Shades Of Dragon (A BBW Dragon-Shifter Paranormal Romance) by Catherine Vale Page A

rescue her father, including approaching his birth father’s clan for help, he would not be flying toward the Black Forest now.
    He definitely had never in his wildest dreams imagined their first encounter being one that involved begging his potential birth father for help. No, he’d imagined a more confrontational scenario, perhaps one where he’d waged war on his birth father, and everyone who followed him.
          No, if not for Ciara he wouldn’t be doing this at all. But she needed this, and she needed him, and Grey needed help in order to rescue the villagers, and expose the corruption within his clan.
    All of that was more than enough motivation to get him to swallow his pride, his fears, and ask this man for help.
          Unlike the terrain they were in before, this area was greener, with many cliffs and hills as well as plains making up much of the landscape. Lakes and rivers dotted the terrain and provided the water needed to make the place vibrant. They crested a cliff, and the Black Forest came into view, the one where the Blackfire clan had carved the heart out of, to make their home very defensible, though a forest was an odd choice for a dragon clan to live since the trees could go up in smoke at any time.
          Ah , he thought as they drew closer and he got a better look at the forest. But they’re pine trees. Pine burned without actually burning down, making the Black Forest an ideal choice for the Blackfire Clan. Even though the forest might catch fire, it was very unlikely that the village itself would burn down unless it was set on fire directly. And Tegan had a feeling that there were likely spells to prevent that  - if Grey could trade for small spells that allowed him to do things like communicate via fire, surely a clan Alpha had enough coin to buy protection spells from wizards for his clan’s village.
          Tegan began to descend, slowly enough as he was keeping in mind the fact that Ciara was in his claws, and that she wouldn’t be able to handle the air pressure of a fast descent. It reminded him of how fragile she is, how precious, and he wished there was somewhere he could have left her, not at all feeling comfortable with bringing her into a den of dragons he wasn’t sure would be friendly. But he knew no one he could take her to outside of Grey, and there was no way that he could get her to him since he was banned from the Redwater Clan, so the next best thing was to keep her close to his side to ensure that she remained safe.
          “Okay,” he told Ciara after he’d landed and shifted back into human form. “It’s very likely that they’ve already seen us approaching from the distance.”
          She nodded. “I saw sentries high up into the trees,” she told him. “They definitely spotted us. We should be prepared for a confrontation, or at the very least to be questioned.”
          “Well aren’t you observant,” Tegan said, impressed.
          Ciara smiled at him a little impishly. “I try to be useful even though I don’t have wings and I can’t breathe fire.”
          “You’re very useful,” Tegan said. “The best partner a dragon could ask for.” He pulled Ciara into him for a hug, then dipped his head down and took her mouth in a long slow kiss. As usual she ignited a fire inside his belly that had absolutely nothing to do with the dragon inside him and everything to do with the fact that she made him feel ridiculously alive. The feel of her softness against him, the sweetness of her scent… he never wanted to let any of that go.
          “Just in case something goes wrong and we don’t get another chance,” he murmured softly against her lips.
          She nodded, then kissed him just a little longer before she pulled back. “We’re going to be just fine,” she said, stroking her thumb across his cheekbone as she looked deep into his eyes. “We have to be.”
          They approached the rest of