Naomi gasped as Col lavished attention on her breasts. Licking. Sucking. Nipping. Her core was throbbing in moments. Her objections and worries were melting away like the snow in a spring thaw.

That’d been his plan all along…and it was working.

His hands trailed to her waist. He was undoing her jeans now and pulling them down her legs. Then her pants were gone, and he was leading her into the hot shower stall.

The water was scalding, but it felt so good. She stepped into the center of the water stream and let it sluice comfortingly over her body.

All she could feel was the soothing presence of the water and Col’s hands working soap up and down the length of her body. Her mind left her worries and focused on him.

On the here and now.

She grabbed the bar of soap from her dragon man and worked up a lather on his hard muscles as well, being sure to cover every single inch. Water flowed over them as they moved, washing away the dirt and the blood and the worry.

Naomi got some shampoo and worked it into his shoulder length brown hair. He was so gorgeous. Her own personal barbarian warrior. He was cut like a superhero. Hard abs that led down in a V-line to a more than impressive cock. Arms like freaking granite. Nothing about him was soft, except the way he cared for her.

He returned the favor, massaging shampoo into her curls. Rubbing until everything just drifted away on the steam of the shower. The water was scalding; hotter than she would’ve normally had it before. Now it felt so good. Almost like she was bathing in fire.

Was there any merit to what he’d said? Was she really changing? Was that possible?

Once the shampoo was rinsed away, she turned in the shower, pressing her aching breasts against his chest.

Col didn’t need any more encouragement. His cock was hard and insistently nudging her stomach. “Naomi.” His voice was a deep growl that turned every brain cell to mush.

Anything he wanted. Everything he wanted.

“Yes,” she murmured.

His hands skimmed over her back from her waist up to her shoulders, then down to cup her breasts. He thumbed the hardened nipples and she hissed out a quick breath. If he wasn’t careful, she was liable to come right then. Just from that.

Col turned her, so his back was to the water, then knelt down, grabbed one of her calves and lifted it to rest over his shoulder.

Naomi gasped for air as he kissed the inside of her leg, starting at her knee and running up the back of her thigh. She stared down as he drew nearer to her throbbing, aching, and needy core.

He pushed her back until her ass hit the tile wall. At least now she wouldn’t fall on him once her legs started to shake. His tongue swirled over her clit and all rational thought exited her mind. There was only him. All she could feel was his hands on her body. His mouth on her sex. All she wanted to feel was him.

“Please,” she murmured, moaning through the onslaught of pleasure.

He sucked harder and she bit her lip to keep from screaming.

“Don’t hold it in, shuarra. Cry out for me. I want to hear your pleasure.” Col voice came out husky and dark. A rumble vibrated through his chest and echoed in the steam-filled shower stall.

“Col, I need more.” She flexed her hips to angle her sex even closer to his mouth.

“Fly for me, Naomi.” He sucked again, slowly, but harder. Then he slipped two fingers inside, rubbing and stretching until the ache of need throbbed through her entire body.

She shuddered. The climax was so close. Her chest tightened, and she sucked in a desperate breath.

He reached up with his free hand to tweak one of her hard-as-a-rock nipples.

Naomi joined in, playing with the other.

Then he curled the fingers of his other hand inside her as his tongue drew circles on her flesh.

Closer. More.

Col pushed her harder into the wall and slid his fingers deeper.

She careened over the edge, screaming as her body imploded. The orgasm rocked through her like an avalanche, rolling and tumbling and crashing down. No escape. Her breasts ached under his hand.

Naomi floated high and her legs trembled and gave out, but Col was ready.

He caught her weight and let her slowly slide down to the water-heated tile on the floor next to him. His mouth trailed along her skin, from her stomach up to her breasts. Latched onto a nipple, and she whimpered at the overwhelming sensations flooding through her system.

No more. She couldn’t take more. She shoved his head away and he grinned at her with a sexy smile that made her core ache and miss his mouth already.

She couldn’t get enough of him. Ever.

“Shuarra.” His tone sung of his need for her. He stood, lifting her as he went.

“Yes,” she moaned. She needed him, too. So much.

