by Rinelle Grey
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
© 2017 by Rinelle Grey
www.rinellegrey.com
All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
About the Author
Blurb
Dragon shifter prince Verrian is enjoying learning about the humans and their city, especially their musical performances. Mostly though, he's enjoying having Lisa by his side. Maybe a little too much.
Lisa's relief about getting away from her family and back to her home is short lived as she tries to settle back into her job and pretend her life is back to normal. Normal it definitely is not, with the hot dragon shifter tempting her at every turn.
But getting too close puts them at risk of being bonded for life. As passion heats up between them, can Lisa and Verrian keep their distance?
Dancing Dragon is Part 3 in the Dragon Echoes serial.
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Chapter 1
Verrian stared in awe as they drove down the street. It was three times as wide as the ones they’d driven on in Mungaloo and there were cars everywhere. Hundreds of them, all moving along in the same direction.
It almost made him forget the pain from the many rents and tears in his skin.
The cars didn’t seem to bother Lisa one bit, she just zipped in and out around them.
On either side of the wide road were buildings, some small like the houses in Mungaloo, but some many times larger, big enough to fit twenty dragons inside.
Verrian was impressed at how busy the humans had been in the three hundred years he’d been asleep.
From what he’d heard from the elders, the humans had always been a resourceful bunch, even back in England, before the dragons had fled. Even so, this was far greater than anything he’d ever expected to see. It made all the other human accomplishments he’d heard of—swords, bows and arrows, their stone buildings—look like child’s play.
Excitement zinged through his blood, moving as fast as the cars moved along the highway veins of this city.
What would he discover here? What were the humans up to? What wonders had they created? He was fascinated to learn more about them. Trouble was, his explorations were limited, there was no way a dragon could take flight here and not be noticed.
Of course, that was a good thing. It meant that even if Ultrima could figure out where they were, he wasn’t going to turn up out of the blue. Not in dragon form anyway.
The wound on his arm rubbed against the leather of the too small jacket, reminding Verrian his fighting skills left a lot to be desired. He’d had enough trouble fighting a minor dragon, he didn’t want to face Ultrima on his own any time soon.
He should be safe enough if he remained in the human city. There were certainly enough people everywhere here that Ultrima wouldn’t risk showing up in dragon form. Even throwing around dragon magic would be a big risk. Without his magic or his dragon form, Ultrima wasn’t much of a threat.
That thought made Verrian feel almost free, for the first time since he’d woken up.
“Where’s your home?” he asked, turning away from the window towards Lisa.
Her smile was wide, and for a second, he felt like he was sharing this freedom with her. She looked far more relaxed than she’d been since he’d met her. “A little further, I’m in the inner city. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?”
Verrian’s stomach rumbled in response. Hungry was an understatement. But he looked around, confused. “What can we eat here? There’s no food and nowhere to cook.”
Lisa’s grin made him feel like he was missing something, something that should be obvious. Her voice was happy though, as she said, “I’ll show you.”
She zipped in between several cars so quickly, Verrian couldn’t help wincing. How did all these cars drive around and not crash into each other? If this many dragons shared such a small area of the sky, he was sure there would be collisions.
She pulled onto a side road off the big one, and drove towards one of the buildings, a medium sized one this time.
Verrian expected her to pull over and get out. He hadn’t seen one of the human’s shopping places, but Lisa had explained how they worked. Lisa didn’t stop though. She drove past all the parked cars and onto a small road behind the building.
She pulled to a stop near a red post and rolled down her window.
“Please place your order,” a voice said out of nowhere.
Verrian looked around, but no humans were nearby. The voice had to be coming from the red post. He wrinkled his nose, trying to get a closer look without being too obvious.
How had the human managed to get their voice inside the post? It certainly wasn’t big enough for an actual person to be inside. The voice sounded a little like the disembodied voices on Lisa’s phone. They must work in a similar way. He was fascinated, and would have liked to ask more, but Lisa was busy replying to the voice.
She spoke so quickly, a lot of what she said was lost on Verrian. He did hear something about chicken though.
It only made him feel more hungry.
“Please drive down to the first window,” the post said.
Lisa moved forwards. “It’s a drive through,” she explained to Verrian. “They cook the food inside, and we can buy it from out here. Saves people getting out of their cars.”
Verrian nodded. Ahh, another human invention. He could approve of this strange building that dispensed food to the cars.
Lisa pulled up at a window, and this time a human leaned out. “That’ll be twenty-six fifty,” she said with a smile. “Do you want to pay by card or cash?”
She glanced over at Verrian, her expression bored, but even though he smiled in response, her eyes widened as she took in his borrowed clothes. He tried not to let his smile slip, but he couldn’t help remembering that there were one or two bloodstains that probably didn’t look good.
