The next day, Andrea slept almost until lunch. When Anita entered the room to find she had just taken a shower, the brunette thought her personal maid was there to bring her something to eat. Well, she was half right.
“What do you have there?” asked Andrea, pointing to the huge basket the girl had just placed at the foot of the bed.
“A picnic basket. You’ll find everything you need in there, ma’am. The cook made a couple of sandwiches, there’s also cheesecake, and strawberry smoothies – Mr. Grimmr’s favorites. Hope you have a great time!”
“Oh! Yes, I had almost forgotten.”
Andrea ran back to the dresser to choose clothes that were more suitable for a picnic and a walk in the woods. Last evening, Calder had said they would have lunch in the forest nearby so he could show her around the estate. Her discussion with Sylvia had given her so many things to think about that she had completely forgotten about her plans with Calder. In fact, she had slept so late because she had barely managed to fall asleep around 3 AM. Madeline’s story, the pain Calder and his children had suffered through… they had all messed with her head.
“What do you think I should wear?” she asked Anita.
“Something comfortable, ma’am. I think you’ll walk a lot today.”
Andrea nodded. She opted for a T-shirt, a pair of black jeans, and some black mountain boots she could find behind all the high-heeled shoes. Even though she felt perfectly comfortable in her new attire, she still looked sexy. The V-neck of the pink T-shirt showed just enough of her generous cleavage, and the tight jeans hugged her hips in a flattering way. She decided not to apply any make-up today, then tied her dark hair into a loose bun for the first time in months. When she was ready, Anita gave her the picnic basket and told her Calder was waiting for her in the front yard.
As she walked through the main doors of the palace, Andrea was too lost in thought to be aware of her surroundings. When she finally lifted her gaze to look for Calder, she stopped dead in her tracks, gasped, and almost dropped the basket.
“What on Earth are you doing?!”
She covered her mouth with her hand. She didn’t know whether she wanted to scream or laugh. The sight of her dragon-shifter husband standing naked in the middle of the front yard had certainly taken her by surprise. She looked around quickly to make sure no one was witnessing this unusual scene.
Calder laughed cheerfully.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s perfectly natural.”
“Perfectly natural to walk around naked as the day you were born?! What if someone sees you?”
“We’re dragon-shifters, Andrea. We shift all the time!”
“And get naked first…”
“I’m not a fan of tearing my clothes to shreds when I shift,” he shrugged. “It’s as simple as that.”
Andrea’s eyes studied their surroundings again, then whispered:
“What if Sylvia or Kaden see you? That would be weird, right?”
Calder shook his head gently.
“When it comes to nakedness, a shifter’s perspective is very different from a human’s.”
Andrea considered his answer for a moment, then decided she could accept it even though she couldn’t totally understand it.
“Does that mean you’re going to…” she trailed off.
“Shift. Yes.”
Calder smiled widely at her reaction. From where he was standing, a few feet away from her, he could hear her heartbeat picking up and see the excitement in her huge, brown eyes.
“I’ve never seen a shifter… well, shift.”
“Thought so.”
“Is it painful?”
“Not in the least.”
“Silly me. I actually learned about the whole process at Alma Venus, and pain was never mentioned. I guess it’s just hard to believe. I mean, from what I’ve read, your bones and muscles get completely rearranged when you shift.”
Calder nodded. It was strange to give his bride a lesson in shifting while he was standing naked before her, but he knew the situation was more unusual for her than it was for him.
“And in my case, they also grow and expand a great deal. In their animal form, dragon-shifters are the biggest shifters in the world.”
“Wow!”
Even though she knew these things, Andrea couldn’t suppress the feeling of pure wonder she felt.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
She nodded slowly. Seeing Calder in his dragon form was more exciting than seeing him naked.
“Oh, you should know,” he added, “I can’t talk while in dragon form, so just hop on my back when you feel ready.” He winked at her.
“And how am I supposed to do that? Do you happen to have a ladder lying around here?”
He laughed at her innocent comment. She was so unbearably cute.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you.”
She wasn’t sure what that meant, but she didn’t have time to ask for further clarification. The sharp sound of breaking bones reached her ears, and Andrea cringed. Knowing it didn’t hurt Calder in the least didn’t help. She still felt the urge to shout for him to stop. Before her eyes, the muscles underneath his skin started growing and taking a different shape, and silver scales grew all over his body, covering him from head to toe. His face elongated, his nails grew into sharp, deadly talons, and leathery wings appeared on his back. Soon, Andrea was facing a huge, silver-scaled dragon, and not a man. Unable to help herself, she took a step back and stared at the beast in utter fascination. To her own surprise, she discovered that she didn’t fear the mighty dragon. The golden eyes told her the ancient beast was still Calder, the man who loved her and who would have never done anything to hurt her.
The silver dragon paced the front yard as much as the space allowed him. He hadn’t shifted in a while, and he loved the way his body felt. He couldn’t wait to launch himself up into the sky and fly over the palace and the woods. However, he couldn’t rush Andrea. His bride needed time to get used to the idea that her husband was so much more than a man. Knowing it was one thing, and being faced with the raw fact was another.
“Incredible,” Andrea whispered. “I have no words.”
The dragon stopped pacing, and came to face her. He lowered his head to her level.
