Hammer

11

He carefully placed his hand over her mouth, inhaling her scent. Her fragrance melded perfectly with his own. Her eyes flickered open, alarm streaking through them. The room was in complete silence and also hot. Hammer had shut the windows as an extra measure of safety.

All that could be heard was his breathing and Charlie’s. He shook his head as she wriggled underneath him. Then, lifting a finger to his lips, he removed his hand from her face.

“Get up.” His voice was small, nearly inaudible.

Charlie exhaled, and her hot breath lingered in the air between them.

Hammer swallowed before he continued. “Get your stuff. We’re leaving now.”

Then he stood and grabbed his things. Charlie hopped off the bed, landing lightly. She moves as quickly as I do, Hammer thought, relieved.

Charlie pulled on her clothes quickly, stopping with the jacket Hammer had given her outside the camp.

It was later than Hammer had realized. When he pulled aside the curtains, the sunlight was slowly creeping over the horizon. He unlatched the windows and slid his arm around her waist before Charlie could say anything. His skin burned briefly as it came in contact with a bare stretch of her midsection.

Then he hoisted her into the air and out onto the window ledge.

Hammer was slipping out of the window when the discreet knock on the door sounded. They hadn’t waited very long, he thought wryly.

They also weren’t waiting to be polite. Because as Hammer shifted smoothly, the door was kicked in. Ajmal’s men were determined to get him and Charlie at all costs. And they clearly didn’t care about the lives of innocent bystanders.

Shifting into his dragon form was painful, but it didn’t matter. There was no time. He pulled Charlie into his claws and lifted into the air.

He flexed his wings, trying to work through the muscular pain. But it didn’t work, and he hovered with uncertainty. But the thought of Charlie, vulnerable against Ajmal, forced him forward.

There was no f*****g way that Ajmal would get his hands on her.

And there was no f*****g way that Ajmal would survive this. Hammer would kill him if it was the last thing he did.

They were several hundred feet from the hotel when a bright red-and-white light burst in the sky next to them. Flare guns. Fuckers.

The light sprayed across the sky, blinding him. His pupils dilated, trying to absorb all the light. But it didn’t work, and he almost dropped Charlie.

A hiss and whistle alerted him to another flare. He swooped lower in the air. He had just missed the flare crashing into them. But lightning bolts of pain spread through his body.

The flare had singed his wing.

No time to think about it. No time to be in pain. No time for anything but getting Charlie to safety.

Charlie. Charlie. Charlie. He wasn’t sure why the mantra chanted in his head, but it lessened the pain in his wing.

All he had to do was get her to safety. Even though that meant never seeing her again.

CHARLIE

Dear God.

Charlie knew she wasn’t frightened enough. Has it really come to this?

Sure, she wasn’t frightened enough, but for f**k’s sake. She was dangling maybe several hundred feet in the air. She had just escaped a pit filled with skeletons.

Then she had been rescued by a dragon shifter.

It was all a bit much, and anyway, being frightened wasn’t her greatest priority.

All she could focus on was holding onto Hammer’s dragon claws. His nails dug uncomfortably into her shoulders, and she felt herself slipping several times. So she had resorted to holding on.

She hadn’t noticed his injury at first. When he was in human form, the injury was in his shoulder. As a dragon, the wound was in his wing. How long could he carry her like that?

It was clear that Ajmal wasn’t going to give her up without a fight. He knew that Hammer had rescued her and was sending his strongest men after them.

And Hammer was certainly strong enough to take them on, but only when he wasn’t wounded.

They were maybe sixty miles away from the hotel when Hammer started hovering lower in the air. He had almost let go of her several times, and he was weakening fast.

They were far from civilization. Which might be for the best. They could get lost in the wilds for a while.

“We need to land!” Charlie yelled up at him. The dragon carrying her gave a heavy huff.

But as they neared a thicket of trees, he flew even lower. He only let go of her when they were about two feet off the ground. Charlie fell lightly, rolling to the ground.

Hammer did not land as gracefully. Instead, he landed with a thud. He was midway between shifting. Charlie watched with fascination as his body twisted and contorted.

His wings disappeared first, then his claws, and finally, the hard lines of the dragon’s face.

She could have studied him all day if he let her.

He groaned slightly when his human form appeared completely. She averted her eyes when he rolled onto his stomach and crawled for his bag.

She got up, dusting herself off while he pulled on clothes.

Charlie looked around, turning to admire the trees that surrounded the clearing. She could hear water bubbling in a stream nearby. The air was fresh and cold. The sun was still rising.

She turned at the crackling of twigs and dried leaves behind her. Hammer came up to stand next to her. His eyes were focused on the horizon, and he shielded his face with his hand. The sun had risen, and Hammer’s sense of urgency was infecting her.

But a grimace crossed his face as he started walking. Charlie stopped, waiting until he noticed she wasn’t keeping up with him.