Struck by Lightning

by Fel Fern

  

  Geeks and Dragons 3

  Struck by Lightning

  Lightning strikes in the most unexpected places, bringing two hearts and souls together.

  After losing his hard-earned job, Ron’s been spending way too much time playing online games. A joke with another player results in something unexpected. When a cocky and brash dragon shifter appears out of the blue and claims Ron belongs to him, Ron doesn’t know how to react. Striker’s way out of his league, but when sparks fly, Ron finds himself falling hard and fast for Striker.

  Lightning dragon shifter Striker has always been misunderstood his entire life. He’s rough, temperamental, and prone to destructive urges. Striker never thought he’ll ever settle down until fate dropped Ron into his lap. Ron’s cute, smart, sharp-tongued, and totally gets him. Striker will do everything he can to prove to Ron that he’s the only man for him.

  Genres: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Paranormal, Shape-shifter

  Length: 20,160

  STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

  Geeks and Dragons 3

  Fel Fern

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  Struck by Lightning

  Copyright © 2018 by Fel Fern

  ISBN: 978-1-64243-480-4

  First Publication: December 2018

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2018 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book or print book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at legal@sirenbookstrand.com

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Fel Fern loves penning M/M paranormal erotic romance.

  A sadist who loves watching her heroes break their backs trying to earn their happy endings, Fel likes throwing in the occasional dash of the unknown to the usual romantic concoction.

  www.felfern.com

  https://tinyletter.com/authorfelfern

  https://www.facebook.com/author.felfern

  For all titles by Fel Fern, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/fel-fern

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

  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

  STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

  Geeks and Dragons 3

  Fel Fern

  Copyright © 2018

  Chapter 1

  The third time Ron’s phone vibrated under his pillow, he groaned, knowing he needed to haul his ass out of bed and get to work. His boss, Linus, didn’t tolerate tardiness, and for some reason, that bastard always targeted him. No surprise. Even in high school, his bullies, the entire football team, seemed to have some kind of sixth sense in picking on the weakest link in school.

  He buried his head into the pillow, stomach clenching. Another miserable day at work, more long hours because Linus always dumped his workload on him. Not like a nerd like you has any kind of social life anyway, Linus would snigger. Who knew that even adults had little cliques in the office?

  Ron’s phone vibrated again, and this time, he chucked the blanket away. By some miracle, he managed to enter the shower, blasting cold water into his face. Grumpy but more awake, he felt sluggish putting on his trousers, and got the buttons of his white shirt wrong. Only when he ventured into the kitchen area of his studio apartment did he remember.

  He’d brought his phone with him and he turned the screen on, staring at the photo of the staff room and his farewell chocolate cake. Most of his colleagues had even seemed to forget that the party was for him, not that being fired was a good reason for celebration. The company used the phrase “shortage of manpower,” but Ron knew he was a much better designer than his assistant, Jerry. Well, Jerry didn’t mind throwing aside his pride and practically licking Linus’s shoes to get a promotion.

  Ron slowly undressed, put on a comfy white shirt and boxers, and returned to the kitchen. Yesterday, he couldn’t wait for the miserable office party to end, but instead of feeling shitty like every day of his life, excitement had taken over. Hell yes. He could do whatever he wanted. Hadn’t he always complained to his best friend, Toby, about quitting his job and going for freelance work instead?

  Ron simply lacked the courage to hand in his resignation letter.

  He made coffee, poured his favorite frosted flakes into a bowl, and added plenty of milk. With his breakfast and mug of steaming coffee in both hands, he brought them to his desk. Ron scrimped on most of his furniture, but his gaming PC? Not a chance. He sat down, booting up his PC while decimating his cereal. He opened up BeastWorld, his favorite MMORPG.

  BeastWorld had become his little sanctuary over the past two years, the one place where he could become someone else, forget about his troubles at work, his non-existent love life. Basically everything that was lacking or wrong with his life. Who cared about reality anyway, when escaping to another world was so much better?

  Sure, maybe when he’d been younger, he’d always dreamt of leaving this town and traveling the world, until he realized he never truly quite fit in. Besides, he couldn’t imagine himself packing his bags and simply getting on a plane. If he could barely interact with the shopkeepers in town, how could he talk to the locals in other countries?

  The rules of the real world never made sense to him, but online games were easy. He logged in to his character, unsurprised to find some of his guild mates were online. Toby was surprisingly offline, but then again, his best friend was recently mated. Ron used that term only shifters used, because Toby was truly and happily mated with his dragon shifter mate. Before meeting Smoke, Ron couldn’t even believe dragon shifters were real. The world was certainly such a huge and complicated place. The paranormal had come out a couple of centuries ago, but they usually kept to their own side of the fence.

