Playing with Fyre (Alien Dragon Shifter Series Book 3)

Playing with Fyre (Alien Dragon Shifters 3)
Copyright © February 2021 by Cara Bristol
All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
eISBN: 978-1-947203-24-2
Editor: Kate Richards
Copy Editor: Nanette Sipe
Cover Artist: Sweet ’n Spicy Designs
Formatting by Wizards in Publishing
Published in the United States of America
Cara Bristol Website: http://carabristol.com
This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.


Table of Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Epilogue
Other Titles by Cara Bristol
Acknowledgements


A forbidden love forged by fyre…
 
Former Secret Service agent Henry Winslow comes to planet Draco to help a friend. He intends to return to Earth, but something about the mysterious woman in bridal white grabs him and won’t let him go. It’s a crazy, futile infatuation. She’s an alien dragoness, a priestess, and possibly literally divine. To pursue her would be playing with fyre…
After a devastating loss, dragon-shifter O’ne seeks vengeance at the temple of the Eternal Fyre. Unexpectedly, she is exalted to priestess and bonded to the sacred flame, transforming her life to one of duty and devotion. Then Henry arrives, and the mostly human man awakens her secret yearnings. To have anything to do with him would be playing with fyre…
Surrendering to temptation and passion, Henry and O’ne are about to discover when they play with fyre they might get burned.
* * * *
Don’t miss the fiery conclusion to the Alien Dragon Shifter series. Playing with Fyre can be read as a standalone, but the series is best read in order: Under Fyre, Line of Fyre, and Playing with Fyre.


  PLAYING WITH FYRE
(Alien Dragon Shifters 3)   Cara Bristol


Prologue
The dragoness watched as the priestess slept. For eons they had moved in sync, two minds sharing one body, united in fyre and duty. Then he arrived.
The human interloper. He tempted the priestess, called to the vestiges of what used to be O’ne. He kindled a yearning. He weakened her.
H’ry. The dragoness snorted and expelled a puff of smoke and ire. That he had fyre mattered not. He was still human in all the worst ways.
O’ne had developed a fondness for the weak creatures of Earth after birthing a half-human child. But then she’d been exalted to priestess of the Eternal Fyre, becoming so powerful the mighty King K’rah quaked in awe. No lowly human male would jeopardize their status. The dragoness would not allow it!
The male showed no fear. No respect. Well, he would. Before he died, he would. With him gone, the priestess would return to her. They would unite in mind and fyre, and they would become more powerful.


Chapter One
The marble palace sprawled below, and Henry braced for the nosedive. His stomach plunged as the donatta swooped and landed outside Prince T’mar’s opulent residence. Before releasing him, she dug in her talons hard enough to make him wince but not so deep as to break the skin and eliminate the possibility it could have been an accident.
His assigned guardian loathed him. Few Draconians had warmed to him, but this one had been ordered to protect him. And, perhaps, to spy on him.
Draconians eyed him with suspicion, and he suspected the donatta reported his comings and goings to King K’rah. As a former CIA operative and member of the Secret Service, he recognized the signs of being under surveillance.
The dragons accepted him on sufferance because he was a friend of Princess Helena. Otherwise, they would have booted him back to Earth. Or fried his ass. Probably the latter.
Snorting smoke, the donatta flew away. He had no way to summon her to return to the human habitat, but he didn’t doubt she would appear at the right time. That she never failed to show up when he needed transportation proved he was being watched.
Henry straightened his clothing and took a drag from an inhaler to clear his lungs. In a rare occurrence, a volcano had erupted yesterday, and the resulting vog was toxic to humans. Draconians loved smoky, ashy air; they lived for it. The sky had been filled with dragons enjoying the Draconian version of a nice day. Had there been more days like this one, a crisis could have been avoided.
Sentries in demiforma, a half-shift between full dragon and man, stepped aside to let him pass through ornate gilded doors into a great hall where an inlay of jewels glittered in the marble floor. Bemusement struck him that he tromped over a fortune in precious stones.
“Henry! I’m so glad you could come.” Helena Marshfield greeted him with a welcoming smile.
“I had to rearrange my schedule, but I’m here,” he said drily. He’d been twiddling his thumbs at the human habitat. With the exception of resentful demiforma servants, he lived alone in a biounit constructed for hundreds. Knocking around the empty rooms of the transparent tubular structure left him bored and edgy.
His surly donatta flew him anywhere he wanted to go, but how many pointless treks