by Chloe Cole
“Did you need something else?”
His dark, handsome face was tight with tension and he crossed his arms over his thickly muscled chest.
“I told this to Etienne, and I’m telling it to you because I’m a forthright sort of guy. I don’t think this is right. I don’t think this is the answer. Sometimes what we want and what’s best for us isn’t the same thing. And I believe the same holds true right now for both you and Etienne. You’re both blinded by…whatever it is you think you feel for one another. But after tonight, there’s no turning back, Taya. Right now you can’t possibly understand the magnitude of what I’m saying, but trust that I speak the truth.”
Her stomach pitched with fear but she managed to get control of it before it sent her spiraling into a tailspin of terror.
“I understand why you might feel this is about Etienne, and I won’t deny that I…feel something for him. But it’s more than that. When this first happened, I remember walking into my bathroom and being afraid someone was behind the shower curtain, wondering if I’d ever feel safe again. The only way I will be able to do that is by ripping back the curtain. Seeing what lies behind it and facing it head on. This?” She gestured around her with a short laugh. “Cowering in my house with you two guarding me—and, from what, I can only begin to guess.” She shook her head. “That’s not living. And then, when you and Willa leave, I’m supposed to just go on with my life like nothing happened. Forever in the dark, wondering…waiting.”
She shook her head sharply and searched his stern face for some hint of understanding.
“I feel like I’d never be able to truly feel free until I know. You’re not going to change my mind on this, Drake. I’m sorry.”
He opened his mouth as if to argue, but then he stopped short and let out a low, humorless laugh.
“Fine. I recognize the expression on your face. It’s one that graces my wife’s face fairly often. It means she’s digging her heels in, so I know better than to waste my breath. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
And with that ominous parting comment, he turned and headed out of the room, leaving her alone again with her tumultuous thoughts.
Another ten minutes passed before she heard the knock at the front door. Her pulse hammered as she listened to the door open and the soft murmur of male voices before footfalls sounded up the stairs.
Her legs began to shake and she lowered herself to the edge of her mattress, gaze pinned to the doorway. When Etienne’s hulking form filled the frame, she had to fight the sudden urge to run to him, throw her arms around his neck and weep like a child.
Because through it all—the confusion and the sense of betrayal and the fear—seeing him, being in his presence, made her feel grounded and safe, despite the lies and all the doom and gloom predictions he and Drake had made. Like some part deep inside knew that, whatever danger lie out in the big bad world, it would be less scary if she could just face it with Etienne by her side.
“Taya.” His voice was a low rumble, and his eyes full of questions and hot with intensity. “You’re sure?”
She wet her lips and nodded. “One hundred percent. It’s been less than a day and already the not knowing is slowly driving me mad. They’d have me in a straightjacket inside a week at this rate.”
He took a tentative step into the room, and then another before stopping in front of an armchair which looked positively delicate next to him. He lowered himself to sit, and held her gaze.
“Where do you want to me to start?”
She’d spent pretty much the entire day with questions flitting through her mind on a continuous reel, and she plucked out the one that had haunted her most.
“What are they?”
She held the inevitable follow-up to that one in reserve. And what are you? She needed just a little more time to steel herself for the answer to that one.
He considered her for a long moment before asking gently, “What do you think they are, Taya?”
She bit her lip, torn between saying the word and knowing that, once she said it, her life would change forever. Because as ludicrous as it was, this was one question she was actually pretty certain some part of her already knew the answer to.
“Werewolves.”
Knowing and knowing were two different things, apparently, because when he tipped his head in a curt nod, the room swayed and she had to swallow back the rush of nausea.
Werewolves.
Real, honest-to-goodness, son of a bitching werewolves.
Her face must have registered her shock because he stood and came toward her.
“Taya, if this is too much for you, we can stop right n—”
“No,” she bit out, holding up a hand and gesturing for him to sit again. She swallowed hard and tried to compose herself. She wanted…no, she needed answers. The only way she was going to get them was if he knew she could handle them. She needed to get her shit together, and fast.
Werewolves. Okay.
At least she wasn’t dead.
She threw back her shoulders and met his gaze.
“Got it. So werewolves exist. A couple? A dozen? Or we’re just teeming with them and humans are eventually going to be hunted to extinction? Funny, I’ve got loads of plans for a zombie apocalypse, but for this? I got nothin’.”
For the first time in the past twenty-four hours, a smile tugged at his lips, giving her a fleeting moment of comfort before it flickered away.
“No. I don’t think you’re at risk of extinction. Werewolves have been around for thousands of years. Most live peacefully beside humans without issue. There are a couple hundred in Montana and then a few thousand more spread around the world. On the whole, there is no reason for most humans to fear them.”
Them.
Not us.
So did that mean Etienne wasn’t a werewolf himself? She’d been so sure, with those glowing eyes, and all the deceit after the attack. Hope rose in her heart and she finally gave voice to the one question that mattered more than all the rest.
“You aren’t one of them?”
He flicked his gold gaze away before blowing out a long sigh. “No.”
