The Dragon Prince's Baby Bargain: Howls Romance Read online

  Victor was silent for a moment, frowning, then said, “Let me show you something.”

  He stripped off his wedding clothes, efficiently and quickly rather than making a show of it. Soon he stood naked before her.

  Debbie instantly forgot her self-consciousness. He was gorgeous. Tall, broad-shouldered, with rippling muscle everywhere she looked, complete with a perfect six-pack. His cock stood up big and hard, showing her just how much he wanted her. She wanted to yank him down on the bed right now.

  Before she could, he turned around.

  Debbie gasped. A jagged line of glittering gold slashed across his body from shoulder to hip, as if he’d been struck by lightning and it had left its imprint across his skin. It was strangely beautiful, but there was also something brutal and violent-looking about it.

  “What is that?”

  “My dragonmark.” Victor turned back around to face her. “All dragonshifters have marks on their bodies, glittering with the color of their dragon. Usually they look like tattoos or pretty patterns. Aunt Agatha’s circles her arm, like an armlet of hammered bronze. She says I’m the first person she’s ever heard of whose dragonmark looks like a scar.”

  Debbie instantly sprang to his defense. “It’s beautiful! Just... startling.”

  “Is it something you would treasure?”

  “Of course!” Then she saw the path he was leading her down, and smiled despite herself. “Oh, all right. Go ahead. Undress me.”

  Victor avidly took off her gown, then her bra and panties. At last he looked down at her as she lay naked and exposed on the bed. She followed his gaze to the ugly purple birthmark that marred her left shoulder.

  “Not as pretty as yours,” she muttered.

  “I. Do. Not. Care.” With each word, he kissed it. The heat of his mouth and tongue spread from her shoulder to her entire body, until she lay trembling, her nerves afire.

  She was willing to let him do anything at all, at that moment. But instead of continuing to kiss her, he leaned over and unlocked a safe in the wall.

  Debbie craned her head to look inside.

  And gasped. The safe glowed with gold and glittered with jewels. Bedazzled, she saw gold coins, gold nuggets, silver boxes filled with sparkling diamonds, and more. Rubies and emeralds, pearls and sapphires, rings and necklaces and bracelets were piled deep. It was more treasure than she could even comprehend.

  “My hoard,” said Victor. His eyes were gold as his coins, and gleamed with possessive desire. “Gold is very precious to a dragon—far more so than just its money equivalent. A dragon would never part with any item from his hoard... except to give to his true mate.”

  He lifted a necklace from the safe. It was an exquisite piece of jewelry made of twisted golden ropes and threads, woven into a spider’s web that would drape across the upper chest of the wearer. Diamonds were scattered among the web in a seemingly random pattern, glittering like drops of dew.

  “May I bedeck you?” Victor asked.

  Debbie had always liked jewelry, but had never been able to afford anything but a few cheap trinkets. She’d never owned any gold. But this necklace was more than pretty, and more than expensive. It was a work of art. And a gift of love.

  “Yes, please.” Her voice came out choked with emotion.

  Victor tenderly placed the necklace around her neck and arranged it. Then he stood over her, looking down. The golden fire in his eyes made her feel like a scrap of paper in a bonfire—a scrap that couldn’t wait to go up in flames.

  Her self-consciousness melted in the heat of her desire. She held up her hands to him. “Come on, Victor. I want you now!”

  In a quick, graceful motion, he knelt atop her hips. “Before we begin... do you wish to get pregnant tonight?”

  Debbie had to gather her thoughts. Finally, she shook her head. “No. Not tonight. I do want to have a family with you, but it’s such a big step. I’d like to just be married for a while first. So yeah, please use a condom.”

  He smiled. “No need. Dragon shifters are only fertile when they will themselves to be.”

  “Seriously?” But she already believed him. She’d felt his heat, seen the golden line like a lash across his back—seen him turn into a dragon! She knew he was different.

  Victor nodded. “I won’t will it until you tell me to.”

