by Amelia Jade
“You forgot about the third option,” he informed her, speaking gravely.
“The third option?”
“The one where I really am a dragon.”
“Right. No, I didn’t forget about that one.” She turned onto a side street. A massive factory rose up next to them, complete with huge concrete smokestacks and warehouses, all of which looked long abandoned. “Because I dismissed it right away. Dragons don’t exist, Cowl. I’m not falling for your joke. Is this good enough?”
“Yes.” He was busy looking out the window, ignoring her caustic tone. “This will be perfect.”
They parked the car and he ripped open a section of the wire fence with casual ease.
“How did you do that?” Andria asked, gaping in surprise as the thin metal parted like paper when he flexed.
“Dragon.”
She snorted, rolling her eyes and ducking through the opening. “Right.”
Cowl didn’t speak. He was getting tired of her lack of belief. Couldn’t she at least be a little less set in her ways? Where was her sense of fantasy and imagination? Maybe seeing what was about to happen would help rekindle the magic in her world.
He guided her through an opening between buildings, walking until they were completely surrounded by crumbling buildings in desperate need of demolition.
“Here.”
Andria nodded and took a step away from him and crossed her arms. “Go on then,” she urged, a giant smile on her face. “This I have got to see.”
It was Cowl’s turn to roll his eyes. “Andria, my dear, you have no idea. I’d like one thing from you first though.”
“What’s that? Need me to take some drugs, some kind of hallucinogen?”
He growled. “No. Two things now, actually. One, stop being so rude. Two, when I go out there and prove you wrong, I want you to apologize for not believing me. I’ve never lied to you before, and I don’t intend to start.”
Her expression softened. “You really believe this, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. I know what I am.” He stepped away from her, spreading his arms wide. His voice was a thunderous roar when he spoke again. “It’s about time you did too!”
Cowl called out to his dragon, willing it to appear.
His already pale skin grew whiter until it was the color of snow. Everything around him seemed to grow smaller, but in reality it was Cowl who was growing larger. His body swelled in size. Two huge blisters appeared around his shoulders before exploding outward, giant wings of an icy blue-white spreading wide, blocking the view behind him.
Moments later he landed on all fours. Gone were the five fingers and toes, replaced by three gigantic claws that dug deep into the concrete, ripping chunks of it free under the impact of his suddenly massive weight.
His face elongated and suddenly his body was far away as his neck grew long and sinuous. Scales covered his entire body, a glossy white color that acted as perfect camouflage in the snow-covered mountains and tundra that he preferred to call home.
Power rippled through his body, and frost filled the air around the muzzle of his snout, sparking and snapping, ready to be unleashed at anyone that would threaten him or his mate.
Cowl’s wings stretched wide, and he looked down at Andria at last, curious to see what her reaction was.
She was staring wide-eyed, arms hanging limp at her sides, mouth agog.
“Well?” he rumbled, speaking slowly. The words flowed smoothly, almost melodic in nature.
“Holy fucking shit. You’re a dragon.”
Cowl fought with all his might to refrain from saying “I told you so” or anything of that nature. Now was not the time to rub it in. He could see the wonder in her eyes as he settled to the ground, his wings folding in against his body.
“I am a dragon,” he confirmed.
“Can you…can you fly?” She stepped forward at last. “Can I touch you?”
“The answer to both your questions is yes.”
“Wow.” She poked him nervously with the tip of a finger first, and when it didn’t immediately turn to ash she placed her palm against him. “It’s so cool.”
“I know, I’ve always thought it to be neat.”
“No, like cold.”
Oh. That. “Well, I did tell you I breathed ice instead of fire. That’s red dragon domain. We whites are into the white stuff.”
Andria snickered.
“What?”
“Oh nothing,” she replied in a singsong voice.
“No, tell me.”
“It’s just me being filthy-minded.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Well, the term ‘white-stuff’ is often used to refer to a man’s cum.”
“Oh. Ew. Gross. What the hell, Andria?”
Now she was laughing. He almost said more, but during her laughter she’d first rested a hand on him for balance, and then moved to actually lean against his flank, her body rising and falling as his massive triple-lungs moved with every breath. The quickly developing level of comfort with his dragon form was something Cowl cherished, and he did not wish for it to end.
“I’m sorry! Anyway, so you can fly and you breathe ice. That’s…something else.” She paused, then walked back up to him, snapping her fingers.
“Yes?”
“Come down here,” she ordered.
Unsure of what was going on, he lowered his head until she could touch it. Without hesitation Andria grabbed his jowls and twisted until she could look him directly in one eye. “I’m sorry,” she said emphatically. “You were telling the truth the entire time. You’re a dragon. An honest-to-goodness, scale-covered dragon. I…I still don’t really believe it, but I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“You could scream and faint, and then wake up to me having changed back and I could claim it’s all a dream if you wished?” He was only half-teasing.
