Chapter Six
Simina marveled at the level of detail the shifter resort had put into satisfying its customers. The luxury destination’s lodgings consisted of a multitude of small cabins, spread out over several acres and surrounding a huge lake, with hundreds more acres at the disposal of the guests who came to stay there. Her own rooms were a somewhat secluded cabin within walking distance of the main lodge, and she was still absorbing all the possibilities after spending her first full day exploring the amenities close to the lodge itself.
She could relax in their hot springs, or take a rafting tour down the meandering river with the option to partake of more adrenaline-inducing rapids, if she wished. She could head into the human town about twenty miles away, if she wanted the true Earth experience. Or she could simply shift and fly for her entire visit.
The concierge had informed her that the entire preserve had comfortable waystations scattered all over the mountains, marked by balloons tethered to the chimneys for any winged shifters to find. The stations were equipped with a variety of necessities, including basic clothing and bathing supplies. There were also luxurious private cabins that could be reserved for guests who wanted an even more secluded stay than her already remote little cabin provided, with meals delivered if desired.
She almost hoped Gerri wouldn’t contact her, so she could avoid her mission and just spend a solitary two weeks exploring and relaxing. She could use the time to get back in touch with her dragon, find the synchronicity she’d had when Talon was alive, then return to her research refreshed and sharp enough to finally make that breakthrough she needed.
In the middle of that thought, her phone rang and her nerves kicked in. Her hand shook as she answered it, thinking she was probably crazy as hell for hoping Gerri could find her a match who would actually be willing to mate solely for the sake of having a baby.
“H-hello?”
“Ms. Taji, it’s Gabriel, the concierge. Your date will meet you in the lodge dining room for dinner at six. He’ll be seated near the east window at the table with the daisy bouquet. Please arrive with a daisy on your person so he can identify you as well.”
“I see. Thank you. Um … where …?”
“You should have a bouquet of daisies in your room,” Gabriel said as though anticipating her question. Simina realized she was in fact staring straight at a large bouquet of daisies and smiled.
“I see them. I’ll be sure to bring one. Thanks!”
“Have a lovely evening, Ms. Taji.”
She hung up and checked the time. One hour to get cleaned up and dressed.
After showering and taming her short, dark curls into a halfway sane style, she stared blankly into her closet for several moments before deciding on her trusty convertible dress from home. The high-tech fabric could take on just about any design with just a stretch here and a tug there, and it always managed to flatter her more generous figure.
She directed it into a knee-length cocktail dress in a pale, iridescent silver that flattered her olive skin and reflected her dragon’s natural color. The skirt flared wide and draped over her hips, swaying as she walked, and the crisscrossed bodice was ruched just enough to accent her curves without being too revealing.
Simina was after a father for her child, not a lover, so she didn’t want her outfit to scream “fuck me” right off the bat. At least not until she decided whether she even liked her date.
After a quick touch-up to her makeup, she finished off the outfit with a single big bloom from the bouquet of daisies tucked behind one ear. Her heart racing, she headed out the door into the warm, golden evening.
Here, the scent of Earth’s mountains was every bit as refreshing as the mountains of Nova Aurora, but without the chilly bite of the wind that tended to blow down from the snow-covered peaks of her home. The area reminded her of the bear shifter territories more than anything, but she could see how the wilderness here would appeal to shifters of all kinds.
She hoped like hell that whoever her date was, he’d enjoy flying, because she’d be damned if she left this place without spending some time in the air, soaring above the rolling blue-green peaks in the distance.
Climbing up the wide wooden steps of the lodge, she shook her hands, hoping to dry the clammy sweat that coated her palms. She wasn’t prone to anxiety at her job, and was generally calm under pressure, but for some reason the prospect of a date had her tied up in knots as much as she’d been on the doorstep at the Hot Wings mansion.
She made it through the door and into the dining room without chickening out. The smiling host met her eyes and ushered her across the room.
