Cannon

24

Ryver got dressed by the stream then returned to the cave. Cannon was lying near the fire he had rebuilt, the flame flicking high in the small space. He was only wearing his underwear and looked like he was posing for her.

“Well, that’s a nice sight,” Ryver said, walking up to him and kissing him deeply. She lay next to him and faced him, his features dancing in the light.

He grinned. “Look who’s talking, beautiful.”

Ryver sarcastically rolled her eyes. “You really weren’t kidding about that, eh?”

Cannon shook his head. “You’ll find that I rarely kid about anything.”

Ryver laughed, then lay on her hands.

“You know, I’ve never had multiple orgasms like that.”

Cannon raised his eyebrows. “What?”

Ryver nodded. “Yep. First time for everything, I guess.”

“I only counted two.” Cannon grinned.

“That’s more than I’m used to!”

Ryver told him more about her former lover, and Cannon couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, he clearly didn’t know what he was doing. And he also missed out on an entire treasure trove of experiences with you.”

Ryver could feel herself blushing. She hid her face in her hands. How was she feeling like this right now? When she should be focusing on not being murdered?

What a surreal turn of events, she thought to herself.

She was exhausted, pleasantly, every cell in her body still humming from their lovemaking. But she knew she wasn’t going to be able to sleep. She peered at Cannon for a long moment.

“What?” he said, still smiling.

“Who are you, really?”

Cannon pursued his lips. “That’s an incredibly long story that would be best told when we’re both not exhausted.”

Ryver shook her head. “I’m tired, but I’m too excited to sleep. I want to know everything about you.” She reached out and stroked his face. He smiled and kissed her hand. They lowered their hands down together, still embraced.

“Well,” Cannon stated, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.

“Oh, yeah,” she blurted. “What is that on your neck? I felt it when we were…” Her face flushed red hot, cheeks melting off. When Cannon didn’t reply, she noticed he was scowling. “Hey, I didn’t mean to be nosey. If it’s personal...”

“No,” he answered and blew out a breath, “Ryver, I can’t lie to you.” He paused, then took a deep breath. “I’ve been in a shifter prison for the past couple of years.”

Her mind blanked. The words didn’t make sense. He was a good, caring guy. “What do you mean?”

His brows drew down. “I’m a criminal. According to the U.S. government, anyway. I was arrested and thrown into prison. This implant in my neck kept me from being able to shift.”

She snatched her hand back then immediately regretted it. “What did you do?”

“A group of shifters decided that they’d had enough of being suppressed and rallied for their civil rights. As you can imagine, things got out of control, and a riot broke out. I happened to be on the wrong side of the line.”

She scoffed. “But a peaceful gathering is your right to do.”

“Apparently, not shifters’ right. Because I’m a dragon shifter, I can fly off anywhere. So I have been everywhere, and no matter where I went, shifters were discriminated against. There are so many countries that think shifters are a menace to society and that they only want to take over and kill all humans.”

Ryver nodded, horrified by what she was hearing.

Cannon continued. “But in my experience, I’ve found that’s rarely the case. You are going to find malevolent people – or shifters – in many places, but most shifters I’ve interacted with just want to live their lives. Simple as that.”

Ryver smiled. “That’s all anybody can want.”

Cannon suddenly seemed embarrassed, his cheeks turning a rosy red in the darkness. “I honestly don’t think I’ve spoken this much in years.”

“I’m glad it’s to me.” Ryver moved closer, laying her head against his chest. “So you help shifters in their quests?”

“It’s mostly to keep them from being captured. Many governments like to take them in on phony charges with very little evidence being obtained, then expose them to groups of people who already have a prejudice against us. So yeah, I think I try to help them be free.”

“So they let you out to get me?”

There was a beat of silence, and Ryver instantly regretted asking. She assumed “they” had offered him a sweet deal to come out and save her. But they definitely did not send him to fall in love with her.

“In a way, yes. Freedom is something we all crave, isn’t it?”

Ryver nodded against his chest. Her eyes were getting heavy, loving the low rumble of his voice as it sounded in his chest. She wanted to know so much more, but she was going to doze off any second.

“How did they capture you?” Ryver yawned once again. Cannon laughed and lay his head next to her.

“Let’s talk about that later. You need to rest, beautiful.”

Ryver was ready to question him vehemently, but she dozed off fast, warm and relaxed by the fire and her new lover.

After a few hours, Ryver awoke to a strange sensation. It took her a minute to refocus her eyes in the darkness, as the fire had gone out as they slept. It was a light tickling on her leg that could have been the wind. But when she looked down, the reality was something much more insidious.

On her thigh was a scorpion, crawling around without concern. It was the size of her fist. She didn’t think it had noticed that she had awoken, but she wasn’t going to take any more chances with a dangerous animal.