Tieris (Primal Impulse Shifters Book 1)

by Romi Hart

  Tieris

  Primal Impulse Shifters, Book 1

  Romi Hart

  Copyright © 2020 by Romi Hart

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Also by Romi Hart

  Primal Impulse Shifters Series

  Tieris

  Zanthe

  Twi (Coming soon)

  Anarock Shifters Series

  Victor

  Bryce

  Elliot

  Finn

  Malachai

  Devil’s Flame MC Series

  Rafe

  Zeke

  Eli

  Harrison

  Corey

  BOX SETS

  Stamina

  Out of Bounds

  Playing to Win

  Untamed Billionaires

  Dangerous

  Untamed Billionaires Series

  The Billionaire Bull

  The Billionaire Bold

  The Billionaire Brute

  Playing to Win Series

  One Kiss to Win

  One Chance to Win

  One Cheer to Win

  Out of Bounds Series

  Temptation

  Addiction

  Passion

  Dangerous Series

  Dangerous Play

  Dirty Play

  Daring Play

  Stand Alone Books

  Sinner

  Big Slide

  Contents

  1. Tieris

  2. Linda

  3. Tieris

  4. Linda

  5. Tieris

  6. Linda

  7. Tieris

  8. Linda

  9. Tieris

  10. Linda

  11. Tieris

  12. Linda

  13. Tieris

  14. Linda

  15. Tieris

  16. Linda

  17. Tieris

  18. Linda

  19. Tieris

  20. Linda

  21. Tieris

  22. Linda

  23. Tieris

  24. Linda

  25. Tieris

  Zanthe (Primal Impulse Shifters, Book 2) - Special Preview

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Also by Romi Hart

  1

  Tieris

  I’d never understood the desire tourists had to feed seagulls on the Bridge of Angels in Rome. The beady-eyed scavengers made a hellacious racket as I strolled by the area. With one stealthy glare, I silenced them all.

  Much better.

  Shoving my hands into the pockets of my slacks, I began to whistle, enjoying that sound far more than the screeching the birds had filled the air with. A cool, crisp morning showed great promise of a wonderful day. Only I worried that I would once again only find boredom in the new day.

  Vacationing alone was a thing I’d read much about in the last decade. My brother, Mako hadn’t thought it to be pleasurable in the least and had stayed home, keeping our castle guarded. From who, I had no clue. He’d been adamant that we not leave our realm alone for some reason.

  His sense of smell told him to beware. I hadn’t sensed that, so left without worrying a bit. My brother didn’t often seek out new adventures. I hadn’t sought an adventure in what seemed like forever. The time had come to, at the very least, put myself out there for fate to find me.

  Living in a realm of contentment was great. But sometimes a man – or a dragon – needed more in his life. This was one of those times.

  I’d spent a solid week in Rome, looking for something to interest me. Sadly, I’d been disappointed each day. As I walked by the same set of shops that I’d passed seven times before, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t deviated from my initial path not even once since arriving in Rome.

  Feeling a bit on the foolish side for seeking adventure in the same places all the time, I took a side street. The breeze blew behind me, making my long hair fall around my shoulders, instead of lying neatly on my back.

  Gathering it in my hand, I pulled it back, securing it with an elastic band. I hated it when my hair blew around. When the band snapped, refusing to hold the thick mane of golden hair, I stopped my stroll to pout for a moment.

  Things hadn’t been going well at all. The whole trip was nothing but a waste of my time. Looking up at the blue sky, I wondered why I’d even tried.

  Time to go home.

  Taking a deep breath, I looked around to find too many people moving about to make my ascent into the sky as of yet. The light jingle of a bell had me turning around and there I saw a small sign. Only a meter high, the old wooden sign leaned against the doorframe. Moira’s Athenaeum was written in white calligraphy on a black background.

  My mind went to the meaning of the words. I knew athenaeum meant a library or bookstore. And the first word must’ve been the owner’s name. Somewhere in the far recesses of my mind, I was reminded that in Greek mythology, Moira had something to do with fate.

  With a shrug, I headed inside the establishment. It couldn’t hurt to have a look-see after all. Pulling the heavy wooden door open, my nose wiggled as I took in an aroma I’d never had the pleasure of smelling before.

  Orange peels, peach blossoms, the essence of lavender, and is that pumpkin spice?

  Following my nose, I barely noticed the stacks upon stacks of leather-bound books on either side of me. A path made through the un-shelved books led the way to what I’d scented, of that I was certain.

  “Tieris?” I heard a man ask. “Is that you, old man?”

  Although on a mission to find the perpetrator of this insanely intoxicating bouquet, the sound of the male voice hit a space in my memory box that implored me to stop my forward progression.

