Dragon Twins Bride

“Ah,” Phuong moaned. Gahariet looked at his semi-conscious mate. Her eyelids were fluttering quite a bit.

“Puzzle,” she sighed.

“What did she say?” Olivier said.

“She said ‘puzzle’,” Gahariet responded. “And look —she’s getting her scales.”

She shifted in Gahariet’s arms, so he adjusted his position. She was a little lighter in the water, but it also made her slippery.

“Scales?” Olivier leaned in to her skin. “She was getting shiny before.”

He ran his hands over her skin, which seemed a little rougher than it had been before. “It’s like a scale pattern more than anything, not full-on scales.”

“It’s still exciting.”

Gahariet touched Phuong’s skin, too. It was starting to change just a little bit.

“I hope she doesn’t have a fever the whole time.”

“She should be fine in the lagoon, though, right?” Olivier was frowning at his twin. “It’s not dangerous?”

“It shouldn’t be,” Gahariet replied, but he wasn’t so sure.

34

Warming Up

Phuong

Phuong opened her eyes. What strange dreams she’d had. Finally, everything had fit together perfectly.

Why was she wet? Her body felt hot on the inside, but cold on the outside.

She looked up at Gahariet’s sculpted face above her.

“How do you feel, sweetheart?”

“I...” She flexed her hands and then her feet. “I’m okay.”

“You have scales now,” Olivier told her.

“What?”

“Look at your hands.”

Phuong realized that Gahariet was holding her up. She lifted a hand towards her face and looked closely. Sure enough, there was some kind of scale pattern beneath her skin.

“I’m a dragon?”

“You’re turning into one, a very beautiful one.”

Phuong frowned. Other than feeling hot, she didn’t feel that different.

“Am I going to be half shifted like this forever?”

“No. You’ll be able to control it with some practice.”

“But right now, I’m going to have scales?”