Dragon's Kiss (The DragonFate Novels Book 2) Read online

  Dragon’s Kiss

  Deborah Cooke

  Deborah A. Cooke

  Dragon’s Kiss

  by Deborah Cooke

  Copyright © 2019 by Deborah A. Cooke

  All rights reserved.

  Cover by Dar Albert of Wicked Smart Designs.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright preserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright holder and the publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

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  Contents

  Dragon’s Kiss

  The DragonFate Novels

  Dear Reader

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Author’s Note

  Sign up for My Newsletter, Dragons & Angels

  An Excerpt from Dragon’s Heart

  About the Author

  More Books by the Author

  Dragon’s Kiss

  The DragonFate Novels #2

  Her kiss could be his doom...

  When dragon-shifter Kristofer feels his firestorm ignite, he eagerly follows its spark to his destined mate. To his surprise, the heat leads him to a Valkyrie intent on claiming his soul. Even so, Kristofer has never met a woman as alluring as the fierce warrior before him. Trusting in the firestorm, he must convince her to fight with him instead of against him.

  Trading the life of a dragon shifter for that of her sister Valkyrie is an easy choice for Bree... until she meets Kristofer. Experience taught her that dragons are evil, but in him she sees a bold and noble warrior. Finding his confidence as irresistible as his touch, Bree fears she is being tricked into abandoning her sister. But how can she take Kristofer’s life when his very presence makes her burn with desire?

  When they’re compelled to join forces, Kristofer seizes the chance to convince Bree that they’re stronger together. Yet as a sinister plan unfolds, an ancient dragon is roused from his slumber. With danger closing in, can Kristofer convince Bree to surrender her immortality for their forbidden love? Or will Bree’s distrust of dragons prove justified?

  The DragonFate Novels

  Paranormal romances featuring dragon shifter heroes

  1. Maeve’s Book of Beasts

  2. Dragon’s Kiss

  3. Dragon’s Heart (May 2020)

  4. Dragon’s Mate (October 2020)

  To learn more about Melusine and Raymond’s backstory, you might want to read An Elegy for Melusine, my retelling of a medieval fairy tale.

  To learn more about Micah and Rosemary, you might want to read my short story and vampire romance, Coven of Mercy.

  Dear Reader

  It was a great treat for me to return to the world of Dragonfire and write a new dragon shifter romance. Although the Dragon’s Tail War is over and the Slayers have been eliminated, the Pyr have found a new challenge to their survival in Maeve, the Dark Queen of the Fae. They’ve also realized that they aren’t the only species on the earth with secret abilities and that there’s magick on the loose. Their new foe is prepared to use their own nature against them: Maeve creates a fake firestorm to lure one of the Pyr into her realm, with the Valkyrie Bree as her accomplice. Bree makes a deal with Maeve to save her captive sister, Kara, because she has no love of dragons. Kristofer not only follows the lure of the firestorm: he challenges Bree’s assumptions, awakens her desire, and makes her yearn for things she knows can never be. He also refuses to believe that the firestorm has led him astray, convinced that they are destined mates, regardless of Maeve’s sorcery. Can Bree resist a romantic dragon shifter seeking her complete seduction? I think you can guess the answer, and I hope you enjoy their story.

  I wasn’t sure how the Pyr who featured in the Dragonfire series would become involved in DragonFate, but in the end, it happened organically. Erik is still the leader of the Pyr, so of course, he makes a cameo appearance. Drake originally led the Dragon’s Tooth Warriors, then the Dragon Legion: since Kiss of Destiny, he’s also been a paternal figure to the descendants of the Dragon Legion—as well as Theo’s forebear. It only makes sense that these younger Pyr would turn to him in a time of crisis, so Drake will have an ongoing role in DragonFate. Additionally, Kristofer has an affinity with the earth, like Rafferty, and has been mentored by Rafferty. He knows a bit about the story of Rafferty’s firestorm, which was unusual, you remember, because Melissa couldn’t conceive. (Rafferty and Melissa’s firestorm is recounted in Darkfire Kiss.) The magick that Bree distrusts, which is harnessed by Maeve, reminds Kristofer of the legendary darkfire, as does Bree’s insistence that their firestorm isn’t real. It’s only natural that Kristofer turns to Rafferty for sanctuary, and that Melissa—who has done television documentaries on the Pyr—is called when a dragon appears over Edinburgh. Rafferty and Melissa have cameo appearances in Dragon’s Kiss, and even Pwyll, Rafferty’s grandfather and the last Cantor of the Pyr, makes an appearance. It was good to see Rafferty again, and to have another Pyr be inspired by Rafferty’s romantic view of the firestorm.

