Smoulder: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Dragonsworn Book 1) Read online

  Smoulder

  Book One: Dragonsworn

  Cecilia Lane

  Contents

  Book Information

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by 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.

  Smoulder: Dragonsworn #1 by Cecilia Lane December 2016

  Smoulder: Dragonsworn Book One

  Fated for love... or fated to fight?

  Dragon shifter Rafael Hart, one of three elite Dragonsworn guards, will not accept failure. He must protect the royal family from any and all threats, including their ancient enemy: dragon slayers. When one infiltrates their lair, it’s his job to destroy the threat even if her scent is as enticing as her lush curves.

  Lola Moreau hails from a line of dragon slayers, but her quiet life producing weapons for the cause is thrown into disarray with the threat of an arranged marriage. Seeking to prove her new weapons are too valuable to discontinue her work, Lola sneaks into dragon territory to test them. Her mission goes spectacularly wrong when she’s captured by an irresistible foe.

  Despite her upbringing, Lola can’t help warming to the sexy dragon who keeps her close. The heat between them is undeniable and makes her question everything she thinks she knows about shifters.

  When an old threat returns to wreak havoc, Rafe must determine if Lola is behind the latest attacks. And if she can be trusted, which way will she turn when she’s caught between the man she’s grown to love and the family that wants to destroy him?

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  Chapter One

  With the brazier lit and three pokers sticking out of the fire, Rafael knew what was happening the moment he stepped through the door and into the audience chamber. His parents rushed forward before he could join the small number that gathered around the fire. He hadn’t even known they were in the city.

  “You bring the Harts great honor,” his father said gruffly as he ushered him to a corner of the room. It was the most emotion he’d ever heard in his father’s voice, but he wasn’t surprised. His father had served as Dragonsworn to another of the de Rege family and it was expected that Rafe follow in his steps.

  “We’re so proud of you, Rafe.” His mother’s lips tweaked into a smile that she quickly contained. She squeezed his shoulder and joined the other mothers.

  Rafe recognized the others already waiting with their guardians next to them. He nodded to Levi and Brody. He didn’t know them very well, but he’d heard they were almost as talented as himself. Almost. They were fine choices and he would be glad to share the weight of duty with them.

  The rumors and speculation began as soon as the new Dragon King and Consort announced they were expecting a child. They had still been the heirs, then, but it wasn’t long until they were elevated to their higher status. The official coronation was still weeks away, but everyone had referred to them by their new titles since the dragons started moving into Azra Valley.

  Rafe’s name had been on everyone’s lips. It was no surprise. His parents expected nothing but the best from him. He trained his entire life to be the best at fighting and flying. Now he’d be given his spot as Dragonsworn to the smallest of the royal family.

  The families of the chosen men had gathered to serve as witnesses. Elevating Dragonsworn was an intimate ceremony. The mothers all chatted amongst themselves, but Rafe didn’t miss their eyes finding their grown children and husbands in the corner.

  The room quieted as Luca and Penelope de Rege entered. The Dragon King and Consort had yet to be officially crowned, but they were the leaders of their people in the new world.

  There had been so many changes in so few months. The newly minted Dragon Tower stood as the tallest building in Azra Valley. Most of the dragons had come from their original home in Italy, though several of the older ones stayed behind. They were too old to enter the new world, they said. Adventures were a young person’s game and they didn’t want to be losers.

  The plan was to hold court in Azra Valley and let any wishing to retire from the world stay behind in the mountain stronghold. The rest would enter the world much as other shifter species to combat the fact that dragons held themselves too much apart. It was a new world with new rulers to oversee the transition.

  Rumor had it that Consort Penelope expected to mark her daughter’s first birthday with cake and balloons and their close friends. Instead, she was participating in a blood and oath ceremony. She still had much to learn of the ways of dragons.

  Standing in front of the brazier, Luca fiddled with the pokers sticking out. He wrapped his hands around them all and checked the brands. The three brands rested in the fire ignited by the Dragon King’s own breath. One for each of them.

  Then he nodded and summoned them forward with a wave of his hand.

  The three dragon shifters stripped off their shirts and knelt before the brazier, turning their eyes to their king. Their fathers stood at their backs.

  A tiny ball of worry settled in Rafe’s stomach. The first name called would be the leader of their little band of guards. It was expected to be him. He’d trained his entire life for it to be him. He would be following his father’s footsteps if it were him.

  But there was always the small possibility that he wasn’t chosen to lead. He didn’t want to acknowledge the thought and give it life.

  “Rafael Hart.”

