by Julia Mills
Text copyright ©2018 by the Author.
This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Latin Goddess Press, Inc.. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Paranormal Dating Agency remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Latin Goddess Press, Inc., or their affiliates or licensors.
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Aww Snap, Dragon
Dragon Guard #31
by
Julia Mills
There Are No Coincidences.
The Universe Does Not Make Mistakes.
Fate Will Not Be Denied.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Cover by Linda Boulanger with Tell Tale Book Covers
Edited by Lisa Miller with Angel Editing Services
Edited and Proofed by Tammy Payne with Book Nook Nuts
Beta Read by Linda Levy
Formatted by Charlene Bauer with Wicked Bold Creations
DEDICATION
Dare to Dream! Find the Strength to Act! Never Look Back!
Thank you, God.
To my girls, Liz and Em, I Love You. Every day, every way, always.
To Felicity Taylor, Thank you for allowing me to name the Heroine of this story after you. She is as fun-loving, joyous and lovely as I know you are. Your messages always brighten my day. You are a beautiful pink snapdragon who spreads love and happiness everywhere you go! Never change!
In Loving Memory of My Brother, Jim Lake
I know you never wanted to read schmexy scenes written by your big sister and that’s okay, I understand. However, Julian, the Bengal Tiger, is in honor of you. He has your quick wit, infectious smile, and loves his family with all his heart, not to mention – he loves the Bengals just like you.
Fly high, Baby Brother.
Love you Always
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
About Julia
Also by Julia
The Dragon Guard
We soar the skies
Free to a certain extent,
As long as we stay hidden
From prying human eyes.
Our scales differ in color
Our defensive weapons,
Tails, horns, talons and all,
Are never the same.
We are one with nature
We blend in with nature
The wind helps us soar high in the heavens
While the earth grants us healing strength in our hour of need.
We are one with the world
We are the guardians of our kin
When evil conspires to maim and hurt
We are protectors of this human race.
As majestic animals of fairytales
We share our beings with great men
They walk in honor and the grace of Fate,
Fate that we cannot deny.
Copyright © 2016 Melanie Williams
- This Poem is based on the Series, The Dragon Guard by Author Julia Mills.
Index of the Original Language of the Dragon Kin
Aww Snap, Dragon
Gaelic
Mo ghrá………My love
Mo chroí………My heart
Mo chara……….My friend
Ceithre……….Four
Spanish
Mi amigo……….My friend
Pequeña hada……….Little Fairy
Chapter One
“Hey, Felicity! How ya’ doin’?”
“Super, John! Thanks for asking,” she smiled at the tall, lanky blond who served as the gatekeeper of the huge Dragon Tech building. “How are you today?” She added, swiping her access card through the flashing red lights on the top of the shining stainless-steel podium. Tapping her foot as she moved her canvas bag from one arm to the other, she nearly ran through the turnstile when the lights turned green.
Rolling his chair towards her, leaning on the high side of his massive wooden desk, his smile a little too bright, John went on, “Pretty good. Your flowers were delivered early this morning. I had them moved into the backroom. Just let me know if you need help getting them to all the floors.” Winking, he added, “Those boxes sure looked heavy.”
Hurrying away, narrowly escaping yet another dinner invitation from the gregarious Security Guard, Felicity slipped into the office-turned-workspace she’d been assigned and let out the breath she’d been holding. “How many times can one man hear the word no before he just gives up?”
“One-hundred-fifty-three…maybe fifty-four times,” Bitsy’s high-pitched, almost mousy voice answered a split-second before the tall, blond bombshell of a Flower Fairy appeared, floating upside-down with her legs in the lotus position and her braids floating like a halo around her head.
“Dammit, Bitsy!” Felicity shrieked, slapping her hand over her heart to keep it from jumping out of her chest. “How many times have I told you not to follow me to work?”
“Three-hundred-and-forty-four times.”
“And to never sneak up on me?”
“Oh! That adds three-hundred-and-sixty-two to the count, bringing it to…”
“The question was rhetorical, Bitsy,” Felicity deadpanned. “That question is always rhetorical.”
“How am I supposed to know when you want an answer and when you’re just blowing sunshine up my heinie. I mean, you know that I was made to answer all questions immediately and precisely. It’s not something I wanted, or that I even like, it just… is, like everything else I got outta this whole being the youngest of the group gig.”
“Yeah, I know,” Felicity huffed then quickly turning to smile at her little sister. “And I’m sorry, but you know how nerve-wracking this job is for me.” She laid her hand on Bitsy’s shoulder, “And you know you’re supposed to be at the shop helping the others get ready for the Spitz wedding.”
“Yeah, but all my stuff is done, “Bitsy huffed. “And you know how much I hate baking. Josie knows all that measuring and pouring and mixing makes me nutso, so, she asked me to make the sugar paste flowers for that ginormous eight-tier cake.” Her hands flew up which was actually down as her sass turned into a rant. “I mean really. Come on, people. White flowers on a white cake on a white table in a white room – is this a wedding or a hospital.”
