DragonGames

Dragon Games

Jory Strong

Supernatural Bonds, Book Eight

Though he has no
intention of shackling
himself
to a female, Tielo has devised a poker
invitational to bring potential human mates to Drake’s Lair for his fellow
dragons. Club co-owner Pierce has also set a plan in motion—to see his partner
mated. When their two schemes collide in the shape of Lyra, smoke and flame
result, literally.

For Lyra, the
invitation to an evening of high-stakes poker is the answer to a prayer and her
chance to help a family in need. But her confidence wavers upon entering
Drake’s Lair, where the male members role-play as dragons and brazenly display
their sensuality.

None are as
dangerously distracting as Tielo. The gold-and-silver “dragon” could be her
downfall, and not just at the poker table. Because despite his attempts at
denial, overwhelming need and lust blast Tielo the instant he meets Lyra. He’ll
have her beneath him before the night is done, his essence inside her, his
claim undeniable.

For dragons,
mating is no game…and Tielo is playing for keeps.

Dragon Games

Jory Strong

Chapter One

Tielo leaned back in his chair and put his
feet on the desk. Tilting his head, he opened his mouth and exhaled a controlled
burst of fire toward the ceiling in the way a human might send a puff of cigar
smoke upward. Life didn’t get any better than this
.

Through the open doorway he could hear the
spin of roulette wheels and shuffle of cards. He could smell the gold of the
coins used in place of poker chips, and the scent of glittering jewels piled on
tables as additional collateral. And best of all, he could feel the excitement
generated by his latest scheme.

It’s perfect
.

“Perfect,” he repeated. And if he sounded
like a dragon stretched on a sunny ledge, or lying on a bed of priceless gems,
well, he
was
a dragon and Drake’s Lair was part of his hoard, one shared
in partnership with the fey lord, Pierce—who stepped through the doorway as if
summoned by the thought of him.

“Someone looks pleased with himself,”
Pierce said, flopping down in the chair across the desk from Tielo.

Tielo lifted a crystal flute filled with
Dragon’s Flame in a salute. “I am genius, hear me roar. Our fortunes are about
to double, if not quadruple. You have, no doubt, noted the influx of patrons to
the club.”

“The Dragon’s Cup is here, guaranteeing
fertility to any pair who drinks from it, what did you expect? Even those
dragons who don’t have an existing mate, or a woman in mind to become a mate, want
to see for themselves that the cup has been recovered and is now in dragon
possession. Or more specifically, in the possession of
male
dragons, so
you no longer have to play the role of boy toys to the females of your kind.”

Tielo snorted black smoke through his
nostrils, refusing to let Pierce ruin his excellent mood with a reminder of
what was now
the past
. Not yet the
distant
past, but then, for a
dragon, such a measure was a difficult feat anyway.

Pierce spoke the truth, though many a male
would still choose a human female over a dragon one. Having the cup here, in
this human realm and in the bastion of
male
power that was Drake’s Lair,
did in fact change the dynamic between dragon sexes—an imbalance that had
formed over the millennium thanks to the curse placed on his race by the wizard
Enos.

By the Great Ancestor! Tielo had no desire
to be encumbered with a mate of any species, but rage burned through him with
thoughts of the wizard.

May the sorcerer burn in Hades! Or better
yet, be chained to a rock like Prometheus for all eternity. Only instead of
having his liver eaten each day by an eagle, only to be regenerated so the
torment could begin with the rise of the sun, let Enos lose testicles and cock!

The wizard had been envious of dragon
wealth, covetous of it. He had created the chalice and tied dragon creation
magic to it, making births rare.

In the old days, before the chalice fell
into the hands of the fey and then was lost in the mortal realm, dragons could
get around the curse by giving Enos some of their treasure. In return, the
sorcerer would allow them to drink from the cup, restoring fertility for
decades, and occasionally centuries.

Now, thanks to a pact between three dragon
princes—Severn, Hakon and Malik—the cup had been recovered. It was available to
all males and their chosen mates, without payment or obligation. And though
Tielo claimed allegiance to his cousin Severn, Drake’s Lair had long served as
neutral territory and now housed the Dragon’s Cup.

His lips would not soon touch the cup’s
rim. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t capitalize on the desire of other dragons
to shackle themselves to a female and breed.

The prospect of growing riches banished old
rage and sent pleasure purring through him. Dropping his feet to the floor, he
set his glass on the desk and poured one for Pierce before refilling his own.
Handing the flute to his partner and reclaiming his drink, Tielo said, “A toast
is in order.”