“Yeah, I could. But then I won’t get a chance to fly! Oh man, how cool is that gonna be!” She stopped suddenly. “Wait. You are going to take me flying, right?”
It was Cowl’s turn to laugh. “Yeah, I can do that. Not today of course. I should probably return to my human form. Too many eyes in the city. But I promise I will take you flying one day, of course.”
“Sweet!”
While Andria was dancing back and forth with joy, her golden-blonde hair flying frantically behind her, Cowl shrank back down into his human form. Andria threw herself at him, and he lifted her off the ground, spinning her around as they both laughed at the excitement of what had just happened.
When he finally placed her down they shared a brief but passion-filled kiss, the sort that got his blood flowing and made his pants tight. For a brief moment he thought about looking around, ensuring nobody was watching before he took his mate right then and there on the concrete.
Cowl fought it down. Now was neither the time nor the place for that. He wanted her; his entire being longed to claim his mate, to make her his. But until she was ready, all he could do was wait for her and contain his heat and arousal. She didn’t need to feel even more pressure than she must already.
“I guess this means I need to give you some answers, don’t I?”
He nodded. “I promise you, Andria, whatever it is, it won’t change how I feel about you. It won’t change how I look at you.”
“We’ll see. But you did just share something with me that would be far worse if it got out. It’s a shame yours is fantastic, and mine is…not.”
Cowl pulled her into a hug. He hated seeing his mate beat herself up over it.
“Okay. Here it goes. Just…promise me you won’t judge me, okay? And promise you won’t take off and do something really stupid?”
He frowned. “Do I really strike you as that sort?”
“Well…you did sort of say you were going to kill Jake and his friends.”
“I am.”
She sighed. “Cowl…”
“Sorry. I’m going to hurt them. But I will let them live if they promise
never to bother you ever again.”
Andria glared. “Good enough, I suppose.” She wrung her hands. “Okay. All right. I went to high school and college with Jake. We were never overly close, but we were friendly enough that we would say hi or stop and ask how one of us were doing, that sort of thing.”
Cowl nodded. He’d known that much already.
“At a party around this time two years ago, Jake introduced me to his older brother Jack. He was five years older, and so while I knew he existed, I’d never actually met him before. We hit it off and started dating.”
She paused when he growled angrily. “Cowl. Snap out of it. I’ve dated other men. Can you tell me you’ve never touched another woman?”
While he was no playboy, Cowl could not truthfully answer her question, so he remained silent.
“Exactly. So things were going well with Jack and me. We grew close. At one point he had to go away for a business trip. Um, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but nowadays, with cell phones and stuff, it’s easy for couples to remain intimate over distances.”
“You sent him pictures.” Cowl had heard of this phenomenon of sending “nudes.”
“I…yes. And video.”
Cowl’s knew his face had to be reflecting the anger he was feeling, and though he didn’t wish to scare Andria, he was furious. He could tell where the story was going now.
“They got out,” he guessed. “He was, what is it, hacked?”
Andria’s face was bright red now. He couldn’t imagine how embarrassing and shameful admitting all of this must be for her.
“No.”
“They didn’t get out?”
“He wasn’t hacked, though that’s what he’s pleading. Cowl, he sent them out,” she hissed, sounding humiliated and violated all at the same time. “On purpose. Can you believe that? To everyone. His brother. His friends. They got released to the school’s intranet. Anyone logging on could find them. Thousands of people saw them, and as word spread that they were of a girl from school, it went viral.”
Cowl’s fists were coated in frost by this point, his temper long since snapped, his fury coalescing in a frozen, empty pit of ice in the center of his body. The only thing that kept him from losing complete control was knowing that it would not benefit Andria at all. He had to remain calm, or at least as calm as possible, and let her finish.
“You must have gone to the authorities.”
“I did. There’s a big trial going on next week at the school. He’s pleading innocent of course, but he bragged to me about it. All because I wouldn’t have a threesome with him and some other girl, who I found out after the fact he’d been fucking for months.”
“That’s what all the harassment is about then. They don’t want you to go to the trial and testify.”
“Exactly. The Malkin family are big in Barton City, and so is the fraternity. The bad publicity it would bring his family and the fraternity would be horrible. Not to mention Jack would be expelled and lose his residency.”
“Good. That is the absolute minimum he deserves.”
“I know. There’s a legal trial that will start at some point, but who knows when. That one they don’t need me to testify in, but I’ll be more protected there anyway.”
Cowl nodded. “You need to go to the trial at the school.”
“I can’t.” She tried to turn away but he caught her wrist.
“Yes, you can. Don’t let this asshole get away with what he did to you.”
“You don’t understand, Cowl. What it’s like. Everyone always staring at you, looking at you as if they know you on a level that you only ever meant to share with a few people. When they look at you, they aren’t seeing me, Andria Chalmers. They’re seeing my tits or my ass. They’re imagining me playing with myself on video.” She was struggling not to cry. “It’s horrible. Humiliating. That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. Not once did you look at me like that, even though you’re always checking me out.”
