Mated to the Earth Dragon (Elemental Mates 2)

And then, at last, they’d made it to the center of the square—where a new surprise was waiting for them.

Both the dragon of water and the dragon of air had come. Even griffin shifter Jared stood by their side, all three impeccably dressed. Gregory, the dragon of the storm, had brought his mate. She was wearing a gorgeous dress of lavender silk that curved over her pregnant belly, wearing a diamond at her throat that seemed to shift between colors in the light of the sun.

But most shocking was that there, next to the water dragon, Braeden stood.

At Autumn’s gasp of surprise, the fire dragon gave her a small smile. “I don’t know why, but they’ve let me out for the occasion.”

One of the otter children booed. In response, Braeden shrugged and lifted his hands to show them to Autumn.

Bands of a heavy, strange metal encircled his wrists. It looked like no metal she’d ever seen, so dark it seemed to swallow the light.

“Dragonsbane and obsidian to stifle my powers. I’m impressed at how dangerous they think I am.”

Autumn hesitated a moment. Then, determined, she moved forward and hugged him. After a moment, he hugged her back, and the crowd gasped in shock.

Fire dragon or not, he’d tried to save her life, back when the other dragons had attacked the cave. Without him holding them off while she hid in the bedroom, they might have killed her before Damon made it back to them.

“Hey,” Timothy said to her right. “I’m the one who deserves all the hugs here. Not only does the old monster want me to find a mate as quickly as possible, I’ve also been forced to babysit our fire dragon for this outing.”

Braeden gave the water dragon an unimpressed look. “Don’t pretend I’m the one making your life difficult. After spending the morning with you, I'm not surprised you have trouble finding a mate.”

“Hey now,” the water dragon protested, “I’ll have you know that for the past ten years, I’ve won Most Eligible Council Bachelor every year.”

Braeden frowned, then suspiciously turned to Damon. “Is that a thing?” he asked.

“No,” Damon said, then laughed. “But if it were, I have no doubt he would’ve won.”

Timothy gave the fire dragon a victorious smirk.

“Of course,” Damon added, “flirting with every single model on a cruise is no guarantee at all that you’ll find a mate.”

“In fact,” Gregory added dryly, “I’d say it’s a pretty good guarantee you won’t.”

Timothy crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I’ll have you know that I’m a World Championship Finalist flirter. A First Degree Charmer. A—”

Autumn laughed. “It’s not about flirting,” she said, even though she had to admit he was charming. He was just too charming. “It’s about love. And commitment.”

“Ugh. My one weakness.” Timothy grimaced. “Okay, I’ll admit it. I haven’t found a mate since the chimera told me to. But not for lack of trying. Anyway, I’ve got a genius plan. After the ceremony, I’ll fly to LA and spend my nights partying my way through every single club there. Bulletproof plan. She’ll fall for me the instant she’ll see me, and then we’re done with this thing and can finally move on.”

“Good luck,” Braeden said, his expression making it obvious that he thought it was the worst plan he’d ever heard.

Damon only shook his head. “Call us if you need help. Really. I mean it. We might not always see eye to eye, but we know a bit more about human mates than you do.”

“Or call Autumn and me,” Naomi added, rolling her eyes at Autumn in sympathy. “Because your experts in the mysterious ways of the human women are standing right in front of you.”

“Will do,” Timothy said carelessly, clearly convinced that his genius plan would work out without a hitch.

Then, at last, the otter children started cheering, clearly in the hope to speed up the boring talking to get to the good parts that involved cake.

A moment later, everyone else joined in. The giraffe florist hurriedly bumped against several baskets hung up high, releasing a cloud of golden glitter that drifted through the air, showering them all in sparkles.

“I guess that’s our signal,” Damon said and laughed. Still holding on to Autumn’s hand, he stepped forward together with her.

At the same time, the sheriff had come forward as well, and now presented Damon with a small box.

Damon took hold of it and turned towards Autumn.

“I love you,” he said simply, his eyes the deep, warm brown of the earth. “Until the end of time itself, I am yours.”