Mated to the Ocean Dragon (Elemental Mates 3)

Blue eyes... Eyes just like Timothy’s. Was that where this weird feeling came from? He reminded her of her game?

No. That was silly. At least she hadn’t blurted out that thought yet—if the dragons hadn’t done it, that surely would’ve sent him running.

“That sounds fun,” Timothy said to her utter surprise.

He was grinning at her, his eyes alight with that weird, blue light again.

“Why dragons? I love dragons myself. I didn’t know there were games about them—I’ll have to check it out.”

“Really?” she said, shocked. Then she found herself blushing. “I mean—you should! It’s a lot of fun. If that sort of game is your thing.”

Shut up, shut up, shut up, she told herself. You’re so embarrassing! Can’t you say something suave, or sexy? Who talks about dragons on a first date?

“I love the ocean,” he said, giving her that easy, heart-stopping smile again. “Good choice for a dragon. If I had to design a dragon, that’s what I would have gone for myself. Maybe I should look into investing in dragon games?”

Was she just imagining that, or was he still flirting? Guys like him usually just gave her a pitying look as soon as she started about the game...

“I fear it’s too late for that,” she said glumly. “It was one of those hot startups. Our boss and founder sold it to one of the big gaming companies last year. Now he’s a few millions richer and still gets to hang around in senior management. Meanwhile, our new overlords want us to make a ton more money, instead of giving the kids the fun updates they keep asking for.”

You’re still being boring, she thought with a grimace. Oh well, better he knows what he’s in for with me.

Timothy snorted. “They usually do, in my experience. Which is why I’m so grateful for the good work your sister’s been doing for me. I like startups. I like people with visions and bright ideas. But when you’re faced with a board of shareholders who only think of their quarterly profit margins, and who don’t see that they’re squeezing a promising company dry...”

“You’re the one who bought that new tech company,” Liana breathed when several pieces finally clicked into place in her brain. “The one that had her busy for almost a year—something about, uh. Water energy?”

“Tidal energy,” Timothy said, leaning forward to speak over the low throb of music.

His eyes were gleaming even more brightly, and he looked genuinely excited—as excited as she’d felt when she’d first seen their designer’s sketches of the new Ocean Dragon.

“It’s a technology that’s been around for quite a while, but that little startup has ideas that might revolutionize the percentage of energy we get out of it. The big oil companies aren’t very fond of that idea, of course, and I suspect that they’ve been paying some of the shareholders to sabotage our meetings. Anyway, thanks to your sister, I now own all the shares. And I don’t care about profit—this is the sort of thing that won’t be profitable for ten, twenty years. But it’s important. It’ll protect our oceans, too. It’s energy that won’t pollute our water.”

An extremely rich investments type of guy with a conscience and the body of an ancient warrior. This is really too good to be true. I’m going to wake up any minute now.

The people on the dance floor were just a blur in the flickering light. But Timothy was close enough that she could make out every detail of that handsome face: the strong jaw, the hint of dark stubble, the black hair that was just long enough to curl a little—and those incredible eyes shining mysteriously blue, like sunlight hitting the ocean.

“Sorry.” He gave her a chagrined look. “I get carried away when I’m in love with an idea. I promise I’m not usually that boring. Do you want to dance some more?”

“That wasn’t boring at all—that was fascinating,” she said, barely daring to believe that he hadn’t been turned off by her blathering on and on about her dragons. “Oh—and I’d love that,” she added belatedly, beaming at him.

It didn’t even matter that he was the sexiest guy in this entire club. He was just so charming and genuinely fun to talk to that it suddenly seemed like a terrible waste to spend the night worrying if she’d managed to chase him away.

He was here, and he wanted to spend time with her—so for once in her life she’d tell her brain to shut up. She was going to enjoy this for as long as it lasted, and that was that.

Chapter Four: Timothy

It was close to 4 a.m. when they came out of the club. Timothy’s driver was waiting for them already, and they both pretended that they didn’t see Clairice’s grin and thumbs-up gesture.

Hurriedly, Liana scooted into the limousine, then breathed a sigh of relief when Timothy closed the door after them.

“Let’s drive you home first,” he murmured, unable to tear his eyes away from her.

He’d known that she was his mate from the moment he’d first seen her. She was gorgeous, with a sensitive mouth, hazel eyes framed by long lashes, and soft curves that made him ache to run his hands all over her luscious body. She wore her hair in tiny braids held up in a bun, and in the flickering, artificial light of the club, her smooth skin had glowed in tones of lustrous amber and warm russet.

And she had to feel it, too. The dragon she’d described, the dragon they had designed for her game, had sounded exactly like Timothy when he’d shifted into his dragon.

As the dragon of water, his dragon’s body was covered all over with blue-green scales, so that when he moved, it looked like the rippling of waves spreading across a lake.

He’d been born with the power over the element of water, which made him one of the three most powerful dragons in the world. Also, like every other mythological shifter, he was invisible to humans when he shifted into his dragon.