  I also enjoyed researching Viking mythology again—and ensuring that the interpretation in Dragon’s Kiss aligned with earlier Norse tales told in the Dragonfire novels. Erik, leader of the Pyr, was the first to talk about his personal history in sailing with the Vikings as one of the Drakkir in Kiss of Fate. Thorolf battled Jormungand, the World Serpent, as part of the big finish of his firestorm in Serpent’s Kiss. And Zoë, the daughter of Erik and Eileen conceived in Kiss of Fate, dreams of the Wyrd sisters in the Dragon Diaries paranormal young adult trilogy, which is a spin-off of Dragonfire, beginning in Flying Blind. If you’re interested in Norse mythology and how my dragon shifter heroes nestle into those stories, you might want to read these other books.

  Remember that you can download free family trees for the Pyr from the Family Trees page on my website.

  I’ve also started to compile a world guide for DragonFate on the Dragonfire website. Right now, there’s a character list and I’ll be adding to this with each book. It’s at the bottom of the DragonFate tab—here’s the character list.

  Visit the Pinterest board for Dragon’s Kiss to see some of my inspiration.

  Next in the DragonFate series will be Dragon’s Heart, which is Rhys and Lila’s story. Subscribers to my newsletter have had a sneak peek of Rhys following Kristofer into Fae: Rhys then feels the spark of his own firestorm and follows it to find a selkie in distress. By the end of Dragon’s Kiss, when Rhys is safely back in the world he knows, he’s prepared to risk anything to find his destined mate again. There
is an excerpt from Dragon’s Heart at the end of this book, but there’s also a longer free downloadable sample available—you can find the link on the page for Dragon’s Heart on my website.

  To keep up to date with my books, please sign up for my monthly paranormal romance newsletter, Dragons & Angels. You’ll hear about sales on ebooks, be notified of new releases, and have the chance to download free bonus content exclusively for subscribers. There is, for example, an out-take scene from the prologue of Dragon’s Kiss called Bree’s Bargain. The link is on the page for Dragon’s Kiss on my website, but you need to be a newsletter subscriber to download it.

  I hope you enjoy Bree and Kristofer’s story!

  Until next time, I hope you have lots of good books to read.

  All my best,

  Deborah

  Prologue

  Manhattan—Sunday, October 27, 2019

  Bree was fuming. Being late and missing a flight had to be the worst way to begin a vacation.

  Trust Kara to screw up all their plans.

  Bree had scheduled everything with her usual precision and attention to detail, but her sister hadn’t shown up on time this morning. She’d thought it was a long shot booking an early morning departure, but Kara had promised to be on time. It wasn’t as if this would be the greatest trip either: although Bree had taken her vacation time at work, this so-called holiday would be more of a duty visit. An obligation. A responsibility that she both resented and didn’t want to see ended.

  Kara didn’t want to go either, but protesting by being uncooperative didn’t change anything.

  It just annoyed Bree.

  Kara wasn’t at her apartment or answering her phone. Bree would have been more worried if she hadn’t known her sister so well: Kara had just found something else to do, something more fun than visiting an old man on the other side of the world, and didn’t want to admit it to Bree until the confession was unavoidable. She looked at the time, realized their flight had finished boarding without them, and knew that moment was now.

  Why had Bree bought non-refundable fares? Her trust in Kara’s promises had been completely misplaced. Maybe the issue wasn’t that Kara was unreliable, but that Bree—despite centuries of disappointments—was still dumb enough to trust her sister.

  And she was supposed to be the smart one.

  That wasn’t a realization to improve her mood.

  Worst of all, she had no other choice than to go to that place. Bones was the only place Bree hadn’t looked. Kara and Bree had argued repeatedly about Kara’s chosen profession and the bar where she’d decided to work. Apparently, they were going to have that argument again, in that very place.

  Why did Kara have to make everything so difficult? Bree seethed as she walked down the street on the west side, disliking everything about it as much as her destination. Bones. What a name. She hoped at least it was a carnivore’s paradise, but from what little Kara had told her, the bulk of the revenue was from alcohol. Who went to party at a place called Bones? Unfortunately, Bree could guess.

  Only the Others would think a reference to mortality was a good joke. The question was why mortals would join in the laughter. Bree would never understand people, no matter how many centuries she spent in their company. They really were an alien species.

  It was only six in the morning and there were still shadows in the alleys. The street was so quiet that Bree’s footsteps echoed loudly as she marched down the street, but she didn’t care who she awakened. In fact, she took a certain satisfaction in the resolute click of her heels. She liked these tall black leather boots. They looked kick-ass, which meant they suited her perfectly.