  Relief flooded through him and he quickly packed it away. In a room full of shifters, his heartbeat or sighs would be heard. He wanted to be the stoic leader his position demanded him to be from the start.

  Rafe lifted his chin and met the stare of the Dragon King. He would not flinch. He must not flinch. He would be entrusted with his daughter’s life and he needed to withstand anything that came his way, including his king’s displeasure.

  “You are proficient in combat?” Luca asked.

  “I received top marks in hand-to-hand, sharpshooting, and flying, sir.” He had weapons in his hands from the moment he could walk. His father’s charge had still been alive, then, and Rafe watched Leo and Luca train before he was sent off to his first tutor.

  “You’re comfortable with transitioning to our location here?”

  He was one of the first to move to the city. He was happy for the chance to experience a new and fresh start for his people. “I spent time with tutors across Europe and America. I am familiar with many cultures and fluent in English and Italian. I want to hel
p bring our people into the world.”

  He moved on the Levi, then Brody. Rafe kept his ears open to learn all he could about his new brothers. Dragons were uncommon and tended to keep to themselves, but still had pockets of families all over the world. He spent time with some of them during his years of training, but he hadn’t crossed paths with either man except during formal occasions at the mountain court.

  Levi had the same basics of training as Rafe, but he also had the benefit of training with swords and daggers. Uncommon weapons, but still good ones to know. They needed to be prepared for anything their enemies tried to throw at them.

  Brody’s voice held more than a tinge of accent from his time spent in England. He was more of a scholar, but his big shoulders and fighter’s hands said he was ready to fight just as much as Rafe and Levi.

  They would protect the child. In her early years, that amounted to protecting the entire royal family since the child depended on them for survival. But once she gained a little bit of autonomy, their protection would extend to her and her alone. Should other children come along, other Dragonsworn would be chosen to protect them.

  In addition to protecting the child, they would become her first teachers and guides. She would be under their care until she reached maturity when it was expected that their training had given her the necessary skills to protect herself.

  The Consort stepped forward with tiny Cassandra in her arms. The child’s rash of red hair matched her mother’s, though he’d overheard some of the women gossiping that it would change. He didn’t care what the child looked like. She would be his to protect no matter which family member she favored.

  The Dragon King carefully stretched out one of the baby’s arms. One of his fingers shimmered and shifted with the magic of his inner beast. It was a show for all present; he had enough control to shift a single finger and they stood no chance in challenging him.

  The claw pricked Cassandra’s finger and blood welled to the surface. He squeezed her finger over each brand and a drop of blood landed with a simmering splat.

  The brand glowed nearly white when Luca held it into the air. He stepped in front of Rafe once more. “Do you accept your charge to protect the life of Cassandra de Rege?”

  “I will give her my life if I am required.”

  Rafe grunted as the brand bit into his chest above his heart. His father’s hands held tightly onto his shoulders and kept him from writhing in pain. Knowing it was coming didn’t prepare him for the actuality and he was glad his father was there to help.

  Down the line he went, repeating the words of the oath to Levi and Brody. There were no surprises. They knew what they had been invited for, just as he had known. Of course they would accept the highest honor of becoming Dragonsworn.

  He looked down at his chest. Instead of burnt, puckered flesh, his skin was colored black with an elegant tattoo. Dragon scales had a way of showing up when danger tried to harm a shifter’s skin. They needed blood magic or dragonfire to leave any lasting mark. Though they also shared a weakness against silver with the other shifter species, the wounds rarely left more than a faint, pink scar that faded after a few years.

  Luca clapped his hands and the three stood. He shook each of their hands in turn, then put his arm around Penelope’s shoulder and drew her closer.

  “Welcome to the family. Now, before the real work begins, we invite you and yours to celebrate. Everyone in the tower will be happy to know you’ve been chosen as our Dragonsworn.”

  Lola eyed the clock that hung above the crossed dragon claws. They were trophies of the last dragon killed by the compound, back before their numbers dwindled down to just a couple families. Her father had lost his leg during the fight.

  The egg timer on the counter dinged and she turned. She snapped the mask on top her head over her mouth and tugged on thick oven mitts. The oven door opened with a noxious odor and she quickly sealed it shut.

  She used tongs to pour the jelly from the flat beaker into the test tubes waiting on the counter. Then, she turned on the sink and let the beaker fill with water before taking her mask off. The air wasn’t dangerous so much as terrible to smell and she avoided it as much as possible.

  Resting her arms on the counter, she knelt down and watched the tubes. The jelly slid down the sides and congealed at the bottom. She grinned. She wanted a thick consistency.

  The poison, if it worked, would make any dragon stumble in human or dragon form. And after that stumble, they’d be weaker than a kitten. Ripe for the killing.

