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The flight lasts maybe ten or fifteen minutes, and my stomach lurches as we begin a dive back down to the ground. Wind whips through my hair, and even though he’s still got me held close, I clutch onto his claws and feel him cradle me tighter still.

When the dragon finally sets me down, we’re in a forest clearing somewhere that seems like it’s far away from the city.

Dark pines tower above us, framed between their branches by a canopy of stars more breathtaking than any I’ve seen in years, maybe not since the last time I visited home in Idaho.

I take a few stumbling steps over the grassy, mossy ground, and the dragon flies to the other side of the clearing before touching down.

Steadying myself, I get my first good look at him and my breath catches in my throat.

A giant, horned head covered in more of those golden scales, looking like some kind of fairytale creature that would have been guarding a tower with a princess in it. A long, spiked tail, whipping impatiently behind him. A body that’s even more massive than I realized when he was carrying me.

He’s not looking at me, just standing there huffing, muscles twitching, shaking his head from side to side in irritation. But when I take a step into the clearing, breaking a twig under my foot, the dragon snaps to attention like he’s getting ready to strike, and his focus zeros in on me immediately.

My entire body freezes. I know those eyes.

Much larger now, but they’re the same shimmering gold that tracked my retreat earlier this evening, the same ones that had me pinned in place that first day at the Bureau.

“Blair?”

The dragon doesn’t make any sound where he’s crouched low to the ground, but his eyes flicker slightly, the only acknowledgment I'm going to get from him.

The only thing I’m going to get from him period, apparently, because a moment later he stands back up and turns his huge, graceful body away from me, toward the darkness of the forest.

“Hey!” I call after him, taking a couple more tentative steps into the clearing. “You’re not just going to leave me out here!”

The dragon doesn’t respond. Because of course he doesn’t.

I pull my phone out of my jacket pocket—to do what, I’m not sure, call 911? Call an Uber to take me home?—and find it completely out of range of cell service.

Great. Just perfect.

“Blair!” Is it wise to shout after a retreating dragon? Hell if I know, but I’m absolutely livid right now. I’ve been kidnapped, and I’m not about to be left for dead in the middle of some forest. “Hey! Lizard! I’m talking to you!”

A tremor runs through his enormous frame, and when he whips back around to face me, his golden eyes are burning as he lets out a low, ominous snarl.

“Oh. Shit.”

The dragon stalks closer, body moving in hypnotic, sinuous waves, and forked tongue flicking out to scent the air. I should back away, maybe try to run, but fear and panic keep me rooted to the spot.

How much of Blair is in there right now?

I don’t want to be a coward, and I don’t want to look away, but as he comes to stand just a couple of feet from me, I can’t help it. I close my eyes, fight the shudder that’s threatening to break over me, and although I’m not a praying woman, I silently send up a request to any gods who may be listening not to become a dragon’s snack tonight.

“That male is lucky to still be alive,” a rough, hissing voice rasps out into the night air.

My eyes fly open, and I’m face-to-face with Blair.

Only… it’s not Blair. Not quite.

He’s more man-shaped now than dragon, and his face is almost the same, but he’s taller, broader than his normal human form. His skin is also accented with more of those golden scales, and two enormous wings spread from his back.

He’s in a half-shift, if I had to guess. Terrifying and awe-inspiring as he stares at me with molten eyes that burn from the inside out.

He’s also naked. Very naked.

The scales covering his shoulders and biceps flash in the moonlight as his thick muscles contract and relax. More scales scatter across his chest, wind down his flanks, and wrap around his lower abs, flowing right into…

Nope. Absolutely not. I’m not finding out if he’s got a scale-covered cock.