Dragon Lords of Valdier Boxset Books 1-3

Chapter 6-3

Zoran had been pacing back and forth on the front porch of the small cabin for the past hour. It was beginning to get dark, and Abby still had not returned. He tried reaching out to her, but his symbiot refused to answer his call. He growled, scaring Bo, who was playing with his tennis ball in the front yard. Bo immediately lay down and rolled over to be petted.

Where was she? Why was it taking so long? Had something happened to her? He knew he should have gone with her. He should have insisted she take the weapon he tried to give her. What if she was hurt? He paled. What if she was being held captive, or worse, dead? He shuddered at the thought, calling out to his symbiot again almost frantically.

He felt a wave of dizziness pass over him as it finally answered him. He growled, wanting to know why it hadn’t replied before. Flashes of Abby driving down a road with the wind blowing through her hair flashed through his mind. He could hear her singing.

His grin faded as he saw a man approaching Abby. The man appeared to be wearing some type of uniform. He couldn’t hear the conversation between them but he could tell from the look the man was giving Abby that he desired her. A deep growl exploded out of his chest when he saw the man holding Abby and kissing her. Zoran felt a flash of fury as the man pulled away from Abby, smiling at her. She had not resisted the man. Jealousy burned through him at the thought of Abby in another’s embrace. She was his!

Zoran’s head jerked around as the lights from Abby’s transport flooded the front of the cabin. Zoran growled again as he watched her pull up. The dragon inside him roared for him to claim her, to put his mark on her. Zoran was at the truck’s door before Abby even turned the engine off.

Abby laughed as he pulled the door out of her hands. “Not in a hurry to help get the groceries out, are you? You know, most men run the opposite way when they know it’s time to bring them in.”

Zoran was so lost in the haze of jealousy he didn’t hear what Abby said. He needed to know if the images his symbiot sent to him were true. Zoran pulled Abby from the seat of the truck and into his arms, holding her close while he breathed deeply of her scent. The scent of another man still clung to her. A deep growl erupted from the back of his throat as his hand reached up to hold Abby’s jaw still as he sniffed her.

“What are you doing?” Abby asked, breathless.

She thought it funny Zoran would react so strangely to her returning with groceries. She thought he must not have figured out how to work the microwave or make a sandwich and was just hungry. But the possessive way he grabbed her and the way he was growling told her he was upset about something.

Zoran growled again when Abby tried to push him away, warning her not to resist. He could smell the other man on her skin. The thought of the other man’s scent on his true mate was too much for the dragon in him. He had to put his own scent on her. Gripping her neck in his large hand, he brought his lips down on hers, crushing her in his arms as he tried to gain control of his jealousy.

Abby resisted at first. Fighting the possessive hold Zoran had on her. She didn’t know what was wrong, but he was obviously upset about something, or he had missed her more than she had thought.

Abby was just beginning to relax and respond to Zoran’s kiss when the image of him naked with so many women rubbing on him flashed into her mind. Twisting her head to the side, she took a shaky breath before trying to push him away from her.

“What is your problem?” Abby demanded. “I haven’t been gone all that long, and even if I had been, you have no right to manhandle me!”

Zoran pulled back, glaring down at Abby. She was his. He was frustrated that he could not explain this to her. She had no right to allow another male to touch her. A Valdier male was very, very possessive of his true mate. He would not think twice about killing any male who even looked too long at his mate. For another male to touch her, mark her with his scent, was more than the dragon in him could bear. He wanted to kill the male. If Abby purposely tried to leave him for another, he would do whatever was necessary to stop her, even if it meant tying her up or locking her away until she realized she belonged to him. He would never let her go.

In Abby’s case, it was even more potent, because not only had he chosen her as his mate, but so had his symbiot, and from the feel of it, his dragon. This was very rare. As the ruler of his people, he would be expected to produce many heirs, and only in a union where he, his dragon, and his symbiot accepted the female would this happen.

“Mine,” Zoran growled as Abby tried to push him away.

“Mine!” Zoran roared, the dragon in him finally overcoming his control.

Abby’s breath caught in a gasp as she watched Zoran’s face change. His eyes glowed with molten gold and his pupils became long narrow slits. As she watched, green, gold, and red scales began forming as his head began to shift into the form of his dragon. His hands began to elongate, turning into sharp claws. Abby heard the sound of tearing as his shirt split open, and long, leathery wings appeared out of his back. A sound penetrated Abby’s brain as if from a distance. It sounded like a whimper. That was the last thing Abby remembered as everything faded to black.

Zoran was so upset over the other male’s scent on his mate and Abby’s apparent rejection of him that he was unable to control his dragon any longer. He felt the change as it swept over him, enjoying the feelings of power and freedom as he let his beast free. What he had not expected was Abby’s fear at his transformation. He saw her flinch as he roared out, and then the stunned panic as he began to shift. It was only when she collapsed unconscious in his arms that he realized just how much he had frightened her.