The council chamber was lit in an eerie red. Here and there, rocks that had been heated by the fire dragons’ attack were still glowing like giant embers.

One after the other, they were snuffed out like candles—by Damon, Autumn assumed.

The strength of the earth was still vibrating through him. Autumn could feel it through the bond, which seemed to have grown even stronger.

Or maybe it was just the energy coming off Damon in uncontrolled bursts. It was so strong that she could feel it against her skin, a pulsating something that made the hair stand up on the back of her neck.

Like electricity, but deeper, older—more powerful.

She gave him a worried look. Surely now that the attack was over and the fire dragons had retreated, Damon could rest?

She could feel his weariness through the bond as well. Of course, it would be just like him to cling to his sense of duty even past exhaustion...

Well, she might love him for his loyalty to what he thought was right, but that didn’t mean she’d let him work himself into a burnout.

She grabbed his hand and pressed it tightly. “After this, we rest. I’m exhausted, and so are you.”

He gave her an almost surprised look, which quickly turned into gratefulness. Now that she held his hand, it felt like the random bursts of energy sizzling against her skin had weakened a little.

“After this, we rest,” he agreed, then turned to eye Braeden. “After we’ve repaired your cell, that is. Either that, or the chimera can babysit you himself.”

The fire dragon scowled, and Autumn had to bite back an exhausted smile. These two really were like fire and water.

Then Damon stopped so abruptly that Braeden barreled into him. Damon’s grip on Autumn’s hand tightened so that she gasped in shock, expected another enemy to attack at any moment.

“What’s wrong?” Her heart was racing as she looked around the cave.

Damon nodded to the side of the huge cave.

Frowning, Autumn followed his gaze. There was nothing there to see. No fire dragons—just the stone plinths that had always stood there.

She skimmed past them—then froze and inspected them again.

There was the first plinth with the symbol of air. Next to it, the plinth with the symbol of earth. The third plinth, with the glowing symbol of water.

Those had been all that was standing in the council chamber when she’d first arrived with Damon. She was one hundred percent certain of it—the event had been scary enough that it had burned itself into her memory.

But now, a fourth plinth had appeared out of nowhere.

It rose out of the stone of the cave like the other plinths. It was intimidating in size, made for the body of an adult dragon to perch on.

There was no symbol on it. Even so, it looked exactly like the other three.

“Things are changing,” the voice of the chimera boomed out of the darkness. “Things are changing, and I don’t like it at all. Prisoner, do you have any idea about this?”

“Wait,” Autumn said, her heart beating in her throat as she turned to stare at Braeden. “Earth, water, air—and fire. Aren’t those the four elements?”

Braeden remained silent as he stared at the fourth plinth, his jaw clenched.

“No.” Damon’s voice was little more than a growl. “It’s some trickery of the fire dragons who got in. There hasn’t been a master of the fire for a thousand years. And there won’t be. Not if I have any say in it. There’s no place for those murderous fire dragons on the council, and there’ll never be.”

As Autumn watched, Damon reached out with his powers. Through their growing bond, she could feel the strain it put on him to send his energy into the large plinth.

Sweat was running down Damon’s face as he struggled. Every muscle in his body tightened, his eyes turning dark like the rock that had risen from the ground. In her mind, Autumn could hear a strange buzzing, echoing from somewhere deep inside Damon.

“Oh, stop it before you hurt yourself,” the chimera growled out of the shadows. “Do you think I haven’t tried myself to make it vanish?”

The chimera’s voice rose all of a sudden. “I am the master of the council,” he roared. “I will not allow any treachery to undermine the council of elements. You seek to rule the earth and subjugate all humans. Fire will have no seat on the council!”

At that exact moment, the fourth plinth began to glow. Autumn felt her stomach twist with shock when she saw the symbol which had suddenly burst into brilliant light.

Fire.

It was the outline of a flame that now glowed in the rock of the new plinth.

Somewhere behind her, Braeden had begun to laugh.

“You,” Damon growled, twisting around and reaching out to grab the fire dragon’s arm. “You know what’s going on!”

“I haven’t got the slightest idea,” Braeden said, still chuckling. “Like I know anything of importance! But I do know that you’ve got a problem now.”

“There’s more to this.” Damon glared fiercely at the captive shifter. “You’re of the fire as well. You’d know if there was a new master of the element among you. There hasn’t been one for as long as the council has existed.”

“Seems like that has changed.” Braeden shrugged. “I know nothing about a master of the fire. No one among us went by that name, as far as I know.”

