by Maia Starr
It was the first time she’d noticed, but he was right. As she touched her cheeks, her fingers came away wet, and her eyes were salty. Quickly wiping them off, she took a deep breath again. “Okay, where?”
“What do you need?”
“Disinfecting alcohol, gauze, pain medication, stitches…”
“Look through the boxes in the back corner.”
So she did, finding everything she’d asked for. Coming back to stand over him, she looked down and placed everything in a row at the very edge of the table. “I’m going to clean your wounds first, and then stitch them and wrap them up with more gauze than you’ll know what to do with.”
“Go easy on me, doc.”
She said nothing, her tears still stinging her eyes, and went to work. Answers could wait for the moment.
Dragons were mortal, after all.
Chapter Nineteen
Ethan
It was all he could do just to lay there his wooden table, struggling against his more primal urges as Eliza leaned over him, touching and prodding and stitching up the wounds that covered his torso. Her fingers were smooth and gentle, her hands like the force of a spring river flowing slowly with purpose. Each contact between their skin had fireworks exploding in his chest, his blood heating to bloat his head with all the dirty images that he could ever ask for.
And that was only while she worked on the front of him.
Earlier she’d started with his back, the gaping holes healing on their own, but apparently not quick enough for Eliza. She’d poured the disinfecting alcohol in after wiping his wounds with cold water, let him bite onto a cloth to deal with the bout of stinging, and then methodically began to the pierce his skin with the needle to stitch. Once done, she’d turned him over, opting to wait to wrap him up like a mummy due to the injuries on his abdomen.
It was amazing how calm she was, how narrow her eyes become, how steady her hands as they worked and moved over him.
She really is a grad student. If only Maia could have been this genuine. He frowned. But she couldn’t have been, and maybe that shifter had never even heard of the concept. Ethan needed to stop thinking about her.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t believed Eliza was truly skilled enough to attend grad school in medicine and the like, but it simply hadn’t hit him yet. Eliza was so much more than her beautiful looks. Nothing like Maia.
Ethan blinked and stared up to see Eliza staring down as well. At eye contact, her gaze darted away, cheeks warming. Nothing like Maia at all. He opened his mouth to speak, but the second he did, Eliza stuck the stitching needle into his skin again, and he snarled in response.
“Sorry, but I don’t have any anesthesia,” she said coolly.
“I wasn’t complaining, was I?”
“You snarled. Most people groan.”
“Is snarling so bad? Trust me; you’d hate to see much wolf shifters snarl. They do it all the time, like it’s a damn pact between them all to snarl as much as possible.”
That earned a smile, pretty beneath the locks of golden hair that tumbled from her behind her ears. She glanced back at him, her eyes welcoming the joke, but there was a curiousness to them, one that told Ethan she wouldn’t leave it at just that.
“Wolf shifters? Are those...others of your kind?”
Ethan stayed silent for a time, listening to the ambience of the cave, the crash of droplets that slid off the points of stalactites. He supposed he didn’t need to hide it anymore. She’d already seen enough. “Similar, but different. They’re shifters, of course, like me and my kin. But, as I’m sure you can guess since it’s pretty obvious, they change into wolves. My kin and I change into dragons.” He flashed her a grin. “We’re much more dangerous.”
Eliza snorted. “Yeah, clearly. That’s why that wolf tore a hole in your wing...your arm. Your wings are your arms in your dragon form, right?”
“You could say that.” With her so close, he couldn’t help but stare. Her blue eyes flickered back to the remaining wounds she needed to fix up, leaving Ethan’s gaze to wander to her pale nape, drifting down to her ample chest, looking to her waist. He imagined gripping his meaty hands around her, lifting her to place her curvy body on top of him. Oh, all the fun they could have.
She must have noticed his demeanor because she shifted her weight, flickered her hair over her shoulder, stole a glance, and smiled. “I didn’t realize Gabriel’s teachings would come in handy so soon.”
