Montana Dragons Collection: A BBW Dragon Shifter Series

by Chloe Cole

  And like every other time, her face flashed through his mind and some little spark of hope ignited in his heart, spurring his dragon form to take over.

  Taya.

  The dead fall halted abruptly as his body changed, his wings catching the wind beneath them and jerking him upward.

  He flapped them once and then again before sucking in a breath and exhaling, pouring every ounce of fury and heartache into a flame that lit the sky as bright as the sun.

  A nearby flock of geese honked their irritation and he briefly considered eating them in one, fell swoop, but then he let them pass. Eventually he would need to eat again—could already feel his body growing weaker from the lack of sustenance—but hell if he could choke anything down.

  Maybe one more turn around the mountain before nightfall. Maybe then, he’d be exhausted enough to sleep.

  He rolled left and swooped toward the craggy rocks, slowing when he saw a figure standing on the cliff in the distance.

  Drake, probably, checking up on him. But as he got closer, he realized it was far too small to be Drake.

  Willa, maybe?

  His pulse thrummed as he picked up speed, flapping his mighty wings and narrowing his tired eyes until he could just make out the voyeur.

  Mina.

  The fog of exhaustion melted away as his brain registered what he was seeing.

  Fuck all if Mina wasn’t standing there on his cliff, arms crossed over her chest, her face a mask of impatience.

  He landed on the ground and shifted back to human form the second his feet touched gravel.

  “Where is she?” he bit out through gritted teeth, half of him wanting to ring her neck but the other half so humbled and full of desperate hope that he could barely restrain himself from dropping to his knees. “Tell me she’s safe, Mina. Please, just tell me she’s safe.”

  Her blue eyes were suspiciously glassy in spite of her defensive stance, and a bolt of sheer terror shot through him.

  “Jesus, no,” he muttered, his vision going dark as he stumbled, the emotional blow feeling like a physical attack.

  “No, no!” she said, rushing to his side and reaching out with a steadying hand. “I’m not teary because of Taya. I’m teary because of you. You look like shit, Etienne,” she said thickly.

  He straightened and met her gaze as she swiped at her eyes.

  “I’m sorry for putting you through that. But Taya is fine,” she said, squeezing his arm for emphasis. “Better than fine. She’s perfectly healthy.”

  The words fell on him like rain in the midst of the desert and he let them soak in, replenishing his soul.

  “Thank god,” he muttered.

  But he couldn’t stop himself from peering around to reaffirm once again that Mina, was indeed, alone. He tried to push past the pain that came along with the realization. Even five minutes earlier, he would’ve traded his life just to know that Taya was still breathing and his prayers had been answered.

  She was alive and well and that had to be enough for him.

  “Thank you for protecting her, Mina. I’m in your debt.”

  She shrugged and gave his arm a shove.

  “Don’t thank me. It was no big. I’m just sorry I couldn’t let you know what was going on. We were afraid that the Council was watching and might even have tapped your phones. I couldn’t take the chance that they would find her, especially in her weakened condition.”

  “Weakened?” Etienne asked, narrowing his gaze on Mina’s face. “I thought you said she was okay?”

  “She is,” she reassured him. “Now. But it was touch and go the first couple of days.”

  Touch and go?

  The first couple of days?

  He was a second from snapping at her and demanding answers, when something caused him to stop short. He sniffed the air and stiffened.

  A scent assailed him, filling his senses. It was warm and sweet and so familiar, yet not.

  Like Taya, only different. Deeper. Richer.

  “Hello, Etienne.”

  His whole body tensed as that voice washed over him. He wheeled around and sucked in a breath.

  There she stood, on the very edge of the forest just a few yards away, her fit form dappled in fading sunlight.

  His woman.

  His love.

  His one true mate, decked out in faded jeans, a black tank top, and a pair of royal blue wings, a crowning glory behind her. The lush, gleaming, feathers stood on display like jewels.

  She stepped toward him slowly, hesitantly, her face a mask of regret and trepidation, and it was all he could do not to run to her and haul her into his arms.

  “I’ll give you two some time,” Mina’s soft voice trailed off behind him and he felt the breeze of her takeoff on his naked shoulders.

  Taya stepped toward him slowly, her eyes searching his as if gauging his reaction. “I’m sorry for running away. I just wanted to protect you,” she said, stopping just a few feet in front of him.

  His brain was still trying to catch up with his emotions. Relief at the knowledge that she was all right. Elation at seeing her standing in front of him, like something out of a dream. And shock as the realization of what had happened finally sunk in.

  Mina had turned Taya into a Valkyrie.

  He must have been staring, jaw agape, because Taya began to wring her hands as she shifted her gaze away.

  “Mina figured out that I was planning to run away. She caught me before I got past the driveway,” she admitted, her cheeks going pink as she let out a nervous laugh. “She told me I wouldn’t make it a day without you guys protecting me, and she was right. And that’s when she told me that, although dragons were born and not made, the same wasn’t true for the Valkyrie, and the best way to protect me was to turn me.”

  The ramifications of all she was telling him crashed over him like a tidal wave.

