by Lilly Wilder
“I’ll even let you ride on my back.”
“What?” She spat. “You mean, I can ride you?”
“In more ways than one,” I said with a wink.
Chapter 3: Rosie
This was insane, absolutely insane. I was getting on the back of a dragon, a real, fire-breathing dragon. Well, I didn’t know for certain whether he could breathe fire or not but he certainly looked like he could.
“Now, I want you to hold on,” Myles’ oh-so-sexy voice came filtering through my head. I jumped, startled, wondering how on earth he had managed to do this. Instead of feeling weird like I thought it would, it was insanely intimate, like he was right there beside me – inside me.
“What am I supposed to hold on to?” I asked aloud since I didn’t know how the whole telepathy thing worked.
“Any one of my scales should do,” he answered again in that insanely alluring voice of his. I swear I’ve never heard a sexier voice in all my life. This guy could have had a hell of a career as a phone sex operator, if he wasn’t a dragon, that is.
His wings started to move so I quickly grabbed hold of the closest scale I could find. It felt like glass, making it difficult to get a proper grip. Terrified I would fall off, I tightened my legs around his body like I was straddling a horse only much, much bigger.
And then we were off.
The air rushed under his leathery wings, lifting him toward the clouds. I swear they must have been as long as a football field, if not longer.
“This is insane…” I mumbled to myself.
“Enjoying yourself?” He asked. “Because this is just the beginning.” He pivoted to the left and all of a sudden, we were doing a loop. For a split second, it felt like I was free falling but the G-force was enough to keep me in place. “I bet you never expected to be riding on the back of a dragon, huh?”
“You can say that again.”
“Huh? Why should I waste my breath?”
“Sorry… it’s a figure of speech.” It was then that I realized that I was talking to him without actually saying a word and it was sort of freaking me out.
“Peek under my wing,” he instructed, as he dove to a lower altitude.
I was scared to move but, nevertheless, I obeyed his command. The scene below us took my breath away. A lake I had never seen before twinkled in the sunlight like it had been draped over with a blanket made of diamonds. Around it was an array of different wildflowers that swayed in the wind like they were performing some sort of synchronized dance.
“Do you mind if we stop down there for a moment?”
“Certainly,” he answered. Despite his great size, he landed gracefully on the edge of the water. Carefully, I slid down his back, but I didn’t stick the landing. Luckily, his tail was there to catch my fall. It steadied me and then wrapped around my torso. Before I could say anything in protest, it lifted me off the ground and placed me gently on the top of his head.
“Wow… it’s beautiful up here…” I scrambled to retrieve my phone so I could snap a picture. This was the perfect scene for a project I was working on. With this as inspiration, it would certainly make my life much easier.
“I’m going to transform.” He said by way of announcement, and before I could even register what he had said, he was a man once more. He was holding me in his arms, a charming grin plastered on his face.
Did I mention how attractive this guy was? I mean seriously. Take any male model and then multiply his hotness by a hundred and you'll still only get a fraction of what this guy was capable of. Just standing next to him was such a rush. I could only imagine what it would be like to fall into bed with him… probably fucking awesome.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, leaning down so our lips were even closer together. I could now feel his warm breath against my mouth. If he kept this up… I didn’t know what would happen.
“Oh… nothing.” I blushed even harder. At this point, it felt like my cheeks were going to melt right off my face.
“I doubt that.” he said, with a devilish grin.
I was about to say something to counter his claim when I felt my smartwatch start to vibrate. My eyes widened. “I need to get home or I’m never going to finish that project in time!” Dragons aside I still had real-world responsibilities to take care of. As much as I wanted to stay in this fantasy, I couldn’t.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get you there in just a minute.”
***
Myles wasn’t lying either. We arrived in my backyard in just under sixty seconds. I opened the backdoor and stepped inside. To my surprise, Myles remained on the steps.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I thought it rude to walk inside someone’s house uninvited.” He said.
“You’re a dragon – you just flew me to my house. I think you have more than earned your invitation.” I answered. “Now come inside and make yourself at home.”
“If you insist.”
“I just have to finish something really quick and then we can, I don’t know, watch a movie or something.” I couldn’t believe what I was saying. Was I really asking a dragon to sit down and watch a movie with me? What was I trying to do, bore him to death? Besides, I didn’t even know who he was, and yet, I was treating him like he was my lifelong partner. But it was too late to kick him out now.
“What are you working on?” He asked, hovering over to my work station. Before I could stop him, he picked up some of my unfinished paintings. “These are quite good. I like them.”
“Oh, they aren’t done yet. They will be much better when I finish.” I tried to snatch them away but he held them over his head with this playful expression on his face. “I will return these on one condition.”
“They are my paintings!” I shouted in protest. “Now give them back!” I jumped but it still wasn’t enough to make up for our difference in height. He had to be at least 6’5 if not taller. By comparison, I was a pipsqueak at only 4’10.
“Only if you give me a kiss,” his eyes shone with pure mischief.
