A Bride for the Mountain God (Divine Dragons 2)

Wearing trousers as a princess wasn’t common. The soft leather and the range of movement came as a lovely surprise. I might never wear dresses again. With a knitted long sleeve and a heavy overcoat to bundle up in, I forgot my newfound love of trousers in the shadow of curiosity.

That curiosity gave way to stomach churning fear when Ronan escorted me to the bedroom balcony, scooped me up in his arms, and promptly fell over the edge. I might have burst his eardrums with my screaming as we sailed toward the ground. But ever the draconic gentlemen, he held me tight, secure, and whipped out his wings.

I enjoyed pants more than flying.

Not much of a competition when one made my ass look fantastic, and the other exposed me to the biting wind and a weightless swooping in my guts. But—and I’d never admit it to Ronan since he decided to chuckle at my reaction—the view of the world from the heavens was… breathtaking.

I caught a glimpse of the vibrant shades of green seconds before ascending into fields of puffy white. Mountainous, fluffy clouds rolled and swirled as far as my eyes could see. Slashes of rust, bronze, and gold cut through the cottony scene as Ronan dipped, soaring toward the setting sun. The howling ceased as the god slowed, coasting over the clouds.

“Look, Nia.” The gentle encouragement drew my eyes down to a gap in the clouds. An expanse of jagged peaks, enormous ancient trees, and gray stone spread below us. I realized we were flying alongside the tallest mountain range in the forbidden forest, so tall it eclipsed the rising blues and violets of the incoming night sky.

He carried us on the wind higher and higher, circling over the crown of the mountain. We burst through the blanket of clouds, and once over the final ridge where the trees thinned and stone gave way to a shroud of snow, I found something odd.

Over the lip of the mountaintop, we entered an area where a vast crater dipped into the center. It looked like something had scooped an uneven bowl into the rocky feature… or an immense beast had clawed itself out.

My arms tightened around Ronan’s neck, and I buried my face near his ear. “What is this place?”

“This is where I came from,” he hummed, voice barely above a whisper, but I heard him loud and clear.

The sight and intimacy of what he was sharing left me speechless. Being shown the chasm in the mountain where divine chaos and visceral earth birthed a dragon god inspired awe at unfathomable levels. From our vantage point flying high above, I noted the grooves where claws had scraped into stone, where his scales had cut against earth, the divots and channels where his massive body had snaked and gouged out wood and stone on his way into existence.

It was marvelous; it was astonishing; it was another piece of a puzzle I’d only just discovered. And I wanted to discover more. I longed to know all the intricacies of the god cradling me to his chest, securing me in his arms, as we drifted through a sea of clouds and whistling wind.

I didn’t feel the cold at that staggering altitude, and the fear of falling had escaped me entirely. The only things that existed for me were the majesty of the view, and the consoling heat of Ronan’s body enveloping me.

And it was at that moment something clicked into place in my chest.

As if sensing the magic blossoming like a wild rose within me, Ronan tipped his chin down, catching my eyes. His wings flapped steadily, and tendrils of hair sprang loose from my braid due to the gust. A breathy gasp passed from my lips to his, and our noses pressed together. His muscles flexed around me, holding me tighter as if he could pull me into the cavity of his chest and keep me nestled safely against his heart for the rest of eternity.

I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.

Ronan descended through wispy clouds, gliding toward the crater of his birthplace. It was easier to see the gashes in the hard stone where the claws of an enormous dragon had excavated himself from the face of the world. The roughest edges were smoothed over by time, soothed by rain and wind over the ages. We landed in a patch of scraggly grass, struggling to grow in a place with latent primordial power.

“There’s no snow here,” I remarked, taking a step to explore.

“No. As cold as it is up in the mountains, the warmth of my emergence never fully faded. Primeval magic like that leaves traces. It’s ingrained in the mountains of this continent.”

“Is that why the amount of forest spirits and nature magic here is so dense? Your birthplace spawned a large quantity of natural creatures.”

