Burn: Dragon Shifter Romance

by Ava Frost

  “You’re in a bad mood tonight. Want to tell mama what’s wrong?”

  Lillian smacks down a shot glass harder than needed and shakes her head at the girl. “I really don’t, Martha, but thanks.”

  “Men troubles?”

  Lillian stays silent and doesn’t say anything for a long moment. “Yeah, something like that. But I really don’t want to talk about it. Maybe once I’ve calmed down, but not now.”

  “Are you willing to talk to me?” I ask, finally choosing this moment to come up the bar. I sit down on the stool and try not to laugh at the furious glare Lillian shoots my way. I’m still scared shitless she won’t want anything to do with me, but the way her lips curl when she’s mad is adorable and makes me want to smile. “Lillian…do you have a second to talk to me?”

  Lillian glowers at me and completely ignores me. “What can I get for you, sugar?” she asks the man to the right of me. The man doesn’t speak right away, but the heat in his eyes says it all. “Whatever you want, on the house.” I don’t miss the smirk she casts my way as she speaks. She’s trying to piss me off.

  And it’s working.

  “All I want is you underneath me.” The man replies, his eyes lowering down to her boobs, which are spilling out over her shirt, which barely covers anything. “Can you serve that to me?”

  Lillian grins. “Maybe later, but for now, how about I start you off with a nice cold beer?” without waiting for his answer, she passes him a beer. “A big, strong man like you must be thirsty.”

  “I’m thirsty for something, alright.” He mumbles out.

  That’s it. I’ve had enough. I’m done with this bullshit. Lillian is my mate and I won’t tolerate another man ogling my woman. Standing up, I pull the man up by his shirt and growl at him. “I think it’ll be good for your health if you stopped hitting on what’s mine.” I spit out and ignore Lillian’s yells for me to stop. The man shallows hard, but makes the mistake of shoving me back away from him.

  I pull my fist back to lay one on him when Lillian jumps in front of me, freezing my movements. She grinds her teeth and looks over at the ass-wipe. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Your drinks are paid for and I’m very sorry for the trouble.”

  The man looks like he wants to argue, but thinks better of it and storms away.

  “What the fuck, Asher?” she shouts at me and I’m seeing a pattern of women screaming at me today. “You can’t just come in here, demand my attention, then try to fight a guy when he shows me a little interest.”

  “Are you talking to me now?” I ask, smirking when she clenches her fists.

  “Leave. Now.”

  “No.” I say firmly.

  “I’m not going to talk to you right now, Asher. What happened, happened, now get the hell out of here.” She turns to leave, not going to say anything further, so I grab her and throw her over my shoulder, much like I did yesterday. “Put. Me. Down. Now!”

  “No.” I say again and wave at Martha. “I’m going to steal Lillian away for the night. Hold down the fort, will you?”

  Martha salutes me and winks. “No problem. Show her a good time. Maybe if she gets laid, she’ll stop being such a bitch to the customers, but I’m not holding my breath.”

  “Fuck you, Martha!” Lillian yells.

  Martha blows her a kiss. “Love you too babe.”

  Lillian tries to get out of my hold and I slap her ass roughly, causing her to yell in surprise. “You’re so dead when you put me down.”

  I ignore her and leave the bar, heading back to my house so I can try to win back my girl. My dragon and I just met, but we’re both in agreement—we cannot live without our mate.

  Chapter 4

  “You’re unbelievable, Asher.” Lillian hisses out once we enter my house. She’s been giving me the silent treatment since I carried her out of Inferno, so I guess I should be happy that’s she talking to me at all. Lillian slams the door behind us and swirls around to face me, eyes blazing with rage. “You can’t just drag me out of work whenever you want! I have responsibilities.”

  I incline my head. “I can respect that, Lillian, and I’m sorry if I caused you any problems with your catering job or your job at the bar, but you need to understand something as well. You. Are. Mine.” I growl out the words and I can feel my eyes glow in possession. “I act the way I do because you have me under your fucking spell and I can’t think straight when you’re around. All I can think about is claiming you as mine.”

