To Wed A Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Weredragon Warriors Book 2) (7 page)

How could she say no?

She finished work at three,
and Edriq had picked her up in his swanky SUV at four sharp. She was
wearing a modest pastel-colored shift dress and had applied some
light makeup. She wore her hair down but she made sure she smoothed
some conditioner over her hair to tame the frizz.

Edriq said it was just a
simple family dinner, but Nora felt that it wouldn't be proper to
dress too casually. His family was making so much effort for her,
going out of their way to prepare a wonderful dinner for her. Edriq
mentioned that his brothers were all rushing home early for the
dinner.

Edriq was still in his work
clothes but he'd loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves. He told
her more about his brothers as he drove, and when he talked about
Tessa, she could clearly see the fierce pride and love in his eyes.

The little girl was the apple
of his eye. It was so sweet to see a big, tough warrior gushing
about a five-year-old girl.

Nora updated him about Omar
Faye's condition. Edriq had stayed in the hospital until Omar's
sister arrived. Edriq had received a call from one of his managers
and had to leave the hospital. But not before he stammered out his
invitation to Nora. He couldn't let Tessa down.

“Omar's fine,”
Nora reported as Edriq drove down a long scenic road. “The
doctors let him go home in the afternoon.”

“Hmm,” Edriq said
non-committally. “That's good.”

“I think the doctors
told him to take it easy, so I don't think you'll be seeing him at
your fitness center for a while.”

Edriq quirked a lopsided
smile. “The ladies will miss him.”

Nora laughed and smoothed her
hands down her dress. The tall automatic gates in front of them were
swinging open, and Nora sucked in a breath at the majestic mansion
looming before her.

Edriq drove up the long
driveway and slotted his car into the garage. There were two other
cars there, a Jaguar and a BMW roadster. It seemed his brothers were
already home.

Edriq opened the car door for
her and helped her out. “Rohan's probably upstairs with Amelia
and Tessa, and Zul...well, he could be anywhere,” Edriq said.
“We can have a drink in the living room first, or we could go
to the kitchen...”

“I'll like to meet Mrs
Vomae,” Nora said shyly.

Edriq grinned. “The
kitchen it is then.”

Edriq brought her round the
back of the house. Nora marveled at the large, manicured lawn in
front of the mansion. “That's our landing pad,” Edriq
told her.

“Landing…? Oh,
for your dragons.”

“Yep.”

They entered through the back
door and walked into the big, brightly lit—and very crowded
kitchen.

Everyone was there.

Rohan, Zul, Mrs Vomae, Amelia
and Tessa.

“Uncle Edriq!”
Tessa squealed. Nora stared at the dark-haired, pretty girl and
marveled at how much she looked like her father. Rohan had his arms
full, but he gave her a wide grin.

Nora froze in her tracks and
gaped, taking in the whole scene. It was unbelievable.

She knew that Rohan was the
king of the Dracans, and here he was, moving back and forth between
the table and the cabinets as he carried stacks of beautiful, elegant
gold-rimmed plates and bowls to the table.

They were carting out their
best dinnerware for her. And King Rohan himself was doing the heavy
lifting.

Nora felt awed and humbled,
amazed and touched at the same time. She was in the house, in the
presence of a royal family. But instead, everyone was looking at her
and treating her like she was royalty. Nora had the strangest urge
to drop to a deep curtsy. It seemed like the proper thing to do.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

Edriq put his hand gently on
the small of Nora's back and whispered, “Meet my family.”

“H-hi,” she
croaked. “I'm Nora.”

She was greeted with big,
welcoming smiles and everyone started talking at once.

Edriq made the introductions
quickly, and hurried to the stove. Amelia, his queen, was wearing a
frilly, pink apron and stirring a big pot of soup.

“Let me do it,”
he said, trying to take the ladle from her but she swatted him away.

“Go take care of our
guest,” she said.

Edriq turned and saw that Zul
was already doing that. With a courtly bow, Zul pulled out a chair
for Nora and asked if she would like something to drink. It seemed
that Zul was on his best behavior tonight, but it was still early.
Once he got to know Nora better, Zul would launch into his repertoire
of dirty jokes and torture them with a song or two.

Nora wasn't one to just sit
down. She wanted to be part of the action. Jumping up, she insisted
on helping with the dinner preparations.

Nora glanced at Edriq and
they exchanged a smile. Edriq stood in the middle of the busy
kitchen and was momentarily speechless with emotion as he watched his
family.

Rohan and Amelia were his
king and queen, but they had both rolled up their sleeves and were
bustling around trying to prepare a special dinner for their special
guest. Even Zul was on his best behavior. He didn't make any
risque, rude jokes and was meekly obeying Princess Tessa when she
bossed him around and told him how to set the elegant silverware.

And little Tessa was glowing
with excitement and importance. She chatted with Nora and rattled
off one question after another. She looked highly impressed when
Nora told her that she was a paramedic.

“I want to be a
paramedic when I grow up,” Tessa promptly declared.

“I thought you wanted
to be a teacher,” Amelia said over her shoulder.

“Hmm, can I be both?”
Tessa asked.

“You can be anything
you want to be, sweetheart,” Rohan said.

Tessa grinned and clambered
up onto a chair to watch Nora take the potato wedges out of the oven.
A flustered Mrs Vomae had tried to stop Nora. “You're the
guest,” Mrs Vomae protested. “Please, please take a
seat. You...”

“I'd like to help,”
Nora had answered and grabbed the oven gloves before Mrs Vomae could
stop her.

Edriq and his brothers knew
better than to try and stop Nora. They'd had enough experience
dealing with two strong-willed females in the house.

“I made something for
you,” Tessa whispered to Nora. “It's a surprise. But I
want you to have it now.”

