by Meg Ripley
His teeth—there were too many teeth. And they were all three inches long. Her brother had told her once not to run if she was ever attacked. Rookies run. Get close and finish it had been his exact words, but he had never mentioned what to do in the event of shark teeth. So, she ignored the wisdom of her brother and she ran, instinctively putting as much space between her and the predator as she could.
“Run if you want. You’re not going anywhere and all those endorphins will just make you taste sweeter.”
His voice boomed through the giant room, loud enough to hurt her ears and make her teeth vibrate. She dared to glimpse over her shoulder, and what she saw was enough to bring her to her knees, the muscles in her legs giving out with the force of her shock.
Chester was gone. And in his place was a monster. Not just a monster, but a dragon. Deep green and black, complete with sharp horns and a long, whipping tail and fire. Fire that illuminated every detail, branding it to her memory, forcing her to face the fact that she was not dreaming.
She opened her mouth to scream, but she had no air. Her whole body shook, but she forced herself to her feet, mindlessly moving, though she had nowhere to run; nowhere that would allow her to escape from the waking nightmare gaining ground behind her. Short of running through the glass pane, she had no escape route. The glass pane had its own attraction, though: at least if she plummeted to her death, she wouldn’t know what it was like to be roasted and consumed alive.
The sound of breaking glass did not immediately register, but the subsequent roar brought her to her knees again. She looked around, expecting the dragon’s mouth to be descending on her, but Chester was no longer chasing her; he was too busy fending attacks from another, much larger dragon. Crimson and gold, its scales were the size of encyclopedias, and its powerful tail whipped around with such ferocity that it drove Chester back fifteen yards.
April gaped at the sight, too stunned to move. This can’t be real. How can this be real? This cannot be real.
But all five senses assured her that this was truly happening. The roars of rage and pain were real. Long hooked claws and teeth tearing through scaly skin and flesh, blood pouring onto the hardwood floor, thick and black in the moonlight. It sure smelled real. Not just the blood, but the sulphur of the smoke and the heat of the fire they spewed at each other. April had never smelled heat before, but she knew that’s what it was. The heat was impossible. Even at her distance, the hairs on her arm curled and the skin on her face pulled tight, moisture evaporating from her lips and eyes. She even tasted the smoke and the soot and the slightly sweet char of burned flesh.
Chester didn’t have a chance against the other dragon, who not only had the advantage of surprise, but of size and speed, too. The fight was over almost before it began, and Chester collapsed to the ground with one last heave of his massive chest. The large dragon turned to April, and her heart leapt to her throat. She tried to move away, pushing herself backwards on her shaking legs, but her dress had tangled around her knees, effectively tying her in place.
The dragon loomed over her, wings outstretched, sparks fluttering around its muzzle and head. A quick movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, dragging her focus from the creature’s face downward. At first, she thought she was staring at the dragon’s tail, but as it grew, stretching and reaching toward her, she realized it was not the tail at all. It touched her knee and slid up her thigh, nudging at the hem of her skirt. She gasped, frozen with shock. The dragon reared his back and roared, its hot flesh still sliding along her thigh, reaching towards her core.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered, shaking uncontrollably. “I didn’t see anything. I don’t anything. I was just trying to find my boss.”
“April. April, it’s me.” The dragon form wavered in front of her and then was gone, replaced by Mads’ familiar shape. The heat on her leg disappeared, but she felt marked by it, her skin throbbing with the burn. “It’s me. You’re safe.”
“It’s...you?”
He knelt beside her. “Yes, it’s me. Are you hurt?”
“No, I don’t think so. He never caught me. He just—wait, what’s happening here?”
“I’ll explain everything, I promise. But first we have to get out of here.”
“No, we can’t go yet. That girl, Angelica—she’s only fifteen. They were setting you up. We have to find the camera or whatever they used. It’s not too late—”
“April, shhh.” He smoothed his hand over her hair and cupped the back of her head. “I know, and they were not successful. The Maelstrom clan is not as clever as they think.”
“But you didn’t answer your phone.”
“I didn’t have it. Come on.” He stood and put one arm under her knees, the other behind her shoulders.
“What are you doing? I can walk.”
“April, do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
“With your life?”
“Well, you just saved my life.”
“Then hold on tight. Don’t let go, don’t look down.”
“What are—?”
The dragon was back, holding her as gently as any mother ever held a child, his massive wings lifting them from the ground and through the broken ceiling, into the midnight sky. The time from when they arrived until this moment seemed like an endless nightmare, and she gasped as the cool night air hit her. Her stomach dropped all the way back to earth, but she kept her long-held fear of heights at bay, focusing on the fact that she did trust him. Even though she couldn’t trust her own eyes and all of this, she did trust him.
He had her. He would never let her fall.
****
Mads wasn’t sure what to expect when they landed, but it certainly wasn’t the sudden burst of laughter that swelled to a torrent of giggles, until she was doubled-over and breathless, tears running down her cheeks.
“Are you hurt?” He finally ventured when the giggles had subsided to hiccups and the occasional chuckle.
