by Jane Jamison
“I wish I could’ve brought a gun.”
“Don’t remind me. I’m glad hunting isn’t allowed in the park.”
If there was one thing she didn’t like about Bruce, it was that he was a hunter. She couldn’t imagine taking the life of an innocent animal unless it was to save a human’s life. However, she had an open mind and realized many people enjoyed hunting and didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.
“Stupid rule, if you ask me.”
“Oh, sure. Who cares if you shoot another hiker by accident? Or some kid out with his family enjoying nature?” She put her back to him and started walking again. “What were you hoping to murder, anyway?” She risked starting the other argument they often had, but it was better to get him riled up about hunting than having him talk about whether or not she’d seen a dragon.
“Damn it, Mon. It’s not murder. It’s—”
“It’s what, Bruce? How were you going to end that sentence?” She smiled, knowing he’d caught himself just in time before saying the dreaded word “sport.” Killing any animal for neither clothing nor food wasn’t her idea of a sport. Football and baseball, those were sports. Using a high-powered rifle to kill an animal several yards away didn’t seem fair.
“Let’s agree to disagree, okay?”
“You mean like you agree to disagree about my dragon?” She called it her dragon because she’d seen it. Yet, somehow, the phrase had grown to mean more, as though she felt a personal connection to it.
“Yeah. Like that.”
They moved on with her in the lead. She could hear Bruce’s harsh pants of breath. He wasn’t used to hiking. For him, hiking was going a few miles then setting up a hunter’s blind and waiting for his target to come to him.
“There’s nothing wrong with trophy hunting.”
“Again. We agree to disagree.” Trophy. It was a lousy word whether it applied to animals or to women.
They kept going until, at last, they reached the cliff where she’d seen the animal. “Here we are.”
Bruce leaned over the edge and let out a low whistle. “Mon, if you fell over the side of this, no one would’ve found you.”
He was right. Once her body had hit the rocks below, the trees would’ve hidden her splattered remains from view. She shuddered to think how close she’d come to dying.
“Good thing the dragon caught me, huh?”
He eased back from the edge and tossed her a don’t-go-there look. “I’m not answering that. Is this where we’re setting up camp?”
“Not a real camp. We have to move back down to one of the regulation camps before nightfall. We can, however, make a temporary camp. No fire, though. Besides, the weather is warm.”
“Too bad. It’d be cool to sleep on the cliff overnight.”
“Yeah, provided you don’t roll in your sleep.” She couldn’t resist teasing him. “I don’t think the dragon would catch you. You know. What with you being a hunter and all.”
“Very funny.” He sat down, lowering his pack to the ground. He pretended to lift a rifle and stare into the scope. “This would be a great place to pick off a bird.”
“Kill the wrong one and you’ll go to jail. Some birds and animals are protected, you know. In fact, all of them inside the park are protected. The park officials opted to trap the boars instead of shooting them back when they were getting too numerous.” Having hunting prohibited was one of the best things about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She’d visited other places to hike and had been nervous when she’d heard gunshots firing close by.
“Fucking tree huggers. It’s a sad day when a man can’t go hunting and bag a deer. Or, better yet, a black bear. I’d love a bear-skin rug in my bedroom.”
“You’re absolutely disgusting, do you know that?” She didn’t mean it. At least, as far as everything except the hunting was concerned.
He grinned, winning her over once again. “Again, we agree to disagree.”
“Yes, we do.” She let her backpack slide off her shoulders. When she did, she accidentally bumped her pack against his, knocking his over. Something metallic peeked out from under the flap.
“Oh, hell. Please tell me you didn’t bring a gun.”
He stiffened then hurriedly covered the tip of the gun’s barrel by shoving it deeper into his backpack. “Okay, fine. I won’t tell you.”
“Are you trying to get us thrown out of the park? Or fined?” Anger surged through her. “Damn it, Bruce. You shouldn’t have brought it.”
“Calm down. Nobody’s going to find out about the gun if you don’t say anything. I only brought it along for protection.”
“Riiight. So you’re not planning on hunting?”
He shook his head, and crossed his heart, but his sincerity was still hard to accept. “Nope. No hunting. Just protection. There are bears around, you know.”
She drew in a breath and forced herself to be calm. “I know. So you promise, right? That thing doesn’t come out of your backpack unless we’re in danger. Agreed?”
“Sure thing.”
A tense silence hung between them for several minutes while she calmed her rattled nerves. If she’d known that he’d sneak a gun into the park, she would’ve left him at home. As it was, all she could do was to hope he’d keep his promise.
Damn it, Bruce.
She vowed to think of better things. After all, why let him ruin the trip?
“This place is great, isn’t it? Instead of looking for poor, defenseless animals to kill, why don’t you sit back and enjoy the sights and sounds? Breathe in the fresh air.” Okay, so maybe she wasn’t completely over the gun issue yet.
“Poor defenseless animals, my ass. Tell that to a black bear while he’s mauling you.” Still, he leaned back, resting against his backpack. “It is pretty out here, though.”
Was he really making an effort? Or simply placating her?
