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Peri
Though there wasa chill in the air, I barely felt it. Instead, I was nestled up against my dragon, the heat of him keeping me toasty warm. I’d expected Mishal’s scales would feel reptilian, but they were smooth and hard. Sadly, not hard enough or I’d be cuddling with a man instead of a dragon. In this position, I could hear the blood pumping through his veins and the sound of his pulse lulled me to sleep almost as much as his rhythmic breathing. My nerves were more frayed than I cared to admit. We’d had far too many close calls in the last two days. A nice, quiet life sounded pretty perfect, but what kind of life would I have with this man who’d managed to claw his way past mydefenses?
Suddenly, I heard the sound of a helicopter and saw a floodlight coming through the trees on a direct path for us. I hopped off of Mishal and planned to rouse him, but his eyes were already open. “You probably need more time to heal. You have no clothes. What the hell are we going to do?” I could feel my heart racing. Why hadn’t I considered the police would show up when the cabin went up like a Romancandle?
I hopped off him and began to pace. Before I could work myself up into a complete frenzy, Mishal laid a hand on my shoulder. “Come with me,” he murmured. “We’ll hide. Then when the helicopter lands, we’ll fly back to my clothes. We’ll meet up with the police on ourterms.”
My brows shot up. “We’llfly?”
“I’ll fly. You’ll ride,” he joked, even as he doubled over in pain. “This way.” He reached out and took my hand to lead us deeper into thewoods.
Shaking my head in wonder, I realized I’d follow this man anywhere. For someone whose role had always been that of a leader, this was a change. I expected I’d feel more off balance, but I actually felt this amazing sense of peace, like all was right with my world. I’d never experienced anything like this before. Soon, Mishal must’ve decided we were far enough away from the crime scene. He shifted and again I curled up with my dragon, but this time my eyes remained open, my body on full alert. A good fifteen minutes passed before the helicopter landed and police cruisers pulled up. In the distance, I thought I picked out Detective Jeffries. They had obviously been looking for me. Finally, Mishal decided it was safe and his head nudged me to climb up onto his shoulders. Once I had settled in, he galloped a few feet before launching us into the air. Sure, if I moved too far one direction or another on his slippery scales, I could plummet to my death, but that thought barely crossed my mind because I knew Mishal would never let any harm come to me. He seemed to know exactly where we were going. In all of ten minutes we were landing. When I slid off him, I sighed. “Too soon,” I mourned. “I really enjoyed ridingyou.”
Mishal shifted and grinned. “Say the word and you can ride me whenever you like.” He waggled his brows then wrapped his arms around me. “No rush, cupcake, but I’m really looking forward to claimingyou.”
I hooked my hands behind his neck. “I look forward to being claimed.” I studied the area. We were entirely too close to the road. “Sadly, this is neither the time, nor the place, but soon. Ipromise.”
Mishal nodded. “Me too.” He walked a few feet away and I saw where he’d left his clothes in a neat pile. “Let me get dressed, then we can call Stephen, if we can get any reception. If we can’t, we walk and wait for the police to find us.” Mishalshrugged.
“Sounds like a plan.” I smiled and turned around, trying not to appear too interested in his body by watching him get dressed, but honestly, it took every bit of restraint in me to not stare. I could gaze at him all day and never growbored.
Once clothed, Mishal turned on his phone and he shook his head. “Not looking good. We barely have asignal.”
“It’s worth a try,” Igrumbled.
We stepped out onto the road and he tried to make a call, but it didn’t go through. We started trudging down the road and walked all of fifteen feet when his phone began to ring. As he glanced at the screen, Mishal laughed. “Fredo! So glad to hear from you.” He hit the button to place it onspeaker.
“Have you managed to reconnect with Peri?” he askedanxiously.
“I’m here, Uncle Fredo,” Iresponded.
“Very good.” There was a slight pause before he added, “So, have you…made itofficial?”
We let out a collectivegroan.
“Enough said.” Hechuckled.
“We still have to deal with the police,” Mishal explained. “And we’re lost in the woods, so it could be awhile.”
“Perfect. I’ll be in touch soon.” Then Fredo ended thecall.
“He’s usually a lot more loving and supportive than this,” Imumbled.
“He always is…in his own way.” Mishal hauled me against his body and my frustration meltedaway.
We plodded along in silence for a few minutes. He was tired since he hadn’t truly finished healing. I was worn out from expending so much energy to fend off Spencer. We needed showers, food, and sleep, but all I could think about was getting him into bed. Then a car drove toward us and we realized Stephen had come back forus.
“Climb in. The police are looking for you,” he explained through the open window. “I’d about given up on findingyou.”
“Well, thankfully you pressed on.” Mishal turned to me. “Shall we get this overwith?”
“So we can get on with our life?” I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes. As soon aspossible.”
Soon we were back at what remained of the cabin while Jeffries questioned us. “I found her,” Mishal announced. “Unfortunately, during the rescue, Spencer Morse decided he’d rather die than go to jail. He set the place and himself ablaze.” His shouldersdrooped.
“It was terrible,” I added. “The minute he realized there was no escaping his fate, he tried to kill us.” I showed the wound on my arm. “When that didn’t work, he killed himself.” I wrapped my arms around my body. “I’ve never seen anything so terrible in all mylife.”
“You’re very brave,” Detective Jeffries told me. Then he turned to Mishal. “And you’re verystubborn.”
