Breathing heavily and with his ribs aching, Oro spun and counterattacked, shooting past Frey in a blaze of speed and heat, dragging his talons along the black dragon's soft underbelly. He grinned with grim satisfaction as Frey shrieked with pain, the scent of his blood floating on the night breeze.

Frey barreled toward him, breathing flames and heavy smoke, the plumes hampering Oro's visibility. Black talons reached for him. He tumbled, rolling, missing Frey's big tail by mere inches.

f.u.c.k. He couldn't see. Oro backed away, but the cloud spread. Somewhere within that smoke was Frey, armed with deadly teeth and sharp talons, waiting for his attack.

Oro climbed higher into the night sky until he looked down upon the cloud. Frey's huge wings beat the smoke-filled air around him, exposing his location. She is my female! Oro dove, stretching his deadly talons toward his rival's big body, the wind whistling around him.

Frey rolled. s.h.i.t. Oro couldn't stop his descent. Their bodies locked as they smacked against each other, and they fell, plummeting toward the rooftop.

The females screeched their distress. Hailey. Oro frantically tried to disengage, but they were falling too quickly. He hadn't time to maneuver. The roof shuddered and cracked as they landed, Oro smashing against Frey, Frey flattening on the hard surface, legs and tails sprawling over the edge.

"Hailey!" Oro glanced around him, seeing no trace of the woman he loved. Oh, G.o.d, had they killed her? The excitement of battle turned to horror, fear twisting his stomach painfully. "Hailey!" He roared her name over and over. She had to be alive. She had to be.

"Perla!" Frey sounded as panicked. He pushed Oro off him and struggled to his feet.

They'd been such fools, endangering the females they fought for. Oro lumbered to the edge of the rooftop, dreading what he might find, envisioning Hailey's beautiful form battered and broken on the pavement.

What had they done? He peered over.

A high-pitched shriek pierced the air. Oro looked upward, his heart beating in double time. A small green dragon flapped her wings quickly, her flight hesitant and unsure. She was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

"Hailey!" he roared, tears stinging the backs of his big dragon eyes.

"Oro!" she shrieked back, her silhouette highlighted by the moon.

Another shriek echoed from behind him but Oro ignored it, his gaze fixed on his mate. He launched his aching body into the air and reached her with five beats of his wings.

"Mate!" He clasped her struggling form, wrapping his talons tightly around her. She was warm and welcoming, returning his hold. "Hailey." She was alive. He rubbed his head against hers, breathing in the scent of smoke and fire and dragon, as he flew into the night sky, carrying her close to him.

She folded her wings against her body, submitting to him completely, trusting her body to his care. The starlight reflected off her green scales, and the scent of her arousal flowed over him. He wouldn't chance losing her again. He nuzzled her neck. Tonight, he made Hailey his.

He moved his hips, brushing his ma.s.sive dragon c.o.c.k against her wet entrance, up and down, round and round, teasing her with his tip, drawing more moisture from her already primed body, until Hailey shrieked and bit him on the shoulder, the sharp pain communicating her impatience.

His mate was fierce. Oro roared with elation. She was alive, and she wanted him to claim her.

"You are mine!" he bellowed as he rammed his c.o.c.k into her heat. She screeched, nipping at his scales, clenching her inner walls around his shaft.

She was his, and buried within her, Oro felt a satisfaction he had never before known. He rocked into his little dragon, reveling in the slide of scales against scales, celebrating the joy of their joining.

Hailey met each stroke, her movements wild and primitive, feeding his savagery, and Oro beat his wings faster and faster, climbing higher and higher, as they smacked their bodies together, entwining their tails and necks, the light of their fire dancing upon their scales.

The air thinned and cooled. His wings wearied and his lungs burned, but all he knew was Hailey.

Mine. Mine. Mine. He pumped into her tightening body, driven mad by her scent, her heat, and the deep rumbles coming from her throat. Mine. Mine.

She shrieked her release, digging her talons into his scales and clenching her p.u.s.s.y around his c.o.c.k. Oro roared his reply, spurting long, hard jets of c.u.m into her body, his satisfaction as animalistic as his form.

He gave her all of him, his heart, his soul, and his strength. As his wings stilled and folded, zapped by the intensity of their joining, they fell out of the sky, two ma.s.sive creatures linked by pa.s.sion.

The rush of cool air over his heated scales revived him, and he spread his wings once more, gliding toward Manhattan, toward home. Oro looked down. Hailey laid her cheek upon his neck, her emerald eyes closed. "Mine!" he declared proudly. He had won his female. She was his.

Chapter Five.

"You didn't have to fight Frey." That night, Hailey wiggled on their king-sized bed, her body humming with excitement.

He had fought for her today. Oro, in his glorious dragon form, had bellowed his claim into the night air and then fearlessly attacked the larger dragon, fiercely defending his right to be her mate. G.o.d. That had been so hot. Her p.u.s.s.y moistened, the scent of her arousal hanging heavy in the room.

