Her Sexy Beast

by Karin Shah

His senses were keen, her newly awakened instincts informed her.

  He could smell feelings and hear her heartbeat, but he was far gone enough that it would be easy for him to misinterpret what he saw and felt. There was only one way to convince him it was worth the fight to stay human.

  She had to show him what was in her heart.

  Nothing but a complete and total embrace of all his facets would suffice.

  She folded to her knees and inched closer to him. “Roan, I’m here for you.” The words felt inadequate, flimsy, but words were the only tools she had.

  While she’d been strategizing, he’d been vibrating with coiled rage, ready to lash out. The tension in his muscles relaxed a little. Maybe he recognized her for the first time.

  “Sofia.” His voice resounded in the narrow space, as if originating from a steel barrel, far too deep and echoey to come from a human chest. He straightened in the corner.

  Was he taller than before? Bigger?

  “You came back.” There was an edge to his tone that said people didn’t return once they’d left. She knew it well, having lived that truth, her tia and the carnival being the only constants in her life.

  “Of course.” She edged nearer. “Tia is fine. It was just a false alarm.”

  The thicker scales on his face made it difficult to read his expression, but a flicker of relief shone in his eyes. No matter how beast-like he appeared, he was still human at his core.

  Talking about other concerns seemed to calm him.

  She groped for a topic. “Um, about last night—I have so many questions.” Always good to kill two birds with one stone.

  More rigidity visibly seeped from him, not just his muscles, his scales seemed to soften, as well. “Go ahead.”

  The knot in her stomach loosened. She realigned herself to put her back against the side of the bed. “So you’re a chimera. Tell me about all—” She waved a hand to showcase his alterations. “—this.”

  “Chimeras are magical creatures born long-ago of a curse. I’m turning into a dragon, losing myself.”

  She wanted to shake her head, to reject the idea, but not because she didn’t believe him, because she refused to accept that result. Still, a tiny bit of insecurity remained. What was so exceptional about her? “Thalia said I can help you re-gain your human form. Why me? Why not Lu? Or Thalia? Is it just because she needed to lead the deputy away?”

  Roan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. His gaze skirted hers, finding the window, the wall.

  Whatever he was about to say, it wasn’t easy for him.

  She clenched her teeth, and massaged her chest over her galloping heart, anxious for his answer. Whatever he was going to say, she couldn’t fall apart.

  Finally, he met her gaze. “Every chimera has one person who’s perfect for them—a mate. You’re mine.”

  The answer was like a punch to the solar plexus, she had to suck in the wind it knocked out of her. You see. The words were purred with satisfaction from that strange part of her that got louder every day.

  The walls of the trailer blurred around her. Her logical mind examined the words from every side. A mate was a biological thing. A product of chemistry not emotion. Part of the urge for a species to procreate.

  Were her feelings for him that basic?

  She was an independent woman, but his words of claiming warmed her to her center. Still, she wasn’t an animal.

  Her body recognized him at an instinctual level, had she confused sexual desire for something more?

  And what about Roan? He hadn’t said anything about feelings. About love. A lump filled her throat. Why did she feel so sad? What had she wanted him to say?

  ~ ~ ~

  His dragon writhed against its containment as Roan absorbed Sofia’s silence. A thousand emotions colored her features. He watched her consider his declaration. He could see and smell a note of joy, but also, despair, confusion, and anxiety.

  The light from the window gave way to shadow.

  She didn’t want to be his.

  Anguish flooded through his chest. His breathing became labored. Claws formed on his hands. Fuck. He teetered on the edge of transforming completely.

  He fought for control. No. He wouldn’t give in to the pain. To do so here might endanger Sofia. He had no idea how large his dragon was, surrendering inside this container could be devastating to anything present.

  A noise from outside snatched at his attention. A heavy-footed someone approached.

  His acute senses told him exactly who it was. Guy.

