by Starla Night
Kyan’s Housewarming Party ~ A Happily Ever After Epilogue
7 Virgin Brides for 7 Weredragon Billionaires
Starla Night
Copyright © 2018 Starla Night
All rights reserved.
Created with Vellum
Contents
Introduction
Kyan’s Housewarming Party
Dragon VIP Syenite
Also by Starla Night
About the Author
Introduction
This is a super sweet “happily ever after” bonus short story for the full length steamy science fiction romance novel Dragon VIP: Kyanite. YOU REALLY MUST READ THAT BOOK FIRST!!!
Read first: Dragon VIP: Kyanite
My newsletter subscribers received this bonus story early for free!
Subscribe to receive future bonus stories here: http://smarturl.it/StarlaNewsletter
This bonus short story takes place seven months after the events of the novel — and well after the series is complete.
It was challenging to write without spoilers! I am deliberately vague and there’s a bit of a “fuzzy cam” over most of the guests. I hope it’s no surprise that by the end of the series, every dragon finds his/her true mate, even if I leave it a mystery as to who they are … and they all come together to have a wonderful housewarming party for Kyan + Laura.
But can the security-obsessed warrior really open his house to strangers — or even family and friends? Will Laura’s good intentions to increase their happiness drive a wedge between them and end in disaster?
Kyan’s Housewarming Party
We should have a housewarming party in your new lair. It would definitely make you happy.
“I do not have to be happy all the time,” Kyan told Laura in the momentarily empty, quiet Gnashing Teeth’s medical facility.
Her dreamy, satisfied expression crumbled.
Panic stabbed into him.
She let go of his still-hard cock, pulled her hand out of his briefs, and grabbed a sani-towel to clean off the cooling wetness from his release. “You didn’t enjoy the hand job? I thought I was getting better.”
Of course Laura’s “hand job” had been exquisite.
She’d pushed him against the med facility wall, unfastened his jeans, and rubbed his hard cock with her wet, slick hand until he lost control and exploded. She’d been thrilled and proud. And eager. He had reciprocated, caressing the seventh-month swell of her belly, plunging his fingers down the front of her scrubs beneath the silk panties, and brought her to her own dreamy release.
And then he spoke and destroyed her good feelings.
“I enjoyed it very much,” he said.
Her agitation remained. “It was too fast?”
“No. That is not—”
“Too hard?”
“A perfect pressure.”
“Stressful?”
“It was not stressful. I—”
“I know it’s distracting. We could get interrupted here at any time. It’s hard to focus.”
She dropped the sani-towels in the disinfection bin and straightened her scrubs. They were her own design — kyanite blue with iridescent jade accents and a dragon patch on her left breast. It identified her as the first nurse to travel the Dragon Empire.
“I mean, I had no problems. The last asteroid accident patient just got healed and left minutes ago. It’s been so long since we had privacy.”
“Days,” he agreed, watching her tidy the already pristine facility, spraying the wall with extra disinfectant and then using a laser biohazard gun to eliminate the last shred of genetic material. She did this regularly. The Gnashing Teeth likely had the most sterile medical facility of all warships in the empire.
“Only days?”
“Since the outpost station and our private room, yes. Six days.”
“I thought it had been longer.”
“Probably because you are reading those books about torture.”
She looked up. “Torture?”
“In the pleasure dungeon.”
She ducked her head, flustered, and stowed the biohazard gun. “‘Pleasure dungeon’ was another label for ‘bedroom’ in that one romance novel. But you’re right; I shouldn’t read them on long transits when we can’t get any privacy.” Realization struck her and her golden brow crinkled. “So maybe you didn’t feel as desperate as I did just now. I didn’t mean to pressure you.”
“No.” He caught her gloved hand, bringing her up short. “I was also desperate.”
Her eyes searched his, not reassured.
He stroked her cheek.
She closed her eyes and leaned into his caress.
His tension eased.
How could he cause worry for his sweet, sunny wife? He was a hulking, deadly dragon shifter so disfigured by scars he terrified all who looked at him — except Laura. And their opportunities for intimacy on the crowded spaceship were too few. He often feared that she did not want to be with a damaged male like him. Who would? She reassured him by enthusiastically initiating intimacy whenever they had a quiet, unguarded moment.
He would die for her. Her security was the only reason he had left his siblings on Earth to travel as a civilian contractor on the Gnashing Teeth. Now returning to Earth he wanted absolutely no risk
“The housewarming party,” he said. “That is what I was referring to.”
Her eyes snapped open. Concern returned double — and so did his.
She pulled away. “I’m sorry we’re going straight from the Gnashing Teeth to my parents’ house. I could have planned our leave better.”
His stomach twinged.
He wanted to cross the distance, put his arms around her, and stroke her curly golden hair. She was the only one who would ever look at his horrible scars or battered body with desire. She was the only female who would ever wish to be with him. She was the only one he ever wanted.
