Dating a Dragon

by Abbey MacMunn

  A forgotten past.

  A friend’s betrayal.

  Dragons of fire and ice—forced apart by a centuries-old curse.

  Cursed by a jealous sorceress, fire dragon, Phoenix, has spent centuries searching for his soulmate, the ice dragon. He never thought he would find her when a freak flying accident leaves him injured in the woods—with him wearing nothing but a smile.

  After waking from yet another death, amnesiac Kat Foster longs to learn her true identity. Trouble is, finding out who or what she is scares the hell out of her.

  While looking for her runaway dog, Kat sees a man hiding behind a bush. A naked man. With ‘things’ sizzling between them, literally, and Kat’s inexplicable flashbacks of her previous lives, she begins to think they might have met before.

  But with the sorceress hellbent on keeping them apart, Kat’s memory loss, and a friend’s betrayal, will they ever find a way to break the centuries-old curse?

  DATING A DRAGON

  Love Bites: A Dating Agency for Paranormals, #3

  Abbey MacMunn

  Published by Tirgearr Publishing

  Author Copyright 2021 Abbey MacMunn

  Cover Art: Cora Graphics (www.coragraphics.it)

  Editor: Lucy Felthouse

  Proofreader: Sharon Pickrel

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  This story is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, incidents are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  DATING A DRAGON

  Love Bites: A Dating Agency for Paranormals, #3

  Abbey MacMunn

  Chapter One

  Phoenix soared through the clouds, the cool breeze fanning his dragon wings. Heavy rain rolled off his obsidian scales, but he didn’t care. Flying was his guilty pleasure, his sanctuary, but even with the magic veil that hid his dragon form from the humans, he still had to be wary.

  “Hey, Nix, slow down,” said Egan, circling him. “What’s up?”

  With a downward thrust of his wings, Nix ignored his brother and flew above the clouds, towards the sun that shone low in the sky to the west. Egan meant well, but there was nothing he could say or do to lighten his mood today.

  It sometimes happened if he allowed it, the soul-destroying despair that clawed incessantly at his heart, ripping it a little more with each passing year. Most of the time, he coped with the loss, got on with his life, such as it was, but today felt like it was all an act, a cruel waiting game doomed never to end.

  He spread his powerful wings wider, purposely causing a shift in the airflow and breaking the aerodynamics of Egan’s flight path. His half-brother was no match for him, but it didn’t stop him from trying.

  “Watch out, you idiot!” Egan’s laughter carried on the wind. His wings twisted against the downward draft, and he dropped several metres into the clouds.

  Nix soared higher still, leaving Egan below.

  The wind buffered against his scaly skin and horn-tipped wings. He breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with the sweet air, relishing the warmth of the sun on his face, but it wasn’t enough.

  What’s the point of eternal life without her?

  Last time their souls had crossed paths, he’d imagined there had been a glimmer of recognition. He’d seen nothing more than the hint of memory in her eyes, but it was enough to give him hope that her next reincarnation would be the one where she would finally recognise him. She would remember their simple, beautiful life together before that jealous bitch of a sorceress had cursed them.

  His stomach cinched at the memory, and he caved to the anger and frustration. He needed to reach the air where it got thinner and made it difficult to breathe—the sweetest air. Just a taste to erase the memory, if only for the briefest time, then he’d come back down.

  Extending his black, iridescent wings to their full span, he soared upwards.

  “Phoenix, you’re going too high,” his brother warned.

  “Leave me alone, Egan!” he snarled, his dragon voice similar to his human one but raspier and with an occasional wisp of smoke puffing from his lips.

  Egan tried to match his tempo, but his smaller dragon wings were barely strong enough to carry his human body. “Come down. We’ll talk.”

  Nix tore through the air, beating his wings harder, faster, as he continued his ascent. “There’s no point to any of this. It’s been almost a hundred years since her last reincarnation, and I still haven’t found her.” He’d come out of this dark abyss soon; he always did, but right now, he needed to forget everything.

  “You will find her, Nix,” Egan shouted from below. “It’s just a matter of time. You have to be patient.”

  “I’m done with being patient.” His very soul ached to see her beautiful face again, but he refused to let the hope diminish because hope was all he had.

  The air thinned. He closed his eyes, retracted his wings and let them fold onto his back, then succumbed to the thrill of freefall.

  Out of nowhere, something smashed into his shoulder. Pain forced his eyes open. Wind thundered in his ears as he nose-dived through the clouds and towards the woods that loomed below.

  Shit.

  With a flex of his muscles, he spread his wings again. Excruciating pain shot through his shoulder. Both wings extended, but as he thrust them downwards to slow his fall, his left wing refused to move the way it should. Instead, it hung limply by his flank.

  He plummeted towards Egan. “Look out!”

  Nix beat his right wing hard and fast, but his descent became an out of control spiral, the ground coming ever closer.

  He collided into his brother with such force they corkscrewed downwards in a tumble of limbs and wings. Sky and land blurred.

