I don’t know.
I know Lawrence wants me to come with him. I’m excited to have been invited, but I’m also nervous as fuck. This was supposed to be a camping trip in the woods. It was supposed to be a solo camping trip. I didn’t exactly sign on for some sort of weird dragon adventure.
When he moves away from Nicole and I and actually starts to shift, though, I realize that yes, I do want this. I want the adventure. I want this adventure.
I want all of it.
“What’s happening?” Nicole asks. “It got really quiet. Is he shifting? He’s shifting, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
It’s all I can manage to say. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I’ve never even imagined anything like this. Watching him change from dragon to man was fast. I was in a panic because I thought he was hurt, so I wasn’t really able to enjoy the complete experience.
This, though...Lawrence is a beautiful man, and he’s a gorgeous dragon. His abs and muscles fade away, replaced with scales and a tail. The shift happens quickly, but I watch every second, eating it up.
Am I living in a fairytale right now?
I kind of feel like I’m living in a fairytale.
When he’s finished, he looks at us for a second, and I move to him. Nicole’s hands and arms are still bound, so she can’t try to remove her blindfold and run away. I ignore her, just for a moment, and move to Lawrence.
“Hello, dragon dude,” I whisper, and then I reach for him. I’m a human girl. I don’t know what dragon etiquette dictates I’m supposed to do in a situation like this. I mean, am I supposed to be touching the dragon? Is that rude? Something tells me I don’t have to worry too much about how I’m touching Lawrence. He’s not exactly shy. If I’m doing something he doesn’t like, there’s no doubt he’ll tell me, so I reach for him.
I stroke his snout. His body is cold now, and hard. I run my hands down his neck and to his sides, where I touch him more. I peer back at Nicole, but she hasn’t moved. Taking my time, I explore him just a little bit more. Maybe I’m feeling brazen because no one else is watching. It’s kind of just the two of us right now, trapped in our own little world.
After a few minutes, I realize we really should get going, and I step back, breaking the trance. Lawrence seems a little surprised I stepped away, too, and I realize he got caught up in the moment just as much as I did.
“It’s time,” I say.
“Cool. Can you help me? Not to be a bitch or anything,” Nicole says. “But I can’t see.”
“Yeah.” I’m in too much of an emotional trance to care about her attitude. Somehow, I manage to awkwardly help Nicole onto Lawrence’s back. Then I climb up behind her. Once we’re both situated, I speak to Lawrence. “Okay, dragon, we’re ready.”
Without hesitation, he leaps into the air, and then we’re flying.
“I feel so uncomfortable right now,” Nicole whispers.
“Don’t,” I tell her. “It’s actually really cool. Besides, I told you, we’re going to be safe.”
“Honey,” she shakes her head. “You really think I’m going to be safe? Among the dragons? Because I guarantee that after pumping me for information, they’re going to kill me.”
I swallow hard.
She might be right.
I suppose I haven’t thought that far ahead. I’ve been kind of swept up in this thing happening between Lawrence and me. I mean, I don’t even know if something is happening. There have been no promises made. We haven’t slept together. Well, not in the sexual sense of the word. We have literally slept together, but that’s something else entirely.
What’s going to happen to Nicole when we get to the dragon’s home?
I don’t know.
I don’t even know what’s going to happen to me.
“They might not kill you,” I say, trying to sound encouraging.
“I don’t want to die,” Nicole says, and her voice is a whisper. I don’t say anything for a long time. I just let her words hang in the air. She might work for an evil company, but is she actually evil? I suppose that’s the real question, isn’t it? Does a villain deserve to die? Should someone like Nicole be given a second chance? Or a third chance? Or more chances still?
“You were going to capture me,” I say.