The Dragon's Choice (Tahoe Dragon Mates Book 1) Read online

  The Dragon's Choice

  Tahoe Dragon Mates #1

  Jessie Donovan

  Mythical Lake Press, LLC

  Contents

  Tahoe Dragon Mates Series

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  The Dragon’s Need

  Sacrificed to the Dragon

  Author’s Note

  Also by Jessie Donovan

  About the Author

  Copyright

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  Books in this series:

  Tahoe Dragon Mates

  The Dragon’s Choice (TDM #1)

  The Dragon’s Need / Gaby & Ryan (TDM #2 / March 26, 2020)

  The Dragon’s Bidder / Wes & Ashley (TDM #3 / Summer 2020)

  The Dragon's Choice Synopsis

  After Jose Santos's younger sister secretly enters them both into the yearly dragon lottery and they get selected, he begrudgingly agrees to participate. It means picking a human female from a giant room full of them and staying around just long enough to get her pregnant. However, when his dragon notices one female who keeps hiding behind a book, Jose has a new plan—win his fated mate, no matter what it takes.

  Victoria Lewis prefers being home with a book and away from large crowds. But she desperately wants to study dragon-shifters at close range, so she musters up her courage to enter the dragon lottery. When she's selected as one of the potential candidates, she decides to accept her spot. After all, it's not as if the dragon-shifter will pick her—an introverted bookworm who prefers jeans and sweats to skirts or fancy clothes. Well, until he's standing right in front of her with flashing eyes and says he wants her.

  As Jose tries to win his fated female, trouble stirs inside his clan. Will he be able to keep his mate with him forever? Or will the American Department of Dragon Affairs whisk her away to some other clan to protect her?

  NOTE: This is a quick, steamy standalone story about fated mates and sexy dragon-shifters near Lake Tahoe in the USA. You don't have to read all my other dragon books to enjoy this one!

  Chapter One

  Jose Santos waited inside a small room, one adjacent to the ballroom of the human hotel, and resisted the urge to run.

  He'd never understood why people wanted to live cheek and jowl among thousands, with concrete and pavement covering the ground and banishing most of nature. Despite having worked with the humans in the US Forest Service for over a decade, he still barely understood them.

  And yet here he was, inside a hotel in South Lake Tahoe, about ready to pick a human female at random to hopefully impregnate and increase his kind.

  His inner dragon—the second personality inside his head—spoke up. Remember, you can't fuck this up today or you'll dash Gaby's dreams.

  Ah, yes. Gabriela, the little sister who had entered them both into the yearly lottery, one she couldn't enter herself since it had to be all the unmated siblings in a family or nothing. Considering she didn't ask my permission, I'm being pretty fucking generous just being here.

  You had the chance to back out last month, but you didn't. And we both know why.

  Damn dragon, knowing too much.

  Every dragon-shifter lived to find their true mate, the one that stirred their inner beast and kicked off a mate-claim frenzy when kissed.

  However, despite the millions of visitors that came to the greater Lake Tahoe area every year, Jose had never so much as glimpsed at a female who urged him to do more than growl and tell them to leave him the hell alone.

  He had no tolerance for the dragon groupies that came to the lake to try to find a dragon-shifter to kiss or fuck. Entire tourist companies had grown around such a goal. He was surprised the human government hadn't stepped in to intervene, especially since, in recent years, it'd forced most of the dragon clans in the area to keep more and more to themselves to avoid the hassle.

  Not that dealing with the groupies was his problem to solve. Jose only wanted the chance to spot his true mate, and this lottery gave him a chance to really look at a group of humans without having to run and avoid females throwing themselves at him.

  His inner dragon snorted. That one who jumped off a boat, to try and land on us as we floated in the lake, deserved some points for originality.

  No, it was pure stupidity. She couldn't swim, and we had to save her. And we're not the only ones who've had to dodge them like bullets.

  His beast huffed. Well, you can't complain too much about today, then. The rules won't allow the females to run or jump on us.

  Which is the only reason I'm here.

  True, while the chances of her being inside the next room were slim to say the least, it was worth the time to look, even if his true mate ended up being human, which wasn't his first choice.

  And even if she wasn't here, then he should at least get a few fun fucks out of it—ones where he controlled the situation—so it wasn't a complete loss.

  An employee from the American Department of Dragon Affairs—or ADDA—barged into the room. Even though the female was short and would probably blow over if Jose breathed too hard, she stood tall and didn't wither at his hard expression. Good thing, too, as these lotteries tended to work better when the humans in charge weren't afraid.

  He'd met her once before and knew her name was Ashley Swift. The human motioned with her hand. "Come on. It's time to get this thing started."

  Not moving, Jose asked, "How many are there?"

  "About two hundred or so candidates passed the interviews and tests this time."

