Slave Dragon: Earth Dragons Series: Book4 Read online

  Slave Dragon

  Earth Dragons Series: Book4

  Charlene Hartnady

  Copyright © July 2019, Charlene Hartnady

  Cover Art by Melody Simmons

  Copy Edited by KR

  Proofread by [email protected]

  Produced in South Africa

  [email protected]

  Slave Dragon is a work of fiction and characters, events and dialogue found within are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, either living or deceased, is purely coincidental.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews no part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to digital copying, file sharing, audio recording, email and printing without prior consent in writing from the author.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  About the Author

  Also by Charlene Hartnady

  Excerpt

  Chapter 1

  Her stomach growled noisily. “We should go.” Macy got up and started towards the back door. Scout bounced around her legs, making her feel guilty about leaving him.

  “Are you sure you want to wear that, hun?” her mom asked, genuine concern laced in her voice.

  Not this conversation again. “We already talked about this when you first arrived.”

  “Macy, my girl, I am your mother and it is my job to be honest with you.”

  Here we go! Macy turned around to face her mom, thankful when her pup pushed his nose into her hand. She stroked his sleek fur.

  Her mom’s expression grew pinched, which meant that she probably shouldn’t say what she was about to say but she was going to say it anyway. “You don’t have the nicest thighs, dear. You should wear skirts and dresses with the hem on the knee or lower. I can see too much of your thighs in that, hun.” Her voice was soft and soothing. “Please don’t take this the wrong way. You’re extremely pretty. You have the most beautiful face.”

  “It’s just the rest of me that’s up to shit.” She struggled to keep the hurt out of her voice.

  “Language, Macy! That’s not what I said at all.”

  It was implied though. “Mom, I’m thirty years old. I can say a little swear word. Is there anything else you don’t like about this dress?” She looked down at herself, starting to feel pissy.

  “Now that you mention it…”

  Macy rolled her eyes. “Really?”

  “Well…that neckline is all wrong for a bigger-busted woman. You should…”

  “I’m not changing. I happen to like my breasts and my thighs. I happen to love this dress. I’m going to put Scout outside and then we’re going.”

  Her mom opened and closed her mouth a few times. Good! That shut her up! Thing was, her mom wasn’t actually a bad person. She meant well. It came from a good place, but hell, it could be irritating. “I haven’t finished my coffee.” The older woman held up her mug.

  “I made that for you half an hour ago. It must be cold. Leave it, you can get more coffee at the restaurant.”

  “You need to get your dog settled out back. I’ll finish my coffee while you do that.” Her mom smiled sweetly, looking the picture of innocence. “We have time.”

  What the hell was going on? Her mom wasn’t normally quite this bad. Come to think of it, she looked nervous. They’d discussed her outfit twice, her weight once and the fact that her clock was ticking once. Her mom was bad, but not this bad. Also, it felt like she was stalling.

  Macy watched as the other woman tried to sneak a peek at her watch.

  “What’s going on?” Macy folded her arms.

  She watched her mom’s face turn a touch pink. “What do you mean?”

  “Why are—?”

  The doorbell rang. Holy shit! No. Nooooo! “Mom, who is that? Why is there someone ringing my doorbell on a Saturday afternoon?”

  Her mother licked her lips. “All I ask is that you keep an open mind.”

  “Moooom.” She moaned the word, feeling like she was ten again.

  “I love you and I want to see you happy. That’s all.”

  “I am happy. I told you to stop this shit.”

  “Language.” Her mom widened her eyes. “You need to be on your best behavior.”

  The doorbell rang again.

  “He’s a lawyer and even made partner at his firm last year.” She smiled broadly, looking like the cat who had gotten herself, not just the cream, but the whole damned cow.

  “But this is my house, mom. You gave him my address? You do know that’s a no-no. He could stalk me or kill me,” she whispered. “I don’t care if he’s a lawyer.”

  Her mom snorted. “Nonsense. That’s Shirley’s oldest son, Markus.” She pointed at the door. “I know him.”

  She frowned as the doorbell rang again. “Coming,” Macy yelled. “You’ve mentioned him before a couple of times.” Her mom loved to talk about how well other people’s children were doing. “Isn’t he married with kids?”

  She shook her head, smiling. “He recently got a divorce.”

  “What? Mom! A divorce?” Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open for a second or two.

  “You’re not getting any younger, my girl. You’ve reached an age where you need to start compromising. The men who are interested in you might have some baggage.” She got this sympathetic look.

  The doorbell rang yet again.

  “You’d better get that, hun.”

  This wasn’t happening! Arghhh! Macy headed for the door, Scout jumped around all excited about who the visitor could be. She opened the door while holding onto his collar so that he didn’t run out or jump all over the guy.

