The Dragon Tycoon's Bride: Billionaire Shifter Paranormal Romance Read online

  The Dragon Tycoon's Bride

  A Billionaire Shifter Paranormal Romance

  By

  Natalie Kristen

  Standalone Billionaire Shifter Romances

  The Werewolf's Baby

  The Dragon Tycoon's Bride

  Copyright © 2017 Natalie Kristen

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the author's written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author's written permission.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously or are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual locales, events, establishments or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

  About this Book

  Simone Dixon is back in her hometown to attend an old friend's wedding. Her friend's boss has generously offered to host her wedding at his lavish residence. But Simone certainly never expected anyone's residence to be a castle!

  Who in the world lives in a castle in this day and age?

  A dragon, that's who.

  Apparently, her friend conveniently forgot to mention that her boss is a dragon, not just a dragon in the office but a real, live, fire-breathing dragon.

  Breene Magnus is a force to be reckoned with in the construction industry. Hoarding gold and precious gems isn't really the done thing nowadays, so he hoards stocks and shares instead.

  His butler and best friend is a grumpy gargoyle named Lester who turns to stone at dawn and glares out at the world from his perch at the top of the castle during the day.

  When Simone almost runs Breene over with her car, their first meeting is off to a choppy, confusing start. She has no idea what to make of the tall, handsome, sexy billionaire who seems to want her for more than just one night. But Breene is hiding more than one secret from everyone.

  And those secrets may just destroy the precious, fragile happiness that Simone has just found...

  * * * * *

  CHAPTER ONE

  Breene Magnus chuckled softly as he threw a sidelong glance at his friend. Lester was making crazy loops in the air as he flapped his leathery wings harder and faster in sheer panic.

  Breene half expected cobwebs to come fluttering out from under the gargoyle's wings. It had been eons since Lester had spread his wings and flown.

  “Master!” Lester shrieked in panic. “Help! I...I can't fly!”

  Breene rolled his eyes. Of course you can. You have wings. Use them.

  Breene huffed, blowing out a plume of smoke from his nostrils.

  Lester screeched and spluttered more pleas and obscenities. But the more urgently and frantically he beat his wings, the worse off he was. The poor gargoyle was losing instead of gaining altitude.

  “I'm dropping to my death!” Lester screamed.

  No you're not. But Breene quietly glided under the panicky gargoyle all the same.

  Just relax, Lester, and go with the flow. The air flow. The wind is your friend. Stop fighting it.

  “Easy for you to say,” Lester snorted. “You're a dragon.

  And you're a gargoyle, Breene retorted. A powerful, almost immortal being.

  “We can live a long time, but we're not immortal and definitely not indestructible,” Lester shot back, flapping his wings angrily.

  Breene watched Lester proceed in a jerky, zigzag path ahead of him while he dropped back to fly behind the nervous gargoyle. Gargoyles were naturally capable of flight, but Lester's body and spirit had been brutally broken by an evil sorceress.

  Breene had given Lester his freedom after rescuing him from the sorceress, but Lester refused to leave Breene's side. Lester had thrown himself at Breene's feet and begged to be allowed to serve him for the rest of his long, lonely life. The stubborn, loyal gargoyle was determined to follow him to the depths of hell and back so Breene decided that the fairest, most beneficial arrangement was for Lester to be in his employ so that the gargoyle would actually be paid for the work he did.

  So now Lester was his butler, cook and housekeeper all rolled into one. And he was also the first real friend that Breene had made in over a century.

  At a mere two hundred years old, Breene was a relatively young dragon. Dragons were naturally retiring and reclusive, and most dragons kept themselves hidden. It was safer that way.

  Dragons were thought to have been hunted to extinction by humans a long time ago, but there were a few still surviving in this realm. And to continue to survive, they had to lie low and keep themselves far away from civilization.

  But Breene found that avoiding humans wasn't the solution. The quickest way to build up his wealth was to work with humans, not steal from them. He just had to keep his true nature hidden from the humans he worked with.

  Through the years, he simply moved from country to country, amassing his wealth, getting to understand the humans who worked for him and understanding what made them tick. He gradually understood the things that motivated, inspired and touched people, and he made good use of his understanding of human nature in his business decisions. But he never stayed in a place long enough to set down roots and form attachments.

  Intelligent and innovative, Breene found it highly profitable to set up successful businesses, sell them off and move on to his next venture and destination. He would start over in a new country, a new place with new people. Breene discovered to his delight and amusement that he rather liked people. He was pretty outgoing and sociable for a dragon, and he found humans a lot more interesting than all the cold, glittering precious stones and gems in his possession.

  Plus, hoarding gold and gemstones just wasn't the done thing nowadays. So he hoarded stocks and shares instead. Construction companies were his favorite kind of companies.

