Page 9 of Princess Seeks Dragon
Chapter Four: Graham
“Too cheap to use aplane, huh?”
“Shut up.”
Of course, to the people below, the beating of our wings probably sounds like thunder or a jet engine. I’ve heard we’re often mistaken for small planes.
“How’d you get all your stuff in that bag?”
“Traveled light. Sublet my apartment. I’m going back as soon as you’re home.” My claws tighten around a big duffle bag, the kind you see soldiers carrying on leave. It’s army surplus but covered in hundreds of patches from local bands that I’ve seen in LA.
Ian snorts, and soft wisps of smoke come from his nostrils as he circles under me, his iridescent, silvery scales shining in the starlight above the pines.
“You’re the conspicuous one, if that’s what you’re worried about,” I point out. I’m dark violet, almost black in some places, almost lavender in some others.
“I’m not worried about anything except making sure you don’t land on my neighbor’s lawn. All these McMansions look alike. Come on, follow me.”
“Like I couldn’t latch onto you? I moved, I didn’t stop being a dragon,” I huff back.
In his pure dragon form, Graham is the size of a 1960s Buick Skylark. I know, we measured. I, on the other hand, prefer to think of myself as three Harleys, end-to-end. Ian moves with silent flaps of his wide wings, gracefully swooping lower with each beat. I haven’t flown in this form much before this last week, and my wings are aching, but I won’t tell him that.
“This one! The one with the greenhouses!” he calls over his shoulder, and I watch him shift in mid-air, changing to his halfling form as seamlessly as water turns to steam.
I change on the ground, grabbing my long leather coat and wrapping it around me as I switch from dragon to halfling to human in three blinks of an eye. Ian is still striding around in the buff, his wedding tackle hidden inside his scales in his halfling form. “You’d better sort those scales out before the missus sees you,” I groan, rubbing my shoulders.
Ian just looks at me, head cocked. “The right one loves you in your scales as well as your skin. In all your forms.”
“Do you meanlovesyou or just accepts you?” I ask, partially because I’m the annoying younger brother and partially because I’m curious. There’s no way a human woman would ever want to make love to me in that form—I’m scaly with long, curling horns, fangs, a tail—and let’s not forget the wings. I’m sure those are ever so popular in the bedroom as they crash into everything. And in full dragon form? Forget it.
Graham hits me on the elbow. “Don’t be a pervert.”
“See? This is why I’m waiting for a dragon. I want—”
“I meant I’m not going to tell you details of our sex life,” he hisses, “not that it doesn’t happen. Wait for whatever you want, but I’m telling you—marry the person you love. You’re going to be building a life with her personality, her sense of humor, her smile, not so much her genetic code and her race.”
“Honey! Graham! Oh my gosh! It’s so good to see you!” Vanessa is suddenly racing toward us through the back door, a cute little bump making her light blue pajamas strain at the front. She kisses Ian, then throws her arms around me and squeezes. “I have breakfast ready. Pancakes and cranachan!” she carols.
I smile and hug her back, trying not to let the feelings of envy take over.
