Rose Among Thorns

Selene has always been able to see the invisible red threads of fate that bound lost souls together. Tied on the little finger, it was supposedly bind lovers to each other at the first meeting of their eyes, for eternity. As legend had it, every human had his or her other half in the world... Well, almost every, cause while Selene could see the whimsical thread, she didn't have her own tied on pale hand. Instead, on her little finger, where the knot should have been, there was a burnt mark resembling a dragon, which the woman believed was meant to be her end. So it's not surprising that Selene gave up on love and, traveling the world, earned money by finding others their fate-appointed partners. And so her lonely life would have flowed if it hadn't been for the mighty, black as night,dragon and its mad not understanding refusal, rider.

Ryker understands that strength is the only thing that matters in life. After escaping from captivity, scarred in body and soul, the man made his way to the future on the corpses of those who wanted to oppose him. Fearing no one, nor anything, he even challenged the cruel dragon that devastated the villages it encountered, and who, feeling respect for mankind for the first time, accepted him as his rider. Hired to collect overdue money from a merchant in hiding, on his way, Ryker meets a tall, long-haired beauty, and when she refuses to hand over the thief, dragonrider threatens to kill her, but how surprised the man is when the stranger only snarls at him contemptuously and announces that her life can only be taken by his infatuated with her, dragon.

Ryker knows who he wants, and nothing, not even fate, can take that away from him. His thread, however, connects to another hand, and Selene, reluctantly, disappears, leaving behind only emptiness and a broken heart abandoned next to the rider.