Burning for the Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Fated Hearts Club Book 1) (2 page)

“Besides, I’ve found the best
way to get over someone is to get under someone.”

Penny rolled her eyes again. Vera
had the unique ability to be completely obnoxious and enjoyable at the same
time. “You’d make the worst man, you know that?”

“Oh, totally. I’d be plowing
chicks and talking about my huge dong all day long. As it stands, I keep being
told it isn’t polite to talk about such things.” Vera sighed as if she’d
experienced the worst thing in the world and then that thing killed her beloved
grandmother.

“I thought they were all
looking for their one and only. I don’t know if I’m ready to jump right into
that.”

Vera waved off her concerns.
“They’re looking, but it’s just like dating. Just because you’re awaiting your
entree doesn’t mean you can’t have an appetizer before it arrives.”

Penny let a bit of Vera’s
confidence rub off on her. Her friend was right; it’d been far too long that
she’d been alone. “So I need to go find someone for a hookup?”

“You’re fucking for the good
of girlkind.” She hushed her voice and leaned in conspiratorially. “I hear
shifters are packing down under.”

“As usual, Vera, your
ladylike behavior is to be commended.”

Vera winked and turned back
to the dresses. “Why be a lady when being honest is so much better? Now, what
dress do you want?”

“I don’t know… Will they even
fit me?”

“Will they even fit? Will
they even fit? My God, Penny! You’re practically the same size as I am, just a
little shorter. But that’s why God made hooker heels.”

Penelope chewed on her lip
and eyed the dresses again. On top of her string of failed romances, she’d been
hitting the ice cream cartons pretty hard. She’d been on the thicker side since
she stopped bothering with the latest fad diets and was generally at ease with
her appearance. But the Fated Hearts Club was high end, judging from the
chiffon and silk Vera had picked out. In her experience, those men wanted stick
thin models and she was nowhere close.

But Vera wasn’t about to be
deterred. Penelope was poked and prodded until she dressed in the outfit Vera
pulled off the rack for her. She sat in the chair while Vera brushed and styled
her messy red hair into some sort of order. Finally, Vera deemed her ready to
see herself.

Penelope almost gasped when
she looked in the mirror. The girl staring back at her was
hot
. She
looked like some rocker princess. Vera picked out a green dress that complimented
her dark red hair perfectly. The skirt flared at her waist and hid her problem
areas, and her heels made her calves look amazing.

“I’m too big for this.”

Vera glared at her through
the mirror. “No more excuses. You’re beautiful. They’re going to think you’re
gorgeous. If you don’t get sniffed up a thousand times, I’ll eat my shoes.”

“Mine, too.”

Vera turned her around and
shook her shoulders gently. “You’re not to blame for anything that happened,
you hear me? You’re a wonderful person who dated assholes. And the men we meet
tonight? They love bigger girls. More cushion for the pushin’!”

Penelope giggled and embraced
the bit of relaxation it gave her. “Let’s go before I lose my nerve.”

Penelope took one look of the
building and all her insecurities came rushing back. It was one of the new
skyscrapers she heard about on the news. The city’s richest and swankiest had
relocated to the luxurious condos, while restaurants that served plates more
expensive than a month’s rent offered room service to those above and long
reservation lists for visitors. Its twin held the businesses of many residents,
with glass-walled pedestrian walks crossing between the buildings at impossible
heights.

Vera drove into the parking
garage built under the buildings. Penelope’s nerves jittered at her when Vera
flashed her event invitation and a valet hopped up to park for them. She was
not the type of girl to use a valet service, or even go somewhere that had a
valet.

Penelope groaned and paused
at the door held open by one of the building staff. She nearly tripped over her
own feet when Vera grabbed her hand and urged her inside. Again, Penny was
served a healthy dose of butterflies.

They were shown to a private
floor on the upper level of the building. The elevator opened to rich colors
and low lighting. She was certain the open room was the entirety of the
building’s space, and every square foot was designed to be fabulous. A dance
floor was already packed and the music carried over the rest of the club.
Tables and booths were settled in a dark corner near the bar. All around were
the glass windows that gave a glorious view of the city lights below.

Scratch that. The butterflies
mutated into rampaging bison set on pounding every bit of her confidence into
the ground.

“Go get us some drinks. I’m
going to go powder my nose and check out the man candy options!” Vera nudged
Penny in the direction of the bar before disappearing into the crowd.

Which is how Penny found
herself seated alone at the bar and nursing a martini. Even the bar was
unfairly spectacular. A waterfall flowed behind all the liquor bottles and
changed color with lighting hidden away below.

“You look alone.”

