The Billionaire Dragon Shifter Meets His Match: BBW Paranormal Romance (Gray's Hollow Dragon Shifters Book 6) (18 page)

A note from Zoe Chant

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The Billionaire Dragon Shifter Meets His Match
. I love hearing what my readers think! It helps me decide what to write next.

Page down to read a special sneak preview of Ilie’s story,
Beauty and the Billionaire Dragon Shifter
.

The cover of
The Billionaire Dragon Shifter Meets His Match
was designed by Augusta Scarlett.

Cover: Augusta Scarlett |
www.scarlettebooks.com

More Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant

The Billionaire Dragon Shifter’s Mate
.
A BBW in search of adventure + a dragon shifter in search of a mate + a mishap on a mountainside = one sparkling and sexy story!

Beauty and the Billionaire Dragon Shifter.
BBW who's new in town + a dragon shifter who's new to being human + a very confused dog named Mouse = one sexy fairy tale romance!

The Billionaire Dragon Shifter's Christmas.
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Choosing the Billionaire Dragon Shifters
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The Billionaire Dragon Shifter’s Baby
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Firefighter Dragon
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The Dragon Billionaire’s Secret Mate
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Defender Dragon
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In the Billionbear’s Den
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Honey for the Billionbear
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Beauty and the Billionaire Dragon Shifter

by Zoe Chant

Special Sneak Preview

For just a second, peering through the trees, Becca had been sure she saw the dragon. There had been a big black shape among the trees, a silver glint that could have been eyes. But before she was sure of what she was seeing, it disappeared.

A moment later she heard the sound of someone in the woods, in the direction she had been looking. It sounded like they were running.

Becca immediately started second guessing what that dark shape had really been, because the noise she heard now was perfectly ordinary. She moved along the path, trying to find an angle that would let her see the person crashing through the woods.

Something burst out from an unexpected direction, big and dark enough to make Becca jump.

It was only a dog, though. He stopped when he saw her and whined. He turned and looked back the way he’d come—toward the sound of pounding feet—and whined again. Becca had just started to approach the dog when he took off running.

Becca touched the phone in her pocket and followed him at a jog, and a moment later she heard the dog bark. It was a sharp, unhappy sound. Becca slowed to a cautious walk, and then she spotted the other person in the woods.

There was a naked man standing among the trees, staring at the dog, and at her.

He was tall, fair-skinned and clean-shaven, with unruly dark hair that curled around his ears and at the back of his neck. Becca couldn’t help noticing that he also had dark hair curling between his legs. Becca jerked her gaze away from the fact of his naked cock without letting herself think anything of it at all. He was covered in dirt and scratches, and he looked bewildered.

No one had mentioned whether Gray’s Hollow had a deranged nudist living in the woods. Maybe that had been a secondary concern after briefing her about the dragons.

The man took a step toward her, opening his mouth to speak.

The dog, which had been standing with all four legs braced and its head down, bolted abruptly, leaving nothing between Becca and the naked man. The man let out a choked, wordless yelp and waved frantically in the direction the dog had gone.

Becca actually took her eyes off him to look in the dog’s direction, just because the man seemed so emphatically concerned. She quickly returned her gaze to him when she heard him coming closer.

He stopped again when she looked at him, and this time he was close enough for her to properly meet his eyes. They were pale gray—the color of the mayor’s stone mansion. Nearly the color of the
mayor
, in his dragon form, a shining silvery color that arrested her attention. He looked right back for several long seconds, and then Becca remembered that she was alone in the woods with a deeply confused naked man.

“Are you all right?” she asked, looking him up and down again and trying to notice only the mud and scratches, and not the gorgeous, muscular,
naked
body under them. Now was not the time.

The man gave a short, wild laugh that made her meet his eyes.

“I’m…” he said, and then he folded down unsteadily to sit, drawing his knees up to his chest. Becca took a few steps closer and knelt down so that she wasn’t towering over him.

“I’m naked,” the man said after a moment. “Sorry, that’s—you know that. It’s just that usually I’m a dragon.”

Becca’s eyes went wider, and she reached out to brace her hand against a tree trunk. Cara had warned her about that.
They’re always naked when they shift back
.