“Indeed.” I heard the smile in his voice as he placed his heavy palms on my shoulders. He turned me to face the fading light of day, gifting me with a view of the sunset that outdid all others. It was a veritable painting come to life on the sky’s canvas.

The substance of the moment struck me.

“Why did you bring me here?”

Ronan tugged the coat off my shoulders, letting the fur-lined garment drop into the loose dirt. I staggered on my inhale when claws threaded through my braid, loosening the brown strands to dance in the breeze. They carefully scraped over my scalp, and a frisson of heat ran through me. Warm tension enveloped us, cocooning the dragon and me in a world of our own suspended desire.

“This place is important to me, and now you are important to me.” He tugged my head to the side and placed his heated mouth on the side of my neck. A shiver danced down my spine from his heat radiating against my backside and the severity of his tone.

“This is where a god was born. It feels like too much for a mortal to experience such a place.” A whimper followed as he nibbled my earlobe, then traced his teeth down my neck.

“You won’t stay a mortal, Nia. As my soulmate, once we’ve consummated our union, you will gradually become imbued with my essence. When I say you’re going to be with me for eternity, I mean it.” He bit down hard enough to elicit a cry from my lips. There’d be a red ring from his teeth on my neck for days.

“Forever is a long time,” I rasped.

“Almost not long enough,” Ronan chortled. “I brought you here because this is where I’m from and this is where I’m going to consummate our marriage and fuck my mate.”

I spun around, giving him my best attempt at a glare.

He smirked back.

“Now I wonder, are you going to give me that haughty, prissy look when you’re bouncing on my cock? Or are you going to behave like a good girl and let me give that pretty cunt what it needs?”

My eyes hooded and my lashes fluttered as I gazed up at him. “Behave? I’d hate to make it easy on you.”

Ronan stepped back and the increasing inches between us felt like miles.

“Then run.”

“What?” I sputtered.

He nodded in the direction behind me. “Run, princess. Don’t make it easy on me, and I won’t make it easy on you.” His hard grip caught my chin one last time. “Because I won’t go easy on you once I’ve caught you. I’m going to fucking tear you apart.”

I thrashed myself from his grip, spun on my heel, and I ran.

Fear pulsed through me, tangling with the spools of lust unraveling in my core. Sudden adrenaline coursed through me, propelling my limbs into action. Awareness bolstered me, giddy at the concept of being chased like prey and caught by my predator. And gods help me, I wanted him to devour me, to consume me whole.

The uneven claw-gashes from the Mountain God’s conception proved difficult terrain. I felt like an ant scrambling through the paw prints of a lion. And the ground was damp, mostly mud in some places. My boots slipped more than once, slowing my frantic pace.

Each breath burned, punching from my lungs. My chest expanded with each rasp of air, muscles clenching and flexing with the ache of propelling myself into a sprint. I thought back to our first meeting and how this momentous occasion mirrored that night, though under better—thrilling—circumstances.

Wanton heat coiled in my belly. Arousal pooled in my underwear; some ridiculous scrap of lacy black fabric Ronan provided earlier in the day. Something easy for claws to tear through, I imagined.

I had a better go of it in the forbidden forest. That night I’d had true fear coursing through my veins, the coverage of the trees and fog, the time it took Ronan to shift down from his divine form into his draconic-humanoid one. And this time, I wanted him to catch me.

I heard the beat of wings, felt the ensuing wind on my heated cheeks, and felt the vibrations of the dragon’s growl. My skin prickled as the shadow of a beast shrouded me and covered the ground.

My boot slipped in a patch of mud, and my insides swooped.

A hard, scaled body converged on me as I collapsed onto the ground. A grunt punched past my lips as hot, heavy muscles and beastly claws caught me. I braced myself on my elbows, feeling the squish of the chilled ground beneath my arms and knees.

“Caught you, wife. You’re mine now,” a victorious growl ripped through him. Ronan pressed himself into my backside, letting me feel his weight and the length of his hardness against my ass. He ground into me, grasping my hips and snarling with his hot breath tickling the back of my neck. “Now I’m going to fuck you here in the mud and you’re going to come on my cock until you’re weeping.”

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