He hooked one of her legs over his arm and pushed her against the wall again. His cock nudged her entrance for a second before sliding home.

“Yes,” she cried out again, her voice as husky and as dark as his.

Col stroked inside, and she clamped down on him hard. He groaned, burying his mouth in her neck.

She clutched at his slick arms. His back, dragging her nails down his body in a desperate attempt to pull him closer. The water from the shower pounded his back and made it slick. “Col, yes.” She synced her hips with his thrusts. Then hopped up just a little on one foot, trying to get higher and hoping he’d get the idea.

He did. Col’s hands moved to cup her ass, lifting her off the ground.

Naomi hooked her heels behind him and he thrust harder. They moved in unison with each drive, gasping together.

He looked into her eyes and kissed her, locked in an embrace she never wanted to end.

A cry erupted from her throat. Another orgasm crashed through her and Col came right along for the ride. She tightened around him and her fingers dug into his flesh. Everything swirled and careened.

She came hard and fast and he roared, shaking the glass door on the shower stall as he spilled into her, thrusting and shoving her into the wall hard enough to knock the breath from her lungs.

Amazing.

She gasped for a breath as he held her frozen in place.

His cock throbbing and still buried deeply inside her. He’d come, but it felt as though he could go another round or two without a second thought.

“My shuarra, you please me so much,” Col rumbled, nipping at her ear before pulling away. His hands encircled her waist and with one fluid movement he withdrew and turned her away from him. He put a hand flat on the middle of her back and pushed gently until she was flat against the tile wall, belly to stone.

He wasn’t done.

Her core lit with excitement and anticipation. Naomi sucked in a deep breath, but nothing could prepare her for the ferocity of him taking her again so quickly.

He grabbed her ass, pushed her up and sank into her with a quick groan.

Another cry escaped her throat. Col was so hard and hitting so deep from behind her. Her arousal ratcheted up and soared, building toward yet another climax.

This dragon man, the way he touched her, it was indescribable. Amazing.

“Col!” The next orgasm overtook her with his very next thrust, ripping through her core and radiating out from her center like a nuclear wave, growing wider and wider.

He snarled and drove deep one more time before joining her on the path to ecstasy.

She woke later in bed with her body nestled against Col’s. How much later was difficult to determine. The sun was still shining brightly outside through the curtains in the bedroom. Her dragon man was on his back, and she had her head in the crook of his shoulder, with one arm and one leg thrown over his wide body. The blankets covered them, and she was so warm. Everything smelled like Col, like fire and spice and man.

As much as she didn’t want to leave the comfort of her mate’s arms, she had to call her family and let them know she hadn’t died out in the Alaskan wilderness. Naomi also needed to download the photos from her shoot and send them to her magazine. They were already going to be pissed that she didn’t check in yesterday.

She extracted herself carefully from Col’s arms then the bed. She pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt from her suitcase in the corner and padded quietly out of the bedroom.

Naomi filled a glass of water from the tank in the kitchen next to the sink before making her way over to the small desk in the corner of the living room where her laptop awaited.

She pulled the memory card from the camera and plugged it into her adapter. The pictures popped up on the screen. Elk. Birds. A fox. That had been a lucky catch. Dragon.

Holy shit.

She had taken a picture of Jaha and his sisters right before they’d come at her. Naomi clicked again.

Another picture of the two dragons.

DELETE.

She selected the pictures as fast as her computer would let her. Couldn’t keep something like that in her cloud. If anyone ever saw it, Col would be in danger.

The picture zapped to the trashcan and she emptied it immediately. Hopefully it’d been fast enough. Privacy was a joke. The government had bots that looked at everything online. That one hadn’t uploaded yet though, she’d deleted it before it went into the cloud. It wasn’t on the memory card anymore.

Gone.

It was gone.

Naomi took a deep breath and let it shudder from her lungs slowly. She hadn’t even remembered taking the pictures. When Jaha had hurt her, it’d knocked even the surrounding memories around that time into the dark.

Col said the black dragon had thrown her across the clearing. She’d hit a tree, which’d been why her head throbbed after she woke up in that cabin like an elephant had stepped on her. But her man was right, her head had healed fast. The cut was gone the next day and she never remembered it aching past that next morning either.