Relief flooded every cell in her body and she exhaled, trembling as adrenaline swept through her and words tumbled from her lips in a rush.
“Okay. Okay, that’s good. That’s what I was most scared of, because—”
“Taya, stop.”
She heard him, but she kept going anyway, “—then you probably would be spending half your time trying to decide whether or not to eat me, and I don’t think I—”
“Taya.” His tone was sharp and his voice cracked through the room like a whip. “Stop talking.”
Her stomach twisted as she went silent. She reached for one of the throw pillows beside her and hugged it to her chest.
“I’m not a werewolf, but that doesn’t mean I’m human.” His expression gentled and he looked like he was about to stand and come to her, but she shrank back and he stilled. “You already know that, don’t you?”
She did. Her brain had latched on to the lone raft in a sea of confusion because it felt safe, but in her heart, she knew better. Maybe part of her had always known.
A human male didn’t best two werewolves, and send one dashing away in fear.
A human male didn’t imprison a monster and keep it captive in a castle in the mountains.
A human male didn’t have eyes that glowed in the darkness like two sizzling coals.
So if he wasn’t a werewolf, what was he?
She pressed a hand to her mouth as her brain supplied dozens of progressively more terrifying answers to that question.
Vampire?
Demon?
Incubus?
Jesus…she’d been kidding, but could he possibly be a zombie?
This was it. This was going to be the thing that pushed her over the deep end, never to return. What if all the monsters in movies she’d spent the past twenty years of her life watching were real?
�
��Etienne?” she murmured, swallowing hard to moisten her suddenly bone-dry throat.
“Dragon,” he replied, his gaze never leaving hers. “I’m a dragon-shifter.”
Dragon.
In not a single one of her countless imaginings had she ever thought dragon. A mythical being from tales of yore, probably invented after the discovery of a pterodactyl fossil by some poor soul in the Middle Ages.
Or so she’d thought.
When she was finally able to catch her breath and form a coherent thought, she held up both hands helplessly. “I don’t even know what to say. It all seems so…”
“Crazy?” he asked softly, his beautiful face a mask of concern, almost as if he was waiting for her to shatter right in front of his eyes. “I know it must. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now.”
No, he definitely couldn’t. But she’d asked for this and she wasn’t going to punish him for honoring her with the truth. Not when doing so clearly cost him. She wasn’t sure what the ramifications would be, but based on Drake’s reaction and the solemn expression on Etienne’s face, the price would be heavy for everyone involved. If she’d fated them all to paying it with her refusal to walk away, she was going to make sure it was worth it.
She gathered every scant bit of courage she could muster and stood. “Show me.”
His golden eyes flashed with doubt. “Maybe we should talk for a few more minutes so you can get used to the idea first…”
She sloughed off the fear, shook her head and gestured for him to stand. “Nope. The quicker I provide my brain the proof-positive, the quicker I’ll be able to move from identifying problems to figuring out solutions.”
She was a big believer in that and preached it to her students daily. Thoughts of her classroom and her life before that fateful night sent a pang of sadness and regret through her, but it was brief and bittersweet. How strange that it seemed like a million years ago…
Etienne nodded grudgingly and rose to standing. “We’ll need to go outside for obvious reasons.”
He led her from the room and down the stairs, her heart knocking against her ribs so hard, she was sure he could hear it. They passed by Drake and Willa, who only watched silently as she followed Etienne out the door.
The night air was cool, but not unpleasantly so, and still, as she looked up into the star-studded sky, a chill ran through her.
There was no turning back now. She’d opened Pandora’s box, and she would have to accept whatever consequences came of it. In spite of the nerves and fear, though, there was a tiny kernel of something else. Not anticipation, exactly, but maybe excitement. The kind that came along with learning and gaining knowledge. The kind that had made her want to become a teacher in the first place. The kind that had her standing outside in the darkness with a man who claimed to be a dragon-shifter.
She wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging herself as he turned to face her. While she did have neighbors, the yards were separated by large evergreen trees that blocked their line of sight to her tiny backyard. Behind that was a small forest with a creek running through it.
Etienne glanced around, taking in the environment before facing her again, likely coming to the same conclusion she had.
They were safe from prying eyes.
“Ready?”
Her mouth refused to work as she tried to form a response, so she settled on a nod.
He reached out a hand and gently squeezed her shoulder. “I need you to know that you shouldn’t fear me, Taya. Whatever my appearance, I’m always in command, I will always know you, and I would never harm you.”
Before she could respond, he took a dozen steps back. His eyes, which had been all but invisible at that distance in the dark, suddenly flashed, twin, golden beacons. Just like the night her attackers had broken in.
Some part of her wanted to run. To flee and never look back, but she forced aside her fear and planted her feet firmly to the ground, waiting.
She didn’t know what she’d been expecting. Maybe nothing at all. Maybe a slow change. The subtle shift of features or a comical sprouting of cartoonish wings. But what happened next sent her reeling.
