The nanny escorted Celeste through the ornately decorated hallway to an elevator at the end. They sped upward to a much higher floor and then took another wide hallway to the sliding door of her suite.

The inside of her suite was at least three times larger than the apartment she’d had aboard the Rising Phoenix. It was an entire living space equipped with all of the modern conveniences one would find on either Earth or Draconia. Beyond the large front room, she spotted a balcony that looked out on the lush jungles of the fire lands.

The nanny followed her inside and stood to attention. She looked up at him, wanting him to leave.

“What are you doing?” she asked him.

“I’m here to help you with the child,” he said.

She’d trusted him enough on the landing pad because he’d come with a hover stroller. But she didn’t want him to stick around. She was used to taking care of her baby by herself.

“I’ll be fine.”

“I’ve been extensively trained.”

“I’m sure I’ll have use of your skills in the future. But tonight, I’d like to be alone with my son.”

“As you wish.”

He placed his hand on his heart and bowed slightly before turning to go. When the nanny had finally gone, she let out a deep breath and carried her child further into the room.

Celeste found a comfortable place to sit with Shiloh and tried to relax. Since she’d been excused to her chambers, fear and anxiety would not let her go. She felt as if she might be violently ill at any moment. Not wanting to be sick on her child, she put him in his hover cradle beside the couch. It began to rock softly and soon lulled Shiloh to sleep.

Celeste stepped through the chamber, her long flowing gown billowing out behind her. She walked out to the balcony that overlooked the vast jungle below and listened to the sounds of birds and animals calling from the tropical forest. The air on the side of the fortress facing away from the volcano had more moisture in it, and she took a deep breath, filling her lungs. The vast green landscape reminded her so much of home. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and began to slide down her face. She sniffled and wiped them away.

She would never see Earth again. She was stuck in this place with these barbaric people. As hard as she had tried to maintain her composure throughout her first meeting with Salvatt, the attack on the landing pad had shaken her to the core.

She had watched her mate jump into the sky and decapitate a dragon right in front of her.

Not only that, he’d already had a smear of blood across his cheek, from some previous battle. The man had been fighting, killing even, just before she had arrived.

How was she supposed to live in this barbaric place? Murder and mayhem were rare on Earth in the modern era. People simply did not go about killing each other. The struggle for power and dominance upon Galaton was completely foreign to her. There hadn’t been violence or war on Earth since the Mulgor attack twenty-five years ago. Celeste had only been Shiloh’s age at the time.

Fear pulsed through her body, numbing her limbs and clenching her heart. Her mate was the ruler of these lands. She had learned enough about Galaton to know exactly what that meant. There had been a clear display of it right outside on the landing pad.

Salvatt was the most brutal, most dangerous dragon among them. That was what it meant to be Prince of the South. It wasn't a distinction that was given to him without a fight. The dragons of Galaton had become increasingly violent in the last several decades since their dwindling population of females had begun to die out. Now that no females were left, the males of Galaton were out of control. Yet her mate continued to dominate the fire lands.

Celeste was the only female to set foot on the planet since the last one had died a year ago. She felt as if her soul was being ripped apart inside her body at the thought. Nothing in her life had prepared her for a place like this or to be mated to a man who ruled here.

All the time she had spent traveling across the galaxy to Galaton, she had been watching the videos and still images of Salvatt as she rubbed the special mating cream over her swelling body. Even after her child had been born she'd been instructed to continue using the lotion. And each time she gazed upon his picture and spread the cream over her skin, she felt more bonded to him than she had before.

But now that she was here and she had met him in person, she realized that all of the feelings she had accumulated over the months of travel had been a fantasy. This man was nothing like the one she had been expecting. She had been well aware that he would be a warrior but she had somehow fooled herself into believing this wouldn’t bother her; that he would be different.

He had been nothing but civilized to her. But his display of power and dominance on the landing pad frightened her so completely that she didn't know if she could ever allow him to touch her.

Even though she knew all he was trying to do was protect her from a threat, the violence of it was imprinted on her mind. Celeste had never seen someone killed. She had never seen death dealt right in front of her. And it was something her consciousness rebelled against accepting.

She turned away from the view of the forest and walked back into her chamber, her padded steps silent on the cool tile floor. She pushed the hover cradle into the bedroom and set it beside the big soft bed that was waiting for her.

Celeste slipped out of her formal gown, finding her clothes already unpacked in her closet. She wished she’d brought something else with her to remind her of the life she had once lived on Earth.

Compared to Galaton, Earth was a civilized and peaceful place. Everyone was equally taken care of and humans and Draconians lived in harmony. Galaton was the exact opposite. There was no harmony among the Draconian males, only a constant struggle for dominance.

