Page 9 of A Dragon's Miracle (Fires of Fate)
Ryan
Ican't saythat I was surprised to see Finn at the airport when I made it back to the island. He'd hinted he might show up here during our last phone call. What did surprise me was the bundle of flowers he was waving around wildly as he approached me.
What...?
“Hey! Welcome back!” Finn hugged me and my mind went blank before I had a chance to say or ask anything. I was so glad to see him, it was the hardest thing not to just dig my fingers into the back of his shirt and hold on. But that would have been weird. “I've missed you!” he said with a grin.
“I missed you too,” I said, trying to keep my voice even as he let go. I'd just spent days dreading all physical contact, but with Finn, I craved it, and my own emotions were giving me whiplash. “What are you doing with those flowers?” I asked, trying to distract myself.
“Oh, these?” He took a step back, a bright smile on his lips. “They're for you!”
“Me?” I stared at the bundle of red flowers he was holding out to me like a valentine's gift, even though it wasn't valentine and we were just friends. “Finn, what--“
“Just take them.” He pushed them at me. “Don't think too much about stuff, okay?”
“Okay,” I said slowly, taking the flowers from him. What was he up to?
“I think we should hang out on Saturday,” Finn said next. “You don't work Saturdays, right? So you're free.”
I eyed my friend curiously because something seemed off about him. Almost as if he was nervous about something. About what, though? We hung out all the time. “Sure, I'm free Saturday.”
“Great!” Finn flashed me another smile. “I'll get you around three, alright?”
“Yeah, alright,” I said and Finn looked at me as if I'd just made him a present.
And slowly I got the bad feeling that I knew where this was heading. I hoped that I was wrong, though, that Finnhadn’tjust asked me out on a date. He was my best friend and I loved him, and I really didn’t want to be forced to break his heart.
* * *
My suspicionsonly grew when Finn showed up in front of the embassy on Saturday in what seemed to be his hottest clothes. He never dressed up to hang out with me, but that day, he wore jeans so tight I couldn't help but stare at his ass whenever he turned his back to me. The shirt he wore did nothing to hide the outlines of his muscles either. He didn't often show off what he had, but when he did... damn. His sweet nature could fool you, but he was still a dragon, and definitely built like one.
“You ready?” he asked as I walked out of the embassy and toward him.
“Yeah...” I said once I managed to turn my brain back on. “Where are we going? Because you look ready to hit up a club or something.”
He gave me a smile, which, paired with the outfit, did funny things to my groin. Goddamn hormones. “No clubs,” he said. “Actually, I'm taking you to a hot spring.”
“A hot spring?” I'd heard there were one or two on the island, but I'd yet to visit one.
“Yes!” The smile on his lips turned positively wicked. “Help you get rid of your cold.”
“I don't have a cold anymore.”
“Then we'll just be making sure it won't come back anytime soon.”
“Okay, I guess.” A hot spring didn't sound too bad. With the flowers at the airport and the way he'd showed up here, I'd feared he might take me out to a long walk on the beach or something.
“Great!” Finn took a few steps back, and then a soft glow enveloped his body as he shifted. I'd seen dragons shift back and forth a hundred times, at least, and I'd seen Finn do it so often that all the wonder should have worn off already, but I still liked watching my friend transform. There was just something about seeing someone go from man to beast that gave me goosebumps. Especially when it was Finn who did it.
His dragon form was smaller than some others I'd seen, but no less impressive. His scales were red, with streaks of gold here and there, like racing stripes. I didn't know many dragons who were multi-colored, but Finn was bright, red and gold like the rising sun. It suited him.
Once he was fully changed, I climbed on his back like I'd done countless times before, and off we went.
As it turned out, the hot spring Finn was taking us to was located near the volcano. Not a surprise, really. It wasn't on top of it, but a good way up. Was I ever glad that dragons had wings and I didn't have to hike up there.
“This is it?” I asked as Finn landed and we found ourselves in front of a wooden building that looked like it wouldn't survive the next earthquake.
“Yes.” He’d shifted back once I'd climbed off him. “The other one is more... modern, but also more crowded.”
