“Oh my God!”

Sabra kept her eyes fixed on the shrinking form. Above her flew a real-life Dragon. She’d agreed to watch the event believing the child to be caught up in the realm of make-belief. Sabra had encouraged Colson to oblige Ava’s repeated requests to play this game of make-believe the little girl was adamant existed.

Sabra’s mouth hung open as the man she’d known as Colson climbed higher and flew in circles above with his daughter cradled in his talons.

For the umpteenth time, she blinked and tried to refute what her eyes showed her. Colson Kelnar was a—Dragon! Resting her knee on the scooter, Sabra continued to track his flight pattern in the early night sky.

She could faintly make out Ava’s squeals of delight every now and then when they made a loop close to where she was posted. Surreal was a weak word to describe this sight. Never would she have thought Dragons existed, let alone people who could turn into ones.

As she continued to watch the spectacle, Bronwyn’s words of warning replayed in her mind. Bronwyn’s over-the-top protectiveness made sense in an entirely new way. The woman held a secret no one could know outside of their family.

The weight of this secret Colson revealed to her sat heavy and unyielding as she wrapped her head around the phenomenon. Gusts of air pillows buffeted her as the Dragon she knew as Colson came in for a landing. His daughter giggled as the huge Dragon shifted her within his talons to protect her from the impact of his descent.

Sabra had to be openminded and flexible. If a five-year-old was able to handle her father being a mythical creature, so should Sabra.

That damned Tilar. She had to know. Tilar could see way more stuff than the average human. Another crucial part of her Tarot card reading involved a mythical creature. How stupid had Sabra been to think that was a figure of speech? She rushed through the analysis of what Tilar said to devote her attention to the miracle of nature before her.

The night air popped and sparkled with what had to be magic as the creature morphed into the man. Sabra found herself blinking to try to absorb the spectacle of how a beast of his massive proportions could compact back down into the male human form. The air played with itself as scales of varying degrees of slate to gun metal gray undulated and transformed into flesh and even the clothing Colson had been wearing.

Somewhere in the midst of this, until now, unlikely event, Colson had made sure to place Ava gently on the ground. She now sat in front of him clapping and cheering her father in squeals of childhood wonder and delight. Once he was back to his human self, Sabra watched as he scooped up his amped-up daughter and strode back to her.

Each step he took vibrated in her soul. Now that she knew his secret, what would she do about her feelings for him? Sabra tried to find a way to break her gaze away but couldn’t. His face held concern that bordered on worry the closer he got.

Remembering Tilar’s lessons when she was overwhelmed, Sabra sucked in and released a quick series of stabilizing breaths. She did an internal check of her faculties and systems. Everything seemed to be in working order and responding as programmed.

Then she asked herself the oddest question—could she live her life with a Dragon-shifter?

Flashes of the man from her dreams began to overtake her mental eye to form. She waded through them as fast as she could looking for the wisdom the Universe must be trying to show her. He’d be in front of her in mere seconds.

In the dream recollection, thick strands of a beard brushed against her fingertips. Her instant regression into the dream world’s recall of private fantasies concentrated on one subject—her mystery man. Sabra’s dreams settled to focus on the images and emotional memories that highlighted her best interactions with that mysterious man.

A tight story began to form.

It worked at the quantum speed of instant knowing as the narrative spun to weave a thread of understanding while dousing Sabra’s conflicting emotions. The shifting image that moved like a puzzle to command her attention resulted in a completed cast of understanding. Dark, thick waves of hair caressed her hands. Warm lips kissed her neck in tiny kisses. Then sparkling gray eyes captured hers, holding them in stasis as if begging her to make the connection.

The man from her dreams was one and the same with Colson!

“Whoa!”

The impact of the revelation was enough to make her stumble and lose her balance. In the present real world, strong hands of power caught her before she fell as Colson managed to help her while keeping his daughter in the crook of his other hand.

“Bria let’s get you back inside,” he said, turning her scooter around in the direction of the house.

“Is Miss Bria okay?” she heard Ava ask.

“I’m hoping she will be,” Colson said more for Sabra’s hearing than Ava’s.

Sabra found her balance again and accepted that things were like Bronwyn said. With Colson the world was different. It would make sense that she’d been having sexy dreams about him for almost six months. Her mind drifted back to their shower encounter earlier where he kissed her like he did in her dreams. Then there was the way he’d stopped their earlier sexual dalliance before insisting he tell her something important.

Try as she might, Sabra couldn’t make herself be weirded out by any of this after her initial shock. Everything had been shown to her beforehand to make sure she’d know it was true.

