Page 68 of Royal Caleva: Luis

One of the guards jogged up from behind and took the reins of their horses as Luis led her up to join their children. Grace grinned and opened her eyes wide in a pantomime of what’s going on? Eve smiled with a shrug in response.

A young woman dressed in dark green from head to toe seemed to materialize from between the trees. She echoed Luis’s finger-to-lips warning before gesturing for them to follow her. Raul dropped back to let Grace and Eve go before him.

Excitement fizzed through Eve as she trod carefully behind their guide, stepping over fallen branches and dry leaves that might make noise. Grace glanced back at her with the same lit-up look of anticipation.

The guide dropped to a crouch as the trees thinned at the edge of a clearing, waving them forward to kneel beside her before she pointed to the right.

Grace gasped at the same time as Eve.

Two brilliant teal Calevan dragons sunned themselves on a large boulder. One was at least five feet long, while the other might have been a foot or so shorter. Their red-rimmed neck frills were folded back, and their eyes were mere slits as they basked in the light and warmth.

Luis knelt between Grace and Eve, and Eve turned to mouth, “Wow!” at him, her eyes wide. He nodded before he turned to admire them as well. His shoulder brushed hers, and she had to stop herself from leaning into the strength of his body.

“They’re amazing!” Grace whispered.

All five of them stayed silent, gazing in awe at the rare and gorgeous creatures. This was where the dragons belonged, in the wild where their vivid color blazed against the dark gray basalt.

Eve shifted so she could watch the three Dragóns kneeling in a row, their profiles so much alike as they gazed at the creatures whose name they carried. Grace was part of this family, whether Eve wanted it or not. The Dragón blood ran strong in her veins.

“Would you like to see their frills displayed?” Luis whispered. “We will have to disturb them, so they may leave.”

“One more minute, please,” Grace whispered, her eyes still locked on the huge lizards.

Luis nodded. Eve jerked as she felt his warm fingers close around hers. He smiled at her surprise and kept their clasped hands hidden between their thighs. The strength of his clasp sent little vibrations of pleasure up her arm to dance in her chest. She gently squeezed his hand to let Luis know she liked it.

Movement from Grace pulled her gaze away from Luis. Her daughter slowly drew her phone from her jacket pocket and took several shots of the basking dragons. Then she nodded to Luis. “Okay, I’m ready to see frills.”

He released Eve’s hand, making her feel bereft, and reached forward to pick up an egg-sized stone. She almost protested until she realized he wouldn’t use it to hit one of the lizards. He narrowed his eyes, intent on whatever his target was before he cocked his arm back and hurled it, hitting the side of a boulder about five feet from the huge lizards. The stone cracked when it hit, sending a rattling shower of pebbles raining onto the ground.

The bigger dragon’s head reared up as its frill snapped open like a huge circular fan painted in bright bands of teal, blue, and red. It opened its mouth wide and gave a loud hissing cough almost like a lion’s.

Eve’s heart did a flip. It was like seeing a dinosaur come to life.

“That would make me back off for sure,” Grace muttered as she took another picture.

The smaller lizard lifted its head, looking around warily, but didn’t open its frill.

“Shall I try to get the other dragon to display?” Luis asked, already searching for another rock to toss.

Grace shook her head. “No, we’ll leave them to their sunshine.”

Eve loved that about Grace. Her daughter respected the wild creatures’ right to be there more than her need for a great photo.

The bigger one kept its frill open as it swung its head back and forth a couple of times, giving them an excellent view of the huge neckpiece it sported, before folding it down again. It and its companion continued to survey their surroundings a little longer, then settled back into their sun-induced nap.

The guide led them quietly back to the horses.

“Now we will all have the luck of el dragón for the rest of the day,” Luis said.

“That was awesome!” Grace looked like she had seen Santa Claus. “It makes me furious that people killed so many of them for their skin.”

“Agreed,” Raul said, his handsome face stern. “But now that we have strong laws to protect them, you can see that they are making a comeback in the wild once again.”

“Thanks to your captive breeding program,” Grace said. “I wonder if that big fella was born in your dragon preserve.”

“If so, he’s a major success story,” Raul said. “Did you see the size of his frill?”

“And so brilliantly colored!” Eve said. “I was also impressed with his voice. For a herbivore, he sounded pretty fierce.”

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