by Amelia Jade
Rokk lifted a hand to his chin, stroking it gently. Linny meanwhile stared at his arm and the way his muscles flexed under the black V-neck shirt he was wearing. Sharing the hangar with him wouldn’t be so bad. It meant she could see him more often, taking her time to ogle his muscles.
And maybe, just maybe, you’ll get a chance to see what follows up after that kiss. Don’t pretend like you’re not interested. I’m your subconscious. I know these things.
“That will work,” Rokk said. “It’s going to be tight, but I think I can make it work.”
“Everything is tight where you’re concerned. Have you seen the size of you?”
They shared a laugh.
“Come on,” she ordered, pointing to the same dividers. “These aren’t electric, so we’re going to put that bulk of yours to use if you want to rent the space.”
Rokk was already following at her side. “Rent the space?”
“Sure, you didn’t think it comes free, did you?”
His face indicated he thought it had. “I suppose moving the dividers isn’t that big a price to pay.”
“That’s not your price. That’s just what needs to be done.”
“How badly am I going to be extorted for this space?” he complained.
Linny giggled. “You just have to answer some questions.”
“Interrogation. Great. Torture is still outlawed here, right?”
“Technically?”
He lifted both eyebrows, waiting until she couldn’t hold her face straight any longer.
“Tell me some more about yourself,” she said, pointing at the first divider and showing him how he had to swing it out and then push it to the far end of the hangar.
“Such as?”
“Why come here?”
“Aric asked.”
Linny was surprised. “He asked, and just like that you and your brother jumped on a plane and came all the way out here to the mountains?”
Rokk shrugged. “Truthfully the mountains are familiar, so it helps. Much smaller and less pretty, but still familiar enough to ward off any homesickness if I were to feel it.”
“But you don’t?”
“Not anymore,” he said cryptically.
She had no idea what he meant by that, but her attention was drawn back to the dividers before she could dwell on it to much. Rokk had pulled out three of them and lined them up without pushing them down.
“You need to push it all the way to the end.”
Rokk just gave her a look and then pushed the end one. All three started to slide with ease, moving across the hangar until they banged to a stop at the far end. Right. Dragon strength.
“That’s so not fair,” she said as he walked by her to grab some more.
“I know.”
Grrrr. “But why did you come?”
“We agreed to help you fight these things. You need help. Here I am.”
“Just like that, you dropped your life over there and came here, for the good of the cause?”
“Basically, yes. Why is that so hard to understand?”
It was her turn to shrug helplessly. “I guess it’s just not a very human thing to do. Many of us wouldn’t put ourselves so willingly into harm’s way. We’re not very good, you know.”
“You also don’t have the advantages that I do,” Rokk pointed out, pushing another three dividers down. The hangar was almost halfway closed off now. “Fighting the Outsiders is much more dangerous for you.”
“Maybe.”
He smiled gently. “My turn. Why did you join the military?”
“That’s easy.” She got into the mix, pulling out the next divider as he walked back from the middle. “My grandfather. He served, and he was a huge example for me growing up. I wanted to honor him, so here I am.”
“He sounds like a wonderful man.”
She nodded quickly, taking her time to compose herself. “He’s remarkable.”
There was more to the story, but she wasn’t about to go spilling her life details to Rokk just yet.
“I’m sure he’d be proud of you. Assistant to the base commander. That’s a pretty nice bit on the resume.”
“I just want to do whatever I can to help. It wasn’t what I signed up for, but I’m pretty good at it I think, and if it means that the base can function more efficiently with me in this role than another, then I’ll do it.”
Rokk paused, the dividers sliding just out of his reach as the momentum died. “I think you sell the human race short,” he said. “You’re a good person, Sergeant Linny Cantor. Don’t let anyone else ever tell you otherwise. Got it?”
He wasn’t her boss, but she nodded anyway. The gravity with which he spoke couldn’t be explained with words, but it could be felt. Gone was Rokk, the man she’d been getting to know. Standing before her for that split second was a mighty dragon shifter with a power near unparalleled on earth, except by others of his kind. He hadn’t changed physically, but nobody who had experienced it could argue that there was a completely different person there for a second.
“How’d you get the hangar all to yourself?”
And just like that, Rokk was back.
“Perks of the job. I asked the major directly.”
The big man laughed, pushing the last divider into place. “Well okay then. That’s one way to go about it. Don’t you think people might be upset about that?”
She shook her head. “It’s a talent show. Maybe my talent is manipulating superior officers to get what I want.”
Rokk chuckled. “Remind me not to get on your bad side. I’m glad I’m benefitting from it though. Thank you.”
“As thanks you can tell me what you’re going to do?”
“For the show?”
She nodded.
“Not a chance, lady. And I’m a dragon shifter. I’ll know if you try and spy on me.”
“Clearly you underestimate my sneakiness. You wouldn’t even know if I tried. But it’s okay, I don’t need to know. Just as long as you aren’t going to change into a dragon and expect that to win.”
Rokk’s face went slack. He didn’t respond.