“I’m an alpha shifter, Eliza,” Ethan said, practically ignoring her statement. “Meaning I’m the leader of my clan. If you were to become my mate, you’d lead alongside me. It’d be nice to have a doctor in the Cave Dragons.”
“Cave Dragons? Mate? Clans? You’re starting to lose me, Ethan.”
“You’ve seen me as a dragon; I don’t see how I could be losing you if you know that shifters are real.”
“You keep acting like there’s so many of you...how am I supposed to know there are more than just you and Seth? Where are they all?”
Ethan wanted to rise and sit up and attempted to, but a hard hand from Eliza pushed him back down. He scowled. “So you recognized Seth...ah, doesn’t matter. But yeah, shifters are all around Salem, Eliza. Clans, each usually a different type of shifter. Salem’s like a hub, where shifters like me go to pretend to work and hunt for mates.”
She stopped and gazed at him, her expression creasing. “Hunt?”
“I meant to look for a mate, not actually hunting.”
“It’s what you did to me.”
“No, that’s called kidnapping, which is worse.”
“And if it’s worse, then why kidnap me? If you wanted me for a mate, whatever that means, why did you have to rip me out from the life I was just beginning to start?” Now she was full on frowning, a cute gesture had the conversation not begun to turn so emotional. Despite the rush of her words, her hands remained steady and true to their purpose, which Ethan appreciated. “If that’s what shifters do, Ethan, then I want nothing to do with them.”
Staying silent for the moment, Ethan stared up at the dark ceiling above. Was now the time to speak up? To tell Eliza everything, including about the eggs? He parted his lips to say, but nothing came out. Eliza eyes were fixed on his lips, waiting, sighing when he simply inhaled a fresh batch of air. No, now wasn’t the time. There was no telling how Eliza would react. Given that he was stuck on the table for the time being, he wouldn’t be able to show her the eggs.
Eliza’s voice broke off his thoughts. “Look, whatever it is, Ethan, you can tell me about it later. Right now...just rest. That’s all I want you to do. I didn’t expect to hear about shifters while stitching you up, so it’s already been enough for the moment.” But her expression said otherwise, scrunched and appearing like the bond of trust he was trying to grow had hit a brick ceiling, unable to climb higher until he revealed more.
But it’s not the right time. I’ll tell you when you’ve fallen for me, I swear.
Silently, Eliza stepped back to retrieve the gauze and began the tedious task of wrapping his wounds all over. Ethan endured the slight pain as he was rolled over again and again, Eliza’s grunts under his sheer weight almost adorable. It didn’t take too long to complete the task, but once she did, she leaned against the cave wall, wiping the hot sweat off of her brow and panting. Ethan still laid on the table, his gaze locked onto her.
“You alright?” he said.
“Just...exhausted. And hungry.”
“There’s a kitchen in here, though it is very fancy.”
“Where?”
“Walk back out and follow the hallway bend. It’ll be the first entrance on the left.”
Nodding, Eliza slowly pushed herself from the wall and walked away. “I’ll make you some soup to help with the pain and cold sweats.”
Blinking, Ethan touched his skin, feeling for the first time the cool sweat that blanketed his body. He hadn’t noticed before, maybe because of the normal heat within his body? His inner dragon had let l
oose earlier, but now it tried to slumber, probably resulting in the cold sweat as his body tried to heal himself. Turning around to speak, he saw Eliza had already left the room.
Damn.
Chapter Twenty
Eliza
Days passed while Ethan healed. After that brutal fight, Eliza hadn’t expected the man to heal completely for at least weeks. Normal humans usual only barely survived an attack from a wolf...if only Ethan were normal.
But he was a dragon, and a powerful one at that. Even after a week, Eliza struggled to fully comprehend everything that meant. People that could shift into dragons, wolves, and bears...who could level a forest by crashing into it, who could breathe fire, who could live as regular people like nothing was different about them.
