Surge of Storms (Dragon Bonds #4)

Chapter 1

ONE

Samantha

The chilly air whips at me, but I don’t care, I’m drowning in desperation, in a soul-deep need for Granger to surface. To be okay.

He has to be okay. He has to be.

My gaze is on the water, hoping against all odds that Granger will surface. That he’s still alive. My mind keeps replaying over and over the green dragon taking Granger to such an impossible height and then… just dropping him. Like he was nothing. Like he wasn’t one of the most important people in my life. And each time I picture it, I feel pure and utter devastation. It can’t have happened. This has to be a nightmare.

Something smashes into me from behind, and the green dragon’s awful scent of rotted flesh rushes over me for half a second before his claws dig into my body, tearing at my flesh. A wail explodes from my mouth, and I struggle to escape, but can’t. He’s bigger than me, stronger than me.

I have no hope against him. Not like this.

It’s strange, being torn between the pain in my body and the pain in my heart. It’s so overwhelming that I feel like dying. Like giving up. But I can’t. I have to find Granger.

I’ve always known Granger was important to me. I always knew that my life would feel meaningless without him, but knowing that and feeling this are two completely different things. Just the thought of never seeing him makes me feel a kind of pain and emptiness I never thought possible.

How can I keep breathing without him? The answer is simple: I can’t.

The green dragon’s claws shift, slicing into my wings. I feel hot blood coating my flesh, which is strangely jolting compared to the cold all around me. I twist in the air, trying to keep in sight the place Granger went down, but the green dragon’s grip on me makes it hard to control my direction in the air.

Get off of me , I shout, but my words are broken by sobs. It’s the first moment I realize I’m crying.

Did I know dragons could cry? Did I care?

I knew your weakness for humans would be the key to your downfall , he says into my mind, sounding so pleased that I want to tear his fucking throat out.

Fuck you! I buck, but he holds on tightly.

This time, this lifetime, little female, there’s no one left to save you. You will be mine. And there isn’t. My men are too far away to ever reach me in time. One of his claws shifts, clamping further onto my wings and tearing.

I’m fighting, fighting for my life when all I feel like doing is dying. I want to sink into the water with Granger and just stop existing, anything to relieve the terrible aching in my chest, but something inside of me, a stubborn refusal to surrender, won’t let this green dragon destroy me.

Granger wouldn’t want that.

Thunder booms above us, and my eyes jerk to the storm that’s rolled in without me even noticing. The clouds are dark and thick, gathering in a circle above us in a strangely menacing way. Shock courses through me. Hadn’t the sky been clear only moments ago?

Balor digs his claws deeper into the tissue of my wings, tearing them through the delicate parts. I sob into my mind. The pain is excruciating. I can’t believe I’ve lost Granger, and that I’ll be a slave to this dragon. I just… can’t. I can’t let it happen.

Is this really the way you want to get a female? I ask through my pain.

I do not care how I get you, just that I do. You are the one I have always wanted. For every lifetime. You are the most powerful alpha female, the one who will give me strong young. He sounds excited. Fuck, is he turned on?

Thunder booms overhead and lightning strikes so close to us that I can feel the power of it. It’s like everything around us is sizzling. Electrified.

I toss and turn, trying to free myself from him the way Zane taught me to, but he just shifts his grip with his back legs, so that his claws are digging into my back. Spots dance in front of my eyes, and it’s impossible to drag in a full breath. I’ve lost Granger. The green dragon is tearing me apart. It hurts. All of it hurts so badly.

Thunder crashes and lightning strikes again. It feels like we’re in the very center of the storm. Rain begins falling, cold and startling, clearing my mind just enough that I start going crazy. I don’t care how much I get hurt, if it frees me from him. I’m doing everything in my power to throw the larger dragon off.

But it doesn’t work.

His claws slice through my back, and I feel my blood mixing with the rain. How much longer before my wings are useless and I’m left to his mercy? Too soon. I know it in my gut.

I try to flap my wings, but I can’t. Balor’s wings alone are keeping us in the sky now, and that realization makes me sick. Are my wings destroyed then? Or is it just that the pain is too much?

You are mine , he roars into my mind, and before I can answer to agree or disagree, he drags his claws in a way that makes me scream in pain.

Suddenly, the storm seems to still, and a familiar voice roars into our minds, No she isn’t!