  Toby sent him a message last night, asking him if he was okay, if he needed a friend. Not wanting to disturb Toby and Smoke, he lied and said he’d be right as rain. He met Toby in BeastWorld, but it turned out Toby lived in the same town as he did.

  They became fast friends, and he never had that before. A genuine, real-life friend. Most of the friends he made in high school and college eventually drifted away. His parents moved to another town and were constantly on one holiday or another, and he was an only child.

  No, he decided Toby earned his happy ending. Once Toby returned, they’d talk. Besides, this was a good opportunity for him to have some alone time. Usually, Ron had to try and squeeze in time just to play BeastWorld. He’d stay up until four in the morning because he didn’t want to miss out on an event.

  Ron was about to ask some of his guild mates if they were busy when he received a private message requesting a voice chat from another player he’d recently
been partying with. He accepted it. Ron might not be the most social person, heck, he dreaded even ordering a latte from the local coffee house, but online, he was different. No one saw his real face and no one made judgements.

  “Hey, Ron123. You’re not usually online at this time,” came StrikeForce’s, ‘call me Striker’, voice.

  “Yesterday was my last day at work,” he said. “Actually, I got fired.”

  Usually, they kept their personal lives out of their conversations, but one night during dungeon crawling changed all that. Striker had been bummed that evening, his toon seemed to be taking a lot of hits, and Striker was usually a better player. He broke the rules and asked what was wrong, and Striker told him about how his blind date didn’t make an appearance.

  His heart broke a little for Striker, because he’d been in the same boat. Ron tried online dating, because he’d never have the guts to ask anyone out in person. He stopped after his last date faked an emergency phone call and left him alone at the restaurant table. It had been Valentine’s Day, which made everything a lot worse. The entire time, Ron felt like all the other couples were talking about him. He knew the call had been fake, because he saw the guy didn’t even have someone call him.

  “Yeah? That sucks, man. I recently got booted out of my job, too.”

  So that was why Striker was online. Usually, Striker seemed to work long hours, too.

  “For me it’s not much of a loss. I’ve always wanted to quit. It felt like my boss was taking advantage, you know?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Was it his imagination or did Striker suddenly sound all deadly, his voice going deeper?

  “Like, he kept pushing his work on me when I hadn’t finished my own,” he said quickly. “Anyway, I’m trying to remain positive. I’ve always wanted to work as a freelance graphic designer anyway.”

  “You’re a graphic designer?”

  Ron could almost hear the curiosity in Striker’s voice. Sometimes, he’d imagine what Striker would look like in real life. That cocky voice, full of confidence sometimes made him think of a big guy with a devilish smile, but that was the great thing about online friends. He could always stretch his imagination.

  Striker didn’t ask again after his silence. “Hey, I was thinking, you want to get married? Our characters, I mean, for those sweet marriage skills.”

  This wasn’t the first time Striker brought this up, and BeastWorld, unlike other MMORPGS, had same-sex marriage. Toby and Smoke were married in-game, too, which made him and his other guild mates sometimes jealous, because apparently, marriage boosted extra stats.

  What the hell. Ron had a fear of being reckless and doing wild things in real life, but in-game?

  “Sure, why the hell not?” It was also kind of cute, the way Striker sounded nervous, which was totally unlike him.

  Ron didn’t like the dragon warrior much at first. Striker was in the same guild as Smoke, and they all formed a party for one event one time. Striker kind of came off to him as cocky, always insistent on doing on his own thing, and was bad at following orders. In the end, he came to grow fond of Striker, because the guy could be incredibly charming and protective, too, especially that one time when another toon kept bullying him and challenging him to a player-versus-player match.

  “Awesome. Meet you at the main church in Ash Country,” Striker said.

  He shook his head, smiling as he took a sip of his coffee. Maybe today would be fun after all. Spending time with Striker would help him forget how lost he really felt, and how incredibly lonely.

  Chapter 2

  “I promise to always protect you and be by your side. Always,” Striker said, adjusting his headphones, and hopefully, Ron123 heard the words. He’d be too embarrassed to repeat them otherwise. Shit. He really needed new headphones, because he’d thrown this pair one too many times. Not his fault—even among shifters, dragons always had superior strength.

  Ron’s carefree laugh did strange things to his body. He shifted on his chair. Striker had only gotten into playing BeastWorld as a way to keep tabs on other dragon shifters, potential rivals. It had been Smoke who invited him to try the game out. Dragon shifters like them couldn’t live in a pack or group, unlike most apex predators. They’d simply want to tear and rip each other apart, because the winged monsters born in them would constantly fight for dominance.

  “Striker, you didn’t need to say those words. They’re really sweet, though.” Ron expelled a sigh. “I wish a guy would say that to me in real life.”

