Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 46156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Skye’s eyes widened. She hadn’t earned a spanking yet, but her Daddies had mentioned it. “Often?”
“Not anymore. I learned to make wise choices. Argenis usually knows what’s best for me, and he lets me do a lot of things. Just nothing that puts me in danger,” Ciel said.
“All of you?” Skye asked, her gaze jumping to each of the two women in front of her. She didn’t dare turn to stare at Lalani as she was cutting. She’d have another notch out of her hair.
“Me, too,” Lalani chimed in from behind her. “Skye, I’m going to have to take off about nine inches to even everything up. Is that alright?”
“Sure. No one will be able to trap me in the future by my locks,” Skye said casually. For her, hair was simply hair. It grew until her mother made her go get it cut.
Lalani darted around the chair to stare at her. “I’m so sorry. Did that happen on your way here?”
When Skye nodded, Lalani continued, “I’d hug you, but I don’t think you’re ready for that, so I’ll send you an air embrace.” She held her arms out and motioned like she was squeezing Skye from a distance.
To Skye’s surprise, the others repeated the gesture. A warm feeling appeared inside her. These women seemed so sweet and accepting.
“Thank you. I’m a bit odd.” She wanted these women to have a built-in excuse in case they wanted to limit their time with her. It would be easier if they rejected her now than if they pretended to be her friend and shunned her later.
“Pishposh!” Aurora announced. “Haven’t you figured it out? We’re all strange. We’re dragon mates. Rwahr!” She raised her arms like she was flapping wings.
“My friends in the dorm thought I was crazy because I had a dragon stuffie since childhood. And then I got here and both Lalani and Aurora had one,” Ciel announced.
Skye ran her fingers over the straps of her backpack she still wore.
“Could you take that off?” Lalani asked quietly. “I figured something important was inside.”
Skye stripped the backpack from her shoulders and took a big breath, gathering her courage. Opening the zipper, she drew Blunze out. The women oohed and aahed. Skye grinned at them, instantly set at ease by their reaction.
“What’s his name?” Aurora asked.
“Blunze.”
“He’s a blue dragon with bronze stitches? Did you do that, or did he come that way?” Lalani asked, leaning closer to see.
“I added the bronze. He didn’t feel quite right,” Skye confessed.
“Aren’t you clever? And talented. Those loops of thread actually look like scales!” Ciel said. “I have a dragon stuffie as well. Mine is a silver dragon, of course. His name is Silly, for silver.”
Aurora piped in, “Mine is orange now. It used to be gold. His name is Firefly.”
“But you’re the gold dragon’s mate?” Skye asked.
“I obviously wanted to keep Drake on his toes even back then,” Aurora said with a laugh.
“And you, Lalani?” Skye asked, overwhelmed by the coincidence. If it was a coincidence.
“I have one too. My dragon is green. His name is Lettuce,” the young woman replied as she snipped. “Skye, this style will be so cute when I’m finished. You’ve got a wave right at the ends of your hair. It’s going to curl under naturally. You won’t need one, but I really miss curling irons and blow-dryers.”
“Automatic ice and water dispensers in the fridge door,” Aurora added.
“Movies and television,” Ciel chimed in.
“Cellphones,” Skye said before clarifying, “Just to take a picture of things I want to draw.”
“Can we see your sketches?” Aurora asked Skye.
“Sure.”
Aurora eagerly retrieved the pad and opened it up. “Here are your rubbings you were doing, Lalani. Those are fascinating. Oh!” She stopped as she reached Skye’s first drawing of a dragon. “That’s Keres.”
Reversing the sketch pad to show everyone, Aurora said, “It looks just like him. That fierce expression and the sadness in his eyes.”
“I hope he’ll find a mate soon,” Skye commented.
“We all do,” Lalani said and made a final snip before setting her scissors down with a click. “Done. Here’s a mirror. You can see how it turned out. Thank goodness, those still work.”
“So good,” Aurora complimented, and Ciel nodded enthusiastically.
Skye didn’t enjoy looking at herself too much, but she took the mirror to check out Lalani’s efforts. It seemed like the polite thing to do. To her shock, she almost didn’t recognize the woman who stared back at her. Her blue eyes appeared twice as big as the hair curved just below her jawline.
“Wow. You’re good.”
“Wow! You’re a great subject,” Lalani said, flipping the compliment back to focus on Skye. “Go show your Daddies.”
Without another word, Skye hopped down from the stool and walked carefully over to Oldrik and Ardon. She didn’t want to ruin Lalani’s hard work before they saw her. Daddies! She’s good.