Tamed: A Curvy Girl and Dragon Shifter Romance (Black Dragon Brotherhood Book 1) Read online

  “Good job. Ready?”

  Again, her touch burned in that amazing way. It must be his injuries. He couldn't blame his pain on the balm her words gave to his soul. “Ready.”

  He took one step forward, swayed, and leaned heavily onto Kady.

  “That’s it. One foot in front of the other, and soon we’ll be walking out the doo-oo-oor,” she sang.

  Her voice wavered, and she glanced toward the lights coming toward them. She was worried. The scent of it wafted off her like dusty old blankets.

  He wanted nothing more in life than to soothe and protect her. The way to do that now was to get out of danger.

  He took another step and another. Each felt like he was trying to walk through lava with boulders on his shoulders pulling dead bodies behind him. Gritting his teeth, they made progress.

  Woo-oof. Woo-oof.

  Bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, bark, bark.

  Aw-oooooooooh.

  “What the fuck is that? Do you have a pack of werewolves nearby?” Pack politics were extremely complicated, and it didn't help that the Wolf Tzar didn't particularly like dragons.

  “Shit buckets. They brought search dogs. We’ve got to move, mister, alien, dude.” Kady tugged at his arm and pulled him into a slow jog.

  Each step rattled his bones, several of which were probably broken. Damn. He should have healed by now.

  He shoved the pain aside. “Where is your home? I don’t see it.”

  “Just there, through those trees.”

  The dog’s barking behind them grew louder and closer. The shouts of men’s voices could be heard now too.

  “I don’t think we’re going to make it before they hit the clearing.”

  All their running would be for naught. If they saw him, limping along, bleeding everywhere, black and red scales shining on his body, they would pursue. Humans or wolves, both would see he was no mere human. They needed somewhere to hide. With his next step, Neo pivoted and felt something in his ankle snap and crackle. “There. Go toward that small hut at the edge of the woods.”

  Kady shook her head. “The bathhouse doesn’t lock. They’ll find you.”

  “It’s our only choice. Go.”

  Kady swallowed and headed for the small hut. “I’ll cover you in towels or something.”

  Ten more feet and they’d be there. Neo tripped over his own stupid feet and they both tumbled to the ground. He wrapped his arms around her and took the brunt of the fall to his left shoulder. They rolled several yards and stopped dead when his back hit a tree.

  “Are you okay, my Kady?”

  “Crfph brrrrrf.”

  Neo lifted his head and stared down at her. “Kady, can you speak? Where are you injured?”

  “Can’t. Breathe.”

  “Your lungs are damaged?”

  “Get. Off.”

  Neo rolled so she was atop him instead of the other way around. “I’ll try to be more careful not to crush you the next time you’re under me.”

  Damn fool mouth. Didn’t it understand they were in danger?

  Kady’s deep brown eyes sparkled and she slowly blinked. “Next time?”

  “Soon.”

  “Over there!” A voice sang through the air followed by a cacophony of barking and other shouts.

  “Oh no. They’re going to see us. Hurry.” Kady jumped up and yanked him into the hut through a fabric flap. She tied it shut behind them and then ransacked a small wooden wardrobe next to the door.

  “Here, quickly, take off your clothes and get into the hot tub.” She threw a large tan towel at him and grabbed another.

  Hot tub?

  Neo stared at the room. “What is this place?”

  Dark composite decking floors surrounded a large white marbled basin with a flip-top lid. Opposite was a two-person sized wooden box with a glass door. The whole thing looked like some kind of torture chamber.

  “Hurry, they’re coming.” Kady ripped off her top, tossed her fogging glasses onto the bench, and wrapped a towel around herself. She wiggled out of her pants and dropped the clothing into a pile on the floor.

  Torture or not, if they were getting undressed, he was all for it. Hopefully she had more of a plan than towels and using her naked body as a distraction.

  Although that was a hell of a good plan. Both his logical brain and the part of him that needed to stake his claim on her agreed.

  Neo groaned as he took off his shirt and peeled himself out of the shredded pants. His shift hadn't protected his clothes, which meant he'd lost more of his abilities as a dragon than he thought. His cock thanked him for keeping it protected though.

