Riding Her Dragons [Dragon Love 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  Dragon Love 6

  Riding Her Dragons

  A year earlier, Monica Sullivan fell off a cliff, plummeting to certain death, before she was caught, saved by a dragon. To get photographic proof that the dragon exists, she and her best guy pal Bruce head back to the mountains.

  Dragon cousins Clint and Vince Bradford, along with their friend Trey Weston, can’t wait to heat Monica up. Too bad her friend won’t let them get near her.

  It’s crazy to fall for three men she barely knows, even if they do make her hotter beyond her wildest imagination. Did she really see tendrils of smoke coming out of their mouths? Was she hallucinating when she saw the flashes of red in their eyes? Maybe she’s been thinking about the dragon that saved her life a little too much. Or maybe, just maybe, these men are different in more ways than she thinks.

  Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Shape-shifter

  Length: 40,515 words

  RIDING HER DRAGONS

  Dragon Love 6

  Jane Jamison

  MENAGE EVERLASTING

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

  RIDING HER DRAGONS

  Copyright © 2016 by Jane Jamison

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-68295-187-3

  First E-book Publication: May 2016

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2016 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Riding Her Dragons by Jane Jamison from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Jane Jamison’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Jane Jamison’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  DEDICATION

  Dear Reader,

  Riding Her Dragons is book six in the Dragon Love series. My fascination with dragons continues with each new book. If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll consider reading the first five books of the series.

  Enjoy!

  Jane Jamison

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  RIDING HER DRAGONS

  Dragon Love 6

  JANE JAMISON

  Copyright © 2016

  Chapter One

  One year ago.

  Monica Sullivan stopped on the trail in the Great Smoky Mountains and lifted her face toward the sky. She loved the mountains and loved hiking there. Most of the time she stuck to well-used paths, but today she’d had an urge to take a less-traveled one. As an experienced hiker, she knew she was taking a chance by going it alone, but sometimes she needed to get away from not only her life in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, but from people, too.

  She drew in a long breath. Although Gatlinburg was no Los Angeles or New York City, the town’s air still couldn’t compare with the crisp cleanness of the mountains. Shifting her backpack into a more comfortable position, she started down the trail again.

  Her camera was always at the ready unless the route got rough. Trying to grow a professional photography business would be difficult enough even if she could devote all her time to it. But working nights as a bartender and carving out time to do photography during the day after squeezing in a few hours sleep was almost impossible.

  Then there was her mother. Although she was happy to help out, the hours she’d put in taking care of her mother had taken their toll on both her new business as well as her stamina.

  If only Mom hadn’t gotten sick.

  Her mother had been a vibrant, hardworking woman up until a year earlier. She’d raised Monica and her younger brother, Bill, on her own after their father had passed away in a freak construction accident when Monica was only ten. With Bill in college, Monica was the one to move back into her mother’s home not only to help her ill mother as much as possible but also to help pay the bills. She barely made ends meet from one month to the next. Forget about the medical bills. They’d just have to wait. Thankfully, her mother’s insurance had paid for some of the mother’s debt, but it was only a drop in the debt bucket. She’d had to use the savings she’d spent years accumulating to make ends meet. Yet it didn’t matter. Her mother’s health came first. If she had to spend every dime she had and sell everything she owned, including her mother’s home, she’d do it. The total hysterectomy had been a success, albeit a costly one, but the ongoing cancer treatments were costing them their lives. Still, her mother was expected to make a full recovery, and Monica counted herself lucky to still have Alice Sullivan in her life. She was certain her mother would get back to her old self once the treatments were completed. To think otherwise felt as though she was betraying her mother.

  Still, as much as she wanted to be close to her mother, to enjoy every moment she had with her, the rare days when she could drive to the mountains, camp out, and hike were precious. She intended to make good use of this trip by getting as many nature photographs as she could. If she got really lucky, she might get a picture of a black
bear. Soon enough, the fall weather would turn colder and the animals would head into their caves to hibernate.

  All I need is that one photograph that’ll set me apart from everyone else.