“We can’t stay long. I want to cover more ground before we have to head back.” She wished like crazy that they could set up camp wherever they wanted, but it was against park rules.
He groaned. “More walking? I’m going to have blisters on top of my blisters.”
“I warned you to break in those boots.”
“They didn’t bother me on my last hunting trip.”
“Hiking is different than hunting.” Glancing at Bruce, she decided to tell him everything. “I’m kind of hoping we can find a cave or a lair of some kind.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Tell me you’re not walking into a cave while the bears are still up and active.”
“Not a chance.” She got ready for his comeback. “I would, however, go into a cave if I thought there was a dragon inside.”
“Okay, that proves it. You really are out of your mind.”
She shot him a glare. “Some friend you are.” The look he gave her had more to it than mere friendship. It had a hunger that made her uneasy.
“Come on, Mon. It’s bad enough you believe you saw a dragon, but to say you’d walk into a cave with a dragon inside it is just plain nuts.”
“Again. Thanks loads.”
“I’ve heard it’s better to play along with an insane person, so here goes. Let’s say you really saw a dragon—”
“A dragon that saved my life.”
“Fine. A dragon that saved your life. What makes you think it’s still around? You said it never came back.”
“I couldn’t stick around long enough to know for certain, but my gut says it’s around here somewhere. Sure, it’s only a hunch, but it’s one I can’t shake.”
“Okay then, let’s say you find a cave. How will you know it’s the cave of a dragon and not a bear? Getting face to face with either one would suck, by the way.”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m hoping I’ll see the dragon either in the entrance of the cave or flying around outside.” Irritated, she pushed on, determined to make the impossible sound plausible. “I’m kind of playing this by ear. After all, it’s not like there’s a manua
l for tracking a dragon.”
“My point exactly.”
Why couldn’t he believe her? Or, even if he didn’t believe she’d seen a dragon, then he could at least support her in her efforts to find it. She had a feeling he’d come along mainly as way to spend more time with her.
“What are you going to do if you do find a cave with a dragon? Roast wieners over a campfire with it?” He pretended surprise. “No, wait. There’s no unauthorized fires in the park. Doesn’t that rule apply to dragons, too?”
“You are fucking hilarious, you know it? Fucking hilarious.” She lowered her gaze to the ground and put her toe to a small stone. The longer they talked, the less certain she felt about her plan. She was, for all intents and purposes, looking for a needle in a haystack.
“It’s okay, Mon.”
She looked up and realized tears were blurring her vision. Crying in front of anyone, but especially a man, made her feel weak.
He leaned over and snaked his arm around her shoulder. “We’ll find your dragon if it’s the last thing we do.”
She laughed through the tears. “Let’s not make it the last thing, okay? But thanks. I appreciate the support. Finally.”
His brown gaze softened even more. “No problem.”
Before he could say more, she leaned out of his hold, unwilling to encourage feelings she’d never be able to reciprocate. Instead, she set her gaze over the cliff’s edge. Birds hung lazily in the blue sky, reminding her of a day a year earlier. “It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
She didn’t dare look his way.
* * * *
Vince Bradford grabbed his cousin Clint and slammed him against the cabin wall. “Fuck off, cuz. You’re a fucking idiot if you thought that skank was mate material. You’re a damn disgrace to the Talasium Dragon clan and the Bradford name.”
Clint had hit the wall hard, but it didn’t keep him down for long. He shoved off, using the momentum and shifting enough to bring out some of his dragon speed, to send his body flying toward Vince. “At least I’m trying to find someone.”
Vince tried to duck out of the way, but Clint hit him too hard and too fast. Groaning, he grabbed hold of his cousin’s body and took him along for the topsy-turvy ride as they landed on the floor and kept rolling. If they hadn’t run into the oversized armchair where their friend Trey Weston sat, they might’ve continued to roll all the way out the front door.
Trey kicked them away. “Take it outside, you two.”
Vince struck out, landing a solid right hook to Clint’s jaw, and was rewarded by blood erupting from the gash in his flesh. Not that it would matter. As dragons, they healed quickly. Fighting was more about getting rid of their frustration than actually wanting to harm each other. Besides, they were cousins and they’d always look out for each other.
Vince got to his feet first, but Clint came up swinging. “Didn’t you understand what was going on when she asked you for money?”
“Bullshit, asshole.” Clint, notorious for his headstrong will and his readiness to fight, whirled around and brought his foot straight into Vince’s midsection.
Vince groaned and bent over. Without meaning to, his inner dragon roared to life. He straightened up as the world changed to hues of red. Tendrils of smoke drifted over fangs replacing teeth. “Next time, ask for her health record first.”
Flames danced at the corners of Clint’s mouth. “I was drunk, damn it. Every woman looks good at last call.”
It wasn’t the first time Clint had brought home a girl after carousing the bars of Gatlinburg, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. At least not until they found a woman worthy of losing their immortality.
“Shit. That’s it. I’m not letting either one of you burn the cabin down.” Trey hoisted himself onto his feet and shoved both of them toward the door. He didn’t bother opening the screen door and instead gave them one final push that sent the door banging open and both of them stumbling onto the front porch.
