Tangled: A Curvy Girl and Dragon Shifter Romance (Black Dragon Brotherhood Book 2)

by Aidy Award

  Tangled

  A Black Dragon Brotherhood Novel

  Aidy Award

  Copyright © 2021 by Aidy Award

  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.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. In and Out of Bed

  2. Swooners and Shadows

  3. Nerd Girl vs the Universe

  4. And then he kissed her

  5. Hide and Seek

  6. Dark Shadows

  7. Sparkles and Grumpybutts

  8. Welcome to Rogue

  9. Love Triangles are the Worst

  10. Good Guys In the Dark

  11. Everyone Needs a Cat

  12. Marked by the Dragon

  13. Sex Magic

  14. Claimed by the Dragon

  15. Time, See What’s Become of Me

  16. I Love Your Chubby

  17. To Love or Not To Love

  18. Broken Promises

  19. Sacrificial Dragons

  20. The Last Unicorn

  21. DumbAsps

  22. Betrayal

  23. Claiming her Dragon

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Aidy Award

  In and Out of Bed

  Ace

  Finding a mate was not easy.

  Ace wanted a human woman, that much he knew. They were smart, they were sophisticated, they were sexy as hell. The wolftresses in town were tempting, but most were too damn serious for his taste. The only thing he was serious about was destroying the shadow demons.

  He'd been seeking this woman for an eternity. Or at least a couple of months. Tonight, for the first time since he’d crawled out of the depths of hell and into consciousness, Ace couldn’t talk a woman into his bed to save his life.

  In fact, at this exact moment, he was being kicked out of one. The third bed he’d tried to charm his way into this week.

  Ace rubbed his cheek, not quite feeling the sting of the pretty raven-haired beauty’s strike. Sure, he could have easily dodged her attack, but she’d been so damn cute all riled up. It’s not like she could hurt him. And First Dragon above, he deserved it.

  His shirt, and then his pants, went flying out the door, over the little balcony, and into the parking lot of her apartment. His boots were already down there.

  “Take your limp dick and get the hell out of here.” The woman’s voice was filled with more than disappointment. She was pissed.

  Ace should care that she was angry. He couldn’t. That right there should have told him not to try and bed her.

  It wasn’t like he had performance anxiety or some shit either. He’d was going along just fine, cuddling, and snuggling, and getting naked. Then boom, his dragon declared a revolt, and his libido was done. The beast inside wanted nothing to do with her.

  He couldn’t even make himself dive between those luscious thighs and get her off. Couldn’t talk himself into stroking her wet and ready pussy to make her come. She was downright gorgeous, willing, and wanting... and she repulsed him.

  His cock had been ready to go pretty much since he’d gotten to Rogue. Didn’t matter how many times he’d taken care of it, in the shower, in his own bed at night, he was hard as a Wyvern’s sword, all the damn time.

  It had never mattered to his dragon before who he fucked. He fucking loved fucking. Especially big, round-bottomed women with curves for miles and soft plush bodies he could revel in.

  The German women back at the towns surrounding the Black Dragon Wyr’s castle headquarters had always welcomed him into their beds and both he and his partner...or occasionally all three or four of them got off, multiple times.

  He knew exactly why the beast inside had his cock in the no-fly zone.

  She was here.

  His fated mate.

  It was the only explanation for why the talisman he wore around his neck, his soul shard, had been glowing.

  It drove him to distraction like nothing else. Ever since that trip to the Cult of the Dead's underground bunker, this lust, this need, that couldn’t be slaked was messing with his ability to be a good warrior. A deep yearning for something he couldn’t have burned through his heart and brain forcing him to search for someone who didn't fucking exist.

  His soul shard glowed, but not for any one woman in particular. That wasn't how it was supposed to work.

  Ace walked out the apartment door and into the warm night air not caring who saw him naked. Maybe he’d catch a break and the mysterious mate would see him. Come to him. Whoever she was.

  Fate be damned. He pounded his fist on the metal railing hard enough to bend and warp the steel bars. The dragon inside of him growled and shimmered to the surface. It didn’t care that the Black Dragon Brotherhood had a mission to protect mankind and he was on the front lines. His base instincts to rut and claim threatened to take over.

  He took a deep breath and pushed the dragon back down. His cock didn’t rule him. He knew better. But the drive to find his mate was taking over every part of his brain.

  Ace wrapped his hand around the talisman dangling from the cord around his neck, and let the warmth of its glow seep into his skin. An aching deeper than where he thought his soul might be pulsed and pushed against his chest.

  Every female in the tri-state area, or at least the towns around the Cult of the Dead's base at Three-Mile Island lit up Ace's soul shard. Actually, to be fair every guy had too. A shard only did that when it was in the presence of its soul’s mate. So, where was she?

  From the apartment next door, a pair of black leather pants and a black t-shirt came flying out the door. Well, at least he wasn't the only one having trouble with the ladies. This was the first time Ace had brought Kurjerkwad out on the town with him. Dude really needed to pick a name or at least something they could all call him while he was pondering every single name in the universe.

