The War Dragon's Mate

By Paul Lucas

Introverted accountant Holly Gallager spent a good year recovering from a painful divorce, secluding herself in her house, until her best friend Jimena finally dragged her out for a night of excitement at the underground dragon fights. There, gladiators from an alternate Earth ruled by powerful dragon-like creatures battle with tooth and claw for money and glory.

Holly instantly becomes intrigued with the melancholy but highly skilled fighter Riven as he struggles with one bout after another on his climb to the top. As Holly explores his rough sensual side, she discovers that he holds a dark secret and hidden pain. Can she help heal him before things turn to disaster?

THE WAR DRAGON'S MATE is a steamy erotic tale of exciting action, lusty encounters, and human-alien love. ADULT READERS ONLY.

Set in the same universe as the HOT DRAGON GIRLS series, the HOT DINO GIRLS series, and ICE AGE HEAT.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Lucas
• Release date: Apr 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370785209

Paul Lucas

I grew up on the shores of Lake Erie, just a few snow drifts away from Buffalo, NY. I am a life long science fiction and fantasy fan, and avidly keep up on developments in the fields of science, technology, and ancient cultures.Currently I am a freelance writer and artist, with fifteen years of experience in the field. In 1998 I had a tabletop RPG published, and in 2005 my first novel CREATURA came out. My shorter works have seen the light of day in publications such as Strange Horizons, Afterburn, Tales of the Talisman, Fables, and others. Currently I do a lot of personal commissions and ghost writing work.

Book preview

THE WAR DRAGON'S MATE

Paul Lucas

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Copyright 2017 Paul Lucas

Cover Art by Paul Lucas

On The Cover: Holly and Riven contemplate some fun.

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CHAPTER 1

Holly Gallager stared up at the enormous reptilian monster, who glared back at the two human women. Password? he grunted.

Holly's friend Jimena smiled confidently. Smaug is a pussy.

The large saurian measured over eight feet high, with a heavy musculature that sent his weight soaring over four hundred pounds. He was humanoid in shape, with dark green scales covering his body and an angular reptilian head. A pair of bony bull-like horns sprouted from the brow. Twin holes in the back of his dark tee shirt allowed for the free movement of his enormous bat-like wings, while a similar egress in his jeans accommodated a long tapering tail.

He narrowed black-slitted eyes. Nice try. But that was last week's password. What's this week's?

Jimena gulped, shooting a nervous glance at the half dozen people waiting just out of earshot behind the velvet rope just inside the door. Um... Toothless is awesome?

The saurian bouncer snorted. He is. But that's not the password. But eh, at least you were here last week. So for that and twenty each I'll let you in.

The women reached into their purses and reluctantly handed over the bills.

The bouncer smiled through dozens of sharp curving teeth. Good enough. Enjoy yourselves, ladies. And you may want to wait until the end of the fights tonight to get the web address with next week's password.

They both shuffled past the club's main doorway. Beyond the short entryway corridor, the facility opened up into a large open space bigger than a football field, converted from an old industrial warehouse. The building on the outside still looked akin to an old rusting factory, but its interior had been transformed into a sleek underground nightclub.

A DJ in a corner worked off a ragtag assembly of equipment on a cheap folding table, but no one danced to the beats thrumming out of the various speakers. The music was only pleasant white noise to keep the crowd entertained until the main event started.

A shiny bar outlined in neon lined one wall, with a throng of patrons ordering drinks. Tables and chairs were scattered about the room, but with a line of tiered benches arranged around a fenced-off square around the center of the room. They were intercut on four sides with stairs for easy access. The set-up reminded Holly of the cheap storable seating used in high school auditoriums, except most bench rows sported a narrow shelf in front of the seats for drinks.

Those benches surrounded a large open pit set down below the main floor, about seventy feet square on a side. Dents and rust-colored stains colored all four metal walls.

Jimena poked her shoulder. I'll run to the bar. What do you want?

Holly looked around nervously as if she hadn't heard the question. I still can't believe you talked me into this.

Her dark-haired friend rolled her eyes. Jimena was the only friend Holly still retained from high school, now fifteen years behind them both, and her conservative parents had always given her grief for hanging out with the outspoken latina. You're the one who wanted to spice up your life with something exciting. These dragon fights are definitely that.

