Page 17 of Her Dragon Defender

"I didn't mean...ah, shit. Diana would kick my arse if she was here, or laugh her head off. I meant I'm the first shifter you've seen. Nothing more, I swear."

Eden nodded slowly. "Well, yeah. And I understand why you keep your abilities hidden. I mean, if the whole world knew dragons and werewolves actually existed...wait, do werewolves exist, too?"

It was his turn to nod. "There are all kinds of shifters. In fact, there's a whole society of hidden beings who can do amazing things. I'm sure you understand why we have to keep quiet about our abilities."

He didn't need to explain. There was enough racism and sexism and ableism in the world already, and then there was the whole thing with Area 51. If the general public knew people could turn into dragons, and that werewolves, and all kinds of other fairytale creatures were real, the whole world would likely implode into anarchy.

As all these thoughts swirled around in Eden's mind, she realised how rude she must sound. And to think she'd been having etiquette lessons for almost a year. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I haven't even told you my name. I'm Eden, by the way."

"A pleasure to meet you, Eden," he said, offering his hand, while the other continued to hold up his loincloth. "Like I said, I'm Blaze."

Eden couldn't help laughing. "You're kidding, right? How do you hide being a dragon shifter with a name like Blaze? I mean, your parents might as well have named you Forest Fire! At least Diana got a normal name."

Blaze's eyes narrowed. "It's a family tradition," he said, making Eden feel terrible for laughing. "Diana is her middle name. Our parents actually called her Ember, but when she realised she couldn't shift, she refused to be known as Ember any more, and told us she preferred Diana, and she's been Diana ever since. That's why she came here, to find her mate, because she didn't have her dragon to guide her."

Now it was Eden's turn to narrow her eyes. "What do you mean? Her mate? Like, her true love? And what does being able to turn into a dragon have to do with it?"

Blaze sighed and raked his free hand through his hair – the other one was still valiantly holding up his loincloth. "Some of us believe that all supernatural shifters have a mate – or as you put it, a true love – that they're fated to be with. They're two parts of one soul, and when they find each other, they instinctively know. Only, Diana never got that ability, and so, she thought the next best thing would be coming here."

Eden shook her head. "No. She was here to study business and accounting, so she'd be better at running the animal sanctuary. She wasn't looking for love." A sudden thought slammed into her mind, and she blurted out, "Do you have a fated mate?"

Blaze's pale skin flushed bright red, and he turned his head away, unable to meet her gaze. "I don't believe in that sort of thing."

He was lying, Eden knew. Why else would he have believed she was Diana's mate, if he didn't believe in fated mates?

But there was another thought under that, too. One that left her feeling warm and wet and like she wanted to step closer to Blaze. Like there was some sort of magnetic pull between them.

Or fate...

Eden let out an involuntary sigh of longing.

NINETEEN

Blaze thought being in human form would help him control himself, but now he knew the girl with her irresistible scent wasn't Diana's mate, he wanted to explode into dragon form and roar, "MINE!" to the skies.

Even as a man, he still barely kept control over himself. If he hadn't grabbed her sheet to use as a loincloth, she'd definitely be able to see how much he was attracted to her. How much he desperately wanted to grab her, rip Diana's dress off her, and have his way with her on the enormous bed behind him.

She was lovely, that was all. Lovely and irresistible and everything he could possibly want in a mate. She even had Diana's approval, for Diana would never go into a business partnership with someone she didn't trust implicitly.

But fated mates? Those were the things of fairytales. Diana had wanted to believe in them, because that was the only way she'd ever truly transform into a dragon – if she formed a mating bond with another dragon. Blaze had humoured her, for he couldn't deny he'd love to see her as a dragon, fulfilling the destiny of her bloodline, but he'd known in his heart that no fairytale awaited him.

Which was why Eden couldn't possibly be his fated mate, because they didn't exist. The scent that drew him in was just pheromones, stronger than a normal human's because of her shifter ancestry. It wasn't like he wanted to bite her, to initiate the bond...

At the thought, his already painful hard-on turned excruciating. All right, maybe he did want to bite her, in an animalistic, at the peak of their pleasure kind of thing. A love bite, that's all, that would leave a hickey on her neck. Not something that would actually draw blood...

He should kiss her, he decided. Then he'd know for sure when he tasted her that she wasn't his fated mate, that fairytales didn't exist, and the attraction between them was purely lust on his part. Then he could concentrate on finding Diana.

She let out a small sigh, surely a sound of impatience that he was dithering so long when they should be helping Diana.

Yes. Kiss her, and be done with it.

TWENTY

Blaze turned to Eden, his eyes wide and full of fire, and then he crushed his lips against hers. As his tongue seared hers, she let out a small moan of longing.

His hands slid into her hair. But if his hands were on her, how was he holding up the sheet? Kissing a naked man...dragon...whatever he was...should have freaked her out, but all she wanted to do was keep kissing him. Maybe even more...

She tasted blood, salt burning her tongue. Oh shit...she'd kissed him so hard, she'd bitten him.

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