Dragon's Choice

by Juniper Hart

  “Wait!” the voice yelled again, and despite her better judgement, Kellie spun to address the man calling out to her.

  “Sam!” she gasped, looking behind him. “T-There’s a beast, there’s a—”

  “A dragon?” he asked dryly, and Kellie’s jaw went slack.

  “Did you see it?” she whispered, her brown eyes wide.

  Instead of answering her, Sam jumped down the stairs separating them, pausing before her. His lips parted, though no words came out immediately.

  “What’s going on?” Kellie demanded. “What are you doing here?”

  Sam did not answer, but the longer Kellie stared at his eyes, the more familiarity she found in them. Goosebumps covered her arms as she realized that Sam’s eyes were the same as the dragon’s.

  “I followed you,” Sam finally said. “I wanted to ensure you were safe.”

  Kellie stared at him, her mind unable to comprehend the truth of his explanation.

  “You followed me?” she echoed.

  Sam nodded and lowered his gaze.

  He is the dragon, Kellie thought, wondering why that realization didn’t scare her now that he was so close to her. He wasn’t going to hurt me. He was trying to protect me from Gary.

  “Gary is a deviant,” Sam said after a moment. “He hangs out at the bar and waits for working girls to come in. The younger, the better. I knew you weren’t one, and I tried to warn you…” He made a small pause. “When I heard the scream, I thought he was doing something to you, and I couldn’t stop myself from breaking through the door.”

  A rush of affection filled Kellie as she studied his worried face, but she didn’t speak.

  Sam smiled at her. “But I can see that you can handle yourself just fine.”

  Kellie looked up at him, a slow smile forming on her lips as she remembered how she had left Gary, and Sam’s own smile turned into a grin.

  Kellie abruptly lunged toward him, pinning him to the wall. Her kiss was meant to be of gratitude, but when their lips touched, Kellie’s skin felt as if it was on fire.

  Their tongues met, and Kellie moved to grab Sam’s arms, enforcing her hold against him. He was faster than her, spinning their bodies until he was the one with her wrists secured up against the tile of the wall.

  Sam’s mouth grew hotter against hers.

  Will he burn me? Kellie wondered, and the idea aroused her. Daringly, she bit on his lower lip, urging him to grip her more tightly. Sam’s teeth nipped at her tongue, and Kellie felt a gush of warmth spread through her body, soaking the panties beneath her skirt. She allowed him to take control, his lips falling against her throat, one hand holding her wrists as the other undid his pants.

  The awareness that they could be caught only added to Kellie’s desire, and she felt her knees grow weak as Sam’s fingers found their way between her thighs. She desperately wanted to feel his hardness against her, but his hand began to explore the eager core of her middle, his breaths growing faster as hers did the same.

  Sam slipped two fingers inside her, his thumb toying with her other opening, and Kellie moaned loudly. She felt as if he was suspending her, that if he was to drop his grip on her hands, she would collapse into a trembling mass on the floor. But he showed no signs of releasing her, and as his digits worked faster inside her, Kellie cried out, knowing she was going to climax.

  Biting on her lower lip, Sam’s mouth pressed hotly against her throat, Kellie shuddered, a flow of undulating passion erupting from between her legs.

  “Good,” Sam murmured, pulling his lips away from her tingling flesh. “Very good.”

  Kellie did not have time to recover from her orgasm as she was spun again, her back to him as he pushed her waist up to the railing. Her buttocks exposed, Sam slapped her cheek before spreading her wide, the sensation jolting through her body like lightning.

  Kellie gasped, feeling his thick head prodding against her waiting sex.

  When he entered her, Kellie’s breath caught, and her body was folded over the rail of the staircase. Sam’s hand snaked around to rub her swollen, pulsating clit, his free hand caressing her breast. Sam filled her, deep and deliberately. Kellie mewled in response, and could feel herself ready to release again as he grew more forceful with his thrusts.

