Phoenix Ablaze (BBW / Phoenix Shifter Romance) (Alpha Phoenix Book 1)
Page 21
“Chrissy, Victor and I are subject to the authority of the Navy.” Theo returned. “The Eldest permitted you to study in America. He let you go off to Stanford and then to Harvard. Without a security detail. I’d say you’d been given quite sufficient freedom for a dragoness born.”
“Really? That’s why you are now on an assignment so secret that none of us know where you are half the time? Because you don’t enjoy a little adventure, Örlogskapten Lindorm?”
“You know that I cannot talk about my work,” he rejoined stiffly.
“Yeah, I know. You and Victor can’t talk about your work. He’s married with a child and another on the way, and he still gets to go be a hero. No one tells him to stay home and save himself to make more dragons.”
“We serve our country,” Theo said stiffly. “We cannot pick and choose our missions.”
“Theo, no one forces Victor to stay in the Navy. Now that he is married, he could resign. But I know damned well you have both volunteered for dangerous positions.”
Theo rolled his massive shoulders in obvious discomfort. “When you are the best man for the job, you have to step up, even if there is danger. Especially when there is danger.”
“Which you enjoy. You can’t fool me, Theodor Lindorm. I know, because I get the same thrill from downhill skiing. Or sailing in foul weather. Or flying in a storm. It’s part and parcel of being a dragon. But good little Christina is expected to stay in the house and amuse herself with girlish pastimes. I’m not that girl, Theo. I never have been. I’m a dragon too.”
“You enjoyed yourself in the States, going to school,” Theo protested.
“What I actually wanted was to accept the place I was offered on the Olympic Ski team,” Christina said incensed. “Or to join the Navy like you and Victor. Studying business admin was not my first choice. And now I’m back in my cage, waiting for the day Felipe decides he’s ready to marry me. I have to stay here on Severn Island, I can’t even get a damned job, or go skiing when I want.”
“With the internet, it’s just as easy to manage the family investments from Severn Island as it would be in Oslo. You’re safer here with all the unrest in the Guild,” Theo said flatly. “I’m not surprised the Eldest clipped your wings, Chrissy. Twice in the last year, rogue dragons have tried to capture dragonesses made. As a dragoness born, until you are married, you are doubly at risk.”
“Have you ever thought how tiresome it is for me, hanging around here with no friends, marking time until Felipe feels ready to marry me?” she asked.
“Believe me, Felipe is ready,” Theo said dryly. He rubbed her back gently and his voice softened. “You’re a prize, Chris, any dragon would want to marry you. Felipe has been waiting for sixteen long years for you to grow up.”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, Theo, I’ve been a grown woman for a number of years now. He’s had lots of time to broach the subject. Do you realize that since I graduated last spring, he has visited me precisely twice? This last visit was the first time in months. And he stayed only one day. Mamma invited him for Christmas through New Year’s, but he couldn’t make it. And when he did show up, on the twenty-seventh, he stayed for just thirty-six hours. Only two of which he spent with me.” She stopped. “Oh, what’s the use?”
“You can’t break it off, Chrissy. The poor bugger has been waiting around for you for sixteen years.” Theo sounded more outraged than sympathetic.
“Felipe hasn’t exactly been hanging around with his legs crossed,” she said cynically. “I bet he took off to spend New Year’s with his latest mistress.”
“You’ve had your share of fun, Chris,” Theo pointed out. “And it wasn’t reasonable to expect a grown man to be celibate all these years. I think Felipe was pretty stoic to let you have your amusements while you were at school.”
“Talk about a double standard!”
“Sorry.” Theo said wryly. “I guess knowing we have to marry virgins, makes dragons care about chastity in a way that isn’t exactly modern. But we’re not talking about my hidebound dragonish attitude. Felipe has turned a blind eye to your exploits. What more do you want?”
“I’m already a dragoness,” she pointed out furiously. “That’s the whole point of this dynastic match. I can have firelings with any dragon — maybe even with a mortal. I don’t have to be turned first. Why the heck should I have waited for Felipe?”
“True love?”
“Felipe and I are friends, Theo, but not lovers. There is no spark between us. Just lots and lots of pledges between the Houses of Estremaura and Lindorm. And lately, he hasn’t even been interested in being my friend.” She kicked a pebble and sent it skittering down the tunnel. “Did you see what he brought for my Christmas gift?”
