On the Accidental Wings of Dragons (Dragons of Eternity Book 1) (4 page)

Waking up riding in his arms, even crushed to his chest while running, had been amazing. That was definitely an experience she would like to try again—in less hectic times, of course. Oh, and riding on his shoulder, breathing in his warm scent. Sure, he could definitely use a bath, but underneath, he had a rich spice that tickled her nose. And on top of all that, the wonderful musk of male dragon. Oh, she hadn’t expected that, at least not yet. The way he played with the end of her tail had given her shivers like you would not believe. How did he know that was one of her sensitive spots? She wanted him. Right now—in any form. Well, at least she had until the nutcase lost his marbles and took off like a deaf bat.

Carissa let out a puff of angry air before burying her head into Michael’s chest. If they were going to crash, she probably should do something to ensure she survived enough to get them out of this. Drawing in a deep breath, she pulled herself to human form. And just in time, too. Michael shifted his grip on her now-larger form and took the brunt of the initial impact. It would have been nice to stop there, but the incline of the hill decided they should probably continue to the bottom.

Brush, sticks, rocks, and a plethora of other poky things grabbed at them as they tumbled down to rest on the nice, cool grass. At least
that
was slightly soothing. That fall would have been hell on her wings. Surprisingly, they both survived unhurt. Well, if you want to consider being scraped up on every inch of exposed skin ‘unhurt’. And she had a lot of exposed skin. Carissa threw off Michael’s arms and launched herself to her feet. Their pursuers couldn’t be far behind them. Turning on her companion, Carissa grabbed the front of the man’s coat and pulled his face to hers.

“You stupid, stupid man!” she bellowed at him. “
Never
hold a dragon during a fall!
Wings
are
fragile!
” She slammed her lips into his, giving him back his voice. Throwing him back to the ground, she stormed into the open grass to change again. She was going to need a nap after this trip. And a steak… or two. Hell, she would probably eat a whole cow after this calamity of errors was through.

Carissa ignored Michael as she knelt down and shifted into her grand dragon form. She threw her head back in a silent roar as the power swirled through her. Now let’s see him snatch her up and tuck her under his arm. Snickering to herself, she turned to find Michael had finally picked himself up.

Yells from the top of the ridge drew her attention. The bark of automatic gunfire split the air, and she pounced on Michael, snatching him up like he had done her. Two wingbeats, coupled with a great leap, had them both in the air. The gunfire sounded again as she circled, gaining altitude. Pointing her head towards the ridge, she let out a great blast of fire, roasting the three men pointing weapons at her. A heavy downdraft of her wings quenched the flames before they could catch on the trees. Her attackers were dead or dying; there was no need to burn down the entire forest in her anger.

Pointing her nose to the sun, Carissa pumped her wings. Oh, the feel of the wind against her scales. It had been too long since her last foray into the wild blue. She could really enjoy herself, if it weren’t for the fool of a man screaming his damned head off. She should have kept his voice. Carissa glanced down to the prize in her front claws. So what if he hung upside down from pants that were starting to slip over his hips? There hadn’t been much time to aim her pounce before taking off under gunfire. Okay, maybe there was a reason to be a little upset, but he should realize she wouldn’t drop him. And so what if she did? She had plenty of altitude to catch him before he hit the ground. She was very agile on the wing.

Letting out a deep sigh, Carissa looked around for a safe place to land to adjust her hold on him. She could probably do it in flight, but she didn’t want to risk popping him with her talons. He should just be happy she hadn’t impaled him accidently while dodging bullets. Sure, they wouldn’t penetrate her thick scales, but they still hurt like hell when they hit. A large, grassy field to her right looked promising, so she banked towards it.

4

Michael’s throat was sore by the time they alighted in a large cow pasture. Carissa had grabbed him around the waist when they’d left, but he had shifted during the sudden takeoff. He’d ended up dangling in a few sharp claws by his pants. Pants that were now precariously slipping. Hell, his ass was almost hanging out. Just the way he wanted to die—dropped from a dragon without pants. Right now, he could really use an erection. It might just save his life by holding his pants on.

