Dragon's Second Chance Romance - Riley Storm

Chapter One

Claire

Mistakes can ruin even the best of days, as Claire Owens was about to find out.

It truly had been a remarkably good day. Perhaps that should have been her first warning that everything was about to go horribly, horribly wrong, but why should it? Wasn’t she allowed to have some good in her life? Or was she going to spend the rest of her years being punished for the past?

There were no clues, no red flags to put her on alert. In fact, the very opposite was occurring. Everything was going great.

The sun was shining on a warm, sunny day in Five Peaks, requiring little more than the off-white airy capris and sky-blue tank top that she wore. It wasn’t fashionable or ‘on-trend’, but in the tiny mountain town, nobody cared about that. It was comfortable, and she looked good in it, and that was what mattered to her.

“Not that everything is about me,” she muttered with a wry smile, walking down the sidewalk, headed toward the room in her parent’s basement where she was currently staying and a late dinner.

And a well-earned dinner at that. I certainly worked up the appetite!

That afternoon, Claire’s best friend had opened her new store to the public. As any good friend would do, Claire had volunteered to help for a bit. The crowd had been huge, and helping had turned into running around wildly trying to keep everything stocked and the line moving.

After her ‘shift’ was done, she’d gone straight to the bar to meet up with another friend and have a few happy hour beverages. Then, full of giggles, laughter, and memories properly reminisced over, she’d headed home to make dinner.

Which is precisely when everything went to shit.

“Hello, Claire.”

She froze as he stepped out of the bushes to block her path. Her blood stabbed with cold fear, drawing deep into her veins and pooling in her core, wiping out the day’s heat and any good feelings that had been buzzing within her.

“What are you doing here, Pete?” she asked stiffly, looking around frantically for help.

Anyone would do really. Anyone she could latch herself onto and stay with until Pete gave up and left.

But the creepy criminal had chosen his spot well. He wasn’t the smartest of people, but he was great at getting what he wanted, and right now, he wanted her alone. And he had it. They were on a side street, a slow residential road with few cars and even fewer pedestrians. Old houses lived peacefully under great big trees. Lawns were well cared for, and each house had a laneway that went up the side to parking in the rear.

It was a street where everyone minded their own business. Only sheer luck could save her and, given that Pete was standing in front of her, Claire knew her luck had just run out.

The fun buzz she’d had going after leaving the bar had vanished, replaced with a prickling sensation that refused to go away.

“You, of course,” Pete said, running a hand over his bald head, the tattoos on his face stretching slightly as they did. “It’s always you.”

Claire shivered, an unnaturally cold feeling sliding over her thanks to the eerie focus of Pete’s bright blue eyes. Obsession wasn’t often referred to as a ‘look’, but one glance at his face when he stared at her would convince anyone it was the right word. It was the same every time he looked at her.

She tried not to vomit from nerves.

“Come back with me, Claire,” he said. His eyes shone brightly in the early evening light, as the sun prepared to set behind the mountains to the west, leaving Five Peaks in its long-lasting twilight time.

“To Kennewick Falls?” she said in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“You’re joking, right? I told you, Pete, I’m done with that life. I’m done with you.”

Pete stepped closer. Claire stepped back out of his shadow. She’d used to enjoy the way he loomed over her. The massive size difference between them. It had given her great pleasure to relax into those thickly muscled arms and feel comfortable. Protected.

But I never felt safe. Not from him. Only from everyone else.

It had taken Claire a long time to come to the conclusion that she was still scared of Pete, that she only stayed with him because she was scared of him. Once she’d realized that, combined with who she was becoming around him, she’d left.

And she wasn’t going back.

“Nobody leaves the life Claire,” Pete said, his tight white undershirt emphasizing the muscularity