  “C’mon,” he ordered. “C’mon—”

  As if his words were her command, Kellie obeyed, releasing as his sack slapped against her. They groaned simultaneously, and Kellie felt his orgasm inside her, his fingers closing roughly around her breast as he climaxed.

  She was sure she was going to fall when he pulled out of her, but Sam did not let go of his hold on her, keeping her steady as she turned to look at him.

  “Wow,” she muttered.

  Sam laughed, reaching to pull up his pants.

  “I was going to say the same thing,” he replied lightly, helping her to stand up straight.

  Slowly, Kellie began to collect herself, eyeing him with begrudging respect.

  What is he? Who is he? she wondered.

  Logically, she knew what she had seen could not be true, but she also knew she had not imagined anything: Sam was part man, part mythical beast.

  She looked away, knowing that Sam was staring at her still.

  “I’m sorry I underestimated you,” Sam offered.

  Kellie shook her head.

  “Thank you for watching out for me,” she murmured. “I don’t think anyone else has ever felt the need to protect me before.”

  He chuckled wryly.

  “I have a feeling Gary won’t be trolling hotel bars anytime soon.”

  “Did he see you…” Kellie faltered, looking for the right words to speak. “I mean, when you were… you know?”

  Sam’s smile widened. “Yes. And he fainted.”

  They both laughed, and Kellie exhaled in relief, falling back against the wall at the landing.

  “So, what now?” she asked, uncharacteristically nervous.

  “Maybe I can take you out for lunch, and you can tell me about your secret life as a vigilante,” Sam offered lightly. “I got someone to cover me at the bar.”

  “Sure,” Kellie said, slowly nodding her head. “If you tell me about your life as dragon.”

  Again, they laughed, each sizing the other up. They made their way down the steps, and as they exited through the rear of the building, Kellie’s cell rang in her purse. Grimacing slightly, she reached inside it to retrieve the device, shooting Sam an apologetic look as she walked away from him a little.

  Her eyes narrowed as she saw it was a call from her father, and she debated whether to answer it.

  In the end, did she really have any other choice?

  “What?” she demanded as soon as she pressed the accept button.

  “Is that any way to speak to your father?” came Senator Cole’s response.

  “What, senator?” Kellie retorted.

  There was a slight pause, and Kellie opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she had been planning to say to him after he’d had the guts to stand her up, but her father spoke before she could.

  “I’m sorry about today, he said, “but I wanted to make sure you got my text earlier.”

  Kellie stopped walking. “No,” she replied flatly. “I didn’t.”

  “I texted you about an hour before we were supposed to meet,” the senator went on. “I had to fly out to DC today—it was a last-minute thing—”

  “What text?” she interjected. “You didn’t—”

  Suddenly, she remembered how her cell had chimed when she was on the trolley, and Kellie was barely able to hold back a groan.

  I got all bent out of shape for no reason, she realized, feeling the need to slap herself. He didn’t stand me up after all. Torturing that bastard upstairs was unnecessary.

  Kellie reasoned that Gary had still deserved it.

  “No, I didn’t get the text,” she sighed. “But it’s okay.”

  “Listen, Kellie,” her father said. “I don’t have time to talk right no
w, but I wanted to tell you that Andra and I are getting a divorce.”

  Kellie was slightly ashamed at the spark of glee in her heart, but she managed to hide it from her voice.

  “Sorry to hear that, Dad,” she said into the phone, holding up a finger at Sam, who waited patiently for her to finish her conversation. She tried to muster as much sincerity into her voice as possible.

  “No, you’re not,” her father replied shortly, though Kellie could hear amusement in his tone. “But that’s besides the point. I wanted to tell you that this ridiculous battle between us is over. I realized that you’re what’s important, not whatever titles you might have. If your volleyball thing makes you happy, then I’m happy for you. Your happiness is what matters the most to me.”

  Kellie was stunned by her father’s words, and she didn’t know how to respond. Had she been transported to an alternate, surrealist dimension?

  “Is this a trick?” she blurted out, and her father guffawed.

  “No,” he sighed. “And the fact that you’re even asking me that makes me feel like a terrible father.”

