Page 52 of Surge of Fire

If the day hadn’t been so long, if I hadn’t been so injured and needed to heal, I have a feeling I could outrun him. But it doesn’t matter what I could do tomorrow or the next day. I’m in theanimal kingdom now. It’s all about surviving one moment to the next.

He’s bigger than me. Far bigger than me. I don’t know if I could take him in a fight, but maybe he wouldn’t expect me to. Maybe the rabbit could evade the wolf if only it went on the attack instead of running.

Unsure about the wisdom of my choice, but knowing that he’s nearly upon me, I shoot straight upward, wait above the clouds, and then see him blindly come exploding out. Leaping onto his back, I tear into his throat the best I can, but the scales are harder than I thought. I taste blood, but not nearly as much as I should.

Except, then his scent comes over me. My entire body tightens for a different reason, and I try to injure him with my claws. He doesn’t fight me. A strangled sound between a roar and a grumble escapes his mouth, and it shocks me when my dragon self seems to press closer to him.

It’s not a fighting sound. It’s a sound of arousal, and my dragon knows it well. Shelikesit.

This can’t be happening.

I claw at him again, then spring off his back, flying for my life. Unlike with the green dragon whose scent filled me with terror, this gray dragon is doing something unexpected but equally dangerous to me. He’s turning me on. My dragon seems to want to stay as close to him as possible, which makes me want to get as far from him as I can.

I soar down, diving away from him, deciding to land and shift and hide. I act with quick movements, but I can’t escape his scent. It’s of brimstone, burnt electricity… and leather. A shudder rolls over my dragon, and I have to fight my instinct to go back and find him.

I spot a proper place to land, still seeing no signs of the strange dragon, and head straight for it. My landing isn’t assmooth as I would have hoped, but I’m not hurt. Now, I just need to shift back and become a smaller target. I can slip away into the woods where he can never find me.

The earth shakes behind me, and I whirl in shock. I don’t know how he was so fast. He must have simply fallen with no regard for his own safety, coming crashing down beside me. He rises from the crater he’s made in the earth and shakes his head, reminding me of a goofy labrador, only much more dangerous. I keep him in sight, and we circle each other.

He’s trying to get on my back. That much is clear. The bastard wants to pin me down and mate me, but I’ll never allow it. Even though his scent is washing over me again. Even though my dragon seems to want something different than I do.

Desire, white hot, is flowing through me. My dragon, me, we like that he’s so big. He’s powerful. He’d have powerful babies. He’d be capable of offering strength and protection, especially when it came to the green dragon. Instinctually, my entire being seems to want to welcome this dragon, to let him mount me, but I’m more than my instincts. I’mnotready to be fucked as a dragonbya dragon.

He tries to switch direction. I switch too, a low grumble rolling through my throat. He pauses, tilts his head, then tries to jump. I leap out of the way, growling like a damn wolf. It’s a sound I never imagined a dragon could make.

The bastard is confused. I bet he is. He thought this would be easy. He was wrong.

His scent is everywhere. Delicious. I breathe it in. Overcome by it.

My moment’s distraction is enough. He leaps onto my back, and his weight is crushing. It’s hard to breathe, hard to think around my own panic. He pins me, and a sound slips from my throat of distress.

"I don’t want to do this! I don’t want this to happen!"

The dragon behind me stiffens."You don’t want me?"

I’m breathing hard as Evander’s voice flows through my mind. I’m so panicked that it actually takes a minute for me to, number one, recognize him, and, number two, realize that the voice is in my head, not spoken out loud.

"Sam?"His voice is low and aroused, but confused.

I remember before, how some of my thoughts had felt more like speaking aloud than thoughts. Is that our way of communicating?

With nothing to lose, I decide to try it."Evander?"

The dragon rubs his cheek against mine from behind."You smell amazing. I can’t… I can’t control myself like this. I don’t know what I’m doing. No, I do know what I’m doing, but I don’t want to stop."

My eyes flutter closed. I don’t want to stop either, but I’m not ready for this."I want to shift back. Get off of me."

He’s slow. Reluctant. But he climbs off of me and circles so that he’s in front of me.

"Are you going to hurt me if I shift back?"I ask.

His big head shakes, and his dark eyes hold mine. I sense his desire, rolling over me in waves. He wants to mate me, he wants to be close to me, but he’s fighting his instincts, and I’m grateful for that.

Closing my eyes, I focus on shifting back, and it’s easier this time. All I do is picture myself and push the idea that I want to be back in that form, and I feel myself shifting and changing. But to my surprise, when I open my eyes, Evander has shifted back too.

I’m panting. I don’t know why. “You’re a dragon too.”

He nods, licking his lips as his gaze roams over me.

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