Read Burning for the Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Fated Hearts Club Book 1) Online
Authors: Cecilia Lane
Burning for the Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Fated Hearts Club Book 1)
Book One: Fated Hearts Club
Cecilia Lane
Copyright © 2016 by Cecilia
Lane
All rights reserved. No part
of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form
or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or
mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher,
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain
other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the
products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely
coincidental.
Burning for the Dragon: Fated
Hearts Club #1 by Cecilia Lane August 2016
Has fate given them everything only to cheat them of
their happy ending?
A reluctant ruler...
When his brother is killed by a dragon slayer, Luca de Rege
becomes the unexpected heir to the Dragon Throne. Used to answering only to
himself, he’s now responsible for finding a mate and ensuring that the
rapidly-dwindling dragon shifter population doesn’t go extinct. He doesn’t have
high hopes for his visit to the Fated Hearts Club… until he spots the curvy
temptation sitting at the bar.
A woman alone...
After a shattering betrayal, Penelope Minett has given up on
love. Though a friend talks her into attending an event at the Fated Hearts
Club, she’s resigned to a life of solitude. The last thing she expects is for
an impossibly sexy, irresistibly charming billionaire to sweep her off her
feet.
A desperate attack...
Just as her defenses start to melt in response to his
fiery desire, a threat from Luca’s past takes aim at the throne by targeting
Penelope. He’ll stop at nothing to rescue her and claim his mate -- but will he
be in time to stop a cruel, relentless enemy from destroying their future?
***
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Luca knew he wasn’t alone as
soon as he turned the key in his door lock. The deep, piney scent of Carson
filled his nose. The scent became stronger as he entered his penthouse
apartment.
“All hail the king!” Carson
rumbled from the living room.
“Not yet. Heir apparent.”
Luca dropped his bag to the floor and let the heavy wood door close behind him.
Friends for years, he hadn’t
asked Carson to check in on his penthouse while he was away, but the bear did
it anyways. Luca’s nostrils flared as he caught the scent of freshly seared
steak and the particularly hoppy beer the man preferred. He’d make some woman
very happy one day, if he ever decided to settle down.
The thought of mates set
Luca’s jaw.
He
needed to find a mate now. Yesterday, if his parents had
their way. He resisted the urge to rub a hand over his face.
As the new heir to the Dragon
Throne, Luca de Rege was responsible for furthering his family line. Oh, he’d
need to ensure the safety of the remaining dragons of the world and settle any
disputes between them, as well. But his parents, the current Dragon King and
Consort, had made it utterly clear that his primary concern was finding his own
dragon consort.
Luca pushed away the slowly
burning anger in his chest. Once he passed the hall closet, the apartment
opened up to him. The shiny, modern kitchen occupied a corner of the open
space. Carson lounged on the large, heavy couch stationed in front of the
wall-mounted television and stuffed another big bite of steak into his mouth.
He reached forward and turned down the sports game he watched.
“How’d the funeral go?
There’s another if you want it.” He pointed his knife at the steak he was
devouring.
“Oh, about as well as it
could. You should have come. Dragon funerals certainly rival those Viking
rip-offs you bears hold.”
Luca went to the kitchen. As
much as his stomach rumbled at the smell of the steak, he didn’t want to eat.
He pulled open the fridge and grabbed one of Carson’s beers after he saw the
empty whiskey bottle sitting next to the sink. Damn. He should have remembered
to visit the liquor store on the way back.
“Hey now,” Carson rumbled and
frowned as Luca settled in at the other end of the couch. “We hold to our
traditions. Damn, Luca. You look-a like shit.” He grinned at the wordplay on
Luca’s name.
“Ha ha. You should do stand
up.” Luca didn’t have the energy to manage a convincing glare. He knew Carson
was right. He didn’t need to look in the mirror to know there were dark bags
under his eyes and he could desperately use a haircut and beard trim. He’d been
in a rush to arrive for his brother’s funeral, then in a bigger hurry to leave
as soon as possible.
“So, what happens now that
you’re the head dragon?”
Luca’s inner dragon wanted to
breathe a stream of fire and show the little bear what would happen to any who
questioned him, but Luca held the beast in check. It was raw and injured after
the passing of Leo, but Luca couldn’t blame Carson for being curious. Dragons
were secretive by nature. No one wanted to share their lair and the treasures
within, and the easiest way to keep safe was to keep quiet. Only in recent
years had dragons revealed themselves to other shifters, let alone the humans
of the world.