“No, no.” She shook her head, “I don’t think so. Mads...you can freaking fly and we take a car everywhere. Hell, we took a plane to LA. A plane. And you can fly!”
“Yes, well, it behooves me to stick with more traditional means of travel. But I don’t like it.”
“You can fly, and you’re a dragon. How long have you been a dragon?”
“For a very, very long time. Come, let’s get upstairs.”
Fortunately, nobody had been standing around to see him land in the middle of the hotel’s courtyard. It wasn’t easy keeping a low profile as a dragon, but it was absolutely necessary. There were only a few left of his kind, and he had survived by being careful and smarter than everybody else. Perhaps that was why the Maelstrom clan resorted to such undignified means to remove him. A spark of anger ignited in his belly at the mere thought of them, but for the time being, his concern for April smothered it. He would deal with the Maelstroms later, and they would rue the day they decided to target him.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” April asked, once they were safely ensconced in his suite.
“No, probably not. It’s a secret.”
“If it’s such a secret, why did you—”
“Why did I what?”
“Why did you turn into a giant dragon and smash through the ceiling in front of me?” She shook her head. “Listen to me talk. You turned into a dragon and I’m sitting here discussing it like it’s something that could happen to anybody.”
Mads inclined his head. “I understand it will take some getting used to. And I did what I did because you were in danger.”
“How did you know I was in danger? How did you even know where to find me?”
That was the big question. One that Mads did not want to get bogged down in at the moment. He could answer any other question, explain any other concern, and try to give her as much information as he could about who he was, but he wasn’t sure she was ready to know the answer to this particular inquiry.
“How di
d you know?” she asked again.
“I could sense it.”
“How could you sense it? Is that one of your special dragon powers?”
“I could sense it because...well, yes, it is one of my ‘special powers.’ ”
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s not what you were going to say. Please don’t lie to me now, Mr. Durkheim.”
He took a deep breath. He feared the truth would only frighten her away from him, and now that he understood the truth, he couldn’t bear the thought of her leaving. Still, he could never keep her against her will, and obstructing the truth was not a good way to earn her trust. He only wished he had realized it sooner, so he could have time to process it. He’d lived for nearly a thousand years and he was still not prepared for this moment—for this beautiful girl with sparkling, tear stained eyes staring at him with equal parts confusion and...and what? Awe? Fear? Love?
“April, you’re my mate.”
“What? Do you mean friend?”
Mads shook his head. “No, I mean the one I have been waiting for. That’s why...well, that’s why I’ve been drawn to you from the moment we met. When I touch you, I feel as though a part of me has been returned.”
“And how long have you known this little nugget of information?”
“Only since the moment I felt your fear. It called out to me, told me that I needed to go to you, that I needed to protect you at all costs.”
“So...what does that mean? You love me?”
“I…April, it’s not as easy as that.”
“Easy? Love isn’t easy. But it doesn’t matter—I understand what you’re getting at.” The rush of sadness hit him as hard as her earlier fear. Ancient instincts roared to life, demanding that he smite whoever—or whatever—might be causing his mate such distress, but he could see that he was the only one to blame.
“April, please, this is a lot for both of us to process right now. Maybe we should sleep on it and discuss this in the morning.”
“There’s nothing to discuss. Except if my severance package will include an extra month due to the highly stressful situation of nearly being eaten alive.”
“Severance package? You’re leaving?”
“Seriously? You can’t really expect me to stay here like this, can you? Trust me, it’ll be best for us both if you get yourself a new assistant.” She was already moving towards the door, and he acted before he could think, rushing to grab her arm to keep her from stepping into the hallway. “Let me go.”
“I just want to—”
“Mads, let go of my arm.” Her voice was low and controlled and held more than a hint of warning. He released her immediately. “Don’t worry. I’ll stay in the office long enough to train my replacement.”
“April, please, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. We can pretend that I didn’t say anything and go back to normal.”
“Normal?” she snorted. “We...we’ll never get back to normal. Never again.”
“Are you leaving because I’m a dragon?”
“Strangely enough, no. I could still work for a dragon, I suppose. But I can’t work for a man who will always be disappointed.”
“Disappointed? I don’t understand.”
She shook her head and pulled the door open. He wanted to stop her, to hold her until she explained herself, but he stood unmoving, watching as she limped down the hall to her own room. She didn’t look back and he didn’t look away. Not even when she disappeared from sight and he was left staring at the locked door between them.
****
Tears flooded her eyes as soon as April shut the door. She simply could not hold them back, and all of the fear, shock, and pain of the earlier chase swept through her like a furious thunderstorm, leaving nothing but desolation behind. Deep down inside, she always felt alone, certain she would never find anybody who’d want her. Who’d love her. When Mads had told her that she was the one he was waiting for, for the briefest of moments, that fear and loneliness subsided.
But he didn’t love her. It wasn’t enough that he felt some sort of connection to her—not if he didn’t love her.
