Ember

Dragons of Drake’s Crossing Book 2

By Amelia Jade

Ember

@ 2017 by Amelia Jade

First Electronic Publication: December 2017

Amelia Jade

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.

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Ember

Rhyolite

Silver-platinum scales spilled from his flank as bronzed talons dug deep, ripping open a long gash.

The pain was tremendous and he roared as agony exploded from the wound. His foe reared back in triumph, getting ready to land the final, crushing blow, greedy victory filling his yellow eyes.

But what he didn’t know was that the entire thing had been a setup. Rhyolite had deemed it necessary to maneuver around to this side of his foe, but he wasn’t going to be able to do so unscathed. He was going to need to bleed to execute his plan. Droplets splattered across the dry, heated rock, drying swiftly in the intense summer heat.

Rhyolite grinned to himself and fell backward, his long tail flicking up and into the snout of the bronze dragon that had invaded his territory, claiming it to be his own. At the same time he spat bolts of razor-sharp rock into the near wing, repeatedly puncturing the leathery wing.

The impact of the tail sent his foe reeling backward. In his haste to end the fight the bronze dragon had stood up high, ready to pounce. Now he was flung backward and over the edge of the cliff ledge as Rhyolite added to his backward momentum with the bash of his tail. With only one wing functioning properly the bronze dragon bellowed as he dropped out of sight, bouncing down the mountainside several times before managing to right himself and dig his claws deep into the earth.

Unwilling to let things end there, he reached down into the earth and tore the cliffside loose, turning it into an avalanche of house-sized boulders. Grinning to himself, he watched the tidal wave of pain build up speed and head right for his opponent. It was over now, he knew; there was no way the bronze dragon could withstand that. It would sweep over him and pummel him even as it buried him deep, where Rhyolite could hopefully seal him in. Content in his triumph, he sat back and allowed himself to watch the show.

It was his biggest mistake.

“No,” he said in stunned shock, the deep melodious voice emerging with a sibilant hiss from a mouth never truly suited to speak a human language. “It is impossible.”

Maybe it was, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t happening right in front of him. The mountainside was humping and melting together as it lifted the bronze dragon up on a platform that lunged up the hillside toward Rhyolite. The falling avalanche was simply absorbed into the rising spike of rock upon which the scaled monstrosity sat, accelerating its pace as his attacker perched on the edge, a sneer of contempt twisting his regal face into something out of a nightmare.

There were no words spoken. A blast of fire preceded the onrushing dragon, forcing Rhyolite to block it with his wing, the leathery silver membrane easily absorbing the attack. What was the bronze dragon thinking? Only the fire of an elemental dragon could harm others of their kind. But normal dragonfire was something they were all impervious to.

As the fire waned and he moved his wing away, the reason became clear. It had been but a ploy to buy time. His yellow eyes widened in shock, vertical pupils becoming little more than slits as he realized just how close his enemy was now. Forced to react, he reached into the earth once more. Spikes of hardened stone erupted into the path of the marauding bronze dragon, buying Rhyolite time to turn and duck back into his cave.

There was a mammoth explosion behind him and suddenly the walls of his cave shuddered and began to crack. Whirling, he spat an oath as the ceiling began to cave in.

“That is impossible,” he roared as the bronze dragon battered his way inside. “You shouldn’t have been able to do that!”

As stones began to fall from the ceiling his attacker stopped advancing and began to retreat as fast as he could.

“COME BACK! I WILL KILL YOU!” he bellowed, lunging forward, his jaws snapping as he reached for his enemy, trying to latch onto his neck.

A big boulder landed on his head and the world went dark.

***

Light exploded in his eyes and suddenly he was falling.

Barking in surprise, he reached out with his forward talons, trying to dig them deep into the warmth of the mountainside in an effort to stop himself. There was no time to waste; the bronze dragon would be on him in moments.

But instead of rock, the massive curved weapons simply carved a trail through snow cover, not digging deep enough to encounter rock. He was sliding down the mountainside on his stomach now, building up speed. His wing took out a tree, but the force of it started him spinning until he was going backward down the slope.

“OW!” he shouted as a rock slammed into his rump and flipped him up and over it.

Now he was sliding downhill on his back, headfirst, with absolutely no traction.

Well this is embarrassing.

Noticing another clump of rocks jutting up from the snow, he scrambled to find some purchase before impact. But he was still disoriented, and this time he hit them head-on, the impact leaving him with even more of a headache.

It had stopped his momentum as the rest of his body piled into him, depositing him in a jumble of wings, limbs, neck, and tail in front of the unforgiving earth. Angrily he got himself to his feet and looked around, trying to gain his bearings.

Where had all the snow come from? Had it fallen from the very peak of the mountain during their fight? More importantly though, where was his enemy? He crouched, wings spread wide and ready to launch himself into the air with a moment’s notice. Looking around, he realized that it wasn’t just a bit of snow. The entire mountain was covered in it, as were all the ones around him.

“What sorcery is this?” he hissed, starting to climb up the mountain as swiftly as he could.

Eventually he reached the hole in the mountain that had opened up, spilling him out as a chunk of it fell away. He casually worked the rock with his power, reforming and reshaping the opening so it blended in more seamlessly with the surroundings. There was still a massive trail of rocks down through the snow that gave it away, but he knew that would cover itself up in a few days.

For now his main concern was the invading bronze dragon’s whereabouts. Hissing angrily, he batted a boulder the size of a bear down the hill with one casual sweep of his silver foot. Something was not right. Even as powerful as he was, the bronze dragon couldn’t have caused all of this. To his knowledge, illusion was not a skill that dragons possessed. Which meant it was very real.

But how? The rock had fallen around him, and then the cave had simply fallen away from the mountainside. How could all of this have happened in but a few moments? He vividly remembered the sun and its heat. After all, he’d been spread out on the side of his mountain soaking it in when the invader had arrived, claimed that all the mountains were now his, and proclaimed bluntly to “get out.”

Never one to let himself be commanded, Rhyolite had fought back. Their battle had gone on for hours as they took to the air first, seeking a swift end. When that hadn’t worked they had gone to ground, where they could draw more power from the earth itself to augment their attacks. Lances of black stone had shot back and forth, and both bronze and silver scales had littered the landscape as they took hits and inflicted them. It had been the most intense fight Rhyolite had ever been involved in.

But it wasn’t over until he saw the corpse of his foe, or received his word that he would retreat and cede the territory to Rhyolite. Now though, as hard as he listened, he couldn’t hear a sound. He looked around his cave and then peered back out into the lowlands between peaks.

Something was amiss. But he didn’t know what. It was something that needed to be checked out. Slowly he slithered out the opening and onto the slope, walking around as he searched for signs of the other dragon. He thought about taking to the sky, but he didn’t wish to present such an open target. So he stayed on the ground and clawed his way around the upper reaches of the peak.

By the time Rhyolite had made it halfway, he was beginning to suspect the bronze dragon wasn’t nearby. His foe had never struck him as the patient type. Scheming and devious, yes. But not patient. He preferred to attack and be done with it. If he was still around, the silver dragon would have found him by now.

“Coward!” he roared, unleashing a fireball up the mountainside.

The blazing ball of fire disappeared into mist and steam as it evaporated the snow instantly. A crack from the superheated water reverberated out over the mountain and Rhyolite.

A low rumble reached his ears moments later.

“Uh-oh.”

Four hundred feet upslope the snow began to give way. It started slowly at first, but built up speed at a breathtaking pace as more and more of it was shaken loose by the avalanche.

Rhyolite turned and spread his wings, aiming to take off, but before he could the snow and packed ice underneath him gave way, tumbling him down the mountain. He was caught up in the forces of the very earth which he strove to control.

This is really embarrassing.

Tucking his wings in around him, he moved with the snow, waiting for the downhill ride to stop. Inside his little cocoon he sighed.

“This is just not my day.”

***

Halfway around the mountain the sun burst out from behind its cloud, stabbing down at the landscape below, uncaring how it had changed. Its brilliant rays of light reached into many of the cracks and crevices of the mountain.

In one in particular it found something that began to glint and shine as the burnished surface of it was exposed to the light for the first time in nearly six hundred years. It sat there unmoving, stacked in neat piles.

As the rumble on the mountain subsided at last, one piece shivered loose and fell to the ground, hitting with a resounding clang that echoed through the chamber. It rattled around for several seconds before lying still.

The sun didn’t notice. It simply continued to shine, lighting anything it touched.

Aimee

“Okay team, listen up!”

Aimee flipped her e-reader closed and put it on the table next to the cot as her team leader Brian “Angel” Harkness walked into the room. Normally she might have given him some lip, but two things stopped her. One, he’d called for the team, in an official capacity, and second, he was dressed for the job. All told, it could only mean one thing:

They had a mission.

“How many?” she asked, already sliding into her boots and pulling up her orange jumpsuit.

Around her the other two members of their team, Paul “Jerk-it” Jergins and Kevin “King” Clancy were doing the same.

“No reported victims this time, Flow. Reconnaissance.”

The team groaned, but it was all in good fun. Everyone was relieved to hear that there were no skiers, hikers, or others trapped. It was midwinter, and they were at the peak of avalanche season. A report of zero emergencies was always a good thing.

“Hey, at least we’re going out!”

“He’s got a point,” Clancy said as he stood up next to her. “Come on, Flow, let’s get a move on.”

She grinned and socked him good-naturedly as she stood up, tucking the long golden-blonde locks that had earned her the nickname “Flow” up into her helmet with practiced ease. It had taken her some time to figure out how to have long hair and how to wear it properly. Oddly enough, it turned out that the high ponytail worked best, allowing her to wrap the hair around it.

“Do me up?” she teased, turning to waggle her hips back and forth at him.

Kevin laughed and zipped up the jumpsuit in one motion. “Why do I feel like that’s how you dance at the bar?”

“If I did, I certainly wouldn’t be almost as lonely as Paul over there,” she retorted, the jab earning a round of laughter from everyone as Paul held up his one hand.

His last name, coupled with an unfortunate slip of the mind when it came to locking a door had earned Paul his nickname. By now he’d just learned to roll with it. The fact he had a smoking-hot wife now didn’t hurt either. Aimee wasn’t sure how he’d landed such a gorgeous babe, but he had.

“Hey, I’ll have you know my wife is real, and not eight inches of silicone,” Paul fired back, his jab poking fun at her lack of a sex life.

“Maybe not, but I bet you she wishes you were.”

Paul’s jaw dropped and the rest of the team, including Brian, all howled with laughter as they followed their team lead out the door of their ready room and into the hallway, heading for the helipad.

“I’m going to get you back for that one, Flow,” he promised as they settled down and started to put their game faces on. “Just wait.”

She grinned. “Bring it.”

The double doors banged open and the Drake’s Crossing Search and Rescue Team went to work. The humor slipped from their voices and they all started going over the pre-flight checklists.

Kevin and Paul, the two pilots, started going over the warmup checklist while Brian and Aimee did a once-over of the exterior of the red and gray chopper, ensuring they didn’t see anything out of place. After that they switched to the interior, this time going over all their packed gear while the pilots reviewed the exterior.

“Report,” Angel barked.

“Flow, clear,” she said first, as his second.

“King, we are go.”

“Jergins, everything is green.” For obvious reasons Paul used his last name as a call sign, not his nickname.

“Fire it up,” Harkness said as they all climbed inside.

Aimee swung up and into her seat, clipping herself in before slamming the sliding door shut. Then she slipped back into her seat, pulled her harness into place, and buckled it up. The harness was the primary point of safety, with the safety clip being a backup, just in case. She turned and checked that Brian was secured in place while he did the same for her. They exchanged a fist bump and then pulled on their headsets to listen to Paul go through his spiel.

“Welcome to Drake’s Crossing Scenic Tours. Today we will be going into the mountains. Fascinating stuff. Please keep your eyes open for any oddities, and report them back to the Angel himself. Thank you.”

She rolled her eyes and settled in, content among her team, and eager to go see what was up. There had been a higher incidence of avalanches reported so far this year, and her team had been busy. She was happy that this time they were able to go on a mission that might help prevent others from coming to harm in the future. Aimee liked the idea of being proactive, instead of purely reactive.

The flight itself wasn’t very long. By helicopter the mountains were ten minutes or so outside of town. She sat up straighter as they neared, her trained eyes scanning the slopes as they came into view. On the opposite side she knew Angel would be doing the same thing. He had nearly ten years on anyone else on the team, the grizzled old veteran, such as it were, even though he was just entering his forties.

Aimee wanted his position though. Not at his expense of course, but she was driving herself hard, working to ensure she had the skills necessary to be a team leader. So she was determined to be the first one to spot something.

“What’s that?” Angel said sharply from his side perhaps thirty seconds later.

She sighed. So much for being first. Turning, she looked over his shoulder. The evidence of an avalanche was clear. “Looks like it exposed part of the mountain.”

“Indeed. Jergins, take us in closer.”

“I want it,” she said automatically, before Angel could speak again. Now that they were on duty, she thought of him only by his call-sign.

He glanced at her, his experienced brown eyes searching her face, ensuring she was in the right frame of mind. Finally he sighed. “Okay boys, Flow is going to go down and check it out. Nice and easy now.”

The team was on edge. This was the most dangerous part of the job. Putting her down on the mountain wasn’t something that many would go for, but they needed to find out the reason for the increase in avalanches. And that meant sometimes risks needed to be taken.

Plus she wanted to see what was inside the mountain. It was rare that a cave was exposed by an avalanche, but there was no doubt that this was fresh. The sides were far too jagged, and the rocks strewn down the hill below it indicated a fresh fall. This was uncharted territory, and she was going to possibly be the first human inside it. Ever.

Angel pulled the door open as she slipped out of her harness, clipped in to the winch line, and then finally undid her safety rope.

“Be safe, be smart. Not stupid.”

She smiled at Angel’s normal parting. “I’m not ready for a halo just yet,” she shot back with a wink, and then dropped out the door. The winch started to lower her down. A shiver swept over her body, but she waved it off to the sudden bite of winter as she exited the heated interior of the chopper.

“Tell me again why I volunteered to come out in the cold?” she muttered to herself as she descended.

When her legs touched down she flexed them, her long, powerful frame absorbing the landing with ease. At a hair under six feet tall, and packed with the muscle necessary to hang with the boys, Aimee didn’t cut the normal feminine figure. Broad shoulders, thick thighs, and legs that looked like they belonged to a speedskater tended to scare away most of the guys. Her hair was the sole feminine attribute she allowed herself.

That, and once a month she got a mani-pedi done, but nobody, and she meant nobody was allowed to know about that. She’d never live it down if her team found out she was actually a girl. If she ever grew breasts, they might find out, but at age thirty-four, she’d stopped expecting that to happen. This was her lot in life, and minus the occasional lonely night where she wished she had male company, she loved it. Her job was amazing, her team were her best friends, and she wouldn’t trade it for the world!

Unclipping, she radioed up. “Unclipped, proceeding inside. Hang tight there boys.”

“Roger,” came Angel’s voice. “Remember to—”

“Obey all the safety signs, including keep your arms and legs inside the coaster at all times,” she interrupted. “Don’t worry, Angel, I’m coming home.”

She walked forward and into the cave, pulling a flashlight from her belt and flicking it on. Moving it around the interior, she felt her eyebrows raise in surprise. “This is huge,” she radioed back. “Absolutely massive. It goes way back.”

“Anything of interest?”

Swinging the light around some more she frowned. “Yeah. There’s no—”

“Hold on, Flow,” Angel’s voice barked sharply.

There was silence for a solid thirty seconds before her boss came back on the line.

“Sorry, Flow, bad news. We have reports of a skier who took a bad fall. They need immediate transport to a hospital. We’re the closest unit.”

“On my way,” she barked, turning and heading for the cave entrance at full tilt.

“Negative on that.” Her boss’s voice was tight. Whatever it was, it must be bad. “We’re already on the move. Hang tight and we’ll come back for you as soon as we can, understand?”

She skidded to a halt. “That bad?” she whispered.

“We might already be too late,” Angel came back after a pause.

“Just don’t forget about me,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

“No worries, Flow. We’ll have you back before shift end. I know you’ve got a bunch of hot dates lined up during your time off.”

The radio channel was filled with snickering. Everyone on her team was well aware of her lack of a personal life. She smiled. Despite his levity, Aimee knew he hated the idea of leaving her behind, especially in such a precarious position. But this is what they signed up for when they joined SAR. They weren’t classified as expendable, but each member of their team wouldn’t hesitate to lay down their own life to save someone else’s, if that’s what it took.

“Roger that, Angel. Maybe one of them will even turn up this time.” She paused to allow the others to laugh. “Godspeed,” she whispered into the headset, going silent for a moment as she whispered a quick prayer for the downed skier, hoping her team could get there in time.

As the chopper disappeared into the distance she gave the huge cavern another once-over.

“May as well explore. Not like I’m doing anything else.” She was talking to herself now, a nervous habit she’d picked up a long time ago.

Climbing back inside, she once again regarded what had caught her attention the first time. The smoothness of the walls seemed so out of place. It looked like they had been worn down by the passage of water. Only there was no way that was possible up here at this elevation. Perhaps down on the valley floor. There was a huge gorge that went between the mountains, heading back toward Drake’s Crossing, which ran high and rough in the spring when meltwater flowed down from the peaks.

She walked in deeper, wondering what had become of all the various rock formations that should have dotted such a large opening. Nature was weird though, and she knew it wouldn’t be the first time it had acted one way when it should have gone another.

Behind her the sun erupted from behind some of the intermittent cloud cover that was dotting the sky today, shining deep into the cave, providing her with extra ambient lighting. Aimee shielded her eyes as a sudden glare reached her.

“What the hell?” Her eyes were drawn to the far side of the cavern as she tried to identify the source. Walking over, she realized that what she’d assumed to just be a boulder was actually a pile of shiny stones.

Weird. How did they all get…

The earth shook again slightly and one of the “stones” rattled and slid to the floor, becoming impaled by her flashlight.

It wasn’t stone. Aimee gasped as the burnished yellow gold bar glittered in the sunlight. She picked it up, turning it over several times, until her brain gave her a gentle reminder that this was but one small piece of the pile.

“Oh…oh my.” She kept repeating that over and over again as her eyes picked out one pile after another scattered through the back of the cavern. “Oh dear.”

She needed to tell Angel. He would know what to do, how to handle it. All Aimee knew was that they were rich. Rich beyond her wildest dreams. They could buy a helicopter that worked now! And new gear, and hire more team members, and replace the cots with something that didn’t feel like stone. And…and…

“He’s never going to believe me,” she muttered. “I need proof. This isn’t enough.” She twirled the one bar in her hand. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled her phone out and stepped back, trying to get the right angle with the light.

“Dammit,” she cursed as the light dulled once more. “Get back out from behind those clouds,” she yelled, utterly absorbed in her find. “Stop hiding!”

The cavern was suddenly thrown into darkness as even the ambient light from the day disappeared. Aimee spun around, wondering how the hell Angel and the others had managed to prank her this time. It was only as her mind registered what it was seeing did she realize one tiny detail.

She hadn’t heard the helicopter come back.

“Very well,” a deep, flowing voice replied as it filled the cavern. “I am no longer hiding.”

Aimee swallowed and remained very, very still. Maybe if she didn’t move, it wouldn’t see her.

Rhyolite

The human stared up at him, unmoving, not even blinking.

He frowned. This wasn’t the sort of reaction he’d imagined. There should have been more screaming and begging and fear. He liked fear.

“Why do you just stand there like that?” he growled, making his way across the cave, ensuring his wings stayed spread wide to block the majority of the sunlight. Humans couldn’t see in the dark, and they were scared of it.

The female’s lips moved slightly, but he couldn’t hear a word she was saying.

“What? Speak up!” he ordered.

“Because if I stay still you won’t see me,” she squeaked.

Cocking his head sideways, he lowered it closer, swinging it back and forth around the area she was in, pretending like he couldn’t see her, always keeping his eyes focused elsewhere. Then when he was perhaps five feet away, he twisted his head sharply and focused one yellow eye on her. Slowly he blinked his triple eyelids, and as they slid back into place he spoke one word.

“Boo.”

Finally , he thought as she screamed. Opening his jaws to expose the razor-sharp teeth behind his silvery skin, he lunged at her with his head, expecting to snap her up and teach her a lesson for stealing from him.

But his mouth closed on empty air as the woman dove to the side and rolled out of his range.

“Oooh goody,” he rumbled. “Game time.”

He chased after her, but once more she managed to evade his attack just in time. Rhyolite roared in anger and spun after her, but she kept running until they’d completed a full circle. He saw her hand shoot out and she snatched another handful of his gold.

“THIEF!” he bellowed and paused to inhaled enough breath to fill the cave with fire.

She somehow sensed what he was up to, and just before he could unleash, something flung out of her hand and hit him right in the top of the snout.

“Ow!” he roared, his voice shaking tiny bits of stone loose from the ceiling as he shook his head from pain. “That hurt!”

Another thing flew at him, this time hitting him in the side of the mouth. His front paw plucked the object from midair, and he realized with a start it was gold. His gold. This impertinent little human was using his own gold as a weapon against him. If he’d been mad before, now he was filled with rage. His tail swept around, batting half of a pile of gold at her. But to his astonishment she managed to hide behind another pile just in time.

“Stay still!” he commanded. “You are worse than a bug that needs squashing.”

“Maybe that’s because I don’t particularly feel like being squashed!”

The instant reply caught him off guard. “Then you shouldn’t have stolen from me.”

“I wasn’t stealing from you.”

“This is my cave,” he said, his tone telling her it should be obvious that if she took something from his cave, that was stealing from him. “I don’t like thieves.”

“Well no shit. I’ve seen the welcome mat you roll out for them, and let me tell you, it’s no red carpet.”

Rhyolite frowned. “What? Why would I use red carpet? What does that have to do with a thief like you?”

“Because…it’s…oh, never mind.”

Was she exasperated with him? He shook his head. How had it come to this? He was the dragon here, the master of his own domain! No puny little human should be talking back to him like this, treating him like an idiot.

“I am going to kill you,” he rumbled from where he blocked the cave exit, eying the pile of gold she was hiding behind.

“Yes, you’ve made that very clear,” she shouted. “It’s a decision you came to despite missing some rather key facts.”

“Oh, such as?”

“I wasn’t stealing from you, for starters!” she snapped.

“You are in my cave. This has been my cave since I claimed it. Everyone knows that.”

A growl of frustration reached him. “Dude, nobody knows that!”

“How can they not know that?”

“Well, let’s start with the fact that you’re a dragon , and those don’t exist!” A small, terrified noise followed up her last words. “I’m talking to a dragon. Great. Perfect. The team is never going to let me live this one down. ‘Oh hey Flow, what did you do today? Oh not much, just got chased by a dragon who thinks I stole from him. You know, no big deal. What about you Kevin? Well, nothing much. Went swimming with mermaids and then took a short ride on a unicorn. The usual. Ha-ha. Okay. great.’”

By this time the tapping of his claw upon the rock floor was swiftly drowning her out. “Are you quite done?” he drawled. “Because I promise you, I am very much real, and this is not a dream.”

“That just proves my point even more.” His respect for this human rose as she stood up from her hiding spot. “I thought you were a dream. I still kind of do. Because dragons don’t exist. They aren’t real. Which means I can’t be stealing from you. I didn’t know it was yours!”

He snorted. “Because gold just stacks itself ever so neatly like this in nature.”

She shrugged. “I was curious about that, yes. But it’s not like there was a big sign on the door that said ‘Here be dragons, don’t take their treasure.’ If it isn’t labeled, how should anyone be expected to know?”

“Turn it over.”

“Huh?”

He gestured with his wingtip. “Turn it over. Read the bottom.”

She snorted. “I’m not falling for that.”

“Falling for what?” he asked, perplexed.

“The ol’ distraction technique. I turn it over and try to read in the dark, and you come and eat me.”

“Eat you? Is that what you thought I was doing?”

“I mean, the part where you tried to snap me up in your jaws was kind of a dead giveaway.”

He let his lips peel back in the dragon equivalent of smile. Despite her verbal barrage, he could still see her wilt slightly at the sight of it. “I am not a fan of human,” he announced. “You’re too stringy. I gave up eating you long ago. So you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Oh gee golly. Thank you! I’ll be so relieved you won’t eat me when I’m dead! ”

“I am not going to harm you through trickery,” he said sternly. “That is not how I operate.” To prove his point he backed off, folding his wings tighter to his body and backed away, letting light stream into the cave once more. “Now read it.”

She flipped the gold bar in her hand over, and held it up so that he would be in the background as she read, allowing her to react faster to any move he made. Whoever she was, she was a smart one. There wasn’t much else that he could tell about her. She was tall for a human, especially so for a female. The orange outfit she wore was unlike anything he’d seen before, but it was snug enough to reveal a wide, muscular frame. Her shoulders stretched it, and there was no traditional filling out around her chest section. But there was no mistaking her as female. He could see parts of her hair spilling out from under her white helmet, and her voice was another dead giveaway.

Just another oddity that he had discovered since being unceremoniously dumped out of the side of his cave and onto the mountain. There were a lot of strange things he’d seen, including the way she had arrived. He had been hiding, his silver scales blending easily into the snow, especially once he dug himself deep into it.

“Rye-o-light,” she said, stumbling over the name. “Isn’t that a type of rock?”

“It is also my name. But it’s pronounce Rhy-lite.”

“Oh,” she said, then snickered at her reply as the double-meaning of it registered.

He hung his head. “Perfect. A regular comedian.””

“Well, I don’t want to know how crazy you must be to carve your own name into the bottom of each one of these,” she said at last. “But you can have it back. I’m going to go now. I think there’s a mental facility calling my name.”

Rhyolite didn’t recognize the words. “A what?”

“You know, a crazy person house.”

“I see. Why do you need to go there? Are you losing your mind?”

She laughed. “Oh, that’s rich. A dragon that doesn’t exist asking me if I’m losing my mind. Man, they are going to love me there. They’ll be telling tales of this for ages.”

“I promise you,” he said, letting his voice rumble across the cave. “I am the real deal. Not a part of your imagination.”

“That’s exactly what my mind would have you say if I were going crazy. You know that, right?”

Rhyolite pawed casually at the ground, digging up three long rents in the solid rock with as much ease as a child draws in the mud. “I am not part of your imagination, human. I am Rhyolite, an Earthen dragon, and I exist!”

The cave trembled with his proclamation.

Aimee

“Uh-huh. Of course you are.”

She waved a hand at him dismissively. “You can go now. Poof. I command you to disappear.”

The silver-scaled dragon reared back in what seemed to be a combination of surprise and anger. His facial expressions—and she was fairly positive it was a he, based on his voice, but who really knew when it came to imaginary dragons—were rather similar to that of humans, despite the whole snout filled with razor-sharp teeth part.

“I am not some common peasant to simply dismiss,” he growled angrily, the long tail flicking back and forth in agitation.

Aimee rolled her eyes. “Listen, this has been fun.” She put the gold back on top of the nearest pile. “But you have everything back now. So, can I please go?”

“Tidy it up.”

She lifted both eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“You messed up my piles. You will tidy them up.”

Her jaw dropped. She was about to argue vehemently, but then realized she’d forgotten something. It was going to be hours before Angel could come back with the chopper. She was effectively stuck out here, with this…thing, that proclaimed to be a dragon, but of course couldn’t actually be one.

“Fine.” She set about restacking the piles, glaring up at him every chance she could.

It took her the better part of an hour and a half, but eventually each gold bar was back in a pile, and nothing looked amiss. “Are you happy now?” It was angering her that she’d actually given in and done the task, without telling her imagination to go stick it where the sun didn’t shine.

