Fire Dragon's Baby (Dragon Shifter Scifi Alien Romance) (Elemental Dragons Book 1) (3 page)

She took a hover cab to the consulate, too nervous to wait at the bus stop outside her building. The autodrive hover cab flew her across the city along a low skyway and landed in front of the consulate. She stepped out of the cab in front of the domed building, her heart racing. Sweat beaded on her skin, and she gulped.

She took several deep breaths as she made her way up the stairs and was more relaxed by the time she stood at the sliding glass doors. They swished open when she approached, and the holocom system greeted her as she entered the massive room.

“Greetings Celeste Dawes,” the artificially intelligent holocom said. “You've been mated with Salvatt Dorr, Fire Prince of Galaton. “

The AI showed holographic images across the room, displaying Salvatt in his native landscape. A thrill shot through her, aching deep within. She bit her lip. Masculinity oozed through time and space and she couldn’t look away from his brutal strength or the fire that glowed in the depths of his coal black eyes.

“When can I meet him?” she asked the AI.

“Standby for assistance.”

The seven-foot-tall Draconian secretary walked into the room wearing a skin-tight Draconian military-style jumpsuit. It hugged his every delicious contour like a silver-gray sheath. Celeste knew that with one flick of his finger, the jumpsuit would retract, and he’d be naked. The secretary put his hand on his heart in greeting and she did the same.

“Celeste Dawes. Thank you for coming. I am Secretary Kin Tal and will be assisting you during your transition.”

“It's good to meet you, Secretary. Can you take me to my mate, Salvatt Dorr? Where is he?”

“Ms. Dawes, I regret to inform you that Prince Salvatt is not on Earth to meet you. There are further conditions to your mating that you must be aware of.”

“What is it?” she asked, feeling less and less sure with each word the secretary spoke.

“You are to be inseminated with Prince Salvatt’s seed before leaving Earth. You will then travel through the wormhole to the Draconian galaxy. From there, it will take roughly a year for you to arrive at Galaton.”

“I'll have a baby when I arrive?”

“Presumably. That is the prince’s intention.”

“But we haven't even met. I can't have his baby. I don't even know if I want to leave Earth. I don't understand why he's not here.”

“The Galatonians are in the middle of an internal power crisis. The prince cannot leave his kingdom for fear of losing the throne. Each prince needs an heir to continue their lines and stabilize Galaton during this crisis. You will provide the fire prince his heir. It is an honor.”

“Right...”

Celeste didn't feel honored. She felt confused. How could she get pregnant with a Draconian's child when he was so far away?

“What about the mating impulse? How is he supposed to survive for so long without going mad?”

“The insemination and application of a special mating cream will begin the mating ritual. This genetic bonding will ease his inner dragon. You will communicate as little as possible over the next year, aboard your ship, to keep his dragon from becoming enraged with lust. This will help suppress the thrall. It will be a challenge for the prince. But it is a risk all the princes were willing to take.”

“I don't know what to do.”

“Do you understand that you are the exact genetic match for Prince Salvatt? You are his genetic mate. It is fated for you and no one else. If you do not go, the mating impulse will eventually destroy him.”

“I understand that.”

“This is the first time we've sent a bride to Galaton. The mating council feels the brides must be given a choice. Once you go, we cannot guarantee you can come back.”

“I don’t have to go even though I’ve been matched?”

“The committee will not force a bride to go into an uncontrolled environment. But we do trust that you will do what is right for your mate.”

“So, it's on me then,” she sighed. “Can I have some time to think about it?”

“Come back to inform me of your decision and we will continue from there,” the secretary said, putting his hand to his heart and bowing before walking away.

Celeste watched him stride out of the big, domed room through a sliding door. She turned to go, feeling confused and unsettled, and stepped down the concrete stairs to the sidewalk. Not only did her mate want her to come meet him on Galaton, which would take an entire year, he also wanted to knock her up while he was on the other side of the universe.