The ship announcement — We are entering Earth’s orbit — signaled for her to hurriedly finish and remove her packed travel bag. His was already at the dock.
“We are not required to have a housewarming party,” he said.
“Hmm? Of course, we’re not required.” She flashed a tense smile. “It’s for fun.”
He pulled the bag from her and opened his arms. “Fun?”
She stepped into his embrace, adjusting her belly and his bullet-resistant trench coat to snuggle against his hard body, and twined her arms around his neck. “It’s a wonderful chance to meet our new neighbors.”
“I already know our neighbors.”
“I don’t. And they don’t know us.”
Yes, that was the idea. The less the neighbors knew, the less vulnerable he and Laura would be.
“I fail to see the problem.”
She poked his hard abdomen. “You’re joking.”
“I do not joke.”
“Well, maybe you should start.” She stroked his taut muscle and rested her head on his shoulder. “It would make you seem less intimidating.”
He chewed on that thought as the med doors slid open. Rising with Laura and her travel bag through the hatch, he flew through the levels of the warship he had once single-handedly disabled.
Since Laura had begged him to rebuild his destroyed lair in a populated area, he had done so in the safest neighborhood — according to his standards and extensive background checks. He knew more about his neighbors than their own partners knew. Right this moment he had each and every one of them under constant surveillance.
“Besides, you should get to know them the normal way, not the black ops way.” She kept her eyes closed, not a great flier. “Otherwise, what’s the point? You have to get out, join the community, and enjoy the life you’ve c
reated.”
“The only community I require is you.”
Not strangers who would react to his scars with horror, his size with fear, and his past and identity with distrust.
“You think that because you haven’t tried.” He landed in front of the external doors, released Laura, and organized the massive bags of security equipment he had brought. “When we got married, I promised I would dedicate every day to making you happy. Trust me when I say you’ll have a good time…”
The longing in her voice and the hopeful light in her kind eyes was the reason he had allowed the invitations to be sent and had not secretly collected them without her awareness.
The aristocrat captain personally saw them off and shook Laura’s hand. “Your presence on my ship was highly valuable. This is not farewell. I will see you tomorrow at your house heating.”
She choked. “Housewarming! Not heating. It’s a traditional welcome party to celebrate moving in.”
“So it is not for generating warmth? We intended to gift a thermonuclear furnace.”
“No! And anyway, gifts are optional.”
“Ah. We have the option of gifting a thermonuclear furnace?”
“Sorry. Better not. It’s not, um, proper.”
He studied her down his long aristocratic nose. “Truly a conundrum.”
“Anything is fine. I mean, anything small,” she corrected quickly. “Household goods. Linens or small appliances. Common hostess gifts are wine, food, or flowers. I’m sure we have, uh, adequate heating.”
His critical gaze slid to Kyan. He still considered a male of Kyan’s deadly background to be bad for Laura. “We will bring the furnace just in case.”
Kyan tightened his grip on Laura.
“I’m sure it’s fine,” she assured him.
“Hmph.”
The captain opened the external doors. The city of Portland, Oregon spread below, glimmering as the sun set in a golden-pink glow. He dropped out of the warship and spiraled down, flying like a black ops Superman to her parents’ neighborhood.
Letting humans into his lair introduced one risk. Allowing dragon siblings entry added another.
But the dragons who lived and worked on the Gnashing Teeth, including the irritating aristocrat captain, elevated yet another level of risk.
She shivered.
He cinched his trench coat more tightly around her and stroked her sinuous back. “You should not have invited the military dragons.”
“Of course we had to! They’re our coworkers. I wish more could come.”
Only the aristocrat captain and a few security officers could attend.
Kyan had seriously considered collecting their invitations surreptitiously before they’d viewed them. But Laura had followed up by asking the captain personally.
Containing the military dragons wasn’t even his biggest security nightmare.
He landed in front of the cheery yellow house where her parents dwelt.
Odd signals flashed across the street.
The hairs on the back of neck stood up.
He whirled and centered on the signals. Laser homing sights on scale-piercing razor pistols?
The tiny lights winked out.
Was it all in his mind?
Of course it wasn’t.
This was his true nightmare.
He moved to put his bullet-resistant trench coat between her and the lurking threats. “You should definitely not have contacted my old mercenary team.”
“The true miracle was your brother knew where they were.” She skipped up the brick steps. “Apparently they’re all still working in the field. And to think your old squad leader actually said yes!”
That certainly worried him.
She’d gotten to Flint and convinced him to contact Kyan’s old mercenary team. His old squad leader, who was more frightening than Kyan in many ways, had agreed. Why? He glanced again over his shoulder.
He flew to her side and murmured in her ear. “The military does not agree with those operating outside their rules.”
“They’ll put their differences aside for your house warming party.”
So, now it was his party.
