Leaning over her, he pulled her close, kissing her as if they might never see one another again. Barb’s blood froze in her veins, immobilizing her as she climbed out of the car and waited for her to slide behind the wheel in his place.
“I don’t want to leave you here alone. I’m afraid this will be the last time I see you. How can I live without you when you have become such a huge part of me so quickly? We were meant to be together. I know it,” she told him as she took his place.
“I’ll never leave you, Barb. Even if I never leave this place, I’ll be with you. No matter what happens, just look for me in the skies and I’ll always be there looking down at you. I’ll always find you,” he told her.
Tears fell down her face as he shut the door and walked away. She sat watching him until he turned around and motioned for her to go, waiting until she pulled away before knocking on the door. She could see the door opening just before he disappeared in the distance behind her. Fear gripped her as she held on tightly to the steering wheel, forcing herself to continue toward the town below. She realized that she didn’t even know where to go, wasn’t sure where she was and then she was overcome by a notion that she couldn’t let go.
The only direction she knew to go was toward Josh, always toward Josh. She was only a few miles down the road when she slammed on the brakes and made a u-turn in the middle of the small mountain pass. Weaving her way back up the hill, she saw that things had already escalated just as she had feared they would. Pulling the car over to one side, she parked behind a row of shrubs that hid it from view and began inching her way toward the estate.
She wasn’t sure what it was she intended to do, but she had to do something. Watching in horror, she saw Josh still trying to talk to Jones, who began to contort, to change. Barb watched as his body began to expand and change, shifting into a massive red dragon. As she grew closer, hidden behind a massive brick fence with periodic gaps through which she could peek at the events that had begun to unfold, she could see the apple on his chest. Under different circumstances, she might have been amused by his unfortunate commercial markings, but she was currently too frightened to find any humor in the situation.
“Dear God,” she breathed aloud as she watched Josh began to shift, quickly changing from his human form to an enormous black dragon. There was no hint of color on him, just solid obsidian scales that she imagined would make him completely undetectable on a starless night in flight. Her breath stuck in her chest as the two large beasts began to tangle with one another, right there at the front entrance.
Their hissing and growling noises filled the air around her as they viciously clawed and bit at one another. It was violent and she had to turn away on several occasions as Holloway ripped into Josh, sending drops of blood flying across the air. It was hard to gauge how badly he was hurt as he continued to put up a fight, lunging his massive frame at his opponent repeatedly.
For a moment, it seemed that Josh was winning. He almost had Holloway pinned down with his large teeth dangerously near his long neck, ready to sink in and end this once and for all. Barb’s heart pounded out of her chest as she looked on, praying for this to end well. The pain of losing Josh so soon after realizing how strong her feelings for him had grown was too much for her to even contemplate. Then, it all went to hell as Holloway suddenly pushed forward, freeing himself of Josh’s weight and reversing their positions.
With one mighty claw poised above Josh’s massive black breast plate, he swiped downward, sending Josh into a forceful roll to get out of his way before he made contact. Instead, he made contact with his side, sending blood spraying everywhere. Josh howled in pain and turned, but it wasn’t fast enough. Holloway lunged forward, his massive jaws open to tear at Josh’s throat. Barb acted instinctively, screaming out in horror.
“NOOOO!” she screeched, climbing over the fence and running toward them.
Holloway’s head jerked toward her, abandoning the kill shot he had been about to attempt. She saw his massive yellow eyes narrow at her and for a moment, she would have sworn she saw a sick, twisted smile. He let go of Josh and started toward her, at first running, but then taking flight. She froze in terror, her gaze fixated on the large beast headed toward her.
“Oh, God,” she said aloud, knowing she was about to die.
Closing her eyes, Barb prepared herself for the pain of being ripped apart, but instead she heard what sounded like a large wounded bird and a crash nearby. Something jagged scraped across her arm, snapping her out of her panic and causing her to open her eyes. She turned to see her arm pouring blood and Holloway lying on the ground with Josh’s dragon standing over him. As he stood there, waiting, Holloway shifted back to human form, taking his last breaths.
“Fine. You can have her. Thanks for setting me free,” he said between gasps for breath.
Josh shifted back into human form. Barb could see that he was badly injured, with massive cuts on his arms, chest and side. She forgot about her own wounds as she ran to him, pulling him tightly to her. She heard him draw in his breath as he winced in pain.
“Easy there, tiger. I’m a little sore from this little play date,” he groaned.
“God, I’m sorry,” she said.
It was then that Josh noticed the gash on her arm. He reached out and ripped off a section of her tee-shirt, using it to stop the flow of blood down her arm.
“That’s deep. It’s going to need stitches and most likely, antibiotics considering its source,” he said.
“What about yours? They look much worse than mine.”
“They’ll heal up on their own. Shifters have a different metabolism. Just watch, mine will be completely healed before yours have even gotten sewn up.”
“Really?” she marveled.
