Dragon's Treasure (BBW/Dragon Shifter Romance) (Lords of the Dragon Islands Book 1)

by Isadora Montrose

  “And your family doesn't mind you being a temp?” asked Roland curiously.

  “I haven't any,” she said. “But if my grandparents were still alive, they would be fine with me earning a living any way short of criminal activity.”

  “And your parents?” asked Ivan as if the words were dragged from him.

  “They died when I was an infant. So I have no idea.”

  “A great tragedy,” said Hugo. “And both sets of grandparents are also deceased?”

  “My mother was adopted. Her parents weren't interested in her child. I don't remember ever meeting them.” Leah was matter-of-fact. Her maternal grandparents' rejection still stung, but she had had a lifetime to get used to it. “My father's parents brought me up, but Poppy died when I was in high school, and Grammy passed away earlier this year.”

  “Then you are both in mourning,” said Ivan as if this was great good news.

  Leah stared at him. That was just rude. But unanswerable. Besides Martin and Francis were back, taking the remains of the meat pies away, and replacing them with perfectly steamed artichokes and ramekins of buttery hollandaise sauce.

  “Our great-grandfather died recently,” Hugo said into the awkward silence. “He was the Eldest of our House and as his heir I was his Right Arm, and Ivan his Left.”

  Well, why hadn't they said so? That explained why they suddenly needed lieutenants. She looked from face to face. They were all three lying. Something was happening and they had no intention of telling her the truth.

  “I have to be invested by the Council as Lord Sarkany,” added Hugo. “We are an ancient guild and like our ceremonies and rituals.”

  That much was true. But he was lying by omission. Leah looked around the table. Under all their manners and smiles, these guys were in grim earnest about something they had no intention of burdening the little woman with. She had wandered into a nest of Alpha males worse than a platoon of Marines preparing for D Day.

  As soon as Martin brought in the coffee she rose. The three men pushed back their chairs and stood up looking bewildered. “I think I need a nap,” she told them sweetly. Let them go off and have their secret club ritual. She was so over this parliament of dragons.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The three dragons faced each other around the small round table in Hugo's safe room.

  “Let's have it,” Hugo said to Roland. “How did the appeal to the Council go.”

  Roland laughed. “Let's just say that it is unlikely there will be a duel in your future, Sarkany. Seldom have I enjoyed myself more than I did standing in the Council Chambers presenting your petition. Vadim was furious, but he didn't dare suggest that Lord Voros could not address the Grand Council.

  “I began by declaring that it was absurd to challenge your right to the Dragon's Blood, when the heirs to the Counts of Sarkany have always been male. Not even in the middle ages was a son-in-law ever named heir by right of his wife.”

  “It's so, as far back as we have records,” put in Ivan, with a grin of his own.

  “The rules of inheritance for all the great houses are written down in manuscripts held in the Guild Archives,” went on Roland. “I brought facsimiles to show the Councillors.”

  “That must have gone down well with Vadim,” said Ivan who was gleeful, even though he had heard most of this on the plane.

  “Indeed.” Roland continued. “I passed on to the fact that no fewer than five Counts of Sarkany had held the post of High Marshal of the Grand Council of the Guild of Dragons. And that their titles had never been challenged. Sadly, this was news to most of those young dullards. I felt a hundred and two years old having to instruct dragons in their own damned history.”

  “How did Vadim take it?” Hugo asked.

  “His face was a blank,” Roland said. “But it was obvious he was only holding on to his composure by grinding his back teeth to dust. In the end he had to ask for another vote on the merit of Landor's claim. He didn't try to make it a loyalty test this time. He tried to act as if he had been purely impartial before and only following our laws.”

  Roland shook his massive blond head. “I'm telling you, Sarkany, we have to do something about the Grand Council. We can't have our race governed by that set of idiots and toadies.”

  “I and my house are eternally in your debt, Roland,” replied Hugo formally. “And this folly on the part of the Council has convinced me that it needs a wiser head. Whatever the House of Sarkany can do to help you put things right will be done.” He paused a beat. “Are you thinking of proposing a vote of no confidence or of seeking the post of High Marshal yourself?”

