Stop Dragon My Heart Around

  “Hi there, Ghost, look what I’ve brought you.” Tee lifted her apple, and Ghost twitched his ears forward in what she knew was interest. He jerked his head toward Leo’s rock, inhaled, and stamped his feet. “Oh, don’t worry about him, he’s harmless,” Tee said in a soothing voice.

  Ghost stepped toward her, and Tee stood very slowly and offered him the apple. The stallion bit it in half and bent his neck to pick up the broken-off piece.

  She rubbed him between his ears in the spot she knew he favored. He’d been a young colt the first time she’d seen him. Over the years, she found him often, and he always seemed to remember her.

  “Can I ride today?” Tee asked between scratches.

  Ghost twitched his ears forward and lowered his head in invitation.

  Tee grabbed his mane and swung herself onto his back. Ghost crow-hopped his front feet into the air, springing forward. The wind parted around him, and he broke into a canter that accelerated into a gallop.

  Leo shouted from behind the rock, but her reassuring words whipped away in the wind.

  She leaned low over the stallion’s neck and held on to his mane. She wrapped her long legs around his belly and they raced with the wind. Her braid flew behind her, a banner of joy which thump, thumped in rhythm with Ghost’s hooves.

  Her spirit stretched to encompass the sense of freedom and aliveness. Leo was right. She should try to build something out here. For herself. For the tribe. For the future.

  She clutched Ghost’s sides with her legs, feeling the heave of his breath. He was short-bodied and her feet were able to tuck under his sides, holding her to his back. She leaned low and whispered in his ear.

  “You’re so amazing. So strong and so brave. Run, run. Run, Ghost, run!”

  The horse knew the desert terrain so well that Tee knew he wouldn’t stumble. They raced over the grassy valley toward a jagged red cliff. Whinnying sounded as the four mares caught up with Ghost.

  A dusty red mare broke forward and gave Tee a wide-eyed, alarmed look. The mare tossing her mane and stretching toward Tee, showing the white-rimmed edges of her dark eyes. She reached for Tee with her mouth open, her yellow teeth biting, trying to dislodge her from the stallion’s back.

  Tee swatted her away without rancor. The mare’s actions were natural—the horse was not so different than any other lady protecting her turf. Likely as not this time of year all the mares were pregnant. The canny stallion’s survival as their leader would greatly affect the mares’ safety and that of their offspring.

  Ghost thundered out of the meadow and onto a narrow road. He didn’t hesitate at the changing terrain. They rounded a corner and Tee ducked to avoid a rock bridge. When he skidded to a halt in a cloud of dust and rock debris, Tee wasn’t prepared for the abrupt change in momentum. She tumbled over his head to land at his feet.

  “Owwww.” Shooting pain spiked through her as she sprawled on the ground with the breath knocked out of her. Gradually the throbbing subsided, and she opened her eyes to see Ghost regarding her with what had to be a look of horsey amusement.

  “You didn’t have to stop so quickly.”

  Ghost nudged her, and she gave his ears a reassuring rub. Tee looped her hand over his neck, and he lifted his head to help her to stand.

  “Thank you.” She winced in pain. “I guess I’ll have to forgive you since you’re being so gentlemanly.”

  She assessed the damage. Her rear end throbbed, her right hand was bleeding from a scrape, and her breath made wheezing sounds as it gusted in and out like a broken accordion. Carefully, she pulled air into her lungs and tried to exhale the shooting pain.

  Behind them, the red mare whickered in warning. Ghost lifted his nose and snorted, and then whinnied and threw his burr-filled tail into the air. The herd raced away, leaving Tee standing in the dust, and more than a little off-balance.

  A dark shadow stretched overhead and she curiously looked into the sun. A yellow hang glider circled her position. How odd. It circled closer and closer as if to land next to her. She squinted.

  The glider had a head, and horns, and fangs, and teeth.

  Tee stepped back from the unknown threat, her mind trying to process the information. The beast was large, the size of a small plane. Its body was solid and muscled, burnt gold in color, with a lighter patina on its wings and spiked tail.

