Chapter 23
Liz
As we soared through the sky, the wind whipped past, cold against my flushed skin. My body still hummed with lingering aftershocks, and I couldn’t believe what had just happened.
I’d just dry-humped a dragon shifter in the moonlight and came faster than I had in... well, maybe ever.
I pressed my lips together to hold in a laugh. It escaped anyway, a small sound that got caught in the wind.
Lucan’s head turned slightly, his massive dragon neck twisting as if to check on me.
“Eyes on the road!” I called out, then dissolved into another fit of laughter. “I mean, the sky. Or whatever.”
His rumbling growl vibrated through his back and into my chest, and it almost sounded like laughter. I patted his scales, feeling lightheaded in a way that had nothing to do with the altitude.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt like there were bubbles in my blood instead of worry. The floaty, giddy feeling was so foreign I almost didn’t recognize it as happiness.
Was this what happened when you let yourself feel something good after closing yourself off for so long? Or was this the bond? The idea tried to intrude, casting a momentary shadow, but it felt wrong even as it formed.
This wasn’t some magical mind control. This was just... me. Feeling good. With him.
The air cleared my head a little as we glided lower toward the trees. Below, I could make out the faint outline of the ATV where we’d left it parked.
I had no idea what came next. The only way I would know if this thing between us was as inevitable as it seemed was to let myself lean into it.
But what did that mean exactly? How fast was too fast?
The bond was forming whether I wanted it to or not.
I could feel the strange awareness of him that hadn’t been there before and wanted to be near him more and more. I wanted other things too.
My mind flashed to the brief moments I’d seen him naked during his shifts, and the impressive size of him that had been very evident through his sweatpants when I straddled him. I was going to need industrial quantities of lube to fit that.
Lucan made a controlled descent, and I braced myself for the landing, my thighs squeezing. When his claws touched down, the impact was surprisingly gentle. I climbed off his back, my legs wobbling slightly as they hit solid ground.
His scales and wings dissolved into his familiar human shape. He stood there naked for a moment, moonlight casting shadows across the planes of his muscles. My mouth went dry.
“You okay?” A small smile played on his lips as he moved to the ATV and grabbed his clothes.
I nodded, watching him pull on his jeans and T-shirt. “Perfect.”
He stepped closer, fully dressed now, and brushed a strand of hair from my eyes. “You’re perfect.”
He leaned down to kiss me, and I met him halfway. It was softer than before but no less intense. My hands found his chest, feeling the steady thump of his heart under my palm.
I was tempted to ask him to come to my trailer to sleep and to feel his warmth next to me. But something held me back. Maybe it was the need to process everything that had happened or the fear of moving too quickly.
But what did moving too quickly even mean at my age? In my twenties and thirties, moving too quickly meant sleeping with someone on the first date.
“We should head back,” I said softly.
Something moved through his eyes, but he nodded, no questions asked. He took my hand and helped me onto the ATV, swinging onto it in front of me.
The engine rumbled to life beneath us as I wrapped my arms around his waist. The ride back was quiet besides the engine noise and the wind, and my thoughts spun in all directions. I rested my cheek against his back, breathing in his scent and feeling strangely at peace.
As we approached Wings End, breaking through the tree line, my peaceful bubble popped instantly. Two sheriff’s vehicles were parked at the trailer next to mine.
Lucan parked outside my RV, and I slid off the ATV, my legs wobbly from more than just the ride. The sight of the sheriff’s vehicles parked by the neighboring trailer sent my heart rate soaring all over again, but not in the pleasant way it had been minutes earlier.
Kade was already striding toward us from the direction of the commotion, his expression grim.
“What happened?” Lucan asked before I could.
“Break-in.” Kade jerked his chin toward the neighbors. “A couple was in town and came home to find someone had picked the lock. The sheriff is taking the report now.”
My stomach dropped. “Picked the lock?”