  “Hi.” He was smiling. It was a nice smile, she noted. At least he had that going for him. Nice straight teeth. That’s where it ended, however. He was bald, which, in itself, wasn’t the end of the world. Except, he had hair around the sides of his head. Why didn’t he shave it off? It made him look like Friar Tuck.

  “Hello,” she quickly said, realizing that they been standing there staring at each other for a good couple of seconds. “I’m Macy,” she managed to push out.

  “Markus.” He held out his hand and she took it. He gave her this silly, soft ‘lady’ handshake. She hated it when guys did that. It felt demeaning in an odd way. Like a woman couldn’t handle a proper handshake.

  “Come in.” He wore a really nice shirt. It looked fancy. She recognized the label as designer. Unfortunately, he left the top three or four buttons open and the guy had chest hair. Mounds of the stuff. It was greying too.

  Yuk!

  Hopefully he was nice. They could at least have a good lunch together. Outward appearances weren’t everything. She knew this only too well.

  Macy stepped to the side but as he walked in, Scout got so excited, he broke free, immediately jumping
on Markus’s chest.

  Scout was only eight months and technically just a puppy, but he was pretty big all the same. Markus looked horrified. He scrunched up his nose in distaste and held up his hands like he didn’t even want to touch her beloved pet. Yeah, it looked like a nice lunch was not on the cards after all.

  “Control your mutt, Macy,” her mother piped up.

  Scout, seeming to sense that he was not wanted, dropped back down to the floor and went back to her to seek reassurance. She petted his fur. “Please don’t call him that.”

  “It’s better than mongrel.” Her mother raised her brows. “I thought mutt was quite a sweet thing to say.” It was official, her mother was clueless.

  “He might not be a pure-bred dog, but I love him all the same. Since he is a mix of two breeds, I like to call him a hybrid.”

  Markus snorted, like the concept was hilarious. Her mother seemed to agree and the two of them had a good old chuckle. It looked like she was in for a long afternoon. How the hell was she going to get out of this? “I’ll take him out back and then we can go.”

  “I’ll bring the car around,” Markus said.

  “Thanks, but I’ll go in my own car. I have an errand I need to run straight after lunch.” She just needed to think of what that errand was so she could use it as an excuse to leave early.

  “What errand—?”

  “Come on, Pup.” She spoke in a singsong voice. “I won’t be too long, my little Scout,” she continued. “I know how you cry when I’m away for too long.” She continued to speak to her dog as she walked.

  When she got back, it was just her mother in the living room. Her expression was stony. “You need to be nicer,” she whispered.

  “I was nice.”

  “In hindsight, maybe meeting here wasn’t the best idea.”

  This whole thing was a terrible idea. She bit down on her tongue to keep from saying it.

  “We’d better get going. I can’t believe we’re taking three cars. You should have gone with him.”

  “I would prefer to drive myself. I don’t even know this guy. What happened with his last marriage? Why did they get a divorce?”

  “He cheated on his wife.” She said it like it was no biggie.

  “What?” Macy almost fell over her own feet. “He cheated? How the hell could you set me up with someone like that?”

  “Don’t be such a drama queen.” Her mother began walking again. “He made partner and it got to his head. It was one of the secretaries at the firm. Not a big deal. He learned his lesson.”

  “I highly doubt it,” she mumbled as she locked the front door.

  “What was that, dear?” Her mom raised her brows. Was she really that oblivious?

  “Mom, let’s get this lunch over and done with and then you and I need to have a serious talk. I’ll come to you after work on Tuesday. We need to set a couple of boundaries.”

  “I’m not sure what you mean.” She looked completely flummoxed.

  Lord help her!

  Chapter 2

  Holy fuck!

  Her scent.

  It was sweet like candied apples. Tangy…green apples. Crisp. Fresh. Fucking delicious. It filled his nose. He could taste her on his tongue. Make that, he could almost taste her. He wanted to taste her. Sand knew that she would—

  Druze’s chest vibrated with an almost inaudible growl. “My mouth is watering,” the male announced, eyes on the human.

  Oh yes! Sand’s mouth was watering too. He swallowed his lust down. Or he tried to, at any rate. They watched as the female bent over to open a drawer. Her ass was lush in those jeans. Holy shit. The fabric strained to contain the well-rounded globes. His hands itched to squeeze.

  “Shit!” Druze cursed. “She’s trying to give me a hard-on.” He shifted uncomfortably, putting a hand over his dick. “She is giving me one.”