“Yes. Alright, let’s get you some help,” he said.
“What about him? And Tandy?” she asked.
“No one comes up here. He can lie there as far as I’m concerned and Tandy is safe in his basement according to him. We’ll get you taken care of, and then me, and some of the others will fly back up here to clean up this mess.”
“I hope we don’t get pulled over on the way home,” Barb laughed, trying to add a bit of levity.
“We’ll just say we had a hiking accident,” he told her.
“And how do we explain your lack of clothes?” she asked.
Josh looked down at himself, as if just realizing he had shredded his clothes when he shifted. He laughed and shrugged.
“I hope we don’t get pulled over on the way home.”
CHAPTER 17
It was a somber occasion as members of the dragon clan gathered around a funeral pyre to put the remains of Tandy and Patrick to rest. Their families stood by, some of them sobbing - the knowledge of how their loved ones had met their ends bringing new pain to their hearts. Hopefully being able to mourn their dead, and give them a final sendoff would give them some peace.
Barb marveled at all that had happened in the past week since the encounter with Holloway. Several of the clan had returned to his estate in the darkness of the night that followed to retrieve Tandy and dispose of his remains by burying them in the small cemetery that could be found behind his home. Despite his actions, he was a dragon shifter and he had no kin to bury him, so they afforded him a final kindness.
Back at Josh’s house, Barb settled in beside him on the sofa. He ran his finger along the outer edge of her bandage thoughtfully. Just as he had said, she was barely stitched up by a doctor in his village where not so many questions would be asked, when he was already healed.
“Now, how many women cane claim they have a battle wound from a fight with a dragon?” he teased her.
“Only those that are sitting around behind bars in whatever asylum they are sent to for claiming such a thing,” she replied.
“Perhaps where you are from, but not here,” he told her.
“I’m sure that is true.”
Barb didn’t know what more to say about that. If he were
suggesting that she might consider staying there, she still wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She had a life back in Los Angeles and she just wasn’t sure she could embrace some domestic lifestyle as readily as Amy had done.
“What made you think you should intervene in a fight between two dragons anyway?” he asked.
“I didn’t think. I just saw what was happening, and I reacted to it. You should be grateful. I saved your life,” she replied.
“You saved my life?” he said with a hearty laugh. “Are you seriously implying that a tiny little woman like yourself saved the life of a fierce, fire breathing dragon?”
“Yes. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it,” she told him stubbornly.
“If I remember correctly, it was you that required saving after that dramatic moment during which you lost all reason and made yourself a target.”
They sat looking at each other as if in a Mexican standoff. Finally, Josh shrugged and pulled her close to him, looking into her eyes as he spoke.
“I tell you what. How about we agree to acknowledge that we saved each other.”
“I can live with that, even though I know the truth of the matter.”
“You’re a tough woman. What am I going to do with you?”
“You want a list or would you just like to play it by ear.”
“This ear?” he asked, slipping closer and sinking his teeth softly into the edge of her right lobe.
“It seems like a good place to begin,” she giggled.
Conversation fell away as they got lost in one another once again, enjoying the sensations that each brought to the others bodies each time they made love. It seemed that every time with Josh was just as breathtaking as the last and only got better as they grew more familiar with the wants and needs they shared. By the time Barb returned home several weeks later, Josh had elected to go with her. It was during this time that they sat quietly on the back patio of her place and looked out over the stars.
“Did you ever think that you would be sitting here with a man that was looking up at these same stars from a half a world away?” Josh marveled.
“I have to say that it is something I never really pondered, but then again, I never considered that I would fall in love with a dragon either,” she replied.
Josh turned to look at her with a look she didn’t quite understand on his face. It took her a moment for what she had said without thinking to sink in. When it did, she wasn’t bothered by having let it slip out. It felt right. It felt natural. She smiled at him and reached for his hand. He held it, stroking the skin softly with his thumb.
“I love you, too,” he told her.
“I know,” Barb replied with a playful smirk.
That was the beauty of being with Josh. There were no suspicions, no doubts. They simply were, and it was incredible to be in a relationship with someone who just felt like a part of her rather than an extension to be tweaked into someone she could love. They sat there quietly for a moment before she dropped her next bombshell on him.
“I found another job,” she told him.
His face fell for a moment as he waited, no doubt anticipating the worst. He looked at her, studied her face as if he might find some answers there before finally asking the inevitable question.
“I have decided to get out of the research field. I accepted a teaching position,” she replied.
“I see. Where?” he asked, his gaze falling from her face to the patio tiles beneath them for a moment.
“Dublin,” she replied.
Josh’s face shot back up toward her, a smile spreading broadly across his face. She could tell he was excited about the prospect of her being so close by, but she didn’t expect what came next.
“It’s a bit of a drive, but we could live there on weekdays and come back to my place on weekends, I suppose,” he told her.
“Are you trying to say something to me?” she teased.
