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  CAPTURED BY A

  DRAGON

  Jenny & Drek

  (Dragon Mated Series, Book 1)

  Christina Wilder

  CAPTURED BY A DRAGON

  Copyright © 2018 Christina Wilder

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or

  reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written

  permission except in the case of brief quotations

  embodied in critical articles or reviews. This book

  is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events, and incidents

  are a product of the Author’s imagination. Any resemblance

  to an actual person, living or dead,

  is entirely coincidental.

  AISN: B07L33VT2W

  Acknowledgments

  This book would not be here without the support of

  many special people.

  First, I want to thank my mom for always believing in me.

  And my family, who puts up with rushed meals and

  my endless talk about characters, cover art, and plot twists.

  And, Stephanie, my very first CP. Even though my writing was

  Absolutely awful back then, you’ve stuck with me!

  Renée, who is spot-on with plot suggestions.

  Alex, who always cheers me up when I’m feeling down.

  Jes, who is fabulous with graphic design & critiques.

  Lee, my bestie, even though we live on opposite sides

  of the world.

  Laura, who gives me endless practical advice, keeping me

  grounded.

  And Katrina, whose friendship I could not live without.

  This book wouldn’t be here without all of you.

  Cover Design by Black Canvas

  3 Fierce Dragon Shifter Princes

  3 Feisty, Curvy Best Friends who are

  fated to be mated to dragons.

  Jenny:

  If my two best friends hadn’t dared me to go spelunking, I wouldn’t have drunk too much celebratory champagne and fallen into a mysterious, dark tunnel in the back of a cave. In seconds, I’m sliding down, down, down, for a very long time. I shoot out of the tunnel, launch through a waterfall, and land in the lap of a gorgeous, muscular, naked guy. I’m falling for him fast, but there are a few odd things about him. He talks old-fashioned. He calls me a surface dweller. And he insists I'm his destined mate. A dragon's destined mate.

  Drek:

  Women are nearly extinct in my world, so when life grants a dragon shifter a mate, he hunts her down and claims her. Jenny lands in my lap, and I know it’s fate. Now, I just have to convince her—no show her—that we’re destined to be together. If she’s determined to leave, I won’t hold her back. But that doesn’t mean I won’t do everything in my power to persuade her to stay…

  Other books from Christina Wilder:

  DRAGON MATED

  A humorous dragon shifter novella series.

  CAPTURED BY A DRAGON

  HUNTED BY A DRAGON

  CLAIMED BY A DRAGON

  MY BIG FAT POMPEII ROMANCE

  A romantic comedy with a gladiator twist

  Available on Amazon

  Books Co-Written with Laney Kaye:

  CAT SHIFTERS OF AAIDAR

  (A Sci-Fi Romance Series)

  ESCAPE

  ENGAGE

  ENSNARE

  ENDINGS

  On Amazon

  Chapter One

  Jenny

  Despite what my friends thought, I would never be the adventurous type.

  “Can you remind me again why I said I wanted to do this cave exploration thing?” I asked Tanya, trying not to whine.

  She, PJ—short for Pamela Jean—and I grew up foster kids, living in the same neighborhood, going to the same school. We bonded on the playground in third grade and have been best friends since. We’d thought about sharing an apartment, because we hung out all the time and had a lot of fun together, but hadn’t so far.

  “You’re gonna love this,” Tanya said.

  Easy for her to say. My friends had done this a couple of times before. As the least athletic of our group, I’d avoided all this cave diving stuff, because my idea of diving was shoving my hand into a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips.

  For weight lifting, I hefted a container of Ben & Jerry’s. Chunky Monkey, to be exact.

  Standing beside PJ’s mini-van, I gnawed on my lower lip and stared toward the hillside I’d soon take on like my own, personal Mt. Everest. It was steep. Tree-covered. And intimidating.

  “Last I knew,” I said. “Spelunking was for experienced cavers and hikers. Which I’m not.” Fact was, I could barely pronounce spelunking. The extent of my woodsy activities consisted of walking two city blocks to the local coffee shop.

  And watering my houseplants.

  “Chill. This is a baby hike,” Tanya said as she stepped into a set of bright red coveralls and tugged them up over her broad hips. She tucked her arms through the sleeves and then zipped the suit all the way to her chin. The matching red hardhat she plunked on her head smooshed her long, brown hair. With a fire-red flashlight dangling from a belt loop on her waist, she looked like a scarlet woman version of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

  On any given day, my bestie ruled the fashionista scene as a plus-size lingerie model. She was also an opera singer on the side (don’t ask). But she’d be laughed off the lingerie runway, let alone the stage, if she strolled out in front of the crowd in a get-up like this.

  But, then, we weren’t here to impress anyone, except maybe a few bunnies and mice. Random spiders and snakes, too, I supposed. This was western Georgia.

  Shivers racked my frame. Not just because it was ass-crack-of-dawn and the sun hadn’t decided to warm up the Earth yet, but because I’d opted for shorts and a button-up cotton shirt for today’s excursion.

  I’d been told this would be a lazy-man’s version of caving. Essentially a walk in the park.

  A way to pop my spelunking V-card.

