“Hello?” he repeated.
“Yes. I mean, no. I’m not okay,” she replied, crawling from her damp sleeping bag and opening the zippered closure to the tent.
Amy looked up at him. It was hard to make out much about him in the darkness other than his tall and muscular frame. He towered over her as she stood shivering outside the tent, but rather than feeling intimidated, she found a calmness sweeping over her. Something about him put her instantly at ease.
“I need help,” she said, realizing how pathetic she must sound.
“Then help is here. Come on. Let’s get you in some dry clothes and near a fire,” he said, already gathering up her things from inside the tent and slinging them over his back. “We’ll leave the tent here. Mine has enough room for both of us.”
She wasn’t sure about sharing a tent with a perfect stranger, but she would have to suck it up. If he was willing to keep her from freezing out here, then she would cope with the close quarters. Nodding, she began following him as he led her up the path. Her body quaked in the cold to the point that Owen stopped and wrapped her in his own jacket.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I think I do. We’ll be at my camp soon. Just hang in there,” he told her softly.
Chapter 6
Amy was extremely unsteady as they made their way up the mountainside. By the time they reached his camp, she felt so weak that he had to pick her up and carry her, setting her down in the tent. Owen handed her some heavy thermals that were far too big for her, but clean and dry.
“Put those on. They’ll keep you warmer than those wet things you were sleeping in,” he told her before ducking back out of the tent while she changed. When he came back, he pulled a heavy blanket from one side of the tent and covered her in it. The warmth of the rekindled fire flowed into the large, army style tent.
“Alright, that should hold for a while, and I managed to find some more wood to put on there while I was scavenging. I’ll go out and get some more in a bit, but let’s get you warmed up first.”
Before Amy could protest, he climbed beneath the covers with her, curling up behind her so that his body was spooned around her own. He was warm and, as they lay there huddled together, she could feel the cold she had felt at her core begin to dissipate. Her body finally relaxed, and the shivering disappeared as she found comfort in his capable arms.
“Better?” he asked finally.
“Yes, much better. Thank you so much,” she told him.
“There are worse ways to spend an evening,” he replied, still curled around her for warmth.
“Yes. I suppose there are,” she replied, feeling more content than a woman stranded on a mountain in a complete stranger’s tent should feel.
Once he was sure that she was okay, he left her there to retrieve more wood. She could hear him when he returned, stoking the fire before climbing back into the tent and stripping off his wet clothes. She was amazed at how warm he felt having come out of the cold, but she had to admit that the heat felt nice against her skin. It had been a long time since anyone had held her like this, and it felt nice, even if she had no idea who the man wrapped around her truly was.
“What are you doing up here alone?” he asked, his breath caressing her neck in a way that she found more exciting than she should.
“You will laugh if I tell you,” she replied,
“Try me.”
“I host a radio program. Callers were reporting that they could see a dragon flying over Los Angeles. I thought it was a joke. Then, I saw one for myself and was curious. I followed the trail of sightings here in hopes of finding it.”
“You realize that it’s probably just a hoax, right?”
“Yes, of course it is,” she said, trying to sound like she believed that.
“You don’t think it is.”
“I...well, I don’t know. You should have seen this thing. It looked so real, even in the near darkness. It was incredible. Beautiful, even.”
There was a moment of hesitation. Amy could only imagine that he was considering how he had ending up rescuing a crazy woman searching for dragons on the side of a mountain. She decided to change the subject to something else.
“So what about you? What are you doing on this mountain? Your accent is Irish, right?”
“Yes, Irish. I’m on an extended vacation.”
“For how long?”
“I’m not sure. Until I decide it is time to go home, I suppose.”
“Are you camping during the entire vacation?”
“No,” he laughed. “I have a cabin a bit further north. I was coming out for a few days of hiking. It soothes me to be out and about rather than trapped between four walls.”
“I can understand that. It can get claustrophobic.”
“Yes, it can. So back to this dragon. What do you intend to do if you find it?”
“Hmm. That’s a good question. I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it. It’s not like I can interview it for the show.”
“How do you know?”
“Huh? What do you mean?” she said, turning over to face him.
The light from the fire filtered in through the mesh flap on the front of the tent. She took in his dark eyes and hair, his chiseled jawline, and his full lips. He was gorgeous, and that certainly didn’t help what she could already feel stirring inside of her with him pressed so closely. She knew she should pull away and put at least a bit of distance between them, but the warmth was nice and well, she just didn’t want to.
“Surely if you believe that there is an actual dragon in these parts, you can accept that it can communicate.”
“Now, you’re just teasing me. Okay, I get it. I’m quite mad for thinking I saw a real dragon. They don’t exist.”
“Maybe they do. Even though I’ve known you for only a few hours now, I can honestly say that if anyone can find one, it would be you. I just have a feeling you don’t give up so easily.”
“I don’t suppose you know anything about the dragon? How long have you been up on the mountain? Have you seen it, too?” she said, realizing that he might just be in some sort of denial about having seen it himself.
