Alice's Dragon (The Challenge Series) by Stephanie Beck

joined hers with his in a duel. He kept his eyes open, a fire building there, and she hoped he read the same in hers.
    When the holding door slammed shut, the alligator jumped, along with whatever else lurked in the bushes with them. The lusty moment broken by the slam, jump, and growl, Alice and Bade surged to their feet. She grabbed a stick and thanked her lucky stars when she spun to find a hissing lizard smaller than their catch. She kept it at bay while Bade hefted their captive.
    “Come on.” He led the way through the gate.
    They sped through the night back to the cottage. Alice felt as light as a cloud, matching Bade’s every step. Once they arrived, he dispatched the alligator and hung it over a bucket to collect the blood for their hungry dragons. Alice stepped into the cottage and tossed her cloak aside. Bade did the same, his distaste with the apparel no longer showing in his expression.
    “It worked.” With the exciting moment past, shyness infiltrated her mind. They’d shared so much in the past months, and tonight brought everything to a head.
    The low fire offered just enough light to see Bade’s intense expression soften. He closed the short distance between them and wrapped his arms around her waist. If he felt shy, it didn’t show in his gentle kiss. His lips brushed hers, once, twice, and then settled in place, sharing warmth and spark.
    The soft scent of baking apples and the crackling of the fire relaxed her. She looped her arm over his shoulders and wondered what was next. His tongue glided over her lips and she opened them, welcoming more. The man could slay dragons, yet preferred to raise and nurture them. He’d taken the same actions with her and stolen her heart. She couldn’t be in better hands.

 
     
    Epilogue
     
     
    Seven years later .
     
    Rustyann sat at the edge of the cliff, watching as her brothers and sisters soared over the white capped sea. Alice’s heart hurt for her sweet, gentle dragon. The little one had come so far. She’d beat Bade’s six month prediction by being the strongest of her siblings. She’d been the first to eat meat, the first to hop onto the table with the signs of being ready to fly. She’d done everything first until the day Walter stepped up and took to the sky, followed by Mimi, Abner, and Fatty. That day, Rustyann stayed behind and watched from the cliffs.
    “She might not do it,” Bade whispered, their own young one far from flying and asleep on his shoulder.
    Once they’d stolen the alligator from Henry, they’d been partners in crime and life. While starting their own family had taken a while, Erica came at just the right time. With the dragons finally out of the home, well trained and charmed by both her and Bade, they had space and time to raise a young of their own species.
    Their darling Erica, with her fire-red hair, embodied Bade’s mother, or so he said when he rocked the baby to sleep. Alice saw much of her own mother in her daughter, which made her leery, even as she fell further in love every day. She patted Erica’s back before she strode toward Rustyann.
    The fall wind blew the salty air, so similar to the afternoon the dragon had struggled from her egg. Rustyann didn’t turn away from the sea, where Fatty and Walter dove into the ocean, grabbing fish and spinning in circles of joy. Alice remembered the desolation after she’d lost her arm. For a short time she’d thought death better than living with a single appendage. Rustyann’s left wing had never grown to completion, but the dragoness was strong. So strong, Alice had no doubt she could fly if she’d take the first step.
    She rubbed her hand up and down Rustyann’s foreleg. Before another two years passed, she would be too large to approach without ample space and warning. Still a juvenile, she allowed Alice to pet her without fuss.
    “You know,” she said. “I was like you. The autumn you were born, I lost my arm to your bastard namesake. Rusty bit it right off.