by Liza Street
Chapter Nine
He curled up outside of her tent, with zero intention of waking her up at midnight. She needed rest. His polar bear form would help protect her from the howling wind. Even in his animal mind, he felt consumed with the need to keep her safe.
The fawn had crept closer to him as the night grew colder. Now she slept with her back resting against Nolan’s shoulder. The fact he was an apex predator didn’t seem to dissuade her, the brave little thing. Or perhaps snuggling with a predator beat freezing to death. The wind carried an added chill, this night. Snow. It wouldn’t come tonight, probably, but soon. It wasn’t unheard of in this region, even though it was late August. He wondered if Tamryn liked the snow or not. Nolan used to like it, but then it had killed Em. His own element, killing the woman he loved.
A sound drew his attention to Tamryn’s tent. She was...crying? No, she was fighting someone, struggling. But she was alone in there—no one else was in the forest with them, no one could be in her tent.
A bad dream, he realized.
He had to wake her. He didn’t want her to fight alone. Nosing open the flap of her tent, he looked inside. She lay curled in her sleeping bag, trembling. Face tight, fists clenched. Tears streamed over her nose and cheeks and she punched a fist to the side.
Nolan made a snuffling sound to wake her, but she didn’t seem to hear him. He nudged her arm with his snout.
She flailed again and her arm hit his furry leg. To his surprise, she gripped the fur in her fists. Her whimpering ceased and her body relaxed.
Had he comforted her? Well, he didn’t want to leave her now. Besides, she had a solid grip on his fur. If he left, she’d either wake, or she’d keep a chunk of him here in her tent.
Sighing, he eased to his side, gently tugging his leg away so he could face the forest beyond her tent. He was supposed to be watching for danger, after all. Jubilee, outside the tent, curled against his shoulder. Inside the tent, Tamryn accepted his movement, letting go of the fur on his leg and transferring her grip to the fur on his back, which now pressed against her. He could feel her forehead nestled against the hollow between his shoulder blades. Her breathing evened out, and she slept calmly. Nolan remained awake, his giant back half-inside the tiny tent, his teeth and claws pointing at any dangers outside.
He was only sad that he couldn’t fight the monsters in her mind.
JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT, by Nolan’s guess, Tamryn stirred again. Her nightmares were back. She called out once before she began sobbing.
His heart hurt while he listened to her. He couldn’t stand this—listening to her cry was pure torture.
Quickly, he shifted into his human form. Jubilee jumped up and gave him a look of pure outrage at being disturbed. Nolan shrugged. The little deer turned around once and curled back up, falling asleep again.
Nolan turned around to hold Tamryn. Keeping his naked legs half outside of her tent was chilly in the middle of the night. He was a polar bear, not a yeti, and he didn’t like the cold that much, so he eased his lower half into her tent. The woods were quiet; he sensed no danger.
And she was so warm in his arms. He made nonsense sounds, soothing her while her tears eventually stopped. Then he just held her gently in his arms.
Hours passed, the sky lightened. It was almost dawn and he felt the moment when she awoke. Her breath hitched and her body briefly tensed before relaxing again.
“Nolan?” she whispered.
“I’m here. You were crying in your sleep.” He shifted to the side, reluctantly releasing her.
“No,” she said, tugging one of his arms back to her waist. “You can stay. We’ll listen for danger together.”
She pressed herself against him. His dick was immediately hard and he pulled back. Not embarrassed—never embarrassed about wanting her. But he didn’t want her to feel pressured. However, she gave him a shy smile and slowly ran her hand down his bare stomach, pausing to occasionally trace the lines of his tattoos.
“Tamryn,” he said in a low voice.
“I’ve been wanting to touch you since I first saw you,” she said.
The feeling was mutual.
“But your fiancé...” Nolan started.
“I don’t know him,” she said. “As I told you, I’ve barely even spoken to him. Our betrothal was arranged by our parents. He doesn’t own my body, nor I his.”
“So, you want this, now, with me?” Nolan asked.
“Yes,” she said.
He pulled her up so she lay on top of him, her body flush against his. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and she leaned away from where he touched her burn scar.
“Don’t pull back,” he said. “I want all of you.”
Her eyes were deep violet, and they widened at his gruff tone. When he reached for her face again, she allowed his touch. Her skin on one side was soft and silky. The other side was rough and rippling. Both sides were a part of Tamryn and both were dear to him.
He pulled her closer and kissed her lips. Her taste was sweet and scorching, like the cinnamon candies he used to get as a kid. He smiled and kissed her again, thinking that she tasted like her hair looked.
Her scent enveloped him—clean air and fire—and he groaned, gripping her hips and rocking her against his dick. The fabric of her hiking pants wasn’t the softest, but he didn’t care. He only wanted to be closer to her heat, to feel her on him.
When he probed the seam of her lips with his tongue, she made a soft moan and opened for him. Her tongue met his tentatively, but as they kissed longer, she grew bolder. Their lips and tongues twined in wet heat. Raw, aching desire filled him.
He reached for the bottom of her shirt, eager to lift it up her stomach. Her body took on a new tension, so he paused.
