The Dragon's Spellbound Alien Read online

  His mother meant well, but from an early age it was clear he wouldn’t live his life as other dragon shifters did. At least not in a part of the world where superstition ruled too many folks, both rural and urban.

  The few dragon shifters in that particular town made it clear Warrick wasn’t one of them, wasn’t ever going to be one of them, and would never be accepted as one of their kind, thanks to what they considered tainted human blood flowing through his veins.

  To their point, humans had been dragonkind’s largest threat through the ages. Even though Warrick was no threat, the dragon shifters were unconvinced and unwilling to take the chance he wouldn’t betray them.

  Soon after that incident with the taunting children in the public square, his mother had moved them to three more short-lived residences in towns that didn’t end up tolerating crossbred supernatural children any more than the previous ones had.

  Once it was discovered the members of their little family were not purebred, the taunts started, followed by the ever-increasing threats to the family until they were forced to move on, often fleeing in the middle of the night. Once, his mother and brother even rode on his back clutching their meager belongings. Their weight was as nothing to him in his full dragon form, but the weight of what it meant stayed with him—he was forced to carry them to safety because of what he was.

  At one point, Vilma settled them in a remote mountain area with no other homes within sight. They were content for a few years before one of the townsfolk making a food delivery discovered what they were. He noticed the symbol on Viktor’s arm when his shirtsleeve fell away, marking him as crossbred. The man dropped all his goods and fled their home screaming about running for his life from blood-sucking monsters ready to kill them all while they slept.

  His mother decided not to wait for the rest of the fanciful torch-wielding townsfolk to arrive at their front door. She immediately searched for a new home for them, but that didn’t last long either. Too soon, a dangerous threat to his younger brother forced them all to seek haven on another continent altogether, but it turned out to be the best move they could have made.

  Vilma Hart joked with her boys that she’d run out of places on the unforgiving continent and was moving them, again, to a better place. Warrick and Viktor had been dubious that they’d ever find a place to fit in. But at age eleven, they’d been pleasantly surprised with the success of their move to America, specifically, Nocturne Falls, Georgia.

  Nocturne Falls had been a welcome reprieve from the many, many places they’d lived only to be run out of town.

  At first, Warrick had just been grateful to live in a place with lots of people he didn’t always have to keep secrets from. First, that he was a dragon shifter, and second, that he wasn’t a full-blooded dragon shifter. A crossbred. That didn’t matter here. Then he came to know the people of this sanctuary town nestled in the woods of Georgia. For the first time in his life, he felt welcome. He and Viktor attended school in Nocturne Falls, and graduated from the local high school, Harmswood Academy. They’d both been accepted without question, as if being half-supernatural wasn’t any problem at all. It had been a welcome relief.

  Nocturne Falls was the only place he felt like he truly belonged. He was grateful to his mother for all she’d done. He tried to be patient when she mentioned her longing for grandchildren. In fact, she’d stopped by his shop early this morning rather unexpectedly to get what she called a needed hug from her kid.

  It wasn’t the first time she dropped by to do the exact same thing. She grabbed his hands and whispered something under her breath. Probably a fervent wish he marry and give her grandchildren, which was what she wanted more than anything. She had sworn she’d never put him or Viktor under a spell, and saying a few words to the world at large didn’t count as long as no magic was attached. He hugged her and sent her on her way so he could finish this cheval mirror project on time.

  Warrick shifted back to his human form and stepped forward to look closely at the detail of the fire-treated furniture he’d created with his own two hands, and his very own dragon breath. He loved working with wood, loved shaping formless logs into useful things.

  In the pamphlet he’d created for Dragon Kissed Furniture, he told folks he flamed the wood to get the special effect on the finish. No one needed to know that it really was kissed with dragon-breathed flames, his flaming breath. Well, the human clientele, anyway.

  Warrick studied the wood from all angles, ensuring he’d flamed it evenly. The special order looked perfectly torched and ready for the next step.