  Kady flipped the wooden lid off the large basin and he saw it was filled with steaming water. Oh, fuck yeah.

  She turned some knobs on the side of the tub and both bubbles and colored lights came on. What a bizarre addition to a bathing ritual, but one he’d remember. It would hide his wounds and the scales he couldn’t suppress, should the men in black and their dogs come calling.

  “Neo, get in.” Kady was already in the water, with her towel wrapped around her. He’d get it off her soon enough.

  He tossed the towel she’d given him on the small bench next to her glasses and climbed in, one leg at a time. Kady’s eyes widened watching him. Her already rosy cheeks went even redder and she turned away.

  Once he and the other Black Dragons had gotten their soul shards, Neo had made a study of the other mates, so he would know what to look for when searching for his own. He'd had more than a passing crush on Yvaine, as did most of his brethren, since she had been the first woman most of them had ever interacted with. That, and her magical blood had saved them from Hell...literally.

  But there was only so much spying on his Wyvern's mate he was comfortable doing. That's when Kosta Troika had introduced him and the other dragons in the Black Dragon Brotherhood stationed in Rogue to something called a strip club. The dancers there were excellent teachers of how to tell when a woman was turned on.

  Kady's face wasn't the only part of her that was flushed. The pretty pink spread across her face and chest in such a lovely shade. He’d remember that and ensure to make it happen as often as he could. As soon as they were alone together.

  She was so damn lush, with hips he could sink his big hands into, an ass that went on forever, and soft, silky skin. Now if he could only get that towel off and reveal what he knew were going to be epic tits.

  Having her mostly naked, millimeters away from his raging hard-on, the part of him that cared about saving the world from the machinations of Hell gave up. Mark. Claim. Mate.

  The sound of the humans and their beasts grew rapidly closer and Neo understood the brilliance of her plan. Patches of his scales still spotted his body, but the steam from the bubbling bath would conceal him as long as no one looked too closely. While he would try to keep himself concealed from these damn interfering humans, per her plan, he would defend his woman.

  Yes. That was right. She was his.

  His mind flashed back to the moment before the crash. His soul shard had lit up like a bonfire. He reached for the charm hanging around his neck to thank the First Dragon for bringing him to his mate.

  Wait, where was his soul shard? It must be in the wreckage of the forest where he'd collided with the trees. He felt strange without it, but he'd survived without a soul shard for much longer than he’d had one. They’d look for it later, after he got rid of these investigators and fucked the brains out of his beautiful savior.

  No, not her brains. She’d laid out a brilliant plan to fool the fools. He liked her brains.

  When they recovered his soul shard, then he could consider the implications to his soul. And hers.

  The Old Kissing Ruse

  Steam from the hot water filled her hot tub hut quickly, and Kady breathed a sigh of relief that her idea was working. Neo, a very naked Neo, was already in the water and his alien scales were mostly hidden by the water. He looked like he was enjoying the jets on what were probably s
ore muscles and injuries.

  She'd have to find him some ice later. Her tiny freezer that made like six ice cubes at time wasn't going to cut it. She'd need every single one of those to cool her own body down. Man was it hot in here, way more than normal. That heat was all pooling right between her legs.

  “Hey, anyone inside?” A voice called from the other side of the hut’s fabric door. “We’re coming in.”

  “Yikes, okay. Showtime.” Kady looked from the door to Neo, swallowed down the inner voice trying to bubble that said even aliens didn't like chubby girls in bikinis, and moved across the pool to him.

  “Who’s there?” She made her voice lilted, all sweet and innocent. Damn, she should have gone for sultry and sexy. “We’re in the hot tub and would rather not be disturbed.”

  “Sorry lady, this is a national emergency.” The speaker sounded both irritated and as if he wanted to mansplain to her about why it was bad to hide fugitive aliens.

  Kady’s arms held the towel tight across her boobs, but the rest of the material floated in the water around her. Neo's hands drifted up and wrapped around her waist, pulling her body to his. His skin on hers had her temperature rising even more. If he kept looking at her like that, she was going to turn into one of those cartoon thermometers and blow her top.

