TO DATE A DRAGON
By
Natalie Kristen
WEREDRAGON WARRIORS
To Date A Dragon (Book 1)
Copyright © 2016 by Natalie Kristen
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously or are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual locales, events, establishments or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
About this Book
As the last dragon king of Draca, Rohan Draek vows to keep his people safe. For nearly seven decades, the Dracans have been living on Earth, hiding from their enemies.
But when the savage killings begin, Rohan knows that the hunted must become the hunter. Rohan is aided by his two fearless, loyal guards. The three of them are the last of the weredragon warriors, and they are all that stand between their people and the Slayors…
Amelia Hawkins is a kindergarten teacher with a dark past and deadly secrets. When the handsome, sexy, single father of one of her students transforms into a dragon and saves her, Amelia believes that she has just lost what is left of her sanity. But as Rohan tells her about his past and his people, she realizes that the demons that haunt her are not just in her mind.
Amelia is powerless to resist the consuming passion and hunger that Rohan ignites in her, but their connection puts her in terrible danger.
With his enemies closing in, Rohan will have to fight for his family, his people, and...his mate.
* * * * *
CHAPTER ONE
Rohan Draek sped his Jaguar up the long driveway to his mansion and zoomed into the garage. He glanced at his watch.
6:01 pm.
Shit, he was late. By one frickin' minute.
Rohan muttered an oath when he saw that he was the last one in. Zul's roadster and Edriq's SUV were already neatly parked in the garage.
Last one in is a rotten egg.
Rohan thought it was a really odd phrase. It didn't make any sense to him, but then again, humans had a strange way with words and languages. Rohan and his people had made Earth their home and blended in well with the humans over the decades, but still, it had taken him a long time to understand certain human behaviors and actions.
He'd first heard that rather odd and baffling phrase from Tessa, his five-year-old daughter. To be honest, he'd never fully understood it but Zul seemed to think that it was really funny and clever and had promptly adopted it as his favorite phrase of the month.
Rohan blew out a breath as he got out of his car. He was the last one home so he would have to do the dishes tonight. It was Zul's idea. But Rohan knew he probably wouldn't get very far with the dishes. Mrs Vomae, his housekeeper, would be standing by, twitching and twisting the corner of her apron anxiously as she watched him like a hawk and as soon as Zul's back was turned, she would shoo him out of her kitchen and finish doing the dishes herself. The woman took great pride in her work.
Rohan heard shrieks and booming laughter from the kitchen as soon as he entered the house. Cheers and applause could be heard as Edriq cheered Tessa on. “Go, Princess! Watch out, he's planning a sneak attack. Woah, that was close! Wait for it...and go for the kill!”
Rohan walked in and saw Zul and Tessa sitting at the kitchen table, engaged in a fierce, aggressive, take-no-prisoners thumb war. Edriq was hovering over the combatants, clutching his head as the tension escalated.
“You almost got him!” Edriq screeched. “Destroy him, Princess, destroy him!”
Tessa growled as Zul wiggled his big, thick thumb tauntingly at her. She had her tongue sticking out from the corner of her mouth as she concentrated on the battle.
Rohan crossed over to the table and kissed the top of her head. “Hi Daddy,” she said, without taking her eyes off the enemy thumb.
“Hi, sweetheart,” he said, taking a whiff of the wonderful aroma wafting from the stove and the oven. There was a large pot bubbling on the stove and he saw Mrs Vomae pulling a giant meatloaf out of the oven. His housekeeper instinctively lowered her head and curtseyed deeply when Rohan greeted her.
Old habits die hard.
It had taken him decades to get Edriq and Zul to stop calling him “Your Highness”. And it was a couple of decades later that they could finally call him by his name without prostrating themselves at his feet.
Those two warriors were the most stubborn, difficult, pig-headed males he had ever encountered. But they were also the bravest, most loyal, dragon-hearted fighters and protectors.
Zul and Edriq weren't related to him by blood, but they were his family. They had been his royal guards in Draca, and when they landed on Earth, they refashioned themselves as his personal bodyguards.
Rohan didn't need them to protect him. He was a trained soldier like them, goddammit. Eventually, Rohan gave up trying to talk sense into their uncompromising dragon heads. They would stand guard outside his residence, come hell or high water. They would rather brave the freezing wind, rain and hail than move from their post.
So Rohan decided that it was just better for everyone if Zul and Edriq simply moved into his house.
Zul stayed in the east wing of the mansion and Edriq took up residence in the west wing. But they always came over to have their meals together in Rohan's kitchen.
Zul and Edriq weren't just his royal guards, his comrades in arms and his fellow warriors. They were his brothers in every sense of the word.
They had fought together, bled together and worked together to protect the surviving Dracans who had escaped on that last ship from the planet Korra.
The rest of their people who had made it to Earth were civilians. The three of them were the last of the weredragon warriors of Draca.
CHAPTER TWO
“So, how many rounds have you won?” Rohan asked, leaning against the door jamb.
