Page 1 of Tempting Her Dragons

Chapter One

Saphira

“He smacked my ass,” I fume, pacing the expanse of Ryker’s office. “Then he came back for a grab.” I stop in front of his desk, fingers digging into my sides.

“He would have been punished,” Ryker says patiently. “You didn’t have to set his hair on fire in a packed club.” He leans forward. “With your dragon fire shooting out of your mouth.”

“He deserved worse,” I snarl, and my dragon agrees, a puff of smoke climbing up my throat. I swallow it as I focus on Ryker’s face.

“I’m not debating that,” he reminds me. “All I ask is that you not do it in front of human witnesses in the future.”

“Fine,” I spit. “Am I fired?”

“Of course not,” he says. “We see blood here on the daily. Maybe not fire, but we can deal with it. Bash and I will be working overtime to change the memories of all the humans in the club, but we’ve done it before.” He straightens from the desk and steps close. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

“I’m sick of men thinking they can touch without permission,” I growl. “They think the waitresses here are up for grabs.”

“Have the other workers had to deal with that a lot?” he asks, his gaze narrowing.

“Yes,” I say. “Janet was groped last week. She’s human and scared to speak to you. I assured her that you would kick the guy out, but if you are asking, then she didn’t speak to you.” Janet is so fucking sweet and quiet. She’s been working for Ryker for a month and has had numerous asshole men hitting on her, but it crossed the line.

“Fuck.” He looks toward the window overlooking the club. “I don’t want any of my employees scared to talk to me or Bash. It pisses me off that this has been going on in my club.”

“Look at you,” I say, waving down his body. “Sure, you’re fucking hot. But kind of scary looking, especially with the knives strapped to your chest.” Ryker is a vampire. His long black hair, light blue eyes, and massive body are enough to give a girl pause.

“Are the customers regulars?” he asks.

“The man who touched her is,” I answer.

“I want a list of all of the fuckers who are assaulting the women,” he demands. “I’m going to speak with the bouncers. They need to be doing their fucking job and protecting the women who work for me, not just the customers. Would Janet be comfortable enough to tell me about her experience if you were in the room with us?”

“I think so,” I respond softly. My anger is draining, and Ryker’s desire to make things safer for us relieves me. Knowing he would take care of it, I should have approached him sooner.

“Good. Set it up.”

“She works tomorrow night,” I say. “I’ll ask her.”

“I’m sorry, Saph,” he says. “I’ll fix it.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it,” I say, backing toward the door.

“Don’t think this will make me forget the shifter who ran out with his hair on fire,” he mentions lightly with a grin. “The smell was awful. So was the high-pitched scream.”

“I bet he won’t touch me again.” I grin back.

He chuckles, “I bet not.”

“I better get back to work, boss,” I say. “There are lots of tables to put beer on.” I step backward out the door slowly.

“Yeah, we can’t have empty tables. Of course, the smell might have cleared them for you.” He shakes his head, but the smile remains.

“I better go see which one is the case,” I smirk, waving, before I get my ass down the hall.

When my brothers found their mate several months ago and moved here, I decided to join them. I traveled a bit since, but came back to settle. I have bounced from job to job but I’ve been working at Ryker’s club for two weeks.

It’s going great.

I mean, I’m not opposed to being spanked, whether for being bad or otherwise, but I draw the line at unwelcome and unpermitted spankings.

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