  Lillian blushes and clears her throat.

  “That’s no fucking excuse, Asher. We’re not even a couple or in a relationship, or anything. You have no right to ‘claim’ me as yours. You made your feelings for me obvious when you kicked me out of your house half-naked last night. Your pervy neighbor got a nice eyeful, by the way.” she walks away from me and I follow after her.

  She opens the refrigerator and grabs a beer without asking me. She’s probably trying to annoy me, but I love that she’s comfortable in my kitchen. What’s mine is hers now.

  “I’m sorry about my neighbor. Adam is creepy, but harmless.” Grabbing her beer, I take a sip from it and hand it back to her, much to her annoyance. “As for your other points, you’re wrong. We are a couple and we are in a relationship.”

  She raises her eyebrows. “Really? Where was I when that happened?”

  I shrug and smile at her, hoping she still loves my smile. I mentally fist pump when I see her eyes soften at my smile. “You weren’t here. I had this conversation with Hailey tonight when she came over.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I wouldn’t listen to a word Hailey says about us. She thought we would be the perfect match. How freaking wrong was she?”

  “She’s right, Lillian. You’re my mate.” Lillian’s eyes widen and she takes a step away from me. She’s scared, but why? Was I right when I told Hailey, Lillian won’t accept my dragon half? “What’s wrong?”

  Lillian shallows hard. “You’re a shifter as well?” I nod my head and she curses. “That’s why you kicked me out last night? You were transforming for the first time? And you said all those things because you were scared of hurting me?” I nod again. Lillian closes her eyes and sighs. “I’m such an idiot...all the signs were there and yet, I still didn’t see it. I didn’t stay and help you. I’ve seen Hailey go through the transformation after she met her mate and it terrified her, so I’m disappointed in myself for leaving you when you needed me.” She reaches out to me, but stops herself from actually touching me. “I’m sorry, Asher. You must hate me for leaving, but you have to know, I didn’t realize what was going on. One minute, I’m having the most explosive and passionate night of my life—with a guy who made me feel like I was the most beautiful creature in the world—and the next, you’re yelling at me to leave and never come back.” She closes her eyes in pain “I reacted and ran as fast as I could.”

  Striding to her, I grab her into my arms and carry her to the back of my house, heading into the backyard. Placing her feet gently on the ground, I kiss her cheek and press my forehead against hers. “Stop apologizing, Lillian. You didn’t do anything wrong. I freaked out and said anything that would get you to leave. I was so terrified of hurting my mate that I didn’t think about what I was saying.” Kissing her nose, I smile when she grins. “But I want you to know I didn’t mean a word I said. You’re my mate, Lillian, so I never want to be apart from you. And I know I’m going to drive you crazy with my possessiveness and my over protectiveness, but know that it comes from a place of love.” her eyes widen at the ‘L’ word and I chuckle. “I know it’s too early for you to say it, hell, it seems too early for me to say it, but my dragon has waited over twenty years for you, Lillian. I’ve loved you since the moment I was born. I just didn’t know it yet.”

  A single tear falls down Lillian’s face, but she’s smiling, so I know she’s not sad. “I feel bad that I can’t say I love you yet, but I really, really, really like you Asher. I’ve never felt this way over a guy be
fore and I can tell that you’re it for me. From the moment I saw you, I knew you were going to change my life in some way. I just didn’t think it would be in such a significant way.”

  “You changed me too. Literally.” Lillian laughs and I caress her cheek, smiling softly. “I was wondering...would you like to go on a ride?” Lillian smirks and glances down at my hard groin. I laugh at her reaction. “That’s not what I meant, Lillian. I mean, do you want to ride on my back while I’m in my dragon form? I want to properly introduce you two and take you somewhere special.”

  Lillian hesitates but nods her head. “Sure...just don’t drop me, okay?”

