Page 145 of The Dragon's Mate

“Holy shit,” he breathed.

Kaida was staring at the sky, her wide chestheaving in great gulps of moon lit air as her powerful legs crouched. With anease that seemed almost magical, she leaped upward, her enormous wings beatingthe night air so hard that the wind from it almost knocked him off the stump.

He grabbed the sides of the stump, watchingwith a combination of awe and disbelief as Kaida rose quickly and steadily intothe sky. When she was almost forty feet above the treeline, she flew forward,her body gliding through the air, the beat of her wings echoing in his eardrums. She did a few dips and dives, her body swooping gracefully across thesky, before she flew toward the mountains in the far distance. She grew smallerand smaller until not even the bright moonlight was enough to help him see her.

“Holyfuckingshit,” he said.

He was still clinging to the stump and hereleased his grip, his fingers aching from the pressure. He stared at themoon, his heart rapping against his rib cage like an impatient butler knocking onhis master’s door, processing what he’d just seen.

He unstuck his tongue from the roof of hismouth and said, “I saw a dragon fly.”

When nothing replied, he studied the nightsky and waited for her to return to him.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The others returned before Kaida. The firstdragon who dropped from the sky to land in the clearing with a ground shakingthud was bright orange in colour. He was larger in size than Kaida, and hestared curiously at Bren before shifting with a low pop to his human form.

Bren didn’t recognize the shifter. His shortblond hair had streaks of orange throughout it and he was well over six feetwith a lean and muscular body. He picked up his cloak, not at all bothered byhis nakedness, and draped it around his body before nodding to Bren and walkingout of the clearing.

The next two that arrived, landed in theclearing together. The bigger one was a rich dark green in colour, the smallerthe colour of emeralds. Bren turned away hastily when they shifted to theirhuman form and the smaller one was a woman. He waited a few minutes and then turnedaround. The dragons were in their cloaks and already at the edge of the clearing.Without looking at him, they disappeared into the trees.

Ten minutes later, a dark shadow blotted outthe moon. Bren looked up, his eyes widening as the dragon coasted silently tothe ground. It was midnight blue in colour and so colossal in size that when thetip of one massive wing brushed against a tree as the dragon landed, the treecracked with the sound of a gunshot and landed on its side as though felled byan invisible axe.

“Holy fuck,” Bren said as the dragon turnedits golden gaze toward him. The dragon growled, its teeth shining in the moonlightas smoke drifted out of his mouth. Every muscle in Bren’s body went slack.

Shit. This had been a very bad idea.

There was a low pop and the vast dragonturned into the vast human body of Bones. Bren choked in a breath, pressinghis hand against his chest. “Jesus Christ, Bones. You scared the shit out ofme.”

The dragon laughed and smoothed his goateedown as he reached for his cloak. “You didn’t piss your pants. I’m impressed.”

“I came pretty fucking close.” Bren stoodup, taking a few steps toward Bones as a dragon, much smaller in size and its scalesa deep rich red in colour, landed behind the dragon shifter. “You have to beat least, what? Sixty feet in length in your dragon form?”

Bones twirled his finger in a circular motion.“Turn away before my mate shifts, human. Unless you want to know what it feelslike to have your flesh melted off.”

Bren turned around immediately. Behindhim, he heard the now familiar pop and then the soft voice of Javee. “Don’t bea dick to the human, honey.”

“You know it’s my go-to.” Bones voice wasthick with amusement.

Javee laughed. “Indeed. You may turn aroundnow, human.”

Bren turned, nodding to the pretty dragonshifter as she fastened the last button on her cloak and pulled the hood overher head. “Hello, Javee.”

“Hello, human.” Javee took Bones’s hand. “Yourmate was not far behind me. She will return soon.”

“Thanks.”

“Come, my love,” Javee tugged on Bones’shand. “Let us leave before Kaida arrives and mates with her human.”

Bones made a face before following Javee towardthe trees. “Gross.”

Javee laughed. “As if we’re not going hometo do the very same, my love.”

The grin on Bones’s face widened and he grabbeda handful of Javee’s ass as they left the clearing.

The heat from the dragons quickly faded andthe cold air returned. Bren blew on his hands and stuck them under his armpitsin a bid to warm them. It’d been almost two hours since Kaida had shifted toher dragon form and he’d grown steadily colder as he waited. He stomped hisfeet as he paced back and forth in front of the stump. He was having a hot showerthe minute he returned to Kaida’s cabin. A scorching, steaming shower with a cupof coffee afterward that was hot enough to scald his tongue.

The soft thud behind him made him turn quickly,his breath steaming out in front of him in the cold air. Kaida stared at himbut made no move to shift to her human form. He walked toward her and when shebent her head, he stroked the side of her face. “Welcome back.”

---