“Six,” Tessa answered. “Gotcha!” She managed to pin Zul's thumb down for just an instant before Zul yanked his thumb out and waved it around merrily.
“You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!” Zul whooped. He gave Rohan a crooked grin and sang, “Oh, and good evening, Your Royal Highness!”
Rohan scowled. Nowadays, Zul and Edriq only addressed him by his royal title to yank his chain or to let him know when he was in trouble with Princess Tessa.
“You're late, Daddy,” Tessa piped up. “It's past six.”
“I'm sorry, honey. I had to finish up some work at the office,” Rohan said. Tessa wrinkled her nose but didn't reply.
In the human world, Rohan was the chairman of Draek Holdings, a large investment company. His company owned the Blazing Beans coffee chain and the FabFit fitness chain. Edriq was in charge of the fitness chain while Zul took care of the Blazing Beans outlets.
Edriq and Zul were fearsome, fearless warriors but they had a good head for business and they had great discipline and organizational skills. They were always prepared, always ready, and they got things done on time and within budget.
““Uncle Zul won five times,” Tessa said, glancing up. “Uncle Edriq didn't even win a single round! I think he let me win on purpose.”
Edriq gasped and put a hand over his heart. “Why would you think that, Princess?” he said in a wounded tone.
Tessa shru
gged. “I saw you beat Uncle Zul last night. You crushed him.”
“Yeah. He crushed my thumb. That was excessive and unnecessary force I'll have you know,” Zul complained.
Edriq made a chicken sound.
Zul turned to say something to Edriq and that was when Tessa made her move.
Quick as lightning, she pounced and pinned Zul's huge thumb down with her little one.
“One, two, three, four, I win thumb-o-war!” she shouted in victory.
Zul let out a howl and pretended to reel back in shock at his humiliating and devastating defeat. “Noooooooo!”
Tessa giggled and pumped her fist in the air. “Yes!” Jumping down from her chair, she leaped into Rohan's arms. “Did you see that, Daddy? I beat Uncle Zul. Again!”
“That was a really good fight. Very impressive. You're the awesomest thumb warrior!” Rohan declared. “Okay, let's have dinner now. I'm sure you're hungry after that grueling battle.”
As they sat down to dinner, Tessa began to tell them all about her day at school. Mrs Vomae usually had her dinner early. “No, I will not...I cannot sit at the same table as my king,” she'd said and fell to her knees when Rohan tried to get her to eat with the family. Mrs Vomae was even more stubborn and set in her ways than Edriq and Zul.
Tessa's face was literally glowing as she prattled on animatedly about her new kindergarten teacher. “Miss Amelia is awesome!” Tessa crowed. “And she's really pretty.”
“I'm sure she is,” Rohan said, heaping more mashed potato onto his little girl's plate.
“Daddy, can you do my hair in a French braid tomorrow morning?” Tessa asked eagerly.
“Huh? Sure,” Rohan answered without hesitation.
“Yay! All the girls in my class are going to braid their hair tomorrow. We want to look just like Miss Amelia,” Tessa said adoringly.
Rohan realized that his brothers had gone completely silent. He looked up and frowned. “What? What's wrong? You guys look a little pale.”
“Um, are you sure you know how to do a French braid?” Edriq said slowly.
“Do you even know what a French braid is?” Zul asked.
Rohan saw Tessa looking at him with both hope and worry in her eyes.
“Do you know how to braid my hair, Daddy?” she asked softly. “It's okay if...”
“I do,” Rohan declared, then amended quickly, “I mean, I'll learn.”
Rohan ignored his brother's looks of horror and said smugly, “You can learn anything and everything on the internet now. Don't you know? There are all sorts of tutorials on YouTube!”
CHAPTER THREE
Amelia Hawkins laughed politely as Norbert launched into another joke. The man was trying his best and she appreciated the effort, but she rather wished he would just end the evening and put them both out of their misery. They clearly had nothing in common and their conversation, if you could even call it that, was stilted, forced and contrived at best.
How did she ever think she would meet her Mr. Right through online dating?
Online dating. The in thing. The only thing actually, because nowadays everyone was just glued to their mobile phones and tablets.
The internet had replaced the real world. No one bothered to make eye contact and chat in real life any more. Everything and everyone looked more interesting, more beautiful and more exciting online. Photos were photoshopped, profiles were carefully crafted and edited, online exchanges were filled with cute, flirty emoticons. You could even have a whole conversation using just emoticons.
Amelia thought that things might be less awkward and the evening might go a little better if Norbert would just whip out his phone and send her emoticons, instead of bombarding her with questions which were uncomfortable and way too personal.
This was their first—and last date.
They would probably never see each other again. So Norbert was basically a stranger. And a stranger didn't need to know about her past, her parents, her...condition.
Amelia speared another fry with her fork and concentrated on chewing. “My parents...they've passed,” she said at last when he asked a third time.