Tumbling to the grass, Michael waited for the gusts of air to settle before glaring at the dragon. Anger coursed through him as he turned from her, undid his belt, and readjusted things. At least his pants weren’t pressing into him uncomfortably anymore. He snickered to himself. This was one of the only times he had been completely soft around her. Safe on the ground, away from danger, and he was limp. Go figure.

Once properly dressed, he turned towards Carissa. She had stretched out on the grass with her front legs folded under her head, watching him.
Damn, did she check out his ass while it was hanging out?
He pushed that thought away and looked at her. Her magnificent wings were spread out, soaking up the warm rays of the sun. She was breathtaking. His heart skipped as desire reclaimed its hold on him. Now he knew he was really going insane. Desire for a reptile? Okay, so dragons weren’t your typical reptiles, but still. That was like getting a hard on for an iguana!

He had always loved dragons. Even before the king came out and announced their existence, he had been fascinated with them. The way their scales twinkled, their power, their ability to fly. But,
never
had he
ever
lusted after one.

Channeling that lust into his anger, he yelled at her. “What the hell do you think you were doing?” Michael shook his fist at her. “Trying to kill me?”

She snorted at him but did not answer.

“Oh, so now you’re the silent type.” He crossed his arms and turned his back to her. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. At least they were both alive and free. Something had to be said for that. A soft growl came from behind him. “Look.” He turned to face her again. “I’m sorry I snapped. I’ve had a really stressful week.”

She snorted at him again.

“Okay, so we’ve both had a bad week.
God!
” He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to clear his mind. “All right.” He let out a solid sigh and held his hands out to her. “Let’s just leave it at ‘I’m sorry, thank you, and you’re welcome’. If we dwell on the details right now, we might start snapping at each other.” His heart lightened when she snickered. “The real question now is—where are we?” He turned to look around. Maybe there was a town nearby. “I’m sure I can get Daniel to send a team to pick us up.”

Carissa rumbled behind him.

Michael turned to look at her. She had crept closer to him as he surveyed the area. Damn, she was quiet for something so large.

Rumbling again, Carissa swung her head towards him. It was more than half his size, but still, it was beautiful. Michael’s fingers ached to touch her. Giving in to his urges again, he closed the distance between them and ran his hand over her scales. Oh, they were so warm to the touch. His fingers tingled with pleasure. One large eye focused on him as he scratched his way down her cheek. It closed as he reached the edge of the boney frill at the back of her head. His finger slipped under the edge of the frill, exploring. When Carissa tilted her head to give him better access under the ridge, he took it. She purred as he scratched the skin up under it. His nail caught on a rough edge, and a single, gold scale skittered down her neck. Michael sucked in his breath. She was going to kill him for this. Michael picked up the fallen scale and held it up for her to see. “I’m sorry.”

Carissa’s eyes widened as they focused on the inch-and-a-half, shiny disk. She snorted and shook her head.

“Umm… How about I stick this in my pocket until we get to where we’re going. Then you can have it back.”

She eyed him warily before nodding her agreement.

Michael blew out a relieved breath as he slipped the scale into his pocket with her jewels. The loss of a single scale had turned Daniel into a paranoid freak for the months it took to grow back. Dragons were very protective of their hides; a single missing scale could leave a hole in a dragon’s defenses. At least this one came from a protected area.

“How about we go see if we can find help?” Michael stepped away from her head, tucking his hands into his pockets. There was no way he was going to touch her again. “Let’s try this way.” He turned away from her and started walking across the field towards what looked to be a valley. If he walked far enough, sooner or later they would come to some kind of settlement where they could get help.

Carissa growled behind him, stopping him in his tracks.

“No?” He looked back at her. “Then how about that way?” He pointed to the right.

She growled again.

He pointed in the other direction only to get another growl. Michael let out a deep sigh. “Look, I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’m starting to get cranky. I’m sorry I messed up your scales. Why don’t you just pick a direction, and I’ll follow you.”

Carissa glared at him.