“You still okay with this?” Nolan asked.
She kept her mouth against his. “I don’t know.”
He sensed reluctance in her. Reluctance to slow down, or reluctance to keep going? She wasn’t pulling away from him, but he needed to know what was going on inside her head. He smoothed his hands over her back, careful to leave her shirt in place. “Talk to me,” he said.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said against his mouth.
“You’re a virgin?” he asked.
She nodded, leaning back slightly to look at him with those trusting, dark purple eyes.
“Has a man touched you?” he asked.
“Fumbling kisses and fingers from a visiting prince,” she said. “It didn’t leave me wanting more.”
“Then this morning, we play,” Nolan said. His cock ached to be inside of her, but she should enjoy her first time without any fear or reservations.
She blinked at him. “Play?”
“With your permission, of course.”
When she said, “Yes,” he grinned and flipped her onto her back.
He touched her breasts over her shirt, first, drawing circles around her nipples until she started writhing.
She was so sensual, so receptive.
Slowly, he inched her shirt up to expose her breasts. They were perfect for him. Generous. They rose up and down with her breathing. When he bent over her chest and gently sucked on one of her nipples, she moaned.
“Pants off,” he said.
She helped him slide them down, along with her panties.
Resuming his attention on her nipples, he brought a hand down to her pussy and cupped her mound. Her skin was so hot, and her desire soaked his fingers.
“Nolan, please,” she whispered.
“I got you,” he said, looking into her eyes.
Her lips were parted, her eyes shining, and even in the dim light of the morning, he could see the faint blush covering her cheeks.
He slid a single finger into her pussy and groaned at the feeling of her walls squeezing him. She lifted her hips slightly, encouraging his movement within her. Smiling against her breasts, he obliged and resumed kissing and gently sucking on her nipples. She caressed his shoulders and ran her fingers through
his hair.
Nolan had never considered himself musical, but he played Tamryn’s body like a precious instrument. Each stroke, each gentle press against her flesh, elicited music in her whispers, moans, and gentle cries.
And when she came, shuddering against his hand, he drank in the music of her song.
Chapter Ten
Tamryn hadn’t known it was possible to feel so good with someone else. She’d touched herself before, curious about the hidden places on her body and wondering what was so special about the marriage bed. It had felt nice and she’d reached her peak, but it was nothing like the energy and desire she felt with Nolan.
She hadn’t been cautioned to save herself for marriage like the humans of her time, as that hadn’t been the dragons’ way, but she also hadn’t figured out what was so great about intercourse, anyway.
Now she had a pretty good idea of what lay in store for her, and she was eager.
Nolan grinned at her while they took apart her tent, and she smiled back. They were out in the forest, worried about being caught by someone called Bronson while they tried to find Tamryn’s fiancé, and yet she was happy. Was that what orgasms did to people?
No, a voice said in her head. That was love.
But it was a love that wasn’t allowed.
She had to marry Charles and continue the dragon line.
Jubilee stood nearby on her skinny fawn legs, nibbling some grass. As if sensing Tamryn’s attention of her, she looked up and twitched her ears. The expression on her face was slightly disdainful, as if she didn’t approve of what Tamryn had done.
Tamryn smiled at her. Whether or not she had the deer’s approval, she had no regrets about what she and Nolan had done.
Nolan hadn’t allowed her to return the favor of granting an orgasm. After Tamryn had stopped shaking from her own, he’d sweetly kissed her lips and told her they should think about getting a move on.
So, there was a single regret, then: Tamryn regretted that they couldn’t remain in her tent, sharing orgasms all day long.
The wind whipped her hair around her face and she quickly wove it into a braid. The sun was making a feeble attempt to warm them, but the wind kept snatching away the heat. Even little Jubilee looked cold, and she wore a fur coat.
“Maybe we should wait here for Illary,” Tamryn said. “It would be terrible to keep traveling if she’s trying to catch up with us.”
Nolan gave her a look and fastened the tent pouch. “We’re supposed to find Charles.”
“I know, but maybe we could wait a day, possibly two. That way if Illary is trying to reach us, she’ll have a better chance.”
“It would give Bronson and his men a better chance to reach us, as well. We can’t risk it.”
Tamryn bit her lip. She could argue until she ran out of breath, but it wouldn’t change the fact that Nolan was right. She was merely stalling. Illary would catch up with them if and when she wanted to. In the meantime, they should continue on their quest.
And so they would continue, even though her heart was insisting that she spend more time with Nolan. This giant bear shifter had stolen her affections without even trying, it seemed.
“We’ll get rain today,” Nolan said as he hoisted his pack to his shoulders. “Maybe snow. We should walk as far as we can before it happens.”
“Snow, in August?”
“Not that uncommon around here,” he said. “Elevation is high enough, so an early storm could bring it.”
He seemed thoughtful as he walked, and she could sense an air of regret surrounding him. The feeling persisted even though she tried to ignore it, and she hoped that with every hour they hiked, he might get over the sour heaviness tingeing his aura. Jubilee’s playful leaps over small rocks and her distractions with random bits of vegetation seemed to help, at least.
They came to another stream. Nolan yanked off his boots and socks and rolled up his pants.
