by Elle Thorne
The dragon tipped her head, as though acknowledging the compliment, then lowered her body to the ground.
“This is where I hop on, I suppose.”
The beast merely craned her neck, watching her as Meri swung a leg over and straddled the dragon, much like she would a horse. She wrapped her arms around the muscular neck and tucked her cheek against the warm scales.
“Ready.”
The dragon rose and spread her wings. With two flaps, they were airborne, many more flaps later, they were above the trees and flying.
She was flying! She couldn’t imagine what it was like for skydivers or parachuters or gliders, or any of those sporting options, but one thing she knew for sure—this had to be a million times better. She released one hand and waved it in the air, like she was lassoing an invisible something. She wondered what she must look like then she scanned the ground below to see if she could see Mae’s bed-and-breakfast inn. There it was! A miniscule house surrounded by trees in a valley, not far from a little town.
“What if they see us?” she wondered, knowing full well the dragon didn’t talk.
Wait. It didn’t, did it?
The flight—exhilarating and heart-poundingly exciting ended less than 30 minutes later as Allegra touched down on a treehouse. An elaborate treehouse atop a massive tree. A treehouse that couldn’t possibly be accessed by humans—could it?
“Thank you for that.” Meri dismounted then stepped back, allowing Allegra to shift. If that was what she would be doing. Surely, she’d shift to her human again?
Chapter Twenty-Six
“My daughter and I have a complicated history.” Now in a clean suit, one not much different than the highbrow one he’d had on before, George Morales set his coffee cup down.
To say the least, Dunn thought as he recalled all the history Meri had shared while he was in his bear form. And it certainly explained why she was the way she was.
“I wish she hadn’t stepped away. Did she say where she was going? How long she’ll be gone?”
“Not long,” Dunn assured him. He sympathized with the man’s predicament. His career choice had caused the death of his wife, which, in turn, had created a divide in his relationship with his daughter.
“I think I’ll wait for her.”
He wouldn’t have expected anything less from a father. “No problem.”
“She’s pregnant.” Morales laid that out there. Deadpan, emotionless. He placed his hands on the table, palms down, expecting, waiting.
Dunn cocked his head. “She told you?”
Morales turned the sugar bowl in slow circles. By the time he’d reached the tenth circle—Dunn was counting—he said, “No. I was told of pregnancy tests at her apartment. My men went in to clean it up so local law enforcement wouldn’t raise an eyebrow after Colin’s…unfortunate and premature demise. Six tests. Six.” He tapped the sugar bowl’s spoon against the porcelain six times, as though for emphasis. “Six tests. Why so many? One would think someone would do that if they were hoping it would be negative.”
“I can see where someone would think that.” What the fuck was Dunn supposed to say? He knew she wanted the baby now, but as to the baby’s biological father…eh, not so much, but still. God, he should have cut out when she did. Let Griz or Mae deal with this.
Griz had been looking out the window during this conversation and tapping the windowsill incessantly, clearly worried about his pregnant wife who’d taken off with Meri. Dunn understood being concerned, but why was Griz more concerned about his woman than he himself was about Meri? Was there something going on with Allegra?
He now turned from the window and stared at Morales, his face also inscrutable. “It could also be she wanted it so much she had to make sure. What if they weren’t all from the same day? Maybe she took a few of them days ago?”
Dunn knew damned well that wasn’t the case, but he wasn’t about to give Morales more ammunition to pursue the matter.
“And the father?” Morales pointed at Dunn. “That’s you? You’re the father?”
“I am.” And he’d do his damnedest to make sure Meri would let him be. Given half a chance, he’d be the best goddamn father a kid saw.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Allegra had shifted into her human form, complete with rumpled clothing and messy hair, and opened the door to the treehouse—really, more of a mini-home—in the treetops.
“How did you get this here?”
She smiled and put a kettle with bottled water on a one-burner propane stove. “Griz built it. With some help from a few other dragons who brought things here.”
Whoa! Other dragons? Meri had questions. Lots of them. Starting with, “And no one saw you?” In the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but notice Allegra had an accent. She couldn’t peg from where, but maybe one day she’d find out.
“No one can see us. There’s an enchantment over the area, enabling us to fly unseen within a certain perimeter.”
“No shit?” She found herself baffled by this. She shouldn’t be. She’d read fantasy books. But still. “So, other dragons?”
“Nine of us total. The last ones on Earth. As far as we know.”
Of course, now Meri’s mind was churning about their genetic makeup and how it would differ from a bear shifter’s or a wolf shifter’s. And how would that compare to a humans?
She startled when Allegra put her hands on hers. “Where were you?” Your fingers were fidgeting. You were somewhere far away.”
“I guess I was in my lab.”
“Larsen—sometimes I forget to call him Griz—mentioned you are a scientist.”
“Was,” she said glumly. “That part of my life is over.” There’d be no life to return to. No position. No lab. No unlimited funds to research. No nothing.
“Because of the baby?”
“What? No.” Reflexively, she found herself placing her hands over her stomach protectively.
“Is it because of having to be here?” Allegra moved to get the whistling kettle, poured steaming water into two cups, then dropped a teabag in each. “Decaf work for you?”