  “You’re not a terrible father, Dad,” Kellie said quickly, and she meant it. He’d just had a terrible influence over him.

  “I’d like you to move back into the house,” he continued. “But we’ll talk about it later tonight.”

  An unexpected knot formed in Kellie’s throat, and she could only nod, even though she knew he couldn’t see it. “Okay,” she whispered.

  “I love you, Kell.”

  “I love you too, Dad,” she exhaled.

  The call ended, leaving Kellie to stand gaping into nothingness.

  “Good news or bad news?” Sam asked, trying to read her face.

  “I’m… still not sure,” she replied truthfully. Then she shook her head to herself and turned to look at Sam.

  It’s like he literally swooped into my life and made everything okay, she thought. Like… like magic.

  “Should we go, Jenn?” Sam asked before his cheeks colored in embarrassment. “Do, uh, do people call you Jenn, or is it always Jennifer?”

  Kellie chuckled. “People call me Kellie.”

  Sam snorted.

  “Kellie it is,” he conceded.

  She linked her arm in his and stared up into his attractive face, her pulse racing.

  I can’t wait to tell everyone at Kappa Mu that I’ve ridden a dragon.

  THE END

  Click Here to Read the Entire Shifter Pursuit Series

  2

  Shifter Pursuit: The Black Wolf

  The sunset was unlike anything MJ had ever seen, spilling glorious shades of reds, oranges, and pinks over the horizon, setting the Italian province of Lucca on fire in the early evening. Although it was her third night in the country, it was her first visit to Lucca, and she was treasuring every second of it.

  MJ smirked slightly, thinking of what her family would say if they could see her taking in the Italian sun alone, almost a college graduate.

  This is a far cry from a shack in Louisville, she thought, closing her eyes as her rosebud lips met the glass of wine in her hand. And I guess Daddy was wrong about me; I have amounted to something after all.

  She inhaled, smiling happily to herself.

  I will have to take a picture of this for the girls, she thought, and her brow furrowed for a moment as she wondered how everyone else’s summer was going.

  It would be the first year that MJ had left the States, but she knew it was going to be her last opportunity before the real world consumed her. She had saved up for this trip for two years, always wanting to visit the glorious countryside that had been her great-grandmother’s home.

  When she was a child, her mother had told her stories of her ancestors living off the sun-kissed land. It had always seemed like a dream to MJ: some fairy tale-like story adults told children to keep them optimistic, but MJ had learned over the past three years that dreams could happen, even with a disquieting past haunting from the shadows.

  And while MJ was enjoying her trip, she could not help but wonder how her sisters at Kappa Mu Pi were faring.

  She tried to dismiss any concern tickling her brain.

  They are all grown women, just like you. They have gotten by without you before, and they are surely doing just fine right now.

  Moreover, they would want MJ to be enjoying herself and not thinking of them. After all, she always took care of them.

  This vacation is about me, MJ thought to herself. Then she paused for a moment, worry still gnawing at her. I’ll email them all later, she decided, just to make sure.

  She couldn’t help remembering one of the last nights before she had come to Italy, when she and the rest of the girls from Kappa Mu Pi had been in her room and listened to Sylvie tell them about their so-called “duty.” Part of her still couldn’t believe what had happened, what she had seen, what Sylvie had said…

  “Hi, do you speak English?”

  Her eyelids half parted, and she gazed up at the speaker, her breath catching for a fleeting second—she felt like she was peering at a Norse god on Italian soil.

  The man before her was tall enough to blot out the spectacularly setting sun at his back, a mop of damp blonde curls encircling a beach-bum face. He was not much younger than MJ, perhaps nineteen or twenty, and he exuded virility as he glanced down at her. Without a shirt, MJ could see his lean but defined muscles rippling with each move he made, and when he grinned, his emerald eyes seemed emblazoned into her, his white teeth nearly blinding her.

  MJ slowly sat up in the Adirondack chair, nodding her light brown mane of hair enthusiastically.