“Kiss?” I asked, dropping back down to my heels, “but I don’t even know who you are…”
“And yet you invited me into your home and you rode on my back,” he purred, leaning down ever so slightly.
I thought it was the perfect opportunity to snatch the paintings from him but he anticipated my movements and pulled them away with a click of his tongue.
“Hey, this isn’t funny!”
“If you really want them, then you’ll give me a kiss,” he taunted, “besides, you can’t tell me that you haven’t thought about it.” As he leaned in a second time I was captivated by those eyes of his. They were dark and mysterious like they held all the secrets of the world. They were wondrous and I wanted to look into their depths forever. So, before I could talk myself out of it, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.
When I say it was the best damn feeling of my life, I’m not lying. His lips were pure sugar, melting onto mine. He bit my bottom lip and tugged on it before hoisting me up and onto my desk. The kiss intensified as his tongue slipped into my mouth, tangling with mine. He moved with a lustful hunger and I swear things were about to escalate into something more but then he stopped and returned my paintings.
***
The following morning.
I woke up from what felt like a vivid dream. I scratched the side of my head trying to make sense of it. I had ridden on the back of a shapeshifting dragon and then made out with his human form. I couldn’t remember whether we had done more than that but I secretly hoped as much. You don’t understand how unbelievably sexy that man truly was.
“Ah,” I sighed, sinking into my pillow, “if only it wasn’t a dream…” I was about to fall asleep when my phone buzzed. I found it tangled up with my blankets.
The notification on my screen said that I had an unread email from a client. My eyes widened with horror. Had I finished in time? Like a bo
lt of lightning, I got out of bed and rushed over to my workstation where a beautiful painting awaited me. I relaxed my shoulders and read through the email.
“You did a fantastic job with this, Rosie. We will be using your services again in the future. Thank you once again for expediting this for us.”
So, they had liked it.
Good.
That meant I would get paid this week and my bank account certainly needed it.
Chapter 4: Foster
That same morning.
Things were pretty slow at the café, they usually were after the morning rush. Bored, I entertained myself by playing a match three game underneath the counter. I was so close to beating the high score when Myles came bursting through the doors.
Luckily, he had taken my advice and had stopped walking through town shirtless and barefoot. While the ladies didn’t seem to mind all that much, the men certainly did. And for good reason too. Most of them didn’t want their wives ogling over someone else.
“I see you’ve borrowed my shirt,” I said once he was close enough to hear me. In all honesty, the shirt was two sizes too small and he was stretching it out beyond repair. “You can at least ask me before you use my stuff, you know,” I chided him, but I doubted whether he would learn. Myles was notorious for his thick head. I know because I have to deal with it each and every day.
“I did not come here to speak about borrowed garments, Foster,” he hissed.
“Alright, alright, jeez. There’s no need to try and bite my head off.” I held up my hands in innocence. “Anyway, do you want anything to drink? I’m about to go on break.”
“Coffee. Black.”
“Coming right up.” While I knew Myles was a coffee addict, that wasn’t the reason he was here today. I could see it in his eyes. As partners, we spoke a secret language that only we could understand. It did not take the form of spoken words but of gestures and subtle expressions we wore on our faces. Something had happened to Myles and he was dying to tell me.
When I was done making our drinks, I joined the dragon. “Does this have something to do with the fact that you didn’t come home last night? I tried texting you but you never responded. I assumed you went on some sort of hunting spree.”
Myles took a long swig of his coffee. It was piping hot but that hardly mattered in the mouth of a dragon. Contrary to urban legend, we don’t, in fact, breathe fire, but our internal temperature is pretty damn hot so if we so much as breathe on you, yeah, you might melt. So, I get where all the stories came from.
“At least tell me if I’m in the right ballpark.” I urged trying to coax the information out of him.
“I found the girl,” he said at last.
“Wait, you mean, you found the one – our mate?” I sputtered out a response. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. I’ve never felt anything like it. One look and I knew she was the one.” He spoke in a dreamy voice that was very unusual for his character.
“Damn,” I said, leaning back on my chair and balancing on the hind legs. Myles hated it when I did that but today, he didn’t have a word to say. By the faraway look on his face, I could tell that he was thinking about the girl, whoever she was. I was a little jealous because I had no idea what she looked like while my partner was probably undressing her with his mind.
“I’m hoping I can bump into her again. I mean, I know where she lives but I think it would be a little strange if I just showed up unannounced, wouldn’t it?”
“Depends. Does she know?”
He nodded.
“You already told her?” I said with surprise. He was breaking a major dragon rule by doing so. If the elders found out they would be seriously pissed. Then again, Myles was the alpha which meant he could do just about anything and get away with it. He probably wasn’t going to lose sleep over it. “And, how did she react?”
“She rode on my back. From the looks of it, she enjoyed herself.”
I growled with jealousy. As an omega, I could never transform into a full-fledged dragon. The most I could muster were wings that sprouted on my back. It was cool, sure, but turning into a real dragon was much cooler. Plus, I couldn’t ask pretty girls to hop on my back and go around for a spin.