Was she really changing? If so, what was happening to her?

Not that having flame retardant skin was a bad thing. Naomi couldn’t really see a downside. Really, it was kinda like having a superpower.

She looked down at her hands. No fingerless gloves. She’d been wearing them ever since she got to Alaska. Hadn’t been able to bear to take them off. Or socks. She wiggled her toes. No socks either. She wasn’t cold. Actually, she felt comfortable.

Naomi swiveled the chair. No fire in the wood stove. They hadn’t started one yet. The air in the cabin wasn’t particularly warm either, she could feel the chill on the air…but she was warm.

Maybe it was nothing. Maybe she was just warm because she’d been in bed with Col and he was like sleeping with an electric blanket. Residual warmth. That was all it was. Nothing was changing. She was still human.

She put the memory card back into her camera and packed it back into her bag. Then returned to her laptop and opened her email. The screen loaded.

Naomi went to her work account first and cringed. Five emails from her boss.

Dammit.

She hit reply on the last one and tried to apologize and explain that she’d had an accident and had been out of reach for the last twenty-four hours or so. She uploaded the link to her storage drive with the photos and sent a quick email that said she’d be in touch soon.

Would like to tell him she’d be quitting…

Naomi might have issues with Col going off to kill the bad dragon, but she had no intention of leaving Alaska. Asking him to come to New York would be like asking a T-Rex to live in Central Park. Not happening.

Alaska was beautiful. She could get used to it as long as she had Col. She’d have to lie to more people than just her boss. Wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about her dragon man. Ever. Not even her family. They’d just have to think she met some logger while she was on her business trip and fell head over heels. They’d be sad she was moving, but they’d probably be thrilled that she was moving on.

She plugged in her earbuds and opened the Skype app. Then dialed her sister.

Naomi didn’t know what time it was back in New York—maybe early evening—but Camila would have her phone next to her no matter what. Especially if she was waiting for her to call. Since she was supposed to call every single night and hadn’t last night, her sister would be pissed. Not that her family was controlling. They were just super close.

She and Camila talked every day. In fact, Naomi couldn’t remember the last time she’d missed their nightly phone call. They spent almost every weekend together as well. Between shopping and hanging out and Sunday night dinners with the family. It was like she’d never moved out.

“Ohmygod! Nai! Finally.” Her sister’s voice screamed through the app. A moment later her face appeared in the camera window. “You realize you’ve given me a heart attack. And Mom. What happened to you? We were so scared you’d been eaten by a bear.”

Not a bear.

Naomi chuckled inwardly.

Crap.

She needed to call her mother, too. Her parents were probably just as worried as Camila, because her sister had likely shared that she hadn’t been calling in. “I’m okay, Cam, just had a little accident and—”

“Are you okay?” Her sister’s picture went black for a second. “Hang on, I’m adding Mama.”

“What! No!” she started. She wasn’t ready for the onslaught just yet. Hell, she hadn’t even figured out what she was going to tell them yet.

Too late. Her mother’s face appeared split on her screen along with Camila’s.

“Naomi Maria Parker!” Her mother looked so tired. Red rimmed her eyes like she’d been crying. There were dark circles under them.

All her fault.

“Mama, I’m okay. Just a little accident. I hurt my head and was out of it for a while. I couldn’t get to my laptop or phone, but I’m doing better now. I’m so sorry you were worried.”

“What happened?” Cam asked from the other screen.

“Snow machine accident.” The words were literally falling from her mouth without permission.

Oh, well. It was as good an excuse as any.

“I hit my head really bad. A local found me and helped me get back to my cabin.”

“You’re sure nothing is wrong?” her mom asked again.

“I’m fine. Promise.”

“Why didn’t he take you to a hospital?” Cam asked.

“Probably because the closest one is hundreds of miles from here and you have to fly.” Naomi held in a laugh. Technically, Col, could’ve flown her. Not that he would’ve known where the hospital was. Plus, he would’ve been a dragon. That wouldn’t have gone over well with the locals.