  She didn’t know what that photo might include, but she was sure she’d know it when she saw it. Then she’d be on her way. She’d be able to quit the bartending job she appreciated having, yet hated doing, and devote more time to both her mother’s recovery and her budding photography career.

  The path was rugged, but she was surefooted. She’d invested hard-earned money into her camping and hiking equipment, including a good pair of hiking boots. Having shoddy equipment or making a mistake in the wilderness could lead to disaster.

  The sun was shining and the weather was warmer than usual for fall, but she was prepared for any change in temperature. Monica had her jacket tucked into her backpack in case she needed it. As far as she was concerned, hiking in short sleeves without the humidity of the summer made for a perfect outing. She started humming, enjoying each step she took. Before long, she’d come to a spot where she’d be able to take a break and snap some photos. Unfortunately, due to park regulations, she wouldn’t be able to camp there. She’d have to move back down the hill to one of the designated camping areas.

  By the time she made it out of the tree line close to the edge of the cliff, she was singing full out without having to worry about anyone else overhearing her out-of-tune voice. Besides, who said you had to have a good voice to enjoy letting loose with a song?

  Not me.

  She paused and once again lifted her face to the sky. White clouds floated overhead. Soon enough, she was studying the clouds, turning the marshmallow fluffiness into animals and other amusing shapes. So far the day had been without any breeze so it was a surprise when a strong gust of wind pushed against her.

  Huh. Weird.

  She looked around as though she could actually see the wind. In fact, she could if she studied the trees for any movement. Yet where she’d expected to see the breeze rifling the leaves, she didn’t. The trees remained as calm as before.

  An unexpected waft of air streaming through the forest, especially while near a cliff, wasn’t that strange. Still, something seemed different. Standing as still as she could, she quieted herself and waited. Her gaze lifted toward the sky again.

  What is that?

  She narrowed her eyes at a patch of blue sky that appeared…what was it? More solid? But why? How could that be? How did the sky get thicker?

  Continuing to stare, she kept her attention locked on the area of darker blue. Was it moving? She followed its movement and noticed something else. The patch of darker blue shimmered.

  The sky’s shimmering?

  She’d never seen anything like it. Slowly, she pulled the camera out of her pack and brought it up, her gaze searching the sky through the viewfinder. More than likely, nothing unusual would show up on the photograph, but as she’d learned early on in her self-taught photography lessons, seeing the object through the viewfinder could be a lot different than what she’d see on the jpeg file once it was uploaded onto a computer. She’d had more than one surprise—good and bad—after checking out a photo with software.

  Her focus stayed squarely on the shimmering sky. Click after click. Photo after photo. She took one step forward and then another. And another.

  Suddenly, the shimmering moved so quickly that she couldn’t pan the camera with it. Yet how could sky move? “Damn.” She turned, her total concentration on the sky, intent on staying up with the shimmers.

  Was it a UFO? Or had the sun gotten to her without being hot?

  She took another step and turned at the same time. In the next instant, her heart lurched into her throat as she realized her mistake. Her body wavered, teetering over the edge.

  Oh God.

  Gripping her camera to her chest, she fell over the edge of the cliff.

  I’m going to die.

  Thoughts of her mother and her brother flashed through her mind. Sadness overwhelmed her as she stared at the sky. Any second now, her body would slam against the rocks below, bones breaking and blood flowing out of her.

  The stones of the cliff as well as the greenery growing out of the side of the rock wall rushed past her. She saw a crooked branch that stuck out from the cliff’s wall, its gnarled limb reaching leafless fingers toward the sky. Seconds felt more like minutes, delaying the inevitable.

  Suddenly, her breath was knocked out of her when a hard force wrapped around her body and roughly stopped her descent. She sucked in a breath as the vise around her tightened. Clutching the camera, she couldn’t react, couldn’t move. Instead, she watched, her mind not really working, as her body was lifted higher, past the stone and greenery, past the gnarled branch.

  I’m going upward.

  She couldn’t comprehend what was happening. Couldn’t imagine how her body was defying gravity. The iron grip around her supported her torso as her legs dangled out of its hold.