“Card thanks.”
The woman’s gaze went back to Lisa as she handed the woman one of the pieces of plastic. Verrian watched closely as she pressed some numbers on the small device the woman handed out the window. Even the human’s money seemed strange and foreign.
Once they’d finished with the card, the woman handed Lisa a big box that smelled delicious.
The woman in the drive through stared at Verrian again, but he avoided looking at her, focusing instead on accepting the box that Lisa handed to him as they drove away from the window.
Verrian filled his nose with the tempting smells emanating from the box.
“Go on, open it,” Lisa urged with a smile.
Verrian didn’t need to be told twice. He pulled at the box until it opened, then picked up one of the pieces of chicken inside. It tasted as delicious as it smelled.
By t
he time he and Lisa had finished everything in the box, he’d come up with a plan. He needed to learn everything he could about this human world. This was a big opportunity for him to actually use some of his skills—getting on with others and learning about them—to help his clan. Even if he couldn’t fight, he had a chance to discover something that might be just as useful.
If the humans’ technology could make mundane tasks like getting food this much easier, surely they must have technology that could help in their fight.
It could be the answer to defeating Ultrima.
*****
Since they were clearly in the city, Verrian had thought they must be nearly at Lisa’s house. He was looking forward to arriving there, where they would be safe while they waited for Rita to back off. While he was happy to spend more time with Lisa, what he really wanted was to get back to his clan and be able to help them.
But Lisa kept driving, and the buildings around them grew taller and taller.
Verrian tried to guess how many humans must live in this city, but the only answer he could come up with was ‘lots’. Many thousands. Many hundreds of thousands if the number of cars they passed was any indication.
The sun was setting by the time they pulled in underneath one of the tall buildings.
Verrian was exhausted and his wounds were a constant, painful ache. He needed sleep.
Lisa parked the car, and then turned to him. “We’re here.”
There were lines of exhaustion on her face too. Controlling the car for several hours must be even harder than sitting.
She’d done all this for him. Verrian felt overwhelmingly grateful for her help, and a little guilty over all the trouble he’d caused for her.
“Thank you,” he said quietly.
Lisa’s nose wrinkled. “Thank you for what?” she asked. “I haven’t done anything.”
Verrian gave a short laugh. “Sure, nothing at all. Only driven me all this way, fed me, and taken me into your home.”
Lisa shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “It’s nothing. I owe you for all the trouble I’ve caused. Come on, let’s get upstairs and get settled in.”
Verrian wasn’t going to argue with getting settled. He hid a wince as he climbed out of the car, the movement reminding him of every bite and scratch as his skin stretched. It did ease a little as he moved at least.
He followed Lisa over to a big metal door and watched as she pressed a button with a small arrow pointing to the ceiling.
“It’s an elevator,” she explained. “It will take us up to my apartment.” She hesitated for a minute, then added, “We might not be the only people in it, so if there are others, maybe best to save the questions until we get inside my apartment.”
Verrian nodded. He wasn’t stupid. He’d already figured that asking questions in front of the other humans could give him away, but he didn’t blame Lisa for warning him.
If anyone guessed he wasn’t a normal human, they were going to have issues.
That was going to be the danger here. Not dragons, or reporters, but just ordinary people, and his lack of knowledge.
That’s why he needed to learn how this world works, so he could fit in without Lisa having to worry about him. He took notice of not only her actions, but the way she relaxed as they waited, shoving her hands in her pockets.
Fitting in in the human world was going to be essential.
This was something he could do. All it required was keen observation skills and a good memory. Both of those he had in spades.
There was no fighting here.
Strangely, he felt far less out of his depth in the human world than he had when fighting his own kind. The thought surprised him at first, but when he thought about it, it made sense. He’d always done far better at talking to people than physical fighting, and the humans weren’t so different to dragons, underneath it all. Their way of dealing with problems certainly seemed far more closely aligned to his own right now.
Before the ‘elevator’ had arrived, an elderly couple joined them in waiting. Verrian tried to observe them without overtly staring, though they weren’t giving him the same courtesy.
Their looks, as they stared at the leather jacket that wouldn’t do up and the bloodstained jeans, were clearly disapproving.
He needed to fix his clothes. That was step number one to fitting in, clearly.
The elderly humans didn’t say anything though, even when all four of them were squeezed into the small room. Verrian wasn’t sure what to expect as the doors slid shut behind him and Lisa pressed a buttoned labelled thirty-three.
Verrian tried to ignore the fact that the confined space made him feel a touch nervous. Somehow, this felt different than a tiny cave.
