Mated to the Earth Dragon (Elemental Mates 2)

They had landed, Autumn realized a second later. She hadn’t even felt the impact—despite her fear, this had been more comfortable than the plane, where a jolt had made her clutch her armrest when the wheels first touched the runway.

“I think we lost them,” she said. Her heart was still beating in her throat as she searched the horizon.

She couldn’t make out anything but blue sky and scattered clouds. And the landscape around them seemed quiet as well, untouched by civilization except for the occasional house.

Again Damon went to his knees and spread out his wings for her. Hastily, she descended.

A surprised squeak escaped her when she lost her footing and slid down his wing like a big slide. He changed the angle of his wing to slow her, and to her surprise, she managed a somewhat graceful landing, coming to a stand straight on both of her feet.

Despite the terror of the past hour, she felt a laugh bubbling up inside her. She twirled around and bowed, the way she’d seen gymnasts do on TV.

If dragon riding were an Olympic discipline, I’ve just successfully qualified for the US team.

Once again, there was the strange sensation of Damon’s answering laugh rushing through her mind.

A heartbeat later, the body of the powerful dragon, whose scales had gleamed in the sunlight a moment ago, vanished into thin air. It happened so quickly that she couldn’t even say how exactly it happened—one second a dragon had stood before her, the next second, Damon the human was back, still wearing his woolly sweater.

There was still a smile on his face as he looked at her—but then he, too, twisted his neck to search the horizon.

“We should be safe here,” he said, even though he wouldn’t take his eyes off the sky for a long minute. “I can still feel their presence, but they’re far off. I think they wanted to scare me, not kill me.”

Autumn swallowed as she thought back to the wall of deadly fire surrounding them. “I’d hate to know what it looks like when they actually try to kill you.”

Damon finally turned back to her, his lips quirking. “For one thing, there’d be more than just one—or even three. They know that my element is the earth. What can fire do to rock?”

“Melt it,” Autumn said with a shiver. She thought of that moment when Damon’s voice had guided her through the layers of stone that made up the earth beneath them. Deep below, there was a kernel of heat that could melt even stone and metal.

“You’re right, of course.” Damon had turned serious again. “They’re a threat. We can’t afford to underestimate them. Still—for now we seem to have lost them.”

“Where are we?” Autumn asked, turning again to look around.

They’d landed close to one of the solitary houses she’d spied from above. Up close, it was larger than it had looked from the sky. It was made of wood and built in a curious design. It looked like a triangle—or like a house that was all roof. A bit like a shed—only that even from the outside, she could tell that this was some star architect’s idea of a luxury shed.

While the two walls that formed the roof were solid wood, the entire front and back were glass. Inside, she could make out a spacious living room with a fluffy white carpet, two large sofas, and a real fireplace.

“This is where I’m staying,” Damon said. “It belongs to family friends. No one knows I’m here.”

“But they found you before,” Autumn pointed out.

Damon nodded grimly. “I know. But this is dragon territory. This entire area belongs to my friends.”

“Your friends—who are dragons?” Autumn asked, feeling weak again at the way the world had turned upside down.

How could this be real? And how was it that she, who’d never even left the country before, had ended up right in the middle of all this?

“Earth dragons—distant relatives of mine,” Damon said. “So far, the fire dragons have done a pretty good job of remaining in hiding. I don’t think they’ll dare to outright attack dragon territory. I think they just wanted to scare me.”

Silently, Autumn shook her head. Nothing made sense. But she’d seen him turn from a dragon into a human. She’d even flown on his back.

It was all real, as terrifying as that was.

“I want some coffee. Or a drink. Or maybe both,” she said. “And then I think you have a lot of explaining to do.”

Chapter Eight: Damon

The house was comfortably warm. Even so, Damon quickly built a fire in the fireplace, wrapping Autumn in a blanket before he went to fetch them both a cup of coffee. When he returned, he found her watching the fire with fascination.

“I keep thinking it’s not real. When I close my eyes, it keeps replaying—but it’s just like watching a movie.” Autumn hesitated a moment, then shrugged at last, her eyes turning from the fire towards him. “But maybe everyone would have that reaction. It’s a lot to take in.”