The pod slowly moved through space and docked in the docking bay of the Black Spear. Shay helped Ella out of her harness. And the door slid open to reveal her mate’s ship. Shay held her hand as she stepped out of the pod and into the brightly lit docking bay. There were several other round black space pods docked there and a few technicians attending them.

  Without a word, Shay led her down the hallway and came to a door that swished open. They walked inside and he turned to her.

  “Are you hungry or tired?” he asked.

  “No, not presently,” she replied with a croak. She was carrying this man's child, and she felt a deep sense of attachment to him, but she had never met him. Her human mind couldn't quite conceive of how she should behave or how she should feel in this moment. A torrent of conflicting and raging emotions swam through her mind, body, and heart.

  “Very good,” Shay said. “We must now begin the mating ritual.” He growled at the words.

  Ella squealed and took a step back involuntarily. The force of his words were instinctively frightening to her, but she knew exactly what he needed.

  “Do you object?” he asked with a questioning look on his face.

  “No,” she said. “I'm just confused.”

  “Then let us proceed.”

  Shay reached up with his big hands and slipped his fingers through the hem of Ella's neckline, pushing her dress down over her shoulders. She looked up into his moss-green eyes and bit her lip, her heart pounding in her chest. Her gown slid over her full breasts and he continued to push the garment down over her round belly. It fell to the floor and she was left standing nude before him.

  His eyes drank her in. Ella gasped at the sight of the huge bulge in his skintight uniform. He flicked a spot at the base of his neck and his uniform contracted so that he was left naked as well. They gazed at each other, with the view of space outside the big bank of windows in his luxurious chambers. Out of the corner of her eye, Ella saw the bride ship, Mercury Rising, zoom off in the distance, back towards Draconia.

  She couldn’t stop panting and her heart thumped so fast her head felt light and her body felt faint. She was about to buckle at the knees and fall to the ground when Shay swooped her up into his big, strong arms.

  Ella wrapped her arms around his thick, strong neck and looked into his eyes. His lips curled back, showing his sharp teeth, as he carried her into his bedroom and laid her across his bed.

  He stood above her and gazed down at her curvaceous body. His thick, long erection was as wide as a sapling and as imposing as a skyscraper. She leaned up on her elbows and licked her lips.

  They hadn't even had a real conversation, but there she was, on his bed, round with his child, and ready to accept whatever it was he wanted to do to her body now.

  She saw his nostrils flare as he took in the scent of her and climbed onto the bed beside her. He inched toward her body and wrapped his arm under her head, allowing her to rest against his thick bicep. She could smell the deep musky scent of his body and it filled her mind with rapture.

  His big hand slid up her inner thigh and dipped between her legs, testing the moisture of her sex. She groaned and tilted her head back, consumed by his touch. He found her slick with need and he growled hungrily at the feel of it.

  His long, thick finger caressed her need, dipping through her outer folds until he brushed over her tight clit.

  Shay rubbed his finger in a tight little circle over her hungry clit. The mounds of her breasts swelled and her nipples tightened into sharp peaks. He leaned down and tasted her tight pink nipple, flicking his slick tongue over her tender flesh.

  An electric shock radiated from her nipple down into her sex, making her pussy clench and gush with moisture.

  He sucked on her tit as his finger dipped inside her core, rubbing in and out of her as he moved his mouth over to the other breast, and quickly sucking it too.

  As his fingers slid in and out of her wet need, his thumb caressed her clit, bringing her closer and closer to release. He lifted his head from her breast and pressed his lips to hers for the first time. His tongue flicked into her mouth to meet her own hungry tongue, and her body erupted with the intensity of an exploding star.

  She groaned loudly as his tongue dove into her mouth and his fingers dove into her pussy. Her body clenched around his fingers, sucking them deeper with each thrust. His tongue darted in and out of her mouth, and Ella threw her arms around his neck, wanting this moment to last forever.

  But it didn't last forever. He withdrew from their kiss and ran his kisses over her cheeks and down her chest, inching down her body until he was between her legs, gazing at her throbbing, wet core. She looked down at him as his eyes gazed at her sex.

  “I've never seen anything so magnificent,” he growled.

  With that, he dove into her, licking up the juices he’d teased from inside her with his slick, hungry tongue. He lapped it all up and her moisture was replaced with his.

  He darted his tongue in and out of her throbbing pussy. All Ella could do was hold on for the ride as he worked her body with expert skill. It didn't take long before she was ready to burst again, his tongue circling over her clit and his fingers pumping in and out of her core.

  She erupted a second time, screaming out his name and arching her back with her release. He drew himself up on his knees and wiped the moisture from his lips, his eyes locked on hers. Ella glanced down at his massive erection as his hand gripped the amazing width of his shaft.

  Still looking at her with those smoldering eyes, he began to pump himself with his strong fist. Slowly at first, but then his speed increased. Ella scrambled onto her hands and knees, her belly dipping low over the mattress. She wanted to taste the beads of precum that had formed on the head of his cock.

  She leaned forward, licking up his cum. He growled at her and ran his fingers through her hair. Ella opened her mouth and tried to take in the head of his cock.