  Taya would be much stronger now, but more than that, now she had as much to lose by spilling shifter secrets as the rest of them did. Added to the fact that she was a shifter, and would some day soon be hearty enough to bear his child?

  It was a near guarantee that the Council would not only let her live, but also give the two of them their blessing once they finished blustering for show.

  By turning her, Mina had effectively cloaked Taya in a bulletproof vest.

  His mate wet her full lips with the tip of her tongue before looking away.

  “Um, I don’t want you to think just because I’m a shifter now that you’re stuck with me. You can change your mind if you want to.”

  She let out a gasp as he dove at her, dragging her into his arms and slanting his mouth over hers, pouring every ounce of love and need into his kiss.

  When he finally pulled away, her breath was coming in short pants, her eyes glazed with desire.

  “So does that mean you still want me, then?” she asked in a husky voice.

  He let out a low growl and nipped at her chin before pulling back to look down into her face again.

  “I felt like I was split in two when you left. Don’t ever fucking do that to me again.”

  She smiled up at him and slipped her arms around his waist. “Deal.”

  She rolled up on her toes and planted a kiss on his jaw before stepping back and leveling him with a wicked grin.

  “So you want to see me fly now, or what?”

  He nodded, and then nearly had a heart attack when she bolted for the cliff side, leaping off it with reckless abandon. Her wings splayed out behind her as the breeze caught her and she took to the air like she’d been there her whole life.

  “You coming?” she shouted.

  He closed his eyes and said one last prayer of thanks as his dragon overtook him, and he joined his mate in flight.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  It was almost too good to be true, Taya thought as she and Etienne soared through the clouds.

  After losing nearly everything—her life as a teacher, her sense of security, and, worst of all, Etienne—with
one, selfless act, Mina had turned her world inside out.

  Night had become day. Sadness had become joy. Pain had become strength.

  Part of her still couldn’t believe it, and she almost wanted to pinch herself.

  Not that it had been easy. In fact, at first, she’d felt like she was going to die. The pain of the bite, even with Mina taking care to be as gentle as possible, was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. The Valkryie had taken pity on Taya’s neck, choosing her wrist instead, and it was a good thing. The tear of flesh had almost made her lose her lunch. It was only the knowledge that Etienne would be waiting for her on the other side that had kept her from giving in to every instinct urging her to pull away and run like hell.

  The two days that followed weren’t much better. The fever came, like Mina had warned, but nothing could prepare Taya for the all-consuming fire. It was as if her blood was a boiling, writhing mass of lava and the only possible escape from the pain was death. Luckily, Mina had chosen a large cave shelter deep in the forest, so no one could hear Taya’s screams. And, to her credit, Mina had stayed by her side every step of the way, bathing her in a nearby stream, and laying cool, damp moss on her head at night.

  It wasn’t until the night of the second day that her body temperature cooled enough to even think straight.

  Her first thought?

  Etienne.

  Now, he swooped in close and nudged her with his massive wing, breaking into her reverie. She’d made it through and was here with her mate, and that was worth any price.

  Happiness bubbled inside her as she dipped to the left and executed a playful loop-di-loop around him.

  Funny how the flying came easy. The first time she’d actually shifted, after the fever broke and her wings had come in, she was floored. They were so magnificent, it had brought a rush of tears to her eyes. But hot on the tails of her excitement and awe, came a rush of fear. What if she had these gorgeous wings but couldn’t figure out how to use them? What if she was a broken Valkyrie? Nothing more than a human with a pair of pretty but useless wings? It had been Mina yet again who had saved her from her self-doubt.

  Taya shook her head even now at the memory. The other Valkyrie had scooped her up in her arms, flew her high into the canopy of trees and just…let go.

  Trial by fire.

  She was still Mina, after all. She’d done so much for her, but she still expected Taya to dig deep and find some strength within herself, as well.

  And she had.

  She’d pushed aside her abject terror and focused, using the wings her new friend had given her. The sense of wonder during that first flight was like a rebirth.

  Now, as she and Etienne darted across the painted sky, gratitude and unadulterated joy coursed through her. She beat her wings more quickly and pulled ahead of him to catch his eye, pointing to down to the cliffs below. He inclined his emerald head, and she led the way.

  They landed on the cliffs, side by side, and she watched and waited as he shifted back into human form.

  His change was different than hers, bigger, and much more consuming. She retracted her wings as he straightened before her, the creature of lore turning into a perfect specimen of man before her very eyes.

  “Does it hurt you?” she asked softly, gaze trailing over his hard, naked body, surprised at the blast of stark desire that coursed through her.

  He shook his head, pupils dilating as he drew closer.

  “No. It’s uncomfortable, I suppose, but I don’t even think about it anymore.” He reached out a hand and closed it over her hip, leaning in to press his forehead to hers. “In fact, all I can think about right now is you.”

  When his lips found hers, his teeth closed over her bottom lip and she instinctively arched into him. His fingers trailed down the curve of her neck and then lower, skimming away to trace her nipples through her thin shirt until she gasped.

  “No bra…god, you’re killing me.” He cupped her breasts, his golden eyes going molten.

