Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Hearing the flap of wings approaching, Drake grabbed her suitcase with one hindfoot. His talons wrapped around it as he extended his wings to full length, filling the clearing, and launched himself into the air. He felt Aurora plaster herself against his back.
A blast of heat came at him from the east and Drake easily avoided the flame of the black dragon by diving back toward the ground. The tips of the trees brushed his belly before he rose once again. This time, he exhaled fire to singe his attacker’s vulnerable belly.
The black dragon reeled sideways to avoid injury and Drake shot upward. Hold on.
Feeling her arms and legs tighten around him, Drake sent her strength through their connection. It grew colder. He could hear her teeth chattering. If there had been time, he would have dressed her better. Drake shot fire above them, timing it perfectly so the flame would extinguish but the heat lingered as he flew through it.
A blast came from his right, and he dodged, circling the stony slope to give his passenger shelter. The silver dragon had joined the fray. He was not targeting them but coming to their defense. Trumpeting his thanks, Drake sped upward.
The black dragon had been without a mate for over a century. Drake could feel waves of anger and resentment rolling from his mind. If his mate didn’t appear soon, the black dragon would be lost to madness. Why had he found his mate days after his previous one had left him while the black dragon still waited alone? Without a mate a dragon could lose his humanity, allowing the beast inside him to gain control.
Shaking his head to dispel the sympathy that flooded his mind, Drake forced himself to concentrate on protecting his mate with a laser focus. He couldn’t risk injuring his mate by battling now. Drake would have to elude the jealous dragon. He would owe the silver dragon for running interference.
Increasing the force of his wings, Drake drove them upward. This was not the introduction to flying he wished to give his mate. Dodging blasts and dives, he neared the entrance to his lair. At the black dragon’s next flaming stream, the silver dragon rammed into the aggressor, knocking him off course. Taking advantage of the distraction, Drake swerved to the left and into the gaping hole in the mountain. He turned and filled the doorway with flame, igniting the flammable rocks to form a barrier to the others.
Instantly, he shifted back to his human form and rolled to cradle his mate in his arms. She wrapped herself around him before hiding her face in the curve of his neck. He stroked up and down her body, molding her even closer to him.
“You’re okay, Little one. We’re safe now.”
“Why did they attack us?” she asked, shivering.
“I owe my thanks to the silver dragon. I know he seemed scary, but he allowed us to reach safety. Jealousy provoked the black dragon.”
“Of me?”
“Finding one’s mate is never as easy as you made it for me. No dragon has ever found his mate walking to his previous mate’s burial.”
“Your mate had just died?” she asked, horrified. “You’re still grieving.”
“I grieve the loss of every mate I’ve had, every day. That does not mean I am unable to celebrate having you in my life. It’s not disrespectful to them, nor does it limit our connection,” he promised.
“How old are you?” she blurted.
“I flew over this section of land for years, watching the rocks forced upward into towering peaks around a protected valley. I claimed the highest mountain and carved my home here.”
Aurora looked at him with wide eyes and he knew while he had not answered her question with a number, his mate understood he was ancient.
“Come, Little one. Let me show you our new home.”
“They aren’t going to try to get in here?” she asked, looking at the still flaming entrance.
“No, Aurora. We are quite safe here.”
Drake rose to his feet nimbly and held out his hands to tug her upright as well. “This is the landing area. You are not to be here without me.”
“You have a lot of rules,” she muttered before straightening up. “I have questions.”
“In each area, you may ask me one question. Go.”
“Does it hurt to change like that? Where does all the mass go when you’re in this shape?”
“That’s two questions. I’ll answer the first. There is some discomfort as the size of my body and the features of each part of me shifts. It is not excruciating, especially because each form has its bonuses.”
“What are those?” she asked curiously.
“Sounds like it’s time to move to the next area.” He walked her through a massive carved stone door. Her lower jaw dropped as Drake braced his powerful arms against the opposite side and slid it into place.