Desired by the Dragon: Dragon Shifter Romance

By Bianca James

The second book in the fast paced, action packed Relic Hunters trilogy

 An unlikely alliance is forged between Saira, the curvy, geeky archaeologist and Bryce the dragon shifter entrusted with the safekeeping of an ancient and extremely powerful relic.

 Although most see him as suave, sophisticated and handsome, Saira sees a darker side to Bryce and can’t help but be attracted to the wild and untamed beast she knows lurks beneath his smooth exterior.

 If only she knew . . .

 With a sinister and covert organization hot on their heels, determined to reunite the thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas, Saira and Bryce must put their differences aside if they are to survive and triumph against a ruthless and evil enemy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Mar 12, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1

And this is the classy way you treat all your women to dinner before a movie? Saira stared hard at the kebabs that sat wrapped in greasy paper on the tray. Wow! You must have to beat them off with a stick.

I don’t — Bryce started to defend himself but decided now wasn’t the time to get into an argument with the girl whose life he was trying to save. Never mind the fact that he’d never even take a girl out to dinner before a movie. In fact, he’d never taken a girl to a movie.

Instead he simply shrugged his broad shoulders and took a hearty bite of his kebab and proceeded to chew as he surveilled the front entrance to the Odeon theatre. The less he looked into those warm brown eyes that reminded him of rich, smooth caramel, the better. Each time their eyes met his dragon would stir restlessly and his own heart would skip a beat. Now wasn’t the time for that.

The red carpet out front was lined with chrome bollards and rope in an effort to keep the crowds queuing to see the one of a kind Aston Martin DB10 in the flesh. Technically, it was one of ten made especially for the production SPECTRE and it was being displayed at an opportune time and in a very underwhelming security environment, which suited Bryce to a tee.

We need to get away from here and put as much distance between us and these painfully tenacious Circle brethren as quickly as possible. So, unless you have a blisteringly fast sports car handy that can get us out of this mess, I suggest you eat your kebab and let me assess the security over there. He waved in the direction of the theatre with his dripping kebab.

One of the directors at the museum has one of those German things . . . you know, an AMG or whatever they’re called. He offered me a lift home one night and told me it could slam my eyeballs to the back of my skull, it accelerated so fast.

A derisive snort escaped Bryce’s kebab filled mouth. After he swallowed he said, "AMG’s are for pussies. They put gigantic AMG badges all over them so people will buy them for status. All show and not so much go. Look over there through the glass. That Aston Martin sits low, like a predatory cat waiting to pounce. Look at the grille. It’s snarling discretely and quietly to itself. The master of understatement while oozing class. It doesn’t need the show. It’s got enough go to leave any AMG looking at nothing but its growling tailpipes."

Geez. Better not stand up for a while, then.

He looked at Saira with a blank face.

She looked down to his lap. Sounds to me like you’ve got a hard on for that car. Maybe I should leave you two alone for a while?

"It’s not a car. It’s an Aston Martin," he retorted.

And you plan to steal it? Right from under the noses of those security guys at the door? This I really have to see. Saira folded her arms, her body language clearly displaying all the ‘I’m not getting involved in this’ signs she could muster.

"And you will, but first, we need to find a shop where we can get a cat carrier and we’re going to need some more clothes, too, while we’re at it. We can’t walk around looking like we’ve just crawled out of an underground tube line. Even the kebab vendor gave us a second look and that’s really saying something."

Are you sure we can’t just go and rent a car, you know, like normal people do? Saira whispered.

Bryce had coaxed her onto the roof of a building adjacent to the Odeon theatre. Leicester Square was more or less deserted given sunrise was only a couple of hours away, so there really wasn’t any need to whisper. Swaddled in her down filled jacket with her hood up to keep her ears warm, Saira felt every bit the burglar herself, even though it was Bryce who had broken into the outdoor adventure shop and stolen them all the clothing they would need to get them through a cold night scoping out a target.

Just watching him scale the walls of the outdoor store and then swing from window to window with all the grace of a . . . well, a cat burglar, not only had her in awe of his physical prowess but feeling somehow part of his team. The more she thought about the guys in the black Kevlar vests shooting at her and the sudden interest everyone seemed to suddenly have in the ancient Roman silver coin, the more she realized that for the moment, at least, she probably did need Bryce if she were to stay alive long enough to get to the authorities. The way The Circle operatives had recklessly blown up half the British Museum and tried to blow her and Bryce up, when they weren’t shooting to kill, put her in