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

The server brought over a small salad and placed it in front of them. Legion nodded to the man, who refilled their water glasses before leaving. “Natalie is not your sister. She has a different last name.”

Mara squinted. “How did you know that?”

“Her name is on the bank accounts. You trust her like family as she has access to all your finances, but her last name is Lesko.”

Mara nodded. “She’s the sister I wish I had. Mine is... well, let’s just say Alana is her own person.”

“Alana is your younger sister?”

“Yes.”

Legion’s eyes flickered like tiny stars in the night sky. The crystalline quality unique and majestic. “Where is she?”

Mara picked up the gold salad fork. “I wish I knew. She hates being around me. We aren’t close. I haven’t seen her since my mother’s funeral.”

Legion frowned. “She has druid blood. She will need protection when her magic surfaces.”

Mara mentally pushed away the steel blade that pierced her heart when talking about Alana. “Good luck with that. Alana doesn’t listen to anyone. Not even our parents.”

“We will have to persuade her when the time comes. Tell me about your painting. Have you always been so talented?”

Warmth skittered over her skin, but she tried not the let that pride show. She loved painting, and many people told her she was talented, but Legion’s opinion about her artwork mattered to her. She wondered if she was becoming as vain as her dragon suitor. “I love painting... anything. Flowers. Scenery. Animals. My most recent painting was of a dragon.”

Legion’s lip curled on the side before breaking into a smile. “I would like to see that one. I wonder what inspired you?” His full lips were sexy and shouldn’t belong to any man.

Mara was unprepared for the effect his teasing had on her. She looked down and choked back a bite of food to cover her reaction. She had read a story in one of her mom’s books. A Scottish fairy tale. A warning that no woman of magic could resist a dragon on the prowl. She had laughed at the story as a child. She wasn’t laughing now. “I can’t imagine, must be the dreams,” she whispered.

Legion took a single bite of his salad before pushing the plate away. “Those weren’t dreams, Mara, but we will discuss that in more detail later. How did you meet Natalie? She is always uppermost in your mind.”

Mara looked up. “Is she? I mean... yeah. She is the only person I have been able to depend on since my mother’s death. I don’t think I would have survived those first few months without her.”

Legion looked like he had something else to say, but he cleared his throat. “How did you meet her?”

“We met at a girl’s camp when we were ten. It shocked us to learn we lived only a block away from one another. Natalie had just moved to my neighborhood before the camp started.”

Legion’s eyes flickered before the air crackled around them. An invisible force pulled at her chest. The power living within her flared, reaching for the man in front of her. Pressure built within her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe. She gasped as her lungs struggled for air. He leaned back. “I apologize. You are not ready for the merge.”

She breathed deeply as the power within subsided. She was tempted to ask what he meant, but was sure she couldn’t deal with the answer. Not right now. She smiled at the server when he brought over her steak with pasta and fresh bread. She bit back the instinct to comment on the thirty-ounce, blue rare slab Legion ate in front of her.

Mara ate in silence, putting her napkin on her plate when she finished. “That was superb. Thank you.”

“You are welcome.” Legion said, pushing away his plate with the pasta left untouched.

Mara glanced at his plate. “You’re more of a meat-eater, huh?”

Legion’s eyebrow went up. His lip twitched.

Mara squinted. “You were kidding about eating humans, right?” Legion’s smile was mischievous. Cunning. Sexy. “You know what, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

He inclined his head regally. “Please remember that I will answer any of your questions. Just be sure you want the answer before you ask.”

Mara glanced at the door. “I have an interview with the owner of an art gallery. I plan to create some new pieces for him, and will paint all day tomorrow. Is it okay if we have an early night?”

Legion nodded. “Of course. Will you show me your work when we go home?”

“Sure,” she said, trying to figure why the word ‘home’ sent a tingle through her body.

Legion tapped his finger on the steering wheel. He was unaccustomed to uncertainty. He’d expected to order her around and garner the respect he deserved, but while Adara’s soul had been reborn, her memories had not. Mara was not the druid Legion had known and respected in the past. In truth, he’d never been attracted to Adara like he was with Mara.

His entire body hurt. The instinct to touch her, kiss her and bind her to him for all time was a battle he was losing. It wasn’t just her rebellious nature, though he conceded he found that sexy as hell. He was enjoying getting to know her. It was a gift to a man who could invade the minds of most creatures. He had thought he wanted answers. The reasons she’d betrayed him so many years ago, but as he spent more and more time with her, he came to realize, he just wanted her. Everything about Mara appealed to him and his dragon, and she hadn’t even come into her power. What would it be like when her magic called to him? It was frightening, and nothing had scared him in a long time.

He opened Mara’s door to the SUV and followed her up to the loft, admiring the tight fit of her dress