  Then he bent to her, his eyes glowing golden, and once again began to kiss her birthmark. But this time he didn’t stop there. He kissed and licked, caressed and stroked, nibbled and sucked every inch of her skin, slowly working his way downward. She caressed him in return, stroking his smooth skin and firm muscles, and running a finger along the glittering slash of his dragonmark.

  Heat gathered between her legs, making her squirm and moan as she got wetter and wetter. She’d never imagined a man lavishing so much loving attention on her body. And it was attention. Victor was clearly tracking her every gasp and sigh, so he’d know what to do more of and where she was especially sensitive. The heat of his body made his every touch feel like a flame that burned without pain. It was pure bliss.

  Why had she been so nervous about having sex? She’d been so sure she’d be awkward and do something wrong and turn off her partner. But now, feeling Victor’s hungry touch, she knew that nothing she could do would turn him off. And she no longer felt awkward. Everything felt easy and natural. All she had to do was listen to her own body, and do what it said.

  Then he laid his mouth between her legs, and all thoughts vanished. She moaned, the pleasure of his hot tongue almost too much to bear. Debbie felt herself writhe against the mattress, her sensitive clit throbbing, as he lapped at it until she couldn’t hold out any longer. Her arousal built, peaked, and exploded.

  Debbie came back to herself, gasping and trembling, in Victor’s arms.

  Before she could feel self-conscious, he pushed back a lock of her damp hair. “You look beautiful.”

  Overcome, she couldn’t reply. She kissed him instead. He responded passionately, pressing himself against her.

  She felt his shaft, rock-hard against her body, and reached out for it. She’d never had her hand around a penis before. She’d expected it to feel hard, and it did, but she hadn’t realized it would be that hard. It felt like a rod of steel under her hand. A rod of steel covered in velvet-smooth flesh.

  Debbie stroked her hand along it, and was both startled and delighted when Victor groaned. She hadn’t realized just how sensitive it was. Debbie tried again, a little harder, and made him gasp.

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  In fact, she was a little nervous. He was so big! But she did want him, even if it hurt. She wanted to join their bodies together in the most intimate possible way.

  She nodded.

  He knelt over her, making her notice again how stunning he looked in the nude. Those hip muscles—those incredible abs—

  He lowered himself to her, moving slowly and gently. The head of his cock stroked along her clit, making her arch and gasp. She knew he didn’t want to hurt her, but she no longer cared. She had to have him inside her, filling her up. Every fiber of her being longed for it.

  “Come on, Victor,” she said. “I want you in me, now!”

  He slid into her in a single graceful motion, her slick passage easing his way. She could feel herself stretched out. It burned a little, but not in a bad way. As he began to thrust, the burn faded and she began to enjoy the sensation. There was something deeply satisfying about having him inside her.

  And it wasn’t just physical pleasure she felt. As she and Victor moved together, it was like when they’d danced together on the wedding floor: as if they were a single person in two bodies. She felt overwhelmed with love.

  “This is you mean by mates,” she whispered.

  “Yes,” Victor replied. “You’re mine. I’m yours. Forever.”

  “Forever,” she echoed. “Oh—oh!”

  A sudden wave of electric pleasure washed over her, so intense that she threw back her head and sc
reamed. Before she closed her eyes, she saw Victor watching her, his golden eyes intent on her face. Then he let out a masculine growl as he too came. She could feel the hot jet of his seed within her, and it pushed her into yet another shattering orgasm.

  Debbie floated on a cloud of bliss for a delicious eternity. Then she lay back in Victor’s arms, hot and sweaty and happier than she’d ever been in her life. No more virginity! Now she knew what all the fuss was about.

  Even more importantly, Victor knew her secrets, and he didn’t hold them against her. He’d seen her birthmark, and he wasn’t repulsed. She’d told him she wasn’t ready to get pregnant yet, and rather than pressuring her, he’d simply asked her to tell him when she was. He was such a great guy. And she’d only had to travel halfway around the world to find him.

  “What did I do to deserve you?” she murmured.

