No matter how strange and scary all of this had been, others had gone through the same thing she had.
“Autumn, the earth dragon’s mate, will come along if we have a council meeting,” Timothy said. He nodded lazily towards where Braeden was finishing off another donut. “She’s his friend, can you believe it?”
Braeden rolled his eyes at Timothy.
“I’m going to watch TV,” he said primly and got up. “So you can gossip about me in peace.”
Timothy waited until he was gone, then shrugged. “He’s not really all that bad, but teasing him is so much fun. And he did save Autumn’s life.”
Liana stretched, staring out at the ocean shimmering in the sunlight before her.
“This is all so complicated.” She sighed. “In my games, dragons are so much easier. You breed them, you hatch them, you feed and train them, and then they win competitions for you. And no one tries to kill you.”
Timothy chuckled, then slowly leaned over her. “But there are things real dragons can do that no virtual dragon can...”
Liana’s heart was beating in her throat. Timothy’s eyes were drawing her in, the blue so bright that she could feel herself sinking into the azure depths. Between her legs, her clit throbbed with sudden need.
Then his mouth was on hers again.
Sighing into the kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He smelled so good—like saltwater and the coconut scent of sun lotion, all mixed with masculine musk.
Between them, she could feel the strange thrum of the connection that bound them together. When she closed her eyes, she could see it, too—a faint, golden light that pulled her towards him, pulsing with her need for him.
He was overwhelming, like an ancient god of the ocean who’d suddenly come to life. And she wanted nothing more than to give herself over to him. She wanted to feel him sinking into her, to claim her and hold her and fan the heat inside her until she could no longer bear it...
“Want to g
o for a swim?” he said huskily. “I know a sandbank where we’ll be completely alone and undisturbed...”
She gave the door through which Braeden had vanished a look, then nodded with relief.
She wanted nothing more than to pull Timothy down over her and see what he’d do—but not here, where the fire dragon could walk in on them at any moment.
The water was just the right temperature when they walked down the small, wooden stair that led right into the ocean. Liana sighed in happiness as she gave herself up to the water, feeling weightless as she floated.
“Don’t get scared,” Timothy said a moment later. “Trust me. And hold on to me.”
As she stared at him, his form shimmered. A heartbeat later, she found herself in the water with a dragon instead.
Her heart hammering in her chest, she pulled herself up onto his neck as if riding a dragon was completely normal, wrapping her arms around him.
A moment later, the dragon began to move through the water, much faster than she’d been able to.
Liana couldn’t hold back her laughter. It was like riding one of those yellow banana boats speeding through the ocean—only this was way more comfortable.
Timothy moved through the water as if he was an Olympic athlete, nothing but power and grace. The water parted easily for the dragon’s body. With his wings folded tightly against his body, he shot through the water like an arrow.
A refreshing spray of water hit Liana every now and then. Except for that shower of saltwater, traveling through the ocean with Timothy was just like traveling on a boat—just faster and way more fun.
Once she’d gotten used to their speed, Liana sat up. She stretched her hands towards the sky as she laughed with sheer joy.
Before her, the endless stretch of ocean gleamed in the light of the sun. It spread all the way towards the horizon. The sky was so blue that she couldn’t even tell where it ended and where the ocean began.
I’m a knight riding into battle on a dragon! No—I’m a princess traveling the world on my ocean dragon!
She whooped, the water cool against her legs, the sun warm on her back.
It was incredible. She had the same goosebumps that she’d had while reading her favorite fairy tales as a child.