by Leia Stone
Get it together, Sloane.
“I couldn’t risk you running off, and I couldn’t babysit you twenty-four seven. I’ve been too busy making sure you didn’t carelessly lead them to us,” he said with a trace of annoyance.
Hah! I annoyed him? I was the one in a freaking cage! I noticed that he stood in front of a door that was ajar and looked like it led to set of steps. Looked like I was in a basement. Nothing good ever happened in a basement.
Anger flared inside of me, making the pain my body was feeling ebb a little. “Let me out!” I barked, shaking the cage. Was he a hunter? My brain struggled with recalling what had happened—those hunters … I breathed fire … and they almost killed me, but then the animals … the girl, she had changed from a wolf to a person right before my eyes. I would say it was ludicrous, but not after what I knew my body could do. Fear began to saturate my body as I stared at the blood bag and the cage. I was super freaking claustrophobic and had seen enough horror movies to know this ended with me raped or dead. Scales began to appear on my arms as my dragon started to take over, and the guys eyes bugged out of his head. He flew forward with his hands out.
“Stop that! Calm down or you’ll shift and tip off the hunters!” he growled, his pupils forming thin lizard-like slits. What the…?
His words shocked me, they actually shocked me enough to calm me down and the scales started to retreat. What he said … tipping the hunters off if I shifted. Oh my God! It made so much sense! Every time I had shifted to my dragon form, the hunters came! That must be what alerted them. This was crazy. How did he know about that? I took a deep settling breath, looked down, and was happy to see the scales fully gone.
The guy still looked like I had sprouted two heads; he was standing there, mouth agape.
“How do you know about the hunters? And shifting?” I asked.
He was shaking his head, looking off into the distance. “It isn’t possible. You’re not possible.”
Great, he was crazy to boot.
Any hope I had that this guy might be able to help me was dashed. I didn’t know how to respond, so I kept my mouth shut. The guy moved with the grace and speed of a leopard. One minute he was across the room peering at me like I was the most fascinating thing on earth, and the next he was in front of my cage, pulling keys out of his pocket.
I scrambled to sit up, excited at the thought that he might let me go. As he brought the keys into the lock I noticed his black and white checked flannel shirt was rolled up at the sleeves and he had an intricate sleeve of tattoos on his left forearm. In this closeness I could smell him; he smelled of freshly-fallen snow, and earth, of the woods and a campfire on a cold night. Heat uncoiled deep in my belly, bringing a pressure with it that had my legs throbbing. What the hell was going on with my lady parts? This guy was bad news. I needed to get the heck out of here, not be falling to pieces because I smelled him.
He put the key into the lock and then crouched down to meet my gaze, bringing more of his man scent with him, and I actually had to clear my throat to keep from moaning. “My name is Logan,” he said. “I’m going to let you out now, but don’t run. We need to talk, okay? I can help you.”
Sure thing, buddy. Then he unclicked the lock, swinging the barred cage door wide open, and I gingerly stepped out. My muscles were on fire from being cramped in that cage for so long, but I didn’t think about it. I just slowly measured how far it was from where I was standing to the open door. He backed up several steps, seemingly so he wouldn’t spook me, and I met his gaze straight on.
“No one can help me,” I said as I bolted for the open door, faster than I had ever run before. Despite my injuries, I was halfway up the staircase in seconds before I heard him grunt behind me, then his heavy footsteps pounded after me. I reached the top of the stairs and had a moment of confusion as I stepped out into a hallway. I took off to the left, where I could see sunlight, and fear laced through me as I heard the guy right behind me.
Reaching an open living room, I was halfway across the space before he took me down.
“Umph!” I fell to the ground in a thud as his massive body crashed on top of me. His strong arms grasped my shoulders, and in one swift movement he flipped me over so that we were face to face and he was straddling me. I whimpered at the pain his hand caused to my shoulder and he immediately loosened his grip, his face falling.
“I told you not to run!” he ground out in anger. His jaw was clenched, his face only inches away from mine. Warmth spread throughout my body and I felt my dragon rustle inside of me. Heat was pulsing from my belly to my groin and throughout my legs. Jesus, Sloane take a cold shower. What was going on with my body? I couldn’t control it.
Logan paled, his eyes widening as he climbed off of me. What happened? Did he feel that? Shit. Red colored my cheeks, no doubt rivaling my crimson hair.
“Just relax or you will get us both killed,” he told me as he backed as far away from me as possible. He hadn’t yet tried to kill me, so … I slowly stood, favoring my injured shoulder, and watched as his green eyes raked leisurely over my body, making the heat inside of me feel all-consuming.
What the hell was going on? I felt like I was going to start breathing fire if I didn’t cool down. That, or jump this psychopathic stranger right here on the living room floor. Did he drug me? Oh man. I was really losing it; it was so warm in here I thought I might die.
“I need air,” I managed to say as I started walking to the front door, which was now visible beyond him.