  No knock this time. A fist grasped Roan’s door handle. Was it locked? He didn’t think so. The handle turned.

  Sofia’s eyes went wide.

  This was going to be bad and Roan didn’t want her involved.

  Hide. He spoke to her for the first time in his mind, as only a mate or someone deeply connected could.

  Her gasp told him he’d reached her. Maybe it was the shock of his speaking telepathically, but she didn’t argue, diving with more than human speed into his bathroom, and shutting the door, just as the carnival’s new investor barged in.

  Roan dragged a sheet from the bed and wrapped it around himself as he crouched in the corner.

  Guy stomped into the bedroom. “I knew you were here! Come on, there’s a deputy in the woods who has a warrant for your arrest. Or run away. I don’t care. I just want you gone.”

  “Why?” Roan tried to sound normal, but the shredded multi-tonal quality of his voice rang through the trailer like nails on a chalkboard. Its unnaturalness fed his dragon. He couldn’t imagine what it sounded like to Guy.

  But the other man must have been too incensed for whatever reason, or maybe he was completely self-absorbed, because he gave no sign he detected anything out of the ordinary.

  His dragon hated Guy. More, it despised the fact that the impresario shared space with Roan’s mate, the thin walls of the bathroom notwithstanding. Roan dug his claws into the molded plastic wall behind him. They sunk inside as if the structure were made of wax.

  The other man stalked forward, enraging Roan’s dragon further. A surge of power transformed his hands from fingers with claws to full on talons.

  Guy raised a ruddy fist. “Don’t think I haven’t heard you’ve been running after Sofia. Though, what she could see in you I can’t imagine.” He made a noise of pure contempt and moved closer. “Sofia’s mine.” He bared his perfect teeth, spit flew far enough to be visible in the light. “Together we can push her aunt out and make this outfit the next Cirque De Soleil. Sure, she’s not up to my usual standards, but once I get her on a diet and exercise regime . . .”

  Guy’s advance, and his disparagement of Sofia, decimated the last remnants of Roan’s control. He lunged forward. Guy screamed as Roan’s claws punctured the skin and flesh of his shoulders.

  Chapter 27

  “No!” Sofia had heard every word through the door, and Guy’s screech prompted her to throw it open and vault toward the two men.

  She clutched at Guy’s back. “Roan! Let him go! He’s not worth it!”

  That inner voice guided her words. “It doesn’t matter what he says. He’s nothing to me.”

  Roan stiffened and drew back, his face morphing in front of her eyes until the almost human features he always wore took over. He eased back, but before he could release Guy altogether, a muffled bang shattered the atmosphere.

  Sofia screamed. Roan went white beneath his scales and let go of Guy, sinking back onto the bed, a bloody wound visible on his lower abdomen where his scales thinned into skin.

  Guy had shot him.

  The impresario backed up. His eyes were wild. He threw the gun away from himself. It clattered on the wood laminate floor. “He attacked me. You saw.”

  The sight of her mate bleedin
g on the mattress burrowed straight to an instinct as fierce as a valkyrie. Her hand lashed out and her balled fist slammed into Guy’s jaw. A burst of pain flared in her knuckles.

  She’d never hit anyone in her life. She hadn’t even thought she could punch someone, let alone knock them out, but he didn’t even make a noise, just buckled and folded like a collapsible lawn chair. Her human side back in control, she squeaked and lurched toward him to stop his head from impacting the floor.

  She stared at her aching hand for a second, then bounced a glance between the unconscious Guy and Roan.

  There was no contest.

  She knelt on the edge of the bed, grasping a corner of the sheet that had fallen and packing it against the flowing wound. “Roan? Oh my God!” She patted her pockets with one hand for her phone. “Shit!” Her vision glazed. “My phone’s in the car. Where’s yours? You need an ambulance.”

  His voice rang of dragon, but he stayed human. “I don’t have one. Who would I call?” His voice weakened with every word. “An ambulance won’t make it in time anyway. I’m bleeding too fast.”