She glanced up at the sexy
man who settled next to her, then to her other side. He had to be speaking to
someone else, but no one was near. She tried to wish away her nerves, but they
only jittered more. “Oh, my friend is here somewhere.”

She took a quick peek at the
dance floor and spotted Vera. The woman was sandwiched between two men who
could be professional dancers, judging from the cuffs on their wrists and tight
pants that looked ready to rip away at any moment. There was no rescue in
sight. She’d have to talk to the sexy man at the bar.

She studied him from under
her eyelashes. His hair was dark in the low light, but she’d bet her shoes that
the color would be black as night even in sunlight. His jaw was strong even
under the closely cropped beard that covered his cheeks. And he filled out his
clothes to perfection. Every shift in his seat or holding up of his hand to
order a drink suggested powerful muscles under the cloth.

He had to be a shifter. Penny
licked her lips and wondered what kind of animal he turned into. She put her
money on wolf. The predatory gleam in his eye when he looked at her made her
feel like a snack waiting to happen.

It should have frightened
her, or at the very least made her question what she was doing there. Instead,
she wanted to scoot closer to the man and wrap herself all around him.

He swiveled in his chair to
turn out to the crowd and she followed his movement. She expected him to take
his drink and go, but he barely took his eyes off her after a quick scan of
those around them. She caught her breath. It felt almost as if he were glaring
a warning for everyone else to stay away.

“These things are so strange
to me.”

His silky smooth voice made
her start babbling. “Yeah, I get that. My friend made me sign up to come. I
mean, it’s not like you’re going to go home and suddenly have the
two-point-five children and white picket fence.”

She wanted to kick herself.
Sure, he was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. Yes, she was already nervous.
But it didn’t mean she needed to make a fool of herself. She frowned into her
martini. Maybe she could blame it on the drink.

“The half child definitely
comes from your side of the family.”

Penelope blinked, then saw
the quirk to the man’s lips. She laughed and shook her head. “That monster? No
way. We have full-bodied children in my family. You’re responsible for the
freak.”

“I’ll take care of the two
that are mine. They’re set for life. The halfie doesn’t get a dime.”

“Oh, that’s just great. So
now you’re abandoning our poor half child. What a great catch you turned out to
be. Where’s your sense of duty?” She tried her best to glare and softened it
with a little laugh.

“You know, I hate that
statistic so much. It sounds like a literal half child. How is it split? Waist
and up? Cut down the middle?” He motioned across his own body, slicing the air
first across his stomach, then from his head to his waist.

“Hopefully at the waist. They
make wheelchairs to help the poor thing get around. There’s no fixing a split
straight down the middle.” She shook her head sadly, but couldn’t hide her
smile at the ridiculous conversation. It continued to spiral out of control and
she didn’t know how much longer she could keep it together without bursting
into laughter. The topic combined with the hunk was too much to handle.

“I guess we’ll just have to
hide him in the attic. Can’t have that thing around for dinner parties.”

“What a tolerant father. I
guess the family should be glad you only want to hide our child away and not
completely abandon him.”

“That’s your soft, modern
side talking. If we were in Sparta, this problem would have been solved as soon
as little Halfie was born.” He sighed. “The good ol’ days.”

She snorted before getting
back into her character. “Ah, yes. The good ol’ days of constant war and death.
Though maybe you’ll die in battle and I’ll find someone who will take care of
all the children equally. Sounds like a step up.”

He flashed her a toothy smile
and flexed his arm. “Good try, but I’ll be the one they compose songs about.
I’ll be a hero to our great city-state.”

Hero, indeed. She had a hard
time taking her eyes off the muscle that flexed under the tight material of his
shirt. She had an even harder time not imagining those arms wrapped around her
while he pressed his soft lips against her neck and breathed in her ear. She
pressed her thighs together to hold back the wave of arousal that threatened to
overwhelm her.

Despite what Vera suggested,
she was not going to sleep with just anybody.

But he wasn’t just anybody,
was he? The little voice in her head urged her on. It was drunk on her laughter
and good mood. The man pulled at her heart like no other.

“Oh, do you need another
drink? Here, let me get it for you.”

He turned back to the bar and
signaled the bartender before she could object. She tried to keep her smile to
herself. What a delightfully funny and attentive man. She couldn’t believe her
luck.

***

Luca couldn’t believe his
luck. She was seated alone and didn’t have the smell of a man clinging to her
like so many of the other women at the club. He’d seen Carson gladly enter a
dark corner with a tall blonde that had a mingled scent to her, but it wasn’t
for Luca. He wasn’t about to share, even if he took Carson’s advice to have a
little fun while he sought out his mate.