  “Both,” said Voros calmly. “However, there is no obligation, my friend. Never has an emissary enjoyed himself more than I did. But if you will support me in cleaning up the Council it will benefit us all.

  “The Grand Council was established precisely to end open warfare amongst all dragons. Dueling was not actually forbidden, but it's supposed to be so strictly regulated that practically it should never happen. A challenge should be little different than a lawsuit. Duller than that if possible.” Roland held the eyes of the other two dragons.

  “So what the devil was Vadim of Montenegro thinking trying to bring back full aerial battles? The next thing will be private wars.” Roland rapped the table with his knuckles for emphasis.

  “Two weeks ago,” Ivan said soberly, “I would have laughed at you, Voros for saying that. But when Vadim looked me in the eye and told me I had no standing—as if everyone in the chamber did not know exactly who I was—he overplayed his hand. If he does not have imperial ambitions, I'll eat my hat.”

  “Vadim is a brigand,” said Hugo acerbically. “Those Russian dragons are all thugs. They served the Tzars—well so did we—five hundred years ago. But then they served the Bolsheviks and Stalin. And now they are virtually indistinguishable from the Russian oil mafia. It's time their wings were clipped.”

  “Then we are in agreement,” Roland said. “But before we deal with the ambitions of Vadim of Montenegro and his cronies, I thought you would like to hear my plan to singe that little imp of mischief, Prince Maximilian. I have brought a formal counter-suit on your behalf. You have in open Council challenged Landor's Honor, accusing him of perjury, and contempt of Dragon Law.

  “I have request a fine. Partially to remind the Councillors that these days dragons don't rush into duels, but begin with seeking less violent sanctions. And partly to make it plain to Landor that to the House of Sarkany, he is little more than a pesky nuisance.”

  Hugo and Ivan wore identical grins. “How did the Council respond?” Hugo inquired.

  “There was a lot of snickering amongst the youngsters until Vadim restored order,” Roland told his friends. “He persuaded them to defer their decision until the next regular session. I think he wanted to pretend your suit had more gravitas than it does—to spare Landor's self-esteem. He did suggest at first that the matter could be settled by combat, but that just made the snickering worse.”

  “How large a fine?” growled Ivan unmollified. “And I would like to meet that dragon in a fair fight.”

  “I left the size of the fine to the Council,” Roland said soberly. “I told them that one large enough to match the insult to your unblemished Honor would beggar Landor. But that one commensurate with its nuisance value would barely rate a peppercorn. It took some of them a moment to grasp the insult, but eventually there was another round of sniggering, until Vadim called for adjournment.”

  “I would like to have seen Landor's face,” said Ivan wistfully.

  “It was a sight. Rage, fear and frustration. I thought he was going to breathe fire in the chamber.” Roland laughed. “Does this satisfy your need for revenge?”

  “Hell, no,” said Ivan instantly.

  “Patience, Right Arm,” said Hugo. “There will be vengeance. But our first duty is to make a formal declaration to the Council to inform them of my betrothal—and that the Dragon's Blood has passed to my mate.”
Hugo paused. “Should we wait until they are again in session, or send out announcements as in the old days?”

  “I think it best if you follow tradition and send heralds to the four quarters of the earth,” Roland advised. “Ivan and I should bear the news to the High Marshal ourselves. I think a show of power and splendor is called for. Let us remind the Guild of Dragons how mighty and how magnificent the House of Sarkany is. I suggest Ivan and I be accompanied by a suitable retinue.”

  Hugo nodded. “It shall be so, Left Arm. Now where do we recruit the necessary sword bearers to go with you and Ivan? In these lesser days, it is no use denying that dragon ranks have shrunk. I scarcely have a kinsman old enough to send.”

  * * *

  The afternoon was almost over when the three dragons finally emerged from their prolonged conference in the safe room. They stood in Hugo's office looking well pleased with their deliberations.