"He's not interested in me," she rea.s.sured him, wishing to make peace between the two male dragons. "Frey loves Perla." Madly, desperately, the way she hoped Oro would someday love her.

"Frey thinks he loves Perla." Oro knelt beside Hailey, holding a thin, gold chain above her naked body. Specks of light reflected off the tiny metallic surfaces onto their bedroom's dark walls. "If he had spent more time with you, he would have fallen in love with you." Oro said that with certainty, as though no other outcome was possible.

"Because that's what happened to you?" she asked, hope lighting a flame inside of her.

Was he in love with her? He wanted her. She knew that. Even now, his c.o.c.k was hard, ready for their upcoming gold-gilded s.e.xathon. Did he love her also?

Oro didn't answer, softly blowing flames over the spinning chain, heating the metal until it glowed, his expression frustratingly unreadable.

Hailey pursed her lips, her pride not allowing her to repeat her question. "We'll test your theory at their party next month."

"Whose party? Not Frey and Perla's. We're certainly not attending any party they're hosting." Oro frowned as a perfect pearl drop of gold dangled on the links. "They're dragons."

"They're dragons, we're dragons and, oh, yes, we are attending." She liked Perla and Frey, and she wasn't letting any old-fashioned rules about dragons and territories stop them from being friends. "There will be cute little sandwiches and pretty desserts." Hailey grinned as she pictured her fierce dragon mate eating cuc.u.mber sandwiches. "And tea."

"Tea?" Oro's hand jerked, and gold streaked across her bare stomach.

"Ohhh..." She moaned, writhing on the silk sheets, the heat blazing straight to her p.u.s.s.y. Her nipples tightened, and her body covered with scales. "Yes." Only Oro could give her this sweet pain.

"Not what I had planned." He dragged one of his talons across the trail of gold. "But perfect all the same." Oro licked above his design, his tongue warm and rough and arousing.

"The tea party?" She gazed at his handsome face from beneath lowered lashes, her body humming with sensation.

"No more talk of rival dragons and tea parties." Oro's lips quirked, his golden eyes glimmering with humor. "I must concentrate on my work of art, my dragon mate." He moved the chain higher and slowly heated another link, the flames dancing over the gold.

Hailey held her breath as a drop of molten gold formed at the end of the chain, growing larger and larger, tugged into a teardrop shape by gravity, stretching, stretching, stretching until it finally fell, splattering on her nipple.

She screamed, jerking upward, and the stimulating heat dripped down her curves, leaving a path of ecstasy. Oro captured her, spanning the arch of her back with his rough palm, and he lifted her toward him, pressing her burning nipple against his cooler chest.

He nibbled along her jawbone, nipping at her skin before covering her lips, slipping his tongue between the seam, taking her mouth with stealth and surety, coating her taste buds with the flavor of meat and charcoal and man. She threaded her fingers through his soft, blond hair, holding him in place as he ravaged her mouth, his pa.s.sionate a.s.sault causing her lips to hum and her heart to beat wildly.

He was a beast but her beast, tamed only by her hand, ready to defend her, and that knowledge thrilled her. After years of not knowing who or what she was, she'd found her place. She was a dragon and a dragon's mate, their hearts connected by love, their bodies connected by gold.

"Again." Oro laid her upon the silk sheets.

He was determined to drive her crazy. Hailey watched him heat the chain once more. "Where?" Where would he place the next drop? "Here?" She cupped her neglected breast, offering the curves to him.

"No." He shook his head, a small smile curving his lips.

She swept her palms down her stomach to her mons, and looked up at him, one eyebrow c.o.c.ked in question. "Or here?"

"Yes. That's it." He grinned, holding the chain above that smooth skin. She spread her p.u.s.s.y lips, pinching her folds, preparing for the burn, protective scales covering her tender flesh.

She hadn't prepared enough. The drop of gold landed right above her c.l.i.t, the heat scorching her. "Oro!" Hailey shrieked, rattling the windows as she came hard. She arched her back, her instinctual reaction causing the molten metal to slide over her pleasure b.u.t.ton, sending another explosive o.r.g.a.s.m over her.

"Hailey." Oro drew her quivering body against his, rocking into her, pressing his hard c.o.c.k into the stream of gold. "My female," he murmured into her hair, soothing her until she stilled once more.

"My golden mate." Oro wrapped the chain around her neck, the flimsy binding biting into her flesh yet not tight enough to restrict her breathing, and the pa.s.sion within her sparked to life once more. "Beautiful." He draped the ends over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, one end cool, the other burning hot. "I'll cover you with my gold." He exhaled fire, heating her scales, melting the precious metal.

"Yes." Hailey undulated against him as the streams of gold ran over her body, stimulating her into an erotic frenzy. "Cover me with your gold." She wanted to be covered by his metal, his skin, and his c.u.m.

"All over, Oro." She dug her fingernails into his shoulders, pulled herself upward, and straddled his waist, pressing her p.u.s.s.y lips against his hard c.o.c.k. "Make me your work of art." Hailey rubbed against his shaft up and down, up and down, wetting him with her juices.

