He remembered growing up as a kid in a dragon clan, son of a nightclub tycoon who was regularly out of town, left with his mother who had dreamed of much greater things and regularly got sad and distracted by trying to live another life in her head. She had praised her only son, Carter, but she had never truly known him. She had pushed him aside, given him money, letting him live his own life, but her nurturing nature had always been absent, and for this reason, Carter had learned to take care of himself and become the Alpha his family needed.

  His father may have been a protector too, but he was gone far too often, away making deals, buying properties and opening nightclubs. Carter had learned a lot from him and was grateful, but he also knew that if he ever had a family of his own, he would be there for them, and not fade into the background like his own parents had done.

  He ran his hand back through his hair and looked down at the dancefloor which was already filling up even though it was still only early.

  Eleven pm. Not even the witching hour, and his place was bouncing. He smiled and reached for the crystal tumbler on his desk and took a sip of neat vodka. He smiled.

  His inner dragon was happy, and he knew that even if he decided to head home soon, the night was going to be a roaring success.

  There was a knock on the door behind him, and as he turned around, it opened, and Victor stepped inside.

  “Hey.” He smiled as he reached for the bottle of vodka and another crystal tumbler. “What are the numbers looking like on the door? From where I’m standing, things are looking pretty good.”

  He handed Victor the glass and they chinked them together.

  “Going well so far,” Victor confirmed. “Looks like your birthday is going to be one hell of a night.”

  Carter heard the words and wanted to throttle him.

  He had hoped with everything in his entire being that his cousin hadn’t remembered it was his birthday and that wasn’t part of the reason he had planned such a huge night at the club… but it looked as if he was wrong.

  Victor was so crafty. He had lured Carter there under the pretense of seeing the club thrive and of how they could do more nights like these where local colleges were targeted.

  “You know how I feel about birthdays,” Carter smirked. “Hell, you know what I think about being down here at the club when it’s open at all…” He sighed and took another sip of his drink.

  Victor smirked back at him and raised his eyebrows.

  “You don’t want to grow old before your time, C-Man,” he winked. “How can an Alpha dragon like you spend so much time locked away in that mountain-top mansion? Surely, you must crave a bit more excitement?”

  Carter sipped the neat vodka again and enjoyed the way it cooled him inside. He was so full of heat and fire, it was soothing, like sucking on ice.

  “I’d say our lives are pretty exciting,” he laughed. “But I suppose one night won’t hurt… just to keep you happy.”

  Victor slapped his hands together and grinned, then he crossed the room to his cousin, wrapped his arm around his suited shoulder. Turning him back around to face the window, they could look out at their empire.

  “All of this is ours now,” Victor said. “We’ve made it what it is today. We should be celebrating, and with it being your birthday… Well, it’s just double the excuse.”

  Carter nodded his head and smiled. His cousin was right; he had spent a lot of time isolated at the top of the mountain. But the truth was, with a secret such as his and the rest of his family’s, he felt more comfortable staying out of the way. The last thing he wanted was to be discovered for his magic and power. For one night, he should be able to relax a little. He took another drink, draining the glass.

  “I’ll stay until 1am,” he said. “Then I’m getting the hell out of here and back up the mountain.”

  “Okay,” Victor said, holding up his hands in surrender. “That is unless you’re having such a good time that you don’t want the night to end.”

  He winked, and Carter shook his head and laughed. He loved his cousin; he was his best friend and a total pain in his ass, but he loved him all the same.

  “Come on then,” Carter said, finally giving in to his fate. “Let’s get downstairs and see what this night is all about.”

  “Sure thing,” Victor grinned as he opened the door to the office and stepped back to let Carter exit. “There’s a VIP booth waiting with your name on it.”

  Carter cringed and rubbed his hand down his face, wishing he could just run home now and be done with it.

  “You really know how to make me squirm, don’t you?” he said.

  “I’ve made a career out of it,” Victor winked.

  When they reached the bottom floor of the club, they walked around and surveyed each bar, checked the total number of admissions at the door, and grabbed themselves a drink. Then Victor led the way as they walked back up to the second floor and headed into one of the VIP booths. It had a private area and open balcony with an awesome view over the dancefloor and DJ box below.

  The rest of his dragon pack was waiting in the wings, ready to jump out and uncork bottles of champagne, and as Carter was ambushed and welcomed with the sound of cheering and roars, he finally let himself ease into the night and vowed to let himself have a good time.

  “Happy Birthday!” his friends all called as they chinked glasses together and held out a glass of champagne to Carter and made him down it in one.

  Carter smashed it back, smiling at his peers and shaking his head. They had all done good, he had to admit. It may have been an unwelcomed surprise at first, but he was already having a good time.

  Waitresses came into the VIP area and circled the table with trays of flaming shots, and the dragons all roared and clapped their hands together.

