Page 8 of A Secret Crush Valentine's

A snow leopard shifter, to be exact. Grim Jim’s new prize, which

changed everything.

This is bad,he thought.Really, really bad.

He’d just bumped into the one woman who’d claimed his heart after nearly two decades. That made him the happiest guy in the world. But it also meant he was about to be waist-deep in crap because she was in more danger than she could imagine.

Chapter Three

A Traipse Through the Magical Junkyard

Okay, maybe thiswasthe afterlife, or her spirit was stuck in limbo, or this was all a very detailed dream because the man standing before her couldn’t possibly be real.

Except he was. Deep down, she knew that much.

She took another long look at Damon and felt her breath hitch in her throat. He looked different, alright. And it wasn’t just the stubble on his chin, or his shorter brown hair, or that chiseled chin. He’d filled out nicely since the last time she’d seen him, standing at least a foot taller than her so that her face was level with his barrel chest.

Broad shoulders widened his frame, nearly filling her vision. Julia was willing to bet those muscles were larger than her head. A few scars lined his abs, traveling down into his trousers. He looked less like the high school football jock she’d had a silly crush on and more like a hardened survivor. His eyes were as green as ever, but even they had changed. Gazing into them felt like staring at a veteran. She couldn’t guess what Damon had been through over the past 16 years; she wasn’t sure she wanted to know, yet curiosity burned within her like wildfire. It was hard not to want answers, especially when the questions continued to prod her mind.

“You were… gone,” she said, choking back the lump that had lodged itself in her throat. “I thought… I thought you were...”

“So did I, Red, for a while,” he replied. “When I got back to the surface, you were gone. Everything was gone. I figured I must be—”

“Dead,” she said, completing his sentence. “It’s hard not to think that this is some kind of heaven when there’s so much snow around.” At least she wasn’t the only one who’d mistakenthis place for an afterlife. “So where exactly is this place? I don’t think it’s anywhere in the States.”

Damon shook his head, those eyes locked on hers. “Frost Mountain isn’t anywhere on earth.”

It took Julia a moment to process what he’d just said. She lifted an eyebrow at him like he’d lost his marbles. “Are you saying we’re in space, or on some other planet, or—”

“No, not another planet, a separate dimension.”

She blinked. He wasn’t making any sense. Nothing he’d just said answered the questions swirling through her mind, like what in deuces was going on, how were they both still alive, and why he’d been a dragon about to attack her just moments ago?

“What are you talking about?” she asked him.

He simply stared at her for a moment, like she was a piece of meat he was trying to guess the weight of. Then, after sweeping their surroundings with his gaze, he took her hand in his, sending tingles up her arm.

“I’ll explain as we go,” he told her, a look of unease filling his eyes. “We need to move.”

Thatwas definitely enlightening. “Where to?”

“To Caprichor.”

***

They didn’t continue down the mountain but instead headed west in the direction of more trees. Damon led the way, occasionally glancing over his shoulder. At first, Julia figured he was probably making sure she was still behind him, but the uncomfortable expression on his face told her it was something else.

“You still haven’t answered my questions about this place,” she reminded him. “This… dimension. Frosty Mountain, you called it?”

“FrostMountain,” he corrected. His features relaxed, and Julia could tell he was grateful for the distraction from whateverit was that was bothering him. “And yes, itisa separate dimension. Don’t look at me like I’m crazy. You, of all people, should know I’m telling the truth. We’ve already had the impossible happen to us. We’resupposedto be impossible.”

She knew he was referring to the fact that they were both supernaturals. The fact that he was a dragon shifter still baffled her. How had she missed that he was like her? Maybe that was why he’d been drawn to her. Then again, he hadn’t known about her, either.

“The first thing you need to know about Frost Mountain is that it’s magic,” he started, stepping over a fallen tree and pausing to help her over it as well.

“Figures. I’ve been traveling for almost two months, and there’s not much around here that makes sense.”

“The second thing you need to know is that you can’t leave.”

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