Burning for the Dragon: BBW Dragon Shifter Paranormal Romance (Fated Hearts Club Book 1) Read Online Free

for
harshness. Luca never seemed to grasp the how and why that came so easily to
Leo and his parents. They all shared the same desire to rule and his parents
especially expressed their displeasure that the skills seemed to skip Luca
entirely.
    Their disapproval left a sour
taste in his mouth and drove him to better himself outside of their influence.
It was freeing to be accountable to himself and not have dragon politics breathing
fire down his neck. He relied on himself and proved that he could be a success.
His development firm was a testament to that.
    Love, too, eluded him. But
looking at her made him not feel bad about the past relationships, brief or
long. None of those others could hold a candle to this woman’s wit or grace.
    Would she accept him as her
mate? It would bind her more thoroughly than other shifters, and for much
longer. He needed someone who would rule at his side. If she wouldn’t accept,
he would be better to leave her now to find someone else.
    The responsibility of it all
weighed him down. He tried to keep up his end of the conversation, but she
noticed. She grew quiet after a few attempts to draw him back out. It pained
him to cause his mate such sorrow. He wanted to run a hand through his hair.
How would he be able to make her happy?
    He glanced at her again. Her
brows pulled together and her green eyes were filled with concern. He realized
he lapsed into silence and hadn’t answered her question.
    His nostrils flared as he
caught her scent. The cinnamon rolled around on his senses and filled him with
purpose. He never wanted to smell anything else again.
    Mate. She was it. She was
meant for him.
    He eyed her ring. “Take off
your jewelry.”
    She jerked back. “I’m sorry,
what?”
    “Your ring. It’s silver. I
can’t shake your hand for a proper introduction if you’re wearing silver.
Shouldn’t you know to not wear silver to a shifter event?” It was gruffer than
he intended and he regretted the words when her concern turned to
embarrassment.
    “Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t
know.” She twisted and pulled at the ring, but it didn’t want to budge off her
finger.
    “Never—” He cut off and
winced at the sudden blaring of the fire alarm.
    The lights turned up to their
full power and revealed all the darkened corners occupied by close couples.
Many frowned and cursed in frustration. Staff members soon appeared to direct
everyone to evacuate out the stairwells.
    He caught the scent of the
room. The faintest whiff of smoke came from a corner, but it looked only like a
burning candle. He wanted to tell the staff to shut off the alarm, that there
was no danger, but he had no chance. He grudgingly admitted to himself that
something could be wrong somewhere in the building below.
    She hopped off her seat and
glanced behind for him to follow. She barely reached his shoulder. He tried to
keep close to her, but the crowd jostled together and displaced everyone from
their pairings. He soon lost her in the crowd. He tried to look for clear spots
that would mean people swirling around the short woman, but even that didn’t
help track her.
    Luca growled in frustration.
He was hurried down one set of stairs. The stink of anxiety and other shifters
was thick in the air. He couldn’t inhale without catching all their scents.
There was no way to sort out the sweetly spicy cinnamon scent he sought.
    The stairwell wound down the
building, and soon guests of the Fated Hearts Club mingled with the residents
of the building and patrons of the attached restaurants. He stalked through the
crowd and tried to find her, but there was no sign of the curvy temptress that
was to be his mate.
    His dragon beat against his
walls of control and urged him to take flight. They could scan the crowd from
above and find her that way. It was a tempting thought, but Luca stayed in his
human shape. There were rules against shifting in public, designed to keep both
shifters and mortals safe. He didn’t want to draw undue