  He loved all the people who had come out to support him and Victor with the club, and to celebrate his birthday. Some of the clan were his blood relatives but all of them were family. They had grown up together; they were a strong brotherhood. Their fathers had been friends, and their fathers before that. Their ancestors had begun a legacy, been the first dragon shifters to come to Lone Reach, and they had been the wealthiest for miles around. Carter knew he was at the top of his game, but he still liked to play it safe and be humble. Flashing around in the club he owned with his cousin was completely out of character, but the more he looked around, the more he could see how much his pack needed it. They hadn’t had it easy over the past few months, and tensions were beginning to resurface from a terrible accident that had happened many years before. The bad feeling was in the air and threatened to consume them all.

  “Okay!” Carter said as he rose to his feet and called for their attention. The pack hushed their voices and looked to their alpha.

  “I want you to let your hair down tonight and have a good time,” Carter began. “I know it hasn’t been easy the past few months. A lot has been going on around town, and with the bikers going into business with some of the other packs of Lone Reach, we need to stick together more than ever.”

  There was a rumble of agreement around the table as his brothers nodded and discussed it between themselves.

  “We know our dragon family has always been genuine and true, and our good hearts will continue to prevail. Keep strong, my brothers. But tonight, we will enjoy ourselves and stay up until dawn!”

  The men around the table all whooped and cheered, and Carter felt like he was leading them into battle, not psyching them up to have a good time. He laughed and slumped down onto one of the couches, as his friends and Victor patted him on the back and passed him another drink.

  “How’s that for rolling with it?” he asked Victor.

  “I think you’re making a wonderful start,” Victor teased.

  Carter shook his head and sipped his drink… And then, he looked over the balcony, down onto the dance floor, his eyes being drawn to a certain spot as if he had been entranced or had a spell cast on him…

  It was as if time began to slow down.

  His pulse quickened.

  The crowd seemed to part, the lights seemed to shine just right, and the music, in that split second, seemed to slow and play only for him.

  The girl… In the center of the room, dancing with her eyes closed, holding her purse in one hand and a drink in the other. The way her hips swayed and the way her legs looked in her leggings… In an instant, it made the rest of the world fall away, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  He felt his jaw sag open and his heart jump in his chest. He felt his palms get sweaty, and the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He swallowed and rose to his feet slowly, not once taking his eyes from her, as he moved to the railing of the balcony and looked down at her from his vantage point.

  Man, she was beautiful. Like nothing he had ever seen before.

  Her lips looked juicy and shiny, her button nose so perfect on her face, and the way her hair curled was as if she had been styled by an angel; like a cherub from a renaissance painting, but dressed so sexy and wild, it was a complete juxtaposition.

  He realized he hadn’t taken a breath, so he sucked in a lungful of air, before raising his glass to his lips and sipping again ‒ not once moving his eyes away from her ‒ as he watched her dancing with her friend.

  The dragon inside him was stirring.

  He had never reacted to another person this way. This girl, she was enchanting. She was awe-inspiring. Even from all the way up there on the balcony, as he looked down on her, and he hadn’t even caught a whiff of her scent.

  He clenched his teeth and rolled out his shoulders.

  “What are you doing, Carter?” he whispered to himself. “Getting all caught up in the moment, when you don’t even want to truly be here…”

  Maybe he really had been locked away and self-isolated for too long. He couldn’t make sense of what was happening to him. He couldn’t stop staring at her, and she didn’t even know he existed.

  He gripped his bottom lip with his top teeth, put down his glass and clenched the railing with both hands. His shoulders were broad and wide; he could feel the power coursing through him, and he couldn’t not look at her. She looked exquisite, like something out of a movie… And for a moment, his mind flitted back to the way he had watched his mother, each time she preened herself before heading out and left him alone.

  He had always told himself that all women were the same. They had never wanted to truly know him. They ran to him for things they wanted, to parade him around or to use him for his money. And for that reason, he had vowed never to date again.

  This girl on the dancefloor, capturing his attention, she may have been stunningly beautiful, but no doubt, she was trouble. He had to tear himself away.

  He went to let go of the railings, but just before his hands dropped so he could move away, she broke out of her dancing trance and her eyes opened.

  They opened and fixed instantly on him… s if he had spoken to her… As if he had willed her to find him.

  Carter’s mouth sagged open slightly again, and when he looked into her eyes, even from all the way up there, he felt something within him click into place. Something that made sense; but it also frightened him. Her eyes were wide, and with the lights reflected in them, they turned the natural azure blue to green, then pink and then purple.

  And she opened her mouth and smiled, showing her perfectly straight teeth.

  She was more stunning than he ever could have imagined. Her eyes were exotic, enchanting, and making his bones shake.

  He wanted to smile back, his whole body was screaming for him to respond, but his inner voice was screaming at him to run. He had to be careful. He didn’t want to fall in love with someone… He didn’t even want a fling.

