Free Water Dragon's Baby(Dragon Shifter Scifi Alien Romance) (Elemental Dragons Book 3) by Juno Wells, Scarlett Grove Page B

fighting pit. For the first time since the last female had died, he felt as if there would soon be peace in his kingdom.
    As soon as he was back in his chambers, he flicked his finger over his wrist to bring up his holocom. He wanted to tell Ella the good news. He’d won his throne. She could come join him in the Coral Palace.
    “You must return as soon as possible,” said a voice that was not Ella’s.
    “What’s wrong?” Shay demanded.
    “She’s gone into labor.”
    “It’s too soon!”
    “Just hurry,” the voice said. “She needs you.”
    Shay flung himself from his balcony and shifted midair, flying down to the landing pad in front of the Coral Palace. He jumped into his speeder and was in the air in record time, ascending to the exit hatch at the top of the dome.
    The speeder hurried through the depths of the water and then into the sky. He directed it straight toward the Obsidian Palace and didn’t slow down to take a breath or to even think.
    When he settled his speeder on the landing pad in front of the Obsidian Palace, he jumped out and ran toward the entrance hall.
    Prince Salvatt met him inside the black walled hallway and brought Shay to an abrupt halt.
    “We did everything we could to halt the contractions,” Salvatt started.
    “Where is she,” Shay growled, ready to tear the prince’s head off if he didn’t take him to his bride in the next nanosecond.
    “Come,” Salvatt said, stepping back and hurrying down the hall.
    They made it to an elevator that they took upward until they came to the next floor. The door swished open, and Shay burst out into the hall. Salvatt stepped out beside him and started toward a brightly lit room with an open door.
    Shay couldn’t wait for Salvatt. He broke into a run and charged down the hall, into the brightly lit room.
    There, in the bed, lay the most beautiful sight he had ever beheld in his two hundred years of life. Ella, holding a tiny, blue-green skinned baby.
    “Ella,” he whispered as he went to her.
    He fell to his knees beside the bed and took her hand in his. She held the baby in her arms, her breast exposed for the tiny creature to suckle.
    “I did it, Shay,” she said in a weak voice. “I gave birth to our son.”
    “It’s so early. Is he all right?”
    “The child will be fine. He is a strong one,” the medic said, moving a scanning wand over Ella and the baby.
    “Thank the gods,” Shay murmured, looking at his mate and child. “It’s time to get you home.”
    “You won?” Ella asked, her voice croaking.
    “I did, my beloved. I have won the Water Lands back for you and our son.”
    He leaned down and kissed her lips. She kissed him back with a little moan of contentment. The medics helped him bring Ella and the baby to Shay’s speeder, and they were all safely strapped in before Shay started to take off for home.

12
    T he prospect of losing her child was the most frightening thing she’d ever experienced. But the medics of the Obsidian Palace had helped her safely deliver the baby, using her body’s own natural processes.
    She’d wanted more than anything to give birth to her baby, rather than have him cut from her womb the way the other brides of Galaton had given birth.
    Her sweet child had even suckled soon after coming into the world. Ella was a proud and happy momma. Looking at her valiant mate as he drove them home for the first time, her heart sang with gladness and true love.
    He’d done it. He’d won back the Water Lands for their family. Now they had a place to go to call their own. Ella didn’t need to be a princess. She didn’t need a palace. All she needed was Shay.
    But Ella knew that Shay needed to maintain his lands for the future of his family line. It meant the world to him, no matter what he said. She would help him preserve his kingdom with the last breath in her body, if for no other reason than for the love for her prince.
    When they made it to the Water Lands, Ella noted the vast sandy beaches