“My heart is never going to survive this night, you know that?” She waved her hand in the air as her sanity threatened to snap. “Forget what I said before about wanting to see the dragon. I want Kohl back. Can you do that for me?”
The dragon blinked its eye, and made a clicking sound in the back of its mouth.
“No? Really?” She rubbed her forehead. “Okay, then. Well, at least having a dragon for a boyfriend distracts me from being involved in a mass shooting.” Slowly and carefully, she laid one hand against his side. His scaly skin was slightly different than, say, a lizard. Softer. But not as soft as a human’s, or a vampire’s for that matter. And also unlike a lizard, he was warm.
His side rose and fell beneath her hand as he breathed deep, and she could feel the slow, steady rhythm of his heart. This close, the natural woodsy scent that clung to him was stronger than when he was in his human/vampire form, but still achingly familiar.
She touched the wing, running her fingers as far as she could reach. Strong bones. Smooth, leathery expanse of skin between them marred only by the zigzag of veins. She didn’t touch the spikes, not knowing how sharp they were, or if they were venomous or otherwise dangerous, and now wished she’d spent more of her time at Parasupe reading the studies in their database about dragons. Vampires and werewolves had always been more interesting to her, as no dragons had ever been found on this continent. Until now.
Steadying herself with one hand on his body, she limped to his shoulder as he tracked her movements. Lifting up onto her tiptoes with a wince of pain, she tried to check out the wound. He was so large, though, she couldn’t see anything but blood running down his wing.
His large head swung forward, and again, he lifted his nose and scented the air. She wondered if all dragons did that, or if it was because of his vampire side. When he appeared content there was no danger, he lowered himself with a grunt until he was lying on his belly and his shoulder was just above her head.
Carefully, Devon gently probed the area around the wound, but without enough light, it was impossible to see how deep it went. The good news was, the bleeding appeared to be slowing, so either it wasn’t very serious, or he healed extremely fast. She wondered what had caused it. It had to have been a weapon of some sort, for surely a vampire alone couldn’t rip open a wound this large, but she didn’t remember seeing anything.
Of course, she had been running for her life.
One hand on the powerful slab of muscle, she made her way down the length of his neck until she reached his head. He didn’t lift it from where it rested on the ground, but that striking eye continued to watch her every move as she checked out the wound on his face, easier to see in the glow from his iris. When she saw it wasn’t near as bad as the one on his shoulder, she met his stare.
It was at that moment Devon realized Kohl had been wrong. “You know exactly who I am, don’t you?”
The dragon purred, the sound content.
She felt strange talking to him like this. “Thank you for saving me.” Her ankle began to ache, and she leaned back against his large neck and looked around. “So, are we just going to stay here all night, or…?”
His sides heaved as he took in a deep breath. Readjusting his head and body a bit, he settled into the damp ground.
“I guess so.” Suddenly cold and exhausted, she looked around for a good place to sit, and finally decided to just stay right where she was. Luckily, it was winter and she didn’t have to worry about fire ants. But on the other hand, it was winter and it was fucking cold.
Careful of her ankle, she sank to the ground and leaned back against the dragon’s warm neck. Exhausted, her eyes closed even as she shivered, and Devon felt his wing cover her as she drifted off.
Her last thought was wondering if she was going to wake up to discover this had all been some kind of crazy dream.
Chapter 13
Kohl shivered as he gradually became aware of cold rain trickling down his bare back and warm woman snug in his arms. Blinking his eyes open, he instantly realized where they were.
Or, where they weren’t, was more apt.
Completely alert in an instant, a quick assessment showed there was no immediate danger. Not from the sun, and not from vampires. Like any other predator, he knew instantly if any others of his kind were near. He touched his face and shoulder, feeling the remnants of some pretty serious injuries. Healing from wounds of this caliber took a lot out of him, making shifting back an experience he’d rather not remember, and he usually didn’t. He must’ve passed out. Looking up at the sky, he saw some clouds had rolled in, and it was hard to judge what time it was, but he would guess they had a good three hours before sunrise. Plenty of time for him to get them out of the open.
Devon shivered in his arms as the rain wet her face, and his body hardened instantly, eager to remind him that three hours gave them time to do plenty of other things, also. He resisted the urge to press his hips into the softness of her ass. Barely. But he couldn’t stop himself from tightening his hold around her waist and lowering his nose to her fragrant curls.
And then he smelled the blood.
His fangs extended as he carefully rolled her over, scanning her body for injuries.
There was a deep puncture wound in her neck. A wound he knew he hadn’t put there. He would remember if he’d fed from her. His blood would recognize her, and there’d be two fang punctures.
Kohl stared in utter shock.
Motherfucker.
Something harsh and primitive began churning in his gut, slowly working its way up to the surface. He realized he was making sounds he’d never heard himself make before. Possessive sounds. Violent sounds.
Devon blinked awake, and one hand came up to shield her face from the rain while the other reached for him, landing on the side of his face and jaw. “Kohl? You’re back.” She smiled in the dark, but it quickly fell from her face. “What’s wrong?” She tried to get up, but his arm lay heavy across her middle and he made no effort to release her.
She shivered again from the cold, the movement rubbing her ass provocatively against him. Though he knew she hadn’t done it on purpose, the urge to bite her was so strong, it took him a few seconds to answer. “You’ve been claimed.”
