by Anna Lowe
Gargoyles buzzed around her like hornets. The crowd was in chaos, running for the exits.
“Fire! Fire!”
“Oh my God, an electrical fire!” a woman shrieked, pointing at the overhead spotlights.
Electrical fire, my ass. Kaya shot a long, crackling flame toward the witches’ control booth at the top of the arena. Three wrinkled faces froze in shock, then dove out of sight.
Third-rate witches, she sniffed and twisted back toward the ring.
Humans stampeded the exits while the shifters in the audience watched her zip by, their mouths agape. All but a single hedgehog shifter, who was cheering her on.
Kaya nearly cheered, too. She’d never felt so alive. Never felt so tuned in to centuries of dragondom, whose ghosts seemed to peer over her shoulder and applaud. She could do it! She could control fire!
It was just like her grandfather said, a long time ago. She could hear his scratchy old voice in her ears. Fire isn’t kindled by greed or desire. Fire is kindled by love, and if you truly believe…
She looked at Trey, sprawled on the ground. Her blood seemed to thicken just looking at him, and her soul started to sing. Yeah, she could believe. She believed in him. Believed in crazy wolf myths that said he was the one.
She glided on that realization for another split second before snapping back to full alert. Three gargoyles zipped toward her in V formation, and she peeled away to the right. Rolled. Banked. Climbed higher and higher, then pulled a classic Immelmann turn and swept out of the way. She pulled every dogfighting maneuver her grandfather had taught her, plus a few she invented on the fly. She dug the tip of her right wing against a pocket of warm air and spun around, catching two of the three gargoyles unprepared. The flame licked her lips as she spat it out. Gargoyles screamed, catching fire. One quick wing-over brought the third gargoyle into her sights, and—
Whoosh! A huge, orange flame reached out and dashed him to the ground.
She bellowed in triumph, sending fire upward like a fountain of reds, oranges, and yellows, then looked around. The remaining gargoyles had fled back to their perches and turned back to stone. A pumping disco beat filled the air in some DJ’s belated attempt to bring normalcy to the scene. Roric, the Westend alpha, popped his head up cautiously from where he’d taken shelter under a chair.
Karen plucked Igor’s arm off her sleeve and grinned. “Hasta luego, asshole.” She dusted off her hands and headed for the stairs.
Kaya wrapped her wings around her body, executed a quick three-sixty turn to make sure the danger had passed, and landed at Trey’s side.
Hey, she called into his mind, keeping a wary eye on the nearest doors. Are you okay?
The answer took so long coming, she could have screamed. Then a weak murmur reached her ears and Trey rolled to his stomach, panting.
Fine, a pained voice sounded in her head. Perfect. Great. He groaned and creaked to his feet.
The gladiator groaned, too, lying nearby in a pool of blood. She could hardly believe he was still alive. Should she finish him off? Give him a second chance?
She bared her teeth, and the gladiator dropped to the ground, playing possum.
Kaya turned to the nearest exit and bellowed in her best dragon voice — a throaty contralto, like that of an opera diva who smoked too many cigars. “Open the door!”
Silence was the only reply, so she followed up with a fireball that split around the bars and reunited to stream into the tunnel beyond.
Out of the corner of one eye, she saw Karen jump from the bottommost level of seats and land cleanly in the sand.
“I’ll get your wolf. You get the door,” Karen called.
My wolf, her dragon hummed inside before bellowing once again. “Open the door or I’ll burn the place down!”
“Coming! Coming!” a timid voice squeaked.
A second later, the gate creaked on its hinges, and four hasty feet scurried away.
Kaya took a cautious step into the dark tunnel. Sent a puff of smoke ahead like a scout, then motioned back to her sister, who propped Trey up. “Let’s blow this joint.”
“Yes,” Karen replied, pure relief in her voice. “Let’s.”
