Chapter Thirteen
Oakley
Getting to spread my wings was fantastic.
I wasn’t happy we were being sent home when all I wanted to do was finish what Roman and I started, but at least being up here, high in the clouds, I felt… free.
Plus, it was a lot of fun.
Especially with Roman flying right beside me and our friends—our family—on our backs, yelling and laughing away.
I was carrying Jed and Beshiro, and Roman had Tan and Phaeron with him.
I was pretty sure our team was the fun flyers, and they were the…
super serious ones. At least with Phae with them.
He was so serious all the time, and sometimes, it made the people around him act just as serious, or perhaps they felt like they couldn’t joke around with him or something.
I had a feeling he had more of a sense of humor hiding under that facade than anyone thought, though.
Regardless, Jed and Shiro were laughing and having a great time on my back while Phae and Tan looked like they were having a serious conversation.
Tan had placed a spell over himself and Phae, and one over Jed and Beshiro to block the wind.
That way, no one’s ears hurt, their eyes weren’t watering, their noses weren’t running, they were warm, and probably most importantly, they weren’t swallowing bugs or getting them splatted all over them—ew.
Having the shield allowed them to talk at a normal volume and still hear each other.
Being in my dragon form, I could hear them clearly without any added spells.
Dragons were made for this. I was made for this. Flying was what we did.
And yeah, we did get bug splats sometimes, but if I saw too many of them, I could just roast them before they ever reached me. Plus, it wasn’t too bad up this high, anyway.
I glanced at Roman, taking in his gorgeous blue dragon form.
He was so… muscly, and his scales were shining, bright and beautiful as the light reflected off them. His scales ranged from a dark, deep blue to a sky blue under his chin and along his belly, so he was always looking like a sparkly blue disco ball in the sun.
The horns on his head were large, dark blue, vicious-looking, and sharp enough they could pierce someone’s chest with ease. His fangs were white and sharp, his talons were the same very dark blue as his horns and just as fierce, and the spiky plates down his spine made him look even more ferocious.
His eyes were the same bright blue in this form as his bipedal one, but his pupils were vertical slits, just as mine were.
His eyes held so much meaning behind them, and it made me want to ask him a million questions about his life, have him regale me with stories, have him stare at me with that same familiarity he always did, something filled with affection and happiness.
He was probably the most gorgeous dragon I’d ever seen.
Definitely the sexiest.
A lot of people always claimed that my dad and I were the prettiest, but I just didn’t see it. Sure, we were both gold, but what was so great about gold? Blue, especially Roman’s varied shades of blue sparkling in the sunlight, was way more gorgeous than any other color.
Jed leaned forward and patted the side of my neck, calling out, “Better be careful before you drool with all that staring you’re doin’. I really don’t want to be covered in dragon slobber.”
I let out a growl.
He patted me again. “Might want to close your mouth, honey. You’re making it way too obvious that you’re checking him out.”
I growled again and rolled my eyes, even though I was embarrassed at being caught. If I was in my bipedal form, I’d be blushing. Fuck, and this right after the incident this morning.
Beshiro said, “Leave them alone, Jed. Good lordy. You’re so rude.”
“How am I being rude? I’m only trying to help.”
“By embarrassing them.”
The two continued to bicker, and I really wished I could speak in this form so I could put a stop to it because wow. They were annoying.
But also sort of… amusing and maybe even a little charming.
I didn’t know what it was like to have a sibling, but if I had one, I’d want a relationship like Jed and his siblings had.
Even when they were teasing, arguing, bickering, or just talking, you could see the easy camaraderie they all had with each other, and more importantly, you could see the affection.
I’d always wished I had a sibling, although at the same time, in the place I grew up, I was happy there was no one else there to suffer with me. I wouldn’t have wished that life on anyone, let alone a sibling I loved.
But now… now that I was in a safe place with people who truly cared about me, I kind of hoped my dad and Tan decided to adopt a kid or two or ten.
I’d love to spoil the crap out of some little ones, and then hand them back over to the two of them.
I’d love to be a part of a little one’s life like that.
