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The next night . . .---------------- -----------Bunny, as it turned out, could talk for at least an hour without stopping. She was the verbal equivalent of the world's longest run-on sentence, but Shamira did not seem to mind anymore. The girl was just too damn happy to stay annoyed with. And she was certainly easy on the eyes, sitting in the passenger side of the van in tight-white denim shorts that barely covered her ass, a tied-off pink-and-white checkered shirt, and her wheat-blond hair pulled back in a pony-tail. She enjoyed flirting with passing truckers, and watching her lean out the window to talk to or yell at other motorists made Shamira grin."Hey, can we stop and get a soda?" the bubbly young woman said. "I'm totally parched and would kill for a Diet Doctor Pepper.""Yes, I'm sure that flashing your tits at the guys in the Ford F-150 with a rebel flag sticker must have been exhausting."--------- ------------------Back in Atlanta . . .--------- ------------------They crew had not had much success in divining Lacroix's (and by proxy Jonas's) plans, so Shamira and Bunny had hauled a load of prisoners back up to the house in Atlanta where the security team and the Representative's people took them into custody to "discuss" their wrongdoings. This time around, Shamira did not feel a great deal of sympathy for the captives, but Shane had still promised to be much easier on them than Daniel had been to her."Where IS Shane?" she muttered as the werelionesses Barbara and Kira . . . "Hey, your name is Kira!""So nice of you to notice," the supple blond noticed with a smirk."No . . . sorry, I mean . . . One of my donors is names Kira. I just . . . it's not THAT common of a name," she continued. "I'll stop talking now.""It's okay. We haven't really had much chance to spend time together since we got here. Th
"Are you sure?" Shane asked.Shamira shrugged and then shook her head. "Burnt stone and a building that got hit by something big. I mean, we have no idea about the missing vamps from the boat. The building could have been hit by an explosion of some kind, but it doesn't explain what tripped the alert wards in both cases." She gripped her hands tightly together. "But we know they've had the eggs for a while, and it isn't completely unreasonable to think that they had a plan for hatching them. And Jonas DID mention an insurance policy.""But a dragon?"Alessandra stood next to Shane, but her face gave nothing away, so Shamira was not sure if she believed this theory or not."Shane, remember when you asked why it was so easy for me to understand that I was a vampire?"He nodded. "If it walks like a vampire and talks like a vampire . . . Ockham's Razor. If you have competing theories then, all other things being equal, choose the simplest. Bu
Shamira had never been nowhere before. It was disconcerting to say the least. This was not "middle of nowhere" nowhere . . . that phrase was referring to places that actually existed on the edge of civilization. There was no civilization here. No earth, no sky, and not even air to breathe. Just a darkness so deep and vast and . . . comforting. How could nothing and nowhere be so familiar? She had no body to feel with or eyes to see, but she could apparently still hear."Welcome," came a deep voice from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "I have very much wanted to meet you."Shamira was not stupid. "Shadow Wing.""Yessssssssss," the voice came. The serpentine quality did not seem menacing, but rather natural.Suddenly, Shamira was very angry. "You did this to me! Why? Why me?""I am sorry, but 'why me' what?"Shamira would have clenched her fists if she actually had any in this weird "nowhere" world. "You know damn well! I
"Oh . . ." Clara whispered.". . . my . . . " Henry continued." . . . God!" Sebastian finished.In the middle of the paved lot, there were now two dragons. One was about twenty feet from nose to tail. The other was . . . bigger. Where Shamira had stood was a new dragon that was easily three times the size of its companion. But more impressive was the length of the beast was the sheer mass. Its legs and long neck were bigger than tree trunks, its claws dug trenches in the asphalt, and teeth poking out from the upper jaw were like swords. Its tail was long and powerful, but lacked the barbed spikes that the smaller dragon possessed. Smoke seemed to constantly seep from beneath its scales, and its eyes glowed white.The smaller dragon raised its head, sniffing at the underside of the much larger dragon's chin. Shadow Wing's chin. Shamira's chin. The two touched noses, then the smaller dragon lowered its head in a submissive gesture. Shamira was a mu
----------- ------Outside . . .----------- ------Clara had been involved in a staring contest with a young dragon for about thirty minutes when Shamira returned, swooping down into the cleared area and landing far more gracefully than Clara might have imagined. The smaller dragon instantly perked up, moving to Shamira and placing itself in a subservient position at the big dragon's feet.Shamira moved her enormous head over to Clara, who just grinned and stroked her scales."You're still pretty damn gorgeous," she said softly.Shamira opened her mouth to reveal a number of dragon eggs, nestled in between her sharp teeth and tongue. * We need to take these somewhere safe, and we need to do it soon, * Shamira sent.Clara waisted no time and started grabbing the eggs out of Shamira's mouth. "You are the strangest girlfriend that I've ever had," she said. "Hey, Lacroix --"* -- is no longer among the living, * Sh
-------------- --------------The next evening . . .-------------- --------------Shamira was glad that dragons apparently slept most of the day away, because the young one was far too exuberant when it was awake. It did not seem to have any problem obeying Shamira's commands while she was in human form, but she still morphed back into a dragon most of the time because telepathy was more efficient with the youngster. One thing she discovered . . . convincing her companion to bathe would not be a problem. They went out exploring the property under cover of darkness and found a large tank stocked with fish. The little dragon dove right in and seemed to be having the time of its life. Shamira joined in and admittedly had a lot of fun splashing around.They hunted another cow, did some flying around the countryside, and Shamira spent a lot of time projecting behaviors into the young one's head, trying to impart some sense of what was acceptable
--------- ------------------A week later . . .--------- ------------------Turning into a dragon . . . cool, but complicated. Being the only one who can get a real dragon to eat, sleep, and not set the surrounding countryside on fire was complicated and annoying. Trying to corral one Greater Dragon who wanted to go play with a flock of Lesser Dragons? REALLY annoying.*Everybody stop! * she projected in her most authoritarian voice. Apparently having the power of a full grown Moon Dragon had some advantages, because the dozen or so Lesser Dragons, each the size of large dog but smart as a human, all came to a complete stop and then tried to look inconspicuous. They had been playing what was quite possibly the noisiest, most destructive game of "tag" that she had ever seen played. There were paths through the woods around the farm where trees had literally been trampled by several tons of ancient reptile in pursuit of much nimbler prey.
Shamira's mouth hung open temporarily. What DID she want? There were so many things from the carnal to the mundane that it was hard to decide. Then she looked at Clara, and that was all it took. She grinned.An hour later, she and Clara were sitting on a sofa in one of the trailers watching the enormous HD television that Shane had acquired quickly and at great expense. There was a bowl of popcorn on the floor, a couple of beers, and the two women were watching a pay-per-view romance movie."A first date," Clara chuckled, reiterating what Shamira had asked for."Well, it's a little overdue, don't you think?" the other woman said, feeling a little dorky. She was laying down on the sofa with her head in Clara's lap, glad to have a quiet moment with a woman who meant so much to her. The baby dragon was asleep, while Kira and Arthur were having the time of their lives keeping an eye on the massive reptile as well as talking with the Lesser Dragons. Shane was d