I never did anything illegal like this before...

That's part of the problem. You always play things too safe. Jimena indicated the two brawny guests at the end of the bar, conversing casually to a well-groomed man in a fancy dark suit leaning on the bar. See those two guys there? I talked to them last week. Off-duty cops. They're talking with the guy who runs the place, Zapruder or something. See? Even the cops know about this place, and no one cares it's technically illegal. There's nothing to worry about. Everyone is here simply to have a good time.

Holly hesitantly nodded, and settled on a seven and seven for a drink. After giving her friend's back a reassuring pat, Jimena shuffled off to the bar.

Holly stood awkwardly alone, looking about, hoping no one from the office was there to recognize her. She mostly worked from home nowadays, but still had to put in a personal appearance at the insurance company who employed her at least once a week. Maybe getting caught at these fights wouldn't cost her job, but it could prove potentially scandalous.

She listened to snippets of conversations around her. Apparently the opponents for the various bouts tonight had been determined by random draw. There was a lot of talk about a dragon named Omyn, the region's current champion, being favored to win tonight's biggest bout. But a few mentioned others named Riven and Lawg as a possible contenders.

Holly! called a familiar voice over the low-level din.

Oh no. She did her best not to openly cringe. Not here, not now...

When the owner of the voice slipped into her line of sight, she had no choice but to acknowledge him. Hello, Edgar, she said flatly to her ex-husband.

Imagine meeting you here, he said cheerily. Edgar was a tall, balding man, dressed in an ill-fitting suit. He introduced her to the very young-looking blond thing hanging off his arm. This is Aino. She's from Finland. Aino, this is my ex-wife Holly.

Hello. Nice to meet you, his companion said in a lilting accent.

Same, Holly replied, trying to think of something nice to say that didn't sound lame.

Damn it, why was Edgar doing this? He knew she was terrible with on-the-spot social situations.

Or, knowing him, that was probably the exact reason why he did it.

I never imagined I'd see you somewhere like this, Edgar told her.

There's a lot about me you never knew, she said cooly.

How's the house?

She felt her irritation rise. No longer yours. Remember?

Edgar's cool demeanor turned much colder. Look, I was trying to be nice, with us in public and all. But crap like this is why I left.

"No, I left you because you couldn't stop collecting young tarts like Pokemon cards. What, did you pluck this one right from her junior prom?"

Oh, so fucking witty. For all the good it ever does you. I guess we can just keep talking through the lawyers, then.

I much prefer that.

I'll leave you to whoever you're here with...

Jimena, Holly supplied.

Your best friend. Right. The tone of his voice implied that was the only kind of companion she would ever get. Come on, Aino. Let's get some good seats.

Nice meeting you, the young woman said, seeming a bit confused as Edgar pulled her away.

Holly gripped her purse tightly in both hands, hearing the faux-leather scrunch hard under her fingers. She fought against the urge to tear it apart as a substitute for Edgar's throat.

Hey, was that Edgar? Jimena asked as she approached with a glass in each hand.

Holly snatched up her drink and drained half of it in one gulp. I'm definitely going to need more than one of these, she said.

CHAPTER 2

In the late 1970s, the United States tested an esoteric theory about the creation of kugelblitzes. A kugelblitz is a black hole created solely by the concentration of vast amounts of energy into a single tiny pinpoint. Using relatively small but carefully synched atomic weapons in an underground test, the scientists sought to create a short-lived quantum black hole that would, in theory, evaporate away within a few milliseconds.

Instead, in the collapsed crater of ground zero in the smoking aftermath, floated a strange mirrored globe ten feet wide.

It took the scientists and engineers many days of panic, tests, accusations, prayer, scanning, and recalibrating sixty years’ worth of quantum theory to realize that they had accidentally created a stable wormhole. One that led, they soon discovered, to a parallel Earth in another dimension.

They also found that on this new Earth, primates, and therefore humans, had never evolved at all. The world was dominated by a huge genus of creatures that combined many features of mammals and dinosaurs, and had developed a unique if limited shapeshifting ability. The