The Silver Dragon

Living life as sister-in-law to the king of the dragons is a pain in the rump and Iris can’t wait to get out from under his thumb. She almost regrets her decision to stay with her sister Tansy when the others go to Europe, until she meets the most handsome dragon she’s ever seen. Too bad he’s so ready and willing to die.

Jean Luc d’Argent, otherwise known as the Silver Dragon has kept his secret for a long, long time. After living alone for over a thousand years, he’s ready to enter the dragon’s forever sleep, even though an ancient prophecy predicts he must help stop the end of the world. The last thing he wants is a woman mucking up his plans—even if she’s his mate.

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The Silver Dragon

Copyright © 2015 Tianna Xander

ISBN: 978-1-4874-0253-2

Cover art by Carmen Water
s

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

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The Silver Dragon

Dragon Bound Book 9

By

Tianna Xander

To my family: Thank you for always being there. Your support means everything to me.

“I’m not sure we should ignore Tony’s warning.” Tansy took a sip of her coffee and wrinkled her nose before dumping a generous amount of creamer into the cup. “He always makes it too strong.”

Of course, the fact that it could be old apparently never crossed her sister’s mind. “What warning? Didn’t he say we could go out as long as we had an escort?” Iris lifted her drink, guzzled the last of her coffee, stood, and carried her cup to the sink. After rinsing it out, she placed the cup in the dishwasher, turned and faced her sister. “We have two perfectly good male dragons who can go to the mall with us, Tanz. I’m going stir crazy here.”

Tansy shook her head. “I should have known you’d be trouble when you begged to stay with us. Why didn’t you want to go to Europe with the others?” She, too, guzzled the rest of her coffee before carrying her cup to the sink.

Iris found out long ago that sometimes gulping down Tony’s attempts at making coffee was the only way to get her caffeine fix. “Because I have a feeling that my man is here in the states. Fat lot of good that does me,” she groused.

How could she meet the guy if she never got out of the house? Tansy had hated their other sister April’s attempts at matchmaking so much, she refused to introduce any of her sisters to her husband’s friends more than once a month. After suffering through months of April’s weekly matchmaking parties, Tansy’s penchant for staying home and watching TV was getting on Iris’s nerves.

Certain she’d go mad if she didn’t get out of there, and soon, Iris paced the length of the counter. She couldn’t take another minute cooped up in this-this frigging mansion with her love-struck sister. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have begged to stay here. If anything, I should have begged to go to Europe, with the rest of them, instead of insisting I stay here with you and Mister Boring.” She didn’t dare call her sister Mrs. Boring. That was a good way to get punched. They might be adults, but they would always be sisters.

Crossing her arms, she leaned back against the counter and glared at her sister. Tansy could talk that boring husband of hers into just about anything. Why wouldn’t she talk him into getting out of the house once in a while?

“Tansy, you’re mated now. You have come into your powers.
You
alone could protect us, for crying out loud.” Iris wasn’t positive of that, but she was desperate.

Unlike Iris, Tansy had complete control over her magic. Once mated, the sisters stopped having issues with their powers. Instead of zapping up frogs, and toadstools, a mated witch conjured whatever it was she wanted. All of her married sisters had oodles of control over their magic. Iris couldn’t conjure up a glass of water.

“I’m going to go nuts here. You know that, don’t you?” She sighed deeply, knowing her dramatics would have no effect on her sister. They never had.

“Oh, stop being so melodramatic.” Tansy waved her hand in a dismissive arc. “Soon, everyone will return from Europe and things will be back to normal before you know it.”

“Okay, damn it. Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?” Iris glared at Tansy. “You used to be the adventurous one. Don’t I remember you escaping Drake’s house and running off with Rose?”

Not only did she escape but she and Rose climbed a tree, jumped over to a stone wall and then onto the ground where they hurried into a waiting taxi driven by a madman.

“Yeah. That was before I fell in love.” Tansy batted her eyes, wearing a dreamy expression.

The wench
actually
batted her eyes.

“What’s love got to do with it?” Iris pushed away from the counter, stalked back to the table and plopped back into her seat. She had to do something before she punched Tansy so hard she wouldn’t be able to open her eyes, let alone bat her lashes at her.

“More than you know.” Tansy’s phone rang. Reaching out, she picked it up, touched the screen and held it to her ear. “What did you need, sweetheart?”

“Oh, God.” Iris leaned back in her seat with a glower. “Speak of the effing devil.”

Tansy only used
that
tone of voice with one person—her infernal dragon.

“Of course we can, but we’ll need some time. Iris was just saying she’d like to get out and into the fresh air for a while,” Tansy said into her phone. “It’ll take us a few minutes to change, but we should be there within the hour.”

Be where?
Iris perked up. She didn’t really care where as long as wherever it was got her out of this blasted house before she lost her mind.

“I love you, too, darling,” Tansy whispered into the phone. She giggled at something he said. “See you soon.”

Tansy set her phone on the table and met Iris’s gaze. “Tony wants us to meet him at O’Leary’s on Fifth Street, for dinner. His business meeting ran a little late and he wants to celebrate the acquisition of a new company.”

