by Lauren Smith
Researchers at George Mason University had created a synthetic version of a peptide found in the blood of Komodo dragons. They had dubbed it DRGN-1. DRGN-1 had proved to be tough against microbes. Bacteria stuck together to create biofilms that attached to surfaces and help to protect themselves during an infection. Even infected wounds healed faster with DRGN-1, and the layers of skin were rehabilitated. If Rurik and other shifters had similar peptide structures in their blood, it might explain how their bodies aged so slowly and healed so quickly.
I could change the world, make it a better place. It eased the guilt of what she was planning to do, but only just. She was lucky that Rurik distracted her with his company.
They ate the rest of their dinner, conversation flowing easily between them. She was surprised how much he seemed at ease with her and she with him. He was charming, more so than she ever expected of a nightclub owner who rode a motorcycle, but then, he was more than a thousand years old and had been born into an age of chivalry.
“So, your two brothers…” She pushed her empty plate away and waited to see if he would talk more about them.
“Grigori and Mikhail.” A glint of humor made his eyes sparkle. “Both are my elders. Grigori is the head of the family. He only recently married. He and his wife are already expecting a dr—a child, I mean.” He corrected himself, but Charlotte suspected he’d almost said drakeling, the dragon shifter term for children.
“That’s wonderful.” She leaned back in her chair, relaxing. His responding grin took over his features.
“It is. I cannot wait to see that child run circles around my uptight brother.”
“And Mikhail…the international jewel thief and man of mystery?” She tried to sound teasing. Most women wouldn’t stay for a midnight snack in a man’s apartment when he told her that his brother was a criminal.
His expression was suddenly shadowed with sadness. He played with his empty bourbon glass, rolling it between his palms. “Mikhail was gone for a long time. Our father made a rash decision by disowning Mikhail and preventing him from returning to Russia, but my father is gone now. Mikhail is finally home. He too has settled down and married. He kidnapped a gemologist when he stole his jewels.” A flash of humor was in his eyes again. “It worked out in the end.”
She laughed, playing along with his comments as though he was still telling tall tales.
“And you? Any siblings? Any overprotective brothers I should know about?” he asked.
Charlotte was caught off guard by the alarmingly accurate query. A nervous giggle escaped her.
“Yeah, actually, I do have two very protective brothers. Neither of them know I’m here.” Now that was certainly the truth.
“They wouldn’t approve of you being here?”
“Not in Russia. Not anywhere, really. I’ve never even left the United States before, if you can believe it. They would flip out if they knew I’d come here alone.”
His brows rose. “You’re alone in Moscow? No friends? No one?”
She shook her head very slowly. “No one.”
A dark scowl stole over his features. “That is very dangerous. Moscow is a dangerous place. You had a taste of it tonight at the club. I love my country, but it has a heart of darkness beneath the glittering surface. You aren’t safe here alone.” He rose from the table and towered over her again, his eyes darkening. She backed up even more as he invaded her space.
“Do you understand? A man like me could take you, little rose. He could make you his, possess you in every way, and you would have no chance of escape. No way to get home. No recourse. No salvation. A man like me would be very tempted by an innocent young creature like you.” His words softened into a deep, threatening purr.
She peered up at him from beneath her lashes, trying to still her shivering. “But you won’t… right?”
He curled his fingers under her chin, lifting her face up to his. “Are you quite sure about that?”
Take home Rurik today! Grab this sexy Russian here!
TURN the page to read about the Cheapside Hoard Jewels which inspired Mikhail’s heist and Piper’s obsession!
THE CHEAPSIDE HOARD JEWELS
A BRIEF AND HOPEFULLY INTERESTING HISTORICAL NOTE
Often my stories are born in ordinary places, like the back of a crowded coffee shop or nestled in a midst of a busy library by my house. But every now and then a story is born in a place of magic. For me, Mikhail’s story was born and written in a wintry castle in Southern France in November 2016.
I was staying in the castle with a group of fellow writers. As we shivered by the fireside and watched a family of feral cats play upon the stone terrace in the winter sunlight I was struck by the light glinting over the window panes and how it made me think of diamonds…the kind of diamonds a dragon would hunger to steal and hide in his cave. Thus Mikhail’s story was born. My dragon jewel thief then would need to steal a hoard of impressive jewels and as luck would have it, history had already shown me the way.
