Her Hidden Dragon

by Suzanne Roslyn

  She arched for him, resting her head back on his shoulder. Her gaze held with his in the mirror. “You’re tricking me. Trying to seduce me.”

  “Tricking you?” Sigurd’s hands stilled. Looking back at her in the mirror. “Those eyes don’t lie, baby.”

  —Her Hidden Dragon

  Her Hidden Dragon

  Dragons of Giresun III

  Suzanne Roslyn

  Her Hidden Dragon Copyright © 2018 by Suzanne Roslyn. All Rights Reserved.

  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 permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Cover designed by Suzanne Roslyn

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Suzanne Roslyn

  Visit my website at www.SuzanneRoslyn.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: Apr 2018

  Ember Secrets

  Chapter One

  Sigurd Eltvik had never seen anything so beautiful as the woman hunched near the bayberry tree. She tried to coax the shaft-tail finches to land on her outstretched hand.

  Holding as still as a statue, the auburn-haired lass couldn’t convince even a golden sparrow to take perch on her. With those long wavy ripples of fire going down her back, hovering above her lovely derriere, she reminded him of a wood nymph from legends.

  Although tempted, he leaned against a roped pole there in the grassland exhibit of the Harghita Hatchery and Aviary. He’d promised his pendragon, Blake, he’d return with Dr. Istvan Kovak, his mate’s father and dragon egg expert.

  They didn’t have much time before Blake and Emily’s egg hatched.

  If this was to be his assignment until the heavy metal band, Lure, got together to play their final gig for the century, then he couldn’t complain. Not with a view as breathtaking as this.

  His dragon senses went wild with her flower and moss scent.

  She leaned a bit. A golden finch hopped a little on the branch in her direction. Her sweet voice pleaded, “Just a little now. I won’t hurt you.”

  Sigurd snorted. Amused, he couldn’t help himself. “Says the predator to the prey.”

  Startled, the bird fluttered away in the enclosure.

  Two emerald eyes turned on him. Wide with surprise, then sparked as she spoke, “Predator? Me? I’m not the one sneaking up on others and scaring them.”

  “I didn’t mean to scare you, but in defense, you were trying to lure those poor birds into your clutches.”

  “I was not!”

  “Really? Next, you’re going to claim you’re one of those dragonesses? You know…” He flipped his hand and jutted out his hip. “I’m a vegetarian.” Then he quirked his brow.

  “A what?”

  She made a face trying not to laugh at him then sobered when he said, “Vegetarian.”

  “You know…. Don’t eat meat.”

  “I know what a vegetarian is. I meant the other.”

  “Dragoness? A female dragon.”

  “Listen, I don’t know what drugs you’re on, buddy, but this is an aviary. You won’t find any dragons here. You need to leave. Now.” She marched towards him, the V-neck in her shirt providing a good view of her plump breasts, ripe for the picking. He straightened, waiting for her to recognize him any moment and press those alluring curves of hers against him.

  But this dragoness didn’t tame so easily. She stood, nose to nose with him, unblinking. “Out or I’ll call security.”

  He crossed his arms. “You don’t know who I am do you?”

  Her eyes swept down over him. He tilted his chin up. “You’re either some stupid jack who’s high on who-knows-what or I’d say you are one of the new security guards. Either way, you have no business in this exhibit.”

  A huge shaft of disappointment poked him in the gut. “I don’t even look faintly familiar to you?”

  She shook her head. “Should you?”

  Her bewildered expression wounded him. He was Sigurd Eltvik! The best rock ’n’ roll guitar player known to mankind. Okay, he reasoned with himself, second best. He’d give Blake the role of best. He was their leader, after all. But sweet Mary, how could she have no clue who he was?

  Then he grinned. “Sure, baby. I’m the new security. Why don’t you give me a tour of the facilities?”

  “I’m Ashlyn Sullivan, Dr. Kovak’s assistant. If you’re looking for a tour, come back on Saturday. We are open to the public on Saturday afternoons.”

