Conquered Destiny (Great Plains Dragon Feud Book 1) Read online

  Conquered Destiny

  Emilia Hartley

  All Rights Reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, businesses and incidents are from the author’s imagination, or they are used fictitiously and are definitely fictionalized. Any trademarks or pictures herein are not authorized by the trademark owners and do not in any way mean the work is sponsored by or associated with the trademark owners. Any trademarks or pictures used are specifically in a descriptive capacity.

  Copyright 2021 © Emilia Hartley

  Emilia’s Heartlies

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  What’s Next In the Great Plains Dragon Feud Series?

  More Emilia Hartley Series

  Heartlies Box Sets

  Thank you!

  1

  Baylee Barnes knew she was staring down trouble, but tempting fate was her favorite pastime. The bonfire cackled with glee as it illuminated the field at the edge of the woods. Through the sea of people that milled around it, she saw him.

  A lock of his mahogany hair had escaped its bonds and fallen over his forehead. The firelight flickered in his eyes like small glimpses of the dragon she knew he kept beneath his skin. What looked like a talon hung from a strip of leather around his neck. A thicker strip of leather with the letters G.M. tooled into it hugged his wrist.

  Gale Montoya.

  Baylee’s dragon brushed against her skin. She inhaled sharply, tasting him on the autumn air. Her beast trilled inside her. The hunt had begun.

  The human part of her brain screamed at her. The Montoyas were off limits. She’d grown up on tales of warning, always told that the Montoya men would whisk her away against her will. It had happened to her great-grandmother. A Montoya dragon man had taken Elliana Barnes, and by the time her family got her back, she had become a husk of her former self.

  But a tingle of excitement rushed through Baylee when Gale looked up. Their eyes locked over the dancing flames. She bit her lip as he stared.

  It was only one night.

  Defiance of everything her family stood for made her blood run hot. She playfully ducked her head and tucked her hair behind her ear before stealing another glance at Gale. She let her lips part and hoped he would see it as an invitation before she slipped into the darkness of the woods.

  Baylee’s future had been planned out for her, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t use the time she had left to her advantage. If she had to walk a path laid out for her, at least she would go knowing that she’d done something no other Barnes had done in generations.

  Gale’s beast thrashed beneath his skin. He kept the monster at bay, for letting it take control of him while he was surrounded by so many humans wouldn’t have been a good idea. He watched the woman with short black hair and knee-high combat boots disappear into the shadows like a witch.

  The scent of red currants coated his tongue and made the beast growl deep inside him. It dragged him forward. He needed to find her. He needed to know if she tasted the way she smelled.

  A hand on his forearm stopped him. His cousin, Cash, gave him a questioning look.

  “Are you alright?”

  Gale nodded without thinking. “Yeah. I’m just going to go take a piss. I’ll be right back.”

  The lie fell from his lips all too easily. His beast hadn’t yet settled. If he wasn’t careful, Cash would be able to see it in his eyes. But Cash nodded and released him without question.

  Hungry, Gale turned back to the woods where the scent of red currants drifted around him. He tracked it deep into the evening shadows. A feminine laugh sounded from somewhere ahead of him. It made his core tight. His blood boiled before flowing south.

  She smelled of dragon, but no dragon he’d ever met. What were the chances of meeting another dragon woman here, at a bonfire party thrown by humans?

  The sound of Cash’s guitar faded away as Gale pushed deeper. She had to be here somewhere. He’d heard her. He could smell her. He flexed his fists because he wanted nothing more than to feel her in his hands. His growl escaped his lips as he prowled.

  “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist.” She grabbed his wrist and tugged.

  At the sight of her freckled skin, Gale’s beast leapt into action. He broke her hold on him, grabbed her by her upper arms, and shoved her against the nearest tree. Her laughter shone like the stars above. The sound of it nearly stole his breath. What finally did him in was the pale stretch of her exposed neck as her head fell back.

  A part of him knew that she was a dragon shifter, like himself. There was only one other family of dragon shifters in the area, but Gale didn’t want to think about that. His beast’s hunger drove him to press his face against the crook of her neck and inhale.

  She shuddered in his hands. Need gripped him. He couldn’t stop. He dragged his teeth against her skin, only barely resisting the urge to bite down. She lifted a leg and wrapped it around his waist to keep him trapped against her body.

  “What’s a little beast like you doing in my neck of the woods?” he asked, voice low and hoarse from need.

  A small whimper left her. “Tempting fate.”

  Gale willfully ignored the implications behind those words. There was no way she would be one of them. His beast would never allow him near a Barnes woman. Gale knew better.

  The woman in his arms must have been passing through. He didn’t mind showing her a good night before she went on her way.

