The Bride Hunt: Lightning Dragon Part 6

"Point being, I'm pretty much f.u.c.ked for the next few days. It'll be a while before I can change into my dragon form. Residual silver in my blood will make it impossible. I'm going to be as weak as a day-old lamb."

She nodded. "You'll be okay though, right? Given time."

"Yeah." It warmed him that she seemed to care so much.

"It's really interesting, the whole silver thing."

"How so?"

She shrugged and turned her eyes up in thought for a moment. "My best friend works for an Allergist."

He frowned and she smiled. "Don't look so confused. It's a type of doctor who deals with allergies."

"What is an allergy?"

"It's similar to what you guys have against silver. Some humans are allergic to certain things. It can be something small like dust or gra.s.s, the reaction need not be serious. But they can also be allergic to something more hectic like bees or seafood; these can kill someone who suffers from such an affliction. There are things a person can do. I don't know enough about it but Nadia has told me that there are desensitizing methods where a sufferer is exposed to small amounts of whatever it is they are allergic to." She licked her lips. "For you guys that would be silver."

"Are you saying we could be cured?" It would be an amazing breakthrough if that were the case.

She shrugged. "I don't know. All I'm saying is that there are treatments available. You guys should do some research. This could be curable or at the very least you could be desensitized so that your reaction isn't quite so severe."

"That would be something." Thunder would definitely mention this at his next meeting with Blaze. "Thank you for letting me know about this and thanks again for saving my life."

Tamara nodded. "Don't mention it." She began to rise from the bed. "You still look really tired. I'm here to take care of you. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. We have plenty of food and drink, as well as firewood, but ..." She sat back down, her teeth dug into her lower lip. "What about Cloud? What if he comes after us? It didn't take you long to find us before, so it goes without saying that he could find us just as easily." She pulled the knife from its sheath. "I'll fight him. Protect you." Her eyes blazed with determination.

Thunder choked out a laugh, which turned into a groan. "It hurts. d.a.m.n!" Any humor quickly evaporated as his thoughts moved back to Cloud.

Pain and disappointment coursed through him. "The male is most likely dead. If not dead, then gravely injured. If he is still alive, he'll heal more quickly than I will but he won't be able to find us. We are in Water territory, in a cave I accidentally stumbled upon years ago. He won't know of it. Finding this cave will be like finding a needle in a haystack." Thunder grinned. "You won't have to fight anyone."

She pushed the knife back into the sheath. "Thank G.o.d!" The female put a hand to her forehead. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm not much of a fighter." She frowned. "Cloud looked dead. His chest was smoking and it wasn't moving. You said this cave is in Water dragon territory? I thought that going onto each other's territories without permission is against the rules or something."

"Yeah, under normal conditions. This is not normal." Here he was, King of Air. Lying on his stomach, unable to move, together with a human, stashed away in a cave just within the border of Water territory. Normal didn't even feature.

Chapter 9.

The next day ...

"I'll whip us up a delicious breakfast. How does that sound?" Tamara said as she opened the chest. "What do you feel like, eggs, bacon?" she joked. "Or," she tried to make her voice sound as dull and boring as possible. "How's about a little fried jerky and a biscuit or two?"

Thunder chuckled. It was a rich, deep sound that echoed around the cave. "I think I'll go with the biscuits, dragons don't eat eggs."

"Why not?" She would kill for a couple of eggs right now. Scrambled ... no, a cheese omelet. Her mouth watered at the thought.

"Fire dragon females lay eggs so," he pulled a face, "egg eating is a bit of a no, no."

Oh s.h.i.t! "Okay! I get it. You mean they literally lay an egg as in, that's how they have babies?"

He nodded. "Yup."

"What about you guys? The rest of you?" Not that she was thinking of a relationship with him, with any of them for that matter.

Thunder gave a half smile like maybe he was misinterpreting her question and seeing it as just that. "Both Air and Water dragon females, including humans, give birth to live young. We're not too sure about the Earth dragons. They are a secretive bunch. Keep pretty much to themselves."

"Interesting." She grabbed a couple of the biscuits and a pack of beef jerky and walked back to the bed. "How are you feeling this morning?" She looked down at the food items in her hand, trying hard to will herself to forget about how she woke up this morning, yet again. Why couldn't she just sleep on her side of the bed? Why did she have to end up on top of him, hugging him closely? Although he kept his hands and every other part of his body to himself, he seemed to quite enjoy it, giving her a huge grin and a bright 'good morning' as soon as she opened her eyes. a.s.shole was lapping it up. It wasn't her fault. It wasn't like she did it on purpose. It was an unconscious thing and not something she had any control over. His grin just grew bigger when she explained it to him.