The dragon seemed to consider her response.

“Or are you hungry now that you’ve been staring at my ass this entire time?” she asked. “I swear, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were human.”

“Why would staring at your ass make me hungry?” the dragon replied at last, sounding confused.

“Because you want to eat me now?’

She winced at the double entendre, hoping that he wouldn’t pick up on it. His language seemed to be out of date, suggesting that maybe he wasn’t from the present. After all, if a dragon was real, why shouldn’t time travel be possible as well?

“I thought I made it clear that humans are gross and not worthy of eating. Females especially.”

“You sound like my last two boyfriends.”

The joke went over his head.

“Never mind,” she said at last, wishing she had a better audience for her punchlines. “So why were you chasing me around?”

“For fun.”

“Fun? Seriously? You were doing that just for fun?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, well, let me tell you something, it was absolutely no fun at all. None. Not even close.”

A scary-sounding laughter boomed out from the silvery-platinum dragon. “Really? Because I had a lot of it.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but the dragon kept talking, abruptly switching gears.

“What is the thing that brought you here?” he asked. “What sort of contraption?”

“You mean the helicopter?” Aimee was confused. “Do you not know what that is?”

“No,” he replied. “That would be why I asked you.”

She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to do little more than glare at the arrogant dragon. “It’s called a helicopter.”

“How does it stay in the air? Hot gas?”

“Uh, what? No. It has a turbine engine that powers the rotors which angle the downward force of the air until it reaches such a point that the upward thrust is…”

His eyes went unfocused at some point and she sighed. Why is it any time she started talking about anything mechanical that men always seemed to tune her out? It wasn’t her fault that she enjoyed these things! She’d always maintained that it was the man’s fault, but now she was having the same effect on an imaginary dragon. Maybe it was her. She sighed internally. Right then she had enough other problems besides complaining about her lack of success with men. Such as the dragon that, despite not possibly being able to exist, seemed very much to be real.

“You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

The dragon cocked his head. “You said the word ‘air,’ didn’t you? I know that one.”

She hung her head. “Okay, it’s like your wings, except if there were four of them, and instead of going up and down to achieve flight, they spin around in a circle, pushing the air down, until they’re pushing enough of it that they can counteract the weight of the body,” she pointed at him. “Just like your wings. Except it’s made of metal.”

“I see. So what kind of creature is an Engine, then? Is it a miniature dragon?”

“What? No. It’s not alive. It’s a machine.”

The blank look she got told her everything she needed to know.

“What year do you think it is?”

“Year?”

“Uh, yes. Like, the date. Today is January 24, for instance.”

“I’m not sure,” the dragon admitted. “I was fighting another dragon, and it was summer. He cheated and dumped a pile of rocks on my head. The next moment I fell out of the side of this cave and down the mountain, and it was winter. I suspect I was knocked out for a few months.”

“I suspect it was a little longer than that.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, for starters, the helicopter has been around since roughly 1939 in one form or another, though over the past nearly eighty years it has gotten a little more advanced. So you would have known it had existed.”

He frowned. “That might explain the town I saw off to the east then. It was not there when we were fighting our battle either.”

“Drake’s Crossing?” She thought furiously. It wasn’t her hometown, but she’d learned a fair amount of its history since being hired there four years earlier. “That was founded something like one hundred and fifty years ago, give or take a decade.

“I’m beginning to think I’ve been asleep a long time,” the dragon mused, sounding distracted, and, for the first time, not threatening.

Am I really capable of having this sort of in-depth conversation with something from my imagination? Shouldn’t it just be all blood and guts, running, screaming, that sort of thing?

“You are from across the sea, are you not?” he asked suddenly, his yellow eyes focusing on her.

The vertical pupils reminded her a lot of a cat, though she doubted he would appreciate the comparison.

“Uh, I suppose, if you go back far enough,” she admitted after a moment. She’d had to think about his question. Of course he wouldn’t know what a “European” was. “But I couldn’t tell you the specifics of my ancestry besides it being European, which by the way, is what that area is called now.”

“There were no…Europeans, on this continent when I came north,” he said, his mouth taking a moment to speak the new word. “My civilization came under attack by another dragon, and I was too weak to defeat him. I fled here to escape the extinction of my people.” The distaste at admitting his flight was palpable.

“What were your people?” she asked. “Where did they occupy?”

“They had a massive empire,” he said proudly. “I would fly it from the north to the south many times, just to see what they had achieved.” Then he grew soft. “But he killed them. He killed them all.”

Aimee had dabbled in human history in school, and now she fought to dredge up memories of classes. Then it hit her.

“Were your people the Mayans?” she asked in a shocked voice.

“Uh, the who?”

She pulled out her phone and punched in a search term, pulling up as many images as she could. “Will you promise not to hurt me if I come close?”

“I suppose,” he said warily. “Why?”

“Because this is kinda small, and you’re so huge, and—”

All at once the dragon was gone, and in its place was a human. Aimee’s jaw worked up and down as he—and holy-hot-tamale it was definitely a he—walked over to her. She stared at his impeccable physique, bronzed skin, and heart-stopping gorgeous blue eyes.

“Are you going to be all right?” he asked, pausing several steps away from her. “I promise not to hurt you.”

“Couldn’t you have done that from the start?” she snapped, her mouth running away from her before she could slap a muzzle on it.

“Technically? Yes.” He offered no further reply.

Not willing to let him get the best of her, Aimee crossed the remaining distance and started to show him images relating to the Mayan peoples.

“Yes,” he whispered. “But…what is this sorcery that you can show me all that? Are you a witch?”

Aimee burst out laughing. She clutched at her sides, careful not to drop her phone again, lest the screen crack—also, again. Tears streamed down her face as the stress of the past two hours suddenly caught up with her.

“You have to be real,” she gasped at last. “My imagination couldn’t come up with a line that terrible.”

“I don’t understand.” The same deep voice she’d heard earlier was now coming from this hella-hot hunk of ancient man meat. Dragon meat? Whatever, the point is, his voice sounds way better now. Probably ‘cause I’m not shaking in my boots.

“How can you not see the humor in this?” she snorted “You’re a dragon. A beast from legend that isn’t supposed to exist. And you’re asking me , a run-of-the-mill human female, if I’m a witch, because you don’t believe that I’m real. I’m a little rusty on the exact definition, but I think that qualifies as irony.”

“I’m a real dragon,” he insisted stubbornly.

Aimee just redoubled in laughter.

“What is so funny now?”

“I’m a real boy ,” she said, mimicking a high-pitched voice before tugging on her nose as if it were growing, managing to do that all through the laughter. “It’s from…oh never mind, you wouldn’t get it. But trust me, it’s hilarious.”

“I have no reason to trust you. You stole from me.”

“I neither stole, nor was going to steal from you.” Aimee rolled her eyes, her humor dissipating but for one last chuckle as she replayed the scene from the movie in her head once more. Oh that was just too perfect.

“You were—”

“Listen, Rhyolite, your people were the Mayans. They died off nearly eleven hundred years ago.”

His eyes bugged out wide as she sobered, pronouncing the fact as if it determined his fate somehow.

“Eleven hundred,” he gasped, staggering and reaching out for something to lean on.

She backed away, not wanting to get involved. Instead he found one of his piles of gold, his hand casually spilling a dozen of them to the floor while he sought solidity. Finally he fell to his knees.

“I’m not cleaning that up,” she said, kicking a bar away from her foot and back toward him. “That wasn’t me.”

“Eleven hundred years.”

Aimee started feeling sorry for him. “Were you asleep for that long?”

“No,” he said. “I fled the purple dragon and came north, living alone for nearly five hundred years before the bronze dragon came. Which means I’ve been asleep for six hundred years, give or take some decades, by the sounds of it.”

“Your math checks out.” She felt sorry for him, but Aimee was still having a hard enough time believing any of this was truly happening, so her normal sympathetic tendencies were absent.

“ Flow, this is Angel, we’re thirty seconds out. Are you ready for pickup ?”

“Well,” she said before switching her mic back on. “This has been fun and all. But I’ve got a ride to catch.” Her hand flicked a button on the inside of the helmet. “Roger that, Angel, good to hear you.”

Rhyolite didn’t seem to hear her. He was still hunched over on his knees breathing heavily. It didn’t seem like he was going to hyperventilate, so she crept away, using the distraction to exit the cave.

True to his word, moments later the chopper appeared to hover above her, the winch already descending. Aimee grabbed it once it reached her level and hooked herself into it, giving an admittedly shaky thumbs-up to signal they could pull her in.

Jenkins had the bird headed back to base before she was back in the cabin.

“Enjoy your vacation?” Angel asked as she settled in to her seat, looking to the side out the window. “Must have been boring to just stand around there.” He paused for a heartbeat. “Sorry to leave you, but we ended up making it in time. Doctor said a few more minutes and it might have been too late. So, thanks for taking one for the team, Flow.”

She nodded, her eyes focused on the mountain as they flew away, eying one spot in particular.

“Yeah, it was boring,” she said distractedly. “I had a nap.”

All Rhyolite had done was scare her and try to kill her. So why was she hoping to catch one last look at him?

Rhyolite

“Six hundred years.”

It didn’t sound real when he thought about it. Even speaking it out loud didn’t help him to reconcile the number.

“I’ve been asleep longer than I’ve been awake.”

Finally giving in, he sat on the floor, his rough homespun trousers from another age doing little to prevent the cold from seeping through. The cold didn’t affect him negatively, but it was still cold, a feeling he’d never truly come to care for. Which was just perfect considering he’d woken up in the middle of winter. Some god somewhere was playing tricks on him. Maybe this was punishment for fleeing the destruction of the purple dragon over a millennia earlier.

What else was I supposed to do? I was young and weak, and he had hundreds of years on me. I was still in my first century! You can’t punish me for being too weak.

He knew that wasn’t actually the case. But the fact that he’d been buried under the mountain for so long irked him. That meant the bronze dragon had won. Anger surged through Rhyolite and he felt the mountain answer back. Outside snow tumbled down as yet another miniature avalanche hit the region, this time caused by his actions. He wondered if the bronze dragon was still in the area. There had been no evidence of it, but there were plenty of mountains, and he’d not had the opportunity to explore much before the helicopter had arrived.

“Helicopter.” He said the word out loud, his lips fumbling to work their way around the weird combination of syllables. “What else have I missed?” he wondered silently.

The room had finally stopped spinning, a feeling of weakness that he’d never experienced before. After all, why should he? Rhyolite was a dragon shifter, the most powerful of his kind, and now likely one of the longest-lived beings on the planet. He was sure that others had survived to this day, though how many of them had fallen asleep or were still awake he didn’t know. All he was positive of was that most of them had likely chosen to sleep, instead of being so rudely knocked out like he was.

“If I ever find that bronze dragon again,” he snarled, one hand reaching out to touch the ground as his anger grew once more, forging a grudge the likes of which he’d never held before.

Absently behind him the hole in the side of the mountain began to close as he manipulated the earth, once more concealing himself and his horde away from the sticky fingers of gorgeous human women in orange outfits. His eyes shot to the nearest pile, eyeing her stacking job. It appeared to be normal, without anything missing. He wouldn’t have put it past her to take something, though. No human could resist the splendors of his treasure, that was for certain.

Climbing to his feet, he proceeded to inspect each pile, ensuring that all the bricks were present, glowing faintly from the light he called forth from the very earth itself to provide illumination. With painstaking slowness he moved deep into his cave, into sections she hadn’t even touched, fingers dragging over the top of bricks with loving tenderness, a smile playing over his face as he remembered this adventure or that, and how he’d slowly managed to increase his collection.

It felt good to be awake again.

Again.

His mind was screaming at him, telling him that he’d only been in the fight of his life against the bronze dragon but the day before. Yet everything else made it clear he’d missed six or more centuries of living trapped in a pile of rock at the edge of his cave. Only a chance collapse of the mountainside thanks to an avalanche had exposed his cave and woke him up by rudely throwing him down the side of the mountain.

Rhyolite had suffered a lot of indignity in his life, but that had to be near the top of it. Thankfully nobody had been around to see it. That was the last thing he needed, for word to get around about how he’d slammed ass-first into a pile of rocks while sliding down the mountain. He could only imagine the jokes he would suffer. They would go on for decades .

“At least something is going my way. Too bad nothing else is.”

His cataloging of all his treasure had reached the last room. This was where he kept some chests full of coins, gems, and the like. Items that he’d yet to melt down into the easily transportable bars. There were supposed to twelve of them. Rhyolite started counting in his head, but switched as he neared the end, his eyes confirming what his gut had already told him.

“Nine…ten…eleven. Eleven.” He spun left and right. “Where is the twelfth? There should be one more.”

He called upon more light, banishing the shadows from all but the deepest, darkest crevices as he inspected the entire chamber. But there was no doubt about it. One of his chests was missing. Thousands of pieces of gold and untold diamonds, rubies, and more. Gone!

The angry bellow shook his cave, small pebbles, rocks, and dust drifting down from the ceiling as he vented his rage, the acoustics of the chamber capturing his voice and hurling it back in a dozen different directions until it echoed.

Eyes normally a pleasing sky-blue snapped around to the main chamber, blazing with glacial cold as he examined where he’d found the human meddling with his stash. He wasn’t sure how she’d managed to sneak the chest out without him seeing, but he had been out of it while he coped with the vast length of time he’d been asleep.

Who knew what technology she and her other humans possessed now. Whatever it was, it was enough to steal it out from under his nose. Smart of her, he realized, to take it from the very back, where it would be the longest before Rhyolite noticed it was missing. He’d thought her clever, noting that along with her bravery as she’d stood up to him, unwilling to simply let herself be killed.

Killed, not eaten. Eww. The very fact that she’d entertained the idea that he might eat a human was enough to send his stomach churning. Factor in his missing treasure, and he was suffering from some severe heartburn.

“Heartburn. I must be getting old.”

Apparently the first millennia really caught up with you once you were on the wrong side of it. Belatedly Rhyolite realized he’d never been able to have a party to mark his first thousand years on earth. What a farce. Think of all the gold I missed out on as gifts!

He was getting distracted, his mind wandering. Giving it a firm shake, both to clear it and as a means of telling himself to get his head back in the game, Rhyolite came up with a game plan. It was quite simple.

Follow the human woman to the town. Find her. Get his treasure back. Burn everything.

A smile crept over his face as he reviewed the plan and gave it approval. First though, he would need to build up his energy. After so many centuries of sleep, he would need to hunt, to eat.

And that meant finding something tastier than human.

Aimee

She bounced the ball off her ceiling, catching it in one hand, then the other. It wouldn’t be long before the upstairs neighbors complained, but she figured there was another five minutes or so before that happened.

Four and a half minutes later she stopped, catching the blue ball in her left hand and giving it a squeeze, compressing it while she relieved some stress.

“Dragons are real.”

She’d been repeating the line in her head over and over again, until she’d gotten sick of it. That’s when she’d switched to speaking out loud. There was no other way to describe what had happened to her. On the flight back she’d surreptitiously asked some questions designed to ensure they all thought she was in the right frame of mind.

With the seriousness of her job, Aimee knew that at the first sign of mental instability they would ground her and run a battery of tests until she was once again fit to fly. But nothing had seemed to be wrong in the eyes of her teammates. Without asking more blatant questions, Aimee was left with the stunning conclusion that what she’d experienced had been real.

“Dragons are real.”

It was mind-blowing. She’d always been sort of undecided on whether any of human folklore was based in reality. There was no proof of it, but she’d always been in love with the idea that perhaps, just perhaps , there was more to the world than plain old humanity.

That was before. Then she’d been chased around the cave by a dragon who had been trying to eat her. Apparently that life-or-death situation had changed her opinion on things a bit.

“So why can’t I get him off my mind?”

Besides the fact that he shouldn’t be real? Probably because once he turned into a human, he was hella hot and you haven’t been in laid in three…no, four, months.

Aimee frowned as she thought that last comment over. Damn, it had actually been five months.

Serves you right for doubting me. You. Us. Whatever. Now you can suffer the fact that it was closer to five and a half months.

Am I really being chirped at by my own brain?

There was no reply.

Real mature.

“Maybe I am losing my mind,” she mused out loud. “What else would I do if I was?”

Go back up to the mountain.

Even as she spoke the words out loud to her tiny little bedroom in her tiny little apartment, Aimee knew that was exactly what she was going to do.

“No. This is stupid, girl.” She shook her head, trying to fight her body as it sat up, the sheet falling down, only slowing slightly as it passed over her chest.

Glowering angrily at her small breasts as if they were the source of her frustration, she got up and slipped on a sports bra. “Don’t do this. You know this is a bad idea.”

But she had to. Her curiosity was driving her crazy. She needed more proof, proof that Rhyolite did actually exist, that dragons were real and that she wasn’t going insane. Otherwise Aimee had a sneaking suspicion she would have a hard time focusing on anything, let alone her job.

The outdoors was her world. Aimee loved it. Most of her spare money, of which there was little, was spent on hiking and camping gear. Where many girls would buy new shoes, she would buy a new tent, or backpack, or some other useful tool. Which isn’t to say she never bought new shoes either, but being as tall as she was, heels weren’t ever an option for her. At five feet eleven plus four-inch heels, she towered over most guys. Apparently most of the guys in Drake’s Crossing had compensation issues, because that was a problem for them.

New boots though, that was a different story. Her front hall closet was filled with all sorts of different pairs. She wasn’t afraid of going hiking in the mountains, even in winter.

A quick shower helped wake her up, but even as she finished, being careful not to get her long hair wet, Aimee couldn’t stop.

“This is one of those too-stupid-to-live moves, girl. You want to go back up into the mountain. In the middle of winter. During the worst avalanche season on record. In what way is this a smart idea?”

She pulled on layers of warm clothing meant to keep the heat in but still help her stay comfortable. Supplies went into a backpack with practiced ease, and forty-five minutes later she slipped out her door and took the stairs three levels down. Her SUV, a hefty off-road version, not the little soccer-mom-mobile, fired up smoothly and she headed out, ignoring all the warnings going off in her head.

Stupid. This is stupid. Turn around. Go home now. You’re going to get yourself killed.

“Enough.”

Her mind had begun to sound like a broken record, and she was sick of it. The decision was made. She was going to go find the dragon, and figure out a way to prove to herself that she wasn’t crazy, that they did exist. She had all the necessary supplies and emergency equipment in her bag. Yes, taking the helicopter would have been easier, but unfortunately that wasn’t an option. She worked for a government-funded operation, and they were a little unhappy about unauthorized joyrides.

Then of course there was the fact that she was off for three days straight, scheduled downtime. Her superiors, Angel included, really hated it when she came in to the base when she was supposed to be resting and unwinding, so that she could come back refreshed. So that idea was out. Which meant driving as far as she could, and then hiking the rest of the way up.

By the time she actually reached the end of the road that took her as close as possible to her destination, Aimee’s drive had begun to wane. She even hesitated while pulling on the straps of her pack. Why was she doing this again? What would her trip into the mountains accomplish, besides telling her that she was crazy?

Long hair of a rich chestnut brown flashed through her mind’s eye, followed by the long, regal features that some might term noble. Eyes of fairest blue twinkled in her memory as she remembered watching Rhyolite as he’d gazed upon her and her cell phone, his brain working to try and accept the fact that he’d been asleep for so long.

“Shit. We’re not so different after all,” she muttered, slamming her trunk closed and heading up into the mountain.

It was true. They were both exposed to something that they were having a hard time believing, the new information rocking their worlds and forever changing them. She was having to rewrite all of human history in her head, while Rhyolite was going to have to come to terms with the fact that he now lived in a different age, one where he was out of place, and no longer the power to be feared that he once was.

“Oh no. No no no no. This is bad .”

Aimee brought herself to a halt, adjusting the ski mask she was wearing to help against the glare of the sun on the snow. She finally understood what it was she was doing going back up the mountain. The pull, the urge, had finally revealed its true nature, and she was pissed. Not at Rhyolite, but at herself.

You can’t fix him. That is not your job.

It was a weakness of hers, and one that had led her into more terrible relationships than she cared to think about. Aimee had this unrelenting need to help those who needed it. To heal the hurt, and repair the broken. It was part of the reason she loved her job so much. She was able to help those in extreme need.

Helping a dragon learn to adjust to a world he’d left six hundred years earlier wasn’t her typical challenge. She wasn’t certain it was even feasible, assuming that he did exist, and that she wasn’t losing her mind to some sort of disease that forced her to hallucinate.

“But if I were hallucinating and falling ill, would I be so skeptical of it then?” she muttered, pausing to pick up a tree branch. After testing it out, she snapped off about two feet of its length by the simple expedient of placing one end on the ground, the other on a nearby rock and stomping hard where she wanted it to break.

“Or maybe that’s how it starts.” She picked up the makeshift walking stick, gripping it easily in her hand and pushed off once more, heading up the steepening slope while still talking to herself, getting the words out verbally to better help her understand the situation. “Maybe I start skeptical, but the longer it goes on, the more I become convinced it’s real. Then at some point I stop doubting and that’s when I go full crazy?”

It didn’t seem all that far-fetched of a way to lose her mind. “So how do I prove that I’m not crazy, that he does exist?”

Aimee thought of the most rational, non-insane person she could think of. Angel.

“Noooo, bad idea, Aims. Badddd idea. Do not take him to meet Brian. Not yet.” She stepped to the side to walk around a large rock formation..

“Take who to meet Brian?”

She screamed and lost her balance, arms flailing as she overbalanced and started to fall backward down the slope. There was a blur and the figure that had emerged from around the rocks in front of her was suddenly beside her, catching her. Aimee felt his strong hands wrap around the small of her back and under her legs, lifting her clear of the ground and pulling her tight to a chest that could have been carved from the very same rocks it was so hard.

“Thank you,” she gasped as she was deposited back on her feet. A moment later the walking stick was pushed back into her hands, helping her stand up. She straightened and looked at her rescuer.

Twin eyes as bright as the sky stared back at her, one partially hidden by several wayward strands of chestnut-brown hair.

“Hi,” she said, her voice nearly a squeak.

“You are she,” Rhyolite rumbled. “The human female who stole from my horde.” His eyes flashed with thunder and lightning.

“I didn’t steal anything,” she snapped, her thankfulness evaporating swiftly at his accusation. “We went over this. I put it all back, and I even stacked the piles for you! Did you forget already?”

He shook his head angrily, and she took a step back, the warm fuzziness she’d experienced upon first seeing him—after being scared so badly she’d nearly fallen down the mountain—dissipating as well. Now she was once again scared. The way his hand had felt on her back was already forgotten as she readied herself, not sure what she could do if he chose to attack her.

“Then explain how an entire pile of my gold is missing!” he stormed.

Aimee’s head jutted forward slightly in disbelief. “Are you saying I stole an entire pile of your gold?”

The dragon-human shapeshifter nodded vigorously. “Precisely.”

“Okay, let’s do some math here,” she said, trying to remain calm. “How many of your bars do you put in each pile?”

“Two thousand.”

Her mind boggled at the number. That meant he had enough wealth in his cave to...oh boy. The number was a lot . More than some countries had at their disposal, she was sure.

“Okay,” she said, forcing herself to say something , anything really, so he didn’t decide she was lying. “Putting aside the fact that if I had stolen all that, I wouldn’t be anywhere nearby, let’s also put aside the question of how I stole all that gold. I wasn’t in there long, and you know that.”

“You could be a witch. Your thing with the records of my people on it. You had that there, ready to go. You knew who I was.”

Aimee shook her head. “No, that’s not the way it works. I can look up whatever I want. I just have to give it the proper terms to search for. It’s like a master book that contains all the world’s books on it. Does that make sense?”

“No, that is not possible.”

“Right. We’re going to have a long talk about technology and the advances that have been made, right after I remind you that you were asleep for six centuries. At any point during that, someone else could have taken your gold.”

She saw him jerk in surprise, as if he hadn’t considered that possibility.

“Curse you,” he hissed.

“Excuse me?” Aimee’s own anger flared up at the perceived insult.

Rhyolite opened his mouth, shaking his head. “No, not you. I was speaking of someone else. The very someone who I believe stole my treasure. I even know why he stole the small amount he did, instead of the entire thing.”

Aimee relaxed as the danger seemed to abate. “Which is why?” she pressed when he didn’t elaborate.

“To taunt me. To torture me with the fact that he won our fight, and could have taken it all. But the bronze dragon didn’t win. I am still here, and he is not!” Rhyolite laughed triumphantly.

Aimee nodded slowly. Great. A blood feud between dragons. Why did you think coming out here was a good idea again? Speaking of which…

“Why are you here?” she asked. “Why did you come down the mountain?”

“Food. Your human town will have somewhere I can purchase food and drink.”

“Yes, it will,” she agreed. “Though it won’t be anything like what you’re expecting. Things have changed quite a lot.” A smile crept over her face. “Though I suspect that you will like the changes.”

“Why?”

Ignoring his brusque nature, she started to explain to him about all the varieties of food available to him now. He waved her off after a few moments as she started naming her favorite places.

“None of this is making sense. I wish for some meat and mead. Simple fare. None of this…I don’t even know what you were saying half the time.”

“Got it. Mead is now beer, just so you’re aware. It’s different, but it’s the closest you’re going to find. But I can help with that.”

The words were out of her mouth before she even realized she was saying them.

“Excellent. You will guide me.” He gestured at her in a lordly way.

“Say please,” she said firmly, standing her ground.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s a term of politeness, indicating you are asking me. Say ‘Will you please show me around?’”

“You will do as I say,” he replied instead.

“Why should I do that?”

There was no pause in his response. “You are a human, and you are femal—”

Her walking stick smashed into his face, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence. Pieces of it flew everywhere. At least, the ones that weren’t embedded in his skin did. Holly stared in shock at what she’d just done.

Uh-oh.

Rhyolite

He reached up to his face, blinking slowly as he pulled slivers from his skin. A particularly long one was covered in blood. It didn’t hurt; in the grand scheme of wounds it was quite petty and small. He would heal in minutes, at the most. His slow, delayed reaction was not built from anger, but more from shock.

Never in his hundreds of years had a woman ever spoken to him like this one. He’d started to adjust to that fact, simply because she was the only woman he’d known. But now she’d struck him with a weapon. Part of him was ready to strike her down now for her insolence and find someone else. But the bloodthirsty instinctive part of him had long ago been the first thing he tamed. It was still strong and occasionally won out, but in non-life-threatening situations, he could maintain control of himself. Like now.

As he slowly plucked at his face, the woman’s skin drained of blood until he thought it was going to match the snow-covered mountain upon which they stood. Only her cheeks were visible under the orange mask she wore over her eyes. He wondered what that was for, even as he enjoyed the fear.

“Are all women as hotheaded as you?” he asked, doing his best to project an aura of fear and intimidation. He wanted to work with this human, for reasons he could not yet identify, but he needed her to calm down.

“No,” she admitted in a tiny-sounding voice. “But most of us don’t appreciate being treated as lower class. I…may have overreacted there. I’m not usually the most vocal about it, but the way you said it was truly insulting and I just…acted. I’m sorry, Rhyolite.”

He considered her words. The apology didn’t sound forced, nor given out of fear. She truly sounded embarrassed about her actions, but not the premise upon why she’d acted. That realization bore some further thinking on his part before he spoke.

She was ashamed of the fact that she’d struck him. This part was understandable, due to the power dichotomy between them. He was a dragon, and she was a human. He was in no danger from her or her kind, whereas they would tremble before him if necessary. It was the other part of her statement that rung with a fierceness to it that was out of place in his mind. He didn’t understand. More information was required.