“So, it’s a done deal, then?” I added some more sugar to my coffee but it still wasn’t sweet enough. “Why didn’t you bring her back to the village?”
“You know I’m against the whole kidnapping tradition. I just don’t think its right of us to tear women away from their lives and force them into ours. That’s where you come in.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture. “I got this from her house. I don’t think she will miss it much.”
I picked up the photograph and I swear my heart actually skipped a beat. Then it started at a rapid-fire and didn’t slow down from there. “She’s gorgeous…” I whispered. “Wait… I know this girl. Her name’s Rosie. She comes here pretty regularly. Sits in the back and likes to draw with her chai latte.”
“Exactly. She has a knack for it. I helped her finish up a project last night.” Myles didn’t look like the artistic type but he could draw just about anything. Some of the most famous paintings were done in his hand and the humans had taken credit for it. He had never attempted to correct them.
“So, you want me to keep an eye on her? Is that it?”
“Yes. And I want you to make sure that she’s good enough to be a dragon mate – our mate.” He finished off his drink and crumbled up the cup. With a flick of his wrist, he threw it into the trashcan, startling the woman who was sitting beside it. I muttered an apology because I knew he wouldn’t do it.
“Alright, sounds easy enough given that I already have a pretty decent relationship with her.”
“Relationship?” Myles asked, the hair on his arms bristling.
“Not like that. We aren’t intimate. You know I wouldn’t do that without you.” I offered a warm, brotherly sort of smile. While we were not of the same blood, we shared an inseverable bond as mating partners. We both needed to be intimate with the same woman for us to bear children. This ensures that the baby will be protected by two fathers instead of just one. It also ensured that if something happened to one, the child would still have the other, diminishing the risk for orphanage.
“So, I can count on you to do this, then?”
“Of course, you can always count on me.”
For some reason, Myles did not look all that convinced.
I wondered why.
***
That same afternoon.
The door chime dinged as Rosie came through the door. Now that I knew she could be our potential mate, I looked at her with a different perspective. She had wide, childbearing hips that were just the right size for her slender frame. Her chest was another set of curves that caught my interest. No doubt they would be perfect for feeding a future child. Plus, I imagined they were plenty of fun to play with too.
She caught me staring and pulled her jacket firmly across her torso, cheeks turning a bright shade of red.
“The usual?” I asked before things could get awkward.
“Yes please.” She quickly eased back into her normal stance and waited patiently for me to whip up her drink. As I took her credit card, I dared another look at her, this time concentrating on her face. It had a nice round shape to it that made her incredibly easy to look at. And then there was that button nose and I’m such a sucker for cute noses. I just wanted to lean across the counter and kiss it.
She was about to walk away when I reached out and placed my hand over top of hers. It was the first time I had touched her skin. And, oh baby, let me tell you. It was like I had just been shot with a defibrillator. For a second, my mind went blank and I forgot how to function.
“Y-Yes?” Her eyelashes fluttered as she asked the question and it was like a bullet straight through my heart. How could anyone be so damn cute? There had to be a law against it or something.
“Um�
�� do you mind if I have a word with you. I’ll be off in a half hour or so. Mind if I join up with you then?”
She knitted her brows together in an expression of confusion. “Sure. I guess,” she finally agreed.
“Alright, see you then.”
***
Those last thirty minutes seemed to drag into an eternity. Every time I looked at the clock, it refused to budge. Finally, I saw my co-worker walk through the door. I waited until he joined me in the front before punching out for the day. I threw off my apron and tossed it into my locker where it would stay for a while.
Then, I dropped by the bathroom and checked out my reflection in the mirror. As an omega, I was inferior to Myles in almost every way, except of course, where looks were concerned. We liked to argue about this from time to time but I didn’t care what he said because I knew I was right. With this thought in mind, I ran my fingers through my hair before putting on a beanie. They were one of the best human inventions in my opinion. Stylish and yet practical. They were a definite win-win situation.
Anyway, I eventually came out of the bathroom and joined Rosie at her booth. She was hard at work, sketch pad propped on her knees. I only caught a glimpse of her work but that was enough to tell me that she was drawing a dragon – most likely, Myles.
“Just give me a sec…” she said, her tongue poking through her lips in concentration.
Jeez, this girl couldn’t be any cuter even if she tried.
“There.” With that, she closed her book and offered me a smile. “Now, what was it that you wanted to talk about?”
“My roommate, Myles.”
Her eyes widened at the sound of his name.
“I know you two spent the night together and while I admit that Myles is a pretty nice guy… I’m much better.” I winked for emphasis.
She blushed a deep shade of crimson. “Err… about that… it was an honest mistake. I’ve been an emotional train wreck since Jake left me and I guess you can say I’ve been a little lonely but I’m not really looking for a relationship or anything…” She gnawed on a hangnail and then stopped when she realized what she was doing. “No offense to your roommate or anything… he was…” She paused trying to find the right word. No doubt she was trying to figure out whether her experience with Myles had been real or not. It took quite a bit to convince humans that dragons were real even when they saw us with their own two eyes. “I think I just need some space for the time being.”