  It wasn't that he'd felt sorry for the guy, never that, not after their sordid history. But he'd vowed along with the rest of the Black Dragon Brotherhood to help the darkest soul among them redeem himself. Seemed to Ace like a little nookie would go a long way toward lightening the asshole up.

  Kurjerkwad's bare ass filled the doorway as he stumbled out of the apartment. “I assure, you my lady, I don’t need my cock to bring you more orgasms than you've ever experienced.”

  Ace had to give Jerkwad credit for not giving up. That same tenacity was also what had gotten them into the war with Hell in the first place.

  The door slammed and Kurjerkwad tumbled out onto the landing. “Well, at least that one had some fire in her.”

  Ace sensed the volatile Black Dragon near the surface of Kurjerkwad's control. That darkness was closer to taking over than normal, even as he pretended this latest rejection didn’t faze him. It was everyone's job to make sure that darkness in him stayed harnessed.

  Maybe a shift and a fight would do them both good. Blow off the steam they hadn't been able to in bed, so they could get focused again. Ace flipped up to his feet, noticed the twisted metal of the railing and glanced at Kurjerkwad. He suppressed his anger, the black part inside of him, in a way he knew his companion couldn’t, then offered his brother in arms a hand up.

  Kurjerkwad sighed and stretched his neck, tipping it from side to side as if he was
holding the weight of the world there. He acknowledged Ace's offer up but didn't take it. He grabbed his own soul shard. It wasn't exactly glowing, but there was a light inside. That was a good sign. Probably.

  Jerkwad stood and stared down into the parking lot at the discarded clothes. “Fucking soul shards. If I'd known they were going to be such a pain in my ass I never would have--”

  They both knew what was at the end of that broken sentence. A lifetime's worth of anguish. “Jett and Neo said we’d know. Neo had no doubt the second he saw Kady. So, why the hell haven’t we found the one? Your soul shard is so bright, it hurts my damned eyes and mine is making me ache in ways I didn't even know I could.”

  Every dragon in the Black Dragon Brotherhood had been there when the White Witch had told her broken and defeated son that love would one day save his soul. Sounded like Ace wasn't the only one who didn't quite believe her.

  They both knew the black marks on their souls were there and wouldn't be easy for any woman, soul mate or not, to overcome. Only two Black Dragons had found mates so far and they were the best of them all. If anyone's souls deserved redemption it was their brothers who'd sacrificed everything to save the rest of them.

  What if the one who could do that for the rest of them simply didn’t exist?

  Or worse, what if she did and Ace's own darkness destroyed her?

  A sharp pain like a giant needle pierced him behind the heart. He did nothing to respond to the feeling. Acknowledging the sting wouldn’t make it go away. He’d only have to face the fear they all carried since they'd crawled out of Hell and into freedom.

  A gold dragon dropped down out of the conveniently located clouds and shifted into human form. “Hey, are you two going to stand around all night with your dicks in your hands or are you ever going to answer your phones?”

  Ace's cell phone was in his pants which were in the parking lot ten feet below them. He didn't even know that Kurjerkwad knew how to use a phone.

  “Dicks,” they said in unison.

  Maybe Kurjerkwad wasn't such an asshole after all.

  Apollo, the only Gold Dragon and the youngest on their team, rolled his eyes at them and crossed his arms. “It may be your last chance. Neo is ready to tear yours off.”

  “Shit.” If their Second Wyvern was calling them back in now, it meant he’d talked to the AllWyr council. Had he convinced them to let the Brotherhood go back into the Cult of the Dead's stronghold and root the rest of those bastards out? The Brotherhood had been working non-stop to figure out who was giving the cult members and the shadow warriors their powers. If they didn't do something soon, the psychic Wolf Tzarina predicted the scourge of shadow warriors would soon plague the supernatural community of Rogue, destroying lives, families.

  Their family.

  “You two have a new mission and you’re not going to like it,” Apollo said, his face grim. For the son of a Dragon Wyvern who mostly thought everything was an opportunity to dick around, that was bad.

  Dread scraping across his mind called Ace's dragon back to the surface, Kurjerkwad’s too. Claws extended from his hands and his scales rippled across his skin.

  He used that fuel to jump the remains of the railing and down into the parking area below. The asphalt cracked under his weight and the force of the landing. More ground shattered when Kurjerkwad landed beside him.

  “Let’s go.” Ace pulled his clothes on a lot faster than he’d taken them off. “You can fill us in on the way back to Rogue.”

  Apollo snorted out a laugh. “How'd you two even get here? No car, I see. Don't tell me you flew in broad daylight. Niko will have your heads for exposing the supernatural community that way.”

  Ah, the kid was always so worried what the dumb wolves thought. Guess he had to since he was fated to mate one of them. “We're not totally stupid, Goldilocks. There are more powers in using some charm on the ladies than showing them some dragon fire. How do you think I talked that chick into taking me home? With my daddy's hoard?”

