Sunlight streamed in the front window of the cabin, giving the large room a bright glow. Col was already up. He’d doused the fire, cleaned up, and disposed of the leftover food.

Her clothes were folded neatly at the foot of the bed and her boots were standing next to the end of the couch.

They had to leave. This cabin belonged to other people who could come back any time. They’d already used some of their precious water supply. Naomi felt guilty for not having anything to leave in exchange.

“Did you sleep well, shuarra?” Col asked, his gaze falling on her as he entered the cabin and stomped his snow-covered boots on the rug. “Everything is ready to go.”

She slithered out of the bed and pulled on her clothes one piece at a time. Strangely the cabin didn’t feel too cold, even with the fire out. She pulled on her long wool socks and traipsed across the room to the couch. “How are we getting back to my stuff?”

“I will shift and carry you,” Col answered, dropping into the seat next to her.

Naomi’s stomach bottomed out, a whole different fear coming to roost. “Ummm, that doesn’t really sound pleasant.” Heights weren’t something she handled well. In the back of her mind she recalled he’d flown her here. But to get back, she been hoping for…what? “Maybe we could just walk.” Her mouth dried instantly. Her hands became clammy, even in the biting cold. Fear clambered aboard her mind like an old friend who knew they would never be left behind.

“I would never drop you.”

“I get that, but it’s just. I’m…well…I’m afraid of heights,” she said, tugging her other boot on.

Col slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “The sooner the battle is fought, the sooner it can be won.”

“Are you talking about your battle with the dragons or mine with puking from being up too high?”

He chuckled and rose from the couch, pulling her along with him. “Both.” He took her puffy blue coat down from the peg by the door and handed it to her.

She put it on and zipped it up, like somehow it was armor for what she was about to do. Was she really going to allow a dragon to carry her as he flew through the air?

Yes. Granted, it was Col. She trusted him. But still. Carry her? In the sky. High above everything?

Yes.

Her stomach fluttered and a small, still voice in the back of her mind soothed her fear. She was his mate. His shuarra, as he so liked to call her.

He’d never put her in harm’s way. Naomi could do this. They really did need to get out of this cabin before the owners showed up and threatened them or pressed charges for breaking and entering. The last thing she needed was Col to be put in jail.

What if he got angry and lost his temper? Could he control his dragon?

So many questions.

“Are you ready?”

She took a deep breath and released it. “No, not really,” she said without thinking.

He smiled and walked to her, wrapping his strong arms around her body, making her feel small and safe and loved. How he did that with just a hug, she’d never know.

It happened. Every single time.

“You will be safe, Naomi.”

She took another deep, fortifying breath to still her nerves and her overactive brain that’d possibly flashed half a billion ways this scenario could go wrong.

Col went out the door, glancing over his shoulder to make sure she was following.

Naomi stopped on the steps of the cabin.

He was already out about twenty feet into the clearing. One moment he was a man and the next he was a dragon. A winged black fantasy creature, with a body the size of a Mac truck.

His black scales shone like they were made of onyx stone. His wings unfurled and stretched above her like a canopy of black leather. After a few shakes he tucked them close to his sides.

His head was rimmed with several long horns that curled back over his neck, almost creating a protective plate like a triceratops. The spikes continued along his back, several rows of yardstick sized spears, that tapered off in a heavily spiked tail that reminding Naomi of a medieval war weapon, except ten times bigger than anything a person would try to lift. Hell, one of his muscular legs was the size of her entire body.

Col lowered his elongated neck and shoved his nose toward her, nudging her hand gently until she rubbed him right above the lips that covered a row of teeth as long as her legs. She’d touched him in this form before…well, she hadn’t really been that conscious last time.

So, this really counted as the first time. Her brain still couldn’t truly wrap around the fact that he was real.

A real fucking dragon.

“Wait. Shift back,” she said, staying in the doorway. His clothes hadn’t shredded or anything. They just sort of disappeared and reappeared when he needed them.

Col’s dragon morphed in an instant and he was standing before her, clothed in his kilt and boots, and looking sexier than the latest Conan the Barbarian movie character.

“How do your clothes stay intact? Your dragon is huge. But when you shift, you don’t destroy them.”

He tapped the side of his arm where a leather band was wrapped around a couple of times.

She’d seen it before but hadn’t really paid much attention.

“The magick-benders in my world make charms for us.” Col turned to show her the carved bone amulet tied tightly to his arm.