  First, we’d take a leisurely stroll to the cave entrance. Then, we’d duck inside and drop down a short distance by rope into a hole in the back of the cave. Once we reached the bottom, we’d kick up our feet on the equivalent of rock recliners and savor a hard-earned lunch while checking out the stalactites. Or was it stalagmites? I shrugged. Probably both.

  “Trust me, honey,” Tanya said with a grin. “There’s not a thing to worry about. This is beginner’s caving. To warm you up to bigger things.”

  “The only big thing I’d like to see today is a trenta mocha latte,” I said. “With a double squirt of whipped cream on top.” My belly rumbled at the thought of the rich, creamy liquid sliding down my throat, reminding me that the donut I’d eaten during the ride here was so not going to cut it. If I didn’t hunt down some major sustenance soon, I’d have to resort to living off the land—my muffin top, that is.

  “You and your coffee,” PJ said. She squinted at me while donning her own coveralls—bright blue. The color brought out the blue of her eyes and went nicely with her blue hair. What was it with everyone and their matching color schemes today?

  I was so underdressed.

  “Don’t forget, we’re going out after dinner,” PJ added, her voice light with humor. An archeology professor, she loved cooking and exploring new food on the side. She’d picked out a fancy-schmancy restaurant for tonight’s dinner, but we were hitting the bar scene after that. “Are you sure a coffee’s the only big thing you want on your menu today? What about a hot guy with an enormous—” She pumped her curvy hips and chuckled. “Hoo-ha.”

  When she snickered, I scowled.

  As a kindergarten teacher, I’d gotten into the habit of using fake n
ames for body parts when discussing intimate subjects, in case there happened to be kiddoes around who might overhear. But PJ didn’t have to rub it in.

  After making sure she’d absorbed the full weight of my fake glare, I tapped my chin, contemplating the idea of something bigger than a latte. Did I want something like that? “Maybe.”

  In my experience, most men weren’t worth the extra effort. If only a girl could sample the product before she bellied herself up to the check-out counter.

  Few men could compare to the lime green vibrating bestie I kept in my bedroom nightstand. Lime green, because the box said it was supposed to be an alien hoo-ha. If my big green buddy was a prime example of an alien bits, I seriously needed to sign up for outer space exploration. “It has been a while since a…cock. There, I said it.” I smirked while they giggled. “Anyway. It’s been too long since a hoo-ha has been within poking distance of my wa-dang.”

  “Talking about dry spells,” PJ said with a rueful shake of her head, blue hair flipping across her shoulders like a rich waterfall. “It’s been so long since my wa-dang saw a hoo-ha, I’m not sure I remember what hoo-has look like.” She grumbled. “Why did I say I was taking a dating hiatus? Oh, yeah. That’s right. Asshole ex.”

  He’d burned her bad. I couldn’t blame her for being cautious.

  “You ditched him six months ago,” Tanya said, leaning forward to pat PJ’s arm. “I think tonight’s the night for both you and Jenny to jump back into the hoo-ha action.”

  A deep hoo-ha pumping might be just the thing to pull me out of my alien rut.

  But I wasn’t going to settle for just any old hoo…shit, even in my own head, I was referring to a cock as a hoo-ha. I was beyond sad. “Let’s wait and see what’s available before we decide.” While PJ was on her dating hiatus, Tanya and I were single and available to check out the dating scene. Maybe tonight, I’d meet my match.

  A girl could hope.

  “Deal,” Tanya said and we high-fived each other.

  Leaning back against PJ’s vehicle, I stared toward the hillside. The walk to the cave entrance had to be at least a mile away. Just looking at it made my legs ache. Sure, I could do this hike on a good day, but last night, we’d stayed in a hotel together as part of a girl’s weekend, and we’d rang in one, and then two a.m., with so many shots of tequila, my brain still floated. I’d also shared a bed with Tanya, who kicked and talked dirty in her sleep.

  Tonight, I’d take the sofa bed, despite the threat of a saggy mattress middle.

  “I’m still not sure I’m up for this, guys,” I said. Maybe, if I begged hard enough, they’d let me wait in the van. I could take a nap.

  “It’s my birthday, remember? I have to spend it with my fam.” Tanya handed me a water bottle. “You promised you’d come with us today.”

  I grumbled good-naturedly, because she made a valid point. Besties forever, we spent all of our birthdays with each other.

  After taking a long swallow of my water, I recapped it, doing my best to send her an I am so damn thrilled about this smile. The sun was rising—if that slit of scarlet on the horizon was anything to go by—and I loved being with my friends. With no family, who else would I spend my time with?

  Nothing would go wrong on a nice day like this.

  “You sure you don’t want to wear my spare coveralls?” PJ asked, extending the orange set. She looked awesome in the blue suit, of course, just like Tanya rocked the red.

  But orange? I couldn’t blame her for holding onto this one, though. Given a choice, I’d wear the sophisticated, caving version of the little blue dress over something that would make the wearer resemble a mound of road-kill pumpkin three weeks past Halloween.

  “I’m good,” I said. Call that no to the orange suit.

