man took her on a hell ride through the country, crashed into a deer, snatched her from the hospital, changed into a dragon and took her on a heart stopping flight through nowhere. And yet, though every sensible part of her protested, when she gazed into his blue eyes she wanted nothing more than for him to hold her. She didn’t mind that he was naked. She enjoyed gazing at his unclothed form. And she wanted to hold that body against her.

“Please stay.”

Ryan swallowed hard and seemed to be struggling with something. Then he sank to his knees on the edge of the bed.

“This has been a difficult day.”

She reached up and swept his bangs from his forehead.

“I’ve never felt this way,” she said. “I’ve never wanted to hold someone as much as I want to hold you.”

“Do you think it is because I’m a dragon?”

“Don’t you know?”

“No. I just found out what I was today. My parents hid it from me all these years.”

“That’s awful. But why would they do that? Aren’t they dragons too?”

Ryan shook his head. “No. I was adopted as a baby.”

“That’s a terrible thing to keep from you.”

“I don’t know what to think. I mean, dragons aren’t well liked in society, are they? Here in the states they are tolerated much like any other minority, but in certain places, like England, they jail someone for being a dragon.”

“I know. In the Marines we had a corporal who was a dragon. We didn’t know until he got startled one day by mortar fire and transformed. He was transferred out the next day. I never heard what happened to him.”

“I can understand why people are afraid of dragons. We’re scary as fuck.”

Steph studied his face and saw concern line his handsome face. For the first time in his life he didn’t have everything figured out. Overconfident, brash Ryan Kaur didn’t know what to make of himself. Why was he talking to her like this? On the other hand, who did he have to talk to?

“Yeah, you made my heart race there when you changed.”

“Steph, you absolutely must keep this a secret.”

“Ryan, of course I will. I’m your lawyer.”

“I’m not so sure of that. My father was pissed when I stomped out after our little talk.”

“You mean when we first met?”

“No. After the crash. I flew back and confronted him. Heard the whole sad story. Couldn’t have children but wanted them. Looked all over the world until they found your law firm that handled my adoption. Raised me as their own, etc. They saw me do some freaky things as a child, but instead of coming clean with me, had a hypnotist suppress my natural abilities. I don’t know what I’m pissed at the most, that they did that, or that they pretended I was the perfect son for so long.”

Probably the last thought Steph. That would explain so much.

“Hey, I hate to ask, but do you have any sort of pain reliever around here? My ribs are killing me.”

“I’ll go look.”

Steph couldn’t help but watch him walk away. His glutes were just as she liked them, round and firm. Damn, she must have been hit hard on the head because she was thinking some very horny thoughts about a dragon.

Ryan returned, but disappointingly he was dressed in jeans and a tee shirt. He handed her pills and a glass of water. “All we have is acetaminophen.”

“That’s fine,” she said. Steph took the pills and lay back on the bed.

“You rest, and I’ll be back. There are some things I have to take care of.”

“Okay.” She did feel drowsy. Steph snuggled into the pillow.

Before she knew it, she was flying. She didn’t know where or how, but she had the sensation of movement, and then she stopped in what looked like the courtyard of a ruin. Another woman stood there at what looked like a stone altar. She turned and Steph was struck at how beautiful she was. Long blonde hair streamed down her shoulders, and she wore a white gown that covered her body cinched at the waist with a belt of woven knots.

The woman turned and looked her up and down.

“Are you a dragon?” she said.

“No. I’m a lawyer,” said Steph as incongruous as that sounded.

“Then how- Ah, then you serve a dragon,” she said more confidently.

“I guess you can say that.”

“Who is this dragon?”

“I can’t reveal that. It is a secret.”

“I stand here at watch at the home of all dragons, where the queen of the dragons lives. I hear the cries of distressed dragons and give them directions for their flight home. Do you understand?”

“No.”

“Then know this. Tell your dragon to think on the queen of the dragons and his heart will bring him home.”

Steph gasped and sat up. A light switched on and she saw Ryan sitting in a chair by the bed.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” he said.

“How long have I’ve been sleeping?”