Salvatt believed that the birth of his heir would bring an end to the power struggle. But Celeste knew he couldn’t guarantee that. If one of these enraged males was able to get close to her and her son, they would no doubt kill them both in an attempt to gain control of the fire lands.

Celeste pulled on her favorite pair of red flannel pjs and climbed into the bed. She looked over at the hover cradle sitting beside her bed and laid her head against the pillow. Watching her baby sleep, she tried to calm herself and think about the good things that might happen between her and Salvatt here on Galaton.

He was her child's father. There was no denying that. She wanted to bond with him for the child's sake. That was the reason she had come here in the first place. He was her fated mate and therefore perfect for her in every way. That’s how it was supposed to be anyway.

She pressed her eyes closed, squeezing out more tears that dropped on the pillow. She wanted to believe that Salvatt could really love her and that she could really love him back.

But all she could see as she tried to sleep was him jumping into the air and decapitating a dragon right in front of her. The shock of it still reverberated through her blood, and she couldn't manage to rest for hours.

Celeste woke the next morning to the light of the sun shining through her window. It had been a year since she had been on the surface of a planet and had felt the rays of real sunshine on her skin. She pulled herself out of bed with new resolve. She had come to Galaton to be the bride and the mate of the prince of the South. It was her duty and her destiny. She would not fail.

She picked up little Shiloh and carried him into the kitchen of her apartment. There were already bottles of Draconian formula prepared for her in the refrigerator. All she had to do was put it on the warmer for thirty seconds before it was the perfect temperature for her baby.

She took her child and the bottle into the living room and sat at a sitting area to feed him.

He sucked hungrily, looking up at her with the most trusting, loving eyes. She absolutely adored little Shiloh. In the three months between his birth and their arrival on Galaton, Celeste had learned that she was capable of a whole new level of emotion. Her love and adoration for Shiloh were boundless.

Having him had given her almost everything she’d longed for before she’d left Earth. Shiloh was her heart and her soul, and she wanted more than anything to have a similar connection with his father. Shiloh deserved to have parents who loved each other and who looked at each other with the same level of adoration she felt for their child.

She thought of Salvatt as she gazed down at her baby who sucked away at his bottle. The fantasy she had created about Salvatt over the long months aboard the Rising Phoenix had been destroyed. The truth was that the barbaric man she had originally been terrified of really was the person she found waiting for her on Galaton.

He was a warrior, a chieftain, of this barbaric tribal civilization. She knew how much strength and courage it took to do what Salvatt had done on the landing pad. His abrupt decapitation of the dragon terrified her, but he had saved her and her baby. She should be grateful.

Shiloh finished his bottle but he still seemed hungry. Celeste stood from the couch, carrying her child. She took the empty bottle back to the kitchen and prepared them a second one. Shiloh was growing bigger every day and was becoming a curious young dragonling. He would have his first shift by age two. By then, she would be even more grateful to have his father in their lives.

She also knew that Shiloh’s tiny human form was in some ways a lie. Her child was a Draconian, through and through, just like his father. He was not a half-human. While Draconian DNA favored male offspring, it also dominated the genetics of any other race the Draconians mated with. All their offspring were one hundred percent Draconian. The only thing that remained was the X chromosome provided by the female. That X chromosome revitalized the genetic code of the Draconians and lasted through the generations for five thousand years.

The fact that her son was a full-blooded dragon did not make her love him any less. It did mean that as he grew, he would need his father more and more.

She grabbed the bottle when it was ready and took it back with her to settle down again with her baby. Shiloh drank down his second helping just as eagerly and soon wanted to play.

Celeste took Shiloh to a play area in the nursery and let him lie on his back under a multitude of hanging objects prepared specifically for her dragon child. He batted at the mirrors and toys hanging above him, grabbing onto a squeaking birdie and giggling.

Celeste watched her baby, adoration and pride bubbling in her heart. Her holocom flashed and it took her a moment to drag her eyes away from her son to tap it.

“Who is it?” she asked the integrated holocom system of the fortress. The AI allowed the visitor’s reply to come through the speakers in her room.

“Princess Celeste, it is your nanny. I have come to care for the little Prince while you prepare yourself for the day.”

“Please, come in,” she said. “We are in the nursery.”

The seven-foot-tall Draconian walked into the nursery and sat beside Shiloh on his play bed. Celeste watched the nanny watching her son for several moments, uncertain whether she felt comfortable leaving them alone together or not, but he seemed to know what he was doing.

“I'll leave you, then,” she said.

She walked out of the nursery and into her bedchamber to her private bathroom. The deep Draconian bath was already filled with hot water. She pulled out of her red flannel pajamas and dropped them on the floor. As she stood in front of the mirror to brush her hair, images of Salvatt appeared on the screen.

