Smolder (Dragon Souls)

  The kiss was a super charged bolt of sky fire to the heart, and Koen had first hand experience of being struck by lightning.

  His dragon had rolled over and fallen for her completely.

  Once touch, one kiss, and the girl had tamed the violent and terrifying Koen Raad, king of dragons, heir to the throne of Tzion Empire, and she didn’t even realize it.

  Koen’s rational mind had rebelled, rejecting her instantly as he did all Chosen, but his dragon was obstinate and wouldn’t let him dismiss her with fire and ice. The dragon, as was natural, wanted her close to him, to keep him safe.

  Disgruntled, he had decided to keep her close and rest for the night, deciding what to do with her when he woke. The sun had risen and he still was at a loss. No one had come from him, meaning the woman wasn’t sent by the Blood Crown, as he had feared. If she had been, what would his dragon do to defend himself now? Even if the woman had been in league with his enemies, his dragon would have followed her meekly to shackles if that were what she wanted.

  His only escape would have been to revert to his weaker human form. As a man, he would have been hunted down eventually, and his dragon would have slowed him down by yearning for the woman.

  All this aside, could the Drackai queen legally continue her pursuit of him?

  Surely, the Regent would have been told of the Ice Realm’s fallen leader by now? The hunt would be suspended, and Koen would have peace until Aver. Until he was needed, he would hide on Earth.

  With the irksome female his dragon had decided was his mate.

  The woman slid off Koen’s snout and rubbed him down all the way to one of his tender sides.

  It was distracting, her touch.

  His dragon liked it far too much.

  He wondered if it was too late to introduce himself without causing theatrics. The woman, Marina, he discovered from her thoughts, had a tendency to explode like mini firecrackers when she became emotional.

  Who was she?

  His logical mind wanted him to believe she was a freak of nature, an anomaly, a bloodline cast away, and left here from the old days when the wild dragons came to Earth to be with their Amazonians.

  No.

  It didn’t quite seem right to him, and his dragon would never react so strongly to such weak blood.

  That left the possibility that she was the child of the Empress.

  Still, that did not explain it all. There would be recognition of what she was, but he would not feel drawn to her. His dragon would not approve of her so immediately.

  Unless…. Unless it really was like he thought before, and she was the daughter of a phoenix.

  Koen angled his head to look down on Marina as she inspected his sides. She was muttering to herself again, and her mind was filled with words. It hurt his head, and he tried to drown her out so he could think.

  She clearly had not idea of the etiquette of his people when it came to private conversations. All dragon lords and dragon mates could talk mind to mind, but unless the dragon was your mate or close kin, it was considered offensive to connect so freely to a dragon’s mind, and brought dishonor on the transgressors House.

  Marina wasn’t shielding her thoughts from him at all. He could hear everything. He was absurdly pleased her focus was fixed on him yet concerned.

  Koen’s ears picked up a sound, the scrape of boots on rock, and his nostrils flared as he scented his brothers drawing closer as men. He reached out to them before they were visible and Marina saw them.

  ‘Go back,’ Koen thought with authority. ‘Leave us here.’

  There was a slight pause. ‘Your wounds?’ Daniil asked.

  ‘Healing. Come after nightfall.’

  ‘Koen, the woman?’ Nikolai, Koen’s brother asked, voice excited. ‘She smells pretty.’

  Koen growled low in his throat and felt Marina still beside him. He stopped the threatening sound and looked at her calmly.

  Her eyes were wide and her hands trembled slightly. She held a bottle of dark brown liquid in her hands and seemed to have been pouring it on his wounds.

  “Damn, did that hurt? You seemed fine until just now. I think it’s because a few of your scales are bent at funny angles and are digging into your flesh.” She patted his side carefully. “You’re a good boy, such a good, non biting dragon.” She giggled nervously. “Don’t eat me, okay?”

  Koen wanted to feel insulted at her condescending tone, at how she petted him like some stray mongrel she’d found on the side of the road, but he had already frightened her by accident, and he didn’t want to again.