“Let me guess…
To your genius
.”

He affected a modest nod. “Care to hear
about my latest scheme, already set in motion?”

“I can hardly wait.” Pierce touched his
glass to Tielo’s, hiding his amusement as he did so. He’d set his own plan in
motion, and it was about to intersect with his partner’s—though Tielo didn’t
know it.

They emptied their glasses, the Dragon’s
Flame a rich, potent elixir delivering a satisfying burn on its way down.

“I’m now sufficiently fortified to hear
your latest,” Pierce said, setting the flute on the desk, though also lifting
the centuries-old decanter and refilling his glass.

Tielo opened his top drawer, retrieving a
postcard-sized piece of paper. He handed it to Pierce.

A sinuous, multicolored dragon bathed in
flame ran along the card’s border. Bold lettering entitled the bearer to enter
the club and join its members for a game of cards, with Drake’s Lair providing
a gambling stake of $100,000 in chips and winnings above that amount
convertible to cash at the conclusion of the evening.

Pierce placed the card on the desk between
them. Pretending ignorance of its intended use, he said, “An interesting
concept, but we hardly need to bait a hook in order to lure human whales into
the club. We’ve got a waiting list of wealthy individuals who want to come here
and gamble their fortunes away. If we were willing to allow them as members,
even with limited privileges, we could quadruple our membership inside a
month’s time.”

Tielo shook his head. “You lack vision, my
friend.” He gestured toward his open doorway and the crowd visible through it.
“The invitations are meant to bring suitable
women
here. Already the
cards are making their way into the hands of a select few. That’s why the
gaming tables are full and the dining areas overflowing—
in anticipation
.

“I don’t truly understand the appeal,
though there must be one since you yourself have succumbed—to the extent of
being willing to share a wife—but there is obviously a large number of males
anxious to surrender their freedom to a female. And Drake’s Lair is in the
unique position to benefit from it.”

Pierce called fire, his element, because
yanking a dragon’s tail even metaphorically was a dangerous game. He
manipulated the flames, creating a ball to toss between his open hands so he’d
have a ready defense.

“How are you distributing the cards?” he
asked. “Tell me you don’t have Henri trolling the beach for bikini-clad
beauties and passing the invitations out.”

Tielo laughed at the image of the club’s
very proper maître d’ engaged in such an activity. “Hardly that, though the
idea does have merit, purely for its amusement value. No, my plan is much more
refined. In fact, it’s perfection.”

“If you do say so yourself.” Pierce
couldn’t resist the urge to throw the ball of fire at Tielo.

Tielo exhaled a small gout of flame,
meeting fire with fire over the center of his desk. “If I may continue?”

“Of course.”

“Severn and Sophie are back from their
sex-cation, their little vacation to the dragon realm to complete their bond.
As soon as I learned they were home, I paid a visit. Flush from the pleasure of
nonstop mating, our now-mutual cousin Sophie agreed, with Severn’s permission,
to take some invitations to Inner Magick and get the half-elf—”

“Aislinn. She’s friends not only with
Sophie, but with Storm. Not to mention the dragon princes consider themselves
indebted to her for the help she freely gave. Without it, the cup might not
have been recovered at all.”

A hand touched to Tielo’s chest and a quick
bow of his head served as an apology for any slight Pierce might feel on behalf
of the woman who was friends with Storm, the wife he shared with his cousin
Tristan.

Pierce gave a slight nod. He picked up the
flute of Dragon’s Flame, tipping it toward Tielo in acceptance of the apology
and a signal for Tielo to continue explaining his grand scheme, a dragon game
Pierce hoped would have a different outcome than the one Tielo expected.

“Sophie has agreed to petition Aislinn on
our behalf. She felt sure Aislinn would be willing to offer the invitations to
some of those who frequent her shop.”

Pierce allowed a smile of satisfaction,
confident Tielo wouldn’t understand the full truth of it. “An excellent plan.
Aislinn is in the unique position of meeting those who are open to the
possibility that supernatural beings exist.”

“Exactly.”

Pierce took a long drink from his glass,
willing himself not to appear as smug as he felt about the fate that would soon
befall Tielo. If misery loved company, then it was doubly true for those who’d
settled contentedly into the bliss of mated life and wanted their unmatched
companions to find the same.

Thanks to his cousin Tristan’s esoteric
knowledge about all things magical, a deck of fey cards featuring dragon
images—Tielo’s included—was now in Aislinn’s possession. She’d already devised
a way to match likely couples, and now Tielo had provided a means for their introduction.

