Page 22 of Destiny of the Dragons

“Well?” Mia raised an eyebrow. “You said you would turn into a dragon.”

“You’re too close.” Jace took a few big steps back. She used the time to study him. His thighs were thick and muscular, and there was a vee on his hips pointing to his cock.

Yeah, she was in trouble. She cut a quick glance at Smoke. She couldn’t read him as well, but he was more tense than usual. He kept his gaze on Jace, almost like he was playing the same game of chicken.

Jace rolled his shoulders and let out a breath.

She expected him to tense up, but instead, he relaxed. Like a stretch, Jace released tension he was holding, and with a ripple-shimmer, he shifted into a dragon.

Mia laughed. It was childish, but he was gorgeous. He was as big as a school bus, and brilliantly red. His wings unfurled his wings, gloriously wide.

Mia walked closer. His eyes, golden-yellow, yet still somehow Jace.

She reached her hand out, and Jace put his snout on her palm. He exhaled, and hot steam came out of his mouth.

“You’re gorgeous.”

Jace still managed to look smug as a dragon.

“But you know that.” Mia petted his snout. He was warm to the touch, very warm. “Are you always this warm?”

“No.” Smoke stood next to her, scanning Jace. “He’s going to molt soon.”

“That’s where you shed your scales and stuff?”

“Sort of.” Smoke kept scanning Jace, like he was looking for injury. “It’s more like the magic inside reaches combustion and you grow bigger. It’s why we thought this was a good idea.”

“What?” Mia admired the horns curling out of Jace’s head. He looked like most pictures of Western dragons, with four legs, two wings, and a big, blocky head.

“Take one of his scales.”

Mia took her hand away. “I would never.”

Taking body parts was frowned upon. It would be like someone trying to cut off her finger and sell it to the highest bidder. Dragon body parts especially went for a ton of money on the black market because they retained some of their essential magic after the death of the dragon.

If Mia had no morals, and the means, she could become a millionaire by killing and selling Jace’s body parts to the highest bidders.

“It’s one scale. It won’t hurt him.” Smoke put his hand on the small of her back. “Cross can have it. He won’t be able to say it’s not worth his asking price for Tikka.”

Mia was speechless. They were telling her to take a dragon scale so she could pay Cross.

She stared at Smoke and then Jace. “It’s dangerous. He could trace the scale back to you.”

“Jace is about to molt. It will be much harder to use his scale against him after a molting.”

Mia didn’t know that. “You’re sure?”

Jace put his head forward again, gently, so she was touching him.

Sex appeal was one thing, but this was…something else. Mia looked at Smoke and then back to Jace. They must trust her, more than she understood, to give her a scale.

“Cross isn’t a good man,” she said. “If he has your scale…”

“He will sell it.” Smoke put his hand on Jace’s snout. “I checked him out. He has people asking for dragon scales already. He will sell it to the highest bidder, and make more than he’s asking.”

Smoke put his other hand on her waist. “Don’t give him your hair. He can’t do as much damage with a dragon scale, but your hair is different.”

Jace grumbled. It was soft, but still reverberated over the land.

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