“I need a mate, for starters.
My parents won’t abdicate before I have a consort at my side.”
“Well, that solves
everything. Just don’t find one. You’re all basically immortal, aren’t you?”
“Not quite. Long-lived enough
that it seems that way. I doubt they’ll accept anything but my full effort in
this.” Luca took a swig of the beer. He enjoyed a thick stout if he couldn’t
have a whiskey, but Carson’s drink would do in a pinch. He wanted to completely
obliterate all thought for the night. Surprisingly, his dragon didn’t object.
“Besides, with Leo gone, it
falls on me to lead. There are so few of us left, but they deserve to have a
strong leader. You don’t want rogue dragons terrorizing the countryside.”
“True. We might need to bring
back mounted knights and dragon slayers.”
Luca’s dragon roared back to
life, and he only just kept control over the beast. He soothed it as best he
could, stroking his mind’s energy down the broad, scaled nose he saw in his head.
There was no way Carson would know how Leo died, he told the great animal.
Carson’s eyes flicked to
Luca’s hands tipped with the beginnings of black claws and wisely decided to
change the topic. He shot Luca a grin. “So the great, accountable to none, Luca
de Rege is brought down by the greatest threat any man faces: his own parents.”
“I didn’t think it’d happen
so soon. I knew they’d insist I start having a bigger role in the politicking,
but I didn’t think they’d pull me aside at the damn funeral and insist upon
it.” He hardly had a chance to mourn his brother before his responsibilities
started showing themselves. If he wasn’t dodging his parents' insistence to
further the dragon line, he was extricating himself from the arms of the
courtiers who wanted to offer themselves to him.
Then there was Alexa… The
tall, darkly beautiful woman had kept her distance, for which he was thankful.
They’d been lovers for a time, until it became clear she was only interested in
him for his family connection. One too many comments of how he’d be perfect to
rule had killed any interest in her. Of all the women to throw themselves at
him, he’d suspected she would be the first in line. Her distance made his
dragon uneasy.
“Honestly, I wish we had it
easy like you bears. We need our mated connection to have children.”
Carson’s eyes lit up and he
shrugged. “Maybe it’s for the best, you know? You lot would take over the
world. We can handle only so much fire-breathing.”
Luca let a low growl rumble
in his chest. Twin lines of smoke exited his nose in preparation for a little
more fire breathing.
“Oh, stop it. You know I’m
joking. But hey, I have a solution for you. Why don’t you hit up the Fated
Hearts Club?”
Luca rolled his eyes. “That
meat market? No, thank you.”
He’d heard of the place
before and immediately categorized it as something he would never be interested
in visiting. Women signed up to be paraded around shifters rich enough to
afford the membership price tag. The club operated all over the world to give
their members an opportunity to find their mates in all sorts of locations.
“Think of it like speed
dating.”
“That sounds even worse. I’ll
find my mate on my own.”
Carson finished his beer with
a final swig. “This is easier, my friend. The women already know you’re of the
shifter kind, so there’s no chance of them running when you have to get a
little furry. Or scaly, in your case.”
He padded to the breakfast
bar and pulled a laptop from his computer bag. He returned to the couch after
grabbing two new bottles. Luca took the offered bottle and waited while Carson
opened the shell and typed something into his browser.
“Here, these are the beauties
signed up for the next event.”
“You don’t really go to
these, do you?”
Carson snorted. “Of course I
do. They know we’re looking for our mates. What’s the harm of a little fun
while we’re on the hunt?”
Luca shrugged and took a
closer look at the women smiling from their profile pictures. Most were the
tall and skinny models that always went after the rich bachelors he ran with,
but there were a few that caught his eye. Curves. That’s what he wanted. He
liked a little bit of something extra to hold onto at night.
The world knew about shifters
in the general sense. But there would always be those who feared anything
different from themselves, and dragons were no strangers to hatred. It was
disappointing to finally trust someone enough to reveal his second nature, only
to see her run with fear on her face and a scream on her lips.
The threat of his parents
arranging his future partner still rang loudly in his ears. He was not about to
tie himself to someone he’d never met, or worse, someone from the small court
he grew up around. He may be forced to finally settle down, but he’d do it on
his own terms.