  When she was scared, she let off pheromones that wreaked havoc with his senses. His dragon reacted and wanted to protect her when it smelt her fear, started to go into battle form, so the best thing was for her to remain calm.

  Koen cocked his head to listen for Daniil and Nikolai, but they had left as instructed. He hadn’t meant to react so strongly at Nikolai’s harmless interest, but neither fully understood just how taken his dragon was. It was acting as if Marina was already his mate, not just any old Chosen.

  They would have questions and suspicions after the way he had reacted.

  Koen had no answers to give them, just idle speculation and guesses, and that was not acceptable. He would have to speak to her to discover who she was, and why she had traveled to the bridge between their worlds, it was no coincidence.

  Marina was struggling to unbend one of his scales, and he felt it give in her hand. He sighed in relief, but she squealed, staring at the scale than hiding it behind her back as she peeked up at him.

  Koen twisted his neck so he could look down at her. He reclined regally, his claws in front of him.

  ‘My thanks, Marina,’ he thought, and winced inwardly when his voice boomed through her mind.

  Marina’s face went slack and her jaw dropped long with her hands. The scale fell from her fingertips unnoticed to the ground. Her mouth flapped and her face turned red. Her small body trembled as her mind exploded loudly and was crammed with thoughts and curses.

  Koen sighed and blocked her mind from his own. ‘There is a cave, near the water. Come.’ Koen stood and walked away, his large heavy steps making the ground shake.

  Sucking in a breath, Marina followed, ever so often ducking to avoid his swinging tail.

  They walked in silence to the placid lake Marina had seen him cross over above. Deer drank from the edge, and when they spotted Koen they all darted away. Koen’s tail lashed out and speared a doe before it could reach the safety of the trees. It hung limp, blood dribbling down the dragon’s scales to pool in the mud.

  ‘Hungry?’ Koen asked.

  Marina stared into his dark green eyes and nodded her head before changing her mind and shaking it. “No. I grabbed some granola bars that’ll keep me for a few days. Thanks.”

  He snorted and moved closer to the water.

  Scrambling after him, Marina added, “Dragon, are you going to cook it like you did before? That was scary but cool to watch. You breathing fire, I mean, not watching you eat.” She paused. “You can talk. Why didn’t you say anything before?”

  ‘We will talk later,’ he replied curtly. More like she would talk and he would listen, he thought crabbily. The woman had enough thoughts in her head and words in her mouth to destroy even the most fervent of gossipmongers he knew of at Court. Koen dumped the dead carcass at the edge of the lake and marina cringed. She jumped when Koen’s tail slithered over her calf briefly. ‘Wait.’

  He walked into the water and dived under, his body making large ripples across the lake. It was quiet until Koen’s head breached the surface and he breathed to clear his nose, splashing water. It was good to get clean after all the dirt had been ground into his scales when he crashed the night before. His dragon truly enjoyed the water, this lake was cooler than the lagoons in his word, and there were no pesky wild water dragons that wanted to play.

  Koen swam back. When he rose from the water, it streamed from the gaps in his teeth, and sluiced off hi
s glistening scales.

  He picked up the dead doe in passing with the spike of his tail. He walked into the trees, only pausing to let Marina catch up. Tucked away through the trees was the opening of a cave, the one Daniil and Nikolai have scouted before finding him.

  He dropped the doe and looked at Marina. When she did nothing he nudged it towards her with his snout.

  She stared at him than at it. She seemed to understand and scowled. “Well, I’m not doing anything with it. I told you I’m not hungry. You eat it.”

  Koen rolled his eyes. He did want her to prepare it for dinner when Nikolai and Daniil returned – they would expect it of her.

  ‘Come,’ he ordered before slipping into the cave’s darkness.

  He heard her teeth grinding.

  Koen smiled. Already, his imperious tone was rubbing her up the wrong way. He could sense her irritation and her thoughts were not the most flattering she’d had of him. His dragon was disgruntled she was upset with him but the human part of him was gleeful at her exasperation. The woman had pushed Koen’s patience to the brink more than once.

