Their Runaway Mate (19 page)

"Kylan and Dillon will pay whatever ransom you demand."
And then they'll slaughter you.

Her abductor laughed again. That sound was already grating on Jasmine's nerves. "Oh, heavens, you don't think you're going back to them, do you?"

"Maryk." She was being given or sold or something to Maryk, the very dragon that had nearly killed Kylan. She swallowed. Now would be a really good time to make a run for the door, if she could figure out where one was.

She inched into a sitting position. She held her breath as she pushed herself to a crouch. Somewhere along the line she'd lost her sandals. Her toes sank into a cool sandy surface. So far, so good. She reached out tentatively with her hand.

Her head was spinning. Gabby had really struck her hard. At least with her mate's dragon blood in her veins, she should be able to heal more quickly than normal. In fact, she could heal any time now and that'd be fantastic.

Her temple continued to pulse with pain.

She crept backwards, away from the crazy lady.

The phone beeped and lit up. Gabby read the message and a look of glee shot over her face. She hooted, then looked over to where Jasmine had been lying. She turned the light on her phone in Jasmine's direction.

"Where do you think you're—?"

Jasmine ran at her. She had seventy pounds or more on the other woman. She could take her.

"Oomph." Gabby didn't sound so cheerful now.

Jasmine smacked at the other woman, wishing she'd taken that self defense class at the rec center last summer. Sharp nails clawed at Jasmine's arms.

"You little—" Gabby's curse was cut off when Jasmine yanked on her hair.

All she needed to do was get the woman on her stomach and sit on her. Then she could call— Crap, she didn't have either Kylan or Dillon's phone numbers. She could call Trixy though.

She grabbed Gabby's arm and wrenched it as she reached for the phone with her free hand. The other woman twisted and grunted in pain. As soon as Jasmine's fingers closed around the phone, hope spread through her.

Then mustard yellow light erupted through the space.

She grasped at the skinny woman, trying to use her as a shield against the intruder. She shoved the phone under her dress and into her bra. Had he seen? Her heart pounded as she faced the dragon. Maryk was in human form, but his eyes glowed yellow and dragon fire twisted from his mouth. The jagged scar on his cheek stretched as he grinned at them.

"Well, what do we have here?"

"Let me go," Jasmine said. "Kylan and Dillon will hunt you down if anything happens to me."

Maryk tsked.

"I got her," Gabby said as she writhed against Jasmine's grip. "Just like I said. Now you live up to your end."

He tossed a plastic bag to the ground. "A lifetime's supply of Dragon's Tears, as we agreed."

God. This was just like her mother all those years ago, except this dragon wasn't interested in helping her the way Laughlin had.

"Now, give me my mate."

Jasmine shuddered at his possessive tone. "I'm not yours."

His fire surged brighter as anger streaked over his face. He stalked toward them. Jasmine struggled to keep Gabby as her shield, but Maryk grabbed the other woman and jerked her away.

"It's time to go home, mate."

Jasmine fought him. Screamed at him. Hit him. But it did nothing. He was undeterred by her efforts. He didn't even wince.

He hauled her through the tunnel without saying another word. When they stepped outside, the late afternoon sunlight blinded her for a moment. Before she could register what had happened, he had transformed and grabbed her around the waist. Her arms were pinned to her sides. She screamed as they left the earth.

His wings thumped through the air as they soared higher and higher. Farther down the valley, smoke spiraled up from the forest at the base of the ski hill. Dark figures soared through the black sooty air, dropping loads of water.

Were those Kylan and Dillon? Did they even know she was missing?

Nausea assaulted her.

Maryk had done this. He'd started those fires. Jasmine knew it as well as she knew her own name. He'd done it to get to her.

She prayed for her dragons, and for the safety of the village too. They couldn't lose both her and their home in the same day. She dragged her gaze away from the horror of the fire, and tried to track where Maryk was taking her. If she got the opportunity to use Gabby's phone, she needed to tell Trixy how to find her.

They flew over the mountains and didn't start to descend until the foothills came into view. They were somewhere southeast-ish of Montrose. Yeah. That was going to help a lot.

