I’d never been shy, but I had a hard time making my feet move toward him. My heart beat like a drum line. Forcing my breaths to calm, I inched toward him. Once close, I realized he was at least a foot taller than my own five foot five inches.
He was either putting off pheromones, or I was overwhelmingly attracted to him. The minute I was within touching distance, the base of my spine tingled. The sensation spread around my abdomen until my business was on fire.
I wanted to unbutton his jeans and slide them down his legs slowly as I squatted down, reaching my hand inside his… I stepped back, trying to shake off the mental image burned into my mind. “Do we release pheromones?” I asked, getting directly to the point. No sense in beating around the bush.
He roared with laughter, making me jump and the feeling of goosebumps spread across my skin, though I couldn’t see any on the scales.
“I’m a little surprised you know what pheromones are,” I commented with a giggle.
“It was a word that Axoular knew, so I know it. And no, we don’t release pheromones, so if you’re feeling any certain feelings, it’s all me.” If possible, he puffed up even more than he already had.
“I’m not feeling anything,” I replied. “I was curious.”
He deflated and I fought the urge to laugh. “Please, sit.” He pointed to the couch. “Tell me about your playing. We had instruments similar to the piano on Galdiart, although the tones were different.”
“There are other similar instruments here, as well. What do you want to know?” I tried to get comfortable sitting in front of him with his shirt off and me in only my tube top. Luckily I’d put the one on that had been a bathing suit, so the lower part, under my breasts, was loose, not tight. Unfortunately the scales didn’t get rid of my muffin top, and as soon as I sat down I felt it spill over the top of my pants. It was hidden though, and I was thankful for that. I shifted, sitting straight to let the wings sort of hang off of the back of the couch.
“How long have you played?”
“As long as I can remember. My father plays, and began teaching me before I could talk.”
He smiled. “I miss this.”
“Miss what?” I chuckled nervously. “This is the first time we’ve met.”
“My wife died on Galdiart three years ago.”
My stomach dropped. “I’m so sorry. Had you been married long?”
He nodded his head. “Seventeen years.”
No way was I asking about children. “What do you miss?”
“You’d be surprised at the things you miss. Stuff like nagging. So many times I’ve wished she could get on my nerves again.”
I didn’t know what to say. How did you respond to something like that? “I’m sorry.”
He sucked in a deep breath. “We came here to talk about you.”
“Sort of. I want to know about the Sárkány. My heritage. My people. I want to meet them. I want to figure out who else in this world might be going through this crazy transition and help them.”
“I don’t know about this world. That’s a job for the council, the Junta.”
“And I’m sure I’ll work with Alexander and Roan. I feel the strongest urge to help wherever and however I can. There must be a place for me in this world.”
“What skills do you have?” He cocked his head, full of interest for my answer.
Too bad I didn’t have much of an answer to give him. “I play piano.”
“Yes, as you demonstrated. You play beautifully. What else?”
I grimaced. “That’s about it.”
“You sell yourself short. Everyone has talents. Maybe you’ve focused for so long on your one overwhelming talent that you’ve ignored the others. I’m sure in time we’ll see where you can help.”
I blushed, his intense gaze and kind words a balm to my confused mind. We sat in the library until my stomach was growling, talking about the Sárkány history, how they’d been to Earth before, and what it meant for me.
“You’ll have to work on finding your fire. Every Sárkány has fire. I’ll help you; it can be dangerous the first few times until you learn to control the energy drain.”