  “I think you guys should go swimming before it gets dark,” Hugo said. “I still have to look at my email and put out any fires before I join you.” He indicated his flickering computer screen.

  “Do you want my input, Hugo?” asked Ivan. “I could set up at the smaller desk.”

  Hugo shook his head. “You've been cooped up all day. First in the jet, then the helicopter and now we've spent three hours talking. Take a break.”

  “Should we ask Leah to come with us?” Ivan said to Roland as they left the anteroom.

  “If she’s up from her nap,” Roland agreed.

  When they went down to Hugo's beach, Hugo's massive bodyguard was sitting on a beach chair observing Leah. She was doing laps up and down the stretch of calm water, moving swiftly through the sparkling water.

  Holden looked the two dragon shifters up and down. No weapons there, he thought looking at their tight swim shorts and bare chests. Not that he feared attack from Sarkany's brother and best friend. But he wasn't paid to take chances.

  “You guys know about the riptide past the buoys?” he asked.

  Roland and Ivan nodded. They kept their eyes on Leah's curvaceous form as she sped up and down, slicing through the water like a missile.

  “Powerful,” said Ivan approvingly.

  “Magnificent. Your brother has been fortunate indeed,” said Roland. “We must make sure that the entire Guild knows just how fortunate.”

  They waded out into the water and joined Leah. She was a little startled to suddenly have two huge men keeping pace with her, but she had decided to do two hundred laps today. Now that she had found her rhythm, she didn't want to stop and chat.

  She had always needed to be active, but since Hugo had turned her she felt so revved up all the time that she was twitchy. She could hardly believe how strong she was. She had dropped a hairpin in the bedroom after lunch and when she bent to look under the bed, she had casually lifted it a foot into the air before she quite realized what she had done. Her king-sized bed looked light and airy but the frame was solid wood braced with steel struts. Certainly, before her change, she could not have raised it one armed.

  Her eyesight was improved too. She could see further even underwater. For example, each time she turned her head she could see Roland and Ivan as clearly as if they stood before her. They were magnificent specimens in their dark jammers. The skin tight spandex clung to their brawny thighs and outlined their family jewels. These guys were just as hot as Hugo.

  But the sight of their bare tanned chests and revealing jammers didn't make her heart race. She could admire them as dispassionately as if they were statuary. Whereas her response to Hugo was as it had always been—instant and visceral. The only difference now was that where before she had felt butterflies in the stomach, now she seemed to have a lioness in her belly.

  She knew the moment that Hugo joined them in the water. Some new sense went on high alert. Her body felt flooded with knowledge and wellbeing and a dizzying dose of sexual excitement. Her nipples puckered instantly. Her passage throbbed. Her heart began to beat so fast she was sure he could hear it.

  She could smell her lover approaching. His masculine scent had deepened as he entered the water. She could sense him getting closer and closer. Electric charges shot through her whole body and she put on a spurt to move faster. Like a shark, Hugo cut through the water and caught up with her. The other men stopped pacing her and swam in the opposite direction.

  He was close enough for her to touch. Her heart contracted and her vision blurred, as if he was sending a charge through the water. How could he make her feel like this without a single word or touch? Her efficient kicks faltered and her rhythm lost its smoothness as her body responded to his presence.

  She finished her two hundredth lap and stood up panting. Roland and Ivan had made themselves scarce. Holden had vanished. She hadn't even noticed the departure of the other males. Her focus had all been on her dark lover. She met Hugo's blazing eyes in shock. Red stood out on his high cheekbones and his chest was heaving as if he too had swum five miles today. She wasn't panting from fatigue, however, but from passion. She actually felt energized by her swim.

  Hugo couldn't believe how beautiful his mate was in the amber light of sunset. Her skin glowed apricot and cream. He hadn't seen this suit before. Two panels of slightly different shades of jade made an S shape across her torso. The racing back and the high front were modesty itself, but he was more titillated than he had ever been by Brazilian bikinis.

