Bay roared out in the hallway.

“We’re out of time,” Tide growled. His eyes were a bright, glowing blue.

There was an answering snarl. Definitely not Bay and whoever it was sounded pissed. Then came the sound of bashing and thuds that were clearly flesh against flesh. There was a full on fight going on out there. Another loud bang and a picture fell off the wall, landing with a crash. Tide was pulling her outside.

“Bay. What about Bay? He’s going to—”

"Bay can take care of himself," Tide replied as they made it outside, then he was changing. He howled, the sound so agonized it had goosebumps rising on her arms. It took a long time for him to turn. Half a minute. His dragon form finally took shape and stayed.

Tide, the dragon, shook his great head, like he was trying to regain his senses. His giant body shook. And then he reared up, his tail thrashing, and took to the sky, his great wings displacing the air so that her hair whipped about her face. He reached down with his taloned claws and picked her up.

Her stomach gave a lurch as he ascended, rising at an alarming rate. Then they were off, moving so quickly. The air rushed past her face. Her hair stung her cheeks and tears formed in her eyes, which she could not open. The wind was too strong.

Tide roared and slowed. Her stomach gave another lurch. Meghan moaned, she opened one eye and then the other. Oh no! Another dragon advanced, chest a bright silver. Tide roared again, louder this time, the sound-induced fear even though it wasn't directed at her.

The other dragon also roared. It kept coming at them, both claws facing forwards, aimed at Tide. They looked sharp and lethal. Its big slitted eyes seemed to focus on her.

Flip! There was no way Tide could fight this dragon ‒ even though it looked to be smaller than he was. He had to keep holding her, which meant that she was a handicap to him. He was essentially fighting with half his weapons in use. What if he crushed her while fighting the other dragon?

No, she couldn’t think like that. She needed to keep quiet so that he could concentrate and stay still and out of his way. She also needed to trust that he could save her and look after himself in the process.

Tide roared again as they crashed together. Meghan's body jerked in his hold as Tide's body suddenly came to a halt, mid-flight. She heard jaws gnashing. One of the dragons screeched. The other dragon clawed Tide, it's enormous claws slashing into his chest. Tide bit into its shoulder. Then they ripped apart, the other dragon falling. Tide flapped his wings and they began to fly away. Not even ten seconds later, Tide whipped around. The other dragon was coming for them. What scared her the most was the sight of five more dragons taking flight from the main balcony. It looked like they were headed their way. She was shocked to find how far away they were. Tide had made good time in those first few minutes after leaving the lair.

Tide screeched so loud it hurt her ears, he swung around cutting off her view of the lair with his body. The other dragon was on them again. This time Tide let go of her. He let go. His big claws opened. She tried to hold on but his body jolted as the other dragon collided with him and she was ripped away, her fingers clutching air as she began to fall.

Free-falling. Down. Down. Down. Blood rushed in her ears. Meghan screamed, looking up, reaching up. The dragons fought and she fell. Did Tide even know that he had let her go? She looked down, and already the ground rushed up to meet her.

When she looked back up, Tide seemed to be in a free-fall as well. So was the other dragon, one of its wings ripped clean off. Blood, there was so much blood. She looked back down, realizing that he wasn’t going to make it to her in time. Her heart raced. Her lungs hurt. It was hard to breathe. His talons closed around her middle but they continued to fall, although slower and slower. Then they lurched up, just as they were about to hit the treetops. The force of the jolt brought her heart into her throat. It had her lungs expelling every molecule of oxygen and her blood rushing to her head. Everything went black.

* * *

She could feel her eyelids flutter as she tried to wake up. Meghan felt warm and safe and … She opened her eyes with a start, sucking in a breath.

“It’s okay.” Tide leaned over her, smoothing the hair from her face. “No-one will find us here.”

“There were a whole lot of dragons after us. I counted five just before I passed out—”

“I’m sorry about that, it was the G-forces. I had to react or you would’ve hit the tops of those trees. And yes, we were just in time.” He continued to touch her hair. “Too close for comfort and there were fourteen after us by the time you passed out.”

She gasped. “I can’t believe we managed … you managed to get away from them.”