  Marina followed hesitantly, bag slung over her shoulder, and senses alert. She was careful about where she stepped, and it pleased him she wasn’t fragile, demanding he help her like some maidens did.

  The cave would function well enough for their stay here. The floor was damp, the lake flowing underground, and breaking through deeper into the caves, but they would only be going so far as to ensure privacy. Marina had assured him that no one else would see him on this land, but he didn’t want to take chances. Nikolai and Daniil had guessed where he’d fled and crossed over to find him, and report his health back to the Empire, but certainly, no Earth human was supposed to know he was here. Marina herself was never supposed to have seen him.

  Koen settled down, with a rasping cough set fire to the logs already piled in the centre of the cave.

  The light illuminated Marina’s mistrustful face.

  “Who put the logs there?” she asked as her eyes roamed and landed on the bedroll and saddlebags stuffed with provisions Daniil and Nicolai had brought. She looked around nervously. “Is someone else here, dragon?

  Koen blinked at her then rested his head on his fore claws, waiting to see what she did next.

  She narrowed her eyes and dropped her bag. “You were getting better at talking to me. Telepathically. You don’t have to … talk, if you don’t want to, but I would like an answer when I ask a question.”

  ‘I’m not used to talking to people,’ Koen said. ‘You are the first I‘ve spoken to like this.

  It was the truth. He had never spoken to a Chosen like this before. It was too intimate, and he was adjusting.

  Her face brightened. “Really?”

  ‘Why would I lie?’

  Marina took another quick look around then sat down by the fire. “No reason. It seems a very guy thing to do … to tell a girl she’s the only one he’s done something with.” She shrugged.

  Inwardly, Koen chuckled. She was right in a fashion, but that kind of behavior was reserved for the lower gentry. Koen Raad was a dragon lord, and above such petty displays to secure a mate. He didn’t need to chase them, they chased him. ‘Not all men are so.’

  “Oh, I know. Just most.”

  ‘In my world honor is the one thing that all people are born with.” He paused, thinking how best to put his dragon thoughts into terms she could understand. ‘You may be the lowest commoner, but if you honor your family will be respected more than the highest born that dishonors the name of their House. To lie is to dishonor.’

  She scooted closer to Koen’s side. “So, where did you come from exactly?”

  ‘Tzion.’

  “Oh.”

  Koen curled his neck back and blinked. Marina honestly didn’t know what he was talking about He had watched her reactions quite carefully and this was new to her. She wasn’t sent by the Council or anyone else from the Empire. ‘It is in another dimension.’

  She accepted his words without hesitation, but her small face scrunched and her mind was crammed with worry and excitement. Outwardly, she shrugged. As if learning of another dimension was not at all frightening. “Are you happy there?”

  Her question surprised him. ‘That is what you want to know?’

  She nodded. “It sounds exotic, and like somewhere I’d want to go, but when you talk about it I don’t hear any love in your voice.”

  That was news to Koen. ‘You can hear emotion in my voice?’

  She smoothed her hand down her throat, rubbing absentmindedly. “It’s faint, and difficult to hear because your voice kind of booms and echoes in my mind, but emotion is definitely there.” She slanted a coy look up at him. “Was it rude to ask? Sorry. How did you get from that dimension to this one?”

  Koen curled his lip at her abrupt change of question. His dragon was not used to such quick responses and communicating this way. It was not the most comfortable thing, having to focus on speaking when his dragon mind wanted to wander. Koen had to tamper down his natural responses to irritation to be sure he didn’t scare Marina. All that came out of his snout was a cantankerous rumble.

  At some point, she had slinked over to his side completely. She twitched at the low sound he made then patted his cheek soothingly, waiting patiently for his response.

  She kept doing it, touching him. It was like such closeness and affection wasn’t rare or special.

  Koen’s dragon calmed and purred happily.

  “Dragon?”

