“Which is conquering the world?”

  He nodded.

  “I mean, why do you need an ax if you’re a dragon?”

  He cocked his head. “I can’t always be in dragon form. Besides, the axes of my people are imbued with special powers. I can kill almost anything with one of them.”

  “The one you usually carry—”

  He pulled it out, letting it materialize in his hand, as he had full control over the matter composing it, having carried it for many years. “My favorite. I would trust this weapon’s soul with my life.”

  “Weapons have a soul?”

  He nodded. “This blade has seen battle, seen death, seen war.” He dematerialized it, letting it disappear again. “It is as much a part of me as my hand now.”

  “I’m not sure I understand, but it’s interesting,” she said. Then she let out a sigh, looking around at the weapons again. “At least I brought my kindle. This isn’t the type of library I was picturing.”

  “It has books.”

  She smiled. “I thought the whole thing would be filled with books, not—”

  “Axes?”

  She laughed. “Exactly. But it makes sense.” She relaxed back in her chair. “At least it’s comfortable in here. And that window is beautiful.”

  “My ancestor,” he said. “Grogdor the black, who passed the ancestral ax to my father. When I conquer a city, it will go to me.”

  She frowned. “And you can do that?”

  He nodded.

  “What about the other dragons in this world? Won’t they protect it?”

  “I do not believe so,” he said. “I’m much larger than them, much more durable, and I can blow enough dragon fire to melt huge areas at once. I believe I am the apex predator on this planet.” He shot her mark a look. “Though what’s hunting you is sure to be difficult.” He grinned, cracking his knuckles. “Good thing I love a challenge.”

  “Look, Konar, according to the dragons, there’s a lot going on right now. Why don’t you try to help the world instead? Then the oracle might see who you really are, and—”

  His expression went dark as he felt black anger inside him. “I don’t care what she thinks. She took years of my life and never gave me a chance to defend myself.”

  “Why did she lock you up again?”

  He tried to remember, but it was foggy. He knew he’d just come from the fae realm, where he’d been joining with other dragons, but he couldn’t remember much after they’d crossed a portal that marked the border between the human realm and the one that was inhabited by the fae.

  His head hurt just trying to think about it. “I did nothing wrong. I do not deserve this. And I will protect you, little one. But I won’t promise to not take over your world when this is done.”

  She sighed. “I just hope we don’t end up on opposite sides because I’m starting to like you, Konar.” Her pretty lips lifted, and her freckles looked gorgeous in the morning light. Her hair took on the color of flame, and those green eyes glowed like they were full of magic.

  He was so taken aback by her beauty that he almost didn’t hear her words. “What?”

  “Oh, and my name’s Mara, not little one,” she said, walking over to put out a hand for him. “Let’s try this again.”

  “Mara,” he said, taking her small, soft hand in his and trying to ignore his dragon roaring in approval and yelling at him to immediately take her to his room and make the little human his. “Nice name.”

  “Nice to meet you, Konar,” she said.

  He was still disgruntled, staring forward. “You like me?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, good. You should.” He stood. “I’m a dragon king. On my planet…” He furrowed his brows, that foggy feeling coming back. “How did I…?”

  She looked at him with concern. “You feeling okay?”

  He cocked his head at her, wondering how this little human could be showing such care for him when he’d just kidnapped her that morning. “I have memory loss. It feels… odd.”

  “Ah,” she said. “Do you want to see a doctor? We could call the dragons.”

  “No,” he hissed. Then he stood, ready to leave the library and all the fog it brought into his mind.

  “Wait,” she said. “Don’t go.”

  He stopped and turned back to her. “Why?”

  “I… want to spend time with you.”

  He grinned as a flush lit her pretty cheeks. Then he strode over to her chair and put his hands on the arms, looming over her, enjoying the way her whole face flushed as she looked up at him, her body so aware of him he could almost feel her hairs standing on end.

  “Let me show you what I can do for you, Mara,” he said softly, leaning in again. He came closer, closer to her lips, waiting for any sign she wanted to pull away.

  But she seemed as caught up in this as he was, staring up at him with wide eyes, her lips parting slightly as he came forward.

  When she made no move to avoid him, his lips moved over hers, and he kissed her, hard, keeping her trapped against the chair.

  Fire shot through him like it had when he kissed her in the forest. It lit up his veins, made him feel more powerful than he had since he’d awoken.

  Everything in him seemed to narrow to a small point. As if she were the only thing that mattered in the world.

  The word “mate” rose again in him, and he shook his head and pulled back, breaking the kiss.

  A dragon with a mate is more powerful.

  Someone else’s words floated through Konar’s head, though he couldn’t recall who had said them. The voice was soft.

  Looking down at Mara, he found her flushed and disheveled and, based on the way she writhed slightly, completely ready for more.

  “Let me show you what we could be together,” he said, raspy, so hard he could barely think. “Together we could conquer the world.”

  She let out a gasp of offense. “I already told you I’m not down for that.” She shoved hard at his chest, and even though she was too weak to make him, he moved back for her.