“I'm sorry,” Norbert said. After a pause, he said, “How did they die?”
Amelia took a deep breath and put down her fork. She forced her grimace into a smile and said tersely, “In an accident.”
It was the truth. Sort of.
After all, he didn't specify if he was asking about her biological parents or her adoptive parents.
Norbert cocked his head and squinted at her. Amelia fidgeted and decided that she should just feign a headache and get out of the restaurant.
Norbert had seemed so nice and charming when they chatted online. In person, he was an okay-looking dude. Well, it wasn't like she was a ravishing beauty herself. She had wild, red hair and her skin was far from flawless. Freckles marched across her nose and over her cheeks. She wasn't very tall and no one would ever describe her as “svelte”. She had way too many curves, and with that small gap between her teeth, she definitely didn't possess that dazzling, perfect Hollywood smile.
Norbert had light hair and fair, flat features. But she found his eyes...odd. Okay, odd was an understatement. They were plain creepy.
His eyes were pale and had a yellowish tinge. And it wasn't just the whites that were yellow. His irises were yellow and when he blinked, his pupils seemed to narrow and elongate.
“I like how you did your hair,” Norbert said suddenly. “You made a pattern in your hair. Did you do it yourself?”
“Oh, it's a French braid,” Amelia said, surprised. She reached back and pulled her long braid over her shoulder. “Yes, I did it myself. It's not that hard to do,” she added with a shrug.
“No one did your hair for you.”
Amelia frowned. “No.”
“Do you live by yourself, Amelia?” Norbert leaned forward and his thin lips curved ever so slightly. “Alone?”
Amelia stiffened. She heard the sudden, subtle change in his voice. Norbert's voice had become lower, raspier.
And he suddenly didn't look so harmless any more.
CHAPTER FOUR
Amelia gulped as the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Shakily, she reached for her glass and took a swig.
“I live with a friend,” she answered. She didn't add that her friend came with batteries and multiple speeds.
“Sure you do.” His smile broadened and she thought she glimpsed the tips of curved, sharp fangs.
Amelia bit down a cry and dug her nails hard into her palms. Fangs! No, no…
Get a grip, Amelia, get a goddamn grip!
It was happening again.
She was seeing those monsters again. No, she couldn't let those monsters in. She had to keep them out. It was the only way to hold on to her sanity, her life.
They're not real. That's what the psychologist said. They're just projections of your fear.
The psychologist had been patient and gentle, but she hadn't believed Amelia. She had nodded and smiled and said all the right things, but Amelia knew that the good doctor didn't believe her when she said she saw those monsters who'd killed her parents.
Monsters with fangs, forked tongues and yellow snake eyes.
Her adoptive parents didn't believe her either. They had been so supportive and loving, and they had held her and comforted her when she woke up screaming almost every night. But when she kept talking about the monsters, they decided that they needed to get professional help for her. Amelia wasn't coping well, and her parents' death has traumatized her and scarred her horribly.
Take your time. You'll recover. Banish the monsters from your mind. There's no need to feel guilty for surviving.
Amelia had listened to them and followed their advice. She still had the same nightmares but gradually she learned how to scream in silence. She tried to forget about the monsters, and she almost succeeded. For years, she never saw them again.
Until ton
ight.
The monster was back. It had found her.
“Amelia, are you all right?” Norbert's voice cut through her thoughts and Amelia let out a strangled cry.
“I...I'm fine...”
Norbert smiled and reached out to take her hand. Amelia stared at his hand in horror. There were...scales on his hand. Cold, dry, patterned scales. Like a snake's.
Amelia let out a cry and snatched her hand back. Norbert seemed to be changing right before her very eyes.
His pupils were narrowing into vertical slits and his eyes glowed with an evil, eerie light. He smiled at her, and she saw fangs lengthening from his mouth. He seemed to be swaying in his seat and when he licked his lips, she saw the tip of his tongue split into two. His tongue was forked!
Screaming, Amelia jumped up, toppling her chair in the process. The loud crash brought heads swiveling in her direction. A waiter came rushing to their table, and some of the diners in the restaurant shot her curious, disapproving stares.
“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,” Amelia stammered to everyone and no one in particular as she grabbed her bag. “I...I have to go...now...”
“I'll drive you home,” Norbert said immediately and stood up.
Amelia blinked repeatedly as she backed away. She hadn't banished the monsters. They were still in her mind. They had always been in her mind.
Norbert looked...completely normal. His pale eyes no longer looked predatory and reptilian and his manicured hands were smooth. He didn't have scales, snake eyes and a forked tongue.
She had imagined the whole thing, hadn't she? It was just a projection. That's what her psychologist said.
Amelia shook her head rapidly as she stifled an angry, anguished cry. It was bad enough that she often woke up drenched in cold sweat from the same, horrific nightmare. Now it seemed her nightmares weren't content with just tormenting her at night. They were creeping into her waking life as well.
To Date A Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Romance (Weredragon Warriors Book 1) Page 1
