Free Taming the Dragon by Kendra Leigh Castle

opened her mouth, it was to roar in a way that sent
rocks breaking off the cliffs and into the lake below. The bonds at her wrists
snapped. She felt herself growing, becoming both different and ever more
herself. When she finally opened her eyes, it was to see the hunters below
gaping at her in horror. She slammed a foot down on the owner of the one
remaining harpoon and roared again.
    Kaden had fought for her. Now, it was her turn to save him.
    With a single leap, Tess took to the air with new and
glistening wings.
    She soared upward, catching sight of her reflection in the
waters of the river below. She saw glittering scales, shimmering in every shade
of red over an enormous, powerful form that still held a sort of lethal
grace.
    It was as though she’d been born to the sky, but her glory in
it lasted only seconds as Kaden’s roar echoed to her, bringing her back. She
turned in midair and dove straight at the scattering hunters.
    And with a single breath, set the afternoon aflame.

THIRTEEN
    He hated being woken up.
    Except, that was, when he came to in the lap of the most
beautiful, fearsome woman he had ever known. He had seen her diving for him,
finishing what he couldn’t do alone. Another dragon, after all this time.
    And now she was just his Tess, woman and dragon in one. Alive
and well, just as he seemed to be.
    “I’m not dead,” Kaden said wonderingly, looking up into Tess’s
concerned eyes. The emotions he saw there as she began to laugh and cry all at
once would be enough to keep him alive for a thousand years, he was sure, as
long as she was at his side.
    “I kind of set them on fire. The ones you missed,” Tess said.
“It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”
    “That’s my dragoness,” Kaden said with a tired grin.
    “You didn’t mention loving you would turn me into a dragon,”
Tess said.
    “I thought taking the necklace would stop it from happening,”
Kaden said. “I was a fool. You were mine the moment I set eyes on you. And...I
wondered whether you would be able to love me. I am a dragon. You deserved to have a choice about whether to become one, too.”
    “I choose you,” Tess said, “and everything that goes along with
it. How many people can say they get to be a dragon whenever they want? And if I
hadn’t been able to change, the hunters would have won. You’re right, they’re
stronger than they look. How did you know where I was? I—” She stopped, then
closed her eyes. “Morgan. I didn’t get a chance to ask her.”
    “I was already on my way back to the apartment to find you. She
appeared in the middle of the sidewalk, shouted at me, and then left.” He
frowned, remembering. “That would seem to be a trend with her and I.”
    “I think she let the hunters bring me here,” Tess admitted.
“She warned me about asking her for help, and to remember that I’d asked for
it.”
    “A tricky witch,” Kaden agreed, reaching up to brush a lock of
hair away from Tess’s face. “She knew I would fight for you. I was alone for so
long, Tess. I never thought I would have someone worth fighting for again. You
gave me back my fire. In here,” he said, and pulled her hand to his chest, where
his heart beat strong beneath.
    “Morgan said that would open the door. That she couldn’t get
you home without dragon fire.”
    “Home?”
    Tess smiled, and all at once he realized that there was no
scent of burning on the light breeze, that the air was awash in scents and
sounds he had never thought to experience again. Joy filled him, as bright and
pure as flame. And it was all because of the woman who held him, his mate.
    “I only saw Morgan from a distance when she opened the doorway.
I had to fly you through. I...assumed this is what you would want. She said
there are dragons here again. Looking for you.”
    “Home,” he whispered softly. “But... your home...”
    “Dragons are all about music, right? I figure it’s sort of a
two-for-one deal. I get my music, and I