  “Sigurd Eltvik.” Sigurd held out his hand. By the blank expression of her face, she still didn’t know who he was. When she didn’t take his hand, he ran his fingers through his hair. “Fine then,” he muttered. “At least direct me back to the hatchery I’m here to see Dr. Kovak.”

  “Is he expecting you?”

  “I’m here on Emily’s behalf.”

  “It’s true then. My sister ran off and married one of them.” Her eyes darkened with an explosion of gold flecks.

  “You are averse to one of your kind? Emily never mentioned she had a sister such as you.”

  Her thin brow arched, and he sensed the ire spark in her. “No. I don’t suppose she would have. Not that it matters anymore. Not even Dr. Kovak can save her from the mess she and Jacques have caused.”

  “Harsh.”

  She gathered a small metal pail with seed and fruit inside it. Placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head in the direction she leaned toward. “Life generally is. Follow me.”

  He wanted to ask what happened to her. Who hurt her? He felt as much as he saw the invisible shield go up between them.

  He followed behind her, noticed how her hips swayed, and how her cargo pants fitted her snug. A low rumble gathered in his chest. Did she know how lethal those hips of hers could be?

  She glanced back over her shoulder, her eyes swept over him from head to foot. She smiled, a hint of upturned lips, before she turned and led him to a door at the back of the exhibit.

  “Down the hall, the next wing will connect you to the hatchery.”

  “Thank you.” He reached for her hand, brought it to his lips, and restrained his inner dragon as her eyes met his. Her breath hitched, and she pulled back as if she’d been stung.

  He gave her a solute, headed on his way, and left her before she could utter a word.

  Chapter Two

  What a cocky prick!

  Ash waited until she saw him turn the corner down the hall before going into an adjourning room where she put her pail down on a metal table and proceed to seethe.

  Know who he was? She almost laughed out loud. An egotistical dragon. That is what he was. She recognized his type. She inhaled the sting of his scent, like dried ice and vapors stirred in peppermint.

  She’d have to keep an eye on this one. Strange, Margaret never mentioned sending another dragon to watch over things. It shouldn’t surprise her, not since a tide of misgivings and betrayal started to wash through the Dragon Keeper Society.

  Ash placed her hands down on the cool steel. She felt her body start to flush, the way it did often when she became angered.

  She took a deep breath, willed herself to relax, and pushed her foster sister and Margaret’s ward, Jacques, from her mind. She turned her focus on the sexy hunk of muscle who’d waltzed right up to her at the bayberry tree.

  She laughed. For all the good looks of a god in disguise, he had the brains of a lark. He’d mistaken her f
or one of his own kind. Her? A daughter of the ancient dragon riders?

  She didn’t let it amuse her for long. She disposed of the pail, marked her feeding of the finches on the chart, and looked up as Quintin walked in. “If you’re just now coming to help me do the feeding I’m nearly finished. I’ve just got the phoenix and then we can grab a meal.”

  “Wish I could.” He turned to the cupboards and rummaged through the shelves. His shoulders matched the width of the new guy, and they could stand toe to toe. But her heart didn’t skip a beat when Quintin came near as it had when Sigurd Eltvik had taken her hand to his lips.

  “We don’t have any more of the heat bulbs, do we?”

  Ash slipped around the table, sure to slide against Quintin as she reached in the cupboard overhead, determined to prove herself wrong. “They’re here. I didn’t think we needed anymore incubators in the hatchery. Did we get new eggs?”

  It seemed Dr. Kovak informed her of these things less and less since his days of return from his unexpected visit to see his daughter, Emily. Not that she, Emily’s foster sister, had been invited. The elder, and undoubtably wiser, she had chosen to stay close to the haven where Margaret had placed her, closer to the new family she’d been assigned, and safe from the dragon mercenaries who had killed her parents.

  Dragons like Sigurd Eltvik.

  She cozied up to Quintin. A native to the village, his dark hair mussed and draped over thick brows. He ignored her attempt to get close, gathered the bulbs, and headed for the door. “These are for the large incubator.”