  “All you ever had to do was be you.” He tenderly brushed a lock of damp hair from her face. “Where do you want to go for our honeymoon?”

  “We get a honeymoon?”

  “We are married,” her husband pointed out.

  Debbie thought about it for a moment, then laughed. “Paris, of course.”

  “All expenses paid,” Victor said with a chuckle. “By me.”

  NINE

  Victor

  Victor had been to Paris before, but only with Aunt Agatha. Her idea of a pleasant family vacation was to stick to a pre-planned itinerary and march from sight to sight, never missing one.

  He did enjoy the glamour and luxury of the palaces, but he would have liked a little more freedom. He’d kept spotting charming-looking cafes, but could never visit them because they had to rush off to see the Eiffel Tower by 2:00, followed by the Arc de Triomphe at 3:00 and the Louvre at 3:45. Aunt Agatha didn’t care for cafes, anyway; as long as he and she were stuck together, they ate only at the fanciest five-star restaurants.

  Traveling with Debbie was completely different. They made no plans at all, but simply wandered the city and did whatever looked fun. They drank coffee and ate pastries in little cafes, shopped for shoes and gowns and jewelry, and pointed randomly at food listed on menus in French and crossed their fingers that they’d like it. Usually, they did. And then there was Snail Day.

  They did see some famous sights. But Victor knew that what he would always remember wasn’t the Tuileries or the Palace of Versailles, but the taste of the salted caramel macaron Debbie popped into his mouth, the scent of the fresh-baked chocolate croissant she bought every morning from the little bakery outside their hotel, the sound of the wooden heels of the scarlet sandals he bought her clacking on the cobblestones, the sight of her sensual curves as she sprawled nude on blue silk sheets with afternoon sunlight striking gold off her glossy curls, and the touch of her warm hand in his.

  When they returned, he showed her all around Rodica, on foot and on horseback, by carriage and on dragonback. Debbie was delighted with it all. And he thrilled to let his landbound mate get a small taste of what it was to fly.

  In the evenings, he coached her on all the details of Princess Eugenia’s life that he knew, plus the customs of Rodica and Doru, so she wouldn’t be caught again. Debbie was a quick study. No one seemed to suspect her. And, as he had guessed would happen, there was no sign of Princess Eugenia. Like Lucas, she was undoubtedly living a happy life of her own choosing, somewhere far from Rodica.

  Victor had never been happier, spending his days and nights at his mate’s side. But as time went by, he began to get disturbing reports of a rise in crime in Rodica. It had been months since he’d patrolled his country invisibly as a dragon, and apparently the robbers and burglars and bandits had figured out that Rodica’s winged protector was missing in action.

  When he told Debbie of this as they were preparing for sleep, she immediately said, “Don’t mind me. I can survive a few nights a month of sleeping alone. Or would you like me to ride on your back when you patrol?”

  “No!” Victor exclaimed, horrified. “Debbie, I go in search of dangerous men bent on crime. I know you’re brave, but this is no job for a human.”

  His courageous mate looked a little disappointed, but said, “I figured you’d say that. In that case, you go patrolling tonight. Then come back and tell me all the thrilling stories!”

  Victor gave her a kiss. “Don’t wait up for me. If it is thrilling, I might not be back till dawn.”

  He went to the balcony, then glanced back to see his mate watching him with eager eyes. She always did enjoy seeing him become a dragon. With a last smile in her direction, he thought of cool night air under his wings, and leaped off the balcony.

  He fell, but only for an instant. Then his powerful wings were supporting him. He became invisible, then soared away and into the night.

  Victor patrolled the city for a few hours, but saw nothing amiss. He then flew into the countryside. It was the lonely mountain roads that were most likely to attract bandits.

  He was more than an hour’s flight from the palace when his dragon gave a sudden hiss.

  Save Debbie!

  What? Victor replied, startled. Is she in danger?

  Deadly danger, hissed his dragon. We must save her!

