Hiya! I’m here as Holly today 😊 I have a new story out, The Dragon’s Prisoner 🥳 And you might have guessed it already, but we’re going back to Dragon Row!
Doing the Dragon Row stories is always fun. I love stepping into this world where a group of exiled dragons are living among humans. They don’t like humans much, most often they talk about eating them (and I told my editor that if I ever write Major the Maneater’s story, he almost has to eat someone). What they do like is gold and gemstones in true dragon fashion.
This is the third story in the Dragon Row series, but they do not need to be read in order. Some of the supporting characters show up in all stories, but not to the extent that you need to know them.
The other Dragon Row stories are The Book Dragon’s Lair and Mated to the Fire Dragon if you feel like taking a dive into Edge.
I wrote this to celebrate Appreciate a Dragon Day, and it isn’t hard to appreciate a dragon. I mean Saxon the Sinful might be an arse who doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself, but he’s quite magnificent when you look at him LOL
We have Kasper too, who is a simple thief. He wants to be free of his boss and the boss has agreed to let him go if he does one last job. Kasper has never heard of Edge, and he doesn’t believe in dragons, so why wouldn’t he? It seems like a good idea until he sees Saxon whom he’s going to steal from.
Check it out if you’re in the mood for dragons!
The Dragon’s Prisoner
Stealing from a dragon is bad, getting caught is worse.
Kasper Cobalt is a thief who wants to quit, but his boss forces him to do one last job. He has, of course, heard of dragons, but he isn’t sure he believes in them until he’s standing in front of a guy who breathes smoke and has weird eyes.
Saxon the Sinful is bored out of his mind. Running a jewelry store on Dragon Row should be pleasing. He is, after all, surrounded by gold and gemstones. But he’s also surrounded by humans, and one of them has the audacity to try to steal from him.
After having caught Kasper, Saxon locks him up in his basement. He should kill him, and he might, but first he’ll feed him. He looks hungry. Kasper can’t hang around and play dragon’s prisoner even though Saxon takes great care of him. His boss will kill him if he doesn’t finish the job. Kasper is reluctant to betray Saxon, but a thief and a dragon can never have a happily ever after, can they?
NOTE: The Dragon’s Prisoner takes place on the same street as The Book Dragon’s Lair and Mated to the Fire Dragon but can be read as a standalone story.
Buy links:
Paranormal Gay Romance: 36,967 words
JMS Books :: Amazon :: Books2Read
Excerpt:
Saxon leaned over Kasper, who was kneeling on the floor. His eyes were wide and a scent of fear emanated from him—as it should.
Saxon growled again. He’d flown home, had entered through the tower, and the moment he’d shifted back to his human shape, he’d heard a sound from the shop. He’d hurried down the stairs without a stitch of clothing on, had been greeted by the scent of human, and had found the door into the shop unlocked. He’d locked it before leaving.
The rage made him blow out a tiny flame. He had to be careful not to set the shop on fire. Scales appeared on his arms as he fought the urge to change into a dragon. There was no room for a dragon in here, and he didn’t want to shatter the glass displays.
“I can explain!” Kasper held his hands up in the air, but before he could speak again, Saxon snarled and curled his talons around Kasper’s wrist. He dragged him out of the shop, through the door to his private quarters, and down the basement stairs.
It wasn’t until they started their descent that Kasper tugged at his arm. Saxon snarled in reply and pulled hard enough to make him slip. He crashed into him, his free hand sliding over Saxon’s bare back before he managed to find his balance again.
“Saxon. Please.”
Saxon allowed another blaze of fire to leave him, and for a moment, the staircase was lit. Saxon didn’t need the light, but Kasper gasped, though it could be from the fire rather than being able to see.
He steered them toward the unnatural treasure cave. He could kill him. No one would look for him in Saxon’s basement, and if they did, he’d kill them too. He could eat him. Maybe humans were tasty. He’d never felt the urge before—he didn’t now either, if he was being honest. He was too angry to eat. Some measly human believed he could steal from him, steal from Dragon Row.
He pushed Kasper roughly enough for him to fall. He didn’t care. If he hit his head hard enough to shatter his skull, Saxon didn’t care. Stomping out of the cave, he ran up the stairs to the second floor and grabbed a chair, then he grabbed some rope he had on the third floor before he rushed down into the basement again.
Kasper was standing but hadn’t left the room. Saxon growled, pleased to see him flinch. The way his eyes moved had him suspect humans couldn’t see well in the dark. If he was feeling favorable later, he’d bring down a candle. Right now, he wasn’t feeling favorable.
He grabbed Kasper’s arm, his claws pricking him through the fabric of his shirt, making him hiss. Saxon hissed too and covered him in a cloud of smoke, which made him cough. Then he pushed him down on the chair, cut a suitable length of rope off using his teeth, and tied his hands behind his back. Next, he tied his legs to the legs of the chair, one at a time. And lastly, for good measure, he wound the remaining rope around his middle and the backrest of the chair. He didn’t think he could get out, but Saxon would keep an eye on him.
Tomorrow, he’d bolt the door, so he’d be unable to leave the basement if he got out of the rope while Saxon was in the shop. The thought made him grin. He’d like to see him try to escape.
“What… eh… what will happen now?”
Saxon stilled. He wasn’t sure. He hadn’t planned any further than this.
“Saxon?” Kasper turned his head in his direction, but his gaze didn’t lock on him. Saxon kept quiet, and Kasper took a shuddering breath.
“I… it wasn’t for me.”
Saxon didn’t care. He’d tried to steal from him. He should be burned alive.
“Saxon, please. I understand you’re angry—” Saxon cut him off with a snarl. Whirling around, he headed for the door.
“Wait! Are you leaving me here?” He struggled against the bindings. “What’s down here?” He yanked on the ropes again. “Saxon?”
Saxon kept quiet and watched him jerk and tug without getting anywhere.
“Saxon!” There was a note of panic in his voice, and Saxon tilted his head to the side. What was going on? He hadn’t been this afraid when Saxon had been snarling in his face. Maybe it was a delayed reaction.
“What?”
Kasper stilled. “What’s down here? I don’t do well in small spaces.”
Saxon snorted. It wasn’t a small space. It was his treasure cave, and it was gaping empty. Mostly.
About Holly Day
According to Holly Day, no day should go by uncelebrated and all of them deserve a story. If she’ll have the time to write them remains to be seen. She lives in rural Sweden with a husband, four children, more pets than most, and wouldn’t last a day without coffee.
Holly gets up at the crack of dawn most days of the week to write gay romance stories. She believes in equality in fiction and in real life. Diversity matters. Representation matters. Visibility matters. We can change the world one story at the time.
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Ofelia Grand 