Page 65 of Surge of Heat

It’s time for a second breakfast,I tell the boys, landing lightly beside Granger.

When I shift back, I’m breathing hard in my human form. Sweat gleams on my skin.

“How did you do?” Granger asks.

I smile at him. The wind is playing with his hair, sending the brown strands in every different direction. I’m tempted to pull him into my arms for a hug, just to breathe in his scent, but I don’t want to be too weird. Dragons get the scent thing. Humans, not so much.

“Practice was good. We’re all figuring it out. Figuring out how our bodies move, and how to use our unique skills to our advantage. I even think Evander and Aydan fighting is good in a bunch of different ways. If they can learn how to fight a dragon as large as they are, I don’t think they’ll have trouble fighting one the size of a green dragon.”

He grins. “You’re right. But I also think it’s helping them get along, working out a little of their anger with each other.”

I smile too. “They do seem calmer,” I add. “A little.”

He runs his hands through his hair, looking handsome in a pale blue shirt and brown slacks. All our lives Aydan and I have kind of run the show, but something has changed in Granger. I don’t know if he just became more confident in college, or if the fact that we need that big brain of his to figure things out has given him more confidence. Either way, he seems different.

His gaze moves to the clipboard in one of his hands. “We do need to spend more time having the guys try to approach you from the back. You’ve learned a few moves, but that’s the position you’ll be most vulnerable in.”

Unable to help myself, I hug him, drawing him in and breathing deeply of his scent. “We’re so lucky to have you. You’re going to keep me safe from this whole mess.”

He gives a humorless laugh. “I’m not a dragon. I can only do so much.”

“Well, you’re doing a ton.”

His arms fold around me, and he holds me tightly. “You’re my best friend, Sam. You’re important to me. I could never let anything hurt you.”

“I know.” I sigh. “I always feel so safe with you.”

He squeezes me tighter. “Good, because you’re always safe with me.”

Evander hits the ground near us, shaking the earth, followed by Aydan.

I look up at Granger and laugh. “Think they’ll get more graceful with that?”

He chuckles. “Probably not.”

Evander and Aydan shift back, and both of them are looking pleased as punch. Two huge, sweaty men, grinning at each other.

I get the unexpected vision of us all taking a shower together and pull back from Granger, feeling embarrassed. There’s no way I’d be able to coax those two to get in a shower with me, but the image of them does all kinds of things to me.

“You’re getting faster,” Aydan says.

“Well, you’re getting stronger,” Evander tells him. “That last move, I seriously thought you were going to snap my neck.”

Aydan’s grin widens. “We do need to get that dive down. Ending up in the ocean was cold and miserable.”

I laugh. We’d been practicing diving and pulling up at the last possible second over the ocean. I was able to do it with ease, but they lack the gracefulness that my smaller dragon easily possesses.

Granger taps his clipboard. “Well, when we get into breakfast, I have a lot of notes.”

“Perfect, man,” Aydan says. “Every tweak you make just makes us better and better.”

“That bucking move,” Evander compliments, lifting his brows. “Pure genius.”

Suddenly, alarms start going off, along with red lights at the tops of all the buildings. Gun turrets open out of the ground in all directions, and the air feels sinister. Without saying a word, we know what’s going on. There’s a dragon. Close.

We all start running for the building, racing as fast as we can. The gun turrets start firing at the sky. The noise is deafening. I glance back and see Granger far behind me. I try to stop, but Evander catches my arm and keeps me running.

“No!” I say, gesturing to Granger.

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