Ava was the Princess of Cups for sure. Based on Tilar’s description of a young person or little girl heralding the offering of love and affection, Sabra couldn’t argue for any other explanation. All night long, this little darling had shared her food, talked with Sabra, and had been genuinely happy to share her family’s secret.

Based on how easy Ava was around her and how she talked about her little Dragon telling her things about Sabra, there was no doubt Ava had told her about their Dragon heritage understanding that it was a treasured secret to outsiders.

“A penny for your thoughts?” she heard Colson say as he opened the back-patio door.

“Oh, that was rude of me. My apologies,” Sabra offered, hating that her thoughts had taken Sabra so far into her head.

Sabra looked up to see Ava looking at her with curiosity as well. The little one did seem to be getting sleepy but was determined to see what she thought about their little exhibition.

Sabra followed Colson into the house and waited for him to lock up and put Ava down. The little girl didn’t run off. She stood next to her father and looked up at Sabra in anticipation.

Sabra took another breath for courage and blurted out, “I loved the show! Ava, you’re so lucky to be able to fly with your Papa. I’m a little jealous.”

The little girl’s gray eyes grew even larger than usual. She put her hands to her mouth, looked up at her father and said, “See, Papa? I knew she was the one.”

Sabra almost fell from the shock of those words coming from a child so young. Colson helped her to sit down on the most comfortable sofa she’d ever encountered.

“Bria, how about you rest for a bit? I’ll rejoin you after I get Ava ready for bed.”

“But I’m not sleepy yet, Papa,” the little one whined. “I want to talk to Miss Bria some more. She liked our flying. Isn’t that great?”

“Yes, dear heart, that’s great, but it’s time for you to go to bed. You have school in the morning.”

“Oh, all right,” another whine came from the child.

“Plus, I took you up for a longer flight tonight. You’ll need to get some rest from all that flying if you want to keep doing it. You want to be a strong Dragoness, don’t you?”

“Yes, Papa.”

Sabra could hear faint traces of disappointment in Ava’s voice. The little girl was still amped-up on adrenaline. She could relate. But she also knew Colson had to keep a schedule or Ava would be too tired tomorrow.

She wasn’t ready for what happened next. Ava ran over to her, put her hands around Sabra’s neck and leaned in for a hug. When Ava neared Sabra’s ear, the little girl whispered, “I hope you still want to be in our family. My Papa likes you so much. I can feel it.”

Tears threatened to show themselves as Sabra waded through the child’s words and request. She had a lot to consider. Bronwyn had said a lot when she warned Sabra about what it meant to be with Colson.

Before she could censor herself, Sabra gave the child a kiss on her soft little cheek and said, “I do.”

Instead of saying anything more, Ava gave her another hug, this time laying her head on Sabra’s shoulder and squeezing her for emphasis of the sincerity of her hug.

“Okay, you two. You can hug some more tomorrow. Ava, last call, it’s time for bed.”

Sabra released the little girl and marveled again at how good Colson was with her. She watched as the two of them went back into the kitchen to get Ava’s nighttime water cup.

Alone in the silence of the large room, Sabra looked around and tried to organize how she’d handle all the new data she’d received tonight. A part of her wanted to call Bronwyn and get some sort of container for what this all meant. She was into a plan to get her phone from the medical suite when she realized two things—one, she didn’t know Bronwyn’s number and two, she hadn’t thought to call Tilar or Chloe first.

Hmm… interesting.

Sabra was lost in thought when a warm hand rested on her thigh and sent a little boost of healing energy through it. She found the smile easy as it rested on her face like a comfortable blanket.

Her eyes blinked open to see concern etched on Colson’s face.

“Are you ready to talk about what just happened?” he asked, words heavy with emotion.

Sabra adjusted herself on the sofa and patted the space next to her. He slid in beside her, their legs touching.

“Yes, I’m ready.” As if knowing he needed to loosen up, she added, “I’m here and we’re good.”

Sabra could swear she felt the air lose its heaviness as her words were released into the space around them.

“So…” Colson looked straight ahead to the other side of the large room.

“So, about that whole Dragon shifting thing. Let’s start there,” Sabra determined to help him find a starting point. “How do you do that? Are you considered human?”

He leaned forward, resting elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands as if in contemplation regarding her questions. Sabra waited as the silence swelled. It took her a long moment to realize Colson was in a prayer pose.

