“I don’t trust her,” Kai said, looking at the house around them as Jenny led Seaton and his siblings inside.

It was on older house surrounded by the trees up in the hills above the coast, and Seaton felt the second he saw it that it had the impression of home.

He hadn’t often gone to land in his time, mostly to meet with other dragons or discuss upcoming threats, but when he had, he’d never felt quite at home with a roof over his head.

Then again, the “houses” from his day—hard stone and thatch—were nothing like the house in front of him now.

The door had been painted a faded red, and the outside was a grayish-blue color. It was large, the size for several families he guessed, with two stories and many glass windows looking outside.

They were in the “living room,” as Jenny called it, and Seaton felt his quickly adaptable dragon mind taking in everything around him.

“What do you think?” she asked nervously. “I haven’t been here that long, so it isn’t that nice yet, but I have plans to fix it up.”

“It’s beautiful,” Marina said. She walked to a cushioned-looking object in the center of the room and sat on it, making Jenny wince.

“Perhaps we should get you all showered and cleaned up,” she said.

Marina stood from the couch, looking embarrassed, and Jenny shook her head.

“Never mind. That was rude of me. It’s just… I saved up for a while for that couch, and—”

“No, it was rude of me,” Marina said, walking forward and taking Jenny’s hand. “Please accept my apology.”

Seaton grunted and stepped forward, separating them once again and making a note to keep an eye on Marina whenever she sought out Jenny.

Not that she was any real threat, but for some reason, when it came to Jenny, he was unreasonably jealous.

“Where can we clean up? The last thing we want is to sully your house,” Seaton said.

“Oh, no,” Jenny replied, flushing as she waved a hand, creating some space between her and Marina. “Never sullying. It’s just, I want it to be nice for all of you. I brought you here so you didn’t have to be on the beach, and I hate to just spread the beach everywhere and make it less comfortable for you.”

Marina nodded. “We understand.”

Kai just glared. Thunder cracked overhead.

“So a shower like the one on the beach?” Seaton asked.

“Oh, you know about that?” Jenny asked, motioning for them to follow her to the stairs, her long, dark-auburn hair with its reddish highlights swinging behind her. Seaton tried to keep his eyes off her waist, her gorgeous hips, the confident sway of her walk, but it was difficult.

It had been a long time since he’d been with a woman. Now that he’d met Jenny, he didn’t think he could consider any other.

But what would this modern woman think of a dragon castaway on her beach?

“Yes,” Kai said quietly. “We’ve used it. Thank you.”

“It’s funny. I’ve never seen you out there,” Jenny said hesitantly. She turned at the top of the steps and walked down the hallway to one of the doors. “Marina, I think it’d be best if you stayed in here. And you’ll have your own bathroom.”

Marina squeaked in joy and gave Jenny a big hug, nearly lifting her off the ground, and then opened the door to her room and peeked in.

Jenny flushed and led the way to the next door, swinging it open. “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to have the two of you share this one. You’ll have your own bathroom, though. I’ll be downstairs if you need anything. There should be soap and shampoo in each of the bathrooms.”

Shampoo? Seaton wasn’t sure what that meant, but didn’t want to look foolish by asking.

Kai just snorted and walked inside, looking around, but Seaton stayed at the entrance to the room to talk to Jenny.

“Thank you for this,” he said.

“No problem,” she said. “Thanks for rescuing me today.”

He narrowed his eyes. “You shouldn’t let that man come into your restaurant.”

She sighed. “I know, but he partially owns it. I don’t exactly have a choice.”

“Can you buy it from him?”

“He won’t sell,” she said with a sigh. Her eyes were troubled, but she smiled, trying to hide it. “Anyway, don’t worry about that for now. You go get cleaned up. I’m going to run into town for clothing for you and your siblings. See what I can find.” She winked at him. “Try not to let them bring the place down while I’m gone, okay?”

Seaton nodded. He’d protect her home as if it were his own. If he worked hard enough, maybe it would be.

“Thanks,” she said. Then, awkwardly, she reached out for a hug, and he cocked his head in confusion before returning it. Her body was so soft that he wanted to melt into it, and she smelled like wildflowers in the sun not far from the ocean.

She flushed, stepping back. “Sorry if that was awkward. I’m used to doing that with everyone, you know, as a greeting or saying good-bye, but then I don’t know where you’re from or if that’s awkward. But Marina is such a hugger that I thought maybe you were, too.”

He cocked his head. “Don’t be alone with Marina that often.”

She narrowed her eyes in confusion, making her long, sooty lashes flutter slightly. “Why?”

“She’s a tricky one,” he said, turning to the side. Jealousy didn’t become him, and he didn’t particularly want Jenny to see it in his eyes.

“Okay,” she said. “Whatever you say, boss.”

“If I work for you, won’t you be my boss?”

“We’ll see about that,” she said. Her pale cheeks warmed again and the freckles there stood out. Seaton wondered if her blushes would be a perpetual thing with three awkward dragons in her house.

It was a good thing they were good dragons. Otherwise, she had no idea of the danger she could be in.

But there had to be bad dragons in this world. Otherwise, he and his siblings would never have been awakened. They’d long ago defeated the ancient sea monsters that weren’t dragons, so there were no threats left.

His hands curled into fists at the thought of anyone threatening his mate or any other human. It had always been his job to protect them.