  Two hundred lucky ones, at least according to the humans. Every few years, they held these lotteries in South Lake Tahoe for the surrounding dragon clans, and every time thousands entered. Not all dragon clans in the US were as open to mating or reproducing with humans, but the four Tahoe area clans preferred survival over purity.

  Jose rolled his shoulders. "All right, let's do this."

  Ashley raised her brows. "You remember the rules, right?"

  He sighed. "Of course I do. She has to come willingly, and no kissing until she signs the paperwork. All pretty fucking romantic, isn't it?"

  Ashley didn't blink an eye. "Getting her to be willing may be hard for you, Mr. Santos, if you don't at least try to be less intimidating."

  He eyed the slip of a woman and leaned close. "Are you sure you don't want to enter?"

  She rolled her eyes. "My fiancé would definitely have a word or two to say about that suggestion."

  Damn, of course the one human female who didn't treat him like some god would already belong to another. Now if he could just find one like her but unattached, he might actually not dread this.

  His dragon murmured, Plenty exist. Our cousin's friend mated one.

  Yes, but that was in Canada where dragons and humans have much longer histories of understanding and cooperation than in the US.

  Ashley turned toward the door. "It's now or never, Mr. Santos. This is the last chance to back out, but it will pull your sister out, too, and disqualify your clan from entering for five years."

  Which would mean Gaby wouldn't have her stupid fantasy come true next month.

  Jose may be cynical, but he loved his younger sister. So he took a step toward the door, kicking the ADDA employee into motion, and they both entered the ballroom. />
  The human females were seated in rows, with barely enough space for him to walk down each one without kicking either a chair or someone's legs. Two hundred didn't sound like a lot given more than that stayed in just this one hotel. But with them all lined up, it was an endless sea of faces.

  How the hell was he supposed to pick one of them?

  His dragon growled. Stop coming up with excuses. I'm sure one of them will stand out from the rest.

  The ADDA employee stood behind the podium with a microphone and spoke up. "Hello, and welcome to the Lake Tahoe dragon lottery. This year's dragonman is Jose Santos of Clan PineRock. He'll soon roam the room and pick one lucky woman to whisk away to a private cabin and, well, get to business. If for any reason, you wish to drop out, this is your last opportunity to do so. If you back out after you've been chosen, then you'll be banned from entering any other lotteries. And not just in Tahoe, but in the entire country. I'll pause here for those who wish to leave."

  Ashley waited for about thirty seconds, but none of the females rose and walked out.

  Well, at least they were committed, he had to give them that.

  Of course, as many of them eyed him like a piece of candy, ready to be licked, it could just be that they found him sexy, like a walking fantasy.

  His dragon snorted. Was there any doubt about that?

  And people thought Jose's human half was the arrogant one.

  Ashely continued once more, preventing Jose from replying to his dragon. "Good, then it seems we have the right bunch for this year. To help things run smoothly, please remain seated where you are and remain silent unless you're asked a question. You can raise your hand to have an ADDA employee come to you, in case of an emergency." She swept a gaze across the room that made even Jose's dragon take notice. "If someone breaks the rules, they'll be disqualified. No exceptions." She gestured toward Jose. "You may begin."

  It was on the tip of his tongue to make a sarcastic quip, but he resisted. Ashley was just doing her job, and he was here voluntarily. Just because most humans annoyed him didn't mean he had to make a decent one's life difficult.

  As Jose walked down one row and then the others, he noted females of all shapes, sizes, and ethnicities, all pretty in their own way. But it soon became a blur of faces. None of them stood out above the rest, screaming for him to talk with them.

  He said to his inner beast, How the hell do I pick one?

  Even if you're only half-heartedly looking, I'm being more thorough. If our true mate is here, I'll find her.

  Before he could reply, he noticed a dark-haired female at the very back, a book in front of her face, hiding everything but the crown of her head from view. He stared a second, she peeked over the top to study him, revealing dark eyes before ducking back behind the book.

  Her strange behavior made him pause a second and study her more.

  Even from thirty feet away he could read the title of the book in front of her face: Revealing the Dragons: The Day-to-Day Lives of a British Dragon-Shifter Clan.

  It was the famous book about dragon-shifters, the one written a couple years ago by a human female in the UK mated to a dragonman.

  Jose had to admit he didn't think anyone would've bothered to study his kind before the lottery since they didn't need to try to win him to get into his pants.

  He watched as the female stole a glimpse of him again, her dark brows coming together as if trying to assess something, and then returned her eyes to the book.

  Okay, his curiosity was piqued.

  While he was supposed to go down the rows in order, he ignored the suggested route and made his way toward the female with the book.

  Only when he was right in front of her did she finally gasp and lower the book, revealing her beautiful face. The O shape of her mouth made one side of his own tick up.

  Before he could notice more than her dark hair and brown eyes, let alone say anything, his dragon roared. That's her.