  What was in her sister’s mind, to be associating with the Others? To Bree’s thinking, she and Kara should just keep their heads down and get on with the business of blending quietly into human society. These days, it wasn’t often that they were summoned to collect a soul, after all.

  But Kara never could accept the easy answer.

  In fact, she found trouble like she’d invented it. Some things never changed.

  Bree had just drained the last of her coffee from the take-out cup when there was a flash of light overhead. She instinctively stepped back against the wall and looked up. She caught sight of a dragon in flight, one that looked to have jeweled scales, but it was just a quick glimpse between the buildings. The sighting cast her back into old times, and a landscape much more wild than this one. Dragons. The prospect made her heart skip and her fists clench.

  It was disgusting that there were more of them. Bree stepped into the road for a better look, but only saw a plume of flames crackle through the air. There was a flash of silver, like lightning, then silence.

  It was so quiet that the hair prickled on the back of her neck. She heard a rushing sound then, as if something hurried past her, but when she spun to look, she was alone. The fallen leaves on the road swirled into the air in a spiral, as if caught by that gust of wind, before settling onto the pavement again.

  The street was then as still as if she’d imagined it all.

  A dragon. Just what Manhattan needed. She was not looking forward to the burn victims at the morgue. Death and destruction was inevitable when dragons were around—as well as fires.

  Bree shivered, then continued her march to the restaurant. She’d never been there before, but the huge metal sign over the door left no doubt in her mind that she’d arrived. No windows. Just a pair of steel doors. She tried to open the right one.

  Of course, it was locked. She considered the merit of ripping it off its hinges, but then there’d be explanations required—at least to the woman walking her whippet down the other side of the street. Who knew how many people were watching from windows? Bree sighed. It was a bar. Probably no one associated with the place had any experience of mornings. Kara was proud of herself if she got out of bed before noon and the Others Bree had known were all creatures of the night.

  She knocked on the door and when there was no response, she kicked it. Hard. Vampires. Dragons. Others. A missed flight. Bree was angry enough to forget herself. The door clanged on impact and the toe of her boot made a dent in the steel.

  There wasn’t a sound from the other side.

  She knocked again, harder, then shouted into the lock. “Hey! Wake up!” She took a deep breath and bellowed with all her might, knowing the volume of her voice would be enough to make the light fixtures swing inside. “Now!”

  After that, Bree heard the jingle of keys from inside the restaurant. She tried to take another sip of coffee, but the cup was absolutely empty. She tossed it into a trash bin at the curb before the door opened.

  A short and stocky man was framed in the opening, squinting against the brightness of the light. One look and she knew he was a dwarf. Short, powerful, narrowed eyes. Nice ink, and lots of attitude. She gave him points for consistency: dwarves were all the same. “What’s the problem?” he demanded, his expression almost as hostile as his tone.

  “I’m looking for Kara. I’m her sister Brianna and she’s late.”

  He looked her up and down. “Sisters,” he hissed, then his eyes narrowed even more. He wasn’t sure of her nature, which would have been more interesting if he hadn’t been a dwarf. Their perceptiveness was always limited to their work and raw materials. They could find a teeny diamond in a massive quarry, but missed the most obvious things. “Blood sisters? Or just good friends?”

  “Blood.”

  His eyes narrowed. “So you have the same...gift?”

  “Yes. Exactly the same.” Bree held his gaze, wanting him to understand but not wanting to explain in detail. “But I’m fiercer than she is,” she added because it was true.

  Instead of inviting her in, he leaned in the doorway. “You’ve never come out to meet with the Others. Why not?”

  Bree bristled. This wasn’t about her choices. It was about finding Kara. “I prefer my own company, thanks.”

  “That might be all you’re left with soon enough.”

&
nbsp; “That doesn’t mean I’m going to look for trouble.”

  “You’re going to find it anyway. Or it’s going to find all of us.”

  “I’ll take my chances.” She hesitated, then asked. “Did you see the dragon just now? And the flash of silver lightning?”

  He considered her for a moment. “No, but I felt something,” he admitted, barely stifling a shiver.

  “Why is there a dragon?”

  “Because there’s trouble,” he said, obviously hoping she’d ask.

  Bree didn’t. The less she knew, the better.

  “Murray,” he said then, thrusting out his hand. Bree reluctantly shook it. His fingers were short and his grip was strong. “Kara’s not here. She’s on vacation.”

  “No, she’s not. She’s supposed to be on vacation with me, but I can’t find her.” Bree watched Murray straighten. “She didn’t show up at my place as agreed to go to the airport. She’s not at her apartment, but her packed suitcase is still there, right in the middle of the room.” The revelation that there was trouble in the city made Bree wonder if she’d been too confident of Kara’s safety. “She’s not answering her phone. I came here because I don’t know where else she could be.”