“Whatever.” Iris pushed away from the table and stood. “I don’t care what his reasons are. I just want to get out of this house. Even if it’s only for a few hours.” She almost danced toward the stairs. “I’ll just go take a quick shower and change into something nice.”

After all, a girl never knew when she might meet the man—or the dragon—of her dreams.

Luc stared across the restaurant. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep the bored expression from his face. He had agreed to join his soon-to-be ex-business partner for a celebratory meal, because, frankly, one did his best not to insult the fire dragon.

Soon, within the next day or so actually, he would have sold off all of his assets and given the bulk of the proceeds to a few lucky charities. After that, he would pay off what bills he had and end his existence. He couldn’t bear to wait another moment to find a mate who didn’t exist.

He had lived too long, been alone for too many years, to hold out much hope that his mate would somehow magically appear before him at this late date.

“You seem preoccupied.” Tony swirled the amber liquid in his glass, the ice tinkling against the crystal before tipping it up to take a long drink.

“I am always preoccupied these days. Liquidating all of one’s assets is not an easy task.”

“I don’t suppose I could talk you into waiting a little longer? I still have a few single sisters-in-law I would like for you to meet. Who knows? One of them might turn out to be a match for you.”

“It is of no use.” Luc waved his arm with a shake of his head. “I have been alive too long. I have waited too many years, and shouldered more disappointment than I care to recall.” He stared down into his glass. “It is time.”

It was past time. Luc had been tired of waiting a lifetime ago. If he met his mate tomorrow, he didn’t know if the attraction would be enough to hold him to life.

Boredom was a dangerous thing. He’d learned that long ago. Bored dragons took risks and he had taken too many over the last pair of years. He’d taunted a powerful sorcerer in an attempt to keep the man from carrying out some nefarious plan. He didn’t know if his ruse worked, but he was certain the man would attack any minute.

It didn’t matter. His affairs were in order, his will signed and filed. After he made provisions for the non-profit children’s hospital he’d acquired to impress his non-existent mate, he would welcome the oblivion of death.

Luc took a deep breath, drawing in a mouth-watering aroma. “I have no idea what that smell is, but I intend to find out and inform the waiter that I wish to have it.”

Tony glanced at the tables near them with a frown. “I don’t see anyone eating anything but cheesecake, and you know what
that
smells like.” He glanced behind Luc, and his eyes lit up. “My wife and her sister have arrived.”

Luc followed Tony’s lead and stood to welcome the women. He might plan to end his life soon, but that didn’t mean he needed to exhibit bad manners. As far as he was concerned, his breeding would win out until the day he died. When he turned to greet the two women, the world stopped cold.

He saw nothing, heard nothing, but the beautiful woman before him. Never in his life had he ever seen a female like the one standing next to his seat. He hoped to god that he wasn’t salivating over Tony’s mate. He might want to die, but he wasn’t ready to go just yet.

Tall, and full figured, she wore her long, glossy black hair around her shoulders. Thick, sooty lashes framed her dark-violet eyes. Full lips, the color of ripe cherries, drew his gaze and made his heart pound.

Every cell, every molecule of his being, seemed drawn to her. Slowly, as though he had all the time in the world, he drew in another long, slow breath. The delicious aroma had been her.

He hadn’t felt physical attraction so strong in centuries. Perhaps this was the world’s good-bye gift to him. He could have one last fling with the only woman who had stirred his blood since the crusades.

The sound of shattering glass brought him out of his reverie. He heard the distant cry of a woman’s dismay and looked around. The spell broken, he smiled at the women before him.

“Hello, love.” Tony bent to kiss his mate. “Please allow me to introduce my partner, Jean Luc d’Argent.” He wrapped his arm around the pretty red-head and smiled at Luc. “This is my mate, Tansy, and her sister, Iris.”

“I am enchanted.” Luc smiled into Tansy’s shining green eyes and bowed over her hand. Straightening, he released her slender fingers and turned to her sister. A powerful jolt of awareness shot up his arm when he took her hand in his.

He swallowed thickly, enjoying the strange sense of recognition hovering between them.

The woman’s beauty stuck him hard. Her exquisite scent permeated his very being. Everything about her made him long to spend time with her before he ended his existence.

“Tony, why did you never mention that you had such a beautiful sister-in-law?” He stared at the woman. Perhaps he
would
spend some time with her. There was no reason he couldn’t take a little comfort where he could find it before he left the world, so long as she was willing.

What was a few more days in the grand scheme of things? What difference would it make if he willed himself to the ether tomorrow, next week, or next month? What would it matter if the sorcerer found him and ended his life? Either way, he would be just as dead.

For the first time in over a thousand years, a woman piqued his interest. What harm could possibly come from spending a few stolen moments in her arms?

Iris’s cheeks burned. Her body reacted to the man’s sexy, French accent. She hadn’t expected that. She’d never found Frenchmen overly sexy in the past. What made this one different?

Her heart slammed against her ribs when he took her hand. Bending, he pressed his warm lips to the backs of her fingers. Her pulse pounded and her breath hitched.