The Dragon Beast's Virgin: A Paranormal Romance (Separated by Time Book 3) Read online

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  The Dragon Beast's Virgin

  Separated by Time: Book Three

  A Paranormal Romance

  by Jasmine Wylder

  Table of Contents

  Other Books in this Series

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  About Jasmine Wylder

  Other Books in this Series

  The Dragon King's Prisoner (Book 1)

  The Dragon Warrior's Baby (Book 2)

  The Dragon Prince's Second Chance (Book 4, coming soon)

  The Dragon Guard's Princess (Book 5, coming soon)

  The Dragon Hunters' Temptation (Book 6, coming soon)

  The Dragon Fighter's Witch (Book 7, coming soon)

  The Dragon Villain's Prey (Book 8, coming soon)

  Chapter One

  Sylvia

  The dagger glinted silver against her throat. The blade was jagged and dull, with a complicated script running down the center of it. Sylvia smiled with satisfaction as she rubbed it back and forth over her skin, making sure that it wasn’t going to accidentally cut her. The other girls were going to love this. The two guys that often joined them for Friday night Dungeons and Dragons would be less impressed, but that was because they dealt with real daggers and swords.

  Sylvia hid the knife in her pocket and arranged the hat on her head, preparing to play as her snarky, grumpy elf-druid character. Things might be changing, what with Anna and Misty both getting married, the revelation to the world that dragons existed; they came from a magical kingdom from the past called Byrelmore and looked human enough except when they breathed fire and shifted into the huge, winged beasts.

  “We’re waiting on you, Sivvy,” Anna called.

  Grabbing her character sheet, Sylvia rushed out to the living room.

  Once there, she spied Volcant and Indulf, the two dragons, messing with the microwave that had stopped working a couple of days ago. It was hilarious, considering that they’d had to be taught to use it in the first place. They tried their best to help the girls, though. What was even funnier was the fact that Indulf, who was far younger than Volcant, was the more fatherly of the two. When Sylvia had started to come to D&D yawning and stressed from work, he had been the one that brought more fruit and vegetables to the house, insisting that she eat healthier. And it didn’t come off like “you’re too fat”, which food advice often did.

  “We’ll take it in to get looked at,” Misty sighed as she bounced little Cara on her knee. “Come on, you two are the least qualified to try to fix that thing.”

  Both Volcant and Indulf let out annoyed huffs but came over to the table and took their seats. Anna handed Erik to Indulf. The little boy immediately laid his head on his father’s shoulder, yawning, and Sylvia felt a small tug of jealousy in her heart. She couldn’t wait for the day that she would be a mother herself. She let out a sigh, which made Katrina, another of her roommates, glance over at her with a raised brow.

  “What’s with the long face?”

  Sylvia shrugged and pushed up her glasses. “It’s just been forever since we did this. I mean, between Anna and Indulf being king and queen and Volcant and Misty being ambassadors and dealing with the revelation of dragons to the world… I miss my Erik and Cara snuggles!”

  Misty laughed at that and rolled her eyes. “If you want to hold her, all you have to do is ask.”

  She handed the baby over at once. Sylvia settled Cara into her arms and smiled at her. “Why can’t you bring me along with you on all your trips as a nanny? You’d hardly know I was there.”

  “I suppose.” Misty gave her a grin, and Sylvia knew the dirty comment was coming. “It would give me and Volcant more opportunities to have uninterrupted sex, for sure. I’ve been wanting to try out the position that Anna brought up in the last game and—”

  “Can we not talk about sex?” Sylvia pleaded. Bad enough that she had to leave the room every time that the game took a raunchy turn.

  Anna ignored her pleas. “Ooh, trust me, that’s a good one. Just make sure you have a good grip on the bed frame or—”

  “Love.” Indulf ducked his head, a twinkle in his dark eyes. “Please. I know you love to brag but not… in current company.”

  He glanced at her and Katrina. Sylvia nearly rolled her eyes at that. Just because she didn’t like to talk about sex all the time didn’t mean she was some sort of delicate flower. That was how she felt whenever Indulf started saying things like that. It was like he thought that the unmarried girls were just too young to hear about it or something.

  She shook her head, too glad that the conversation had stopped to call Indulf out at the moment. She glanced around the table to see Penny staring at Cara with a curious expression on her face. She almost looked completely zoned out, except there was a glimmer of fear in her eyes. Sylvia’s gut twisted. It was the same look that Misty had when she was pregnant, back before she and Volcant got together.

  Penny glanced up and met her eye.

  “So… does anybody else have announcements to make?” Sylvia asked, glancing away from Penny now. If she was ready to tell the group, this would give her the opportunity to do so. If not, then she could just stay silent.

  Everybody glanced at her with surprised expressions. Sylvia twitched under their scrutiny. Normally, she was the one who was trying to corral the talking so they could continue their campaign. Well, it used to be Anna, but since she had married and had a child and gotten all chill, someone had to take over the job. She glanced around at them and shrugged.