“That’d be great. Thanks. Yes, it’s because of what brought me here.” She wasn’t sure how much Griz had filled her in, and, frankly, she didn’t want to relive that shit all over again by briefing Allegra.
Her hostess pulled two plastic containers from the backpack. “Not fancy, but these travel well. Chicken salad in pita.”
Meri’s mouth watered. “Sounds great.”
She handed her one then took a bite of her own. After swallowing, “You’re staying in Bear Canyon Valley, right? For good? It will be nice to have someone to go through pregnancy with.”
“Not sure how I’d manage that. No funds. No access to anything from before. Credit cards, cash, IDs, nothing. And can’t even try to get it or they’ll find me.”
“You don’t need to worry about money in Bear Canyon Valley. We take care of our own.”
“Okay, then let me put it this way. It’s not like I was invited to stay.”
“Huh. That’s odd. Well, I’m inviting you.”
Meri would have rather been invited by Dunn. “I’ll think about it.”
“I understand. I’m sure you have other options. What with your father here and all.”
Meri cringed. Because, no, as far as she knew, she had no other options. She’d never considered her father an option. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, but after all these years, he was more like a distant relative than he was a father. “Yeah, nope. No options whatsoever.”
“I guarantee you there’d be a spot for you here. A way you can contribute.”
“I can wash dishes and make beds.” She laughed. “Maybe Mae could use some help.”
Allegra merely smiled, shaking her head as though amused by the antics of a toddler.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s not that it’s funny, as much as it’s such a phenomenon. What Mae’s created here. How she’s built a commun
ity of shifters and other types, humans too, and most of us have been outcast or had issues of one sort or another.”
“Now that you mention it, though I don’t know a lot about what’s happened before me, I see what you mean.”
“Then surely you realize there’s something for you here.” Allegra took her final bite. “Do you like my little hideaway?”
“Are you kidding? I love it!” She studied the homey mini-cabin, with its mini-kitchenette and double bed. “Wait a second. How’d you get the bed here?”
“Griz built the frame.”
“And the mattresses?”
“Two dragons carted them here under the cover of darkness.” She winked. “Even with the obfuscation spell that the sorceresses cast to hide us while we are in the air, we still didn’t want to take a chance carrying something so large.” On the table, Allegra’s phone vibrated. She glanced at it. “Would you like to talk to Dunn? He’s asking.”
“Sure.”
“Good. He said he’ll be here in five.”
“Wait, what? No. I’m…” Meri ran her fingers over her windblown hair, glanced down at her messy clothing.”
Allegra’s smile caught her off-guard. “Stop that. You look beautiful.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dunn stepped into the treetop house Griz told him he’d built for Allegra. “Not far from a waterfall,” Griz had told him. “She’s got a thing for water. Woulda thought she’s a water dragon, but nah, she’s not.” Griz had secured a ride from him with Allegra’s father, Salvatore, who’d returned from some trip he’d taken with the other dragons in Bear Canyon Valley.
Before coming to the valley, Dunn hadn’t even known dragons still existed. They were the things of legends, long extinct, driven out by greed, avarice, other shifters, and humans. And feared by all because of the special venom delivered by a strike of their tail. Dragonstrike, Griz had told him. Doc mentioned he was going to get started working on an antivenin at some point of time. Wouldn’t you know it? That had sparked an idea in Dunn’s head. One he’d thrown at Griz which had been met with enthusiasm.
“Thanks for the ride.”
Salvatore’s mighty copper dragon merely dipped his head in acknowledgement then spread his wings and took to the air, leaving Dunn on the porch of the treehouse. Dunn appraised the miniature home, perched above the treetops. A man could get real used to this place.
The door opened, and Allegra stepped out—Meri behind her, still inside. “I’ll leave you two. I’m sure you have some catching up to do.”
He stepped into the doorway, dipping his head. Definitely designed for someone shorter than him. Allegra closed the door, and next, his shifter hearing picked up the sound of her shifting then flying away.
“Hey.” He studied her. This was the first time they’d been together without worrying about—something—anything. “How does it feel?”
Confusion on her features, she asked, “How does what feel?”
He looked around the place. Small. A double bed took up most of it. The rest was allocated to a little kitchen and a camping stove. Not really large enough for two people to live for an extended time period.
Meri watched him as he appraised the place. When he was done, she said, “It’s small. Want to go outside?
“Yeah.”
She indicated two chairs on the porch. They sat next to each other, watching the beauty of the evergreen forest surrounding them.
“You were going to tell me how it feels not being hunted for a moment. Not stressing out. Not being shot at. Or threatened.”
“Oh. That.” She shrugged. “I guess I’d gotten numb to it.”
“Probably.” Fuck, he wanted to kiss her, hold her. Jesus, man, get yourself under control. “What’d you think about Allegra, dragons, all that?”
“Oh my god. It’s so amazing. I wish I had my lab. And their permission to do samples. Can you imagine…?”
She went on and on, saying things he knew nothing about, and pretty soon, her words were a drone that had melded together. He couldn’t tear his eyes from her face though. Watching her every expression as she described genetic makeup, talked about anatomy, theorized about cell structure.
