Page 21 of Cursed

I slide the pack onto my shoulder, but Branden snatches it away and slings it over his back.

Rourke strips off his pants. He’s naked and ready to shift. As if he’s the last piece of art in the world, I can’t help staring at his utter physical perfection—a sculpture of a Greek god come to life. He’s just as magnificent as his dragon too.

Branden pulls me backward and to his chest as we watch the transformation.

The other two times Rourke shifted, I wasn’t paying attention. But it happens so fast that I barely see how he transforms now. He just explodes out from his human form into a massive, golden-red beast.

He turns to me. His snout is inches from my face, and he inhales my scent.

My body… um,reactsto him again.

In awe of his beauty, my mouth hangs open wide enough to catch an errant flying peen. I snap my jaw shut.

Branden nudges me forward to climb onto Rourke’s back. “Did you know that you are the first to get a ride on him?”

“What?” I exclaim and look into the glowing cobalt eyes of the dragon.

“I imagine he was saving the honor for his fated all this time.” Branden shrugs and boosts me up by my plump ass to get into position. Then he ties a strap around Rourke’s neck and hands me the leash.

A bunch of naughty ideas about using a leash on Rourke in the bedroom filter through my mind. These males are ruining me for vanilla sex.

Branden follows me up and sits behind me, holding me firmly. His other hand grips the strap too. “Ready?”

“Yeah.”

With my confirmation, Rourke extends his massive wings and launches from the cave entrance into the night.

I hold tighter onto the strap with both hands and curse as the winter air smacks me in the face.

I don’t see any other creatures in the air.

Behind me, Branden scans the ground with his enhanced vamp-o-vision.

Rourke flies about a hundred feet from the ground, skimming just above some of the taller trees.

Just as I’m about to believe we are in the clear, I get an itching sensation that someone has spotted us.

Before I can warn my guys, a boulder sails past my head as Rourke dips to avoid it. He banks a hard right as another giant stone nearly knocks Branden and me from Rourke’s back. I almost fall from the sharp turn.

But Branden holds onto me, his powerful thighs digging into the dragon’s hide to stay mounted.

“Take us down,” Branden says. “I’ll create a portal.”

The dragon shakes his head. I know why. There isn’t a place for him to land with the thick tree cover. And we have no idea if we would land in the middle of the enemy.

With the dragon’s telepathy, he projects the image of the message he wants me to give to Branden.

“Do it now, up here,” I tell him.

“Well, fuck, this is going to be interesting,” Branden grumbles. He holds his hand out, chanting a string of Elven words of power. Electricity crackles over my skin, and the smell of ozone hits my nose.

As we reach the point where a vibration of magic is humming, a portal rips the fabric of reality wide open, big enough for the dragon to enter.

When we pass through, I screech.

We are about to collide with a cliff.

Rourke is flying so fast that all he can do is pull up, causing Branden and me to dangle from the strap.

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