“Please explain the first part of your statement.”

“Uh.” He could see her eyes focus elsewhere as she replayed it in her mind. “The part about women not appreciating being treated as a lower class?”

“Yes.”

“Women are equal to men,” she stated bluntly. “I don’t know what it was like in your time, but nowadays, we are seen as equal. Men do not own us, order us around, nothing like that.”

There was much she wasn’t saying, but right then it didn’t matter to him.

“Interesting.” He processed that change in his mind. “In my homeland, women were important, a necessary part of our people and the way we functioned. But still not given the same freedoms as men.”

“That is different now. I can own property, I can hold a job. Whatever I wish.”

“I see. I will attempt to respect that then.” He meant what he’d said. One thing Rhyolite had come to the conclusion of as he’d walked down the mountain was that things were going to be different. He wasn’t sure how, or what, but they would be unlike anything he’d known before.

Which meant that he was going to have to change as well. He’d done it before. Once. Upon fleeing his homeland and running north with his tail between his legs, Rhyolite had come into contact with the primitive tribes people of the northern parts of the continent. He’d mostly kept apart from them, but many of them had female-centric alignments at one time or another.

“Okay then. I’m glad we got that settled.” She looked and sounded awkward, and he smiled slightly, realizing she’d probably expected more of a pushback from him.

Perhaps I can surprise you more, he thought with an internal satisfaction at the knowledge that she was thrown off guard by his willingness to adapt.

“But of course, if you’re equal to men now, then I suppose you can take the same punishment as a man for theft.” He tapped a finger on his chin as if thinking. “Now let me see if I remember it correctly.”

“I didn’t steal anything!” she protested with a snort that said plenty on its own. “I was just looking at it. Had no idea what it was I’d found.”

“You would have stolen it if I hadn’t confronted you.”

She thought about that, and then crossed her arms. “How did you get it in the first place?”

Rhyolite already had his mouth open to answer what he’d expected to be a protest. The question of his acquisition of the gold wasn’t something he’d expected nor prepared for. The end result was him left speechless with his mouth hanging open, tongue flapping in the wind.

“That’s what I thought,” she said, shaking her head. “Get off your high horse, mister.” She turned and took several steps back down the mountain. “Now, do you want to see the town or not?”

Rhyolite got a hold of himself and nodded. “Yes. I am famished.”

“I hope you brought some of your gold. Because this isn’t free, and I’m surely not paying for what I suspect is going to be an extraordinary amount of food.”

“Pay?”

“Yes. You know, the exchange of something of value? A merchant will sell you food, and you have to pay for it with goods. In today’s society we call it money or cash. So your gold will get you a certain amount of money, and then you use that to pay for items you want. Food, clothing, etcetera.”

He nodded in understanding. “I am aware of the system. My point was, why would I pay? I am Rhyolite, a dragon. You humans are nothing. I shall simply take what I want.”

In front of him she sagged, her shoulders drooping as she slowed her walk down the mountain slope. Rhyolite frowned at the sight. Obviously his words had disappointed her. Much to his surprise, he found himself unhappy with the prospect of letting her down. That was…unexpected. Why should he care about how a human felt about him? It made no sense.

“You know, you can’t just walk in and take whatever you want.”

“Why not?”

“Well for one, it’s rude and impolite. Secondly, these people work hard for their items. Why should you have the right to just take it? Might makes right is not an acceptable answer,” she added as he opened his mouth to reply.

Rhyolite closed it, once again not having an answer. “Very well.” He didn’t tell her he’d brought some gold anyway, just in case. He liked to be prepared.

“All right then. It’s a good thing I came up here. Letting you walk around town on your own is a dangerous proposition.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him and he met her gaze with his. Their eyes met and he found himself enjoying staring into the stormy gray circles, watching intently as her pupils dilated slightly. It was tough to tell with the wind blowing, but he thought her cheeks might have turned slightly redder as well.

“Watch out.”

“What?” she turned around and yelped as a tree loomed up in front of her. She tried to dodge to the side but lost her balance and started to fall.

“I’ve got you,” he said calmly as he stepped forward at full speed, scooping her up for the second time before she fell into a bank of snow. “All safe.” He turned as he grabbed her, slowing himself down by the simple expedient of using the trunk to stop him. His shoulders slammed into it slightly harder than intended.

Which shook the entire tree, shivering the branches, all of which were laden with snow, dropping it down on the couple. White powder dropped like a stone onto them, burying the two of them up to his waist.

“Smooth.” She spat snow from her face and shook her head to clear it. “That was some rescue.”

He chuckled. They were, for the moment, trapped, her warm body pressed tightly to his chest. The situation wasn’t altogether unpleasant, and he quickly found himself appreciating the slightly sweet fragrance that she was wearing. It was the first pleasant thing he’d smelled besides the fresh air since he’d woken up, and Rhyolite was in no rush to get rid of it.

“Are you just going to hold me like this until the snow melts?” she asked, tapping on his shoulder to get his attention.

“Would you like me to put you down?”

“Please.”

Rhyolite shrugged. “As you wish.” He dropped his arms to his sides.

“HEY!” was all she had time to shout before she sank into the snowbank with very little in the way of grace.

Laughing brightly, he reached down and scooped her up by her shoulders, setting her on her feet. The look on her face made him laugh even harder and he threw back his head.

That’s when she scooped up a huge double-handful of snow and smacked it into his face. Half of it went into his lungs and he doubled over, choking and coughing as he hacked up the white flakes.

It was her turn to laugh as she bulled her way through the snow until it only came up to her shins. “Take that!” she called behind her.

He recovered long enough to pack a snowball—gently—and send it winging toward the back of her head.

“Ack!” she cried out as it impacted, his aim perfect for a change. She stumbled and went down to one knee. Rhyolite thought perhaps he’d hurt her, and started charging forward.

Which is when she stood up, spun, and fired a snowball into his face. So intent was he on ensuring that she wasn’t injured he didn’t get the slightest chance to move out of the way.

“Pth, blth,” he sputtered, spitting snow out.

“Come on!” she shouted with a laugh, beckoning him forward. “Let’s go get food. I’m hungry.”

Rhyolite grinned and bounded after her, clearing the last of the deposited snow and skipping down the slope with ease to catch up.

He liked her. Perhaps sleeping for so long wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

Aimee

They reached her SUV shortly after.

She was still marveling at the unbelievable odds that they’d met on the mountain. Even crazier though was the bond she felt developing between them. It had shocked her to realize that there was an actual person in there. She’d initially assumed that he was a dragon who could shift into a human form. It had been an assumption on her part that his personality would always reflect that of the stereotypical dragon.

But the more time he was spending in his human form, the more she began to wonder if she’d gotten it backward. If he was, perhaps, a human who could shift into dragon form. The ability to joke, and to her amazement even flirt with her a little had caught Aimee completely by surprise. There was no denying that that’s what they’d engaged in back there. She wasn’t ready to address the fact that she’d actively participated in it, nor discuss with herself the little shiver that raced down her spine every time his eyes locked onto hers.

She wasn’t going to fall for a dragon. Period. End of story.

“Get in,” she said with a gesture, letting him know the vehicle was hers.

Rhyolite walked up to the black vehicle and stopped. “Um.”

She could see his embarrassment. “Right. You’ve obviously never seen a car.”

“A car?”

“Well, SUV technically, but don’t worry about it. ‘Car’ is a universal term for most vehicles,” she said, grimacing as she babbled slightly. Shaking her head and wondering just when she’d gone and developed a nervousness around men, Aimee walked around to the passenger side and showed him how to operate the door.

“Interesting.” He paused.

“Is there a problem?”

“Well, my father always warned me about getting into metal cages with strange women. I think it’s how I—”

“STOP!” she shouted, holding up a hand and shaking her head furiously. “No. No no no. No more, please. I had no idea that saying went so far back. But I get it. Enough.”

Rhyolite smiled.

“No, not funny dude. You don’t even know my name! You can’t make jokes like that.”

Rhyolite jerked backward. “You’re right.”

“I know I’m right! Dirty jokes have a time and a place. This is not it.”

“What? No, not that. I mean, yes, that too. But I’ve been terribly amiss,” he said apologetically. “My manners have abandoned me it would seem. Please, my name is Rhyolite, as you already know.” He stuck out his hand.

She eyed it for a moment, but internally she knew there was nothing she could do but accept it and give him her name.

“Aimee Florette,” she said, extending her hand.

“You have two names?” he asked, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Aimee let his hand slip away with an unexpected feeling of regret. It took a significant amount of mental effort to focus herself on his question. She managed, but whatever it was about him, she could feel it pulling at her like a magnet. This was going to be tough.

“Yes. Aimee is my name, and Florette is my family name.”

He nodded.

“So, Rhys, are you going to continue to stand there and deflect the situation while you work up the courage to go for a ride, or are you going to get in?” She grinned at him and got inside.

“Rice? I’m not a food.”

Maybe not, but you are pretty delicious-looking.

“No, not a food. A shortening of your name. I’m lazy; I want to use one syllable. It’s common,” she assured him as he looked at her suspiciously.

“Very well.”

“Now get in the car,” she ordered with a wink.

He awkwardly entered the passenger side, pulling the door closed hard enough to make her wince, though she doubted there was any actual damage. She saw him pick up on her reaction though and he apologized. At least, she thought that’s what he said, but her eyes were too busy focusing on his lips as he spoke to hear the actual words. He was very kissable.

The thought struck her like a lightning bolt and she sat upright immediately, stomping on the brake pedal and hammering the ignition button with her finger.

Get it together, girl. Look, let’s acknowledge one thing. He’s gorgeous. That hair shouldn’t be that fine for someone asleep for so long, and shouldn’t he have a huge beard instead of that dreamy day-old stubble that I just want to rub my hand all over? Ugh, and that jawline, he’s straight out of some calendar shoot.

She’d been pressed against his chest twice today, and the memory of the power and ease with which he’d swept her up was mixed together with the firmness of his muscles. He was wearing a shirt of some sort of rough fabric, which she’d felt when it rubbed against her exposed cheek once, but Aimee could easily imagine what he looked like underneath it.

Everything about him was perfect with gorgeous lines, except his nose. It had a slight bend to it that looked like it had been broken and never healed properly. It was faint, but she’d been staring at his face long enough now she saw it with ease. Some might not like it, but to her it added the perfect bit of personality to a face that would otherwise be too gorgeous to look at for long.

It made him human, something that she realized she’d desperately been craving from him. That, combined with his earlier antics was making him more accessible to her, more relatable. It was almost as if he was able to sense her thoughts.

“Or read my mind.”

“Pardon?”

“Can you read minds?” she asked, pulling on her seatbelt and showing him how to do the same as a way of deflecting the fact she hadn’t intended to ask that question aloud.

“What? No, that’s not an ability that we possess.” It was obvious he was holding back.

“At all?”

“I cannot just look into your mind any time I wish,” he reassured her.

It was an answer, albeit not a full one. Still, it assuaged the concerns she had. Who was she to judge if he wished to keep some secrets? The fact that he’d let her live with the knowledge that he even existed spoke volumes about his trust for her. She could let him have this one.

“So, what are you capable of?” she asked as she wheeled the vehicle around and headed back down the road toward Drake’s Crossing.

“Hmmm. Well, we can fly, you know. That’s pretty fun.”

She snorted. “No shit. Dragons can fly? Man, that is cool.”

“It can get cold up there, yes, but—”

Aimee started laughing, cutting him off with a wave of one hand, keeping the other on the wheel. “No, no, not literal. Cool when used like that means it’s neat, interesting, that sort of thing.”

“Ah. Then yes, it is cool.”

“Yeah. I love flying.”

Rhys looked over at her so sharply she thought he was going to break his neck. Even viewing it out of the corner of her eye it had looked like a violent movement.

“You can fly?” he asked cautiously.

“What?” She was confused. “Oh! No, not like you can, that’s not what I meant. In the helicopter for my job. The thing that I first landed near your cave in?”

“Oh, of course. That makes a lot more sense. What is your job? Does everyone ride in one of those helicopters?”

“No. Not many people do at all, to be honest. I work as part of the Search and Rescue Team for Drake’s Crossing.” She briefly outlined what that meant.

“You risk yourself for the sake of others?”

“Yes,” she replied instantly.

“That’s very noble of you.”

She shrugged. “I suppose.”

“Don’t be so unkind to yourself. That is a very kind thing for you to do. In my time, it was rather unheard of.”

“Maybe.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. “The world is a different place now, Rhys. I think, even with the ability to adapt that you’ve shown so far, that you’re going to feel way out of your depth once we get to Drake’s Crossing.”

He grinned. “I doubt it.”

Rhys

“I feel so out of place.”

He stared around in wonder at the town. “Look at the size of those buildings,” he said, awed as they rose way up into the sky.

“Those? That’s nothing. This is a tiny little town. Go to a big city, they are much, much bigger.”

She was bragging, but in this instance, it was perfectly acceptable. Rhyolite had been so sure of himself, of the fact that society couldn’t have changed that much, that he would still be able to feel a part of it.

He’d never been so wrong about something in his life. It was absolutely stunning. Vehicles like the one he was within were everywhere, in all different shapes and sizes, some of them massive, towing big rectangular boxes behind them. Those were called “tractor-trailers” apparently, and they were used in place of the horse and cart system he’d known. It was slightly more efficient.

“Unbelievable. And look, everyone is on those gadgets.”

“Cell phones,” she reminded him. “And yes, they’re a blessing and a curse. They keep us all connected, but they also keep us all connected.”

He had to think about that for a moment, but eventually the meaning came through. “Ah, as in, you find it hard to pull away after a while. To separate things from one another.”

She was nodding along. “Yep. You are no longer ever truly ‘off the clock’ for work when your boss can send you a message at any point in time.”

“I still don’t understand how that works,” he admitted. She’d given him a brief overview, but there was just so much to learn, he was feeling overwhelmed.

“We’ll go over it again,” she promised. “You’re a quick learner; I don’t expect it to take long.”

He sat a little straighter at the compliment. She was impressed by him! It felt good to know that. Keeping it up was going to be tough. He suspected neither of them truly understood what it was going to take to get him up to speed on the world, but he was going to give it everything he had. It would be enough. It had to be.

“Okay, we’re here.”

He looked up to see a sign that read Drake’s Delicatessen & Desserts.

“What is this place?”

“You said you were hungry. So we’re here to get you some food. Also me, I’m starving.”

Aimee expertly guided them off the main path and into an area that seemed to be designated for storage of the various vehicles, as he’d learned they were also termed. So many different words to describe the same thing, it was making his head hurt. Food was definitely necessary.

He emerged, closing the door with more grace than he had upon entering. The look she’d given him then had told her he’d screwed up, and he didn’t want to do that again. All around him the press of the town weighed down on him as he stood there. Rhyolite wasn’t sure how they handled such density.

“Let’s go, Rhys.”

“Why do you call me that?” he asked. “My name is Rhyolite. Can you not put the effort into saying it? I do not want a new name. Or a short name.”

“Yeah, you need food.” Her tone indicated she was frustrated with him.

Too bad. He liked his name.

“There are two reasons. First, because I feel comfortable enough with you that I can be informal. Which is crazy, I don’t understand how, but I do. Even though you’re a dragon. Which is also crazy.”

He saw her looking around as she spoke.

“Are you looking for something?”

“Just to see if people are staring at me.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Well, if you’re not real, then I’m just talking to the air. That’s not normal, and people tend to stare at things that aren’t normal.”

Rolling his eyes, he walked around to where she stood on her side, grabbed Aimee’s bare hand, and pressed it to his face. “Do I feel fake?” he asked.

She shook her head meekly.

Then he grabbed her hand within his. “How about now?”

“No,” she squeaked, her hands tightening around his in what sounded like fear.

“I’m real. Not part of your imagination. You need to get over that,” he told her, frustrated at her inability to believe him.

He’d thought she was better than the others.

“Right,” she said, her voice strengthening. “The other reason is because you need to stay low.”

“Oh, why didn’t you say so?” He crouched down.

“Eep!” Aimee cried out as she was dragged down as well.

Both of them looked down to notice that their hands were still joined together, neither of them having let go. That was odd…he could have sworn he’d let go right after she’d answered him.

Aimee was looking at it the same. Almost as one they opened their hands and pulled them apart. She stood, he remained crouched.

“What are you doing?”

“You told me to stay low? I’m trying to do as you recommend.” He was getting irritated with her lack of direction. Just say what she meant.

“What? No, I mean, under the radar, not literally.”

Radar? He looked around. Did she mean the car? That must be it, there was nothing else that she could mean. Frowning, he got onto the ground and started to slide underneath her vehicle, wondering why it was necessary. He never hesitated though. This was clearly important to Aimee, and he wanted to show her he could work with her.

“What are you doing now?” She sounded as exasperated as he felt.

“You told me to get under Radar. This is Radar, is it not?”

“Oh, shit. Never mind. Get out, stand up.”

“Please explain,” he growled as he got back up, brushing himself off.

“What I was trying to say, is that you need to stay inconspicuous. Remain unnoticed. Don’t draw any attention to yourself, or the fact that you’re a dragon.”

“Ah. Well, that is why I’m in my human form, is it not?”

Aimee buried her face in her hands. “Yes, obviously. But I mean, having a really odd-sounding name could also draw attention to you. Attention I don’t want on you.”

She flinched as she spoke, seeming to regret her word choice.

“Why not?”

“Uh, because we don’t need the attention. Trust me, the public as a whole is not ready for this. You need to just fit in for now, to act like the rest of us.”

Rhys stood up, looking around at all he saw. The wonders of this new age were beyond the scope of anything he could have imagined, that was true. The cars and helicopters and cell phones. All of it was far more than he could believe. Humanity had come a long way. But when he looked past all that…

“I’m not sure I wish to fit in,” he said, mentally filtering out all the fantastic technology.

Now he just saw them.

“Why not? What’s wrong with that?” Aimee asked, crossing her arms.

Rhyolite barely noticed her action, his gaze focusing elsewhere. “Because. Look at them. So weak and frail. I could sweep them aside with such ease they’d never know what hit them.” He shrugged. “They would kill me, you know. If they knew what I was. All humans do that eventually. To them I am a freak, an outsider. It’s not scary—they couldn’t harm me—but their shortsightedness, their immediate reaction of fear and revulsion to the unknown. It irks me. No, I do not wish to become a part of the masses.”

By now Aimee was shaking, her eyes burning a hole in the side of his head. He swiveled his gaze back around to rest on her. Before he could speak again she spun on her heel and stalked off through the vehicle storage lot. He raised his eyebrows in question, trying to figure out what had just gone on.

“Was it something I said?”

She kept walking. Frustrated, he curled a hand up into a fist, flexing and relaxing it several times. Hints of steam curled from his nostrils, whisked away by the cool winter breeze before anyone could realize that it wasn’t just from him breathing. Watching her walk away sucked. There was no more delicate way to put it. Every step she took hammered a nail deeper into his gut, trying to pin it to his spine.

Finally he could take it no more. “Aimee!” he called, breaking out into a jog and easily catching up with her. “Wait, Aimee. What happened? What has you so mad?”

“You!” she snapped, much to his surprise.

He’d been expecting much more of a fight to pull the truth from her, but it seemed that Aimee was ready to unload on him.

“Me?”

“Yes, you,” she hissed, keeping her voice down but managing to fill it with more fury than he’d thought should be possible. “You’re arrogant to the point that it isn’t believable. It must be some sort of sick joke, how much better you think of yourself than us puny little humans.” She altered her voice over the last few words, making it deeper, mocking him. “You do remember that I am one of those humans that you just so casually insulted, right? I’m no better or worse than any of them.”

Rocking back on his heels at her outburst, he considered her words. Aimee was right, he realized immediately. He had forgotten that she was like them. For some reason he hadn’t lumped her in with them, automatically assuming that she was better than them. But why? She made a good point. Aimee was human, like everyone around him.

He locked eyes on her again, admiring the beauty in her face even as it reflected her ire back at him. The gray of her eyes had become the dark thunderheads of a storm, brewing and ready to unleash its destruction against anything it could latch on to, namely him in this case. Her eyebrows were lowered and pressing together in the center, matching the tempest in her eyes, while her lips had curled inward, hiding their luscious fullness to the world as they helped armor her up for a fight she expected to come.

“You’re right,” he said bluntly, trying to defuse the situation. “I am superior physically to humans. That is not up for argument, and I know despite your anger, you are aware of this too.”

The gale subsided somewhat, but it remained, poised to strike should he falter at any stage. A quick, sharp nod of her head indicated her agreement with his statement as well as a prompt for him to continue.

“But perhaps I should not be so quick to judge humanity.” He waved a hand around, his thoughts scrambling to catch up with his words. “After all, look at everything that you have created. Perhaps none of you are blessed with my physical gifts, but it would appear that while I have been asleep, your minds have blossomed.” He stopped, unsure of what else to say.

Aimee regarded him for several long moments, and then her eyebrows slowly unknotted. “I suppose that, for you, that was an epiphany-level statement, wasn’t it?”

He frowned. “Did you just call me dumb?”

“Yes.”

“Ouch.”

“Now you know how it feels.”

Just like that, Rhyolite suddenly understood. The anger that had appeared out of nowhere in Aimee wasn’t a fury directed at him, or at least not completely. No, it was armor , a hurricane of rage that had hid from him the true emotion she’d been feeling.

Pain.

He took a step backward as everything slotted into place. “Aimee,” he rumbled softly. “I am so sorry. I did not intend to hurt you. I spoke out of place. Will you forgive me?”

Rhys felt terrible. The only human in the world who knew him for his true self, and who hadn’t rallied the mob against him, and he’d gone and insulted her so thoroughly he wasn’t sure she would ever forgive him. Aimee was so much more than what he considered the others to be, but that didn’t matter. She saw herself as one of them, and until he could show her how much better she was, he had to keep that in mind. All she saw was him insulting her, when instead he’d meant it about the others.

Just then he wished the bronze dragon was around, so that he could start a fight and get the beatdown he probably deserved. Maybe if he slept for another few centuries he could forget this embarrassment.

But if you do that, Aimee will die before you can make amends.

Amends. That was it.

“I wish to make it up to you,” he said, getting the words out quickly before she could respond. “How, in this day and age, would I go about doing that?”

Aimee

“Shopping spree?”

The words just sort of slipped out.

“Excellent!”

She blinked. “What? I mean, okay, great!”

Rhys looked around. “Where is this spree of shopping, and how do I get one for you?”

The excitement turned immediately to laughter at both his eagerness and cluelessness. Part of her was frustrated at her quickness to forgive him. She should be angry for longer, a chance to really work up a good temper, to let it all out. Instead, he’d shown remorse and she’d been trigger-happy on the forgiveness.

He didn’t mean to hurt you though, you know that. It’s just old, old prejudices seeping through that he hasn’t yet learned to control. Humanity has come a long way in your mind; it’s been centuries. To him it was just a few days ago that he was exposed to the early indigenous tribes. You’re going to have to give him time.

The more she thought about it, the more remarkable it seemed that he was able to swing with the punches so ably. Aimee doubted a human plucked from a hundred years before would be so willing to admit that his ways were antiquated and obsolete. Perhaps his long lifespan necessitated the need for change, since he would have to do so over and over again to keep up with the much faster-paced human lifestyle?

“Aimee?”

She gave her head a tiny shake and focused on Rhys. “Yes?”

“Where do I get this spree?”

“Uh, it’s not a thing itself. It means that we go and I buy lots of clothes and things and you pay for it all.”

Rhys nodded slowly. “It would appear that we have finally discovered something that hasn’t changed much between my time and yours.” He laughed briskly, snagging her arm and resting her hand on his forearm.

She thought about fighting it, but the iron-like feel of his muscles under her fingers stopped her.

“Things were like that over here?” she asked, confused.

“No.” He started walking them toward the delicatessen that had been their original destination. “I once made a trip overseas, about a century after leaving my homeland. I stayed for perhaps ten, maybe twenty years. Not long, more of a visit, you know?”

She just nodded, trying to process the idea of a twenty year “visit” to anywhere.

“Anyway, the ladies in…what did you call it, Europe? Yes, they loved to buy new dresses and gowns and all sorts of things. I spent a goodly fortune trying to win the favor of one of them.”

Aimee worked her jaw, trying not to get upset at the mention of his previous conquests.

Get real, girl. He was alive for five hundred years. Do you really expect him to have remained a virgin? Don’t be a bitch, he’s not trying to regale you with tales of his prowess in bed, he’s simply trying to find a way to relate his life to your world.

“Truth be told though, she wasn’t nearly as beautiful as you.”

Her jaw dropped open at that proclamation. It was the first open flirtatious compliment that he’d given her. “Ah, thank you?” she stammered.

“Although, I must say, orange really isn’t your color.”

She’d just managed to wire her jaw shut when he dropped the other bomb on her, and she coughed several times.

“Orange?” The word finally croaked out, her voice sounding like a frog.

“Yes, you know, the outfit you wore the first time I saw you.”

“Oh, that.” She sighed in relief. “That’s my work outfit. It’s not meant to flatter. It’s for utility.”

Rhys stepped forward abruptly and snagged the door, holding it open. “After you,” he said with a gesture of his hand.

She stood up straighter and nodded her head as demurely as she could. Acting like a cultured lady was not exactly her forte. Cuss like a drunken sailor? Done. Drink for drink with the boys? Absolutely. Jump out of a helicopter with only a quarter-inch line holding her back from certain death? No hesitation. But act like someone of status, or even noble blood like he was probably used to interacting with? Good luck. She could curtsy without falling over. Probably.

Her dragon door-holder swept up beside her as they entered, and stopped abruptly.

“Problem?” she asked, coming to a halt beside him, not bothering to fight it as he snagged her arm again. Truthfully, she was coming to enjoy being on his arm. A number of other women had given her jealous looks, and she was lapping it up. It was so different than the normal looks she got, either for being tall or for how in shape she was. Neither of those looks were overly friendly, and these weren’t either, but the jealousy was a nice boost to her ego that she wasn’t too proud to deny herself.

“Ah, slightly.”

“The menu options are printed on the signs up behind the counter,” she told him, realizing he likely had no idea what to do. “Up here on the glass are some images of them.”

He picked up the process quickly and they sat down to eat, fresh sandwiches piled in front of them. Aimee had no idea what he would like, so she’d gotten him turkey, roast beef, and a meatball sub to top it off. She’d told him he only needed to eat what he liked, and had received a rather strange look in return.

“I guess you were hungry,” she said ten minutes later as the last of the meatball sub disappeared, leaving all the plates in front of him empty.

Not to be outdone, hers was empty as well, though to be fair, she’d only had the one sandwich to start.

“I feel like I haven’t eaten in centuries.” He patted his stomach. “That was delicious. Thank you for taking me to such a wonderful place. I can’t believe the selection!”

She grinned. “They’re all like that, you know.”

The look on his face was priceless. She savored it for quite some time. Rhys was going to like the future, she was positive of it.

It was the moments like this that were beginning to convince her that there was a decent person buried under his outer arrogance. What she needed to do was figure out what had caused him to develop such a grudge against humanity. Why he saw them as so…pathetic.

“Do all dragons view humans the way you do?” she asked, speaking low so as not to clue anyone else in to their conversation. “As next to nothing?”

He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “Probably. We’re invulnerable to anything you can do, so it’s only natural to think that way, no?”

Aimee considered his words. “Are you sure about that?”

“Of course.”

She stood up, grabbing his hand and pulling him after her. “Let’s go.”

Rhys yelped as he was dragged along in her wake.

