Page 25 of Fire Dragon
I don’t think I realized until right this moment what a sunny disposition you have.
Just don’t rain on my parade, or my caravan, with more doomsday news.She smiled as she spoke.
You give me hope.
At that, she was surprised.In what way?
Your optimism, I suppose. Hold on.He shifted his head just enough that she knew he was communicating with someone else.You want to have some fun?
Yes.She even grabbed his arm and gave it a squeeze.Fun is not overrated.
He seemed surprised by the contact, but he smiled. “What I do at this point is shift then fly back to the lead. It alerts the caravan we’ll be taking off. I think you’ll enjoy the response.”
“So, I’ll be riding with you?”
He paused for a half-beat then nodded. “It would be my pleasure.”
She was stunned. This was the first time she’d seen this side of him, somewhat relaxed even congenial. Logan had always said it existed, but Liam had never shown it to her before. Which wasn’t quite true. She’d seen this man the night they’d made love.
It was only afterward that he’d gone sour and pissy on her.
There could only be one reason, the doomsday news had affected him. But if that was the case, bring it on.
She felt his dragon-shifting process begin, which involved a lot of heat and energy.
Like the smart woman she was, she swiftly levitated up and away from him. She then contacted her transport to let him know she’d be flying with Liam.
Even the thought of having a front row seat to a caravan drive set her heart thumping.
As she watched Liam transform into his massive black dragon with a hint of iridescent red on each scale, a lump formed in her throat. He was gorgeous, stem to stern and the fire dragon in her exulted at his shift.
She wished her dragon ancestry hadn’t been so watered down by her human genetics. She would have loved to shift, to see Dusane in dragon form, to be able to fly with the massive, bat-like wings the dragons possessed and to engage the powerful winds that assaulted the planet day and night.
For a moment, all she did was float in the air above Liam and take a good long look at him. He was a beautiful fire dragon, and in the sunshine the hidden red iridescence beneath his scales shimmered with each movement.
His second eyelid floated down creating a clear protective lens over the eye.
He tossed his head.Hop on board.
Yes, Sir.
She took one last look at him, from the silver horns in a double row on the crest of his head, to the silver plates all along his back, to finally the deadly, arrow-like horn at the end of his tail, also silver. Then, with her considerable training, she launched herself at the saddle of his neck, and landed squarely in place.
During flight, his neck would level out as he shoved air with his massive black wings, then she’d have a perfect view.
Liam was what was known as a purebred, those dragons who bore a single solid color on their scales and were at least ninety-five percent dragon.
He rose into the air then flew off to the left side of the caravan as he headed south to take the lead. As he did, each dragon gave him a salute of some kind or other. Most opened their maws and let loose with a serious and often ferocious roar.
Those tourists, who had paid a fortune to make the trip, shouted and screamed their pleasure. The more dragon antics, the better.
Emma loved it almost as much as they did. If you were only one-percent dragon, you revered and adored those who could shift.
The moment of departure became a new thrill. She could feel Liam’s special energy emerge from his body. For a moment, she had to resist the urge to overlay her mind with his and capture the battling sync-up.
She shifted her leg so that she could twist far enough in her seat to watch his energy flow and basically encapsulate the entire caravan. Given that it was miles long, she couldn’t see the tail end.
But she could feel it. Whatever her companion-gifts were to Liam’s fierce dragon, she knew the exact moment when his energy had reached the final security detail and he closed the circuit tight.
