Bride Of The Dragons: A Menage Shifter Paranormal Romance

By Selina Coffey

Enjoy this steamy menage romance by the best-selling Paranormal Shifter Romance author Selina Coffey.

 

Adelina has no dowry and no prospects.

 

As the third daughter of an impoverished earl, her choices are limited. 

 

Desperate not to become a priestess, she makes a plan when the High Dragon's court comes for their historic meeting with the human king. She will be so alluring that she can steal the heart of one of the richest noblemen at court.

 

During the festivities, she knows she can tempt someone into an indiscretion…

But much to her shock, that someone isn't human. 

Furthermore, it's not one someone, but two—two dragons.

 

Elokon has been instructed to find a mate and pass down the bloodline, or he'll be stripped of his power and banished.

But neither he nor Siron, his omega, has seen a single woman that awakens their mating instinct—until now.

 

Now they've found Adelina, they aren't planning to let her go.

The trouble is… there's no place in the Dragonlands for a humble human.

 

Bride Of The Dragon is a spellbinding tale of love, sacrifice, and the boundaries we're willing to break for the sake of our heart's deepest desires. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lovy Books Ltd
• Release date: Aug 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536564518

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

ADELINA

Adelina!

Yes, Mother. Adelina looked over her shoulder and bit her lip, then leaned close to the mirror to tuck one last strand of hair into place. Her mother’s tone had been sharp, and she didn’t dare take any more time. This would have to be enough.

And it would be enough, she told herself fiercely. Her body tingled with anticipation, the daringly low bodice of the gown pressing against her breasts, the brush of her hair on almost-bare shoulders, the feel of the faintest brush of carmine on her lips. She looked radiant.

She squared her shoulders and took one last look around the tiny room before making her way into the central chamber of their family’s apartments. Soon, she would no longer be in the smallest chamber. Soon, she would be more than an unwanted daughter. Not that she thought her parents despised her, of course, but there were only so many daughters an impoverished Earl could afford, and three was more than her father had desired.

That was why she had made her plan and when her family drew in their breaths sharply as she entered the room, she felt a faint, desperate stirring of hope in her chest.

Adelina… Her mother’s voice was almost reverent.

Adelina’s father cleared his throat, dumbstruck, and Adelina’s middle sister, Evangeline, clasped her hands over her mouth, a smile on her face.

Her eldest sister was not so polite. A dangerous look had appeared in Arianna’s eye, and her jaw set as she looked Adelina up and down. Where did you get that gown?

I made it, Adelina said honestly. For months, she had begged candle stubs from the housemaids, and sewed late into the night, gathering the fabric her mother had given her into elegant folds and embroidering it with flowers and leaves.

Arianna snorted. Liar. Who did you get to buy it for you…and what did you do in trade?

"Arianna!" Their mother was horrified.

Arianna stood her ground. "You think she could have made that? She twitched at the skirts of her own gown, a poor substitute. And if anyone should have it, it should be me. With quiet venom, she added: I’m the only one who’s going to get married."

Adelina swallowed hard. Arianna had a dowry. She would be married. She didn’t need this dress like Adelina needed it—and if she tried to take it, Adelina resolved then and there to tear the dress to pieces before she’d give it up.

I made it, she said quietly. Blood was pounding in her ears. I made it, and I’m going to wear it. I tried to help you with your embroidery.

Arianna only looked to their parents, secure in her place as the eldest and most favored. But her father cleared his throat and nodded at Adelina.

If Adelina made it, she should wear it.

"But Father—"

Adelina, you will show Arianna how to embroider such designs, will you not?

Of course, Father. Adelina sank into a curtsy, her eyes downcast to hide an unladylike look of absolute triumph. Arianna didn’t want to learn how to embroider. She was too lazy for that. But that would be on her shoulders—and with any luck, after tonight, Adelina would be on her way to be married.

At the door of the family’s apartments, Arianna stopped her.

When I’m married, she said sweetly, I’ll see if I can persuade Mother and Father to let you be my servant instead of sending you to a nunnery. She laughed when she saw Adelina’s face, and swept off down the hall.

Adelina clenched her hands, pulse pounding, and then she raised her chin and set off, trying to walk as gracefully as she could. Tonight, she would be queenly. She might not be adorned with diamonds and rubies, but she had one of the most gorgeous gowns the court had ever seen. She would be elegant, she would be witty. And by the time the night was through, she would be irresistible enough that some lordling would be willing to overlook her lack of a dowry. No one, especially not Arianna, would take this from her.