“Welcome, Princess Celeste,” the AI said.

Celeste rolled her eyes. She was so tired of talking to AI in the bathroom.

“Hi,” she replied.

“Please bathe yourself in preparation for Prince Salvatt,” the AI said. “When you are done bathing, please apply the mating cream.”

Celeste let out a deep sigh and turned to climb into the deep Draconian tub. The water felt wonderful against her skin. She’d been in a state of agitation since she’d arrived on Galaton the day before. A nice long soak in the tub was exactly what she needed. After washing her body and hair she lingered in the warm water until the AI reminded her to apply the mating cream.

She grumbled to herself as she climbed out of the tub and stood under the air drier.

When she was dry, she rubbed the mating cream all over her skin and then threw on a bathrobe. She walked through her room and peered into the nursery briefly to check on little Shiloh.

She stepped back into her bedroom and walked into her closet. All of her things had been arranged in her closet as they had been on the ship. But there were new offerings included in the wardrobe now. The new garments were of a style she had never seen before.

The cut of the gowns suggested something from the deep past on earth, similar to the way Salvatt’s armor reminded her of a medieval knight. This dress reminded her of the medieval lady in a similar way. If the knight and lady lived in a space age future and everything was made of high-tech material. She looked at the gown, considering whether or not she should wear it. Wearing a Galatonian gown may be a good way to connect with her mate.

She slid into the pale pink dress and tied the corset at the front. The long skirt flowed around her to the ground. It was less fluid and flowy than the gown from Draconia, and was far more constrained.

The corseted part cinched her waist and accentuated the curves of her breasts. She regarded herself in the mirror and turned from side to side, inspecting her appearance. When she was satisfied that she looked all right in the gown, she finished her hair and makeup at the vanity in her bedroom.

With all of the automated gadgets for hair and makeup, she was done with her preparation only a few moments later. She stood and walked back to the nursery to inform the nanny that she would be going down for breakfast.

She had agreed to meet Salvatt the next morning to discuss preparation for the mating ritual. She only hoped that when it came time, she could allow him to do what needed to be done.

* * *

Salvatt answered the hail from Admiral Ikoro, flicking his finger across his wrist to bring up his holocom.

“What is it Admiral?” he said, unable to think of anything but his bride.

“There is a matter that needs your attention, sir,” Ikoro stated.

“I am to meet my bride in mere moments. Can’t this wait?”

“I’m afraid not, sir. There is great unrest with the lords of the south. They are calling for blood. We must put down this threat.”

“I’ll meet you on the landing pad,” Salvatt said.

The last thing he wanted was to fight another bloody battle against his own men. The call of the dragon inside his head was already driving him mad. He’d waited all these long months to be with his bride, and now, she’d finally arrived.

The will it had taken to keep her out of his thoughts had been enough to drive him past his limits. After all this time, she was still so far away from him. He could see the fear in her eyes, and it killed him.

He’d hoped that taking a civilized morning meal with the Earthling would help matters. But now he was being called away for more brutal battle. How could this sensitive flower love a man with blood on his hands?

He knew he shouldn’t care. He was prince of the south. A dragon lord. Ruler of the land of fire. Why should he care what a puny human thought of him? But he did. There was no denying that.

He’d longed for her all this time. From the first moment he’d laid eyes on her beautiful face and curvy, petite body, he’d known he’d do anything for her. He’d die for her. What’s more, he’d do whatever it took to show her his heart.

He strode down the hall to the elevator, gritting his teeth against the onslaught of his dragon’s vicious anger. The inner beast knew he was walking away from his bride, and the dragon couldn’t be more enraged.

Salvatt rubbed his eyes as the elevator doors swished opened. He walked quickly down to the landing pad where Admiral Ikoro waited beside Salvatt’s speeder.

“What lords are uprising this time?” Salvatt said, his voice wearier than he’d planned to let on.

“The Salimo clan near the volcano is moving into the lands of the Harish clan. It’s a blood bath that must be stopped.”

“You were right to alert me to this issue, Ikoro.”

“I apologize for taking you from your bride, sir, but you are the only dragon strong enough to stop them.”

“I can hold on for a few more hours,” Salvatt said, although, he wasn’t sure it was completely true.

He couldn’t get the scent of his mate out of his head. He needed her, longed for her. Every moment he spent away from her side, drove him a little closer to the edge of sanity. He feared that when he finally did go to her, he would lose what little control he had left.

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt or scare her more than the situation already had. For all the bloody battles he’d fought and won in his long life, Salvatt Dorr longed only for the gentle embrace of his sweet, little human mate, and the happiness of family love.