Dorian Christensen is a DarkRiver leopard and sentinel who looks like a stereotypical blonde surfer. His mate is Ashaya Aleine and they have a son, Keenan Aleine. Dorian and Ashaya are the main characters of the fifth book of the main series, Hostage to Pleasure.
Biography[]
Childhood[]
Born without the ability to shift into a leopard, Dorian was still loved by his family, pack, and former alpha, Lachlan. Encouraged by alpha Lachlan[1] and his young friend, Lucas Hunter, he learned to excel in areas that didn't require the ability to shift, including climbing and marksmanship, so he’d be able to keep up with his pack and even achieve a sentinel position someday.
He came to terms with his inability to shift as a child, learning to control the hurting leopard within him through meditation and sheer willpower, not to mention the lack of other options. Every movement of his cat always hurt like his skin was torn apart, something he's never told anyone.[2]
Juvenile[]
By his early teens, Dorian's drive to become a soldier had earned him a black belt in karate; he broke his arm while practicing for his brown with Juanita.[3]
As a teenager, he was badly wounded by the ShadowWalkers leopard pack of changelings who attacked his pack. The ShadowWalkers killed Lucas’s parents and left Lucas barely alive. Five years later, Lucas and his future sentinels —- Dorian, Vaughn, Mercy, Nate, and Clay —- tracked down the culprits and killed them.
DarkRiver[]
In college, he once slept with a Psy who considered it as an experiment; he described it as like fucking a block of ice.
His lair is almost entirely glass hidden by greenery and protected by a high-tech security system. Inside, it's big and open with a corridor to the bathroom. The lighting is designed to mimic sunlight. His and Ashaya's bed is to the left and the kitchenette and seating area are to the right.[4]
After his sister Kylie was murdered by Santano Enrique, his rage and hatred for the Psy started to devour him. His frozen rage was partially softened by Sascha Duncan and her emapthic abilities.
Mating[]
Physical Appearance[]
He looks like a surfer with white-blond hair, blue eyes, and golden skin; he gets his colouring from his mom.[1]
Personality and Traits[]
Being a latent leopard shaped his entire life. Feeling inadequate and not a "true" leopard, he forced himself to excel at everything he did so no one could ever question his ability or place in DarkRiver; he set out to get a pilot license just because no one else in the pack had one. He single-mindedly worked until he was the best to the point where he's often described as an overachiever and earned the nicknames "Boy Genius" and "Wonderboy." He needed touch more than most because of his latency.[5]
He feels his pretty looks are just another thing to overcome.
After the death of his sister, he turned angry and vicious,[5] blaming himself for being unable to save her and wondering if maybe he'd been able to shift, then perhaps he could have saved her.
Now that he can shift and has a mate and a son, Dorian's much more relaxed, centred, and deeply happy.[6]
Abilities and Skills[]
Being a latent leopard most of his life, Dorian decided to be the best at everything else: he's the best sharpshooter of either DarkRiver or SnowDancer, an electronics genius, architect, and has a pilot license simply because no other sentinel had one.[7] He earned a black belt in karate as a juvenile,[3] speaks Cantonese,[8] and is the most experienced with weapons in either pack.[9]
Relationships[]
Ashaya Aleine[]
At first, he punished Ashaya for his attraction to her and for what he believed to be coldness towards Keenan. As he learned that everything she did was to protect her son and her sister, he was forced to face his own demons. What's more, they accept each other's sister.[7]
Although their bond isn't true telepathy, they do pick up on each other's thoughts sometimes.[10] He tries to steal her organizer to read her journal.[11]
Brenna Kincaid[]
The SnowDancer wolf, the only known survivor of Santano Enrique's bloodlust, is like a baby sister to him and he's the only one she allows to call her "kid." He can be a bit bossy, especially if they're working on a tech situation.[12] He also taught her how to shoot.[13]
Clay Bennett[]
He's good friends with his fellow sentinel and their kids are best friends.
