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  Before his eyes, the blood and bruising mixed and mingled, transforming into a permanent shape that resembled a miniature version of his own dragon tattoo.

  His mark.

  He kissed the new symbol of their connection on her skin and made his way up her neck and to her lips. They kissed deeply, both needing to extend their connection a bit longer.

  A shiver rolling across her body reminded them that they were out in the nighttime forest with wolves and who knew what else roaming around. He’d claimed, marked, and made his mate come. Now it was time to protect her.

  Steele raised his head, reluctantly breaking their kiss. “Hello, beautiful mate. Let’s get you home and warm.”

  Her eyes were sleepy and satisfied, but her arms were covered in goosebumps and another shiver moved across her body. She sighed in a way he hoped to hear a thousand more times in his lifetime, and smiled at him, nodding.

  He sat up, pulling her into his arms and rubbed his hands briskly across her skin. There was one last thing he wanted to do before they left their mating spot. He wasn’t sure how or why he knew he needed to give his soul shard to Fleur, but he knew with his entire being that it was important that he did.

  Steele slipped the cord that held his soul shard over his head.

  Fleur gasped and pressed the talisman against his skin. “What are you doing? The last time you weren’t wearing that, you died.”

  “Fleur, you saved this for me once before. Will you save it for me now, and forever?”

  She shook her head, a panic in her eyes. “I don’t understand. It’s a part of your soul. How can you live without it?”

  “You are my soul. Take this part of it and keep it safe, as I will keep you safe.”

  The shard vibrated against his skin under her fingers. Her eyes went wide and flicked between her hand and his face. She lifted her hand and the shard glowed brightly into the night. Then it floated up from his skin, reaching toward Fleur.

  Fleur’s own necklace lit up and drifted off her neck. “Whoa.”

  Steele took the small tree-shaped charm in his hand. It disintegrated into twenty or so multi-colored dragon scales that lifted into the air, swirling around his shard, drawing it from him to Fleur, and placing it around her neck.

  Some of the light from the crystal flowed into the dragon mark on her skin, turning the bruising into a shimmering ink-like tattoo.

  Steele’s own dragon tattoo, the literal representation of the dragon part of himself, thrashed on his skin in response, absorbing another fraction of the light, and reveling in it.

  The power he’d felt in the parking lot when he’d put his shard on for the first time after meeting Fleur, flowed through him again, reigniting in him.

  He grabbed Fleur and held her tight against his chest. The power building inside threatened to overtake him and his dragon pushed to the surface. Until Fleur raised her hand and stroked his cheek.

  He looked down into her eyes and saw his own soul reflected back.

  “Shh, dragon of mine. Your soul is safe with me,” she whispered and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

  Yes. Only with her.

  Steele kissed her back, wanting to take her again, reaffirm their new lives together.

  A hot whoosh of air and clapping of hands behind him stopped that idea dead in its tracks.

  “That’s was quite a show you two put on. A little vanilla for my tastes. I would have had her plump ass in the air, fucking her hard, dragon style, but to each his own.”

  Steele whipped around, pushing Fleur behind him. His dragon shimmered near the surface ready to defend and attack whoever thought it was funny to invade this intimate moment.

  A man, only partly visible in the shadows, leaned against a nearby tree.

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  His dragon writhed under the surface, fighting to get out. Something was very wrong with this stranger. He wore no shard, and had no light in him. He didn’t just slip between the shadows, he was a shadow.

  Fuck. Demon Dragon.

  The stranger plucked one of the many white flowers that had sprung up from Fleur’s desire manifesting itself. She squeaked and a mountain of leaves swirled around them, covering her from the neck down and Steele from the waist.

  Her layer of protection might guard them from the demon dragon’s view, but not much more. This was no ordinary hellion. His human form was too real, his speech too precise and natural.

  Fucking dumbass move to be so vulnerable when he knew demon dragons were in the area. He should have taken her home. His mate lust had put her in danger.