  She took him by his hair and tugged his head back. Before he could react, she nipped the tip of his chin. Chills cascaded through him. He tightened his grip on the little temptress. There was a feisty dragon in her, one that he thoroughly wanted to enjoy tonight.

  He released his hold on her arms. With one hand on her throat, he found the hem of her skirt with the other. Her eyes flashed with the light of her dragon. Gale hesitated, unsure if that was a warning or an invitation.

  “Tighter,” she breathed, her mischievous grin succumbing to ecstasy as he followed orders.

  He slid his hand up her exposed thigh, pausing only to give it a squeeze that made her moan. When he cupped her sex, he found her already wet and wanting. His beast was delighted. The temptress had brought him here and succumbed to her own desires.

  “How bad do you want me, little beast?” he whispered in her ear.

  She squirmed, pressing against his hand. He tightened his grip on her throat. She moaned and gripped his shirt like she desperately needed to hold on.

  “Baylee!” A male voice called into the woods.

  The woman stilled. Her eyes snapped open.

  Gale wanted to snarl and tell the man to scram. The urge to pull her into him and hold her close nearly overwhelmed his good sense. While Gale fought to control himself, the woman wriggled out of his grasp. She pulled her skirt back down over her thighs and glanced back at him.

  “This isn’t how I wanted this to end,” she said.

  Gale hated how empty his
hands felt again. He feared that he would never find anyone who would fill them the same way. No one else would fit against his body like her.

  Another second passed. The woman seemed caught, too. Then, finally, she sighed and ran. Gale watched her go. His beast told him to give chase because she would be his future.

  He shook it off as evidence that his beast was just horny. He would find someone else to fill his bed by the end of the night. Then, the beast wouldn’t think about the temptress and how she moaned for him.

  Gale pulled his hair back and tied it once more to hide any evidence of what he’d done before heading back to the bonfire. Closer, he could hear Cash’s music. As expected, a gaggle of women sat around Cash. They all stared up at him like he’d put the stars in the sky when Gale knew better.

  Cash looked up, locked eyes with Gale, and set his guitar down. The ladies pouted, but Cash ignored them as he stepped out of the circle they’d made around him. Once he was within arm’s reach, Cash took Gale by the leather cord around his neck and dragged him away from the fire.

  “What the fuck, man?” Gale asked.

  Once they were away from the party, Cash turned to reveal a look of disappointment. Gale straightened and leaned away from his cousin.

  “What do you think you were doing?” Cash hissed.

  Gale shrugged. “Well, I really thought I was going to get laid, but that didn’t turn out like I wanted.”

  Cash dragged his palm over his face. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

  “Buddy, I don’t know shit. I’m pretty sure if you had any libido at all, you would have done the same thing.” Gale knew that was a low blow, but he didn’t understand what Cash’s problem was.

  His cousin had never pitched such a fit over nothing before. This wasn’t like him. Gale began to wonder if the male voice calling out to the temptress had been her mate. If Cash had seen the woman with her mate before Gale slunk after her, then why didn’t he bring that up earlier?

  “She’s a Barnes dragon,” Cash spat.

  Gale recoiled. His beast snarled at the way Cash spoke her name. But, at the same time, an age-old hatred rose inside Gale to war with his beast’s desire. Gale staggered back and shook his head.

  “You’re pulling my leg. She’s not one of them.” There was no way!

  The Barnes family were the whole reason that the Montoya family had to shut down their mines. They had ruined the Montoyas, and never once offered anything in the way of an apology.

  And Gale had followed one into the woods to…what? He’d nearly followed in his great-grandfather’s footsteps. Now, his beast rioted inside of him. Would he become obsessed with a woman who didn’t love him, too? Would he head into the mines and sleep away his life like his great-grandfather had?

  Gale put up his hands. “That was a huge mistake. Never going to happen again.”

  Cash eyed him.

  “I had no idea,” Gale said. He put his hand over his heart. “I swear on my scales.”

  Cash flicked the tooth hanging from around Gale’s neck. “We both know how much you value your own body parts.”

  “Hey, that’s a baby tooth!”

  Unflinching, Cash said, “It’s a baby dragon tooth. Those don’t fall out on their own. You’re known for making mistakes.”

  Gale’s lip curled. She wasn’t a mistake…

  What was he thinking? What was wrong with him? Had he really just thought that about a Barnes woman?

  He needed to stay far, far away from her until his beast fixed its eyes on another woman. For tonight, Gale settled for going home alone. He told Cash he would leave the door unlocked before turning his back to the fire.

  2

  “Where the fuck were you?” Jensen snapped.

  Baylee didn’t answer. She held her chin high and silently prayed Jensen wouldn’t think to smell her, because Gale’s scent still clung to her clothes.

  “I’ve been looking high and low for you,” Jensen snapped. “The moment I learned there were Montoyas here, I knew we had to leave.”

