Page 35 of The Dragon's Mate Proposal

Cade’s response was to surge forward, pick the bear up in an aptly named bear hug, and toss it back out of the water.

“Just shift already!” I moaned. “Shift and burn the thing to a crisp.”

“No,” Cade grunted.

“Why the hell not?” I shouted angrily, unable to believe him. All it would take was one wrong move on his part, and the bear’s huge claws would rip his face off, and I would be helpless before it!

“Because I’m not going to kill something that’s just defending its young!” he snarled, matching my anger. “This has been its territory. It’s just doing what’s natural. There’s no need to kill it for that.”

“And if it gets the better of you and comes after me? Do you really think it’ll care at that point?”

Cade hit the bear in the jaw again, stunning it. Then he picked it up once more and tossed it out of the water and up the edge, where it rolled almost to the bushes where its young cub was sitting, bleating helplessly.

The bear rolled to its feet, making several odd chuffing noises as it recovered. It turned its ferocious gaze back to Cade, readying itself to come back.

“Enough of this,” Cade growled.

And then, suddenly, there was a dragon in front of the bear. Its golden scales glittering in the sunlight. Spreading its wings wide, Cade roared at the bear. A dragon’s roar was unlike anything I’d heard before. And perhaps the bear as well.

Growing some common sense, the bear retreated, gathering up its cub and disappearing into the forest with a panicked cry. Cade waited for several more seconds, his wings still spread wide, before he relaxed and shifted back into his human form.

“That’s what I thought,” he said with a sniff, walking to the edge of the brush and—

“ARE YOU FUCKING PEEING?” I shouted as a stream of liquid appeared between his legs.

“I’m marking my territory,” Cade said as casually as one might discuss the weather as he swung his dick from side to side, covering the bushes.

“I did not just watch you pee,” I moaned, covering my face with my hands, trying to ignore the tremble in them. “I just did … What the hell!”

“It will tell the bear to avoid us,” he said, walking back toward me through the water, reaching for me.

“Wash your hands first!” I pointed frantically at the water.

Cade shrugged and dipped them in the water, even going so far as to scrub them.

“Better?” he asked, still advancing on me.

I nodded, my teeth chattering as the cold water sunk its tendrils into my skin like needles, the adrenaline fading in the aftermath of the bear encounter. The pull of the water also had me slowly easing into the current.

But just as it grabbed me, Cade was there. A strong, warm bulwark against the cold, flow of the river. He held me with a gentle ease so at odds with the furious strength he’d used against the bear.

Wrapping me up, he carried me back into the hot spring, letting the warm water wash away the trembles.

“You’re okay,” he said softly in my ear. “Everything is okay now, Sam.”

I twitched slightly. He’d only ever used the short form of my name once before. When the ceiling had fallen on me. Both times, he’d called me Sam when protecting me. Keeping me safe.

“T-thank you,” I said, stumbling over the words.

“Hush,” he rumbled gently. “Just focus on your breathing. In and out, okay? In and out.”

“In and out,” I repeated, looking up into his face.

He stared back at me.

Regretting making eye contact, I looked away, frantically searching for something, anything to distract me, to distract us, so he didn’t kiss me again. It was nice, but I wasn’t ready for more. Things had gone too far already. I needed time to process.

“So,” I said awkwardly. “Do you like, um, stuff?”

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