“Dragons bequeath their hoards to family members when they pass on. My family can trace our ancestry back thousands of years,” Hunter mutters, not taking his eyes off me.
Something inside me opens its eyes and stretches languidly. There’s a flash of scales and the taste of ash in my mouth. This must be my own dragon form, whom I haven’t met yet. She stares back at Hunter with no small amount of interest. My throat tickles, and I can’t stop the cough that comes from nowhere. Smoke drifts out of my mouth and nose as my eyes water.
“I can see you, my pretty. I can’t wait to meet you.” Hunter’s voice is rough and growly, and it makes goosebumps erupt across my flesh and my panties get even damper.
“Gryffin and I will deal with your dads,” Gem assures him. “Take good care of our mate.”
“I also think before we leave, it would be a good idea for Colbie to shift into her dragon and phoenix forms. There’s enough snow around, so we wouldn’t have to worry about her setting anything alight if she loses control. There is also that large expanse of plain so if she’s going to crash, she won’t damage anything but herself.” Liam approaches and gives me a kiss before leaning in and whispering, “Have fun. My bear is having a tantrum that we’re not going to share your bed again tonight, but he can play nicely for his bond mate’s sake. When this is all settled, we’re going to lock ourselves away in our room for at least a week and show you what having eight mates is all about.”
A shiver runs down my spine as his breath caresses my ear, and my mind conjures images of being worshiped by eight of them, one who is still just a blank space. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I have an image to fill it.
Hunter has lost his patience. He pushes his chair back and stands before moving around to me. He looks like a panther stalking its prey, and I giggle, slightly overwhelmed by the intense attention.
He scoops me up bridal style, and I wrap my arms around his neck. “Ready?” he asks me, and I nod, words failing me with the intense wave of attraction and need battering my insides.
Without another word, he hurries out of the conference room and through the assembly area to the large double doors. I hear the guys yell something behind us, but whatever they say doesn’t register, my focus completely on the tall blond god who has my attention.
The night air is frigid, and when I drag my attention away from Hunter’s glowing green eyes and look around, I notice that the clouds have cleared and the half-moon illuminates the snow around us, making it easy to see. There’s an eerie howl that has Hunter’s arms tightening around me as he steps away from the building. The square in front of the alpha’s residence is large enough for him to shift, so I wiggle to be let down, but he tightens his grip. Before I can argue with him, wings erupt from his back and stretch high and wide before settling behind him. I stare in awe at his partial shift, the shiny purple scales glistening in the moonlight. I reach up to run a finger over one, but before I make contact, he bends his knees and takes off into the air.
It gets even colder as we climb, and my teeth start to chatter, but then Hunter’s arms and chest heat like a radiator, and I snuggle into him. There’s a purring sound coming from his chest, and it makes me slightly sleepy as he soars into the mountains, through rugged peaks, and past sheer cliffs. I peer around through sleepy eyes to see if I can spot any of the ferals, but we’re too high up, and the valleys are covered in snow and vegetation.
Hunter swoops down to one of the craggy cliff faces, and I squeak as he shoots through a large opening in the rock, landing just inside in an area large enough for his dragon to stand. He puts me on my feet, and I take a couple of tentative steps and peer out the gap. There is no landing in front of the cave, just a steep drop down that would probably kill me if I happened to fall over the edge.
“Come,” Hunter rumbles, grabbing my hand and leading me into the cavern. He has a torch in his other hand, which he must have grabbed while I was distracted by the drop.
The torch crackles and smokes, hazing the air as we move farther back into the cave. It’s a huge tunnel, big enough for Hunter to move comfortably in dragon form. “How do you protect your hoard from other dragons or flying creatures?” I ask, keeping my eyes on the ground so I don’t inadvertently trip or stumble into an uneven divot.
“No other dragon would dare steal another’s hoard without opening themselves up to retaliation from the rest of dragon kind. As for other flying creatures or anyone who may try to steal my hoard, the cave is spelled to look like the rock face. They would have to be unlucky to stumble over it.”
“But I could see it,” I argue, and he grunts as the floor starts to slope down slightly, but instead of getting colder as we descend into the mountain, it grows warmer and humid.
