Page 60 of Kidnapped Plus-Size Mate

“Can’t forget the most important part,” he chuckles as he plants a kiss on my forehead.

I frowned because I still had no idea what he meant the other day when he burst in and announced that he knew why the other dragon wanted me to work for him.

Stryker still hasn’t told me what he suspects could be the reason for my dreams, and he hasn’t explained why he believes it’s linked to Rakon. It’s almost as if he’s hiding something from me, but he’s convinced that everything I need to figure out lies in the mortal world.

I’m trusting him on this one, but I don’t trust his actions when he leads me toward the balcony, my frown deepening warily.

“What are we doing?” I point at the door. ‘We’re supposed to go out that way.”

Stryker turns to me once we’re on the terrace, smirking mischievously as he presses the strap of the duffle bag in my hands.

“We’re not leaving the ordinary way, Cami,” he chuckles bemusedly. “There aren’t any planes on the island that would take us to the mortal world.”

“Oh…” I bat my eyes as realization dawns on me.

He sneakily grins and leans in. “Today, I will be your pilot, your hostess, and your plane.”

“I can get used to this…” I murmur as excitement builds up once again, ready to explode. Stryker must sense how I’m feeling, because he crushes his lips to mine, drinking in my enthusiasm as if it fuels him.

Leaving me breathless, he steps back, taking in the sight of my flushed cheeks with a cocksure smirk. He turns and climbs onto the balcony rails, then, without warning, he gracefully leaps off.

“Stryker?!” I exclaim in shock. I rush to the rails, only for a strong gust of wind to hit my face when the slitted, green eyes of his dragon meet mine with a twinkle of amusement in them.

Rolling my human eyes, I giggle when he extends a scaled arm over the rails and effortlessly scoops me up, then presses me against the rubbery armor of his chest.

Transfixed by his ethereal, magnificent beauty in his dragon form, I absentmindedly trace the metallic layers of the scales rippled across his chest. I’ve never felt a texture so smooth beneath my fingertips, yet so tough it almost feels like tempered glass. Unlike the first time when he flew me to the island, I’m calmer now, and able to appreciate how strikingly beautiful his dragon suit is. I’d been in a frenzy before, but now I notice how each scale shimmers with fine traces of gold.

“Beautiful…” I whisper when I meet his eyes again. He coos through the flat nose of the dragon, sharp eyes softening while maintaining their authoritative form. He turns midair, then powerfully flaps his wins to take us further into the sky above the Aurora Island.

We penetrate the protective shield that covers the hemisphere of the island, and now that I’m more attentive, I notice how the air is different around the dome. The opaque parts are like an invisible veil when he flies forward, then opens up to the view of the rest of the world. I didn’t even realize that inside the island, the other side of the world is as invisible to us as the island is to the mortals. That’s what keeps Aurora Island hidden from the outside, as Stryker explained before.

Aurora Island is a world of its own. So are its inhabitants, who remain out of the spotlight while they live their lives in a state of preservation thanks to their power of immortality. While Stryker soars above North America and circles California, I glance at him and once again become mesmerized by how extraordinary he is.

I always thought I wasn’t destined for any sort of greatness. But since meeting Stryker, I’ve realized being the dragon shifter’s fated mate might have been the reason why I didn’t fit in with the rest of the world. Now, the air in Fresno feels foreign, almost brutally uninviting, when we land in an empty park. Stryker sets me down gently before he shifts, then frowns at me in human form.

“What’s wrong, Cami?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I relent as a cold shiver passes through my spine. I glance across the street at the back of the retirement home and smile wistfully. “Abuela is gonna be so relieved to see me.”

***

“Dios mio!” Abuela exclaims when I enter her room. “Camilla? Is that really you?”

The nurse in the retirement home told me I’d find her in her bedroom, where she’d been refusing to leave for the past three weeks. She’d been taking her meals there since she’d been so isolated that she didn’t want to be near the other residents of the home.

I’m overcome by a deep sense of remorse as I step inside, each step terse as I watch her reach down from her rocking chair in the corner with the fluffy slipper from her left foot. She grunts as she stands up, then aims the slipper at my face. She mutters a string of vapid Spanish phrases so quickly, that I can barely keep up or make sense of what she’s saying.

All I know is that she’s angry when she comes waddling toward me, flapping her slipper in the air with each word as she glares at me angrily.

When she’s close enough, I receive a few slaps on my shoulder as I hang my head and flinch at the impact. It isn’t painful, but each mild sting is a testament to Abuela’s anger.

“Mi hija! Where have you been, huh?!” she demands in an exasperated tone. “Do you know how worried I was?! Do you even understand?!”.

I finally dare to lift sullen, apologetic eyes at her, pouting my bottom lip. “I’m sorry, Abuela. I was—”

“Hah!” she cuts me off with a sardonic grunt, her eyes flicking past my shoulder as the anger contorting her face only deepens. “Hombre dragón…”

My eyes widen in shock when behind me, Stryker clears his throat. I’m so skittish, that when he places his hands on my shoulders, I recoil from the sudden touch.

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