Claimed by a Dragon (Dragon Shifters from Cendarth Book Book 2) Read online

  Claimed by a Dragon

  Seth Eden

  Anastasia Chase

  © Copyright 2018 by Anastasia Chase & Seth Eden - All rights reserved.

  This book is only for personal use. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission. The contents of this book may not be reproduced, duplicated or transmitted without direct written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters are represented as 18 or over.

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  Contents

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  Also by Seth

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  Also by Anastasia

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Prequel: The Dragon’s Gift

  Also by Seth Eden

  Also by Anastasia Chase

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  Also by Seth

  Download the prequel to the Vampyren series – Arrival of the Vampyren.

  The Vampyren invaded Earth, coming from the places between the stars. They came to slake their most brutal appetites: For blood. For sex. For conquest. Within weeks their superior strength, technology and weapons turned Earth into a fallen battleground.

  But love can blossom in the most unlikely places.

  Stephanie was looking for food, for safety, and for her brother when the Vampyren patrol caught her on the blown-up streets of Las Vegas.

  Dray Fierro was one of the Vampyren, a hero who could take his pick of women to claim as his war prize. He wasn't looking for more than a woman to satisfy his needs for sex and blood.

  Neither was prepared for what they got.

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  Also by Anastasia

  Download the FREE prequel to the Myre Falls series – Paxton: a werewolf romance.

  Bianca loved dogs. She always had. That's why she opened the only no-kill shelter in town, and she was damn proud of that fact. They currently had one vacant position, left by her alcoholic ex-boyfriend. After him, she promised herself she wouldn't get involved with co-workers ever again. But when she saw him, the words lodged in her throat, right along with her heartbeat.

  Holy cover model, Batman. This guy was gorgeous. He was tall, lean, and corded with muscle. He looked like a serious athlete, though something told her that he was one of those fortunate few that never had to work out to get good muscle tone. She felt an intense desire to strip him of that shirt and taste every inch of his yummy-looking torso, from happy trail to clavicle. But will she accept the secret he's hiding?

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  1

  To say that today started off as the perfect day, with the sun shining and the birds singing, would be very cliché.

  Lucky for everyone, it was becoming a very cliché day. Not that anyone was complaining. The coronation event of Dominic Draxor and Jen Davis was the moment everyone had been working towards for the past month, and now that it had happened, the people of Cendarth could go back to relaxing and enjoying the normal humdrum of their day-to-day lives.

  Almost everyone, anyway.

  Samantha felt completely out of breath as she stumbled in through the door of her home. The day had been beautiful from beginning to end. The coronation of Dominic and Jen - her once-friend - was more than she could have hoped for. To think that Jen had been that shy, timid woman she’d met so many months ago… where would they all be now if they hadn’t been kidnapped from Earth? If Jen hadn’t been here to save them from the fury of those twins?

  Samantha shook the thought from her mind as she fell onto the plush couch. The sun had set a long time ago and the cool air of the night was already sapping its warmth. Her flowing dress billowed around her, a pool of greens and yellows she hadn’t really picked out for herself. That had been the responsibility of the man who’d “claimed” her.

  Being taken from her home and carried to this strange planet had been more than Samantha had bargained for. Back on Earth, she’d just been a librarian slash part-time mechanic. She’d adopted the role of leader quite easily, wrangling the women together and keeping them in line to get things done. Someone had to, and she hadn’t wanted to wait for someone else to make the decision for her.

  And then there were just five of them. Five women transported to another place by wolf shifters who had no qualms about their opinions. They had a job to do: keeping the “produce” safe. The women had been treated for their injuries, fed, and robed in beautiful dresses that had been more than they could have ever expected. Samantha would have taken it as a gesture of kindness if she hadn’t already suspected their reasoning: it was mere dressing for display. Making the women look nice to appease the wolf shifters’ masters. She’d seen through that facade even if the others hadn’t. Even when Ethan, a dragon shifter, had stepped up to her and taken her hand, she knew this whole thing was about pomp and show. She’d gone along with it for her safety because she’d been removed from one disaster and replaced somewhere relatively safe. She’d planned on biding her time until she came up with a plan to get out of here.

  These masters, it turned out, happened to be centuries-old dragon shifters. Definitely not people to be messed with. But their mannerisms, culture, and way of life had definitely taken her by surprise. She’d expected war-like overlords who didn’t know the meaning of fun, who controlled everything with an iron rule and would demand the need to produce offspring from her and her friends.