He doubted he’d find his mate
at the Fated Hearts Club, despite the cutesy logo promising to match him with
someone. But he needed to start looking. He nodded to Carson. “Okay, sign me
up.”
***
Penelope eyed the
dresses hanging on the rack with trepidation. They were the best offerings Vera
had in her closet, and she had to admit they were all beautiful. Floor length
options were displayed on one end and the dresses got progressively shorter
toward the opposite side. But none screamed
Penelope Minett
.
Penelope was perfectly happy
in her status as a future crazy cat lady. After a series of breakups ending in
increasingly devastating ways, she was done with men and love. She was happy to
work her office job. Hopping into her pajamas as soon as the door closed behind
her took away any stress and worry over what to wear for a dinner date. She
just needed to start collecting unwanted kitties, and she’d be set.
“Don’t you give me that
look,” Vera snapped.
Penelope instantly widened
her eyes and plastered on her best innocent expression. “I didn’t give you any
look!”
“You did! You gave the look
that said you’d pick out a dress and not leave. Well, too bad. I’ll escort you
through the club door if I must.” Vera put her hands on her hips and stared her
down.
Penelope groaned and flung
herself back on the bed like a sulky teenager. Vera had it in her mind that she
could drag Penny out to a fancy new club just because there’d be some sexy
shifters to ogle. Never mind that her last boyfriend had been caught between
the legs of a woman that grew fangs as long as her hand when Penelope raised an
objection.
Too bad it’d been at her
dream job. She turned in her notice that same day and kissed her personal assistant
job goodbye. She certainly wasn’t going to stick around and make dinner plans
and hotel arrangements for her boss to bang her ex. Now she worked as a
receptionist for a travel agency and barely made enough to afford her quickly
acquired studio apartment.
Still, it was better than
moving back in with her parents. She didn’t want to give up the city life for cow
pies and sunrise to sunset farm work. She liked her work hours steady and not
dictated by the weather. And her horrible stepmother… Penelope shuddered. The
woman was hell in high heels and expected Penny to carry the weight of her and
her stepsisters. No, she was far happier living it rough in the city than back
home.
“You’ve moped for far too
long over that asshole. It’s time to go out and have some fun, Penny.” Vera
took a seat next to her and pat her leg.
“No. Just leave me here. I
have some frozen lasagna calling my name.” She smiled weakly.
“First off, ew. Learn to cook
it yourself. Better yet, baked ziti is easier. Second, I promise you’ll have a
good time.”
Penelope rolled her eyes.
“You can’t possibly know that.”
“What is there not to love
about a bunch of guys eyeing you to see if you’re their destined soul mate? Oh,
and did I mention the open bar?”
“Yes, you lush. But they’re
all shifters, aren’t they?” She covered her stomach with her hands to stop the
fluttering within.
Shifters were new and exotic.
What started as whispered rumors turned into a full-blown press conference and
demonstration on television. Nearly everyone in the world knew they existed,
even if they didn’t know if the bagger at the grocery store had a hidden furry
side. There were those that wished they would vanish and leave the world to
regular humans, but Penelope was fascinated by their existence. If shifters
existed in the world, what else could be waiting to crawl from under the bed?
For a lonely former farm
girl, they were exactly the type of excitement she craved. She knew they were
just like regular humans and had all the potential flaws, but Vera let slip
that those who found their soul mates were immensely loyal. Not worrying about
a cheater would be a breath of fresh air in the stinking pit of betrayal she’d
found herself in time and again.
“Just because Little Miss
Furface was all up in your man’s business, doesn’t mean you should write them
all off. You know what’s out there. Like, fur real.”
Penelope threw a pillow at
her.
“Okay, okay, no puns.” Vera
laughed. “But you’ve had a close encounter of the furry kind and got zilch out
of it. Why not go experience it a little?”
The idea of a sexy man with
an irrefutable wild side appealed to her. It didn’t hurt to imagine her
faceless beau taking control of her. She certainly wouldn’t mind someone who
was a little more vocal about their wants and needs. Her body warmed at the
thought of someone caring for what she wanted, instead of just preferring her
to stay still until they were finished.
Maybe, just maybe, and she
couldn’t stress the
just
enough, going to the Fated Hearts Club wouldn’t
be a horrible night.
