I forced a slow breath, tumbling through what this meant.
If this was real and she truly was my mate…
What about Louisa?Conflict warred within me.Did meeting Bria lessen what my wife and I had built during our marriage?
It’s different,my dragon countered.
How?
Bria is our true mate.
CHAPTERSEVEN
BRIA
Four days before Christmas
Sleep had been hijacked by dragon dreams once again—hot, consuming, and far too vivid to forget.
His intense gaze, his fingers trailing heat over my skin, his mouth on mine…
When I woke, my panther stretched inside me, a lazy ripple of fur.We should be with our mate.
He’s a temporary diversion, I muttered before stepping into the shower.Just because he makes you purr doesn’t mean he’s our happily ever after.
Why not?
Haven’t we learned by now?All those promises?All those rich men who promise us the moon and once they disembark, the fantasy is over.
No, he’s different,she protested.
They all are—until they leave port.
He’s ours.
I scoffed.He’ll go back to his island and we’ll sail on.Same as always.
But as I ran the loofah over my body, consumed by thoughts of his hand being the one to stroke me, I came up with another plan.
After all, I had a new itch to scratch, and apparently the only one who could reach it was a dragon with piercing amber eyes.Figured.
* * *
The Celestial Loungesparkled like a Hallmark movie having a sugar rush.Giant candy canes leaned against the walls, garlands wrapped around potted trees, and strings of colored lights blinked like laughing elves.The drink special of the night was eggnog, optionally spiked with rum, and the scent of it perfumed the room.The bass thumped through the floorboards, vibrating up my boots.
The party was in full swing with witches, fae, vampires, and shifters decked out in the ugly sweater theme.They swayed before me, already loosened up by a few eggnogs, and not exactly in rhythm.I had to suppress a laugh when an oversized wolf shifter lumbered off the beat while I sang “Santa Baby” during tonight’s special show with Luna Blue Shadows.Their singer had given me the stage halfway through the set so I could sing solo for a few saucy numbers.
What a difference it was to sing along with a rock band rather than the piano in my usual numbers.Fun, actually.I sashayed along to the electric guitar, bass, and drums behind me.Van had stepped offstage while I sang, and he stole the moment to canoodle with his vampire mate Celeste.
Damien played guitar behind me, head bent as his dark hair falling across his pale cheek.His ugly sweater was still metal—black with a dancing skeleton with colorful lights encircling him.I grinned to myself.Apparently, I had a thing for bad boys with three-syllable names starting with D.Only what I’d had with Damien had been fleeting, nothing more than a fling.He’d been easy to forget.
And Darius?
A hint of danger in a dark suit.I sensed it wouldn’t be easy to forget him.
I glanced around for the dragon, but didn’t see him.Oh well, it would be better for my performance not to have him distract me.
During the next song, a pair of young witches sashayed to the beat across the stage.A trio of wolf shifters drooled over them from across the room.An elegant vampire couple glided with an eerie grace that only the undead could pull off.I shook my shoulders flirtatiously as I sang, basking in the warmth of the lights and attention from the crowd.The energy from performing made me feel alive, even more so tonight with the pulsing beat of the rock instruments.I craved the high from performing, the one time I was adored, at least temporarily.
