Never Flirt with a Dragon

Chapter 1

Romantic music accompaniedthe couples swaying on the outdoor dance floor at my best friend’s wedding. There were flowers everywhere, and the twinkling lights made the place feel magical. The way her new husband held the back of her dress so she wouldn’t trip made me itch to pick up a pencil and sketch the two of them.

They were a gorgeous contrast to each other, which only added to my desire to draw them. She was average height and size, with pale skin and thick, black waves falling down her back. He towered over her, with golden skin and hair, thick muscles, and pretty blue eyes. He was a dragon shifter, and she was… whatever a dragon shifter’s mate was. Not human, anymore. Not a dragon, though.

Not that she’d told me, at least.

I got the feeling she was keeping secrets. Dragons were always secretive, so I figured they’d probably sworn her in or something.

Viola, my identical twin sister, had spent the whole evening arguing with one of the groom’s brothers. Eli. They didn’t get along, but there was chemistry beneath the disagreement. I kept waiting for them to hook up, but it had yet to happen. She insisted that she despised him.

I got tired of listening to them fight, so when the dancing started, I slipped off to an empty corner of the gorgeous field the wedding had taken place in. It was on the edge of the forest, not far from the cabin Elodie and August, the newly-married couple, lived in.

As I walked, I adjusted my short, dark green bridesmaid dress. The annoying thing rode up every time I walked, which drove me crazy.

It was quiet on the edge of the field. The fairy lights overhead were woven through the trees and draped across the open air, making the party feel alive. And while the music played loud enough to hear, it wasn’t deafening.

I could still hear myself think.

And of course, my gaze went back to the couple on the dance floor.

Elodie and August.

I’d never been the kind of girl who ached for true love or searched for a partner, but watching them made me curious.

What would it be like to have that?

To have someone to hold?

To exchange knowing smiles and inside jokes with the same person you slept with every night?

I enjoyed sex, but there was something empty about it.

I’d wondered if there could be more. More than just the physical sensations, but an emotional connection, too.

The wedding emotions were probably just getting to me.

And I’d always been fascinated with supernaturals, so that didn’t help any. Besides August and his two brothers, there were a handful of demons at the wedding. All of them were in mated pairs that practically sang of romantic bliss.

The way their bodies seemed to gravitate toward each other made that slight ache in my chest just a little worse.

A massive body crossed my vision, and my gaze followed the gorgeous, golden figure.

It was August’s middle brother, Jasper.

I didn’t know anything about him, except his name. I’d seen Eli plenty, and had hung out with August pretty often since he and Elodie became a pair, but Jasper? He was a mystery.

Elodie had warned me that dragons tended to avoid human women whenever possible, so I wouldn’t be offended if he turned me down. I’d avoided him too, for his sake, after she told me that.

But there was something electric about him. I found my gaze drawn to him constantly.

He looked just like August, but… harsher.

The edges of his face were sharper.

His expression was more closed-off.

He’d stayed away from everyone throughout the wedding and reception, and hadn’t eaten anywhere near as much as the other supernatural guys.

…Maybe I’d been staring too much.

I was starting to feel like a stalker.

Yikes.

I needed a drink.

Shaking my head, I made my way across the field and grabbed another glass of wine. No one was getting drunk at the wedding, but alcohol barely affected supernaturals, so that didn’t surprise me.

And the wine was amazing, so it was fine.

I was tugging my dress down again, fighting another wave of annoyance at the thing, when my sister called my name.

“Randa!”

I sighed inwardly.

She’d want me to solve some disagreement between her and Eli.

“This asshole insists I can’t make spaghetti that doesn’t taste like a last-minute dinner,” Vi said, storming up to my side with Eli on her heels. She looked frustrated, and he looked amused. Like usual. “Tell him.”

“She does make good spaghetti,” I said, reaching for another glass of wine. “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

I flashed Vi a smile, then slipped away from them.

If they didn’t think I was headed for somewhere in particular, they’d probably follow me.

I didn’t know where I was headed. But there weren’t many single people at the wedding. Just me, Vi, August’s brothers, and one or two others who kept to themselves.

So there weren’t many options as far as where to go.

But Vi and Eli hadn’t bugged Jasper yet, so…

Guess I was going to sit by him.

He probably wouldn’t want to talk to me, but that was fine. At least he wouldn’t argue.

When I reached his table, he didn’t so much as glance at me. There was a half-eaten piece of cake in front of him, which was a rarity considering he was a supernatural guy. They all ate a ton, from what I knew. Given their sizes, eating a lot seemed like a requirement.

Since he didn’t look at me, I didn’t bother asking if the seat next to him was taken. No point in risking getting rejected. I knew he probably wouldn’t want me there, but sitting by him would give me a break from the arguing.

I took the chair beside his so I could look out at the dance floor, then tugged my dress down yet again. The other seats wouldn’t have come with a view.

“What are you doing?” Jasper asked.

The dragon’s words surprised me—and sent a shiver of something down my spine. Something hot.

His voice was gorgeous.

Low, and rich. Deep, and gravelly.

Sexy as hell.

“Hiding from my sister and your brother.” I took a sip of my wine.

It really was delicious.

I looked up at Jasper, but he was staring straight ahead, watching the dance floor too.

Or maybe just staring at the trees above it. I couldn’t say.

“They’ve been fighting all night,” I explained. “It’s driving me crazy. They just need to hook up already to get it out of their system. He’s totally riling her up on purpose, and Vi never backs down.”