I glanced over at Roman for a moment and couldn’t help but wonder if he wanted kids.
He would make a wonderful father. I’d seen him playing with Keryth’s girls many times, and he was always so patient and adorable with them.
He didn’t mind playing princesses and letting them dress him up, he didn’t mind running around the house, playing knights with cardboard swords and shields, and he seemed to enjoy playing board games with the kids. It was super sweet.
He should definitely adopt a few kids or something.
I’d love to adopt a handful one day myself.
Shaking off the thought, I decided I needed to get out of my head, so I let out a warning chirp. Jed and Beshiro had ridden with dragons enough times to be able to interpret that into hold on tight.
As soon as I felt them grab onto my spikes, I dove down sharply, making Beshiro scream, and Jed let out a laughing, “Whoop!”
I chuckled, although it sounded more like guttural growling in this form, then I let out another chirp before doing a quick spin. The vampires were harnessed tightly enough to my back that they wouldn’t fall off, so there was no danger at all.
And even if they did fall, I’d be able to catch them with no problem.
When they both screamed, I laughed harder and was happy when the two of them started laughing too.
This was fun, and I was glad to share it with my vampy friends.
I flew quickly back up to Roman, circled around him, and gently knocked his wing with mine. I kind of expected him to growl and snap at me like any of the adults I’d known growing up would have, but instead, he shot me the dragon version of a grin. It made me grin back.
Sometimes I forgot how different Roman and Dad were when it came to flying together. They never snapped at me or made me feel unwelcome. They never made me feel bad for wanting to play around. In fact, both of them started more than half of our tag sessions and other flying games than I did.
I nudged Roman’s wing again, then turned quickly and took off as fast as I could fly. I had no doubt he’d come after me.
Jed and Beshiro let out more screams of joy, and I growled with them, loving the feel of the air beneath my wings and the wind whipping across my face.
I heard Roman roar behind me, and I laughed again, knowing he was trying to catch up.
I was smaller than him—and a lot smaller than Dad, since he was the biggest dragon I’d ever seen—but that meant I was faster. Roman had the brute strength needed in a fight, but I had the speed needed in a race.
Glancing back, I saw him at least a hundred feet away, and it made me chuckle again.
After a few minutes, I slowed down to give him a chance to catch up, then just when he thought he was going to tag me, I took off again to the sound of whoops and cheers from my vamp riders and disgruntled noises from his riders.
But when I glanced back at Rome again, I saw a big smile on his handsome dragon face.
I wasn’t surprised to see my dad waiting on the roof of the tower for us when we came in for a landing.
Since the tower was a humongous building that housed many businesses, apartments, and who even knew what else, its width and length were also huge. Which meant the roof was just as big, seeing as it covered the entire building.
There was plenty of room for several dragons to land at once, even if Dad was among us in dragon form. So Roman and I were able to land side by side.
We both lay on our bellies so it was easier for our vampires and Tan to climb off of us, and once all the harnesses and bags were untied and moved out of the way, we both shifted back. Jed passed me my bag of clothes without looking down at my naked body, which I appreciated.
And I did my best to not look at Roman.
We’d shifted in front of each other enough times that I’d gotten a look a time or two, but there was no way I was going to get caught taking a peek with nosy Jed and my father standing right there. No matter how much I wanted to.
And booooooooyyyyy, did I want to.
So badly.
Even when we were flying, I’d been tempted to lean over and give him a good lick.
I could only imagine what I’d do—and how my body would react—if I looked at him right now and saw all that skin and took a peek at his di—
Nope.
Nope, nope, nope, nope.
No thinking sexy thoughts with all these people around me.
Nope.
Not happening.
As soon as I was dressed, my dad hauled me into the tightest hug. I didn’t hesitate to hug him back.
Before I’d come to live here, I’d gone my whole life without my dad, thanks to my mom kidnapping me and keeping me away from him. And now, I couldn’t imagine living without his comfort, without his love.
Growing up, I never, ever thought I’d have anything like this.
I’d thought a family like this one didn’t exist. I’d thought it was only a fantasy.
I didn’t think anyone could ever care about me, let alone love me.