She had also said,
Ilie is always a dragon.

“You did meet Gus, right?” he asked anxiously. “You know about us? Cara said she would tell you.”

“I did meet Gus,” she said slowly. “So you’re…”

“Ilie,” he said, nodding. “Usually… always a dragon. Until just now. This is… very strange. Talking like this.
Being
like this.”

“Just now,” Becca repeated. “I thought I saw you—I thought I saw a dragon, I mean. I was looking for you.”

Ilie nodded. “I saw you. I saw your eyes. And then…”

Becca couldn’t look away from his eyes, and Ilie didn’t seem able to look away from hers. Her heart was beating fast, and she felt the tug between them like a compass needle swinging to north.

“I thought…” she said, and just holding on to a tree wasn’t enough. She sat down too. Their eyes had met, and he had changed from a dragon to a human. “I thought that sort of thing required a kiss, or true love.”

Ilie smiled a little, stiffly, like he wasn’t quite sure how smiling worked. “You have very persuasive eyes.”

“Oh.” Becca couldn’t tell what she was feeling at all, too stunned by the last few minutes to process anything. “Um. So do you.”

Ilie’s smile widened at that, looking much more at home on his face. Becca’s heart beat harder, and she could feel her pulse pounding all over her body.

I hope kissing and true love aren’t out of the question
, she thought. It might not be the time just now, but she couldn’t deny the pull she felt any more than she could deny what she’d seen.

A second later she thought,
It’s a shame you’re not a dragon anymore, though. I really wanted to see a dragon.

She smiled back at Ilie. “Do you—do you need anything? Can I call someone for you? You must want to—to see your family.”

“Well.” Ilie looked down at himself. “I guess I need to borrow some clothes from Gus, at least. And—” He looked in the direction the dog had gone, his smile fading. “And find Mouse.”

“Mouse?” Becca repeated, though it was obvious he meant the enormous dog.

“He’s mouse-sized to me,” Ilie said, and an odd expression crossed his face. “I mean—he was. When I was a dragon. But it’s too late to change his name now.”

“Of course,” Becca agreed.

“I don’t think he knows it’s me,” Ilie added, frowning down at his own body. “He’s never seen me like this. I must smell all wrong to him. He’s—he was—”

He looked so stricken that Becca wanted desperately to hug him. She settled for leaning forward and setting one hand on his knee.

He twitched all over, his eyes going wide and meeting hers again, and she realized that she was the first person who’d touched him on skin instead of scales in—how long? Probably a very long time. She started to draw her hand back, but Ilie caught it and pressed it down.

His hand was warm on hers, strong but not crushing, and Becca shivered a little herself, at the touch and the intensity of his gaze.

“I’ll—I’ll call someone,” Becca said after a moment. “We’ll find Mouse.”

Ilie nodded and looked away, letting go of her hand. After another moment Becca remembered to take her hand off his knee and take out her phone.

***

Ms. Stafford called Cara, and announced herself to Cara as
Becca
. Learning her first name was almost enough to distract Ilie from worrying about Mouse. When he reached for the dog in his mind, he got no answer now, just a sense of Mouse running through the woods. Looking for Ilie?

Did Ilie have to trade? Mouse for Becca? His dragon shape for his mate?

He was vaguely aware of Becca explaining the situation to Cara, but she’d only begun when Ilie heard Gus’s voice in his mind. It sounded different, more distant, than when he was in his dragon shape, but at least he hadn’t lost that altogether.

Ilie?
Gus said.
Are you—are you okay?

I don’t know
, Ilie admitted.
I think she’s my mate, Gus. I saw her and I changed, just like that. And now I’m naked. And Mouse doesn’t know me. He ran off.

I’ll check on Mouse,
Gus promised.
Cara will bring you some clothes. And… congratulations, little brother
.

Ilie looked at Becca and shaped his mouth into a smile again.
His mate
. Whatever it cost, he knew she was worth it. Every time he looked at her he wanted to earn another glance from those sky-blue eyes, another kind touch, anything. He had been right to change for her. A dragon’s mate was a treasure beyond any other.

Even if it meant he couldn’t be a real dragon anymore.

***

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Beauty and the Billionaire Dragon Shifter.