  He built homes, but he never truly had a place to call home. Every place was the same to him. He learned the language and culture quickly, and being a generous employer and philanthropist who donated large amounts to the community, he managed to charm the locals with relative ease. He built posh residences and modern commercial buildings, and transformed dusty, godforsaken villages into modern, thriving towns. He created jobs for the people and gave their sleepy little hometowns a new lease of life.

  Breene's construction companies employed many talented architects and builders, and he was always amazed at the awe-inspiring designs that his employees came up with.

  Humans could be malicious, greedy and cruel, but they could also be capable of great things. He saw hardworking, honest folk work hard at their jobs to provide well for their families. He saw the love and joy on people's faces at weddings, and he saw the pride and happiness shining in the eyes of new parents and grandparents.

  He had seen so many of his human neighbors and employees getting married and welcoming new members into their household. He had been invited to countless infant baptisms and birthday parties, and while he was honored and happy to be part of the celebrations, he was acutely aware that he remained just an onlooker, an outsider.

  While everyone else started sprouting silver hair and collecting laugh lines and crow's feet, Breene still looked like a young man in his early thirties.

  Breene worked and
played with humans, but he lived alone. Always had, and he would still be living alone now if he hadn't found Lester.

  Lester insisted on calling him “Master”, but in truth, Lester was the only friend he had made in a long, long time.

  Before Breene rescued Lester, he'd had no one. No one he could trust, and no one he truly cared for.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Breene shook himself out of his reverie and focused on Lester, who was veering sharply and spinning uncontrollably in the air.

  “Master!” Lester yelled, twisting around wildly. “Don't desert me!”

  Breene saw real terror in the gargoyle's wide red eyes.

  Never, Breene spoke quietly but firmly in Lester's mind. I will never desert you. Now fly! You can do it.

  For years, Lester had been resisting Breene's attempts to teach him how to fly again. The gargoyle simply gave all kinds of excuses. He was feeling under the weather, he'd sprained his tail, there was just too much dusting and cleaning to do around the castle and he couldn't afford to spend all night larking about above the clouds if he wanted to get everything done before daybreak.

  Breene had been inordinately patient with his trusty old gargoyle. He understood that decades of abuse and torture wasn't something that could be easily shaken off and forgotten. But he wanted his friend to get past his fear and shame, and soar again. There was nothing holding him back now, no chains, no shackles, no evil spells and serums. Nothing but fear.

  Lester whirled in the air as he lost control of his wings. He seemed to have forgotten what to do with them. With a cry of alarm, the gargoyle began to spiral dangerously downwards.

  Lester! Spread your wings! Now! Breene ordered as he watched Lester free-fall.

  Instead of responding, Lester simply blinked at him and froze. The red glow faded from his eyes and his wings folded inwards.

  No!

  Breene roared and dived after Lester. The gargoyle was plummeting towards the ground, and if he wasn't fast enough, all that would remain of his friend after this night would be a thousand stone pieces.

  In his fear, Lester had turned back to stone even though the first rays of the sun hadn't hit him.

  Breene plunged after his friend, cursing and swearing at himself. He shouldn't have pushed Lester. Lester just wasn't ready. He had prodded and goaded him, and forced him to do something that he didn't want to do. He had taken Lester to the highest tower of the castle and simply threw him off the balcony.

  He thought that by throwing Lester into the deep end, survival instinct would kick in and the gargoyle would be forced to fly.

  He thought he was helping his friend.

  Breene pushed aside all his self-blame, regret and recriminations, and dived after Lester.

  The poor, petrified gargoyle was at this moment dropping to his death. If Lester smashed to the ground in stone form, he would be destroyed. Gluing him back together wouldn't bring him back to life. He would be gone, forever.

  Breene had to act fast to prevent this disastrous outing from turning into a tragedy.

  The ground was rushing up to meet them. Breene stared at Lester's face and saw the trust in those ruby eyes. His face wasn't frozen in a scream. In fact, the gargoyle looked perfectly at peace as he dropped closer and closer to the ground.

  Everything seemed to slow down around Breene. He had to move faster than time. The inevitable could be thwarted.

  Everything could change and turn in an instant.

  He couldn't hesitate at all.

  Between one painful heartbeat and the next, Breene shifted into human form and snatched Lester into his arms. He hugged the immobile gargoyle to his chest and tucked his head in to protect them both.

  Breene had no time to feel relieved. Before he could blink or draw breath, pain exploded through his body as he slammed into the ground.

  CHAPTER THREE

  With a groan, Breene pushed himself to his feet. His arm was still curled protectively around Lester. The smile that was fixed on the gargoyle's face was both amused and apologetic.

  Breene rolled his shoulders and stretched his legs. Nothing seemed to have been broken or dislocated. The shock and pain had subsided, but the gargoyle didn't know that. Exaggerating a limp, Breene pretended to stumble and trip over his own feet. “Ouch! Ow, ow! I don't think I can walk home...” Breene sat on the ground and sneaked a sidelong glance at the immobile gargoyle.

