“Ash,” she cried when she could finally manage to get a grip on herself. “Ash. Where are we going?”
She was caged in one of his giant feet, his talons sitting beneath her butt. She glanced around knowing they were high in the air. She was unsure if she should look down, but she couldn’t stand it anymore and glanced down. In the gibbous moonlight she could see all the way down to the water beneath them. Way beneath them.
“Oh, God,” she cried.
They traveled for a short while and then he started to descend. Finley braced herself as they took a steep dip and then she hit the sand. Her ass was full of sand and she was full of fury. She knew they’d been in danger with Tristian there, but doing what he did with no warning was not okay.
Ash landed in his dragon form on the sand a few feet from her. He lowered his head, his dragon eyes meeting hers. She wrapped her arms around herself. Between the dunk in the ocean, the very breezy flight to wherever the hell they were now, and the cool night, she started to shiver. Her wine buzz and warmth were completely gone and she was left feeling like washed up kelp.
“What are we doing h-here?” she asked through chattering teeth.
The dragon didn’t respond, just moved past her and was doing something she couldn’t see with his big hulking body blocking her view. She pulled off her remaining shoe and moved around him.
She saw a burst of green flames and then there was a small fire started. The flames illuminated a small hut. They were on his island, she realized.
She moved closer to the fire anxious to feel the warmth. She would’ve preferred Ash’s arms and his human voice.
Why wasn’t he shifting back? Why wasn’t he communicating with her? Why did he bring her here?
“Ash, you have some explaining to do,” she barked sticking her hands out to feel the heat of the fire. “Start talking.”
The dragon just snorted and plopped down in the sand and stared at her.
Finley glowered at him. “This isn’t funny. Say something.”
He lowered his head to the sand like a dog sulking.
Finley huffed. “This is just great.”
She finally warmed enough that she wasn’t shaking so hard it hurt. Her dress dried feeling like it had been plastered onto her body. It made her a little wistful, she loved the dress and she’d been looking forward to Ash taking it off her.
The dragon snorted drawing her attention again. She eyed the beast cautiously. She wasn’t scared of him, but he’d shifted and dragged her away leaving her completely stranded. She didn’t even know if Ash was in there. Was it only the dragon left behind? Had his crazy kicked in and left him unable to return to human form?
Between the ocean ride and the impact of landing on her clutch when she hit the sand, her phone was completely toast. Not that she expected she had a signal. She couldn’t even see lights of Miami on the horizon. They were far enough out she couldn’t swim, not without risking her life and limbs. Between the unpredictable waves of the ocean and the creatures that lived inside it, she was stuck. She didn’t want to get torn apart by a shark because she looked like a yummy seal on the surface.
Plus, she doubted very much that dragon Ash was going to let her get very far.
“You kidnap a lot of women?” she snapped at him.
The dragon lifted his head.Mine.
The voice filled her mind with such feral dominance it made her shiver.
“Yours, huh?”
Mine.
“Great, you can talk to me, but you’re basically Groot.”
He titled his head questioning.
“Tell Ash to show you more movies,” she grumbled.
She grew tired sitting by the fire. The night was growing late, and she was feeling the pull of sleep now that the adrenaline had waned. She glanced over at the hut. It was certainly ramshackle looking but if it could cut the wind, she would take it. She heard Ash moving behind her as she opened it.
There was no light inside, but she could manage to see enough between the fire and the moonlight. There wasn’t much inside, but there was a cot. He’d brought a cot here? She moved in and shimmied out of her dress, bra, and underwear. She knocked off as much sand as she could manage.
Before she could crawl into a bed strong arms wound around her waist. She gasped when a hard body pressed against her backside.