  “If nobody—”

  “I’m pregnant,” Penny blurted.

  Sylvia released a sigh of relief as everybody turned to her, surprise mingling on their faces. They started to pepper Penny with questions, even as Katrina put an arm around her. Sylvia stifled another sigh, this one laced with jealousy, as she considered her friends. Only her and Katrina weren’t going to be moms now. While Sylvia was still determined to wait until she was married to have sex or have kids, these days it felt like it was never going to happen.

  She didn’t think that someone who was kind, caring and respectful was too much to ask for. It seemed like the fact that she wanted to abstain until marriage weeded out half the dating pool, though, and the other half ended up being far too religious… Sylvia had no desire to go to church every week or to read the bible or whatever else. It was for personal reasons that she was still a virgin, not because a bunch of old men waved a book written by men in her face.

  “Well, you know that I’ll be around to babysit whenever I can,” she said, bringing herself out of her thoughts to address Penny.

  Penny gave her a small smile. It was a look that promised she
was going to have to talk more about this when they were able to have some privacy. How she had ended up pregnant was a mystery to Sylvia. Penny had a hard time saying no to people, but she was also pretty shy, and Sylvia hadn’t even known she talked to guys, let alone anything else.

  “Thanks,” Penny whispered, bowing her head. “It’s just been a really rough few months.”

  Misty patted her back soothingly. “I know. But these girls here are amazing. And Sylvia is the baby whisperer. Look, she’s got Cara asleep in five minutes. That child never wants to sleep but—”

  “But I guess I’m just too boring,” Sylvia quipped. “Now let’s—”

  Her head whipped around at the sound of a knock. Seriously? They had just gotten everything settled and were ready to play the game when someone interrupted? She hissed under her breath, jerking to her feet to answer the front door. If it was some sort of traveling salesman, they were going to get what-for!

  It wasn’t a salesman, though. Blood rushed to Sylvia’s cheeks as she opened the door to find Hendric, a dragon that she had seen around a few times, standing on the other side. Even slouched, he was taller by a good half-foot than she was. Unlike the two dragons in the house, he wore clothes from Byrelmore. A leather jerkin laced at the sides, over a loose white shirt and trousers that were just fitted enough to show off his sculpted ass. Eyes as dark as midnight stared at her, and it took all her strength not to swoon just looking at him.

  “I apologize for interrupting, Miss Sylvia,” he rumbled in that deep, sexy voice like molasses. “I need to speak with my king and Lord Volcant urgently.”

  Sylvia knew if she tried to say anything, she’d end up digging herself a giant pit of embarrassment, so she simply nodded and stepped back. As Hendric came in, greeting a concerned-looking Indulf, her gaze dropped to his ass. These pants were looser than his normal fare. What she wouldn’t give to take in an inch or two at the seams!

  “Anna?” Indulf turned to Anna. “I’m afraid this can’t wait.”

  Anna sighed and waved her hand. “Go ahead. We’ll wait for half an hour and then start without you.”

  The dragons left the room, going to Anna’s bedroom, while Sylvia sauntered back to the table. She sat down, keeping her eyes on Hendric until he was out of sight. Then she sighed and rested her chin in her hands. It wasn’t often that their games were interrupted, but it wasn’t often that all five of the original roommates were able to gather together on Fridays anymore, let alone the dragons joining them.

  Katrina had the same sort of disappointed expression on her face. “You know, I wish I never knew that you married a king.” She narrowed her eyes accusingly at Anna. “Ever since dragons have been revealed to the world, it’s like our games are being interrupted all the time. And I can’t even complain because it’s all important stuff.”

  “I know.” Anna stared at her door worriedly. “There’s a lot going on right now, though. Our attempts to integrate even simple things like cameras in Byrelmore isn’t working out very well. They keep shorting out and we don’t know what’s causing it.”

  Sylvia snorted. “Hasn’t it been like two hundred years in Byrelmore since you married Indulf? Are you telling me that you haven’t figured it out in two hundred years?”

  “It’s not as simple as that. Two hundred years, yeah, but they don’t feel the same as time passing here.” Anna frowned as she shook her head. “It’s like even time goes slower there. I can’t explain it. But let’s stop being depressing… I saw those eyes you were giving Hendric,” a grin spread over her face. “So what do you want to know about him?”

  Heat rushed to Sylvia’s face. She adjusted her glasses, even though they were still fine on her face. “I don’t want to know anything about him!”

  “He’s a single dad,” Anna prompted with a wink. I’ve met his son a few times. He’s adorable.”

  Sylvia shook her head, not wanting to talk about it.

  “Maybe we need to get a sexy dragon shifter in the campaign,” Misty teased, her eyes practically glowing. “Get some kinky sex going on for our virgin friend.”

  The door to the bedroom opened, and the three dragons came out. Sylvia breathed a sigh of relief and made certain not to look at Hendric this time. Except when he apologized to them again for interrupting—then she had to sneak a look at his muscular forearms as he bowed. He stayed in her mind, even after he was gone. A single father, huh? She wondered what the story was there.