Tide frowned. “Have a little faith in me, Doc. I’m strong and fast. I’m gold.” He touched a hand to his chest. “A royal … much stronger than all. Okay, all but one.”

“One?”

“My brother, the king. He is the only male in the Water kingdom who is stronger than I am.” He said it in such a matter of fact way. For once, there was no arrogance or over-confidence, just pure fact.

“Okay. Well, I’m glad. That other dragon, the one you hurt.” She pulled herself more into a sitting position. “Is he going to be okay or …?”

“You shouldn’t care, he was after you. Might have hurt you. Not willingly of course.”

"Exactly. I do care. He fell from a serious height and lost a great deal of blood." She shook her head. Healing from burn wounds like Tide had was one thing. Falling from that height and surviving was another thing altogether.

“River will be fine. He’ll hurt for a day or two, but he’ll be just fine. Even his wing will grow back.”

“Oh, good.” She scanned their surroundings. “A cave.” Her voice was filled with shock. It was exactly as one would expect a cave to be. A narrow entrance comparative to the main body. The light that spilled in was weak. High ceiling covered in stalactites ‒ or was it stalagmites? She could never remember which was which.

There were numerous candles lit around the room and a fire in the hearth. It looked like the fire had been burning for some time, judging from the burned out logs and ash. It was topped with fresh logs and was blazing. There was only one item of furniture, the bed they were on. “How long have we been here?”

“We arrived about an hour ago. The sun is setting, it’ll be dark soon. I decided to let you sleep. How are you feeling?”

Meghan stretched out. “A little stiff and a bit sore …”

“Where are you sore?” He frowned, running his hands down her arms like he had earlier.

She felt her cheeks heat. “I’m fine. It’s not what you think.”

His frown only deepened. “Did I hurt you when I caught you as you fell, or was it …” He put his hand on her side, pushing lightly.

“It hurts a bit down there, from earlier.” Her cheeks were on fire.

“Where there?” He continued to stroke her body, checking for injury.

“Between my legs,” she ground out. “I guess I’m not used to so much sex.”

“Oh.” His eyes darkened up and his frown stayed exactly where it was. His nostrils flared.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Your scent is growing stronger. I might need to leave or …” He stood up, taking a few strides away from her. She got an eyeful as he got off the bed. Flip! His man part stood to attention. Thick and long. She wasn’t sure it was possible but it looked bigger than it had earlier. His sacs were pulled tight on his body. Like he was about to come.

“Is it that bad?” She unbuttoned the leather jacket she was drowning in and took it off, placing it on the bed next to her.

He turned, swallowing hard. His Adam’s apple bobbed. Tide nodded, his face taut. “You have no idea what your scent is doing to me.”

“I think I can tell.” She made a point of looking at his cock.

"Don't look at me like that," his voice was deep, "I'm barely in control." His neck muscles roped.

“Come here.” She patted the bed next to her.

“You just told me that you’re sore. We can’t …”

It warmed her that he thought of her right now, even though he seemed to be suffering. “I can’t … but you on the other hand.” She gave the bed another pat, ending on a rub.

“Really?” His eyes brightened. “You would take me into your mouth?”

“Yes, I would.” She licked her lips and bobbed her eyebrows.

Tide smiled. It was a smile filled with tension. He walked back to her and put a knee on the bed. The firelight flickered on his skin, against his tattoo. He was the most beautiful man she had ever laid eyes on. “Do you want me to stand or to lie down?”

Meghan scooted to the end of the bed, she opened her legs and curled a finger, telling him to come to her.

He did as she asked. “You sure you’re …” Tide hissed when she gripped his cock in her hand. God, but he was big.

“I’m very sure.” She leaned, having to reach up. Meghan sucked on his tip.

Tide groaned.

Meghan swirled her tongue around his rim and took him back into her mouth. Tide threaded his fingers through her hair and groaned again, deeper this time. "So good!"

She looked up while she sucked on him. His head had fallen back and his eyes were closed. His lashes fanned his cheeks. They were long. Too long for a man, and yet he was the epitome of masculinity.

Meghan closed her hand around his sacs and Tide jerked his hips forward, easing his hold on her head. She wrapped her other hand around the base of his cock, fisting him while she sucked and licked.