He flew toward a small ranch house and a dilapidated barn. Jasmine wasn't sure whether to be more or less frightened at the realization that they weren't going to the Kelvin clan settlement. After his feet touched the dirt, he set her down with surprising care. He transformed immediately and fixed her with eyes that glowed yellow. They were too like the ones from her nightmare for comfort. She shuddered.

"Welcome," he said with a bow.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"To mate you, of course," he said.

Eww. That was definitely not going to happen. She thought about pointing out that he was alone and dragons were supposed to mate in twos, but that would only borrow trouble.

"You are too late." She crossed her arms over her chest.

He laughed. "I am sorry for how things began between us, but there is no need to lie to me." He motioned toward the house. "Shall we?"

"God, no." She shook her head. "You are going to take me back to Montrose."

"Oh, my beautiful little mate, you will forget all about those Mannix dragons by the time I finish with you." He took a step closer to her. The opening in his shirt revealed that his dragon markings were surfacing on the skin of his chest. Oh lord, he really did believe she was his mate.

"I'm not lying." She held her hand up to stay her. "We mated, last night."

He grabbed her tightly by the shoulders and although she fought to free herself, he was too strong. "I will simply have to show you the error of your lies."

His mouth crushed hers. She bit his tongue when he forced it between her lips. He grunted and his blood splashed over her tongue. She gagged and tried to turn her head but he'd forced her head back so far with his need to dominate her that she couldn't move. She kicked and beat at him, but he didn't stop.

Oh, God.

Fear spiked through her and she struggled harder, clawing at his skin.

He ripped his mouth from hers and turned her around. He held her back tight against his chest. His hot, panting breath fell like acid over her shoulder, the heat soaking into the thin material of her dress.

"I knew when I saw you that you were meant to be mine." He locked his teeth on the flesh below her ear.

She stomped on his feet and kicked back with her heels, but he ignored her. His arms were clamped so tightly around her waist that her diaphragm was constricted. She gasped for breath.

Then she screamed.

"That's it, little mate," he said encouragingly. He licked the length of her neck. "Get it all out."

Tears welled in her eyes. She couldn't stop him. He was too strong. Too determined. Bile shot up the back of her throat.

If she kept fighting him, God only knew if she would survive the day. She needed to think. Hot tears streamed down her face as she stilled. She swallowed and leaned her head on his shoulder, as if in defeat and acceptance.

He moaned his approval. The satisfied sound vibrated through him and she felt it along her spine.

"If this is a trick…" He nipped on her earlobe. "God, you taste so good."

"No trick." Her voice shook.

"Then show me," he said. He loosened his grip and stepped away from her.

At the unexpected freedom, her legs threatened to collapse. Her knees shook— No, everything shook, right down to her toes.

She pivoted slowly and faced him. His puckered facial scar gleamed against his flushed flesh. His eyes tracked her every twitch and shudder. His lean muscular body appeared relaxed as he stood there waiting to see what she would do, but she knew better. He would pounce on her the moment she tried to run.

They'd said being mated would protect her. They'd been wrong.

Or had they?

She took a deep breath as she fingered the soft fabric of her dress. His gaze was riveted to her hands. He licked his lips.
Please let this work.

She pulled her dress up and off. She stood before him in nothing but her underwear, revealing the strange marks her mates had given her the night before.

Maryk hissed and recoiled like Dracula seeing a cross in those old black-and-white movies. He didn't look closely enough to see the phone tucked in her bra.

"No!"

Then he spun away from her and transformed in the next moment. Without looking back, he took to the air and disappeared into the gathering clouds.

***

Smoke filled Kylan's nostrils, soot coated his wings, and exhaustion choked at his muscles. It had been a hell of a day, but at least the fires were contained. And now they had to go back and face Jasmine.

She'd been on his mind the whole day and he still didn't know what they were going to do to make this right. He spiraled to the village, comforted by the sight of his home standing on the side of the plaza. The blaze hadn't been close enough to take out any buildings, but it was still a relief nonetheless.

