Page 125 of Gift from the Tree

“Stop. Willow, absolutely not. Your element protected you and reacted accordingly. You did nothing wrong. Why would you ask me that?” he asks, distraught. There’s hurt lingering in his eyes that I’d doubt his feelings for me because of what I just told him, but that’s exactly what I need him to realize he’s doing to me.

“Then why would you think I’d feel those things about you? Draken, your dragon won’t hurt me, nor would you do anything that would put me in harm’s way. I know that wholeheartedly. I can understand your emotions getting the best of you. Look at how my air emerged. Think about what my earth element did when Caspian told me the truth. No, it wasn’t destructive, but it was powerful and if Caspian hadn’t been about to die in front of me, the results probably would’ve been different. Don’t fear my reaction of you needing to shift or of your dragon. Don’t refuse to do what’s natural for you because you’re afraid. I won’t approve. I already approve and encourage it.”

Draken stares at me, breathing heavily, building tension between us, then he pounces. Falling backward, he catches the back of my head and gently lays me down before attacking my lips with hunger. I allow him in immediately, both of us fighting to deepen the kiss as much as possible.

It could’ve been minutes, hours, I’m not sure, but we stayed locked in each other’s embrace, tongues tangled, teeth clashing, and soft moans escaping us. I whimper as he slows the kiss and pecks my swollen, red lips.

Leaning his forehead to mine, trying to catch his breath, he whispers, “You’re the best thing to ever come into my life, Willow. The way you can accept me fully, while the rest of Elementra fears me, is a blessing and I’ll never take you for granted.”

“You’re a blessing to me, Draken. With you, I’m free,” I tell him honestly as he sits us up slowly, moving me to sit on his lap.

“I’ll wait for the guys to get back so you won’t be alone and will go for a flight,” he tells me as he laces our fingers together, kissing my temple.

“I don’t know the proper etiquette for this, so I’ll just ask, and you can correct me, but can I watch you shift now?”

He stops the circling motion he’s tracing on my hand with his thumb and tilts my head back to look at him.

“You want to see me shift?” He looks surprised despite everything I just said to him.

“Yes, of course I do. Well, if that is okay? Like I said, I don’t know if that’s inappropriate or not,” I tell him, hoping I’m not being callous.

“If it were anyone else besides you or my brothers asking, I’d take offense and probably punch them or set them on fire. Not because there’s a cultural rule or anything like that about shifters. I’d just feel like they’d want to gawk.”

“Well, I’m not gonna lie, I do want to gawk. Your dragon was amazing in my awakening, and I’ve thought about meeting him ever since,” I admit sincerely. He was gorgeous, even though I didn’t use that word with Draken. I got a feeling he’d scoff if I called him that, but he was.

Smiling at me with one of his true smiles, one he isn’t trying to put on to make me feel better, but a real Draken smile, he leans down and gives me a quick kiss. “Okay then, little wanderer. Let me introduce you to my dragon.”

Jumping out of his lap, squealing, and clapping my hands, I offer him my hand to pull him up, which he laughs at but takes anyway and pulls himself up. “Do we need to go anywhere, or can you shift here?”

“You just stand there, and I’ll move over here a bit to have some room away from you and the house,” he instructs me. I’m giddy with excitement, practically bouncing on my toes. I force myself to stand statue still as Draken kicks off his shoes and walks farther into the lawn.

“It happens pretty fast and there will be a flash of light, but it’ll all be over in a second,” Draken calls out about fifty feet away. I give him two thumbs-up so he knows I understand, then I stay completely still.

Closing his eyes and tilting his head back, he lets the magic flow through him. One minute, he’s standing there and the next, a flash of light grows to unbelievable heights and then disappears, leaving behind a fucking massive dragon.

His auburn coloring starts bright at his head, blending and fading to black by the time it reaches his tail. The sun’s reflection off his glossy scales make it look like there’s a thin layer of fire coating his body, making his presence even more formidable.

He’s double the size of what I saw in his awakening and even more breathtaking. He stretches his wings out and moves his feet from side to side to get a better stance, causing the ground beneath my feet to shake. I’m stunned frozen, rooted in my place, and completely mesmerized by him. I’m so focused on taking in every detail of him, I didn’t realize that he quit moving and is staring right at me. It’s hard to describe the facial expressions of a dragon, but he looks nervous.

A surprised laugh bursts out of me, and I begin running toward him, not even thinking straight. I’m the prime example of why people make fun of women and stray animals. If we see an animal that is willing to let us love them, then we are going to take our opportunity.

I believe I startle him a little because he takes a small step backward before I put my hands in the air, trying to coax him to lean his head down, but he just continues to look at me nervously.

“Lean down here,” I demand. Slowly, extremely slowly, he lowers his head to where I can reach him.

“Oh my God, Draken, look at you. You’re so much bigger than in our awakening. Look at your scales and your color.” I gush on and on, running my hands over every inch of him that I can reach.

His scales vary in size across different parts of his body, and they’re completely smooth to the touch, only a little resistance against my hands when I run them back. Walking to the front of him, I run my hands between his nostrils and lie on him to hug him. He huffs a little, which makes me laugh and stand back up.

“Okay, open up, let me see those teeth.”

He shakes his head and keeps his mouth clamped shut.

“Come on, let me see,” I urge him, trying to peel his lip up on my own. Finally, with a defeated puff, he nudges me out of the way, opening his mouth slightly.

“Holy shit. Look at the size of those. Draken, your tooth is as long as my hand.” Before I can reach out and touch one, he shakes his head and closes his mouth. “I was just going to touch, it’s not like you would’ve bitten my hand or anything,” I whine, as I put my hands on my hips and take a couple steps back.

“All right, let me see you fly. Please.” I keep backing up, giving him plenty of room to stretch his wings, then I begin to bounce on my toes. I can’t help but fuss over him, although if he could talk, he’d probably tell me to knock it off, or maybe not. He loves attention.

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