Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“That pain you felt. That was the mate bond locking in place. It will continue to strengthen. Look at your hand, Lalani.”
Under his watchful eye, she raised her hand. Where previously there had been a scattering of dots, now partial lines appeared. The pattern had grown darker. It was in the vague shape of a winged beast. A dragon!
“You’re one of them. That’s why you are ginormous. No one has muscles on top of muscles like you do,” she accused.
“I am one of the dragon protectors of Wyvern,” he agreed.
“And those women who were nice to me. They’re mated to dragons?”
“Just as you are.”
Lalani stared at him, trying to get everything sorted in her head. She took a step away, and he relaxed his hold. Instantly, she missed the contact with his hard body. Why did she want to rub her hands all over him? She felt more turned on by simply standing by this man than she had during the few disastrous dates she’d forced herself to go on in the past. Struggling to process all the emotions and control her physical reactions, Lalani could only shake her head in disbelief.
“You are my mate,” he repeated.
“But, why me?”
“I cannot answer that. Additionally, I don’t know why you’re mated to me and not to one of the other dragons,” Khadar told her, seeming honest.
“Are you going to eat me?” she asked.
“I will not harm you.”
Lalani noticed he switched her words. Deliberately? Her confused brain sparked with a visual image of herself stretched out on her back with her legs draped over his shoulders. She looked up at him, reacting to that mental picture.
“Our mating will be glorious, Lalani.”
Her face flamed hot at his confident statement. “Can you read my mind?” she whispered.
“Your face is very expressive, Princess. I didn’t need to eavesdrop on your thoughts.”
“Why are you calling me princess?”
“Royal child of the heavens. That sounds like a princess to me. I think it fits you well.”
“Oh.”
He actually thinks I’m a princess. How in the world is this happening? It’s impossible to deny our connection. The mating bond. Between me and a dragon shifter. A drop-dead gorgeous dragon shifter who looks at me as if I were a snack he wanted to devour.
“I like whatever you’re thinking. Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait to find out the details.”
Chapter 2
“Khadar, can I just tell your mate she’s going to be okay?” Aurora asked, hovering a few steps away.
“Thank you, Lady Aurora, for your concern about my mate.”
“It’s hard to understand at first. I wish our families had shared the information more than handing down that old book,” Aurora told him with a disgruntled expression.
“What does my family have to do with this?” Lalani asked as Ciel came to join them.
“Did you ever hear the legend of the town?” Ciel asked.
“No. I didn’t grow up here. My adoptive parents lived a few hundred miles from Wyvern. They always bragged about how they’d chosen me. Of course, I’d wondered about my birth parents. When I found my birth mother lived here and was willing to meet me, I left my job and came to visit. Unfortunately, she and her husband were killed in a car accident a few days after I arrived. My adoptive parents both passed a few years ago.”
“I’m so sorry, Lalani,” Aurora said with tears in her eyes. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“No. I’m the only one left now.”
Khadar wiped a tear from his mate’s cheek and drew her closer so her side rested against him. The tension eased from her body as she relaxed against him.
“I can’t imagine what it feels like to be completely alone. I’m glad Khadar found you. You’re part of our family now,” Ciel assured her.
He smiled fondly at the gold and silver dragon’s mates. The women had dressed and protected his mate. He would be eternally thankful.
Lalani’s stomach growled ferociously, and she slapped a hand over her abdomen to muffle it. “Sorry!”
“I am not taking care of you as I should, Lalani. Come. We will get you something to eat,” Khadar declared.
Intertwining his fingers with hers, Khadar led her through the crowd past all those standing in line to reach the buffet. His mate tugged at his hand, resisting him.
“Hey! You can’t jump past all of us in line,” an angry male voice announced.
Khadar turned and speared him with a look, allowing him to see a bit of his dragon shining through his eyes. The crowd glared angrily at the protester.
Backpedaling, the man apologized, “Oh. Sorry. Dragons first.”
“Khadar, it’s okay. I don’t need to eat,” Lalani whispered as she tried to tug him away.
“No. He spoke without knowing who… the dragon was,” a female organizer of the gathering said. “We owe our lives to those who protect Wyvern. Of course, they do not need to stand in line. Without Khadar, the gardens would not have been completed for a long time. Please, Sir Dragon, take your mate to the front.”