by Julia Mills
Swatting at the stray hair tickling her cheek, floating between being fully awake and fully asleep, Pippa rolled onto her side and yawned, burrowing farther under the soft, crocheted afghan as the whir of the small air conditioning unit in the window lulled her back to a restful slumber. Dreams of soaring over the fluffy, white clouds on the back of a deep purple dragon, the iridescence of his scales glistening in the noonday sun like millions of diamonds on a never-ending sea of silky blue sky, swirled through her mind.
Using the silver-gray spike at the base of his neck like the horn of a saddle, her hands held tight, the cool breeze kissing the apples of her cheeks and throwing her long red curls behind her, resembling the bolt of fire that flew from her dragon as he thrust the demon from her mind just a few hours ago. The faster he flew, the tighter her thighs held onto the powerful flight muscles at the apex of his shoulders, solidifying their connection, making her crave an even deeper one. His wings, a leathery purple on top, silky silver underneath and supported with cartilage-like fingers stretching to the edges, scooped the air, pushing his thousand-pound body as if he weighed no more than the mockingbirds in her backyard.
How does he do that?
Always inquisitive, needing to understand how things worked, the words had barely crossed her mind when Fury’s lilting brogue answered, “Aye, a chéadsearc, the bones of my beast are hollow.” Tipping slightly to one side and then the other making Pippa squealed like a child on a Ferris Wheel as her dragon chuckled, “It makes us lighter, more aerodynamic and able to maneuver with ease.”
Smiling as her dragon once again leveled his wings, Pippa lovingly teased, “Fast and furious with fire to boot. You are a powerful, purple predator.”
Laughing along with Fury at her silly alliteration, the PI was shocked at how comfortable she felt. It was both freeing and frightening. Not one to easily trust, especially since she could see the sins of the past of every person she encountered, the unmistakable and immediate affection she had for this dragon was a shock to Pippa. His past was a mystery to her, one she wanted to discover with each passing hour she spent in his company.
The erotic expanding and contracting of the massive flight muscles covering the dragon’s chest and wrapping over his front haunches teased the taunt muscles of her inner thighs, fanning the smoldering flames of Pippa’s arousal into a fiery blaze of wanton desire. The erratic beat of her heart stuttered then raced, doing somersaults in her chest, until in one perfect moment of clarity, it found its rhythm, in perfect synchronicity with that of her dragon’s.
The need to be one with this miraculous man with his fantastical powers became overwhelming. Her breasts grew heavy, the soft, black lace of her bra teasing her nipples to hardened peaks as proof of her arousal wet the crotch of her panties. Pippa clamped her thighs tighter still as best she could, trying and failing to hide her undeniable craving from Fury.
Snout raising into the air, a low rumble vibrated through his massive body as he murmured, “Aye, mo chroí, yer sweet scent tempts this old dragon like nothing else.” He inhaled deeply. “The fresh scent of sea aster and the aromatic blue-eyed grass from the cliffs and meadows of my homeland combined with a fragrance all yer own is nothing short of irresistible.”
Closing her eyes, Pippa leaned forward, laying her body against the smooth granite of the scales covering his neck as Fury began a gradual descent, transforming back to the miraculous man with haunting brown eyes as magic filled the air around them. Landing atop a beautiful ivy-covered mountain, completely clothed, with her in his arms, her dragon’s magnetic allure held Pippa captive with no hope or desire of escape. Helpless but to follow where her body and soul led, she pulled Fury’s lips to hers, sighing as they touched, the electricity of their connection shooting through her body as flashes of light burst through her mind like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Their kiss caught fire. Fury dominated her mouth like he owned her heart, kissing, and possessing until Pippa’s desire was a roaring fire encompassing every fiber of her being. Arousal thickened her blood, growing more powerful with each slide of his tongue alongside hers.
Whimpering at his brazen moves, loving that his passion was rising with her own, Pippa’s nails bit into the back of Fury’s neck as she turned in his arms, climbing his body until she could wrap her legs around his waist. She moaned low in her throat as his hard, denim-covered cock pushed against her trembling center. Delving farther into her, his strong hands gripping her ass, her dragon fed the fire of desire with his drugging attention to her every need.