Thunder was still on his stomach, even though the wounds on his back were much better. They were no longer swollen and raw but they still had to properly close. He pulled the front half of his body up, coming to rest on his elbows, making a grunting noise as he did. "I'm still weaker than a whelp, but otherwise great." He turned to look at her, seeming to stare from under those long lashes of his. It was a strange look he had in his eyes and his gaze dropped to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. s.h.i.t! He was totally checking her out. She swallowed thickly, the walls of the cave suddenly feeling too close. No! She had to be wrong. She estimated that they had been there for two days, so it was three since she'd had her last shower. Her clothes felt like they were sticking to her. Her hair was starting to get that greasy look, she didn't have to be able to see it to know that it was true. On a positive note, at least her breath was minty fresh.

Hunkboy looked like he had just stepped off the pages of a health magazine. The front cover at that. His hair was mussed but it still looked great. He had thick stubble on his jaw but it only added to his rugged good looks, and would you believe it, he didn't smell bad. Not even a little bit. That musky scent of his was more p.r.o.nounced but she liked the way he smelled, so if anything it made him smell better. Not fair!

She tore open one of the packs and handed it to him. "Here you go. The breakfast of champions. I'm not sure how good eating biscuits from morning till night is, but hey," she shrugged. "At least we won't have to for much longer, right?"

The sides of his mouth quirked up. Oh yeah, definitely ready for the front cover of one of those magazines. "We call them life cakes even though they are more like a biscuit. They're perfectly balanced, whole foods. A person could live forever on just these things." He took a bite, chewed and swallowed. "But no, you won't have to live on them forever. I figure another three days, four tops and I should be able to shift."

She couldn't help the disappointment and it obviously showed on her face because he frowned. "It's only a couple of days. Like you said before, we have everything we need and we're safe. I'll have you out of here in no time."

"It's just," she didn't want to complain. "Never mind. You just concentrate on getting better."

"What's going on? What's wrong?"

"I noticed that this cave has all of the basics but those basics are really limited. I can't believe that people actually live in these things," she gestured around the cave. "Or vacation in them, or whatever you guys do. Firstly," she gripped her thumb. "there are no cooking utensils." She grabbed the next finger. "No first aid kit." She grabbed the third finger. "No clean clothing and no clean bedding." She looked down at her rumpled, dirty appearance and crinkled her nose at the thought of how her pits must smell.

Thunder took another bite of his biscuits, taking his time chewing and swallowing. "These caves are used for rutting."

Her cheeks heated immediately. Make that, her whole body ignited. He must have noticed because he smiled. "Dragon females don't go into heat very often. When they do it's intense and usually lasts several days. This is where a female will come to ride it out, either alone or with a mate. Clothing is not required. Food and everything else is all secondary." He looked to the rear of the cave. "No one really thinks about anything but s.e.x."

"Oh. I see." She cleared her throat because her voice sounded a tad squeaky.

His grin widened. "You can bathe in the pool. You can even wash your clothes if you want."

"That's our only drinking water. I would hate to contaminate the water with my stench."

"The pool is very deep. It would take a lot to contaminate the water." He smiled. "I wouldn't call your scent a stench." His nostrils flared. "You smell good to me." He sucked in another breath through his nose. "Really good."

She ignored the flirty comments. "If I did wash, I would have to get back into these clothes since I don't have a spare set."

"You can wash those," he gestured to what she was wearing with his eyes, "and hang them up to dry."

She felt her jaw drop.

He chuckled. That same deep baritone that had her panties ... Not going there. Thunder's nostrils flared again, and he stopped mid-laugh, turning serious. He cleared his throat. "Use this." He fingered the woolen blanket that covered the bottom half of his torso.

"What about you?" She asked, the air feeling a little thin. She didn't like the idea of him naked. It wouldn't be right. She didn't like the idea of just wearing a blanket either but the thought of staying in her dirty jeans and undies any longer was also not an option.

Thunder shrugged his ma.s.sive shoulders. "I'm not one for modesty. None of us shifters are. It would make shifting h.e.l.lishly difficult."

She had to smile as she thought of a whole bunch of shifters trying to preserve their modesty while shifting. He was right, it would never work.

"You don't look comfortable. Go and bathe. Here, take the blanket." He began to pull it off.

"No!" she half yelled, putting both her hands up. "I don't need it just yet." Seeing him half naked while he was wounded and unconscious was one thing, seeing him half naked her mouth dried up whilst very much awake was another entirely.

He paused, letting the blanket go. "Okay. Just say the word and it's yours."

She nodded. "Maybe after breakfast."

He gave a nod. "I need to ask a favor." He pulled a face, looking pained.

"Sure." She could hear the uncertainty in her own voice.

"I need you to help me get to the mouth of the cave."

"Right now?"

"Yeah, right now would be good."

