Page 1 of Tempting Her Dragons (Embracing The Bond #10)

Chapter One

Saphira

“ H e smacked my ass,” I fume, pacing the expanse of Ryker’s office. “Then he came back for a grab.” I stop in front of his desk, fingers digging into my sides.

“He would have been punished,” Ryker says patiently. “You didn’t have to set his hair on fire in a packed club.” He leans forward. “With your dragon fire shooting out of your mouth.”

“He deserved worse,” I snarl, and my dragon agrees, a puff of smoke climbing up my throat. I swallow it as I focus on Ryker’s face.

“I’m not debating that,” he reminds me. “All I ask is that you not do it in front of human witnesses in the future.”

“Fine,” I spit. “Am I fired?”

“Of course not,” he says. “We see blood here on the daily. Maybe not fire, but we can deal with it. Bash and I will be working overtime to change the memories of all the humans in the club, but we’ve done it before.” He straightens from the desk and steps close. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

“I’m sick of men thinking they can touch without permission,” I growl. “They think the waitresses here are up for grabs.”

“Have the other workers had to deal with that a lot?” he asks, his gaze narrowing.

“Yes,” I say. “Janet was groped last week. She’s human and scared to speak to you. I assured her that you would kick the guy out, but if you are asking, then she didn’t speak to you.” Janet is so fucking sweet and quiet. She’s been working for Ryker for a month and has had numerous asshole men hitting on her, but it crossed the line.

“Fuck.” He looks toward the window overlooking the club. “I don’t want any of my employees scared to talk to me or Bash. It pisses me off that this has been going on in my club.”

“Look at you,” I say, waving down his body. “Sure, you’re fucking hot. But kind of scary looking, especially with the knives strapped to your chest.” Ryker is a vampire. His long black hair, light blue eyes, and massive body are enough to give a girl pause.

“Are the customers regulars?” he asks.

“The man who touched her is,” I answer.

“I want a list of all of the fuckers who are assaulting the women,” he demands. “I’m going to speak with the bouncers. They need to be doing their fucking job and protecting the women who work for me, not just the customers. Would Janet be comfortable enough to tell me about her experience if you were in the room with us?”

“I think so,” I respond softly. My anger is draining, and Ryker’s desire to make things safer for us relieves me. Knowing he would take care of it, I should have approached him sooner.

“Good. Set it up.”

“She works tomorrow night,” I say. “I’ll ask her.”

“I’m sorry, Saph,” he says. “I’ll fix it.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it,” I say, backing toward the door.

“Don’t think this will make me forget the shifter who ran out with his hair on fire,” he mentions lightly with a grin. “The smell was awful. So was the high-pitched scream.”

“I bet he won’t touch me again.” I grin back.

He chuckles, “I bet not.”

“I better get back to work, boss,” I say. “There are lots of tables to put beer on.” I step backward out the door slowly.

“Yeah, we can’t have empty tables. Of course, the smell might have cleared them for you.” He shakes his head, but the smile remains.

“I better go see which one is the case,” I smirk, waving, before I get my ass down the hall.

When my brothers found their mate several months ago and moved here, I decided to join them. I traveled a bit since, but came back to settle. I have bounced from job to job but I’ve been working at Ryker’s club for two weeks.

It’s going great.

I mean, I’m not opposed to being spanked, whether for being bad or otherwise, but I draw the line at unwelcome and unpermitted spankings.

As I round the corner, I stop at the top of the stairs and look over the club. It doesn’t look like the smell drove the customers away. The dance floor is packed, and every stool is occupied. A long bar runs along one wall and another across the vast space. The dance floor is between them, and tables and booths line the outer edge. Ryker’s office and several private balcony rooms are on the second floor. The space is all dark colors and gleaming, dark cherry-red wood.

I take my time going down the stairs. Bash’s white hair moves fast through the crowd, stopping at different people momentarily before moving on. Bash is a vampire with white hair and the lightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen. He is four hundred years old and is using his influence on the humans to change their memories of the hair incident. He is mated, like Ryker, and is probably not happy to be doing the task I forced him to do instead of sitting with his pretty mate. Marie was human before meeting Bash but has adjusted to vampire life like she was born to it.

The one rule of being a shifter is never to show humans that you are different. I broke that rule, and they could have been very harsh with me, but luckily, they must have a soft spot for me. It could be the fact that both of the fierce vampires have done way worse than I did. The guy deserved it. I don’t like those who think they have the right to abuse women.

Oh, yeah, I torture men for those kinds of acts. Men who do much worse than putting their hand on a strange woman’s ass.

“That was hysterical.”

I stop at the bar and look at my new friend, who was speaking.

Heath is someone I met through my other vampire friend, Micah. Micah is an ancient vampire who practically raised me and taught me all my tortuous ways. Heath is an unknown shifter. Seriously, no one but Micah and Quinn, a bear shifter, know what he is. We’ve been taking bets on what he is.

“Ryker is a little peeved,” I tell him, holding up my fingers.

“I’m sure,” he says dryly.

“You saw everything?” I ask. I didn’t know he was here when it happened.

“I did.” He turns on his stool, facing me. “I wish I would have recorded it. Sally would have loved to see it.”

“Definitely,” I agree. Sally is a rabbit shifter. She is the life of the party and the queen of the group text. I get random texts throughout all hours of the day. “You’ll have to give her a play-by-play.”

“It won’t be the same as witnessing it,” he says and takes a drink.

“True. My brothers are going to give me endless shit,” I pout. I have two brothers, Bishop and Laken. When they met their mate, a fight broke out at a BBQ, and Laken lit a woman’s hair on fire. I have had months of fun mentioning it, but now I have lost my angle of teasing.

“Yes, they will,” he agrees.