Chapter Fifteen
Eight hours later…
Trey leaned against the torn headrest of the Jaguar’s passenger seat, closed his eyes, and let the sun warm his face. Kaya was driving, and he was way over in the front seat, practically straddling the gear stick — a position that got him closer to Kaya, which was the main thing. He stroked the back of her neck gently, making her hum as she drove.
“How are you doing?” she asked, putting a hand on his thigh.
A little zing went through him, sending excitement and joy on separate paths to the furthest reaches of his body until they reunited somewhere in his chest, wrapped around each other, and glowed for a while.
“Good,” he murmured, closing his hand over hers. “Really, really good.”
Hadn’t felt this good in ages. Never mind that his leg still ached and his ribs throbbed. The only thing that mattered was her. Him. Them.
The car tires hummed over the road, the wind combed his hair, and he laughed.
Kaya turned her head. “What?”
He shook his head. “A couple of days ago, it was so cool to see the Vegas skyline rise on the horizon.” He glanced in the sideview mirror. “Now, it feels so good to see it disappear.”
“Amen,” she murmured, kneading his leg. “I won’t be going back there in a hurry, that’s for sure.”
Her brow wrinkled as she said it, and he knew she was thinking of her sister.
“You sure you’re okay with leaving Karen back there?”
Kaya glanced over her shoulder and shook her head as if the gas station they’d left Karen at twenty miles back was still in sight. “She insisted, so…”
That was the crazy thing. Karen had spent the first ten miles of the drive north sitting quietly in the back seat. Too quiet, almost. When they’d stopped at a gas station a little while later, she’d hopped out of the car, stared at the horizon, and finally announced that she had to go back to Vegas.
“You what?” Kaya had screeched.
Trey shook his head, just thinking about it.
Karen looked at her feet. “Look, I’m grateful you got me away from the vampires, but…”
“But what?”
“It’s hard to explain…” Karen went on.
Kaya stuck her hands on her hips. “We just busted our asses to get you out of there. You could have died. Trey could have died.” She glowered at her sister and spoke in a growly voice a lot like her dragon’s. “You sure as hell better explain.”
Karen had shot him an uncertain look, then dragged Kaya out of earshot and proceeded to wave her arms, flick her fingers, and explain.
Trey didn’t know what she was on about, but in the end, Kaya hadn’t pushed her, so he hadn’t either.
“Just swear you’ll stay away from the slot machines,” Kaya had finally said, catching Karen in a huge hug.
“I swear,” Karen promised, her voice muffled by her sister’s shoulder.
He looked in the mirror and squeezed Kaya’s hand. “You think she’ll be okay?”
“She’d better be okay,” Kaya said, more in a sigh than a growl.
He sure hoped so. He’d had enough of Vegas for a lifetime.
And so there they were, just the two of them, heading north in a 1962 Jag.
A sign for Reno flashed by. “You tempted?” Kaya asked, crooking an eyebrow at him.
He snorted. “Not in the least.”
“Really? The way you played in Vegas, you could easily pick up a couple of thousand bucks.”
“And more trouble.” He shook his head then pulled her knuckles in for a kiss. “Got all the winnings I need right here.”
She smiled her movie-star smile. “You only won one thing.”
“The best one,” he said, and he meant it. A sign for a rest stop blurred by, and he pointed. “Pull over
.”
She looked around. “But we already filled the tank…”
“Just pull over.”
She put on the blinker, took the off-ramp, and headed for the gas station.
“Around the back,” he murmured.
She drove into the curtain of shade behind the building, shut off the engine, and turned to face him. “What do—”
He cut her off with a kiss and pulled her into his lap. Not an easy operation in the tight front seat of the roadster, but a second later, he had her nestled perfectly against his body. Too perfectly, because his wolf was getting bad ideas again.
Good ideas, the wolf growled. Like marking. Mating. Making her ours for good.
“Soon,” he whispered.
“Soon, what?” She kissed his brow and snuggled closer, straddling him.