  But that was before she - and the others - discovered the kind of lives they were getting into. Though this place wasn’t their home and that everyone here was not human, the people they stayed with did everything to cater to their every whim. It was like a small slice of paradise presented to them.

  Samantha had been suspicious of that too, that these people were just trying to placate them to get them to stay. It all just sounded too good to be true. But the longer she remained, the more genuine Ethan’s actions became. Despite her short stature and curvy figure, he hadn’t directed one insult at her nor suggested that she “lose a little.”
It was the first time in a long time that she’d been treated with such respect.

  He didn’t treat her like a fetish either. The only thing he seemed interested in was making her happy to the best of his ability. And she couldn’t really fault him for that.

  “That was wonderful, wasn’t it?” Ethan stumbled in behind her, wiping at his brow with a handkerchief despite the chill in the air. His shortly-cropped brown hair was slightly plastered to his scalp, adorned with a thin coronet. He wasn’t exactly royalty, Samantha discovered, but he was an important official amongst Dominic’s father’s court. Had been; he was a minister now that the new “king” had changed things for the better and declared something more of a democracy.

  “It was. Save for you stepping on my toes,” she jested. She slipped her shoes off and tended to her slightly bruised feet. He was never going to get the hang of dancing, it seemed.

  “Oh, you know me. Nervous dancer. I do apologize again.” Ethan fell into the empty space on the couch beside her, kicking off his shoes as well. The day had been long and was just starting to take a toll on his body.

  “Nervous everything, if you ask me,” she muttered under her breath. Since the first day they’d met, he’d been something of a bumbling fool, trying to impress everyone that he met. A people pleaser. It wouldn’t be so bad if he was actually good at it. Instead, he only seemed to make people more annoyed with him. It was a surprise the once-king kept him around for so long.

  “Can you really blame me when I have the most beautiful woman on my arm every day of the week?” He undid the top button of his high-necked shirt and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. Samantha leaned in to receive his affection. That, she would give him. As awkward as he could be, he was still a charmer at heart when he focused his attention on the right person - which happened to be her - and was always ready to pay her a deserving compliment at any moment. Where he failed in his people’s skills, he excelled in his oratory and writing skills. Many a time she’d wake up each morning with a scribbled poem on her side table, written in the most wonderful script. Each one stole her breath away, reminded of the kind of man he really was when he wasn’t accidentally spilling a drink on her or elbowing someone in the side at an event.

  “I guess I can’t…” Exhausted, she undid the second button of his shirt and slipped her arm inside to curl around his chest. He twitched a little and suppressed a snort; he’d always been ticklish and she’d used that against him on several occasions to get the upper hand.

  Ethan didn’t seem to mind either. In fact, he relented to her control most times, satisfied with taking on the submissive role.

  Their lips met in a chaste kiss, enough to warm Samantha’s cheeks as she slid herself into Ethan’s lap. A muffled grunt escaped him out of surprise as her hands found his waist.

  “If this is the treatment I get for stepping on your toes,” he whispered once he finally broke the kiss, “... I’d hate to see what you have in store once I learn to dance properly.”

  Samantha smirked and pressed another quick one to his lips. He could be so charming when he was ready.

  “You’d absolutely despise it, I’m sure. Shall I draw us a bath to soak in before bed?” Her hands grazed his temples, caressed the soft short hair as her fingertips danced along the edges of his ears.

  “That would be an absolutely perfect way to end the evening.” Ethan kissed her once more before rolling her onto her back. “I, on the other hand, will start a nice pie in the oven.”

  “Pie? Should we really be eating this late?”

  “Why? I didn’t realize you were still seven years old, requiring your parents’ permission.”

  Samantha rolled her eyes and smacked his chest lightly.

  “I meant we just came from a banquet, and you’re still hungry.”

  “What can I say, cake’s not really my thing. Pie on the other hand...” Ethan wiggled his eyebrows and slipped out of her grasp. He shed his cloak and tossed it across the back of the couch in passing before heading to the kitchen.

  “You and pie. I swear, you should marry it since you love it so much. And please try to use less sugar this time? We both don’t need to be bouncing off the walls...”

