Free Her Dragon Billionaire by Lizzie Lynn Lee Page B

once.
    “What did you find, boy?”
    “Woof!”
    Great. Just the last thing he needed. A corpse. The main river must have been flooded from the rain and dragged this unwanted problem right onto his property. He would need to call the authorities and the prospect of the police, coroners, and the press trampling around in his private sanctuary darkened his mood. He liked his privacy. His quiet and orderly life. His Zen. He had enough of living under the spotlight when he still ran his company. Being the youngest self-made billionaire had made the media hunger for him and scrutinize his every move. If a reporter got a whiff that he had found a dead body on his property, the vulture-like paparazzi, gossip tabloids, and TV pundits would make a circus out of it.
    Liam half-heartedly trudged to Hades’ discovery. He surveyed the ground, looking for any sign that someone had purposely trespassed on his land and dumped a dead body near his house. But there were no signs of tracks. Of course, the rain could have easily erased them. He studied closer. From the look of it, the corpse seemed to have been dragged by the flood.
    Liam narrowed his eyes, studying the body through the mud that covered it all over. It appeared to be female, wearing what was once a white blouse and a dark skirt. Seemed to be young as well, she couldn’t be older than thirty. Twigs and leaves were tangled in her hair. She sprawled with her arms caught in a jumble of cattail bog plants. A bullet wound was visible in her right temple. Judging from her condition, she had been killed recently. No sign of decomposition at all.
    Great. A murder victim.
    He took his cell phone out and was about to dial 9-1-1 when he caught a faint sigh. A breath. A dying breath even. Liam was perplexed. No way. How could she even be alive with such trauma?
    Hurriedly, Liam pocketed his phone away. He plunged into the waist-high water to check the pulse on her neck. Her body was cold but the pulse was there. Barely. He had to call the ambulance so she could receive medical aide. He cleared her face from clumps of muck-covered hair. His heart sank. If a human soul was tethered to its body like a balloon, the string anchoring this woman to the physical vessel was about to disconnect permanently. He wasn’t trained in the medical field, but even he could see this woman didn’t have much time left. By the time the paramedics came for her, she probably would be dead already.
    Unless he did something about it.
    His grandfather once said a dragon shifter was also granted the ability to give life. The rite of blood magic. In the old days, blood magic was used by dragons who claimed a human mate to prolong their life. Dragons lived twice as long as the human lifespan. Once a dragon mated, they were bound forever. Blood magic was used so a bonded pair could enjoy life until its very end.
    But Liam had never had the chance to initiate blood magic. He had claimed a mate a few years ago: Natalie Bairn, also a dragoness from the House of Bairn. Thinking that they were both dragon, he felt no need to initiate the ritual of blood magic. He married his own kind; a vow of bond should have been good enough. But it turned out the bond was a joke. The marriage didn’t last. Natalie cheated on him with his best friend. Liam got divorced at the same time he decided to withdraw from the world.
    If he initiated the blood magic, he could save this woman’s life.
    Problem was, she wasn’t his mate. How he was going to tell her the truth when she woke up from her injuries, good as new? Human didn’t believe that dragons existed, and his kin had never been inclined to prove the thousand-year- old myth was true. If he healed this woman, he would have to tell her their secret.
    But if he didn’t help her, she’d die.
    Liam wasn’t sure he could live with that on his conscience if he had the chance to save a life and he chose not to.
    Help her now, everything else can be explained later .
    Liam made a