Awkward about what to do with herself, Sabra watched for a lead on what was happening as Colson grew deathly still and quiet as the dead. Unwilling to fall into old habits of shrinking back from emotionally tricky situations, Sabra moved to sit up. Emboldened by the fact that he didn’t reject her in any way, she looped an arm around his closest elbow and rested a cheek on his upper arm.

Colson returned the gesture by leaning into her as well. He didn’t see the smile of personal victory that erupted on her face, but she knew how much courage and growth it took for her to be this person in this moment. They sat together in the quiet of the room long enough for her to sense his presence on another level.

The new relational awareness between them radiated and beckoned Sabra to stay close. The effect was weird at first, but she stuck with a determination to follow the sensations to wherever they might lead. Neither spoke as the idea of mere words would fail to fulfill the requirement of their shared experience.

In the dimly lit room, a presence grand and awe-inspiring intensified to encompass them in its sphere of influence. As soon as a thought formed, the answer materialized.

The essence of Colson’s Dragon had manifested.

As if receiving coding updates, Sabra knew that the Dragon’s existence was in a frequency and realm far above ordinary human consciousness. To stay connected with his right and ability to occupy this plane of existence, that would be Earth, the Dragon would materialize into the terrestrial beast she’d witnessed tonight.

Torrents of information poured over and through Sabra as the great being answered questions before her mind knew the question was there. Yes, Colson was human, and yes he was Dragon and able to exist on multiple planes simultaneously. His Dragon side subdued itself to conform with the expectations of this lower based consciousness, only shifting into his Dragon-dominated form to maintain health and continuity between his twin sides.

Colson was a duality of man and beast. He imbued the strength and wisdom of the Dragonkin as well as their shortcomings of domination, stubbornness, ego-driven superiority, hoarding, and a fascination to possess any and everything that moved their hearts to feel authenticity.

Silver sparks commingled with orange flames throughout their sphere of enclosure. She experienced no heat or discomfort. A steady but comfortable dry heat permeated Sabra’s physical body. It burned away the last dregs of fear, apprehension, and ignorance concerning the Dragon in her midst. Sabra breathed in the fire that stroked her with the comfort of a hearth on a cold, lonely night. In return, the Dragon presented a request to her.

Sabra noticed Colson’s body remained still and his eyes closed as he maintained his position. She was in the audience of his Dragon side, and that part of him wanted to commune with her. Accepting what had unfolded, she gave quick mental permission.

Immediate surges of various senses flooded in. More than the five she’d known all her life, Sabra instantly knew the weight of a split black boulder, the smile of happy moss draping lazily on trees, the height of sand in a storm, the gravitational pull of treetops, and more. On and on, Colson’s Dragon took her on a sensory extravaganza. Never again would she simply feel the air.

His Dragon impressed on her the substance and form of her presence in Colson’s life. Making her understand that it would be best if he articulated it in a metaphor she could grasp, Sabra’s breath caught when she beheld an aromatic mountain of rare undulating scents—some of them fabled and elusive.

How could he know the part of her that held her most authentic life’s plan?

Before the question could complete itself, she knew. Before time for her began on this plane, she and the Dragon were mated in the blissful etheric existence. His corporeal being came to this plane first with enough time to accumulate the emotional fortitude, material treasures, and recognizable power it would take to help her fulfill her destiny. He wanted her to know that even though his heart grew weary not knowing where she’d landed in this terrestrial way station, he remained focused on keeping his heart committed to finding her.

Shards and pieces of her eternal essence floated into view. By the Dragon’s leading and wisdom, she plucked them from their surroundings and assembled them into a pattern hidden in the recesses of her knowing for eons. Slivers so minute they could be mistaken for dust particles began to glow and gravitate toward her.

The Dragon’s patience drenched her in a confidence-boosting shower of energy to ask more of him and feel their connection. The energy infusion grew until his request was the prevailing concept between them.

Would she accept him as her mate in this realm as well?

Her smile pulled at her skin as Sabra realized that as fast as the tears she’d been shedding fell the heat of the Dragon’s and her fiery exchange dried them. Ignoring the tugging, she allowed a bright, broad smile to blossom as she formed the answer in her heart and shot it into the Dragon’s.

The magical tint to the atmosphere waned as the Dragon’s essences receded. Sabra wanted to scream no as her hands shot out attempting to grab the last particles of otherworldliness before they faded. New tears flowed unbidden as her body began to rock on its own. Her mourning wasn’t to last long as strong hands scooped her up and placed her on Colson’s lap.

Before she could make the actions connect in her lowly mental understanding and reasoning, eyes full of the fire from the Dragon peered deep into hers. They asked for confirmation of her reply to the Dragon. Would she be his mate?