  Turning to my left, I found a man standing perfectly still. Fire ripped through my veins as I took in the essence of the creature who’d called out my name. “Codut.” An age-old enemy of all shifters, this one hadn’t been to Earth in eons. What had him here now became a mystery I needed to solve. “Fancy seeing you here.”

  Reaching out, his black scaly hand implored me to shake it, as is human custom. “Tieris, it has been forever since we last set eyes upon one another. How have you been, old man?”

  Looking at his extended hand, my manners moved mine to shake his. “I have been fine, Codut. And you?”

  “Me?” He smiled, revealing sharp incisors that caught the minimal light that shone overhead. “Well, I’ve decided to come out of the darkness and into the light. Earth seemed the most desirable place to come to for a bit of light.”

  Being the type of immoral immortal that Codut was, Earth seemed to be a place he could find likeminded cohorts for whatever folly he had planned. I knew it couldn’t be anything more than that. “Seeking friends?”

  “Always.” Glancing to one side, he looked to make sure no one listened to our rather unique conversation. “And what has you here?”

  “Boredom.” I didn’t want to speak too much to the creature. He had a way of turning words into nooses. Another burst of air moved through the tunnel-like building, making the aroma hit me hard. “Do you smell that?” I sniffed the air.

  “Smell what?” He took a sniff too. “All I smell are dust, mold, and some old coffee.”

  “No, not those things.” I couldn’t even smell those things as the other had overwhelmed my senses. Sma
ll tingles tickled every part of my body with each breath I took. “Never mind.” I didn’t want him homing in on what I already considered mine.

  “So, tell me, Tieris, how are things in your realm?” His dark eyes sparked with curiosity.

  Codut was a thing that no one wanted thinking about the place they called home. “Fine.” Suddenly, it felt as if I should make sure he knew that our realm was not left unoccupied. “My brother stayed behind. We never both leave at the same time. You know how important it is to keep up your guard in our world. Mako is the sentry of our place, and a great one he is too.” It occurred to me that Codut might’ve left his realm unprotected. “And who watches over yours?”

  “My minions do.” He laughed and the sound filled the narrow building. “Ah, those little imps do hate it when I leave them behind. But they’ve no manners and can’t be taken around polite society.”

  “And you’ve managed to develop some?” I’d asked the question before my brain told my mouth it was a terrible idea.

  The fire that filled his angry eyes proved that I’d unintentionally provoked the dragon within the man. “Tieris, I don’t recall you being such an asinine fool.”

  Me neither.

  “I didn’t mean anything negative by what I asked. I’m just wondering if you happened upon a book that taught you human ways is what I wanted to say.” We were all more than merely human. Most of us who hadn’t been made into what we were had to find out how to move amongst humans without standing out more than we already did.

  With his ire in check, Codut finally calmed himself. “I did find some literature that helped me prepare for my delve into the human world. It’s rather nice of you to have noticed that, Tieris.”

  Nodding, I found myself getting antsy to find the origin of the scent that wafted through the building. “Well, you have a nice day then, Codut. I’ve got to be on my way. I’m searching out a book of my own to take my attention.” I was certain the smell I was after was no book. But I didn’t want my nemesis to catch on to what had invaded my brain.

  With a weird smile, he bid me ado. “Good day then, old man. Good day.”

  Waiting, I watched him leave the establishment that seemed to have no other patrons before I set back to my course of finding the scent that had lured me inside. With no one to detour me any longer, I began moving through the winding pathway. It took me by surprise that no one had bothered to put the books that lay in piles onto the bookshelves that lined the walls.

  Hearing a hassled mutter, I found it too led me in the same direction as the smell did. Through a small doorway, I went and that is where I found the bearer of the scent that took me over.

  Perched high up on a ladder, a female leaned out precariously to take books off a high shelf. “Why did I take this horrible job in the first place? Why would I agree to cleaning all these books and shelves? What is wrong with me?”

  Moving quietly through the small back room, I went to the foot of the ladder, peering up at her. Thick thighs helped her cling to the rung she stood on. A bottom of considerable plumpness made me sigh inwardly. How beautiful.

  I’d always admired the more robust female figures from the renaissance period and this female had it all going on. With that and her more than merely pleasant personal aroma, this woman had everything a male like me could want.

  What I could see of her so far. There was still the matter of her bosom and facial features of course. The dragon inside of the man I was, had a need to focus on beauty when taking a female in a sexual way. A beautiful face and full bosom was a necessity for my dragon.

  Closing my eyes, I took her voice in as she mumbled, “I must’ve been crazy. That has to be it. I’ve been so desperate for money that I would’ve taken any job offered. If I hadn’t dropped that entire tray of drinks on that terrible-tempered woman, I wouldn’t have been fired. Curse the fates that tipped my full tray!”

