Ever Mine (Dragon Lore) (14 page)

Nathan staggered back a step, a weird buzzing in his head. “Wait. What? You can’t just do that.” He looked down at Katenia, not sure if he would handle it well if her dad was messing with him. The thought of something happening to him and leaving her alone in his world… He’d take immortality. “Can he?”

In answer, a slow, beautiful smile lit Katenia up from the inside. “Father, I—”

“Hush,” he ordered. “I am not done yet.” He nodded when she snapped her mouth shut. “Now, I would like to know my grandchildren and their children. So, since your aunt Mellie protected my daughter at her most vulnerable and used her spell to send you home with her, the Council has decided to make her garden neutral territory. She has the spell to turn my daughter and her offspring into their fairy sizes, so they can learn their heritage.”

Katenia tore out of his arms and darted forward, gently grasping her father in her cupped palm. It surprised Nathan to see the tears in his eyes as he leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose.

The smile on Nathan’s face died at the shimmer of magic spinning around his fairy and her father, but before he could give voice to the terror, the magic faded, and his heart slammed violently into his chest. For the first time in his life, tears of gratitude stung his eyes when he saw the final gift her father had granted her, peeking out from the top of her sundress. He’d tattooed her beautiful wings onto her back, so she’d never have to be without them again.

Her father bowed his head as he let his daughter go and flittered backward. “Now go start your life. We will be here whenever you have need of us.” He hesitated. “Oh, Mellie is upstairs in her bedroom. The magic she performed to turn you into a fairy is beyond anything she’d ever done and has drained her. She used a protection ward to keep herself safe, so when you go talk to her, make sure you say the phrase ‘apple pie’. Otherwise, she won’t let you in.”

Then they were gone as quickly as they’d appeared. Katenia stood where her father had left her, staring straight ahead.

“Hey.” He moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Are you okay?”

“No.” She turned in his arms and went on her toes, cupping his face with her hands, tears shining in her eyes. “I’m wonderful. They’re letting me keep you.”

He winked at her, because the love shining on her face was undoing him. “In all fairness, I probably wasn’t going to give them a choice.”

She dropped her head against his chest and laughed. “Gods, I love you, Nathan.”

“I know.” With a quick wink, he slipped his arm under her perfect bottom and lifted her until they were at eye level. He needed to get her out of there so he could clean up the mess and check on his aunt, but right now, he needed to hold her more. “I’m stupid in love with you, Katen.”

She giggled and grinned up at him as she hooked her legs around his waist, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “That sounds about right.” She kissed his nose, then closed her eyes and rested her brow against his. The sigh that escaped her was one of contentment and joy, and Nathan smiled. “Mine,” she whispered.

He nodded, and held onto the fairy who owned his soul. “Mine.”

Eden Ashe

Convinced dragons have gotten a bad rep throughout time, and more than a little addicted to fairy tales and romance novels, Eden Ashe has decided to re-write history. In her version, the dragons are ancient warriors in tarnished armor, who not only deserve the girl in the end, but will fight forever for her.

Also By Eden Ashe

Dragon Lore

The Dragon’s Heart

Ever Mine

Lyrical Press books are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018

Copyright © 2014 Eden Ashe

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.

First Electronic Edition: June 2014

ISBN-13: 978-1-61650-532-5

The Dragon’s Heart

Dragon Lore, Book One

Eden Ashe

Excerpt from Chapter One

“In entertainment news, Shelby Kincade is expected to make her first public appearance tonight at the premiere for her new romantic comedy,
Love Games
. It’s been almost a year since the night that still baffles police, when two men were found torn apart and bloody inside the A-list star’s bedroom…”

A low catcall came from the end of the bar, droning out the rest of the talking head’s voice.

“Look at her.” A man whistled. Shelby Kincade’s face filled the flat-screen television set high on the wall above the dozens of bottles of alcohol.

“I’d rather not.” Daniel Ashborne downed the beer he’d been nursing for the last hour. Just her name made him want to get plastered. “Can you turn this shit off?” he asked.

The brawny bartender braced his stocky arms across his chest. “Fuck off. I’m watching this.” He grabbed the remote, cranking the volume as he turned his full attention back to the television. “I like Shelby.”

“Of course you do,” Daniel drawled as he got to his feet, scooping his change off the bar. He dragged a hand over his face. So much for a biker bar being a nice, quiet place to get drunk. The task didn’t require all of his attention, but there was no way in hell he was looking at the television screen. He knew from experience the second he let his focus waver, he’d get sucked in to whatever story was running on the woman, be it on the television or in a magazine or newspaper. No matter how toxic it was, she was an addiction he didn’t know how to kick.

It didn’t surprise him to see her face splattered all over the night’s news. It was why he’d decided to get sloppy drunk. After a year outside the Hollywood spotlight, the woman still demanded attention. And she got it in spades.

“Isn’t she the pertiest thang you’ve ever seen?” the biker asked, his gaze riveted to the television.

Daniel made the mistake of glancing up. She stared back at him through dark sunglasses, pale blonde waves framing a perfect, flawless face. He knew the photograph was taken soon after his last encounter with her. He knew it because her smile, the beautiful, radiant smile of hers that made everyone near her want to smile, too, strained around the edges. Too forced to be real.

He snorted on his way to the door. “Don’t let her fool you,” he murmured as he passed the biker. “She’s a shark. She’d eat you alive.”