Owen flew nonstop until dusk, but he kept his pace much slower than it had been the night before. For one thing, he didn’t want to wear himself out completely. He needed to save some of his strength in case Saul’s army did manage to find and attack Raven and him. For another thing, flying during daylight was more dangerous than flying at night. Keeping his pace slow allowed Raven to cast a more effective invisibility spell over them. So far, the spell seemed to be working, because they hadn’t been attacked and hadn’t seen any sign of enemy soldiers.

When darkness started falling, he decided it was a good time to stop and rest. He was hungry, and they had made good progress today. Owen felt he deserved a break, and he found a somewhat rocky spot to stop and rest. The scenery had once again become flat and desert-like, and there weren’t many well-sheltered places around. Hopefully, the darkness and Raven’s invisibility shield would be enough to keep them safe tonight, and allow them a good night’s rest.

“According to the GPS, we’re pretty much on the border of Texas and New Mexico right now,” Raven announced as soon as Owen had shifted back into human form. She had already spread out their sleeping bag, and was now pulling some of his clothes out of their backpack. She tossed him a shirt and a pair of pants, then sat down on the sleeping bag next to the backpack.

“That’s good,” Owen said. “We should be able to make it to the shifter protectors sometime tomorrow.”

“Assuming they’re still there,” Raven said.

“They’re there,” Owen said as he pulled on his pants. Raven looked at him skeptically, and he supposed he couldn’t blame her. He had no sure way of knowing that the shifter protectors, and his own clan leader, Knox, were all still there and alright. But he felt deep in his heart that they were, and that was assurance enough for him.

Raven shrugged and started digging in the backpack for some food. “I hope you’re right,” she said. “And I hope this is the last night for a while that I have to eat a meal replacement bar for dinner. I’m so sick of these things,”

“Me too,” Owen said. “But at least we have food and don’t have to try to sneak into another town right now. I think it’s better to keep ourselves as low profile as we possibly can. With any luck, we’ll be feasting on Texas barbeque tomorrow night.”

“Hopefully with a side of cold beer,” Raven said as she tossed Owen one of the meal replacement bars.

“Now you’re talking,” Owen said with a grin. He came to sit down by Raven, and the two of them munched hungrily for a few minutes. Owen looked up at the sky, which was almost fully dark now. The stars were already shining brilliantly, and he smiled as he watched them twinkling.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Raven said, following his gaze.

Owen reached his left hand over to rest on Raven’s right knee. “Very beautiful,” he said. “There’ nothing quite like looking up at a night sky when you’re miles away from any big cities. Well nothing except…”

He let his voice trail off, and Raven looked at him with one of her eyebrows raised in a questioning expression.

“Except?” she asked.

He grinned at her and then, in one swift move he pushed her over onto her back so that he was on top of her.

“Except making love under an open night sky, miles away from any big city.”

Raven rolled her eyes at him, but he could see by the moonlight the flush of excitement that was starting to creep its way into her cheeks.

“You’re ridiculous,” she managed to say, but her voice sounded breathless and full of anticipation. She wanted him. He was sure of it.

“Am I, now?” he said, then bent his head forward so that his lips met hers. He felt a familiar heat filling his body as he kissed her, and he closed his eyes so that he could fully enjoy the sensation. To his surprise though, Raven pulled her face away and tried to wriggle out from under him. He opened his eyes again to find her shaking her head at him.

“Owen, this isn’t a good idea.”

His heart dropped, and the hair on the back of his neck actually stood on end from the sense of alarm that filled him. He sat up slowly, trying to keep his breathing even.

“Why not?” he asked. He didn’t like the feeling of dread that her words gave him. He wasn’t used to being rejected by women, and especially not by a woman who less than a day ago had told him she loved him. A thousand different scenarios flooded across his mind, each more troubling than the next. Was their romance really going to be that short? Or was she trying to play one of those games women play where they act like they’re rejecting you just to make you want them more? Owen frowned and crossed his arms. He wasn’t going to play a game like that, and he would have thought Raven was better than that. Or maybe she just thought they shouldn’t be together because they were colleagues? Because he was a dragon and she was a wizard? Because their friends had all teased them that they liked each other and they had been vehemently denying it for months?

“Why not?” Owen repeated. His voice sounded strained and raspy, which surprised him. He was not in control of this situation, or his emotions, and he didn’t like that. But how could he be expected to control his emotions when the woman he loved was sitting there telling him that they shouldn’t sleep together? Oh, god. Was it the sex? Had she not liked the sex? He thought he’d done a good job of pleasuring her, but then again, some women were good fakers.

