The Dragon's Choice (Tahoe Dragon Mates 1)

Partially it was because of his muscular, tan chest and powerful thighs. Not to mention the delicious dragon tattoo on one of his biceps and the large part of his anatomy she'd grown rather fond of between his legs.

A naked Jose Santos would steal her breath any day.

But it was more than that. For the first time ever, she was going to see not only a dragon-shifter change from human to dragon, but also meet Jose's dragon form.

Over the course of the frenzy, she'd come to accept both halves of him. But her curiosity always wondered what the dragon looked like. Merely knowing he was blue wasn't enough.

His dark brown eyes met hers and then he smiled. A few beats later, his body gave off a faint glow and he stretched out his limbs, his legs morphing into powerful hind legs complete with talons, his nose and jaw elongating into a snout, and large, beautiful wings grew from his back.

It probably didn't take more than thirty seconds or so, but it had almost played out in slow motion, to the point she still couldn't believe what she'd seen.

There now stood a nearly twenty-foot blue dragon, his scales slightly iridescent in the midmorning sunshine, in her backyard.

She almost pinched herself to make sure it was real. If she hadn't gone through the frenzy, she probably would have.

When he stretched out his wings, which were slightly transparent against the sunlight, and tilted his head down, his large, almond-shaped dragon eyes, complete with slitted pupils, looked straight at her.

It felt as if he were staring deep down into the hidden parts of her mind and heart.

And when he moved his head the other way and back, his scales reflecting even more sunshine, almost as if he were a precious gemstone, she nearly gasped. Beautiful, gorgeous, majestic—none of those words seemed enough to describe her man in his dragon form.

Jose motioned with a forelimb, and it snapped Victoria from her amazement. It was time to meet her man's dragon.

She half ran toward him, stopping just a few feet away. So she wouldn't have to strain her neck, the dragon lowered his head to nearly her eye level. Victoria extended a hand, debating whether to reach up or wait. But then the dragon closed the distance and butted his snout against her palm. When he moved his head, to guide her hand to his jaw, she smiled. "Are you a dragon or more like a cat or dog? Both like to have their jaws scratched."

The dragon blew a puff of air at her and she laughed. Victoria had known dragon-shifters couldn't speak in their dragon forms and had wondered how they communicated.

But it seemed Jose's beast had a way.

She absently ran her hand along the side of the dragon's snout, loving how the scales were mostly smooth with slight grooves to them, almost as if they were embossed leather. When she finally reached behind his ear, her fingers found a smooth patch of skin, without the scales. She scratched, and the dragon began to hum.

"Oh, so you are like a cat or dog then, wanting your ears scratched."

The dragon was too happy and leaned into the touch. Victoria added her other hand and scratched a little harder.

The dragon emitted what sounded like a groan, and she laughed. "I guess I know how to win you over."

Jose's dragon moved his head to lightly butt her shoulder. "What? You like it, right? So I'll just keep my ear scratches for special occasions."

With a low grunt, the dragon stood and picked her up around her middle with his front paw. Even though the dragon could easily crush her or skewer her with the large, sharp talons, Jose didn't hurt her. She instinctively knew he never would.

As he stared at her with one large, yellow eye, she said, "Maybe one day you could take me flying?" The dragon started to shake his head, but she added, "After the baby is born, of course."

Jose's beast almost smiled and nodde

d.

But then it all made her realize that one day her child would be able to change into a dragon, too. How was she supposed to raise a child that could change shape and fly away, with her not being able to follow?

And what else wouldn't she be able to teach them or help them with since she was only human?

As if sensing her mood, the dragon put her down, took a few steps back, and within seconds, had shrunk back into Jose's naked human form.

He engulfed her in a hug and asked, "What's wrong, love? Tell me."

Despite snuggling deeper against his chest, she said, "You didn't have to change back yet."

"I can morph into a dragon any time I want. It's not a once a day sort of thing." He moved his head back until he could look into her eyes. "Your expression turned wary and a little sad just now. And know this—a good dragon mate would never simply allow his female to remain sad and not try to make her happy again."