  Victor instantly turned and arrowed back toward the palace, cursing the amount of distance he’d already put between him and it. Even at his fastest, he was still an hour away.

  What’s happened to her? Victor asked, his heart pounding.

  I do not know, hissed his dragon, his tone full of frustration and protective fury. I only know that our mate needs us desperately!

  Victor flew as fast as he could, his mind racing. What could have happened to his mate?

  And would he be too late to save her?

  TEN

  Debbie

  Debbie had intended to stay up all night waiting for Victor’s return. She knew nothing could harm him in his dragon form. But he’d told her that sometimes criminals fled into buildings before he could grab them in his dragon claws, and then he had to become human to pursue them. It worried her.

  On the other hand, she didn’t want him to worry about her losing sleep over him. So she decided to compromise: she’d stay up, but turn off the lights and pretend to be asleep when he returned.

  It was the first time she had ever tried to stay awake while lying in bed in a dark room. She managed it for an hour or so, and then she drifted off to sleep.

  In her dream, she had become a dragon herself, with beautiful silver wings. She felt powerful and free as she soared among the clouds with Victor at her side. It was so wonderful to fly...

  Danger!

  She jolted awake at the shriek of some inner voice.

  The room was dark, but by the moonlight shining through an open window, she saw two burly figures leaning over her.

  Terrified, she opened her mouth to scream.

  A rough hand slammed over her lips, cutting off her cry before she could do more than inhale.

  The intruders yanked her out of bed. She fought as hard as she could, but they were far stronger than her. Within minutes, she had been gagged, then stuffed into a sack with only her head sticking out. It was such a tight fit that her arms were trapped at her sides. The men dragged her to the window, tied a rope around her chest, and lowered her down to the ground.

  Where are the guards? Debbie wondered.

  But as her kidnappers rapidly carried her away, she caught sight of the limp bodies of guards stashed behind ornamental shrubberies. They’d been drugged, or hit over the head. At least, she hoped that was all that had been done to them.

  Victor will save me, she told herself. The last time I got scared, he knew and came running to help me.

  She only hoped he hadn’t flown so far away that he’d be too late.

  That frightening thought led her to another: what did the kidnappers want with her? Did they mean to hold her for ransom? Or were they taking her somewhere far enough to conveniently dispose of her body?

  A black car waited for them outside of
the palace grounds. They opened the trunk, threw her in, and sped away.

  Debbie lay in the jolting darkness, trying to kick out in the forlorn hope of attracting some attention. Eventually she gave up on that and instead tried to work the gag loose. By catching it between her teeth and slowly tugging at it, she finally managed to get it loose. It still covered her mouth, but she could yell if she wanted to.

  She once again opened her mouth to scream, then thought better of it. No one would be able to hear her from the trunk, except maybe her kidnappers. She’d wait till she got out, when she might have a chance at someone hearing her who could actually help.

  Victor! Debbie called out in her thoughts. Help me!

  But she didn’t just lie there passively while she begged for help. While she was shouting out his name in her mind, she was also rolling around in the trunk, trying to feel for any sharp edges she could use to cut her way out of the sack.

  Her hip bumped into a rough edge of metal. Debbie supposed that was as good as it got. She began painfully sawing her hip against it, rubbing as hard as she could, her heart pounding with fear that the car would stop before she made any progress.

  After what felt like an eternity, the sack tore. She writhed until she got the fingers of one hand through the hole, then yanked with all her strength, widening the rip. Soon she’d be free—

  The car stopped. She instantly went limp. Her only chance now was that her kidnappers wouldn’t notice a tear in a black sack on a dark night.

  She heard the car doors open and footsteps approach. The trunk was opened.

  Debbie blinked in the sudden light. It was only silvery moonlight, but it felt bright. There was a briny smell in the air, and a rushing, crashing sound that she took a moment to recognize as waves. She must be at the seashore.

  Victor had taken her there once. They’d relaxed on the beach and strolled along the pier, feeding each other salted nuts and cotton candy. She’d had such a wonderful time, she’d meant to suggest that they return.