  A flare of exasperation marred Koen’s calm. ‘Koen Raad.’ The moment he spoke his name, Koen knew he was in deep trouble. Shifting, he moved his hind legs to ease himself away from her slightly. ‘Koen Raad is my name.’ He finally had grasped the words to answer her question. ‘Dragons can cross over, we always have been able to do so since before the first eggs were hatched.’

  Marina stared at him then said, “You come from an egg?”

  ‘No. Wild dragons come from eggs. Hybrids are live births.’

  She scooted even closer and leaned herself against me. “So, Koen Raad, when you cross over you use magick?”

  His scales tingled at the feel of her soft skin. Nostrils flaring at the light and crisp scent of her, he tossed his head. ‘Yes. All dragons lords are born with magick, but dragon mates can learn battle magick from the Mages.’

  “Mages,” she murmured. Her expression was difficult to read. Marina seemed excited by what she learnt but there was confusion in her eyes Koen wanted to know the cause of.

  He thought of what to ask but then she sighed and dropped her head to rest on his side. Her touch warmed him, and he shook away the feelings of tenderness. ‘You’re odd. Most humans do not react this way to my presence.’

  She leaned away, cocking her head. “Other people know about you? Ah, they must do, otherwise where would the stories about dragon come from.”

  ‘A dragon has not crossed over to this dimension in an age. We have humans in Tzion.’ Whatever stories she had heard were hundreds of years old at least. Towards the end of their time here, the dragon lords had been very careful about interaction with humans on Earth. They had evolved beyond the humans of his world, who still practiced to the old ways and looked to the dragon lords for protection and guidance.

  “That must be fun,” Marina said. “To be friends with dragons.”

  Koen bared his teeth at her. ‘They fear us.’

  Marina pushed her lips our and frowned. Her face was expressive, and Koen found himself watching for how she would contort her face next. “Why? Do you eat them?”

  He was stunned. Quiet. This woman had no shame or sense. At first he thought her disfiguration in form was limited to her physically, but maybe there was nothing wrong with her head. After all, what sane woman would cut her hair to look like a man? It was becoming in a strange way, and it was nice to see the back of her neck, but Koen did have a fondness for long hair. ‘Why would you say that?’

  Her slender
shoulders lifted and fell. “I can’t see why people would be afraid of you if you didn’t eat them.”

  ‘They are my servants and my countrymen. Humans are the backbone of the Empire. Dragon fear is natural.’

  By the look on Marina’s face Koen still had not explained himself well. “Oh. Still doesn’t explain why they fear you. You must have done something to make them–”

  ‘Do you have family, Marina?’

  She cleared her throat, and ducked her head. “I did,” she said quietly. “I had the best mother ever.”

  She stopped talking. Koen was close to getting answers about her, so he lowered nudged her leg with his snout. ‘You speak of the past,’ he encouraged.

  There was only one person her mother could be, but he wanted to hear what Marina had to say.

  The Empress Almeria had infamously talked her dragon mate into letting her leave him, and live in the human dimension. It was a story many retold with sadness as it had preceded years of war until a new Emperor ascended the throne, and many thought the woman cold and selfish, but Koen had always had doubts. The life of a royal in Tzion was difficult. He had yet to see a monarchy as complicated and bloody. He had always thought Almeria left because she allowed her own selfish wants to drive her away, not because she didn’t love the Empire and her mate.

  What if there was another reason?

  Koen balked at the idea of bringing any youngling into his world. Perhaps she had felt the same, and done the only thing she could think of. It would certainly explain why Marina owned this land.

  “She died.” Marina wrapped her arms around her knees and her voice was muffled. Heavy melancholia settled around her, and Koen listened attentively, silently giving his support. “It was an accident about just over a year ago. I’ve only just recovered fully myself. I cracked my skull open. Can you believe it, Koen? Mum always said I had the hardest head.” She sighed. “I’m here on holiday taking it easy.” Her slender shoulders jerked in a shrug again. Turning into Koen, and she rubbed him heartily, but her eyes retained a faraway look. “We were close–” Her voice broke.