  She backed up a step, and then another.

  Fangs slashed at the sky and roars rolled across the canyon. The creature’s eyes flashed with unholy yellow flares. Confusion collided with terror as Tee’s heart pounded in her chest.

  “A dragon!” Tee screamed and ran, her pulse pounding panicked, urgent beats.

  …

  From above, Leo watched her run. Dust and pebbles pelted around her bare legs, but she kept running, head down, arms pumping, back across the valley. Hot retribution and predatory instincts pulsed through him. He roared and blew a stream of fire through the air, then lifted his nostrils to the wind, ready to find and kill the stallion that had put Tee at risk.

  He paused, trying to control his dragon’s need to follow and destroy the horses. No, Leo argued with his beast. He turned his dragon toward Tee’s departing back. He’d put off the truth long enough. There was no denying what he was in dragon form.

  Below him, Tee raced across the valley toward the cliff where he’d stashed their packs, The movement of the dirt as she ran marked her slow, human progress across the brown desert floor.

  “Run, Leo! Run!” she yelled. Leo’s conscience wagged a finger at him, that in her moment of terror, she was concerned for his safety.

  In the middle of the clearing, he swooped past her and landed in her path in a cloud of dust. Tee careened to a halt and pivoted to change directions, but he jumped ahead of her, so once again, her path was blocked.

  She pulled up short, her face red and her breath panting. “No!” She bent and picked up a rock and hurled it at him. The rock hit his dragon’s chest with a thud and fell. She watched the rock fall, her mouth opening and closing, then bent to gather more. This time she picked up two rocks and threw them at him. “No!” she gasped.

  Spiky adrenaline raced through Leo’s dragon blood at the panicked surge of the blood in her veins. Fear coursed off her in waves. You should never run from a dragon. He spoke the words into her mind.

  Tee startled and looked around, wild-eyed and confused, for the source of the voice. She shook with fear, still one thumping mass of exertion and terror.

  Peace, Tee, Leo said with his mind. Slowly he lifted his wings, trying to communicate nonaggression to her. For a dragon, it was as much a gesture of surrender as humans putting their hands over their heads.

  “How do you know my name?” She watched him out of her peripheral vision, chin down, non-threatening.

  Don’t be afraid. His beast lowered its wings and tucked them to his sides. It’s me, Leo. He lifted and lowered a front leg, stepping closer to her ever so slightly before heaving a gentle breath at her. Another dragon greeting, which meant the meeting was agreeable. Had Tee been a dragon, she would have replicated the ancient movements.

  “Dragon.” She shook her head as if to make him go away, then backed up a step as if she might run again. “Nice dragon.” She used the same soothing voice she had on the horses, but her voice strained over the syllables.

  Don’t run. Leo let dragon fire flare in his eyes, trying to show her the seriousness of the situation. He moved forward on all fours with his wings tucked to his sides. Each step he took vibrated the ground.

  Tee stretched her hands out in front of her and squeezed her eyes shut. When he was a foot away, the dragon lifted its massive jaw and waited for her to look at him, just as he had done under the Joshua Tree.

  It’s me, he whispered into her mind. How can you not see that it’s me?

  “Get out of my brain!” she yelled. She opened one eye, then the other, and gazed at him horrified, her hands still stretched protectively in front of her in an attempt to ward him off
.

  He hadn’t expected her repulsion. He’d been certain that somewhere, deep down, she would know him, even in dragon form. Her rejection hurt and transmitted sensory discordance to his more volatile dragon. His skin twitched over his ribs. He was becoming angry and agitated again.

  His dragon stretched his wings in affront. Leo fought to contain aggression, but a roar escaped his chest.

  “Oh God.” Tee fell to the ground and curled over her knees in a fetal position. She put her arms over her head, as if waiting for a deathblow. Muted sobs slipped past her lips and tunneled into his heart—both beast and man were agitated now.