Rhyolite

“Where are we going?” he asked for the tenth time as they walked through town, his head craning left and right trying to take everything in.

He was starting to get his bearings, enough to realize that as they walked, the buildings grew smaller and farther apart.

“To get some exercise. It’s about ten minutes up the road from here by foot,” she said, her hand still latched onto his.

He’d thought about dropping it after it had no longer been necessary for dragging him along, but he was enjoying the closeness with her, and suspected she was as well. At several points during their walk he’d contemplated stopping and pulling her around and into him so that he could kiss her.

The urge to do so was getting stronger as they walked. Her hand fit perfectly into his, and he continued to marvel at her height. For once he wouldn’t have to bend in half to kiss someone. She would but have to tilt her head backward a little. He glanced over at her now, the high ponytail of golden-blonde hair cascading down her back, the last foot or so swishing back and forth in time with her steps, giving it a life of its own.

Twin stud earrings twinkled back at him in the daylight from her left ear, and he knew it matched the other side. The diamonds were small. Too small for someone of her beauty, he decided. An idea formed in his head. Aimee had never said that this shopping spree had to be only clothing.

“What’s that smile for?” she asked. “You look entirely too confident of yourself.”

“I am a dragon. I have no reason to be anything but confident in myself. I am my own master.”

Although he believed the words, part of his delivery had been monotone, to ensure that Aimee knew he was just having fun, aware of what he was saying.

“We’ll see.”

He frowned, wondering just what she was taking him to see that had her so positive it would have an effect on him. For just a split second the confidence in his own invulnerability wavered.

“We’re here.”

He looked up, reading the sign tacked onto the front of the single-story building set fifty feet or so back from the road.

Crossroads & Crosshairs.

“What is this place?” He didn’t recognize the little symbol on the sign either. It was a black object that looked like an L turned on its side, but with a lot more detail.

“A range,” she told him. “You need to obey the rules here, okay? None of the normal ‘your rules don’t apply to me, ho ho ho’ stuff, got it? If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for me.”

He frowned. “Okay.”

From out behind the building came a series of sharp bangs, the noise coming rapidly, causing him to flinch as he looked around for the source.

“That’s the outdoor range out back. It’s okay, it’s safe.”

“If you say so.” Now he was positive he wasn’t going to like what he was about to see.

Aimee dragged him inside, waving to the man behind the counter at the back of the store. “Hey Tom, how are ya?”

“Hey Aimee, good to see you!” he boomed back.

Tom was a middle-aged man with a large expanding gut and a mustache that impressed. Rhys walked up to him and took the proffered hand. “Rhys,” he said in return as Tom introduced himself.

“She dragged you here?” Tom asked, his voice making it sound like they were talking secrets even though Aimee was standing next to him.

“Indeed. I’ve never been to a range before. She thinks it will be a good learning experience for me, though I doubt it.”

Behind him Aimee snorted and he saw Tom smile. Turning abruptly, he caught just a glimpse of the face she’d been making behind his back before she put on her best innocent look.

“So adult of you,” he said dryly.

Aimee laughed and rubbed his shoulder, her touch sending sparks of excitement through his chest. “You’ll get over it big guy, I promise.”

He busied himself looking around as she organized whatever it was she intended to do with Tom. There was a wide variety of the objects. Judging by the signs everywhere he assumed they were called guns. He also saw signs for something called pistols, which seemed to be the smaller versions, and rifles, which were longer objects. His eyes spied a sign called “Ammo Rack,” and the various shelves filled with boxes and brass objects. His brain started putting things together, just as a moving picture flashed up on one of the large versions of her cell phone mounted to the wall.

It showed someone putting some ammunition into one of the pistols, and then aiming it at a piece of paper twenty feet away. His eyes rose slightly as the objected rocked and the paper shredded as objects impacted it.

“Come on,” Aimee said, coming up behind him. Put these over your ears like this, and wear these over your eyes.” She showed him how, and then tugged him along through a set of doors, and then another one. Almost immediately he was assaulted with noise, his acute hearing picking up everything despite the muffled effect of the ear protection she’d given him.

There were ten separate stalls on the right, five of which had people. A number of bangs would come from each one, before the occupant set down a pistol on a tray. Aimee took him to one, and then had him stand and watch as she used the pistol on the target in her stall. When she brought it back, he noted that all the holes were in the red circle at the center.

After that she took him outside where others were using larger guns, the rifles. The booms were slower, but much louder out here. There were more stalls, but the targets were much, much farther away this time. Some of them ranged out hundreds of feet into the distance. Once again Aimee took him to a stall where Tom supplied a gun. Aimee did something to it, pulled it up to her shoulder and the gun rocked her back a step as it went off.

She did that several more times before setting it back down, careful to keep the end of it pointed at the targets at all times.

They went and thanked Tom and left. During the entire thing he hadn’t said an entire word.

“Those guns fire bullets made out of metal. The pistol I was using fires them with a speed of around twelve hundred feet per second.”

He tried to process the fact, but she kept speaking.

“The rifle, the bigger one. It’s closer to three thousand feet. Per second. The rifle I fired is a single shot. The military, the fighters, they have weapons that can reach four thousand feet per second, and do seven hundred or more bullets per minute. Those are just the ones that are handheld. You can get into bigger versions that fire much faster. Thousands of rounds a minute.”

“What is the point you are trying to make?” he asked sulkily, knowing the answer and not appreciating the way she’d driven it home with such a fierce hammer.

“That you aren’t invulnerable to humans anymore. Our technology has caught up and surpassed you. In a normal situation? Yes, of course your strength and speed allow you to overwhelm us.”

He turned away, but she grabbed his shoulder and spun him back, forcing him to look and listen to her.

“I’m not doing this to be some sort of bitch, Rhys. You need to trust me on that.”

“Then why are you doing it?” he snapped, his bruised ego getting the better of him.

“Because I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret. If you cause a scene, or do something that otherwise reveals your true nature, then people are going to come after you. They will have weapons like that, and they will do whatever it takes to capture you, or even kill you.” She looked away suddenly. “I don’t want that to happen.”

“This is why you wanted me to, as you put it, stay low?”

“Yes. If they find you, they’ll want to experiment on you, to try and figure out a way to gain access to your abilities for themselves.”

He expelled air from between his lips.

“What?”

“It would appear that we’ve found something else that doesn’t change.”

Aimee stared at him for a moment before she wilted. “Oh Rhys. I’m sorry.”

He waved her off. “It has nothing to do with you, Aimee. You have been nothing but kind and patient with me. I guess I had just hoped that after all this time, maybe I wouldn’t be regarded as a freak or an oddity.”

She pulled him in to a hug.

“I wasn’t trying to make you feel unwelcome,” she said, her voice partially muffled as she spoke into his shoulder. “I just didn’t want them to take you away.”

He heard the hesitation in her voice, wondering if she meant to add “from me” to the end of it, but stopped short of actually saying it.

“It’s okay,” he rumbled, striving to find his confidence and stoke it once more. “Kings and shamans and others have been trying to capture me for centuries. They haven’t succeeded yet. In the past I was able to outmuscle them because their weapons were weak. Now it would appear that I shall have to use another part of me if I hope to succeed.”

She stepped away from him and looked him up and down, pausing just below his waist.

“Not what I meant,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “I meant my brain.”

“I know. But I thought you wanted to succeed.”

He clapped a hand over his heart. “You have wounded my pride m’lady.”

Aimee giggled. “I doubt it. It would take a lot more than that to damage something so large.”

“You aren’t going to let it go, are you?”

She shook her head. “Nope, not until I get my promised shopping spree.”

He glanced at her, then patted his pockets skeptically.

“Is there a problem?”

“Yes. I seem to have forgotten my gold back in my cave…”

“Oh my God,” she exclaimed, snorting with laughter. “Tell me you never actually used that line on a woman?”

He looked away and her laughs doubled in strength. “That’s priceless. I wish I could have been there to witness such a monumental failure.”

“It was not pretty,” he admitted. “The king…I forget what his name was now, was quite unimpressed with me.”

“I bet. Good thing I can tell when you’re telling the truth or not.” She took his hand again, something he was beginning to enjoy immensely, far more than he’d expected. “Let’s go, we’ve got to cash some of that in before the banks close.”

Banks. Another term he wasn’t aware of.

“Is there a way for me to get up to date with all of the things I’ve missed?” he asked as they started walking back toward town.

“Oh, of course. You’re going to love the internet. Especially once you find all the porn.”

He frowned. “What is porn?”

Aimee just laughed gaily, pulling him along even harder.

Aimee

She pushed open the door to her apartment with one hand, holding the two medium-sized bags in the other.

“Well, that was a successful trip, I must say,” she said, eager to take another look at her prizes. “Don’t you think?”

Behind her Rhys turned sideways to make it in through the door, his hands, wrists, and arms all supporting straps to various bags filled with items.

“I miss the days when it was acceptable to hire someone to follow me around and carry all these things,” he moaned.

“Oh, don’t be such a whiner!” she said, pointing to the section of floor where he was to gently deposit her items.

“You spent everything we had. I gave you three bars’ worth of gold, and you spent it all,” he said, more awed than upset.

“I’ve never been able to go so buck-wild before,” she confessed, feeling embarrassed about the complete and utter lack of restraint she’d shown after he had handed her the three bars to get changed over into proper currency. “I’m sorry for spending it all.”

He waved it off. “I’m not overly concerned about the number. It was more the speed with which you spent it all. After all, you’ve seen what I’ve got.”

“Point of fact,” she said absently, pawing through a light-blue bag filled with tissue paper. “But I actually haven’t seen what you’ve got.”

She buried her head in the packages several seconds later as her words registered home, followed by a polite cough from Rhys. Aimee thanked her stars that he too clearly had no idea how to react to her sexual joke.

“Also,” she said, her head whipping around to meet his gaze as she changed the subject. “If you ever , and I mean ever tell any of my coworkers about this, I will find you, and make it very, very painful for you, right before I bury your ridiculously tight senior-citizen ass back under that mountain and steal all your gold. Got it?”

Rhys nodded tightly, pretending to take her threat very seriously. “I get it, though I don’t understand. What is the problem with telling them?”

She frowned. “Look at it all. It’s so girly . They can’t ever know that I’m actually super girly when I’m not around them.”

“Uh, why would they not know that?” he asked, bewildered.

She stood up and took off her winter jacket and gestured at herself. “Seriously? Look at me. I’m way too tall, I have no boobs, a small butt, and quads that could make an ice skater jealous. My shoulders are more square than a carpenter’s tool, and my hips definitely do not qualify as child-bearing. Tell me again what there is about me that screams ‘girly’?”

Aimee took a deep breath as she finished, trying to calm herself. Where the hell had that outburst come from, she wondered.

“Sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I don’t see it that way,” Rhys said roughly a few seconds later. “Not in the slightest. You are purposefully insulting yourself and not seeing what others see. Why is this?”

“Don’t try to tell me that women back in your age didn’t have issues with self-esteem, because I know that’s bullshit. I’m pretty sure at this stage of the game it’s ingrained in our DNA, a genetic trait that we pass down to others.”

Rhys didn’t reply right away, and she knew she was correct.

“I won’t deny that. But beautiful women have been misjudging themselves for as long as I’ve been around, and then some.” He looked up, his eyes focused elsewhere. “One of the must beautiful women I knew was actually a forge worker. She worked the bellows, most days. She would be covered in dirt and grime, and always wore cheap garb, because it would get ruined. Because of this, she thought she was ugly. Unattractive and unwanted by any man.”

Aimee watched him speak, wondering where the story was going.

“I told her one day after work that I thought she was beautiful, and she scoffed at me. ‘I’m not pretty. What are you, drunk?’ she said. ‘Look at me,’ she scolded. So I did. I told her what I saw.”

Rhys stepped forward, and her mouth went dry as his bright blue eyes refocused. On her.

“I told her I saw the beauty that she missed. Anyone gets used to something if they see it all the time. So they don’t see how height is a trait desired by some, especially those even taller.” He stood up straight as he took another step toward her. “They miss how their eyes twinkle and dance with laughter when they’re happy, or darken with thunder when a storm rolls in.” He came even closer. “They don’t see the respect others have for them, when they clearly put a lot of effort into the way they look. That their legs are long and shapely in many a desiring way.”

Aimee tried to swallow, but her throat was too constricted.

“Or how their long, golden-blonde hair catches the sun’s light as it dances while she walks.”

Rhys was right in front of her now, and he lifted a hand to her face. “Or how their smile can make a heart flutter.” He smiled at her, and suddenly she understood.

“Oh.” Her voice was little more than a squeak of noise, but it was the best she could manage.

“You looked amazing trying on those clothes,” he growled, his anger at her self-hatred showing through at last.

He reached into one bag and dragged out a mesh top. “I must admit, I have no idea how the hell things got so depraved when it came to clothing, but that doesn’t change the fact you looked fantastic in them.”

“You do remember that I wear something under this, don’t you?” She reached out and snagged the shirt away from him.

Rhys’s lips twitched as he fought back a smile. “Yes. But do you recall that for me seeing ankles is a big deal? Compared to that, this is scandalous for everyday wear. The only place you might see something like this is—” He chopped the sentence off as fast he could, but the look on his face indicated he was well aware it was too late.

“Oh, do go on,” she purred. “This ought to be good.”

“Please don’t make me say it,” he pleaded. “I spoke without thinking.”

“And this is your penance.” She crossed her arms, lifting her chin at him slightly.

When he did speak the words came out quickly and mumbled.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” she said, acting like a cat who had just trapped a mouse, moving in slowly for the kill. “Could you repeat yourself?”

Rhys looked absolutely pained as he spoke again. “I said the only place you might see something like that is the whorehouse.”

“That’s what I thought you said.” She was just teasing, and he knew it, but it was fun just the same.

Their flirting had been increasing over the course of the day as they spent more time together. To the point that when they were done shopping—which only happened because the mall closed, the nerve!—she had driven him back to her place without thinking twice. Now that he was here, combined with the way he had touched her face earlier, Aimee was beginning to feel some tension between them.

“I think you’re going to be rather stunned by the general acceptance of nudity and sex these days.” She paused to think. “Perhaps not in this country—we’re full of notorious prudes—but the world has generally decided they are not wholly taboo topics anymore.”

Rhys winked. “I doubt that I will find this development, ah, hard, to deal with.”

She felt her cheeks flush as she giggled in response to his innuendo. That was the second time today he’d blatantly referenced something like that, and despite her best efforts, her curiosity was starting to get the better of her. After all, so much else about his body was superhuman. It was only natural that she would be curious about his, ah, stamina, wasn’t it?

“Good.”

“Does this mean that I should be prepared for you to start walking around naked?”

Aimee shook her head. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up on that happening anytime soon.”

All at once her insecurities came crashing back, and she turned away, burying herself in her prizes once more. It had all been a joke, hadn’t it? He was just teasing with her. It’s not like Rhys would actually want to see her naked. There was nothing feminine about her, except the body parts. None of the looks. She appreciated his compliments, but they were only there to help her feel better.

Even as she found herself drowning in self-doubt, the gentle touch of his fingers on her face came back to her. Deep down in the darkest depths of her mind, a flare of brilliant white hope flared.

After all, she’d only said it wouldn’t happen soon. The word “never” hadn’t been used.

Rhys

She didn’t say “never.”

It wasn’t the first time the thought had occurred to him. Still, seeing her naked wasn’t the end-goal.

Do you even have an end goal?

The truth was, he didn’t. Not with her, or with his slow reintegration into society. Things had just changed too much for him. Was having a woman in his life the smart thing to do so soon after waking up? Normally he would have said no, except perhaps for a quick romp in bed. Six hundred years of celibacy was a lot to deal with, and he was half-human.

But that was all before he’d met Aimee Florette. She was so strong and intelligent, a tantalizing combination. There was more though, which is what was making him doubt his original plan upon waking, to simply go out and explore. Aimee was also feisty, bold, and beautiful in ways he couldn’t come up with words to describe. The exotic look of her modern styling after centuries of evolution was more than enough to drag him in.

The combination was more intoxicating than the sight of a thousand piles of gold. In his dreams the night before, he had traded his entire treasure simply to be with her. Most of the time those were categorized as nightmares and he awoke in a cold sweat. But with Aimee he had slept wonderfully, awakened feeling warm and fuzzy on the inside. All of that combined had prompted one question to himself.

Was he falling for her?

Two days ago, when he’d first come upon her sneaking through his lair, he’d have dismissed the idea with but a flick of his wing and wiped the woman from the earth without so much as a second thought. He was Rhyolite, Earthen Dragon and master of his own destiny, creator of his own path. If he chose the woman, she would stay with him. The concept of falling in love with a human woman, of finding his kindred soul in one of their small, frail bodies would have been the fuel for a thousand jokes told by the rest of his kind.

But that had been two days and six hundred years ago it seemed. Everything was different. The world he once knew was gone. Dragons were extinct, and as far as he was aware, he could be the last of his kind. It seemed unlikely, given their longevity and power, but Aimee had shown him the balancing of the scales that had occurred with human ingenuity. No longer was it a one-sided fight between his kind and mortals. Now they had weapons that could strike back and kill him. Times had changed.

None of the rules applied anymore. So then why couldn’t he fall for a human? Perhaps at some point while he had been asleep humans and dragons had merged. She certainly had the strength and fire of a dragon within her, of that he had no doubt. Was it possible that she contained the essence of a dragon within her?

The idea bore more thought. He wasn’t ready to make that decision just yet, and needed additional time and information before he could come to a conclusion. But nothing about it seemed inherently crazy to him, which was perhaps the biggest indicator he was on the right path. Which meant if she was his mate, he needed to do everything in his power to ensure she fell for him.

I have already changed, and continue to change for her. Is that not enough?

He didn’t have an answer. A small part of him had wondered the night before if their budding interest in each other might burst into flame from the embers he was sowing, but in the end his efforts had fizzled out. The two of them had been exhausted, and after a feast of a meal she called “Chinese food” that had been brought to them by someone—he loved that idea!—neither of them had had the energy to do anything more.

So now he lay on her couch, trying to stretch out the kinks from sleeping on something not designed to accommodate his extra-long frame, and wondering what today would bring. Muscles popped and joints cracked as he pushed feet down and arms above his head.

It’s a good thing I haven’t had to fight that bronze dragon yet. I am not yet feeling fully recovered. Soon though, I am getting close, and then I may resume the hunt.

Rhyolite needed to ensure that the area was safe for Aimee. If she were to become his mate, other dragons would be able to know it if they scented her. If the bronze dragon was still around, he would use any tactic he could to bring Rhyolite down, and that included using a human as hostage.

Behind the couch the door to her bedroom opened at last. He glanced over at the clock on one of the technological contraptions the couch—what an odd word—was oriented toward and rolled his eyes. It was already past eight in the morning. Time was wasting!

Sitting up, he rested his chin on the back of the couch and flashed her a lazy smile. She waved a hand at him, the other rubbing one eye blearily. His eyes were drawn to her outfit. The shorts she had on were a new pair from the day before that hugged her body, coming down just below the curve of her ass. He’d thought that if she moved just right he would be able to see cheek.

The top was a simple…well, he didn’t know what they called them. A tubular piece of material that went from just above her belly button to just above her breasts, and was held in place by two straps that went up and over her shoulders. It was white, and he could swear it was just a little see-through.

His eyes narrowed as she yawned again and went into the bathroom. Was there an extra sway to her hips that hadn’t been there before? No. Unlikely, his eyes were playing tricks on him, they had to be. Why would she wait until the morning to give him an opening and an eyeful? Wasn’t the evening the proper time for such behavior? Human women were so confusing. Just when he thought he’d had them figured out, they go and change on him!

“Morning,” Aimee mumbled as she exited the bathroom a few minutes later, her face still a little wet from where she’d splashed water over it.

Rhys inclined his head in greeting, her dour tone and hooded, half-closed eyes giving off all sorts of warning signs that told him he should keep his mouth shut for the time being. Instead he admired the way her firm rear bounced as she walked into the kitchen and started to fiddle with a machine.

Moments later a rich, aromatic smell wafted through the room. His nose twitched. The smell was tantalizing beyond belief. Something hissed and liquid poured and all of a sudden she turned around a minute later with a cup clasped between both hands. Lifting it to her face, she inhaled its steam, and then drank deep after blowing on it to cool it down.

A smile graced her face. “Ahhh,” she sighed, smacking her lips together and brightening up almost immediately.

Rhys stared in shock at the transformation.

“I’ve come to a decision,” he announced.

She stopped and looked at him, her eyes narrowing as she tried to figure out what decision he was talking about. “And that is?”

“You must be a witch.”

“What?”

“You are possessed of two souls,” he informed her. “The first is the one I saw exit the bedroom and greet me. The other is the one you have ingested with that magical potion you’ve brewed.”

Aimee frowned, cocked her head sideways at him, looking puzzled. Then she held up a finger, took another, longer sip. Then another. And then another.

“Ah,” she said at last as understanding entered her eyes. “You mean my coffee. Well, let me tell you, in the mornings I am not a happy person without my coffee. The caffeine gets me going and wakes me up, since I don’t do early mornings naturally.”

Coffee. That was the name of it. Rhys immediately came to another decision. He had to try it.

“May I?” he asked, lifting himself from the couch and gliding into the kitchen, the smell of full-flavored deliciousness too much to handle.

“Absolutely not.” Aimee clutched the mug to her chest and turned her shoulder to him. “Lesson number one. Do not try to stop Aimee from drinking all of her coffee. Ever.”

He snatched his outstretched hand back as if it had been stung. “Lesson learned.”

“Good. But never suggest that I am not a gracious queen of my household. You may pour yourself a mug if you wish.” She waved lordly at the machine that she’d used, and he saw a pot underneath it filled with dark liquid.

Another wave indicated where he could find one of these mugs. Upon careful consideration he chose the one with two cows blowing up what appeared to be a third, female cow. The caption read “Looking good, Vern,” whatever that meant. He carefully poured himself a half-portion.

“Take a sip. If you want to add some milk, cream, or sugar to it, go for it.”

He sipped, and his eyes bugged out at the full flavor of the coffee. “No, you know what, I think I like it like this,” he said while smacking his tongue against his lips to absorb every last drop.

“If I didn’t know you weren’t human before, I do now.” She winked at him to note she was teasing.

“Thank you,” he murmured softly between sips.

“For the drink? You’re welcome. It’s nothing special, really. There are some shops that go to a lot of effort for a good coffee, and make this taste like…well, not as good.”

“I find that hard to believe.” He raised the mug and downed some more of it. “But I wasn’t referring to the coffee. Or should I say, not just the coffee. No, Aimee, I meant thank you for everything you’ve done for me since I woke up. For a human to treat someone like me with such compassion and tenderness would be unheard of in my time.”

She arched both eyebrows over the top of her mug. “You realize I’ve done nothing but slap you around and drag you by the ear to force you to accept the changes, right?”

He nodded. “It’s exactly what I needed. Anything else and I might not have respected you.”

The gray of her eyes sparkled with laughter as she spoke next. “You know, they make this thing called a Taser. It dispenses an electric shock. Like getting hit with lightning, but on a much smaller scale, though some of them are pretty serious. I can get one of those. I could use it on you if you want.” She blinked her eyes repeatedly. “Pretty please?”

He coughed into his coffee. “No, actually. I’ll pass. Being struck by lightning is not fun.”

She giggled and nudged him with an elbow. “Oh come on…” her voice trailed off as she watched his expression. “Wait, are you serious?”

Rhys nodded, setting the mug down and pulling his shirt over his head as he exposed his back to her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice tightening.

“Right here,” he said, tapping with one finger just below his left shoulder blade.

“The black mark?” she asked, her fingers pressing into his skin as she felt the old wound.

“Yes,” he said softly, focusing on the tips of her hands as she traced the outline. It felt so good to be touched by another, especially a stunningly beautiful woman like Aimee. It had been forever and an age ago that he’d last been treated so tenderly, and even that paled in comparison to the urges he felt awakening in himself as she brushed his skin lightly.

A pleasant tingle worked its way down his spine and he felt for sure that the goosebumps would scare her off, ending the intimate moment. Closing his eyes, he worked to remain calm, intent on doing whatever he could to ensure that she took her time, so that he could etch the feeling into his brain.

“That looks horrible,” she whispered, pushing her fingers into it. “Does it still hurt?”

“No,” he replied, not turning around. “It’s old.”

“You were just flying through a storm?”

He could feel her touching around the black mark now, but always returning to its different texture. The rougher patch felt almost like smoothed stone instead of skin, or so he’d been told. Rhys wasn’t flexible enough to be able to truly touch it and find out. Which really sucked when it itched.

“I’m not that unlucky,” he told her.

Aimee twittered lightly in amusement, her hand never leaving his back. “How, then?”

“A fight. With an Elemental Dragon.”

The light brushes stopped.

“Another dragon did this to you?”

They resumed as he nodded slowly, keeping his voice low, trying not to shiver visibly.

“How?”

“I am an Earthen Dragon,” he told her. “I control the earth and stone is my weapon. Elemental Dragons control other, uh, elements.”

They shared a giggle. Her fingers slipped down his back and he stood up, the shirt falling into place, though they both stayed close together, at ease in each other’s personal areas.

“So this one could control lightning?”

“Precisely. He had territory to the north, and occasionally while patrolling our borders we would run into each other. One particular time, I suppose he decided to try and test my resolve, and flew inside the area I had claimed as my own.”

Aimee gasped. “What happened?”

“We fought. I got hit, I hit him back. He conceded in the end and we went our separate ways. That was the last time he challenged my territory.”

“Dragons are fairly territorial then?”

“Yes. Once we claim something, we’re rather reluctant to give it up,” he said solemnly, meeting her eyes without flinching, looking deep into the abyssal depths of her soul, and finding himself once again pleasantly pleased at what had been contained in her tiny little human body.

“So does that mean you’re going to be buying some property here in Drake’s Crossing?” she asked, looking away once the tension became too much.

“Why would I do that? I have my mountain.” He neglected to mention the fact that no one would ever know that, since the bronze dragon had likely claimed the area after he’d gone to sleep.

She grinned. “Hate to break it to you sleeping beauty, but the mountain isn’t yours. It belongs to the government, and I doubt they have any interest in giving it over to you.”

He frowned. “Perhaps there is an percentage or two of accuracy in that statement.”

“So generous,” she said dryly. “So, when are you going to buy a house then?”

“I don’t know. After I’ve taken the time to get acclimated some more.”

Aimee made a funny face.

“That was the wrong answer, wasn’t it?”

“You can learn,” she teased. “Look, it’s not that I really mind having you around for a day, or a few days. But after more than that people are going to start asking questions.”

His lips compressed into a flat line as he understood where she was going.

“About the strange man in your house.”

“Exactly,” she said, sighing apologetically. “When a guy stays at a girl’s house these days, it usually means they’re, you know, dating.”

“You mean courting?”

“Yeah. Together. Dating. Courting, whatever you want to call it. Romantically involved.”

Abruptly her worry made sense, and he read through her lines. She didn’t mind him staying there with her, that much had already been said. What Aimee didn’t like was the unknown. Of course! People will think we are dating, and yet I haven’t asked.

“Very well,” he said, spinning to face her completely, adopting a formal stance. “Aimee Florette, it would be my pleasure if you would allow me to court you.”

She blinked at him, her face neutral. Slowly, with an agonizingly glacial pace, her expression became pained.

“I’m not doing this right, am I?” he asked, wanting to wilt on the spot from embarrassment. Desperately he hoped that was the issue, and not that he’d asked a question he shouldn’t have, overstepping the limits she applied to them.