Theo pressed his lips together tightly but Christina could see he was struggling not to laugh.
“I was sort of expecting a ring instead of an ugly ruby thingy,” she said sadly.
Theo made a choking noise. “Felipe hasn’t declared his Mate Hunt yet. I don’t think it would be proper to bestow an engagement ring on you, before he does that.”
“And why hasn’t he?” asked Christina. “He’s almost fifty! He should have declared years ago.”
“And then he would have had to explain that he was almost-betrothed to Christina of Severn. He had to wait until you were old enough to marry.” Despite the logic of his words, Theo’s voice was still filled with suppressed mirth. “You can wear that brooch on your wedding dress,” he cackled bending double.
She punched him in a brawny arm. “Shut up. Felipe has no eye for gems. I think he believes that stone is lovely. And that the setting is antique.”
“He should have given you some treasure of his House,” Theo said disapprovingly. “Not some trinket he picked up on his travels.”
“He should have known better than to buy a filled ruby, and tell me it was an heirloom,” Christina said chuckling despite her best intentions not to laugh at Felipe. “Do you suppose the Eldest knows he’s marrying me off to a dragon who can’t tell good stones from bad?”
“Probably not. It is odd for a dragon to be so clueless. But he is the heir to a dukedom. Will it be so hard to be a duchess, Chris?”
She kicked at another pebble with her too-big boots. “I guess not. I mean, I’ve grown up expecting to marry Felipe, and I know he is the eldest son of the present duke. Yada, yada, yada. I just thought that Felipe would, I don’t know, be keener or something.” Her voice trailed off.
“The Eldest had a vision,” Theo said carefully. “When you were born. He saw you wearing a duchess’s coronet, surrounded by firelings. Female firelings. He believes that when you and Felipe marry, you will have daughters, Chrissy. Think of it. Daughters.”
Christina stopped again, her mouth open. “Why has no one ever told me of this before?”
“Well,” Theo looked sheepish. “I don’t think the Eldest likes to admit to basing decisions on prophecy. He’s old school, but visions are more or less ancient school. As in superstitious rubbish.”
“And yet I’ve been almost-betrothed since I was ten,” she said sadly.
“You’ve always seemed fond of Felipe.”
“I am fond of him. Everyone is fond of him. But for marriage, don’t you think something stronger than fondness is a good idea?”
Read the rest of Dragon’s Pleasure on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
Coming Soon
Dragon’s Possession
Captain Lars Lindorm of the Swedish Royal Navy is still grieving for his first wife when the Council of the Guild of Dragons deploys him to rescue the widow and fireling of the villainous Felipe Balcazar Mendez. Lars expects his mission in the Argentine Pampas to be difficult – he doesn’t expect voluptuous dragoness Nicole to awaken his heart and passions.
Alpha Male Lars is ordered to marry Nikki by the head of his clan. BBW Nikki has no choice but to accept this hasty marriage. Nikki, Lars and her son Matteo head to the lush Caribbean island of San Michaela, part of the
vast holdings of the House of Lindorm and a refuge from the villains pursuing Nikki.
But despite Lars' kindness, the despicable behavior of her late husband makes Nikki distrustful. In a world where evil stalks them and shifters refuse to play by the rules, these two bruised hearts must heal each other, keep 7-year-old Matteo safe, and forge a strong dragon bond. What will it take for Nikki to find her true strength as a dragoness?
Mature content: Virile dragon explores the repressed sensuality of luscious dragoness. The graphic scenes of passionate shifter love play may be too titillating for some.
Dragon's Possession is Book 4 in Lords of the Dragon Islands. It is a standalone novel with no cliff-hangers and an HEA.
Now in pre-orders
About the Author
Isadora loves the beautiful mountains of the Northwest and hopes you enjoy their furry inhabitants as much as she does.
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Bearly Beloved brings you the tender, heartwarming love story of widowed Debbie Benoit and her girlhood crush, former bad boy Gilbert Bascom.
Thirty years later, Gilbert Bascom returns to Yakima Ridge and discovers his passionate feelings for his buxom BBW haven’t changed since he was a wild cub. Can this burly, hard living, billionaire bearshifter persuade this beautiful bear that she’s his one and only?
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