  Egan emitted a garbled yell, but he somehow managed to control the spiral with several frantic beats of his wings. “I’ve got it, I think.”

  Holding on to him, his brother half flew, half fell towards the ground, their descent a little slower and less than graceful. They clipped a few trees on the way down.

  Nix’s four paws scrabbled across the forest floor, talons extended, trying to get a grip on the loose earth. Egan’s two human feet, clad in trainers, appeared to make a better job of it, steadying them both. Finally, they came to a stop.

  “Are you okay?” Egan asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for saving me, Egan. I take it back; you might only have the wings of a dragon, but you’re strong.”

  “Anytime. What the hell happened?” Egan retracted his wings, and they disappeared into two slits in the back of his shirt.

  “Something hit me from above, I think. Didn’t you see it?” He rotated his shoulder and growled. “I can’t move my wing.”

  “I saw something metallic whizz by, maybe a piece of plane fuselage or something. Let me have a look at your wing.” Egan drew in air through his teeth. “It looks pretty swollen.” He glanced around the forest, an anxious expression on his face. “You have to shift back
, Nix.”

  He didn’t need his half-brother to tell him. Nix bowed his head and commanded the transmutation. Scales became skin, talons became fingernails, and his reptilian vision became human once more as he shrank into his human form.

  At least that’s what should have happened.

  He craned his neck over his shoulder. His damaged wing remained unchanged and hung limply behind him. Nix ordered his wing to retract. Excruciating pain made him yell so loud a flock of birds, some two hundred metres away, took flight.

  “Nix, what’s wrong?”

  “My wing won’t cooperate. I can’t shift back completely.” This wasn’t good. He was naked in the woods—not that being naked bothered him—but he had bigger problems; namely, his wing was exposed. Granted, they were miles from anywhere, but he couldn’t risk being seen by anyone. The magic veil only worked when he was in full dragon form for flight mode. He had no need for it in his human form. What if it didn’t work to hide just his wing? “See if you can fold it back in, would you?” he asked his brother.

  Egan tried. It moved a little, but not enough. Nix vented another yell.

  “Sorry. It looks like you’ve damaged the patagium. I don’t think your wing will shift back until the swelling goes down on the skin fold.”

  Nix raked his hands through his hair and looked to the sky. “It will be dark in an hour or so. I’ll have to hike back home.”

  “It’s too risky, mate. You might be seen.”

  “It’ll be fine. No one will be out in the woods now.”

  “I’ll carry you, and we can fly to your cottage,” Egan suggested.

  Nix pressed his lips. “No, I won’t put you at risk too. Get yourself out of here. I’ll walk home.”

  Egan’s gaze flitted around the forest. “I can’t just leave you here.”

  “We can’t chance both of us being seen. You know I’m right.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. Go. I’ll call you when I get home.”

  His brother grinned. “Probably best not to mention butts when you’re standing there naked. At least get a fig leaf or something.”

  “Sorry.” He covered his manhood. Despite his predicament and his earlier mood, his brother managed to make him smile. “It’s all right for you, half-blood; you get to keep your clothes on when you fly. I don’t.”

  “No, because you are the legend, oh, magnificent one.” Egan bowed in front of him like a court jester. “The last male dragon in existence,” he said, making his voice sound dramatic, like the voiceover on a film trailer. “Keeper of the faith; destined to live for all eternity, wandering around the woods, naked as a baby, his hairy arse scaring all who dare to challenge him—”

  “All right, enough!” he interrupted, a belly laugh erupting now. He could count on Egan to take the mickey at every opportunity. “And for your information, I don’t have a hairy backside.”

  Egan pulled a face. “Ugh, I don’t want to know.”

  “Now piss off before I singe your pretty eyebrows with my dragon breath.”

  His brother laughed too. “I’d like to see you try.”

  Nix cleared his throat, pretending to ready the flames that flicked at the back of his throat.

  Egan held his hands up. “Okay, okay, I’m going.” He headed towards a clearing and extended his wings through the slits in his shirt once again. “And Phoenix?”

  “What?”

  “She will find her way to you one day.”

  Nix’s mood turned sombre once more. “I hope so, Egan,” he said, watching his half-brother as he flew away. “I hope so.”

  He rotated his shoulder and flinched. It would heal soon, thanks to his dragon’s regenerative genes, but for now, he’d have to walk and be vigilant. The last thing he needed was to bump into some random hikers. With him naked, they’d probably call the police—if they weren’t totally freaked out by a damaged dragon wing protruding from his shoulder blade like some kind of hideous medical experiment gone wrong.

  Rain trickled through the canopy of leaves, making it slippery under his bare human feet, and it was a fair way back to his cottage. Of course, if he could morph into his dragon and use his wings, he could be there quicker.