Aimee took a breath, holding it for a second. “No,” she said after what felt like an eternity, but was really less than a second or two.

“Very well. Ah, how does a male attempt to start, um, dating, a female, in this day?”

“Often they will hang out several times first, to see if there is a romantic spark between them. A common staple of this is going to dinner, where the lady may observe a man’s ability to be polite to his fellow people. We already know you’re going to fail that miserably, but it’s still a good start,” she finished, flashing him a smile.

Closing his eyes to her smirk, he nodded slowly, eventually opening them to see her barely able to contain her mirth.

Shaking his head, he rephrased his earlier question. “Excellent. Will you then, Aimee, accompany me to dinner this evening as my…”

“Date,” she supplied.

“To dinner as my date,” he finished, utterly thankful he hadn’t used the word “companion.” It wasn’t wrong, but it spoke of friends, and little more.

“I would be delighted. Where are we going?”

“Okay that’s just not fair,” he complained. “I would take you to the fanciest place I knew of. Except I don’t know of any!”

“Oh, we’re going to Liftbridge ?” she asked, continuing as if he hadn’t spoken. “That sounds fantastic. I’ve always wanted to go there. I’ve heard it’s exquisite.”

“Sounds expensive,” he muttered under his breath, then to Aimee directly. “I’m glad you’re excited by the choice. At what time will you be free of other commitments, so I may escort you there?”

She grinned, getting in to the little byplay some more as she mouthed the word “smooth” at him.

Hey, I don’t know how things work, but I long ago learned how to deflect questions I wasn’t sure how to ask!

“Shall we say eight o’clock?”

“Perfect. I look forward to it.”

“Excellent.”

“Okay then.”

“Fantastic.”

“Wonderful.”

“Lovely.”

He glared at her. “Astounding.”

“Exquisite.” Aimee stuck her tongue out at him.

It was so on now.

“Electrifying.” He crossed his arms triumphantly.

Her response took less than a second. “Marvelous.”

“Splendid,” he ground out, determined not to lose.

“Thrilling.” Again, there was no pause. How was she doing this?!

“Divine.”

“Phenomenal.”

“Wondrous.” He grinned as she didn’t reply at first, her eyes focusing elsewhere.

But when she spoke all sense of victory vanished. “Nope, you lose. You already said wonderful.”

“That’s not the same word!” he protested, but she was shaking her head at him.

“It’s got the same root word of wonder. Thus, you lose.”

“This is so not fair .” He was complaining and he knew it. So did Aimee, and he felt frustrated by her once more. How was it that she, a fragile little human—though he would never say that to her face, he was smarter than that—could continue to get the best of him? He would emerge victorious somehow, and without cheating. He’d vowed not to do that from the moment he met her, and so far he’d resisted any temptation to use every method he had at his disposal.

“Welcome to dating,” she teased, then before he could pull away she leaned in, kissed him on the cheek, and pushed past him, heading into her bedroom. “I have some things I need to do today, but I’ll give you a quick rundown on how to use my laptop, and you can start to do your own research on everything you’ve missed.”

His mouth worked as he tried to process just what exactly it was she’d said, but nothing was making sense. What was a laptop?

Settling on to the couch, he decided he would try a new tactic with Aimee. Something radical, and completely out of nowhere, that he hoped would drive her crazy in a positive way. And quite possibly the last thing she would expect from him.

Patience.

Aimee

“Pinch me,” she whispered as they walked in to the Liftbridge, Drake’s Crossing’s most exclusive restaurant.

Fingers slid down her lower back and tweaked her rear. Swifter than she could react his hand closed around her waist and prevented her from turning to look at him, holding her tight as they were escorted to their table.

“That,” she ground out while keeping a smile on her face, “was not what I meant. You are taking advantage of the situation.”

“Welcome to dating,” he rumbled, pulling the chair out and waiting until she’d adjusted her new dress to push it in.

Despite all the looks being sent their way and her desire to try and maintain a polite, happy façade, she felt her mouth fall open. “Did you really just use my own line against me?”

“Yes.”

She waited for him to hit her with a one-liner, but he didn’t, instead settling in and asking the waiter for a taste of both a red and a white, to see what might attract her attention. Frowning, she forced herself to keep her elbows off the table. It was hard. The desire to rest her chin on her hands while she studied the person in front of her was immense.

It had been like that ever since she’d returned from having lunch with Brian. Just a normal, relaxing, day-off lunch. She hadn’t talked about Rhys or anything of the sort. Instead, she simply wanted to hang out with her oldest friend, mentor, and boss, and see if he noticed anything amiss about her. When she’d asked him at the end, he’d said no, she seemed normal, and wanted to know why. Aimee had shrugged it off and headed out before he could ask any more questions.

When she’d walked into her apartment, Rhys has been gone, and all that was left on her laptop was a note, telling her that he’d return to pick her up, and to be ready on time. All the note had said besides that was a request to wear a specific formal dress that she’d picked up the day before. It had made her smile, because she remembered the way he’d stared at her when she emerged from the dressing room.

His eyes had been hungry and full of desire, locked on to her like a lion stalking its prey. She’d never felt so beautiful and wanted than in that minute. Aimee had relived that moment in her mind many times over the rest of the day, and now she had found out that Rhys had been doing the same. It made her tingle to know he thought of her in the dress.

So she’d worn it without hesitation, despite the high slit and backless aspect to it, both of which were things she never wore. But for Rhys, she was willing. Because he’d asked. Not demanded or ordered. But asked.

He is changing before my very eyes. I’ll show the world the good in him yet.

Many of the looks being directed their way were at her, but a good many more were going Rhys’s way. She had to be honest, it wasn’t surprising. He looked good . After disappearing from her place he must have gone and gotten a haircut. Short and forward swept with product to keep it up, he cut sharp lines everywhere from his hair, to his facial structure, to the fit of his suit. The material was a dark, satiny black, with white pinstriping up and down it. A classic look with an ultramodern twist because of the material. A white shirt and black bowtie completed the ensemble.

“You look good,” she repeated as they waited for a drink, which didn’t appear to be too long in coming. Rhys, it seemed, had set a lot of this up beforehand. “You’ve been busy.”

He smiled. “I was told I needed to do things properly. I’m not about going halfway and leaving the job unfinished.”

“The job?”

“Of courting you properly,” he explained. “You are a worthy woman, Aimee Florette. Worthy of a great many things. The least I can do is lavish proper amounts of attention on you.

“Well, if you insist,” she said, hating how arrogant the words sounded coming out of her. Why was it so bad that she wanted to let herself be pampered by him?

Because everything is moving so fast. Maybe even too fast. You need to slow things down, take your time and make sure this is the right move.

Which was true. But it was hard when he looked so hot . All the other women in the restaurant were staring. Either at him with total awe and drool pooling in their mouths, or at her with utter jealousy.

Aimee smiled broadly, letting them see that she didn’t care. For once in her life she was going to be the center of attention. Let the men stare, she had underwear covering her crotch and pasties over her nipples in case the dress slid off her shoulders. The front didn’t plunge overly low, but there was no way to wear a real bra with it, so she had to improvise. Nothing was going to show, and she wasn’t used to so much male attention at once. It was quite flattering.

“I do insist. I have a lot to make up for.”

She frowned. “You do?”

“Did the limousine ride steal your memory of our first introduction to each other?” he teased gently.

“No,” she said wistfully. “But it sure as hell tried.”

Yeah, he’d hired a limo for them as well. Amidst everything she’d almost forgotten that. He, a dragon, with no knowledge of society, had somehow gotten his haircut, found a perfectly tailored suit, hired a limo driver, and prearranged for the best table and service at the best restaurant in town.

“Is this a setup?” she asked, suddenly suspicious. “Am I on a game show?”

Rhys shook his head. “A what?”

Nobody could fake that cluelessness. It’s impossible. Too many times he’s just reacted to what I’ve said in bizarre ways. It can’t be an act.

“Never mind,” she said with a wave. “How did you come up with all of this though? You don’t know about any of this. At all.”

He smiled. “You left me with the laptop and basic knowledge of how to use the internet.”

“But I was only gone for three hours!”

“I can read. Fast. Do you have any idea how easy it is to catch up on a lot of the world in three hours with the internet and a good brain?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. What I’m curious about is how you do?”

He blinked. “You showed me how to use the…oh. Ha ha ha Aimee. Very funny.”

She was giggling. “Thanks, I thought so! But seriously, you learned how to do all this in three hours?”

“That’s going to have to remain my secret,” he said with a mischievous smile.

“I don’t recall giving you permission to become the mysterious one here,” she said, picking up the white wine the waiter had poured while just out of earshot and was now bringing over.

It was delicious, dry, and with just a hint of sweetness. She was no wine connoisseur, and that was all the evaluation it got from her, but it was enough. The waiter filled her glass and then withdrew after leaving Rhys with the same.

“I’m both not human and am from another time,” he said dryly. “How is it that I’m not the mysterious one?”

“Because I’m the woman,” she said sternly. “And even sleepy dragons should know better than to try and upstage us.”

He chuckled, a deep, pleasing noise that made her grin. She liked happy Rhys. That, she decided, was his human name. Rhys. When the other side of him appeared, the angry, scaly, fire-breathing side, she would refer to him as Rhyolite.

“We’re not known for knowing better,” he admitted.

It was her turn to laugh.

“Do you have any family?” he asked suddenly.

She blinked rapidly, buying time as her scattered thoughts all came back to her. “Sorry, was not expecting that question,” she said with a smile before answering. “Yes, I do. My parents are still together. They live a few hours down south, closer to the warmer weather. My little sister is doing a second, or maybe third, graduate degree at a university on the East Coast, about as far away as she could get.”

“That’s school?” he asked, sounding puzzled.

“Right. Yes. High-level schooling, in several different disciplines. Takes a lot of drive and focus.”

Rhys smiled. “I can see where she got that from.”

“We both got it from our father. He was in the military.” She shrugged, as if that said it all. “Anyway, I’ve been curious about asking you the same, though I didn’t want to bring up any unpleasant memories. I’ve been dying to know more about dragon culture and life.”

“Treasure.”

She paused with her drink halfway to her mouth. “What?”

“You want to know about our culture? Treasure.” He took a sip from his glass, finishing it off in the process. “There aren’t that many of us, you need to understand. Our family units are tight, until we’re ready to go off on our own. But for those first two decades or so, I spent it almost exclusively with my parents, learning how to fly and to harness my powers. After that though, I left to seek out my own territory, treasure, and eventually a mate and some offspring.”

Aimee leaned back. “Have you ever seen your parents since?”

“Every so often. After I was chased off by the purple dragon from my homeland I went to them for advice before striking out again.”

“Oh. What about children? Do you have any of those?”

He shook his head. “No, need a partner for that. Even with dragons it takes two of us. Plus we’re slow to have kids. A pair will often have a child or two, then go decades or centuries before having more.”

“Interesting. I’d never thought about it like that before. Do you find new mates then as well?”

“No.”

The single word came out like a gunshot at the same time his fist hit the table, catching the attention of some of the other nearby diners as well, earning them a fresh round of stares.

“No,” he repeated in a much lower voice, unclenching his hand. “I’m sorry. But when I find my mate, it will be a permanent thing. I will not find someone new.”

Aimee indicated her understanding. “Don’t worry about it. We all get passionate about something. Nothing to be embarrassed about finding your other half.”

Rhys gave her a look she couldn’t interpret. “Indeed. Nothing embarrassing at all.”

Heart racing, Aimee continued to meet his eyes. Was it just her, or had the tension ratcheted up a few more levels? Maybe it was the heat. The manager must have turned the heat on inside, that’s why everything felt so tight all of a sudden. Looking around, she signaled for the waiter to come over, hoping that her motions weren’t as panicked as they felt.

What was going on? Where had the unexplained escalation come from? Her entire body was reacting as if his proclamation was a turn-on that she should be reacting to.

Nervously swallowing another sip of her refilled glass, Aimee wondered if she was going to make it through dinner.

Aimee

“Thank you for a wonderful evening, even if the limousine did break down, forcing us to walk through the snow, ruining my new shoes.” He held his hand in hers as they exited the elevator and turned down the hallway.

She didn’t recall at what point they’d graduated to doing so full-time, but it didn’t matter now as he walked her up to her door. His fingers were linked through hers, and it felt natural.

Rhys stopped her several steps shy of the door itself, holding her hand while standing awkwardly in the hallway of her rundown apartment building. If this wasn’t romance, she didn’t know what was! Low lighting courtesy of cheap bulbs, paint peeling in spots all over, and the lovely scent of well-used carpet threatening to overpower both her perfume and his cologne.

He was wearing cologne, she’d discovered at one point. The smell had rushed into her nostrils and forced her to double dip, sniffing deep as she smiled happily at the pleasant aroma.

Rhys was looking around as well. “This isn’t quite what I wanted,” he admitted. “Does it smell to you?”

She grinned. “Yeah, it always does.” Leaning in, she inhaled through her nose. “But that helps keep it out.”

“But how long does it last?”

Aimee crinkled her nose. “Not as long as I want? Thankfully though I have unlimited refills.”

Swaying closer to him, she went to test his cologne again. Rhys was ready for her though, and even as her eyes naturally closed she felt his free hand slip under her jaw and tilt her head backward. She froze in shock at the smoothness of the move, which allowed him to kiss her.

Electricity burst through her core the instant his lips touched hers.

“Ow!” she yelped, pulling back. “That hurt!”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, his upper lip twitching as well. “I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

She’d hoped for sparks between them whenever they kissed, but she hadn’t meant literally! The static buildup was terrible, and had just ruined an incredibly romantic moment.

“Did that hurt?” he asked, stepping closer.

She nodded. “It wasn’t pleasant.”

“This part of the evening is quickly going from delightful to disaster, isn’t it?”

Aimee couldn’t stop the smile from reappearing on her face. “Yeah, you’re bombing it, and bombing it bad, to be honest. But like, in a good way.”

He made a face. “How is ending the night on one sour note after another doing so in a good way?”

“Because none of it is really your fault? You didn’t break the car, and you did offer to carry me. I’m just too stubborn, and the dress would reveal far too much. Plus I chose to live here, and it’s winter—static shock happens.”

“Is there any way I can make it up to you?” he asked, looked strained as his masterfully orchestrated evening fell apart around him.

Aimee decided to take pity on him and give him another chance.

“You can kiss it all better?” she suggested, looking up at him through her eyelashes as she tapped her lower lip gently, letting it curl over into a little pout.

Rhys’s grin could have lit up the shadowy hallway it was so bright. For just that instant he was no longer the big, bad, scary dragon shifter with ultra composure and terrifying power. Instead he was just a guy who had been granted a second chance with a girl he was interested in.

Aimee didn’t know it then, but she would look back on that moment as the instant that she fell in love with him.

Right then and there though she was too busy trying to figure out a way to breathe as Rhys finally kissed her, and nothing went wrong. She arched as he moved into her, his strong hands on her back, fingers splayed wide across her exposed skin as he held her tight. Soft, full lips pressed into her, his stubbled beard rubbing gently across her chin as their mouths moved in time.

The only electricity she felt now was the constant tingle of excitement that was growing in her center, threatening to spill out to the rest of her body. Thudding sounded in her ears as her heart sped up, pumping blood through her body. She felt her cheeks burn slightly with a reddish flush as their kiss deepened in the middle of her hallway.

Behind them a bulb fizzled and blinked, but neither noticed, they were so thoroughly enraptured with each other.

Rhys’s hand slid lower and he suddenly pulled her close without warning, the last inches of space between them evaporating as they pressed together. She could feel the satin of his black suit as it rubbed against her exposed skin, goosebumps rising as her skin tightened at its softness.

After what seemed like an eternity later he pulled away. His blue eyes were still locked firmly upon her, even as he slipped one hand down her side to grab her hand, holding it out between them as the gap grew from nothing to nearly a foot.

“Thank you for the evening,” he said formally. “I had an excellent time. Perhaps we can do it again relatively soon?”

Holy shit. Was he pulling back and not trying to force himself on her? It certainly seemed that way.

“I would like that,” she told him, trying to ignore the desires that had awakened at his kiss, thinking it would be too soon to give in to them. He was giving her an out, and she should take it!

“Good.” He lifted her hand to his mouth, pressing his lips to the back of it in a manner that made the hairs on her arm stand on end.

Aimee smiled and walked the last few steps to her door under his watchful eye, the two of them trading repeated glances as she opened it. She hesitated before closing the door, but eventually she let it click shut while she rested the back of her head against the wall.

It was getting harder for her to resist inviting him. Of course, maybe he was waiting for her to do so, since as far as she was aware, he was staying with her. It would be really awkward of her to just lock him out if that were the case.

She turned around and pulled the door open to ask him what he was intending, only to gasp as he was now in front of the door.

“You startled me,” she said, momentarily out of breath. “I didn’t hear you come closer.”

“We dragons are suuuuper stealthy,” he drawled.

Aimee rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen you in your other form, bigfoot, and trust me, you are nothing close to stealthy.”

“Pretty sure I sneaked up on you,” he shot back, sticking out his tongue.

Aimee didn’t respond with words, just glared at him as she stood in the doorway.

“Are you doing the whole ‘don’t move he might not see me’ routine again?” he teased.

Her face had to have lit up like a spotlight if the burning in her cheeks was any indication. “That was a cheap shot,” she said grumpily. “Now, are you staying somewhere else or on the couch?”

He grinned. “Umm, as awkward as it is, can I use your couch again?”

“You just keep unravelling this night,” she teased, finding her stride again as she stepped back to let him in.

“Maybe,” he agreed. “But I could feel your pulse when I was kissing you.”

She froze.

“And I can feel it again now,” he said, taking her wrist.

Aimee forced herself to swallow through the dryness, licking her lips nervously. She hadn’t expected things to heat up again. His hand was causing a jumpy flutter of her heartbeat, even as it raced along like a runaway freight train.

This was moving too fast.

That’s the thought she knew should be going through her mind, prompting her to slow things down so they could take their time. It was normal, natural even, to be turned on by someone, but she liked to wait a little longer before hopping into bed with them. So where had her restraint gone? It had clearly abandoned her when it came to Rhys, but she couldn’t figure out why.

He stepped closer, his twin azure circles staring down at her from above, unfazed by the fact she was wearing heels. The sharp jaw that was right off of a statue was so close, she could almost reach out and touch it.

Or I could just, you know, actually touch it, she thought to herself as her fingers started to caress him. Next thing you know I’m going to kiss him again.

Her fingers tightened and pulled his head down to hers so she could taste him once more.

I give up.

She inhaled sharply as he picked her up and twirled her around, the floor-length dress billowing out around her feet as they spun. Aimee felt weightless in his arms. Not only did she feel like she was flying, but Aimee, for the first time in a long time, was feeling like she was fragile and dainty. Like a woman.

Perhaps it was ultra-stereotypical of her, but screw it. Deep down she’d always wanted a fairytale romance where the big strapping hero stepped in and swept her off her feet, making her swoon.

And now she was getting it, she thought, her head beginning to spin as he dipped her and kissed her again. She was swooning… that was actually happening.

The next thing she knew they were falling into the bed, her dress collapsing into a puddle on the floor while his suit flicked up and over the door to hang in place. Aimee couldn’t believe what was about to happen.

She gasped as he turned around from removing everything but his boxers. “Oh. My. God.”

Aimee and her team were in good shape. They worked out daily, and adhered to a fairly rigid eating plan as well. It was necessary for the job, and provided them with the best chances of a successful rescue, something that was important to all. She’d seen the boys in the buff; it was just a fact of the job. They were muscular and fit. Possibly even once or twice she’d actually admired their physique, during a particularly dry spell.

But Rhys put them all to shame in as painful a way as you could imagine. She was quite positive that his muscles had muscles, which were really just composed of even more ripped muscles. His body quite literally rippled as he came to a halt.

His everything was taut and tight. Forearms, biceps, his shoulders bulged outward. His chest was shredded, and oh, those abs. She wanted to wash her clothes on them. While she was still dressed!

Delicious perfection was the phrase she chose to use to describe him as he stood clad in a pair of black boxers that he’d probably gotten at the same time as the suit.

“Is there a problem?”

“Yes,” she said, nodding absently as her gaze traveled down his body.

“Really?”

“Yeah. A half-naked man in black socks is an awkward sight to behold.”

The words hadn’t finished leaving her mouth before they flew across the room, landing somewhere out of sight.

“How about now?”

“Well, there’s still the…”

His boxers joined them.

“Wow.”

Her eyes were unabashedly fixed on his cock. A particularly depraved part of her mind had been interested in seeing this view since early on. Now that she had it, Aimee knew her imagination had been lacking. It was better than she could have hoped.

“Is it my turn now?” he asked, one side of his mouth curling up.

“My dress is over there,” she started to say while looking down. “Oh fuck me! What the hell. This is so embarrassing,” she muttered while ripping the pasties off her nipples. “Ow! Dammit, stupid tape.”

She was so caught up in her cursing she almost missed Rhys murmur the words, “I intend to.”

Almost.

“Do you now?” she asked, trying to regain her sexy voice and pose now that she was clad in only a black, see-through lace thong and heels.

“Unless you say otherwise, yes.” His voice deepened as he spoke, his desire finally starting to leak through.

“I suppose you’d better come over here and take these off then.” She pulled out the band to her underwear, intending to snap it against her skin.

It broke in her hand and fell to the ground.

“Are you kidding me! Those were expensive.” Looking up at him, now completely naked, she sighed, crossing her arms in front of her. “I am not any good at this sexy thing. I’m sorry. It’s just not me.”

He frowned, then waved his hand up and down in front of her face as if trying to get her attention. Then he pointed down. Her eyes traveled across his gorgeously defined torso until they saw what he was indicating.

“I think you are absolutely stunning,” he rumbled, stepping forward, his hardness causing his shaft to sway from side to side.

“You’re just saying that because I’m naked,” she pouted, only half-faking it. Her ego had taken a real bruise the past few minutes as she tried over and over again to be seductive, only to have it fail.

“I mean, it certainly helps,” he agreed jokingly. “But look at it this way.”

She reluctantly let her arms drop as he pulled them away from her small chest. “What way?”

“It’s about time you bombed spectacularly.”

Despite herself she giggled. Rhys saw his moment and he took it, sweeping her off her feet once more and laying her back onto the bed as he climbed on top.

“You won’t need these,” he said, sliding a hand down her leg and slipping off one shoe before repeating it with the other leg.

They kissed some more, and as he lowered himself over the top of her, Aimee’s body reacted positively to the pressure of him against her opening as he rested there carefully.

“You don’t need to put so much pressure on yourself to be ‘sexy,’” he said, emphasizing the word so she could visualize the quotes around it.

“But I want to be,” she said, her head rocking back as he kissed her neck and the top of her chest. “Mmm, that’s nice.”

“You can be sexy, but without having to try so hard.”

“How?” she hissed as his finger slid between her legs and teased at her.

“What do you want right now?”

“To have sex.”

He dipped his finger a little lower, using some of her own wetness to slide easier across her skin. “And what does sex involve?”

“You inside me?” she asked with a frown.

“Exactly. So tell me what you want, but say it differently this time,” he growled, his finger lifting away from her.

She whimpered as he stopped.

“Say it.”

“I want you inside of me,” she said, knowing now what he was getting at.

His finger returned, quickly increasing in speed and even a bit in pressure.

“What is this going to do?” he said, biting down gently on her earlobe.

“I’m going to come,” she moaned, leaning forward to bite down on his shoulder as he arched over her to kiss the other side of her neck. “Don’t stop.”

He didn’t. A few minutes later she gasped and her body convulsed as her core tightened, the pressure between her legs building to an incredible level in the span of a second before exploding out through her body. Her fingers dug deep into his back as she arched, her cries filling the room and probably seeping through the paper-thin walls into her neighbors’ apartment.

That was the least of her worries however, as before she was even finished with her orgasm Rhys began to push inside of her.

“Oh fuck yesss,” she hissed as he entered her. She felt herself spread to accommodate his girth, knowing it would only continue until he was entirely inside of her. “Take me,” she moaned, not caring if her neighbors heard. If they hadn’t yet, they were going to in a minute.

“Take me now.”

Rhyolite

He stared down at her, hardly believing his luck.

The tightness of her walls clamped down on him, but she was so wet his cock slid in and out with ease, allowing him to quickly reach a slow rhythm that he could build from. Maybe. Aimee’s eyes were already rolling back into her head, and he wondered if she was going to climax again, simply from the act of taking him inside of her. Rhys knew he might.

It was tough going for a bit. The sight of her naked body underneath him was an incredibly powerful aphrodisiac that called to him, making him want to explode inside her, to give her his seed so that she might one day carry his children. All of those thoughts and more were racing through one section or another of his head. So he kept dragging himself back to the most important part of it all, pleasing Aimee until she was fully satisfied.

Focusing on that he flexed his abs, knowing that it would provide a nice visual for her, but also allow him to siphon some of the blood away from between his legs and hopefully keep him calm. Not only did he want to please her, but he wanted to impress her. He doubted that society had changed to the point that women now liked men who couldn’t last thirty seconds.

Her legs hooked up and around him, letting Rhys slide all the way in with ease. He grunted when squeezed, trying to prevent him from pulling back. The pressure from her muscular legs lessened as he pushed his hips into hers once more.

“So good,” she moaned over and over as he started grinding into Aimee hard. They kissed some more like that before he pulled away, sitting back on his heels.

Her face turned sad for a mere second before his thumb found what he was looking for, and started moving in circles once more.

“Fuck,” was all she could manage, and even that became too difficult when his hips entered the equation, thrusting him in and out of her at a slow, steady pace, so that she could feel every inch of him.

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Don’t fucking stop. Fuck me, Rhys. Fuck me!”

For someone who didn’t think she was sexy, Aimee was turning him on like no other. His entire body was singing with testosterone as he fucked her faster and faster, his thumb speeding up slightly too.

This time he could feel her climax approaching, as her walls tightened around him like a vise, squeezing hard and trying to force him to explode as well.

“Do it!” she begged, but he shook his head.

“Not yet. I want to—”

Aimee threw her head back and moaned loudly as her body shuddered hard once more under his touch. The sight of her in the throes of life’s greatest physical pleasure was more than he could take. Rhys fought valiantly, but his arousal was too great, and his willpower too weak.

“Yes!” Aimee cried out as she clued in to what was happening. “Do it. Please, oh I want it. Give it to me, Rhys.”

He slipped off the edge of the bed onto his feet and grabbed her legs. Then he started to thrust as his mind filled with warmth even as his cock swelled up inside of her. Aimee was overwhelmed from all the various sensations, but she still managed to focus enough on him to reach a hand out and place it on his abdomen, encouraging him on once more.

The dam broke and he erupted with a groan that filled the room, his hips never stopping as he pumped everything he had into her, his body deflating as he began to tremble, overwhelmed by the pleasure that was assaulting his nerves, tripping all sorts of circuits in his brain to the point that he fell forward on top of Aimee, gasping for air as he stood there, knees shaking violently from the force of his orgasm.

“That was quite possibly the single hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” she whispered into his ear, her arms clamping around his neck to prevent him from pulling away. “And you feel fantastic inside me, fuck.”

He smiled weakly. “I agree with all of the above.”

Aimee pulled his face to hers and kissed him. After they parted he pushed her back onto the bed carefully, working to ensure he stayed inside her. Both of them back on the bed, he collapsed on top of her, taking deep breaths to try and calm his circulatory system down as fast as possible. There was no time to waste.

Rhys wanted to do it again.

Aimee

It was the last day of leave, as she called it. Three days on, three days off. That’s how it went.

