The dragon’s huge chest rumbled, and we were blasted with wafts of fire-touched air. Tension filled the yard, and even Hunter stopped moving. In fact, the only one of us who appeared to even be breathing was the dragon.
He was graceful as he moved forward, his thick, heavy legs stomping down the browned bushes that made up the bulk of the yard. He was so massive that when he stopped in front of me, I stood under his front legs and chest, and my head didn’t touch him.
My body refused to obey my command to move as paralyzing fear held me in place. Was this the moment Slade decided I was an annoyance and a risk to his pack and gulped me up?
He sniffed me, heat blasting my face again until I was sweating, and when his nose brushed across my stomach, I sucked it in harshly. “Uh, g-good d-dragon,” I stuttered, my voice barely working too. “You don’t want to eat me, right? I’m way too scrawny to satisfy your big appetite.”
He huffed again, blasting hot air right at my stomach, and the ache of my period eased.
I had no idea if that had been his intention all along, but as I stared into his unblinking eyes, the fear thrumming through me eased. Without thought, I reached out toward him. It was more than a want, it was a desperate, driving need to connect us.
Just before my hand made contact, Hunter noticed my intentions and roared as he dove for me, but he was too late.
CHAPTER 8
EMME
Slade swung his head in a graceful arc and smashed into Hunter’s side, sending him flying. I choked on a scream as the entitled alpha flipped a few times, landing smoothly on his feet, his expression resigned rather than furious.
“What do we do?” Kellan shouted, his gaze whipping back and forth between Hunter and the dragon. “Is he going to hurt her?”
Hunter growled, deep and menacing, but he didn’t move toward us again. “Do not approach them. Slade’s dragon isn’t attacking yet, and it appears at least for now that he recognizes his mate. Still, never forget that the man is not in control of the beast.”
The dragon’s giant head and scary teeth appeared back in my line of sight. The two of us examined each other for many long seconds. The urge to touch him hadn’t gone anywhere, but this time I moved slower. It wasn’t that I thought I could startle a dragon, but I wanted to give him time to move away from my touch.
The dragon’s gaze remained firmly on my face, as if he were committing my features to memory. My palm connected to the smooth scaled surface between his eyes, before slowlysliding down to the end of his nose. The scales felt near indestructible, hard and hot beneath my touch. They reminded me of diamonds, especially as they reflected brightly in the early morning light.
The beast released a smokier huff, and I coughed for a second. All the while I continued to stroke his scales, feeling almost relaxed at the sensation. “Look at you,” I murmured, leaning closer until my face was pressed against the side of his head, just below his eye. Which was almost the size of my entire head on its own. “You’re just a big snuggly beast, aren’t you?”
Another huff, one that almost sounded amused.
“Emme, for the love of my sanity, can you please step away from the most dangerous shifter beast in the world.” Hunter’s words were strained, which entertained me to no end.
“Don’t worry yourself, Daddy Alpha. I’m perfectly safe with Slade. He’s had more than enough opportunities to murder me over the past however many weeks, and I’m still standing here.”
Kellan’s laughter was a mix of amusement and strain. “That’s a great theory, pretty girl, but the dragon and the man are two separate entities. Maybe it’s best to not keep testing the beast’s limits on your first meeting.”
Ignoring the worried alphas in my life, I scratched my nails gently down the long, thick jaw. “Are you dangerous?” I asked him in a low, soothing tone. “I mean, I know you’re dangerous, but not to me, right? These silly alphas are all worried over nothing.”
Another of his amused snorts, and I was hit with a strong blast of that same, mystical energy from before, and in a flash the beast was gone. In his place stood a nearly seven-foot-tall shifter.
Jerking myself backwards, I landed on my ass, the fear returning with Slade’s bipedal form. There was a scary facet to this shifter no matter what form he chose.
He stomped forward in two steps to stand over the top of me again, andholy goddess of the shift.He was completely and utterly naked.
My breaths huffed in and out as I took in his massive cock and heavy balls, hanging over the top of my head.What in the weapon of mass destruction was happening here?
It wasn’t that I was surprised to find Slade’s jewels matched the rest of him. He was the biggest shifter I’d ever seen in my life, and that was the biggest dick I’d ever seen in my life.
It made sense.
But there was more than just the size…Slade was pierced.
From the tip of his thick head all the way down to his even thicker base. I counted eight piercings, but there could have been more. Gah, and that view wasn’t even fully erect, because as I stared, his second beast continued to lengthen.Come on,there was no way that would ever fit a normal shifter…
I scrambled to my feet to distract myself fromall of that,breathing harshly as I met his gaze. Hisfuriousgaze. “Don’t ever fucking do that again,” he snapped, his chest heaving.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen Slade this angry; he’d mostly been ambivalent and cold around me and his pack, but as he stood before me, he was all fire.
