Page 7 of Dragon’s Golden Mate (Shifter Nation: Enchanted Over Forty #2)

“What’s the matter?”

“Well, first I trip over my own feet like an idiot, and now I can’t fix this busted knee!” she hissed. “I should be able to at least heal it well enough to walk again, but it’s just not working.”

“You didn’t trip. It was an earthquake of some sort. I felt it, too.” There was something odd about it. Over the centuries, Kendrick had experienced numerous earthquakes, everything from minor tremors to massive vibrations that split the ground. This one, for some reason, didn’t quite feel natural.

He wanted to know more about it, but he’d figure it out later. Right now, he was only concerned with Maeve. His dragon felt fierce and protective inside him as he held her there on the side of the street. It wanted nothing more than to shift and wrap its massive wings around her, keeping her safe.

“Try again,” he urged gently. “I’m sure you can do it.”

Her mouth twisted in pain as she reached for her knee again. She was the injured one, but it hurt him to see her like that. His beast writhed and ached inside him, longing to do something about it. But there was no enemy to avenge, and he didn’t know any magic.

Maeve once again reached for her knee. She breathed deeply, making her body press against his. It wasn’t right that she could bring him so much pleasure with the merest touch, yet he couldn’t erase her pain.

Tiny gold sparks flew from her fingertips. That had to be good, right?

But Maeve sagged in his arms. “Something’s wrong with me. My magic hasn’t been working for the last few days. I couldn’t light the candles, I couldn’t do a lesson with Nia, and now I can’t even heal myself.”

He saw defeat and fear in her face, and his heart ripped.

“I’ll need to shift.”

Kendrick glanced around. Several other people were moving carefully through the neighborhood.

The quake had been a small one, but it’d managed to knock flowerpots off porches.

People checked their phones for information, looking uncertain.

They weren’t paying attention to him or to Maeve, but they were still right in the middle of town. “Well, you can’t do that here.”

“Maybe I can walk back to Tina’s place, or at least hobble,” she suggested, pointing toward the way they’d come.

Kendrick thought about just how far they’d already walked. It hadn’t been a big deal as long as they were both on their feet, but he didn’t want her to suffer any longer than she had to. As he took in their surroundings, he found just the right spot.

“I think I have a better solution.” Kendrick already had his right arm around her back, and now he slipped his left under her legs. He lifted slowly, being careful of her knee, but she still sucked a hissing breath in through her teeth. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right,” she gasped. Maeve’s arms circled his neck, and she lay her head against his shoulder. “Now, I’m a literal burden, though.”

“Not at all.” If she hadn’t been injured, he would’ve bounced her around in his arms just to prove his point.

“Where are we going?” Maeve lifted her head slightly when she realized he wasn’t heading back down the sidewalk.

He was crossing it, instead. “There’s a little grove of trees back here.”

“You want me to shift here? Right in town?” Maeve shook her head, but she held onto him even more tightly. “I can’t do that. Salem is pretty liberal, but I think even the folks here will have something to say if they see a wolf in their backyard.”

“Everyone is distracted by the quake.” Kendrick slipped into a narrow alleyway between two buildings. He ducked under the low-hanging branch of a tulip tree. “They’re not paying any attention to us, and no one will see you back here.”

“I don’t know about this. Is this someone’s yard?”

“It might be.” He laid her on the ground in front of a couple of young, thick cedars that formed a wall along the backside of the tiny clearing.

A thicket of sassafras grew off to the left, and maples and oaks surrounded them everywhere else.

“If it is, they must not be too concerned with their landscaping.”

“Well, I don’t see any windows that look straight down here,” Maeve admitted.

He knelt in front of her. “You don’t have anything to worry about beyond maybe getting a few bugs up your skirt. I promise. I’m here to protect you.”

Maeve’s soft brown eyes had picked up the earthy tones that surrounded them, bringing out hints of green and yellow that he hadn’t seen before. “I’ll trust you, then.”

“I like to think you can.” Kendrick fell into those eyes, and for a brief moment, he forgot the potential danger they’d be in if anyone did happen to see her. “I’m right here.”

She nodded. “Now, let’s see if I can actually do this. If my magic is already failing me, there’s no telling whether or not I’m still in touch with my wolf.”

Kendrick put his back to the cedars, ready to spring forward if anyone should somehow manage to find them. “You only need your other form for a few minutes. I’m sure you can do it.”

Through the worry and agony in her face, she managed to smile a little. “You have an awful lot of confidence in me.”

“I think it’s well deserved.” He pointedly looked away from her to scan the area around them.

Kendrick wanted her to know he meant every word of what he’d said.

He’d stand there and protect her while she shifted.

If by chance someone happened to see her and tried to come after them, they’d have a dragon to contend with.

Her breaths were slow and controlled, mixing with the sound of the breeze through the fresh spring foliage around them.

She was tapping into her inner beast, pulling it out of her.

Kendrick felt his breath matching hers and forced himself to stop.

She needed Kendrick the man right now and only the promise of Kendrick the dragon.

Maeve sucked in one long breath. As she let it out, she released her wolf.

Her shoulders hunched and then rolled back as her spine elongated.

A tail sprang into existence, and her hands and feet curled into paws.

Thick, glorious fur that reminded him of sterling silver burst from her skin.

That beautiful face he’d been admiring all day stretched forward into a muzzle.

Her ears moved up the side of her head and turned into two tall triangles, and her transformation was complete.

Kendrick couldn’t remember ever seeing anything so beautiful.

Her eyes were still the same color, that deep brown flecked with sand, earth, and grass.

When she looked at him, it was with the same trust and friendship he saw in her human form.

It wasn’t as though this was the first time Kendrick had been around a shifter who wasn’t a dragon.