  The demon sauntered toward them, twirling a jeweled dagger through his fingers. “Too bad you gave your little whore nymph that shard.”

  “Stay behind me.” If he told Fleur to run he knew he could keep this demon occupied long enough for her to get away, but there could be others lurking. Where were the rest of the dragon warriors? Shit.

  He lowered his voice. “Fleur, do you know how to get back to the scenting circle? I need you to find the wolves or any other dragon. They’ll protect you.”

  “Now, now, don’t send her off. The others are all busy fighting or fucking. Let’s just keep this between us, shall we?”

  “I’m not leaving you to battle those things again without me.”

  “You must. I can not risk your life.”

  “Screw you and that. I’m not risking your life, ya dumb dragon. You’re mine now.”

  Any last bit of doubt that Fleur wanted to be his mate disintegrated in the heat of her words. Yeah, he was dumb, for her.

  He couldn’t afford not to use his head and every other resource at his disposal to protect her.

  “Listen to your whore, dragon. If she runs, you die. Turn over your shard to me now—”

  A tree branch slapped the demon dragon in the head, then another and another. “You can’t have it, fucktard, it’s mine.”

  That dirty mouth of hers was fucking hot, and the perfect distraction. He jumped out of the pile of leaves, ready to let his dragon out.

  The creature transformed into a mac truck of a black shimmering dragon. Jesus, he was big.

  Too big to be a normal demon dragon.

  A young green branch wrapped around Steele’s waist and sprouted a barrier of leaves over him like a loincloth.

  Fleur dodged a finger of dragon’s fire spurted at her. She and her pile of leaves rolled behind a tree while she shouted to him. “Protect your junk. I’m fond of that part of your anatomy.”

  He’d like to keep his dick intact too and almost hated to shift since she’d been adorable trying to protect him. But, shift he did.

  The roar from the beast in front of him shook leaves from the trees.

  Steele let the dragon part of his being loose, growing just as big as the black brute. Before he’d fully taken on the form, he lashed out with his tail, catching the demon dragon under the chin, snapping its head back.

  It spit blood from its mouth, sizzling on the ground where it landed. “I see the First Dragon has granted your powers, boy. Enjoy them while you can.”

  The black dragon lifted into the air, spraying fire in a wide arc, creating a circle of flames on the ground and in the trees around Steele. It fanned the air with its wings, growing the fire, increasing the temperature to volcano hot with each stroke.

  The blazing wall separated him from Fleur.

  “My love, are you safe?”

  “I’m fine. Got any marshmallows?” Her voice wavered the tiniest bit, and for that alone, Steele would roast this black dragon. The flames would become his funeral pyre.

  Steele should have been burning to death himself. His scales shimmered, deflecting the heat. Hells to the yeah. He’d take advantage of every new power the First dragon had given him.

  He jumped into the air, bursting through the flames and rammed the black dragon. They both hurtled to the ground back inside the circle of fire, creating a crater with their impact. Steele landed on top of the black dragon
and used his size to pin it to the ground.

  “Get him, Steele. Break his face.”

  The black demon dragon struggled, trying to escape. “You’ve got a bloodthirsty bitch. I can hardly wait to see her scratch and claw at my demons when I give her to them.”

  Steele slashed out, his claws shredding a layer of scales and exposing the flesh beneath. He didn’t bother to respond to the black dragon’s empty threat. No one would ever take Fleur from him. Certainly not this dirt bag.

  Blood dripped from the dragon’s wounds. On Steele’s next swipe he’d kill this demon dragon and send its worthless stain of an existence back to hell.

  “Steele. Reinforcements are coming. Dragons and wolves.”

  The moment that Fleur yelled the black dragon snapped his teeth down over Steele’s arm, crushing the bones in an instant.

  “Gah.” He fell back, lashing out with his tail.

  The bastard rolled out from under Steele and launched into the air once more.