Tide swore. “I love the hell out of your mouth … oh fuck … your tongue.” His hips were making tiny thrusts into her mouth. “I’m not going to last, doc.”

She alternated between sucking and licking for a while, trying to draw out his pleasure. Then she took him as deep as she could while rubbing on his sacs.

“I can’t wait to fuck you again,” he growled. “Love your mouth,” he added, gripping the back of her head in his big hand. He was still doing those thrusting movements. “Fucking love—” Then he was grunting hard with every swirl of her tongue.

He let her head go. “I’m going to come,” he groaned. “You might … want … to … to stop.” She could hear that he was trying to hold on. His hands curled into fists at his sides.

She made a noise of disagreement. By now she was turned on despite being a bit tender.

"Oh, Doc … Doctor … Doctor Rob… Roberts … fuck!" His thrusts became a little more pronounced. Nothing she couldn't handle. Then he grit his teeth and groaned as the first spurt hit her tongue. His come was warm, she swallowed it down. His hips jerked but she could tell he was trying to take it easy. Working hard on staying in control. His jaw was clenched, his eyes squeezed shut. His groan, a deep rumble. His chin dropped to his chest and he thread his fingers through her hair again. So soft and gentle. Meghan eased her hand off of his balls, she still sucked him but kept it soft and easy until finally stopping altogether.

Tide’s chest expanded as he took in a deep breath. He pushed it out through his nose, his lids cracking open. Then he grinned. “Wow! That was amazing.” He sat down next to her. “Thank you.” He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

“I can’t help but notice that you’re still,” she pointed at his erection, “hard.”

His grin widened. “I will be continually hard until your heat goes away.”

“So that’s twelve to forty-eight hours if memory serves.”

Tide shook his head. “We’ll soon find out.”

She huffed out a breath. “Wow, that’s a long time to be like that.” She widened her eyes.

“Yeah, it is. Try to ignore it.”

“Hard to ignore.” She laughed.

“You make yourself comfortable, I will go and hunt us some dinner.”

“Hunt?” Her heart beat a little faster. “As in kill?”

“Yes, that’s how things are done in the wilderness.”

“Okay, that makes sense. Do you want me to help you?”

Tide's lips twitched. She could see that he was trying to hold back a smile. "I know you're a competent human. That you're highly intelligent, but I can handle bringing home dinner myself."

“Fair enough.” She watched as he began to walk towards the cave entrance. “Do me a favor will you?”

Tide turned back, a sexy half-smile toyed with the corners of his mouth. “Name it.”

“Be careful.” Tide walked back to her, leaned down and kissed her, again. “Also, before you go, there wouldn’t happen to be a hot tub in here?”

His eyes glinted with mischief. “There’s a pool in the back of the cave, but I don’t want you washing.”

“Why not? We had hot, sweaty sex all afternoon. I really need to clean up.”

“No washing.” There was a growl in voice. “My scent is on you. It needs to stay that way. If you bathe, I will need to put my scent back on you, back inside you.” He said the last with an even louder growl that was so primal it took her breath away. His eyes brightened up. His brow was heavily lined with a frown.

Her tummy did a flip-flop and her clit gave a zing. Despite being sore, she still wanted him. Tide sniffed and squeezed his eyes shut. “I’d better go.” She watched as he walked to the entrance. He turned as he reached the opening, giving her a grin. “Shifting with a hard-on is a bitch. Thank you for easing me. It won’t be quite as bad as before.”

Before she could say anything, he jumped. He was already changing as he fell out of sight.

Meghan didn't know what to make of this whole thing. Dragons were definitely very different to humans. To think all of those guys had been after them. More than a dozen of them. They had fought so aggressively, blood was spilled and all because she was about to ovulate. Tide was so different towards her. He wanted to date or practice at being mated, as he put it. She couldn't help but wonder if her hormones weren't muddling his brain. Thing was, she was enjoying the attention. Enjoying the way he looked at her. The things he was saying. Would it last? Would he still feel the same once she finished ovulating and he could think more rationally? Meghan needed to guard herself a little over the next day or two, while they were stuck in the cave. She didn't want to start buying into all of this. Although Tide was the complete opposite of the guys she usually dated, he was someone she could fall for. Yes, she was hugely attracted to him, but there was more there. Tide could hurt her.