Page 15 of Her Dragon Defender

That...sounded like something landing on the roof. Something heavy, with big clodhopping feet in work boots, like the time a bunch of roof tiles had blown off the house during a storm, and her foster father had taken two of the bigger boys up there with him to cover the holes, to stop the rain pouring into the attic and doing any more damage.

The roof creaked ominously.

Eden dared to open her eyes.

All intelligent thought left her head as she stared into the unblinking reptilian eyes of what could only be described as a dragon.

SEVENTEEN

Had Eden hit her head on her way to the tower without noticing? Or maybe drunk just a little too much champagne? Perhaps this was just another part of the fairytale charade. Yes, that made much more sense. This thing was probably animatronic or something.

Feeling a little less freaked out, Eden took a tentative step forward, reaching out to stroke the dragon's snout. The scales were surprisingly warm, as was the breeze gusting out its nostrils, like it was actually breathing, instead of just venting heat from the mechanisms inside that made it move.

It looked so real, though. Craig Tremotino had really gone all out for his fairytale ball. Which meant all the guests would probably be trooping out of the ballroom right now to view the spectacle. All eyes on the tower.

This was her chance to get out.

Eden leaned over the balcony railing, waving her arms as she shouted for help.

A horrible thought occurred to her. What if everyone just thought this was part of a performance? Maiden in a tower, beset by a dragon...but it wouldn't be a fairytale unless someone arrived to rescue her from the dragon. It would have been nice of Prince Charming to clue her in on the whole plan beforehand, though.

A heavy hand landed on Eden's shoulder, and her breath caught in her throat.

"Where's Diana?" he demanded.

Eden whirled around. It was the silver-haired prince, devoid of his crown and the rest of his costume, all his muscles on full display in the moonlight. How did he even get up here?

Her eyes darted inside, but the door was still closed. He must have been driving the dragon. Naked, though?

Her gaze darted up to the tower roof. The very empty roof, with no dragon to be seen.

"Quickly, tell me where Diana is, and I'll make sure no harm comes to you. Before he reaches the top of the stairs!"

Panic welled up. "I don't know!"

EIGHTEEN

"But you have to know! She's your mate. You should be able to sense her though the bond, no matter where she is. Don't lie to me. Where's Diana?"

Eden began to back away, hoping she could get inside and slam the balcony door shut before this strangely attractive but very naked and decidedly angry man followed her in. Clearly, he was delusional.

"I don't know where Diana is. None of what you just said makes any sense. Fated mates and mate bonds are the stuff of fiction, not real life. Magic and fairytales and..." Gulp. "Dragons."

She risked another glance at the roof, but there was no sign of the dragon she'd seen and touched only moments before. Just this hot, hard, shining...she tried to slam the door shut, but the rock hard bicep he wedged inside the frame wouldn't let her.

Fuck. Eden raced for the champagne bottle she'd left on the table, only to knock it onto the floor before she could grab it to use it as a weapon.

He sidled into the room, both hands up like he was trying to tell her he was unarmed. As if. With guns like that, the man was a living weapon.

Her gaze dipped lower. Talk about weapons – she didn't know real men could actually get that big. The man was massive. It would take some careful manoeuvring in order to ride that monster...oh, but what a ride it would be. The ultimate in happy endings...

He grabbed a sheet from the bed and wrapped it around his hips, hiding it from sight. "I'm not here to hurt you, I swear. I only want to find my sister."

"Diana? Diana is your sister?" That would certainly explain why his hair was the same colour. Now that she thought about it, there were other similarities, too – the sharp, chiselled lines of his face, the deep wells of his indigo eyes that seemed to draw you in, so you couldn't refuse him anything.

Refuse HER anything, Eden corrected her thoughts. She'd do anything for Diana, but she didn't owe her brother anything at all.

"Yes. I'm worried about her. She hasn't returned any of my messages, and I need to speak to her. Tell me where she is. Or tell her I need to see her. Diana knows I'd never hurt her."

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