Making Felicity’s head spin as she flipped herself upright, Bitsy continued, talking faster and faster the more irritated she became. “Why can’t we just give these people a little zap when they have stupid ideas? I could jazz that stupid wedding up with a splash of pink there and a skoosh of bright yellow over there. That’s all it would take. You know it. I know it. Hell, a five-year-old would know it, but noooooooooooo, these stupid humans want white – literally the most boring color on the whole stupid planet.”
Deciding it was better not to mention that white wasn’t really a color, rather the absence of pigment, Felicity moved over to the first pallet of flower boxes as she replied, “You know as well as I do that we cannot and will not be zapping anyone for any reason, especially to change their minds about the color of their wedding. If the bride and groom want white, then we give them white. Th
at’s just how it is.”
Sighing while trying not to roll her eyes, Felicity once again thought about her life, or the lack thereof. Living with her three sisters and co-owning Fancy Affairs, a multi-faceted business where each sister was able to use her talents to plan and facilitate the most amazing parties Texas had ever seen, was good…even great most days. Felicity loved her siblings with all her heart, appreciated the synergy with which they lived and worked, it made every day an adventure with people she knew absolutely always had her back. However, she couldn’t escape the dream of someday finding a mate and having a family of her own.
It wasn’t that she never wanted to see her sisters again, or that she wanted to break up the businesses they’d worked so hard to build, it was just that Felicity needed something all her own. Something and someone she didn’t have to share with anyone. She wasn’t being selfish, she wanted the same for each of her sisters, she was just tired of waiting for it to happen. The Goddess and the Universe were taking their sweet time, and Felicity was damned tired of all of it.
Born as a set of four, what the Fairies refer to as a Ceithre, the girls popped into the world exactly seven minutes apart on a cool spring morning, to the fanfare of the entire Seelie Court. Princesses one and all, their father, King Owain of the Seelie Earthen Fairies, and their mother, Queen Cecily, the great-grand-daughter of Morgan le Fey, the girls were all bound for glory no matter what they chose to do. But as with all things Fairy, the enchanted world the girls were born into was in constant upheaval. Battles for leadership seemed to flow from one to another, creating an endless war that the King and Queen refused to let their daughters be drawn into.
Under the cover of darkness, with the help of their great-great-grandmother Morgan, the girls, at the age of eighteen, were disguised as Brownies and smuggled into the mortal world. The first century in the human lands, the girls lived in the forest, took care of the flora, fauna and wildlife, and were perfectly happy to live out eternity in obscurity. It was actually as close to Paradise as they could ever be.
The arrivals of non-magical folk led to exploration which brought civilization to the girls’ quiet, solitary life. Quickly assimilating to the New World, the Fairies were sometimes called Witches by those who didn’t understand, and on a few occasions, were forced to hide under the cover of Spells and Charms for months at a time. In the end, and after a really steep learning curve, the Ceithre fell into the swing of things and as the humans say, so far so good.
Now, the Goddess knew they’d all worked incredibly hard and made real sacrifices to start their own businesses. Fancy Flowers, which took care of the floral upkeep for many businesses and onsite setup for parties and weddings was Felicity’s. Buttons and Buds, a storefront florist, belonged to Mary Beth and always had a waiting list. Josie, the first-born, could whip up anything sweet and delectable, so she named her bakery Sugar and Spice Specialties. Then there was Bitsy, whose stationery store, Sweet Sentiments, was the perfect addition to their enterprise because that youngest of the bunch was so exact and precise everything she made was sheer perfection. Together, the four shops made up Fancy Affairs, Inc., the one and only place everyone in the Southwest United States called to do their wedding, bar mitzvah, baby shower, sweet sixteen galas, or plan old fancy party.
And it was phenomenal, really it was, but four-hundred-years of togetherness was enough. It was time…. hell, it was past time for them all to get a life and start truly living. Felicity had vowed to herself on more than one occasion that if Fate and Destiny threw a chance her way, she would grab it with both hands and hang on tight for her happily ever after.
Pulling herself back to reality, already behind and needing to get back to the shop to help the others with the Spitz wedding, she opened one box and then another and then another. Inhaling the mixture of sweet vanilla, spicy cinnamon and coconut pie from the elegant purple, yellow and white orchids she’d ordered to decorate the halls of Dragon Tech to usher in Spring on the inside to match the out of doors, the Flower Fairy felt like dancing. There was just something about the scent of fresh flowers and the anticipation of spring that made the glittering gossamer wings laid tightly to her back flutter with excitement.