  Even with her mouth opened as wide as it would go, she couldn't fully take him. All she could do was suck at the head and lick along the shaft between Shay’s strokes. The first taste of his precum on her lips made her vibrate with arousal. His hand in her hair and his cock in her mouth made her pussy clench as if he were pleasuring her with his hands when he wasn't even touching her there. Shay groaned above her and his seed erupted into her mouth, shooting to the back of her throat with the velocity of a geyser.

  She groaned and gulped it down. The sweet and salty flavor was addictive and she couldn't get enough. She licked up every last drop from his magnificent manhood. He held his still-hard cock for her as her tongue ran up and down the thick ridged shaft and over the soft smooth skin of his head.

  Exhausted, she fell back onto the mattress and put her forearm over her forehead. She was wiped out, her round belly heavy and her heart pounding with excitement. Shay lay beside her and stroked her belly lazily as he gazed into her eyes.

  “I have waited so long for this,” he said. “You are more beautiful than I could have even imagined. All of these months, I've been forced to push you out of my mind. That alone has been torture. My vow, from this moment forward, is to never let you leave my side and to never let you leave the forefront of my mind. Ella, you are everything to me. You are my queen.”

  “Oh Shay,” she whimpered, throwing her arms around his neck. “Waiting for you, waiting to talk to you, waiting to see you and feel you, touch you and taste you, it has been torture for me too. All I could think about was how much I needed you. You are everything to me as well, my prince.”

  They held each other as Ella drifted off to sleep. In that moment she was more content and more complete than she had ever been in her entire existence. She had finally found her other half. Her mate. Her Dragon Lord.

  7

  Shay left Ella in their bedroom, sleeping under a thick blanket. He shut off the light, allowing her to rest peacefully in bed.

  The trip back to Galaton would be a treacherous one. The Mulgor were still
two weeks away, but he felt it was time to start preparing his ship and his crew for battle. They had been lucky to slip by the Mulgor the first time, but Shay feared they would not be so lucky this time. The ship’s cloaking shields had malfunctioned in the last warp jump, and the crew were still busy at work repairing them.

  As a warrior, it was difficult for Shay to run and hide when he knew that it was Galaton that would have to eventually defeat the Mulgor in their trade routes. Draconia had refused to send military force against the Mulgor, and if Galaton wanted to bring additional brides for their dragons then they would need to make the routes safe for everyone.

  The dragons back on Galaton had already begun amassing an army. Shay wanted to fight like the dragon that he was, and rid their trade routes from the dark force of the Mulgor. He went to the cockpit and sat in the pilot's chair beside his copilot. They were about to make their first jump into warp speed since bringing Ella onboard.

  On the journey to the bride ship, the next solar system in the route had been empty. There were only a few useless planets orbiting a dying sun. He slid his hand over the holographic control panel, powering the warp drive to full. Then he hit the button to blast them off.

  When they slowed to normal speed after the jump, Shay saw a squadron of Mulgor fighter jets. The mothership was nowhere to be found, but that didn't mean that these fighter jets weren’t a threat.

  “We're going to see some action,” he said, flicking his holocom to call Ella. “Strap yourself in, my darling. This may be bumpy.”

  He didn't want anything to happen to his bride or his heir now growing inside her belly, but everything in him knew that as a warrior and as a prince he had to address this threat face on. He couldn't turn tail and run even if he’d wanted to. The warp drive needed twenty-four hours to power back up before they could make another jump.

  His copilot switched over to manual control for Shay, and the prince gripped the wheel, charging directly toward the oncoming jets.

  He flicked his thumb over the holo-button on top of the wheel, causing his laser beams to shoot out from the front of his ship, hitting the first oncoming fighter jet.

  It exploded right in front of them and Shay propelled his ship at a ninety-degree angle upward, leaving the exploding fighter jet behind him. Three more ships came at him from every direction. He used his superior dragon senses and swirled around in a spiral as he dove. He shot at the first fighter jets, and darted out of the way just as the second fighter jets flew into the exploding debris. The copilot fired as Shay dove the Black Spear to the right at amazing velocity, leaving both fighter jets to explode in his wake.

  He thrust the ship vertically, propelling through space directly towards the last fighter jet. He and his copilot shot at it but it darted away. This fighter jet pilot was more skilled than the last three had been. But Shay knew it was no match for the Water Prince of Galaton.

  He angled upward and circled back around, coming down in a ninety-degree angle while spinning. He shot at the fighter jet, and this time it could not escape the blitzkrieg of laser fire. The fourth ship exploded in front of him.

  He had disposed of all four fighter jets in the area, but Shay knew that they would not be the last. The Mulgor now had his location and these jets would have sent word to the mothership. He had to be on alert until his warp drive could power up again and take them into the next solar system. Shay flicked over his holocom to call Ella.

  “You can go back to bed, my darling,” he said.

  “What happened?” she gasped. He heard the sound of her unlatching her harness. “I was scared half to death.”

  “The Mulgor have found us, but we have disposed of the jets in this solar system. It is safe to go back to sleep. I will join you soon.”