From out of the water a massive black dragon comes exploding out. He’s easily double the size of Aydan and Evander. A kind of power swirls around him that I’ve never felt before, like in his claws he holds both life and death. Like he’s some kind of ancient god of vengeance as lightning sizzles across the sky all around him. He shoots straight at us with bloodlust in his dark gaze.

Except, I don’t care about that, about anything, except that I know his voice. I can smell his scent, that of old books and soap, washing over me. My heart hammers. Granger. He’s alive… and he must be the storm dragon.

The last of my harem.

Granger. Is. The. Storm. Dragon. He’s alive. It’s like my head can’t process it all. Like my heart hasn’t accepted what it knows. By some miracle, he survived the fall and became one of us.

Tears sting my eyes. I long to wrap myself around him, to cover myself in his scent. But the claws in my wings hold me in place, keeping me from him.

I don’t know what I expected, but Granger flies right over me, and a second later, there’s a terrible pain as the green dragon is plucked off of my back.

I try to fly. I do. But it hurts too much. I just… can’t.

At least Granger survived. That’s all that matters.

Falling, I try to keep Granger and the green dragon in sight, but I tumble like a leaf in the wind, staring instead at the unwelcoming ocean. There’s only a moment for me to wince before I hit the icy waters. The chill shocks my system as I slowly sink to the bottom of the sea, darkness closing in around me.

Sam, are you okay? Granger asks, panic in his voice.

I jerk, realizing where I am. I wasn’t okay. But now I am because he’s here. It’s not time to give up yet. Yes, just get that bastard.

Forcing myself to move, I start flapping my injured wings enough to raise myself in the water. Painfully slowly, I struggle to the surface. It takes me so much time and so much effort that I’m out of breath and fearing for my life when I finally break free.

I drag in air that feels like broken pieces of glass in my lungs. My gaze is instantly on the sky. The black dragon and the green dragon are fighting. No… they aren’t fighting. The black dragon is tossing the green dragon around like a toy—biting him, clawing him, releasing him, and catching him again.

Stop! Please! the green dragon begs.

Where was your mercy with HER? the black dragon roars.

Granger. Roars.

My jaw drops. I’ve never seen anything like this before. The dragon that was so fearsome as he tore my wings to shreds is now screaming for help. He’s trying to run away like a coward, but Granger isn’t allowing it.

The green dragon is going to be fucked up… if he survives this.

I start to tire from keeping myself from sinking. Granger… My voice comes out quiet and weak.

In an instant, his head snaps to me. I’m coming, Sam.

At last, the green dragon starts flying away, unevenly, and Granger lets him go. The coward barely keeps himself above the water, but is obviously flying with all his might. Granger has done a lot of damage in a short time. But then again, he’s huge. And powerful.

Granger flies down until we’re staring at each other. He’s hovering above the water. It’s hard for me to breathe. It’s hard for me to do anything except stare at Granger, who’s a dragon as dark as night. He’s not as slender as Aydan, Evander, and Zane. Instead he’s built like a boat, all hard muscles and scales.

You’re okay , I finally manage to whimper.

But are YOU okay? he asks.

A sob explodes through my mind and his. I don’t think I can fly, Granger.

He doesn’t even hesitate. I’m going to take care of you. Okay? Trust me.

Something inside of me calms. I trust Granger. I’ve always been able to trust him, dragon or human doesn’t matter.

He dives into the water behind me, and a second later, he surfaces from under me. He flaps his big powerful wings and launches us from the water, me in my dragon form on his back. It feels strange. Dangerous. But I stay safely in place as he flies slowly and carefully toward the shore.

I thought you died , I say, followed by a sob.

Never. I’m never going to leave you, Sam. I promise.

I didn’t want to live. I didn’t want to be without you. My words are broken by sobs.

Sam, no, don’t ever say something like that.

I just love you so much. I can’t be without you. Even as I say the words, I know that they’re true. That they’ve always been true. Granger is part of my heart and soul. I can’t exist without him.

You’ll never have to worry about that. I’m always going to be here. His familiar voice gives comfort in a moment where I feel on the edge of hysteria.

Up ahead, I see the coast, but we’re just a little further north than where the base is located. Maybe a half hour’s walk away in human form. It’s all rocky cliffs and forests here because of the preserve, but I’m just grateful to see an end to the water.

