The trip back to the outpost was mostly silent until we reached the gates. Jennifer guided us through them without any problems, just as she had done before. She was a remarkable woman, it was no wonder my brother took notice of her. I clenched my jaw as we rode quietly through town. Ragal making a pass at Jennifer seemed to ignite a fire inside of me, one of pure jealousy. If Ragal reacted so strongly to her beauty, there was no doubt in my mind that my other brothers would too.

“Here, stop here,” Jennifer whispered.

I looked around, “This isn’t the entrance to your building.”

“No,” she said in a hushed tone. “This is the back entrance that leads directly to the apartments.”

“Why didn’t we use this way before?”

“Because there was no point, now there are three of us. I don’t want to raise anyone’s suspicions.” She dangled her keys in front of Ragal. “The red door, can you open it for us?”

Ragal thumbed the silver key, “My Lord. This technology is ancient. Tell me, do you have indoor water?”

Jennifer glared at him and I reached for her arm, speaking firmly. “Don’t be a dunvib, Ragal. Of course, she has indoor plumbing. Go, before someone notices us.”

Ragal rolled his eyes but said nothing more as he tromped up the steps. I was about to apologize for his behavior but when I turned back to Jennifer, she tossed several bags in my arms. She was in a hurry and I knew why. No doubt the awful woman next door would have heard us arrive. Jennifer was clever to send Ragal first. He would be safely inside before the nosy creature was even to the door.

“Jennifer? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she muttered as she walked quietly up the steps.

When we neared the landing, I set down the bags and touched her shoulder. Something was definitely going through her mind. No doubt I would be stirring more trouble by asking. I couldn’t stop myself. I had to know if there was anything I could do to make her feel better. I didn’t want to be a burden on her but I had nowhere else to go. My brothers and I were at her mercy. I had to know what she was thinking.

“Jennifer, please? You know that you can talk to me, right?”

“And say what? I don’t like you and your brother fawning over me?” she said. “It didn’t seem to work last time.”

I wrinkled my nose at her words. “I don’t believe we were fawning. I don’t even know what that means.”

“You got the gist of it though, didn’t you?”

“How can you blame us? You are a stunning woman! You should take the affections of a prince more heartedly.”

“You should learn to keep your jealous mouth shut!” she shouted back.

I lost it entirely, pulling her into my arms and crushing her against me. Her hands wove around the back of my neck as she gently dragged her nails along my skin. My tongue laid claim to her mouth, exploring her sweet taste as our mouths melded together. Every inch of my body seemed rigid with desire. I could feel the passion as it lit and simmered, begging to be released in a moment of pure pleasure. She pressed against me, her perfect breasts crushing against my chest.

I longed to rip the clothing away that stood between us. When I heard the subtle sound of a door opening, I ignored it. I hoped that Jennifer would too, but I felt her body tense and knew she was going to pull away from me. Against my desire, I let her go. It would do no good to try and keep her within my embrace. She was a strong willed and stubborn woman, qualities that I found most enticing. Immediately she looked to her door, but when I saw her face harden, I knew it wasn’t my playful brother that had interrupted us.

“Damn,” I muttered.

Jennifer straightened herself at once, her aura turning cold. “Hello, Courtney. I see you are up later than usual.”

“A good thing too, you never know what kind of riff-raff might come wandering in.”

Her gaze landed pointedly onto me before noticing my arm still wrapped around Jennifer. During my brief stay on the planet, I’d already formed a strong dislike of Courtney. It was more than her intrusive nature. I sensed a malice in her directed toward Jennifer and I didn’t like it one bit. I wouldn’t let her twisted sense of right and wrong bring harm to Jennifer, not while I was still breathing.

“Come, dear,” I said, hoping the outdated term was still used. “We have other plans and they can’t be fulfilled in a hallway.”

Jennifer blushed and Courtney scoffed. I looked up at her, “Of course, you are welcome to join us too if you’re into that kind of thing.”

I winked at Courtney and she shot me a look that might have very well killed a lesser man. Turning my attention back to Jennifer, I licked my lips seductively. Her perfectly plump lips fell open in shock. I fed into my desire and leaned forward, taking her lower lip into my mouth and biting it playfully before she slapped me away. I could tell from the heat of her body that she loved it. Without another word, she stormed past me and Courtney.

“I guess she wants me for herself tonight, maybe next time.”

I left Courtney standing in shock in the hallway. As I slipped into the apartment, my smile faded at once. Ragal looked shocked as he shrugged his shoulders. Jennifer was in the kitchen. Pots and drawers slammed against each other. With each new shudder of bending metal, I winced. This would not be an incident I would soon be allowed to forget.

“What the hell did you do?” Ragal asked, “I left you alone for five minutes!”

I glared at him and headed for the kitchen. “It’s not the pan’s fault you know.”

