Page 53 of Chase Me

She laughed and wagged her finger at him. “And we won’t get out of it if you don’t stop that.”

“I’m not sure I have a problem with that.” In fact, he didn’t. Once this damn ritual was over and Ciara was officially his mate in the eyes of the AllWyr, he’d spend hours, days, a month at least making love to her.

“Naughty dragon. I have to go prove to your friends that we belong together.”

Her words alone were nothing to make him worry. He knew they were meant for each other. The slight wobble in her voice made him want to kill someone.

He traced his fingers over her dragon mark. “I’ll tell them to fuck off if you want me to.”

“No.” She took his hand in hers. “We have enough other problems what with that horde of snake people. I have a horrible feeling we haven’t seen the end of them, have we?”

He’d almost forgotten about the demon dragons and the missing relic. “Afraid not.”

Ciara slid out from under the covers, taking the sheet with her and wrapping it around her body. She climbed out of the bed looking like a goddess. “I didn’t think so. But we can fight them off together.”

The thought of having Ciara fight by his side both terrified him and turned him on. The sex afterwards would be incredible.

“Come on. Let’s get ready for the ring ritual and get the rest of the Wyverns the hell out of here. Because I’m looking forward to fucking you in every single room of this villa.”

The glimmer in her eye and the naughty grin on her facetold him she liked that idea. “How many rooms does this place have?”

“Nine bedrooms, two great rooms, a kitchen, an office, and don’t forget about the lair. I’m pretty sure I have some golden handcuffs hiding down there somewhere.”

THE TRIAL AND THE RING

Jakob brought Ciara and the rest of the Wyverns down to his lair. He grumped and growled the entire way and this time they took the stairs instead of jumping over the edge. She was half disappointed about that.

The five of them stood just inside the doorway, staring into the vast space. How was she supposed to find one little ring in all this stuff?

Jakob held her hand tightly in his. He looked so damn handsome in the fancy suit he put on. All of the guys had donned dress clothes too. A few more dragon shifters, if they were all this good looking, and she'd have herself a calendar.

She fiddled with the material on her dress and wondered if this was similar to the nerves her brides felt. She'd seen more than one of them practically rub a hole through satin and charmeuse fidgeting.

“You'll do fine, love.” He pulled her fingers away from the dress and kissed each of the fingertips.

“I know.” She believed that he believed she was his truemate and had the ability to turn on some sort of internal GPS device. So, she would pretend she believed it too.

“If you two are done making eyes at each other, shall we begin?” Match was as grumpy as ever, even if he did look like a Mr. December candidate in his Armani suit and red silk tie.

Jakob didn't reply and looked to her for confirmation. He might be bossy and dominant in the bedroom, which she loved, but this gentlemanly side of him the rest of the time was very endearing. He didn't assume, he didn't demand, and he didn't make her feel like she had to always try harder and be nicer just for a little of his attention.

There was no one else in her life like that. Too bad it had taken being kidnapped by a dragon to realize it.

“Let's get this reality show on the road.” The last few days of her life would make riveting TV, that no one would believe for a second was real. She hardly did herself. Now she was at the point where she either accepted and won the challenge or got kicked off the island. She was pretty sure if they did an anonymous ballot, Match would be the one everyone voted to get rid of. He was such a drama llama.

All eyes were now on her. She took a deep breath hoping for some magical beam of light, or sixth sense would guide her way. The ring could be anywhere, and it would take her a thousand years and then some to search through every chest, shelf, box, and pile of treasure to find this one tiny item.

Might as well start with an area she was familiar with. She crawled over the same pile of coins she had the last time she was here. Up ahead just to the right, was the towering shelves of paintings she'd almost burned to the ground. Except only the wood seemed a little singed now and all of the artwork was intact. She made her way around the shelf and found that same table and chairs set up like a little café in a cave.

This time, though, instead of a teapot and a tiered tray of treats, in the middle of the table sat a small carved wooden box. It was the perfect size to hold a ring. Ciara sat down at the table, not sure she could remain standing. What if this was it?

Could it have possibly been this easy?

She hadn’t even used any of her newfound powers or gotten a sign from above, or anything. She slid the box in front of her and popped open the lid. Inside on a bed of Moss was a tarnished and worn gold ring. It resembled something one might get when they graduated from high school or an Academy. The top was circular and divided into four quadrants, each with a small but brilliant jewel inlaid into the gold. In the center sat a brilliant diamond that sent sparkles of light out into the darkness.

Her memory flashed to the necklace she'd been wearing when Jakob found her. The same one that had disintegrated into a handful of dusty dragon scales.

She heard a voice from someone nearby and hid in the hallway adjacent to the kitchen. But she didn't want to hide. She wanted to ask whoever belong to that voice where she was, and when he'd touched it. The design was identical.

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