Page 105 of Cowboy Dragon's Rose

My heart pounds against my ribs like a trapped bird. My wrists burn from the duct tape.

My head aches from all the knocks I took, and I taste blood.

But I keep my chin up.

Michael slides out of the car and comes around to the back, opening the rear door with a creak.

The rain is still falling. Fat drops smack the roof in uneven intervals.

Somewhere in the distance, thunder grumbles.

“I have to say, sweetheart,” he says as he yanks me out of the car and props me against the hood like a broken doll, “I’m a little disappointed. I gave you everything. Wined and dined you. Hell, I was even willing to marry you before I fucked you. But you went and messed it all up.”

He crouches beside me, tugging the duct tape from my ankles with sharp jerks.

“You repay me by running to the feds like a disloyal little bitch.”

I don’t answer. I can’t—not with the duct tape still over my mouth—but even if I could, I wouldn’t.

He smiles, cruel and oily.

“Got nothing to say? Oh, right. Let’s fix that.”

With a flourish, he rips the tape from my mouth. I gasp, the sting immediate and sharp.

“They tried tailing me, you know. But I got away from them. Snuck out behind their backs,” he says conversationally, stepping back.

“They think they’re smart, the Feds. Had me tailed in Philly. Switched cars in a parking garage, drove out the side exit. Been trailing you for days, Case. Would’ve grabbed you sooner, but your cowboy’s got a damn fortress out there.”

His jaw ticks.

“Should’ve killed you back at the warehouse after you patched up old Tony. But nah, this is better. I want you to feel it. I want you to know exactly who you fucked with.”

His fingers twitch toward his coat pocket, and I know what’s coming.

A knife. Or maybe a gun. Something final.

Something moves behind him and I—I laugh. It’s a sharp, surprised bark of laughter.

But I don’t even try to stop it or the next one.

It bubbles out of me, wild and unexpected.

Michael’s eyes narrow. “What the fuck’s funny?”

I glance past his shoulder. And there—there—is the reason I’m fucking overjoyed.

The sky above us cracks open with lightning, revealing the monstrous silhouette of a winged beast descending through the storm.

He’s beautiful. Terrifying.

Zeke.

His massive Dragon form lands with a thunderous boom, wings spread wide like an avenging god.

Raindrops hiss and sizzle against his glowing lavender-gold scales.

Power rolls off him in waves—ancient, wild, and otherworldly.

---