  Leo reached his dragon’s tail toward her, and wrapped it around her shaking back. Gently, he tugged her to her feet and forward until she stood, pressed against his chest. He lowered his dragon’s chin to her head, trying to convey his caring. His dragon settled at the possessive hold, content to have her near him and under his control.

  Leo. Tee’s mind slammed into his. If this is you, I’m going to kill you.

  Tee. He lowered his golden head so he could see her eyes. It is me. I’ve been trying to tell you.

  A sharp laugh escaped her throat. He suspected it had more to do with hysteria than amusement.

  I’m going to change forms now, step back. He dropped his hold on her. Don’t run.

  Tee stepped back slowly.

  Leo reached for his humanity. The steady, logical part of his nature was never far away. With an inhale, he threw himself inward, pulling his wings with him, taking his bestial needs inside and locking them up tight. When his transformation was complete, he stood in front of her, a human man, dressed in the same clothes he’d worn for the hike.

  “Tee,” he said in his human voice.

  “You.” Tee straightened to her full height, her hands fisted at her sides. “You!”

  “Me.” He let amusement draw out the word, but immediately saw by the furious scrunching of her face that she didn’t care.

  “You’re a dragon?”

  “I’m a shape-shifting dragon,” Leo said. “I’ve a human form, obviously.”

  “How?”

  “Would you like me to show you again?” He smiled, but kept his distance.

  “No. Stay back.” She pushed her hands at him. “You’re a dragon? A fire breathing, people-eating, evil dragon?”

  “I don’t eat people—unless they deserve it.” Again, his joke fell flat. “I’m not evil. It’s me. Just me. The same me I’ve always been.”

  In dazed confusion, Tee looked into his face. Her normally tanned skin was pasty pale, and her mouth moved, but no words came forth.

  Leo clasped her outstretched hands. “Tee?”

  She crumpled in front of him. Leo grabbed her, cradling her to his chest as she fainted dead away.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Bloody hell.” Leo looked at Tee in his arms. Concern and worry ratcheted up to fear. Had she fainted from the shock of his dragon, or the fall from the horse? One needed time, the other a good human doctor.

  When he’d seen Tee gallop away on the stallion, he’d reacted to the threat, shifting into dragon form and racing after the herd. He’d been too late. He’d watched from the air, helpless to reach her before the horse tossed her over his head. His dragon seethed at the injury done to his mate.

  He carried her to the rocks where he’d left their packs. Anxiety beat through his system, and his dragon threatened to explode from his skin. How could she be so reckless? The horse was wild, and she couldn’t know what it was going to do. His dragon still thirsted for the stallion’s blood.

  He stretched Tee out on the ground, got out the water, and mopped the dirt and sweat from her face. She came awake screaming. “Oh God!” She rolled onto all fours and looked ready to take off again.

  Leo grabbed her and held her, chest to chest, waiting for her to open her eyes and see that it was him. “Tee,” he soothed. “It’s me. You passed out. You’re okay.”

  She bucked under him to escape.

  “Tee, look at me.”

  “Get off me.”

  “Don’t run. You could get hurt again.” He rolled to the side and Tee scooted against the rock.

  Her hair was undone and her right knee was bleeding. The whites of her eyes were huge around her pupils. Leo felt as if he was still in his dragon form. A beast in her eyes. Her rejection sent pain tunneling through his heart. He was still him, the same him she’d made love to, the same him who’d been her friend for years.

  “I tried to tell you so many times—”

  “Don’t.” Tee cut him off. “Don’t even try to tell me how you forgot to mention the small fact that you’re a dragon.”

  “Shape-shifting—”

  “Whatever.”

  Leo shrugged. “It really isn’t that big of a deal.”

  Tee’s laugh was brittle and hostile. “Are you going to hurt me?”

  “What?” Irritation at her question set his mouth in grim lines, and he blew out an exasperated breath. “Tee, you’re my mate. I would die for you.”

  “Your mate?” Her face drained of color. The shadows under her eyes were darker, more pronounced. “What does that mean?”

