Her lips curved into a small, dazed smile. “Yeah. I’m okay.”
Chapter 23
Liz
As we soared through the sky, the wind whipped past, cold against my flushed skin. My body still hummed with lingering aftershocks, and I couldn’t believe what had just happened.
I’d just dry-humped a dragon shifter in the moonlight and came faster than I had in... well, maybe ever.
I pressed my lips together to hold in a laugh. It escaped anyway, a small sound that got caught in the wind.
Lucan’s head turned slightly, his massive dragon neck twisting as if to check on me.
“Eyes on the road!” I called out, then dissolved into another fit of laughter. “I mean, the sky. Or whatever.”
His rumbling growl vibrated through his back and into my chest, and it almost sounded like laughter. I patted his scales, feeling lightheaded in a way that had nothing to do with the altitude.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt like there were bubbles in my blood instead of worry. The floaty, giddy feeling was so foreign I almost didn’t recognize it as happiness.
Was this what happened when you let yourself feel something good after closing yourself off for so long? Or wasthis the bond? The idea tried to intrude, casting a momentary shadow, but it felt wrong even as it formed.
This wasn’t some magical mind control. This was just... me. Feeling good. With him.
The air cleared my head a little as we glided lower toward the trees. Below, I could make out the faint outline of the ATV where we’d left it parked.
I had no idea what came next. The only way I would know if this thing between us was as inevitable as it seemed was to let myself lean into it. But what did that mean exactly? How fast was too fast? The bond was forming whether I wanted it to or not. I could feel the strange awareness of him that hadn’t been there before and wanted to be near him more and more. I wanted other things too.
My mind flashed to the brief moments I’d seen him naked during his shifts, and the impressive size of him that had been very evident through his sweatpants when I straddled him. I was going to need industrial quantities of lube to fit that.
Lucan made a controlled descent, and I braced myself for the landing, my thighs squeezing. When his claws touched down, the impact was surprisingly gentle. I climbed off his back, my legs wobbling slightly as they hit solid ground.
His scales and wings dissolved into his familiar human shape. He stood there naked for a moment, moonlight casting shadows across the planes of his muscles. My mouth went dry.
“You okay?” A small smile played on his lips as he moved to the ATV and grabbed his clothes.
I nodded, watching him pull on his jeans and T-shirt. “Perfect.”
He stepped closer, fully dressed now, and brushed a strand of hair from my eyes. “You’re perfect.”
He leaned down to kiss me, and I met him halfway. It was softer than before but no less intense. My hands found his chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart under my palm.
I was tempted to ask him to come to my trailer to sleep and to feel his warmth next to me. But something held me back. Maybe it was the need to process everything that had happened or the fear of moving too quickly.
But what did moving too quickly even mean at my age? In my twenties and thirties, moving too quickly meant sleeping with someone on the first date.
“We should head back,” I said softly.
Something moved through his eyes, but he nodded, no questions asked. He took my hand and helped me onto the ATV, swinging onto it in front of me.
The engine rumbled to life beneath us as I wrapped my arms around his waist. The ride back was quiet besides the engine noise and the wind, and my thoughts spun in all directions. I rested my cheek against his back, breathing in his scent and feeling strangely at peace.
As we approached Wings End, breaking through the tree line, my peaceful bubble popped instantly. Two sheriff’s vehicles were parked at the trailer next to mine.
Lucan parked outside my RV, and I slid off the ATV, my legs wobbly from more than just the ride. The sight of the sheriff’s vehicles parked by the neighboring trailer sent my heart rate soaring all over again, but not in the pleasant way it had been minutes earlier.
Kade was already striding toward us from the direction of the commotion, his expression grim.
“What happened?” Lucan asked before I could.