Her panties soaked as he rocked his hips between her legs, teasing her clit, making it throb with the need to come. Raking her nails across his shoulder, pulling Fury tighter still to her body, Pippa crossed her ankles across the rock-hard muscles of his butt, riding him to her ultimate climax.
“Pippa. Pippa, girl, are you all right in there?” A soft voice she recognized but couldn’t quite place, called to her, rudely beckoning her from the arms of her dragon.
Refusing to leave the haven of Fury’s arms, the PI pushed her face farther into the soft leather of the couch as she squeezed her eyes tight, willing herself back into her quickly fading dream. Grunting when the singsonged, southern twang once again chirped, “Come on, little darlin’. You’ve been sleepin’ for durn near twelve hours. I need to make sure you’re okay.”
Rolling onto her back, the excitement from her dreams falling away as she sprang straight up into a sitting position like a ‘Jill-in-the-box’ popping through her lid, Pippa stared into Bobbie Jo’s big gray eyes and croaked, “Twelve hours?” Clearing her throat and trying again with a bit more volume and a bit less disbelief, the PI again asked, “I’ve been asleep for twelve hours?” She let her feet fall off the edge of the couch, adding, “For real?”
Standing up from where she knelt beside the couch, Bobbie Jo, nodded emphatically, “Oh, yeah, girl. I found you slumped over in the booth, still as the grave, and staring at the underside of the table when I came back with your ice water.”
Perching on the arm of the sofa, the waitress continued, “By the time I got you back to sittin’ up, you were shaking so hard I thought you were having a fit. So, I had Bud carry you back here to my double wide, and you’ve been sleeping ever since.” Leaning closer, a twinkle in the depths of her eyes and a grin on her lips that made her look twenty years younger, Bobbie Jo winked, “Well, that is until you started whisperin’ and squirmin’ under my nana’s County Fair prize winning afghan.” She waggled her eyebrows. “Who is Fury and why in all that is holy are you wastin’ your time in Arrow’s Bend, Oklahoma? You get that cute little butt of yours to that man. He sounds like a hot one.”
Flopping back, Pippa took a deep breath, then blowing it out, she shrugged, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me,” Bobbie Jo turned in her seat, pulling her legs up onto the cushion and sitting criss-cross-applesauce waiting for an explanation.
The ticking of the antique wedding clock on the mantel of the waitress’ faux fireplace echoed in the silence, forcing Pippa to blurt out, “I don’t even know if the guy is real. I’ve been dreaming about him since my birthday, but…” Lost in thoughts of Fury and how he made her feel, the PI slapped her hand over her mouth before she could blurt out, ‘I’ve always dreamt of dragons but now their changing into hot, sexy men who could kiss the pants right off a church lady’, which she had no doubt would have Bobbie Jo calling the men in white…stat.
Pulling on her arm and pleading like a teenager asking to see an R-rated movie, the waitress begged, “Oh please, please, please tell me. I promise I’ll not tell another living soul. I need a little excitement. Hell, anything’s better than Cinemax After Dark and my B.O.B.”
Opening her eyes wide, she literally drew a cross over her heart with her index finger and added, “Cross my heart.” Then she tried to look tough, but failed miserably and laughed aloud, “Besides, you owe me for saving your life.”
Happy that Bobbi
e Jo had let go of her arm before her own version of ‘show and tell’ once again took over her brain, Pippa sighed. Raising a single eyebrow and giving the waitress a ‘yeah sure’ look, she shook her head then winked, making the older woman giggle like a schoolgirl.
Taking a deep breath, Pippa softly admitted, to an almost perfect stranger, the one secret she’d never spoke aloud in her whole life. “It’s just a dream, a fantasy, something I made up when I was younger and stuck in an orphanage full of nuns. It was my escape really, to pass the time until I was eighteen and out of that blasted place.”
Letting her head fall back, she thought of the first time she’d dreamt of her dragon. All the girls were in Study Hall. Pippa was napping as usual, with her biggest textbook, American History, propped up on the fake-grained-Formica-topped table to hide her face from Sister Agnes and Sister Veratoss.