Chapter Seven
Rokk
Her laughter rang out through the hangar, echoing even louder now that it was partitioned in half. “You weren’t seriously going to do that, were you?”
He looked away, feeling an unusual amount of heat in his face.
“Oh my goodness, are you embarrassed about this?” Linny all but shrieked, clapping her hands over her mouth as she bent at the waist. “Big bad dragon shifter thought he could win simply by showing his dragon off?”
“I could call it an illusion,” he muttered unhappily, looking down.
“Rokk. This entire base is cleared for knowledge of dragons. Everyone knows your secret. That’s why the prize of leave is so valuable. We get so little of it because of the secrets we know. The chance to leave for a month, or even a week? That’s worth just as much to a lot of soldiers as the prize money your friend put up.”
“I had more planned,” he said stubbornly, digging in and defending his stance.
“Like what?”
“I’m not telling you!” He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to feel as powerful as he was, and not brought down a size or six by this tiny human. It hurt more because he knew what she was to him, even if Linny had no idea yet.
He’d talked to Aric about it, after rubbing it in Pyne’s face a bit. Mating with a human was new—only a handful of dragons had done it—and they all were residents of Fort Banner. Unfortunately they were also all out on assignment trying to hunt down the missing Outsiders that had broken through the portal. That left only Aric as a resource, and he’d not had a chance to ask much.
All he’d gotten was to take his time. To let things blossom on their own, so to speak. It was hard. He was standing here less than a few feet away from her. His dragon roared at him constantly, acting more like a whining cat than the mighty beast it was, trying to convince him to make a move, to t
ake her and make her his own.
Which was exactly what he’d been told to avoid doing.
“You have no idea what you’re going to do now, do you?” Linny smiled and then relented. “I’m sorry I laughed, but at least you know now that you need to come up with something better and more original.”
He nodded. “Yeah. You could have been nicer about it.” But he flashed a smile to let her know he was going to be okay, even if his ego was bruised. “I’ll come up with something.”
“Give me a hint.” She bobbed her eyebrows at him several times.
To his utter surprise the somewhat suggestive look made his dragon go berserk, lashing out and trying to wind its way free so that it could mate with her. The attraction was too powerful. He needed to pull back, and now, before it became unsafe for Linny to be around him.
Rokk backed away. “No. Um. I need to think it all the way through first, so you don’t laugh at me again. I need to go.”
“Go? Didn’t you just get here and say you needed to practice?”
Like he needed to practice shifting from dragon to human. It had all been a ploy to spend time with her. Now though he needed the opposite of that.
“I have to find Pyne and Aric. I’ll see you later.”
He all but fled the hangar, wrestling mentally with his dragon. It fought back, but once they were outside of the hangar in the clear mountain air, the beast subsided without much fight. The two of them had always had a fairly amicable and easygoing relationship. It was very out of character for it to act this way, and Rokk was a little concerned.
Seeking out his fellow cobalt dragons, he pulled them out of direct earshot of any of the other soldiers.
“What is it, Rokk?” Aric looked at him carefully.
Pyne just stood aloof, off to one side.
“I just had to fight my dragon,” he said, whispering for fear of being overhead. If the military knew that the relationship between human and dragon often wasn’t friendly there could be trouble.
Aric’s eyes narrowed. “You? You had to fight it.”
He nodded frantically. “Yes. Linny did that little eyebrow lift, but she wasn’t doing it in a sexual manner. It didn’t matter though—the damn thing went apeshit until I could get out of visual and scent range of her. Then it calmed almost immediately.” He was breathing deeply by this point. “I put her in danger.”
“It doesn’t sound like she was in much danger,” Aric said.
“I’ve always had a strong control over it, even when it doesn’t try to fight me. I guess it’s just not as independent as yours. To me though, that was terrifying. What do I do?”
Aric thought it over.
“Any advice for the winner, Pyne?” he teased.
His brother just glowered at him. Rokk laughed. Pyne wasn’t taking to being a loser too well. For most of their lives he’d been the one in front, the more well known of the two. Now he was taking a back seat as Rokk learned to navigate the waters of having a mate, and he was being pouty.
“Maybe try watching her from a distance the next time you see her,” Aric suggested. “So that you can get your dragon under control before you approach.”
“Oh yes, definitely do that,” Pyne said.
Wary of his twin’s vigorous agreement, Rokk thought it over. Then he understood.
“Very funny. I’m not going to stalk her,” he growled, swatting at Pyne.
His brother jabbed at his side with a fist, but before it could devolve into anything else Aric intervened. “You’re going to have to be near her eventually. The best thing to do is let your dragon get acclimated to the idea before you just toss yourself into close proximity. How you do that is up to you.”
Rokk couldn’t fault that logic.
“You should make sure you spend time practicing though,” Pyne said, suddenly serious. “I’ve heard she’s really good. I hope she kicks your ass.”
“I’m sure you do. But I’m going to be training alongside my mate for the next while. It won’t be long before she’s mine. Even if she wins the contest, I’m going to win her.”
“You’re so lame.”