Some months before I’d seen a book that discussed the history of the Cheapside Hoard and I immediately knew this cache of rare jewels would be my inspiration. Every single jewel mentioned in the book (with the exception of the Dragon Heart Stone) are completely real and modeled off the hoard’s actual jewels.
Now for a bit of history…
The Cheapside Hoard dated back to the late 16th and early 17th centuries, discovered in 1912 by workmen using a pickaxe to excavate in a cellar at 30–32 Cheapside in London, on the corner with Friday Street. They found a buried wooden box containing more than 400 pieces of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewelry, including rings, brooches and chains, with bright colored gemstones and enameled gold settings, together with toadstones, cameos, scent bottles, fan holders, crystal tankards and a salt cellar.
Most of the hoard is now in the Museum of London, with some items held by the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The hoard demonstrates the international trade in luxury goods in the period, including gemstones from sources across South America, Asia and Europe: emerald from Colombia, topaz and amazonite from Brazil; spinel, iolite, and chrysoberyl from Sri Lanka, Indian diamond, Burmese ruby, Afghan lapis lazuli, Persian turquoise, pearls from Bahrain, peridot from the Red Sea; Bohemian and Hungarian opal, garnet, and amethyst. Relatively few pearls have survived in good condition after being buried for approximately 350 years.
Large stones were frequently set in box-bezels on enamelled rings. Most of the gemstones are cabochon cut, but there are a few with more modern faceted cuts, including rose cut and star cut. A particularly large Colombian emerald, originally the size of an apple, had been hollowed out to accommodate a Swiss watch movement dated to around 1600, signed by G. Ferlite.
The items include a Byzantine gemstone cameo, a cameo of Queen Elizabeth I, an emerald parrot, and some fake gemstones made of carved and dyed quartz. A small red intaglio stone seal bears the arms of William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford, dating the burial of the hoard between his ennoblement in November 1640 and the Great Fire of London in September 1666, which destroyed the buildings above. Most of the gold is the "Paris touch" standard of 19.2 carats (80 per cent pure).
Each piece of the hoard is fascinating and unique. Like this emerald salamander brooch below.
It’s exactly the kind of hoard a dragon like Mikhail would want to steal. *wink
OTHER TITLES BY LAUREN SMITH
Historical
The League of Rogues Series
Wicked Designs
His Wicked Seduction
Her Wicked Proposal
Wicked Rivals
Her Wicked Longing
His Wicked Embrace (coming March 2018)
The Earl of Pembroke (coming March 2018)
His Wicked Secret (coming soon)
The Seduction Series
The Duelist’s Seduction
The Rakehell’s Seduction
The Rogue’s Seduction (coming March 2018)
; Standalone Stories
Tempted by A Rogue
Sins and Scandals
An Earl By Any Other Name
A Gentleman Never Surrenders
A Scottish Lord for Christmas
Contemporary
The Surrender Series
The Gilded Cuff
The Gilded Cage
The Gilded Chain
Her British Stepbrother
Forbidden: Her British Stepbrother
Seduction: Her British Stepbrother
Climax: Her British Stepbrother
Paranormal
Dark Seductions Series
The Shadows of Stormclyffe Hall
The Love Bites Series
The Bite of Winter
Brotherhood of the Blood Moon Series
Blood Moon on the Rise (coming soon)
Brothers of Ash and Fire
Grigori: A Royal Dragon Romance
Mikhail: A Royal Dragon Romance
Rurik: A Royal Dragon Romance (coming soon)
Sci-Fi Romance
Cyborg Genesis Series
Across the Stars (coming soon)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lauren Smith is an Oklahoma attorney by day, author by night who pens adventurous and edgy romance stories by the light of her smart phone flashlight app. She knew she was destined to be a romance writer when she attempted to re-write the entire Titanic movie just to save Jack from drowning. Connecting with readers by writing emotionally moving, realistic and sexy romances no matter what time period is her passion. She’s won multiple awards in several romance subgenres including: New England Reader’s Choice Awards, Greater Detroit BookSeller’s Best Awards, and a Semi-Finalist award for the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Award.
To Connect with Lauren, visit her at:
www.laurensmithbooks.com
[email protected]
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Table of Contents
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
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Rurik: A Royal Dragon Romance
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
The Cheapside Hoard Jewels
Other Titles By Lauren Smith
About the Author