Shay left Ella in their bedroom, sleeping under a thick blanket. He shut off the light, allowing her to rest peacefully in bed.

The trip back to Galaton would be a treacherous one. The Mulgor were still two weeks away, but he felt it was time to start preparing his ship and his crew for battle. They had been lucky to slip by the Mulgor the first time, but Shay feared they would not be so lucky this time. The ship’s cloaking shields had malfunctioned in the last warp jump, and the crew were still busy at work repairing them.

As a warrior, it was difficult for Shay to run and hide when he knew that it was Galaton that would have to eventually defeat the Mulgor in their trade routes. Draconia had refused to send military force against the Mulgor, and if Galaton wanted to bring additional brides for their dragons then they would need to make the routes safe for everyone.

The dragons back on Galaton had already begun amassing an army. Shay wanted to fight like the dragon that he was, and rid their trade routes from the dark force of the Mulgor. He went to the cockpit and sat in the pilot's chair beside his copilot. They were about to make their first jump into warp speed since bringing Ella onboard.

On the journey to the bride ship, the next solar system in the route had been empty. There were only a few useless planets orbiting a dying sun. He slid his hand over the holographic control panel, powering the warp drive to full. Then he hit the button to blast them off.

When they slowed to normal speed after the jump, Shay saw a squadron of Mulgor fighter jets. The mothership was nowhere to be found, but that didn't mean that these fighter jets weren’t a threat.

“We're going to see some action,” he said, flicking his holocom to call Ella. “Strap yourself in, my darling. This may be bumpy.”

He didn't want anything to happen to his bride or his heir now growing inside her belly, but everything in him knew that as a warrior and as a prince he had to address this threat face on. He couldn't turn tail and run even if he’d wanted to. The warp drive needed twenty-four hours to power back up before they could make another jump.

His copilot switched over to manual control for Shay, and the prince gripped the wheel, charging directly toward the oncoming jets.

He flicked his thumb over the holo-button on top of the wheel, causing his laser beams to shoot out from the front of his ship, hitting the first oncoming fighter jet.

It exploded right in front of them and Shay propelled his ship at a ninety-degree angle upward, leaving the exploding fighter jet behind him. Three more ships came at him from every direction. He used his superior dragon senses and swirled around in a spiral as he dove. He shot at the first fighter jets, and darted out of the way just as the second fighter jets flew into the exploding debris. The copilot fired as Shay dove the Black Spear to the right at amazing velocity, leaving both fighter jets to explode in his wake.

He thrust the ship vertically, propelling through space directly towards the last fighter jet. He and his copilot shot at it but it darted away. This fighter jet pilot was more skilled than the last three had been. But Shay knew it was no match for the Water Prince of Galaton.

He angled upward and circled back around, coming down in a ninety-degree angle while spinning. He shot at the fighter jet, and this time it could not escape the blitzkrieg of laser fire. The fourth ship exploded in front of him.

He had disposed of all four fighter jets in the area, but Shay knew that they would not be the last. The Mulgor now had his location and these jets would have sent word to the mothership. He had to be on alert until his warp drive could power up again and take them into the next solar system. Shay flicked over his holocom to call Ella.

“You can go back to bed, my darling,” he said.

“What happened?” she gasped. He heard the sound of her unlatching her harness. “I was scared half to death.”

“The Mulgor have found us, but we have disposed of the jets in this solar system. It is safe to go back to sleep. I will join you soon.”

Shay remained in the cockpit for quite some time, patrolling the system with telescopic technology, looking for additional Mulgor. When he was satisfied, he decided he could finally go.

He told his pilot to take over. Shay rose from his chair, wanting to spend at least a few moments in bed with his bride. He walked down the hallway of his ship, slipped through the door, and climbed back under the blankets naked with his darling Ella. She let out a soft moan, but her eyes did not open. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her against his chest, gently stroking her hair.

He did not wish to wake her, but everything in him wanted to taste her flesh and lick the slick moisture of her sex again.

Just at the thought of it, his cock grew stiff with need and his inner dragon roared to claim the woman sleeping in bed beside him. He could not stomach the idea of waking her after the scare of the attack.

Instead, he reached under the blankets and began to slowly stroke himself with his big fist. She stirred in his arms but her eyes did not open. Shay's hand stroked faster and faster, the smell of her earlier arousal still heavy in the air. He would never be able to get enough of this woman.

