Page 22 of A First for the Playboy Dragon

She had just long enough to wonder if she was going to die before she landed with a painful thud on the rocks below, her head banging forcefully as she came to rest. For a few seconds, she lay there, surprised that she wasn’t dead, but then her head began to get fuzzy, her vision blurred, and the world went dark.

CHAPTER 14

***HARRISON***

It happened so fast that it took Harrison a second to react, but then he was running for the empty space where Juliet had disappeared, fear making it hard to breathe. He was there in only a few steps, pulling his flashlight out of his pocket and shining it over the edge of the cliff, terrified he was going to see Juliet’s broken body at the bottom. But the ground at the base of the cliff was undisturbed, and he really started to panic, the thought of losing Juliet making his entire body go cold as ice.

Sucking in a deep breath, he let his magic begin to flow, needing the power of the creature inside him to steady him. Losing control now would be a huge mistake. A second later, he heard a whimper coming from below him, and he quickly shined the flashlight in the direction it had come from. His heart froze when he saw Juliet lying on a thin sliver of rock above the nearly five-hundred-foot drop to the ground below. She was on her back, her eyes closed, but her face was scrunched up as if she was in pain.

When she shifted and threw her arm out, it hung in open space, making his heart almost pound out of his chest, and he knew he had to do something fast. “Juliet, sweetheart, if you canhear me, I want you to lie really still,” he called. “You’re going to be just fine. I just need you to stay right where you are, trying not to move unless you have to.”

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at him, her face full of confusion, then started to sit up. “Juliet, don’t move; you might fall,” he called. “You only fell a few feet, but that ledge you’re on isn’t very big. Please be careful.”

“My head hurts,” she said, then closed her eyes again. “Everything is spinning.”

“You must have hit your head; just try to lay very still. It will help,” he said. “I’ll figure out a way to get down to you, and then we’ll get you something for the pain.”

He looked around him, cursing when he realized there was nothing he could use to make a rope. He was going to have to leave Juliet and go back to the jungle. “Sweetheart, I have to leave for few minutes to get something to make a rope out of,” he called. “I promise I won’t be gone long. Just close your eyes, and I’ll be back before you know it.”

Juliet opened her eyes and looked up at him, “I’ll be okay,” she said, then slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position with her back to the rocks. “Just hurry, please.”

He turned and headed back toward the cave, but he’d only gone a few steps when the ground began to shake, and Juliet let out a terrified scream. Rushing back to her, he looked over the edge, cursing when he saw that the ledge she was on had gotten smaller; another tremor would send her over the edge. Anger replaced the fear and panic that had been raging through him, awakening the dragon inside him, and he let it come.

What he was considering was a huge risk. He’d never exposed himself to a regular human before, and he had no idea how she might react. Another rumble coming from deep in the earth made his mind up for him, but before he let his magic take over completely, he had to release some of his anger.

“You didn’t have to go this far,” he yelled at the island. “I was figuring it out. I would have gotten there eventually, so don’t turn this into a tragedy.”

His only answer was the ground beginning to shake, making Juliet scream again, and the dragon inside him reacted, rushing to the surface, bringing with it all of his protective instincts. With only seconds to go before he became the flying beast of so many fairy tales, he looked down over the edge of the cliff again.

“Juliet, I’m coming for you, just hold on for a few more minutes,” he called down to her, relieved when she looked up at him, her face full of fear, but her eyes clear. “Sweetheart, you’re about to see something that may scare you. There are lots of different kinds of magic in the world, and I have some inside me that gives me special abilities. Please remember that I would never hurt you. I just want to get you off that ledge before it collapses, and this is the only way.”

Juliet nodded, her face full of fear, and he let the magic take over completely. His human form dissolved and the dragon emerged, wings already spread for flight. A second later, he took to the air, the moon glinting off his deep green feathers as he soared over the cliff and down to Juliet. When she saw him, she pressed herself up against the rocks. A small scream escaped from her open mouth, and she shook her head in disbelief. A second later, the ground began to shake again, and he knew that he had to act fast even if Juliet wasn’t ready.

Propelling himself forward, he reached out and grabbed her, ignoring her scream of terror when he flapped his powerful wings and soared back to the top of the cliff. He didn’t stop until they were back in front of the cave, then gently set Juliet down on her feet and slowly backed away with his head lowered. Her face was completely white, and she wobbled on unsteady legs, but she didn’t back away, just stared at him, her eyes roaming over his body.

When she finally looked up at his head, their eyes met, and she gasped. “Harrison…” she whispered. “Is that you?”

He lowered his head a little more, then lifted it again, holding his breath, wondering what she would do next. She took a couple of staggering steps toward him, then stretched her hand out, understanding slowly appearing in her eyes. His breath came out in a whoosh, making her jump, but she stayed where she was as he closed the distance between them. When he was close enough, she reached out and slowly ran her hand over the feathers on his powerful chest, then pulled it back, a look of surprise on her face.

***Juliet***

Juliet was completely enthralled by the creature standing in front of her, his feathers glimmering in the moonlight, and reached out to touch him again, unable to help herself even though a part of her thought she should be scared. But looking into the dragon’s eyes, warmth spread through her, and any trace of fear disappeared, leaving only her deep curiosity. Later, she would probably freak out a little; after all, she’d just been saved from falling off a cliff by a dragon, and not just any dragon, her dragon.

The thought made her falter a little bit, but it only grew stronger, and she found herself stepping closer, then wrapping her arms around Harrison’s powerful chest. He let out a deep sigh, ruffling her hair with his breath and she laughed, then stepped away from him. The air around them began to crackle with energy, and then a second later, the huge forest green dragon disappeared, and Harrison was standing in its place, a look of uncertainty on his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked, taking a few steps toward her. “You’re awfully calm considering what you just saw.”

“I’m going to freak out later, okay?” she asked. “Right now, I’m just trying to work on believing what I just saw.”

Harrison took a couple more steps toward her. “Juliet, you know that you can’t tell anyone about this, right?” he asked, his face creased with worry. “We never reveal ourselves to regular people, or at least not very often.”

This time she was the one who stepped toward him. “I’m insulted that you would even think I would do something like that,” she said, scowling at him. “I thought you trusted me. I trust you.”

“I do trust you,” Harrison said. “I’ve just never done this before, and I’m not sure what happens now.”

She slipped her arms around him. “This is the part where I thank you for saving my life,” she said, hugging him. “You’ve definitely earned a reward.”

Harrison wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “Oh, really?” he asked. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

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