She walked out along the ground level street. The hovercraft zoomed overhead, silently slicing through the air. She felt strange walking on the ground. Celeste had spent most of her time walking the skywalks between the massive towers that made up the newer parts of the city.

She made her way through the old buildings along the street, the sun shining down on the trees that lined the sidewalk. She wondered if she could handle what lay ahead of her. What would await her when she finally arrived on the far-off alien planet? Would Salvatt be good to her? Would he be capable of loving her in the way she needed to be loved?

All her hopes for a mate and children seemed to shatter right before her eyes. She would never be mated with another Draconian again. The pieces of her dream fell down around her shoulders as she walked the old street. There were others down on the ground around her. A few old men played checkers on a board outside a quaint café. Old women did tai chi in the park. A young man walked his dog along the tree-lined street.

Did Celeste want to walk away from Earth and everything she knew for a man she’d never met? The thought of going back home made her realize she would only ever have a shadow; a half-life from then on. She couldn’t just go back to her job at the lab, after years of longing for a mate and child. It would be like admitting defeat.

If she didn’t go to him, her mate would eventually go mad and die.

She couldn’t live with that. As frightening as going into space might be, the prospect of killing her fated mate was far worse.

She’d grown up believing in fated mates, and believing in the stories she’d heard from human women who’d been matched with Draconian males. The women ended up deeply fulfilled and exceptionally happy. Not only that, being claimed by a Draconian imbued a human woman with superhuman vitality. She became more than human, stronger and with a longer life. It was hard to give that all up, just to stay on Earth.

Not that Earth wasn’t great, but her life would just be work and parties and whatever from now on. She’d never find another fated mate. And who knows if she’d ever find a human man to start a family with.

She approached an old water fountain in the park. A silver stream of water arched from a cherub’s mouth and splattered into the pool below. There were old coins at the bottom of the pool. It was an old Earth custom to throw a coin in a pool to make a wish. But they had stopped making coins on Earth a long time ago.

Celeste bent and picked up a piece of slick black stone, thinking of her mate’s obsidian black eyes. After polishing it off, she kissed it and closed her eyes.

“I wish for my prince to love me,” she said, throwing her stone into the fountain.

She let out a breath and opened her eyes, smiling. Turning on her heel, she headed back to the consulate. She was going to Galaton.

Celeste strode up the stairs and into the domed building. The AI greeted her but the secretary arrived before it got out its second sentence.

“You've returned,” the secretary said, raising an eyebrow. “Have you made up your mind?”

“I'll do it. I'll go to Galaton. Can I get started today? I don't want to lose my nerve.”

“Come this way,” the secretary said, leading her to the back door of the dome.

The door swished open, revealing a smaller chamber full of holocom terminals.

“We’ve received the required genetic material for insemination. Using this source material, we’ve created a mating cream for you to begin the mating ritual.”

“Cream?”

“We have a skin lotion that was created by bioengineering a synthetic replication of prince Salvatt’s semen. We created it for long term use. Rubbing it on your body will imbue you with the prince’s genetic signature. It will bond you to him and prepare your small human body to accept him.”

“All that from a lotion?” Celeste asked.

She’d never heard of anything like that before. But she’d never heard of Galatonians before either. Now she was going off into the unknown to meet one.

“So I rub it on me? Can I just do my hands or my stomach?”

“I’m afraid you must rub your entire body. And while you do it, the council suggests you think of him. That will activate the cosmic link between you. All of this will help the prince overcome his mating impulse until you arrive. It will also enable your womb to accept his seed.”

The secretary began to flick through items on his holographic screen. A moment later, the far wall swished open, showing what appeared to be the passenger bay of a shuttle.

“Am I going now?”

“No time like the present.”

“Am I to be inseminated now?”

“First you must begin the mating ritual. Please take your seat in the shuttle. Your ship’s medic is waiting above on the Bride Ship.”

Celeste’s eyes bulged but she took her seat anyway. The automatic safety harness came down over her shoulders and around her waist while the secretary punched information into the shipboard holocom.

“You are ready for takeoff,” he said, exiting the craft.