  He was ensconced in his workshop behind the showroom, as usual. He had a system set up where if anyone came inside the outer room, a light came on to let him know a customer waited. As if conjured by his glance, the cobalt-blue antique bulb lit up. Sometimes he also heard the muffled tinkle of the bell attached to the door, but not today. Perhaps he’d been too lost in thought to pay attention to stray sounds.

  With one last look at the beautiful cheval mirror frame recently dragon kissed, Warrick turned and exited his workshop, stepping out behind the counter in his showroom.

  He closed the door to his workshop behind him, and without even looking at who had come in, said, “Hello, welcome to Dragon Kissed Furniture. I’m Warrick. How can I help you?”

  When no one spoke, Warrick lifted his gaze and saw the most stunning woman he’d ever laid eyes on. It was a good thing he had welcomed her to the shop and said his name before looking at her, because right now he didn’t know if he could speak or remember his name.

  The beautiful woman stared back at him just as intently. She had opened her mouth to say something, but seemed stunned as she stared into his eyes with seemingly keen interest. She had long, ice-blond hair, big blue eyes and was taller than the average woman. She wouldn’t look like a petite fairy standing beside him. Warrick thought she was perfect in every way.

  They stared at each other for several seconds before she stuttered, “I, well, the thing is… I…”

  Warrick moved closer. When he was half a step away, still staring into her beautiful blue eyes, he asked, “What is your name?”

  “Bianca. Bianca Forrester.” She whispered it. Bianca Forrester. Beautiful. Perfect. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Was he under a spell? If so, he liked it.

  “I am Warrick Hart. I’m the owner here.” Sure, it was a shade boastful on his part, but he wanted to ensure she knew he was in charge and not some lowly clerk. He also wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go. He’d never been so impacted by a woman before. But he liked it. He liked her. He wanted her. Did she want a kiss?

  Bianca smiled and her whole face lit up. She was even lovelier when she was happy.

  “Warrick,” she said slowly, as if testing his name on her lips and liking the flavor of the word. “I’m so pleased to meet you.”

  The moment she said his name, it felt like bells boomed loud peals of joy in his head. He wanted to take her and show her everything he loved. He wanted to introduce her to his brother and his mother and then everyone else he knew in town.

  She extended her hand and he took it, grateful he could finally touch her. There hadn’t been a visible spark, but something exciting and electric ran up his arm the moment their palms met. He squeezed her hand gently, automatically shaking it up and down, unsure if he could let her go when the simple handshake was done.

  She seemed to have the same problem. Bianca released his hand with obvious reluctance, and he was forced to pull his arm back. But he didn’t want to. Instead, he wanted to run away with her, hands tightly interlaced, and explore the world as they built their perfect realm together and then lived happily ever after.

  They hadn’t even kissed and he already had the next several decades of their lives planned out. Warrick was afraid that once he kissed her he’d never be able to let her go. And then a vile thought occurred.

  What if she wasn’t available? What if she was—horrors—married already?

 
“I need to know,” he said in an urgent tone. “Are you married or otherwise attached to anyone else?”

  Her eyes narrowed in surprise or possibly puzzlement. “No. I’m not. Why—”

  She barely got those few words out when he asked, “Would you like to go out with me tonight and—”

  “Yes!”

  “—get a drink or something to eat?”

  “Yes,” she said again, her tone so soft, so sweet, he was certain the kiss he craved was a breath away.

  He was grateful when she leaned up and pressed her lips to his in what he suspected she intended to be a quick kiss, but he couldn’t let it be so fast. Their connection broke for only a moment. Before she moved away and out of his reach, Warrick kissed her again, passionately. She didn’t stop him. In fact, she leaned into him, wrapped her arms around his neck and participated with excessive energy. He liked that, too. There wasn’t anything he didn’t love about Bianca Forrester.