“But there’s a leader among you?” Autumn demanded. “You’ve got to have someone who planned all of this.”

Braeden’s mouth snapped shut. He stared at her for a long moment, then guiltily looked away. “He’s never called himself master of the fire. But... he’s powerful. More powerful than me, or anyone else I knew.”

“So you admit it,” Damon said. “What’s his name? Where’s he hiding?”

Braeden remained silent.

“They wanted to kill you,” Autumn said softly. “Do you really think they deserve your loyalty?”

Braeden at last met her eyes. “To kill me is to free me. Better to be dead than to be a traitor.”

“But you don’t even agree with what they want! You could have killed me in your cell, but instead you tried to protect me from them!”

“I don’t agree with them anymore,” Braeden said slowly. “And I wouldn’t help their cause anymore, even if I were free. If I were free, I’d want to explore the earth and learn. But I’m still not a traitor. They’re my kin.”

Autumn sighed in frustration as Damon tightened his grip on Braeden.

“You go back into the cell,” Damon said firmly. “We’re not letting you fly around creating havoc all over the earth.”

“I wouldn’t,” Braeden said quietly, his gaze resting on the ground.

Still, he didn’t resist when the chimera ended the audience and Damon took him back down into the tunnels to seal him into his cell.

***

Half an hour later, Autumn and Damon had finally found refuge in a small cave that had been furnished as a bedroom. It wasn’t as luxurious as Damon’s mansion, but it was clearly intended for dragon shifters in human form. There were old, expensive-looking paintings covering the walls. There were also tapestries showing dragons and other mythical beast, which Autumn assumed were genuinely medieval, and the lamps and mirrors were made of actual gold and silver.

It was a cozy retreat for a dragon, but right now Autumn was most grateful for the soft, heavy blankets and the large bed that made her feel as if she was sleeping on a cloud.

“I almost lost you,” Damon murmured against her neck.

He was spooning her, his arms wrapped tightly around her to hold her close. The sensation of his hot breath against her neck made her shiver. Even now, she could feel him against her thigh, hot and half-hard despite the exhaustion that pulsed through the bond and made her wish to sleep for days.

“Sleep,” she said gently, resting her own hand over his.

Against her back, she could feel the calming sensation of his powerful heartbeat.

Damon was alive. She was safe. Everything would be well.

And they could deal with everything else in the morning.

Damon sighed against her hair, the sound turning into a yawn halfway through.

Autumn bit back a smile, concentrating on the golden glow of the bond that warmed her entire body, now that they were resting skin to skin.

Everything was as it should be.

“I love you,” Damon murmured as he sank into sleep.

Quietly, Autumn smiled to herself.

“I love you, too,” she said, and then she closed her eyes. The smile was still on her lips as she gave herself over to the golden light of the bond drawing her into sleep.

***

“Shit!”

Autumn was woken rather abruptly by a loud crash and Damon’s cursing.

When she sat up, blinking against the last vision of the happy dream about a tropical beach vacation she’d had, she found Damon giving her a sheepish look. He was surrounded by the remains of the nice, golden mirror she’d admired the day before.

Right now, the glass was resting in splinters on the ground, while the golden frame dangled from a spike of rock, which was protruding from what had been a smooth wall the night before.

“What happened?” she asked blearily, rubbing her eyes.

“Um,” Damon said. “I seem to have a little problem.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t call it little.” Autumn grinned when she gave his naked body a pointed look. He was gorgeous in the light that fell in through the one window in the opposite wall of the cave. His muscles gleamed in the light. There was a slight sheen of sweat, as if he’d worked out before she’d woken up—and most importantly, he was aroused, his body calling out for her touch.

“But it’s definitely a problem I can help with. Why don’t you come back to bed?” Autumn pulled down the sheets a little, wriggling in what she hoped was a sexy way.

Damon swallowed, his eyes going wide.

“No, I mean yes, I mean—it’s not that,” he said hastily, his voice rough as he stared at her with obvious hunger.

A moment later, he grimaced and clutched his head.

“Damn,” he muttered.

This time, Autumn could feel the wave of power that rolled off him, echoing through the room like a stray bullet.

Near the window, the wall cracked. Fortunately, no painting was hanging in that spot, because a moment later, something was sprouting from the crack—tiny tendrils that grew rapidly into branches, which abruptly burst into flower.

“Um,” Autumn said as she stared at the wall, which was suddenly half covered in fragrant, white blossoms.