I barely heard the rest of what Kade was saying. Something about checking the security cameras. “I need to—” I couldn’t even finish the sentence before I was moving, practically running toward my trailer.
“Liz?” Lucan called after me, but I was already fumbling with my keys, my fingers trembling so badly I struggled to get the door open.
He caught up to me as I burst inside, flipping on the light and heading straight for the bedroom. I yanked open the top drawer of the dresser and started throwing socks and underwear onto the bed, digging frantically until my fingers touched the wrapped bundle at the back.
The wave of relief when I felt the solid weight of the knife nearly took my legs out from under me. I sank onto the edge of the bed, clutching it to my chest.
Lucan stood in the doorway, watching me with concern. “The knife?”
I nodded, pulling it out of the balled-up socks with shaky hands to confirm it was still there.
“Here.” I thrust it toward him. “Take it. Hide it. Put it in your hoard where no one can get to it.”
Instead of taking it, Lucan stepped forward and closed my fingers around it. “We’ll take it tomorrow.”
“But what if—”
“No one’s getting in here tonight,” he said firmly. “I promise.”
I looked up at him, saw the certainty in his eyes, and felt my breathing slow a fraction. “Okay.”
He gently guided me to sit on the bed. “Your adrenaline’s crashing.”
Now that he mentioned it, I realized I was shivering despite the warmth of the trailer. The knife felt heavy in my hands, and I re-wrapped it carefully, tucking it under my pillow.
I ran a hand through my hair. “Sorry, I just... when Kade said someone picked the lock…”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Lucan sat beside me, the bed dipping under his weight. “It makes perfect sense to be worried.”
I leaned against him slightly, and his arm came around my shoulders.
“I could stay tonight if you want. I can sleep on the couch.”
The thought of him leaving made my chest tighten. I glanced toward the living area and couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped.
“That’s barely a loveseat. Your legs would hang off the end by about two feet.”
His mouth quirked. “It reclines.”
“It does.” I stood and reached for his hand. “But the bed seems like a better solution to the problem.”
His eyebrows raised slightly, but he took my hand. “Whatever you need.”
While he went to the bathroom, I changed into sleep shorts and a tank top, the most decent pajamas I owned. When he emerged, I slipped past him to take my turn.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed, my hair a windblown mess. I looked like a woman who had a wild night, not someone who’d nearly had a panic attack over a break-in next door.
I finished getting ready and stepped back into the bedroom. Lucan was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking uncomfortable.
“What’s wrong?” I pulled back the covers and got into bed.
“My choices are to sleep in my jeans or my cum-soaked sweatpants.” He gave me a sheepish smile. “Or sleep naked.”
My face heated to about a million degrees. I hadn’t even noticed he wasn’t wearing any underwear both times I’d seen him shift. “Do you not normally wear underwear?”
He laughed and rubbed his jaw. “No.”
I cleared my throat. “Well, um… I’ve seen it already, so…”
“You’ve seen it.” He stood and pulled his shirt off. “I can still take the couch.”
“Then your ass and balls will be on my couch. Just take them off, Lucan.”
He threw his shirt at my head, and I laughed as I pulled it away from my face. My fingers lingered on the fabric longer than necessary, a small indulgence I couldn’t quite help.
I folded his shirt, smoothing the wrinkles with my palm before setting it on my nightstand, acutely aware of him watching my every move. He hesitated before taking off his jeans and sliding in beside me.
The bed was definitely not made for someone his size, and there was no way to avoid touching. His body radiated heat, and after a moment of awkward shifting, I turned on my side, my back to him.
We lay there in silence, inches apart yet carefully not touching. We’d been wrapped around each other not even an hour ago, and now we were acting like strangers.
I reached behind me to grab his arm and pull it over my waist. “Just hold me, okay?”
His body relaxed immediately, shifting to curve around mine. His arm tightened, pulling me against his chest as his lips brushed against my neck. “Goodnight, Elizabeth.”
I closed my eyes, feeling safer than I had in years.