Gravel crunched and flew under the wheels of the rented SUV. Mina sat next to him in the front seat watching the navigation app on her smart phone. Etienne sat in the back with a possessive arm around his mate, his massive frame taking up too much of the space in the mirror. Each time Dan looked in his rearview, it seemed as if the dragon was glaring back at him.

Eventually, he stopped looking back altogether. He had no fear of the man. His years of combat had all but eradicated that particular emotion in situations that were anything less than dire. But his brain was still definitely trying to come to terms with the idea that the guy in the back of the SUV was a dragon.

What a mind fuck. How did one do that, just change from human to animal? And one that was supposedly mythical, no less.

"Next fifty feet take a hard left," announced Mina.

"Roger that," Dan snapped, though Lord knew he didn't mean the words to sound so terse. The stress of prepping for this trip seemed to have finally caught up to him. He'd had to call in favors from buddies he hadn't spoken to in a year and board a small plane old enough to have served in the second World War at a secret airstrip, all which only served to underscore the danger they were in.

The flight itself had been nerve racking as fuck due to turbulence in the air and the fact that this trip was taken without filing a flight plan. Commercial flights wouldn't have a clue that they shared airspace with a rickety piece of shit that groaned more than a whore on the clock.

It was Etienne who had secured the stealth landing and the promise to keep their arrival off the books. It had clearly involved a large amount of cash to spread around because when they landed at Boulder Municipal Airport, Etienne had handed the pilot a bulging envelope.

All illegal. All dangerous. But it was sure as shit a better deal than clutching to the back of a god damned dragon shifter while being target practice for who or what was after Mina.

His imagination ran away from him. Knowing almost nothing about the shifter world, he conjured the most hideous and deadly monstrosities, both land bound and airborne, that could attack them at any minute. How could he possibly protect Mina from that?

He gripped the wheel tighter and resisted the urge to growl in frustration.

Mina. The Valkyrie.

Beauty beyond compare and, from what he'd witnessed, strength beyond measure. He could only hope that, between all of them, they could keep her safe. They were running for their lives from a foe that he knew nothing about, and that made him feel hamstrung.

Job one after arriving at their destination was getting more intel from her. The bird-man and the mountain lion shifter they came up against provided some clue, but he needed more.

He peered over at her stunning profile and noted the worried crease in her brow. If he wasn't an asset, he was nothing more than a hindrance, and that was unacceptable.

His combat training kicked in and he became hypervigilant of his surroundings and the company in which he traveled. When Etienne shifted in his seat, Dan brought up his head to the rearview mirror again. If the asshole wanted to glare at him, too bad. He was back in "trust no one" mode.

"Dan," said Mina. "Are you paying attention?"

Fuck.

He sure was. To everything but the navigation.

He nearly missed the turnoff, though that was easy enough to do. It was tucked between two ridges of rock, one of which obscured the entrance from the road.

He swung sharply onto the two ruts that barely marked the road. It wasn't long before they met a gate. Etienne jumped out while the car was still in motion and reached it before Dan even hit the brakes.

It was going to take some getting used to, the paranormal abilities of these extraordinary people. Etienne swung open the gate and waited with an impatient look on his face.

Apparently, he wasn't moving fast enough.

He gunned the engine a bit, spitting dirt from under the wheels, and raced past the gate. But even as he slowed to let Etienne back in, the shifter had yanked open the door and vaulted in. He settled back against the seat in one smooth motion, and grabbed his mate close to him again.

"Honestly," said Taya with some exasperation as Dan downshifted to take the sharp grade upward on the road ahead.

"What, cherie?" Etienne asked with that annoying French accent of his. "Does it bother you I cannot wait to be near you again?"

Smug bastard.

Mina snorted, seeming to agree with Dan's unspoken assessment.

"What?" said Etienne all innocence in his voice.

"Is that how you got her? With cheesy ass lines like that?" Mina asked, shooting Etienne a glance over her shoulder.

"Lines? I don't need lines," said Etienne, his tone smooth as butter.

"Says the man who until recently had a harem of eight women and kept uncounted more on a string. Tell me, have you given them their marching orders yet?"

Dan noticed the slight smile that played on Mina’s lips as she teased Etienne. Clearly these two had a long history as she was totally at ease with provoking the dragon.

The thought irritated him for reasons he refused to think about and his innate dislike of the Frenchman only deepened.

"I would have, but we've been too busy looking for you," he said accusingly.

Taya, Dan noticed in the rearview mirror, pursed her lips.

Etienne kissed the top of her head. "But I will, cherie, first chance."

"In the meantime the harem still has your credit cards," said Taya, staring up at her mate one eyebrow cocked.

Before the dragon shifter could respond they reached the top of the grade and the view before them stole their attention. Directly ahead was a massive pool of blue water that shimmered with the light of the sun dancing on the surface. On the left, skinny pines reached to the sky. On the right of the lake, the top of the ridge ran like a long camel's hump, half-circling the water. It rose high enough that, at the top, only scrub pines dotted it.

"Looks like we are here," said Etienne.

"Looks like it," agreed Mina.

Dan grunted, scanning the area, instinctively seeking out choke points and defensible positions. Those pines on the left could be a problem, a potential place for the enemy to gather and attack. If he had the time he would cut down the trees for that reason alone. But for now, the expanse of water and vigilance would have to do as their first line of defense.