  “Quit it!” Sand warned. Like he wasn’t affected at all. He spoke under his breath. “We don’t want to scare Georgia’s friend. We’re supposed to be helping her, not perving over her. I mean…” Sand licked his lips, his eyes glued to her ass, which bobbed up and down as she continued to rummage through the bottom dresser drawer. “I’ll admit, she’s hot as fuck, and most likely about to come into heat.” He suddenly felt the urge to shift his weight and to palm his dick as well. Heck, a quick jerk-off would come in handy right about then, but they were on duty. Here to protect the human while packing up some of his brother’s mate’s things, but hell, it was proving to be a difficult task. Far more challenging than he had thought it would be.

  He forced his gaze off the lush female. “Go and grab a packing box,” he ordered Druze, pointing to the other side of the room where some unmade boxes were stacked against the wall.

  Sand turned back to the human. “Um…” He cleared his throat. His voice was thick and husky. It had been months since he had last been with a female. He was a non-human. A dragon. Testosterone levels were high in his kind. They were apparently driven to mate. To procreate.

  Not him.

  He was driven alright but not for any of the tie-down nonsense. He wasn’t going to fall for it as his brothers had. Sand was driven to fuck. That was it. The beginning. The middle. The end. Simple. To fuck.

  Right then, the urge was almost overwhelming. Another time, another place…maybe. Sand tamped the urge down. It didn’t matter how amazing her scent was. How lush her figure looked in a pair of jeans and the shirt…

  That shirt.

  The shirt was designed for a male. It was one of those plaid, button-down types. It did nothing to hide her full breasts. It seemed to enhance everything that was lush and feminine about her and in a big, bad way. “Um,” he said again, sounding like an asshole whelp.

  The female turned. She smiled. Her eyes were a beautiful bright blue. Her mouth was really full. Almost too lush, like the rest of her. He could picture those lips wrapped around his—

  He needed to stop this shit.

  He wasn’t a kid anymore. He could control himself, dammit. “Can I help with anything? You’re busy while we’re just standing around.”

  Those lush-as-fuck lips curled into a smile. It was shy and sweet. “I don’t think Georgia would like a bunch of guys rifling through her stuff. I’m almost done.” She put her hands on her hips for a second, before pointing at an almost full box. “You can seal that with the tape over there.” She gestured to a table. A roll of masking tape and a couple of other supplies were lying on it.

  “Okay.” He nodded once, heading for the box. “Let me know what else I can do. We really shouldn’t be standing around watching you work.” As amazing as looking at her was, it needed to stop. If they were busy, they wouldn’t be ogling Macy like they were.

  She looked back down at the dresser. “I’m nearly—”

  Both he and Druze looked up, senses on high alert.

  “Did you hear that?” Druze asked, from the other side of the room, his eyes flashing to Sand’s.

  Sand nodded. “It sounded like someone landing or…I’m not sure. There was no one from our party instructed to return to assist, was there?” They wouldn’t approach in their dragon form. Not in the middle of town during the day.

  “No. The other two left to escort Georgia’s mother back to our lair with the Water dragons.” Druze was frowning heavily. “Storm may have instructed some of his team to come back to assist us but…can’t be, though. Should I go and check it out?” He seemed to relax as he spoke.

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Macy said.

  “It was very soft,” Sand explained. “Probably nothing.” He hadn’t heard anything more since. No footfalls. No breathing or heartbeats detected in the vicinity. He breathed a little easier too as he nodded. “Yeah, go check it out just to be sure. I’ll stay with the female.”

  Druze nodded and headed out the front door.

  “Should I be worried?” Macy made a face.

  “Not at all!”

  “Because Georgia mentioned something about dr
agon slayers in her email to me. You see,” the female went on, “we’ve been chatting back and forth. She’s my best friend. I hope she won’t get into trouble or anything. She swore me to secrecy.” She touched her chest. “I wouldn’t tell a soul.” She widened her eyes.

  “It’s fine. I know how close you two are.” Sand chuckled. “Shale told me the whole story about the birth of his whelps and how you guys didn’t believe him.” He laughed some more, noticing how Macy was laughing too. “Georgia thought he was batshit crazy. Did she actually ask Shale if he had taken his meds?”

  Macy nodded. “Yes, she did. You should have seen her face when she realized she was having another baby. When she realized he was telling the truth.”

  “I wish I could have been there.” Then again. That would have meant watching his sister-in-law give birth. He sobered up. “To answer your question. We’re safe. It would take a whole team of slayers to take two dragons out,” he said simply, not wanting to scare the female.

  “What about silver?” She raised her brows. “It kills you if you come into contact with it.”

  Sand could hear Druze walking the perimeter. He couldn’t hear anything else within his range of hearing. “It doesn’t kill us that easily. It would take more than just contact with the substance. For that, they would have to get close enough and that’s not going to happen. Forget about it.” He shook his head, again playing it down. Why scare her unnecessarily over something that most likely wouldn’t happen?