Jasper grunted.

And didn’t otherwise reply.

Awkward.

“They seem like they’re leaving you alone, so I’m hiding here. Hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine.” He didn’t sound annoyed.

Then again, I was too busy shivering at the seductive tone of his voice to consider whether or not he liked me.

“I grabbed an extra glass of wine when I made my escape, if you want it,” I added.

I was being awkward too.

Cool.

I was severely introverted, but I could usually carry on a conversation smoothly when I wanted to. And I wanted to with Jasper—but he didn’t.

So the weirdness set in.

Oh well.

It was fine. Only one more hour until I could go home.

Hopefully alone, while Vi went back to Eli’s place. That didn’t seem likely, but it didn’t hurt to dream.

She was going to spend the long drive back to our apartment ranting about how much she hated him. Yay.

“No thanks,” he said.

“Mmkay.” I took a long drink.

Maybe I needed to become the first drunk person at the wedding.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. He stared at the trees, and I watched my best friend. She and August were sneaking out, which was kind of adorable. I loved it.

“They’re going to the beach for their honeymoon. Elodie’s really excited,” I told Jasper, as the discomfort set in a little more.

He grunted again.

“I’ve never liked the beach,” I admitted, setting my glass down and fiddling with my hair. “Sand gets everywhere. It takes forever to scrub it out of my hair. Drives me crazy. I grew up by the beach, and kept my hair cut to my chin when I did. I loved it short. Not sure why I grew it out. I guess the internet convinced me with all its overly-edited pictures and all the extensions. Maybe I should chop it again.”

“I’ll take that glass of wine,” he said.

Sheesh.

He really didn’t like me.

That was fine, though. Whatever. I?—

Jasper took the glass without looking at me or it.

My eyes widened when he grabbed my cup. Pink lipstick stain and all.

He lifted it to his mouth without noticing, and put his lips halfway over where I’d been drinking.

His chest rumbled, and he paused before he tipped it back.

My forehead creased.

Why was he growling?

Jasper inhaled deeply.

It made his chest swell even bigger, somehow.

How were his shoulders so thick?

“Are you okay?” I checked.

He inhaled again.

Then he dragged his tongue slowly over the rim of the glass just where I drank from it. He narrowly avoided the lipstick marks.

My eyes widened.

Jasper set the glass down on the table, and finally turned toward me.

His eyes were blue. So blue.

And the way he looked at me was intense.

A moment of silence passed.

Then another.

He hadn’t answered my question, but I didn’t bring it up again.

Finally, he set his hand on my knee.

My gaze jerked down to it as a wave of something painfully hot rolled over my skin and into my leg.

I sucked in a breath.

The heat of it surged through my veins, burning through my entire body.

Jasper rumbled again, and my attention lifted back to his face.

When I saw his eyes, I gasped.

The blue was gone.

There was fire in its place.

And I knew what the fire meant…

It meant a tentative mate bond had started between us. Like the one between August and Elodie all those months ago.

Jasper’s hand remained on my thigh as he pushed my leg to move it. I didn’t know what he was doing, but didn’t fight him on it.

When my left leg collided with my right, I looked down and realized my dress had ridden up yet again, and barely covered the lace panties I had on beneath it.

Oops.

But… the mating thing.

He was still staring at me when I focused on him again.

And his eyes were still burning with fire.

“What do we do now?” I whispered.

His chest rumbled again, but he didn’t answer.

Apparently he wasn’t a man of many words.

He finally withdrew his hand from my skin.

The moment he did, a wave of warmth rolled through me. It felt like I’d stepped outside on a hot summer day, and was just standing in the sun.

It was… uncomfortable.

Had Elodie mentioned that? I didn’t think she had.

Jasper rose to his feet.

What was I supposed to do? Just watch him leave? Let him go? He obviously wasn’t interested in me, and I?—

A shriek escaped me when he grabbed me by the waist and threw me over his shoulder. The motion was smooth enough that it didn’t hurt at all, but it scared the shit out of me.

He tugged my dress down my ass roughly, then held the fabric down over my butt. Though his hand felt kind of nice there, and the summer-day feeling vanished when he was touching me, I didn’t know what to think

Or what to do.

“What are you doing?” I called over his shoulder.

The man didn’t say a word as he carried me into the forest, away from the music and lights.

Or as he set me down on my feet two minutes later, away from the rest of the party.

My eyes widened as he stripped out of his suitcoat and tie.

Then unbuttoned his white shirt and dropped it on the dirt with the rest of his clothes, exposing skin dripping in elegant, black-ink tattoos.

Then stepped out of his pants.

He didn’t seem keen on answering a single one of my questions, so I didn’t ask what he was doing again.

I did hold up my hands and take a step back when I saw the massive erection he was sporting, though.

Holy shit, Elodie wasn’t kidding when she said supernatural dicks were big.

But dragons were protectors.

They didn’t hurt people.

So I didn’t think he was going to attack me. But still…

My fears vanished when he rolled his shoulders back, and shifted.

My lips parted as a gigantic silver dragon replaced the attractive man. He barely fit between the trees.

Without further ado, he grabbed me with his tail, lifted me into the air, and carefully set me down on the place where his neck met his shoulders.

The position naturally leaned me forward a little, and I wrapped my arms around his scaly neck.

A low voice filled my mind, making me shudder.

“You belong to me now, female.”

And with that, we launched into the sky.