by Celeste Raye
“No, thanks. Could you tell us if there’s another way back, I mean, besides the portal? Or if there’s a way to open the portal earlier? Wait. You came through some caves? Is there a way back through them?”
“Only if you don’t mind the elves, and since neither of you seem to have any powers, I would say you would. They can be nasty when someone trespasses, and they really dislike humans, especially ones without magic, traipsing through their lands.” Julie frowned. “I think the caves have been taken by the Orcs in recent years. At least that’s the way I understand it.”
Orcs? Heather shivered all over. “Oh. Is that why you haven’t left yet?”
Julie said, “No. I haven’t left because I wanted to be here. I heard about it and sought it out. Now, as to the portal—it only opens at certain times. Nobody knows why and they’ve spent centuries mapping out the rhythms of it. It will open soon enough, but not before that I’m afraid. You two might as well get comfortable.”
Heather watched her walk away, her heart sinking lower and lower. “Ugh. I guess that answers our biggest questions.”
They turned around and Heather, gamely trying to walk on the heels, groaned out, “I need some shoes.”
“Yes, you do.” The words came from behind her. The voice was Max’s, and she froze, her body going tense as he approached. “You’re going to break your neck if you aren’t careful.”
She looked down at her feet and muttered something under her breath that she hoped he would take for agreement. He knelt on the floor, the crown of his dark head resting right at the level of her crotch, which just had the effect of making that flesh go both damp and hot.
His hands reached for her boot, and she grabbed at Christy for balance as he studied the heel. “Hm. It’s definitely gone. If you had it with you, I could just put it back on for you.”
Oh my God, please let go of me. The silent prayer was not born out of disgust at his touch; it was born out of sheer fear of the overwhelming lust that was riding through her veins and body just then. Her nipples chose that very moment to go erect and plump and to strain at the fabric of her shirt and bra. Her face went scarlet, and she tried to step backward, forgetting he had her foot in his strong and capable hands.
That slip caused her to lean too heavily on Christy, and then they both fell to the floor. Heather, her breath knocked out of her by the fall, stared up at his face, which was sporting an evil grin. He carefully dropped her foot onto the floor as well and stood. “Give it to me, and I will fix it for you.”
She stared from his face to the ruined boot. Her mouth was dry, her pussy wet, and she had no idea at all what to say or do next. She had zero pretense of dignity left, and as Christy struggled to her feet, Max shot a hand out and helped her, then he held that hand out to Heather.
She muttered, “Wait,” and yanked the broken boot off, and then the other one too. She passed them over and carefully climbed to her feet, ignoring his hand. The last thing she needed was for him to touch her. Her panties were barely holding back the flood of her oils as it was!
He grinned at her again as she made a big show of dusting off her ass and legs and then tried to fix a haughty stare on her face. Her voice trembled a bit as she said, “I would appreciate the repair, thank you.”
He leaned in closer. His eyes held her. A short, sharp gasp came to her lips, and she quickly smothered it as his fingers hooked into her hair and then ran down it. She stared at him, confused.
His sexy and low baritone intoned, “You’re welcome,” and then he walked off. She had the unfortunate angle of sight to see that his lean hips and long legs were offset by a narrow waist and a high, tight ass with full cheeks that practically begged to be gripped during a session of hot sex.
Shame hit. There was no way she should be thinking about sex with a…a monster! He was a monster, and one who had just grabbed her up and out of her world and dropped her into this scary place. Not to mention she had no chance with him.
Seriously.
None at all.
Christy said, “I guess that’s it then. We’re here for the duration.”
Heather wailed out, “What do we do now?”
Christy drew a little closer to her and then grimaced. “Right now? We figure out how to work a bathtub and get you in it. Girl, you smell bad.”
Heather’s shoulders dropped. “I know. I guess you’re right. I mean what else can we do?”
She told herself to look away from Max’s ass as he strode further along the hall and away from her but she stood there until he had completely vanished from sight.
Chapter Eight
Max’s whole body went rigid as Heather appeared in the hall at dinner time. She’d been given a gown to wear: a dark blue thing of some soft fabric that clung to every curve of her body and showed off her elegant and long figure. She’d done something to her hair too, and it was flowing over her shoulders in a long wavy mass that made his hands itch with the yearning to grip that hair, to fist those tresses and use them to guide her face to his so he could kiss her deeply and madly.
Christy took a seat next to Blake, which left him seated next to Heather. Her skin gave off the subtle smell of soap and flowers, and his nostrils dilated as that scent found its way to him. Worse than that was the way her leg brushed against his for a second, making his erection start again and frustration mount up inside him.
The meal began. Heather looked over at him, her clear eyes taking in his face. A slight blush came upon her porcelain skin as she caught him regarding her and she quickly averted her eyes, and so did he.
He asked, gruffly, “Are your accommodations adequate?”
“Yes. Thank you.” That blush got deeper and then she fiddled with her knife and fork. “This looks great. I love lamb. It is lamb, isn’t it?”
