Chapter 7

Tulia couldn’t keep her gaze from the spot where Austin had disappeared on the next mountain over. She couldn’t see him, per se, but she knew where he was. With each moment that passed, her heart beat faster and pounded a little harder against her ribs. It wasn’t that she thought he would abandon her, but for whatever reason, the longer he was away from her, the more her unease grew.

He was a strong and powerful dragon, which in and of itself should have had her running scared, but it didn’t. She could escape as she’d planned—hide on the mountainside until she could shift again and then bolt at the first opportunity—but instead, she watched for him to reappear. She was safer with him than without. It had nothing to do with the tingly feeling that rushed through her whenever he was close. She wrung the bottom of his shirt in her hands, enjoying the softness between her fingers. Time to change. She dashed into the cave and whipped his shirt off.

Now that her body had come to life again, she needed to figure out if she could shift. It would make things a lot easier to get to Colorado. Tulia took a deep breath, looking at the cavern walls. It was a tight fit, but she’d be okay. Relaxing her sore muscles, she called her dragon forward. Welcoming heat infused every part of her, scales prickled just beneath her skin, but then nothing. She tried again, coaxing the beast to the surface, but the shift stalled just before the transformation. Crap.

Sighing, Tulia yanked her clothes on. She folded his shirt and placed it neatly over his bag before going to the mouth of the cave to await his return.

Five minutes was all he’d been gone when his dark form burst from the trees, heading her way. He circled the area twice, just as he had when he’d left, and a shiver of awareness teased at her skin. He was magnificent in his dragon form, and his human form was just as gorgeous.

She waited until he approached, then backed into the cave, not taking her eyes off him for a second as he shifted before his feet hit the ground. His graceful motion screamed of power and control. It wasn’t every dragon who could shift so seamlessly, but he did it with ease. Just one more reason to be wary. He could crush me without breaking a sweat.

“How are you feeling?” He didn’t slow his stride until he was inside, then bent to retrieve his jeans from where he’d left them and pulled them over his hips. All the while, she kept her gaze locked with his. There was no way he’d catch her ogling, though she did have the urge to peek just a little. He then grabbed the nearly empty water bottle and took a sip, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

She licked her lips, suddenly parched. “I’m okay. Still achy, but I think I’ll be able to fly soon,” she finally uttered, her voice breathless.

He took her in, obviously noticing her change in attire, but didn’t mention it. “Good. You should finish this. We’ll need you to keep your strength up if we’re going to fly tonight. I wish I had something for you to eat, but I was hunting on the run while searching for you.” Without bothering to hide his actions, Austin grasped his T-shirt in one fist, then brought it to his nose before slipping it on.

Her heart raced, and a soft rumble vibrated in her chest. Tulia coughed, trying to muffle the sound, but Austin’s grin only grew wider.

Stop it, she chastised her dragon. What did it matter if he liked the smell of his shirt after she’d worn it? It didn’t. Not at all. She sniffed and turned away from him before she did something stupid like go to him and wipe his smile off his face with her lips.

“Go ahead and finish the water. I have a couple of bottles left in my pack. Some granola bars, too.” It wasn’t meat, and a big dragon like him would need more protein, but she hadn’t planned on feeding anyone and had packed light. Before he could say anything about the food choices, she went to her pack and unzipped the main compartment.

“Wait,” Austin said, his voice tight. “Do you have any more stakes in there?”

Some of the tension and anger she’d been leashing over the past two weeks bubbled to the surface. “It’s not like I did that on purpose. For your information, the stakes are in a different compartment, secured.” Her words sounded defensive and curt, even to her, and she immediately regretted them. Austin had been nothing but protective and kind. It wasn’t his fault that she was uncomfortable around him. Well, it kind of was. He was beyond attractive, and his sheer strength was intimidating, but her reaction to him was all her.

“I didn’t mean to insinuate that you had been. If anything, my carelessness when I approached you caused it to happen.” Austin’s immediate defense of her inflated her guilt.

“It’s been a hell of a couple of weeks, and I’m a bit on edge. I’m sorry I lashed out at you. That wasn’t fair. I pricked my own skin with my clumsiness.”