Each drop of his synthesized seed had brought her body closer to being able to accept his huge shaft. Without the genetic alteration to her DNA, a human woman would never be able to take a Draconian’s phallus into her tight little pussy.

His seed, fresh and abundant from his cock, was the only way to make the transition take place. Each time he rubbed it on her flesh, she grew closer and more ready to accept him.

Just thinking of sinking his cock inside her wet, warm core made him grow rigid and ready to release. He pressed his eyes closed and came. His seed spilled against her round stomach and he groaned. Holding her in his arms, he rubbed the hot seed over her round belly and dipped it between her legs, rubbing it over her slick sex, still wet from his mouth.

Spent, Shay lay on the pillow and closed his eyes. He needed a few hours’ sleep to ensure he was ready if the Mulgor attacked again. Soon he was breathing heavily into the sweet smell of Ella’s hair.

Shay woke to the sound of sirens blaring and shot from his bed. Ella screamed and covered her mouth, her eyes wide with fear.

He leaned in and kissed her forehead, hating to see her distraught for even one second.

“It's the Mulgor,” he said. “They’re in the system.”

“What are we going to do?” she demanded.

The fear in her voice was palpable and it filled the room. All Shay wanted with every fiber of his being was to keep her safe.

“Stay here and strap yourself in. I'm going to take care of this, my beloved. I will not let you down,” he kissed her once again and hurried out of their bedroom, flicking the spot on his neck that made his uniform extend and cover his naked flesh. He left their chamber and hurried to the cockpit where his copilot was already trying to outmaneuver a new squadron of Mulgor fighter jets.

As he sat behind the wheel, he saw the mothership materialize at the edge of the system. He spat out the most profane Draconian swearword at the sight of it. There was no way that the Galatonian military could arrive in time to help them. He would have to take care of this threat himself.

Luckily, they only had a few minutes before the warp drive was ready to jump again. They could warp into the next solar system, leaving the jets and the mothership behind.

“How are we on those cloaking shields?” he shouted to the technical crew.

“We still have a whole sector to repair,” the technician said.

Shay growled.

A fleet of at least twenty fighter jets swarmed toward the Black Spear. Even for a pilot of Shay’s skill and strength in battle, twenty was a lot. Not to mention the mothership.

He opened his senses, taking in all of the jets in the three-dimensional map on his holo-screen. He shot into overdrive, flipping his ship vertically as he dove through the fray. He took out the first ship with his laser fire and it exploded right in front of him. He shot upward, as the other ships charged toward him. Several ships smashed into each other but the rest of them continued to give chase.

Shay was not a dragon who ran, but he knew he would never be able to defeat this force on his own. He would take out as many of them as he could before his warp drive came online.

“Warp drive online in five minutes,” his copilot said.

“Very good,” Shay said. The copilot was firing the other guns at the Mulgor fighter jets while Shay maneuvered expertly through the swarm. His agile ship and his expert skill allowed him to outmaneuver the ship and trick them into smashing into each other more than once. It was a trick that he had learned in his many battles in air, on land and underwater. It made him a formidable foe even against two dozen Mulgor fighters.

His ship screamed through space toward the mothership. Everything in him wanted to send out the biggest missile to breach the mothership hull. He thought he might for a split second before he changed his trajectory. He smashed his fist on the big red button that let fly his biggest missile.

The missile shot through space, hurtling toward the mothership. The mothership was still letting out masses of fighter jets. The Mulgor were stupid and cowardly; they didn't expect Shay to attack. The missile hit the hull directly, exploding.

Fire erupted in the Mulgor mothership and the fighter jets turned back to home.

Shay just laughed and licked his lips. That was what they got for messing with the Water Prince of Galaton. They’d threatened his mate. They’d threatened his planet. They would pay.

“Warp drive online in thirty seconds,” his copilot said.

“Countdown,” Shay said. “Five, four, three, two, one.”

Shay pushed his finger up the holographic screen, activating the warp drive. His body was slammed against his chair as the ship accelerated with mind-boggling speed, shooting through the wrinkle in space and propelling out into the next solar system.

His ship emerged in a solar system with a healthy young star and several orbiting rocky planets.

There were no Mulgor in the system, but Shay knew that wouldn't last very long. The Mulgor would know about the mothership by now. This wouldn’t be the last battle he’d have to fight.