Legion: Alpha Dragon Shifter Romance (Dragon Rules Series Book 1) by Tia Didmon (books to read for self improvement .txt) 📕

“Then I am having dinner with my stalker.”

Chapter 7

They pulled up to the door of the upscale Italian restaurant. A valet, wearing a red suit jacket, opened the door to the gold SUV and waited for Mara to exit. Legion passed the keys to his vehicle to the man and slipped him a hundred-dollar bill before offering his arm to Mara.

She took his arm, inhaling the alluring scent of grilled meat and pasta, before allowing him to lead her inside. “This is fancier than I expected.” She said, glancing down at her simple black dress.

Legion’s eyes followed her gaze. “You look perfect. Of course, you will look better, naked.” His eyes glittered. Gold sparks that fluttered like tiny fireflies inside his black pupils.

She coughed, trying to hide the static charge that ran through her body. “You can’t say things like that,” she whispered.

He gave her a quizzical look. “Why? It is true.”

Mara gazed at an older couple eating a salad with gold cutlery. The dress the woman wore was silver and black with shiny sequins. Her husband’s black tuxedo was equally stunning. While they had to be in their seventies, they looked radiant. Happy. “It’s... inappropriate.”

Legion led her to a second seating area, to a table in the center of a private room. He slid her chair over the lush burgundy carpet, allowing her to sit. “It would be inappropriate for you to deny me the luxury of your body.”

Mara put her leather purse on the table, lowering her voice. “Listen, I’m sure the alpha male routine works on most women...”

His eyes flared. The fireflies turned to an eternal flame. Liquid lava, that dared her to defy him. “There are no other women, Mara. Not in over a thousand years.”

Her jaw dropped. She covered her reaction by grabbing the glass of water on the white tablecloth. She glanced around the room. Every table was pristine. Expensive crystal glassware, gold utensils and a vase with a single red rose adorned every empty table. “I thought this restaurant was booked solid for the next couple of years. Where is everybody?”

Legion’s eyes bored into her. “I booked this section of the restaurant. I wish our conversation to be private.”

Mara choked on her water. “But this place is so expensive.”

“You are worth any price.” His voice was even as if he were stating a mere fact. That telling her she was the center of his universe was no more interesting than his coffee order.

Mara ran a finger over the gold butter knife, tracing the intricate pattern carved on the handle. “About the money you gave me. I would like to pay you back.”

“No.”

Mara’s head snapped up. “Pardon me. You can’t say no.”

His body was rigid. A carved statue with a creature encased inside. “I just did.”

Mara picked up the white napkin from the table, flicking it forward to place it on her lap. “Do you work on being this annoying, or does it come naturally to you?”

Legion’s lip twitched. “It’s not my intention to... annoy you. The money means nothing to me.”

She leaned forward. “Don’t dragon’s horde their gold?”

Legion snorted. “Hardly. We own mines all over the world. Precious metals and gems are our business. We can sense the ore in the rock and extract it at will. My clan has unlimited access to money. It is a means to protect my family.”

“Your family?” Mara asked with interest.

He nodded. “The dragons of color.”

She sat up, smoothing the napkin in her lap. “Not all dragons?”

His eyes flinched. “When a dragon turns against his clan, against our laws, he turns black. He loses the color he was born with and the ability to mate. He loses his emotions, as well, but the black dragons have a temporary cure for that affliction.”

“What is it?”

His lips thinned. “Druid blood.”

Her eyes went wide. “Excuse me?”

Legion rubbed his chin. “They use the magic in a druid’s blood to create a temporary high. They feel, lust, drive, all the basic human emotions, but it doesn’t last.”

“Are all druids female?”

“Yes. Human males born of magic were mage, but their race perished in the war two thousand years ago.”

She swallowed hard. “You said I was in danger. Is that what you meant?”

“Yes. Once your magic matures, it will alert the black dragons around you, like a beacon in a storm.”

She believed him, but she didn’t want to. Her life was complicated. The last thing she needed was an alpha male telling her what to do.

Legion growled. “A black dragon won’t tell you what to do. He will take you against your will. He will take your blood, use your body, all while making you believe he loves you. When a dark takes your blood, he is able to circumvent the wards your magic erects in your mind.”

Mara’s eyes blazed with blue fire before she tamped down the initial anger. “I appreciate the warning. I do. But please stop reading my thoughts without my knowledge. It’s bad enough learning that dragons exist, let alone they can all read my thoughts.”

“No other dragon will invade your thoughts. You are my mate and your mind and body belong to me alone.”

She hissed. “I am not your...” His eyes blazed fire, daring her to finish her statement. She cleared her throat as icy fingers squeezed her chest. She wasn’t ready for this showdown. While she wasn’t one to back down from a fight, Legion radiated power like a nuclear plant. How could she bow out of this date?

Legion frowned. “Tell me about your life. Your family. Where did your love of painting originate?”

Mara picked at the napkin on her lap. He couldn’t have known it, but that was a loaded question. “I grew up above the shop. In the same loft that I live in now. My parents ran the shop, and they loved it. They weren’t rich, but the store has always held its own. My mom made all the creams and potions by hand. She did teach me how to make them,