Healed by the Dragon: Part One
Page 6
Finn loved his cousins and the fact he didn’t always need to act the part of clan leader around them, but the urge to see Arabella and make sure his aunt and Faye weren’t giving her the similar treatment grew stronger. His lass was strong, but while she could handle his teasing, he wondered if she could handle it from others.
Luckily, Fraser and Fergus were prevented from saying anything else when the back door to the cottage opened and the light from inside outlined Faye’s body. “Are you three finished yet? Supper’s ready and I’m starving.”
Shrugging off Fraser and Fergus’s hands, Finn walked to the door. “We’re all done. How’s Arabella?”
Faye crossed her arms over her chest. “You worry too much, but I’ve been surrounded by alpha dragonmen most of my life and know my words won’t be enough. Come see for yourself so I can eat.”
He resisted arguing with his female cousin and pushed past her.
Finn entered the dining area. Arabella was sitting next to his aunt, but turned to meet his eyes. The sight of his lass smiling with mischief in her eyes soothed his dragon’s fretting.
~~~
Arabella was smiling at Lorna’s latest story of Finn as a boy when the very adult male himself showed up. The sight of Finn’s hair mussed from the wind and wood chopping, combined with the way he zeroed in to her eyes as soon as he entered the room, made her stomach flip. To say the dragonman was attractive was an understatement.
Her dragon chimed in. Yes. Give him a chance. You will like it.
What?
Don’t be afraid.
Finn’s voice silenced her inner beast. “Should I be worried about what my auntie told you in my absence?”
Lorna beat her to a reply. “Never you mind. Sit down so we can eat, or Faye’s crankiness may move into the unbearable zone.”
Fraser sat down across from Arabella. “Not even I will mess with my sister when she’s hungry. Hurry up and dish the food before she starts grumbling.”
Faye crossed her arms over her chest. “Says the male who moans at a paper cut. Males, especially grown dragonmen, are giant babies when they’re ill or injured.”
Fergus sat down in the empty chair to her right and Arabella resisted seeking out Finn’s gaze. It seemed tonight’s supper would be the ultimate test of how well she could do with strangers surrounding her.
Yet as she stole a glance at Lorna on her other side, Arabella felt safe enough. Despite only meeting the dragonwoman less than an hour ago, both woman and dragon didn’t sense a threat. Arabella didn’t think she would ever hurt her.
Finn’s growl finally gave her the excuse to look at the Scottish leader. Instead of meeting her eye, he looked at Fergus. “That’s my spot, cousin.”
Fergus merely cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, aye? Care to tell me why?”
Finn narrowed his eyes. “You know why.”
Rather than put up with the two males arguing, Arabella jumped in. “I’m perfectly capable of sitting between your aunt and cousin. Take the empty seat so we can start.”
Finn looked at her and she drew in a breath at his flashing dragon eyes. She’d seen that look on her brother around Melanie, before they’d been mated.
No. It couldn’t be. She’d never even kissed Finlay, and he certainly wasn’t who she’d choose to be her mate.
Her dragon huffed. Liar.
Don’t call me a liar unless you have proof.
Then kiss him so I can gloat later. You may lie to yourself but not to me. You fancy him.
Arabella clenched the napkin on her lap. She didn’t like being called a liar.
Lorna’s commanding voice broke through her anger. “Finlay, take the lass outside and talk with her in private. The tension in this room is riling up my own dragon.”
Arabella frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Finn put out a hand. “Come with me, Arabella.”
She could be ornery and refuse. Yet between her dragon’s words and her own curiosity, the desire to know what the hell was going on was strong.
Standing up, she frowned as she went to Finn. She didn’t take his hand. “If this is another game to get me alone and spit out flirtatious lines, then I’ll turn around and come right back in. Your aunt went to a lot of trouble to cook the roast for us and I won’t let you spoil it.”
Finn clenched his jaw and turned. “Come.”
She looked to Lorna, but the dragonwoman motioned for her to go.
Once they were outside, Finn turned toward her. The look in his eyes made her shiver. Somehow, she made her voice work. “Why are we out here, Finn? What’s going on?”
He took a step toward her, their bodies now a few inches apart. “I don’t want you sitting next to any other male, but especially not Fraser and Fergus.”
The heat in his eyes made her heart rate kick up. She swallowed. “I don’t understand, Finn. Why? Just tell me straight.”
Brushing her cheek with his finger, he murmured, “I don’t want to scare you, Arabella. I can wait as long as it takes. Despite what you might think of me, I can be a patient dragonman.”
Each stroke of Finn’s skin against hers made her heart pound harder. Between Finn’s words and her dragon’s, Arabella had a feeling she knew what they were both saying. Yet the human half of her wasn’t ready to face it.
Then Finn cupped her cheek and some of her tension eased. His breath was a whisper on her lips. “If you really want to know the truth, then let me kiss you, Arabella.”