“I might know something about it,” he said with a smile.
“What do you know?”
“It’s not really something I can tell you. I’ll just have to show you.”
“You know where its nest is, don’t you?” she said excitedly.
“Let’s just say that I can help you and leave it at that for now. We can talk about it in the morning after we’ve both had some rest.”
“That sounds good,” she said reluctantly, snuggling up closer to him rather than distancing herself as she had considered. It was cold, and he was unnaturally warm. It was like sleeping with an electric blanket – warm and cozy.
“You don’t spend a lot of time being patient, do you?” he laughed.
Amy lifted her face toward his and smiled. “No.”
“Tell me something else about yourself,” he said, watching her face closely.
“You are too tired to discuss a dragon, but you want to talk about me?”
“Something like that. I find you more interesting, perhaps.”
“Nothing interesting about me.”
“I think you’re selling yourself a bit short.”
“I’m just a local disc jockey and talk show host. My background is in investigative journalism, but I landed a job in the radio industry during my first year as a reporter for a local paper. I fell in love with it and never looked back.”
“What is it that you love about it?”
“It allows me to explore the things that I’m curious about and share what I’ve learned with the public.”
“You like the attention it brings?”
“No, not especially. I mean, that is my least favorite part of the job. Even at my level – a local celebrity of sorts – there are people that follow me and want
my autograph. I mean, I’m nobody, not really…but they think I might be someday, so they want to know me. Some are obvious about it; it’s easy to pick them out. Others, well, they hide it better.”
“I take it you’ve had bad experiences with that?”
“You could say that,” she replied.
“I see. Not something you want to talk about.”
“No, I don’t really care to dwell on it, I suppose.”
Amy’s mind flashed back to the one person that stood out in her mind when she talked of those who disguised their true intentions. Carl had been the one man she thought she could truly love for the rest of her life. She had been willing to give up everything for him – to leave behind the long hours she spent doing research, attending events and doing her programs on the radio. He had insisted that she stay the course, and she had done so. No one was more surprised than her when he left her for a prominent morning talk show host he had met through the networking she had afforded him.
Still, it hadn’t become clear that he was nothing more than a social climber until he left her replacement for a producer on her show. It was the catalyst Amy had needed to start healing from how much pain he had inflicted on her heart and mind. She had questioned herself for months, wondering what she had done to drive him into the arms of another woman when he had seemed so in love with her. In the end, she understood it had never been about her. It was all about him. She began to understand just how cruel people could be and how far they would go to achieve their own goals.
“I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?” Owen asked, looking down at her with a concerned expression.
“No, I’m sorry. Just an errant thought. What about you? What is it that you do when you aren’t roaming around mountains to rescue damsels in distress?” she asked.
“I’m afraid that is all that I do. I’m a superhero.”
“Does that gig come with a cape?”
“Not every hero needs a cape to fly,” he said with a smile.
“I suppose you just hitch a ride on the resident dragon,” she laughed.
Owen continued to study her face, looking at her with a somewhat bemused but thoughtful expression. She was caught off guard as he reached up to stroke her cheek with his thumb and fore finger.
“You are beautiful. I can see that is a trait not limited to the flesh. You strike me as a very caring and giving person. That’s a rare thing these days.”
“I like to think I’m a good person,” she said, her voice wavering slightly. The combination of his touch and the compliment were mesmerizing. It was as if he held some sort of unspoken power over her. She found herself drawn to him in some inexplicable way that made her want to set all thoughts aside and just feel her way around his powerful body.
“I’m guessing that someone down in the city wouldn’t be very happy about you being curled up with a stranger on a mountainside.”
“Yes, you are right about that. My mother wouldn’t approve at all.”
“I think you know that I wasn’t talking about your mother. I do like how cheeky you are though.”
“Cheeky?”
“Yes, cheeky. Ah, I guess you Americans would call it sassy.”
“Yes, sassy. I am a bit of that at times,” she said, blushing a bit.
“It’s adorable.”
“Are you flirting with me?”
“I think so. I admit it’s not something I’m very good at. I’m a bit out of practice.”
“Seriously? You expect me to believe that?”
“I don’t know why you wouldn’t. I’m alone on the side of a mountain, and that’s my idea of a good time. Well, I was alone until I found you shivering in a collapsing tent.”
“Are you complaining? Did I ruin your peace and quiet?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, you did. Thank you for that. It might be just what I needed.”
Amy watched as his eyes softened – fine lines settling around the corners as a faint smile began an upward curve. She wondered how old he was. He seemed youngish – maybe early thirties – but there was also something very old about his ways and his demeanor. If there was a poster child for a dark, mysterious stranger, it was him. Everything about him seemed to enthrall her, and she had only pricked the surface.
“You’re welcome,” she replied, never taking her eyes off his.
“Have you ever met someone that you felt you were somehow destined to know?”