  “You know the mark on your back?”

  “The burn?”

  “It’s not a burn. We’re fated to be together. I think you must have some residual magic. I think you’re an empath.” At her mutinous stare, he continued. “This is a good thing, a bloody miracle. You’ll keep me from losing my dragon form when we complete our bond.”

  “Am I going to turn into a dragon?” she asked in a harsh whisper. “I don’t want to be one of those things.”

  “No.” Leo shook his head. “You won’t become a dragon.” She still looked stricken, not at all reassured. This wasn’t going well. “You’ll always be human.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Leo examined the blend of shock and fury in her expression. “Yes I’m sure. Dragons are only born, not transformed.”

  “I’m going to have baby dragons?” Her voice was shrill and her face even more horrified.

  “No, it doesn’t work that way. It is actually very hard for my people to have children.” He smiled a little. “I should have told you, but would you have believed me? I needed the right time and place when we could talk and I could show you my dragon form without scaring you to death.”

  “How’s that working for you?” she spat at him. Red washed her cheekbones, and Leo sensed that she’d moved past shock and fear to anger.

  Anger was good.

  “So, are you mad at me because I’m a dragon, or because I didn’t tell you?”

  “Please.” Tee distanced herself. “I’m furious that you didn’t tell me. All these years, I thought we belonged together. But you’re not even human.” She whispered the last with renewed horror. “We don’t belong together at all.”

  “I am human. Half human.”

  “My God, Leo, how did this happen to you?”

  “I gained my dragon form at puberty. That is how my people change.”

  “Puberty?” Tee shook her head. “Hormones and a dragon form.”

  “Pretty much.”

  She met his eyes, and he saw gradual belief move over her face. “Why’re you telling me all this? Are you going to kill me now?”

  “Why can’t you understand?” He came to his knees and slid closer to her. “I would protect you with my life and so would my dragon.”

  “Stay back.” Tee looked alarmed again. “You’re making me nervous.”

  Leo sat back and considered his options. She needed more time, that was all. Time with him, in his human form, to see he was the same. “You have to promise me you’ll never do anything as reckless as you did with the horse again. You put yourself at risk for a joyride.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She stood in a shaky-legged movement. “You don’t have the moral high ground here, and you don’t get to tell me what to do. I want to go back to the powwow. I’d like to get
away from you.”

  “You can’t get away from me.”

  “Watch me. If you really aren’t going to kill me or hurt me, you’ve no way to stop me.” She picked up her pack and limped toward the trail.

  “Not stop you, no.” Leo walked after her and clasped her dry hand in his. “But I know about one hundred ways to convince you to stay.”

  “I’m too freaked out by all this,” she said, jerking free. “There’s no way I’m interested in your one hundred ways.”

  “Please stay,” Leo asked. “Just for a while so we can talk, then I’ll take you back myself.” All the fight seemed to leave her in a rush, and his heart ached for the confusion she must be feeling. “Please.”

  “I just need to figure this out.”

  Frustration filled Leo at her stubbornness. He had known it would be hard to explain things to her, but her rejection hurt more than he imagined. He forced his mouth into a smile and squeezed her hand lightly “Let me help you.”

  …

  Much later, Tee lay with Leo on the sleeping bag inside the tent at the campground. She was weak of heart, and head, and now body, for sure. But, now that the dragon was gone, leaving Leo the human man seemed impossible.

  She loved him.

  On the hike back to their campground, she’d managed to convince herself the dragon thing was all just a bad dream. Not completely, she knew she would have to deal with it. But the pain of knowing they couldn’t have a future together was too much. She wanted to grab the few hours they still had with both hands and hang on. Before the world of beasts and monsters and lies intruded.

  The late afternoon sun cast shadows on the ground outside. A few miles away, the powwow continued. Inside the tent, it was still just them. Her bare legs tangled with his, but her mind was far away.

  “What’re you thinking about?” he asked.

  “Smoking.”

  “You smoke cigarettes?” He sounded surprised. “I’ve never seen you smoke.”