  Chapter Two

  Hendric

  His fires flickered, eagerly growing hotter as Hendric reoriented himself. Traveling between Byrelmore and Earth was less intense every time he did it, but he still didn’t like it. He rolled his shoulders, sighing with relief. Being back was always like a long drink of water after being thirsty for days. Most dragons couldn’t feel the lack of magic on Earth, but he could. He could feel his fires start to smolder the moment he left Byrelmore, and when he returned to the kingdom, he could feel them flare back up.

  “I don’t know how Volcant can spend so much time on Earth,” he grumbled to Indulf as they headed down the corridor. He ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair, as though to erase the lingering feelings of going without magic. “I don’t know how humans can stand living there. The lack of magic… it’s a desert.”

  Indulf chuckled under his breath. “That it is, but you have to remember that they’ve never known magic. They don’t know anything different.”

  “Volcant does.”

  “He has plenty to keep him on Earth.”

  Hendric nodded, thinking of Volcant’s mate and child. And then his mind inexplicably turned to Miss Sylvia. A smile crossed his lips as he remembered the red flush that burned her pale skin every time she saw him. He was under no delusions that she didn’t like him. Her feelings were obvious. The way she ran her eyes over his figure made him want to wear tighter clothes when he visited the house, just to see her eyes widen behind her glasses. She had started wearing the lenses right against her eyes lately, though.

  “Contacts,” he mumbled to himself, remembering the name.

  Indulf glanced at him with a cocked brow. Though the king was significantly younger than him, that knowing look in his eyes often made Indulf look older than he really was. “Sylvia?”

  “I was thinking about her, yes. Those contacts she wears. We should look into bringing the eye testing equipment to Byrelmore. It’s more sophisticated than mages testing eyes, and we’d be able to provide eyewear for those who would prefer not to have magical surgery.”

  Indulf chuckled under his breath. “Yes, I’m sure that’s exactly what you were thinking of.”

  Hendric frowned, still unused to his king teasing him. Yes, he did seem a lot older than his centuries indicated, but there were times when he was reminded just how young he was.

  His mind turned back to Sylvia once more. She was a beautiful woman. All curves, with the sort of ass that a man just wanted to hold. Her smile, with those lips that were a little thin but no less enticing for it. The way her eyes sparkled. And of course, that flush that always stained her skin. He’d love to get to know her better in the physical sense, but that wasn’t going to happen.

  Even from the time he was young, Hendric hadn’t been one for casual sex. The urges of the body sometimes overrode his good sense, but he thought sex ought to mean something. Being casual was how he’d ended up in the mess of a marriage that he did. He and his ex-wife only married because a few encounters ended with her being pregnant. They tried to make it work but had found that they didn’t even like each other.

  After the divorce, she took off, leaving him with their son. He hadn’t heard from her since.

  He couldn’t end up in the same situation with another woman, especially not a human woman. If he had a baby with a human, she would end up dying of old age before their child could even walk, unless they were true mates. In which case, her aging would slow to match his.

  Indulf put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back to the pre
sent. The king gave him a critical glance. “I know that it’s difficult to stop thinking about a woman with curves like that, but you’re going to have to, Hendric.”

  “I am plenty capable of that, my lord.” Hendric resisted the urge to scowl at him. The king deserved respect, even if he should stop butting into other people’s private lives.

  They had reached the council room just then. Thonis, who was head of the communications network in Byrelmore, waited for them. He was even younger than Indulf but had more than proven himself capable of his position. With a nod to Hendric and a half-bow to Indulf, he relayed the news that had brought the king back to Byrelmore earlier than he had planned.

  “We have lost all contact with our informants in the Exiled Lands. At least three of them were dead and there is no news on the rest of them.”

  If Hendric didn’t know Indulf as well as he did, he never would have seen his face twitch, showing the fear that lingered beneath the surface. “The dead ones?”

  “Are the ones that were assigned to watch the exiled prince.”

  Indulf’s eyes closed, and his hands clenched. Hendric watched him, sympathy tugging at his heart. It had only been two centuries since Warmund, Indulf’s oldest child, had rebelled against him. He’d been exiled for the crime, but Indulf had made sure to keep people around him even in exile, to report back on his actions and protect him if necessary.

  The love of a father was hard to understand. Hendric, having a boy only nine centuries himself, knew how he’d do anything for his boy. It must be killing Indulf to not be able to give his son unconditional forgiveness. But when it came to being king, the kingdom had to come over his own wishes, and Warmund had rebelled.

  “It’s been a while since I took a field mission,” Hendric said. “I will go find out what’s happening myself.”

  “I’m supposed to send the head of my security after a breach in the spy network?” Indulf opened his eyes again to glare at Hendric. “What justification can I give for that? You haven’t even had this position for a century. If you go on this mission and get killed, who is going to replace you?”