  “Fuck off,” Apollo rolled his eyes. He was used to the ribbing about his father being the richest dragon in the whole damn world. “Lead on then, fuck boys. Don't worry, I'll cover your asses with rainbows and fluffy clouds.

  Great, just what he needed. A rainbow up his ass.

  Swooners and Shadows

  Ace

  They all shifted, flew like demons out of hell thanks to Apollo's push from the wind, and landed within minutes near the garden their brother Neo and his mate Kady shared with some weird, but tough little gnomes.

  Neo and the one other member of their team, Trip, were waiting. “Welcome back, dicks for brains. Gather any new intel on your reconnoitering mission?”

  Neo knew exactly what the two of them had been up to. He was the one who suggested Ace take Kurjerkwad with him on the prowl for ladies. Now that he and his beautiful new mate were lighting up the sky constantly with all the magic of their lovemaking, Neo thought every dragon in the Brotherhood should find their mates and be getting laid.

  Neither Ace nor Kurjerkwad answered Neo’s question and he didn’t waste any more time getting to the mission at hand. “I just got off the phone with Cage. He's been working tirelessly to convince the rest of the Wyverns to use the intel we learned during our last battle with the shadow warriors and the Cult of the Dead to develop a weapon or a strategy or something we can do to make a difference in this war.”

  “A way for us to use the shadow again?” A single slip into the shadows by a Black Dragon could lead this new shadow warrior threat right to them all. Ace was sure if they didn't figure out something soon, he was going to fucking forget how to use his element all together.

  The war had barely begun, and they'd already lost countless souls to the new demons and their human minions. Being able to travel through shadow again could turn the battle in their favor more than anything else Ace could think of.

  Trip hadn’t looked a single one of them in the eye since they’d landed. He wasn’t normally a big talker, preferred action to words. But the way he shifted from foot to foot was off. He knew something the rest of them didn’t. Before Neo could continue, he butted in.

  “The AllWyr knows we found a way to eliminate a shadow warrior from existence. They want us to hunt down and destroy the ones here immediately.”

  Death to anyone whose soul had been ripped from their bodies and turned into a shadow warrior. Kill the body, kill the shadow soul. That meant hunting the stupid idiots of the Cult of the Dead, but it also meant death to the hundreds of supernaturals across the States who'd lost their souls to this scourge. Including Yvaine, their Wyvern's mate, the one who'd saved them all with her own sacrifice.

  There had to be a better solution. “We need more time. Kady—”

  Neo peered out into the night trying to hide his concern. “Isn’t the answer. Her magic isn’t unlimited.”

  They’d almost lost Neo to the shadow warriors. He’d even become one for a time. His true mate had brought him back with some powerful soul magic. It had taken a toll on both of them.

  Ace slammed a fist against the nearest building, crumbling the brick. “Has anyone talked to Jett about this? They can't mean...I won’t do it.”

  Neo might be recovering from his run-in with the shadow, but he was still in command of the Black Dragon Brotherhood and temporary Wyvern while Jett stayed by Yvaine's side. “Which is why I sent Apollo to go get you. I can’t defy a direct order without the AllWyr coming down on our heads. So, I’m going back inside my tiny house, finding my mate, and…”

  Kurjerkwad held up a hand. “Stop right there. We all know what you’re going to do with your mate.”

  Neo got a big ole shit-eating grin on his face. Bastard.

  The smile faded just as fast. “The point being, I know nothing about the mission you boys are going on, nothing about the recon Apollo's been doing, and absolutely nothing about kidnapping a scientist working for the cult. Got it?”

  Oh, shit. Little rich boy was using his
spy skills while Ace had been out trying to get his dick wet. Well, if the kid was going to show the rest of them up, Ace had better get his head in the game. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good.” Neo folded his arms. “I’m only here because Kady said to invite you all to dinner tomorrow night. She’s making something called mac and cheese for a lucky pot and we’ll be watching a Trek through the Stars marathon.”

  “That’s a potluck and a Star Trek marathon.” Kady’s voice floated over from the doorway of their weirdly small tin hut. There was no way more than two people would fit inside they’re tiny abode. Ace had enough of small spaces when he'd been trapped in Hell.

  Kady walked over and snuggled up against their brother. She was beautiful, and Ace had more than a little crush on her. The empty place inside of him he refused to admit existed opened up to swallow him whole at the sight of her and the love she shared with Neo. Inside his dragon growled and snapped his teeth.

  He wanted what Neo had. Wanted it so bad, he would give his own soul for it. Not that he thought any woman could bear his darkness. In his bed, sure. In her heart and soul? Never. The evil Ace had been born with would completely overwhelm her, take her over, and it would damage her until she could no longer take the suffering.

  The only hope for him to have anything like what Neo had was to control his emotions, and his dragon, and hope that by keeping that part of him hidden, his mate would be safe. From him.

  “The whole gang is coming over. Zara and Niko, Max and Gal, Kosta and Heli, Selena, Doc, Ella, you know, everyone. The gnomes are going to set up an outdoor movie screen in the garden for us all.”