Page 3 of Mated

I lay on black dirt and stared at my hands, curling my nails into earth so strange it was fantastical. Turning my head to the side, I saw unfamiliar land with charred earth, and skies painted in blues and purples. Like the color of the bruises no doubt now littering my body.

How was there a sky above me? I’d fall into the earth, the world consuming me whole like a starving beast.

I searched for the gaping hole I’d fallen through, but all I saw were rust-colored clouds and a shimmery dust that whipped around me.

After pushing myself to my feet, I wrapped my arms around my middle and took in my surroundings, spinning around in a circle as I stared at everything and noting all in the same breath.

In the far distance stood a castle carved out of stone, and even from my vantage point, I could see skulls wedged into that stone, used as a type of mortar to keep the savage structure solid.

His lair.

Those two words whispered through my mind.

Go there. Go to him.

A whispered taunt, a harsh demand, filtered through me, and I obeyed although I didn't know why I did so as easily as I was.

I walked for miles, it seemed. The air was thick with the scent of rotting eggs, and this oppressive heat weighed down on me the closer I got to the castle. I was choking and alive all at once.

And when I was close enough to the castle, I realized why the heat was so intense. Why the scent was so suffocating. Surrounding the stone was a fiery river, flames exploding out of the surface before finding their home back into liquid lava.

I stood at the bottom of the massive steps that led up to the entrance, trying to gain my composure, trying to catch my breath. Everything in me said this was wrong, dangerous, and I was about to die. And when I took a step back, retreating, not sure where to even go, something huge and dark flew above me.

The huge wooden doors opened inward slowly, creaking as they allowed the massive, dark shape to be revealed on the other side. And then it stalked closer, its clawed feet striking the ground like thunder. I stumbled backward several steps until I fell on my ass, my feet tangling with each other as fear took control.

My silk dress was shredded by my escape, and thick ash that swirled around me, tangling around my legs and keeping me prisoner. My heart beating a terrified rhythm against my ribs as I stared up at the creature.

Ishouldhave been sobbing. Begging. Fighting for my life because surely this creature wanted to devour me. But something deep inside me said to be quiet. To watch. Listen… learn what it wanted.

I stayed perfectly still as the creature descended the stone and bone steps until it loomed above me, the ground trembling under the sheer weight of him.

He was massive. Towering. His body was covered in jagged, black scales that shimmered like polished obsidian in the hellish firelight. A thick tail, barbed, armored and spiked, swept across the ground, leaving deep gouges in the dirt.

And his face—gods, his face.

It was a strange, dragon-like visage, demonic and cruelly etched supernaturally. It had twisted horns that sprang from his thick skull. He snarled, his mouth lined with brutal, sharp teeth. And his eyes… his eyes were molten gold, burning into me like the fire that surrounded his castle.

I let my gaze lower and felt my eyes widen. This was a male. Not human, but clearly male, as something huge protruded from the leather that shielded his crotch. Although he was covered, I could see his massive, alien-lizard looking dick swinging behind the material between his scaly, tree-trunk sized thighs. I could tell he wasn’t hard, but gods… he was huge even still. And although he wasn’t human, I wondered if his dick was similar to human male anatomy.

I knew without him having to say a word. This was the monster king of Bone Ash.

A deep, rumbling growl vibrated from his chest as he crouched so we were at eye level, studying me. Another low and possessive sound came from him. I tried to scuttle backward, but my dress clung to me like chains making my movements slow and clumsy.

He chuckled deeply and moved closer. The heat from his body was oppressive, suffocating. He brought his massive, four-finger clawed hand forward, and with a gentleness that shocked me, he wrapped it around my waist and lifted me as if I weighed nothing.

I gasped, my hands flying up to press against the thick scales of his forearm, feeling the strength and burning heat beneath them.

He held me close to his chest, eye-level with him now, and so close I could see the tiny fractures in his horns. They were battle scars, the same ones etched into every inch of his scaled, thickly muscled body.

“Little human,” he rumbled, his voice dark and ancient. “You have crossed into my kingdom, and I’m keeping you.”

2

PRINCESS ELOWEN

Icouldn't breathe. I couldn’t think.

But some small, defiant spark raged within me—the one my father had tried so hard to extinguish—flared to life.

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