“You’d better not accuse me of stealing this time,” she told him as they made their way up the slope.

The day was overcast, but that wasn’t unusual for the middle of winter. Gray skies were the norm, and they wouldn’t let up for a few months yet. But it didn’t matter, because her spirits were as bright as could be. They were back up on the mountain, headed for his cave. Apparently he’d liked going shopping with her so much, he wanted to do it again. For that they needed more gold, so they were headed up there. Aimee wasn’t objecting.

He’d mentioned some other treasures he wanted to show her, and truthfully she was excited to see those as well. Artifacts from hundreds of years ago that had been lost to the world were now going to be discovered. She wasn’t an archaeologist, but it didn’t matter. It was a fascinating opportunity.

“I would never accuse you of something you are innocent of.”

Aimee could just imagine him rolling his eyes and she grinned. They’d spent much of the evening before in each other’s arms, neither wanting to be the first to leave. The giggles, cuddles, and pillow talk had been just as satisfying as the sex, if in different ways. Although she was still coming to terms that they’d slept together, at least she could say they’d done more as well.

It just seemed so soon. Three days, the first one of which she’d been convinced that he was as imaginary as a child’s friend. That’s all it had taken before they’d fallen between the sheets together. Wasn’t she supposed to show some resistance, to keep him at bay? Not because of propriety’s sake, but because she wanted to make sure it wasn’t a bad choice.

After all, how much did she really know about the dragon shifter?

For now she’d decided to try and ignore those thoughts and move on from them. It had happened, and that was that. It wasn’t like she regretted the sex—it had been, well, mind-blowing seemed too cliché—but her brain had shut off multiple times during it, so it seemed applicable at least.

She planted her walking stick and pushed off.

“Shouldn’t we be knee-deep in snow by now?” she asked to no one in particular, looking at the white landscape around them.

“Yes. I’m clearing us a path,” he replied from farther ahead, his voice distracted.

“You are? I mean, you can do that?”

“I can,” he confirmed. “And am. It’s relatively simple. You see, we’re not actually walking on ground level. I’ve been raising the earth up to meet us, so that we stay above the snow.”

“You’re serious,” she said, marveling at his calm explanation, as if altering the ground was no big deal.

“Of course I’m serious. I would never lie to you, Aimee.”

“Good. Keep it that way, mister.”

They paused briefly to look adoringly into each other’s eyes before resuming the climb. She was all bundled up, while he took the lead in a pair of jeans and a formfitting sweater he’d procured from somewhere as well. It irked her that the cold didn’t affect him, but she supposed that was one of the perks of being more than human. Such was life.

All at once they reached the entrance to his cave. The path he’d been carving for them had allowed for an easy ascent that should have taken hours longer than it did.

She looked back down the slope behind them. “That’s damn convenient.”

He ducked inside. “Come on now. I promise not to chase you around this time.”

“Oh, you can chase me,” she teased. “Just not with the intent to eat me at the end!”

The shadows in the cave were dark, but they were still near enough the entrance that she could see his face when he replied.

“Are you sure? Because you seemed okay with it last night…”

All at once she was thankful for the shadows, as they hid the redness in her face.

“That is not what I meant. And where the hell did you learn that term?” she snapped without anger.

“You. You cuss like a sailor sometimes, you know that, right? In between one session or another you told me to ‘eat me,’ remember?”

She did. Damn, that meant she was responsible for all the bad habits he was picking up. Although, she thought fondly, he was particularly adept at following through on that one…

“That doesn’t mean you get to turn around and use the line on me, though.”

Rhys stepped closer, picked her up, and kissed her rather thoroughly without any explanation before setting her back down. Aimee was still seeing stars when he spoke again.

“I’ll turn you around any time I want.”

His hand smacked against her rear startlingly, making her yelp.

The walls of the cave shivered slightly in response.

“Uhhh.” It was a genius line, the best she could come up with. “Did I just cause another avalanche?”

She was acutely aware of the fact that they hadn’t stopped coming even while she was off-duty.

“No, my cave is reinforced against noise from the inside. Otherwise our friendly little game of chase when we first met would have triggered the entire mountainside.”

She snorted loudly in the dark. “You have a really, really warped sense of what is ‘friendly,’ do you know that? The manners of a caveman.”

“You take that back. My father was a caveman, I’ll have you know!”

“Really?” she asked eagerly.

“Well, he’s a man, and he lives in a cave.”

She groaned. “All dragons live in caves!”

“Technically not true. Some live in glaciers and sand dunes.”

Rolling her eyes, she turned in a random direction and started walking away.

“Be carefu—”

“Ow!” Her shin slammed into something mostly solid that clinked.

“There’s a pile of gold there.”

“Of course there’s a pile of gold there,” she laughed. “Where isn’t there one in here. God, you’re a hoarder worse than those on TV.”

“I don’t know what those are, but is it really such a bad thing that I have so much gold and treasures?”

“Uh, no,” she admitted awkwardly. “Not really I guess. Especially if you continue to want to spend some of it on me.”

He chuckled, the sound echoing in the chamber. “I thought not. So be good, or I’ll track down your team and tell them wildly embellished stories of just how girly you are. You’ll never live it down.”

Aimee gasped. “You wouldn’t!” He looked at her. “You would!”

“I am the mighty Rhyolite,” he said with false dramatics. “Of course I would.”

“Oh boy. Full of yourself too. Boy do I know how to pick ‘em.”

They smiled and he walked over to embrace her, before sliding a hand down her side and lifting her leg off the ground, where he proceeded to rub it. The pain had faded ages ago, but the gesture was both cute and endearing. Almost.

“Uh, Rhys?” she said after a moment.

“Yes?”

“Wrong leg.”

The mighty dragon shifter just sort of sagged in defeat in front of her. Aimee tried her hardest, but she couldn’t contain her laughter. She fell into him, arms wrapping around his rock-hard stomach, holding onto it as she howled, not at his mistake, but at his reaction.

“I was trying,” he said stubbornly.

“I know.” She pushed up onto her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I know.”

He accepted the kiss and held her tight, shaking his head at himself. Aimee almost felt bad for him. Everything he did with her seemed to start out wonderfully, and then just somehow go south. Their first kiss, first date, now this. The poor shifter had to be wondering why she was still with him. The truth was, it made him seem all the more human in her eyes.

“You can make it up to me if you want,” she said, deciding to spring her idea on him.

“I need to make up for rubbing your wrong leg?” She could almost see the sarcasm dripping from his words it came off so thick.

“Well ,my other one still hurts, so yes.”

He sighed, picked up her up, and put her over his shoulder, and then began to rub both legs.

“Hey! What is this?” she yelped.

“Me ensuring I don’t miss anywhere,” he replied, the timbre of his voice not changing.

Then he kept rubbing higher and higher on her leg.

“Hey, easy there,” she warned as he got friskier. “You can miss that. We’re in public.”

Rhys chuckled and gave her bum a nice squeeze before setting her down. “Of course, though there’s nobody around.”

She grinned. “I know. Which is why you’re going to take me flying.”

Hook. Line. Sinker.

“I am not a horse,” he protested, but she could tell he already knew it was a losing argument.

“Nope, you’re better. You’re a dragon, and not just any dragon. You’re the mighty Rhyolite.”

“Now you’re mocking me,” he complained wryly.

“True, but you gave me that line, so really it’s your own fault.”

Rhys grinned at her. “Very well, feisty human. I will take you up.” His expression turned stern and serious. “But there are some rules you are going to follow, understand?”

She nodded, understanding the situation. Aimee was going to get what she wanted, but she had to obey him while up there.

“Both hands stay on me at all times. No flinging them up in the air. No exceptions.”

“Done.”

“Second, if I give you a command while we’re flying, no matter what, you will obey it, and instantly. No matter what it is.” He repeated the last part for emphasis. “You can question me after you do it. Not before. If I have to tell you to do something, there is a very good reason for it that I might not have time to explain then and there. Okay?”

Aimee swallowed as the craziness of what she was about to do set in. This was no helicopter joyride. She was going to fly on the back of a real, honest-to-goodness dragon. Her mind’s eye could picture it now, wind whipping at her hair as they dove, banked and soared high on thermals, free of technology and just gliding through the sky.

“Do you agree?”

“What?” She’d been daydreaming. “Sorry, yes, of course. I understand it’s risky.”

“That’s…an understatement. One wrong gust of wind will send you flying if you aren’t holding on tight. It’s not like I have a saddle or anything.”

She grinned.

Rhys’s eyes narrowed immediately with suspicion. “This had better not be where you tell me you brought along a saddle,” he warned.

Laughing, she shook her head. “No, no saddle. I did bring a length of rope though.” She shrugged when he frowned. “What? I like to be prepared.”

“You planned this all out from the start, didn’t you?” he accused her.

“Bet your ass I did. Seriously, how could you think I wouldn’t want to do this? It’s practically the first thing I thought of after I realized that you were a dragon, and got over how hot you were as a human.”

The last part slipped out accidentally, a thought that had become verbal unintentionally.

“Is that so?” he rumbled happily.

“Yeah, but then you turned around. Damn cute ass though,” she said, giving it a hard pinch before digging in her backpack for the rope.

“You have got to be the least ladylike woman I have ever courted,” he muttered.

“Yet you’re still here.”

“I am.”

“And you’re about to let me tie you up with rope.” She winked suggestively.

Out of nowhere the earth rippled and moved, leaping up to latch onto her. Bands of rock as smooth as metal wrapped tightly around her ankles while more of it humped up her back and reached out to snag her wrists, pulling them apart. The last bit of it settled in behind her head, so she could rest upon it.

“That,” he growled throatily as the fingers of one hand ran feather-soft along her cheek, his other hand slipping below her waist and between her legs, “is because I don’t need rope.”

Aimee went very still, the only sound that of her heart pounding in her ears. The casual display of power and sexual appetite toward her had been so abrupt and overwhelming that until he’d spoken she’d felt a little shiver of fear.

Now though, he kissed her and the rock began to melt away, at which point he swept her up into a proper kiss.

“Okay,” she gasped as they broke. “That was fucking hot. Little scary, but holy shit I want you so badly right now.”

His fingers were still putting exquisitely delightful pressure between her legs, but now he pulled away. “You’re going to have to keep on missing that,” he said quietly, speaking right into her ear so that his hot breath washed over her skin, giving her tingles. “Because we’re in public.”

Abruptly he stood up and moved away.

“Cruel. That was cruel,” she complained. “All that sexy, powerful buildup of control, and now you just wave it all away?”

He grinned. “Do you want to go flying or not?!”

“Yes please.” She did, but in the back of her mind she was still pinned to the rock, completely at his mercy as Rhys took her there in his cave. The scene played out over and over again as she ran the rope through her fingers, wondering if he would use that on her later instead…

“Stay back,” he warned as she started to follow after him when he walked away. “I need some space for this.”

All at once her focus was back on the presence. Here it was. He was going to change into his dragon, and she was going to get to see one of the mythical beasts up close and personal—and without it trying to eat her!

“Are you ready?” he asked after moving across the cavern.

“Yes. But I can’t really see anything.”

“Give it a moment,” he rumbled, and she thought his voice had changed, deepening, though still full of that melodious bass that was his trademark.

Light began to glow from somewhere near him. No, correction, from within him.

“What? I didn’t get to see you change!” she complained.

“There is nothing to see,” he informed her. “It happens so fast, you see nothing.”

“Oh.”

Rhyolite paused. “Well, are you coming?” He crouched down to the floor, spreading out a glowing wing toward her like a ramp.

“Not only yes, but hell yes!” she shouted, running over to him. “Take me to the moon!”

Rhyolite

“Woo-hoo!”

Aimee whooped with delight again as he reached the top of his climb and angled downward, spreading his wings wide to catch as much air as possible.

“This is amazing!”

He didn’t reply, letting her simply enjoy the moment. They were deep within the mountain range, hopefully out of sight of any humans at this point. The sky was still gray, and clouds of a darker nature were starting to move in. As he looked around, he knew that their time would be limited. They would have to head for cover shortly.

She fell silent and he craned his head around, enjoying the look of sheer joy plastered on her features. He wished he could see through the orange covering of her facemask, but the smile was enough. Gods, she’s beautiful , he thought to himself, admiring her even as he pulled up, angling them through a soft banking turn, heading toward the nearest thermal to help him gain some more ground.

“I can’t believe you get to do this any time you want,” she said, sounding stunned as the panoramic landscape of mountains scrolled by on either side of them, the ground shrinking below them once more as he beat his wings steadily.

“Are you giving me permission?” he rumbled, tossing his head gaily as he laughed.

“Take me up like this, and just maybe,” she fired back, unashamed.

He turned to make an even dirtier comment, but as his head swung around on the end of his long neck, Rhyolite’s eyes narrowed, the inner set of his triple eyelids dropping into place protectively.

“Aimee,” he rumbled, all humor gone from his voice. “Hang on.”

“Eeep,” she said, snatching at the rope and leaning forward so that she was firmly pressed into his neck.

Rhyolite dove for the tree line, wings tucking in alongside his body, taking a steeper angle than anything he’d dared do earlier. But there was no time to think as behind him another dragon roared in anger, beating its wings as it tried to close.

They reached the treetops and he snapped his wings out, tendons screaming in protest as they caught the air and billowed wide, slowing his descent and angling him sharply to the left.

He glanced back just in time to see a spear of black stone shoot through the space he’d just occupied and impale a tree lengthwise through its trunk before continuing on to impact in the ground.

Conscious of the fully exposed human on his back, Rhyolite bellowed his fury. How dare they threaten her! He pumped his wings furiously, the ground beginning to blur as he built up speed. Behind him came a sight straight out of his memories, a bronze dragon gaining ground on him, eyes glittering with anger.

Ahead of him the ground dipped away into a gorge. A plan appeared in his mind at the same time. He went over the edge, pulled his wings in, and dropped like a stone. A split second later though he spread them wide and pulled up, wings pumping like never before as he sought to lift himself up out of the gorge.

Behind him the bronze dragon howled with fury as it dropped over the lip and kept going down, having thought it had a chance to catch him if it dropped hard and fast enough. Rhyolite slowed to a halt and opened his mouth, using his power to send several spears of rock after the other dragon, forcing it to keep flying down the gorge, giving him some time.

He perched on the edge. “Get off!” he shouted, but Aimee was already sliding down his neck and onto the ground.

The instant she was free he fell over backward and into the gorge, twisting in midair as he increased his speed, trying to catch up with his attacker. Now that his mate was safe, he could fight with abandon. Knowing that fireballs would attract unwanted attention, he stuck to lances of black rock, firing them in a steady stream that forced the other dragon to slow.

“You!” he roared as he closed. “I finally have you, after all this time!”

Without warning his opponent pulled up and out of the gorge, just when Rhyolite was about to deliver a blow that couldn’t miss.

“COWARD!” he screamed, moving in pursuit. “GET BACK HERE!”

“No,” came the simple response, and he gasped as the bronze dragon banked around and put on speed as he headed for the one thing Rhyolite couldn’t have predicted.

Aimee.

They were headed on a straight-line course. If Rhyolite used any more of his breath weapon and missed, he stood a chance of it killing Aimee. He would need to be perfect.

Or just smart , he thought suddenly as he saw an opportunity. It was going to hurt, and hurt bad. But it would work, because the other dragon would never see it coming. Forcing his body to move faster, he gained speed, more and more of it. The bronze dragon was low to the ground, and if Rhyolite tried to angle upward, he would lose precious ground.

So instead he did what any lovestruck idiot would do, and sacrificed his own body to protect the one he loved.

Flipping over onto his back he plummeted down, the extra burst of speed allowing him to get close enough he couldn’t miss. Rhyolite hissed and a ten-foot-long bolt of rock shot from his mouth with a crack and impaled the bronze dragon right where his wing joined his body.

Rhyolite howled in triumph as his enemy peeled off, but it was short-lived as he plowed into the ground, the rocky landscape catching silvery-platinum scales and popping them off with painful results. The noise from his mouth quickly became pained as he bounced and rolled, crushing trees and sending snow everywhere.

Before the snow had even settled the ground thumped with noise.

“Haven’t you had enough?” he roared, struggling to right his battered body so that he could confront the relentless juggernaut.

Beside him he saw Aimee pause, unsure on whether to run away, or come to his aid, though there was little she could actually do to help.

“Run!” the bronze dragon ordered as it stumped across the ground on three legs, one wing drooping, the injury preventing him from fully controlling it.

“I will not run from you again!” he shouted.

The other dragon hesitated. “I was talking to the human. She is safe now, and no longer in danger.”

Rhyolite bit back a scathing retort as Aimee entered the conversation, and as she spoke he was reminded that she was fully capable of handling herself in a verbal conversation.

“Danger? The only danger I see around here is you. We were having a lovely time, and then your overly-tanned scales come in here like a bull in a damn china shop, wrecking everything.”

The bronze dragon hesitated. “You…are not in danger?”

“Ding ding ding!” she shouted, waving her hands around, golden-blonde hair bouncing frantically as she mocked the other dragon. “I’m so glad you finally picked up on that. The only time I was ever at risk was when you started chasing us like the schoolyard bully. It’s a good thing you got the drop on Rhyolite here, or else he would have kicked your ass all the way back to the Stone Age.”

“Umm, Aimee,” he tried to interrupt.

“Not now, flyboy, I’m busy giving this third-place wannabe a piece of my mind. You can beat his ass later, okay?”

The bronze dragon chuckled. “Well, that would certainly be the first time he’s managed that.”

“Rhyolite, what’s he talking about?”

“I’ll tell you later,” he said, happy that in his dragon form he couldn’t go red in the face.

Staring daggers at the bronze dragon, he readied himself just in case the momentary truth went south. It wouldn’t be unheard of, and he knew that the two of them had unfinished business.

“Men,” she snapped. “Fine. Listen, I’m perfectly okay. In fact, I was on a date that you so rudely interrupted. So why don’t you take your scaly hide back to whatever rotten hole you emerged from and fill it in behind you, okay?”

“She certainly has a way with words.”

“That she does. Now, what do you want, Obsidian?” he asked, finally speaking the bronzed dragon’s name.

The bronze dragon suddenly pulled its injured wing in tight alongside its body, showing that he was now healed from the earlier attack.

“Drake’s Crossing, the valley, and these mountains are under my protection,” Obsidian replied. “I’m sure you’ve found out that times have changed. These humans are different than the ones we left in the past.”

Rhyolite’s eyes narrowed at that. He felt that there was a story there, but he didn’t press the issue.

“I’m aware of that,” he admitted warily.

“Then if you wish to stay, you aren’t to do any more damage.”

“What damage? I’ve not done anything.”

Obsidian loomed up large. “Do not lie to me. You know of what I speak. Cease your actions.”

Angrily he spread his own wings, not backing down to the challenge. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve not done anything!”

Behind them there was the sound of snow as it cracked loose from a peak and began to plummet down the slope. Both dragons turned to watch. Aimee, with her human eyes and lower level of vision, was unable to see much.

“Ooops,” Rhyolite said. “I didn’t think that would happen.”

Obsidian’s yellow eyes flashed. “We must be careful. This is a risky season, and several lives have already been lost because of the avalanches.”

“That’s not our fault!” Aimee snapped, obviously feeling like the comment was a shot to her team.

“Calm,” he urged, ignoring Obsidian’s questing look. “Is there anything else you want?” he snapped, getting tired of his enemy’s presence.

“Yes. To speak to the woman. Alone.”

“Absolutely not,” he said without hesitation. “Whatever you want to say to either of us, say it.”

Aimee nodded her agreement.

Obsidian sighed. “I wished to ensure that he isn’t using his powers on you.”

“Don’t,” Rhyolite hissed, but it was too late. He’d opened the can of worms, and now Obsidian was going to bury him via other means.

“Have you not told her yet?” Obsidian asked, sounding at first surprised, then unimpressed. “She cares for you, isn’t this information you should have shared?”

“The time hasn’t been right,” he said defensively.

Aimee broke in at that point. “Umm, excuse me. But what the hell are you two talking about?”

Rhyolite felt a wave of fear wash over him with an uncanny abruptness. He ignored it, fortifying his mind against the sensation. Beside him though, Aimee went white with terror.

Just like that, it was gone again.

“What the fuck was that?” she snapped, regaining her composure.

“That was fear. It is my power.” Obsidian nodded in Rhyolite’s direction. “His is lust. A much more insidious power, one that you might not know is truly affecting you.”

“I swear,” he protested as Aimee looked at him calculatingly, her eyes narrowing. “I have never used my power on you. Not since I awoke, not once.”

“Get out,” Aimee hissed.

“If you wish a ride back to the city, I could provide one,” Obsidian offered.

“I was talking,” she said, acid in her voice, “to you. Leave us alone.”

The bronze dragon gave Rhyolite one last glance, before he lifted his wings and jumped into the sky. It was clear he was still in pain, but any satisfaction that might have been gained from that was lost as Aimee advanced on him.

“Take me to the car. Now .”

His first instinct was to argue with her. To get her to speak to him, to tell him why she was so mad. He was telling the truth: not once had he even considered using his powers upon her. But she seemed to think otherwise, and until she calmed down, he judged she would be unreasonably angry.

“Of course,” he said, slumping to the ground in defeat as she climbed back aboard, refusing to meet his eyes.

Once she was secured he took to the skies as well, the pain in his heart worse than anything else he’d experienced that day.

Aimee

He set her down just below a ridge, out of sight of anyone who might be using the road she’d parked on. Aimee hopped down from his neck, undid the rope, and marched off. The entire ride she hadn’t spoken a word to him, and she had no intention of doing so now.

The ass.

It all made sense now. The rapidity of their relationship, but more so the previous night. Never before had she been so quickly struck with such arousal for someone. Even on the two occasions she’d gone home with someone from the bar, it hadn’t been anywhere near as intense as what she and Rhyolite had shared the night before.

Wading through waist-deep snow, she climbed the ridge and started down, her anger giving her the energy to keep moving at such a fast clip. A fury had been stoked from the embers into a fire that filled her entire soul. How could she have been so stupid ? That was, perhaps, what irked her the most. That she’d fallen for it completely.

It didn’t matter that he was hundreds of years old and had probably been practicing his techniques that long. She was smarter than that, and should have recognized that the manipulative dragon would be after her for one thing, and one thing only. And not only had she given it up, but she’d enjoyed it thoroughly the entire time. Her entire face was ablaze with embarrassment. Angel would be ashamed of her if he ever found out.

She began to pick apart their entire relationship during her drive back into the city, from the very moment he’d surprised her in his cave, up until the flight. Had he been manipulating her from the start? With gold and shopping sprees and fancy dinners? It had all been a ruse to get her to open her legs willingly while he plied her brain to ensure it happened sooner than later.

Aimee had been used, and the entire experience left her feeling vulnerable and exposed, like skin scraped raw. How typical of her. A good-looking guy shows interest in her, and she goes off-the-rockers crazy for him in a matter of days. Like every relationship she’d been in before though, it had ended in flames, crumbling down around her while she sat in the middle of it all and watched it happening, upset that she hadn’t seen the first spark leap from the hearth.

She sped by the turn that would have taken her home, heading instead to the north end of town, and then past the outskirts, until she came to the airfield. It wasn’t much, a tiny runway for small planes like crop dusters and the like, and two helipads. A smattering of buildings dotted the property, most of them hangars. She headed for one that was newer-looking than the rest, with two red-and-gray choppers parked out front.

It may not be her house, but it certainly would feel like home. Her team wouldn’t show up until tomorrow, but the others would be there. She could use a bunk and crash. It wouldn’t be the first time one of them had needed a place to stay.

Even as she put the SUV in park and exited, Aimee felt better. This was where she belonged. On the job, out helping people who needed it.

This was her home.

Aimee

“What’s wrong with you, Flow? You look like you had a rough night.”

The harassing voice of Brian “Angel” Harkness awoke her from her dozing as he strode in to the common room where the SAR team hung out and did much of their non-physical training.

She looked up at him from her spot on the couch and flipped him the middle finger. But she stayed awake. His presence meant that they were now on duty, and the shift change had been completed. People were relying on her now, and Aimee was ready to throw herself at it, bringing her A-game more than she ever had before.

Bury the hurt beneath duty, she figured. Shove it so far down it never saw the light of day again. Rhyolite could stay out there in his dank, ugly cave and she wouldn’t care. Hopefully he lost all his treasure when an avalanche caused a cave-in. That, she figured, would serve the asshole right for manipulating her into sleeping with him.

“I’m good,” she replied to his unspoken question when she didn’t immediately say anything. Shoving Rhys from her mind, she shut the door on her hurt for the time being. The unspoken reprimand from Angel was enough to get her riled up. She was not going to let this asshole distract her from her job.

“You’d better be. Franco’s shift responded to a record number of avalanche calls the past three days. It’s getting worse.” Harkness shook his head angrily. “The resorts still won’t close the hills either, despite our repeated requests. At this rate, it’ll take someone getting seriously hurt for that to happen.”

Aimee nodded. They ran into this every avalanche season, though this one was worse than any she could recall. “I suppose we’d better be ready to go save their asses when the inevitable happens, shouldn’t we?”

“Isn’t that always the way it goes?” he replied.

Behind them Jergins and Clancy rolled in, both holding cans of soda, talking to each other. Aimee opened her mouth to make a remark, but their radios buzzed at the same time.

“Be advised, reports of two skiers trapped on Napier Peak after a suspected avalanche. SAR is required on scene.”

The room exploded into action as the four of them leapt for their gear. Napier Peak was home to the Whorly Resort, one of Drake’s Crossing’s fanciest ski resorts, and also the most northerly and highest elevation. Anytime a call came in from them, it was bound to be bad news.

Aimee was ready first, and started for the door. Harkness wasn’t far behind, and his long legs caught up to her. When the other two joined up the four took off at a jog for their chopper. Shortly thereafter they were airborne and headed up into stormy gray skies that promised more danger than any of them were interested in.

“Listen up, people, this isn’t going to be easy,” Harkness said, speaking over the cockpit channel after getting the full details of the situation. “The two skiers are trapped in a valley about halfway down the hill. Seems they decided to do some free-skiing, and ignored all the warning signs.”

The team groaned. Arrogant pricks like these were the worst .

“How did we even find them?”

“Oddly enough, a cell phone call. They appear to be all right, just trapped, unable to climb up the walls. Some bumps and bruises, but I guess they missed the avalanche itself, and got caught in the aftermath of the shaking.” Her boss shrugged at the mysteries of life. “Anyway, let’s go get them. Flow, you’re first down to assess. I’m second and King you’re third if we need your ugly ass for some godforsaken reason.”

The laughter was tight and somewhat forced. Despite the situation, they all knew that it could go sideways in a second. Factor in the weather outside, which was likely to worsen, and things could go very, very bad in a hurry. The team settled into a deep silence as the chopper cut through the air, heading for Napier Peak.

Despite all the grief they gave him, Jergins was a hell of a pilot, and in short time had them stabilized over the crevice where the skiers were trapped. Pulling her suit tight, Aimee flung the door open and peered down, easily spotting the black-clad skiers against the blue-white of the ice and snow.

“Eyes on two,” she called, clipping herself in and undoing her harness and safety line. “Requesting permission to go for retrieval.

“Go get ‘em, Flow,” Angel replied, clapping her on the shoulder.

She swung out over the abyss and the wire began to unravel, sending her swiftly into the depths, spare harnesses jingling at her side.

“Help!”

“Save us! Please!”

That’s what I’m here for, idiots. What, do you think I’m just out for a joyride?