Her voice was strangled. “Kiss you?”
Moving his free hand to her back, he rubbed in circles, his touch making her melt. “Aye. One kiss will tell you what you wish to know. Otherwise, you can just follow my order to stay away from other males and kiss me when you’re ready.”
She opened her mouth to protest when Finn pressed gently against her back. As her stomach made contact with his front, his hard cock pressed against her.
Instead of a panic, heat surged through her body. Her dragon whispered. You are ready. Kiss him. I know you want to.
Finn leaned down a fraction more toward her lips. “So, what will it be, Arabella MacLeod? Will you let me kiss you?”
*~*~*~*
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Healed by the Dragon: Part Two will release on April 11, 2015. Turn the page to learn how to receive an alert when it’s ready and for glimpses of my other works.
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After reading about my dragon-shifters, maybe you’d like to check out the first book in my Cascade Shifters series, Reclaiming the Wolf. Turn the page for a glimpse of both Reclaiming the Wolf and the first story in the Stonefire Dragons series, Sacrificed to the Dragon.
With Gratitude,
Jessie Donovan
Reclaiming the Wolf
(Cascade Shifters #1)
Female wolf-shifter clan leaders are rare, but Kaya Alexie thrives on the challenge and can handle anything the men of her pack throw her way. However, when the male cougar-shifter who broke her heart ten years ago shows up on her doorstep with a dead wolf-shifter in tow, her whole world goes off-kilter. She’s determined to ignore him, but when a virus threatens to decimate her clan, she has no choice but to work with her ex and his brother to survive.
Sylas Murray is sent by his brother to ask for the wolves’ help in solving the mystery of a recent wolf-shifter attack. There are a few problems, however. Not only is he a cougar-shifter among a pack of wolves, the clan leader is also his ex-girlfriend. To say they had a bad break-up would be putting it mildly—S
y’s actions nearly destroyed the truce his clan had with the wolf-shifters. But as a virus threatens the GreyFire wolves, Sy and Kaya must put aside their past to find a cure.
As they work together and race against the clock, Sy starts to wonder why he let Kaya go in the first place. Despite their past, will he be able to reclaim the wolf that captured his heart and start over?
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Reclaiming the Wolf is now available on all major online retailers.
Sacrificed to the Dragon: Boxed Set
Parts #1-4
(Stonefire Dragons)
In exchange for a vial of dragon’s blood to save her brother’s life, Melanie Hall offers herself up as a sacrifice to one of the British dragon-shifter clans. Being a sacrifice means signing a contract to live with the dragon-shifters for six months to try to conceive a child. Her assigned dragonman, however, is anything but easy. He’s tall, broody, and alpha to the core. There’s only one problem—he hates humans.
Due to human dragon hunters killing his mother, Tristan MacLeod despises humans. Unfortunately, his clan is in desperate need of offspring to repopulate their numbers and it’s his turn to service a human female. Despite his plans to have sex with her and walk away, his inner dragon has other ideas. The curvy human female tempts his inner beast like no other.
———————
Sacrificed to the Dragon: Boxed Set is now available on all major online retailers.
Books by Jessie Donovan
Asylums for Magical Threats
Blaze of Secrets (AMT #1)
Frozen Desires (AMT #2)
Shadow of Temptation (AMT #2.5)
Cascade Shifters
Convincing the Cougar (CS #0.5)
Reclaiming the Wolf (CS #1)
Cougar’s First Christmas (CS #1.5)
Resisting the Cougar (April 2, 2015, CS #2)
Stonefire Dragons
Sacrificed to the Dragon: Boxed Set (Parts #1-4)
Seducing the Dragon: Boxed Set (Parts #1-4)
Revealing the Dragons
Healed by the Dragon: Part One
Healed by the Dragon: Part Two (April 11, 2015)
About the Author
Jessie Donovan wrote her first story at age five, and after discovering The Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey in junior high, she realized people actually wanted to read stories like those floating around inside her head. From there on out, she was determined to tap into her over-active imagination and write a book someday.
After living abroad for five years and earning degrees in Japanese, Anthropology, and Secondary Education, she buckled down and finally wrote her first full-length book. While that story will never see the light of day, it laid the world-building groundwork of what would become her debut paranormal romance, Blaze of Secrets. In late 2014, she officially became a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author.
Jessie loves to interact with readers. When not reading a book or traipsing around some foreign country on a shoestring, she can often be found on Facebook either on her Author Page or in her Fan Group. You can email her at: jessiedauthor@gmail.com.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the writer’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Healed by the Dragon: Part One
Copyright © 2015 Laura Hoak-Kagey
Mythical Lake Press
First Digital Edition
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author except tosser for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Art by Clarissa Yeo of Yocla Designs
ISBN: 978-1942211150