The Bradford family cabin, settled in the mountains near Gatlinburg, had been owned by one dragon then another. All the Bradford Talasium dragons were welcome at the ranch at any time, some taking turns living there, others only using it for a stopover to another destination. A hundred acres of land gave them the isolation they both craved and needed. Nearby caves, especially one in particular they called their “secret home,” gave them a place to go where they could stay in their dragon forms without being seen. Much of their family had lived at the cabin at one time or another, but all except Clint and Vince had moved on. Unlike their wandering relatives, they planned on staying on the ranch. So far, they were the only immortal Bradford dragons still living. Each of the others had found a mate and, as happened to all dragons, had started aging once they’d committed themselves to their women.
“I’m not going to start aging for some skank. It’s got to be the right woman, not just someone willing to spread their legs for your sorry cock.”
Clint roared, fire burning bright against the purple colors of the setting sun. Taking Vince by the shoulders, he threw his body backward, putting them into a roll again.
Fuck.
Pain stabbed into Vince’s back as his body struck one porch step after another. Together, they landed in the dirt at the bottom. He staggered to his feet, this time holding up his hands.
“Hang on. We’re not doing either one of us any good.” Anticipating Clint’s reaction, he ducked, barely missing getting slammed in the head. At least Clint had used his fist instead of his tail. Vince enjoyed a good wrestling match as much as the next person, but he wasn’t in the mood any longer. “Knock it off, man. I’m done.”
Clint’s chest heaved as he bent over, put his hands on his knees, and tried to catch his breath. “What if we never find a woman good enough?”
“We will. We just have to keep looking.”
Vince turned his attention to Trey, their Emeralian Dragon friend. They’d met the levelheaded, easy-going Trey at an all-clan meeting held in Las Vegas where the four main clans of dragons were based. Through a serious of mishaps and confusion, the three of them had ended up stuck in a gay bar on the outskirts of the strip, several miles from their hotels. Yet, instead of calling for another cab, Trey had purchased a very expensive bottle of whiskey and had offered to share it as they walked back, hitting one casino after another. By the time they’d made it back to their hotel, they’d become good friends, even though Trey was from a different clan.
“Trey’s right. Until we find her, we have all of eternity to search. Like he said, we have to keep looking.”
The fight left Clint, his body slumping, a frown replacing the snarl. “I’m tired of looking. I’m eight hundred and fifty fucking years old. I want a mate, and I want kids.”
Vince bit back the impulse to tell his cousin to stop whining like a little kid who couldn’t have ice cream. After all, he understood how Clint felt. After nine hundred years, he felt like settling down, too. He just wasn’t sure it would be worth it. Was a normal, human lifetime worth giving up an eternity? How could any one woman ever be worth so much loss? He could easily see himself as the first Bradford to stay on at the cabin indefinitely, enjoying an endless line of women.
The part of him that enjoyed razzing his cousin wouldn’t let go. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and knock another woman off a cliff. The next time, don’t just catch her, bring her home.”
Clint snarled, his dragon not yet fully restrained. “Fuck off.”
He pivoted on his heel and led the way back into the two-story rustic cabin. Although the place didn’t look it from the outside, the interior had been renovated, taking it from a place where the outhouse was king to a home any modern woman would love. Their future mate would want to redecorate to give it a woman’s touch and tone down the masculine feel of the heavy furniture and dark woods, but all the creature comforts were already there.
“Damn it, Vince. Why’d you h
ave to go and bring her up again?” asked Trey.
He scowled at his friend, even though he knew he was right. The woman Clint had seen last year was a sore subject.
Clint had been flying low over the mountain, near the cliff that was only a couple of miles from their secret cave, and although he used the cloaking skill to keep his body hidden, she’d still noticed the shimmer in the air created by his body. Most humans wouldn’t have noticed the shimmers or, if they had, they wouldn’t have given the sight much thought. The majority of humans simply weren’t that curious. The girl, however, had pointed a camera at Clint. As she’d gotten closer to the edge of the cliff, the gust of wind brought about by a strong flap of his wings had pushed her off the cliff. He’d had no choice but to swoop down and catch her.
When he’d finally set her safely back on the ground, he’d lost control of his cloak for only a moment. But only a moment had been enough time for her to see him as a dragon. Clint had rushed back to the cabin.
The three of them had watched for any news, especially reports of a woman photographing a real, live dragon, but none had appeared. They’d given a sigh of relief, but that hadn’t stopped Clint from talking about her.
He’d talked about her over the next month so often, the terms he used to describe becoming more and more glowing, that both Vince and Trey had insisted they fly back to the cliff and hope she was there. She wasn’t. They’d gone back every day for the next two months until they’d finally given up hope. Unfortunately, that didn’t keep Clint from continuing to talk about her.
Damn it. Why couldn’t I keep my big mouth shut?
He followed Clint into the kitchen, and after waiting for his cousin to grab a beer, he snagged one out of the fridge, too. “Look, Clint…”
Clint leaned his back against the counter. “Yeah, I know. Shut the fuck up.”
“Nah, cuz, that’s not what I was going to say.”
Clint took another drag off his bottle. “What?”