Deny Me, Dragon King

Human Lyra shares a blistering night with Dragon King Kael. He commands her to say his name, and when she does, he warns her he does not do gentle. The next morning, an elf woman storms in, shrieking that Lyra stole her man. Kael shields Lyra—until the elf shows him a prophecy she claims to have divined. It says Lyra is after his sacred blood. Kael's tenderness vanishes. He brands Lyra a cheap little slut who spreads her legs for dragon blood, casts her out, and threatens to burn her to ash if she ever shows her face again. Alone with Lyra, the elf drops the act and admits she sacrificed a hundred years of her life to fake the prophecy. The crown, the throne, she crows, will all be hers.

Lyra discovers she is pregnant and gives birth to Amber, the first dragonborn in a thousand years. For a few years, it is just the two of them. Then Amber's dragon blood awakens, tearing through her body. A voice says they are sealing it—for now, the scent is gone, no one can trace her bloodline. But that seal will not hold. Before it breaks, Lyra must return to the realm of dragons and find the grand healer.

She travels back, leaving Amber in the care of Maureen, the warm-hearted owner of a daycare—who, unknown to Lyra, is Kael's mother. As Lyra searches for the healer, she learns Kael has issued a bride hunt. Any woman who bears his heir will be crowned Dragon Queen.

Lyra approaches an elf woman and asks where to find the grand healer, explaining her daughter is very sick and only the grand healer can save her. The elf calls her a filthy human, refuses to help, and sneers that Lyra's little bastard is as good as dead. Lyra tells her to take that back. They clash, and the elf attacks her. Kael appears, saves Lyra, and recognizes her immediately—by the feel of her hands, her legs, the way she once wrapped herself around him. He pulls her close and kisses her in broad daylight. Lyra shoves him away, insisting she has absolutely no interest in him and will never show her face before him again. Kael responds with biting reverse instructions: keep that promise—do not sneak into his castle, and definitely do not wait for the guard shift at the top of the hour, slip through the broken window in the north tower, second from the left, and come looking for him.

Maureen adores Amber without knowing the child is her own granddaughter. She repeatedly tries to set Lyra up with her son. Kael breaks into Lyra's room while she is pumping milk. They fight. Lyra calls their night a mistake she has regretted every single day for two years, but she refuses to tell him about Amber. Unsettled and furious, Kael announces a grand ball. He is choosing his queen.

Lyra gets an invitation through Maureen and learns the grand healer will attend. She carries Amber into the ball, desperate to find the healer before anyone notices the child. Amber catches her father's scent. She squirms free, toddles straight toward Kael, and in front of the entire hall, calls him Daddy.