Watching the so-small-they-were-invisible-to-the-human-eye Dragonfly Fairies flit and flitter from bloom to blossom tending the orchids, spreading the pollen and helping the blooms thrive, made Felicity think of a much larger dragon with a wickedly handsome smile and dark blue eyes that seemed to reach right into her soul and set fire to her heart. Tristan O’Doherty was everything she’d ever dreamt of and so very much more. The only problem was, every time she got near him, it was like she was a teenager of barely a hundred years old again.
Her mouth would go dry, her palms got sweaty, her tongue got tied, and she suddenly had two left feet. No matter how many times she told herself to be cool, had taken deep breaths, or meditated to keep from falling flat on her face, all bets were off the second the rich scent of smoky ash combined with a cool evening’s breeze hit her senses. Her inability to speak, walk, or stand in his presence became super awkward. It was a blow to her confidence, making her believe she’d ruined any chance she would ever have of getting to know the oh-so-sexy Dragon who made her Fairy heart go pitter-pitter-pat-pat.
“You better get outta Dreamland and get busy,” Bitsy snarked, stepping up to Felicity’s side with her hand on her hip and a goofy smirk on her face. “Stop fantasizing about that spicy Dragon and get to work. You know Josie expects us back by four.”
“Since when do you care when anyone expects of you?” She gave her younger sister the side-eye. “Ya’ know, if I had a nickel for every time I had to stop what I was doing to track you down and haul your butt back to the shop for a delivery, I could retire on my own Fairy Mound, eat honey and tea cookies all day and be waited on by half-dressed Avalonian males.”
“Not cool, Fliss, really not cool,” Bitsy scoffed, her hands once again flying in the air. “I can’t help it if I’m bored. I need adventure. Want to do more than work all day and night planning other people’s fun times. It’s me who needs the fun times.” She tapped Felicity on the arm to emphasize every word she spat, “I. Was. Not. Meant. To. Be. Pinned. Down.”
“Neither was I, Little Sister.” Felicity spun towards Bitsy, immediately enraged and ready to blow a fuse. “You think I don’t want more? That the others don’t want their own adventures? Their own fun? Their own freakin’ lives?” Taking a step forward, forcing her sister to move backward, she raged through gritted teeth, “We all do, Bits. Every bloody one of us. We want mates, some little Fairylings, a house, even a Goddess-damned white picket fence. So, grow the hell…”
The door flew open cutting off Felicity’s grand finale as a short, platinum-haired woman stamped into the room, pointed her blood-red fingernail right at Flicity and ordered, “Stop bitchin’ and come with me. I can help.”
Watching the woman do an about-face on her four-inch black leather stilettos without so much as a ‘How do you do?’, Fliss looked at Bitsy whose eyes were opened as wide as they could get and mouth was hanging open, and whispered, “Do you know her?”
“Nope,” Bitsy slowly shook her head, still staring at the spot where the woman had been standing. “But from the power rolling off of her, I’d say you better get a move on. She’s not someone I’d mess with, and ya’ know I mess with everybody.”
Chapter Two
“Well, I guess she told you,” Julian chuckled, shifting in his seat as he added, “I’m not sure what she is, but I’m pretty sure that short stack of dynamite could mess up your day in ways you’ve yet to imagine, Old Man.”
“Don’t ‘Old Man’ me, Morris,” Tristan growled, adding oomph to the nickname his friend hated the most before getting to his feet and pacing the width of his office. “I was here. I have ears, I heard every blasted word.”
“And, aren’t you the least bit intrigued? Isn’t it kind of exciting that she’s given you the kick in the butt you needed to at
least talk to that sexy little Fairy you’re always eyeing?”
Inhaling deeply and clenching his fists at his side as he exhaled and counted to ten, Tristan tried not to roar when he grumbled through gritted teeth, “First of all, she has a name. It’s Felicity. Secondly, I have not, am not, and never will be eyeing her. I simply find her work with flowers fascinating. And lastly, a kick in the butt is the last thing I need.” The last words were snarled as the bronze Dragon spun towards the window to avoid the knowing stare of his long-time friend.
“Whatever you say,” Julian jested. “You’re the boss.”
Tristan didn’t have to turn back to know that his friend was grinning from ear-to-ear, the tone of his voice was proof enough. The Dragon had never been ‘the Boss’ and couldn’t think of a time when he ever would be. From the day he and the Panther joined forces, they’d both done whatever needed doing, without worrying about whose name was on the letterhead, or who got the credit.
Being the showoff that he was, Julian did almost all the interviews, TV appearances, and schmoozing, which was perfectly fine with Tristan. He was much happier staying in the shadows, working mostly by himself, and tinkering with whatever project he could imagine. Not only did it suit his personality and his need to invent, but it soothed his soul, and in the darker times, helped him forget the past, or at least make him feel like he was preventing anymore tragedies.
But some demons simply refuse to be slayed…
Transported to another place, another time…what seemed like another lifetime it was so very long ago, he could feel the wind in his wings, the sun on his scales and the fire blasting from his throat pushing his soul to wander down Memory Lane.