“Um…how do you suggest we do that? Fly out?” she finally asked, grimacing when the last word was broken up by a fierce shiver triggered by the biting wind.
“You’re cold?” he asked, dark brows dropping low.
“Yes. Aren’t you?”
“No,” he replied.
Okay, so he was a total whacko with a seemingly inhuman ability to withstand the elements.
Wait…
“You’re one of them? A dragon?” she whispered.
“Yes. I am Ormr Vale,” he said casually.
Well, that made a little more sense, or as much sense as being stuck in a snowstorm with a mythological creature three days before Christmas made. Strange, but she supposed dragon beat crazed maniac, at least at the moment.
“And that’s how you propose to get out of here. You’re going to fly us out?”
“Yes,” he said.
As he spoke, he began pulling his shirt from his waistband. Sandra noticed that he didn’t wear a coat or jacket, and wondered how she’d missed that detail when she’d been staring at him so closely, but then figured if he’d managed to approach her without her noticing, his haberdashery was probably not ranking on her list either.
The wind whipped at Sandra’s back, and another bone-clattering chill went through her.
“We should go,” Ormr said.
Sandra was skeptical.
It wasn’t like she had much alternative, but the idea of leaving with a stranger, a dragon, was one that she wasn’t quite sure she could accept.
“I assure you, you will be fine,” he said as if reading her thoughts.
Sandra found comfort in those words, found them polite, endearing, but politeness didn’t overcome a lifetime of skepticism, and Sandra had a very firm no-rides-with-strangers policy.
Still, the wind was not getting any warmer, and she hazarded a glance at her car, figuring that it wasn’t going to crank, and even if it did she wouldn’t be able to drive it through the snow. Of course, she had no evidence that the road was in fact blocked, something that made her even more wary.
“You are concerned,” Ormr said.
“Yeah,” she said taking a step back from him, the crystallized ice crunching under her feet. “I don’t mean to offend, but…”
“None taken. It is smart to be safe. But as I said, I mean you no harm.”
She gazed at him, instinct telling her she could believe him, but reason saying she had to be wary. But he didn’t seem threatening, and given how strong his hold had been when he’d touched her, she had to accept that had he intended her harm, she wouldn’t be able to stop him.
“Uh, I’m sorry, I guess you won’t hurt me, but I can’t just take your word for it that the roads are blocked.”
“Reasonable, I suppose. What about this?” he said, calm, almost soothing, though she tried to ignore that.
“Go ahead.”
“We’ll take my vehicle so you can see for yourself,” he said.
“Which means I have to get into the car. With you,” Sandra said.
Ormr nodded. “I guess I can understand the concern. You may take the vehicle alone if you prefer.”
“And leave you out here?”
“I’ll be fine. And I have other means of travel,” he said.
The words were mysterious, should have been ominous, but Sandra was instead struck by his confidence, his ease. If he had intended her harm, he probably could have done so by now, and something about his casualness made her feel just that much more comfortable. Still…
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. Please. And turn the heat up as high as you can; it will help take away some of the chill.”
The shiver that racked her seemed to have been drawn by his words, and Sandra couldn’t begrudge him the slight smile that played across his surprisingly full lips. She also couldn’t stop herself from noticing again how incredibly handsome he was. But that was a moot point, especially now.
“And your car is not some kind of prison death trap that I’ll be stuck in?”
She hadn’t supposed he would say, “Why yes, Sandra—pleased to meet you by the way—that’s exactly what it is,” but she’d felt compelled to ask the question anyway.
“No. It’s just a carriage that I found comfortable.”
That somewhat odd, nonchalant answer soothed more of Sandra’s nerves. She looked over, taking a moment to admire the SUV. She’d been fond of it, though it was far, far out of her budget, and looking at him, his height and almost stocky build, she knew instantly that he, too, appreciated legroom.
She nodded, decision made. “Okay. I’m just gonna take a quick peek. You sure you’ll be okay out here?”
He nodded, stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I will be fine.”
She nodded and turned to walk toward the door. “Key?” she called.
“This conveyance has a button instead of a key. An odd thing, but just another way of the world changing. The fob is in the console.”
“Yeah, I haven’t quite gotten used to that push-button thing either. And it seriously let me down today,” she said. Then she opened the car door and called, “I will only take a few minutes. I’m Sandra, by the way. Sandra Shaw. And thank you.”
“Take as long as you need to be comfortable, Sandra Shaw,” he said.
She didn’t respond and instead slammed the door, closing the frigid wind out of the warm interior.
Letting out a sigh, she sank against the butter-soft leather of the seat, flipped the heat on high, and closed her eyes, soaking up the warmth. It was heavenly, and Sandra thought she might want to stay forever, and not just because of the heat.
The interior of the car smelled incredible, distractingly good, the cabin filled with the spicy, rich, meltingly appealing smell of man. One man in particular.
She opened her eyes and looked out of the wide front window. And though it snowed hard, she could see him through the foggy window, the outline of his body strong and true, the smell of him intensifying the warmth that tingled inside her, warmth that had nothing to do with the heat currently blasting from the vents.
