Free Danburn: The English Dragon ― Erotic Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance by Kathi S. Barton Page B

the man to confess to his crimes. It was sort of a letdown, he supposed. He had wanted to hurt the man for what he and his sister had done. Noah gave him the thumbs up, and he looked at the man in front of him.
    “Julia is in custody.” Conrad started shaking his head, his body hard with fear now. “Conrad, you were never going to get away with this. You and Julia should have known better than to play a hand you had no chance of winning. And there was no way you were going to win this, no matter who you kidnapped.”
    “You think not? Well, that is where you’re wrong. We know things about you that will ruin you when it comes out.” Danburn asked him again what he thought he had. “You’re a dragon. A man that can shift into a beast, and the world will know about it if you don’t sign the paperwork now.”
    Danburn didn’t even bother looking around to see who might have heard him. Instead, he threw back his head and laughed. He had no idea how they had found out, but there was no point in denying it. Nor was he going to agree with him. Conrad asked him if he’d heard him.
    “Yes. A dragon, you say? Well, I suppose that’s about as truthful as it comes. Tell me, Conrad, what sort of dragon am I? Do I burn villages with my hot breath? Am I the kind of dragon that sheds tears for the money that I need to take over failing business like yours? Or am I the kind of dragon that flies below the surface of the waters and eats all manner of men and women who dare venture into my territory?” All true to a point, but some of them had happened very long ago, when the world was a much different place. “I know. I’m a great silver dragon that does all those things and more. I fly the skies on cloudy days so that I can have the freedom of spreading my wings when I’m alone. I command mountains to build a castle that is as much a part of the stones that it was shaped from as the fish are to the water that holds them in its belly.”
    He took the necessary steps to Conrad to close the distance between them. Then he grabbed his head and pulled it to his, their foreheads touching. When he locked his eyes to his, Danburn let Conrad see him—all of him—in his glory, and what he looked like when he was pissed off. Then he let him go. Few had ever seen what he’d shown the human male. And no one would believe a word he said when he told them.
    The man was still screaming when the Feds took him away. Noah stood beside him as Danburn answered all the questions the Feds had for him. Yes, he had spoken to the man about dragons. No, he had no idea where he might have gotten the information. Yes, he had agreed with him to humor him. The slightly unstable, Danburn pointed out, were prone to violence, and he was doing his best to avoid that.
    After they were done, the Feds were taking the man away with his arms tied behind him, he and Noah pulled out their phones and began making the necessary calls. First and foremost, they had to get these houses up to standards, as well as getting the workers, the ones hired by Conrad, his sister, and his firm, off the property.
    After that, he decided he’d had enough excitement for one day and headed home. But he made several stops before getting there. He had a woman to woo and make happy. He thought flowers and chocolate were a good beginning.

 
    Chapter 5
     
    Kendrick walked around the big stone castle and marveled at the sheer size of it. Some of the walls seemed to blend right into the mountain they were near, and she wondered if any hidden openings existed that would lead her to the middle of the mountain, or to the sublevels of the house itself. She put her hand on the wall, feeling its coolness, just as someone cleared their throat behind her. Turning, she looked at Danburn and then back at the wall.
    “Are you enjoying your walk?” She moved to the other side of the garden that seemed as much a part of the castle as did the mountain itself. “Pierce said that he’d been called