  Striker froze, because how could he describe this? He’d laughed at Smoke, teased and made fun of him for finding his human mate online, but here he was, having conflicted emotions over a complete stranger he never even met face-to-face. Strange. Striker didn’t spend a lot of time online, he had better things to do, but lately, he’d been logging in just to check if Ron was online.

  They could chat for hours, too, which was so different from his interactions with other guys in real life. Most of his dates would take one look at him, clearly liking what they saw—until they got to know him. Too rough. Too arrogant. Too loud. Those were the complaints he frequently received, not to mention, his dragon easily got riled up, possessive.

  Striker had been ready to quit playing BeastWorld, until Ron. Smoke had asked his human out on a date to meet, but what if Ron took one look at him and bolted? He was too much sometimes, Striker knew. Most people didn’t and couldn’t get him, but Ron did. Ron laughed at his sometimes inappropriate jokes, never told him off.

  Ron listened, even when he broke the rules and told him about his failed dates, about losing his job. Okay, while he never got into the deeper details, Striker never had this before, someone who’d lend an ear to him.

  “Why wouldn’t they?” he finally asked, recovering.

  “Well, because,” Ron faltered. “You sound genuinely shocked by that.”

  “I am. I’ve been spending a lot of time with you, and it’s been a real blast. If I were your boyfriend in real life, I’d never let you go.”

  Ron cleared his throat. “Yeah right. You’re just saying that as a joke, right? I don’t really take well to pranks, you know? I’ve been the butt of everyone’s jokes my entire life.”

  “Wait a second. Don’t assume shit about me. I’m not some kind of bastard.”

  “Do you think you’re a smooth player then?”

  He let out a growl. Ron paused. Crap. The last thing he wanted was to scare off Ron.

  “Did you, like, literally growl at me? Like an animal?”

  “Can’t help it.” He gritted out the words. “I’m a shifter, if you can’t tell.”

  “I—Smoke said half of the people playing BeastWorld are shifters. I thought that wasn’t true, but I’m beginning to believe it.”

  Striker decided to steer the topic of him being a shifter to something else. Most men he dated in the past eventually freaked out, realizing he had a terrifying dragon in him, ran right for the closest exits. Before that, they certainly had a good time. Sure, he might have caused a little destruction here and there, some property damage when he lost his temper, but Striker never really hurt anyone.

  “Fine. I’m loud and sometimes have a tendency to wreak havoc. Do think you’d marry a guy like me in real life?” Striker asked, nervously rubbing his fingers.

  “Of course,” Ron said without hesitation. “Honestly? I didn’t like you at first when we all partied for the first time in a dungeon together, but I have no right judging anyone. Besides, I’ve kind of gotten to know and like you.”

  Ron liked him, huh? Striker beamed. Ron didn’t know it, but the human had fallen for his trap. Now all he needed to do was charm Ron’s pants off. It frustrated him, knowing the other dragon shifters he’d known—and there weren’t a lot of them left—had found their mates. Smoke, even Smoke’s temperamental brother Dark, was mated. Smoke found his mate online. Fate might have the same plans for Striker. Besides, it was lonely, living alone and isolated from the rest of
the world because most paranormals feared dragon shifters.

  He envied Dark and Smoke for having someone to love them, balance the aggressive dragons inside of them. Lately, the lightning dragon had become more and more unmanageable to the point Striker had to shift two times a day to spread his wings. The beast in him had begun to feel restless, angry.

  Being able to hear Ron’s voice online calmed both him and his dragon for a little while.

  Striker took a deep breath. “So, now that we’ve gotten all close and stuff, what do you think about meeting me in real life?”

  His PC screen turned black. He snarled, banged at his keyboard as he looked for the ‘on’ button on the side of the monitor. Given he lived in a couple of caves on a mountain, he frequently had blackouts, but the lights in his room were still on and the air conditioner still worked.

  Striker scowled, tempted to toss the keyboard and monitor right at the nearest wall, but after being fired from his job at the construction site two months ago, he couldn’t afford a new one, even a second-hand with specs that could run BeastWorld. He picked up his phone and dialed Smoke’s number.

  He knew Smoke only gave him his contact in case of emergencies, but he liked to think he and the silver dragon had become friends. An unfamiliar voice answered.

  “Smoke can’t come to the phone right now, can I take a message?”

  He scoffed. “What, Smoke got a secretary or something?”

  “This is Toby, Smoke’s mate.”

  That definitely caught his interest. “You’re Ron’s best friend, right?”

  Striker remembered now. Ron talked about Toby a few times. The game brought them together, and it turned out they not only shared the same interests but also lived in the same town. Used to, he corrected, recalling how down Ron seemed those first few weeks after Toby moved out of town to live with Smoke.