Aimee descended to the bottom and introduced herself to the two men.

“Are either of you hurt?” she asked.

They shook their heads.

“Okay, fine. You’re up first,” she said, picking the younger of the two and pulling him over. “Come on now, we don’t know how long we have. This ground could go at any time.” She wanted to stress the urgency of the situation to the two of them. Things had been going fine so far, but that was no guarantee it was going to last. The mountains were all unstable right now, and she wanted to be down here for as little time as possible.

“You’re next,” she said, speaking up to be heard over the beating of the rotors above her. The first civilian was rapidly disappearing into the helicopter.

The wait was a short one, but the sky above them darkened, and she could see snow flurries moving in.

“Let’s go!” she shouted, pulling the man closer as she snagged the descending line and secured him to the now-empty clip. “Angel, one to pull up.”

Her headset crackled with static before his voice came over the air. “ Roger that, Flow. Jergins says it’s getting bad out here, so we may have to do an accelerated departure with you.”

“Lovely. Just wait till I clear the walls, okay?”

“Jergins says no problem. He doesn’t want you any flatter than you already are.”

She laughed in the face of everything, knowing that Jergins would never make that joke in a calmer situation. “Tell him that if he gets me out of here I’ll forgive his pathetic excuse to distract me.”

Laughter was all that greeted her. Truthfully though, it had helped. The shock of his crude humor had helped to focus her on the situation, even as she stared up at the high vertical walls of the crevice, praying that they wouldn’t come crashing down on her at any moment.

As if to enhance her fears, a low groaning sound reached her ears, something so very deep it reminded her of a building falling over in a movie. A hundred feet down the crevice she saw one entire wall simply tip over and hit the other with a crunch.

“Uh, Angel?” she asked, starting to back away. “Did you see that?”

“Line’s on its way down. Hang tight, Flow, we got you.”

That was bad. Really bad. If he wasn’t acknowledging it, that meant he was trying to get her to focus on him.

“Angel,” she said, panic entering her voice as another section crashed over, this one less than fifty feet away. “Hurry please.”

“We’re not leaving you, Flow. Stay focused.”

She turned as the sound intensified. Behind her the ground moved. Not like an avalanche, but rippling, as if something were moving underneath it.

A chunk of wall behind her simply exploded outward, ice chunks flying out in all directions. Aimee screamed and ducked into a ball, protecting her head with her body and arms. Chunks battered her and sent her to the ground.

Above there was a horrifying bang . Looking up, she saw smoke begin to pour from the side of the chopper. Oh no. Her team!

“ANGEL!” she screamed.

There was no response.

“Angel?” she asked. “Angel respond. Are you okay? Angel?”

“We’re okay.” The voice was shaken, but steadying even as he spoke the two tiny words. “Jergins says we took a hit of some kind. What the hell happened?”

“Ice. The wall exploded.”

“Any injuries?”

“Lots of bruises, but nothing a hot tub and wine won’t take care of,” she quipped, trying to keep her voice from cracking, and only half succeeding.

The ground under her heaved , and the entire left wall in front of her crumbled forward. Aimee shouted and bolted toward the rear, but the ground heaved again and flung her from her feet.

“Shit, Aimee, we’re losing power.”

“GO!” she shouted, training taking over. “Get the civvies to safety.”

She flipped over onto her back, watching as cracks appeared in both walls on either side of her. The ground was shaking but she got to her feet anyway, hoping to run onward, making it farther into the crevice, where she could perhaps find shelter.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” she shouted, pushing herself to her feet, stumbling forward as the ground shook and bounced. After no more than five feet she fell to the ground, but this time she kept crawling, using all four limbs to balance her.

More ice from the walls came crashing down, a spear of it impacting less than five feet to her left, spraying her with shards that sliced at the exposed parts of her face.

“Ow, motherfucker!” she shouted.

Her headset buzzed. “We’re going to get the other chopper. Jergins says ten minutes.”

“Bullshit,” she gasped, thrown to the side as the floor under her rose three feet in less than a second. “It takes three minutes to do preflight.”

“We radioed in. Franco was still on base, he’s getting it prepped now.”

“Okay. I’ll wait to hear from you, then light my flare.” Every member carried several small flares on them for emergencies, though they hoped never to use them.

“We’re coming back for you,” Angel replied, static breaking through the earpiece as they flew out of range.

“You had fucking better,” she said to herself, using up precious air as she pulled herself forward, breathing hard from the exertion.

All at once everything stopped. The ground calmed, leaving nothing but the falling flurries from the storm above them. Aimee looked around, feeling off. Something wasn’t right. She looked up the crevice to perceived safety, and behind her where it was blocked off less than ten feet from her.

Gulp . Nervously she got to her feet, putting one hand against the wall to steady herself.

The instant she touched it the ice wall shook, spilling more ice to the ground.

“What the fuck?” she cried out, pulling her hand back. The wall had felt…well, squishy was the only way to describe it.

She reached forward, trying to figure out what to do, when suddenly something moved behind the wall.

A scream ripped from her throat as Aimee found herself staring into a large, yellow eye. One filled with malevolence as it narrowed on her.

Rhyolite

He was sulking.

There was no other way to explain it: the sour mood, unwillingness to do anything, and an intense desire to be alone. The only thing that would change that was having his mate around. Aimee. She wanted nothing to do with him, thinking that he’d somehow conned her into thinking that all he wanted her for was sex.

Did she not see the myriad other things he’d done for her? Or the way his face lit up when she did something as tiny as laugh? How about his attempts to adhere to and fit in with a human society that frankly scared him with its technological advances? Rhys had learned the internet and been in the process of discovering all sorts of other things about the world, just so that he could be a better match for her.

His tail lashed out behind him, thumping angrily into the hardened rock floor of his cave. Somewhere farther back some gold bars slid out of their carefully arranged piles, the shockwave disturbing their positioning.

The worst part was, he couldn’t blame Aimee for how she was feeling. Oh, he had at first. Upon the return to his cave, he’d thrashed about angrily for a solid hour, taking his anger out on anything and everything. More than one pile of gold had been melted into a blob from a burst of his dragonfire.

Once he’d calmed down though, rationality slipping its talons back into his mind, he’d forced himself to take a good, long, hard look at how she might see things. Consider that to her, he was a beast, a creature from legend, and one that had always been at odds with humans. Just believing in him was a stretch and a half, but she had been willing, especially after she’d seen his dragon in a peaceful way.

But she knew he’d had powers and abilities, and things had escalated quickly between them, even if the buildup had accompanied it. They had flirted and gotten touchy, just as he might have expected normally, based on his antiquated experience. Because of that, he hadn’t felt the need to tell her about his powers. Everything was happening so naturally he’d barely even considered it. In hindsight though, it should have been obvious that he informed her.

It hurt that Aimee had instantly reverted to the mindset that he was an evil, manipulative dragon. But her thirty-plus years of life, and several hundred worth of human history, all pointed to the fact that he didn’t exist, and that if he did , that he would do anything to manipulate his way to success. It was hard to shake off that built-in knowledge. It represented a safety bubble that she had run back to, which was only natural. After all, where did he go when he was hurt, mad, or otherwise wanting to run away from everything? His cave.

He knew she would come around and talk to him eventually. The pull between them was too great, the magnetism they shared toward each other too strong for her to ignore. Whether she gave him a second chance or not still remained to be seen, but Rhys was confident he would be able to at least talk to her again. Eventually. In the meantime the rift ate away at him, a thousand tiny needles stabbing into his heart with every beat, digging into his lungs with every breath. It was sheer agony to be so far away from her for so long, instead of by her side, as he knew a mate should be.

In the distance the sound of a helicopter reached his ears. He perked up, peering out into the gathering storm, wondering if it was Aimee. Could she truly be going out in this weather?

It was a dumb question and he berated himself for even asking it. Of course she would, if someone needed help. That was his Aimee, always wanting to help everyone else, and always refusing it for herself. Never wanting to rely on someone outside of her team, to believe that good things could happen to her. No, she was the good things that happened to those in need of it. Like the skiers she was probably headed out to rescue.

Or him. She was good for him. A calming influence, and one that wouldn’t put up with any of his normal antics. It shocked him that he liked that about her, but she made him want to be better, to improve himself, to show that he could be more than just a figure of fear in the mythological texts. Dammit, Rhys was going to prove to Aimee that dragons had a place in the here and now, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

Then he would also show her the limits of his powers. Rhyolite had always been disgusted with how generally useless his dragon power was, compared to say Obsidian, who could project fear, or others with rage, or jealousy or panic. Lust? What a sham, he’d thought. Until the first time he’d gone to a human party and used it. The results had been hilarious. He could use his powers to arouse humans to a degree they’d perhaps never known before. But what he couldn’t do was force them to act on it.

They didn’t work specifically. For instance, he couldn’t have made Aimee find him attractive and sexy if she hadn’t already thought so. All she would be is horny. His power didn’t make people want to sleep with the first person that came along. It simply made them want sex. It was a rather fine distinction, he knew that, and in certain situations it certainly might look that way. But if Aimee had wanted nothing more than a friendship with him, even his strongest efforts would have been unlikely to produce any effect, especially since she’d always been sober.

Parties and other sorts of large gatherings were always an entertaining prospect. Or had been when he was younger. He’d tired of it rather quickly however, and rarely even used his power anymore. It was just boring. Truthfully, Rhyolite was rather useless as a dragon when it came to that department. He certainly didn’t live up to the stereotypes of old, at least not anymore, not having messed with humans in decades at a minimum before he’d fought Obsidian the first time.

Stretching his wings, he prepared to head out into the storm, using the falling snow and dark clouds to obscure himself from any observers. Perhaps he would track the helicopter that had been heading north, see if it had indeed been Aimee.

“Rhyolite.”

He paused mid-jump, his head snapping around as he saw a tall human with brown-gold eyes and a haircut that faded in from the bottom to a messy sort of wave. The face, with its strong, classic lines wasn’t familiar, but he would recognize the voice anywhere.

“Obsidian,” he hissed, and spat a ball of flame at the bronze dragon.

Earth rose up like water, forming a barrier between the two. Rhyolite attacked again, this time a solid gout of fire that splashed continuously off the rock shield, melting it. As swiftly as he could turn it into slag, however, Obsidian pulled up fresh rock from the ground underneath him.

Angry at this, Rhyolite reached out to the earth underneath Obsidian, and turned the gentle downward slope into a vertical cliff. There was a yelp and suddenly the other dragon shifter disappeared. He smiled in satisfaction, hoping the bronze dragon would get the message. And if he didn’t, Rhyolite still had plenty of anger to take out on him.

“Are you done yet?” the voice called up from below the new cliff.

“Go away.” He wasn’t interested in talking.

“That was rude.”

The voice came from above him a few moments later.

“I said go away,” he snapped, turning to face Obsidian as he emerged from within the mountain, having transported himself within it to a different position. Now he was perched atop the opening to Rhyolite’s cave.

“I came to talk.”

He growled deep in the back of his throat. Smoke began to curl up from his nostrils, evidence of his building fury. “The last time you came to talk, you drove a dagger between me and my mate. Why should I listen to you again?”

“You should have been more honest with your mate.”

“No, Obsidian. This time it is you who fucked up. The least you could have done is confront me privately, ask if I’d told her. Then given me a day to tell her myself, instead of springing it on me last-minute!”

With the last roar of his words he reached into the ground once more. Obsidian may have moved out and around his cave, but now he was standing on top of stone worked by Rhyolite. Once a dragon had worked stone, it was near impervious to workings by other dragons. It was how they imprisoned one another.

Now the top of his cave melted away like butter. Obsidian cursed as he fell like a stone, but what really made Rhyolite smile was the look of utter shock and defeat as a silver-platinum tail came whipping around. There was a dull thwack , and Obsidian’s human form tumbled across the length of his cave before hitting the far wall and falling to the ground in cloud of rock dust and chippings.

A few minutes later he heard painful coughing. “You know, I’m willing to concede you may have a point.”

“May have a point?” he asked threateningly, turning to look at the bronze dragon.

Obsidian coughed again, this time in politeness. He was trapped, and he knew it. Inside Rhyolite’s cave, he had no protection in the form of earth from his fire. The change from human to dragon was fast, but it wouldn’t be fast enough to stop Rhyolite’s fire from immolating him.

“Face it, Obsidian. You tried to act all high and mighty over me, thinking me the evil enemy, when in truth I am nothing of the sort. Have you already forgotten that when you came here from across the sea, that this was my territory, and you tried to evict me from it? You are the invader, the evil ass. I am nothing of the sort.”

Obsidian rolled his eyes. “I did not come here for you. I came here for my brother. He was in the area, and you were, unfortunately, in the way. He was the much greater evil. If you had left, or submitted, you would have been left alone. But you fought back, which I suppose I should have expected. It was nothing personal.”

“It certainly seemed that way.”

The bronze dragon laughed. “I can imagine it would. But no, I had learned my brother was responsible for a genocide down to the south, and I came to stop him from continuing that. I admit, I have killed humans in the past as well, but only those who bothered me. I have never sought them out.”

Rhyolite frowned. “What color scales does your brother have?” he asked cautiously.

“Purple. Why?”

Rhyolite howled with anger, his neck flipping around as he unleashed blast after blast of fire out into the stormy gray skies, announcing his rage and pain to the world.

“Rhyolite?”

He turned to see Obsidian in his dragon form, crouched warily.

“Are you okay?”

For a moment he contemplated going after Obsidian, right then and there. But no, he couldn’t. Wouldn’t. The bronze dragon had said it himself, he’d come to stop his brother.

“Did you?” he hissed.

“Did I what?”

“Stop him. Your brother.”

Obsidian nodded. “Yes. I imprisoned him shortly after you, locking him away until just recently when humans freed him. After a fight I was able to trap him below one of the mountains again, hoping that perhaps he will see the light.”

“I doubt it. Your brother is pure evil.”

“You act like you know him.”

“He destroyed my people,” Rhyolite explained, slumping as he remembered. Remembered the screams and the burning, and the casual way the purple dragon had batted him from the sky, more like an annoying gnat to the rampaging behemoth than another dragon. “I was too young. Too weak and pathetic to do anything about it. They died because of me, you know. Because I couldn’t stop him.”

Obsidian nodded in understanding, though he said nothing else.

“I wish you had killed him.”

“If he weren’t my brother, I would have. And no, before you ask, I’m not going to tell you where he is. He’s an ass, and mostly evil. But he’s my brother and I need to try and get him to see the good in himself.”

Rhyolite shook, trembling with barely contained fury. “If he tries to kill again, what will you do?”

“Stop him. If I cannot imprison him, then I will kill him.” Obsidian stood up, staring Rhyolite down. “But make no mistake, I will be the one doing it, not you, or any other dragon.”

The titanic beasts eyed one another for a very long moment, before both relaxed.

“You will help me fix things with my mate,” he announced.

“There isn’t much I can do,” Obsidian replied. “But I will try. In exchange, you will help me with something.”

That got his attention.

“I’m listening.”

“I’ve come to believe we have company.”

Rhyolite blinked, his triple eyelids slow to recede, a dragon action indicating further curiosity and explanation.

“Of the winged kind,” Obsidian clarified. “These avalanches. I don’t believe they are natural.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I found a white scale in the snow at the site of the most recent one.”

Rhyolite returned to his human form. “Oh. That would do it. White, you say?”

“Yes. An Ice Dragon has come to Drake’s Crossing it would seem.”

“Why here?” he grumped.

Ice Dragons were trouble. Testy, full of hatred and generally all-around bad, he’d had only a few encounters with them. None of which had been pleasant. They were all generally quite old, and therefore quite powerful. He didn’t relish the idea of going up against one, even with Obsidian at his side. Even together it would be tough. Perhaps too tough.

“My guess is that with my own awakening, others have felt it. Now with you and my brother awake and here, they will be drawn to this place.”

“So, just our luck. We can expect more of this then?”

Obsidian shifted as well, smiling broadly, revealing his perfectly white teeth. “I think Drake’s Crossing is going to see a population boom in the near future.”

Something stirred in his mind as things clicked together and Rhyolite spun to face the opening.

“What is it?” Obsidian asked, coming up next to him.

In the ground, their finely tuned senses detected the rumble of an avalanche. One that didn’t stop.

“Aimee. She is out there. I heard the helicopter.”

“Then she is in danger—”

Whatever else Obsidian was going to say was lost as Rhyolite moved, a blur to anyone who looked as he shot across the floor of his cave, heading for the newly formed cliff he’d dropped Obsidian off of.

Reaching it, he flung himself as high and far out as possible, arms spread wide as he called to the power within himself.

He dipped out of sight of the bronze dragon for a moment, before his silvery-platinum dragon appeared, pulling out of the dive and winging across the sky at breakneck speed as he tried to locate where his mate had gone in the stormy weather.

Hang on, Aimee. I’m coming for you, my love.

Aimee

Backing away slowly, she kept looking up and up as the entire wall seemed to melt away as a dragon the color of ice stepped through, looming up high above her.

A large, taloned foot came down, crushing some of the fallen ice below it into little more than ground powder. Aimee swallowed nervously as she realized that could just as easily be her in a moment. The great being didn’t speak at first, eyeing her as it slithered through the crevice, the ice melting and flowing around it before returning to its earlier position.

It was the most eerily beautiful and yet terrifying scene of her life. Even more than when she’d met Rhys for the first time. The white dragon didn’t even seem to notice as the ice conformed to his bulk and then slipped easily back into place. It was the action of someone so used to doing it that they barely noticed it anymore. Like breathing, it was an action that came with reflex, not thought.

“Well, well, well,” it said at last, sliding up to her more like a snake than a dragon she thought. “What do we have here?”

If stereotypical evil had a voice, she figured this had to be one of the top five results. Just hearing it speak sent shivers down her spine and curdled her gut.

“Uh, hi.”

What the hell, speaking up couldn’t hurt. She was dead, there was no way out, and she’d told Rhyolite to piss off. Nobody was coming to save her.

“It speaks.”

“I do.”

“Excellent. It will make this all the easier.”

Aimee didn’t like the thought of that. Not one bit. She needed to stall. To delay. “Are you a friend of Rhys?” she asked, hoping mentioning his name wouldn’t provoke the massive dragon.

“Who is this Rhys?”

“Uh, right. His name is Rhyolite.”

The white dragon paused for a moment. “No, I have never heard of him. Why would I have heard of some insignificant human?”

“Well, he’s not human,” she said brightly. “He’s a dragon. Like you.”

Yellow eyes blinked slowly as they regarded her. “You have met another dragon before? Yes, yes, that would explain why you do not run or cower in fear, though you should.”

Shit. That just about did it then. Whoever he was, this guy was not here to make friends.

“I’ve met two, actually. Sorry, you’re in unlucky third place on my dragon-meeting list.”

“Interesting. Who is the other?”

“Some dick named Obsidian. Real charmer, like you.”

Well now she’d gone and done it. Her mouth just didn’t know when to shut off sometimes, despite her brain screaming at it to just be quiet . For once.

“Obsidian.” The word came out full of old anger and hatred.

“Oh goody. You two know each other! Fantastic. But what do you want with me? An introduction? I don’t really know where he lives, I’m sorry.”

“No. I am here for a queen. A woman to stand by my side.”

“A queen. Oh wow. Do you have a kingdom then? Are you a king?”

“I will be. I shall start with this pathetic town, and then spread my reign across the rest of this wretched continent.”

Aimee shook her head. “Sorry, not interested. I’ve already had one dragon try to lay claim over me. I don’t need a rebound just yet.”

At just the mention of Rhyolite laying claim to her Aimee felt her skin burn. She hated the sensation. Every time she’d thought of him, her body always reacted this way. It was like his little lust-bomb never wore off! The longer she’d gone without seeing him, without being able to touch him, the worse it got, like he’d worked it into her to get stronger and stronger, so that she’d eventually cave and go back to him. So far only her anger at such a subtle, underhanded tactic was keeping her from giving in and doing just that.

Now though, she desperately wished he could be here to defend her. Her entire professional life she’d worked hard to ensure that she was trained and prepared, ready for any scenario, precisely so that she could be the one that was able to help others. But that was with other humans. Against themselves, or mother nature and the elements. A dragon?

No fucking thanks.

This was well and truly beyond anything she could hope to deal with. It was time to fight fire with fire, but she had no way of calling for his help.

“You will be mine.” The white dragon spoke loudly, the ice vibrating with his voice, spilling her to the floor as it shook unsteadily beneath her.

“Never!”

Behind her ice cracked, the yellow orbs flaring with anger as she shouted her defiance. If she was going to die, she may as well do so not being afraid, resisting until the end.

“YOU WILL BE MINE! I HAVE SPOKEN!”

The walls shattered as the dragon howled its proclamation at her. Aimee curled up into a ball.

“RHYS!” she screamed, wishing he was there.

He would never do this to her. No matter what he’d done, Rhys had always been a gentleman toward her. Except for that first meeting where he’d tried to eat her. But after that, he’d treated her with respect and dignity, always going above and beyond to do right by her. This was not something he would ever do.

Visions of his short brown hair and bright blue eyes played across her mind. His gentle warm touch and booming laugh. The way his nose wrinkled when he was deep in thought, and the sharp lines of his jaw that seemed soft to her touch. Memories of how he held the door for her, or his enthusiastic approval as she tried on outfit after outfit for him, somehow finding things in each one to compliment her about. Then there was the way he’d treated her in the bedroom. Like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, clothed or naked.

His attention to her had been exquisite, and that one night of fateful passion had left her with a thousand memories to relive upon lonely nights. Never once had he pushed her, instead he’d let her call the shots, even as he’d been in control physically.

“Oh Rhys,” she moaned.

She’d never been so wrong about a man before in her life. And now it was too late to do anything about it.

In front of her the white dragon came closer, lifting its front leg high, razor-sharp claws sparkling even in the overcast skies.

Rhyolite

He plunged from the sky at breakneck pace, personal safety be damned. The only thing that mattered was reaching Aimee in time.

There was no indication that the Ice Dragon was there with her, but the storm and the increasing frequency of the avalanches—a result of it moving through the mountains most likely—all screamed of impending disaster. That and his gut was telling him that she was in danger. Real, discernable danger. He needed to be there, to put himself between her and harm’s way.

He’d spied the helicopter trailing smoke as it fled back for civilization, but he’d known that she wasn’t aboard. Tracing their path, he flew onward to the one of the more northerly peaks of the range. That was when he’d heard the Ice Dragon roar, and Aimee scream in terror.

Now Rhyolite hurtled toward the white dragon, determined that it would feel pain, and fear. As he closed he opened his mouth and spat forth a lance of black stone nearly ten feet long. It combined with his already considerable speed and flew forward, impaling the Ice Dragon’s foot as it closed on Aimee, wrenching it to the side and pinning it to the ice.

“AIMEE. RUN!”

It was all he had time to shout before his wings burst open. The action slowed him just enough so the impact wouldn’t kill him as he slammed into the white dragon with a vengeance, his claws slicing through scales, spilling dark red blood across the ice, staining it nearly black.

He snarled triumphantly, pressing his attack home, trying to keep his foe off-balance. More blood splashed across the walls as he beat the Ice Dragon back, keeping distance between it and Aimee, whom he hoped had fled to the far end of the cavern.

“That is my mate,” he spat, punctuating that with a flurry of black spears that pierced one of the white membranous wings, preventing the enemy dragon from fleeing into the air. “You will pay for that.”

“Impetuous youth. Do you have any idea how badly you are outclassed?”

He felt uneasy at the calm retort. Summoning up his fire, he prepared to unleash it, ending the fight here and now. Ice Dragons were particularly susceptible to dragonfire, which is why they rarely left their icy mountain and glacier homes, where they held the advantage. Places like the crevice he was now fighting within.

Uh-oh.

Tendrils of ice snaked out from the wall, one wrapping itself around his snout, clamping it shut and extinguishing the fire he’d been building there. More vine-like ropes of ice clamped onto his legs and tail.

Thrashing about, he broke the hold on it, forced to fight the bobbing, weaving strands of ice instead of his real foe. But even as he swatted away an end, two more rose up in its place, like a hydra. They were slowly entombing him in their midst. Panicking, he reached down for the earth to call upon his own natural defense, but he felt only emptiness.

There was no earth beneath him, only solid ice!

“Fool,” came the whispered voice, threading its way through the ice and proclaiming victory in the single word.

Rhyolite fought harder and more ice shattered, but it continued to slither over him, squeezing harder and harder. He roared in pain and tried to melt it with fire, but it didn’t help. He was going to die in the ice, unable to save Aimee.

Just like he’d been unable to save his people so many centuries before. A wall of despair washed up and over him, covering him with bleak darkness as he struggled with the idea that maybe he just wasn’t meant to find love or happiness. That it was not his place to belong anywhere.

That he was a failure.

Closing his eyes, he sighed in defeat, letting the ice roll up and over him, smothering him with its cool embrace, the deep chill setting in, penetrating below his scales until it felt like he was burning it was so frigid. The sensation intensified, and he smiled to himself. This was it. The end.

The smell of burning scales reached his nose. Followed a moment later by another sensation. Pain. And lots of it.

“OW!” he bellowed, rearing up as the ice shattered around him, his rear end blackened and crisped where Obsidian’s fire had penetrated through to his body. “You burned my ass, you ass!”

“Get up and fight already!” the bronze dragon snapped as it launched itself at the Ice Dragon.

But Rhyolite had a better idea. “Keep him busy!” he shouted.

“What? No! Get over here and fight with me!” Obsidian hollered as he sent another blast of fire at their icy foe.

But Rhyolite was too busy breathing fire to talk, letting it flow out of him as he slowly melted the unnaturally cold ice. His eyes fixed down the crevice where he saw Aimee crouched in the farthest corner.

He grinned, not an easy feat as he slowly sank into the ice, the water bubbling and flashing into steam from the heat. Ignoring it he went down, and down, and down.

“RHYOLITE! YOU COWARD, GET BACK HERE!” Obsidian roared, his words ending in a shout of pain.

I’ll be right there. I just need to find—

Then his claws touched it. Cool. Hard. And pure rock.

Aimee

She stared aghast as Rhyolite ran from the fight by disappearing into the ice. What could he be thinking? Obsidian had come to his rescue, only to be abandoned. Although the bronze dragon was larger, and likely older than Rhyolite from what she’d picked up, he was still no match for the Ice Dragon.

He was faring better, but even as he watched he was slowly pushed back, his initial surprise wearing off as the white dragon fought with a strength she found astonishing.

A spike of ice burst from one wall, piercing Obsidian’s side at an upward angle and emerging from his back. The bronze dragon howled in agony, bits and pieces of ice shaking loose to cover her in a deluge at the noise.

“Fools,” the white dragon hissed. “Did you really think you could challenge me? I am Glacius! I ruled the mountains for centuries before you came along. Now I will rule again!”

Aimee tried to melt into the ice, hiding from the evil emanating from the snow-colored dragon as it crashed over her in waves, making her sick to her stomach. She was going to either die, or be forced to stand at the side of this…thing, and the idea of that made her want to wail in despair.

Where was Rhyolite? Why had he left her when she needed him the most? He hadn’t fled…he couldn’t have. She didn’t think it was in his nature, but he was gone, the only thing left of him a gaping hole in the ice.

“Submit to me!” The yellow eyes flashed with madness as Obsidian was slammed to the ground under the weight of the ice, only his head and the tip of his tail visible.

She heard Obsidian utter something, though she couldn’t make out the words. Whatever it was caused the white dragon to fly into a frenzy, lashing out at the bronzed head until it was battered and bleeding.

“You will kneel before me!”