He knew nothing about that stuff. There was only one thing he knew. He loved this woman, and she loved her science. Okay, technically he knew two things.
It’d be shame if she didn’t get to do what she loved. She’d die inside, little by little. Sure, she’d have a baby to give her love to, and he was positive she’d make a great mother—but this, her first passion would just shrivel up and die inside of her. And a little bit of her would die with it.
“Dunn?” She’d been tapping his arm, still was.
“Yeah?”
“Where were you?”
How could he tell her he’d migrated to a place in his mind where they had a passel of children, days of laughter, heaps of fun, maybe a few tears, and nights filled with… Best not to think of that. The telltale sign in his pants would give him away.
“Pretty sure you weren’t with me,” she charged, a smile softening her accusation.
“I was with you.” Just not here. “You were talking about all this scientific stuff I have no clue about.”
“Well, the last thing was a question.” She raised a brow.
Busted. “I guess I missed that.”
“My father. I was asking about him. I guess I kind of walked out while he was changing.” Guilt washed across her face.
“He took it in stride. He said he knows you’ve been dealing with a lot since your mother… Well, you know.”
“So, he’s waiting for me to come back and talk to him?”
“No. He left. But not until he’d had a talk with me.”
She grimaced with a small cringe. “Yikes. Sorry. But why would he want to have a talk with you? I mean, specifically with you.”
“Well”—how was he to tell her it was because of what he’d said?—“He wished us the best. Said he’d like to see his grandchild.”
She turned, facing him instead of the view, one leg propped up in the chair, reminding him of a teenager, though she was far from one. “Wait. His grandchild?”
“Seems he heard about the tests you left in the apartment from a cleanup team he sent in.”
“Oh. Crap. Yeah.” Her hair blew in the rising wind, and she shivered. “Hope there isn’t another blizzard like the one we came into the other day. “So, us? Why did he wish us the best?”
“Might be because of something I said. I guess I kind of let him think I’m the baby’s daddy. And that were together.”
“Oh.” She folded her arms across her body, practically hugging herself.
He took off his flannel shirt and placed it over her shoulders. “Is it bad I said that?”
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Nah. I enjoy the chill. Bears and all that. High metabolic rate. You know…” Then he realized she didn’t know, but she’d love to, of course. “So, you didn’t say. Is that bad?”
“No. I—” She rubbed her temples. “I’m confused. It must be the altitude. Or the craziness of the last few days. Or maybe it’s… I don’t know. Thank you for telling him you’re the father. It will make it easier to deal with George.” She sighed. “Over the long run.”
“I didn’t just mean that for George. I’d love to be the baby’s father. I’d—” He’d been pacing on the porch. Fuck. Fuck it all. “I love you, Meredith Morales. And I’d love that baby like my own.” He didn’t want her leaving this treehouse without knowing how in he was. How deep he was. Him and his bear. “I just don’t—”
Meri leapt from her chair, slamming into him, arms around his waist. The sounds coming from her gave him pause. Was that...was she laughing? Crying? He pulled her away then put his fingers beneath her chin, tipping her head back. Tears stained her cheeks, but a tremulous smile had made its way to her face. Her eyes were lit up with a light he’d never noticed before.
“You’re not mad?”
&
nbsp; She rose onto her toes then, with hands behind his neck, she pulled his head down. “I couldn’t be.” She put her lips against his and murmured, “You would be the best daddy.”
“Will be,” he corrected her.
Hands on her hips, he pulled her closer. He laid claim to her lips, yielding no mercy, though none was called for. Tongue on a mission, he sought to make her his, if only with this kiss.
Though it seemed she had other ideas. She pushed her body against his, luscious curves fitting against his body perfectly. In his mind, his bear rumbled his satisfaction. Her hands began a slow descent from behind his neck, over his arms, fingertips tracing their way down his chest, wending their way over his abs, until they reached the waistband of his pants.
For fuck’s sake. He couldn’t control the way his body instantly reacted to her touch, straining painfully against the heavenly and hellishly desire to pin this woman to the bed and drive himself deep within.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“God, I want you.” Dunn’s voice was a gravelly exclamation which only mirrored her desire for this man. This shifter. This man who had taken her death and made it his own at the risk of—everything. Yes, he could have lost his very life forever, just to save her from that wolf shifter.
He wanted her. All of her. And not only her, he wanted her baby, too. The sheer headiness of this, coupled with her desire for him, had been feeling for him from his very first words to her, in that most unromantic of places, a damned morgue. Her nipples pushed against her shirt so hard it was painful. Or maybe they were in pain because they needed to be touched by him. Intensely needed his touch.
His lips were frantic, eager, and hungry. She surprised herself when her tongue wrapped around his and she found herself taking control, coaxing him, seducing him. Pursuing him. She’d never been the aggressive one, but this side of her made her feel hot and sexy.
He groaned, and the reaction in her body was immediate. As if someone had strummed a guitar, connecting her brain to her nipples, to the very center of her. Her core responded, dropping the slickness, making ready. She reached for his shirt and unbuttoned it, pulling on the fabric, as desperate to have him inside her as he sounded like he was.