“Is that your best line?” she asked, trying to back away from what she knew was an almost unbearable chemistry between them.
“It is. Is it working?”
“No. You need to work on it.”
“What if I said it wasn’t a line? What if I said I’ve felt drawn to you from the moment I laid eyes on you?”
“I’d say you’re getting better.”
“What if I were to say that I’ve not felt anything for a woman in years? Then, I’m overwhelmed by one that I’ve only just met? There has to be a reason for that, doesn’t there?”
Amy fought to keep her mouth from overriding what she felt. Her instinct was to say something sarcastic, something to deflect from the intensity of the moment. Instead, she said nothing. She didn’t know what to say. Love at first sight wasn’t something she had ever believed in. Still, she couldn’t deny the strong pull she felt toward him. She told herself that it was just the heat of the moment – an effect of the situation and close quarters.
“I don’t know,” was all she managed.
“I do,” he replied, leaning in to kiss her.
Flames shot to life within her. An almost involuntary moan escaped her lips, vibrating against his lips as they quickly lost themselves in one another. Her hand drifted to his chest, feeling his racing heartbeat thump heavily against her palm. She knew that hers would only match it in speed as her excitement grew and their kiss grew more heated. Amy decided she wasn’t going to fight it. Regardless of what it did or didn’t mean, it felt amazing.
Peeling away the decidedly unsexy thermal underwear he had given her to sleep in, a chill caught her skin for a moment. Owen kissed away the goosebumps that cropped up, pulling the blanket tightly around her as he undressed and slipped beneath it with her. Their naked bodies pressed against one another, creating their own heat. She could feel his arousal pressed against her thigh as he leaned in to kiss her once more.
“I’m like a road map,” he whispered as her hands caressed his bare skin. Though she couldn’t see them in the dimly lit tent, she could feel the numerous scars along his arms and across his back. They were an unspoken testament to the fact that wherever he had come from, whatever he had been or was, his life had been difficult in a way she might never understand.
“Good thing I enjoy traveling,” she replied, her words echoing into his mouth as their lips hovered closely to one another.
“Feel free to take the scenic route, in that case,” he moaned as her hand drifted down his skin.
Amy leaned in, eager to kiss him again as his own hands found their way down her back and rested on her bare backside, pulling her body into his and holding onto her as if she might disappear if he didn’t. The crackle of the fire mingled with their passion as they threw caution to the wind and explored one another with their lips, hands and souls.
Her nipples grew harder against the coarse hair scattered lightly across his broad chest. The ache inside her begged to be quenched. It had been too long since she had felt like this, and it was as frightening as it was exciting. Still, she had no intentions of fighting it. She held nothing back as her lips found their way to the smooth skin of his shoulder blade, unscarred by whatever had violated other portions of his incredible body.
“You taste incredible,” he told her, pulling away before lowering his head to tease a single nipple with his tongue. She cooed against him, rendered helpless by the sensations he was imparting with his touch. A moan escaped her lips as his fingers found their way to her clit, softly massagin
g the wetness that had already formed there in answer to his explorations.
Her body heaved forward against him, his arm sandwiched between them as he continued to suckle at her breasts and delicately slip his fingers across her aching clit and through her delicate folds. There was no denying the command he held over her. She was putty in his hands, unwilling to deny him anything as long as he kept doing what he was doing to her. It felt like heaven as he teased her, bringing her closer to an eruption that she knew would leave her weak and only wanting more.
The tip of his tongue dragged slowly in circles around her nipples before drifting upward, coupled with gentle bites that he placed up the side of her neck, sending her into a frenzy of passion. She was nearly mad with desire from the teasing as he brought his lips to hers once again and began to kiss her, pulling his fingers free of her center as he repositioned himself against her much smaller frame.
“Please,” she muttered, just one word that spoke volumes. She wanted him – needed him inside of her. Her body demanded it. If she never laid eyes on him again, right now, she wanted him like she’d never wanted anyone in her life. Her nostrils were overwhelmed with his smell, a distinctly masculine scent of nature and something she couldn’t quite put her fingers on. It beaconed to her like nothing she could describe.
She gasped as he slipped inside of her, filling her with his lust in one fluid roll of his hips. Her gaze drifted upward, away from his chest to find he was watching her, taking in the way she bit her lip and closed her eyes each time he buried himself into her core. Their bodies fit together perfectly, slipping back and forth along each other’s skin as he took her in such a slow, sensual way that it made her almost weep.
This wasn’t her, nor was it like her usual pace. She was always intense in bed, but not in this way. She liked things rough and heated. This would have been considered very vanilla sex in her book yesterday, but today, it was like nothing she had ever experienced. He was making love to her on a level she had never experienced. It touched her on an emotional level, and not just a physical one. It was intoxicating. All thoughts fell away as she lost herself in what was happening between them.
Saved by a Dragon (Paranormal Shifter Romance) (Exiled Dragons Book 1) Page 3