The rumors about shapeshifters were true, then. The stories the locals often told didn’t seem to be lies at all. Sure, she’d yet to see a person shift into a man, but she’d seen a wolf and dragon. It was enough, at least, to suspend her disbelief about everything Ethan was claiming. He’d gone into more detail while Eliza had watched over him the past few days, readily answering most of her questions, only keeping quiet on a select few that regarded his personal life. She was beginning to believe, well, everything, beginning to suspect there was a decent reason for the kidnapping that had happened what felt like so long ago now.
Even as she sat on the edge of his bed now, listening to him talk, watching his casual grin turn into a smile whenever he made her laugh, she knew her heart had begun to sway in his direction. His pointed, nearly reptilian eyes burned images into her brain of what it would be like to love him and to accept what he was asking for. There was, at this point, no reason to doubt him anymore, save the few secrets she still needed to glean from him. And there was one fact that kept turning her on to the idea she was beginning to fall hard for him.
He was the alpha of a clan of dragon shifters, looking for a mate. And he didn’t just pick anybody; he picked her.
“...and so I told the old man to bug off since he didn’t understand what he was talking about. Bears don’t hunt during the winter season. Not actual bears; maybe bear shifters do. And that’s when I realized Arthur was just messing with me.”
Eliza blinked back into the present. “Arthur...is he another member of your clan, Ethan?”
Ethan’s expression froze, and then his smile lessened. He looked down. “Arthur was the previous alpha. Before me. About a month and a half ago he up and vanished, left a note saying I’d be fit for the next alpha. The rest of my clan agreed, and here I am.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Were you close?”
He stretched. “You could say that.”
The emotion lining his voice struck at her chest, making it swell as she looked at the dragon shifter. Hunched forward a bit, drawn in arms, he looked...lonely. Almost heartbroken, not that Eliza was a very good face reader. There weren’t many times a person let themselves appear vulnerable in front of her. Only close friends and family, never once a boyfriend...or a lover.
Leaning towards him, she smiled, drawing his gaze back to her. The dark, chestnut color of his irises flicked and swam in the lantern light of his bedroom. After that first day of healing, he had pleaded with her to bring him to his bed, where he’d at least be comfortable. She was glad she did, though she had worried about infections in the process. But now it was easier to face him, easier to let her desires overflow. Despite being a cave, his bedroom was cozy and warm, perfect for more intimate talks and actions.
“I assume you loved the man,” she said.
Ethan grinned. “As much as I could. He was a hardass at times, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“You seem to be able to handle anything…”
“That sounds like a challenge to me.”
Eliza leaned for more, her body hot and heavy. Thumping in her chest, her heart whispered that it was okay to simply let go. And so she did.
Ethan followed suit as she-she puckered her lips and closed her eyes, for a moment feeling nothing but air, and then sudden heat, like a fire brushing her lips, making her recoil slightly. She opened her eyes, seeing his giant hands come up to caress her cheeks, to help her steady her head, and pull her back. And she didn’t resist.
Then her lips pressed hard into his, the sensation making her mind fuzzy after a few seconds. His lips were on fire, steaming hot to the touch, making her heart rapidly pound in anticipation of the rest of the kiss. They moved closer, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck, making sure she was pulling too hard on his wounds.
His wounds…
And then she pulled away, clamping her mouth shut and breathing hard, looking down and away from Ethan’s inquisitive eyes.
“What’s the matter?” he said, hands moving down to touch her shoulders. They gripped tightly, but shallow enough to keep her from forcibly prying them off. “Are you okay?”
“We can’t be...you can’t be doing this right now,” Eliza simply said. “You're still healing.”
“As if a little pain will stop me…it might even be pretty fun, mixing pain with pleasure.”
“But are you sure, Ethan?”
“I’ve told you, we shifters heal much faster than regular humans do.”
His hold on her tightened. “That’s insane!”
“It’s true; you can see for yourself.”
Taking a hand off of her shoulder, he reached down, began tugging on the gauze and bandaging that covered his chest and back. She resisted the urge to stop him just yet because even if his wounds were still healing, it was about time to change them out anyway, whether or not she was about to give in to her lustful desires.