  “Um, I’ll try?” she punches my arm and I chuckle at her. “I’m kidding! I promise not to drop you as long as you promise not to fall.”

  Lillian rolls her eyes at me and helps me take my shirt off. “You’re such a doofus.”

  I grin and kiss her lips lightly. “But I’m your sexy doofus, right?”

  She arches a brow. “I don’t remember calling you sexy.”

  “You did the first night I took you.” I remind her and take pleasure in seeing her eyes darken at the memory. “And I have a good feeling I’m going to hear it again at some point tonight. I can’t have my mate going back to work all grumpy, now can I? Martha would think I didn’t get the job done.”

  “Shut up and strip. I want to see this place you want to take me.” she blushes and I laugh again. “You know what I mean! Just hurry up. I’ll hold your clothes since I have a feeling they don’t suck into your human body when you shift.”

  “You’ll be right about that. Okay, here I go.”

  It’s times like these I’m happy I have such high fences surrounding my backyard so no neighbors can see me transform. And if Adam, the only neighbor I have within a mile radius of me, sees me with Lillian on my back, I can tell him to blame it on the weed he smokes. I’m sure he’s seen weirder things.

  My transformation is quicker than the first and much smoother. And since I know I won’t hurt Lillian this time, I feel better about my dragon coming out. Actually, I’m excited for us to become one. And for him to finally meet our mate, face to face.

  “You’re beautiful.” Lillian eyes me in wonder and then touches my scales timidly. I growl low in my throat and Lillian eyes travel up to mine when I do. “You’re bright red, like my hair. This is a total fashion violation.” I chuckle and my body shakes, causing the ground beneath me to shake slightly. Lillian holds onto me to steady her body until I stop laughing. “Note to self: Don’t make you laugh while we’re on the ground.”

  I growl at her and turn my head towards my back. Lillian walks cautiously towards me and freezes when she’s directly to the side of my back. Obviously scared, I offer her my leg as a way to climb up me to get to my back. Without further hesitation, she climbs up my leg and is on my back in record time. I give her enough time to wrap her arms around my neck the best she can before I flap my wings and take off.

  I don’t fly too high, just in case Lillian slips, but I don’t fly low enough for humans to see us either. At one point, Lillian yells and stretches her arms out like she’s flying, keeping herself steady by squeezing her legs around me hard, which I don’t mind, at all.

  I finally land, near a secluded lake, as gently as possible. Lillian is holding on to me hard enough to strangle a human to death, but hey, she didn’t fall off, right?

  “This place is beautiful.” Lillian comments as I help her down. When she’s on her feet again, I change back into my human form and quickly put on my sweats. “Why did you take me here?”

  I grab her hand and bring us closer to the lake. “This is the place where my father proposed to my mother.” Lillian’s eyes widen in worry. “Don’t look so horrified, Lillian, I don’t plan on proposing to you tonight. Not yet, anyway.” I wink at her and wrap my arms around her from behind and crush her to me. “I brought you here to ask you if you’ll do me the honor of coming to my sister’s wedding next week as my date?”

  “Don’t you think me meeting your family is a big deal? What will they think? Will they even like me? Will they hate that I’m a human and not a dragon?”

  I kiss the top of her head, trying to calm her down. “First, it is a big deal to meet the parents so soon, but you’re my mate, so I don’t give a shit whether it’s too soon. You’re mine and I want to show the world you belong to me.” I bite her neck and trail kisses from just below her ear to her collarbone. Her breathing picks up and I grin against her neck, loving the effect I have on her. “Second, you shouldn’t care what anyone thinks about us. As long as we’re happy together, that’s all that really matters. And three, my family is going to love you for the sole fact that you’re the reason why I’m so happy. They all thought I was going to die alone and never know what it’s like to become one with my dragon. You can be a flamingo for all they care and they’d still love you. Plus, how could someone not love you? You’re Lillian Morrison. You’re beautiful, funny, sarcastic, and a stunning pain in my ass.” I place another kiss under her earlobe and then bite down on it. Whimpering with need, I pull away from Lillian to turn her around to face me. “They will love you, I promise.”