His stomach lurched. They were moving. Upwards. And quite quickly.
Verrian held his breath for a few moments, but nothing seemed to happen, and after the initial movement, the ride was smooth. They stopped after a while, and the elderly couple got out. Verrian felt much better when it was just him and Lisa in the cramped room.
He felt even better when the metal doors slid open again, and Lisa said, “We’re here.”
Her statement though, was only partially true. She led him down a corridor with four doors, stopping in front of one labelled one hundred and thirty-four. She put her key in the lock, and opened the door.
“This is my apartment.”
The relief in her voice was evident. Lisa threw her keys onto a small table inside the door, walked across to the large, white lounge, and threw herself down on it with a sigh.
Verrian followed her more slowly, taking a moment to look around the room.
He had been so busy running from dragons and reporters, he hadn’t even stopped to wonder what her home might look like.
It was a far cry from the slightly dingy room they’d stayed in at her parent’s house. This room wasn’t large, but it was clean and white, with accents of red and purple. It suited her
Verrian sat cautiously down on the couch next to Lisa, careful not to get too close.
But even that small motion reminded him of the many places he hurt, and he held back a wince. Sitting in the car for so long hadn’t really helped.
Apparently, he hadn’t hidden his pain very well, because Lisa sat up instantly and said, “Are you okay? Does it hurt?” She paused for a long moment, then drew in a deep breath and said, “Do you need to be healed?”
His injuries weren’t bad enough to prevent the instant flare of heat at the thought. Not because of the healing sleep, of course, but the coupling afterwards. Its main purpose was for a couple to share energy to help a dragon regain his strength after the Mesmer ritual. The fact that it was intensely pleasurable was just a bonus.
For a second, Verrian hesitated. His body strained eagerly at the borrowed clothes, more than ready to test it out, and find out if the amazing experience they’d shared last time had been a product of the Mesmer ritual, or something else.
Of course, completing the Mesmer ritual again would hardly be a fair test. In fact, there was always the risk that completing the Mesmer ritual again with the same person would just make this feeling between them, whatever it was, more intense.
Even more concerning, what if he found out it wasn’t? What if his testing revealed that he actually felt something for Lisa?
Verrian shied away from the idea. He was still a young dragon, not even thirty yet. His younger brother might have tied himself to a human already, but Verrian wasn’t in any rush to follow him. He had no wish for a permanent mating, with a human or a dragon.
Trouble was, he kept forgetting that when he was around Lisa.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he said reluctantly.
Lisa frowned. “Not a good idea? Why not? I don’t think Ultrima is going to find us here.”
Verrian shook his head. “That wasn’t quite what I meant.” He didn’t know how to explain what he did mean. It was still so nebulous in his own head.
And admitting
to what he did understand was even harder.
Lisa’s face fell. She turned away, and Verrian bit his lip. He’d hurt her, again.
“You’d probably prefer that a dragon helped you,” she mumbled. “One of your own kind.”
Verrian shook his head, but she couldn’t see it. “No,” he said firmly. “That’s not the case at all. Just the opposite in fact.”
Lisa’s eyes flew to his, startled. “The opposite? What do you mean?”
Verrian hesitated. “I mean that it’s probably not a good idea because I want to, too much.”
This time, understanding flared in Lisa’s eyes. along with an answering desire that almost made Verrian forget his resolve.
“Oh,” she said.
She got it. He could see it in her eyes. He probably didn’t have to say anymore. But he wanted to.
“You know the risks, if we sleep together three times, right?”
Right now, he had a safety net. If he forgot himself and slept with her, it wouldn’t make a permanent bond. If he’d already slept with her a second time during the Mesmer ritual, that safety net would be gone.
If he gave in to temptation after that, he’d be mated for life.
That thought should have sent a chill down his spine, but all it did was raise goosebumps on his skin. Goosebumps he wasn’t even sure were fear or anticipation.
What had the Mesmer done to him?
He obviously couldn’t trust himself around her. As evidenced by the fact that he’d been ready to bed her back in the ruined house. Even the possibility of Rita or Ultrima turning up at any minute hadn’t held him back.
Here, with no one else around, and hopefully no danger, he wasn’t sure how long he could hold out.
Best to keep that safety net intact for as long as possible.
Lisa knew that as well as he did. She swallowed, and nodded her head.
Verrian suspected she was as close to throwing caution to the wind as he was. What was it, this feeling that was so intense it would not be ignored?
He shied away from the possibilities. He didn’t want to face them right now.
Instead, he said, “My wounds are minor. I was concerned that I might have broken my wing, but it is only bruised. I will heal on my own. Dragons heal quickly, even without the Mesmer. In a couple of days, these wounds will be fully healed.”