A scream cut through the hushed silence, waking Pippa, and freaking out her classmates, who were shrieking right along at the top of their collective lungs. Jumping to her feet, Pip’s gaze was immediately drawn to the flames shooting from the brown metal trashcan on her right.
A mesmerizing myriad of reds, yellows and oranges danced together to an unheard melody, intertwining like the lovers in the books Pippa was prohibited from reading but had stuffed between the mattress and box springs of her bed. Of their own volition, her hands reached out, warming in the heat of the fire, stretching to touch the forbidden flames she somehow knew wouldn’t harm her.
After the janitor, Deacon Edward, a young priest waiting for his Holy Orders had put out the blaze with the fire extinguisher from behind the large desk at the front of the library, Sister Agnes blamed Pippa, sentencing her to two-months of detention. The young girl was forced to wash all the dishes and fold all the towels for the entire orphanage by herself, even though she freely admitted to sleeping in class and let them search her person as well as her room for matches or a lighter or even two damn sticks to rub together. She’d believed at the time that Amber, Kaley, and Melissa, aka the Mean Girls, had framed her.
Bullies come in all shapes and sizes…and colors of hair bows.
However, she soon learned it wasn’t them, but just another one of those ‘magical, mystical’ things that made her ‘special’ – Sister Mary Margaret’s words, not Pippa’s.
Focusing on the gold flecks in the ceiling tiles above her head, refusing to take a trip down her own personal version of Memory Lane or recall the other fires that seemed to pop up when Pippa let her anger get away from her or was dreaming of her dragon. Raising her head, she took a quick look around Bobbie Jo’s trailer and sniffed for smoke.
Whew! No flames this time. Well, nowhere but in my pants…
As the weight of Bobbie Jo’s stare heated the side of her face, Pippa finally whispered, “My dream man can change into a purple dragon. Okay? Scales, breathing fire, big wings and horns that would scare any longhorn, anywhere. Now, you know.” She turned and looked at the waitress and shrugged, “Are you gonna book me a room at the local Funny Farm?”
Biting the inside of her cheek, the waitress refused to make eye contact, her cheeks turning bright red as she murmured, “That’s okay, I dream about bears who can talk, who turn into hunky firefighters.” She winked and shrugged, “Maybe we can book adjoining rooms.”
Chapter Six
Hidden by the magic of his dragon, soaring through the night sky, gazing into the deep, dark waters of the ocean below, Fury called to the only other person aside from Maddox he knew would have information concerning the demon Khain and the shiften race. A Guardsman who had actually met the original Dragon Kings, survived without a mate to the ripe old age of fourteen-hundred plus years and still counting, and a man whose integrity was beyond reproach with an inexhaustible mind for the history of the Dragon Guard.
Zachary was the Elder Healer of the Golden Fire Clan, a mixed-color Lair of dragons living in the States, many enjoying the bounty of finding their mates after so many years without the light of their souls. A child during the time of King Arthur and his knights, the pure white snow dragon had been charged with not only the telling of the Dragon Guard’s illustrious beginnings but also keeping the old histories.
Memories of the past, visions of learning at the Elder’s side, remembering what it was like to be young and carefree flooded Fury’s mind as he pushed as much levity as he could into his voice and called out, “Zachary, ye old sod, how has Fate been treatin’ ye?”
“Do these old ears deceive me, or is this actually the Seer I’m hearing from after all these years?”
The rumble of Zachary’s smiling voice lightened Fury’s spirits as nothing else could. Not only was the Elder brilliant, but he’d also achieved the honor of Highest Elder of Healing due to his extraordinary ability to restore the health of his kin with little more than a thought, something Fury greatly appreciated in his current situation.
Not waiting for the Seer to ask, Zachary went on, “I can feel your need, but first let me congratulate you on finding your mate. This is truly a joyous occasion, one for celebration. To have pure purple dragons among our numbers once again will be nothing less than miraculous. I do hope that you will allow me to be among those at your Ceremony.”
“Aye, I would like nothing better,” Fury quickly responded as the Elder continued, “But she is not all you’ve discovered, am I right?”
“Ye know that ye are,” Fury snickered. “Have ye ever been wrong?”