Faith NightStar[]
At first, Dorian didn't like Faith, wondering if maybe his sister could have been saved if Faith or someone like her hadn't suppressed their visions through Silence. He worked on that as long as Faith did her best not to let any other sisters die.[14] Since then, she's earned his respect.[10]
Keenan Aleine[]
He has fatherly feeling towards the boy as soon as he meets him, which only gets deeper over time until he mates Ashaya and formally adopts Keenan as his son. They like to watch cartoons together and Keenan likes to help Dorian with household repairs.[6] He copies Dorian when he goes through martial arts routines.[9]
Kylie Christensen[]
When they were kids, she'd make her big brother have tea parties with her and her dolls. When it was Dorian's turn to pick the game, her dolls would go on jungle adventures with his action figures and usually meet terrible fates in the jaws of wild beasts, but never actually hurt her toys.[6] She had the same hair and eyes as him. The only time Dorian remembers her as sad was when another kid teased him for being latent. She was a fighter who'd stand up against bullies and protect others. Whenever she made him mad, she'd tell knock knock jokes until he laughed.[15]
His little sister was murdered by Santano Enrique, her body was still warm when he found her. Not only did he blame himself for not being able to keep her safe, but he wondered if maybe he'd been able to shift, then he might have saved her. He was eaten alive with guilt for falling for a Psy when one had killed his baby sister, but remembering her as she was helped him heal. He knew that she would have loved Ashaya and would have been happy for him that he'd found his mate and would have wanted him to be happy rather than punish himself.[7] It's still difficult for him to talk about her. He often imagines what she would have been like as an aunt to Keenan and a sister-in-law to Ashaya.[6]
Lucas Hunter[]
Mercy Smith[]
They've been best friends ever since they were kids.[1]
Sascha Duncan[]
When he first met Sascha, he hated her like he did all Psy. He wanted to torture her for information about the Psy serial killer who murdered his sister. They started to form a close bond after she used her Empath powers to ease his mental pain and starts to help him heal. She became one of his favorite people and he hers.
Talin McKade[]
When he first met Clay's mate, he chose to yank her chain by saying she was too small for Clay and he should give her to him.[16] She retorted by saying she didn't "do pretty boys" or boys at all, insinuating he was too immature, but both leopards took that to mean she was a lesbian. He swore to get payback.[17] Every time someone calls him "Boy Genius" - a nickname she coined - he threatens to throw her in the nearest body of ice cold water.
Vaughn D'Angelo[]
Like most sentinels, they're good friends.[10]
Trivia[]
- His favourite shirt, a gift from Talin, says "upcoming work..." on the front and "...killing people" on the back[18]
- The English version's "Things to do..." and "People to kill."[19]
- When in his leopard form, he likes to bat at Ashaya's curls to watch them bounce.[6]
- He hates being called Blondie, Boy Genius, or Wonderboy.
- Despite his reputation for being an overachiever, plumbing and baking (despite claiming to make the best banana bread) are not among his skillset.[6]
- He is Sascha's favorite sentinel.
- Dorian was the best climber in his age group at one point.[1]
- He has a bet with Clay that if Rina ever gives Jon a chance, Dorian will bake him a cake with frilly pink icing.[6]
- One drunk night in university, he slept with a Psy who viewed it as an experiment.[3]
- He rides a sleek black motorcycle.[17]
- He always carried a gun as compensation for his inability to go cat.[20]
Quotes[]
"You don't have the right to be tired. When you can write her name on a memorial, when you can honor her blood, then you have earned the right." - Dorian to Vasic after finding a murdered family in their home and the teleporter as the cleaning crew[21]
They all knew Dorian was no child. He'd been born latent and had no ability to shift into leopard form. Perhaps it was something that might have been held against him had he not made it his mission to become so dangerous, no one would dare treat him as anything but another cat. -Tamsyn[3]
"I have a gun pointed at your temple. I don't miss." -First words he ever spoke to Ashaya[22]
Appearances[]
Slave to Sensation[]
Practically feral with rage after the murder of his little sister by Santano Enrique, he was ready to torture Sascha for information in his desperate need for justice. She helped ease his pain with her empathic gifts, returning some of his humanity, allowing him the clarity to talk Brenna's brothers out of going for any Psy they saw. He, Drew, and Riley were part of the team that rescued Brenna and from then on, he saw her as another little sister.
He takes on the role of Rina's trainer after she manipulated Barker by sleeping with him.
Visions of Heat[]
Dorian has to take Kit and Jase to task for forming their own "packs" and fighting each other, severely injuring one boy in the altercation.[23]
He doesn't like Faith at first, thinking that perhaps if the F-Psy hadn't chosen Silence, they could have helped prevent his sister's death.
Caressed by Ice[]
He and Mercy were in the area and able to assist when the DawnSky deer clan was attacked by Psy in an attempt to frame SnowDancer for the crime.[24] Brenna and Dorian worked together on the cyber attack against the Psy Council and she'd asked him for advice on how to handle the inability to shift.[25]
Beat of Temptation[]
While training for his brown belt with Juanita, he broke his arm and Tamsyn had to patch him up.[3]
Mine to Possess[]
He helps Clay and Talin rescue Jon and Noor from the Protocol I lab and meets Ashaya when she lingers to make sure they make it out safely.