He gave her a small smile and sat across from her with his back against the cavern wall. “How about if we just agree that it was an accident? One that neither of us want to repeat.”

“Agreed.” She answered his smile with one of her own and handed him one of her two remaining water bottles and a granola bar.

In seconds, he ripped into the package and took a huge bite, eating half of it in one mouthful. He closed his eyes and chewed before swallowing. When he opened them again, she was still crouched before him, her own bottle dangling from her fingers. “Thank you. I haven’t eaten in a while.”

Tulia grinned when he popped the second half of his snack into his mouth, then held the other one out for him to take.

“One is more than enough, thank you.” Austin declined the food and cracked the water bottle open, taking a few long gulps from it.

One little granola bar wouldn’t be enough to feed a hungry dragon. Not by a long shot. Especially not one who hadn’t eaten in a while. She went back to her pack and pulled the last one she had left from it’s depths. “Lucky for you, I have another one,” she said before tossing it in his direction. He caught it before it smacked into his chest.

***

Austin wasn’t a huge fan of granola—or anything plant-based, for that matter—but he was starving. He hadn’t been eating much in the past few days as the search to find Tulia had heated up, but now, he was famished. He would hunt for them both once they were flying under the cover of darkness, but until then, at least the food would keep his stomach from rumbling too loud—he hoped.

Tulia savored hers as he devoured the second and then polished off the water she’d given him. When her eyebrows rose and she brought the snack down from her lips as though she’d offer it to him, he shook his head. “No. I mean it. You’ve been more than generous. I couldn’t possibly eat another.”

She nibbled on her lip before taking a small bite.

“I got a hold of Jace, Charlotte’s mate. He’s sending others to meet us in Colorado. If all goes according to plan, we’ll have you and your parents safe at the estate in the next couple of days.”

“You’re expecting trouble, aren’t you?” she asked, but the worry in his eyes proved that she already suspected as much.

He wished he could deny it or ease her fears, but lying to his mate would only break the fragile trust she was extending toward him, and he wasn’t willing to do that. “I don’t think the Black Wings will give up so easily, but more than that, I think your Alpha will be desperate to get you back.”

“My parents aren’t safe, are they?”

“I don’t think they are. As soon as you can shift, we’ll go. If we fly hard, we might reach them first.” He had hoped to go after dark, but if it were his family—his clan—he wouldn’t wait. Hell, he’d already be in the sky. He tilted his head to the side, assessing her. “You’ll be able to shift soon, but if you want to leave now, I could carry you.”

She remained silent for a moment. “I might be able to do it now. Maybe I can try first, and if it doesn’t happen, you can carry me for a while?”

He hadn’t expected her to consider it, much less possibly accept, but the fact that she did sent pleasure spiraling through him. “Sounds good. Let’s go to the clearing. I’d hate for you to try on the cliff and plummet to the ground.” Of course, he’d scoop her out of the sky before she got anywhere near the bottom, but she didn’t know him well enough to trust that he’d catch her, and a fall from that height would be terrifying.

“Yeah, we can do that.” She took a deep breath, then stood, never taking her eyes off him as he slung first his pack over one shoulder, then hers over the other. “I can carry mine if you want.”

“I’ve got it,” he told her, then took a step back to let her leave the cave first. “Be careful once you get around the bend, the trail is narrow.”

He didn’t say another word as he followed her down to the small clearing on the cliff he’d initially brought her to. Although she’d stiffened when she’d realized just how narrow the trail he’d carried her over was, she hadn’t balked. She didn’t even complain when she saw how precarious the ledge he’d set her down on had been. He dropped her pack on the ground at her feet.

“Would you mind turning so I can undress?” she asked, her voice smaller than he’d heard it up until that point.

“As much as I’d like to honor your request, there isn’t any space. Besides, if you stumbled, I wouldn’t be able to catch you.” He hated denying her, but her safety had to come first. The cliff was just as sharp as it had been at the cave entrance, and there were jagged rocks on a similar ledge only fifty or so feet below. The fall wouldn’t be clean or easy from where they stood. “It’s too dangerous. I’ll keep my eyes averted the whole time, but I can’t turn, okay?”

She took a steadying breath, clenched and released her fists, then sighed before meeting his gaze. “Okay.”