Page 2 of Kian

The baby’s skin was the tender green of newborn leaves unfurling from the branch.

Kinsley studied the pert little upturned nose, the curve of the cheeks and chin, and the serious, indigo eyes of her new baby.

But the baby’s features seemed to go blurry as Kinsley’s eyes filled with happy tears.

“I love you,” she whispered. “I will always protect you.”

A sort of growly sound of approval issued from the person who had been holding the baby, and for the first time, Kinsley took her eyes off her daughter.

He was a mountain of a man, wide as a wall and rippling with muscles which were on full display. His skin tone was the same delicate green as the baby’s, and his long, golden hair hung down his back.

But Kinsley couldn’t get past the leather armor he wore.

“It’s true,” she breathed. “You’re Invicta.”

He didn’t reply, but jutted his chin slightly, as if to confirm.

Kinsley had heard rumors that Invicta guards would deliver the babies to their adoptive mothers, but she hadn’t really believed them. After all, the Invicta dragons were the fiercest warriors in the galaxy. While it made sense for them to honor the mistake they had made destroying the gentle people of Imber by creating pod babies from their DNA, it didn’t really make sense for them to do any of itthemselves. She had always imagined the Invicta bankrolled the project, hiring the best scientists, doctors, technicians, and so forth.

They certainly had a rigorous set of questions for adoptive mothers.

Seeing the big warrior here, ensuring that this tiny baby girl made it into her mother’s arms, was so moving that it made her want to cry all over again.

But it didn’t feel right to begin parenthood with so much crying, so she did her best to fight back the tears that threatened.

There were plenty of wonderful things to distract her, but somehow her eyes stayed on the warrior.

Ever since she was a little girl, Kinsley had been obsessed with dragons.

Part of it was the mere act of shifting, which she knew had to obey the laws of science, butseemedmagical to her.

As she got older, she couldn’t help noticing how blindingly gorgeous all the Invicta men were in their armor, with their thick muscular forms, and gorgeous spectrum of beautiful skin shades. Every young woman in the sector probably daydreamed about the colorful, powerful warriors.

But the thread through all of it, and her true obsession, was the idea that they couldfly -no crafts, no engines, nothing at all between them and the open sky. It was a dream she’d had her entire life.

A million questions bubbled up in her, forming a sort of traffic jam in her mind as she cradled her daughter to her chest, unable to believe she was in the presence of a true dragon for the very first time.

2

KIAN

Kian stood before the tiny, raven-haired beauty, wishing he could be anywhere else in the system.

It was bad enough that he had noticed her inky mane lifting in the breeze the moment she landed. She’d hit the ground with the grace of a hunting cat, while the other two females had fallen out of their ship like a pair of root-sacks.

But now, as she looked up at him with those wide eyes, his whole body was practically shaking with need.

Mine,his dragon screamed, clawing at its bonds, and keening for him to claim her.

No,he told the dragon.

But his heart was pounding, and an unwelcome heat pulsed through his body as if every cell had been electrified.

Resisting would be like trying to put out a dragon’s fiery breath with a glass of water. Kian honestly didn’t know how long he could hold out against the primal needs of his animal side

How long can I hold out against my own needs?

Even now, his eyes were fixed on her plump, parted lips…

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