  You can fly home, Master.

  Breene scowled when he heard Lester's laughter in his head. “You'd better change back. I'm not lugging your heavy stone ass back to the castle.”

  Lester didn't seem to hear him. Either the gargoyle was ignoring him on purpose as payback for almost causing him to smash into smithereens or his stone ears were clogged with cobwebs. Gargoyles didn't have the habit of washing behind their ears.

  “Fine,” Breene huffed, setting Lester down by the side of the road. “You can sit here all day. See if I care.”

  There was no reply. He might as well have been talking to a statue.

  Breene looked up and saw that dawn was breaking over the horizon. Pretty pastel colors were spreading across the sky, and the soft morning sunlight touched the gargoyle's smug stone face.

  Lester was stuck in stone form now that the sun was up.

  Breene growled in frustration. He had indeed been talking to a statue. With a huff, he bent down and grabbed Lester. “Fine. You win—this time.”

  Tucking the stiff, heavy statue under his arm, Breene began his long trudge down the lonely stretch of highway back to town. He considered shifting to dragon form and flying back to the castle but decided against it.

  It was morning now, and people were up and about. Cars, trucks and buses were likely to come trundling down the road any minute now. Seeing a large, silver dragon flying in the skies in broad daylight would likely cause mass hysteria and mayhem. And with everyone having a smartphone these days, he would find himself the reluctant star of many YouTube videos, Instagram photos and going...what was that word? Viral. Yeah, he would go viral. He would be shared, liked, commented on, made fun of, and news of a dragon sighting would spread around the world like some sort of disease. Exactly like a virus.

  No, he didn't want to be hunted down and cut open by curious scientists. His body parts might be sold off to museums and collectors. There were many shifters around, but dragon shifters were very, very rare. That made their body parts very valuable. A dragon tooth or claw could fetch millions. And a dragon eye…

  Breene shuddered.

  He had narrowly escaped capture once. He didn't think he would be so lucky again. The humans had more sophisticated tracking and hunting equipment at their disposal now.

  Nope. Much safer to walk than fly.

  Progress would be torturously slow though. Especially since he had to cart a cumbersome stone gargoyle for miles.

  Breene grumbled under his breath. They were miles away from Redrock Valley. It would be past noon by the time he made his way back to town.

  “I haven't even had my breakfast,” Breene groused.

  I would have had your breakfast ready by now if I hadn't been deceived into running to the top of the tower in the middle of the night, Lester sniffed.

  “Deceived?” Breene sputtered indignantly.

  You told me that the railing on the balcony wasn't polished right and it was starting to rust! Lester snapped, equally indignant.

  Before Breene could retort, he heard the screech of tires and turned around to blink into the blinding headlights of an oncoming car.

  The car was coming right at him.

  Move, Master! Lester screamed in his head.

  The car veered and swerved at the last minute, and Breene's heart lurched at the sound of a woman's terrified scream.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Simone Dixon screamed and stomped on the brakes. Shit, shit, shit! What was happening? Why weren't her brakes working?

  She couldn't stop the car, and she was heading straight towards a man with a stone
statue under his arm. The statue seemed to be staring at her in horror with its ruby eyes, its mouth opened in a silent scream.

  Simone wrenched the steering wheel hard, trying to swerve away from the poor man.

  “No! No!” Simone screamed as she met the man's wide, silver eyes just a breath before impact.

  There was a sickening thud and the car skidded to a violent stop.

  Oh God! No! No, no, no! What had she done?

  Shaking like a leaf, Simone unbuckled her seat belt and scrambled out of the car. She found the man sitting on the road in front of her car with a slight frown on his face. He had the strangest looking statue in his lap.

  “Oh dear God! Sir, are you all right?” Simone cried, crouching beside him. “Are you hurt? I am so, so sorry! Can you...speak? Let me take you to the hospital right away! Can you move at all?”

  The man turned to her and the corner of his lips quirked up. Simone stared at him in disbelief and dismay. Was he...smiling at her?

  Oh dear! Simone winced as she wrung her hands. He must be in worse shape than he looked. The poor man must have hurt his head so badly that he couldn't even remember that he had just been hit by a car. That was why he was smiling so happily and warmly at her.

  Simone looked him over worriedly. Close up, she saw that the man's eyes were gray not silver and those intense gray eyes were clear, sharp and alert. The man didn't seem to have the slightest scratch on him. He was very tall and tanned, with a strong, broad physique. His t-shirt stretched taut over his powerful shoulders and his sweat pants showed the shape of his muscular thighs.

  She found herself thinking that the guy was really cute. His short brown hair looked messy and windblown, and dimples danced in his cheeks as he grinned at her.

  Quickly, Simone shook her head and frowned. What was wrong with her? Why was she ogling the man she had just run over like he was a sexy hunk of meat when she should be doing everything she could to help him?