit Ludar. He stalled in place, his stick raised, his lips curled into a snarl.
The dragon settled back down on his golden bed and dropped his head onto his forepaws with a soft grunt. Tiny puffs of smoke curled from his nostrils.
My eyes wide, I walked around Ludar, but, even when I snapped my fingers in front of his face and pushed his side, he didn’t flinch. He remained motionless, his body harder than a statue’s.
“Is he dead?” I asked Jarik, shuddering when I realized how close I’d come to being murdered by this horrible man.
“No idea. We’ll have to ask our physicians to look at him.” He pulled me against his chest and wrapped his arms around me, sharing his warmth. “Or we can stuff him into a closet and, if anyone asks about him, we can say he took a walk in the forest.”
My laugh huffed from my throat, and I grinned. “Maybe he’s off, dancing with zombies.”
The steady pulses of the dragonstone heart beat in the room. Reassuring and true.
“The guards are back in place,” Jarik said by my ear. He kissed my cheek. “And you’re the one who has saved our city.” His chest shook, as if he chuckled, but I couldn’t see his face. “You’ve had a magical day. You’ve defeated Ludar, and you’ve captured a dragon. Me.”
No, Jarik captured me. From the moment I smacked into him, I knew he was the one.
CLAIMED BY A DRAGON: Fated Dragon Series (Book 3 of 3) (DRAGON MATED) Page 9