Exiting the room, I padded across the hardwood floors, kitty in hand, following the rapid beating sound of loud music. It led me across the hallway to a gym room; the doors were open and Logan was lying on his back, bench-pressing a million pounds. He was shirtless, chest glistening with sweat, breathing heavily with each pump of the weights. I felt that fire pulse for the slightest bit before dying down again. Down, girl. This heat business better be over with. I was going to go on some strong-ass dragon birth control to keep it from ever coming back again.
Clearing my throat loudly, I entered the room and he froze, looking up at me from his upside-down angle. His eyes worked their way slowly up my body and I tried not to purr. If I did purr, maybe I could blame it on the kitten. Or maybe he didn’t put me to sleep long enough?
After setting the weights down, he reached over and turned down the music. His left arm was completely covered with black tattoos that worked all the way from his wrist to his neck. When he stood, I got the full glorious view of his toned abs and the v-shaped muscles that led to his—
“How did you sleep?”
I cleared my throat. “Not long enough apparently. I still feel … unsettled.”
His serious face broke into a slight grin. “That’s all you. Your dragon’s not in heat anymore. I can smell it.”
Smell it? Oh. My. God. My eyes widened. I wanted to die. I set the cat down and she pranced over to Logan, rubbing up against his leg.
“You met Mittens?” he asked as he petted the spot between her ears. I was grateful he had quickly changed the subject away from my ovaries. Great, he had a pet kitten that he adored. I had always liked the strong yet secretly sensitive type.
“Yes,” I said, unsure how to ask the things I really wanted to ask.
Logan looked up at me again and the heat flared a little within me. “So, let’s talk about how you know so much about dragons. How are you a dragon? How the hell am I a dragon?”
I was trying to think of anything but the low throb in my gut when I looked at him.
He sighed, switching gears. “Let me shower really quick and I’ll meet you in the kitchen. This is going to be a long story.”
The second he said kitchen, my stomach grumbled loud enough for both of us to hear. I hadn’t eaten in…
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Three days. Your dragon can go a week without food or water, so she sustained your human body while you slept.” He picked up a bottle of water to chug the contents.
Please put your damn shirt on, I wanted to say. The tattoos, the muscles, the freaking beard, it was all distracting me from the fact that we were both dragons and this was a serious situation.
“I’ll meet you in the kitchen in five minutes,” I said, leaving the room. I still couldn’t believe what he’d said about my dragon not being in heat. There was something wrong with me when it came to him. I couldn’t control it and it terrified me.
The moment I got to the kitchen I decided I couldn’t wait five minutes. I was hungry. I opened the fridge, and on a plate was a huge meat sub sandwich with a note that said: For Sleeping Beauty. It was different handwriting than Nadine’s, and I was guessing this was from Logan. I smirked at the nickname and grabbed the sandwich with two hands, quickly unwrapping the cellophane and pounding it down before he even made it back to the room.
I was just chugging my third glass of water when I sensed a stirring within me, and a heat from behind me. My dragon was slithering inside of me, pulling me, forcing me to turn around.
I shifted slowly and saw that Logan was leaning in the entryway, his eyes thin slits as he watched me. He wore dark-wash denim jeans and a vintage tight t-shirt, and I could smell his wood essence from here.
He cleared his throat. “Did you find the sandwich?”
I nodded, motioning to the empty plate in the sink as he crossed the room over to the counter I was leaning on and pulled out a barstool.
“I will answer any questions you have to the best of my abilities, but first you need to answer a few of mine.”
I shrugged. “Fair enough.”
He nodded. “First. What’s your name?”
His question surprised me, it was so normal. I hadn’t realized until now that I had never told him my name.
“Sloane. Sloane Murphy.”
Something crossed his face, an emotion I couldn’t read, and then it was gone. He extended his left tattooed hand. “Logan Sharp.”
I took his hand in mine and immediately the heat coiled in my belly, throbbing. Yanking my hand back, I played with the texture of my jeans to distract myself.
Logan looked tense, muscles tight and features drawn. He looked … like he was in pain.
“Are you okay?” I asked tentatively. Maybe me pulling my hand back so abruptly offended him. I didn’t know what dragon shifter greeting protocol was.
Inhaling, he took a deep breath and looked more relaxed. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Just usually more in control of my dragon.”
I nodded, because I understood. I had zero control over mine.
“Speaking of dragons…” He pinned me with a stare. “How the hell are you one?”
I recoiled. “What? You’re supposed to tell me that!”
He opened his arms as if to say he was as in the dark as I was. Great. I groaned. This guy was supposed to have all of my answers.
“I have no idea,” I told him. “One second I’m a human hiking along the rim of the Grand Canyon, and the next I’m falling—my body rips in two and becomes a dragon freak show.” My dragon stirred at that and I got the sense she didn’t like me calling her a freak show. Were we separate? It felt like we were. Kind of. Wow. Sounded like a multiple personality disorder. Maybe this was all a part of a massive paranoid delusion? I thought I was a dragon and now I was having delusions that I met another hot male dragon. Yikes, I needed to be committed for sure.
Logan stood quickly and began pacing. “Hold on. You were a human for twenty-one years and only recently transformed for the first time?” His voice was coated in shock.
I threw my arms up. “Either that or I’m having paranoid delusions!”
He stopped pacing and gave me a look filled with pity. “You’re not crazy. I saw your dragon with my own two eyes … but it’s not possible. When dragons are born, they transform right after hatching. They flit between human and dragon a dozen times a day in their first year as a youngling. The hunters would have gotten to you then.”
At some point I must have grabbed my head, because I was massaging my temples.
“I was born in a hospital, as a baby. A human baby. I have pictures and all that. Like I told you, I just recently turned, or whatever you call it.”
He was pacing madly around the kitchen, chewing a fingernail and wafting his yummy scent at me as he passed. “Who’s your mother?” he asked suddenly.
A pang of sadness went through me at the random question. “She’s … dead. Died of breast cancer when I was sixteen.”
He stopped pacing and gave me a look that you would find at the pound right before an animal was euthanized. “I’m sorry to hear that. She was … your real mother?”
I snapped my head back, offended. “Yes! Red hair and all!” I tossed a lock of my crimson hair up in the air.
He put up his hands in defense. “Right. Sorry. And your dad?”
I chewed my bottom lip. This guy was getting awfully personal when he had yet to answer any of my questions, but I could see where he was going with this. “He died before I was born. But my mom never mentioned he was a dragon,” I added sarcastically.
Logan chewed on another nail. I wasn’t sure he would have any left by the time this conversation was over.
“Even if your father was a dragon, it wouldn’t explain why you never transformed for over twenty years. And it sure as hell wouldn’t be possible without a female dragon to mate with.”
I shrugged and stood as well. I didn’t like being looked down on. How was I expected to answer all of these questions? I knew nothing about this new and terrifying world.
“Now you answer some questions for me,” I ordered.
He seemed to snap out of whatever thoughts had him captivated, and looked at me with those deep emerald eyes.
“Okay. What do you want to know?” His body turned towards me and I tried not to remember what he looked like with his shirt off. I don’t care what he smelled, my dragon was still in heat, because these thoughts weren’t mine.