Free Soul Of The Dragon (Her Dragon's Bane 1) by Harmony Raines

must be very potent. "Can I touch you?"
    He nodded his head, the big reptile eye watching her as she walked up to him, and stroked him. The scales were dry, and warm to her touch, his body vibrated with the essence of life, this was a beast from before man ruled the earth. Once upon a time he had been the most fearsome creature on the planet, before guns and missiles were made. Large talons tapped the ground when he stepped closer to her, and he rubbed his head against her body, and then pushed her with his snout.
    "I don't know what you want me to do," she said, not knowing if he understood her.
    Once more he nudged her forward, and tapped his talons on the hard stone. She looked down, and then looked up at his back, her stomach turning over. She realised what he wanted her to do. But it was pure madness.
    There was no way she was getting on his back. However, she soon realised he was not going to give in. Nudging her more forcefully, she did as he asked, placing her foot on his leg. Slowly she leaned her body forward, testing to see if she would hurt him, and if he could take her weight. The last thing she wanted was a dragon with a broken front leg.
    "Are you sure?" she asked.
    He nodded again, she took her life firmly in her hands, and hoisted herself rather unceremoniously up. For a moment she thought she would slip, the fall to the ground looking a real possibility. The dragon helped her, shifting his body to catch her, and then easing back down to his crouching position when she was safely mounted. All she had to do now was find something to anchor herself too. The only available thing was one of his spines, so that would have to do.
    "Oh, hell," she shouted as he stood up, and then she screamed loudly when he crouched down and boosted himself off the stone tower, high up into the air.
    With the wind tugging at her hair, she clung to him, the only thing that was real as they soared up above the clouds. They raced towards the rising moon, invisible to those below. Up, up they climbed, the air cold, but she pressed as much of her body against his to ward off the chill. Suddenly he tipped forward, and dived headlong towards the ground, only to swoop up again. His wings flapped, a steady rhythm as they covered miles in minutes. The ground below changing from city to town, and then street lights disappeared and the land became dark, with only the odd light visible. Still they travelled, until the air changed, becoming more salty, they were over the ocean.
    Serena caught herself grinning. This was freedom in it's purest form, to be able to travel wherever you wanted at a moments notice. No cars, no trains, flight without planes. Incredible. A tilt of his body and they turned, going lower until the tips of his wings touched the water, spraying it up at her. Underneath her he rumbled, and she guessed he was laughing.
    "Very funny," she shouted, wiping the spray from her face. The exhilaration of flying, more than enough to combat the chill of the sea water soaking her clothes.
    Back up again, he kept on going out to sea, or at least she thought it was further out, she had completely lost her bearings. All she knew was that she was alive, more alive than she had ever been. Looking out onto the horizon, she could see a land mass, a small island growing bigger as they got closer. Connor slowed, flapping his wings slowly, still keeping them in the air before extending his legs and touching the ground.
    Serena slid to the ground, stumbling forward and grasping onto him. Her legs were wobbly, and refused to support her. He waited patiently while she stretched out her muscles and got her strength back. After walking around, under his watchful eye, she said, “I’m OK now.”
    He walked away from her, and then the air shimmered and he changed back into a man, the whole episode too surreal for Serena to believe.
    “I can’t believe what just happened.”
    “It’s real. We’re standing on a island miles out to sea. Deserted.” He