Pyne walked off, leaving the pair behind.
“Have you heard that?” he asked Aric, the pair of them watching Pyne’s retreating back.
“Yes. The major speaks very highly of her.”
“Interesting. I wonder what the heck she’s doing?”
And just like that, Rokk had his idea. He knew how he was going to acclimate his dragon to Linny’s presence before getting close to her again.
“Thanks, Aric!” He started jogging off. He had some preparation to do. “I appreciate the advice.”
Aric just ignored him. Dragons were weird like that.
He jogged away to find out just how he was going to pull this off.
Chapter Eight
Rokk
It took him longer than expected to get everything sorted, but he was in the hangar with plenty of time to spare before she got off duty and was able to come and train some more.
The lights were off, leaving him to work in the dark, which was most annoying. They took too long to warm up, however, and besides, once he was all set, he wouldn’t be able to turn them off anyway. If she came in and flicked them on and they came up right away, she’d know someone had been there recently. So he worked quietly, his dragonsight letting him see well enough to put together his idea.
The board was a replacement from a medical spine board, and the wires were actually thin cable, each one rated at a hundred pounds. Rokk had four of them attached at the corners of the board, which now lay on the floor in the corner far below him. He was currently monkeying up among the rafters, the strands of the cables all gripped in one hand, while he supported himself with the other.
Spying the support beam he wanted, Rokk leapt out, grabbing it with one hand and pulled himself up on top of it. Lying flat, he settled himself and began to loop the cables over the beam one at a time, going opposite directions based on which side of the board they were tied to. That done, he pulled the board up off the floor until it was safely up into the rafters, well above anywhere Linny would be likely to look.
He secured the cables down tight, and proceeded to admire his handiwork. “Not too bad if I do say so myself.”
A small personnel door clanged open, startling him. Rokk almost lost his perch on the small rafter, slipping slightly to one side. Cursing to himself, he grabbed the wires, testing them with a firm pull of his hand. They held. Around him the lights clicked on, power surging through the giant bulbs.
Rokk quickly lowered himself down the cables to the board, sighing at the comfort of being able to spread his weight out. The bar above was not comfortable, hence why he’d rigged up this contraption. Now he’d be able to figure out what Linny’s skill was while also letting his dragon get used to the idea of her presence. It was a win-win situation.
Around him the lights started to brighten. The board had stopped its swaying from when he’d first settled into place, and now Rokk peered over the edge, watching his mate. She had several blocks, a table, and a wire cage all constructed and waiting there. He’d noticed all that upon entering, but had no idea what it was all for.
Linny appeared below, tossing a raincoat onto one of the boxes before pulling out a computer from a backpack.
Rokk peered down at her as the lights grew brighter. The slight cold that had permeated the rafters overnight was quickly being dispelled as the banks of lights warmed up. Rokk preferred the chill to heat, but there wasn’t anything he could do.
Below, Linny was tapping away at her laptop. He could see some sort of design on her screen. At one point she paused, switched to a different program, and suddenly very flowing, thematic music without vocals started to pour from her laptop’s speakers. The sound was very distorted by the time it reached him.
“What is she doing? Start practicing already,” he urged.
His skin grew warm under the lights.
Forty feet o
r more below his suspended platform Linny finally seemed happy with whatever she was looking at and moved to adjust the boxes into a different pattern. Then she inspected the table and started working on it, after something didn’t meet her specifications.
Beads of sweat broke out across Rokk’s back, and his arms quickly started to grow slick. Looking up at the lights above him, he began to get the feeling that this hadn’t been among his best ideas. The lights were only going to grow warmer. He couldn’t stay up here and watch her for much longer. She needed to start working now.
A glance down showed she was back to her laptop again. Dammit.
His skin began to tingle. His shirt was drenched. The heat continued to grow.
Now his mate was moving around in some sort of crazy interpretive dance. It took his heat-addled brain far too long to notice it was in time with the music. It was tough to focus when he was so busy wiping sweat from his eyes.
Droplets began to fall from the board. It was time to give it up. He would have to leave and find another way to execute his plan. Glancing around, he decided the easiest way was to crawl back up to the rafters. There was a gap between the roof and the dividers, so he could escape over to his section and avoid being seen that way. With the music on she’d never notice.
Getting onto all fours, he grasped the wires and started to climb.
“Oh shit.”
His grip slipped halfway up and he plunged back to the board, through the board, and fell to the ground below.
The snapping of plastic as it gave way under his weight was more than loud enough to alert Linny, even if his startled yelp wasn’t. Looking down he realized his impact on the board had altered his trajectory, sending him right toward Linny.
She screamed.
He told her to get out of the way while focusing on his dragon. An instant later wings sprouted from his back, spreading wide and blocking much of the light as the steel-blue membranes guided him safely away from his mate. He did, however, land amongst her stack of boxes, discovering to his painful dismay that they weren’t wood but actually steel.
“Ouch!” He rolled out of the pile and collapsed to the floor, his wings disappearing back into his skin, leaving nothing but a stretched neckline to reveal they were there.