He was glad he hadn’t
accepted any of the few offers to find a more private place, because there she
was. Alone. And smelling like she was made for him.

His dragon wanted to scoop
her into their arms and wing away as quickly as possible. But the human in Luca
kept the beast under control. He wouldn’t restart the belief that dragons
carried away beautiful women against their will.

She had to be there because
of the money involved. That was the impression he got from all the other
attendees. They were interested in the thrill of getting close to the
paranormal and even more excited about the rich shifters looking for their
mates. So many were well dressed and weighed everything that moved with a quick
flick of their eyes. He’d dressed down exactly for that reason, and many women passed
him up after their initial perusal.

It was no matter to him. He
wasn’t interested in the right now when he was busy looking for his permanent
match.

Except, she still spoke with
him. She didn’t turn away or eye the next man to pass by. Did she know who he
was, truly? His development firm did well enough that he’d been asked for a few
interviews. Perhaps she was an avid reader to sniff out desirable bachelors.

If she knew, would she
continue their strange conversation? He was used to women trying to use him for
money. They asked for things without shame. Instead, he was getting her a fresh
drink unprompted.

He enjoyed her sense of
humor. It was a fresh treat from the stuffy conversations he was used to in the
boardrooms he frequented or the sports talk he had with Carson. She was light
and breezy and fun.

Outside of her lovely mind,
she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. That fact included dragons,
who were known to be beautiful specimens. But her dress hugged her curves in a
way that made him jealous of the fabric. He wanted to be the one touching her
skin instead of the material of her dress.

The green highlighted her
pale skin and her richly red hair. His dragon purred and rolled around in his
head. It certainly liked that it would match their mate. The deep shade of her
hair would go well with the even darker shade of the dragon’s scales.

And when she smiled… His cock
twitched in his pants. Her smile lit her eyes and made them absolutely sparkle.
He wondered if the green would darken or shine as she panted with needy
pleasure.

Luca swallowed hard to get
himself back under control. He didn’t want to shake like a leaf when handing
her the martini. He’d half accepted she was his mate by the time he turned back
to her.

“I apologize if this isn’t
something acceptable to ask, but… What are you under all that?” She gestured to
his body with her free hand.

“I’m a dragon.”

Her mouth dropped open and he
had to lock away the sudden X-rated fantasies that played out in his mind. Her
lips were full and soft and made for wrapping around his cock.

“I knew about wolves and
bears and big cats. Oh my God. Dragon? Are you serious?” She squealed the last
word.

“Guilty as charged.”

“Wow. Dragon. So, are you
super rare?”

He nodded and hoped she
didn’t sense his uneasiness. Her question drove home the recent loss of his
brother. So few dragons still existed that it hurt all of his kind to lose one.
He was close with Leo and the hurt ran that much deeper.

“There are only a few hundred
of us in the world. There used to be more, but many were killed by dragon
slayers.”

“So all those tales of
knights rescuing princesses from fire-breathing dragons are true?”

He wasn’t the one meant to
rule. Leo had all the charisma and power to hold the dragons together. He’d
been so far removed from the court. His visit for the funeral had been the
first time in fifty years he’d stepped foot in the mountain lair. How could he
rule a bunch of dragons he hardly knew?

Leo was gracious where Luca
could be belligerent. When Luca advocated for leniency, Leo pushed for
harshness. Luca never seemed to grasp the how and why that came so easily to
Leo and his parents. They all shared the same desire to rule and his parents
especially expressed their displeasure that the skills seemed to skip Luca
entirely.

Their disapproval left a sour
taste in his mouth and drove him to better himself outside of their influence.
It was freeing to be accountable to himself and not have dragon politics breathing
fire down his neck. He relied on himself and proved that he could be a success.
His development firm was a testament to that.

Love, too, eluded him. But
looking at her made him not feel bad about the past relationships, brief or
long. None of those others could hold a candle to this woman’s wit or grace.

Would she accept him as her
mate? It would bind her more thoroughly than other shifters, and for much
longer. He needed someone who would rule at his side. If she wouldn’t accept,
he would be better to leave her now to find someone else.

The responsibility of it all
weighed him down. He tried to keep up his end of the conversation, but she
noticed. She grew quiet after a few attempts to draw him back out. It pained
him to cause his mate such sorrow. He wanted to run a hand through his hair.
How would he be able to make her happy?

He glanced at her again. Her
brows pulled together and her green eyes were filled with concern. He realized
he lapsed into silence and hadn’t answered her question.

His nostrils flared as he
caught her scent. The cinnamon rolled around on his senses and filled him with
purpose. He never wanted to smell anything else again.