  He swallowed and a small smile escaped through his lips, before he stepped back and tried to regain his composure. She still stared up at him, and he stared back at her… but he found his strength and cocked his head to the side, before he turned his back and walked away from the railing.

  He sat back down on the couch, and his brotherhood all gathered around him with more bottles of champagne, filling up empty crystal flutes until they bubbled over and the sweet liquid cascaded down the sides.

  His heart was racing, and he was short of breath. Her image lingered in his brain, deep and cemented. He could almost taste her on his lips.

  What a night this was turning out to be. And to think, he had only thought he was coming in to work…

  4.

  Aubrey and Mia stood by the bar on the first floor of The Dragon Pit and ordered another cocktail. They had been inside not even half an hour, and already, something strange had happened.

  Aubrey sipped her drink through a straw and tried to forget the man she had locked eyes with from the balcony. He was intense and dark looking, dressed sharply and looking incredibly sexy in a suit. Something that was a rare sight in this little town. It had been so weird the way they had locked eyes. How she had been dancing and could feel someone watching her. When she had opened to look, her eyes had fixed immediately on him, even though he was high up on another floor of the building, looking down at her from over a balcony.

  She hadn’t been able to resist smiling. He had captured her imagination and attention… And she had felt something. But she didn’t know what.

  She sipped her drink and tried to push the sense of curiosity away. Her eyes kept traveling back up to the balcony, hoping to catch sight of him again, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  “You’ve gone quiet…,” Mia said suddenly as she leaned in and spoke over the throb of the music. “What’s up?”

  Aubrey pulled her eyes away from the balcony and shrugged.

  “Nothing,” she smiled. “I was just looking around.”

  Mia eyed her suspiciously and smirked before taking a sip of her drink.

  “Someone caught your eye?” she asked, as if she were reading Aubrey’s mind.

  Aubrey looked at her and rolled her eyes. How was it that Mia could figure her out so quickly? It only ever seemed to take a split second, and she was reading her thoughts.

  “Of course not,” Aubrey brushed it off. “You know I don’t have time for things like that.”

  Mia grinned and moved in a little closer.

  “Everyone has time for something like that,” she said. “And let’s be honest, if anyone needs some loving, it’s you.”

  Mia tickled her playfully on the side, and Aubrey swatted her hand away and laughed.

  “I’m good, thanks,” she said. “But I’ll bear it in mind that I’ve been earmarked for love by the one and only oracle, Mia.”

  Mia sipped her drink and looked around.

  “There’re tons of hot guys in here,” she said. “We should be out there on the dancefloor, shaking our stuff and seeing what this town is all about. Now that we have new businesses popping up all over the place, we’re finally beginning to see some footfall.”

  Aubrey couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Mia, we know what this town is all about,” she said. “We’ve lived here our whole lives, and trust me, just because there may be a few new faces doesn’t mean they’re not still going to be the same.”

  Mia scrunched her lips into a pout and pretended to be upset.

  “But if you want me to wing woman you, then I’ll do my very best,” she smirked.

  Mia seemed to think for a moment before she picked up her purse and took hold of Aubrey’s forearm.

  “I don’t need to be on the hunt,” she said. “But come on, let’s at least go to a different side of this club and see what hotties are waiting in the shadows.” She raised her eyebrow, and the two girls began to walk through the crowds.

  It was hot in there, and the further into the compact mass of bodies they found themselves, the more Aubrey began to wish she could just call it a night and go home. She had been so ready to give this night her all, for Mia’s sake. She wanted to cheer her friend up and help her get her groove back. But now that they were inside The Dragon Pit, she realized why she didn’t come into nightclubs very often. It was too hot, too sweaty, and everyone seemed wasted.

  Mia began to climb a set of stairs, and although Aubrey followed her, her heart began to race a little and she felt a tingle of nerves race through her.

  Her mind went back to the man on the balcony. To the way he had watched her; of how handsome he was; of the way she had felt him watching her, and of the way her eyes had fixed on his from the moment she opened them.

  It was such a strange feeling. It had been a powerful experience, and then, he had walked away. She had been trying to ignore it and just enjoy herself, but the more time she spent in the club, and especially now, with them climbing the stairs to the second floor, she could feel him all over again… As if getting closer to him physically was somehow affecting her heart and her head.

  Mia stopped at the top of the stairs and looked around, and within a couple of seconds, she turned to Aubrey and rolled her eyes and frowned.

  “VIP only,” she mouthed. “Booths and areas cordoned off… you must have to book it to be up here.”

  Aubrey could see there was an open bar at the very far end of the room, but the rest of the floor was indeed roped off into sections, and no one seemed to be up there apart from the crowds gathered around their own prospective tables and areas.

  “Hey girls!” a voice cut through the music and made them both turn around.

  Aubrey felt a twinge of excitement, and she saw Mia’s eyes light up as two men came walking slowly past them from the stairs behind, as if they had been downstairs and were heading back to their table.