  She shot out around him, her hands in fists, her lips swollen, her body so aware of him, so in want of him, he could feel it in the air. Like static energy that was building. “I like you, Konar, but I won’t be doing that again. I’m just here to keep my world safe from what’s coming for me. And if you want me, you should consider that I love my world and the people here and stop talking about burning them up!”

  Then she was gone, padding out the door and stomping down the hallway, probably to go back to her room.

  Konar decided to leave her. Later, he would borrow her phone and call the dragons for supplies. It bothered him to even ask, but he couldn’t afford to leave Mara unattended, even for a moment.

  So as long as the dragons made the drop-off and left immediately, it would be fine.

  Mara was Konar’s to protect.

  No one else’s.

  If anyone came for her, he would end them.

  12

  The next day, Konar lay in his bed, trying to formulate a plan for getting closer to the human.

  Mara had avoided him for the rest of the day yesterday, only opening the door to accept the supplies the dragons had dropped off and then closing it without a word.

  He’d gone to bed alone, thinking about the curvy, gorgeous, lushly built woman just a few steps away, his body painfully hard just imagining her.

  But how did one win a woman who wasn’t impressed with battle and dominance? She’d barely given his ancestral ax a look, when usually those who saw it were reverent.

  He wanted her as his mate. His queen. So how did he make her his?

  The Earth dragons had given him rules and offered advice, but he’d ignored all of it.

  They didn’t even have a mate yet, so what did they know about it?

  Regardless of working sort of in tangent with them, Konar would never trust Earth dragons or the oracle again.

  They all deserved to burn for what they’d done.

  Everyone but her.

  He stood, going to his wardrobe, wondering if he should wear a bit more clothing. She stared at his body often, but he wasn’t sure if it was because humans wore more clothing than he did usually or she liked what she saw.

  He thought it was the latter, but surely it couldn’t hurt to wear some clothing more like hers.

  Troy and Jack had dropped some off, telling him to, “Drop the loincloth look. You’re going to get arrested.”

  He would never change for them, but for Mara…

  Her curves haunted his hands, which ached down to the fingertips to be able to touch her. Grip her soft sides and hips and pull her into him, mold her generous body against him, and—

  He blinked. He should be worrying about revenge, not this woman.

  Still, he opened the bag of clothing he’d been handed and put them into his wardrobe, studying the odd garments as he hung them up.

  There were pants in a stiff blue material that enclosed his legs totally, and he pulled them on, grimacing at the roughness of the fabric. He hated the way they dragged against his skin, but he had to admit they granted some protection from the elements.

  He took a soft shirt with short sleeves and pulled it over his head as well. Then he used one of his own leather belts through the loops on the pants.

  Walking over to look in the mirror of his bathroom, he felt utterly ridiculous.

  Just moving, he felt he could be caught in the seam of his pants. How did humans, or dragons, cope?

  Still, looking in the ornate golden mirror above his bathroom counter, he grinned at how much he probably looked like other men in Mara’s world, albeit much bigger and better-looking.

  He lifted an arm and flexed a powerful bicep. Surely, she’d see his charms in time, wouldn’t she?

  A knock sounded on his chamber door, and he narrowed his eyes as he walked over to it.

  He scented Mara, something sweet and light and floral at the same time, and knew it was her at the door.

  Striding over, he pulled it open, excited to see her expression.

  She gaped up at him while he stared down at her.

  Her cheeks were heating and she was losing composure as she looked him over, but he was more caught up in looking her over as well.

  Her red hair was pulled back in a cute bun, leaving her face fresh and open. Her beautiful green eyes shone in the morning light, and she was wearing a soft, dark-pink dress that went down to the floor and had short sleeves.

  She looked like a maiden about to be abducted.

  “This is my travel dress,” she said, giving a little spin in it.

  It made her curves look so good he was sure his dragon was going to choke to death on her sexiness.

  “You like it?” she asked, flushing deeply, drawing attention to her cute little freckles.

  Drakkaris, she was perfect.

  He didn’t even have words for how much the soft fabric swirling on her made him want to grab her curves.

  “Y-you look good also,” she said. “Did you get jeans from the dragons?”

  He nodded.

  “What do you think of them? They look good on you.”

  He nodded, too dazed to consider that wasn’t really an answer.

  She giggled, putting a hand on his arm. His skin sizzled beneath her touch.

  Dammit, she was just a small human. How could she have an effect on him stronger than dragon fire?

  “I’m sorry I stayed away last night,” she said. “I’m still adjusting to all of this. I did kiss you back, and I don’t…” She trailed off for a moment. “I don’t hate you, Konar. And I get that I shouldn’t tell you what to feel because I wasn’t the one locked up. I don’t even know what happened. So if it’s okay, I’d like to start over and just get to know you as you. Not talk about the world or conquering or even the thing coming after me.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “You want to get to know me?” What did that have to do with mating? She only had to want him for that to happen.

  “Well, you seem to want me, and—”

  “I do,” he said quickly.