“Am not,” he protested halfheartedly.
“You’re doing it right now.”
He was.
“I can’t help it. I think you’re the sexiest woman on this entire planet.”
She tried to smile. “Don’t ever look at me differently. Promise?”
“I promise never to look at you like the others have. I will always look at you with adoration, respect, and if I’m being completely honest, desire. Because I want you, Andria Chalmers. You. Not the person you’ve decided you are thanks to some asshole. I want the real you, the one that I only ever see around me.”
She blushed.
“I’ll go with you.”
“What?” She looked up.
“I’ll go with you. To the trial. I’ll stand by your side.”
“You don’t need to do that, Cowl. This has nothing to do with you.”
He rocked back on his heels. “Nothing to do with me? You’re my mate, Andria. This has everything to do with me.”
“Mate. What exactly does that word mean? You’ve said it several times now.”
“It means that we’re fated to be together.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “That sounds permanent.”
“Preferably. We can talk about that another time, though. You’ve had enough thrown at you today.”
Cowl did not want to delay that talk. He wished to tell her everything so that they could finally be free and open with one another. Andria was already looking a little unsteady after seeing his dragon, however, and he didn’t want to push the issue. Besides, she was human, and she would have to come to the same conclusion herself. One thing his dragon powers did not let him do was force her to fall in love with him. Cowl would have to just hope that she did it on her own.
“Yeah. You changed into a dragon.”
He laughed, putting one arm around her shoulders and guiding her back in the direction of the parked car. “Yes, I did.”
“Does it hurt?”
“No, not at all.”
They walked off, Andria chattering excitedly with all her questions about his dragon. Cowl answered every one of them happily. It felt so good to have the truth out there at last.
Chapter Twenty
Andria
The salvaged front door squeaked loudly as someone came in.
“That was fast,” she said, not looking up from where she was sweeping debris into a pile.
When Cowl didn’t respond immediately Andria finally glanced at the ruined entrance. It wasn’t Cowl standing there at all. That didn’t mean she didn’t recognize the person, even in the darkness shading the door—they hadn’t replaced the light fixture there yet.
“Hello, Andria.”
“Richard.” She was careful not to spit his name. Renewed confidence in herself or not, this was still a very dangerous man. Cowl might be a dragon, but he couldn’t be everywhere, protecting her from everything. She needed to be sure not to make any enemies of her own. Insulting a mob boss was probably not the best way to do that.
“I heard about the damage to your pub and decided to come down and check it out myself.”
“How kind of you.” Considering you probably ordered it.
She kept that last thought to herself.
“I know my son has been here a lot lately. It seems such a shame that things would happen this way. Why would someone do something like this? Do you have any ideas?”
“Pent-up anger at overbearing father figures perhaps?”
Richard did not immediately respond to the slight. What the hell had she been thinking? She was supposed to play nice, not get all cutesy with her insults and backhanded suggestions that Richard was involved. Andria needed to better control herself.
She just thanked her lucky stars that Cowl wasn’t there. He’d gone down to the local hardware store with a list of things to buy, and wouldn’t be back for a bit yet. When Mr. Logan had received the estimate to repair it, he’d told her he couldn’t afford it even with insurance, and would have to shut down.
; Cowl, like the amazing, wonderful man that he was, had stepped in and said that he would help, and that he might be able to enlist his brothers’ aid as well. Mr. Logan had been thrilled. He liked the pub and wanted to keep it open, but business was business. Cowl had even said he’d find a way to handle the payment. She knew it was because he felt responsible for the destruction, but to Mr. Logan it had been a godsend.
“You’re a smart young woman, Andria, so I’ve been told.” Mr. Malkin stepped into the bar, his hard-soled dress shoes giving his steps an ominous click-clack to them on the hardwood floors.
“Thank you.”
“Which is why I believe you’re smart enough to realize your own worth. What your value is.”
She frowned. What was he trying to say here? “I’ve never been one to sell myself short,” she agreed. Was he trying to bribe her?
“I didn’t think so. After all, with that Master’s degree I hear you’re earning you could probably expect to make a substantial extra sum of money over the life of your career. I certainly would not want you to miss out on that.”
He was trying to bribe her. Had it really come to this? Was he so desperate to maintain his image that he would sacrifice cash just to keep her from testifying in public against his wayward son? A son she hadn’t seen in months.
More importantly, how did Andria feel about all this? The idea of money was appealing, especially with the bar being damaged and her no longer being able to afford school.
Then it hit her. That was their plan all along! Jake well knew she hated the banks and would rather drop out of school than take a loan. So he’d destroyed her sole source of income, and now here was his father offering her a way to make it all back so that she could go to school and graduate.
And then leave town, where she wouldn’t bother the family again. It was all wrapped up in a neat and tidy package. All she had to do was name her sum and accept, and everything would work out. She would get her degree and move to the coast with cash her in her pocket. Just like she’d always wanted.
