By sheer fortune, his right talon grazed the woman’s arm. He tugged. He yanked harder. Something held the woman in place. He slashed at it with his free claw, his chest constricting as he fought his desire to breathe.
By Lodar, God of Torture! He must save this woman. Every instinct propelled him to rescue her. He increased his speed, frantic to breathe air, frantic to pull her free, frantic to escape this situation.
Lodar, please.
He couldn’t last much longer. Already, the chilly water was sapping his energy. Leo hacked at the bindings restricting her, and at last, she popped free. With his wings, he propelled upward until he broke the surface. His lungs burned as he greedily sucked in air.
Leo couldn't take to the sky now that he trod water, so he swam to the nearest beach, thankful he’d learned the skill as a youngster. Once he felt solid ground beneath his feet, he stood and carried the woman up onto the narrow sandy shore tucked between two massive guardian rocks.
Two rocks on the mainland.
A mystery he didnotcomprehend.
He and his people had left the mainland hundreds of years ago after the slaughter of their prophet. Thanks to their deal with the druids, their island homes were invisible to those on the English mainland, while the dragon kind couldn’t see the enormous landmass either. They sensed it, but thanks to druid magic could not interact with the humans there in any manner. For the safety of the dragon kind.
Concerned at the implications, Leo set the woman on her side. Her features were pale and blood seeped from the wound on her head. A second, smaller cut turned her hairline red. He recalled an animal that had almost drowned. An elder had saved it by laying the animal on its side and breathing warm air into the creature’s mouth.
He leaned closer, ready to blow air at her mouth when he recalled the elder had mentioned he must wear human form at this stage. Dragon breath burned animals and humans.
Leo summoned his skin, the change rolling over his scales slower than usual because of his fatigue. With his transformation complete, he squatted beside the woman’s still form and fitted his mouth to hers. He blew his breath into her three times before he pulled back to observe the results. Nothing. He repeated the action, letting his breath come deep in his chest, whence his dragon-fire grew. This time his exhalation was warmer. Not, he hoped, hot enough to burn her fragile throat, but sufficient to jolt her awake.
While he waited, he ran his fingers through her long brown hair. Her clothes clung to her body, revealing sleek muscles and full breasts. Her apparel was unlike anything the dragon women wore on Hissing Isle. Not even the humans who lived with them wore clothes akin to the ones clinging to this woman. They showed her form in an indecent yet alluring manner.
“Awaken,” he demanded of the woman, impatient with her continuing slumber. It was time to discuss the reason for this impossible meeting.
Then he recalled that along with the breathing, the elder had rubbed the animal’s chest.
Leo nudged the woman onto her back and stared at the swell of her breasts. Some women—no matter what their race—became agitated if a male touched their curves without permission. He hesitated. No, better for her to harangue him and live rather than remain still as death.
Leo placed his hands in the middle of the woman’s chest and pressed down in a rhythmic pumping action. At the same time, he inhaled into her mouth, part of him aware of the velvet texture of her lips. A frisson of pleasure raced through his limbs.By Lodar!He ignored the lengthening of his masculine parts.
Examine those possibilities later.Instinct told him this woman was important, and this drove him to continue breathing for the woman, urging her back to life.
She made a sound—a kind of splutter—and hope bloomed in his chest.
He pressed her torso again, taking care to curb his full strength. Leo breathed into her mouth, using a smidgeon of his dragon-fire.
The woman spluttered again, this time louder. He lifted his head an instant before water gurgled from her mouth. Leo shifted her onto her side, so she didn’t choke on the emerging liquid. She coughed, a ragged exit of breath and more water.
Leo scrutinized her, willing her to breathe on her own. Instead, she coughed and coughed, vomiting. Uncertain of how to help, Leo sheltered her from the sea breeze.
Beneath the fetid stench of vomit and the salty tang of the sea, he caught a lighter and more attractive scent of herbs and flowers. The fragrance enticed him closer, and he used the waiting time to tend the wounds on her head. He licked across her temple, cleaning away the watery blood before he found the source.
The woman ceased her coughing, yet she never spoke or stirred. She was breathing on her own now. Excellent.
Soon, he’d cleansed the wound. While the edges were jagged, the scarring would be minimal. Such things worried females.
Leo lifted his head to stare across the sea. A hazy shimmer shrouded the chain of islands protected by the druid’s magic. Alarmed, he sprang to his feet. The islands were fading.
He must leave.
Now.
Leo summoned his dragon without taking his attention off his blurry island home. He glanced at the woman and hesitated. Leaving her here was a death sentence. Soon the tide would cover this sliver of sand. He could fly her to the clifftop, but what if he encountered humans with weapons? A bow and arrow capable of piercing his dragon scales?
He scanned the sea again, fear at the dimming view propelling him to action. He’d take the woman with him and doctor her at his cottage. Once he discovered how or why they’d met, he’d return her to the mainland. Somehow.
Leo lifted her with his talons, taking care not to pierce her pale skin or her strange clothes. He leaped, his wings catching the air, and headed for home.