Sandra refocused and then carefully drove off, enjoying the feel of the powerful vehicle under her hands, but tempered in that enjoyment because, if anything, the snow had started to fall harder, and the road was covered completely now.
She drove slowly, eyes narrowed on the road, and with each rotation of the tires, she became more and more convinced that this way was not possible. Even Ormr’s powerful, expensive vehicle felt wobbly on the slick road, and the patch of white spread seemingly unbroken for as far as Sandra could see.
About a mile down the road, she gave in to common sense and headed back. As gingerly as she could, she turned the vehicle, her stomach lurching at the slide that started and then stopped. There was no way out, at least not right now, so it appeared Sandra was about to take her first flight with a dragon.
SIX
Ormr listened as the vehicle approached and then watched Sandra as she parked and emerged from the vehicle. He’d known what she would find, or rather, what she wouldn’t, but the sadness in her expression still had an effect on him.
For reasons he didn’t care to examine or articulate, her happiness, her comfort, was very important. And unfortunately, he was going to have to upend both.
“What did you see?” he asked.
“Snow, and lots of it.” She eyed him warily again, the brief rapport they’d developed seeming to relent a bit. “So, how is it you propose to get out of this again?”
“As I said, we will fly.”
“And you’re not some kind of crazy killer?” she asked.
“No,” he said.
“And you won’t…drop me?” she asked, her voice a faint whisper, the tremble on the end unmistakable.
“Never,” he said with firm conviction that he didn’t know the source of and didn’t care to examine.
She looked skeptical, worried, and Ormr suspected it wasn’t because of concern
that he might harm her. He stepped closer to her, willing to risk her potential discomfort in order to assure her that she would be safe with him.
“Are you afraid of heights?” he asked when he stood close enough to touch her, though he didn’t. It was hard not to, though, especially when he saw her shiver. Noticed the slight chatter of her teeth, the way what he suspected was her normally luminous skin appeared gray with cold.
“What gave it away?” she whispered.
He smiled faintly. “Intuition. But I promise you, Sandra. I won’t let you go.”
His voice had gone low, was filled with more meaning than he intended, but it seemed to convince her. She nodded slightly.
“I guess we’d better go then?”
He nodded.
She did as well and then turned her eyes to him, a frown creasing her brow. “Actually, that’s a good question—where are we going?”
“I have a home, a small one, several miles east. We’ll go there, wait out the storm.”
“Why not just fly back to the city?”
He shook his head. “I could make the trip easily enough, but with the weather, I won’t risk it. Not with you.”
“Fine,” she said.
Ormr watched her, searched her face for any sign of resistance or reluctance. There were hints of that, but she was also resolved, the tilt of her chin and way she bunched her shoulders sure signs of her stubbornness and proof that, even though she was afraid, she was sure.
“What the hell…?” she called when Ormr casually pulled his shirt over his head and folded it neatly before he set it in a pile of snow.
He stopped, then followed her gaze to where it rested on his now-bare chest. Understanding dawned. “I must shift, and it’s easier to do so if I leave these behind.”
“You should give a girl some warning,” she said testily. “And how are you not freezing!”
The second statement sounded almost envious, and Ormr chuckled. “Dragons tend to run a little hot. And forgive me. I don’t spend much time with humans, except for my daughters-in-law. And I forgot that it can be a little…strange when we shift.”
Sandra turned and called over her shoulder, “Understatement. I’m closing my eyes. Tap me when you’re ready,” she said.
“I think you’ll know when I’m ready,” Ormr replied.
— — —
Sandra slammed her eyes shut, though it did little to take away the memory of Ormr’s bare skin, the oddness of his seeming imperviousness to the cold doing little to take away from the masculine perfection of his body.
Beautifully sculpted muscle on top of beautifully sculpted muscle on top of a deliciously manly frame.
Sandra would have placed him in his midforties, strong, mature, throat-dryingly handsome.
She chided herself quickly. She’d done that before, let a man’s attractiveness distract her. But she had been foolish then, young, and it would take much more than a pretty face to test her now.
And then her thoughts were quieted as she listened to the sounds coming from Ormr’s direction. The snick of his zipper, muted but still audible even in the gusty air. She listened closer, heard something that sounded like branches cracking, followed by the muffled thud of something hitting the ground.
She turned then and was confronted with a vision she’d had no power to anticipate.
His clothes were in a neat stack, but next to them stood a massive, massive, dragon.
The scale and power of the creature before her was something to behold, and her jaw dropped open as she stared at the massive creature, his limbs powerful, underbelly huge but not flabby, all of the creature covered with the most beautiful scales, iridescent blues, oranges, and browns swirling to create a color that Sandra had never seen before.
And when she locked eyes with the creature, they were familiar eyes, Ormr’s eyes, and she could see reason and intelligence in them.
As she’d stared at the creature, she had forgotten the cold, but another gust of wind reminded her, so she stepped forward tentatively and extended a hand. She barely touched him at first, moving her fingers over the scales, her body tense with the readiness to run if necessary.
