by Starla Night
“You’re proposing?” she squeaked. “On our wedding day?”
“It’s better late than never.”
She didn’t know whether to jump up and down or punch him. “Who told you that?”
“Darcy.”
Her heart thumped hard. Oh my god. He was seriously proposing.
“Cheryl, before I met you, I believed that I must provide material goods to secure a female’s loyalty. But you have never asked me for materials goods. You have only asked me for my time.”
His jaw tightened. He seemed to swallow hard.
“I was afraid to give you that time. Especially before I became a number one ranked company. But earning that honor yesterday, after your rescue, did not calm the fears in my heart. It made them worse. You are precious to me. If you ever found me lacking, I do not think I would survive.”
She shook her head. Her beautiful, strong dragon was undone by, of all people, her. It was too incredible.
“Your devotion has awakened me to the truth. My rank does not matter. Material goods are not what I need. Time together is what matters. Time with my family. Time with you.”
He opened the box. A sparkling diamond ring nestled inside.
Mal lifted the box to her. “Will you marry me?”
“Gah!” She went with hugging him. “Of course I will. You’re not supposed to make me cry until after the wedding. It turns my nose red.”
“I don’t wish you to cry at all.”
She hugged the gorgeous, sweet, thoughtful dragon shifter who was trying to fix his previous proposal and make this one right.
Then, she drank her non-alcoholic sparkling cider, took a shower surrounded by rose blossoms, and put on her wedding dress. Mal flew her to the courthouse, and they were married in a short, quiet ceremony in a small, official courtroom, witnessed by only her mom and Mal’s siblings.
Even that was too many people for her. Cheryl got so nervous she signed on Mal’s line instead of hers.
Jasper’s commemorative picture captured the event for all eternity. Mal, shirtless, looked pleased with the wedding and Cheryl, in a subdued cream wedding dress, clapped a hand over her mouth in horror at the discovery of her mistake.
“We have to take better pictures,” she said. They all trailed out of the courthouse and into the bright sunny Thursday. “Maybe at our real wedding.”
Mal blinked. “There are more weddings?”
“Oh, in this case, we could. And then there are vow renewal ceremonies.”
“Why must you renew vows?”
“To deepen our commitment.”
He drew her into his bare arms. “Then we will renew our vows every day.”
“I think you’re imagining a different kind of renewal than I—eeeee!”
He launched them into the air. She clung on. Her wedding dress streamed behind her.
The Onyx Corporation office was only a short hop away. As they walked through the glass doors and crossed the lobby, passing reception, Jeanine handed out messages.
“Your mother’s on line two,” she told Mal in her throaty, no-nonsense voice.
“Summon my siblings. We’ll take the call in Cheryl’s office,” he said.
Damn him. She lifted her gown and shuffled after his arrogant, floor-eating stride to the elevator. “I told you I didn’t want that big office.”
“You did.” The elevator rose to their floor, and the doors opened. He ignored the executive suite and led her to his office. “I listened.”
A new wall divided Mal’s CEO office down the middle.
He strode to the rough doorway between sections. “I got the idea from your one-bedroom. Your side will be finished by the time we return from our honeymoon.”
So, knowing she felt uncomfortable in the matriarch office, he had carved a space out of his own office for her. The unfinished walls had wiring everywhere. He pointed out where her wall screen and intercom and tablet station would go.
“You halved your office space,” she said, touched. “Is that okay? You’re the CEO.”
“It’s still the largest office,” he assured her. “And the acoustics are better for roaring.”
She swayed to him. He hadn’t been as growly since taking out his aggression on Sard. Perhaps he finally knew how much she loved him.
His green eyes glimmered with promise. She melted into his embrace. His lips descended to cover hers.
The wall screen on Cheryl’s unfinished office wall made a crackling noise.
They jolted apart.
A large gold dragon stared regally from the screen. “Malachite? Your receptionist forced me to call back. You did not reply to my summons.”
“I was getting married.” His arm around Cheryl’s waist tightened. “This is my wife, Cheryl.”
The dragon lady regarded her with beady skepticism. “Hmm. Then, she is a human.”
“Very much so.” He kept his hard grip on her. Tense, just like she was, and trying not to show it.
Cheryl endured his mother’s scrutiny through the crackly screen. The interference only made it worse because it sounded like she was growling. What must his mother be thinking? Was Cheryl good enough for her son? Was this how everything ended?
“I suppose you must bring her to the estate,” his mother said fiercely. “I will judge whether she is worthy to succeed me as the matriarch of the family.”
Mal relaxed.
Wait. Cheryl pinched Mal’s arm. Wasn’t Amber taking over? Why was Cheryl at risk?
He’d better explain this to her later.
The dragon’s jeweled gold eyes flicked beyond Mal. “Where are your brothers and sister?”
“They’re coming.” He glanced over his shoulder.
The rest of his siblings spilled into his office, tumbling over each other, and then each straightened and lifted their heads and entered her unfinished smaller office.
Their mother gazed over her brood imperiously. “Where are my grand dragonlets? Any of you?”
They shifted uncomfortably.
The mother’s scaly lips flattened. “I see. Running a company is a distraction from your true duty to give me dragonlets. Therefore, I am recalling all of you—except Mal, of course—to marry a Draconis—”
“Cheryl is carrying a dragonlet right now,” Amber said swiftly. “She will give birth in a few months. Right? Cheryl?”
Cheryl nodded. She would dive under the dragonlet bus for them. “Please don’t force everyone to separate.”