Etienne was there one moment, and gone the next. In his place stood a literal dragon. Not a man with wings. Not a mutated human being. A veritable pre-historic monster of the skies. He was massive—twelve feet tall or more—and as he shook his giant, diamond-shaped head, and spread his wings, she stumbled backward, landing hard on her ass with a grunt.
“Holy shit.”
The two-word phrase played over and over in her mind as she gazed up at him.
From a strictly aesthetic point of view, he was gorgeous. Gleaming emerald scales shone in the moonlight. Thick muscle covered every inch of the creature, except the wings, which looked as tough as leather, but also delicate at the same time.
He was the perfect predator, breathtaking in his power and form, and as much as she was still in shock that he even existed, she found herself compelled to get closer. To feel the play of muscle beneath the skin, to trail her fingertips over the scales to see if they were smooth or rough.
Almost as if he’d read her thoughts, he settled back against his haunches, gazing down at her through golden eyes that were as strange as they were familiar. She pushed herself to her feet and stepped closer, and then closer still, until she stood just a yard away from him.
She was still afraid. In fact, if her pulse pounded any faster, she was sure her heart would explode from the effort, but the fear was slowly fading, leaving behind an insatiable curiosity that wouldn’t be denied.
She lifted a trembling hand and gasped as he lowered his head to nuzzle it gently. His scales were smooth and pleasant to the touch, more supple than she would have expected. His scent enveloped her and she breathed in deeply, letting it soothe her. Warm, and woodsy, like a fresh campfire, the same as Etienne smelled in his human form.
Because this was Etienne, she reminded herself firmly. She had to keep telling herself that so she could remain present and grounded. Just like she’d told him a few minutes before, the sooner she accepted this new reality, the sooner she would learn how to function inside of it.
“You’re beautiful, Etienne,” she murmured softly. He drew back and made a chuffing sound that managed to convey his offense over her choice of words, and a laugh bubbled from her lips.
“In a very masculine way, of course,” she reassured him, stepping forward with more confidence now. He stayed stock still as she circled him in awe, studying his exquisite form, stopping to explore his wings with her fingertips, or to look more closely at his spiked tail.
When she completed her perusal a few minutes later, she stood in front of him again and nodded up at him.
“Okay. I think I get it now. Do you want to change back?”
He paused for a long moment and then dropped heavily to the ground. For a terrifying instant, she’d thought he’d been injured somehow. It wasn’t until he craned his neck to glance pointedly at his back and then up into the night sky that she realized what was actually happening.
He was offering to take her for a ride.
He wanted her—Taya Briarcroft. Nerd. Teacher. Future spinster cat lady—to go for a ride on the back of a dragon.
He cocked his head to the side in question, awaiting her answer.
“Yes. Hell, yes.”
Chapter Twelve
She was a fucking marvel, this woman. In the shifter world or the human, he’d never encountered her equal. The past few days had been more than any person should be forced to bear. A brutal attack, a near rape, an attempted murder…then to find out her rescuer from those monsters was a monster himself. So how did she react? By climbing onto his back and letting out a whoop of sheer joy as they took to the sky.
Most people would’ve had a nervous breakdown by now. Not his Taya. When he’d shifted in front of her, she’d been shocked, of course. But it hadn’t taken long before she was back on her feet taking in his form, far more fascinate
d than horrified.
You’re so beautiful, Etienne.
He flapped harder and let out a puff of smoke at the memory. Okay, so maybe that part hadn’t been so hot. In fact, so far the two adjectives she’d used to describe him since they’d met had been “beautiful” and “sweet”. Not exactly what most dragons hoped for when courting a woman, but in spite of his response, part of him was pleased.
He veered right, a pulse of satisfaction pouring through him when she tightened her hold on his neck, her thighs gripping him as she smashed her breasts against him.
This was a first for him, and he had to admit, even knowing that this was a stolen moment…a reprieve from the ugliness to come, he was enjoying the hell out of it. Sure, he’d flown with other beings in his grasp, but not on his back, and certainly never for the pleasure of it.
He swooped low again, making sure the bit of shifter magic that shielded him from the eyes of humans was engaged. They trailed along the water, low enough that he could hear her gasp as he cut into the glasslike lake, sprinkling her with droplets as they went.
She let out another whoop, and he laid on the gas, loving the sound of her unadulterated excitement. Wanting more than anything to get her to make that same sound again. After causing her so much fear and confusion, it was like a balm to his blackened soul.
Once they cleared the lake, he made for the mountain. His mountain. It wasn’t the best idea. In fact, it was probably a terrible idea, but the thought of turning and bringing her back to her house didn’t appeal to him at all. They had lots to talk about, and he wanted to do that alone, without Drake there to pass judgment.
For the next twenty minutes, he continued upwards, following the silhouette of the mountain until they passed Drake’s keep and rounded the southern side of the summit . He could see his own home from the air, perched on the highest peak, and glided through the smattering of trees before landing.
He bent low, waiting for Taya to climb off, but she stayed put for almost a full minute. Now that they were stationary, it was easier to tell that she was trembling from head to foot. Guilt pierced him again as he wondered if she was chilly or scared. Had he totally misread her? Had that whoop been an exclamation of terror or—