  The room travelled around her. He was dying. She couldn’t breathe. She’d found him such a short time ago. How could she lose him this fast?

  A convulsion of pain twisted his face. His eyes closed.

  No. She clutched his hand with the hand not applying pressure to his wound. “Roan! Please!” Something ruptured inside her. “Don’t leave me. I love you.”

  What had she said? She’d never said those three little words to anyone but family.

  A feeble smile pushed at the corners of his mouth. “You do?” There was an incredulous edge to his breath-filled voice, as if a genie had offered him three wishes and he were afraid to believe it.

  She trembled, taking stock. Yes, she’d spoken in the spur of the moment, but it was true. “I do.” She sniffed. “So don’t you dare die on me.”

  He closed his eyes again. “I’ll try.”

  They needed help. She frantically studied the room, searching for a miracle. Her gaze fell on the window. Memory burst over her. Thalia had spoken directly to her mind. Maybe Sofia . . .?

  Tears chilled her cheeks. But Thalia is a witch. She has magic. Damnit, she shook her head, rejecting reason and something wet landed on the hand she pressed to Roan’s abdomen. It was worth a try.

  She summoned the sensation she’d gotten when Thalia and Roan had spoken to her mind, and thought as loud as she could. Thalia! Thalia!

  No answer.

  You can’t do it, the voice of doubt insisted, and more tears landed in her lap. I have to. She clapped back. Maybe I’m just doing it wrong. She closed her eyes and imagined Thalia out there misleading the deputy. If she could somehow pitch her inner voice at the witch. Thalia! Nothing. She tried again. Thalia!

  Sofia? Thalia’s answer sounded far away. I didn’t know you could speak telepathically.

  Sofia didn’t bother to respond to that. We need help. Roan was shot in his lower abdomen. He’s bleeding out.

  Shit. Thalia swore. I’m all out of magic.

  The witch was silent for a long moment, and Sofia’s shoulders quivered with the force of her sobs. Thalia had been her last hope.

  Sorry, had to duck under cover. I’m out of magic, but Roan’s not. Thalia continued without waiting for Sofia’s response. If he shifts completely, he’ll heal.

  Sofia didn’t wait a second. “Thalia says shifting will heal you.”

  Roan didn’t question the source of the information. “Yeah, my dragon has been urging me to shift, but I didn’t trust it. I’ll need space.” He tried to rise, but fell back immediately. “Dizzy.”

  She swallowed. “I’ll help you outside.” Relying on a lifetime of television, she wadded more sheet against his entry wound and helped him sit, peering at his back for an escape wound. There was none. “The bullet must still be inside you. Maybe your scales stopped it from going straight through.”

  She strained to lift him to no avail, then tapped into the mythical warrior maiden who’d laid Guy out, and with Roan’s help levered him to his feet, skirting the prone Guy and maneuvering to the door, gritting her teeth and panting with effort.

  She popped the trailer door and scanned the campground. No one was around and distant shouts emanated from the far-off tree line. Out of magic or not, Thalia’s ruse still occupied the others.

  She aided Roan to the ground and stepped away. He rocked in place, but stayed on his feet. A layer of perspiration gleamed over his scales. She’d never seen him so pale except when he’d been in full human form the night before. Scarlet blood blossomed on the sheet he held, and expanded.

  His face was tight with pain, white showed in the corners of his draconian eyes. “I’m afraid. Maybe I’m too screwed up to shift, or my dragon takes over?”

  The vulnerability of the confession made Sofia’s heart ache.

  And what if he were right? What if the scientists’ drugs had damaged him too much? Or he were lost to his dragon?

  No. She refused to believe either option. This had to work. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “You can do it. I know it.”

  He sighed and closed his eyes. For several breaths, nothing happened. Her heart plummeted into her stomach. Please, God, please.