There; he’d done it. He’d spoken his mind, and now she was just going to eat him.
Fine. Whatever.
It would solve a bunch of problems. When she didn’t move, Michael dropped himself to the grass to brood. God, this wasn’t him. He wasn’t moody—for crying out loud, he was an Elite in Eternity! The years he spent in training made this little adventure look like a cake walk. Days on end with no sleep or food, hours of torturous drilling in all weathers, sometimes constant pain, and never once had he been accused of being moody. He was moody now.

***

Carissa glared at Michael. How dare he take that tone with her! Especially after pulling one of her scales off! Obviously, Daniel had made a grievous error in picking this man for Eternity. Out of hundreds of candidates, only the top ten percent were accepted into the organization. And of those, half washed out before seeing any type of duty. There was no room for attitudes in Eternity, but he was definitely having some kind of mood swing.

The truth of the matter smacked her in the face. He was having mood swings! Carissa studied the back of the brooding man. He had seemed levelheaded when under fire, but now he was all over the place. Leaning forwards, she drew in a long breath of air, tasting him. Yup, his body chemistry was wacked out. She snickered, earning a glare from the temperamental man.

This was rich! Carissa knew he would change but had expected it to take longer than this. She had already detected the rich sent of dragon musk from him, but now, now she could pick up the traces of brooding. Her good humor dried up fast. Oh God, that was just what this area didn’t need: a full-grown, wild dragon in the heat of a first brooding! She had to get him somewhere safe.
Fast.

Grabbing him up by the back of his jacket, Carissa flipped Michael over her head and down to the base of her neck. He cursed at her, but she ignored him as she sprang into the air. If he were smart, he would hold on. Another string of colorful words came out of him as he clung to her back. She beat the air into submission, gaining altitude. She knew this area. An old friend of hers had a mountaintop cabin somewhere around here. It should be far enough away from civilization to isolate him until his system balanced itself out. Oh God, what had she done? And she hadn’t even had the chance to explain things.

Carissa pushed hard, searching for their destination. She could feel Michael’s fingers clutch into her scales. Was he changing back there? She wanted to stop and check on him, but she was going to need help. Spying the mountain she wanted, she circled around until the high plateau came into sight. A thin steam of smoke rose from the small house nestled against the side of the mountain. Thank God someone was there.

Checking her speed, Carissa dropped them straight onto the front lawn. She shifted to human as soon as her feet touched, intending to run inside for help. The weight of the man on her back dropped her to the ground, instead.

“What the hell, woman?” Michael cursed at her.

Rolling in his arms, Carissa slammed her mouth into his, silencing his protest. She had only intended to take his voice, but, unfortunately, it also drove his hormone levels straight through the roof. He groaned into her mouth and ground his pelvis into hers. His hands wandered over her skin, kneading, as he deepened their kiss. Heat pounded inside of her skull and drove splinters of desire through her body. Her heart pounded as he shifted above her. Oh, she was so wet. The touch of his hand against her core shocked her back to her senses. If she didn’t do something soon, they were going to be rolling around, having wild monkey sex all over her friend’s front yard for the next several days. In just a moment.

Moaning, she struggled to make herself stop him. But, he just felt so good. She gasped as his fingers slipped inside her. Twisting her head, she broke the kiss. His lips moved to the side of her neck instead.
Oh God!
He knew exactly how to touch a woman. Carissa’s hands trembled as she moved them to his shoulders. Make him stop. Make him stop. Make. Him. Stop. The sound of a zipper ratcheted through her passion-filled senses.
Now!

Pushing him hard, she flipped them over, so she was the one on top. Oh, to just stay right there. To have him put out the fire he had stoked. Hormones, she reminded herself.
He needs help!
She slammed a fast kiss to his lips and sat up. His hands caught her waist and pulled her against him, hard. Oh, to just let him have his way. It would be so easy. But, he wasn’t in his right mind, and she couldn’t take advantage of him. Could she? His hips had picked up a tantalizing rhythm. His lust-clouded eyes burned on her skin. No. She couldn’t. No matter how much she wanted him to pound into her right this second. He wasn’t in control. Gathering up everything she had, she slapped him as hard as she could and ripped herself from his grip.
Got to get help
, she scolded herself, forcing her wobbly legs to carry her into the house.