The last words held a note of real worry. He nodded. “It is.” Under the table, their legs brushed again, and his pulse spiked upward. He quickly drew his leg away. “They’re allowed to roam wild, and we only kill what we need.” Oh, holy saints! What the hell was wrong with him?
She cut a slim section of meat off the chop on her plate. “So…I mean I thought dragons ate everything raw or something.”
He held back a gusty laugh. He shot a look down the table. Christy was glaring at Blake and holding her fork and knife in a way that suggested she was ready to carve Blake’s face up if he got too close and everyone else was preoccupied with talking and eating to have heard her words. He lowered his voice. “That’s because all you know of dragons is what you learned in your world. In your world, dragons never really existed.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
He toyed with the root vegetables on his plate. “Most people don’t. In your world I mean. We were of your world, once, but we weren’t dragons then.”
Her mouth hung open. “Huh? Sorry,” the blush went fiery, entrancing him. “I mean, how old are you?”
He grinned again. “In your time? About a few hundred years old. Here, a little younger.”
She gaped at him. “What did you mean by you were of our world but you weren’t dragons then?”
“We, our ancestors, were cursed and became dragons.” He applied himself to the lamb, hoping she wouldn’t ask anything else, and thankfully she didn’t. The curse of the dragons was a sore subject, and many times he found himself wondering why none of them could figure out a way to reverse it. On the other side of that, he didn’t really want to reverse it either. He liked being a dragon.
Heather’s elbow bumped his. She muttered a fast apology, and he just nodded. He ate, but while he ate, he was busy watching her dine. She ate like a cat, all slow and with real relish. The sight made him harden again, and he shifted a bit in the seat than asked, “What did you do over there?”
“I’m a lawyer. I…I argue cases before the courts to determine if someone’s innocent or guilty.”
“I see.” He studied her pretty face. “That’s a calling I take it? To serve truth and justice?”
“You didn’t?”
“No. My parents wanted a lawyer in the family.”
There was real bitterness and rancor in her voice. She popped a mouthful of food into her mouth and chewed hard in a strong indication that she did not want to talk about that either.
He decided to change the subject by asking, “How’s your shoe?”
“Good. They gave me these slippers,” she looked sideways at the floor. “I have to admit that they’re way more comfortable.”
He said, “I can see where they would be.”
An amused look came upon her face. “I know I should not ask but…but why do you change into a human with all your clothes on?” The blush that time was so red it looked like her face had caught fire. She stuttered out, “I’m not saying you should not be dressed…not that you…I mean it’s not like you look like you have anything to hide…oh, my God.” She gulped, paled visibly, and muddled onward with the words, “In all the movies and stuff, when a monster changes, they never have clothes.”
His amusement died a swift and painful death. Monster. She thought he was a monster. Of course, she did. She was a human without powers, and she had never known dragons. Still, that word choice rankled him. “Oh? Maybe they’re the wrong kind of monsters.”
The rest of the meal passed in tense silence between them. She stood from her chair, and he could see by her face that she was worried and scared, not to mention confused. He had to remind himself that she was a stranger in a strange land and likely terrified by the incredible differences between the two worlds. He had been in her world a few times, and every single time he had been stunned and shaken by what he had seen there.
Impulse made him ask, “Would you like to see something amazing?”
She gave him a suspicious look. “Um…like what?”
“You’ll have to trust me for a few minutes.”
Her fingers picked at her nails. She said, “Christy…I can’t leave her alone.”
He shot a look at her friend, who was arguing something with Blake and looking quite happy to be arguing whatever it was. Blake had probably asked her to have a child or something. He said, “I don’t think she will mind. Also, Blake never shuts up, so she probably won’t even notice you’re gone.”
Heather chewed on her bottom lip and then said, “Hold on. Let me just tell her I’m…” She darted toward Christy, leaned in and whispered something into Christy’s ear. Christy gave her a long and level look then nodded slowly. Heather straightened and then said, “Okay, but I’m really tired and…and I’m not agreeing to have dragon babies or whatever so don’t get any ideas.”
Oh, he had ideas already. Lots of them. He gave her what he hoped was an innocent smile. “I don’t need humans to bear my children.”
She walked toward him, the gown rippling and swaying around her body. “All right then.”
This was a bad idea. The worst idea, in fact, and he should say he had changed his mind or something like that. Instead, he just jerked his head toward the stairs and said, “Come on then.”
Chapter Nine
“No way.” Heather delivered the flat words along with a glower at Max’s face. “You want me to ride your back? Is that some kind of dragon sex thing?”
His snort of laughter made her irritation hit home. She took a step back from him as he said, in a voice still carrying laughter, “I assure you it isn’t. I want to show you the world. Well, part of it, and to do that you have to be in the air.”
She looked at the edge of the high roof and then back at him. The wind was stronger up there and her hair waved about her face. She brushed it back. “I don’t know. I mean, I was scared you’d drop me before.”
“That’s because you were hanging onto my foot. You’ll be on my back.”
“What if I fall?”
“I’ll catch you before you hit the ground if you do, and really you won’t. Just use your thigh muscles to hold yourself in place and put your hands on my shoulders. You’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, that sounds totally safe,” she shot back sarcastically.
