Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 223(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 149(@300wpm)
“He needs to eat, Rimi. I will take him to the near field. Would you like to offer our guests refreshments?”
Rimi forced herself to set Slate down on the grass. She had loved bonding with the small creature she and Keres had created together. Letting him become independent was heart-wrenching.
“Rimi, I’m so glad to spend time with you,” Lalani said, slipping her hand around Rimi’s arm and squeezing it slightly.
“I’ve never been inside Keres’ house. Is it completely black inside?” Brooks asked.
“Our room is lilac colored. I love it. Slate’s room is gray. I hope he will like it,” Rimi said, worried.
“Of course he will. Come, show it to us,” Ciel requested.
“Maybe after he sees it first?” Rimi suggested. It didn’t seem right to share her offspring’s room with others before he had the opportunity to claim it. Dragons were funny about their space.
Ciel laughed at herself. “What a silly suggestion! I didn’t think.”
“You could show them my picture of you,” Skye suggested, smoothly filling the awkwardness. Rimi smiled at her in relief.
“Of course. It’s in Keres’s office.”
Glad to have a distraction from the worry filling her mind, Rimi led everyone into the mansion to her mate’s space. There, on the wall behind his desk, hung the now colorful painting Skye had created. Everyone gathered around to see how the talented artist had created the scene before Rimi and Keres had shared the news of their hatchling.
“You told your brother and his mates about the baby first,” Brooks said with a nod of approval.
“No. We didn’t tell anyone. Oldrik knew from my scent.” Rimi said. “Skye must have guessed?”
“How did you sense Rimi would have a baby?” Aurora asked, turning toward Skye.
“I could hear him.”
“You knew he was a male?” Rimi asked in complete disbelief.
“Yes. Sorry, I knew first. I didn’t tell anyone. Not even Oldrik and Ardon,” Skye reported.
“I love this picture, Skye. Now I have to ask—how did you know to ask Keres if he had a cave with good lighting?”
“The question popped into my brain. I don’t know where it came from. Honestly,” Skye assured her.
“It’s okay, Skye. I’m not upset. This is astonishing. I love this picture,” Rimi assured her.
“It’s Slate’s first baby picture,” Lalani pointed out.
“His only,” Rimi said with a smile. Her hatchling wasn’t a baby anymore. Slate would be a full dragon in days.
“Miss Rimi, I have set up refreshments for your guests in the living room.”
“Thank you, Russell,” Rimi said with a smile to Keres’s butler. His staff would always have a special place in her heart. They had shown him loyalty, even when his growing madness endangered their lives.
“My pleasure. If you will follow me,” Russell said and led the way to the room where comfortable chairs beckoned everyone to relax.
A few minutes later, the mates sat with plates filled with delicacies from the kitchen. Russell delivered a plate for her with generous samples of everything. After struggling to find food repeatedly throughout her life, Rimi still battled an urge to claim everything for herself. It was easier to have someone to serve her. Besides, she had no idea what anything was.
Thankfully, no one said anything about her not visiting the buffet. She selected a cheese cube and popped it into her mouth. Yum! Russell had done it again, choosing items she would love.
“Could you all tell me about yourselves?” Rimi asked. “I’d like to get to learn more about each of you.”
“Of course. Brooks?” Aurora prompted.
“They always make me go first,” Brooks said with a charming grin. “I’m Rogan’s mate. He’s the red dragon. I met Skye on her way back to Wyvern along with another guy I happened to run into from our town. We stuck together for the trip home. I hung around for a while and met Rogan.”
“You mean three of you from Wyvern ran into each other on the way back here? The odds of that must be astronomical,” Rimi marveled. Just watching the number of humans wandering around, going in all directions, had amazed her.
“I’m sure fate had a hand in putting us together,” Brooks suggested and glanced at Skye, who nodded her agreement.
“I’ll go next. I’m Aurora. Believe it or not, I ran into Drake at the funeral of his previous mate. That was disconcerting, to say the least.”
“Drake’s the gold dragon, right?” Rimi asked.
“Yes. The hunkiest one,” Aurora said.
An uproar followed as the mates debated that bold statement. Rimi could tell they all enjoyed getting together from the teasing and chatter. She hoped she could be part of the group, even though she was so different from them.
After hearing Lalani’s story of being adopted and growing up elsewhere, Ciel introduced herself as the silver dragon’s mate. “The funniest thing is that we all have childhood dragon stuffies. I think they all came from the same store in the old section of town.”