"So perfect." He groaned and clasped her a.s.s, squeezing and releasing her curves, while breathing fire down her back, warming her spine, and caressing the crevice between her a.s.s cheeks. "My dragon."

"Your dragon," she agreed, teasing his earlobe with her teeth, nibbling and pulling at the delicate skin. "Claim me, Oro. Fill me with your big c.o.c.k. Make me yours."

"Mine." He raked his talons lightly over her a.s.s, sending shards of desire shooting across her skin. "You're mine, Hailey." He lifted her, positioning her entrance over his hard c.o.c.k. "Now." He murmured into her shoulder, pushing her downward. Hailey inhaled sharply as his shaft pushed up into her, stretching her. "And forever."

"Forever," she repeated as she took him completely into her, her p.u.s.s.y lips flattened against his base. She sat upon him, resting her cheek on his skin, reveling in the strong beating of his heart, the pumping of his blood, their bodies connected, and their souls entwined.

"Yes, forever," Oro rumbled, the word spoken as a vow. He stroked over her back, tracing her backbone, his flames licking at her scales.

Hailey arched, leaning back farther and farther into the heat, his dragon fire bathing her face and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, reheating the gold. He laid her upon the silk sheets, moving with her until he loomed over her, his face dark with pa.s.sionate intent.

She clung to Oro's neck as he pumped into her, their gazes meeting and holding, the reds and oranges of building desire coloring his golden eyes. He loved her slowly, leisurely, banking the embers of her ardor until her entire body glowed and she ached for more.

"Harder," she begged. "Fast --"

He covered her mouth with his, swallowing her pleas and stealing her breath. As their tongues tumbled and tangled, he thrust deeper, harder, pushing her into the silk sheets, rocking the ma.s.sive bed.

She panted into his mouth and twisted her fingers in his hair, clasping onto him as her wanting grew to unbearable levels. He grunted, capturing her wrists and pulling her hands to her sides, rendering her immobile, unable to touch him.

G.o.d. He was an animal, dominating her completely, his hips pinning hers, and his hands holding her still. Oro ravaged her with hard, rough thrusts, driving his c.o.c.k into her with dragon force, and she cried out her approval, needing more, more, more.

He met her needs, spiraling her desires higher until she whimpered with the severity of her pa.s.sion. She entwined her fingers with his as his flames circled them, heat evaporating her excess moisture, steam rising from his shoulders. Skin slapped against skin. The bed creaked and rocked.

"Oro, please." Hailey thrashed, losing control of her body.

"Come for me, mate," he commanded, his voice gruff, and he bent his head and blew his fire between them, heating her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her stomach, and her mons.

Hailey shrieked, bursting into fiery release, her body engulfed in flames. She yanked free of his grip and raked her talons across his back, piercing his scales, scenting the air with his blood.

He roared and thrust forward, filling her with his boiling hot c.u.m, and setting off another wave of mind-blowing ecstasy. She bucked, trying to free herself of his weight, over-stimulated and sensitive to every touch. He rode her twisting form, forcing the prolonged o.r.g.a.s.m.

"Oro." She whimpered as she quieted, her brain turned to mush, her limbs limp.

"Beautiful." He propped his body up with his arms and tenderly licked the tear tracks on her cheeks.

His hair stood straight up in places, and some of the ash from the burned silk sheets dusted his golden shoulders, but he was still the most handsome man she had ever seen, and he was hers. She spread her fingers over his chest. All hers.

"I love you." Her cheeks heated as she realized what she'd said, the words escaping her lips before she could hold them back.

"Of course you do." Oro grinned at her, his expression smug.

She rolled her eyes. Her golden dragon didn't lack confidence in his worth.

He chuckled, the sound endearingly boyish and carefree. "I love you too." Oro brushed her lips with his. "How could I not?" He pulled back and frowned. "But we're not going to a dragon tea party."

"I've already put it in your schedule." Hailey smiled. There were perks to being his a.s.sistant.

"Why haven't I fired you yet?" he grumbled against her skin.

"Because you love me." Hailey wrapped her arms around him, holding him tightly to her, her heart filled with joy. She was a dragon, mated and loved by a dragon.

And they were going to a tea party.

"I'll need a new dress." Hailey beamed, thrilled to have an excuse to go shopping. "And as I'll be attending as your date, my dress will be a business expense!"

Oro groaned.

Uptown Vampire.

Cynthia Sax.

Vanna has prepared her entire life to become a vampire. It is her destiny. Redheaded, constantly laughing, Russ is not her destiny. Although he claims to be a vampire, he's clearly human, and she shouldn't be attracted to him. She certainly shouldn't love him.

Russ is a vampire. He's also a romantic fool. He wants Vanna to love him for who he is and not merely for his paranormal powers. He is content to slowly seduce her with sizzling backroom s.e.x and woo her with his questionable knowledge of all things undead.

Russ is about to discover he isn't the only vampire in the big city.

Chapter One.