“Are you going to tell me what you are?” I ask. I’ve asked him daily since we became friends, and he has refused.

“Nope.”

“No fun.” I prop my elbows on the bar, resting my head on my twined fingers, and turn toward him. “Will you ever?” I’ve never smelled a scent like his. It bugs the shit out of me that I can’t figure it out.

“Maybe,” he quips, grinning.

“I won’t hold my breath,” I glare, but not for long. How can I stay mad at someone that looks so swoon-worthy? His hair is black, with just enough on top to grab. His eyes are an electric blue with long black eyelashes, and staring into them is hypnotic. He’s got muscles he hides behind a crisp dress shirt and slacks.

“We’ll see,” he whispers.

I huff and face forward. “Ryker’s probably going to fire me.”

“Probably,” he says.

“Hey,” I gasp, standing straight.

“Not because of the fire,” he starts, gesturing around the room. “You’ve been standing at the bar, ignoring your tables.”

“Shit,” I groan.

“Later, sexy dragon,” Heath says, empties his cup, and leaves the bar.

Fuck. I better get to work. After I watch Health walk away. Damn.

I am the worst waitress.

My brothers built me a cabin on the far edge of their land, and I love it. I unlock the door and turn on the lights. I let out a breath, grateful to be in my haven. Directly inside the door to the left is the living room, and beyond that, an arch separates the kitchen. To my right is my bedroom, bathroom, and spare bedroom. Everything is bright wood with high ceilings and stained white, making it look rustic.

I slip off my heels, leaving them on the little rug. I love heels. My feet don’t hurt, ever. The advantage of never feeling pain in my feet.

Being a dragon shifter, I heal before I feel any real physical pain. My brothers are gold dragons, and I am, too, but my scales have green tints. I can fly, heal myself, hear from miles around, breathe fire, and cloak my body. The magic of my animal allows me to move objects with a thought, but I don’t use the gift much.

I lock the door and move into my bedroom, shedding my tight T-shirt along the way. Next, I unzip my skirt, sliding it to the floor, never missing a step. Digging in my drawer, I choose a little nighty in bright red, sighing as the silk slithers over my skin.

I love anything pretty: clothes, pajamas, jewels, makeup, and shoes. I suppose it’s because I’m a girly girl and a dragon. We love shiny things.

After using the bathroom, brushing my teeth at light speed, I dig my tips out of the pocket of my skirt, stash the cash in my safe, and eye my bed. I should take all the makeup off before I get into it, but it looks too inviting. I’ll double-clean my face tomorrow.

My queen mattress is suspended five feet off the floor from the twelve-foot ceiling by chains. I fucking love it. My brothers may have used a touch of magic to make it sturdy. My favorite thing is to run, using a bit of my dragon power, and leap upon it after a long day, which I do now with a squeal. Landing, I roll and smile silly at the ceiling. This is the best place to be. I reach across the mattress to the compartment attached to the wall to ensure my knife is within easy reach.

Being a single girl living alone, dragon or not, you can’t be too careful. I’ve had the unfortunate experience of being kidnapped, sexually assaulted, almost raped, and touched plenty of times without permission. My knife will do if I’m startled out of sleep and don’t want to use my dragon fire and burn down my charming cabin.

Or my claws.

Dragons secrete poison from the tips of our claws and skin while in our animal form. For short periods of time, I’m able to drip the poison from my fingertips without fully shifting. My dragon is too big to shift in the house. I love to shift. Nothing can compare to the freedom of flying through the air, the sun on my scales. I can’t do it as much as I would like since someone would certainly report a dragon in the sky, especially during the day. I fly primarily at night and stay on the property, so there are fewer eyes to spot me. I was born a dragon, so it is all I know how to be. I love it. I would hate to be a human. Their bodies are weak, and their life is short. I will live a very long time; if I’m lucky, forever. We are hard to kill, and with the magic flowing through our veins, not much can harm us. One thing that can get us is never finding a mate. Even shifters need a partner. The universe picks the perfect person, or multiple people, who are meant to be yours. For dragons, they could be human or another dragon, but our kind is rare, so I’m assuming I will mate a human. They will have to accept being turned into your animal, and then you will live happily ever after.

Or so I’m told.

I have doubts I will be gifted with a mate. I’m not sure there is a man out there who can break down my defenses and earn my trust. Too many men have burned me. I was sexually assaulted when I was sixteen, in the woods, being held against my will, along with my brother. It was my first experience with a man’s dick pressed up against me and it wasn’t pleasant.

I can joke about it now, but it took years to come to terms with it and work through the trauma. I was twenty-five when I lost my virginity, and I was not in a hurry to have sex. The first time I tried, I cried. The poor guy, who did nothing wrong, panicked and never called me again. A year later, I met a human who seemed like a good virginity-taker candidate.

He wasn’t.

He fumbled through the whole thing, and I was too bored to be scared.

But he got the job done in the end.

Grateful to have the first out of the way, I took control of my sexual appetite. I found power in accepting my needs and discovering ways to alleviate them. I used toys in the privacy of my bedroom and learned what I like.

Now, I choose my partners carefully. I can finally enjoy something that seemed like I never would. With the right person, I know my fears will completely absolve. I’m not in a hurry to have a mate. I’ve had doubts that the universe will find someone I can fully commit to and trust with my heart and body.

I can take care of myself. I use my gifts to help the ones who can’t fight back without getting hit in return. I despise men who use their size and strength to overpower the women in their lives. When they see me, they judge; they think they can use the same tricks. It’s fun to witness their surprise and horror when they find out they can’t.

I smile sleepily, tucking under my covers.

Tomorrow night after work, I have one such man to hunt. Excitement slides through me; I can’t wait to see the shock on his face.

He won’t ever abuse his daughter again.