“It is.”
Was it? She really doubted it. She also hated being a chicken. She gave him another look. He was still human right then, and that led to another question. “So how do I get on? I mean, do I just jump on your back and then you change or whatever?”
“I’d prefer you waited until after I change.”
She looked at the sky and the ground, so far below, again. Her heart ticked a fast beat in her chest. “Um…okay.”
He changed. It happened so fast she barely had time to register that he even had. Still, even though she had known he was a dragon, her feet took her backward and right toward the edge of the roof. He reached out and grabbed her, holding her in place. He said, “It’s all right,” in a gentle voice that made her heart flutter.
She said, “Sorry. It startled me.”
“I imagine so.”
She stepped closer to him. Now that she was that close, she found herself marveling at him. The scales covering his flesh were thick, armored even. They shone and glistened like the wings of ravens, and she reached out a tentative finger and stroked it down his side. A hot flush raced upward from her crotch, confusing her. His scales were firm but yielding, not so much stiff armor as fleshly armor. A hard gasp came up in her throat, and she stepped back, unable to keep looking at him. He was so beautiful, and such a rare thing that she found herself at a complete loss.
Words came. “I didn’t mean you are a monster. I just meant…I mean, in my world…that’s what they call….you, you know…I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
His head turned. His eyes were still his, and she managed to look into them despite the wave of dizziness threatening to topple her in every way possible. He said, “Thank you. Are you flying with me?”
Was she? Did she really dare? She swallowed. “Will I hurt you?”
“No.”
She took a long breath. “How do I get up? You’re pretty tall.”
He chuffed laughter. Small streams of smoke came from his nostrils. “Good point.”
He knelt, folding his body down in a graceful way that left her able to straddle his back. Her fingers found that smooth spot between his neck and shoulders and then the hard ridges below it. “Do I hold onto…um…these?” Her fingers stroked those ridges and more heat flooded into her lower body, leaving her confused and a little frightened.
“Yes. I’ll go slowly.”
She held on. His body rose into a standing position. Her legs gripped the sides of his body. Then he took flight, slowly levering himself off the rooftop and into the sky beyond it. A little scream came from her mouth as she looked down at the vista of empty sky and earth below. “Okay. Um, yeah. That’s….uh. Scary but…” Thrilling. It was thrilling.
He asked, “Are you okay?”
No. yes. I don’t know. “I think so.”
His mighty wings stroked the air, taking them higher still. She held on, her eyes fastened on the ground that was rapidly dwindling beneath them. The view became one of patched earth and mountain, and then they were flying away from the castle and toward the world beyond.
Then he dropped lower. The air got thicker, and she found herself able to fully breathe. The wind ran over her face and body, sending her hair flying back from her face. A sense of freedom, sheer and impossible freedom, hit her and a smile sprang up. A lightness entered her heart, and for the first time in a very long time, everything just melted away. She forgot about her constant discontent, her unhappiness with her job and her life and the hurt Todd had left in his hateful wake. There was just sky and clouds and the feel of a dragon between her legs. It was a heady thing, one she knew that she may never get to experience ever again.
He settled down lightly at the base of a tall cliff. Heather stared at the lush foliage, most of it alien to her, and not only because she wasn’t sure if it existed on h
er world but because she had never seen so much greenery, having been raised in cities where parks were the only real green space.
Trees dropped long limbs covered in glossy leaves of all shapes and sizes toward a long and wide pool of water that was also filled by a tumbling waterfall that ran over rocks, some as big as buildings. The sound of that water, rushing and wild, made her heartbeat speed up. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
He changed. His hand reached out and took hers. Tingles darted along her spine and made her face color a bit as heat surfaced yet again, leaving her hyper-aware of his touch and the way his touch felt upon her skin. He said, “Come on. It’s this way.”
They walked side by side. His hand still held hers, and he used that hold to guide her around boggy patches and slippery rocks. Birds sang from the trees and the grass, soft and a lush emerald green, waved gently in the soft breeze.
They went around the waterfall and then she saw it. She stopped, her mouth open and her eyes going round. “That’s incredible!”
It was. It was rather like a dragon version of Mt. Rushmore. The cliffs had been carved and dragons raced across the face of the cliffs. Beside them were knights, tall and wide, their swords planted into the very ground thanks to the clever carving of the rock they had been formed from.
Heather whispered, “Who made this?”
Max said, “It formed when we did. The battle was carved into the rocks by the magic that was used that day.”
Her fingers clamped down on his slightly. “I know you said that but I thought, I mean I thought it was just a legend or something. It…I am not doubting you, I swear, it’s just that things are so different here and I wondered, honestly, if you were maybe using the word magic to mean something else. I guess that is pretty silly. I mean, you’re a dragon and this world exists, so magic must exist too.
“There are some people in my world who believe in magic and witches and so on, but whether or not they have real magic, I couldn’t say. I was never someone who believed in that, or who thought any of that was possible. I have always been…I have never been much for going on faith and belief, I guess.” She paused for breath and asked, “Is there any magic left in my world?”