He chuckled. “Pretty soon, this wolf isn’t going to be able to wait any more.”
“Oh, yes?” she teased in a seductive voice. “Wait for what?” One finger ran down his stomach and played with the button of his jeans.
He kissed her neck. Licked the spot he already had scoped out as the perfect place. Nibbled it a little, then whispered against her skin.
“To make you mine.”
She tipped his head up and looked deep into his eyes. “I already am yours.”
As if his cock wasn’t already straining at the seams of his jeans.
“All the way, mine,” he said, nibbling again. “Forever.”
“Now let me see…” She worked her hands over his shoulders and behind his back, gently massaging the sore spots. “You bite me…”
“Mm-hmm.” He nodded, fluttering kisses over her throat. God, her skin was soft.
“…just deep enough to draw a little blood and make us mates…”
He traced the sinews of her neck with his nose. God, she smelled so good.
“…and what exactly is in it for me?”
She was teasing, but he still gulped. What exactly was in it for her? She’d be stuck with him forever. A bruised-up shifter who was good at cards and rustling cattle, with vague plans for a place of his own someday. Okay, not such vague plans, but without enough cash to buy the land he needed. Crap, what did mating really get her?
“…other than my favorite wolf, I mean,” she went on.
His wolf wagged its tail.
“And other than fabulous sex.” She tightened her legs around his hips.
Now that she put it that way…
“Other than a guy who makes me feel like I’m the greatest reward…”
He worked his kisses up to her jawline. “You are the greatest reward.”
“Other than the perfect mate for me and the life I always wanted, working a small place in Wyoming,” she concluded, tipping her forehead to his. “Other than all that, what exactly is in it for me?”
“Well…” His tongue flopped around a little, because his soul was still bouncing around in a happy dance, and he couldn’t quite gather his thoughts. “We still need to figure out a way to get that small place in Wyoming. We lost the cash, you know.”
The sign for Reno flashed in his mind. He hated the idea, but…
“Forget it,” she said. “The main thing is, we have each other.” Her hands cupped his face, and her face glowed, like that was all she really needed.
He was just getting ready to dive into those luscious lips when she broke into a huge grin. “And hey, we have the car.”
He laughed and shook his head. “You sure do like this car.”
“I do,” she said, leaning back and twisting in his lap. “You want to know why?”
He pulled her back, not ready to give up the contact just yet, but she wiggled away and fumbled with something in the glove compartment.
“Um, because it was your grandfather’s car and he left it to you?”
She faced him again, holding a manila envelope up like a lottery ticket. “Want to know what else he left me?”
Trey pursed his lips, wondering what was in there. Season tickets to the local college games? A cryptic sketch marking the way to an old, exhausted mine? Love letters to her grandmother?
She pulled a sheaf of papers out and unfolded them. Thick, extra-long papers with swirly script at the top and a big red seal on the bottom. He squinted and read the hand-printed text on the dry parchment.
Land deed?
She nodded. “The deed to a property my granddad’s uncle owned. Three thousand acres, backing right up to the Wind River Range. Hasn’t been worked in generations.” She raised an eyebrow as if in challenge.
He took the paper out of her hand and gaped at it.
“He left it to you?”
“He left it to me. Well, to Karen, too.”
His heart started thumping a little harder. “And you were planning to…?”
“To start it up again once I had a business partner to run it with. And since Karen isn’t interested…”
He caught both her hands in his. Stared into her eyes. Caught a breath. Didn’t quite dare answer.
“There’s a little log cabin next to a mountain stream…” she went on.
The heavy parchment of the deed and the dreamy tone in her voice had his imagination galloping away. He knew enough about ranching to get started, and his cousin could help him fill in the gaps. He and Kaya could hole up there over the coming winter and figure out their priorities. He had some savings, which would be a start. Come spring, the two of them could get to work in earnest and…
“So what do you say?” She seemed to be holding her breath, too.
He tried to joke away the lump in his throat. “You think a dragon and a wolf could get along long enough to make it work?”