He silently followed me, watching me, his body stiff and alert as if he was ready to pounce if I ran again. I flung the large door open, and as I stepped outside my face was blasted with frigid, wonderful, snowy air. Taking huge lungfuls of air, I felt that heat inside of me cool a tiny bit. Thank the heavens. Taking stock of my surroundings, I saw that I was on a beautiful, heavily-treed lot, with only a few cabins visible nearby. It was secluded and the roads were covered in freshly-fallen snow.
It also looked like a house where you would have to scream really loud for someone to hear you.
I spun around to face Logan and noticed the porch I stood on was mammoth, wrapping all the way around to the back of the large two-story cabin. But I could easily jump over the railing if needed.
“Start talking,” I told him. “Because I’m going to lose my shit. I don’t appreciate being caged and experimented on.” So far, he hadn’t tried to kill me, so I didn’t think he was a hunter, but that didn’t mean he was a good guy.
He looked offended, his eyebrows shooting upwards into his messy dark hair. “Experiment on you?”
I pointed to the bruise on my arm where I had ripped the IV out.
He sighed and shook his head, giving me an eye roll as if I was a child having a tantrum and he needed to talk me down. “That was my blood. I was trying to expedite your healing. Something is wrong with you. I don’t know why you don’t heal.”
He wasn’t the first guy to tell me something was wrong with me and probably wouldn’t be the last, but it still stung. I was starting to put things together, and it sent fear and hope through me. “And why would your blood help me?” This creep better not have STDs or anything strange that he just gave me.
He puffed out air and shook his head. “Where do I begin?”
I frowned. “How about with the girl who was a wolf but then…” I let my words trail off.
“Nadine … a wolf shifter,” he said as if it was no big deal.
My mouth dropped open. “Like a werewolf? But…” Okay. Fair enough. I was a dragon shifter, so I guess wolf shifters could be real. I was going to go with the flow, because anything more threatened to take my sanity completely.
“And that’s what you are?” I questioned him, assuming now that he was some big bad alpha wolf with magic healing blood or something, but he just shook his head.
“No. The other animals … work for me.”
“Work for you? What do you do?” Please don’t say you capture dragons and eat them.
I took a step back in case that was his answer.
He stood there for forever, unmoving, unbreathing, those piercing green eyes just boring into me. I was about to ask him again when he finally spoke.
“I am a skyborn. A dragon shifter. The last of my kind … until you.”
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 for breath.
“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 escaped me.
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 through me.
“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 my arms.
Logan’s eyes bugged.
“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 with him.
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 your dragon.”
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 terrified me.
“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 help me.
A deep green light emanated from his left palm and covered my face.
“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 my fire.
Logan’s magical 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 black eyes.
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 nothing now.
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 a note.
Dude,
Don’t worry. Logan didn’t dress you. The clothes are mine.
-Nadine (Wolf girl who saved you from hunters)
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 and meowed.
“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 it hard.
“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 about that.
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 for me.
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 had changed.
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 my arm.
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 back again.
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 long enough?
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 to his—
“How did you sleep?”
I cleared my throat. “Not long enough apparently. I still feel … unsettled.”
His serious face broke into a slight grin. “That’s all you. Your dragon’s not in heat anymore. I can smell it.”
Smell it? Oh. My. God. My eyes widened. I wanted to die. I set the cat down and she pranced over to Logan, rubbing up against his leg.
“You met Mittens?” he asked as he petted the spot between her ears. I was grateful he had quickly changed the subject away from my ovaries. Great, he had a pet kitten that he adored. I had always liked the strong yet secretly sensitive type.
“Yes,” I said, unsure how to ask the things I really wanted to ask.
Logan looked up at me again and the heat flared a little within me. “So, let’s talk about how you know so much about dragons. How are you a dragon? How the hell am I a dragon?”
I was trying to think of anything
but the low throb in my gut when I looked at him.
He sighed, switching gears. “Let me shower really quick and I’ll meet you in the kitchen. This is going to be a long story.”
The second he said kitchen, my stomach grumbled loud enough for both of us to hear. I hadn’t eaten in…
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Three days. Your dragon can go a week without food or water, so she sustained your human body while you slept.” He picked up a bottle of water to chug the contents.
Please put your damn shirt on, I wanted to say. The tattoos, the muscles, the freaking beard, it was all distracting me from the fact that we were both dragons and this was a serious situation.
“I’ll meet you in the kitchen in five minutes,” I said, leaving the room. I still couldn’t believe what he’d said about my dragon not being in heat. There was something wrong with me when it came to him. I couldn’t control it and it terrified me.
The moment I got to the kitchen I decided I couldn’t wait five minutes. I was hungry. I opened the fridge, and on a plate was a huge meat sub sandwich with a note that said: For Sleeping Beauty. It was different handwriting than Nadine’s, and I was guessing this was from Logan. I smirked at the nickname and grabbed the sandwich with two hands, quickly unwrapping the cellophane and pounding it down before he even made it back to the room.
I was just chugging my third glass of water when I sensed a stirring within me, and a heat from behind me. My dragon was slithering inside of me, pulling me, forcing me to turn around.
I shifted slowly and saw that Logan was leaning in the entryway, his eyes thin slits as he watched me. He wore dark-wash denim jeans and a vintage tight t-shirt, and I could smell his wood essence from here.