To the immediate right was a stand of pines butting against the ridge that seemed to have a section wide enough to allow a concealable space for the SUV.

He drove into the trees, pulling up enough that the vehicle was shadowed by the overhanging boughs. Then, he popped the back hatch and they all got out to grab their various bags and duffels.

"Which way, Dan?" asked Mina. "I don't see an entrance."

"My buddy said to follow the right-hand side of the lake until we see an opening. It's hidden from this vantage and from the air, but when we get to it, we'll know it."

"And the government made this bunker?" asked Etienne.

"It used to be a training base for mountain ops when we were heavily deploying troops to Afghanistan. Now, with the emphasis on Iraq it was closed and abandoned."

"Really?" said Etienne. Clearly he couldn't believe the waste of resources.

Dan shrugged. "Cost cutting. Bases close all the time."

They walked single file along the path that led around the reservoir until they came to a depression in the rock. Set further back was a set of doors with heavy chains wrapped around the handles, and above them a sign that warned off trespassers.

"Here we are," Dan said. "Home sweet home."

Etienne walked up to the chain and, with a hard yank, twisted the lock off them. The chains slid to the ground with a clink.

So maybe he’s asshole, but he might be good to have around, Dan thought grudgingly.

Inside the vestibule, they met a thick hatch. He used a flashlight to locate the security pad to enter the entrance code he'd been given. Once he'd punched in the numbers, the door swung open slowly. Emergency lights illuminated the long corridor that ran down the center of the complex. He punched in another code that shut the security door behind them.

"There should be a map," he said scanning the walls with his flashlight, "here it is. This is a blueprint of the complex. Looks like the mess hall is halfway down the corridor, officer's quarters on the left and the barracks on the right. Go pick out a room from the officer's quarters. There should be individual showers in some of those. Not so much with the barracks."

Etienne said something in French and Mina shot him a look.

"No, Etienne, he's not taking over. He was a U.S. soldier and knows more about these installations than we do."

"Come on, love," said Taya tugging his arm. "Let's find a room and settle in. I can use a shower, and you can too."

"I can?" said Etienne.

Taya wrinkled her nose. "For sure."

They made their way down the hall leaving Mina and Dan staring at each other. All this talk of showers had him remembering their kiss and his cock twitched. He wondered if she could read his thoughts, because she ran her hand through her hair and moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. But then she looked over her shoulder as if searching for escape.

"We should be safe here," he said.

"You couldn't have done better," replied Mina. "Really, I'm in awe of what you managed to secure for us on such short notice."

He took a chance and a step closer. He reached out, tangling his hands in her raven locks. Then, he bent in for a kiss.

Mina shook her head. "It's not a good time for this."

"When, then?" he asked, knowing he sounded desperate, but no longer caring. He wanted her, and god only knew what tomorrow would bring.

She closed her eyes as if bracing herself for a blow.

"I don't know. It would probably be better for us both if it were never," she said, her voice no more than a harsh whisper.

The words sent an ache running through him, but he didn't let it show. She was struggling too, and to press her wouldn't be fair. He took a step back and released her.

"I'll go see about getting some more power moving through this place."

He forced himself to walk away, and not turn back.

By the time he located the generators, got them started and returned, he’d gotten better control over his emotions. He was relieved to see that Etienne, Taya and Mina had made some serious headway toward making their bunker livable. The bags were stowed and delicious smells were coming from the galley-style kitchen. He poked his head in to find Etienne and Taya standing behind a counter at an industrial sized stove.

"Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes," Taya called to him with a smile. "We put your bag by the only other room with a shower. We're just waiting for the water to heat."

"Should be all good there," Dan said. "The water is heated by tankless water heaters. Once the electric is going, the water is hot."

Etienne growled from his post by the stove. "Wish I'd known."

Taya laughed. "Don't worry, love, I'll warm you tonight."

"I'll hold you to that promise," he murmured, his annoyance seeming to vanish on a dime as he stepped closer to his mate.

Dan didn't need to witness that shit right now, and he ducked back out and headed down the hall until he spotted his duffel bag outside one of the rooms. Right as he turned the handle, the door flew open. Mina stood there, her body wrapped in one towel and her hair another. Her body was tense, ready for a fight. Her cleavage crowded the tight draw of the towel against her body and it took all his self-discipline not to lean in and tug that flimsy fabric away from her body.

She relaxed her stance when she saw him. "Sorry," she said. "I heard a noise."

"That would be me," he said.

Her eyes trailed over his face and then down his body before she locked gazes with him again. There was no mistaking the hunger there and it sent a bolt of heat coursing through him. But when he stepped forward, she took a step back.

"Was the water hot enough for you?" he asked. It might be a dumb question but he didn't want her to leave again. Not yet.

"Yes. Thank you. Um, I need to get dressed. Etienne is cooking and you don't want to miss that." She ducked into her room and shut the door.

A growl came from deep within him at being shut down again. This was fucking ridiculous. Why did it bother him so much that she kept her distance? With the danger they were in, the smartest course of action was to stay the hell away from each other.

So then why did he feel the need to do something incredibly stupid?