  My outfit wasn’t completely lame. I wasn’t just dressed in shorts and a cotton shirt. I also wore my hiking boots, which I’d dug out of the closet yesterday. Grinning, I clipped the cord of the flashlight Tanya handed me onto a loop on my denim shorts. “Let’s get this show on the road, Ladies.”

  “Don’t forget your pack.” PJ tugged it off the backseat and handed it to me. While I looped it over my shoulders, she shut the door and clicked her key fob, and the van lights flashed to indicate the vehicle locked. Her grin warmed up my day nicely, because I knew what it meant. “I added extra provisions inside just for you.”

  Oh, yum. While she didn’t have kids to fill her mini-van—mostly because she hadn’t found the right guy yet, PJ mothered us all. If I knew my friend, she’d baked my favorite double chocolate brownies, as well as her secret-recipe trail mix. And carefully packed cupcakes for all of us, in honor of Tanya’s birthday. Because, life was incomplete without cupcakes.

  “We’re off,” Tanya said, striding across the mossy forest floor. Her feet crunched on fallen leaves, releasing an earthy smell. The climbing rope she’d attached to her belt smacked her butt as she skirted around a large evergreen, evading the pointy needles. She smiled over her shoulder. “I am so freakin’ excited about this!”

  Joking about how much I missed my pillow already, I followed her down the trail, with PJ riding my heels.

  By the time we’d hiked up the hillside and reached the cave entrance, the sun had risen and done its heat-up-the-Earth thing. Sweat trickled down my face. My back, too. It even squeegeed uncomfortably between my legs. Was there a hidden oasis inside the cave where I could take a swim? Or maybe I could find a natural waterfall. Then, I could stand underneath the plunging water for the rest of my life.

  Waiting inside the cave with PJ, while Tanya unwound her rope and attached it to a boulder, I fanned my face, missing the steamy breeze I’d cursed about while hiking. At least the wind had somewhat dried my sweat.

  Nothing like August in Georgia to boil your blood.

  I approached the drop-off and stared into the black hole we’d descend into. “How far down are we going again?”

  PJ came up beside me and squinted into the blackness. She deepened her voice, making it sound creepy. “All the way down.”

  “For perspective, that’s…?”

  “About eighty feet, give or take.”

  “With just a puny rope.”

  “A well-rated rope,” she said pertly. “Don’t worry. It’ll hold you.”

  I wasn’t so sure about this. I mean, no exercise. And I did enjoy her brownies. The entire pan, given the chance.

  As she turned away, I grabbed her arm.

  “Hold on a sec.” Frankly, the thought of shimmying down the rope wasn’t the part of this whole thing that scared me. I didn’t mind heights. “How are we going to get back up?” I flexed my sort-of arm muscles. Really needed to get to the gym more than once a year. “Remember, I’m the virgin here.”

  PJ snorted, and I joined in. We both knew I’d traded in my official V-card ages ago.

  “We’ve got a winch, remember?” she said. “We’ll hook it to a tree or something and haul you out.”

  Great. Wasn’t this awesome? “Like a wounded cow via helicopter, hoisted aloft with my legs dangling beneath me?”

  She chuckled. “Exactly.”

  “Hey,” I grumbled. “I know I’m a wuss, but that’s no reason to rub it in.”

  She stopped and turned, and while her eyes twinkled, she at least made the effort to keep a straight face. “It’s going to be fine. Relax and enjoy the ride.”

  “If you say so.”

  “We’re all set,” Tanya announced from the far side of the hole. “Who’s first?”

  PJ looked at me with lifted eyebrows, so I half-heartedly raised my hand. Might as well get it over with. Despite my reservations about how I’d climb out later, I was intrigued by the thought of what I was about to do. What would I see down there?

  “Maybe Jenny should follow me, actually.” PJ stepped forward. “I can hit the ground in no time and be ready to help you two.”

  “You sure?” I asked. I mean, I was happy to take on the role of trailblazer for once in my life. I
f I had to. Maybe.

  “Definitely,” she said, approaching the edge. She tugged on a mesh harness and attached a series of clips and devices from it to the nylon rope. “You’ll feel one-hundred percent better about your descent if you can see my light ahead.”

  Were my knocking knees that obvious?

  In no time, PJ’s voice echoed up at us from underground. “This is so cool. Tanya, you’re going to love your birthday gift.” A few minutes later, she called up, “Next!”

  I peered into the hole and was pleased to see my cheerful friend’s face far, far below, outlined by the amber glow of the lights she’d set around on the floor in welcome. While the channel I’d pass through was narrow, it looked like the cave widened at the bottom. Maybe I truly would find that rock recliner I’d dreamed about earlier.

  Tanya helped me put on a harness and attach it to the rope. She explained how she’d slowly lower me down. All I had to do was hold on.

  “Oh. Take these.” She handed me leather gloves, which I tugged onto my hands. “And keep your feet on the wall as you drop, for stability. Otherwise, you’ll get banged up as you descend.”

  “Will do.” Scooting around, I presented the hole with a prime view of my prime butt. “Take that, dark abyss!”

  I gasped as I dropped over the edge.

  Damn, I was a dangling creature. No, a cow! Already.