Page 144 of The Dragon's Mate

“It’s a landing pad,” Bren said.

Kaida smiled a little. “Yes.”

She dropped his hand and pointed to one ofthe larger stumps at the edge of the clearing. “Sit there, Bren. All right?”

“Sure.”

She hesitated before pressing a kissagainst his mouth. “Are you certain you wish to see this?”

“I am,” he said.

She still looked a little worried. “Once I’vechanged to my dragon -”

“Let me guess, don’t come near you or touchyou,” he said.

She blinked at him. “No, you may touch meif you wish. My dragon will be,” she adopted a long-suffering tone, “pissed ifyou don’t touch and admire. She wants to show off.”

He laughed. “Okay, cool.”

“What I was going to say is that once I’vechanged to my dragon, make sure you are well clear when I’m about to fly. I don’twant to accidentally hit you with my wings or something.”

“Right,” he said. Things suddenly seemed alittle surreal and Kaida must have sensed it because she stared at himworriedly.

“Bren?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “It’s just suddenly… alittle weird, you know? I’m about to see a real-life dragon.”

“I can wait a bit to shift if you’d like,”she said.

He shook his head. Her little glances upward,the smoke that was curling out in a steady stream from her nose and mouth, andthe nervous energy that surrounded her, showed him clearly that she was itchingto shift.

“No, go ahead and shift.” He kissed herand then walked away toward the stump. He sat down, sticking his hands intothe pockets of his jacket, the wood cold against his ass despite his jeans. Hewatched as Kaida moved to the middle of the clearing. For the first time, he noticedthe other cloaks that were lying in heaps in the clearing. There were five ofthem and he immediately scanned the sky, but there was no sign of the otherdragons.

He returned his gaze to Kaida, his mouthgoing dry, when she unfastened the cloak and it slid from her shoulders. Shewas completely naked beneath the cloak. Half her body was in shadows, theother half lit into stark awareness by the moonlight. The curve of her hip andthe lean length of her thigh made his cock immediately hard. He was suddenlyaching to take her right there in the clearing with the light of the moonbathing both of their bodies.

He stood, his desire to see her in herdragon form completely overtaken by his need to make her his. Before he couldtake a step, Kaida’s body began to swell, he could hear the cracking of her bonesas her head fell back and her spine arched. She dropped to her hands andknees, her face obscured by the smoke drifting from her mouth. Her pale skinturned blue, he blinked, and now shimmery blue scales covered her body.

Her body was distorting to an impossiblesize and he flinched when he heard more bones cracking. Even from across theclearing, he could feel the heat radiating from her body. The air around himshimmered and sweat dripped down his face. His eyes watered and he squinted themshut against a particularly fierce blast of heat.

When he opened them, a dragon stood in theclearing. He stared in silence at Kaida. In her dragon form she was close totwelve feet in height and he estimated at least forty feet long. Her scaleswere a shimmery dark blue, the wings folded against her body a lighter shade ofblue. A double row of bony spikes started behind her head, growing larger insize as they followed the length of her spine, then waning in size as theytravelled down her long tail to the tip. Her legs were large and powerful,each foot tipped with four black talons at the front and one at the back. Eachtalon was thick and razor sharp.

He walked toward her. His legs were shaky,but it wasn’t nerves that made him feel like he was using rubbery noodles to propelhimself forward. It was excitement and pure adrenaline.

He stopped in front of her, smiling whenshe bent her head toward him, and that great rumbling purr erupted from herchest. It was almost deafening in sound. The heat that radiated from her was sointense, he wondered for a moment if it would burn him to touch her.

His worry was dispelled when Kaida nudged himwith her large head. He stumbled back – Christ, she was strong – and then reachedout and rubbed the space above her nose. She was hot but not painfully so, andher scales were somehow both rough and smooth at the same time.

Remembering what she’d said about herdragon, he said, “You’re beautiful.”

The dragon purred again, her golden eyesglowing with what looked like delight. She nudged him a second time, this timeknocking him clean off his feet. Her purr turned to embarrassment – was it weirdthat he could recognize her different purrs? – and he jumped to his feet beforerubbing the side of her face. “I’m okay. Are you ready to fly?”

The dragon opened her mouth, revealing longand pulse-pounding rows of sharp white teeth. Bren swallowed hard when she said,“Fly.”

The voice was thick and more gargled soundingthan when the dragon spoke while in her human form, but that undercurrent ofKaida’s voice that still ran through it, made shivers run up and down hisspine.

He took a deep breath and smiled at her. “Havefun.”

He returned to the stump and sat down.Kaida stared at him for a moment before unfurling her wings. His pulse, whichhad slowed to normal, immediately ratcheted again, pushing the blood through hisbody in hot and throbbing waves. Her wings were a combination of leatherymembrane and tough bone supports. They were massive in size and as she spreadthem out completely, he guessed her wingspan to be at least seventy feet.

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