  “I do,” she replied, his infectious smile causing her to smile back at him. “In fact, it’s the only language I do speak.”

  That was a humiliating thing to say, she thought, but it was too late to take it back. Thankfully, the man didn’t seem to notice.

  “I wasn’t sure because of your beautiful features,” he told her, and MJ felt a flush of appreciation despite the somewhat cheesy line.

  She could tell the man was only trying to flatter her, but it still made her shiver.

  “You’re American, then?” he asked, sitting on the neighboring chair. MJ nodded her head.

  “And you’re… British?” she guessed, trying to place his accent. She didn’t have much experience in that department.

  Maybe he can change that for me, she thought coyly, eyeing him through her dark lashes with her bright blue eyes.

  He scowled slightly, and MJ immediately felt the moment of flirtation disappear.

  “I’m Australian,” he replied curtly.

  “Oh,” she said, unsure of how to apologize for her mistake. “Sorry.”

  The guy’s grin returned, and MJ exhaled a sigh of relief, extending a manicured hand toward him.

  “MJ Preston,” she introduced herself.

  “Dan Sopher,” he said in turn, accepting her hand and holding it a minute longer than necessary. They gazed at one another for a mesmerizing moment until Dan broke eye contact, turning to stare at the horizon.

  Darkness was overtaking the dusk.

  Dan chuckled. “Just when I thought Italy couldn’t get any more beautiful, I see you sitting here. And I thought to myself, there’s a good-looking Sheila if I ever saw one.”

  MJ’s brow furrowed in confusion. “My name is not Sheila,” she told him.

  Dan glanced at her, equally perplexed. Then he laughed.

  “A Sheila… a girl,” he explained. “It’s an Aussie thing.” This time it was MJ who chuckled, embarrassed.

  “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I’m not up on my Aussie slang,” she confessed, and he shrugged nonchalantly.

  “Well, I suppose you’ll have to teach me your American words, and I’ll get you up to speed with the Aussie way, right? Then we can decide which one’s better.”

  He winked at her, and a slow blush appeared on MJ’s face.

  Is he expecting to spend time with me, then?

 
“How long are you in Lucca for?” she asked, trying not to let her nervousness show. It was uncharacteristic of her to be at such a loss for words, but Dan was just so charismatic, so handsome.

  “I just got here yesterday,” he answered, turning to grimace at the building behind them. “I’m going to be here another three days before heading to Tuscany with my mates. Although I have to say the accommodations are bollocks.”

  You don’t know crappy accommodations, she thought, envisioning the small cabin in which she and her four siblings had been raised.

  “This is my first time staying in a hostel,” she informed him, and he arched an eyebrow. “It doesn’t seem that bad to me.”

  “Oh, yeah? Are you one of those girls who only does five-star resorts? Decided to try slumming it with the peasants for a few days?” he teased.

  MJ guffawed and threw a hand over her mouth in humiliation at the unattractive noise.

  Do I really look like that kind of woman? She couldn’t imagine being mistaken for rich, not even in her wildest dreams.

  “No,” she replied, laughing. “This is my first vacation out of the States.”

  Dan turned his sculpted body toward her, his eyes twinkling. “I don’t blame your parents for wanting to keep you close to home,” he told her. His eyes ran up and down her body in a way that made MJ giggle.

  “So, what are you going to do while you’re here?”

  “I’m going to the Lobo Nero Vineyards tomorrow. Do you know it?” she asked, hoping he could provide her some insight.

  “No,” Dan said. “But I think I’ll get to know it soon.”

  MJ arched an eyebrow at him “You are?”

  He nodded, leaning in so close to her, she caught a whiff of his coconut suntan lotion. Dan licked his lips and brushed a strand of hair over her freckled shoulders.

  The actions gave MJ goosebumps, and she tried not to shiver with pleasure.

  “Wasn’t that your way of inviting me to come with you?” Dan asked, and there was no stopping MJ from turning bright red.

  “I–I mean, I don’t…” MJ tried to compose herself before speaking again. “That sounds great. The tour bus leaves at ten o’clock.”