“Thanks,” she muttered, feeling the hover engines power on under her.

The door swished closed and the last thing she saw was the secretary’s handsome face.

What had she just agreed to do? Panic started to unfurl in her throat and she let out a scream as the shuttle took off. It shot through the city and gained speed as it gained altitude. Soon she was rocketing through the atmosphere, braking into space and away from her planet forever.

She marveled at the black void, speckled with distant galaxies. Where was Draconia in the sky? She looked around. An armada of ships and space stations orbited Earth and the moon.

She drew closer to a transport vessel, and her shuttle came into dock alongside it. The hatch clicked onto the ship and her door opened in a docking room.

Her harness moved away and Celeste stood, looking around. Right outside her door, a competent looking Draconian medic wearing a white robe over his jumpsuit stood waiting for her.

“Greetings, Celeste Dawes. Welcome aboard the Bride Ship Rising Phoenix. The ship has been retrofitted to serve the needs of Galatonian mates. I will be beginning the process of readying you for insemination.”

“Readying me?” she asked growing nervous as she followed him out of the shuttle.

“Before insemination, you will bathe and cover yourself with mating cream. It is very important to the process. You will find all the required items in your bridal suite.”

She followed the dragon shifter down a wide corridor that wrapped around the ship. They stopped outside a door and the medic flicked his holocom, making the door swish open. Inside there was a small apartment, set up in the current style on Earth. It was a mix of old Earth charm and Draconian technology. She walked through the entrance into an open living area, taking in the space.

“This will be your chamber for the remainder of the journey. In the bathroom, you will find additional instruction.”

“Okay...”

“Please alert me through the shipboard holocom when you are done with the process. Your bracelet holocom should tie in seamlessly with our system.”

“When will I get to speak with Prince Salvatt?”

“He’s sent you a recorded message. You will find it in the bathing chamber.”

“We aren't going to speak to each other?”

“I'm afraid that is not possible right now. Let us focus on the matter at hand. Please prepare yourself for the insemination. Further instructions will be found in the bath chamber. Please speak to the AI.”

The medic bowed and walked out through the sliding door. She sighed as she found herself alone in the well-appointed suite. The layout reminded her a bit of her old apartment at home. But here, the view outside her windows was space, not the cityscape she was used to.

She walked to the window, looking out at Earth. She could see the white clouds swirling over the deep blue oceans and the vast green land. It was so beautiful. She was afraid to leave.

Salvatt couldn't even talk to her. She knew that communication would be limited, but she'd hoped that he would at least say hello before he had her impregnated. She turned away from the view of her planet and walked toward the bedroom. There was a big comfortable bed waiting for her and she ran her hand over the soft blanket before turning to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, she found a massive circular tub. It was so deep it would reach her chin if she filled it. It was a Draconian bath. Meant for mating. There was also a stand up shower, a sink, and large vanity in front of mirrors. When she could see herself reflected in the mirrors, a holocom screen activated and rose up in front of her.

“Welcome to the Bride Ship Rising Phoenix, Celeste Dawes. Mate of Fire Prince Salvatt Dorr of Galaton. Bridal Bath is activated. Please disrobe and enter to wash yourself.”

Celeste screwed up her face at the holocom AI. She'd imagined taking this dress off for her new mate, not some silly AI. There wasn't much else she could do now, except go along with the program. She slipped out of her sassy shoes and pulled the form-fitting dress up over her head. When she was naked, she stepped into the deep bath.

The warm water slowly rose up around her as she sank further into the tub. There were landings around the edge, allowing her to sit at different levels in the water. Bottles lined the top of the tub, full of cream.

“Please take a bottle and use it to wash your body and hair,” the AI said. “While you do so, please watch this introductory video message from Prince Salvatt.”

A three dimensional holographic image of the prince rose between the tub and the mirrors. His presence was overpowering, even in holographic form. He was clad in medieval style armor brandishing a laser sword, a grimace on his hard, handsome face. His black eyes gazed down on her. But he didn't see her. This was all just a recording.