  Warrick was lost in a sea of sensation when their lips barely touched, so the deeper, more engaging kiss took his breath away. She smelled like springtime flowers. She tasted like cotton candy, melting in his mouth. He wrapped his arms around her perfect shape, pulling her close as their first kiss progressed into a dynamic expression of love.

  Bianca fit against him perfectly and he wanted her to be at his side for the rest of his life.

  Chapter Two

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  Bianca Forrester had lost all sense of time and place and everything else the moment she stepped into Dragon Kissed Furniture and saw him. It was one of several specialty shops housed in a building that took up half a block on Main Street, sort of like a little shopping mall on a wide avenue filled with other very interesting shops.

  Warrick Hart greeted her, swept her off her feet and out of her head in less than five seconds, and now they were locked in an incredible kiss. He was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen anywhere on any planet.

  Bianca hadn’t held much hope for love when she left Alienn, Arkansas to give Nocturne Falls a try. Being an alien from another planet was highly secret as far as the humans were concerned, but in Nocturne Falls lots of secrets roamed the streets in the form of the paranormal folks who lived here.

  She had been hired as a psychic to work for Bubba’s Psychic Readings on Main Street. Bubba and Astrid Thorne had given her a premium chance to get away from the only place she had ever called home. She hadn’t been born on Earth, but also didn’t remember her arrival here as a baby. Bianca was the first psychic to do a reading in his shop and the human tourist had loved it so much, she brought her whole family the next day for readings and then her extended family the day after that.

  Recently, her homeworld of Alpha-Prime had changed the rules. Now, Alpha residents on Earth living in Alienn were given the choice to reside in Nocturne Falls, Georgia. Tired of being only allowed to live in one place on Earth, and not a big fan of the protected spheres on Alpha-Prime or, worse, outside the protected spaces, Bianca had jumped at the chance to take in some new scenery here on Earth.

  She was close enough to Alienn for family visits when she chose to go back home. Bianca certainly didn’t hate Alienn, Arkansas, it was just nice to try a new place. Kind of like being told you can’t ever have something, like Brussels sprouts, and then obsessing about something you never liked in the first place. Earthers called it human nature. Bianca guessed it was Alpha nature as well.

  She’d only been in Nocturne Falls for a couple of weeks, but loved it. The town was beautiful and eclectic and different and not the same little Podunk town she lived in for the whole of her life. Alienn had its charms. Her family was there. Her father worked in the Bauxite mine and her mother worked part-time at the Nebula Nail Salon in downtown Alienn. Both of her sisters lived and worked in Alienn and it would always be her home. Nocturne Falls, though…this was an adventure.

  Not long before moving to Nocturne Falls, both of Bianca’s sisters had gotten engaged. While she was delighted for her sisters to be starting their lives with the men they loved, she did not like the pressure it put on her to find a husband. As the eldest, it was expected she would set the example and get married first. Luckily for her and her sisters, that wasn’t a requirement on planet Earth.

  Her mother, of course, hoped she’d marry someone wealthy on Alpha-Prime, but she’d settle for anyone who would ensure she got a bushel of grandchildren. Bianca held a slim hope the pressure would be off with her sisters’ recent marriage announcements, because she hadn’t found her someone special and didn’t want to be rushed. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The burden of Bianca finding her own happily ever after weighed just as heavily on her mother’s mind. It was possibly even worse.

  Her mother would say, “I wish you’d find someone wonderful like your sisters have.” And then the conversation moved to the inevitable weddings scheduled for later this year. Every day. All day long. “Why aren’t you married? Let’s talk about your sisters’ weddings. Don’t you want to have a beautiful big wedding? Where are you looking for a man? Maybe you aren’t going to the right places. Have you tried any biker bars?”

  Okay, that final question was not one her mother asked, but Bianca expected it to come one of these days out of pure maternal desperation. Wedding preparation for her sisters and Bianca’s miserable failure at a love life were the only two things she discussed with her mother of late.