"Um, ok. I thought you couldn't shift and I'm not sure that moving around will be good for you at the moment," she frowned, not liking the idea at all.

He gave his head a scratch. "I don't really have a choice. Dragon shifters have huge bladders but mine is getting seriously full. I need to go to the bathroom."

Flip! Of course he did. He might be a dragon shifter but he still had the same bodily functions as anyone else. Duh! She felt like slapping a hand to her forehead. "Right! Sure. I can help out. You'll need to excuse the BO though."

"BO?" He raised his brows looking clueless.

"BO stands for body odor."

"I like your BO, so don't worry about it."

Tammy had to giggle.

"Did I say that wrong?"

She nodded. "Yeah. When someone refers to BO, it means that they think they stink. So by you saying that you like my BO means that you like the way I stink."

"I like the way you smell. You don't stink." He winked at her.

"You're nuts," she shook her head. "How can you like the scent of my perspiration? It's not normal."

"It's very normal. You like the way I smell."

"I do not," she said too quickly. "That would be just as nuts."

"Why were you sniffing me last night then?" he smirked. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d smirked!

"No, I ..." she nipped her bottom lip and squeezed lightly. "You were supposed to be sleeping. You were sleeping dammit."

"Shifters sleep with one eye open. You sniffed me and by that little sigh you gave I'd say that you liked it." His smirk grew bigger. What an a.s.shat! He was loving every minute.

She shook her head. "I was checking to see if you needed a sponge bath." She tapped her nose. "You know, checking your level of BO."

He nodded, looking smug. "What was the sigh for then?"

"I was upset to learn that you did need one and rather badly." She shook her head, slowly trying to look put out. "I sighed out of frustration because it's the last thing I feel like doing. I wasn't even going to mention it." She shook her head. "I didn't want to embarra.s.s you."

"I'm not embarra.s.sed. If I stink then I need a bath," he shrugged.

"Sure, once you've ... you know ..." she gestured to the front of the cave. "I'll help you to the pool." She glanced to the back of the cave.

Thunder shook his head, looking serious. "I'll be lucky to make it to the front and then back again. h.e.l.l, I'll be lucky if I stand upright long enough to p.i.s.s. I'll take that sponge bath you so kindly offered."

"I didn't offer you a sponge bath. I said you needed one." The thought of washing him from head to toe left her feeling a little out of breath."

"You said you would care for me and get me anything I needed."

Oh G.o.d! He wasn't going to make her do that. No way! He would be an absolute p.r.i.c.k if he ...

Thunder burst out laughing, the laugh turned into a low groan. "That hurts. You should see your face. I'm only joking. We both know that you think I smell good. As awesome as a bath sounds, particularly a sponge bath, it can wait. I'm sure I'll be strong enough to bathe tomorrow."

Tammy couldn't help but smile. "You're an a.s.shole."

Thunder frowned and grit his teeth for a few seconds. "An a.s.shole who's about to wet the bed," his voice sounded strained.

"Oh, s.h.i.t, sorry!" She rushed over to him. Thunder pulled himself into a sitting position. He moved slowly and carefully. A sheen appeared on his forehead from the strain it took. The sheet pooled around his waist. "What do you need me to do?" Her heart-rate went up and her hands felt a bit sweaty.

"You have a deer in the headlights look," Thunder gave a half smile, he was breathing heavily. How was it that he looked so d.a.m.ned good despite being out of breath? For one, his chest was a thing of utter beauty. Those abs were impressive. They were let me glide my tongue along that ridge impressive. Stop!

Okay so he was hot, insanely good-looking ... no need to get all weak in the knees and gaga over him. He was too darned hunky. Liable to break her heart. Stomp all over the pieces and move on in an instant. He might seem nice, they all seemed nice. He had charming down pat, as well. A sure sign that he was not nice. You've been there and you have the t-shirt. Stop ogling him. Stop!

"I've never played at nurse before. You're a big guy, I'm not sure how much help I can be."

"Give me a hand. Help me up and then maybe keep me from falling over."

"Okay." She nodded, pushing out a breath.

"Okay then." He put out both his hands and she took them. Warm and calloused. Big, generous hands. Really nice hands. He squeezed hers, bringing her back. "You ready?"

She nodded, bending at the knee so that she could take his weight better. "Oh and, Tamara ..."

"You can call me Tammy." Why did she say that? He was going to get the wrong idea. "My friends call me that," she put emphasis on the word 'friends'.

He looked her in the eye with those mesmerizing purple irises. Stop! She needed to find herself a life raft already. There would be no drowning in those babies. He licked his lower lip. Don't look! Don't! Arghh! She b.l.o.o.d.y looked. At his tongue, dammit ... and just like that his smirk was back. "Tammy."