For a second, Andrea felt the urge to take a step back, but she gulped down her hesitation and stood her ground. Even more, she raised her hand to touch the silver dragon’s snout. It felt hot to the touch. It almost burned her skin, but not quite. She had noticed Calder’s body was always warm, no matter the weather, and she knew this was something specific to dragon-shifters. Apparently, when he was in his dragon form, his whole body grew even hotter.
“All right, I’m ready,” she said.
The dragon straightened his back and extended his left claw so Andrea could jump in. When she was safely secured between his talons, picnic basket in hand, he carefully placed her on his back, then waited for her to settle in a comfortable position. He felt her grip the spikes on his neck for dear life, and knew the real fun could begin.
Andrea gasped when she felt Calder push himself up into the air. His silver wings rose and fell on both her sides, and they were soon high up in the sky, way above the towers of the palace. He floated for a few seconds, then used his strong wings to take them even higher and slightly to the north, where the deep, rich forest awaited them.
“This is amazing,” Andrea thought. “I could get used to this.”
But the second her last thought entered her mind, she mentally slapped herself. She couldn’t think like that. She couldn’t think about how she could get used to Sylvia’s friendship, to the hot, daily sex, or to flying on a dragon’s back. This was not why she was here, doing what she was doing. This was not why she had become a mail-order bride. No matter how exciting all of this was, she had to stay focused on her real dreams.
Calder took his time flying over the woods and the plains around the palace. He was grateful for the exercise, and he was even more grateful for the little gasps of delight coming from Andrea. The fact that she enjoyed the flight so much filled his heart with love. After half an hour, however, he started worrying that she might catch a cold. His scales were burning hot, keeping her warm and comfy, but she still inhaled the cold, rushing air when she laughed or cheered, and he didn’t want her to regret the whole experience later. He readjusted his direction and flew closer to the ground, looking for a good spot to land. Once he found it, he let his legs touch the soft grass as gentle as possible, then lowered his chest to the ground as much as he could so Andrea would be able to slide down effortlessly.
Andrea let out a cheer as she used the scaly side of the dragon’s neck as a kids’ slide. She tumbled a bit when she hit the ground, and instead of jumping back to her feet, she lay down in the grass and laughed to the blue, open sky.
“Oh my God! Let’s do that again!”
The picnic basket had fallen a bit farther, to her left, and half of its contents had spilled on the ground. Andrea heard Calder shift back into his human form, and she sat up to watch him with hungry eyes. When the silver dragon was gone and her naked husband stood before her, Andrea grinned.
“You didn’t bring any clothes with you?”
Calder knelt in front of her and attacked her with kisses. They rolled in the grass, both laughing and trying to tickle the other. Andrea was obviously losing, as no matter how hard she tried to tickle him, he didn’t feel a thing.
“Why would I?” he finally answered. It’s a nice day to sunbathe, and we’re flying back, anyway.
“You’re shameless, did you know that?”
He chuckled. “That’s what you get when you marry a shifter. Your whole life will be shameless from now on.”
Andrea smiled, but his remark reminded her she was just getting a taste of a life she had already refused. And no, she wasn’t going to reconsider her decision. She stood up and walked to the basket. She found a small blanket inside and placed it on the ground. Then, she proceeded to take the food, the drinks, and all the fruit out so they could have lunch.
An hour passed like that. They ate, made small talk, listened to the sounds of the forest, and dozed off when they were too full to move. The sun was still shining high in the sky when Andrea decided to take a walk to stretch her legs. Calder fell behind her, content to simply watch her run from one plant to another. She was smelling them and trying to guess what they were by constantly checking Google on her phone. It seemed like a useless, but fun game to play.
“I can’t find this one,” she said.
Calder had stopped to sit on a log, and she had to cross a pretty large clearing to reach him. When she did, she shoved the plant in his face.
“Do you know what this is?”
To her complete astonishment, Calder jumped off the log and took a couple of steps back. His nose scrunched up in disgust, as if the plant’s smell bothered him to no end.
“Mandrake,” he said. “That’s mandrake, but please keep it away. Dragons hate it.”
“Oh. Sorry. But why?”
Calder circled Andrea, his eyes fixed on the plant in her hand.
“All shifters have a weakness. For instance, werewolves can be hurt with wolfsbane. Our weakness is mandrake. If ingested, it burns our insides. It can also cause serious burns if it comes in contact with our skin or scales. It really doesn’t matter if we’re in our human or dragon form, it’s just as bad.”
“Oh, wow! That sounds awful.”
Calder watched Andrea for a long moment. She was studying the plant, but she didn’t seem to have any intention to put it down. She wasn’t advancing towards him, either, but it was weird to notice that she wasn’t trying to get rid of it as quickly as possible now that she knew what it could do to him. He shook his head slightly. “What’s wrong with me?” he wondered. “It’s stupid to think she would ever…” He didn’t finish his thought, though. It sounded too ridiculous.
“Don’t worry,” he said lightly. “We smell it immediately, so it’s pretty hard for an enemy who wants to use mandrake as a weapon to get too close to us.”
Andrea threw him a curious glance. “I got close enough to you,” she thought. “It was because you didn’t expect it, and you trust me too much.” A plan was beginning to take shape in her mind.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “This is all new to me. They didn’t teach us about mandrake at Alma Venus.”
Calder laughed. “Well, it makes sense, don’t you think? Why would they teach you how to poison your future husbands?”
Andrea laughed, too. She left Calder in the clearing as she stepped behind a cluster of trees to get rid of the poisonous plant. When she came back, she didn’t mention she had just found an entire crop of mandrake.