Lowering his glass, Pierce asked, “Would
you be interested in a wager by any chance?”

“Always my friend. Always. What’s the
nature of the bet?”

“I believe you will fall prey to your own
scheme and end up mated.”

Tielo laughed, eyes watering with tears of
mirth. Pierce suppressed his amusement, though couldn’t prevent himself from
saying, “He who laughs last, laughs best.”

Gouts of flame escaped Tielo’s nostrils as
he snorted. “That laugh already belongs to me. The foolishness of your proposed
wager nearly boggles the mind. Sharing a wife with Tristan has filled your head
with romantic nonsense.”

“Perhaps, but I’m willing to back my play
with gold and jewels.”

Tielo’s eyes glittered with dragon
interest, despite his being a wealthy man millions of times over. “What amount
are you thinking to hand me so easily?”

“It depends on how well your scheme plays
out. The wager is for my share of the club take on those nights a potential
mate comes here.”

“Insanity.” Tielo motioned toward his cock.
“Why would I want to limit myself to one female and deny all the others a
chance to experience this?”

Pierce rolled his eyes, all the while
fighting the urge to point out that, like the dragon prince Hakon, Tielo
presented himself as a playboy but hadn’t actually been with a woman in quite
some time. Tielo might have forced himself into a human form, but dragon
instinct would rule when presented with the right female.

“My share of the club take on those nights
a potential mate comes here,” he repeated.

“Done.” Tielo glanced toward the doorway.
“Be assured, my friend, I won’t be drinking from the Dragon’s Cup with a look
to the future and a dream of offspring.”

* * * * *

Sophie Alexander—soon to be, officially and
legally, Sophie Alexander Damek—wore a huge smile as she entered Inner Magick
and saw her best friend, Aislinn.

“I can’t believe Severn let you out of his
sight,” Aislinn said, coming around the counter and giving Sophie a hug.

“It was a battle but I figured I’d better
start the way I mean to go on, not that I’ll be able to shake the guards.”
Sophie grimaced. “Who knows how many more there are, besides the five openly
accompanying me.”

“A dozen or twice that, easily. Queen
Otthilde of the fey would love to get possession of the Dragon’s Cup again. If
she thought she could capture and use you as a bargaining chip, she wouldn’t
hesitate to do it. You’re Severn’s mate after all.”

“I know. Severn drove that point home.
Forcefully.”
Erotically
.

Aislinn laughed, correctly reading the
statement, or maybe the sigh and the dreamy expression that came with memories
of Severn’s brand of persuasion.

“I don’t think I have to ask if you enjoyed
your trip.”

“Tielo called it a sex-cation when he
stopped by the house.”

Sophie grinned at her own subtle jest.
Severn’s home—hers now—was a mansion set on grounds large enough to have a maze
that held more than one delicious memory of a chase and capture. The estate was
surrounded by high walls and boasted top-of-the-line security. There was a
hoard of treasure to guard, plus Severn valued his privacy and his
anonymity—both of which were going to be severely challenged going forward, but
those were battles for another day.

Noticing a round mirror on the wall above a
display case with a collection of rune sets, Sophie moved in for a closer look.
“This is new.”

“It’s a sorcerer’s mirror. Originally it
was created to see into the future, but the original stones were lost.”

Aislinn traced the intricate symbols on the
frame that surrounded and linked a trail of small, clear gems. “I replaced the sorcerer
stones with heartstones.”

Sophie felt a little thrill of excitement
at the prospect of witnessing the same kind of magic happening for others as
she’d experienced. She tugged the pendant she wore out from beneath her shirt.
Aislinn had made the heartmate necklace for her, and it had done as promised,
come to life in Severn’s presence, glowing and warming to indicate he was her
perfect mate.

“You know I’m a believer in the power of
heartstones. So someone looking into the mirror sees their future mate?”

“It’s more complicated than that, and I’ll
admit I’m still learning how it works. Your friend Jazzlyn came here while you
were away. She was the first person the mirror reacted to. She said she was
drawn to it by a flash, and when she touched it, the stones warmed and filled
with color. The effect became hypnotic and ultimately it was Xanthus’ relative,
Kirill, who she saw in the mirror. She’s with him now in the dragon realm. The
mirror’s reacted to one other person, a witch who saw a fellow witch, someone
he’d wanted to date but hadn’t worked up the courage to ask out. They’re a
couple now.”