“If it is my party, then I am canceling it,” he grumbled on the doorstep.
“You’re going to have a wonderful time and you’ll be so glad I convinced you.” Laura kissed him selflessly.
The hot pulse of arousal that was always near to the surface in her presence flared with new heat.
She pulled back, heated and determined. “I promise.”
Then, she yanked open the unlocked front door.
Inside her parents’ house was the usual chaos. Relatives, acquaintances who’d just stopped by, and all number of children tumbled over the carpet, spilled off the furniture, and chatted in the kitchen. The volume rose. Laura’s parents, a kindly middle-aged couple, only hesitated and swallowed once before they drew both her and Kyan into a welcoming hug.
Her family was still nervous around him, as was perfectly normal for the fact that he towered over them and looked like a criminal. The fact that they tried at all took out some sting.
“Uncle!” Laura wove through relatives to the living room and hugged her uncle.
Sitting in his wheelchair, gaze fixed on the distance, he didn’t respond. But a flicker of awareness lit his nearly immobile eyes.
Kyan bowed to him respectfully. He wasn’t sure but perhaps he detected the slightest nod in response.
The illness that had claimed most of her uncle’s mobility had also caused pitting and pocking of his face. His intelligence remained, and he had a machine that allowed him to communicate — when he wasn’t already exhausted, as he clearly was today.
He had been Laura’s favorite relative as a child because when the rest of the house had been full of noise and activity, he had always played quietly, read her books, and been a close companion. Laura had never made a connection but Kyan believed her experiences with her uncle were the reason she so easily looked past his own debilitating scars.
They passed a pleasant, late night and crammed into her twin bed in the attic bedroom. His feet hung off. Two of Laura’s cousins snored on the rug. Not conducive to passion, as she’d anticipated. He enjoyed cuddling. On the Gnashing Teeth, he only guarded her bunk.
“Hey,” she whispered over the snoring. “You’re not really mad about the housewarming. Are you?”
“No.”
Revealing vulnerabilities in the security of his lair was secondary. His primary concern was that the house party she had planned and hoped for would disappoint Laura.
“Dragons do not share their lairs,” he explained. “In the ancient past, before society became fixed in the caste system, one dragon might steal another’s goods for his own. Secret was safe. This human openness is hard to understand.”
“But you understand.”
He stroked her hair. “I will secure our lair despite this unusual intrusion.”
She dropped silent. Then, a few minutes later, she whispered. “What do you mean?”
“I will reveal the secrets of my lair.” He sucked in a breath. “And after the party, I will move the entrance.”
“What?” Her whisper was shocked. “You mean the front door? You can’t move the front door! How will people visit later?”
“Obviously they will not.”
“But that’s the point of a housewarming! Kyan. Promise me right now. You will not move the front door.”
“Very well.” He would move the whole lair. That would certainly take longer than simply moving the entrance. “You are making my task more difficult.”
“Well, you’re being crazy!” She squeezed him. “You are going to have a wonderful time. Our guests will have a wonderful time. We’re all going to have a wonderful time and it’s going to be fabulous and you will love that we did it. We’ll make a ton of new friends and all the neighbors will love us. And it will only be the start of our fantastic house parties. You’ll see.”
T
hese were all the things he sincerely hoped for and deeply feared would not be possible. “Dragons do not enjoy house parties.”
“Ours will,” she insisted.
The day dawned a beautiful Portland morning. They left her parents’ house, stopped for food, and finished the short hop to the new lair.
He had acquired land within the city within walking distance from her relatives and “biking distance” to her old apartment — although she would not operate any flimsy two-wheeled vehicles in her condition.
They had done extensive training on the jet pack instead.
She would never again be trapped in a lair, whether the lair was suspended off the side of a glacier or buried in the center of Portland.
Their cheery blue craftsman matched the colorful housing on either side. Kyan landed on the sidewalk with all the bags — food, luggage — and released Laura. She walked ahead of him up a small set of wood steps and fit the key into the double doors. Just like the houses on each side.
“Exciting!” Her face glowed. She turned the key.
The knob sucked the key out of her hand.
Her eyes widened. “Uh … is it supposed to do that?”
“Yes.”
The door rotated in the frame and accordioned, allowing her to step into the glass-encased foyer.
She took a tentative step, her gaze focused on the doors now flush with the wall. “Huh. I’ve never seen … is the floor moving?”
“Yes.” Kyan pointed at the small camera. “When I am not with you, scan your retinas here to activate it.”
“Okay.”
The elevator opened on the bottom level — well below the street. But it was impossible to tell. The walls were covered with expensive screens that let in all the digital sunlight, creating a huge, open floor with infinite hallways.
Mt. Hood gleamed, impossibly clear, on one side. On the other side was a projection of Denali’s snow fields. And on the next corner, her favorite crashing waves on the Oregon coast.