Now, we’re going to land. I’m going to do it as smoothly as I can, but just be ready. I’m new to this, and I’m not sure how it’s going to go.

I tense, unsure what to expect as he lands lightly on the edge of a cliff. The jostle hurts, but it’s better than I expected. Suddenly, he’s walking on land, with me still on his back, to the edge of a tree line.

We’re going to stop here, and I’m going to set you down. Then, we’re going to shift back, and I’m going to check over your wounds.

It’s hard to focus on his words. I just want to be with him, be close to him, hold him and never let him go. I almost lost him again. I thought I lost him.

He slides me gently from his back and moves further away from me. Then he asks, Can you tell me how you shift back?

Of course. He doesn’t know what it is to be a dragon. Because… he wasn’t a dragon before. Granger shifted. Granger is the storm dragon. You picture your old self, your human self and your body, and then you shift back.

Within seconds of my explanation, I watch him change from the big black dragon to Granger, the man I’d grown up with, the man who was my best friend. Closing my eyes, I shift back too and collapse onto my knees.

Granger is there in an instant. He picks me up in his arms like a bride and carries me out of the rain and beneath the cover of the trees. He keeps going until we’re under a large tree with a thick bed of pine needles, and then he carefully sets me onto the ground.

I don’t hesitate. I throw my arms around him, bawling. “I thought you died.”

He holds me gently. “I know. I’m sorry. I know.”

“You fell, and then you were just gone. Gone, just like that. I thought I’d never see you again, or touch you again.” I’m crying harder.

“I thought I was dying too,” he tells me, and I can hear the tears in his voice. “You were all I could think about. You and Aydan. I just kept imagining never seeing you again.”

We hold each other for a long time. My entire body is shaking. He holds me gently, avoiding my back, before he finally lets me go and says, “I need to check you over.”

With slow, deliberate movements he removes my shirt and turns me around. His breath catches, and he’s breathing hard. “We need you to shift back and then shift into your human form again. We need to help your back heal.”

“Is it bad?” I whisper. “Is it more than my healing abilities can handle?”

He strokes my side. “Sam, you’ve got to be the toughest woman I’ve ever met in my life.”

He picks me up again, and we step back out into the storm. He stands back, and I shift, feeling my bones changing and my skin pulling. I stretch my wings and wince as pain radiates from them. My head swivels from side to side, and I watch as the tears in my brilliant red wings begin to heal before my eyes.

Granger approaches me, and I lean my head down. He pets me slowly, while I feel my body healing. How much? I have no idea, but I pray it’s enough for me to be able to fly again.

“Okay,” Granger says. “You should be able to shift back.”

I do, falling back to my knees, and he scoops me up as the rain continues to soak us. He carries me back under the cover and safety of the trees and beneath the shadows of the massive pine tree. He sets me down once more and inspects my bare back.

“It’s a lot better, mostly scars, but fuck, Sam. You should have never allowed yourself to fall into the green dragon’s trap.”

I turn to him. “And what was I supposed to do? Let you die? You know I’d never be able to do that.”

He winces, and I can’t help myself. I throw myself into his arms once more, and we just sit like that for a long time, holding each other on the forest floor. We never want to let each other go again.

I breathe deeply of his scent, that of soap and books, but this time it’s different. I had started to feel… strange when I smelled him, but it’s like my response to him is magnified by a thousand. Everything in my body tightens, even my grip around him tightens, and I breathe him in again. He smells… so, so fucking good. Amazing.

The hairs on my body stand on end, and my breath seems to vibrate through my body. “You smell… really good, Granger.”

He clears his throat. “I do?”

“Yeah.” I bury my nose into his throat and breathe in again.

A shudder rolls through him. “You smell good too.”

His grip on my hips tightens, and he pulls me a little closer. I can hear him breathing me in, and I imagine what he’s feeling. I remember my first shift. I remember what it felt like to smell Evander that first time. The sensations that hit me were… overwhelming, and it didn’t get easier with Aydan and Zane.

I pull back, staring at him in shock. “Granger?”

He looks confused. Unsure. “Yes?”

My gaze slides to his lips and hot desire rolls over me. I close my eyes and inhale again, feeling like every inch of my skin is alive with desire. Thoughts should be rolling through my head, but there are none, just an unbelievable need to have Granger inside me right now. Nothing has made more sense in my life.