He stood there for forever, unmoving, unbreathing, those piercing green eyes just boring into me. I was about to ask him again when he finallyspoke.
“I am a skyborn. A dragon shifter. The last of my kind … untilyou.”
Skyborn?
He stepped closer and his words slammed into me; heat flared to life like nothing I had ever experienced before. I tried so badly to push it down but I couldn’t. It consumed me and I fell to my knees, sweating, hair stuck to my forehead, leaving me panting forbreath.
“What’s happening to me?” I whimpered as his hand came gently to rest on my shoulder. A throbbing hit my groin with the force of a bullet. I couldn’t help the moan that escapedme.
He cleared his throat and I looked up to meet his eyes. They were nearly glowing and the pupils were slits.Dragon eyes. He tried to hide it but I saw desire flare in his face. “It’s been a while but I think you’re … in heat.” His voice was so gruff it made my toes curl as embarrassment flushed throughme.
“What?” I shrieked, as my body inched closer to him. Oh my God. My period was about two weeks ago, right around when I had the fall, so I could be ovulating, but since when did that do this?!Kill me now. My eyes fell on his lips, examining them. They were thick and glistening, just waiting to be kissed. I licked my lips then as the fire exploded inside of me and I felt the familiar tingle along my skin as scales began to tighten on myarms.
Logan’s eyesbugged.
“Your dragon has no control, and being near me in heat will make it worse.” He sounded panicked, like the thought of sleeping with me repulsed him. That should make me move away, back off—clearly, I was unwanted. But my body only tightened. I moved closer to him, my hips pressing against his side. I whimpered, unable to stop whatever was happening. I only wanted to put out this fire and I wanted to do it withhim.
Logan brought his left arm up to hover over my face; I could see the tattoos more closely now.Were they different than before?“I can put you in a deep sleep until the heat is over,” he said. “It will keep your dragon from shifting and leading hunters to us. Then I will train you to control yourdragon.”
A deep sleep? Where? What if the hunters came? I would have no way of fighting back. He must have read the anxiety in my face. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” His breath brushed across my face and I moaned, desperate to taste him. The thoughts I was having now— and what my body was doing—were epic levels of embarrassment. I had no control over this and it terrifiedme.
“Okay,” I breathed. Yesterday I had wished the hunters would just kill me, so I didn’t have much to lose now. Besides, if what he said was true, that he too was a dragon, then maybe he really could helpme.
A deep green light emanated from his left palm and covered myface.
“Sleep,” he whispered in my ear, his lips brushing against my neck, and then I was out, taken by the darkness as it snuffed out myfire.
* * *
Logan’smagical sleep was not dreamless, it was filled with activity. My mind wouldn’t shut off and I could feel my dragon slithering inside of me, trying to fight the sleep. I dreamed of a man with a bald head who had red tattoos on the right side of his face. He wore clothes that looked like they were from another era, and he scared that crap out of me with his piercing blackeyes.
I also dreamed of Logan in all kinds of embarrassing and sexy ways. After this endless dreaming, I finally felt my dragon settling; my sleep lightened until I awakened fully. I came to and opened my eyes to look around. I was in a soft bed with grey flannel sheets that smelled freshly laundered but had a hint of an earthy male scent.Logan. Sitting up, I noticed I was wearing a small thin white camisole and tiny black soccer shorts. Oh my God, did Logan change my clothes? My cheeks burned with embarrassment as my long red hair fell over my right shoulder; that’s when I realized my wounds were healed. Not a bone in my body hurt, and actually I felt amazing. The fire that had been trying to consume me before was next to nothingnow.
Swinging my legs over the bed, I stepped out of the sheets and slipped my feet into a pair of grey slippers. I could see a silk robe draped over the chair next to the bed, and on the cushion was anote.
Dude,
Don’t worry. Logan didn’t dress you. The clothes aremine.
-Nadine (Wolf girl who saved you fromhunters)
My lips quirked into a smile at the note. Well, at least I knew who had dressed me. I was relieved it was another girl. Not that it brought me too much comfort, seeing I didn’t know the girl. I was about to slip into the adjoining bathroom when a small orange fluffball leapt out from under my bed andmeowed.
“Hey there. How long have you been under there?” I reached down and held out my hand. The kitten, an orange tabby, looked at my hand, back raised in an arc, and then pounced, coming down on ithard.
“Oww.” I laughed, shaking my hand to free it from her grasp. Had Logan sent a tiny kitten to keep me safe? I wasn’t sure what to think aboutthat.
I gave the kitty a few more strokes before I slipped into the bathroom and took a quick shower. I brushed my teeth and tied my hair into a big topknot. After searching through the drawers in the room, I was surprised to find brand new underwear, bras, jeans, t-shirts and a new pair of sneakers, just my size. Someone had gone shopping forme.
I hadn’t been in my own clothes since the fall at the canyon. I’d left my car in town before going on my canyon hike, and had taken a tour bus. I didn’t want to risk going back to my car until I had figured this thing with the hunters out. If they got my license plate, my identity, I knew I would never be able to hide from them. But ever since my fall, I had been running for my life one day after another. I tried not to think about it, how quickly my life hadchanged.
Shaking it off, I dressed swiftly in some skinny jeans and a light sweater and went to find Logan. I needed answers. I grabbed the kitten and tucked her under my arm. “Where’s your owner?” I asked her, and she just mewed, licking myarm.
Exiting the room, I padded across the hardwood floors, kitty in hand, following the rapid beating sound of loud music. It led me across the hallway to a gym room; the doors were open and Logan was lying on his back, bench-pressing a million pounds. He was shirtless, chest glistening with sweat, breathing heavily with each pump of the weights. I felt that fire pulse for the slightest bit before dying down again.Down, girl.This heat business better be over with. I was going to go on some strong-ass dragon birth control to keep it from ever coming backagain.
Clearing my throat loudly, I entered the room and he froze, looking up at me from his upside-down angle. His eyes worked their way slowly up my body and I tried not to purr. If I did purr, maybe I could blame it on the kitten. Or maybe he didn’t put me to sleep longenough?
After setting the weights down, he reached over and turned down the music. His left arm was completely covered with black tattoos that worked all the way from his wrist to his neck. When he stood, I got the full glorious view of his toned abs and the v-shaped muscles that led tohis—