  I wouldn’t curse the fates at all, happy that she’d been placed in my path. Sniffing the air, I looked for the scent of another male on her. Nothing. Yes!

  No male to combat for her, I had only to woo her to win her over. It had been years, too many to count since I’d wooed a female. In the old days, taking a female meant finding one who smelled pleasant to me then taking her to a lair on Earth, most times a cave of sorts. Although all the females had come with me willingly, no human man ever thought that to be truth. I was called a kidnapper more than once. This meant that their men could come steal them back from me. And they’d managed to do that too.

  After mating for weeks on end, a dragon can get exhausted. That’s what happened to me over and over again. I’d fall asleep and when I awoke, my mate would be gone. The smell of other males everywhere and only their large footprints told the story of what had happened to my female.

  Most of the females I’d mated with left my company pregnant. So, in the end, it was I who got the last laugh when mortal men ended up with half-dragon children to try to raise. Those little beasts were something else. I’d thanked the Gods that I hadn’t had to do the raising of the beasts myself.

  Immortality wasn’t a thing bestowed upon half human – half dragon people. My children were long gone and had been for centuries. Earth hadn’t seen my handiwork in a very long time. And by the way this woman was affecting me, little half-dragons would be running around creating havoc in no time.

  “Crap!” she shouted as she’d leaned out a little too far and had lost her balance.

  With a flick of my wrist, I righted her without her knowing. She clung to the ladder, her knuckles going almost white as she held it so tightly. Taking shaky breaths, she shook her head to clear it. She must’ve been wondering how the miracle had occurred to keep her on the ladder, instead of plummeting to the floor.

  Cocking my head to one side, I watched as she began her descent down the ladder. It seemed the near fall was just too much for her. “Stupid. So stupid. Who leans out that far when they’re up so high? Only you do.”

  I found it charming the way she spoke to herself. My heart began to swell the closer she got to me. The scent got stronger and stronger the nearer to me that she came.

  Moving back just a bit, I didn’t want to crowd her when she got to the floor. Dark curls bounced around her shoulders with each move she made. Soon I would get to see the front part of her body and I was sure it would please me just as much as the back of her body had done.

  It suddenly occurred to me that Codut had been there before me. Did he scent this female too?

  Moving quickly, I retreated to not only make sure Codut hadn’t circled back and come back into the shop, but I locked the front entrance so that no one could come in a mess up what I was sure would be the most perfect meeting moment in my lifetime.

  The sound of the ladder scraping along the floor in back told me she was going to go right back up to get to those pesky books that had been out of her reach. As I clicked the lock, I smiled.

  I loved a woman who didn’t let danger get in her way. Having a strong backbone and knowing how to put fear in its place was a wonderful attribute to have when it came to being a dragon’s mate. If she could almost fall then get right back up that ladder again she had what it would take to be my female.

  With the new age came the new way of doing things as well. In the shifter world, a new law had been passed only a hundred years before. We could take our mates to our realms now. I’d never done that yet and it sounded like a wonderful idea to me.

  I hoped my brother wouldn’t be too jealous when I brought home my beautiful mate. But if he was, then he could set out to see if he could find one for himself. He wasn’t getting any of mine.

  In some shifter brotherhoods, the men shared one mate. Not me. I was as jealous as they came. My mate was mine alone. Mako would be on his own as far as mating went.

  As I headed to the back once more, I delighted in the fact that I would soon be holding my mate and making her mine in every way imaginable. How happy I would make her. How enthralled she’d
be in my bed. How she’d cry out my name, thanking the gods that I’d found her.

  Yes, she will fall at my feet, begging me to take her now and make her my very own!

  2

  Linda

  Something bumped the doorway drawing my attention. Standing there, staring at me in such an odd way that it made chills spring up all over my body was a man. A very tall man. An exceptionally hot man. A man with long golden hair that hung like a satin curtain over his broad shoulders. Piecing blue eyes shone up at me. “I’m Tieris.”

  He wore casual clothing, a simple white button-down that he’d left the top few buttons undone on and black slacks. He had his hands in the slack’s pockets as he leaned against the door frame.

  A door he shouldn’t have come through as there was a sign on the other side of it that should’ve told him as much. “And you are in this private area because?”

  His eyes never left mine, which I found weird. “You’re in here.” His lips curled into a smile that would’ve taken my breath away had I not been more than a bit peeved that he’d felt so free to come into a room he wasn’t meant to. “Do you smell that insanely magnificent aroma?”

  “If you mean the must and dust of all these books, then yes.” I shook my head to clear it. He can’t be back here! Glad of my position, perched high on the ladder above him, I felt it gave me a bit of an upper hand with the man. “Sir, please step out of this area and I will be out shortly to help you.”