  His eyelids lifted and he met her gaze, his face twisted with apology. “Foggy. Hard to concentrate.”

  Of course, his brain was hazy. There was so much blood. She held in a sob. Without immediate medical intervention, that injury would kill a human.

  But he’s not human, a voice reassured her. That’s right, he wasn’t human. Still, too much blood loss could leave a chimera too weak to shift. Somehow she knew that too. She dashed away her tears with the back of her hand. “Please try again. For me?”

  He gave an approximation of a nod, but it was more like his jaw hit his chest. He staggered a little in place as if he might fall.

  She couldn’t restrain more tears. Had she ever felt more helpless? All she could do was watch.

  He managed to stay on his feet, his ribs expanding and contracting shakily like a ride with leaky hydraulics.

  He bent at the waist and reeled, wheezing.

  She was about to go to him when a flash seared her retinas, a bullet dropped to the dirt with a tiny thud, and a massive bronze dragon towered over her.

  She mopped her damp cheeks with her sleeve. He’d done it! He’d done it! “Thank God!” It was her turn to prop her hands on her rubbery knees. She drew a deep breath, letting it out in a gust.

  She straightened. The knot in her stomach unraveled.

  Her panic gone, the wonder of the sight before her washed over her all at once.

  Roan was a dragon.

  She examined him, taking in every detail of his form, as if this were the last time she would see it. He was bigger than his trailer, not even counting the ridged tail extending almost as far from his body as he was tall. A rainbow sheen reflected from each bronze scale plating every visible inch. He had a long muzzle and massive horns above the leaf-shaped ears on either side of his head. Spikes tapered, almost as big as his horns, over his neck and shoulders to perhaps six inches down his spine.

  His four feet were talons, with tips so sharp they could tear prey to ribbons with barely a thought. The points of the white fangs just visible through his slightly open mouth glinted knife-like.

  She should have been afraid. A tiny part of her remembered that. If Roan lost control in this shape, the results could be devastating. She stood unprotected in front of a dangerous predator.

  But despite their reptilian size and shape, the vivid green eyes set under bony cheekbones still looked like Roan’s.

  He released a soft chuff and lowered his head, as if attempting to make himself smaller and less threatening. She smiled and stepped closer,
wanting to touch his scales. Before her fingers could contact his cheek, a shout from the forest caused him to jerk away, his gaze narrowed and his mouth opened. He rose up, muscles bunching, like a cobra about to strike. Damn! She was about to lose him.

  She had to get him away from here. He was too unstable.

  The skin at her nape quivered. Even if he managed to resume his human form, he couldn’t be arrested. Only a tornado could rival the devastation and destruction he might unleash if he lost control in the confines of a police station. She didn’t have to have experienced it to know accidentally killing someone would erase his tenuous grip on his humanity.

  She waved her hands slowly to draw his attention from the trees. “Roan! It’s okay. But you need to be human now. I’ll bring my car around, but you can’t get in it like this.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Roan fought to tear his focus from the threat he heard crashing through the underbrush. His hearing was so acute in this form, even at this distance, he detected each individual man and woman in the woods.

  His rational mind said only the deputy was a danger, but his instincts were overwhelming in this form and at the moment, they identified friend and foe alike as an enemy.

  “Roan!”

  Something tickled his cheek. He started to lash out with his muzzle, but stopped just as his mouth brushed the offender. Sofia.

  His huge heart pounded. He went icy cold. He’d almost injured Sofia, almost hurt his mate. The knowledge gave his human side room to seize the reins.

  She cupped his jaw. Her liquid-brown gaze locked on his. “Roan, you need to be human now.”

  She was right, naturally.

  Staying in this shape was perilous at this point. He could be seen and his dragon mind was one perceived attack from re-taking control.

  He rolled his head on his long neck. But this form felt so powerful, so proficient. Let someone dare assault them. As for a car, he didn’t need one. He could take his mate and fly away from here.