  Kady slapped his arm and whispered, “This is not real, so don’t go thinking your hands are wandering any further than my waist, mister.”

  “Whatever you say, my fiery mate.” His universal translator must be slightly off. Mate was a weird word for him to call her.

  She didn’t say he couldn’t pull her tight to him, and so when he did, she could hardly chastise him for it. He sure didn't seem to be in any pain now. Not above the waist, anyway.

  Geez. She should not be thinking dirty thoughts about what kind of alien penis he had. This was real life, not some kind of sci-fi porno. “Stay hidden behind me so they don’t see your scales.”

  Most of his injuries were rapidly healing, like almost before her eyes. Except for the angry looking patches around the scales. That would be the tipoff to the men in black that he was no normal underwear model slash movie star slash giant ass football player.

  Neo bristled at her demand. “I will not hide behind a woman.”

  They could have the ‘welcome to Earth, I'm what's known as a feminist’ talk after this crisis was averted. “You will, and you’ll thank me later, so shut up.”

  The flap of the doorway opened and Kady wrapped her arms around his neck, whispered, “Universe, help us now.”

  She threw off the towel and kissed him.

  What a fucking kiss it was. She pressed her tongue to his lips, tentatively asking to be let in. He tasted like spicy cinnamon gummy bears and burnt caramel. The steam from the tub tripled and filled the room around them with swirls and puffy clouds. Or maybe that was the fuzziness of lust steaming up her brain.

  “Whoa, whoa, folks. Break it up, and ma’am, can you put some clothes on, please.” A man’s voice, like a bible-belt pastor came from the front flap of the tent.

  The steam circled them, billowing the two of them in their own hot cocoon of pleasure. Wasn't she supposed to be worried about... something right now? Kady drew back and blinked at her sexy AF alien.

  Neo grinned lazily and his eyes never lifted above her mouth. The kiss had affected him as much as it had her. Good. Because there would be more of it. What? No. Earth girls did not go around kissing strange, sexy, sensual aliens.

  He touched her cheek and then laid a finger over her mouth very effectively keeping her in her quietly addled state. “She will do no such thing. This is her home and you are trespassing. She may dress, or undress, however she pleases.”

  Neo peeked around Kady and she got enough of her brain back to turn her head to see who was horning in on her sexy times. Oh, crap. That's right. The men in black. Three men, all dressed in black formal-looking clothes, two wearing dark eye-protection, fogging up in the steamy room. The third stood at the fore of the others and was approximately half Neo’s size. A mansplainer for sure.

  “Who’s this? Your boyfriend?” The short man, whom she was pretty sure Neo could crush with his little toe, snickered.

  Kady frowned and pushed Neo’s finger away from her lips. She tried to turn, get off his lap, but he didn’t let her go far. Fine. “He’s, uh, yes, my, uh—”

  This time the heat that flushed across her cheeks was not the fun kind. No way mansplainer was going to believe a hottie like Neo would be with a girl like her. She looked back at him and bit her lip, trying to hide her complete embarrassment.

  Neo whispered so that only she could hear. “My mate, I do not understand the hurt in your eyes, and I pray that it is not because of me. I want nothing more than to make you come a dozen times at least, until you lie sated in my arms and forgot all about the rodent of a man behind you.”

  Kady's jaw dropped so hard it hurt.

  “You wanna... in front of—” she bobbed her head to indicate their audience of bad guys. “Do you not remember what I said about the anal probes?”

  His hands slipped from her waist to her hips and he pulled her forward, so his cock aligned with her cleft. Damn, she cursed the granny panties she wore today. Until Neo gripped the edges of them in his fist, ready to tear them off.

  Her mouth popped open in an ‘oh’. She didn't know if that was an ‘oh no’ or an ‘oh yeah’. Neo winked at her and jerked his chin toward the men in black who were waiting for an answer about who he was. “She uses me for sex. I’m not good enough for her to be seen with in public, but I’ll happily take her however I can. Isn’t that right, my Mistress?”