“Oh.” The mother’s eyes lit. “I see. Then the rest of you will remain on Earth. I recall only Mal at this time.”
Cheryl gripped onto Mal’s hand. “Only him?”
“You will come too. Leave immediately. I must tell you all of my dragonlet-raising tips.” She hesitated. “Don’t eat brimstone candy. It has a powerful, dare I say, fiery acid reflux, and the taste lingers for months.”
With that, she signed off.
The other all sighed and relaxed.
Well, no wonder. They could stay here while Cheryl crossed the universe to meet her new mother-in-law: A literal dragon lady.
Mal squeezed Cheryl’s hand and tugged her to his warm chest. Comforting her even though she hadn’t said anything. He knew her so well. And now, they would have the rest of their lives to get to know each other even better.
“We did it.” Amber made a small smile. “Good luck on your trip. How long will you be gone?”
“I have budgeted two weeks.”
Amber blinked. “You’ll miss the sale of the company and our decision of what to do next.”
“We are number one.” His lips curled with satisfaction. “You will decide our next business without me. I trust you will work together well.”
Amber relaxed her shoulders and smiled.
“Is it really okay?” Cheryl asked him, in his ear. Where the heck was her growly, control-freak husband? “You’ll miss everything.”
“For a honeymoon, two weeks is traditional.”
He was gi
ving up control of the family business to spend more time with her. Her heart melted and she squeezed him. She was finally coming first.
“Alex, Jasper, that was swift thinking to offer the Empress Cheryl’s extra prints. The adviser had no choice but to convey our offer to her, making her aware of the situation. And Amber, you sent her lingerie?”
Cheryl stopped. “You sent a Head of State lingerie?”
Amber nodded. “I promised it would convince a dragon male to go into an insatiable mating frenzy as soon as she put it on. Together, those promises made her allow us to open our stores. There is clearly a male she wishes to attract.”
“Not one of us? Great.” Pyro cracked his knuckles. “I’m gathering some girls to hit the beach.”
Alex sighed and made a notation on a piece of paper. He was anticipating having to bail Pyro out from jail in a few days. “Where are you starting, Pyro? The Oregon Coast?”
“Fiji.”
The wall screen returned to life and showed their mother once more. “One more thing. Pyrochlore? Where is your wife?”
His cocky smile wiped away. “What?”
“I need dragonlets. You will provide me with them or else you will be returning to Draconis in two weeks. Empress Horribus has released her interest in Mal now he’s married, but her claw awaits an Onyx mate.”
She signed off.
Pyro drained to white. “Mal. One dragonlet was supposed to be enough.”
“Obviously not.”
“Quick, what’s your secret?”
“Marry the woman you love.” He drew Cheryl into his arms. “She’ll be right under your snout and you didn’t even know it.”
“There are no women under my snout.” He grabbed onto Jasper in a panic. “You have to hire more humans!”
“No.”
“I’m the Vice President! I order you.”
Jasper straightened his suit. “Hiring humans we don’t need doesn’t make sound operational sense.”
Alex spoke from the doorway. “Mal and Cheryl, a ship is ready to convey you to the Draconis home system now.”
Mal squeezed her and started for the door.
“Now?” She held him in place. “I can’t leave now. I have to walk at graduation tonight.”
His brows drew down. “My mother won’t wait.”
“I’ve been working hard for four years and my mother’s going to be in the audience, so yes, she will.”
“Don’t risk her good will so soon in our relationship.”
“It’s important.”
He growled low in his throat. “Cheryl, we don’t have time for this.”
“We’ve been married for two hours and now you don’t have time for me?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Make time.”
The rest of his siblings watched. Nervous.
He roared. “You will join me on Draconis!”
“Yeah,” she snapped. “And we’re leaving as soon as possible. Which is tonight, at approximately 10 PM, after I walk at graduation.”
He snarled his reply.
She did not back down. Dammit, she had worked for it. This graduation was four years in the making. It was her last time to see her mom for two weeks. Nothing he said would talk her out of it.
He stopped snarling and yanked her into his arms. “You are just so… so…”
“Unreasonable?” she asked. “Demanding? Irresistible?”
“… so Cheryl,” he declared, and covered his mouth with his demanding kiss.
Dear reader,
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Starla
Dragon VIP Pyrochlore
The adventure continues:
The bad boy vice president has a few steamy lessons for the goodie-two-shoes elementary teacher. Or is it the other way around?
Dragon VIP Pyrochlore
Also by Starla Night
Lords of Atlantis
Seduced by the Sea Lord
Sacrificed to the Sea Lord
Enslaved by the Sea Lord
Stolen by the Sea Lord
Surrendering to the Sea Lord (2018)
Spellbound by the Sea Lord (2018?)
Secrets of the Sea Lord (2019)
7 Virgin Brides for 7 Weredragon Billionaires
Dragon VIP: Malachite
Dragon VIP: Pyrochlore (March 2018)
Dragon VIP: Kyanite (April 2018)
Dragon VIP: Amber (2018)
Dragon VIP: Jasper (2018?)
Dragon VIP: Alexandrite (2019)
Dragon VIP: Flint (2019)
— Novella —
Dragon VIP: Syenite
Dragon VIP: Peridot (holiday novella)
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Starla Night was born on a hot July at midnight. She hikes, scuba dives, and swims naked in the ocean. She writes about hot, alpha merman shifters at StarlaNight.com.
She is a secret agent of the Mer-Human Alliance.
starlanight.com