  She reached out and grabbed one of the bulbs he juggled in his hands. “Let me help you.”

  “I’ve got to get going. Dr. Kovak is waiting on me.” Quintin took off in his long stride and Ash hurried to keep up with him.

  “What’s going on? Have we got a new egg or a hatchling?”

  Quintin’s lips thinned. He didn’t answer. She tried pressing him. “Surely it’s not a secret?”

  His brows furrowed, and he stretched his gait and she fell behind him, but she wouldn’t let him leave her out of this.

  She kept up with him across the aviary part of the building and into the hatchery where she saw the tall Romanian dragon waiting for them along with Dr. Kovak.

  Her foster father’s expression darkened with the displeasure of laying eyes on her, but she couldn’t mistake the deep blue eyes of Sigurd Eltvik brightened as she dared a glance at him.

  “Why aren’t you feeding the birds?”

  “I’ve finished. I thought I could lend a hand to Quintin. Have we new arrivals?” She looked to the three men for an answer.

  “Quintin, this is Sigurd, he’ll be assisting you in the haven and overseeing security.” Dr. Kovak turned to Sigurd. “I take it you have met my daughter, Ashlyn.”

  Sigurd grabbed the bulb in her hands. “So, you’re the Ash I’ve heard about. Your sister speaks highly of you.”

  Ashlyn stepped back, not from the zap to her fingers from his touch, but from hearing her sister’s name. “You know Emily?”

  Dr. Kovak adjusted his rimless glasses and before Sigurd could answer placed himself between them. “Quintin will provide you with your clearance card and show you what you need to know during your stay with us. Ashlyn, you’ll arrange one of the guest tree houses for Sigurd.”

  “Tree house? Don’t you mean a cave father? After all, isn’t he one of them?”

  Sigurd’s brow rose.

  “Mr. Eltvik is here as our guest. We’ll see to his comfort, no matter how long his stay.”

  “This way, man.” Quintin gave Sigurd a nudge across the hatchery. She opened her mouth, about to correct Quintin. He wasn’t a man. He was a dragon, but then Sigurd narrowed his eyes on her, and Ashlyn couldn’t move. A little tingle of heat spread through her womb.

  Only when he turned and walked away did she remember to close her mouth and breathe through her nose. She watched him follow Quintin across the hatchery, past the Ostrich nests and down behind the glass incubators.

  Then Ashlyn crossed her arms and blew a stray hair out of her eyes as she glared at her father. “Really, Dr. Kovak, I’m here to assist you with your work, not oversee the accommodations of shelter seeking dragons. I should be here in the hatchery or helping Quintin. We have guest services over at the aviary to handle booking nights in the tree houses.”

  “I understand your frustrations. You are doing a fine job in the aviary and I know you will treat Sigurd Eltvik with all the respect and hospitality as your mother would.”

  He referred to his wife, Laurel, Emily’s mother, but not Ash’s. Not her real mother. Not the woman who’d loved her those first ten years of her life before having been torn away from her. Before Margaret had come. Before she’d been left to this family.

  A family where she never felt she belonged.

  “And for what means is he here? Is he not an addition to our security then?”

  Dr. Kovak placed his hand on her arm. “It is not my place to explain this to you. It is better to know nothing than to have others put in danger.”

  Ashlyn fisted both hands, flexed her muscles. “This has something to do with Emily. You’re protecting her.”

  Dr. Kovak sighed. “I’m protecting both you.”

  She knew from that look in her foster father’s eyes, he wouldn’t give her anymore answers, nor would he stand and argue with her. Good thing for her, she knew someone else who could give her the answers.

  Chapter Three

  The next morning passed without Ash’s presence to wish them safe travels. Despite her obvious dislike of him, Sigurd couldn’t help but feel let down by her lack of appearance. He found the perfect area, nestled at the base of the mountains where he could shift to his dragon form without much notice from the natives.

