by Lauren Smith
Grigori removed Madelyn’s coat and slipped her boots off before he placed a pillow beneath her head. Her hair was soft, like silk beneath his hands as he brushed it away from her face. Even just an innocent touch made his body tense with hunger. He had to regain control.
He retrieved a white mink fur blanket and draped it over Madelyn’s sleeping form. Impulsively, he leaned over to brush his lips on hers before he turned off the lights and closed the bedroom door.
“You’re acting very strange, brother,” Rurik noted. He was leaning back the doorway to the bedroom.
Grigori bristled. “I am not acting any differently.” He used the tone that Rurik would recognize as a warning to drop the subject. But Grigori knew he was acting differently. The little human was bringing out old instincts in him, ones he thought he’d mastered long ago.
As the eldest of their family, his duty was the preservation of their lands and its protection. It was also his duty to carry on their line by either finding his true mate or by breeding with an eligible dragoness. He couldn’t afford to let himself become entangled with a mortal that would leave him open and vulnerable. The pressure of his duties had left him cool, aloof, and in many ways unchanged over the years. But he was willing to let that part of himself go in order to seduce Madelyn.
“Come into the kitchen with me,” Grigori closed the bedroom door and they headed into his kitchen.
His brother trailed a fingertip along the onyx granite countertop. “You aren’t considering starting a relationship with a mortal. You know that doesn’t end well, at least not unless you promise to keep it to only one night. Let’s not forget she was researching the Barrow journal, and the last time I checked, that made her a possible enemy. She could be working for the Brotherhood of the Blood Moon. Or worse . . .” His brother frowned. “She could be working for the Drakors. Better be careful with this one, Grigori. After losing Mikhail, we cannot take any chances.”
“I know,” Grigori replied, not admitting he was planning more than one night with Madelyn. The last thing he needed was his little brother lecturing him on relationships and not sleeping with the enemy.
Their middle brother, Mikhail . . . The mere thought of his name struck Grigori like a dagger to his heart. His brother was in exile. They didn’t know if he was even still alive. The last time he’d seen Mikhail had been two hundred years ago, the year he had returned home and brought James Barrow with him.
We were the fools who spilled our secrets. Barrow had never intended his diary to be their potential downfall, but over the years it simply became a font of knowledge that no one expected to survive the ravages of time.
“Grigori, I know you. You hide in your office, running the family business and playing the part of a mortal, but you are not. You are the eldest Barinov dragon. You cannot lose yourself to some human female. Even assuming she’s not helping to bring us down and destroy our family, she will make you soft and when she’s gone . . . It will weaken you. You’re acting like she’s a possible true mate. Father warned us about mortals,” Rurik said.
The mention of their father brought back ancient memories. It was strange to think that their father had only died only two decades ago. It felt as though he’d been gone for a lifetime.
“I remember.” He shut his eyes for a brief moment and almost saw his father’s face, the stern but loving countenance as he told Grigori and his brothers the rules of dragons. “Never mate a mortal. When dragons lose their mates, they grieve deeply and don’t live much past the moment their mate dies.”
“She isn’t my true mate, it’s simply her scent that’s caught me. But I do plan to seduce her.”
Rurik chuckled. “Father said that about mother, you know. He only wanted to seduce her and thought he could resist her being his true mate. They ended up mated for three thousand years.”
“But Mother was a Dragoness, not a mortal,” Grigori reminded him. He walked over to his stainless steel wine fridge and retrieved a fifty-year-old bottle of Bordeaux and a glass. He reached for second one but his brother interrupted him.
“None for me. I have to head back. The club needs me. Call if the little mortal gives you any trouble.”
“She won’t.” He listened to the sound of his brother’s laughter, scowling until he heard the door to his penthouse close.
Then he poured himself a glass of wine, retrieved a book of German poetry by Rainer Maria Rilke, and sat in his favorite chair by the fire place in the center of the room. His fireplace was a circular stone structure two feet tall and was full of glass crystals with flames powered by gas. The sight was intoxicating, like diamonds on fire. Two of his favorite things. He tried to lose himself in the poetry and not think about Madelyn asleep in the other room. The scent of her filled his head and made his body throb with an almost violent need, but he kept control. Barely . . .
Thank you for reading Rurik! I hope you enjoyed it! Be sure to watch for the fourth book coming soon called The Lost Barinov Dragon! Turn the page to see the cover!
Other Titles By Lauren Smith
Historical
The League of Rogues Series
Wicked Designs
His Wicked Seduction
Her Wicked Proposal
Wicked Rivals
Her Wicked Longing
His Wicked Embrace (coming March 2018)
The Earl of Pembroke (coming March 2018)
His Wicked Secret (coming soon)
The Seduction Series
The Duelist’s Seduction
The Rakehell’s Seduction
The Rogue’s Seduction (coming March 2018)
Standalone Stories
Tempted by A Rogue
Sins and Scandals
An Earl By Any Other Name
A Gentleman Never Surrenders
A Scottish Lord for Christmas
Contemporary
The Surrender Series
The Gilded Cuff
The Gilded Cage
The Gilded Chain
Her British Stepbrother
Forbidden: Her British Stepbrother
Seduction: Her British Stepbrother
Climax: Her British Stepbrother
Paranormal
Dark Seductions Series
The Shadows of Stormclyffe Hall
The Love Bites Series
The Bite of Winter
Brotherhood of the Blood Moon Series
Blood Moon on the Rise (coming soon)
Brothers of Ash and Fire
Grigori: A Royal Dragon Romance
Mikhail: A Royal Dragon Romance
Rurik: A Royal Dragon Romance
Sci-Fi Romance
Cyborg Genesis Series
Across the Stars (coming soon)
About the Author
Lauren Smith is an Oklahoma attorney by day, author by night who pens adventurous and edgy romance stories by the light of her smart phone flashlight app. She knew she was destined to be a romance writer when she attempted to re-write the entire Titanic movie just to save Jack from drowning. Connecting with readers by writing emotionally moving, realistic and sexy romances no matter what time period is her passion. She’s won multiple awards in several romance subgenres including: New England Reader’s Choice Awards, Greater Detroit BookSeller’s Best Awards, and a Semi-Finalist award for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award.
To Connect with Lauren, visit her at:
www.laurensmithbooks.com
[email protected]
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