Page 16 of Tease Me

The shock and awe of that fact hit Steele right in the throat. He couldn’t swallow, He could hardly breath.

He guessed that didn’t matter since he was dead.

“No, no, and nope. The flower is female, and those are dragon powers.”

There was no such thing as female dragons.

The White Witch tsked at him. “Kur.”

His name rang through Steele’s head, digging deep into his psyche to find a place to hide.

“What?” He rolled his eyes exactly the way a recalcitrant youngling dragon who knew they were whining would.

The First Dragon and the White Witch had been dead for hundreds of years. Long before Steele had been born.

Dead. Like Steele was now.

Holy First Dragon.

It was them. The mother and father of all Dragonkind and he was standing here like a dumbass.

They were not what he expected. They were...almost normal, an old married couple you’d see in a sitcom. He liked them.

“My love, my mate.” She took his fisted claws, uncurled them and kissed his palm. “You can’t protect Ishtar by hiding her from the world any longer.”

Who was Ishtar and why were they hiding her? What about Fleur?

“I can, and I will.” He spoke softly to her now. “We’re not talking about Ishtar, we’re trying to figure out how to get the flower and this dumbass together.”

She uncurled his other fist and gave that hand the same treatment. “Kur, sweetheart, it’s always about Ishtar. She is our daughter. Our hope.”

Whoa. No legend, no archives, no dragon had ever said anything about The First Dragon and the White Witch having a daughter.

The First Dragon closed his fists again, the tension rippling through the air around them. “Which is why we have to protect her.”

One by one, she pulled his talons open. “She will die if you don’t allow her the freedom to fly. She’s been cooped up for almost seven hundred years, and in all that time you haven’t allowed a single dragon daughter to assume her powers. Sooner or later he will find out about Ishtar.”

The First Dragon roared, his scales rippling in rainbows across his body, his scales shimmering with light and fire taking over.

The White Witch took the First Dragon’s jaw in her hands and laid her cheek against his. She stroked his scales. “Enough, my love. The world will need her and all the dragon daughters to win the coming battle. Let the flower bloom, it will make both Ishtar and me happy.”

The First Dragon huffed and puffed, pacing between the trees. Steele was all but forgotten. He gathered all the will he had to get their attention, to remind them about Fleur and whatever gift they were going to give her. Whether it helped him back to life or not, she needed whatever they had for her to survive against the demon dragon scum.

The White Witch and Steele watched the First Dragon growl and snort fire. He took to the air and circled the treetops.

Steele growled and reached for his own dragon self. He could feel the change inside of him pushing to get out, to protect Fleur even from the afterlife.

The First Dragon stared down at him from his angry flight.

“Calm yourself, dumbass. You will be back with your mate soon. If she’s anything like mine, you’ll need all the help you can get to protect her.”

A moment later he landed and easily slipped into his human form. “You’re damn sneaky, woman, giving me and my sons daughters. How can I say no to you?”

The White Witch blew a kiss to Steele, and did the same to her mate. “You can’t. Besides, the gift was not entirely for you. And you love my sneaky side.”

He chuckled. “Do I?”

“Yes, you do.”

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