  He reached for her and pulled her against his chest needing physical contact to assuage his desire. All afternoon he had longed for her and only discipline had kept him focused on his conference and then on his business interests. But now here she was, as ready for him as he for her.

  He foresaw a long and happy marriage.

  Leah was in his arms being carried to his suite before she knew what was happening.

  “You were made for me,” he growled in her ear before he licked it and drew the naked lobe into his hot mouth.

  Sensation zinged through her and she squirmed trying to get closer. “Be still,” he commanded, “Or I'll drop you.”

  Leah giggled. She felt safe in Hugo's powerful arms. Safe and happy. Not for one moment did she believe this man would let her go. Which was just sad, because tigers didn't change their stripes and players remained players. But, oh, he made her feel so elemental and beautiful, as if she was the sexiest woman alive, when she knew she was just plain Leah St. George.

  Hugo couldn't wait. They could shower after they had taken their pleasure. He threw Leah still dripping onto his silk coverlet and stripped off his trunks and followed her down. He turned her onto her stomach and released the catch of her suit. He peeled the wet straps down her arms. They caught and buckled.

  Beneath him Leah giggled softly. He pulled her up onto her hands and knees the better to deal with the recalcitrant swimsuit. But the wet spandex didn't want to come off. By the time he had pulled it down past her swelling buttocks, Hugo was in pain.

  His beloved was as gorgeous from behind as she was before. Her lower globes were round and soft and full, muscular and supple. She tried to turn around but he held her in place with a giant hand on her back. He spread her thighs apart so his clever fingers could tease the fringe of golden hair that guarded her nether lips.

  Leah felt exposed and vulnerable, but Hugo's appreciative murmurs and gentle stroking soothed her even as it ratcheted up her arousal.

  “You smell wonderful,” he said huskily as he began to lick the globes and place hungry kisses there.

  She pushed her butt towards him, wanting to feel his mouth there, but he was busy placing sucking kisses on her bottom while his big hands held her open to him. When she thought she could bear no more, his tongue began stroking and swirling in her fluff. Her hips swiveled, begging him to probe her passage.

  She felt his broad, thick member sliding inside her. His hands moved from her thighs to knead her belly and hold her high so he could thrust his full length into her passage. Yes that was what she wanted.

 
She could hear his ragged breathing—its rough cadence matched her own. His heart beat in time to the furious pace of her own. How was it possible for her to feel this closeness to him if he didn't love her? And then her vision blurred and the sensations at the heart of her overwhelmed her. Her passage contracted, squeezing his cock even tighter. The ripples spread out through her buttocks and her nub exploded.

  Hugo felt when Leah's climax swept through her. It triggered his own. By the time he had taken his release and only the echo of his triumphant bellow remained, she was limp beneath him. His beauty was a passionate woman. He was triply blessed in her. He fondled her lush belly and wondered if he had already given her a child.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Dinner had been another protracted meal in which Leah felt hugely underdressed. Hugo and his brother and friend were wearing white dinner jackets. Jeweled cufflinks gleamed under the candelabra. She had put on one of her new dresses, but even the short string of pearls Hugo had given her to wear couldn't turn a sundress into a cocktail dress.

  Leah had kept mostly silent. She was still feeling shattered by her pre-dinner session with Hugo. How could she just keep giving herself to this man? He kept acting as if their marriage was a done deal, when she was pretty sure she had not agreed. Yet every time they made love, she fell a little deeper down the rabbit hole.

  She kept a pleasant smile on her face and concentrated on her dinner. Miss Elsie had outdone herself again. She knew she should make conversation but she was preoccupied and heavy eyed.

  “Are you tired, Leah?” Roland Voros asked her as they left the table.

  Leah focused her blue eyes on his green ones. They were hypnotic and yet so cold they made her shiver. She nodded in surprise. “I am,” she said, “I must have overdone it today.” Suddenly she did feel incredibly sleepy.

  “Then I will say goodnight and good bye. Ivan and I leave at first light,” he informed her and bowed as if she were a princess.

  “So soon?” she managed.