I never thought about looking for any other structure outside of the shed that was apparently a chicken coop. I’d done enough in freeing Maverick, so I was perfectly fine with him directing us the rest of the way. I could hear the guys coming after us. I wanted to stop running. I wanted to take a break. I wanted to stay in my secret bedroom and learn what other areas of lovemaking Maverick was skilled with. Of all the things that should be crossing my mind right now, I could only focus on the insane amount of times Maverick made me cum.

I had to refocus my energy on what was right in front of me. Maverick in combat camouflage. It was dark enough for him to look like one of Shaw’s men, but the moonlight glistened off of that hair and the beads of sweat pouring down his face. I could feel myself getting moist all over again. I had to get sex off the brain.

“I see them!” someone shouted in the distance. That did it. The feeling of Maverick being inside of me vanished with fear and panic. My adrenaline skyrocketed as he grabbed my hand and practically lifted me off the ground as we ran through the trees. His strength was returning.

We made it back to the animal pens where across the patch of mud was another building that looked like an outhouse. It wasn’t anywhere near the chicken coop, and suddenly it made sense that it had to be the shed. The closer we got to it, the stronger the wind blew. We were near the edge of the cliff.

“Don’t you two move a muscle!” Shaw shouted as we neared the rocky terrain. There were a series of ledges and footholds heading down the side of this crag. We’d land a few feet away from the dock. I wondered if staying inside and battling Shaw’s men would have been an easier feat. That was dispelled once they surrounded us.

“Now don’t make this any harder than it needs to be Addison,” Shaw said.

Maverick’s hand pressed gently against my stomach, moving me behind him.

“We’re not going back in there,” he told them, “You’re going to have to drag me in there.”

Shaw smirked, “I ain’t got no problem with that. Get him fellas! Let’s get this lab rat back in his cage!”

I watched as three men approached us first. The rest hung back while I slowly stepped to the side, wishing Maverick would scale, but he didn’t. They swarmed around him while I just tried to avoid going over the edge.

Two men charged at the same time. The first was met with Maverick’s forearms blocking his punches and then pushing him away. The second ran into Maverick’s elbow as he defended himself against the first. The third ran into the battle only to see if he could fly as Maverick ducked low and pushed up, flipping the guy over his back and off the cliff’s edge. The sound of his screams faded and disappeared as his body fell into the ocean below.

Maverick took down Shaw’s men until only two were left. One of them rushed to grab me, which took me by surprise and nearly sent us both over the edge.

“NO!” Maverick shouted, “You’re both going to fall!”

“Awww the lizard’s got a thing for beauty I see,” Shaw joked.

“And you still have a thing for lizards,” Maverick shouted to him. “Let’s make a deal. One on one, me and you…”

“Til the death?” Shaw asked with an eyebrow raised.

“You won’t be able to kill me, but you can try,” Maverick quipped, “So I guess until your death? Sure. I win. I leave, and Addison comes with me.”

“She has to stay,” Shaw insisted, “We have too much work to do here.”

“Not going to happen, especially if you’re dead along with everyone else out here standing in my way.”

I could hear the vengeance rippling through Maverick’s voice. He was going to kill Shaw. Natalie’s face flashed through my head, and I wanted to spare him, but Shaw was the reason Maverick ended up here in the first place. I couldn’t take this moment from him even though the woman who helped us …

My thoughts faded as Shaw ran after Maverick. He spun around putting Shaw closer to the edge and his own back toward the trees. I tried to keep my distance, but the soldier gripping me held us in place. I wished Maverick would scale already and end this. We need to get off of this rock.

In the back of my mind, I was never anxious about Shaw. Eric was our biggest threat. If he managed to get out here and get a dose of the serum into Maverick, it would all be over. I’m confident the Council wouldn’t be nearly as lenient this time around.

“You have to let me go,” I told the soldier, “This isn’t going to end well for you. Just look!”

Maverick had Shaw face down in the dirt with his knee in his back. He hadn’t scaled, and he was boasting.

“Do you see how easily I can take you down?! Not a scale in sight. No fire. No wings. No claws, and with half my strength! Are you sure you still want to do this until death?” Maverick asked him lifting his face out of the mud.

Maverick let Shaw get up.

“Are you going to let him treat your leader like that?” I whispered to the soldier next to me.

“Shut up!” he snarled. “Kick his ass Shaw!”

Shaw pushed himself off the ground angrily, “I’ll kill you, and then I’ll leave her to Eric to deal with. But I could be just killing time like before.”

“You could be, but there’s one difference between now and before,” Maverick glimmered with his talons beginning to protrude from his fingertips. He was at full capacity again.

My heart soared, excited for him to win this fight. I continued to taunt the soldier, “He’s about to go full dragon on your boss. You’d better get in their Champ.”

The soldier finally let me go, but in his angst to get to Shaw he pushed me back. The heel of my foot brushed against the edge of the cliff. I didn’t realize how far back we’d moved. While I was able to stop my foot from sliding again, I couldn’t stop the dizzying feeling of nausea washing over me as the height of the cliff made me sick. The waves crashing under the moonlight wasn’t soothing at all as I lost my balance and fell.

The wind rushing through my hair masked the sound of my voice slicing through the air. I screamed loud, at least I thought I was screaming. The force of the wind under me felt like it was trying it’s hardest to push me back onto the cliff’s edge, but I kept falling. What I saw next had to be the most fantastic thing I’d ever seen in my life.

Maverick ran toward the edge of the cliff and dove off of it like he was jumping into the ocean. Instead of the water, he was coming straight for me. I didn’t know how much further we had, but I held out my arms waiting to wrap them around his neck. My pulse continued to race.

The world stopped.

Everything came to a halt at that moment as my eyes locked onto Maverick. Magnificently red and maroon scales erupted over his body as it grew nearly 50 times its average size. A snout, talons, and teeth; they all grew out of nowhere as he plunged towards me, along with those scarlet colored wings flashing hues of soft rose as the moon tried to shine through them.

He caught me just before we hit the water, spinning around and letting his wings skim the surface before flapping them to prevent us from falling in. I crossed my arms around his neck. It was cool to the touch even though I could hear and feel his blood pumping just underneath the surface of his skin, well scales. Every scale looked different to me. Some were a matte red, while others graduated from red with a blush, to a shimmering maroon. It wasn’t until I was up close that I saw the specks of silver in the maroon scales. It gave them that gleam in the light; that glimmer that was so alluring to the eye, you’d be distracted right up until they picked you up off the ground. By then, it was usually too late. You’d become a pet or dinner.

Luckily for me, this wasn’t one of those times. Maverick dove off a cliff after me. He did that without knowing if he was going to scale completely or at all. He’d only hoped that gas Eric poisoned him with had worn off. Even still, he came after me.

I nestled against the beast as he flew over the water back toward Black Harbor. I could smell it in the air. The closer we got, the stronger the aroma of burning meat and cement. It’s the only way I could describe it. That damn city had a stench of never-ending fire and ash. While I hated the idea of going back, I was happy to be going back with Maverick.