Tamryn bent over to tug off one of her boots, but Nolan darted to her side. She felt his strong arms behind her. The world twisted and spun as he picked her up.
“Nolan!” she yelled—surprised, but also giddy.
“You’re not getting cold like this anymore,” he said.
She nuzzled his neck as he carried her upstream. Jubilee pranced alongside them from bank to bank, occasionally pausing to drink.
No denying Nolan was strong, just as strong as a dragon shifter. Her backpack dug into her back, and he also wore his pack, along with carrying her. That was quite a lot of extra weight. And he wasn’t even out of breath.
Looking up, she saw dark clouds gathering over the top of the mountain. “Should we find shelter somewhere?”
“Nah. If you’re up to keep going, I think we should continue.”
She didn’t want to go anywhere, but she had a duty to her people. “Of course. Let’s go.”
He stepped out of the stream and set her down. The way was uphill, and the storm battered their backs. Her hair, freeing itself from its braid, whipped around her face. Sometimes, they walked at a slant to give their tired legs a break.
The fawn had lost some of her playfulness, as if understanding the seriousness of their quest. Or perhaps the cold had made her as miserable as Tamryn.
Tamryn remembered a nursery rhyme her mother used to sing to her. She’d sit cuddled in her mother’s lap when she was small and sleepy, and the queen would make up little melodies and rhymes, just for Tamryn.
The cold wind blows
And we shall have snow
And what will the dragons do then?
They’ll light up with fire
And circle the spires
And soar through the sky on jeweled wings.
“What are you humming?” Nolan asked, startling Tamryn out of her memories.
“A nursery rhyme that my mother used to sing,” Tamryn said.
“I know it,” Nolan said, and sang, “The white flames dance, bringing romance, and warming the coldest of things.”
Tamryn gaped at him. His face was the same as always, his gray eyes open and honest.
“How do you know that?” she asked.
He shrugged.
“No, you must answer me, because this is impossible. My mother invented that little song. For me. She started with an existing rhyme and built it into a song for dragons. No one else should know it.”
“I dreamed it,” he said simply.
Impossible. Tamryn didn’t know what to say, other than to repeat what she’d just spoken, and that wasn’t helpful. He had dreamed it? She walked ahead, vaguely conscious of his progress behind her as they made their way up the mountain. Jubilee walked at her side, dark eyes huge and watchful. Tamryn didn’t know how to look at Nolan, or what to believe.
“I learn things in dreams sometimes,” he said, his voice soft as if he was afraid of startling her and the fawn. “My father was a dream-walker. You’ve heard of dream-walkers, haven’t you?”
“Yes.” Tamryn had heard of them through stories; they were a band of witch shifters, particularly dangerous because of their ability to manipulate minds. They had been hunted almost as much as dragon shifters.
“I don’t have his abilities, but my brother does. Still, I know things sometimes, and I hear them. I’ll wake up with a thought in my head. Or, like the night before you came out of the sphere, a song.”
“That song in particular?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
He was quiet, but she sensed more beyond what he’d said. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and Tamryn wondered just how strong of a storm they were about to face.
“Can you direct the dream-walking at all?” she asked after a long moment. The sound of their steps was drowned by the wind blowing around them, and she had to raise her voice to be heard over the gale.
“No. If I could...” He trailed off.
That sadness she’d sensed in him before was back, stronger than ever.
“Do you think you could have stopped something bad that happened?”
she asked, turning to look at him.
He gazed back at her. “Yes.”
A series of raindrops fell on her head and neck. She looked around and listened. Drops pelted the vegetation, driven harder and colder by the wind.
“Come on,” he said. “We’ll find a place to make camp.”
She imagined discovering a nice dry cavern somewhere and sitting out the storm with Nolan. Maybe they’d set out their sleeping bags and “play” some more, like they had in her tent this morning. Maybe they would do more than play, although she was happy with what they’d done.
A shadowed crevice in the rock ahead looked like it could be a cavern. The steep incline had flattened out somewhat, and her exhausted legs were grateful. She aimed herself at the rocky face and dragged herself forward.
Her foot caught on something and her ankle twisted. Jubilee leaped back, startled, as Tamryn fell to the ground. She caught herself with her hands. Sharp pain radiated from her wrists and palms. Her ankle ached like it had been wrenched the wrong way.
“Hey, I’ve got you,” Nolan said, lifting her up.
She couldn’t put weight on her twisted ankle. The rain pelted them, stronger than ever, and thunder rumbled, louder than it had been moments ago.
“The sooner we’re under cover, the better,” Nolan muttered.
“I thought I saw a cave ahead,” Tamryn said. “I couldn’t be sure, though.”
Keeping a hand on Tamryn, Nolan squinted through the falling rain to where she pointed. “I think you’re right.”
He scooped her up and carried her to the shadowed rock, Jubilee keeping pace at his side. The hollow wasn’t a large enough cavern to lie down in, but they could sit and lean against the rock along with Jubilee, and the overhang would keep most of the rain off of them.
She felt warm in his arms, protected. She hadn’t truly felt safe in so long, and this was the closest thing to safety and security.