  “The wings make the whole bra thing tough,” she murmured, her voice catching as he teased her.

  He bent low, his warm breath washing over her chest before he tugged up the shirt and sucked one tight bud into his mouth, drawing on it gently. The ache between her thighs was building so fast, so hot.

  “It feels…different,” she murmured in wonder. “More.”

  More intense.

  More emotional.

  More sensual.

  Her entire body hummed with a vitality and a life and a strength that fed off the same in him. It was like driving a race car in the Indie 500.

  Or like flying.

  No sooner had her pelvis lined up with his thick cock in an effort to get some relief from the rising pressure, than he was gripping her hips and turning her around toward the rock face. He didn't bend her over. Instead, he fisted the back of her hair and pulled her close, placing one hand flat against the plane of her belly while his lips tickled her ear.

  "I thought I would never have this again," he ground out. He swept her hair aside to trail sucking kisses over her nape and then she felt it. His swollen shaft butting up against her bottom. Her whole body went tense with anticipation as he tugged her jeans off.

  She closed her eyes and spread her thighs apart, using the rock to anchor her, ready for the sweet invasion. She should have known better.

  Every move made her think the time had almost come. The drag of his hand along the outside of her thigh as he hooked a finger around the crotch of her already-soaked panties, pulling them to the side to make room for him. The promise was made. All he had to do was plunge in deep and fill her up the way she needed him to so badly...

  With one hand, he cupped her breast, circling her nipple with his thumb while he guided himself between her quaking thighs with the other.

  One thrust and he'd be buried deep. Instead, he slid forward, pressing himself against her clit and teasing her legs open wider, sending her every nerve-ending screaming to life.

  "I want you inside me.”

  He responded by running the edge of his teeth over her nape before clamping down hard. She arched her back, tried to bend to entice him, but it was all too clear that he wasn't playing by her rules.

  Just as desperation began to mingle with desire, he pulled back and pressed into her, filling her with his hot length. For a moment, her world tilted on its axis and her vision went dark while she stretched to accommodate him. God, it felt like he went on forever. She sucked in a breath and willed her muscles to relax. The borderline pain faded in a hurry as fresh waves of desire pulsed through her.

  “Okay?” he murmured, kneading her hip gently.

  She nodded, flexing back against him and gasping at the resulting sensation. “Way better than okay.”

  Heaven.

  “Don’t hold back this time. I want it all. I want everything.”

  “And you’ll have it. When I’m ready to give it,” he growled. Then he curled a hand around her torso and cupped her breast, drawing his hips back before thrusting forward. She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to suppress a shiver.

  “So good. So tight,” he groaned, the bridled power of his controlled movements making her pulse race even faster.

  He rode her, slow and steady, with long strokes. Yet another layer of torment. She wanted fast and gritty, in a headlong rush to the finish line.

  He worked her body like he was executing a long-awaited master plan. Every move played off of the next. He traced a finger down her spine in the softest of caresses, a study in contrasts as he drove into her. When her walls quaked against him, he would push deep and hard, once, twice, three times, and then slow to a gentle rock again. It was the most amazing torture she'd ever experienced, and with every thrust she was torn between wanting it to go on forever and wanting to put it to a permanent, screaming end.

  Her fingernails dug into the rock before her to the point that her newfound strength was causing chunks to crumble away, but she didn’t care. The ache i
nside her built like flood waters, threatening to burst through and drag her under. She bit her lip to hold back a moan, but couldn't stop it. So close. She could see the point of no return…

  And then he let loose, his muffled groans ringing in her ear as he picked up the pace, hips moving like pistons as he pounded into her hard enough to make her teeth rattle. She loved every second of it but before she could form the words to tell him, her vision went dark and the world burst into a thousand tiny pieces, shattering around her.

  The tingling spread from her toes to her fingertips to the top of her head. Her ears rang as his body stiffened and his cock pulsed inside her. She pushed back, anchoring her ass to his hips, driving him deeper, wanting him to fall with her.

  “Jesus,” he groaned, his fingers closing over her hips in a punishing grip.

  She cried out as he jerked against her, sending her body rocketing straight from one climax to the next. His cock twitched and leaped inside her as he came, her name a murmured chant on his lips.

  When the last of the aftershocks subsided, she sagged against him, heart hammering wildly.

  “Mine,” he growled in her ear before nipping the lobe gently. “Mine forever.”

  She nodded, resting her head against the cool stone while her brain tried to recalibrate. “Yes. And you’re mine. Forever.”

  They stayed like that for a few more, blissful moments before he let out a low sigh of regret.

  “We should go. It’s getting dark and Drake and Willa still don’t know you’re alright.”

  He helped her dress with gentle hands and she thought back to all the moments that had brought her here, to this.

  The first attack where she thought she’d drawn her last breath, all the way to the night she’d walked away from her one true love and felt like her heart had been torn from her chest. And she knew, if she had to do it all again to find herself right here, right now, she would. A thousand times over.

  She was exactly who and what she was meant to be, and the joy of it brought tears to her eyes as they took to the skies again, together.