“Well, I’m going out to get clothes, and then we can all meet up and talk. I can’t talk with you right now, not with Kai and Marina half naked and you in those…” Her cheeks went a deeper scarlet as her eyes trailed down to his ragged pants. “Those… shorts?”

He shrugged. “It was whatever we could find.”

“Right, well, we’ll talk when I’m back. As I said, keep the house intact.”

“I will,” Seaton said. “They mean no harm.”

It was her turn to cock her head to the side, but she did a sassy little hip tilt as well. “You know, people would say I’m crazy for doing this, but I get the same feeling. For some reason, I trust you all, and I’m not even sure why.”

Seaton nodded. “I promise we won’t hurt you.”

“Then why did you say stay away from Marina?”

Seaton blinked. “Nothing like that. Marina couldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Then why?” she asked, stepping forward, brows drawn together in confusion.

“I’m jealous,” Seaton said flatly. There was no point lying to her, not now that she was worried he was hiding something worse.

She stepped back, surprised. “Oh. Well. Um… Okay?” She composed herself quickly and started down the stairs. “I’ll keep my guard up.”

Then she waved, jogged to the bottom of the stairs, grabbed a leather bag that presumably had her valuables in it, opened the front door, and was gone.

He felt a little bad that she was going to have to pay for their garments, but once he found a way to get in contact with their friends, the gemstone dragons, he was sure he could recompense her for the expense.

“Seaton, you have to come see this!” Marina called out, yelling from her bedroom.

He took the stairs two at a time and walked into Marina’s room casually. “What is it?”

“This ‘bathroom,’” Marina said. She walked to a large, porcelain, rectangular basin and pointed to two handles. “Hot and cold water! At the turn of a handle! Imagine!”

Kai came in behind Seaton, walking into the bathroom as well. He folded his arms as he studied the tub. “Amazing.”

Seaton shook his head. “We are going to have to try to look like we understand some of these things, or she is going to figure out what we are too quickly.”

“What do you mean too quickly?” Kai asked. “Why does she need to figure it out at all? All we really need to do is get in touch with the other dragons and find a way to get our forms back and see where we are needed.”

“Yes,” Marina said. “As cute as she is, she isn’t really going to remain involved with us. Wouldn’t that be too risky for a human?”

“Though we’ll see she is rewarded for her help,” Kai said firmly.

Seaton sighed. “I suppose.”

“What is that look?” Marina asked, approaching with suspicious, teasing eyes.

Seaton turned away. “Nothing.”

“I heard her leave,” Kai said. “Where is she going?”

“To get us clothes,” Seaton said, gesturing to Kai’s loincloth. “We can’t really keep going around like this, can we?”

Kai just snorted. “We aren’t going to be here that long, so I don’t know that it matters. But fine, we will play dress-up for the human, enjoy her ‘shower,’ and things like that.”

“You don’t understand,” Seaton said. “We have no way to contact our kind, and from what I’ve seen observing humans, there are no signs they are aware of any shifters. We can’t just go around asking who knows a dragon. It is going to take time to find someone to help us. Until then, we have to be patient. And we should be grateful that Jenny is helping us out.”

“I’m grateful,” Marina said. “You know I love human women. Always so sweet and soft and—”

“About that,” Seaton said. “You have got to stop being so affectionate. I know you don’t mean any harm by it, but it isn’t normal for this time.”

Marina pouted. “I’m a lover. You know that. I can’t help wanting to make friends and hug them and—”

“Fine, be her friend,” Seaton said, aggravated. “But less hugging.”

Kai’s blue eyes went cold and appraising. “I think I know what’s going on. You like her.”

Marina perked up at that, tossing long, tangled blond hair over her shoulder as she straightened up. “Is that true? You want the human all to yourself? She can be your toy only?”

“She’s not a toy,” Seaton spat, trying to calm himself.

“Ooh,” Marina said. “He does like her.” She put her hands up innocently. “Very well, Seaton, I will not hug her so much.”

“You as well, Kai,” Seaton said.

Kai wrinkled his long, perfect nose. “Touching humans is something I have no interest in. I simply want to locate the other dragons and do our job.”

Seaton let out an inward sigh of relief. “Fine. I’m using the shower in our bathroom first, Kai. And I expect all of you to treat this house as if it were our own while we are here.”

“Yes, master,” Marina said sarcastically.

“I am the oldest brother,” Seaton said. “What I say goes.”

“But are you the most powerful dragon?” Kai asked, raising a dark eyebrow that was in contrast to his blond hair.

Marina’s blue eyes flashed. For a second, Seaton could see the dragon slits there. Then they were back to normal.

Seaton sighed. “You know I have no interest in determining that. Fighting my own siblings in dragon form is pointless.”

“That’s because you know you would lose!” Marina yelled after him playfully.

Seaton fought back a grin at Marina’s words. He was proud of the power of his siblings. He had always been the responsible one, the one looking out for his brother and sister.

Now they were adults, fully grown, powerful dragons who had fought tremendous battles and turned literal tides for the good of the world.

Yet they were all at the mercy of a new world, one they didn’t understand, and Seaton couldn’t even put all his focus on helping them through it.

Because taking up a big part of his mind was the fact he’d found Jenny. He’d found a mate after years of living without the possibility of having one.

And it was hard to think about anything else, no matter how bad their situation was.