Carnelian Dragons: Syenite

Disgraced dragon shifter Syenite “Syen” Pyroxene craves a mate. But the plain, impassive bodyguard will never catch the attention of a female. Especially one covered in the bold, exotic rainbow colors dragons find irresistible — like her.
Eva is big-hearted, big-boned, and big everything. Her sparkle obsession? Just one more barrier guys can’t get past to see the passionate woman within.
Until Syen.
The huge, hard-bodied male makes her look like a delicate pixie. He’s unreadable except when he’s kissing her senseless.
Can she trust his desire when he won’t even take off his shades?
These two wounded souls won’t easily risk their hearts — but they must. Dark forces from Syen’s past are circling Earth’s atmosphere, and Eva’s the only one who can save him…
This stand-alone PREQUEL NOVELLA contains a happy ending! Plus steamy love scenes, unicorn farts with extra glitter, and a big, beautiful woman who finally finds her dream lover. No cheaters, no cliff-hangers, and satisfaction guaranteed. Enjoy this side-story about one of the rival dragons in Carnelian Clothiers and start reading the dragon shifters of Draconis today!

~ Eva, someday, your prince will come. ~

Eva’s grandmother had repeated that fairytale every time Eva’s dad dropped her off and forgot about her for a month or ten. It was usually spoken while she painted Eva’s small nails with magical purple sparkles to help her feel special.

~ Just be patient, my dear. ~

Decades later, Eva eased through crowds of young, demure college students at the art-themed bar. Techno music pounded her skull.

She raised her rainbow-sparkle fingernails and caught the attention of Chloe, her friend and part-time bartender. “One ‘Unicorn Farts’ cocktail, please.”

Chloe cupped her ear and shouted. “What?”

“Unicorn Farts!” Eva shouted back. “Extra glitter!”

Chloe made the thumbs up, constructed the rainbow-colored drink, and slid it down to Eva. “How about your date?”

“Something came up…”

Chloe’s smile faltered. “He stood you up? At dinner? Do you need something? I have a granola bar in my purse.”

“I ate by myself.”

“You should have called!”

Eva waved her off. “You were working. I wanted to try that restaurant, anyway.”

“But it’s your special day… You want me to find you someone?”

“No, no.” Eva flubbed her lips. “I’m not that desperate.”

“Sure?” Chloe teased, then leaned across the wide bar and enfolded Eva in a more serious hug. In Eva’s ear, she could speak at a normal volume and still be heard. “You don’t have to take a guy home. Just be open to meeting new people. Not strangers on the internet who’ll ghost you instead of meeting. Not a guy you were friends with in high school who you know is emotionally unavailable. A real, live, physical person who’s new. Anything could happen.”

“Why do I need new people when I have good friends like you?”

Chloe snorted and squeezed her again. “Well, I am pretty great…”

The other bar patrons waved to catch her eye.

She released Eva. “Everybody’s out on the dance floor. I’ll see you on my break.”

Eva lifted her credit card. “Start my tab.”

“Forget that!” Chloe waved and headed to serve the next customer. “Happy thirtieth!”

“Thank you!” Eva tried to smile and sipped her drink.

Apparently, unicorn farts were one part rose cream, one part cake vodka, one part banana liqueur, and one part peach Schnapps. Her tongue burned. That seemed fitting.

She meandered toward the bobbing dance floor.

It was funny that unicorns were popular this season after five solid years of dragons. Of course, dragons being popular as a theme was understandable since exactly five years ago dragon aliens from space had landed their spaceships on Earth soil and said, “Surprise, you’re not alone!”

In fact, dragons had surveyed Earth in the Middle Ages and decided it was a useless backwater planet with no valuable resources, so they’d gone on to ignore it for several hundred years.

Humans were the only species in the universe that couldn’t shift forms. Some genetically recessive trait only existed on Earth, probably due to the lack of valuable minerals.

It had been a big deal when they’d landed, with constant coverage on TV, but most of the Dragon Empire still thought Earth was useless and ignored them. Only a few hundred dragons ever even settled on Earth, they restricted their technology, and nobody got to voyage around the galaxy. One family had even settled right across the river in a field outside of Vancouver, Washington. But aside from the occasional spaceship that flew overhead, nothing much in Portland, Oregon had changed, and the news had just kind of faded away.

Like Eva’s dating opportunities.

Eva sipped her unicorn cocktail and studied the bar.

Chloe wasn’t wrong. Eva had a long record of picking guys who kept their distance. Her online therapist would say that made it easier to reinforce the narrative that there was something wrong with her, when in actuality, Eva had a lot going right.

She was big, which meant she could see over half the crowd to pick out her friends. She was heavy, which meant she’d be the last person targeted by a predator. And she was naturally blonde, which meant her hair took up any color she wanted—including the teal-magenta-violet ombré her stylist had given her shoulder-length locks this morning.

But shoving her way into the bouncing crowd to dance was so much work, and dangerous, too. Someone could throw an elbow. It was so much easier to lean against a black-painted building support column and wait for her friends to tire of dancing and find her. She was good at waiting, and she liked people watching.