  Bianca feared it would be the only things her mother ever talked about until she found a groom-to-be. But she wasn’t looking for a husband. Not yet. She’d never found anyone she was interested in. At least not until right now.

  Warrick Hart was perfect. He stepped into the showroom from a door behind the counter. Bianca had taken one look at him, and hadn’t been able to speak coherently. Several words popped into her head. Gorgeous. Tall. Muscular. Dark eyes. Hold me. Hug me. Kiss me. But they didn’t make sense strung together in a sentence and said to a complete stranger. It was possible that her final three short phrases might have leaked out of her subconscious. He held her, he hugged her and, oh my, he was kissing her like nobody’s business.

  He had asked her if he could help her and she wanted his help. She couldn’t stop staring at his perfectly sculpted mouth. She wanted to kiss his lips the instant she saw them form words and then trail more kisses all over his beautiful face.

  Bianca spent the first few heartbeats trying to figure out how she could launch herself in his direction, climb up his chest and kiss him until the cows came home, maybe even after they came home. He stared right back. There had been an invisible arc of electricity in the air between them. That power rush was never more vibrant than when their skin touched as she shook his hand. Bianca had to make her hand let go before she embarrassed herself, but then the words in her mind shouting, “Kiss him! Kiss him now!” would not be silenced. They stared at each other as though they had finally found their other perfect half in the world, if such a thing even existed. She’d never believed in that before, but reconsidered.

  Bianca had never been flighty about romance. She understood the concept. It just never happened to her. Until now. Warrick stepped closer. The moment he was within range, and his masculine aroma, threaded through with sawdust and wood smoke, came into her scent range, it was all she could do not to push him to the ground and do wicked things she’d only read about.

  He introduced himself. She said something that hopefully made sense. And then he asked if she wanted to go out.

  In her head the words, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,” filled her mind. She managed to only voice the word twice. The magnetic lure of him seeped into her very bones. She could not keep herself from touching him. She had to know what his kiss tasted like. Had to. Like she was compelled.

  He moved close enough that all she had to do was lean forward and rise up on her tippy toes and press her mouth to his. So she did. She lifted onto her tiptoes for a quick thank you for asking me out kiss before she chickened out.

  He did not stop
her. He engaged. He kissed her back. He was amazing. Angels sang and then they wept and then they sang some more and then they were grateful they had come into the shop to see what was going on. Bianca wasn’t even here for herself. Why had she come here? She couldn’t remember, but didn’t care as Warrick and his amazing lips consumed her.

  A thread of rational thought came into her head as she kissed and kissed and kissed this perfect man.

  She didn’t want to, but with great regret she broke the kiss.

  “I need to… I need to do something.”

  Warrick’s arms felt tight and so right around her, one hand at the small of her back, tucking her close to him, the other cupping the back of her head. “We are doing something,” he murmured against her mouth. He promptly resumed the languorous kiss until she felt his wonderful lips all the way to her soul.

  She pulled a half an inch away. “Wait. My boss sent me here to pick something up. Before I forget again, I should do that one thing. And then,” she paused as several rather lurid pictures formed in her brain, “and then we can do whatever we want.”

  A smile shaped his beautiful mouth. “Who is your boss?”

  Bianca drew a blank for a couple of seconds before blurting, “Uh…oh…yes. His name is Bubba. Bubba Thorne.”

  He nodded. “I know Bubba. He’s got the new psychic reading shop in town, right?” She nodded. Warrick studied her once more. “So does that mean you’re a psychic?”

  “Something like that.” Exactly like that. Oh no. Was he about to say something disparaging about her abilities as a psychic? The ability to read human minds, to varying degrees, was all part and parcel of being an Alpha.

  “Awesome,” he said, the exact opposite of disapproval. “Can you tell what I’m thinking right now?”

  Bianca grinned, not bothering to try to look into his head. “Is it the same wickedly sexy thing that is in my head?”