Page 23 of Red Fury

I hook my thumbs in the waistband of my briefs and push them down, adding them to the pile of clothes on the ground. When I look back, Shadow is standing in just her panties, her arms crossed over her chest.

Holy smokes!

She’s absolutely breathtaking. Smooth skin and lean muscle, curves in exactly the right places. Her breasts are perfect, just the right size for my hands, her ripe nipples are tight and so fucking pink. Those long legs… Holy shit… They’re perfect for wrapping around a male.

I force myself to look away before I do something stupid.

“I’ve got you. You can do this. You can trust me to keep you safe,” I tell her again, then let my dragon surge forward.

The shift is always intense, but thankfully quick. My bones elongate, muscles stretch, scales burst through my skin. There’s pain, but there’s also pleasure in a strange kind of way. It’s also a relief, like finally being able to breathe after holding your breath underwater. My dragon is massive, with scales the color of midnight and deep red markings that seem to glow faintly in the darkness.

Shadow pulls in a deep breath as she takes me in.

I turn toward her, rumbling softly to encourage her to join me. She doesn’t, she just stands there. I rumble again, but she shakes her head.

“I can’t. I just…” She shakes her head again.

Then she starts getting dressed in hurried movements.

What the fuck?

I shift back to my human form, the change happening so smoothly that it barely takes a few seconds. Shadow is pulling her shoes on, her hands shaking slightly.

“Shadow?” I step toward her, not caring that I’m still naked. “What are you doing?”

She looks up at me, her eyes wide with shock. “Your control… How? I don’t understand. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. Is everything we’ve been told on Draig Island a lie? You shouldn’t be so controlled, Fury. Not in your human form and certainly not in your dragon form. How? I’ve spent my whole life containing a species of dragon on an island because they were out of control. That this isn’t the case in your human form, I can understand. I can accept. But that you’re so constrained in your dragon form… It…it makes me question everything I’ve been made to believe.”

I can see she’s shaken, and I understand why. Everything she’s been raised to believe about Reds being feral monsters just got turned on its head.

“I couldn’t do it,” she says. “I don’t trust myself. I don’t trust my dragon. She’ll be wild, unlike yours.” Her eyes glisten with unshed tears, but she blinks them away. “Also, I have to follow my directives. The main one is that I may not shift.”

“You’re making a mistake.” I start reaching for my own clothes, frustration building in my chest. “I understand that you’re freaked out, but—”

“No buts… I’m headed back to Draig soon enough,” she says, not meeting my eyes. “I can wait until then.”

“Can you?” I ask.

“Yes. I can.”

I nod once, pulling my briefs on.

“And?” There’s the hint of a smile playing at her lips.

“And what?” I can’t help but smile back at her.

“Was shifting better than sex?”

I laugh because that’s the last thing I expected her to ask me. “Not even close. Not for me because it hasn’t been that long since my last shift, but for you…”

She closes her eyes and bites her lip, and I’m not sure if she’s thinking about shifting or about sex. Probably better if I don’t know the answer to that question.

“Are you sure you don’t want to shift?” I ask her again. “We still have time.”

She opens her eyes and shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I’m already breaking every rule just by interacting with you. And the truce, we won’t even talk about that.” Something flares in her eyes that I can’t quite get a read on. “I can’t afford to break any more than I already have.” She straightens her shoulders. “I’ll be fine. It’s not your job to worry about me.”

“It is if you get us exposed.”

“I won’t.”