Stolen and Seduced - Christine Pope Page 0,21

with his true mate.

Dammit, his dragon and his libido had to be on the fritz. He'd been gone far too long from Dragos if his body had decided this fragile human woman was mate material. She didn't even have a hunting form, couldn't shift to help herself heal. She would need to be protected all the time and from the looks of her, protected even from herself.

His dragon pushed at Ash's skin, groaning with need inside of his chest at the thought of wrapping himself around her lush body to keep her safe from the monsters of the world. Like the damn vamps... and those that would take advantage of her. Like he had.

She was not his mate. Even if she was, it wasn't like he had anything to offer her. No luxurious furs to lay her on, no intricately carved and painted cave walls, no woven baskets. That was all left behind when he'd been taken aboard the vampires' war ship.

He didn't even know if humans could mate with dragons. His mind raced like the fastest of wings riding the eddies of information and memories. Half the known universe was flocking to Earth to see if human women could fill the gap in their own races due to the plague. The women of this little blue planet had matched with dozens of other alien races.

What if he took her back to Dragos with him? There would be no mate waiting for him at home. There were no female dragons left after the war and the plague. What if he not only brought his princess with him to Dragos, but found a queen for his king, mates for all the dragons of his world who had given up hope of ever having a mate?

Ruby

Oooh. What a dream she'd been in the middle of. The tingles between her legs wanted the fulfillment waking up denied her. One thing she was good at was finding a way to get what she wanted. No one could deny her, not even her own mind in her dreams. She'd just slip her hand down and keep the vision of that sexylicious man with the perfect jawline, tattoos, and glowing animalistic eyes in her mind.

Yeah, she was wet, and needy, and this was going to feel so good.

"You want help with that, princess?"

Whoa. Her imagination skills were on point today. That husky whispered voice couldn't have been more real.

"Because I can scent your arousal and if you've been dreaming about Louis, I'm going to have to help you forget all about him."

Uh. That was not in her head. Ruby peeked one eye open and that face, the one that had her so hot was staring right back at her. She closed her eye again tried very hard to remember if she'd gotten drunk last night and brought a hotty home with her. It had been known to happen. She remembered going to Roman to get the money she needed, oh crap, and the vampires dragging her away to kill her. Then things went a little fuzzy. Something about glowing wings, a tea party, the Jabberwocky from Alice and Wonderland, and this guy. A monster who was both a jackass and had saved her.

"Princess, I know you aren't asleep, there's no faking it with me." His demanding tone was shiver worthy.

Sigh. "If I was faking something, you wouldn't have a clue. Men never do. I'm simply trying to figure out if I should scream or let you kiss me."

Kiss her? Where had that come from? Except, she really, really wanted him to do exactly that. Like... she needed him to touch her or she'd go crazy.

"How about if I kiss you and make you scream in pleasure? I assure you, you won't need to fake anything with me." Geez, he was so sexy and growly and she really wanted to take him up on his offer.

As her mind cleared with each passing moment, she remembered what happened. He might have saved her, but it could also be considered kidnapping. "Do I have Stockholm syndrome? Can you get that from drinking drugged organic tea?"

Hotty McKidnapper sighed. "I don't know what that syndrome involves, but the only thing Xion's tea did was knock you out."

Both her eyelids flew open this time. He'd drugged her? Ruby quickly mentally checked over her whole body to see if he'd done anything else. She wasn't in pain anywhere, although there was a weird burn behind her heart. Must be from the drugged tea.

No