Page 15 of Kidnapped Plus-Size Mate

“Give me your number,” he says smoothly. “I’ll prove to you that dragons do exist.”

“Prove it to me?” I quiz disbelievingly. “H-how?”

There’s a slight moment of hesitation as he peels his shoulder from the wall and clears his throat. “I’ll send you some reports of dragon sightings,” he finally says, pushing his cell phone into my hesitant hand.

“Erm—okay,” I murmur, my brows knit with deep confusion as I wind trembling fingers around the warm device.

Is this his modus operandi, how he works to get a woman to give her number to him?

By suggesting that a fictional creature exists in the real world?

Mentally, I chastised myself for thinking he’d go that far just to get my number.

Maybe he’s just one of those conspiracy theorists. Many have come through the museum with their own set of beliefs and conspiracies with no grounds.

There had to be a catch to his impossibly good looks.

“Go on,” he encourages with a nod at his cell phone in my hand before turning to the painting. “They’re fascinating creatures. You’d love to hear all about them.”

Curiosity gets the best of me as I key in my number. Even if he’s crazy for believing in conspiracies about dragons, I might learn a thing or two from him to chase out the dragon that’s been visiting my dreams lately.

That’s the only reason I’d have to give him my number. I could never dream of a man like him wanting my number for any other reason except to sell me the ideas of the universe without concrete evidence.

It must be the handsome man’s pastime. I don’t have anything to lose.

Chapter 5 - Stryker

Sterling Vance…

The Council’s choice of an alias doesn’t come as a surprise, especially since they’ve all lived for longer than two millennia. What is a surprise is how involved my father has been now that it’s my turn in the human mating process.

It’s safe to say that he just doesn’t want any more trouble, like all the trouble my older brothers caused when it was their time to bring their human mates to the island to produce dragonspirit children. I’m the last son to do what’s considered right in terms of the mating process and coexisting with humans. We’re not supposed to kidnap our mates and steal them to the island unwillingly.

After what Stryder did in the mortal world to expose his identity as a dragon shifter, my turn in the human mating process was part of the damage control that needed to be done.

I can’t disappoint my father, who’s counting on me to be the one son who does the Council proud.

Regardless of how ridiculous the name on my fake identity card is, my human mate remains oblivious to the fact that I’m not exactly who I say I am as she keys in her cell phone number in my address book.

“Here,” she says timidly as she hands me back my phone. I look down at her hand, her pretty fingers still trembling slightly.

Biting my bottom lip, I suddenly crave to feel the warmth of her flesh. I’d only mildly glimpsed the effects of touching her, how my heart skipped a beat, and my eardrums droned with thestirrings of awareness when I touched her shoulders to keep her steady.

Her clumsiness is amusing, even if it was her own two feet she was tripping over. I can only imagine what a terrible dancer she must be, but I’m going to fix that as soon I’ve successfully swept her off her feet.

I know, it’s a bad pun, but it’s all I can do to keep myself from snatching her right now and taking her to the island. Being this close, speaking to her for the first time, I can now understand what my brothers struggled with.

The most I can do for now is quench this thirst that has my throat parched as if I’m some kind of bloodsucker. Not nearly as weak or vile as a vampire, I’m a relatively decent dragon shifter with a moral compass strong enough to fight my primal urges and only faintly brush my fingertips across her fingers as I take my phone back. The mild sensation of warmth travels up my arm like an electric current.

How did my brothers pick up their mates and kidnap them to the island without wanting to rip their clothes off? If we weren’t in a public space, I would—

“I’ll be waiting to hear all about your conspiracy theory, Sir,” she says with amusement toying on her lips. I can tell she isn’t remotely aware of who or what I am. It’s almost as if the physical contact didn’t faze her.

“It’s not a conspiracy theory,” I reply boldly.

Even if I can’t reveal my identity just yet, I’ve planted a seed that I plan on watering as time goes on.

Father had given me a month to woo the woman. I think that’s enough, though doubts begin to creep into mind when she scoffs and turns her face away.

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