She hadn’t known what to expect, couldn’t even have begun to picture it, but when she touched him, she felt warmth, scales surprisingly smooth, not hard and rough as she had guessed. Alive.
Craning her head back as far as she could, she looked up until she met the dragon’s eyes.
“You won’t drop me?” she repeated, somehow certain that he would understand.
He let out a snort-grunt that she took as a no. Then he stood on his back legs and reached for her.
His clawed arms around her were strong, made her feel safer than she could have imagined, though she was still acutely aware of the fact that they were on the ground.
With a strong flutter, she noticed the wings that had somehow evaded her attention before.
He flapped the long, leathery wings once, twice, and then they were in the air, cutting through the wind with speed and precision.
Ormr tucked her close to him and then flapped harder, sending them speeding forward. But she couldn’t do anything but hold tight to the incongruously comforting scales and keep her eyes slammed closed.
When she shivered, he pulled her even closer, and she nestled into his warmth, but then froze when she remembered that they were in midair, which meant she should keep movement at a minimum. Still, she curled her fingers tighter around him and kept her eyes closed, excited at the prospect of this flight being over, but saddened at the thought of having to leave his comforting embrace.
SEVEN
After a few minutes that were both too long and not long enough, Ormr slowed and came to a stop in front of a large wood cabin.
“Cabin” didn’t seem quite the word for the abode in front of her. It was rustic, wooden, but also luxurious; she could tell from the outside.
“The key is there,” Ormr said.
She started and then turned, looking at the man, doing everything in her power to keep her eyes above his neck, something that was proving no easy feat, especially when she caught glimpses of his broad shoulders from her peripheral vision. But she couldn’t risk looking lower, knew that as enticing as it may have been, looking at him in this undressed state would be unfair.
“I’ll…”
“It’s okay. I know it can be a little disorienting for those unfamiliar with us.”
“Also an understatement. I mean, just a moment ago…you were a dragon.”
The wonder in her voice only barely reflected the wonder that she felt, but Ormr just shrugged.
“And I still am. The dragon and the man are one, so when you look at me, you see both,” he said.
Sandra looked at him, though she didn’t let her gaze lower as it so desperately wanted to. And she swore, if only for a second, that his dark amber eyes swirled with the blue, orange, and brown that had been so breathtaking on the dragon.
“I see it,” she said.
“But you are troubled?” he replied, looking at her warily.
“It’s just…” She lifted a hand toward him.
He froze and lifted his brow, seemingly confused, but then Sandra saw the dawning realization. And she could have sworn she saw the faint beginnings of a blush. “I… Yes. Why don’t you go ahead and open up? I will follow you and then dress. Would that make you more comfortable?” he asked.
The no was hanging on the tip of her tongue, but instead of giving into it, she smiled, nodded quickly.
“Very well. The key is there.”
He gestured toward the porch, and Sandra headed in that direction.
She walked quickly, still not quite able to accept the idea that he wasn’t as cold as she was. She climbed the front steps and then looked at the small flowerpot that sat next to the front door. She retrieved the key quickly and unlocked the door.
“You can come up,” she called without turning.
Then she went deeper into the house, n
oticing that it wasn’t quite warm, but felt leagues better than the frigid outside. So much better that she didn’t notice how cold she actually was until Ormr closed the door.
“Wait here,” he said.
She listened to the quiet, almost imperceptible sound of his retreating footsteps and then waited, trying to bite back the shivers that seemed to come even faster now that she was inside.
She heard a switch flip, and then a blast of warm air drifted down from the ceiling.
She looked up, saw the vent, and reached her hands out, trying to heat her fingers under the refreshingly warm air.
As she did, she glanced around, spotted another vent in the opposite corner, and headed toward it, which also provided an opportunity to see more of the room.
It was neat, but lightly furnished, a small couch, table, chair, and television console in the room. There was nothing much else, save the fine rug that covered the floor.
A bachelor’s place, Sandra supposed.
She went to stand in the corner, near the vent, and stopped at the fireplace mantel to look at the pictures there. There were few, just Ormr and two men who could only be his sons, each of the men flanked by a woman. His daughters-in-law, Sandra figured.
The couples in the pictures looked beautiful together, happy, and though Ormr smiled, Sandra thought she could see sadness underneath it.
“I’ve turned the heater on,” Ormr said.
He’d dressed again, this time in a short-sleeved T-shirt that pulled tight across his chest, and a pair of jeans, his feet still bare.
Something told her he didn’t ordinarily dress like this, but the look gave him a touch of accessibility and down-to-earthness that she hadn’t noticed before.
“This is your small cabin,” she said, gesturing around the room.
“Yes,” he said, chuckling. Then he sobered. “I got it after… I usually come here alone, which is why it’s so empty.”
“It looks great. Comfy. These men, are they your sons?”
He crossed over to her, his movements fluid, graceful, and yet somehow revealing the leashed power in his body. “Yes. Exander and Kyr. And their mates. I mean wives.”
Sugar, Spice, and Shifters: A Touch of Holiday Magic Page 18