  Hours later, he landed Dr. Kovak down on St. Ives island where Giresun Manor resided.

  “I’ll never get used to flying Air Dragon.” Dr. Kovak staggered to regain his land legs. “I mean don’t get me wrong, it most certainly has its advantages, but I feel quite unbalanced going around a marry-go-round too fast for a bit afterward.”

  He shouldn’t have taken the egg scientist so high up in the clouds, poor fellow had lost oxygen to his brain, but Sigurd wanted to make sure no one saw or followed them.

  “Sorry I couldn’t accommodate you first class, Doctor.” Sigurd picked up Dr. Kovak’s pack after shifting back into his human form and led him up the path to the main house.

  “Fascinating,” Dr. Kovak said from behind him. “You probably get an assortment of rare birds and other creatures migrating here.”

  “You have no idea.” Sigurd spotted Blake and a moment later Emily stepped outside with a baby cradled in her arms.

  “Pappa is here.” Emily bounced the infant in her arms rushing down the walk toward them.

  “I’ve come too late, I see.” Dr. Kovak put down his travel pack. Instead of hugging his daughter, he took her by the shoulders and kissed her face, one cheek then the other. Blake stood back, held reserve, and waited for the egg scientist to acknowledge him. None came. Dr. Kovak pulled back the thin flannel swatch of cloth cradling the child in Emily’s arms.

  “I told him it would be a girl. The egg was elongated and pearled.”

  Dr. Kovak’s eyes lit up as if his daughter had offered him the sweetest thing in the world. “And you. Are you, all right? I was told the egg fused to your skin.”

  Emily looked back over her shoulder. Blake stepped up beside her and she handed the infant to him. In a blink of an eye the baby shifted and became a bundle of pale gold with a stubby little tail pointing out and the baby sucked it into her little snouted mouth.

  Dr. Kovak watched, fascinated. Sigurd had no words. He’d seen a handful of dragon fiú, and none could compare to this one. Precious maybe. Invaluable, definitely.

  Emily pulled up her shirt and showed her father the faint scars from where the egg had burned a seal to fuse to her skin.

  “You’re scarred,”
Dr. Kovak said.

  “No more than a mother’s stretch mark,” Emily explained with a laugh. “At least she won’t be able to deny I am her mother, after all I have the marks to prove she was part of me.”

  Blake shifted the baby in his arms and Emily leaned into him. “Welcome to my home, Dr. Kovak. I’m Blake Beuwolf, Lord of Giresun Manor.”

  “Ah. Yes. You are the dragon who has claimed my daughter as his mate.”

  Sigurd stepped back, not one for getting involved in family matters. He picked up Dr. Kovak’s travel pack and stood to the side.

  “I brought great trouble to our family. I’m sorry, Pappa.” Emily twisted the hem of her shirt in her hands.

  “Our troubles did not start with you. They started when your mother’s sister over stepped her bounds. I fear there are some in our society who have been blind to Margaret’s leadership. She does not follow the code of the Keepers, nor does she abide by the rules of the dragons who placed us in their eternal service. This is only the beginning. I believe a battle has been brewing and a challenge to the ways as we know them is under way.”

  “So, we are to go to war then? I thought you blokes were the ones ensuring our existence in the world.” Sigurd tossed Dr. Kovak’s pack over his shoulder.

  “When it comes to Margaret Moldvan, I doubt anything less than a war will solve the predicament we now find ourselves in.”

  “Let us not stand around and talk of this now. Emily has refreshments ready out on the patio and Sigurd can take your things to your room. Unless, that is, if you’d like to rest first after your flight?” Blake juggled the squirming baby dragon in his arms, she lost her diaper in the shift, and Emily reached over to take the babe.

  Sigurd followed them inside. At Blake’s instruction he set the egg scientist’s bag in one of the upstairs guest rooms. Famished, he headed for the kitchen and raided the refrigerator. With his arms stacked high with leftovers and lunch meats he turned and dumped them on the counter.