“Raven,” he said, hating the way the frustration he felt was so obvious in his tone of voice, but unable to stop himself from talking. Raven wasn’t looking at him now, though. She was scanning the sky, her eyes passing back and forth over the glittering stars with an intense focus.

“They could be anywhere,” she said. “Saul’s soldiers could be anywhere, and we don’t know for sure how well our invisibility shields are holding. If we start fooling around and stop paying attention, we’re giving them an open invitation to swoop in and attack us while we’re completely unaware and completely helpless.”

Owen felt his breath go out of him in a rush of relief. So that was all. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him, or didn’t want him. She just thought it was dangerous to make love under the stars when Saul’s soldiers might be hiding in those stars, waiting for an opportune moment to attack.

She was right, of course. But he didn’t give a damn about safety at the moment.

He gave a low, hungry growl, and then pushed her back onto the sleeping bag. “If they’re watching, let’s give them something to watch,” he said. He reached to start pulling off her shirt, tearing it off her body so quickly that it was gone almost before she had a chance to realize what he was doing.

“Owen!” she squeaked out in protest. ‘This is a bad idea. The invisibility shield…”

“It hasn’t failed us yet today,” Owen said. He tore off her bra, and then her pants and then removed the clothes from the lower half of her body in a matter of seconds. His dragon was roaring within him, hungry and desperate. He had to have her. So what if they were in a risky situation? He’d spent his whole life living on the edge, but nothing had ever made him feel quite as reckless as Raven’s beautiful face. He jumped to his feet to take off his own pants, and in a few moments he was just as naked as Raven was.

“Owen,” she said, protesting again. But her protest was a little weaker this time. She looked up at him with wide, hungry eyes. Her naked body looked exquisite in the moonlight, and he saw a flash of silver as the moonlight shimmered off the wet spot that was now growing between her legs. Her mind might be trying to hold her back, but her physical body could not resist him.

And he could not resist her.

“It’s dangerous,” she whispered in one more feeble attempt to hold him back.

“I know,” he said. But he did not slow down as he moved above her. She closed her eyes then, and he knew she was giving in to the desire that was holding them both captive. The primal urging inside of him, the burning love, the electricity in the air between them…it was all too much for him to hold back out of fear of attack. Let the enemy dare to interrupt this moment. Owen would kill anyone who got in his way right now. He would not be stopped. The desire was too strong.

He opened his eyes one last time, and saw Raven reaching up toward him. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and he felt her hips arching up to met him as he rammed into her. The moment they connected felt like an explosion. Heat rushed through his body, setting every last bit of him on fire. He closed his eyes and let the inferno take him.

The pressure built in his body as he rammed hungrily into her, over and over. He could be a gentle, tender lover when he wanted to, but there was nothing gentle about his movements right now. The hunger that filled him at this moment did not allow for tenderness. It was a blind, raging hunger that could only be satisfied by one thing.

Her.

She was perfection, he thought, as he slid in and out of her. Her slick, soft warmth enveloped him. He had never known a passion this intense. His body felt like it was entirely composed of electricity, with every nerve ending crackling and buzzing. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his consciousness tried to warn him to stay alert. There were enemies afoot, and he could not completely let down his guard, even in a moment like this. But focusing on anything other than Raven proved impossible, especially when she arched her back even further and pushed her hips up against him as she exploded. She screamed out in ecstasy, and he opened his eyes to watch her as she came.

Her nipples were hard and her breasts full, bouncing softly in the moonlight as her body shuddered beneath him. Her inner muscles clamped around him over and over as she tossed her head back and forth, as though trying to contain the sensations that filled her. Her face was scrunched up tightly, and Owen felt a thrill rush through him at the sight of it. He had done this to her. It was his body, his movements, his love that had made her feel this way. This knowledge turned him on like nothing else, and he felt the pressure between his legs growing to an impossible climax.

Once again, he squeezed his eyes shut, and then he was completely gone. The inferno within him centered itself between his legs, and then he stiffened as he completely lost control and came into Raven. His dick throbbed, pushing back against her inner walls, which were still clenching around him. They were lost together in the pure bliss of being one with each other. The moment had come so hard and fast, but sleeping with her was anything but quick and casual. This perfect pleasure had resulted from a buildup of months and months of desire. And even as the trembling in his body slowed down, and his panting evened out to a more reasonable, even breathing, he knew that making love with her would never feel anything less than extraordinary. She was too good and too sweet, and her fire burned him too fiercely. They were made for each other.

With an exhalation that was somewhere between a shudder and a sigh, Owen finally pulled out of Raven to lie next to her. But before his sweaty body had completely disconnected from hers, he saw her eyes widen, and she shrieked.

“Owen! They found us!”

The words registered in his mind only moments before a loud, thundering explosion sounded off, filling the night sky with streaks of fire.