She grinned. “I think a dragon and a wolf are just what that place needs.”
He kept up the easy grin a moment longer, then crushed her against his chest in a hug so tight, it hurt his ribs. But whatever. The only thing that mattered right now was keeping her close.
“You sure?” he murmured, giving her a last chance to rethink.
She laughed. “Never been so sure of anything in my life, wolf.” Her lips closed over his in a kiss that quickly jumped the border from warm promise to all-out desire.
“Now…” She hummed right over his lips. “Let’s get back to where we left off.”
He ran his hands upward along her ribs. “Where exactly did we leave off?” It was all mixed up in his mind. One good thing piled on another, like a stack of Christmas presents too high to fit under the tree.
She nudged her hips forward and tipped her head to the side in open invitation. “I vaguely remember something about a mating bite…”
His wolf growled inside as his canines slowly extended.
“Here? Now?”
She popped the top button of his jeans and shimmied out of her shorts. “Maybe I like to live dangerously.”
He snorted. He’d had enough living dangerously for a while, but the second her hand wiggled inside his boxers…why the hell not?
They moved in tandem to work his jeans far enough down to free his cock, and then she slowly settled over him, one hot, tight inch at a time.
His head thunked back on the headrest as he gave in to the heat zipping through his veins.
“Trey…” she sighed, starting to rock against his hips.
He gripped her hips and rocked back, quickly losing hold of the last conscious thought flitting through his mind before lust and instinct took over completely.
He was leaving Vegas with a dragon, a vintage Jaguar, and a bright future. Why was he not surprised?
* * *
Thank you for reading Gambling on Her Dragon! If you enjoyed the story, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Reviews are the best way to thank an independent author for a story you’ve loved.
The next book in this series is Gambling on Her Bear. Diamond thief falls for bear shifter security chief in Vegas. What could possibly go wrong? Click here for a sneak peek, or order your copy today!
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Sneak Peek I: Gambling on Her Bear
Book 2 in the Shifters in Vegas series
Diamond thief falls for bear shifter security chief in Vegas. What could possibly go wrong?
Dragon shifter Karen Proulx is in Vegas to hunt down a diamond, not a mate. But the minute she lays eyes on the brown-eyed bear of her dreams, everything changes.
Bear shifter Tanner Lloyd is a man on a mission to save his hometown. He doesn’t have time for a wild ride with the beguiling woman who turns his world upside down — especially one who’s half witch and a mortal enemy of his clan. But how can he resist the call of destiny, the pull of desire?
Click here for a sneak peek or order your copy of Gambling on Her Bear.
Sneak Peek II: Gambling on Her Bear
An Excerpt
Tanner thumped his glass down on the bar and glanced at the ceiling because some vague sensation called to him from above. He tugged at his collar. Damn, it was hot inside the casino. Not to mention noisy, stuffy, and much too bright.
I hate Vegas, his inner bear grumbled.
No kidding. The place just wasn’t natural. If it weren’t for the motorcycle that allowed him to escape into the surrounding wilds from time to time, he would have gone nuts. But his clan had sent him down to Vegas for a reason, so he had to in order to get the job done — then hightail it back home and never leave again. Bear shifters belonged in the woods of the Bitterroot Mountains, not squeezed into suits and ties.
A thin hand slinked over his shoulder and fondled his collar as a sultry voice whispered in his ear. “Hey, Tanner.”
He eased away and cleared his throat. “Hi, Amber.”
“Hey, baby.” The showgirl grinned and leaned in for a kiss.
Tanner turned just in time for her to hit his cheek, not his lips. With one hand, he held her arm, keeping her just far enough away to avoid feeling those fake boobs brush up against his chest. With the other hand, he pushed away the ostrich feather tickling his head. Amber’s headdress was full of them, sticking up like a gaudy crown. All of them XXL, unlike the tiny scraps of fabric barely covering her private parts.