  Shay remained in the cockpit for quite some time, patrolling the system with telescopic technology, looking for additional Mulgor. When he was satisfied, he decided he could finally go.

  He told his pilot to take over. Shay rose from his chair, wanting to spend at least a few moments in bed with his bride. He walked down the hallway of his ship, slipped through the door, and climbed back under the blankets naked with his darling Ella. She let out a soft moan, but her eyes did not open. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her against his chest, gently stroking her hair.

  He did not wish to wake her, but everything in him wanted to taste her flesh and lick the slick moisture of her sex again.

  Just at the thought of it, his cock grew stiff with need and his inner dragon roared to claim the woman sleeping in bed beside him. He could not stomach the idea of waking her after the scare of the attack.

  Instead, he reached under the blankets and began to slowly stroke himself with his big fist. She stirred in his arms but her eyes did not open. Shay's hand stroked faster and faster, the smell of her earlier arousal still heavy in the air. He would never be able to get enough of this woman.

  Each drop of his synthesized seed had brought her body closer to being able to accept his huge shaft. Without the genetic alteration to her DNA, a human woman would never be able to take a Draconian’s phallus into her tight little pussy.

  His seed, fresh and abundant from his cock, was the only way to make the transition take place. Each time he rubbed it on her flesh, she grew closer and more ready to accept him.

  Just thinking of sinking his cock inside her wet, warm core made him grow rigid and ready to release. He pressed his eyes closed and came. His seed spilled against her round stomach and he groaned. Holding her in his arms, he rubbed the hot seed over her round belly and dipped it between her legs, rubbing it over her slick sex, still wet from his mouth.

  Spent, Shay lay on the pillow and closed his eyes. He needed a few hours’ sleep to ensure he was ready if the Mulgor attacked again. Soon he was breathing heavily into the sweet smell of Ella’s hair.

  Shay woke to the sound of sirens blaring and shot from his bed. Ella screamed and covered her mouth, her eyes wide with fear.

  He leaned in and kissed her forehead, hating to see her distraught for even one second.

  “It's the Mulgor,” he said. “They’re in the system.”

  “What are we going to do?” she demanded.

  The fear in her voice was palpable and it filled the room. All Shay wanted with every fiber of his being was to keep her safe.

  “Stay here and strap yourself in. I'm going to take care of this, my beloved. I will not let you down,” he kissed her once again and hurried out of their bedroom, flicking the spot on his neck that made his uniform extend and cover his naked flesh. He left their chamber and hurried to the cockpit where his copilot was already trying to outmaneuver a new squadron of Mulgor fighter jets.

  As he sat behind the wheel, he saw the mothership materialize at the edge of the system. He spat out the most profane Draconian swearword at the sight of it. There was no way that the Galatonian military could arrive in time to help them. He would have to take care of this threat himself.

  Luckily, they only had a few minutes before the warp drive was ready to jump again. They could warp into the next solar system, leaving the jets and the mothership behind.

  “How are we on those cloaking shields?” he shouted to the technical crew.

  “We still have a whole sector to repair,” the technician said.

  Shay growled.

  A fleet of at least twenty fighter jets swarmed toward the Black Spear. Even for a pilot of Shay’s skill and strength in battle, twenty was a lot. Not to mention the mothership.

  He opened his senses, taking in all of the jets in the three-dimensional map on his holo-screen. He shot into overdrive, flipping his ship vertically as he dove through the fray. He took out the first ship with his laser fire and it exploded right in front of him. He shot upward, as the other ships charged toward him. Several ships smashed into each other but the rest of them continued to give chase.

  Shay was not a dragon who ran, but he knew he would never be able to defeat this force on his own. He would tak
e out as many of them as he could before his warp drive came online.

  “Warp drive online in five minutes,” his copilot said.

  “Very good,” Shay said. The copilot was firing the other guns at the Mulgor fighter jets while Shay maneuvered expertly through the swarm. His agile ship and his expert skill allowed him to outmaneuver the ship and trick them into smashing into each other more than once. It was a trick that he had learned in his many battles in air, on land and underwater. It made him a formidable foe even against two dozen Mulgor fighters.

  His ship screamed through space toward the mothership. Everything in him wanted to send out the biggest missile to breach the mothership hull. He thought he might for a split second before he changed his trajectory. He smashed his fist on the big red button that let fly his biggest missile.

  The missile shot through space, hurtling toward the mothership. The mothership was still letting out masses of fighter jets. The Mulgor were stupid and cowardly; they didn't expect Shay to attack. The missile hit the hull directly, exploding.

  Fire erupted in the Mulgor mothership and the fighter jets turned back to home.

  Shay just laughed and licked his lips. That was what they got for messing with the Water Prince of Galaton. They’d threatened his mate. They’d threatened his planet. They would pay.

  “Warp drive online in thirty seconds,” his copilot said.

  “Countdown,” Shay said. “Five, four, three, two, one.”

  Shay pushed his finger up the holographic screen, activating the warp drive. His body was slammed against his chair as the ship accelerated with mind-boggling speed, shooting through the wrinkle in space and propelling out into the next solar system.

  His ship emerged in a solar system with a healthy young star and several orbiting rocky planets.