“Are you ready?” Kingston asked as Emmy emerged from the bedroom.
“Are you kidding! Of course, I’m ready. I’ve been looking forward to this all day,” she squealed.
“You are amazing.” He laughed.
“I know. Now, pop those wings out, dragon boy, and let’s go!” He had no idea how excited she truly was. She loved flying. Big planes, little planes, helicopters, and now … dragons! Of all the types of shifters, she could have met … or been a potential mate to, she was lucky enough to find one that had the natural ability to fly.
“Again, not how any of this works. I have to be in my dragon form to have my wings available for me to use them. I can’t just sprout them if I’m in my human form,” he explained.
“Fine. Shift and show me those beautiful wings,” she deadpanned.
“I wouldn’t call any part of a dragon beautiful, but …”
“Whatever, I’ll decide for myself. Now, hop to it, please.” She didn’t know why, but she wanted to see him shift. He had her close her eyes earlier, so she had totally missed his transformation.
“You’re a bossy little thing, aren’t you?” He laughed.
“Is that a problem?” she countered.
“Nope. Now, let me concentrate for a moment. I’ve never shifted on purpose in front of a human before.”
“Fine,” she sighed. “Take your time and do what you need to do. It’s not like I know how any of this works.”
Emmy felt the air thicken around them. The tiny hairs on her arm stood on end. A rush of air filled the lair. If she would have blinked, she would have missed Kingston’s transformation from man to dragon. It happened that quickly.
“Oh!” she gasped when she saw him standing before her. “Where are your wings?” she asked.
His webbed wings flared out behind him, causing the air in the lair to shift once again.
Emmy closed the distance between them and looked up at her towering beast.
Huh, she thought.
His glowing golden eyes stared down at her. It was the only part of him that had remained the same … those beautiful eyes of his. He was much, much taller in his dragon form than he had been as a human. His body was covered in black and purple scales that shimmered in the light. His long tail stretched far behind him.
“You were wrong. You are beautiful.” She reached out tentatively, wanting to touch him, to see what he felt like, but also to make sure he was real. Even with everything that had happened, she wasn’t sure if she should or could trust or believe what she was seeing with her own eyes.
“Can I?” she asked. She didn’t know if he understood her or not until he nodded, indicating it was okay for her to touch him.
Emmy slowly ran her fingers over his chest and arm. Despite the beautiful scales covering his body, he was surprisingly soft.
A deep rumble rose from his chest. The noise didn’t scare her, but it did surprise her.
“Do you like that?” she asked, smiling up at him.
“Very much so.” The voice that came out was not the one she was used to, but that of the dragon. It was deep and husky. Far less frightening than she would have imagined a dragon’s voice to be.
“I didn’t know that you could speak.” Surprise filled her voice.
His chest heaved as a deep laugh passed his lips. “You’re such a cute human. My human.”
“Yourhuman, huh? I just might be able to get used to that.” She stretched up on her tippy toes, wanting to touch his face.
“My little human.” He leaned down so she could reach his face and closed his eyes when she rested her hand against the side of his face.
“You are beautiful. No matter what anyone says. More beautiful than I would have ever thought possible.” Emmy didn’t know why she felt so strongly that she needed to say those exact words, but she did. And it was the truth. Kingston in dragon form was breathtakingly beautiful.
“Thank you.”