Hostage to Pleasure[]
When Ashaya defected, Zie Zen arranged for her to be transported to safety in DarkRiver territory.
"A Gift for Kit"[]
Kit Monaghan asks his sister, Rina, how training with Dorian is going.
Branded by Fire[]
At the mating for Dorian and Ashaya, Mercy and Riley Kincaid hook-up.[26] Later, she worries about any children they might have ending up latent, which she knew hurt Dorian even though he never said so.[27]
Ashaya sees her sister while Dorian's at a sentinel meeting and he worries about her.[28]
Dorian drops off a package from Nikita for Sascha: The Mysterious E Designation: Empathic Gifts and Shadows by Alice Eldridge.[29] When Nikita's life is in danger, Dorian comforts Sascha until Lucas can make it to her.[27]
Blaze of Memory[]
Ashaya and Dorian do their best to help Katya Haas, who's suffering from amnesia and the torture Ming LeBon put her through, but Katya's concerned she might be a sleeper agent and could put them in danger. If that is the case, Devraj Santos was initially prepared to eliminate her and Dorian just asks him to let him know so that he can prepare Ashaya for losing her friend.[30] Later, Dorian snarls at Dev for yelling at Ashaya.[31]
When Katya lays dying, Dorian and Ashaya are at her side and bring Keenan and Noor with them; the children ultimately save her life with their harmonic ability to heal brain damage.
Bonds of Justice[]
Dorian helps Sascha sneak into the Duncan building to meet with her mother's oldest advisor, for which Lucas threatens to castrate him since Sascha's pregnant. He'd had her under surveillance the whole time, which provided a clue in the murders of Nikita's other advisors.[32]
While on a security round of DarkRiver HQ, he finds a sniper who takes a poison tablet before he could be interrogated.[33]
Max Shannon bribes Dorian with donuts to dig into the background of a murder suspect[34] and he finds evidence linking the suspect to the Scotts.
Whisper of Sin[]
He saved Ria Wembley from a gang member who wanted to intimidate her family into paying protection money. Her assailant was thrown into a brick wall, breaking 20 bones.
Play of Passion[]
Dorian helps inspect and search for the surveillance devices Pure Psy planted on SnowDancer territory.
Kiss of Snow[]
He'd trained some of the snipers that fought against Pure Psy when they attacked SnowDancer.[35]
Tangle of Need[]
Dorian and Ashaya go to dinner at Mercy and Riley's.[36]
"Poker Night"[]
Appears
"Christmas in the Kitchen"[]
A main character, most of the short story's from his point of view as Ashaya and Talin coordinate a baking party with their families that turns into a competition between him and Clay, which they both fail miserably at.
Heart of Obsidian[]
Mentioned
Shield of Winter[]
Appears
"Home"[]
Mentioned
Secrets at Midnight[]
Appears
Allegiance of Honor[]
Appears
Dorian[]
Told from his point of view, the novella shows what it was like for Dorian growing up latent, his decision to become a sentinel, and, later, his first transformation into his cat thanks to Ashaya's gene therapy.
Silver Silence[]
Appears
Wolf Rain[]
Appears
"Seedlings"[]
Mentioned (not by name)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Dorian, Ch. 1
- ↑ Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 20
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Beat of Temptation, Ch. 5
- ↑ Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 35
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 12
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 "Christmas in the Kitchen"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 53
- ↑ Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 23
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 51
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 30
- ↑ Hostage to Pleasure, Epilogue
- ↑ Caressed by Ice, Ch. 31
- ↑ Caressed by Ice, Epilogue
- ↑ Visions of Heat, Ch. 25
- ↑ Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 40
- ↑ Mine to Possess, Ch. 4
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Mine to Possess, Ch. 6
- ↑ translation from the German book
- ↑ Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 5
- ↑ Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 4
- ↑ Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 27
- ↑ Hostage to Pleasure, Ch. 1
- ↑ Visions of Heat, Ch. 20
- ↑ Caressed by Ice, Ch. 21
- ↑ Caressed by Ice, Ch. 32
- ↑ Branded by Fire, Ch. 1
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Branded by Fire, Ch. 45
- ↑ Branded by Fire, Ch. 30
- ↑ Branded by Fire, Ch. 36
- ↑ Blaze of Memory, Ch. 4
- ↑ Blaze of Memory, Ch. 22
- ↑ Bonds of Justice, Ch. 19
- ↑ Bonds of Justice, Ch. 29
- ↑ Bonds of Justice, Ch. 40
- ↑ Kiss of Snow, Ch. 50
- ↑ Tangle of Need, Ch. 29