The sun was setting in a blast of spectacular color through the window, still bright enough to dazzle her as she was led to her table. All she could see of her date at first was a silhouette that rose from his seat to an impressive height. The shape had broad shoulders and a massive, athletic build, which she liked … a lot … but reminded her a little too much of all the arena champions she used to work with.
Gerri wouldn’t have set her up with a champion, though. She’d been very clear about that particular preference. Besides, most alpha male shifters tended toward large, built physiques, so it wasn’t exactly unusual.
The host left her beside the table, and she blinked a few times to clear her vision.
“Hello there,” a rich, deep voice said, the timbre striking a chord within her. Her dragon perked up, uncoiling in interest. “My name’s Veryl. I take it you’re Simina?”
“That’s me,” she said, giving him a bright smile that felt a little forced, but turned genuine when the spots cleared from her eyes and she took in his clean-cut features. He had lovely mocha skin, a strong jaw, and a wide, inviting smile. His dimples were the most endearing part of him, and she found herself already envisioning those features on a child. The eyes that gazed back at her were a vivid shade of violet that made her heart skip a beat.
His gaze brightened at the same second she made that revelation.
“You’re a dragon,” he said.
Simina laughed. “I am. As are you. So far I am impressed with Gerri’s skills as a matchmaker.”
He chuckled, and some of the wariness in his eyes dissipated. He rounded the table and pulled out her chair. “I admit, I’m pleasantly surprised. But call me a skeptic … I think we need to get to know each other before we decide she’s the miracle-worker everyone seems to believe.”
“I completely agree,” Simina said as she sat and watched Veryl take his own seat. They ordered drinks and appetizers, making small-talk about the resort for a moment before falling silent.
After the third or fourth puzzled look from him, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Am I that much of a curiosity? What’s going through your mind, if you don’t mind me asking?”
His cheeks flushed and he took a long swallow of his drink. “I’m … just trying to process being here. On a date. With probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. But I feel like we know each other already. Where are you from?”
“Oh, around. But I’m pretty sure I’d remember you if we’d met before. You’re pretty hard to miss. In a good way.” She smiled warmly. His awkwardness was at odds with his confident bearing. He was comfortable in his own skin, that was obvious, which made her more curious about what made him tick. But she realized none of that was important if he didn’t meet one very basic criteria.
She took a deep breath, deciding she’d rather not waste time. If he didn’t want the same thing she did, they’d be better off enjoying their vacations separately.
“How much did Gerri tell you about me? About what I want?”
“Ah … almost nothing. I mean, I got your name, and she said we were a good match and to ‘keep an open mind,’ whatever that means. It was weird … My buddies got full-on, detailed profiles of their dates. All I got were cryptic riddles.”
“Your buddies?” she asked. “You came with friends?”
He darted his gaze to his meal that had just arrived, his brow crinkling. “Yeah, we’re kind of inseparable, I guess. Cato … he’s our ringleader … He decided we were due to settle down, so here we are. Paying out the ass for a matchmaker to, well, match us up.”
“You don’t sound convinced,” she said, her apprehension growing. Was this guy even ready for a mate if he put so much stock in what his friends thought or did?
“Oh, I want it. But I’ll be honest, what I want most is to be a dad. I just …” He set his fork down with a piece of meat still speared on the tines and sighed. “I’ll be completely honest with you. Going into this date, all I cared about was finding a mate willing to have a kid with me. That’s it. No emotional strings except whatever we would offer our child. My life is a little complicated.”
“I’m sensing a but,” she said.
He pressed his lips together and dipped his head. Then a slow smile spread across his face and he lifted his gaze to her so slowly it was as if he were about to let her in on a secret. “But I didn’t expect my damn dragon to like you as much as he does. No insta-love spark, but definitely more than indifference. Enough to think, ‘Hey, maybe if she wants the same thing, we can work toward something deeper’ … you know?”
She returned his smile and nodded, suddenly giddy with possibility. “I feel the same way. Exactly the same way. I think that woman may be onto something.”
“Same way … As in dragon-sense? Or …?”
