Jaguin's Love: Dragon Lords of Valdier Book 8 by S.E. Smith

frustrated remark.
    “I really want you,” he muttered with a lopsided grin.
    “I can tell,” Sara retorted, flushing when she felt his hard length pressed against her.
    “Jaguin, our apologies,” Calo called in greeting as he stepped onto the path. “Our mate wished to let her dragon out and the other rooms have a training exercise in progress.”
     
    *.*.*
     
    Sara’s eyes widened at the small green dragon that peeked over Calo’s shoulder. Beside the tiny dragon, she saw Cree standing with a protective hand along her neck. She was the most beautiful creature Sara had ever seen – next to Jaguin.
    “Who is that?” Sara asked, staring in awe at the dragon that was gazing back at her.
    Calo’s gaze softened and he turned toward the beautiful dragon. Raising his hand, he ran it tenderly along her jaw. Sara was amazed at how much love was in that simple gesture. She knew who the two warriors were; she saw them multiple times silently following Carmen. This was the first time she saw both men together. If it wasn’t for the scar that Carmen told her about and the way one of the men always had his hand on the knife by his side, she wouldn’t have known there were two separate men watching Carmen.
    “This is our mate, Melina,” Calo introduced with a proud smile.
    Sara’s eyes widened further and she took a step back in surprise when the image shimmered for a moment before a young woman stood where the dragon was just seconds earlier. Cree immediately wrapped his arms around the woman when she swayed.
    “Hi,” Melina greeted, blushing and looking at Sara with curious, green eyes. “I’m sorry. My dragon wanted out and I’m still learning to do all this.”
    “You do not need to apologize,” Cree growled, glancing at Sara and Jaguin with a sharp glance, warning them not to disagree.
    Sara fought a grin when the woman rolled her eyes and mouthed to her not to listen to the big oaf. Sara gave a brief nod of understanding. She hesitantly pulled away from Jaguin and moved toward the woman. Her lips parted and she looked back and forth between Melina and the two huge men shadowing her.
    “You’re human?” Sara asked in a soft voice, gazing back at Melina.
    “Yes,” Melina replied with a shy smile. She raised a hand and pushed a strand of shoulder length dark brown hair behind her ear.
    Sara frowned. “Carmen is human as well. How can you transform into a dragon then?” She asked with a puzzled expression.
    Sara felt Jaguin tense behind her. She laid her hand over his when his hand tightened on her hip. She knew that Carmen could transform. It came up during their conversations, but for some reason it never really sank in. Seeing Melina as a dragon finally seemed to connect the dots.
    “I’m not sure,” Melina admitted. “I believe it has something to do with the Dragon’s Fire that happens when….”
    Sara saw Melina’s face flame and her eyes sparkle as she looked back and forth between her mates. Understanding dawned quickly – something happened when the Valdier mated with a human to change the chemical composition of their bodies. If that happened, there would be no going back. Sara understood the dynamics of biology enough to know that once a species evolved, it rarely, if ever, returned to its previous state.
    “Oh,” Sara whispered.
    “I’m sorry we interrupted you,” Melina started to say, stopping when Sara gave her a brief smile.
    “That’s okay, we were just leaving,” Sara replied. “Perhaps we can meet up later. Carmen and I were planning on meeting in the dining hall. She was going to show me more of the ship.”
    “That would be lovely,” Melina replied, ignoring the soft growl from both her mates. “I think some girl time out would be wonderful.”
    Sara laughed when she saw the look of displeasure on Cree and Calo’s faces and the soft grunt Jaguin emitted. It was obvious these guys had a lot to learn if they thought Earth girls were going to just sit around and wait