  “I would marry it, but I’m already taken by someone quite special and I don’t think she would appreciate me being married to an inanimate object. And, I didn’t say I was sharing so I think I can make my pie how I like, thank you very much.”

  Samantha was tickled pink by his playfulness as she strolled towards the bathroom.

  This was their ritual every night: draw a bath before bed where they’d soak for hours, the water seemingly never getting cold. They’d talk about their day, discuss other matters they hadn’t gotten to at dinner, all within the confines of those four walls. It was something she looked forward to every evening, even if it did make her toes pruney in the process.

  Once the tub was filled, Samantha poured a bottle of her favorite scented oil. It was a beautiful flower she still couldn’t pronounce the name of, but it turned the water a pretty cloudy pink color and smelled better than roses. She slipped off the dress and stepped into the steaming water, relishing in the heat that enveloped her body as she sunk further. A heavy sigh escaped as she rested her head against the back curve of the tub, glad that she could finally find some time to herself after such a busy day.

  “I hope you don’t mind the nuts on top...” Ethan appeared a few minutes later - he was good at working his magic to create the most delicious confectionaries - with a pie in hand and half of his shirt hanging off his body. Steam was still rising from the small holes he’d poked into the pie; Samantha was sure he had put too much sugar on it again from the smell of it.

  “Oh. You started without me.” He sulked with pursed lips, shrugging his shirt off the rest of the way.

  “I couldn’t help it, the water was too enticing and I hurt all over from all that prancing around.” She sank even further until the water was up to her chin. Seeing him flustered was always a special treat.

  Ethan continued his sulk as he placed the pie to one side and started working on his dress pants, socks, and then underwear. Then he reclaimed his pie once more and waved her over to make room for him. She scooted forward, providing him with ample space to slip in behind her.

  Yep, definitely too much sugar.

  “Are you sure you don’t want a piece?” He rested the pie plate on the water before her, which started to drift away once he tried to fetch the fork he’d brought in his pants pocket.

  “Very sure. It’s all for you.” Samantha shifted herself to one side so that she could rest her head on his shoulder, watching him treat himself to bite after bite of that pie.

  His cheeks flushed red when he caught her watching and he paused in his eating.

  “Are… you sure you don’t want a bite?”

  “I said I wasn’t hungry. Are you sure everything is alright?”

  Samantha was worried that something was terribly wrong. After hearing what Jen had been through, being accidentally poisoned by those vengeful twins, it had become a concern that her or one of the other girls would be next.

  When Ethan didn’t answer, she grew even more concerned.

  “Ethan, talk to me,” she said sternly, righting herself even more out of the bath. Her mind became a cloud of panicked situations and ideas, none of them with a solution should the worst be happening.

  Ethan closed his eyes and shook his head a little. When he opened then again to look at her, she swore his eyes looked a little glassier than normal. That didn’t make her feel any better.

  “I know but… I’d really like you to have a piece.” He took her hand and pressed the pie plate into it.

  Why was he so adamant about this? He was acting stranger than usual but at least he was showing no signs of being poisoned.

  “Ethan, you’re being weird. You’re scaring me.”

  “S-sorry... I just... please?” He slipped the fork into the pie with his free hand and scoo
ped up a piece for her. She put her terror aside and replaced it with confusion. What was he up to?

  Sighing, she soon relented and took the offered bite into her mouth. She winced at how sweet it really was and pressed her hand to her lips to stop from spitting it out.

  The first bite, however, yielded something quite hard between her teeth. Afraid that she’d broken a tooth, she spat the piece of pie out into the tub and ran her tongue along her teeth to check for damage. She didn’t taste any blood. Perhaps it was just a bad nut?

  “What did you put in that pie, Ethan?” She wiped away some of the pie filling that had clung to her lip, pondering deeply on just what could have gone wrong with the confectionary.

  Ethan, on the other hand, was frantically groping around under the water’s surface, looking quite panicked about something. Samantha was left both worried and confused.

  “Aha!” Ethan exclaimed as he dragged his prize above the water’s surface. There, between his thumb and forefinger, was an ornate ring covered in green and purple stones. She stared at it for a few seconds as her brain tried to play catch-up with what had just happened.

  “Ethan... what...”

  The smile from Ethan’s face faded away when he realized he’d messed up his little surprise. It was too late for any do-overs; the moment was completely lost and now he would never be able to see that look of wonderment on her face.

  … or wouldn’t he?