Chapter Twenty-One
Cheryl
She wasted seventy-one of the seventy two hours trying to make up her mind about Rowe, the werewolves, and the ridiculous coming conflict over a property that didn’t technically belong to either of them.
What she did not do is spend much time with Rowe, and now she was regretting that. Her mind had been so focused on the idea of violence and how she could help, why she should be running away—because it was smart—and why she was suddenly so determined to put herself in harm’s way.
The end result was that she was just as fucking confused as when she’d asked for “time to think,” and now she was pissed off about it. Which made people do crazy things from time to time.
That’s why she was lying in bed panting. She was also naked. Oh, and Rowe was flopped down next to her, gasping for air as well. They’d both been a little tense.
“I’m not leaving,” she said, staring up at the ugly popcorn ceiling. Whoever had remodeled most of the ranch house to keep it up to date had neglected the ceilings. If she had her way, it would be gone.
“I’d gathered that,” Rowe said. “By the way, you haven’t gone anywhere in three days.”
“It’s your fault, you know.”
“MY fault?” he bellowed. “How is it my fault? I’ve been doing nothing but trying to get you to leave, to go somewhere safe. How is this my fault?”
She laughed at his indignation. It was cute. “It’s your fault because I can’t bear to leave your side, dammit. If you’re going to go up against these things on your own, the least I can do is stay with you. It’s crazy. I know it’s freaking crazy. This is one of those stupid moments in which I should be doing the opposite, but every time I think of leaving you I—”
Cheryl fell silent, unable to keep speaking. That’s exactly what happened. She thought of leaving him and her brain just shut right down. End of story. It wouldn’t accept more, even if it meant dying with him. Dying. She didn’t want to die!
“I wish we had some guns,” she muttered. “That way I could feel more helpful.”
“You can use a gun?” he asked carefully.
“No, but how hard can it be? Point the open end at the bad guy, pull the trigger.”
Rowe shuddered. “I’m glad we don’t have any now.”
She eyed him. “You seem awfully relaxed about this whole thing, you know. There were twelve of them out there.”
“Fourteen,” he said absentmindedly, his eyes glazed over as he too stared at the ceiling.
“That doesn’t help your case. Your muscles and charming good looks such as you possess are still not enough to defeat fourteen of them.”
He grinned. “Are you sure about that?”
“Lord save me from your arrogance.”
“It’s not arrogance. The difficult part is keeping you out of harm’s way. Once they learn that you’re still here, they’ll come after you. Try to use you as a hostage.”
“So no guns. You versus fourteen. You have confidence of winning.” Cheryl sighed. “Did you boobytrap the entire property? Is that it? I’ve seen a movie about that too. Kid gets left at home during Christmas, but he’s some sort of insane mastermind and when the robbers try to rob the house…”
Rowe was staring, wide-eyed.
“You haven’t seen that one, have you?”
“No. It sounds horrific.”
“Horribly entertaining, I think were the words you were searching for.”
“No.” He shook his head. “No, I’m pretty sure I meant horrific. The kid kills the robbers? What sort of movie is that?”
“A comedy.”
“Okayyyy. Well, no, no traps.”
“Can you show me, please?”
Rowe studied her with an intensity she hadn’t expected. How serious was this plan of his?
“How’s your mental state right now?”
“Well, I mean, a man that I care for far too strongly than I should after knowing him for a little over a week is going to go fight fourteen werewolves on his own, and somehow thinks he’s going to emerge victorious. All in all, I’d say I’m a little unhinged.”
“Perfect. Want to go completely unhinged?”
Cheryl didn’t react for a long moment. “Are you teasing me?”
“Sort of. What I’m going to show you is going to rock your world.” He paused. “Not the same way as what we just did, either.”
“Yeah yeah. I get it. You’re good in bed.” She paused. “Really good, fine. But you’re talking about up here.” She tapped the side of her head.
Rowe’s head bobbed up and down once.
“Right. Well, let me put on some clothes so your furry friends don’t get a sneak peak of the goods, then you can show me.”
“That would be good.” His voice was deeper. Possessive.
She liked it. There was no denying that the idea of being his was enticing. When he made it clear that he thought of her that way, it sent a thrill into the deepest parts of her core, wrapping itself around her.
