Page 16 of Bred By the Dragon

All I can do is nod, because I’m not sure what’s happening. We’re really... running off together. I watch as she slides on her underwear, bra, shirt and pants.

“So many clothes,” I observe while she dresses.

Sammy purses her lips. “When you have tits like mine, you need ‘em.” She slams the locker closed, then approaches me. “Let’s go, Zakarion.”

Oh, I like that.

“Of course. Sammy.” The taste of her name is delicious.

She grins, and leads the way. We don’t even stop at the receptionist desk as we go. Sammy just flaps a hand over her shoulder, saying, “Sorry. I think we’re done.”

I’m pretty sure there will be some paperwork to sign later because I’ve violated the rules, but I’ll let her have her moment. There’s always paperwork. I’m rather amazed by her as I follow her from the building out into the autumn sunlight.

“Well,” Sammy says, stopping abruptly. “Would you like to meet me at my house?” She tilts her head up to observe my full height. “I have a big backyard. We can figure out our plan of attack there.”

I blink. Plan of attack?

“Lead the way,” I say. “I’ll follow your car.”

She arches an eyebrow. “They let you do that?” she asks. “Just fly over town like that?”

“Who’s going to stop me?” I shoot back, and she laughs.

I follow Sammy’s hatchback out of the city, into the countryside. She pulls off the road onto a dirt trail, which leads to a cute, rather small house at the end. There’s a shed, an abandoned swing, and a big yard of grass that got brown over the summer.

Seeing where she lives, I understand quite a bit more about Sammy now. She likes her freedom, and she doesn’t want her neighbors seeing into her space. It’s probably inexpensive to live here, and as I survey the house, it’s clear she’s recently repainted it, and the frames around the windows have all been replaced.

“This is lovely,” I say, peering at the final flower blooms that are slowly starting to wilt in their beds. “All yours?”

She shrugs. “Some belongs to me, some to the bank still. If I’d kept my old job, I’d be a lot closer to owning it, but...” Sammy trails off. “Anyway, come sit down. I’ll get us lemonade.” She gestures at four yard chairs assembled around a table. When she goes inside to fetch the lemonade, I try to fit into one of the chairs, but it’s far too small for me. Instead, I set it aside and sit on the ground, and I’m still tall enough that when Sammy returns and sits, I can look her in the eyes.

As she sips her lemonade, I cough. “How will helping me help you pay off your house?” I ask.

“It doesn’t.” She smiles, and it’s a genuine one. “But that’s okay. I’m not a stranger to rustling up some extra bucks here and there while we’re working on our project.”

“What would we be doing?” I ask.

Sammy furrows her brow like I’m daft. “Well,” she says, coughing as she turns her head. “I mean, obviously. You’d be, you know.” I’ve never seen someone look so embarrassed. “Trying to get me pregnant?”

“But if it didn’t work at DreamTogether...” I begin.

“In that creepy white room?” she asks. “I read that lizards’ bodies are sensitive to just about everything, from light to temperature. Some animals need perfect conditions to successfully breed.”

Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. But I know very little about my own kind, as my own parents passed away before I ever thought to ask.

“So perhaps it was too cold?” I say.

“Or your body didn’t like the artificial lighting. Maybe you need sunshine.”

I peer up at the sky, where the afternoon light is coming in through the leaves of the trees that surround Sammy’s little house.

Is she suggesting...? My mind goes momentarily blank.

“Here?” I ask, like a fool.

“Why not?” Sammy rises from her chair, then pauses. “But we have to set some ground rules.”

I don’t like the sound of that. “DreamTogether was full of rules,” I say, curling my shoulders.

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