“So, if you lose the charm…”

“I would lose the ability to shift with clothing.” He raised an eyebrow. “Should I take it off?”

Heat rushed her face. She wouldn’t mind the view but didn’t want anyone else taking a peek. “No, I think it’s better on.”

“Less distracting?” he asked, the hint of a smile curving his lips.

“We’ll go with that, yes,” she answered. “I’m ready...I think. Well, maybe not.”

Col shifted again, then lumbered a few steps closer before reaching out with a front claw and scooping her up from the ground.

She clung to one of the claw-like fingers as he brought her close to his chest.

He waited for her to calm, then tightened his hold.

She felt secure, even though her heart was bashing her ribs like a wild animal caught in a cage. Her breath came in pants. Naomi probably should close her eyes, but the truth was, she wanted to see what Col saw.

Maybe just this once she could forget her paralyzing fear of heights.

He used his other front claw to move a pile of the wood stack in front of the door he’d broken. It wasn’t perfect, but at least it would hopefully deter wildlife from trying to get the door open.

Snow swirled around them as Col pumped his wings and launched himself into the air.

She peered down between the claws that held her tightly. They flew higher and higher, until the cabin was toy-sized below them. A rush of cold wind burned her face and Naomi was suddenly grateful for Col’s warmth on her back. The bitterness of the wind on the ground was nothing compared to the icy blades of the air at this altitude, but the landscape was amazing. She wished she had her camera.

He banked and turned suddenly.

Oh God!

She barely contained the screech of fright. Clamped her eyes shut and tried to think of happy things. Her family. Her camera. Col. She was safe with him. He had her. Everything was fine.

Except you are flying over the Alaskan wild in the claws of a dragon.

Naomi forced herself to breathe. Her heart-rate slowed just a little.

Col’s flight evened out and he dipped a little lower.

Slowly she opened her eyes again. She didn’t recognize the clearing at first. She spotted the tripod with her camera still standing beneath a lone pine and the bright blue cover still neatly wrapped over the snow machine. At least everything still looked intact. She wouldn’t lose her deposit on the rental.

He circled the clearing a few times before landing softly on the pure white spread of powder. He set her down and shifted to his human form to help her off the ground.

Naomi stood and brushed the snow off her pants. Her legs wobbled just a little. The sensation and adrenaline from the flight still coursed through her veins like a jolt of caffeine.

She looked over her shoulder into the trees where she’d fled from the first two dragons and couldn’t help the shudder of fear that prickled up and down her spine.

She clomped over to her camera set up beneath a large single pine. It’d been sheltered from the weather by the low hanging branches. Probably some elk had checked it out, but otherwise it looked untouched.

Naomi unscrewed it from the tripod and tucked it into the small bag hanging from a branch. Then untied the ropes she’d used to anchor the tripod. Once everything was packed and wrapped and secure in the other, larger bag she’d left—also hanging in the tree, she returned to where Col was standing in the center of the clearing.

His eyes were flickering gold, meaning his dragon was close to the surface.

“What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer. Instead she was covered in a spray of snow, snatched from the ground by a giant claw and tucked once more against his warm scaly black chest.

A frightening call echoed through the sky like a sound effect from a Jurassic park movie. Then another.

Then Col’s chest vibrated and answered with his own body-shaking-pee-in-your-pants scream or trumpet or whatever a dragon noise was called.

Naomi clung to his claws and tried not to puke or wet herself. Her bag of camera equipment was on the ground. Not that it was particularly important if she was about to be flambéed alive or eaten by a dragon.

Two dragons, one black and the other red, rose above the ridge just ahead. They were rapidly approaching, and Col was pissed.

Growls rumbled from his chest. His wings pumped hard and he rose higher and higher.

The other dragons were big, but not as large as Col. Still, it was two against one. That couldn’t be good.

They were climbing now too and rapidly catching up.

Why wasn’t Col rising anymore?

It seemed like he was waiting. Hovering.

Fire blasted from the black dragon’s mouth into the air.

Then the red added flame to the mix. They both screamed the spine-tingling bugle call again.

No mistake. They were out for blood.

Col’s wings flattened against his back. Everything seemed to drop at once.

The feeling of weightlessness made Naomi’s stomach rise into her throat. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart felt as though it stopped.

The ground shot toward them.

They were almost on top of the rising two dragons.

Holy fucking shit!