It was beautiful. The land was in shadows all around us, but the sky was clear with no moon in sight, and I could see so much more of it. Stars surrounded us, and it was like we danced among them.
It was… sensual. The dragon undulated, his motions rocking my body against Misha’s. My big bear had wrapped his arms around me, and the tops of his thighs clenched tightly around my hips. A heat that challenged even the dragon’s pressed against my ass. The heat was shaped like a big, thick—
Oh.
I was thankful Misha couldn’t see the blush flame up my neck as I belatedly realized where that heat was coming from. And now that I was paying attention, I realized his scent surrounded me. Whiskey. Heather. Damn it. I’d been keeping space between us since that kiss, but now there was no escaping him, and my body was going into overdrive because of that.
There was a reason the press of Misha’s body against my own felt hotter than a dragon’s heat. That couldn’t possibly be normal, unless everything I knew about dragons—which, admittedly was based on fairy tales and legends—was wrong. But if I was going into heat...
Wei suddenly started descending, and the change in direction pressed me even closer to Misha. I let out an instinctive groan, my eyes rolling back as my desire flared. Misha tightened his arms around me.
“Not yet, Irish.” He barely nibbled my ear and I gasped. Every point of contact between us burned like an iron pressed to my skin. “But soon. We need to finish this mission first.”
Mission. Right.
The reminder snapped my mind back into focus, and I realized how far I’d let my body’s demands carry me from my mind. I ran through the checklist of heat symptoms. Crazy horny? Check. Extremely sensitive to touch? Check. Ass wetter than a slip and slide? Ugh. I hated to admit it, even to myself, but check. I really hoped Wei didn’t have much sensation in his scales.
We landed with a soft bounce, and without waiting for us to dismount, Wei shifted back to human form, dressed once again in his impeccable white suit. I would have fallen on my ass had it not been for Mischa’s agility.
“You guys can shift your clothing, too?” Misha asked, verbalizing my own thoughts. “That’s just not fair.”
“The idea of fairness is an illusion,” Wei said. “How well can your human eyes see?”
I squinted into the darkness that surrounded us. They were fairly adjusted from our flight, but the night was dark. The ground felt firm beneath my feet. Not bouncy like loose sod and grass, and not shifty like sand. “Not that great. Even with our enhanced shifter vision, we’re still limited in a darkness this deep in human form.”
“Then perhaps it’s better if you shift while we approach the cave. That’s where I suspect the scent will lead us. I don’t sense any fresh dragon trails, but we don’t want to assume and then be taken by surprise.”
Misha’s clothes rustled as he stripped. I shucked off only my shirt before shifting, and my pants fell easily around my feet. I went commando for exactly this reason. Misha’s bear was so much larger than his human, though, that he would get stuck or shred his clothing if he didn’t strip completely. So I was blessed with a quick glimpse of my mate’s sturdy, muscled body and his long, thick cock slapping against his stomach and thigh as he jumped on one foot, trying to shake his pants off.
“Don’t objectify my body, Irish,” he said with a smirk before shifting.
“The cave is there.” Wei pointed, and now that I had the benefit of my fox eyes’ better vision, I could see it. Water trickled and burbled behind us. A creek. High stone walls rose to either side of us. My tail quivered as I caught Da’s scent. It was old, but it was definitely him. We were on the right trail.
Pebbles shuffled and tumbled into the creek as Misha came up behind me.
“Quietly.” Wei padded forward, making no sound, even with his shoes still on.
Misha huffed in annoyance. “I’m trying to be quiet.”
Wei didn’t respond, and I tucked that bit of information away. Unless he was simply ignoring Misha, dragons were like the rest of us and couldn’t speak mind to mind when in human form.
If we’d been on any other mission, I would have loved to tease him, but my da’s life was on the line here. I only allowed myself to tickle his nose with my bushy tail as I padded quickly and silently behind Wei.
The mouth of the cave was a gaping black hole. Though I twitched my large ears back and forth, I heard no sign of life. If anyone was in there, they weren’t using any kind of light. I slowed when I caught up to Wei. Misha’s attempts at being quiet slowed him down, but I knew that at the first sign of danger, he would catch up in a second or two.
Wei and I moved as one, steadily, cautiously.
“Don’t rush in,” he murmured, just as I caught Da’s fresh scent.
His warning wasn’t enough to hold me back. I yipped in excitement and relief and darted forward until my nose led me to Da, resting my front paws on his chest to sniff his face. His chest rose and fell shallowly, and the blood on his face was dark and flaking. But not fresh. That had to be a good sign, right?
At my yip, Misha gave up on caution and barreled forward. “Is he okay?”
“He’s still unconscious. That can’t be good. It’s been at least…” I tried to calculate what time it was and when we suspected Da had been taken, but my brain couldn’t focus. “It’s been almost a day. He’s not actively bleeding, but his heartbeat and breath are shallow.”
“He is alone,” Wei announced. I realized he had explored the cave while I’d been examining Da. “The cave isn’t large, and the dragons’ scents are not fresh. They must have dumped him and left.”
Anger twisted my gut, and I shifted back to human to speak with Wei. “We can deal with them later. Right now, we need to get Da home. Get him to a doctor. Wei, how quickly can you fly us directly back to Chicago? Can you take us home?” I recognized I might be pushing the dragon’s willingness to assist us too far, but I had to ask.
He considered me for a moment then knelt down to look at Da. He turned Da’s head to one side. He nodded, as if whatever he saw told him something. “It will be better if I hold him in my claws. We will need to carry him closer to the water where I can shift.”
“Okay, okay. Yeah, let’s do it. Misha?” Relief warred with worry, but I did my best to keep it to myself. Da was alive, but something was wrong. Had he regained consciousness at some point and found himself alone in the cave with no food or water? Had he been unconscious the whole time?
Misha shifted to carry him. I couldn’t imagine asking Wei to assist, especially when Misha was strong enough to carry him alone.
We hurried down to the bank of the creek, but cautiously. It wouldn’t do us much good to save Da only for one of us to slip and break a leg.
“He’s alive,” Misha said. “And once you get him home, if you can wake him up enough to get him to shift, he’ll heal quickly.”
His firm certainty did as much to ease my soul as finding Da alive did. I was able to smile, a true smile. “You’re right. The hardest part is over, isn’t it?”
We dressed quickly. Even as impatient as I was, I wasn’t bold enough to suggest riding stark naked on the back of a dragon, especially since my heat was still throbbing at the back of my brain. I doubted Wei would appreciate me riding my alpha while riding him. His mates probably wouldn’t appreciate that kind of unintended threesome, either.