“What is it?”
Nora whispered back.

Tessa giggled and raced out
of the kitchen. Everyone could hear her running up the stairs and
yelling, “Don't tell her what it is!”

In less than a minute, Tessa
was back. Panting, she ran up to Nora and thrust a handmade bookmark
into her hand. “We just learned how to make bookmarks in
school. I drew the dragon myself,” Tessa said proudly. “Mom
helped me write your name and I colored all the letters!”

Nora held the pretty bookmark
in both hands and looked up at them. Edriq saw her blink rapidly.

“It's beautiful,”
she whispered. “I love it, so much!”

Edriq went over to look at
the bookmark. Tessa had drawn a fierce-looking, fire-spitting dragon
soaring above Nora's name. “That's Uncle Edriq,” Tessa
said, pointing at the dragon.

“I know,” Nora
said. “I saw his dragon. Once.”

“His dragon is
awesome,” Tessa crowed. “Can I go flying with you
tonight, Uncle Edriq?”

Edriq glanced at Rohan and
Amelia. “Not tonight. You have school tomorrow,” Amelia
answered.

“Aww, Mom! But you're
my teacher. I can be a little late for school, can't I?”

“No you can't,”
Amelia said firmly.

“I'll take you flying
this weekend,” Edriq said. “Promise.”

The girl stuck out her little
finger. “Pinky promise? Promise she'll be my Aunt Nora?”
she added quickly.

“Pinky promise,”
Edriq said automatically before realizing that the cheeky, clever
little princess had slipped in another promise at the last minute.

The princess was young but
she was quick, observant and considerate. She'd made a beautiful
little present for Nora to show Nora how much the family loved her
already, and she had even read her Uncle Edriq's mind and heart like
a book.

She had made Edriq promise to
put his wants and desires into action and claim Nora as his. So she
would be Tessa's Aunt Nora.

She was looking out for him,
for his happiness.

They all were.

The whole family had come
together and put in so much effort to welcome Nora into their home.
It was just a dinner and just a bookmark. Yet it was so much more.

Edriq chuckled when Tessa
winked at him.

It was at this very moment
that he realized his Princess Tessa would make a great queen one day.

CHAPTER
TWENTY

“Thank you so much for
the lovely dinner,” Nora said as she shook hands with Edriq's
brothers. Tessa and Amelia came forward to hug her.

“Thank you for the
present,” she told Tessa. “Thank you for everything.”

“Bye!” Tessa
waved energetically as Nora got into Edriq's car. “I've
decided,” she announced to Nora. “I'm going to be a
paramedic and save lives! Just like you!”

Behind her, Rohan and Amelia
shrugged and smiled. They knew that their daughter would probably
change her mind again next week. Last week, her burning ambition was
to be a teacher. And the week before that, she thought being a
mermaid was the coolest job in the world.

“Being a mermaid is
hard work. You have to be able to hold your breath underwater for a
long, looooong time!” she'd quipped as Amelia drove her to her
swimming lessons. “And after that I have to grow a tail!”

Nora beamed and gave Tessa
two thumbs-up. “You'll make a great paramedic.”

“I can even save people
underwater,” Tessa shouted excitedly. “I can swim like a
mermaid now.”

“I think the humans
have lifeguards for that,” Zul remarked.

Undeterred, Tessa jumped up
and hollered as Nora waved from the car, “I'll be a mermaid
paramedic!”

Nora laughed and waved until
the tall automatic gates closed behind them. Edriq drove away from
the palatial mansion that wasn't just a grand, imposing, humongous
house. It was a home that was filled with so much warmth and love.

“I really enjoyed the
dinner,” Nora said, smiling. “It was great meeting your
family. They're wonderful.”

Edriq smiled back. “They
are. And they're super happy to meet you too.”

Nora blushed when he reached
over to take her hand. He laced his fingers through hers and gently
caressed her hand with his thumb as he drove.

Edriq's soft caress, his
gentle yet possessive touch, sent heat spiraling through her body.
Her skin tingled with his touch, sending a delicious, erotic shiver
through her body.

Nora was aware of how
sensitive her nipples felt against her bra. Her traitorous nipples
had pebbled, the aching peaks rubbing maddeningly against the fabric
of her bra.

Edriq's grip tightened on her
hand and she saw his throat move. He kept his eyes on the road but
the silver flecks in his eyes had expanded and spread across his
iris.

His silver eyes churned and
burned with a feral, predatory glow, and Nora let out a tiny whimper.

She suddenly felt like a prey
in the clutches of a wild, rapacious dragon. The feeling was
exciting, thrilling and highly arousing.

“Nora...” Edriq
exhaled a ragged breath.

The sound of her name on his
lips made her clench her thighs together. The sudden, intense ache
in her core was becoming unbearable and she could feel the moisture
gathering between her legs.

She was growing so hot and
bothered in his car. His closeness, his unique, masculine scent, his
touch was driving her wild with need and desire.

She'd never made out in the
back seat of a car before. None of her exes had even owned a car.
She didn't mind. She wasn't a high-maintenance woman who needed to
be chauffeured around.

But right now she wished
Edriq would just pull over to the side of the road and climb into the
back seat with her.

He could steam up the windows
with his dragon breath.

Or he could just spread her
over the hood and take her.

All she knew was that she
wanted him with a hunger like no other, a hunger she suspected, that
could not be sated by anyone but him.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

Edriq forced his hand to
remain on the steering wheel and stared straight ahead. It was so
damn hard to concentrate when Nora's sweet, intoxicating scent was
driving him crazy.

He wanted to grab her and
have his hands and mouth all over her. He needed to feel and know
every inch of her lush, curvy body, and hear her pants and cries as
she shattered beneath him.