“Holy Toledo! Is that the local?” Camila screeched pointing at the screen. “No wonder you didn’t call yesterday.”

“Cam.” Naomi force her gaze to the square on the screen where her camera view showed her.

Oh geeze.

Col was standing behind her with a curious expression. By some miracle he was wearing his kilt thing.

So at least he wasn’t flashing her mother and her sister. That would’ve certainly made an impression.

Her sister’s mouth twisted into a mischievous grin. “So, did he help you get over the injury personally?”

“Cam,” Naomi whined. “That’s a personal question and I’m not—”

“Fine, fine. Whatever. I’ll call you back later without Mom on the line, so you can dish,” her sister said. “Go be with your local. Call me back later, okay?”

She sighed.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me, Naomi? I should at least get to thank the man that saved my daughter’s life. Whether or not you decided to reward your savior is none of my business. You’re a single woman.” Her mother was pointing at the screen now too.

Pointing at Col.

She turned to her mate. “Come on over here, Col. My mother wants to say hi.”

He smiled and moved to kneel next to her chair in front of the desk. His head and bare shoulders still showed in the camera view, but at least he wasn’t showing off his entire torso anymore.

“What magick is this?” he asked her softly.

“I told you. It’s science. This is a phone call.” She covered the mic with her hand, so her family couldn’t hear. “This world has a lot of technology. It might look like magick. But it’s not.”

He nodded, but his expression remained doubtful.

Naomi popped out one of her earbuds and put it into his ear, then leaned closer so they could share the mic. “Col, this is my Mama.” She pointed at the picture of her smiling mother. “And this is my sister, Camila.” She indicated at the other box on the screen. Camila waved too.

“It’s nice to meet you, Col,” her mom said. “Thank you for saving my baby girl and taking good care of her.”

“Yeah, I bet he took good care of her.” Her sister snorted through a laugh.

“Cam,” Naomi groaned.

“It is a pleasure to meet family of my shuarra.” Col’s voice was low and even.

“Shoo-ar-ah?” her mother repeated.

“It’s just what he calls me. It’s Native.”

“Um, he said my,” Camila said. “Girl, you didn’t like participate in some tribal marriage ceremony? Are you married?”

“Of course not,” she shot back.

Her dragon man opened his mouth and she could feel the protest coming.

At least he hadn’t called her his mate. Yet. She put her hand over his mouth and glared, hopefully giving him a look that communicated she wanted him to stop talking.

“Look, I’ll call you back later okay. I just wanted to let you guys know I was okay. This was the first time I was back where there was WiFi.”

“Naomi, I want—” her mother continued.

“Sorry, Mama.” Naomi slapped the laptop closed, ending the call.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

“I thought you were sleeping.” Naomi tugged the earbud from Col’s ear.

He turned the chair and met her gaze. His eyes flickered gold. “I was sleeping. Then I heard you speaking. I thought someone had come into the cabin. Why were you ashamed when I called you shuarra?”

“It wasn’t that…it just…I don’t know how to explain us to my family yet,” she admitted, wishing she could shrink away or become invisible.

“We are soul mates. You are mine. I am yours. What else is there to say?”

“Well, it sounds so simple when you put it that way. Still, people don’t really do that on earth. We don’t have magick and soul mates.”

“You do now.” Col grasped her chin between his fingers.

Naomi’s heart fluttered, and a shiver of anticipation made her body throb. Just a small touch made her burn for him.

Made her whole body need him.

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”

He smiled, obviously pleased with her enthusiastic response. “I can smell your arousal, shuarra. Let me satisfy your desire.” Her dragon man pushed between her legs and pulled her closer, rolling the chair forward until her crotch was against his chest.

She put a hand against one of his rock-hard pecs and shoved back. “We are not having sex again, right now. No more distracting me. I know that’s what you were doing in the shower. We—I—I need to know how this is going to work. Where do we even start? I’m not really into living in caves or the wilderness you know.”

“Is this not your home?” he asked, gesturing to the room.

Naomi shook her head. “I’m just renting it. I don’t live here, Col. I’m new here, just like you. I live in a huge city with millions of people over four thousand miles away from here. We can’t stay here either.”