  Before reason could return, whatever had her in its clutches brought her back over the cliff’s edge and gently lowered her to the ground. She lay on her back, her camera still held against her chest, all but forgotten, her breaths coming in short pants, her heart racing, and her pulse pounding in her ears.

  The air above her still shimmered. Now that it was closer, it was much larger, the width of it stunning her. Whatever had wrapped itself around her loosened its hold on her.

  She let out a huge breath as she struggled to comprehend what had happened. “What’s going on?” she whispered as much to the shimmer as to herself.

  Did she hear something? A low chuckle? Yet it had sounded like a growl, too.

  Then she saw it. The shimmer that had darkened the sky grew even more solid. For only a moment, too short a time for her to be certain, she saw the outline of… something.

  Yet what she’d seen didn’t make any sense. What she’d seen couldn’t possibly exist. She had to be hysterical, in shock. Yet she knew in her heart that what she’d seen was real.

  “A dragon?” This whisper was even softer than the previous one.

  The moment passed all too quickly. In the next second, the dragon, then the shimmer, was gone.

  She lay on the ground for several minutes, unable to coax her trembling legs and arms to work. Rational thought warred with the sight her eyes demanded she’d seen. Questions and thoughts whirled as she tried to understand.

  Dragons don’t exist.

  But it was a dragon. I saw it.

  I have sunstroke.

  But I wasn’t in the sun that much.

  You’re dehydrated and hallucinating.

  No. I’ve had several sips of water.

  A forced laugh, a little crazier sounding than made her comfortable, escaped.

  I saw a fucking dragon.

  Shit. Did I?

  Yeah, I did.

  She lifted her camera and stared at it. She’d been too terrified, too amazed, too stunned, all of the above, to think to snap a photo.

  Fuck!

  After several minutes of berating herself, even after her body had stopped trembling, she lay on the ground and stared at the sky. Where had it gone? Would it come back?

  For the next week, taking off days from work that she could ill afford, and risking getting caught staying too long at the park without an extended permit, she stayed at the closest designated campground and then trekked to the cliff every day. To her dismay, neither the shimmers nor the dragon came back.

  Chapter Two

  “You know, Mon, you’re lucky I’m the only one you told. Anyone else would have your ass locked in a padded cell.”

  Monica didn’t slow down and didn’t look up. Instead, she stayed on the same trail she’d hiked a year before. She and her housemate, Bruce Hopkins, kept having the same argument over the past year, so many times she’d stopped counting. Ever since he’d started renting one of the rooms in her mother’s house to help bring in extra money, he’d become a good fr
iend, even if he irritated her at times. He’d gotten a job as a part-time bartender at the same bar where she worked. It seemed Bruce was everywhere she was, even inviting himself along for her latest trip into the mountains.

  “Look, Bruce, we’ve been over this a thousand times. I know what I saw. No, I hadn’t been drinking. No, I didn’t hit my head. No, I didn’t eat any strange berries. No, I didn’t get high on the clean mountain air. Whether you believe me or not, I saw a damn dragon. When I see it again, I’m going to take a photo and sell to the highest bidder.” She had to. What other options did she have to help with her mother’s medical expenses? Her savings were tapped out.

  “Will you listen to yourself? A dragon? Why couldn’t you see a bear like normal people do?”

  She spun around so fast he almost ran into her. “If you don’t believe me, why the hell did you come along?”

  “Someone has to make sure you don’t fall off a damn cliff again.” He smiled, trying to ease the tension between them.

  “So you believe the falling off the cliff part and not the rest?”

  “I believe the part that doesn’t sound looney tunes.”

  “Gee, thanks. I appreciate your complete support.” She scowled, but she couldn’t be angry at him for long. In the time he’d been renting the room, he’d proven himself to be a good friend, helping out with her mother, cooking and cleaning. She suspected he wanted to be more than friends, but she had no interest in having a romantic relationship with him. She simply wasn’t attracted to him. Guilt came again as it had so many times before. To keep things friendly, she’d have to make sure she didn’t lead him on even in the remotest way.