  No way was he getting away. Steele spread his wings to follow and the demon dragon attacked, biting and tearing through Steele’s wing before he could lift off.

  That sneaky-ass move wouldn’t stop Steele. He clamped his own teeth around the black dragon’s lower leg.

  It screeched in pain, kicking, trying to get the lock of Steele’s jaw off. Even with the strength of its wings, it couldn’t drag a huge dragon like the one Steele had become.

  Five dragons swooped down through the sky above them. The gold used the wind to propel the other four at breakneck speeds toward the battle, then followed, monitoring the air.

  The blue fired off spouts of water and ice shards, putting out the fire. The two reds, Daxton one of them, focused in on the big black. As soon as they got their hands on this devil, it would be nothing but a stain of oily residue on the forest floor.

  The final dragon was none other than Jakob Zeleny. Seeing his leader imbued him with strength he’d thought he’d lost during the battle.

  He’d be able to introduce his mate to his Wyvern, the dragon he trusted above all others to battle by his side, and the only other dragon to have a true mate.

  Steele yanked on the black’s leg, pulling him to the ground. “You’re mine now, evil piece of shit.”

  He didn’t need the reds to kill this enemy for him. He’d do it to protect Fleur, and to make his Wyvern proud. The First Dragon had gifted him with strength and size, and who knew what else. He’d say thank you very much by ridding the world of another abomination.

  The dirt beneath his feet swirled with green leaves and vines. They wound up his legs and filled him with more than the gifts of the First Dragon. They charged his being with love. Fleur was with him, but safe, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  “Back to hell, you evil spawn.”

  “Not today, ignorant little green.” The black dragon slipped from Steele’s grip by transforming back to a human form. It darted through the fire, right toward where Fleur was hiding behind the tree.

  “Fleur, run.”

  “Ste—” Fleur’s cry cut off mid-word.

  Steele pushed his dragon self back inside and ran to the spot where Fleur should have been.

  The only thing there was a faint green from where she’d been stolen.

  CHAPTER TEN

  To Hell in a Handbasket

  Fleur was in hell. Maybe literally. It had to be at least a million and a half degrees in here, in the dark. Wherever here was. Hot air burned her lungs with each breath. The wall against her back was some sort of dark craggily rock, hot to the touch, and the place damn well smelled of sulfur. Or demon dragon farts. One or the other.

  Where in the world, or underworld, as the case may be, was she?

  She tried squinting and then opening her eyes wide to get them to adjust to the darkness. It was like one of those scenes in a horror movie where the screen was totally black, minus the creepy music. Craptastic.

  Steele was probably losing his shit right about now. She tried saying his name in her mind, hoping against hope that he was in his dragon form, out looking for her and would hear. “Steele?”

  Nothing.

  The tiniest of green glows emanated from her neck. The soul shard.

  She grasped it in her hand and closed her eyes. The love she felt for Steele bubbled up through her, giving her strength.

  Yes. Love.

  How that was possible in such a short time, she didn’t know, but it was true. Sure, he was sexy hot, and whoo-boy was he a rockstar in the sack, but this was something more than lust.

  He was protective, even when he didn’t need to be. Which she found adorable, not that he needed to know she thought so.

  But what really melted her heart was the way he was strong, yet gentle, the way he was so alpha, and yet let her have control.

  She’d never felt in control of anything in her entire life. Destiny had always been the one calling the shots.

  Steele changed that.

  No. Hold up. That wasn’t entirely true. He’d shown her there was another way. She was the one who quit waiting for destiny to happen, and started making her own life happen.

  That life was with Steele.

  When she opened her eyes, the room, or rather cave, was filled with light from the shard. It surrounded her like a protective layer. The air felt less hot and she could breath again. Awesomesauce.

  Maybe if she got up off her butt and took a proper look around she could find some way out of this mess. Fleur got to her feet and took a second to evaluate life and limb. She wasn’t missing any bits and the only part that didn’t feel normal was where her back had been pressed against the pokey bits of the rock.

