Free Taken by the Dragon King by Caroline Hale

of me worried that he’d be a total ass, but he’s not. Not at all.
    Asher shakes off that cute, confused look on his face. I recognize the one the replaces it immediately. This stern expression means he won’t stop insisting on something and I’ll eventually give in. There’s nothing adorable about it, but it is kind of hot.
    “You are riding me in more ways than one today, Melinda.”
    I am so not laughing at that, it will only encourage him. “No, I’m not.”
    “This is not negotiable,” he informs me right before he shifts.
    “Shit!” I exclaim at the sight of little pieces of sagebrush igniting. “You should really climb on a rock when you do this, you’ll start a brush fire and burn the whole National Forest down.”
    “Wildfires are completely natural. It renews the Earth.”
    “Asher, it’s not like that anymore!” I snap, running around and stomping out the little flames before they turn into a catastrophe. “Oh no, that beautiful Saguaro cactus! It’s scorched on one side. Asher, this is probably 500 years old and they’re aren’t very many of them left!”
    “I…” He quickly starts stomping on any remaining flames with his feet, including a bush that was too big for me to do myself. “I did not realize that you wanted that cactus. I’m sorry.”
    “Ash…” I can’t keep cracking up when he says stuff like that, it probably makes him self-conscious. But sheesh, he’s like a giant dinosaur toddler! Completely clueless. “It will be alright,” I assure him, my temper quelled by the remorse in his deep voice. He diligently helps me make sure every little ember is out.
    “Do you think you have the strength to sit on my back? It will probably be more comfortable for you.”
    “Yeah, I’ll be fine up there. Should I… climb you?” I ask, my hesitation obvious.
    “Definitely,” Ash laughs. “But we’ll get to that part later. Right now you can just walk up my wing.” He extends it outward like a ramp as he sinks down on his haunches.
    “You’re sure this doesn’t hurt?” I say as I step onto the tip of his wing.
    “Of course it doesn’t!” he replies, almost offended. “And even if it did, I wouldn’t care. I’d suffer a thousand years of torture for you.” His choice of words stop my advance and Ash inhales sharply. He already did that. “Be careful, love. Don’t fall on my spikes.”
    “So where do I sit?” I’m standing on his back, my arms outstretched for balance. This is pretty cool.
    “Wherever you want. There’s a nice rounded spot between two spikes on my shoulders. Avoid being next to the wings if you’d like a good view.”
    I see what he’s talking about right away and drop down to my knees as I approach the spikes that run the length of his spine. The gaps between them are larger at the base of his neck and they’re at little wider, curved nicely like they’re made to support a human back comfortably.
    As I’m settling between them, I realize that this is new for me, but not for him. He can’t see his own back and someone must have told him about the view.
    “Ready?” he asks. I can feel the power of his voice between my legs now. That’s ironic.
    “Yes.”
    “I can run instead, and I will be able to avoid the cacti, but I might injure a marmot or two. Would that upset you?”
    “It would.”
    “I’ll stay low. Hold on.” Ash flaps his wings and we lift into the air. He keeps himself impressively level, even during takeoff. This definitely isn’t his first time.
    We’re still higher than I’d like but he’s probably leaving extra head room for the cacti, which is pretty sweet. I’d hoped he’d be sweet, at least a little bit like he was in my dreams. Asher has gotten a lot rougher around the edges in the past year or so, but back when we were kids, he could be such a softie. I still see that part of him, every once in a while. I wonder if anyone else has ever seen it.
    “So you’ve carried someone before?”
    “I have,” he