  Nix headed into the trees, his wing dragging along the ground and picking up leaves and other forest debris. As he followed a narrow path bordered either side by an abundance of bluebells, his thoughts returned to his soulmate. She’d loved the forest in the spring. They used to walk hand in hand without a care in the world, and he’d pick a bluebell and tuck it in her hair. Then her laughter would fill the forest and…

  A sound made him halt in his tracks.

  There, off to his left. Someone else was in the woods. He strained his ears and listened. One person, a female, by the lightness of the step.

  He dived behind a sprawling blackberry bush and hid.

  Why would a woman be out in the woods, alone, with barely any daylight remaining?

  Chapter Two

  Kat Foster stopped dead. A large raindrop fell from her hood and splashed onto her nose. “Toby…?” she called out, despite knowing the rustling in the bushes was too loud to be her Westie.

  More rustling. Someone was hiding behind a large blackberry bush. A man? A glimpse of bare flesh showed through the leaves and thorns. To the right, something glistened like black crystals in the fading light.

  Fear gripped her throat, sent a shiver up her spine. What would someone be doing out in the woods, possibly naked?

  She gulped. Suddenly, being lost and alone in the woods seemed more appealing than being faced with some weirdo stranger—who could be a rapist or serial killer. With the way her luck was going, he was probably both.

  If her naughty dog hadn’t run off, she wouldn’t be in this predicament. The drizzle increased to a shower. As if things couldn’t get any worse. What sane person follows her dog off the beaten track, then gets herself lost with less than an hour of daylight left?

  “H… hello, is someone there?”

  A bird squawked somewhere in the trees overhead.

  “I know someone’s there.” Kat cleared her throat, attempting to control the tremble in her voice. She reached for her bag. “I have pepper spray, and I’m not afraid to use it.” She didn’t, but he didn’t know that.

  The guy still crouched behind the blackberry bush, but now the top of his head showed through the foliage. Unruly waves of blue-black hair brushed his forehead as he shook his head. “There’s no need for that. I don’t want to hurt you, I promise.”

  His gravelly voice sounded vaguely familiar, like a whisper of a memory or a dream. Maybe it was someone she once knew from one of her past lives.

  She balled her clammy hands into fists by her sides. “Show yourself, or I’m calling the police.” Yeah, right. She’d checked her phone a dozen times, and there was no signal out here.

  Slowly, he peeked over the bush, showing only his face.

  Her breath hitched. A peculiar sensation washed over her, like being coated in warm oil. Raindrops glistened on his flawless, bronzed skin, pierced by striking, topaz-blue eyes. Her jaw dropped. She recognised him… or at least she thought she did.

  Damn amnesia.

  Maybe she did know him, maybe she didn’t. She couldn’t remember anything about her life before the accident.

  She remembered a little of her past lives, though. Flashes of recollections in her dreams, or sudden memories brought on by familiar scents or sounds, the images so vivid, she didn’t doubt the possibility of reincarnation, or maybe an eternal life. With her platinum blonde hair and clear skin, she’d even considered she might be a Norse goddess—not that there was a righteous bone in her body. Would she want to be a goddess, though? Maybe she could be related to a god instead. But forget Thor, the god of thunder, this guy was seriously rocking the Greek god look… and those eyes… oh boy, those piercing blue eyes could get a girl into trouble.

  Confusion flashed across his face. He took what seemed like several moments
before he spoke again. “Hello.”

  Did she detect a slight wobble in his voice too?

  “Hi.”

  Quietness descended around them, the only sound the gentle pitter-patter of the rain. Something unseen crackled in the air. Birds ceased their chirping. The breeze stilled.

  Their gazes locked as though frozen in a pivotal moment in time.

  The sugary scent of magic filled the space between them, the aroma like that of an old-fashioned sweet shop.

  She’d smelt magic before—her witchy best friend used magic on occasion—but this was different. Despite the fading light, the forest took on a somehow enchanted atmosphere. The bluebells seemed bluer, the leaves on the trees a brighter green—even the drizzle was warm and pleasant. If the sun had been shining, she might think she’d walked right into the pages of a fairytale picture book, but that was daft, right?

  She forgot how to breathe.

  His full lips parted slightly, his striking eyes filled with hope, with expectation.

  Did she know him? Had they met before? He wasn’t smiling, but somehow she knew the way his mouth would curl as he grinned, how one side would be slightly higher than the other, and she knew how that smile would make a dimple appear in his right cheek, denting his cocoa-coloured skin.

  A movement to her left forced her attention elsewhere. Toby appeared, wagging his tail excitedly. “Toby, there you are.” Mud covered his paws and nose. “What have you been up to, you little scamp?”

  Toby scooted past her so fast she couldn’t catch him, then made a beeline for the guy behind the bushes.

  Her dog yapped and wagged his tail like he was greeting a long-lost friend.

  The guy’s head disappeared for a few seconds, then he reappeared, holding Toby in his arms. Her dog licked his handsome face. “Hey there, boy.” He ruffled Toby’s ears and chuckled as he turned to face her.