  Either her captor hadn’t injured her, or she was dead and couldn’t feel the pain anymore. If it was the latter she was going to kill somebody. Then they could hang out together.

  She took a deep breath, and coughed at the acrid smell. Okay, so probably not dead. That meant she needed to find a way out of here.

  Fleur slowly spun in a circle hoping for any hint of light to guide her way.

  Nothing to the right, nothing behind her, but, aha – there, to the left a small glimmer of red.

  The light from the shard faded, as if it knew danger lay ahead, and it didn’t want her to be seen.

  She gingerly felt her way along the wall toward the light. The red glow brightened as she got closer, and illuminated a tunnel.

  There was only one way out. That was never good.

  No matter how hard she tried to be quiet, the rocks crunched beneath her feet, and she sounded more like a herd of garbage trucks than a stealthy escapee.

  A few more feet ahead and she saw the tunnel would open into a larger cavern. There were voices in there. Voices like these ones meant bad guys.

  “Damn it, boy. Why haven’t you taken the shard for yourself? It’s the only way.” A voice, that could only be described as angry Mrs. Claus echoed through the chamber.

  Yikes. If that was her kidnapper’s mother, no wonder he’d turned out psycho.

  The crash of a rock smashing against the wall shattered cranky Claus’s nagging. “You think I don’t know that. I already tried.”

  He had? It wasn’t like it would have been hard to slip the cord over her head while she’d been unconscious.

  “Try harder.”

  “It doesn’t work that way.” Each word was a growl. He did not like this woman.

  “Then kill her.”

  Uh-oh.

  “You’re losing your mind, witch. Why do you think I didn’t kill the green dragon?”

  At least there was that bit of good news. Steele was alive. She would get back to him.

  “You give more credence to the mating than it deserves.”

  Oh, yeah? The mating had meant everything in the world to her. Steele was her family, her people, her tribe. But what did psycho kidnapper think it was important?

  “Dammit. The shard is useless to me of the soul inside of it is dead.”


  Umm. So, if he killed her, Steele would die too? No, no, no. She backed away from her not so secure hiding spot. If she had to dig herself a new tunnel out of that cave with her fingernails, she would.

  Steele would not die because she made a dumb move and tried to get herself killed escaping.

  “You don’t know that, you’ve never—”

  “Shut. Up. Now.”

  “Ungrateful whoreson.”

  “Jealous harridan.”

  Oh, yeah. Definitely bad guys, and also kind of whiny twelve-year olds.

  What if she couldn’t dig her way out? This was crunchy, hard, sharp rock. Just walking on it made enough noise. If they heard her scraping or banging on it, they’d probably come running.

  Shit.

  She had to go back. Maybe if they kept arguing long enough she could sneak by them.

  Yeah, right.

  “Give me the soul shard and you can go.”

  Great big piles of stinking shit. That dark and scary voice had come from right behind her.

  She’d take a deep breath and sigh, but then she’d have to smell his ass gas.

  Fleur grasped the talisman that contained part of Steele’s soul in it. He’d given it to her both figuratively and literally. Letting this asshat get his hands on it would be bad news bears. She turned and faced the kidnapper. What did one say to the uber bad guy of the underworld? “Bite me.”

  Asshat grinned, or smirked, or scowled, Fleur couldn’t tell the difference. “These teeth are more than you can handle, little witch. Don’t make me use them on your delicate flesh.”

  “I am no delicate freaking flower. Bring it on, dickwad.”

  Yeah. It was all bluster. She was scared out of her mind. But, he didn’t need to know that. He’d said he’d tried to take the shard from her and couldn’t. That had to give her some sort of advantage.

  Her kidnapper shook his head. “The mouth on you. My demons will enjoy shutting it up.”

  Demons? Like those weird black snake-like dragons at the battle outside her apartment? Not good.

  Time to get the dodge out of hell. But, how? The dark cave or the cavern o’ bad guys were both horrible choices.