“That’s because you’re my mate. My bond group can see it too, but the illusion cast on it would make anyone else look away. I paid a pretty penny for that spell. There is a witch who regularly works with dragons for such things, and she is loyal to us. She knows we wouldn’t hesitate to turn her to ash if she betrayed us.”
Hunter slows down as the tunnel opens into a huge chamber, and I stumble to a stop, my mouth dropping open as I gape at the sight before me. It’s a massive, cavernous room with mountains of gold and precious gems. Some of them are in settings, and some of them are loose. Paintings and furnishings and various other items are scattered haphazardly through the room. There is even a corner full of formal dresses and suits and bolts of luxurious fabrics. There is no order to anything, and right in the middle is a dragon-sized nest full of cushions.
“Holy shit,” I mutter, not knowing where to look. When I eventually settle my gaze on the male beside me, he’s running a hand through his hair, and there is a slight tint of pink in his cheeks.
He shrugs. “My dragon likes pretty things.” His eyes heat, and he turns and puts his hands on my hips, dragging me against his body. “Which is why he hasn’t been able to take his eyes off you since the day we met.”
“But you didn’t know we were mates then,” I remind him, and he shakes his head.
“No, and I felt like an asshole who was betraying the woman who would be my mate by being obsessed with a human,” he admits, and I can’t help but feel pleased at his confession.
He slides his hand into my hair and pulls the elastic out, letting it fall around my face, then he cups the back of my head and slowly brings his lips to mine. One of his thumbs sweeps across the healed bite mark from Gryffin as he kisses me. He starts tentatively, but when I sink into him and open my mouth, he takes control, kissing like a storm smashing the shore—relentless and unforgiving. When he pulls away, I touch my lips, which are swollen from his attention, and then I growl, and smoke drifts out of my nose as my body gears up for a fight. Adrenaline pumps through my veins, and my inner creature snarls at the man before me. A smile creeps across his lips as he meets my eyes.
“There she is. Your dragon is making herself known. Dragon matings are full of violence. The female will want to fight so the male can prove he is strong enough to force her to submit. Don’t let it frighten you,” he cautions me, but the dragon inside me has taken over. I ball my hand into a fist and sock him in the nose before I can even consciously stop myself.
His head snaps back, and a trickle of blood runs from his nose. His pupils change, and he growls, smoke drifting out of his nostrils.
I gasp and step back, but the dragon inside me trills with glee. He grabs for me, but I duck and move out of the way, spinning and running farther into his hoard. A loud roar echoes through the cavern, and when I glance back, Hunter’s wings have snapped up as he leaps into the air.
Well, that’s not fucking fair. The dragon inside me screams, and I feel a searing pain down my back. I stumble to my knees as wings explode out of my skin, tearing through my uniform. I gasp and shudder from the intense pain, but a whoosh of air lets me know that Hunter is closing in. I feel the ground shudder as he lands next to me, and I turn, instinctively throwing out a foot and kicking his knee. My dragon is a mean bitch who preens as he falls onto his ass, but she doesn’t let me hang around to make sure he’s okay. She forces me to my feet, and I feel an inner knowledge wash through my mind as my wings flap and I take to the air. I squeal with surprise when I’m suddenly flying—not well, but enough that I make it across the pile of hoarded items before Hunter catches up to me. He wraps his arms around me and takes me to the ground, the soft nest cushioning our fall. My wings fold in instinctively as he pins me on my back, growling loudly, his teeth sharp inside his mouth.
“Dragons are the only shifters who have an alternative form. All the others have their human form and an animal one. We have one that is somewhat in between,” he tells me, and I see him shudder, trying to control the inner beast as his claws dig into my shoulders.
I can tell he’s trying to do his best to explain what is happening to me, and I appreciate his restraint. “In this form, I also have a knot. Do you know what that is?” he asks, and my inner dragon screams with want as I slowly nod my head. I read about knots and other special things that bears, tigers, and wolves have, but I thought it wasn’t anything I would have to worry about in human form. Nothing I read suggested that dragons had a third form.
“Kind of,” I admit, “but I thought only animal forms had them.”