“Everything. I want to have a baby too. Obviously I can’t just spontaneously generate, and I want my baby to have a dad—that’s a requirement, in fact. And I like you too … Or my dragon does, at any rate. She’s curious. Cautious, but interested enough that I’d like to get to know you. Ditto on the complicated life thing as well.”
Veryl seemed to visibly relax and ordered them both another round of drinks. They settled into more easy conversation, but she avoided talking about work, choosing to steer the conversation toward talk of their childhoods. They’d grown up on opposite sides of the dragon territories, belonged to two clans who had never intermingled, as far as Simina knew, due to the vast distance between them. But dragon culture was the same throughout the territory, so they’d had very similar experiences growing up, as well as interacting with other shifters, and even the human world, though it sounded like Veryl spent as little time on Earth as she did. Aside from the occasional visit to a relative or friend, this was his only long vacation here.
She was in high spirits, more hopeful than she’d been in a long time, when their date drew to an end and their dessert dishes were cleared.
“Can I walk you back to your cabin?” he asked.
“I would like that,” she said softly, her stomach fluttering at the eager gleam in his eye. Was it crazy of her to actually want to give this a try?
Questions continued to tumble through her mind as they headed out into the darkness and down the stone path through the woods to her cabin. Her eyes adjusted swiftly to the lack of light, and she warmed from the inside when he slipped his arm around her waist and fell into step beside her.
“Is this all right?” he asked.
“Mmhmm,” she said. Part of her wanted to sink against his warm, masculine body. His sturdy shape and confident, protective embrace made her feel truly safe for the first time in ages. While he didn’t exactly light that “insta-spark” like he’d said, he definitely lit a warm, comfortable glow deep inside her. The kind she could be content with for the long-term.
“Simina …” he said in a low voice when her door came into view between the trees.
“Hmm?” she replied, drawing her thoughts back to the present and away from the visions of the son or daughter she’d been holding all her love in reserve for since Talon’s death.
“I think this could be good, but I don’t know if tonight’s the right time to start … you know.”
They stepped onto the lit porch of her cabin, and he slid his hand away from her hip as he stepped to the side and turned to face her. She missed his warmth, but nodded up at him.
“I’m here for two weeks. We can take our time.” She stepped close and rested a hand on his firm, thick chest, enjoying the way his muscles twitched beneath her touch. “I’d like to know more about you first.”
“Anything you want to know, just ask,” he said, his purple eyes meeting hers with complete, open honesty that reminded her so much of Talon in their most raw, emotional moments. She felt a pang of fierce longing to have that again. She could do without the mind-blowing sex, or the ongoing intellectual sparring matches, if she could just have that kind of soul-deep emotional connection with someone again. It was a compromise that would be more than worth it for the sake of getting what she truly wanted—a baby.
“Right now, I just want to know if I can see you tomorrow,” she said. “I’m itching to go flying so I can see this amazing place from the air. Will you join me?”
His face split into a dazzling smile, dimples blasting her with every ounce of charm to the point she couldn’t help but smile back. “I’d love to. See you back here in the morning? You’ve got a dragon’s nest on the roof to launch from, right? I think all the cabins do.”
“Yep. I watched the moonrise from up there last night.”
“Great. Then I’ll call ahead to have breakfast ready for us at a private waystation up at the peak of the mountain.”
“I like the sound of that. See you in the morning.”
Impulsively, she stretched up on tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Veryl squeezed her waist and he bent to return the kiss—another chaste, but sweet peck on her cheek that left her awash in his pleasant, musky scent. Then he was gone, strolling off into the shadows.
She stood on her stoop for a few moments longer, watching him go and admiring him from afar. He was physically perfect. A dragon, no less, and one her own dragon seemed pleased with, if not outright climbing out of her skin for. He was kind of perfect all over, really. She’d been terrified that she’d set eyes on another man and fall so hard for him she’d forget the deep love she’d had for Talon.
But with Veryl, she could ease into a relationship at her own pace, let their dragons acclimate, and she could mate him with a clear conscience that she was honoring Talon’s memory.