Lure of the Dragon - Bonus Edition Read online

  When Tessa had first moved to Arizona, she’d dreamed about taking a balloon ride over spectacular canyons and red rock formations. But this was better — infinitely better. The landscape swept under her belly, and the combination of canyon grandeur and tiny details was exhilarating, like the sight of a startled rabbit dashing through the scrub or the sunlight glittering in a bend of a creek.

  But, whoa. She was going fast, and the end of the canyon was in sight. The dead end, a sheer rock face.

  Turn! she ordered her dragon.

  Turn, Kai called to her. Nice and slow…

  I have a better idea, her inner beast chuckled.

  She tipped her chin up and stretched her neck, leading the rest of her body in an upward curve. Up and up like a stunt plane going straight for the sun. Tessa’s eyes went wide, but she was powerless to resist the instincts guiding her flight. It was like an amusement park ride — a feeling of sheer terror mixed with a heady thrill. Reddish-orange rock flashed by as she paralleled the vertical surface of the cliff the way she’d previously skimmed over the trees. Close to the sun-drenched rock, the air was warmer, but that was a thrill, too. Her shoulders were stiff and determined, holding her wings wide. When her speed dropped, she beat her wings without thinking. And, zoom! From one moment to the next, the red rock was gone, replaced by endless blue sky as she shot out of the canyon and into the clear.

  Whee! her dragon squealed, spiraling higher and higher toward the sun.

  Wow, Tessa, Kai called.

  Holy smokes, I’m really doing it. She squinted into the sky and turned again. It was like dancing with the wind, the sun, the elements. Freedom like she’d never felt before.

  Smoke, her dragon murmured, taking a deep breath.

  With all the force she could muster, Tessa forced the beast to swallow the fire building in its throat. One new thrill at a time was plenty for her.

  She didn’t dare look back, but she sensed her mate rushing to catch up. His voice was full of wonder and surprise, making her chest swell with pride.

  I think you just skipped ahead to lesson ten, Kai laughed.

  She beamed, pushing away the thought that eventually, she’d have to knuckle down to more serious lessons like self-defense and aerial combat. Kai was determined to teach her everything she needed to survive in the dragon world, and given her near-miss at the hands of Damien Morgan, Tessa knew how important that was. But that was for later. Right now, she could allow herself to enjoy and go along with the ride.

  She leveled out slowly and smiled at Kai. Where to, my mate?

  Follow me, he said, speeding westward so fast, she wanted to protest. But a few firm wingbeats later, she caught up. Maybe she was faster than she thought.

  Glide in my wake, he called. Follow my movements closely.

  She held her breath, because her dragon pushed so close — a mere body length behind his tail — that she’d have no time to react to a sudden change in direction. A whole new meaning of tailgating flashed through her mind.

  Um, isn’t this a little close? she protested.

  Ha. Watch this, her dragon laughed.

  Kai dipped into a valley, and she dipped, too. He banked left, and she followed smoothly. He led her through one maneuver after another, and she mirrored him every time. Whatever move she didn’t consciously anticipate through her mental connection to Kai, his powerful draft pulled her through. Tessa had always marveled at how flocks of birds moved in perfect unison, and here she was, doing just that.

  We’re not birds, and we’re certainly not part of a flock. We’re dragons, the deep voice in her mind growled.

  She laughed so hard, Kai turned around and arched an eyebrow. What?

  Nothing. Everything. This is great, she babbled, too happy to string together much more.

  How about you lead? He arched up and around then dropped into position behind her.

  Tessa had to smile. Her mate knew her too well. He knew her restless dragon well, too. She’d never be the subservient female, and he didn’t want her to be.

  He shook his head, reading her thoughts. I love you for you. Now show me your stuff, dragon.