“Just a couple hours. Are you feeling okay? You look as white as a sheet.”

“Had a disturbing dream is all.”

“I can imagine. Here, I made us some food.”

“What? The famous Ryan Kaur can cook?”

“I don’t call making hamburgers from frozen patties cooking.”

“I’ll reserve judgment on your cooking skills.”

He handed her a plate with a hamburger on a roll.

“All we had was ketchup.”

“I don’t mind. I like my burgers naked, anyway. Aren’t you eating?”

“Ate already. Actually, I chomped on some of that deer while I was in dragon form. I’m still digesting it.”

“Raw deer? You ate raw deer?”

“As a dragon. Apparently, it is a thing we do. I tell you what though. It was delicious.”

“Ugh,” said Steph.

“Do you feel any better?”

“Some. I’m not as sore.”

“Good.”

Steph took a couple thoughtful nibbles on her burger. “So what are we going to do, Ryan? Are you going to keep me as your prisoner?”

“Prisoner? That’s not my intention.”

“Then what are they?”

“Everything is so new. I don’t know.”

He didn’t know. Well, that was just great. Her entire life was disrupted and here he was playing things by ear. This did not set well with Stephanie who lived her entire life by the motto “plan your work and work your plan.”

“Then why did you take me from the hospital?” she said sharply. “It wasn’t for my stunning legal counsel.”

Ryan’s brows drew together as the muscles in his jaw pulled tight. Confusion and concern etched lines around his eyes.

“I had to protect you. Once my father told me what he knew, I realized that you were in the center of the storm. I couldn’t stay away.”

“Couldn’t,” she said. “You mean you didn’t want to.”

“No, Steph, it was like a compulsion. I had to be with you.” He stood from the chair walking back and forth thoroughly agitated. “I used to have everything figured out. Now I do and feel things I never have before. I mean there were things I was always good at, reading the micro expressions on peoples faces, hearing things extra well, but once I shifted into dragon, instincts I never had, desires entirely foreign to me have kicked into overdrive. I’m totally in the dark and I don’t know what is going to happen next.”

Steph got up from the bed and took Ryan’s arm.

“Hey,” she said. “I understand. This is a lot to take in. But dragons have been around for thousands of years. Someone must have figured it out.”

“But I haven’t.”

“You’ve only known about being a dragon for less than a day. I think you are allowed.”

“You know what the craziest thing is? Sometimes I think I can hear your thoughts.”

“My thoughts?”

“Yeah. It’s freaky. Like you say something to me, but your lips aren’t moving.”

“Maybe you can,” she said. “I mean, we don’t know a lot about dragons, though we do know dragons do have magical abilities. Maybe that’s one of them.”

“I hate not knowing.”

He began to pace again in agitation and she moved close to him and ran her hand up and down his arm to soothe him. He stopped and looked into her eyes.

“When you are next to me like this, I feel better.”

This admission surprised and touched Steph. She reached up to brush the hair out of his eyes for the second time. He was a different man than the one she first met. The first Ryan was impatient and angry and ready to strike out at the world. This Ryan was introspective and considerate. Maybe it was from the shock of learning that everything he knew about himself was a lie. That his parents lied to him when he was growing up. That had to suck in a major way. Steph couldn’t imagine such a thing. Raised with Marine ideals from childhood, the idea of acting dishonestly made her queasy.

His brilliant blue eyes gazed at her filled with longing.

Ryan lowered his head and kissed her. The contact of his lips against her produced a pleasant buzz of electricity that shot through her entire body. Her nipples and her lower hips did too. She pressed her body against him and found his shaft hard and straining against his jeans. Steph’s breath hitched as she stroked his swollen member through the cloth. His eyelids fluttered half-lidded over his eyes and moaned.

“Woman. What you do to me,” he said.

“I want to do more,” she said. She sat on the bed tugging him to her from his waistband. Quickly she undid the button and zipper of his jeans and slid them off his hips. His cock stood hard and proud and it gave her a thrill to touch the steel and silk in her hand.

“What are you going to do?” he said.

She licked the length of it, from the base to the tip and he shuddered.

“That,” she said. “And more.”