  “God, why are you so charming?” she asks, grabbing me by the back of my head and brings her lips closer to mine. “Is it bad that I want you? Right here? Right now?”

  I remove the tiny jacket she’s wearing and pull off her shirt in seconds. She laughs but allows me to remove the rest of her clothing until she and I are as bare as the day we were born.

  “Asher,” Lillian whispers, glancing behind us. “What if someone comes along? What if someone sees us?

  “Well, then they’re going to get one hell of a show.”

  “Asher!”

  “Relax, my love.” I lower Lillian onto the pile of clothes I layered on the ground so she’s not directly on the cold earth. “I come here all the time, but not many people know about it, so it’s always deserted. And since I have super-hearing now, I can hear if anyone approaches us or even comes close to us. We’re fine, baby. Just relax and enjoy the ride.” I quirk my eyebrow up and she giggles. “If you don’t get it, I mean sex this time, not riding on my back as I fly.”

  Lillian rolls her eyes and wraps her legs around my waist, pulling me towards her warm heat eagerly. “You’re lucky I like you so much, otherwise I would hit you.” She grabs my cock and begins massaging me. God, her hand is talented. Much like her mouth is. “Now, fuck me hard and fast. I’m hurting for you so bad and if you don’t put your cock inside of me in five seconds, I’m going to take care of myself with my fingers.”

  “Let’s save that idea for another time.” The image of Lillian fingering herself, making herself fall over the edge, makes my cock twitch in her hands. Grabbing her hands, I push them above her head and hold them there with one of my hands. With my other hand, I position myself at her entrance and thrust up as hard as I can, my eyes rolling backwards when her channel squeezes me and I hear her whimper

  “Asher!” she screams and bucks her hips up. “Don’t stop. Oh, god, please don’t stop.”

  “Whatever you wish, my mate.” I kiss her lips and continue to push into her at a punishing pace.

  Every time Lillian begins to get close, I pull back and wait for her body to calm down again, and then I repeat the process. After the fifth time I deny her her orgasm, Lillian’s eyes pop open and she growls. “If you don’t make me come, I’m going to kick your ass.” I thrust into her hard, stealing her words away. “Why are you teasing me, Asher? Don’t you want to please your mate?”

  I laugh. “Nice try, Lillian, but you’ll come when I want you to.”

  “Bastard.” She mumbles.

  “I love you too.” Increasing my speed, I let go of her hands and reach between us to play with her clit.

  This time, I don’t hold back her orgasm and we both fall over the edge together.

  “Asher!” Lillian yells in ecstasy.

  “Lillian.” I groan and collaps
e on top of her.

  When we regain our breath, I kiss Lillian’s nose and stare intently into her eyes.

  “You’re mine, Lillian.”

  She kisses my lips tenderly. “And you’re mine, Asher.”

  “Forever?”

  She pretends to think it over before she nods. “Forever seems reasonable.”

  “You’re such a brat!” I laugh and roll us over until she’s lying on top of me. When I glance up, I don’t see the stars twinkling above, I see Lillian’s bright green eyes studying me with so much love; it makes my heart ache with happiness. She might not realize it yet, but she’s already fallen for me, just like I’ve fallen for her. “You know you find me irresistible. Forever with me is going to be a treat. You’re welcome.”

  “Now who’s being a brat?” she asks, laying her head on my chest.

  “We both are. Another reason why we’re so perfect together.” Kissing her lips one last time, I glance up at the stars as her breathing evens out and she falls asleep on me.

  Never did I think that finding my mate would complete me. I was content with being human for the rest of my life and didn’t want to find love. But at the end of the day, fate has a way of creeping up on you and fucking you sideways; destroying the perfectly crafted future you thought you wanted.

  And I’m glad it did, because it led me to Lillian.

  My mate.

  My love.

  And one day soon, she’ll be my wife.

  Life can’t get better than this.

  THE END

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