He’d met many kinds of shifters over the years, yet watching her release her true form was an experience unlike anything he’d ever had before.

He felt stunned, rooted to the spot by her raw beauty.

His dragon churned and whirled inside him.

It wanted out! It could feel the change in her, and it wanted to join in.

The tips of his scales poked at the underside of his skin, and his teeth sharpened.

There was a hunger inside of him, but not for food.

Kendrick curled his fists. He couldn’t let her down. She needed him right now.

“How does it feel?” he asked, his voice rough as he nodded toward her leg.

Maeve couldn’t answer him in English, but she could hear him.

She got up gingerly and stepped forward.

Her hind paw instantly went back up in the air for a moment as a small yip escaped her throat.

Hesitantly, she lowered it to the ground once more.

First just her toes, and then the pads. She shifted her weight, slowly adding more until she stood squarely on all four paws.

To be certain, she walked a small circle in their little hideaway.

Kendrick watched carefully, but he saw no further signs of injury. Relief flooded through him.

Judging by the slight wag of Maeve’s tail, he guessed she was feeling quite relieved herself. Maeve put her back to the cedars and shook out her coat. She dipped her head forward and closed her eyes.

It was no less remarkable to watch the process in reverse.

As much as he enjoyed her animal form, Kendrick couldn’t help but stare as her muscles and bones once again reconfigured themselves.

Her legs and arms, her back, her hands, everything that had become so familiar just in the last few days returned.

He rejoiced at seeing the long, intriguing length of her hair come flowing back, the silver strands reminding him of her wolf’s fur.

“All better?” he asked.

She was sitting on the ground, holding her knee in her hands and flexing it experimentally. Her lips curled into a smile of satisfaction. “At least that still works.”

“I’m not surprised. It seems we can rely on our inner beasts more than anything else sometimes.” Kendrick watched the curve of her calf as she stretched her foot, continuing to examine the previously injured knee.

“And then there’s you.” Maeve flicked her hair over her shoulder and looked up at him.

“Hm?”

“I can rely on you,” she clarified. “I’m sorry that I doubted you, but I was worried.”

“That’s all right. You had a right to be. Here. Let me help you.” He reached down for her hands and pulled her to her feet.

As she put her weight on them, she stumbled forward and into his arms. Kendrick caught her easily, holding her body against his.

Her soft breasts pressed against him just below his chest, and he could feel the strength of her thighs through her dress.

She’d grabbed his arms as she fell, each hand now curling around a fistful of his shirt.

“Apparently, I’ve had to rely on you a lot lately,” she laughed.

Her hair fell over his arms, which were still wrapped around her body.

He could hold her like this forever, just gazing at her face.

Kendrick wanted to memorize each of the little lines that arced out from the corners of her eyes.

He wanted to trace the gentle waves of every strand of hair.

The weight of her in his arms was far too pleasant.

His voice was gruff when he spoke. “I don’t mind.”

“Good.” She swallowed, and for just a fraction of a second, her eyes dipped to his mouth. “It’s nice to have someone to rely on. Someone I can trust.”

Maeve’s heartbeat thundered against him, or was that his own racing pulse? “It seems that we’re able to do quite a bit for each other.”

“Yes.” Her voice trembled slightly, and her breath was warm against his throat.

“Maeve.” Kendrick liked the way her name felt on his tongue. He liked everything about her, and it was all too much to hold back any longer. “May I kiss you?”

A short breath escaped her lips, and she blinked slowly at him. “You’re gentleman enough to ask first?”

His hand was on her lower back. He let it flow around and up her hip before he lifted it, running his thumb delicately just below her lower lip. “I don’t want it unless you want it as badly as I do.”

“I do,” she whispered.

He bent his head and pressed his lips against the delicate velvet of her mouth. He closed his eyes and luxuriated in the feel of her in his arms, her curves against his body. Kendrick splayed his hands over her lower back, holding her tightly.

Her kisses were delicate, exploring. Her breath increased, pressing her chest harder against him. Kendrick ran the tip of his tongue just along the parting of her lips, and his dragon shivered with pleasure when she opened up to him. Their tongues twined together, twisting and searching.

Maeve skimmed her palms against his upper arms, reaching back until they were behind his neck. She ran her fingers through his hair, sending a shiver of pleasure down his spine.

When a small moan escaped her throat, he could hardly control himself any longer.

Without breaking their liplock, Kendrick bent slightly and grabbed her waist. He hauled her up and leaned back so that her legs were wrapped around him, the skirt of her dress shifting up slightly.

She was above him now, her fingers running the length of his jawline and along his collarbone.

Her silvery hair cascaded down around him, enveloping him.

Kendrick held her tightly as he deepened the kiss, his tongue searching every part of her mouth.

Her backside was firmly against his arms. She could undoubtedly feel his hardness through their clothes, but he didn’t care.

He only knew that this was the first peace his dragon had felt for three days.

It craved her, and it couldn’t get close enough. Neither could he.

The ground trembled.

Maeve pulled her head back. “Was that what I think it was?”

“Yes.” He knew the moment was gone, yet he held her tightly.

One side of her mouth tipped up a little. “You’re going to have to stop making the earth move under my feet like that.”

“At least you didn’t fall this time.” He squeezed her a little before putting her down, letting her body slide slowly against his until she could stand again.

“I’m not sure that’s true,” she murmured as she slowly let go of him. Maeve cleared her throat. “Is it crazy if I think these quakes are coming from that way?”

“No, I felt it, too.” His dragon could sense many things about the world, and Kendrick trusted them. Having just been in her wolf form only a few minutes ago, it didn’t surprise him that she was tapping into that as well.

“I, uh, I suppose we should go and check that out.” She slowly stepped toward the alleyway.

“Right.” He went with her, his body still alight from their kiss.