Mate Dance
Mate Dance
Dragon Men Series
Book III
Amber Kell
Published by Silver Publishing
Publisher of Erotic Romance
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Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Editor: Devin Govaere
Mate Dance © 2011 Amber Kell
ISBN # 9781920502188
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DEDICATION
To my fans who believe in the magic of dragons.
Mate Dance
Amber Kell
CHAPTER ONE
Raven's muscles ached, but it was a good ache as he
stood beneath the stage lights. Sweat poured down his
leanly muscled torso as he gasped for breath, desperately
trying to refill lungs emptied by his exertion. Still panting,
he gave a low bow to the screaming audience and flinched
as a rose smacked him in the face.
Fucking thorns.
Despite his stinging cheek, he flashed the crowd his
megawatt stage smile, the one he'd perfected as a four-year-
old dancing sensation.
Raven waved a hand to indicate the other dancers
and, as the audience continued to clap, made a discreet exit
off the stage.
"You were amazing." A starry eyed ingénue batted
her lashes at him. Why she bothered he didn't know. It was
a universally known fact he liked men. She was probably
one of those women who thought they could be the one to
convert him to the other side.
"Want to go out for a bite to eat?" she asked,
confident now that she'd caught his attention
Yep, she was one of those.
"Sorry, my sweet, I'm exhausted. I'm going to
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change and get to bed."
"Sure." Her face fell, and Raven had to rein in his
instinct to try and make her feel better. Experience proved
consoling women now led to awkward situations later.
He still had a restraining order out on the last one.
He patted the girl on her back and all but ran to his
dressing room. Once safe behind a locked door, he threw
himself down on the couch.
"I need a vacation," Raven said to the empty room.
For the past twenty years, Raven had done nothing but
dance. He'd spent his first few years as a prodigy fighting
to get noticed, and then his next few as a young star
struggling to get the best roles. Now at the age of twenty-
four, he was the most sought after dancer in the galaxy. He
could write his own check, but right now he was just tired.
Bone tired.
Although this last production had been technically
and physically challenging, Raven knew he'd lost some of
his fire. The critics and the audience never noticed, but
Raven felt something lacking on the inside. In this last
performance of the season, he'd frantically tried to
recapture his passion, but the spark that had kept him going
all these years had left him. Maybe he needed to try
something new.
Raven tried to envision a life without dancing but
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drew a blank.
What would he do if he didn't dance? Choreograph?
Direct? Raven didn't know what he'd do, but he did know
he needed a vacation from both dancing and the paparazzi
that stalked him from planet to planet hoping to catch a
picture of him in questionable situations. It didn't help that
the top three galacticnet agencies had voted him the most
eligible bachelor in the galaxy every year since puberty.
Even after all this time Raven still didn't understand the
amount of fuss made over his appearance. Too much
attention went to his genetic makeup instead of to his true
talent—dancing.
Idiots.
A quick shower, a fresh set of clothes, and the hasty
addition of a concealing cap and dark shades transformed
Raven from a shining star to the average man on the street.
Checking to see the path was clear, he made his way
through the side gate. No one was about. Smiling, Raven
walked away from the theater and down the deserted
sidewalk. The farther he traveled from the theater the more
the stress from the evening slid away.
Humming a tune from the show, Raven headed
down the sidewalk towards the bright lights.
Maybe he could get a drink and find some company
for the evening. Although he should be tired, his body still
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jittered too much from dancing to settle down for the night.
Hopefully he could find some discreet, friendly company to
help him wind down. Once his body relaxed maybe his
mind would stop spinning frenetically about his future.
Raven smiled when bar signs flared into view, but
quickly lost interest when the sound of someone sobbing
grabbed his attention. Curious, Raven followed the noise.
"Hello." The noise grew louder as he approached
the dark alley. He generally wasn't an idiot who blithely
walked into dark alleys, but the crying sounded like a child.
"Hello," he called again.
Raven peered into the darkness. The dim streetlights
barely reached the mouth of the alley, and he could just
make out the shape of a small figure curled up on the
ground. Unable to stop himself, he rushed over to the child,
stumbling over something as he went.
"Hey, hey, none of that now. What's wrong?"
A young girl looked up. Raven estimated her age at
about seven years old, but it was difficult to tell in the
meager light. A dim beam of light reflected shiny tears
tracking down a small oval face.
"My nana is gone," she said in a voice so
heartbroken Raven had to blink back moisture forming in
his own eyes. As he crouched down trying to soothe her,
Raven's vision adjusted to the dark and he realized the
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lump he'd stumbled over was a body.
Unmoving.
He had no doubt the dead woman was the nana the
girl mentioned.
"Shh, sweetheart, I'm here," Raven cooed. "I'll take
care of you." He took off his hat and glasses so the little
girl could see him and not be scared by a faceless stranger.
He set them on the ground as he rubbed a hand across the
girl's back in a soothing gesture.
"Y-you're R-raven," the broken voice whispered in
awe.
"You know me?"
The little girl nodded. "We saw your show. You
were great!"
"Thank you." Raven reached for his communicator.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Trisha."
"Nice to meet you, Trisha," Raven said. He pushed
the emergency button to call the local authorities. After he
explained the situation, they assured him someone would
be dispatched immediately.
"Someone's on the way to take care of you," he told
the despondent girl.
The next few minutes were the most nerve-racking
of Raven's life. Raven had never had anyone rely on him
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before. It felt strange to take care of someone else, strange
but good. He was glad he had come along to help the little
girl. The thought of her left alone in a dirty alley with her
dead nana broke his heart. He didn't know what had
happened to the woman on the ground, but it wasn't his job
to figure that out. In fact, his part of this whole ordeal was
going to end as soon as planetary security came to pick her
up.
"Security," a deep voice boomed into the darkness.
"Over here," Raven shouted.
Raven was momentarily blinded as a high-beamed
light flashed across his eyes. He held up a hand to block the
glare.
"Stand up and put your hands where I can see
them," a voice said behind the light.
Raven slowly raised his hands, turning his head to
keep from being blinded.
When the light finally pointed downwards, Raven
gave a sigh of relief until a security officer came over to
search him.
Efficient hands patted him down impersonally and
removed his wallet. After looking at his identicard, the
officer stepped back. "I'm gonna run your ID, and I want
you to come back to the station and answer some
questions."
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There went his dream of getting a night of hot sex.
Raven nodded his intention to cooperate and
allowed the man to lead him to one of their vehicles. As he
ducked his head to get into the back of the hovercar, a
scream ripped through the air.