  Victoria Lewis knew she should keep her beloved book in the backpack under her chair and try to look sexy to attract the dragonman's notice.

  Hell, every woman around her was doing that, some even wearing tops that were little more than bras and skirts that would no doubt show the edges of their asses if they bent over a little.

  She resisted looking down at her own outfit. Victoria had worn a simple stretchy bright green V-neck shirt, a color everyone said looked good on her, and jeans. No makeup, no flashy earrings, nothing. She was just herself. Well, mostly. She preferred sweats to jeans, but being close to a dragon-shifter for the first time required a teensy bit of effort.

  Not that she expected to be chosen. Victoria was here to sate her curiosity, end of story. The dragonman toward the front of the room was the closest she'd ever gotten to one. Sure, she could've tried joining one of those tours or finding one of the rumored bars where dragon-shifters sometimes hung out.

  However, the thought of going into a bar and trying to talk with strangers made her want to run in the opposite direction.

  No, the only way for an introvert like her to ever see a dragon-shifter up close like this was at one of these lotteries.

  Entering alone had taken her several hours of mustering courage before she could hit Send. And even being accepted had almost made her decline and forget about it.

  But then she remembered that if two hundred women gathered into a room, all vying to be the one to win sex with a dragon-shifter, it was highly unlikely the dragon-shifter would pick her.

  Oh, Victoria liked herself and didn't really care about how she preferred books to people most of the time, or that her job entailed her working from home on her computer and she could lounge in yoga pants all day.

  But dragon-shifters at these lotteries tended to want outgoing women who radiated experience.

  Virgin she may not be, but she could count the number of guys on her hand and still not use all the fingers.

  So out the book had come, and she'd been checking it against what she saw in person, not wanting to waste a second of this rare opportunity.

  Tattoo on one of his biceps? Check. Although his was in a stylized form of a dragon, much different than the more jagged, patterned version of the British dragon examples in the book.

  After checking the section on tattoos, she looked up again to see if his pupils flashed. When they didn't, back to the book she went.

  Ah, they only flashed when the inner dragon talked to their human halves. Maybe the dragon was being quiet.

  Just as she finished reading that, she glanced up and gasped.

  Somehow, the dragonman had appeared right in front of her without her noticing. And if seeing his sexy, muscled form wasn't a big enough shock, his pupils flashed to slits and back.

  Up close, it was fascinating and a teeny bit terrifying.

  The dragonman grunted. "You. I want you."

  She blinked. "M-Me?"

  The ADDA employee stood next to him and raised her brows. "Are you backing out?"

  For the briefest of seconds, Victoria considered it. The selected woman was to be whisked off to have lots and lots of sex with the dragonman, until she finally conceived his child.

  And then, once the baby was born, she could either stay with the dragons or go back to her old life.

  Could she do all of that, considering she'd never imagined she'd be chosen? Meaning she'd never mentally prepared to live with a large group of strangers.

  The thought of strangers should make her sweat and it harder to breathe. But somewhere in her mind, she remembered they would all be dragon-shifters, meaning she would have so many to watch and study.

  The dragonman put out his hand. "Come with me."

  His voice cut through her musings and she gazed into his dark brown eyes. Something about them, including the flashing pupils, reminded her that she'd always dreamed of a situation like this. And for once, she wasn't going to let her shyness steal an adventure from her.

  If nothing else, the coming months would give her eno
ugh adventure for a lifetime. Then she could go back to her books and daydreaming about fantasy worlds and characters without regret.

  As if someone else were controlling her body, Victoria snatched up her backpack and placed one hand in his. The warmth of his hands alone made her belly flutter. What would happen when he finally touched her naked body?

  Trying not to blush, she was about to get up when he easily tugged her to her feet, the force enough to make her bump against his front.

  His hard, hot front.

  Trying not to gulp, she met his gaze again, only to find his pupils flashing rapidly, much quicker than before. She itched to consult the book again and see if it said what the action meant.

  Then she remembered how if she went with him, she could ask as many questions as she liked. That gave her confidence a small kick.

  He tugged her toward the rear exit. Victoria was vaguely aware of the ADDA employee following as someone began speaking up front.

  However, Victoria didn't hear a word above her pounding heart. His grip was firm and slightly rough, and simply the feel of his skin against hers was one of the most erotic things of her life.

  She couldn't imagine what he'd do with those hands if she signed the paperwork. He'd strip her clothes, stroke her body, and maybe even make her orgasm with just his fingers.

  And while all of that made her skin hot and clothes feel too tight, still her brain wouldn't let go of the fact she was the one going with him. He'd picked her. Out of everyone else in the room.

  Maybe she should stay quiet, but she blurted, "Why me?"

  The dragon-shifter's dark brown eyes met hers and he stated, "Because you intrigue me."