“Barb, you are the love of my life. I’ve known that from the day I first laid eyes on you at that wedding. I know that seems a bit far-fetched, but you have to remember that I’m not a normal human. I’m part dragon and we are instinctive, primal creatures. I was drawn to you from the moment we met and every day that I spend with you, that feeling only gets stronger for me. I know you have reservations about all of this, but why not just jump in for once and give it a shot? Live with me and let’s just be happy.”
“You’re wrong, Josh. I don’t have any reservations. Perhaps I once did, but that was all just personal garbage that I had to sort out in my head. It was never about you. Now, I know beyond any doubt that you and I belong together. I’d love to be with you every single day, but how will you work if you are in Dublin with me? Like you said, it’s a long drive.”
“Oh, that’s easy. I’ll just fly out from one port to the other,” he said.
Barbara laughed at herself for not having considered that Josh wasn’t limited to commercial travel like she was. The idea of being able to fly was something she found fascinating, she always had. What must it feel like to be able to just soar above the world like a bird, looking at everything from a vantage point high above?
“Ah, of course,” she replied.
“What is it?” he said, looking concerned.
“Nothing. Just having a moment. I guess I’m like a lot of humans. We are so limited. I wish I could just stand on a cliff like you do and fly across the ocean without a care in the world.”
“Maybe you will someday,” he replied.
“No. I won’t. It is just the way things are. I will always be a mere human. Can you live with that?”
“Do you really think that bothers me at all? I wouldn’t have you any other way than just as perfect as you are. I love every single thing about you, Barb.”
“Even this hideous scar I got while saving your life?” she teased.
“Especially that scar you got right before I saved your life,” he replied with a smirk.
“Right,” she told him with a laugh.
“So, when do you start work?” he asked.
“In two weeks. I have to get this place packed up, get a place in Dublin and get there.”
“Wow, that’s pretty short notice,” he replied.
“Yes, but they are losing their professor then and need me, so everything is getting rushed through,” she told him.
“You have no idea how excited I am about this,” he told her.
“Probably as excited as I am,” she told him. “How about some wine to celebrate?”
Two weeks later, the two of them found themselves back in the village, curled up together on his sofa. Tomorrow was her first day of work and things had not gone as smoothly as she had hoped. Her apartment in Dublin would not be ready for another week and so she would have to make the long drive early in the morning for her first day of class.
It was still dark outside when she woke up to get ready for work and no light had dropped into the world an hour later when she grabbed her briefcase and met Josh outside to say goodbye before leaving. She blinked at him in disbelief as he stood there on his front porch, naked and smiling at her.
“As much as I love you, I know you don’t think we have time for goodbye sex before I leave for work,” she told him.
“Actually, we do, but I wouldn’t dare muss up that perfect business suit you are wearing. You look a bit like a very serious librarian who wants to spank me in the periodicals room,” he quipped.
“You have a filthy mind!” she laughed.
“And?”
“It’s delightful,” she teased.
“Good. Now, are you ready for me to take you to work?” he asked.
“Oh, Josh. You don’t have to do that. I can drive in on my own. I still have the rental car until I get moved and can take the train to campus,” she replied.
“No, I don’t have to, but this morning I wanted to give you something to show you just how much I love you. Something to show you that you are only limited by your imagination.”
>
“And what would that be?” she asked, not understanding at all where he was going with this.
“A ride to work,” he replied. “Climb on.”
Barb watched as he shifted, his stygian body gleaming in the light of the moon, which still stood high in the sky above them. Stepping closer to her, he bent down low to the ground and positioned himself so that she could easily climb onto his back. She hesitated, looking into his large golden eyes, but even in this form, she could see love there. He was giving her the one thing she had lamented she could never do. It wasn’t a ride to work. It was the ability to soar above the earth and look down at it in a way she had never seen it before.
She took a deep breath and pushed her fear aside. Wanting to fly was one thing, actually getting to do it was another. Pushing her messenger bag over her shoulder and onto her back, she climbed onto Josh’s back and held on to his massive neck tightly. The earth seemed to move below them as his heavy body lumbered toward the nearby cliffs, picking up speed as he dove off the edge. Barb’s heart hung up in her throat as they left the ground and soared above the sea below.
Watching the lights beneath them fade as the dark became twilight, she feared that someone might see and chided herself for allowing him to risk himself just to give her this, but he landed without incident on top of the very building she would be teaching in, shifting back into human form for a moment to speak to her.
“Have a good day at work,” he said, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.
“I will. I think I might just have one of the best days of my life after that. Thank you, Josh. Thank you for everything.”
“It has only just begun, Barb. You and I will share everything any man and woman ever dreamed of. I promise you that. I love you more than life itself.”
“I love you too. I’ll show you how much when I get home from work,” she said, beginning to walk away. “Wait. How am I going to get home from work?” she laughed.
“I’ll pick you up,” he said with a wink. “See you back on this terrace at six.”
Desired by a Dragon: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Exiled Dragons Book 3) Page 12