  She grinned and led him on her own follow-the-leader adventure, dipping low until sage and bear grass nearly tickled her belly, then soaring higher again. When she banked, her dragon whispered something sultry and made her glide in the same sideways position that had terrified her before. Kai mirrored her, and for a split second, they flew belly to belly, intoxicatingly close. When they peeled away, the blue of Kai’s eyes was glowing — the peacock blue of arousal, not the red hue of anger. And damned if her own eyes didn’t heat with the same kind of need.

  Tell you what, her dragon murmured. One more loop and then we head back to that cozy cabin to reward our mate.

  Tessa smiled. It was good to have her two sides agree— especially on that plan.

  Navigating by instinct, she found their box canyon and dropped smoothly into the cleft in the earth. Kai flew right behind her as they glided the length of the canyon without a single wingbeat to disturb the still air. Tessa coasted into a perfectly controlled landing, then pulled up sharply and looked around.

  Whoa. She’d really done it. She’d flown and landed. Not only that, but she’d trusted her dragon side.

  See? I told you it would be good, her dragon murmured, letting her shift back to human shape as smoothly as she’d taken flight.

  Tessa’s shoulders were sore and her neck was stiff, but she’d never felt so good. Kai landed, grinning ear to ear, and shifted, too.

  “You’re amazing,” he said, pulling her into a tight hug.

  Tessa blinked. A second earlier, they’d been two dragons, crowding the open space by their cabin. Now they were human — and absolutely naked, a desert version of Adam and Eve.

  Which reminds me, her dragon murmured as her girl parts heated up again. Time to reward our mate.

  Oh, she’d reward him, all right. Starting with a kiss to his ear — a kiss she stretched all the way down his neck then over to his mouth, because her body was on fire for him all over again.

  “Inside. Time to head inside,” Kai murmured, running his hands down her thighs. Lower and lower, coaxing her to wrap both legs around his waist and let him carry her in.

  Airborne all over again, she chuckled to herself.

  “What?” he grinned, stepping toward the door.

  She shook her head and murmured into her next kiss. “Nothing.”

  That word was the last coherent syllable she uttered, because when Kai kicked the door open and proceeded to kiss her senseless on the bed, all she could do was moan in delight. He laid her out on the bed and kneeled between her legs.

  The pendant she’d left on the bedside table gleamed green in a beam of sunlight, winking at her. She’d had to throw it into the sea off Lanai to distract her attackers weeks earlier, but Kai — sweet, considerate Kai — had gone back to retrieve it, knowing how much it meant to her. The real emerald — the Lifestone — was back on Koa Point estate on Maui for safekeeping.

  “Ready, my mate?” Kai whispered as his eyes gleamed.

  The blue of his eyes was brighter than ever, filled with joy and promise that stretched to forever and back.

  She arched her back and smiled. “Ready, my mate.”

  * * *

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  The Aloha Shifters series continues with Lure of the Wolf, Book 2. Can Boone solve the mystery of his destined mate’s identity while protecting her — without risking his own heart? Click here for a sneak peek of Boone’s story or order your copy on Amazon today!

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  Sneak Peek: Lure of the Wolf

  She can’t remember her past. He wishes he could forget his.

  Nina only has the vaguest memories of who she is or why two men tried to kill her one terrifying night. All she knows is how quickly she’s falling in love with her rescuer — a man with secrets of his own. With her, he’s kind, gentle, and fun — but there’s a ferocious, animal side to Boone and the group of Special Forces vets he shares an exclusive seaside estate with. Can Boone help her uncover the past before the killers catch up with her? Or will an unexpected twist of fate steal her only chance at true love?

  If fate were to come knocking on the door of Boone Hawthorne’s beach bungalow, he’d shove it right back into the sea — especially if it started whispering any nonsense about destined mates. But one night, a woman washes up on his private stretch of beach. Before the wolf shifter knows it, he’s breaking every personal rule for her and making promises he’s not sure he can keep. Investigating Nina’s past means crossing paths with a powerful archenemy, cutthroat criminals, and a ruthlessly selfish ex-lover who will stop at nothing to get Boone back in her bed. Can he solve the mystery of Nina’s identity while protecting her — without risking his own heart?