Jennifer didn’t seem amused. “Were you planning on inviting the cookware back to my bedroom too? Or is that only reserved for humans?”

“Is that what you are so fired up about? I apologized. That woman infuriates me for some reason and I do not mean in the same loveable way that you seem to drive me insane.”

“I promise that you drive me insane too,” she said. “And I do mean in the most annoying way.”

For a brief second my heart had fluttered, but now it was filled with laughter. As I bellowed, Ragal deemed it safe to enter the kitchen. He looked properly chagrined and I felt as though it should be me.

“I take it everything is better?” he asked.

“Far from it. But we don’t have time to argue. You still have two brothers that we haven’t found yet. The longer they are out there, the more dangerous it becomes. We need a plan.”

“With that awful woman out there, I suggest we refrain from shape-shifting, brother,” offered Ragal.

“Agreed,” I said.

Jennifer’s mouth fell open once again, “Are you kidding me? Of course, you shouldn’t shapeshift! How is that even a thing for you? Don’t you realize what they will do if they discover you aren’t human?”

“Please,” offered Ragal. “No human is a challenge for a prince. We could easily take down a dozen without blinking.”

“And which dozen should that be?” I asked him. “Which of Jennifer’s friends should we so willingly slaughter in the name of boasting?”

Ragal bowed his head, “I did not think. Jennifer, please forgive me.”

She sighed and sat down across from me. Ragal took the seat next to me, both of us looked to Jennifer. She was looking at me in a strange way. I hadn’t thought about it before since shifting was such commonplace among our kind.

“Jennifer? Have you ever seen a shifter change forms?” I asked.

She shook her head, “No.”

“Would you like too?”

“It would be interesting to see. You can’t show me here though, not with Courtney lurking around every turn.”

“Maybe next time,” I offered, a little disappointed that she wouldn’t get to see the splendor of my dragon form.

She cleared her throat, “Actually, there is an old abandoned farm house outside of town. You could show me there.”

I shifted uncomfortably in the chair. I liked Jennifer and I knew that she felt the same. I’d never felt like this about a woman before. I’d had my dalliances and my political relationships, but she was different. What if she saw my true form and ran screaming in the other direction?

“Do you really think we have time for that?”

She shrugged, “We can’t leave until the morning and the longer we are here, the more chance we have of Courtney figuring out the truth.”

“It’s already getting late,” I muttered weakly.

Ragal clapped me on the back, “Come, brother, where is your sense of adventure. The night is young and we are in a strange, new land. Live a little.”

“Come on, Zaruv,” Jennifer whispered.

Her words cut through me, melting me to my very core. How could I tell her no? It was impossible. I would bend the very planets if it gave me a chance to see her dazzling smile one more time. I wanted her to know me and to trust me. Perhaps this was the only way. Still, there was danger involved in shifting, and not just for Jennifer. I didn’t know the depths of my feelings for her. My dragon would sense what I could not.

“So, what do you think? Want to live on the wild side a little?” she asked me playfully.

I couldn’t tell her no, “All right. Fine. But we come right back after you’ve seen. Got it?”

She jumped up and nodded her head, dashing for the door and quietly peeking out. “I think she went to bed. We should go, now.”

Silently, Ragal and I both followed her down the steps. Every board that creaked sounded like deafening nails on a chalkboard. Ragal steadied my hand when I went to start the hovercar. He jerked his head in the direction of the main road and I nodded in agreement. We pushed it down to the end of the road and jumped in as Jennifer expertly maneuvered us through the narrow back roads.

Eventually, we made it to the wall of the outpost and pressed up against it was a small farmhouse. There was no need to cover our tracks. As late as it was, no one would be so far away from the gates. I pushed open the door for Jennifer and we stood silently in the dark. I was stalling and I knew it.

“Well?” she asked, impatiently. “Do you need something to shift?”

“No,” I said looking deep into her eyes. “I have what I need.”

I closed my eyes and felt the heat as it burned through my body. My skin started to sizzle though it didn’t burn. I felt my bones extending and the joints popping. It was hard at first, but after years of shifting, there was no more difficulty. My tailbone pierces through the skin of my back along with the vertebrae of my spine. My entire body expanded into different directions.

Turning my gaze back to Jennifer, I saw wonderment in her eyes. A faint golden glow emanated from her skin, reflecting off my own. My golden eyes poured into her, the very breath that escaped my lungs warmed the room. In that moment, I knew that she was my soulmate. I jerked away from her, letting out a loud gasp as fire shot from my mouth. She was quite literally lighting my fire. It only happened when a shifter found his mate.

“Zaruv!” Yelled Ragal, breaking the spell.

I turned and looked to where he was pointing. Four sets of headlights were quickly approaching us, one of them was already there. In the dim lights of the hovercars, I saw her and my blood ran cold, Courtney had followed us.