Page 4 of Desired By the Dragon

Plus, I’d learned from years past how tough the heat could be on a single dragon. If I had any hope of keeping my research on track then all the recent late nights were necessary. Before I started to have a one-track-mind, and not for research — at least, not of the historical kind.

I placed the plate, now empty, down on the coffee table in front of me, enjoying the warmth from the fireplace as it licked over my skin. In a few short days, dragon mating season would officially begin and nature wasn’t going to hold back in urging us to mate and continue our bloodlines. It tended to hit me particularly hard, probably because I was the last of my line, the sole male heir to the Darkink clan. Some years had been worse than others though.

Last year, I’d managed to white-knuckle the month with copious alcohol and my right hand for company. The year before had been… trickier.

The mini fridge hummed as I opened it to grab a soda, trying not to think about the month-long bender the heat had brought me two years ago. It had been… impossible. I’d wanted to fuck everything that moved — dragon or no, male, female, and even a few creatures who identified as neither. It was why I’d gone teetotal the year after. I’d barely left my quarters at all.

It had been torture.

This year, for my third heat since I’d turned a hundred, I was determined to find a happy medium that didn’t leave me panting in the dark of my room or participating in an orgy. What that might be, I hadn’t worked out yet.

Soda finished, I stood up from the armchair before I could get too drowsy. I’d made the mistake of sleeping in it once before and the pain in my neck had followed me around for days.

I slipped off my slacks and headed to the bathroom, washing up in the sparse space. Everything was neat, tidy, the cupboard above the sink half-full, two towels hanging from the hooks on the back of the door, and the double sink that was only ever used on one side. It was a generously sized bathroom, but I didn’t take up much space. I had one face wash, a toothbrush, mouthwash, and a moisturizer that had sunscreen in it. It was nothing like my mother’s bathroom in our family home, crowded with products and cosmetics — the anti-aging ones particularly amused me. She was a dragon, how much slower did she want to age?

Smiling to myself, I dried my hands on the towel and crossed back into the bedroom. The bed took up the majority of the space, a large four-poster in hardwood with bright white sheets that looked especially fresh against the dark wood of the bed frame and floor. I left the drapes open when I climbed into bed, enjoying the moonlight that crept in through the old windows, that way I could wake with the dawn.

The fire crackled and the strain I’d put on my eyes had them closing quickly as my breathing slowed. It had been a long month, and mating season hadn’t even begun.

Chapter Three

Kiernan

I picked at the breakfast in front of me, slowly ripping my croissant to shreds and brushing my hands off when I sighed. I was restless, full of energy and yet no desire to leave the comfort of my bed. The large windows inside the kitchen showed off the central part of Indigo Cove, the trees touched by orange and red as its townsfolk busied themselves along the cobblestoned streets.

Sighing again, I reached for a plump purple grape from the bowl in the middle of the large dining table. Why it was so big, I didn’t know. It wasn’t like my siblings came to visit much, and neither did I for that matter. Except now, I was living here again. In my parent’s apartment. Their very fancy apartment.

Before I could resume torturing my pastry, Mom snatched the plate away from me. “Anyone would think you were a prisoner with the way you’ve been huffing and puffing since you arrived.” She frowned, arching a perfectly shaped brow when I didn’t rise to her bait. “Are you still moping about the human boy?”

I shot her a look, one that hopefully conveyed fuck no and also maybe, coupled with my extreme embarrassment and irritation. Of course, she’d been the one to bail me out of jail so I was going to be hearing about this for the next hundred years at least.

Hopefully I wasn’t still living here with them by then.

“Why don’t you go on a coffee run?” she suggested brightly, her pink lipstick only adding to her cheer. When I didn’t move, her smile slipped and her arms folded across her chest. “Fire take me, Kiernan. For the sake of us all, take a shower and go for a walk. It’s been a week. A week!”

I sniffed delicately and wrinkled my nose. Maybe she had a point about the shower. The walk… Well, I wasn’t sure it was wise for me to be out and about in the town right now, not when I was still prone to breathing fire whenever my emotions got the better of me — and this was only the beginning of the heat. Singeing somebody’s eyebrows wouldn’t do me any favors at home, it would be just another mess for my parents to clean up.

“I’ve invited someone over to see you,” Mom continued, scraping the last of my croissant into the bin and setting the plate in the sink. “They’ll be here in a half hour. More than enough time for you to become presentable.”

Seriously? “Tell me it’s not a date.” I scowled when she stared at me, impassive. “Mother.”

“It’s not a date,” she caved, rolling her eyes. “I’m a dragon, not a monster.”

The words made me snort but curiosity had stirred to life inside me, prompting me to stand up and head to my room. Sure, she’d won this round, but considering the state of my greasy hair, the win was really one for the team.

Whatever, whoever was visiting would get the pleasure of my cleanliness, but I wasn’t putting on jeans. I smirked as I lathered up my hair once, twice, and then conditioned it, humming in relief when my scalp stopped itching and the strands fell like silk between my fingers. Living back at home may have sucked for my independence — and my pride — but the rainfall showered in my ensuite may have been worth the hit. It managed to pound my tense muscles with its water pressure and the temperature was the right side of scalding. This was what I needed to focus on, the simple pleasures — not Derek, that lying little weasel.

I hissed out a cloud of steam and glanced warily up at the smoke detector mounted to the ceiling in the bathroom, hoping the plume wouldn’t set it off lest I never hear the end of it.

With a week’s worth of grime and stink swirling happily down the drain, I stepped out of the shower and relished in the cool air on my feverish skin. If I didn’t come out of the shower nearly as pink as a lobster, then I hadn’t done it right as far as I was concerned.

The plush towel wrapped around me twice and I used the smaller fluffy towel on my hair, the naturally red strands looking brighter than usual against the white material. Everything in the apartment was modern, and my parents even knew how to use most of the tech which was impressive given they were over quadruple my age. The mirror was heated and remained clear despite the steam in the room, giving me an undisturbed view of my pale skin, the circles under my eyes looking more like bruises from long nights spent obsessively googling everything to do with the robbery and subsequent investigation online. Plus binging The Order, because it was my current comfort show and the hot werewolves did it for me.

I tried to smile, the twitch of my lips wobbling back at me, and I grimaced as I turned away from the reflection, not liking how stark my freckles looked against my skin or the clearly bitten and ruined state of my mouth.

Annoyed with myself for letting Derek mess with my head, I slapped on some body cream as quickly as I could and then fanned myself so I could get dressed without my clothes sticking to my skin. The doorbell rang and I cursed, hopping slightly as I shoved my legs into a comfy and clean pair of grey sweats and an oversized white baggy tee. Fashionable, I was not.

The comb caught in my hair, making me snarl, until gentler fingers took it from my hand and began detangling the knots from where I’d wrapped it in the towel.