  Kady held in her guffaw. Barely. Did Neo's spaceship get Earth porn?

  The men moved closer, but a communicator crackled, and she heard voices, but couldn’t quite distinguish what they were saying. Maybe something about radioactivity? Shit. She damn sure hoped his reactor wasn’t leaking. God, that sounded so dirty.

  The short guy silenced the communicator, then addressed them again. “Whatever floats your boat, buddy. Did you all see or hear anything strange?”

  They bought it? Holy crap, they totally bought Neo's line.

  “What kind of strange?” Kady asked. Shoot. She should have just said no and let them go. Her own damn curiosity about who these guys were and what they wanted with Neo got the best of her.

  Mansplainer came still closer. Much more and Neo wouldn’t be able to use the steam and Kady as a shield. She made big eyes at him and pushed down on his shoulders, making him sink lower in the water. He clearly didn't want to until he realized his face was about even with her boobs.

  The way he licked his lips just about had her ripping her own panties off.

  “You seriously didn’t hear that crash?”

  This conversation needed to be over, partly to get rid of the investigators and because she wanted to ask if his species of women had extra boobs like they always did in the movies. Okay, okay, and she'd love to see exactly what that tongue would feel like on her skin. For science, of course. “No. We’ve been distracted, if you hadn’t noticed, and we’d like to get back to it.”

  The walkie-talkie sounded again, and the voice had a distinct anxious tone saying the word dragon.

  Dragon. Oh, duh. That's what his ship had looked like. Damn. That meant they had found his vessel. He would not be going back to salvage anything now. Maybe he had an auto-destruct sequence that would incinerate everything before the men in black were able to get anything from it. That would be so freaking cool.

  Mansplainer responded to the communication. “Acknowledged.”

  The two taller men left the tent, but short dude had to get in the way for one more minute. “Fine. But if you hear or see anything, be sure to let us know.”

  “Who’s us?” Shoot. Kady rolled her eyes at herself. She needed to quit replying and let him leave already.

  “Don’t worry about that. We’ll check in with you, since the portal…uh…inciden
t site is so close to your hot tub.”

  Kady jerked at the word portal and her boobs slipped against Neo's chest. He growled, but not in a scary way, more like an I-need-you-now way, and he was more than done with these humans. “Thanks, now get out.”

  “Listen here, bub.” Mansplainer shook his walkie-talkie at Neo.

  “If I kill the bastard, no more investigations.” He said that to her like he was asking her permission.

  She shook her head. “No, no, no. Don't kill anyone. We come in peace.”

  “Fine.” He kissed her much too quickly and Neo stood to his full height all while holding Kady against his chest, her feet dangling in the water in front of him, “I am no bub, and if you’d like to take this outside, I’d be happy to oblige.”

  The man turned his back and held his arm up dismissively. Coward. “Don’t get all up in arms. Just keep your eyes and ears open. If you see something, say something.”

  He popped out of the flap before Neo could set Kady down. Then they were fantastically alone in the steam and heat and water.

  All alone.

  Just the two of them in the great big universe.

  Neo remained standing, wrapped one arm under Kady’s ass and lowered his head taking her lips in a hungry kiss.

  She kissed him back with more fervor than she ever knew she had stored up in her. She wasn’t sure how much longer either of them could wait to get it on. Kady had never felt like this about anyone before. And it all happened so fast.

  Wait a minute. Nobody just fell in love instantly like that. Dammit.

  Alien mind control.

  She pulled her arms from around his neck to between them, pushing on his chest. “Stop right there, asshole.”

  This golden-skinned, sexy as sin alien had just about kissed the daylights, and nightlights, and headlights, and flashlights out of her.

  Holy cow balls, the guy had mad skills. Or maybe it had been too long since she’d been kissed. Still, she was neither going to bed with someone she’d met a mere half an hour ago, nor having sex with an alien. What if he had, like, two penises, or his penis had teeth, or was covered in scales. Like the ones she’d seen when they’d been at the crash. Most were gone, but he still had some swaths of them that looked more like wounds.