  It was her own design and she hoped it would bring honor to her family. With the way people were leaving the compound as fast as they could, they sorely needed the boost. They could trade the stuff for more supplies and make it beneficial to live in their compound again.

  There were older weapons created by a slayer long dead that were enchanted to cut through dragon scales. But those were few and far between. She knew of no one who could replicate the magic involved. The slayers needed to modernize their weapons and she aimed to help.

  Sounds of laughter outside the lab door made her stiffen. She hoped they would pass and cursed when the doorknob turned. No such luck.

  Three males little older than boys spilled inside, socking each other on the shoulders and trying to grab one another in a submission hold. They bumped into her table and barely took notice.

  “Hey!” She put her hands on the test tube holder to make sure it wasn’t shaken off with their behavior.

  “Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you there,” Kyle, her middle brother, half-apologized. She knew he wasn’t sorry and he quickly returned to wrestling with Peyton and John Jr.

  The three were all older than her and all equally obnoxious. She wondered sometimes—most of the time—if she had been the only one to grow up.

  The table was bumped again and she moved the test tubes to the more stable counter. Even so, she put herself between the boys and her work. She’d had to clean up more than one mess because of them. “Watch it! Do you need something, or are you here just to be a bother?”

  Peyton snagged Kyle in a headlock and took to gently slapping his cheeks. “We’re heading out on a hunt. Got our gear ready for us?”

  She wanted to snap at them. Silver bullets didn’t just make themselves, as much as they and the rest of the dragon slayers seemed to believe it. Guns weren’t cleaned by invisible elves and knives didn’t magically sharpen. Someone had to take care of the things that used to fall to her father. Since no one else had volunteered, it fell to her. She hated to see the lab in a state of disrepair because no one else had respect for the space.

  The lab had become her sanctuary after her parents’ death in a car accident. No one really knew what to do with her, so she was mostly left to figure things out on her own. Her mother was always chasing her out of the lab and back to cleaning and cooking, but her father always let her stay in the lab. He said more than once that she had a good head for his work and should have been born a boy.

  Instead of giving her brothers a target for their ire, Lola went to the wall lined with cubbies. She pulled out the three packs labeled with the name Moreau on the inside. She didn’t like anyone messing with her system and had chased more than one man from the lab.

  “Here you go. All done up and ready to go.” She jerked her head to the door.

  Instead of leaving, all three dug into the packs like children opening up Christmas presents. Only their discipline and training put the packs back together. They wouldn’t want to drag out everything just to get at a new ammo clip.

  “You got those new bullets yet? You know, the scale piercers?” Peyton asked.

  It was another project of hers that kept her firmly installed in the lab and away from the women of the compound. She saw the looks they gave her. They didn’t approve of her occupation. But the weapons she made and the improvements she came up with had likely saved more than one of their husbands and sons, so her brothers didn’t push the issue. Too much.

  She shook
her head. “Not yet. The latest batch still isn’t penetrating correctly. If I had more scales to test with...”

  Dragon scales were the hardest thing she’d ever come across. Human dragons were difficult to kill and tended to shift to their dragon forms when they detected a threat. Then the coward simply flew away. If she could come up with a method of delivering her poison bullets even through dragon scales, then her family name would certainly be on the lips of every person in every compound as the savior of humankind.

  John Jr. punched Peyton in the arm. “See, I told you! She’s not going to ever finish them.”

  Lola drew herself up tall. “I most certainly will. They’re almost ready. I just need more scales to test…”

  Kyle shrugged. “Yeah, yeah, why do you think we’re heading out? But you better hurry it up. You won’t have much time in the lab once you get married.”

  She froze. “What do you mean?”

  “You know how it is. Once a woman is married, she needs to spend all her time in the home making sure her man is ready for the next hunt and teaching the new generation of slayers.”

  “That’s not for me. I don’t want to do that. I want to go out and fight.” She’d been able to fall back on her work in the lab. No one had made any mention of marriage to her. She felt queasy and more than a little panicked by the thought.

  John Jr. rolled his eyes. “You’ll do what we tell you to do. You know women can’t fight.”

  “If you would just give me a chance!”

  He eyed her and she knew what was coming. She stepped back into a stance she’d seen the men adopt a thousand times. She watched his hands.

  She brought her arm up and blocked the first punch aimed at her face. Then, he surprised her. His hand latched around her wrist and he dragged her closer. His booted foot stomped between her feet and he slammed his elbow into her stomach. When she doubled over, his hands grabbed her hair and pulled her face into his knee. He pulled the blow at the last second, so her nose didn’t break against him.