Mated to the Ocean Dragon (Elemental Mates 3)

Everything was calm. His mate was safe here.

“But it won’t happen again. I promise,” Damon added. “Trust me. I know about rocks, remember?”

She tilted her head in open amusement. “But if that earthquake was so unexpected, how can you be sure?”

Damon’s mouth opened, and then snapped shut again. He gave her an apologetic look.

“You’re right,” he said. He couldn’t very well tell her that he knew because he was the dragon of earth, the lord over mountain and forest. “But how likely is it that something completely unexpected happens twice in one day?”

Now Autumn laughed. “There’s been more than two entirely unexpected things happening today,” she murmured, the warmth in her eyes leaving no doubt that she was talking about him.

Damon took hold of her hand again, entwining their fingers. “Is that so?” he said teasingly, glad for the distraction. “Then maybe it’s a good thing today ended up so explosive. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss meeting you, not for any earthquake in the world.”

She shook her head slightly, her eyes trained on his. Her perfume surrounded him, a warm scent with a hint of spice beneath. She was so irresistible that he found himself reaching out again, running his fingers through her windblown hair.

“I’m glad, too,” she said softly. “Really. That was probably the scariest thing that ever happened to me, but I’m still glad I came here. I’ve been looking forward to this for so long—and it’s so much better than I imagined.”

Damon swallowed. They had stopped, and before them spread the breathtaking landscape of the national park Thingvellir. Power rose from every rock here. It called out to his dragon, who wanted to spread his wings and circle the land, singing in harmony with every rock and stone.

Damon ignored his dragon. Instead, he gently cupped Autumn’s face in his hands. “If you’ve got tomorrow free as well, I’d love to show you more of this country.”

His dragon wanted to take her flying, show her glaciers from dragon back and the breathtaking sight of the sun sinking into the ocean.

But not yet. Not yet. Perhaps tomorrow, if he could find a way to tell her tonight without scaring her.

Autumn’s eyes grew dark and soft, her lips parting a little. Almost without thinking, Damon found himself leaning forward for another kiss.

At that exact moment, his phone vibrated in his pocket, and he drew back hastily.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “Just one moment. I contacted colleagues of mine about that earthquake.”

Autumn’s look of disappointment immediately turned into one of concern. “Are we still in danger?”

“I don’t think so,” he said as he drew his phone from his pocket.

On our way. Be careful. Jared, the text said simply.

Damon sighed at the griffin’s answer. He didn’t relish the thought of meeting the water dragon again so soon, but with his mate in danger, he’d be happy for any support.

“No danger,” he said to reassure Autumn. “But they caught the next plane to Reykjavik. One of them’s a specialist for water, the other specialized in wind and weather.”

Autumn gave him an amused look. “I didn’t know mining needed so many different specialists. Now all you’re missing for this country is a fire expert.”

Damon froze for a heartbeat, thinking of the fire dragon they currently had locked up in Sky Home. Had their prisoner known of this attack?

Maybe he should’ve told the others to interrogate the fire dragon again and find a way to make him speak...

Locking him away was all very good, but if there were other fire dragons on the loose, maybe now was the time to stop being honorable.

The chimera was old and powerful, after all. And Damon knew all the rumors of his hidden secrets and powers. If there was one creature still in this world that knew how to creature a truth potion, it was the chimera.

Humans had managed to do it, from what he’d heard. And while their medicines and drugs wouldn’t work on a dragon shifter, Damon had no doubt that the chimera could find a way to use that knowledge and alter it for a dragon...

“Hey. You okay?” Autumn waved a hand in front of his face, biting her lip in an unsuccessful attempt to hold back her laughter.

“Sorry,” he said chagrined. “See, I didn’t lie when I told you that I’m boring. Enough talk of rocks and I get completely carried away.”

With a grin, Autumn tugged on his hand, then pointed at the green valley spreading before them. “In that case, tell me about this place.”