  * * *

  Chapter One

  “No!”

  Nina screamed and flailed, but that didn’t stop the thick arms that grappled with her.

  “Finish her off already,” one man barked as she was flung across a narrow space.

  Her head thumped against something hard, and she slumped to the ground. Everything went dim as the voices closed in around her.

  “Is she dead?” Someone prodded her shoulder.

  Her head spun from the blow, and bile rose in her throat. Where was she? What was happening? How had she gotten to this dark, wet place?

  “She’s still breathing,” a man said above the ringing in her ears. He was close enough to engulf her with his vile breath, but she couldn’t move.

  “Well, she won’t be alive much longer. I need her dead. But it needs to look like an accident,” the first man said in a strangely familiar voice. Moments ago, she’d recognized him. Now, nothing made sense. The blow to her head had rattled her memories around. Nothing fit into place.

  “Accidental drowning, if they find her body at all. Come on. You get her feet,” the second man said, and they lifted her.

  She flexed her fingers and moaned.

  “On three,” the man said, swinging her body through the air.

  She already felt sick, but the motion only made things worse. She blinked, desperate to pull herself together before it was too late.

  “Two…”

  A gnawing sense of dread spread through her bones. Why were her limbs so slow to react? Why was she so confused?

  “Three,” the man grunted, and she was airborne.

  She flailed helplessly before hitting the water, closing her mouth too late. Salt water choked her, and an invisible weight yanked her body into the depths of the Pacific. Terror gripped her — enough to jolt her halfway to her senses. She kicked toward the moonlight, desperate for air.

  When she broke through the surface, gulping wildly, her long brown hair covered her face. She pushed at the tangles and coughed so hard it hurt.

  “Wait! Help!” she managed to scream.

  A bad idea — attracting the attention of the men who’d just thrown her off a boat. They wanted her dead, but she couldn’t quite process that thought. Why would anyone want to kill her? What had she done?

  “Shit, she’s not dead,” one of the men grunted.

  “Not yet, she isn’t,” the other replied.

  Bang! Something flat and solid smashed the water right beside her head.

  Move it, fast! a voice in the back of her mind cried. Those men were swatting at her with an oar — and aiming for her head. They want you dead. Get away!

  She paddled frantically. How was she supposed to get away? The lights that dotted the shoreline — Maui’s shoreline; that much she knew — were faint and distant. The only boat in sight was the sleek white motor yacht she’d just been shoved off. Angel’s something — she could see the name embossed across the stern in gold.

  She kicked backward as the oar hit the water again and again, thrusting at her like a club. It glanced off her arm, and she choked in pain.

  “Hurry up,” one man urged the other.

  The oar slammed into her shoulder. It grazed the side of her head when they pulled it back, and her vision blurred.

  “Get her!” she heard the man yell again, but his voice was distant and fading away.

  If you black out now, you will die, the inner voice screamed. Dive! Now! Go!

  Nina didn’t dive so much as sink. The water muffled all sound, and salt stung in her eyes. Which way was up? Which way was down?

  Moonlight filtered through the water, and though instinct told her to kick toward it, she paddled sideways before surfacing again. The breath she inhaled drew in as much water as air, and she sputtered wildly.

  “She’s over there!” one of the men shouted.

  She wanted to scream, to cry. There had to be some mistake. But she could barely breathe, let alone speak, so all she managed was a garbled moan.

  “Forget it,” the other muttered. “No way will she make it all the way to shore. We’re three miles out.”

  He was right, and she knew it. The ocean was relatively still, but land was miles away. Her clothes were soaked, her limbs stiff. Her head throbbed, and her vision was blurry.

  Do something! Now! instinct screamed as the motorboat powered up and sped away.