“Yeah.” He gave her a weak smile. “Sorry about that.”

“What’s going on?” This time, she drew the sheets tightly around her as she sat up.

It wasn’t a fire dragon attack, so that was good. But whatever it was, it made Damon uneasy—and it was hurting him too. She could feel the strain on him through the bond now as another random wave of wild energy burst free from him.

He grimaced, his jaw clenching as his muscles strained. Then a stalactite of gleaming crystal came bursting out of the ground, shimmering in brilliant hues of rose and blue in the sunlight.

“Whoops,” Damon said. “At least it didn’t destroy anything.”

“Something’s happening,” Autumn said. “Something’s happening to you.”

All of a sudden she understood why he looked like he’d been working out. How long had he been awake, straining to hold back whatever this power was doing to him?

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” he said with a grimace. “It’s just that when I thought I was about to lose you, my dragon seems to have come into his full powers.”

“Which means what exactly?” she asked suspiciously. “That no matter where we go, we’ll have crystals and flowers growing around us?”

Damon winced when a second crystalline structure came bursting out of a wall.

“A mated alpha dragon can control his powers,” he said softly. “The mate bond balances it.”

“Oh,” Autumn said, her mouth suddenly dry as she stared at him. She licked her lips, trying not to look at where he was already gorgeously erect with arousal and need. Need for her. “So I guess that means we’ve got no choice but to do the mating? Or you’ll turn the council chamber into a florist’s shop...”

“Maybe I’ll create a new vein of gold,” Damon joked weakly. “The place could use some redecorating.”

Then he took a deep breath and reached out to take her hand. At the touch, heat rushed through Autumn, her clit tingling with the same, overwhelming desire that had Damon breathless.

But this time, it wasn’t the dragon’s land trying to influence her. This time, it was her own body burning with need for his touch, because she wanted him. Because she loved him, her loyal, sexy, protective dragon of the earth.

“You don’t have to do it.” Damon clenched his teeth as a new wave of power throbbed through them, one corner of the cave starting to shimmer as if the rock there had turned to silver. “It’s not right. It’s not how I want you—sacrificing yourself to save me from this. I want to claim you at home. I want to make it good for you. Shower you with my gems and decorate you with golden necklaces and strings of pearl—”

Autumn laughed. A heartbeat later, she was in his arms, pressing herself tightly against his hot body as he groaned into her hair.

“Don’t be stupid,” she muttered fiercely. “Do you think that matters to me? You matter. You’re all I want—not your gems or your pearls. Do you think I’d be happy if you’re suffering because you think I want a fancy wedding, or mating ceremony or whatever?”

“We’d still have a ceremony,” Damon said hoarsely. “I want to see you in a white gown, with diamonds in your hair—”

“And you can have that,” Autumn promised, gently framing his face with her hands. She pulled him into a kiss, the feral power that came off him growing less intense at last, while the golden glow of the bond between them increased.

“Claim me,” she whispered against his lips, her entire body throbbing with need. “Mate me. No matter where or how—I want you, only you.”

Damon groaned. A heartbeat later, she found herself in his arms, carried over to the bed.

There was a sudden, strange rumble, and the sweet scent of flowers grew more intense. When she turned her head, she saw that the small window in the wall of the cave had widened so much that they now had a perfect panorama view of the endless stretch of clouds below them that encircled the mountain. The sun was shining brightly, illuminating the clouds so that it seemed like they were surrounded by an ocean of gold.

And through the large window, new vines had crept in, bursting into brilliant flowers. Roses, honeysuckle and lilacs, in brilliant hues of red, yellow, purple and white, were covering nearly the entire wall of the cave.

The view was stunning—and at that moment, it was all Autumn wanted. Why would she want to wait for pearls and gold when she already had all she needed? She had sunlight, the beauty of nature—and she had her mate.

Damon’s eyes were gleaming like gold as he looked at her. She reached out a hand to trail it through his disheveled hair, smiling as she remembered the moment she’d first seen him, rising like a viking god from the lagoon in Iceland.

She hadn’t known it then—but she’d really seen a warrior. A dragon warrior.

“Your dragon warrior. Forever,” he whispered hoarsely. Then he lowered his head, his warm mouth finding her nipple as his hands gently caressed her breasts.

His tongue was hot, and she moaned as he ran it all around the aching, taut bud. Between her legs, her clit was pulsing. She was wet already. As he continued to tease her nipple, he trailed a hand down, his fingers gently exploring her wet folds.