Chester’s snide voice filled her head, reminding her of what she’d always known: Even Mads has standards. And swiftly on the heels of that, Mads’ voice: You’re the one I’ve been waiting for. She might have been the one he was waiting for, but she sure wasn’t the one he chose. The gap between who she was and who he wanted was probably too great for her to ever overcome, and how long before he grew to resent her for it? How long before she exhausted herself with apologies for things she could not change?
But that was not why she cried. In the beat of silence after she questioned him, she realized her own terrible truth: she didn’t know about mates, about dragons, about surprise connections or fate—but she did know that she loved him. And that was why she had to leave. Not just her job, but the city as well. April just wanted to go home, to escape into the mundanity of small-town life until her love hardened into scar tissue around her heart.
A knock on the door was like a spike through her head, adding to the growing tension headache behind her eyes. “Go away.”
“April, I just want to talk to you.”
“Go away!”
“Why are you crying?”
“Please just go away.”
“No. I’m staying right here until you’re ready to talk.”
April didn’t doubt him. She unlocked the door and pulled it open, too tired to hide her bloodshot eyes, her puffy face, or the misery radiating from her. “What is left to say?”
“A lot. You may not have anything to tell me, but I have a lot to tell you, and all I’m asking is that you listen.”
She sank to a nearby chair. “Fine.” If it would make all of this end, then she would listen to him.
Instead of sitting on the nearby sofa, he knelt at her feet and tugged at the hem of her skirt.
“Excuse me? What are you doing?”
He ran the tip of his finger over the ridge of the burn on her thigh. Her pre-emptive gasp turned into a low moan as pain instantly transformed into pleasure. Her pussy clenched and her nipples tightened.
“Mads...what?”
He bent his head and blew a gentle puff of air over the mark. Her spine tightened, her body arched, and her nipples ached. She thought of telling him to stop—this wasn’t going to help the situation and it certainly didn’t count as talking, but her tongue felt heavy and refused to cooperate. His breath like a soothing wind blew over her, traveling further up her thigh and she spread her legs without thinking, encouraging him to move higher, right to the edge of her panties. He dropped his mouth on her inner thigh, alternating kisses between her untouched skin and the edge of the mark, his cheek brushing against the lacy scrap of fabric covering the apex between her thighs. All he had to do was turn his head.
She buried her fingers in his hair, winding them through the soft strands, holding him in place while she rode out the pleasure. Each kiss he placed on her thigh sent sparks to her stomach where they kindled into slow burning flames, spreading heat through her limbs, making her lightheaded. She pulled on him and he allowed himself to be directed, his mouth gliding from her thigh to the now damp thin material over her pussy.
“Please...please, I need to feel…”
He ripped her panties away, his hungry mouth landing on her heated flesh, his tongue sliding between her lips to seek out her throbbing clit. She yelped at the first flick over the tender tip, her hand tightening in his hair. He sucked and nibbled softly, and all she could do was grind against him, aching for more, trembling as the pleasure morphed into bliss and the bliss built on itself. Unaccustomed to the force of nature sweeping through her body, she could only withstand the assault of his mouth for a few minutes longer before her orgasm overtook her. She bucked forward, her legs closing around him as her pleasure rolled through her like waves slamming against the shore.
She lost the feeling in her legs and her body went completely lax. April thought
that would be the end of it, but as he moved away, he brushed against her marked thigh and she was instantly alert, electricity tightening her muscles and pulling her upright.
“What is that?” April gasped out.
“I marked you.”
“You marked me? Will it go away?”
“No, but it won’t cause you any pain.”
He rose and pulled her to her feet. She didn’t have the strength to resist him, and once his arms closed around her, she never wanted to be anywhere else. His arms were strong as iron, but his lips were so gentle on top of her head, skimming her hair with a sweet kiss. She closed her eyes, undone by him, her defenses crumbling. She wanted this to be real. She wanted it so badly she could taste it.
“Do you want me?” she whispered.
He shifted, allowing his erection to rub against her hip. “What do you think?”
April took a deep breath and forced herself to step out of his embrace. Holding his gaze, she unzipped her dress and allowed it to drop to her feet. Her bra followed, leaving her completely naked and vulnerable in front of his golden-green eyes. His eyes traveled the length of her body, from her large breasts to her rounded stomach and hips, lower to where her thighs touched. She watched his face carefully, whispering, “What about now?”
Mads immediately pulled her against him, hooking his finger beneath her chin and angling her mouth towards his. April continued to hold his gaze as he lowered his lips. She didn’t close her eyes until the kiss stole her breath away, her arms winding around his neck. Without breaking the caress, he lifted her from her feet, carrying her like a bride to the bed.
“You’re beautiful,” Mads whispered as he lowered her to the mattress. His fingertips glided from her throat to her knee, running over the hills and valleys of her body with undeniable reverence. She tried to swallow around the sudden lump in her throat, tried to say something, tried to reach for him, but her body no longer quite felt like it belonged to her. When he reached her thigh, he paused. “I’ve never marked anybody like this before. In a thousand years, I’ve never wanted anybody the way I want you.”