Page 28 of Kidnapped Forced Mate

“Make up for it?” I ask as he picks me up off the dresser.

“Yes,” he concedes, nodding as he carries me to the bed. “I just fucked you. Now…” he gently lays me on the bed, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “... I’m gonna make love to you.”

My heart skips a thunderous beat as Stryder begins peppering my neck with sweet kisses. Every caress and kiss only serves to attest that I’d made the right decision by giving in to him.

No one else was ever deserving of my body. Only the dragon man who solemnly swears to protect my life.

Chapter 13 - Stryder

I gaze at Olivia’s face as she sleeps, a lilting hum falling from her lips like she’s snoring. Except, the sound is sweet, like music to my ears, igniting a need to dance my hand across the pillow and tuck her stray red hairs behind her ear.

With the sun’s rays kissing her cheek, her hair appears like silky copper, the natural highlights amplified by the light. It’s been two nights of absolute bliss, our passionate lovemaking exceeding my expectations.

Sighing, I roll over onto my back and stare at the ceiling when she stirs and sleepily shuffles closer. I chuckle under my breath as she wiggles her way onto my chest, sighing as she falls into a deep sleep with one leg draped over my thighs.

I suddenly have the urge to kiss her forehead where it stands just under my nose, tempting me into the kind of romance I’m not accustomed to. Stifling the unwarranted urge, I turn my face away as if it’ll help. I’m swarmed by the floral scent of her shampoo, her strawberry lip balm, and the very human scent of her flesh itself.

Scents that I’m bathed in after another night full of passion. The kind of passion I’ve never experienced before – not with any of my other Earthly quests.

The trouble is that Olivia Jackson isn’t like the others. On the outside, she doesn’t appear like my usual type, only because I was never meant to just be attracted to her for bodily pleasures. Only after our lips met for the first time did I see her in a different light.

I saw her true beauty, felt magnetized to the soft waves of her red hair, and the way her skin was easily painted by my touch. I felt her react to me as if our bodies spoke a language of their own.

Flitting my eyes to her face as she rests on my chest, my breath is staggered as I exhale cautiously. I don’t want to wake her. But I don’t want to be here right now.

I can feel myself slipping, and it scares me. If I treat this like a casual fling, there’s no need for me to sacrifice my freedom. I’ll still be able to come and go as I want without being weighed down by the foolish notion of fated mates and true love.

But how long can it go on like that?

I frown when those words pop into my mind with my voice, just much, much deeper. It’s as if my inner dragon just separated from me, and posed a question like an individual entity all on its own.

That’s not possible… I think as my frown deepens. The inner dragon and I are one.

Except, when a taunting chuckle in my head rings out, I’m convinced I must be going insane. There’s a distinct disconnection between my inner dragon and my human mind, and it sends panic crawling up my spine.

I can’t be the only one on the island with some kind of illness – even if it’s mental. I’m a Vulkan, the sibling of the Alpha of the Aurora Dragons.

I can’t be going insane.

Troubled by that daunting possibility, I cautiously slip out from underneath Olivia, taking care not to wake her while internally panicking. I quickly get my clothes on, ignoring the hunger rumbling in my belly as I decide to head to the training center instead.

***

Luckily for me, the training center was empty this morning. I have the place all to myself, although the isolation is slightly fearsome.

Closing my eyes, I try willing my dragon to the fore, but it doesn’t come. I frown, opening my eyes to huff out a frustrated breath before closing them again and trying once more.

“Oh, no…” I murmur under my breath, eyelids shooting open with the realization that I might have just become separated from my inner dragon. The dragonspirit inside me isn’t present anymore.

Attempting to shift into dragon form again, I squeeze my eyelids shut.

It’s not something I’ve ever had trouble with in the past. I’ve never had to mentally beg my inner dragon to come out. I simply closed my eyes and thought about being a dragon, invoking it with just a thought. It was more subconscious to shift back and forth. Right now, my conscious mind cannot bring my dragon form to the fore.

A string of curses falls from my lips as I open my eyes again, red, hot frustration crippling my vision. If I can’t unite with my dragonspirit, I’ll have no choice but to visit Doctor Amell to find out what’s wrong with me.

I just can’t seem to grasp what’s happened.

Instinctively, I turn toward the castle, wondering if it has to do with Olivia. Has all our lovemaking done something to me to separate me from my inner dragon?

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