  She yanked one shoe off, then the other. Her legs kept tangling in her skirt, so she shed that, too, and let the ocean swallow the fabric up.

  The ocean will swallow you too, if you don’t get moving. Go!

  She turned in a slow circle, wondering which way to go. Wondering why she even bothered. Maybe she should let death take her quickly instead of fighting it.

  You’re not a quitter. You can’t be. Just like Mom. She wasn’t a quitter.

  Nina sobbed at the thought of her mother. So sick, so frail, yet refusing to give up the fight. That single memory was clear in the foggy landscape of her mind.

  Come on, make her proud.

  She slapped the water, as if the ocean were to blame for the cancer that had stolen her mother away. Then the sound of the motorboat’s engine changed, and she spun around, seeing it turn back.

  “Finish her off!” the man shouted.

  The engine revved to a roar, and the boat accelerated, kicking a plume of water in its wake as it sliced through the water, heading her way.

  “No!”

  She couldn’t see into the deckhouse, but she could imagine two men hunched over the controls, grinning madly.

  Move! Swim! Now!

  Frantically, she paddled right. The engine throbbed, filling the air and the water with its brute force. The water around her lifted with the bow wave, and she swam for her life, high on a sudden rush of adrenaline.

  Faster! Go! Go!

  Water frothed all around her, making her tumble and turn as if caught in a breaker off a beach. There was a deafening hiss, a hammering throb. The terrifying sense of a mighty hulk slicing the water behind her.

  And, zoom! The motor yacht zipped past. Nina bobbed to the surface just in time to see the bow carve through the water an arm’s length away. She kicked backward, desperate to clear the propellers, hacking and coughing the whole time.

  Alive. She was alive. Her lungs cried, and her body ached, but she was alive. She heaved and sputtered, watching the yacht buzz toward the distant shore.

  She treaded water, trying to catch her breath — and to make sense of it all. But her mind was hazy, and her memories were a jumbled mess. Where was she? What happened?

  The loose shirt she’d been wearing floated arou
nd her, restricting her arms, so she pulled it over her head and cast it aside. Floating was easier without it, but still, it was an awfully long way to land.

  So swim. Just swim. One easy stroke after another.

  She wanted to protest, but her arms were already obeying the inner command, as if that were her mother begging her.

  Don’t think, honey. Just swim.

  The moon rippled over the water. The hum of the yacht’s engine faded away, and an eerie peace settled over the ocean.

  Swim, honey. The way you used to go all the way across the lake.

  That lake, wherever it was, was little more than a faint memory. And heck, this was no lake.

  You can do this. One stroke at a time.

  The ocean rose and fell with the long, lazy rhythm of the swell, and she imagined that it was cheering for her, too.

  You can do it. One stroke at a time.

  Sneak Peek: Chapter Two

  Nina had no idea how long she swam or how far. She simply swam, looking up from time to time. The lights didn’t seem to grow any brighter or nearer, but strangely, she didn’t despair. Her body was on autopilot, swimming weakly along, and she let her mind tune out. Maybe drowning wouldn’t be as bad if her mind was as numb as her fingertips.

  She switched to her back at some point and looked up at the twinkling stars. Maybe they were rooting for her. Maybe she’d make it after all.

  She lost track of everything and faded into a trance that may or may not have been death grasping at her toes. One minute, she was dreaming about dolphins, and the next, her hand closed over coarse, gritty sand. She kicked feebly, wondering why she wasn’t moving any more, then closed her eyes. Let death take her. She didn’t care any more.

  “Hey!” A deep voice reached her groggy mind.

  A wave swished over sand, and she flexed her fingers. Sand? She blinked. It was still night, but darker than before — so late, the moon had set. Pebbly bits of coral jutted into her belly, and her head ached. Her shoulder, too.

  “Hey, you can’t be here,” the man said again. His deep, resounding voice stroked her skin and warmed her threadbare nerves.