  No shit, Baylee thought. She’d known that Gale and Cash would be attending this party. It was the whole reason she’d come out, though her original intention had been to seduce Cash until Gale caught her eye. Not that she’d wanted to drag her brother along. When he heard where she was going, he volunteered to ride along without an invitation. She’d tried to leave him behind, but Jensen had proved inescapable.

  She hadn’t asked him to come along because she’d known he would cause a scene once he found out. So long as she could hide who she’d been with from him, he wouldn’t yell at her in front of anyone. The moment they got into the truck, he would know. There was no hiding scent from a dragon in such a small space.

  Baylee stopped. Jensen got a few steps ahead of her before he glanced back.

  “You know, I think I’m going to fly home,” she said. “It’s a beautiful night out.”

  “I’m not sure…”

  Baylee cut her brother off. “I don’t know how many more chances I have to enjoy a night in the Nebraska skies by myself. You wouldn’t understand. They’re not going to marry you off and ship you out somewhere else.”

  Jensen’s face crumpled. He sighed. “You’re right. I just…I want you to be safe.”

  Be safe. That’s what everyone wanted for her. Baylee wanted to stretch her wings and take joy in the world that should have been hers. She was a dragon shifter, after all; more glorious and powerful than any other creature to have set foot on this earth. Yet, most days she felt trapped and chained.

  Sure, she had some time. Her mom had given her until the ripe old age of twenty-seven to enjoy her life. After that, Baylee had a deadline to settle down and provide grandchildren. Freedom meant nothing when she knew there was a time limit on it.

  Jensen jingled his keys in his hand as she split off from him. She stretched her arms over her head and tried to recall the way Gale’s hands felt on her skin. She’d never expected the kind of feelings that he’d brought out of her. His grip made her want to surrender in a way she’d never done before.

  Baylee had lived her life in defiance. Everything she’d ever done had been an act of rebellion, from her punk style to her nefarious plans tonight. Surrender wasn’t even a word she’d associated with herself before tonight. Submissive would have been even more out of the ordinary.

  The Barnes family expected her to surrender and submit when they chose a mate for her. She knew there was no fighting against the whole family, not unless she wanted to find herself ostracized. The thought had tempted her once or twice, but she’d feared what it would do to her dragon.

  Pulling her shirt over her head, she waited for her dragon to rise. Her skirt soon followed her shirt as she felt the brush of scales against her skin. She flexed her fingers as her nails stretched into talons. Sucking her teeth, she felt them sharpen.

  Baylee Barnes wasn’t just a woman, she was a dragon.

  With razor sharp dragon talons, Baylee carefully gathered her clothes. She stretched her wings and flapped them. It had been too long since she last shifted. Her wings ached from the small movements alone.

  She bounded out of the cover of the woods and through the corn field. Some stalks were crushed in the process, but these fields all belonged to her family anyway. She didn’t mind upsetting them over a few corn stalks. With her wings spread wide, she leapt into the air.

  Her sapphire scales speckled with little white spots blended into the night sky like a cluster of moving stars. Here, she could pretend that freedom could last forever. She didn’t have to think about marrying or having babies.

  Yet, her mind wandered back to the man she’d lured into the woods. He’d known just how to touch her. No man had ever read her so quickly before. Her previous lovers thought she wanted to be called baby girl. They assumed she would want a quick fuck in the back seat of their shitty cars.

  Gale had seemed more interested in her pleasure. The way he paid attention to her every movem
ent made her think he took joy in watching her squirm. Just thinking about it made her heart flutter. Her beast growled with delight and thought about turning back to find him once more.

  She had to remind the beast that he wouldn’t be there. Then someone would see her at the party and tell Jensen that she’d lied. It wasn’t worth the risk. Jensen might be her flesh and blood, but he would rat her out in a heartbeat.

  So long as the Barnes family refused to give up their territory, they would always be on the lookout for Montoya shifters. Baylee could daydream about Gale all she wanted, but she would never be able to take this any further than she already had. From here on out, she needed to carve a very clear path around Gale.

  The flutter in her heart stopped abruptly. The rhythm of her wings stuttered, and she lost altitude. Sorrow unfurled inside her chest. Baylee tried to shake it off. The feeling refused to budge and rode her all the way home.

  Jensen leaned against his truck in the driveway. The way he held his keys made her think he’d been gripping them with the force of his repressed anger. Baylee lost her footing and stumbled, making her lurch forward like a tea kettle. Her jaw scraped the ground.

  Laughter bubbled out of Jensen, easing Baylee’s fear. For a moment, she’d feared the worst. If he found out that she’d intentionally seduced a Montoya man tonight, then her life would be over. Jensen would wake their mom and cause a panic.

  He shook his head and pushed off the truck. “Glad to know you got home mostly safe. You will forever be your own worst enemy, Bay.”