The touch drew a gasp from her. She was already so sensitive that she wanted nothing more than the incredible feeling of him inside her—but he took his time, his tongue teasing her nipple until she was trembling, biting her lips to hold back her moans.

Then, at last, he released her—only to kiss his way downward instead.

Breathlessly, she realized what was going to happen again. Everything inside her tightened at the memory of how overwhelming it had felt the first time.

Then his mouth was on her, kissing her between her legs as if she was the most precious treasure, his tongue hot against her folds as he explored her. His hand gently nudged her thigh, and she allowed herself to be spread open willingly, trembling as he licked into her, then up again to circle her clit.

It was as good as the first time, like nothing she’d ever felt before. Throb after throb of pleasure ran all the way through her entire body. Heat filled her from head to toes, expanding like ripples of water—and still he didn’t stop. His tongue caressed her while he slid a first finger inside her, twisting it a little to rub against her. As if on command, heat exploded at his touch, her entire body tensing around him as she came.

He didn’t stop, even as she was gasping his name. His tongue kept fanning her flames until she was breathless, consumed by fire, writhing beneath him as he drove her from orgasm to orgasm. She hadn’t even known that it was possible to come so much, but he knew how to play her body as if she was an exquisite instrument. Every time the hot pulse of pleasure started to recede, he drove her over the edge again.

At last, nearly out of her mind with need for him, she reached down to bury her hands in his hair. Dizzily, she moaned his name as she tugged his head up.

“Claim me,” she gasped. “Mate me. I need to feel you.”

He moved over her, every single gorgeous muscle on display as he held himself above her on hands and knees. Then he reached out to take hold of her wrists. His strong fingers encircled her wrists. For a moment, the metallic sheen of his eyes intensified as another wave of power rolled off him.

Then he took his hands away, and Autumn gasped as she saw the jewelry that had appeared out of nowhere. Bracelets of pure gold now encircled her wrists, the metal worked in delicate swirls that formed an intricate pattern, decorated with tiny diamonds gleaming like stars.

“With my gold I claim you as my mate,” Damon said huskily. “My hoard is yours. My heart is yours. From now until the end of time itself.”

“Forever,” Autumn breathed, her chest rising and falling rapidly as the gold around her wrists tingled.

And then—at last—Damon’s hips came forward. His rock-hard erection slowly slid into her, filling her so perfectly that she was trembling around him, clutching at his shoulders.

With thrust after thrust, Damon claimed her, every slide of his hard shaft inside her making her clench around him at how good it felt.

The sensation was incredible. It wasn’t just the touch of his skin on her overly sensitized body. There was also the golden light of the mate bond which seemed to keep gaining in intensity.

At last, it was so bright that Autumn had to close her eyes. All she could feel was the weight of Damon and the flexing of his muscles beneath her hands. He felt so good inside her that she wanted it to go on forever. Her hands slid down his back as she clenched her thighs around his hips, encouraging him to take her harder, deeper, to claim her and never, ever let her go again—

And then, his breath hot against her skin, Damon groaned her name. His powerful body tensed as his hips came forward two, three times, the hot rush of his release filling her.

Heat streamed through Autumn like a shower of golden light.

Through the bond, she could feel his pleasure as keenly as her own. And then her own climax broke over her with all the strength of a storm. Dimly, she could hear herself crying out his name, her clit pulsing again and again as she trembled.

The pleasure was incredible. She was carried away by it like a boat in a storm, the light of Damon’s love filling her until nothing else seemed to exist.

And then, little by little, she came back to herself. Damon had rolled off her and drawn her tightly into his arms. She could feel his breath hot against her lips, and when she opened her eyes, she could see him smile.

At her wrists, the new bracelets were still warm, as if a small part of Damon’s essence filled them.

She ran a curious finger over one, tracing the swirls of gold.

“I still want to decorate you with all of my treasures,” he murmured, “but you’re right. You’re all I need. My most precious treasure.”

She felt her smile widening. “So we’re mated now?”

Damon nodded. “Forever,” he said earnestly.

Then he leaned forward to kiss her until she sighed against his lips, utterly exhausted and content.

Maybe getting hunted by fire dragons wasn’t the adventure she’d been hoping for when she’d booked that trip to Iceland. But right now, she’d gladly go through it all again a hundred times if it meant that she’d get to wake up next to this sexy shifter in her bed every single day for the rest of her life.