Page 7 of Surge of Heat

“How long?” I repeat innocently.

“Aydan…” Granger begins from the front seat.

“And how come the green dragon didn’t find you sooner?”

I squirm in my seat, gaze fixed outside.

“We should just be glad she’s okay,” Granger says, his voice just above a whisper.

I can sense that Aydan wants to say more, but he leans back on the seat, and his gaze is suddenly fixed outside his window too. The awkwardness is miserable. I can almost feel them picturing the way I’ve spent my last few hours while they’ve been fighting for their lives, and I want to melt off my seat and slide out the door. What’s more… apparently, I need to fuck someone before I reach the base.

So now, the question is… who the hell am I going to fuck?

THREE

Samantha

We pullinto the diner and Granger kills the engine. We all sit for a really long minute, staring. I don’t know what they’re doing, but I’m trying to accept where we are. Afterbeinga dragon, beinghuntedby a dragon, and having sex with a dragon, I’m back in the real world, and I need to act like it.

“Okay, I’m breaking the silence,” Granger says. “I’m this close to dying from hunger,” he continues, indicating an inch or two with his good hand.

I take a deep breath and nod. “We’ll feel better when we eat.”

I hope.

We head into the restaurant and with our appearance, and Granger's sling, get more than a few stares from the people scattered around the room. A few men’s gazes linger on my bare stomach, and Aydan instantly moves to stand in front me, blocking me from view. I try not to roll my eyes. I guess it’skind ofsweet he wants to defend me from their pervy gazes, but I still glance around him to see the room.

There are a couple waitresses, a number of truckers at the bar, and a few groups of people in booths. Instantly, I’m assaulted by the smell.. Oil, lavender, sweat, mint, lemons. The scents from everyone here are overwhelming all together, but even when I separate them by individual, I don’t like the scents. They aren’t awful like the green dragon, but they’re not good either. It’s weird.

“You okay?” Aydan asks, frowning.

I nod. “Just a lot of scents.”

They both exchange a look, and I feel my cheeks heat. They don’t know yet how much I’ve changed. They don’t know how important scents are to me now.

A waitress leads us to an open booth in a back corner, and I slide in next to Granger, not wanting to deal with Aydan or his mood right now. We’re handed menus, and our focus snaps to them. I pick out what I want to eat, then notice the TVs in the corners. They’re muted, but there’s one screen after another showing the green dragon, me, and even Evander.

Most of the gazes in the room are on the screens, and I catch scattered bits of conversation. People are scared. Dragons have been destroying things, killing people, at least according to the news, and they don’t know what to do. This feels like a nightmare.

It feels that way to me too.

My whole body tightens. I sense Granger and Aydan noticing the screens and the conversations too. All our focus moves to the TVs, to the images flashing on the screens.

“So…you’re more in tune to scents. Any other changes?” he asks, and I don’t know if he’s actually curious or just trying to distract me.

I nod. “I’m stronger and faster, not that you'd notice, unless I do something with a lot of force. I won't need you guys to openjars of peanut butter anymore," I say, trying for levity but failing. "There’s probably more, but–”

“What can I get for you?” the waitress asks, stopping in front of us and tapping her pen on her pad of paper.

Her gaze slides over all of our battered forms, and the wrinkles in the corners of her lips seem to grow deeper as she frowns. She shifts from one foot to the other, like she wants to be anywhere but here. The feeling is mutual. She smells like onions and burnt cheese. It’s hard not to wrinkle my nose with her this close.

I let my gaze run over the menus. “I’ll get a Dr. Pepper, your Sunshine Scramble, the Chicken Fried Chicken, and a side of fries,” I say.

She turns to go, and Granger stops her. “Actually, we haven’t ordered yet.”

Her eyes widen, and I realize she thought that was the order for the table.Oops.Unfortunately, that happens to our crew a lot. We’re big eaters.

Granger sounds excited as he speaks. “I’ll take a Dr. Pepper too, a Mighty Meat Slammer, the French Toast Cheesecake, and potato skins.”

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