“More than I’d like to count,” Zachary laughed aloud. “And since you are airborne in these wee hours of the morn, I’ll get right to it. I trust you’ll correct me if I’m wrong.”
“Aye, but I doubt I’ll be sayin’ anythin’.”
“From the lips of your dragon to the ears of the Universe,” Zachary laughed aloud again, before lowering his voice and beginning to explain the questions he’d plucked from Fury’s mind. “Indeed, I have heard of the demon Khain, the Goddess Rhen, the shiften and their One True Mates. These shifters, our cousins so to speak, have near on as many prophecies and mysteries as we do. They have suffered and survived the loss of their females. They have a clear mission of protecting humanity from all who would see it destroyed, and as you’ve already experienced, the most prevalent from their perspective being Khain.”
Zachary paused. Fury could feel the Elder thinking. He could see him putting facts together like a jigsaw puzzle in his amazing mind, so the Seer stayed quiet. He’d seen his old friend’s future many times, so no longer tried to block it out. Each view had a different ending, but they all showed the Elder living many, many more years and sometimes even finding the One the Universe had made for him.
A slight humming, a sure sign that Zachary remembered something important, started just as the Elder began again. “There was a prophecy, actually more of a prediction because of the certainty with which it was spoken, handed down from the greatest of all dragon kin, King Alarick. He stated that one of our own, a royal dragon with the sight of the future would find his One True Mate where calm and peace prevail and the shiften guard the gates. This proud dragon, once alone, but now returned to the Clan by his need to protect his Beloved, will be the one to bring the dragons and the shiften together.”
“Of course, the Elders of the time thought the old king had misspoken, meaning to say ‘shifters’ instead of ‘shiften’, but in keeping with tradition, they wrote the word ‘shiften’ into the old texts and added a note explaining their beliefs. It would seem as though you are redeeming old Alarick, my friend. For indeed, the shiften are real, and you are on your way to meet them.”
“But what of my mate, of Pippa, and of this demon who is stalking her? Come on, man, give me more than old prophecies to go on. How can this bag of shite be defeated once and for all?”
Through the strong connection he shared with the Elder, Fury could see Zachary shaking his head and pulling at his long salt and pepper beard as he chuckled, “Always so impatient. Always needing to know the end of the story befor
e you’ve barely read the first page. I blame that on your tremendous power of foresight. You have always been privy to the conclusion before most tales ever begin. You are spoiled, although I know you do not see it that way.” The Elder sighed, “You, Fury MacTavish, will not be the one who defeats the demon. That is for the shiften and the one among their kind whom their Ancients have deemed the Destroyer. You are only responsible for protecting your mate and assisting the others, forging the bond between dragon and shiften and revealing our kind to the dragen living among them.”
“But…”
“There are no buts in this matter, Fury.” Zachary interrupted, his voice suddenly stern and commanding. “Alarick was clear. He knew that the Goddess Rhen would create the dragen, giving them powers unlike ours. I also believe he knew they would suffer great losses and that one dragen would remain, believing himself to be the last. Feeling as though his demise was imminent, he would seek out his shiften brothers for one last chance to defeat Khain and go out in a blaze of glory, as all unmated dragons hope to do. Thank the Heavens, he was rescued by his One True Mate and still lives.”
“Now, about your Pippa, the fiery woman who complements you in ways you will spend a lifetime discovering.” Zachary’s words were instantly light, airy and had a brightness that shone bright in Fury’s mind. “As with all the special women created by the Universe and chosen by Fate for the Guardsmen, your Beloved is magical. Just as you possess the ability to see the future, your mate has the skill of seeing the past. Together, you two will have the complete picture and the capabilities of controlling the flow of information. You will never again fear seeing something you do not wish to see and neither will your Pippa.”
“She can even walk in the echo of the footsteps of those she touches, just as you have experienced with the future. Harnessing her psychic ability, she has helped many others, however, she also has something no other mate of our brethren possesses.” The Elder’s voice held an eerie contrast of excitement and warning as he spoke just above a whisper. “She has the gift of your fire and has had it since she was a child.” Clearing his throat, Zachary continued, “Surprisingly, there have been very few accidents. Your Pippa is a quick study, but since her twenty-fifth birthday things have been, shall we say, heating up.”