But as he unraveled the gauze, stretching around to get it off, Eliza was given a great view of his shoulders muscles, causing her to stare and drool in her mind. Ethan gave her a look that showed he saw her staring, and he grinned as he stripped himself of the gauze. She stayed silent as he did so, her eyes catching on every chiseled line of his body. Unintentionally, she reached out to touch his chest, expecting the same kind of heat that exuded from his lips and got exactly what she expected. His skin wasn’t as hot as his breath, but after her fingers spread out, fanned over his pecs, the heat raced into her fingers and up to her cheeks.
“Blushing already, are we?” Ethan said, chuckling as he tossed the rest of the gauze to the floor.
Eliza ignored the comment and instead glared at the stitched-up cuts and holes that had just days ago littered his body. But now she could barely see them, the only indication of his wounds sharp lines that arched up and down his chest and abdomen. She fingered the lines, feeling the soft flesh next to the hard muscle, her curiosity overflowing.
“You’re kidding me!”
“Not this time, Eliza. This is real. Don’t get me wrong, shifters aren’t immortal, but we’re usually pretty good about dealing with what would be normally fatal to regular people.”
Eliza’s mind reeled. That was insane! Every day something new came to light, and to see this now, as a doctor in training? She didn’t know what to think anymore.
“Now, how about we get down to business?” Ethan said, his voice thick, fluid, raw and intentional. Grabbing onto her cheeks, he pulled her close again, kissing her and clutching at her body.
Unable to resist, and not wanting to, Eliza finally let go, allowing herself to fall into his embrace.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ethan
Eliza was soft and squishy against his hardened muscles, which turned Ethan on like a switch flipping in his brain.
The kiss they had shared was electric, sparking fires inside of both their chests.
And now, pulling her in once more, that kiss became like a wildfire that lit the embers of lust. Neither could stop kissing each other and when Ethan began to kiss his way down her cheek, to her neck, feeling her bright skin heat much like his own, he knew that night would be one neither would forget.
Bringing her this close, s
o much like that first night when he’d kidnapped Eliza and brought her directly to his home cave, made Ethan shiver with delight. The fragrance that surrounded her was sweet, like the scent of lilacs mixed with aching sweat. Her breaths became ragged as Ethan kissed below her chin, between her chest, now that she straddled him. She moaned slightly, inhaling as he continued to kiss her all over.
“Ethan…” she moaned, grabbing onto his shoulders. Working with minds of their own, Ethan’s hands touched the small of her back, gripping tightly at the cloth of the shirt that clung to her body. After another moan, Ethan straightened and grinned wryly up at her.
“You seem to be enjoying this,” he said, catching a flash in her eyes that told him to keep going.
“It’s been a while…” she replied between breaths.
“Three days isn’t so long.”
“You know what I mean!”
Shifting her weight, Ethan reached a hand around to bring her lips back to his. He wanted to taste her lips again. He almost didn’t know how to describe her, the pleasure going to his head. Finally, Ethan couldn’t quite take it anymore, and he tossed her over to the other side of the bed and threw off the sheets. She squealed as she rolled over and gazed up at Ethan, who slid off his pants, the only clothes he had on, and tossed the pair to the ground. Eliza’s blue eyes flickered between his legs, and she bit her lip, causing Ethan’s heart to lurch in his chest.
He rushed forward, climbing over the bed and clawing at Eliza’s clothes. She made no move to stop him, simply sitting there with an almost drunk-like smile on her face as she watched him fumble with her shirt. Impatient, Ethan tore at her clothes, revealing her bra beneath. He tore that off too and continued to claw at the rest of her clothes, his fingers darting everywhere. More than once she giggled, ticklish from all of his prodding, and after rolling her over countless times to get her stark naked, he grinned and dove onto her. Using his fingers he tickled her everywhere, fingertips sliding across her gorgeous skin, her laughs echoing in the cave walls.