  “I’m not an easy catch,” she said. “I was ignored for my weight a lot while growing up, but I learned to love myself, and I have high standards. I’d rather be alone than with someone who doesn’t care for me.”

  He didn’t really understand what she was getting at. Probably because his brain was still bamboozled by that dress.

  He probably looked like a prime idiot.

  Looking into her eyes, he saw sincerity that deserved an answer.

  “I would like to court you,” he said. “And make you mine. I mean no disrespect to you. I’m no easy catch either. You are the only one my dragon has reacted to this way that I can ever remember.”

  She frowned. “You don’t remember very much, though.”

  “Irrelevant,” he shot back. “I know I have never felt this way before. It is something I could not forget.”

  Her cheeks went a deeper pink, matching her dress, and he had to physically pull away and walk over to his window to resist the urge to put her over his shoulder, throw her on the bed, and show her everything she was missing.

  “The only thing I should tell you is that I have a stone heart,” he said. “I’m not soft like the other dragons.”

  “I don’t even know the other dragons,” she said. “They didn’t seem that softhearted to me, but it doesn’t matter. I’m here with you. You came for me.” She clasped her hands in front of her, twisting them. “And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think you were the hottest thing I’d ever laid eyes on.”

  He grinned, dragon fire igniting inside him. “Of course I am.”

  She laughed, exasperated, and slapped her leg. “And there you go. But at least you’re interesting.” She sighed. “Look, we have to be together. We might as well be friends.”

  He sneered. “Friends isn’t what I want.”

  “Well, we have to start that way,” she said stubbornly. “I’m not going to give away my body without my heart.”

  His eyes narrowed on hers. “I don’t have a heart to give. I have loyalty and honor, and I will protect you, but I do not know the emotions you speak of. We warrior dragons give up such emotions in order to fight. You can’t fight with a soft heart.”

  Her eyebrows lifted in confusion. “You can’t be serious. Doesn’t caring make you fight harder?”

  He just stared at her blankly, unsure how to make her understand.

  He had everything to offer, except for that one thing.

  But what good was “love” if you died because of an inferior protector? She was better off with someone like him.

  But how to shake her of these romantic notions?

  He was staring down at her, formulating his thoughts and trying not to be rock hard while staring at her dress, when they both heard a loud thump outside that rattled the ground.

  Not long after, there was another.

  She jumped forward into his arms out of fear, and he held her and savored the moment only for a second before he went to the window to look out.

  What he saw made his heart fall.

  How had they found him so fast?

  13

  Mara was still recovering from the sight of Konar in jeans when something like the sound of two huge boulders being dropped from the heavens had interrupted them, shaking the ground.

  Konar sent her a sharp look, then motioned for her to stay put as he looked out the window.

  A second later, he was striding past her out the door.

  “Wait here. Do not come outside,” he said, stomping into the courtyard and toward the gate that led out of the fortress.

  She couldn’t resist going to the window to see what was going on.

  Out on the grass, two large, dark shapes had landed, and she realized with growing horror, based on the smoke surrounding the large, grayish bodies and the black scales shining in the sun, that these were dragons.

  So there were more like Konar?

  Then she saw Konar thundering out of the fortress in dragon form to meet the others.

  Oh no, they weren’t going to fight, were they?

  Mara ran out of the room and through the gates, unable to resist sneaking around the walls, hiding in the shade of the hedges and trees around the side of the fortress, so she could hear and see what was happening.

  Looking closer, she realized all of the dragons weren’t black exactly.

  One of the dragons was a slightly lighter charcoal color. The dark smoke that wrapped his body, flowing like water and obscuring black scales here and there, was pitch black.

  The other dragon was a deep gray, verging on black but with a slightly blue tint, and the grayish smoke twisting around it was almost the same color as its body.

  The lighter charcoal dragon had piercing eyes that were gold at the center and almost a sunset pink around the edges.

  The blueish-gray dragon had yellow-green eyes.

  Konar was facing them, his back to the castle, protecting it.

  No matter what, Mara felt safe with him around.

  “Join us,” the pink-eyed dragon said. “The oracle’s power has faded. We are free. Together, we can take our revenge.” The dragon’s sharp fangs were bared as it made a mean smile.

  “I don’t cooperate,” Konar said. “I work alone, and you know that.”

  The dragon with green-yellow eyes took a rumbling step forward, flexing his wings. The veins were deep black against the gray-blue, and his tail had large spikes as he whipped it around impatiently.

  But he said nothing.

  “We have nothing to say to each other,” Konar said. “We are enemies from the same planet, nothing more.”

  “In the fae realm—” The pink-eyed dragon started but was cut off by Konar.

  “This is not the fae realm.” He narrowed his eyes at them. “How did the two of you escape your imprisonment?”

  The pink-eyed dragon smiled. “Woke up a few days ago. I feel that old hag’s spell is breaking.” Smoke began to emanate from his mouth as he spoke, and even from here, Mara could feel heat building. “Then I merely pushed at the barrier until I got through. I wanted to see if the two of you were still alive after so many years. Then I followed Drokar’s energy, and then we came to find you.”