Dillon was ahead of him, along with the others who'd responded to the call. Everyone's wings beat with slow, conservative sweeps as they approached the landing square. One by one they dropped to the cobbled surface. He glanced at the house.

Laughlin came out with Trixy. Jasmine was MIA.

He'd hoped having a day to herself would take the edge off her anger. He'd been wrong. He shifted as soon as he landed and strode toward his father. No doubt he'd be full of reprimands about mating with Jasmine without her permission.

Dillon, now in human form too, glanced at him, but didn't say anything. His smoke blackened features were etched with guilt. They trudged up the steps together.

The anger and recrimination he'd been expecting from Laughlin weren't there. Trixy's eyes were puffy and red. She was wringing her hands.

Dread exploded over Kylan's chest.

"Where is Jasmine?" Kylan pushed past the two and charged into the house. Jasmine wasn't inside. He breathed in sharply. Her scent was faded and dull. She wouldn't have left without saying good-bye, would she? Her tendency to run away was getting old.

He spun toward Laughlin. "Where. Is. She?"

Dillon raced toward the stairs.

"Stop." Laughlin shook his head. "She isn't up there. We haven't seen her all day."

The smoke from the fire must have damaged Kylan’s lungs because suddenly he couldn't seem to catch his breath. Whatever fatigue had plagued him moments ago was forgotten. "When did you see her last?"

"Last night," Trixy said on a sob. "She's gone. My girl is gone."

He locked gazes with Dillon for a moment, then turned to the door again. Her scent had been polluted as other people passed over it throughout the day, but it still lingered on the cold concrete.

"I've already looked…" Laughlin said. "She went as far as the park behind the Barclay house. Then she met with Gabby and they left together. That's where I lost their scent."

Dillon cursed beside him as they ran to the plaza. If Gabby was involved, it was likely that Maryk was too. It looked as though they were on their way to the Kelvin clan lands.

Those bastards better not have done anything to her or there would be hell to pay. She should have been safe after the mating. No other dragon would touch a woman with another dragon's markings on her, but Gabby probably didn't know that.

Last night Kylan had known Jasmine had tried to run away again without needing to talk to her… just as he knew now that she hadn't left them willingly. No, this time she'd been taken against her will. He'd heard heightened awareness happened to mates occasionally and he thanked God it had happened to them because it told him she was still alive.

But if Maryk still had her after all this time, what was he doing with her… to her?

Red shot over Kylan's vision as he shifted and launched himself into the air.

Chapter 21

J
asmine yanked out the phone she'd taken from Gabby. No service. Okay, calling wasn't happening right now, which meant she needed another plan. She shoved the phone back in her bra, then pulled on her dress.

She gingerly walked across the gravel toward the front porch of the house. Each jagged stone poked her bare feet. The boards creaked as she made her way to the door. Dirt, spider webs and rotting leaves from previous autumns clung to the corners of the covered porch. Old white paint peeled and puckered over every surface. At some time in its past, someone had loved this house, but that had been a long time ago. She tried the rusted doorknob. It turned and the door swung open on squeaky hinges. Under normal circumstances she'd knock or call out, but being kidnapped and abandoned by a rogue dragon wasn't exactly normal.

With its golden sofa and avocado paint, the living room appeared trapped in the seventies, but at least it was clean. A large bookshelf of worn paperbacks sat against one wall. She recognized a few recent releases among the titles. Who lived here? Was it Maryk? No, that couldn't be. As the chief's brother, he would live with the clan, wouldn't he? She scanned the room but didn't see a telephone. She tiptoed through the house until she found the kitchen.

Damn.

The spot on the wall where a phone would have hung was bare. Only an outline of paint, the yellowed phone jack and a small hook remained. Through the window, she spied the barn. Maybe someone had left an old car or something in there.

She could only hope.

As she exited the house, she peered at the sky. Not a dragon in sight. Good. She trudged over the weedy gravel driveway with her gaze pinned on the skies.

The barn door opened smoothly on new hinges. Lights flickered on as she stepped inside, as if on a motion sensor. She froze. When no one barged toward her, she inched forward, drawn by her curiosity now as much as anything else.