Take the guy a few feet over, leaning against the next grungy black pillar.

He was hot, like molten lava hot, in a black-on-black tailored suit that accented his impossibly broad shoulders, bulging biceps, trim waist, and powerful thighs. And he was mysterious in a literal I-wear-my-sunglasses-at-night and leveled it up by wearing them indoors. Short brown hair and a chiseled jaw completed the spymaster look.

And he was looking at her.

Probably. The sunglasses made it hard to tell for sure, but it looked like he was staring straight at her. His lips parted as if in shock.

Tingling awareness flooded her private places, tightening her nipples and causing her pussy to clench with heat.

She gazed back, sipping her drink, testing how long he would stare.

He didn’t look away.

Heat crackled between them.

His nostrils flared as if he scented her. He was a dangerous male, and she was his chosen female.

Or she was mistaken, and he wasn’t looking at her. The sunglasses were completely opaque. His gaze could be fixed anywhere.

Eva drained her drink and stepped away to return the empty glass.

His face tilted to follow her movement.

Her breath caught.

He was staring at her. In a hard, attentive, mesmerized manner.

Or because something was wrong with her.

Eva rocked on her heels, caught between conflicting desires.

She didn’t have to take a guy home. She could just walk up, introduce herself, and talk to him. He might be waiting for a girlfriend. It only cost thirty seconds to find out.

Of course, after thirty seconds, she might say something stupid and be even more embarrassed and alone, whereas if she didn’t approach him, she could stretch out the magic of what-ifs and make-believe all night.

Just be patient, my dear.

Waiting was so much safer.

Eva squared her shoulders. She was already thirty. How much longer was she going to wait?

She wove through the crowd and stopped in front of him.

He oriented on her.

She clenched her purse. It was quieter next to the pillar. She wouldn’t have to scream in his face to be heard. “Hi.”

He tilted his head in subtle acknowledgment.

“Um…I thought you were staring at me.”

He gave another subtle nod.

“You were? Is everything okay?”

“Yes.”

His voice was a quiet, pleasant tenor, but his monosyllabic answer was functional and short.

This conversation was going nowhere. Eva slid a step backward, her body exiting before she was quite able to give up. “Uh, why were you staring?”

“Because you are beautiful.”

She had misheard. “Huh?”

“You are beautiful.”

Heat enveloped her in sudden shock, and her heart thumped. “I? I am?”

He nodded. Subtle, functional, short.

“Um, thank you.” Heat burned her cheeks and her heart continued to thump. Don’t get too excited. She swallowed her suddenly dry mouth and tried not to trace the impressive curve of his hard biceps. “Are you waiting for someone?”

He shook his head.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

He shook his head again.

Probably it was the drink that emboldened her, but she flat out asked, “Did you want one?”

He hesitated.

“Ha ha, never mind, I was just....” She pressed her palm to the breast of her new blouse. “I work at the art college down the street. My friends and I come dancing almost every weekend. I’ve never seen you here.”

“Tonight is my first visit.”

“Yeah? What drew you in?”

“Work.”

“Oh, what do you do?”

“Security.”

“For this bar?”

He subtly shook his head and casually surveyed the bar like he was checking out the clientele.

Small silver piercings dotted both of his ears, lining the whole curve from lobe to the top of the helix.

Wasn’t security a more conservative job? Maybe she was thinking of banks. “Your piercings are so unique. It’s lucky that your job is okay with them.”

“They are common at my employer,” he told her flatly. “They indicate my rank.”

The lack of emotion in his tone, like his short answers, pushed her away.

But something made her linger. “Rank in what?”

“Everything.” His sunglasses hid his eyes, just like his tone hid his emotions. “I’m a dragon.”

Dragon…

She took in his hard, lickable, all-too-human body and reconciled it with the TV coverage of scaly giant flying lizards from several years ago. “You mean like an alien? A shifter dragon? Like the Onyx dragons who—?”

“No.” He seemed mildly offended. “Of course not. I am nothing like them.”

“Oh! Sorry, it’s just…” Hysterical laughter bubbled up, and she giggled. “I’ve got dragons on the brain. And on my legs.” She lifted her knee to show him her tights, which had Chinese-style dragons smoking impressively across the lace.

He gazed for an appropriate length of time.

She dropped her knee, fixed the hem of her velvet skirt, and giggled again. “I didn’t mean to be silly.”

He tilted his head as though forgiving her.

But that just triggered her to giggle harder.

He watched her without cracking a smile.

But that was okay. He also didn’t interrupt, and she appreciated that.

She enjoyed a real laugh at herself, at him, at the situation. This was nuts, she was nuts, and of course the good-looking man in the bar wasn’t an alien shifter dragon. They were supposed to be reclusive billionaires. What alien billionaire slummed it at an ordinary college art bar?

Eva eventually sighed and wiped her eyes, careful of her glitter-crusted mascara. “Ah, I’ve either had too much to drink or not enough. Actually, I’m sure it’s the second one.”

He focused on her, listening in companionable silence.

And she wanted more.

Eva squared her shoulders. “It’s my birthday, and I’m waiting for my friends to finish dancing. Did you want to get a drink?”