The court was a crush of music, nobles jostling together for a view of the dais and the crimson-and-gold carpet laid along the floor. The delegation from the Dragonlands would be here soon, and the court had been speculating for weeks on the nature of their visitors. Some said the shifters were hideous, covered in scales like fish. Some said they could not even speak like humans. Still others claimed that the men and women of the shifter tribes were unnaturally beautiful, like angels on earth, and that they could seduce a human without saying a word. Little enough was said about the reason for their visit, but Adelina had heard the whispers of the servants, who had a more jaded view of nobles, no matter their provenance: the dragons were under attack by scaly snake-beings called Naga, and the dragons needed the help of the human kingdoms to turn the tide of the battle.

Whatever the truth, the king and Queen had ordered the finest celebration in decades. The castle had been cleaned from floor to ceiling until the marble gleamed and the carved designs on the roof beams were visible in the glittering candlelight. White and blue ribbons twined up the columns, and the young women of the court wore white, while the young men wore blue, in deference to the colors of the dragon king’s standard.

The trumpets sounded to announce the delegation, and the crowd held its breath, their gaze locked on the great double doors at the end of the hall. As Adelina watched, they swung open, and the delegation, resplendent in white and silver, marched in.

Every single person in the hall let out their breath in a sigh of longing. It was impossible not to: the dragon shifters truly were, as some had said, like angels on earth. They walked so gracefully that they hardly seemed even part-human, and their features were perfect in every way. From the members with flowing, silvery hair and white skin, to those with skin of deep purple or green, they were unearthly—and utterly gorgeous.

One pair near the head of the delegation caught Adelina’s eye, and she found herself standing on tiptoe to see them more clearly. Both men were tall and broad-shouldered, clearly warriors, but while one of the two had skin of a bluish cast, and hair as dark as night, the other was paler than any human she had ever seen, hair impossibly white. Only his eyes were dark, and they were the deep blue of sapphires, setting off the hue of his companion’s skin. As Adelina watched, the pale man turned his head and met her eyes.

She stumbled back, looking away with a gasp. She had felt his regard like the stab of a knife, but where there should be pain or panic, she instead felt desire welling up inside her. She pushed her way to the back of the crowd, breathing hard, and slumped against one of the marble columns.

Even away from his regard, however, she could not stop herself from imagining him: his lips on hers, the feel of strong arms around her, the way he might skim his fingers over the pale flesh at the top of her bodice. Adelina, still resolutely pure, felt herself blush bright red. She should not be thinking such things. She most certainly should not be thinking of the other one kissing her as well, blue skin pressed against hers and her dress falling to the floor—

No. No. She whirled away, hand clenched. No. She would not be the fool who let her heart get in the way. There was one way to stay out of the nunnery, and that was to secure a marriage to a rich man. Adelina closed her eyes for a moment and let the desire and worry fall away from her. She could feel her neck lengthen, her shoulders drop, her back curve. For weeks she had practiced this, alone in her room: the tiny gestures to secure a man’s attention, the little touches that never passed the bounds of propriety, and yet hinted at untold pleasures. Who cared if she did not know yet how to give a man such pleasure? She pushed away the flutter of panic, telling herself firmly that she could learn such things from the serving girls. Tonight was only for catching a man’s eye.

She heard a roar of approval from the nobles: the king must have given the signal to begin mingling and dancing. Decisively, Adelina forged her way through the crowd to her mother’s side, sinking into a perfect curtsy. Her parents must not know of her plans.

Are you well, my dear? Her mother’s concern came with an affectionate smile, and Adelina tried to push away the stab of guilt. Her mother would not want her to put herself forward, but Adelina was determined that she would not end up a nun—and that she would do something nice for her family when she was wed. She would pick someone who had the means to advance her father’s career, she promised herself.

I only needed some air, she said simply. It’s such a crush.

You can slip away if you want, my dear—simply make sure to be back in time for the banquet.

Thank you, Mother.

But she had no intentions of going back to the room. Slipping away, Adelina paused to take a flute of liqueur from one of the black-clad servants circling the room. She sipped it as she walked, observing the knots of nobles mingling with dragons, and trying to exude the same elegant confidence as the Queen. She had spent weeks studying the woman’s every movement, and modulating her behavior to fit the woman’s exacting standards.

To her surprise, it was not difficult. The rules of good behavior, she found, were easy as long as one genuinely wished to be kind. Then they all seemed to make sense.

Trying not to think of what the Queen would think to