Aimee felt tears sting her cheeks as she witnessed the proud death of the bronze dragon. He deserved a witness, and she was going to be it.

From the hole where Rhyolite had disappeared a deep voice rose up, filling the crevice with its power.

“I kneel for no one but my mate!” it roared, and suddenly the ice shattered as black stone the color of purest midnight erupted out of the hole, carrying with it a silvery-platinum dragon.

She gasped as the rock sprouted horns that plunged deep into the ice surrounding Obsidian, shattering it.

“NO!” the white dragon shouted in horror, flinging everything it had at Rhyolite.

Aimee screamed in terror, but the rock shivered and a wall of it appeared in front of Rhyolite. The ice burst apart upon impact.

Closer to the white dragon Obsidian lunged up, adding his strength as he reached into the rock that had finally made its way to him, drawing upon the power of the earth as well.

Together the two dragons fought back, and she watched with growing exultation as the Ice Dragon tried to flee, only to find the ice around it growing black as it was infected with the stone from the Earthen Dragons.

“Yes!” she cried, pumping a fist as a tidal wave of liquid rock rolled out and over the Ice Dragon, encapsulating it in a globe of hardened rock that grew tighter, stretching over the form of the dragon until it looked like no more than a statue.

With a sigh the two dragons slumped over and the rock hardened into something so smooth she doubted there were any imperfections on its glossy surface. It seemed such a thin layer of rock, she was surprised it could hold a beast as powerful as the white dragon had seemed.

Rhyolite turned to look at her, and she smiled at him, offering up a weak wave.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice rumbling along the crevice until it reached her.

“I’m fine. Cuts, bruises, nothing major,” she reassured him. “How are you?”

The dragon was suddenly replaced by the man. He was on one knee, and she could see him breathing hard. The fight hadn’t lasted long, but it had clearly taken a lot out of Rhys. She climbed out of her little hiding place and started to walk toward him.

They needed to talk. There was so much she needed to tell him, including a rather profound apology for her kneejerk reaction to the revelation of his powers. Her cheeks stung as the myriad cuts on them reacted to her embarrassment. She’d never given him a chance to explain himself, instead chopping him off. It was easier to end things than hear the long drawn-out explanation that had been the hallmark of every man she’d ever dated.

Except Rhys wasn’t a man. He was a dragon, and she was learning they did things differently. If only he could give her a second chance, an opportunity to say she was sorry, and to start fresh. Aimee could prove she wasn’t cold to the core, that she was worth loving.

“Rhys,” she started to say as she approached, but he looked up sharply into the sky, then over at Obsidian.

“Yeah, I hear it too. We need to go.”

“What’s going on?” she asked, her earlier words forgotten at the concern in his eyes.

“Your friends are returning. They will be here soon. We need to go. They cannot see this.”

She nodded, understanding. “I understand.”

He cocked his head at her, then cupped both hands together, one over the other in front of him and closed his brilliant blue eyes. Aimee watched a glow emanate from between his fingers for a moment before it subsided. Then he offered her the contents.

“What is this?” she asked, picking up the stone. It was black, cool to the touch. Turning it over she saw it was imbued with a platinum dragon’s scale worked into the surface of it.

“When you’re ready to talk. If you’re ready to talk, simply grasp it tight, think of me, and say my name in your head. Now, move back to the end of the crevice there,” he said, pointing to where she’d stayed hidden.

Aimee did as she was told, trying to work up the courage to tell him not to go, but it was too late. He turned and as quickly as it had come, the rock started to settle back into the ice. The entire place shook as the ice cracked and caved in, filling the gaping whole in the floor and everything.

In less than thirty seconds it was devoid of any indication that the three behemoths had fought there, except for the spray of blood at the center. She was going up though, and nobody would see it.

Silence settled over her, and she waited as the sound of blades chopping through the air finally reached her own ears.

“Flow, this is Angel, do you read? Flow, this is Angel, do you read?” Brian’s voice came over her headset seconds later, music to her ears.

“This is Flow. Lighting the flare. I’m at the, I think, southern end. Get that line down here ASAP.”

She slammed the butt of the flare against the ice and held it up high, the brilliant red casting an eerie glow over the crevice.

The line appeared nearby and she jogged over to it, eager to put the experience behind her. As the harness snugged tight under her weight she felt something jabbing her in the side. Feeling the bulge with her fingers, she realized it was the stone Rhys had given her.

She licked her dry lips. The means to contact him was there in her right pocket. She could use it any time she wished. All that remained to be seen now was whether she would.

Aimee

Two days later she finally returned home. The weather had kept the team busy, even though the avalanches had come to a stop, much to everyone’s relief. It was prime ski season however, and accidents still happened. She was exhausted, and very much ready for her own bed after the uncomfortable cots at the hangar base. Fighting with the key to get it into the lock forced anger to bubble up, the frustration of something so small exasperated by her exhaustion.

Aimee finally got the door open, throwing it wide as she marched inside. What she saw beyond stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Holy. Shit.”

Her kitchen table was bowing underneath the weight of all the objects piled upon it. Stacks of gold bars were mixed with chalices, coins, and statuettes, all glittered the same dusty yellow that spoke of money. Gemstones sparkled and danced as they reflected the overhead light, rubies and diamonds, sapphires, and more. It was a fortune. More than a fortune, it was a treasure.

And it could only have come from one place. Her dragon mate.

The abrupt return of her team had forced them to part without saying any of the desperate words that were necessary between them. For perhaps the first time since she’d taken up the job, Aimee hated that she was stuck at the hangar, unable to go home. Her pocket practically burned from the stone he’d given her, a temptation that she was unwilling to give in to, mainly because she didn’t know how it would work. Trying out some sort of dragon magic for the first time while trying to keep it hidden from her teammates was just not a good idea.

But now…now she could do just that.

Stabbing a hand into her pocket, she closed the door. Fingers closed around the cool black stone, and she closed her eyes.

Rhys?

There was no response.

RHYS!

Ow. What the hell? Give a guy a second to respond before you start yelling, okay?

Have I told you yet that I’m impatient?

Well I was busy in a real conversation.

With whom?

Obsidian. Don’t give me that tone.

Wait, you can pick up tone through this? And what tone?

Yes, so I was able to pick up your tone where you’re shocked that I have someone to talk with.

She grinned.

That depends on whether you’re talking to him, or yelling at him as you try to beat him up.

There was a longer pause this time.

I’m going to ignore that.

No, you’re going to ignore him, and get yourself over to my apartment and explain the mess you left here.

Mess? Shouldn’t you be saying thank you, or at least not being rude about it?

She did her best to send the mental equivalent of a snort through the link, surprised at how easy it was to communicate with him. She’d expected it to be much harder.

I seem to recall you forcing a terrified woman to clean up and stack your piles of gold for you, even the ones you destroyed while angry.

How long am I going to be paying for that? He sounded grumpy.

Depends how fast you can get over here so we can talk.

The “line” cut off abruptly. Aimee wasn’t sure how she knew that’s what had happened, but she did. It just ended, as if he’d hung up the phone.

“That better mean you’re moving too fast to talk,” she warned to the now dull stone.

She doffed her bag and coat, letting it fall to the floor as she tried to estimate how much money was on the table and failed miserably. It was beyond measure.

Her door thundered under a knock. She jumped and spun, scared someone was trying to break in.

“Who is it?” she called, picking up a few bars from the table and preparing to use them as weapons.

“Me.”

She dropped the gold and ran to open the door. Standing there in the dim hallway was a familiar pair of blue eyes and a jawline she’d recognize anywhere with its determined set.

“My, you are a sight for sore eyes,” she said softly before launching herself at him.

His hands snatched her from midair. Warm soft lips locked over hers, sparking a melting effect through the rest of her body as she turned to a puddle of goo in his hands, finally understanding what the term swooning truly meant.

Eventually he set her down.

“So is this a booty call or something more?” he asked.

She punched him, not worried about doing any damage. “Where did you learn that term?”

“Obsidian.”

“That man is a bad influence,” she admonished. “But no, you’re here for something else.”

And quite possibly that, if things go the way I hope.

“I see.”

She grinned and walked back into her apartment, no longer bothering to try and contain how he made her feel, or how giddy simply being in his presence had her. That was what love was about, wasn’t it? Letting all the barriers fall away, opening yourself up to someone else fully, completely, without reservation? It wasn’t easy, and in fact was probably the most terrifying thing she could do, throwing gold bars at a fire-breathing dragon aside. But for him, she was going to do it.

“How did you get here so fast?” she asked. “I figured you would be out at your cave.”

“I was. I came under the city.”

“You came…what?” She took a particularly gemstone-heavy gold ring and tossed it up into the air, the meaty weight of it slapping it back into her palm.

“I can move through the earth, remember?”

“Yes. I recall seeing a little example or two of that.”

“Well, I moved under the city. Fast. Came up in the backyard of the building.” He looked away. “And I may have run up the stairs, one step per landing.”

“Just trying to get here as fast as you can, hmm?”

Rhys turned to face her. “I’m not embarrassed to admit that the thing I wanted most was to see my mate, to talk to her again. To have you call me and say you needed me was…well, I’m not sure I can describe the feeling.” He chuckled. “I’m sure Obsidian is just sitting in my cave still wondering what happened. I just sort of melted into the ground mid-sentence.”

She shared in his laughter, but sobered quickly. “Look, Rhys, I…” She fell silent as one long, lean finger rested against her lips.

“You don’t need to say anything,” he assured her. “I understand.”

“No.” She moved his finger aside but held onto it, enjoying the strength she absorbed from it. “I do need to say something. I need to tell you that I’m sorry.”

He looked uneasy. “Aimee, it’s okay. We all do rash things sometimes.”

“I know. But I am sorry for it, Rhys. I screwed up with you, and treated you horrifically unfairly. I promise I won’t do that again.”

Her dragon shrugged it off. “Your entire life changed. Your world, even, everything you thought you knew as truth. It only made sense that you would react that way, when something finally fell into place the way you thought it should. We dragons have been given a bad reputation in your history, perhaps rightfully so,” he admitted. “So you maintained some skepticism about me, which was only natural. When something came along that allowed your brain to fit me into the framework you thought I should fit as a dragon, you accepted that, because it felt more true, more in line with everything you had known.”

She stared at him. “I think that’s more than I’ve ever heard you say at one time before.”

Rhys grimaced. “I prefer to let you do the talking.”

“Well, you’d better get used to that then. Because if you’ll have me, I’d like to stick around on this crazy ride.”

“You would stay with me?”

She met his eyes, unflinching. “I would.”

The tension that melted off of Rhys as she spoke was palpable. His shoulders straightened and he stood a little taller, even as the smile on his face stretched his cheeks beyond what could have been comfortable.

“I owe you an apology as well,” he said, switching the subject back abruptly. “I should have told you earlier, made you aware of what I can do. That way you could have made an informed decision before we slept together.”

Aimee nodded. “Yes, you should have. I also freaked out, because I’ve never gone to bed with someone I’ve been interested in so quickly. I usually prefer the slower, longer burn first, to ensure I’m not making a mistake. With you I just couldn’t resist.” She felt her cheeks pinken at admitting that. “So when I found out what you could do, I just naturally assumed it was you making me want it, not something within me. Which, I’ve learned since, was totally wrong.”

They embraced, and she rested her head on his thick chest, hands feeling down his rigid back and then sliding over his taut ass.

“But I was wondering something,” she whispered, bouncing up on her toes so that she could catch his earlobe with her mouth, giving it a gentle bite and suck.

“What’s that?”

“Can you use it on me? I’m kind of curious.”

He pulled back. “Are you certain?”

“Rhys, if you didn’t think we weren’t heading to the bedroom after this conversation, then you’re not nearly as smart as I figured you for.”

“Well okay, but one warning.”

“What’s that?” she asked as his long arms pulled her back in close.

“We might not make it to the bedroom.”

Rhys

He groaned as something started buzzing.

“I shall burn this castle down if you don’t shut off that infernal racket at once,” he muttered.

“Hey, listen here, fire-breath, and in the mornings don’t take that as a compliment,” she added as he started to smile. “I need to go to work.”

Aimee started to slide out of bed, but his fingers hooked around her waist and pulled her swiftly back down on top of him.

“I don’t have time for this,” she protested, trying to wiggle out of his grip.

“You don’t need to work,” he announced. “I have enough wealth for all of us. We can do whatever we want.”

Her face closed down immediately, in a way that he’d learned to recognize as meaning he’d screwed up.

“Uh, was it something I said?”

“You know I don’t go to work because of the money. It was never about the money. I would have gone elsewhere to do something else if I wanted money. I work because I want to help people, Rhys. Because I’m good at my job. Damn good, and when someone’s life is on the line, I don’t want someone less skilled to be the one going into danger. Someone could die from that. There’s no way I could live with that on my hands.”

He sank back into the bed before using an elbow to prop up a hand and resting his head on it. “You are one remarkable human being, Aimee Florette,” he said, letting go of her with his other hand.”

“And you are one lazy dragon who wants nothing more than sex,” she told him, leaning in to kiss his forehead even as she pushed her other hand under the covers.

He flinched in surprise, then glared. “Now that’s just mean.” In response he let his powers of lust flare up.

Aimee’s pupils dilated instantly, her mouth dropped open a little wider and she began to breathe heavier. Her nakedness was evident, and he saw her nipples harden into points.

“Stop that!” she said with a visible amount of effort, pulling her hand away from his hardness.

He let it go, but not without a very unashamed grin directed her way.

“Seriously though, you need to go do something,” she told him. “You do nothing but lounge around my apartment all day.”

“Not true. I just do that while you’re here. When you’re at work, I actually leave the premises, as shocking as that may be.”

“It’s very.”

He rolled his eyes, making a “ha-ha” face at her.

“Well, what do you do while you’re gone?”

Rhys finally had the opening he wanted. Two weeks he’d lived with her in this squalor as they confirmed that this was what the both of them wanted, and needed. Everything lined up perfectly. She had little faults, but he was already coming to love them, and she’d told him the same about his idiosyncrasies. Everything just…fit.

But he wasn’t lying; he’d been busy while she was gone.

“Preparing us.”

“For…?” Aimee was instantly on guard and suspicious.

He reached down to his side of the bed, into his backpack. He’d begun to carry it a week or so before, using it to hide everything he’d had to carry. Aimee hadn’t really cared, not realizing how abnormal it was for a dragon to have one. “The move.” He pulled out a tablet and flipped the cover up to bring it awake.

“I’m sorry, the what?”

He snorted, not bothering to hold it in. “Like I was going to let you live like this with me forever. Here, take a look.” He opened the page the designer had given him, so that she could scroll through everything.

“Rhys,” she breathed as picture after picture scrolled past. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely. My mate is not going to live in this tiny thing. Absolutely not.”

“But that…that’s a…a…”

“Castle?” he supplied.

“Yes! A castle. It’s frigging huge! It has a moat, for goodness’ sake!”

“It’s a river that’s being partially diverted to flow around our property,” he corrected her, knowing it was really the same thing.

He was old-school. He liked his moats.

“Is it just the two of us?” she asked. “We don’t have enough stuff for that.”

Rhys reached out and took her hand. “Which is why we’re going on the shopping spree to end all shopping sprees,” he informed her with complete seriousness.

“Oh wow. Okay!” She’d finally reached the page that detailed the walk-in closet. “Come to mama,” she whispered, awed.

He grinned even wider, the look of happiness on his mate’s face worth every ounce of gold the palatial grounds and building was costing him. There was nothing in this world he wouldn’t give to her, and now he had a place that he could feel safe leaving her in.

If Aimee was determined to work, he knew that she would be going into dangerous situations, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. It irked him not to be able to protect her, but he was aware that she was the type that needed to be trusted, and so he gave her that.

But when she was at home, that was his domain, and he was going to make her as safe as possible.

“But I’m still going in to work today,” she announced. “But after my shift, we’re going to go take a look at this. I’m assuming it’s not done?”

“No. They just broke ground last week. It’s going to be some months yet, my love. Especially now, with it being winter, there isn’t much they can do. I, ah, cheated, and warmed the ground so they could dig, but still.”

She slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “That’s okay. The sooner we can get in, the sooner we can leave here!’

He nodded, and they kissed.

Three days. Three painfully, excruciatingly long days until he could have his mate by his side again.

Rhyolite

He picked her up from the hangar.

“What the hell is this?” she asked, walking toward him, admiring the sleek lines of the luxury sedan.

“A luxury sedan,” he announced, stating the obvious just to irk her.

“Yes, but how did you get it here?”

“I drove?”

“Another one of your skills you’re learning while I’m at work?” she asked.

He noted the nervous hesitation as she slid into the passenger side. “Yes. Though it’s okay, I didn’t just start this two days ago. I’ve been working on it for a while now.”

“I see. Well, good thing it’s high-end. Hopefully it won’t break down like half the junk I have to work with.”

Rhys’s sense of safety flared as he pulled away from her work, heading up into the hills near his mountain to the property he’d bought for them.

“You work with bad equipment?”

She nodded. “Yeah, we’re government-funded, and not at the top of the priority list either.”

All of a sudden something clicked in his head.

“I’ve got it!”

“What? Got what?” She reached out to steady herself.

“I’m not that bad of a driver,” he said, his lips compressing into a flat line.

“Sorry, just startled me.”

He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road. Though he was driving, he was still rather nervous about impressing her while doing so. Focusing was the key. But the idea that had been niggling at the back of his head had finally blossomed into something he could latch on to.

“So, what is it?”

“I know what I’m going to do.”

“Huh?”

“In Drake’s Crossing. You’ve been telling me to get a job, to find a hobby, something, right?”

“Oh heavens, yes please! For a dragon you go stir-crazy so easily.”

“I’m going to fund a rescue company. Like yours, but with the best equipment.”

She stared at him. He could see the look of horror in the corner of her eyes.

“What? What’s so wrong with that idea?”

“It’s a horrible waste of money! You’ll go bankrupt in no time.”

He laughed. “I doubt that. Besides, you’re going to help me find a way to make money from it.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. How would you do it?”

She frowned, lost in thought now that he’d dumped a challenge in her lap.

“What about classes?”

He shook his head, indicating he didn’t understand.

“Like, safety classes. We can teach them for skiers and such. First aid, mountain awareness. It might not be much, but it could be enough. At least to help offset some of the losses.”

Rhys laughed again. “Aimee, if I need to, I control the earth, remember? I can bring more gold to the surface any time we need it.” He wrinkled his nose in disdain. “It’s cheating, I prefer to acquire it other ways, but I’ve got more than I know what to do with. I’m not sure you realize just how much I had stored away.”

“I did the math one day,” she admitted. “You’ll be set for a long, long time.”

“So you’ll help me do it?”

“Only if you hire my entire team and keep it intact,” she negotiated. “I’m not quitting.”

“Okay. But we’re done with this three days on-off,” he stated. “I’ll hire more people so you can work regular shifts.”

“Done.”

He grinned. Rhys’s Rescue and Air Transport was born, and now he had his first employees.

A big thank you was owed to Obsidian, for introducing him to the term “entrepreneur.” He couldn’t wait to get started!

Aimee

“I love you.”

She rolled over, putting her phone down and gazed into the eyes of a wonderful man, partner, and lover. And dragon, of course.

“I love you, too.”

Fingers pushed the unruly strands of golden-blonde hair from her face with a tender gentleness someone of his size shouldn’t possess. Even now, two months into their relationship, she still marveled at the way he could become a pillar of steel in public before turning into a fluffy puppy dog when they were alone.

She would never tell him this, but Aimee absolutely loved both sides of her fire-breathing man. Never had she felt so safe and secure, feminine, and yet completely and thoroughly trusted to do whatever she felt like. Rhys struck the perfect balance between protector, guardian, lover, and partner in crime. All the years of loneliness and heartbreak had been worth it to wait for him.

“Do you want children?”

She gaped at him. Where had that come from? Sure, the idea of kids appealed to her, but she was already thirty-three going on thirty-four. Her career didn’t show any signs of slowing down. In fact, now that Rhys’s Rescue and Air Transport had supplanted the federal government as the official provider of services to the Drake’s Crossing area, she’d been busier than ever. Bringing a kid into this was…not feasible.

“The idea is appealing,” she admitted. “But I like where I’m at, Rhys. And I fear that by the time I get to the point where a child, or children, is feasible, that I’ll be too old. We humans age a lot faster than you. I can’t afford to wait decades.” She felt a tear glisten in her eye and looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“My love,” he whispered, wiping away her tear. “Never apologize.”

She looked up at him, wondering how she’d gotten so lucky to find someone who cared for her so much he’d give up something that obviously mattered to him so much, just for the chance to be with her.

“Besides,” he said, the tone of his voice narrowing her eyes.

“You have something up your sleeve.”

“Maybe.”

Loquacious as ever, she rolled her eyes and pushed him. The result was she moved two inches back across the bed. It was like trying to move a steel wall. Impossible. Her hands squeezed around his biceps though, enjoying the bulge and curve of his muscles.

“Spit it out then, silly dragon man.”

“Have you not wondered yet about what would happen as we got older?”

“Um, truthfully?”

He nodded.

“No. I kinda forgot,” she said, embarrassed. “But now that you mention it, yeah. I’m not sure I can handle becoming old and feeble while you’re still…well, this. There’s no way you’ll stay with me once these hang down to the top of my ribcage.” She pointed at her small breasts. The two of them laughed, despite the accuracy of her comment. There wasn’t much there to sag.

“Well,” he swallowed nervously.

Aimee sat up abruptly at that. Whatever it was, this was a big deal to him. She thought about encouraging him to speak, but this time she held back. Slow, gentle. A caress, not punch, was what was necessary now. Rarely had she ever seen her mate like this.

“Have you ever thought of getting a tattoo?”

The bubble burst. “What the fuck? I thought you were going to suggest something big here.”

He looked away. “I mean, it is kinda big, I just figured that maybe a tattoo would be preferable to embedding it in your skin, ‘cause that might be weird, and I just wanted to try and appeal to you so that you would want to.” He paused to take a breath. “Because I don’t want to lose you, and this just seemed the easiest way that I could come up with, but if you don’t like it we don’t need to—”

Aimee pressed her hand to his mouth, stopping the word-vomit. “Okay, whatever this is, it’s clearly got you nervous beyond all reasonable amount. I was going to go slow with you, but it seems you need my feminine touch.”

Rhys exploded with laughter. “I’m sorry, your what ?!” he howled, shaking so hard she thought he was going to break the bed.

SMACK!

“Ow!” he yelped as her hand connected solidly with his tight ass, leaving a beautiful five-finger mark.

She forced herself not to wince in pain, trying to act like it hadn’t hurt her at all, but damn that had been excellent contact.

“See what I mean!” he complained, still laughing.

Aimee raised her hand again, but he put both up as a shield. “I give, I give!” he chuckled as she tackled him.

“Out with it, mister. What is the big deal and why a tattoo?”

He sobered instantly. “Do you still have the stone I gave you?”

She frowned. “Yes. It’s in my nightstand.” After a gesture she got it.

Rhys took it in his hand, and as she watched it wavered, altered, and then dissolved into an image of a dragon a little larger than both her hands put together, the shape outlined in black lines mixed with bits of silvery-platinum from the scale he’d worked into it.

“Wow,” she breathed. “It’s beautiful.”

He smiled, looking embarrassed. “I’ve put some of me into this,” he told her. The image shrunk a little, some of the black working itself into an intricately linked necklace. “If you wear this around your neck, it will do a lot for you.”

“Like what?” she asked, holding the pendant necklace in her hand. It was now closer to the size of her palm. Hard, yet flexible enough that it wouldn’t feel awkward on her.

“Slow aging. Cure and prevent disease, for starters. You’ll probably notice a slight increase to your strength and reflexes, but not enough to mark you as different.”

“Seriously? It can do all that?”

“Yes.” He hesitated before pushing on. “And if you embed it into your skin, it will tie you to me completely, bonding us as one.”

“Meaning I’ll turn into a dragon?” Aimee wasn’t sure about that one.

“No,” he said with a grin. “But it will keep you alive as long as I am.”

She gasped. “Really?”

“Yes. We could see the future of this world for ages to come, side by side.” He shrugged. “If you want that.”

Aimee had never been so sure of anything in her life. Rolling onto her back, she pulled the covers down to expose the skin there. “Will here work?”

“Yes,” he said, laying the cool-feeling stone onto her skin.

“How do we do this?”

He grimaced. “Uh, I cut you open and press it into your skin. It’s not a pleasant experience, but you will heal quickly, thanks to its benefits.”

It was her turn to hesitate. “You can’t just press it into me?”

“No, I’m sorry. Once it bonds to you I lose the ability to shape it further. So I have to press it into an open cut. Sort of like a tattoo.”

Shit. “This is going to hurt, isn’t it?”

“It might sting a bit.”

“Damn, it’s really going to suck. But you say I’ll be able to spend eternity with you?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s get started, my mate. My love. I don’t want to waste another second being any farther apart from you than I need to be.”

She lay flat and prepared for the first moments of the rest of her life.

********

********

This concludes Ember, Dragons of Drake’s Crossing Book 2.

I hope you enjoyed the adventure. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts on the book, anywhere from characters, to plot, to even the formatting of the book itself. I appreciate all feedback, whether it be reviews, on Facebook or via my website!

If you wish to read some more about Aimee and Rhys, sign up for my newsletter to receive a FREE bonus scene. Otherwise, read on for a list of all my other works to check out!

Aimee

(Already on my list? Check your email from me for the link!)

Hey!

Thanks for digging in to my back matter for more books to read. I’ve written a number of series now, in two main worlds. Both worlds have an easy and convenient to read introductory bundle with a number of stories in it that will drag you right into the world.

Cadia

This is the world where the story you just read is set. Not sure where to start? Try reading:

This 6 book bundle is just $0.99c or FREE with Kindle Unlimited. From there, just follow the links in the back!

Genesis Valley

This is the other world I have written extensively in. There are a number of books in the series, and the order can jump around a bit. The best way to start is here:

This 7 book collection is also just $0.99c and FREE with Kindle unlimited. Once you reach the end, it will link you to the next series.

Already read both box sets and want more? Flip the page for the complete rundown of all my series and the recommended reading order.

Thanks!

-Amelia Jade

The world of: Cadia

Here are the main series in the world of Cadia. Find them below!

Start with:

Dragons of Cadia: The Complete Dragon Shifter Series.

(Link)

Includes:

Next:

Base Camp Bears

Then:

The Koche Brothers

Then:

Standalones (In Chronological Order)

The World of: Genesis Valley

This world follows the events in Genesis Valley, where misfit shifters of the world are sent. It is a brutal, vicious place where everyone’s chances have already been used up. This is it. Screw up, and they end you. But amongst the harsh life these bear shifters have eked out for themselves, everything burns brighter. Especially love.

The books in the first two series jump around some if you wish to follow the exact chronological timeline. See the numbers in bold to follow the order.

Start With:

Jade Crew

Includes:

[1]

[2]

[3]

[5]

[6]

[8]

[9]

Next:

Stone Bears

[4]

[7]

[10]

Then:

Genesis Valley

Finally:

The Agency

Amelia Jade

Amelia Jade loves to write the stories of tall, growly shifter men and the women who come to love them. Living out in the backcountry near the mountains, she keeps her own alpha male close by to keep the bears away and keep her warm. In her downtime (which is rare), she loves to read science-fiction with a dash of fantasy. You can often find her curled up in front of the real wood-burning fireplace, her nose firmly buried in a book or her favorite e-reader. The cold can’t bother her there!

For more information about Amelia Jade and her work, visit her website or find her on Facebook.

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