Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter

Darius is the Guardian of Atlantis, tasked with killing anyone or anything that wanders through the mists and into the ancient city. He was given this task because the old Guardian failed, and all of his family except for him was slaughtered. He was only 10 when he took on the task, but he learned how to kill without emotion and without regretting what he does.

Three hundred years later, he still retains that icy detatchment, but it has come at the cost of all his emotions. He is a cold, cold man who rarely feels anything, and can smell only ashes and taste almost nothing. He can even only see in Black and White. He trains the other Dragons of Atlantis, but his warriors are getting bored, and their solution is to have a contest to try and make him smile... or to make him angry.

Grace Carlyle's brother, Alex, works for a company called Argonauts. Recently, he sent her one of his discoveries, a necklace of a dragon set with jewels. Grace came to Argentina to return it, but her brother didn't meet her at the airport. Grace hired a guide to guide her to the dig her brother was supposed to be working on, but the guide stole her backpack and a few other things and ran off, leaving her stranded in the jungle. She wanders about on her own for days, lost and hungry, before accidentally slipping through the portal to Atlantis.

Darius meets her at the gate, but Grace isn't going to sell her life so easily. Once he sees the necklace around her throat, he decides to try and find out where she got it, as it belongs to a Dragon of Atlantis. But instead of his usual black and white vision, he can see Grace's hair in living color, and he finds himself attracted to her. But it is forbidden to allow a human to pass the wards of Atlantis and live.

Back at the Fortress of the Dragons, Darius interrogates Grace, and learns about her brother. How he was looking for Atlantis. How he sent her the necklace. How she came into the jungle to look for him. But Grace is determined to escape, and when Darius kisses her, she takes the necklace he took from her back and flees the city.

There, she finds men from Alex's company, Argonauts, who have become concerned over his absence and are looking for him. They take her back to their boat and eventually send her home. But Darius discovers that these men have killed Javar, his mentor, and are systematically stripping his palace of the precious metals and gems that once adorned it, overcome by greed.

Darius teleports himself to Grace, wanting to know how to stop the weapons that the humans are using. Since Grace realizes they are using guns, she tells him of bulletproof vests. Darious insists she order 20 for him, and she does, using the internet. But he knows who the real villain is in this, and he and Grace must discover the truth about Argonauts, and their leader, Jason Graves, to foil his plan to rob the wealth from Atlantis. But when he learns that Graves has become partners wth the King of Vampires, Layel, and his vampires, who will win? The dragons? Or the Vampires?

This book sucked me right in with the first page and kept me there for the whole book. I didn't want to put it down, not even to go to work! The words painted vivid pictures in my mind, and I felt like I was really in the jungle along with Grace.

The one thing I disliked about this book was the lack of sex. Yes, the writing was sexy and sensual, but the two characters don't get it on until very late in the story, and I would have liked to have some sex earlier instead of a lot of hot touching. The touching was okay, but I would have liked to see the added oomph that comes from two characters having a physical relationship.

The story is enchanting, the writing is intense and sensual, and the characters are just wonderful. This book goes and goes, like the Energizer Bunny, and pulls you along in its wake. You'll love this book as much as I did. Highly recommended.