Kiss the Dragon (Maidens Book One) Read Online Free Page A

dragon-y. All I saw, though, were four handsome men. If Alec hadn’t been throwing fire earlier, I would have doubted the truth of Malcolm’s words.
    “Aye,” Alec said.
    “And every dragon must find his maiden afore his fire burns him up inside,” Niall added.
    “So Alec and I, you think we’re…” I trailed off, pointing from the big man to me and back again, unable to finish the sentence.
    Malcolm nodded. “You’re his maiden.”
    “What does that mean exactly?” I looked from Malcolm to Alex trying to make sense of what they were telling me.
    “We’re destined to be together,” Alec said.
    “What does that mean?” I asked again.
    “In the old days, you would have been married the day you met,” Gavin said with a smirk. He reminded me of a cat that liked to toy with its prey. I wished I had a spray bottle I could shoot him with. That had always worked when my cat got out of line.
    “I can’t get married,” I said, horrified. Suddenly, I wished I had some of that Scotch in my tea. I could have used the liquid courage. I looked at Alec who didn’t seem any more thrilled than I was.
    “Don’t you feel it, lass?” asked Niall looking confused.
    “Feel what?”
    Alec cut me off. “Aye, she does.”
    “How do you know what I feel?” I glared at the man.
    “Because I feel it, too.” He turned his head, hazel gaze meeting mine square on. “What do you think that kiss was about?”
    “I-I don’t know,” I said. The voice had pushed me into that kiss, literally shoving me into Alec like I was a dog in heat. My stomach sank as the truth hit me.
    You set me up, I thought at it, furious. You knew this would happen. My hands curled into fists and I resisted the intense urge to pound myself in the stomach. The voice couldn’t be punished or hurt or touched, but I could. I’d learned that the hard way.
    “We’ve been waiting on you for a long time,” said Malcolm.
    “Me?”
    “Not you specifically. Someone like you. A maiden. A true mate,” added Niall. “You’re just the first one to show up.”
    “How many are you expecting?”
    “One for each of us. That’s how I set the spell.” Malcolm added more scotch to his tea as he spoke.
    My eyes widened. “You called me here?”
    He nodded. “You seem to be more than a maiden, though lass. Why don’t you tell us what you are and why you’re in trouble?”
    “Mayhap we can help,” Niall added.
    I dodged Malcolm’s question by draining my teacup. I barely knew these men. There was no way I could tell them what I was. No way that wouldn’t lead to more problems for me. Worse, they were meddling in my life with their spells.
    Tell, said the voice.
    Are you crazy? Not happening, I seethed at the voice. Outwardly, I smiled as Niall jumped to refill my cup while the other men sat patiently waiting for my response.
    The voice kept pushing. Tell. Tell. Tell.
    I shoved back. No way in hell.
    Power surged through me, spreading from my gut until it covered all of me. The voice was taking over, forcing me to do things its way. I bit back a scream, turning it into a grunt instead. All the men instantly went on high alert, aware that something was happening.
    “I havna felt such power in a long time,” Malcolm said, his eyes narrowed and expression guarded.
    I gave in, letting the voice have its way. If I didn’t, it would tell its own version of the story and I wanted control over how my secrets came out. That didn’t mean I liked it, though, and when I spoke, it was through gritted teeth. “I was hit by lightning ten years ago.” I lifted my shirt to show them the white lines that criss-crossed my stomach. The lines ran up and down the right side of my body, marking the ripples of electricity that had shocked me. “I died three times. At least that’s what the doctors told me. When I came to, I had this voice, this thing inside me.” I gestured to my stomach, where I most often felt its presence.
    “What was it?” asked Gavin leaning