He flew fast, anxiety propelling him to speed. The islands grew fuzzier. He shot into a cloud, his body striking air so dense he barrel-rolled. He veered left where the misty haze shimmered with extra light. While he still struggled through the thickness, the air didn’t drag as hard against his wings. Without warning, he burst through the invisible barrier, his speed picking up as if he’d flung his body from a catapult.
A trace of fear nipped at him until he spotted Hissing Isle in front of him and the thrust of familiar mountains. Curious, he turned his head, his blood running cold since he could no longer see the mainland. It was as if it had popped from existence.
Leo slowed his wingbeats and set a course to his mountain cottage. He had no explanation for what had happened, yet a sense of satisfaction and excitement pulsed within his chest. He’d saved the woman, which pleased his dragon.
The human skin side of him with his more complicated thoughts and ideas experienced a sliver of fear. The woman’s presence heralded danger.
She was an unexpected impediment, and he’d need to consider what to do with her.
4 – Gwenyth, The Beautiful
She woke, her head throbbing. She lifted her hand to her skull, and her arm muscles ached too. The gloom in the room and the weird quietness had her tension rising. Her breath caught. Aided by the moonlight slipping through the large picture windows beyond the bed, her gaze flitted from square shapes to rounded objects.
She struggled to remove the tight band from her waist. A masculine arm! She froze, not recalling going to bed. Was she sick? She struggled to remember.
“Go back to sleep,” a masculine voice rumbled.
Excellent idea.
Exhaustion weighted her eyelids, her body. She smiled drowsily. Marriage and family were important, and she was lucky to have a wonderful man who held her in this protective manner during the night.
When she woke again, daylight spilled through the window and the view beyond stole her breath. She stared at the mountain meadow and the distant trees—mainly pine. A stream meandered through the clearing, and chestnut cattle with sweeping horns grazed, their tails lazily flicking their contentment.
She pushed to an upright position and groaned at the pulse in her head. Gingerly, she lifted her hand and probed the sore spots with her fingers.
“Ouch!” she muttered, puzzled by the bandage she encountered.
She tried to recall the reason a drummer thumped inside her head. Not a single answer presented itself.
A faint murmur drew her attention, and she smiled. Her husband, with his beautiful green eyes and his too-long black hair, stood in the doorway. The sexy black stubble shading his jawline and framing his sensual mouth had her pulse racing. Her fingers itched to touch.
“Morning…” She hesitated, her mind blank when she attempted to summon his name. “Sweetheart, why is my head so sore?”
His face softened, and he prowled the distance between them. Stunned she could win such a beautiful man, she threaded her fingers in his callused ones.
“Why can’t I remember your name?” She pushed at her mind, at her memories. What was her name? Panic roared through her, and her hand tightened, her nails digging into his flesh.
“Shush, do not fear,” he whispered.
Something in his stunning eyes reassured her and stomped on the burst of distress that shouted at her to flee. Kindness.
“You fell and hit your head. I am Leo. You are Gwenyth, The Beautiful.”
He’d doctored her wounds and called her beautiful. She relaxed a fraction more, curiosity taking precedence over her initial reaction. An image of a wedding flitted through her mind, dimming the throb for a welcome instant. A darkly handsome groom. A bride. Happiness. Guests waving farewell. The honeymoon…
“Gwenyth?” Leo prompted.
The name didn’t seem familiar, so she latched onto another part of his sentence. “I fell?”
“You did. The bleeding has stopped. I have made you a potion to reduce the ache of your head. You stay there while I get it for you.”
“No, Leo.” The pressure on her lower stomach informed her of an urgent need of a restroom. “I need the bathroom.”
His brows drew together, and he opened a chest to retrieve a robe. He helped her stand and don it, his gaze strumming her naked body for an instant before he gifted her with a gentle smile. “This way.”
“It’s crazy, I can’t remember. Sweetheart, I’m sorry to spoil our honeymoon.” Heat flushed her cheeks. “I can’t even remember if we made love. Did we?” Her body told her nothing, but her head… Her skull throbbed and ached with each shuffling step, the pain arrowing downward to pool behind her eyes. She turned her head, attempting to focus on his sexy features, and once again wondered how she’d won such a man. Just looking at him made her heart race, her body soften with urgent need.
Leo wore black trousers and nothing else to cover the muscular, tattooed goodness of his chest. A magnificent, mainly green, dragon tattoo that stretched from shoulder to lower belly. Aware she was staring, she prodded again at her confused mind.
