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look scaly with wings and a big snout full of teeth?”
    Emma thumped her head against the tree, scrunching her eyes closed against the temptation to sit down and cry.
    The wacked-out world had dumped her into a nightmare, a living nightmare.
    Warm, moist air caressed her arm. A spicy, delicious scent flowed around her as the warm breeze ruffled her hair. She sighed and inhaled the heavenly scent, dangerous and forbidden, a scent that somehow reminded her of red-hot candy on a sizzling summer day and – unrealistically – of the gorgeous young man standing below her. She lifted her head and stared straight into the face of a dragon, a big black dragon.
    The diamond shaped pupils of a massive predator watched her. A heavily muscled forearm appeared less than six inches from her face as long black talons pinched into the bark. The dragon’s muzzle, covered with tiny black scales, opened to reveal deadly sharp teeth.
    Sheer, blind terror erupted within her. She shrieked a terrified sound that had the capacity to rupture eardrums.
    Emma shoved backward, only then remembering how high she was, not that the drop mattered. What was a little ten foot drop compared to being chomped in half by a bloody monster with teeth the size of jumbo bananas hopped-up on Miracle Grow!
    Her mind babbled nonsense, screaming at her in incoherent fear. She fell backward, screaming again as the dragon lunged toward her. Kicking at him, she smacked him in his snout, which flipped her backward. She slammed into the ground with a resounding thump.
    She heard him roar just as her vision went completely black. At least she wouldn’t feel the first chomp.
     

Chapter - Dragon!
    Feeling as if her eyelids had been sewn shut, Emma struggled to open them.
    A touch feathered across her forehead, down her cheek. The gentle touch drifted away. She felt lost. At the loss, her fuzzy logic realized she hurt all over, but nothing serious, no sharp stabs of pain telling her she may have broken something.
    Her eyelids fluttered, but refused to stay open.
    Something curled around her bared midriff, sending curls of warmth through her.
    Licking her lips, they tasted salty like blood. Blood?
    Oh, crap! Dragon!
    Fear surged through her and her eyes snapped open.
    A worried face hovered above her. She squealed and scrambled backward, coming to a resounding halt at the base of a big oak tree.
    “Emma, please don’t be afraid. I’d never hurt you,” he said fervently, grimacing as she flinched away from him.
    She shuddered in relief, beyond thankful he appeared human for the moment.
    Warily, she watched him, while trying to wrap her mind around the impossible. Honestly, she didn’t understand how the gorgeous young man could change into a fire-breathing monster.
    Scooting around the tree, moving away from him, she struggled to speak. “That was you?” she demanded, never taking her eyes off him.
    He nodded.
    Disbelief warred with what she’d seen. “You’re in the same clothes, why didn’t they shred? The dragon was huge! Where did all the extra mass come from? There’s no way a human body can change into something a hundred times bigger. It’s scientifically impossible. That’s not even taking into account the scales and horns. Your skin...” she snapped her teeth together, huffing in frustration. “Oh, good grief, I’m rambling like a lunatic.”
    The longer she spoke, the darker Tyler’s scowl grew. “That’s just the way it is. Why is that so hard to believe?”
    “Hello?” Emma asked sarcastically, curling her heart-shaped face into a look of incredulity. Strangling her fear, she stomped toward him, waving her hand in front of his face. “This is Earth. There’s no such thing as dragons.”
    She paced back and forth. The top of her head barely came to his shoulder. “Are you going to answer me or just stare at me?” Emma demanded, scowling up at him.
    A multitude of emotions flickered across his face. “We haven’t had access to Earth in