They cleaned up and got dressed, stealing glances and pinches along the way. So it was with a smile on her face that she followed him out of the house. Cheryl carefully didn’t look at herself in the mirror though, because she suspected that though she was smiling, there might be a bit of a crazed look in her eyes.
“You’re sure you’re ready for this?”
She pulled her jacket tighter, the air in front of her fogging slightly as she breathed out. It was getting cold. “I mean, yes? It’s a surprise, and as we’ve established, I generally don’t do very well with surprises. So, expect possibly screaming and jumping from me. You should be used to it.”
Rowe chuckled. “Very well. This time I’m warning you, though. Hopefully that makes a difference.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” she muttered, knowing herself. “Now make with the goods, mister!”
“Yes, ma’am.” Rowe squeezed her tight, and then backed away.
“Where are you going?”
He raised his arms to stop her. “Space is a good idea.”
Cheryl stopped following him. “Okay.” She shoved her hands in her pockets and bounced back and forth, keeping blood flowing through her body, trying to stay warm. Why couldn’t they just have done this inside? It would have been so much nicer. And warmer. And he could still be naked. That would be nice, she could—
“HOLY FUCKING SHIT!” she shouted, jumping backward as Rowe suddenly changed from his normal self into a huge creature covered in bright green scales.
Cheryl backpedaled some more as massive wings spread wide on either side of him before settling down against powerful flanks of the…the…
“You’re a freaking dragon?” she shouted, her voice just barely back under control. “That’s a hell of a magic trick you’re going to pull.”
The green lizard-like snout lowered toward the ground, tilting slightly so it could look her in the eyes. The big yellow orb with its vertical pupil blinked. “It’s not a trick.”
It was Rowe’s voice. But it was the dragon’s mouth moving. The sound of it was deeper, more fluid, almost musical in nature, but still completely Rowe, there was no doubting that.
“Wait a minute. Hold up.” She held up a hand, shaking her head. “You’re a dragon shifter? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
The dragon’s head bobbed up and down, a sinuous, graceful motion at the end of its long neck. “Yes.”
“Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy freaking shit.” She wrung her hands together, staring at the scale-clad beast, horns rising from its head, membranous wings topped with claws, and the long tail topped with a solid bone-like protuberance. Steam rose from its nostrils, and claws the size of her legs dug deep into the frozen ground.
“Cheryl, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay.” She started forward abruptly, scaring the dragon a bit.
Scaring Rowe.
“This is so COOL!” She ran forward, running her hands along his sides, feeling the chill of his scales under her fingertips.
“Uh, so you’re all right with this?”
“Oh yeah.”
Rowe was confused. “That went over much better than I expected.”
She laughed. “I’ve had a few days to get used to the idea of wolf shifters being a thing. I really have two options, don’t I? One, I’m hallucinating, in which case sweet, a dragon. The other option is I’m not hallucinating, which means this is real. A dragon was unexpected, but this is so bad ass!” She touched the claws of his feet. They were as big around as her waist. Those wolves were in for a world of hurt.
“You can kick some serious ass with those, can’t you?” she asked, rapping her knuckles against one of the claws.
“Yes, yes I can. That’s why I wanted you to leave.”
“Why? So I wouldn’t see this? Which is uber cool. I’m totally fangirling. I always loved the idea of dragons, to be honest.”
Rowe chuckled. “Part of it was this, yes. I can handle them on my own, as you can see. It’s you that I was worried for. I wasn’t lying when I told you I loved you, Cheryl.”
She stepped back, regarding the majestic creature that was her man. Man-dragon? Part of her made a connection and she started giggling.
“You find that funny?”
“No!” she said. In fact, she was hoping to say some words of her own about what he’d just said. “It’s just…well. This is embarrassing.”
“It is? I don’t understand.”
“Well, you’re a dragon, right? And we’ve been hooking up. So I’ve been fucking a dragon. And there’s this line of sex toys, and the name of them…” She buried her head in her hands, putting space between them so that he could change back. “I can’t, I’m sorry!”
The dragon was still staring at her, the one eye he had trained on her bright, eager. Filled with love. For her. Cheryl calmed. It was time.
“Listen, Rowe, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. I needed the time, and—”
“Well, your time is up.”
She froze, fear thickening her blood, stiffening her limbs.
That wasn’t Rowe’s voice.