Surprisingly, a large part of me found hermoreattractive now, as if that were possible. The past three days had been filled with some of the best sex we’d ever had. She was insatiable, and my dragon and I were for it.
“Mom instinct, I guess,” she said, stifling another yawn. “I always seem to know. Then again, he’s fi—small. The bed doesn’t shake the same whenhelands on it.”
“Oops,” I said, casually flexing a bicep for no reason other than to hear her laugh. Which she did. “Now, come on, get up!”
I slid off the bed, yanking the cover off her naked body. My eyes drank it in, and I almost spread her legs apart, but now wasn’t the time for that.
“Hey, I was using those!” she protested, not bothering to cover her nudity.
“Out of my bed,” I ordered. “Put some clothes on.”
Sarah’s head came around, her brown eyes hard and suspicious. “Put themon, you said?”
I grinned. “Bet you didn’t see that coming. Now, move it, good-looking. That’s an order.”
She pondered that. “I might be feeling a bit rebellious this morning.”
“Nope.” I grabbed an ankle and started dragging her. “You aren’t getting punished this morning. Sorry. Other things to do. Let’s go!”
Something clued in her eyes as she came fully awake. It had been three days. Today was the day of the Summer Solstice Festival.
But I had another surprise in store for her. One that would hopefully ease the guilt in my mind. The fact I hadn’t bothered to consider her life might have changed while we were apart was irksome. Knowing I’d split apart her family was a self-loathing that dug its fingers in deeper every day.
I had to make it right. Whatever it took. It was a drastic step, but if it’s what was required, I would do it. For her.
Sarah dressed quickly. “Now what?” she asked, looking fabulous in one of my shirts and a pair of shorts we’d picked up at a nearby store the first day.
“Now you come with me,” I said, trying to restrain my eagerness. I didn’t want her to guess.
“Okay? Should I have breakfast first?”
“Nah,” I said. “It’s fine.”
Leading her by the hand, I took her up the stairs to the roof. In the corner of my mind where it lived, the bestial half of my dragon chortled happily, producing the content smile on my face. Things were about to be set right.
“I’m not ready to fly yet,” Sarah said, trying to slow. “I need proper clothing. And a hair tie, at minimum.”
“Nope,” I said, stopping her from going back down. “Get your butt on the roof. Now.”
Frowning, she pushed open the door.
“Surprise!” I shouted, waving my hand at the trio of figures on the roof. Two of them were tall and human-shaped except for the wings swept up tight to their shoulders.
But the third …
“Oh my god,”Sarah gasped, looking at me.
I blinked, rocking backward at the sheer horror on her face. “Sarah?”
“What have youdone?” she shrieked, rushing past me to pick the third figure up into her arms. “Oh, Jake. Hi, little buddy. Hi.”
I stared at her, confusion reigning supreme as tears streamed down her face. Only they didn’t appear to be tears of happiness.
The other dragons watched the proceedings in silence. I appreciated that, at least. They weren’t being paid to talk anyway. Just to retrieve Jakub.
“Levi.”
My hand came up sharply as Jarrod, the one on the left, opened his mouth to speak. “Not now,” I whispered, trying to puzzle things through with Sarah.