Page 28 of The Dragon's Captured Heart
In the end, I still blamed myself.
“So, that’s why we’re running away?”
We hurried past several small shops before I tightened my grip ever so slightly on Madison and turned her, ducking into a chair seller’s shop. Dozens of chairs of every style imaginable hung from the ceiling. We hurried down the only aisle in the store with my head ducked low to avoid battering it against the solid wood pieces.
“Sorry, not interested,” I said, waving to the shopkeeper. “Can we use your back exit, please?”
The shopkeeper looked at the two of us, my arm around her, and smiled. He probably assumed we were not supposed to be together and were avoiding being seen. It was a drama that never visited his shop, and he was eager to be a part of it.
“Of course,” he said, coming to his feet slowly, the gray in his beard betraying his age. “Behind the mirror there. It will take you to the next alley over.”
“Thank you,” I said, easing the mirror aside and ushering Madison through first.
Looking over my shoulder to make sure Cleye hadn’t spotted us, I ran into Madison, who’d stopped.
“Whoa,” I cried, both arms snaking around her, stopping her from stepping forward into the couple who she’d paused to avoidas they walked by. My collision threw her off balance, and she stumbled forward.
As chance would have it, my right hand found her stomach, but my left hand closed around her breast as I pulled her into me, her back to my chest.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, dropping the hand as fast as I could.
She waved it off but didn’t say anything. We both stood still, making awkward eye contact with the other couple as they strolled past, taking their sweet time as if to drive home the point that we should slow down.
The entire three-second process only made me more keenly aware of the firmness of Madison’s backside while my hand echoed with the memory of her breast, firm and nicely sized.
My dragon fanned the flames, pushing images and ideas into my brain of touching Maddie without any clothing in the way. Of what it would sound like to hear her breath catch in her throat as I caressed her skin and teased her nipples until—
“Callum!”
It was Cleye. I whipped my head around to see him enter the alley. He must have anticipated what we were doing and moved to cut us off.
“Oh, come on,” I moaned, taking Madison by the hand and leading her down the alley in the opposite direction, looking for somewhere to go, somewhere to hide.
We reached the end of the alley, spilling out onto a main concourse.
“Come on,” I said, pulling her around the corner and hurrying to the next alleyway.
“Are we just going to repeat this?” she asked, growing impatient with me.
“No.”
We stepped into the alley and moved along it until nobody was near us.
“Don’t scream,” I said, stepping close to her, wrapping my arms around her waist, and pulling her tight to my chest. “Please don’t scream.”
Then I bent my legs and leaped into the air. At the same time, wings emerged from my back and propelled us into the sky.
Madison didn’t scream, but she did let out a too-loudeep!Which I knew would draw some attention.
We landed on the roof a moment later, the wings disappearing into my shoulders once more.
“Come on.” I led her across the rooftop and onto the next building. There, I ducked her down, hiding below the wall that ran around the edge.
“Callum, why are we hiding?”
“Shhh,” I said.
“Are you really that scared of him?”
