Dragonswan by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Channon MacRae is a scholar who is studying the famous Dragon Tapestry, trying to figure out who made it and what the images on it mean. She's interrupted by a comment in a male voice, saying, "Be kind to Dragons, for thou are crunchy when roasted and taste good with ketchup."

Turning to see who interrupted her, she is surprised to find a very tall, very built and handsome man watching her, Sebastian Kattalakis. She's convinced that no one who looks like that could ever possibly be interested in someone like her, but by the way he's looking her over, he is definitely interested. And she returns that interest in spades.

He convinces her to let him take her out to dinner, and they have a great time. He tells her the truth- that he's a dragon slayer who is there to steal the tapestry, but in such a way that she thinks it's a joke and doesn't believe him. Afterwards, he takes her back to the hotel, where, fueled by the passion and attraction they feel for each other, they become lovers. And after a whole lot of hot, hot sex, he leaves her to sleep it off and returns to the museum to steal the tapestry.

Being able to essentially teleport it into his hand makes that a snap, but when his hand starts to tingle and burn, he looks down to see a pattern forming on his hand and is shocked, because this means that Channon is his mate, and he can't just leave her behind unless he wants to remain celibate for the rest of his long, long life.- something he really doesn't want to do.

But bringing her into his own world in the past among the Saxons is fraught with dangers as well, because he needs to steal the tapestry in order for the Katagaria Drakos to release his imprisoned brother, and they are going to view the purely human Channon as meat- or a tool to force him to comply. But can he keep her safe in a world full of danger while also rescuing his brother? And can he ask her to stay in his world of the past, away from all the modern amenities she enjoys, just to live with him as his mate?

I liked this book, and even though it was short, the story flowed well and you never felt it was a cut-off part of a larger, more complete tale, or in any way lacking. Events move quickly- perhaps more quickly than in a longer-length story, but this doesn't detract in any way.

I found Sebastian very hot, but saw another Sherrilyn Kenyon trademark. "He wasn't usually attracted to her type, but..." apparently is the signal in her universe that someone has met their lifemate. Not really annoying, but approaching the point of being overused to me.

Still, this was a short, sweet shot of her universe- giving us a kind of Shifter we haven't met before, a dragon- shifter. Or Drakos, as this universe terms them. And a -swan is the mate of a shifter, so a Dragonswan would be the mate of a Dragon-shifter, which kind of gives away how the story ends, but then, this is a urban fantasy romance. If you couldn't guess there would be a happily ever after, why did you even pick it up? Recommended.