- like she was familiar.
Or maybe like he was attracted to her.
She was definitely attracted to him, she decided. At first, she had thought the effervescence in her chest was just rapture at seeing the baby.
But now that she was trying to separate the two, she could feel a sensation almost like a pull between her internal organs and the blue giant walking silently beside her.
She couldn’t decide whether to be fascinated or annoyed by it.
This is the biggest day of your life Abigail, she coached herself. Don’t worry about the guy. Focus on your son.
Rio was gazing up at her with serious expression, his baby body language telling her he was content, but curious.
“I’m so happy to be with you,” she told him, lifting him up to kiss his little nose.
He chuckled, and she lifted him higher.
“Look at you,” she cooed, watching the breeze blow in his fluff of hair as she spun them both around in a gesture of pure joy.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were—” Rexx began.
But Rio spit up all over Abigail’s gown before he could finish.
“Well, I’ll bet you feel better now, don’t you?” Abigail asked the little one, wiping a bit of spit-up off his chin with her thumb.
“He just had his milk before meeting you,” Rexx explain, looking concerned. “He doesn’t normally do that.”
“Oh, it happens all the time,” Abigail said. “Babies are messy. Kids are messy. I should know, I was a teacher.”
She took the cloth he offered her and tidied herself and the baby up as much as she could.
“You were a teacher?” Rexx asked, looking a little surprised.
“I know, everyone says I look young,” she said. “But I’m nearly twenty-eight.”
Rexx rubbed his jaw, but not in time for her to miss the fact that he was trying to hide a smile.
Twenty-eight wasn’t that young. And who was he to smile? He couldn’t be that much older than she was.
“Let’s get to town so you can change before we get on the train,” Rexx suggested.
She glanced down at the horrible gown. It looked like something out of a horror holo now - wrinkled from her sprint across the meadow, still inexplicably low-cut, but also covered in badly cleaned up baby vomit.
“That sounds great,” she told him, marching forward.
This time, he didn’t try to hide his smile.
2
Rexx
Rexx was a disciplined soldier. He had achieved high rank at a young age, and had been assigned to guard an Imberian whelp in spite of only serving a short time in the field.
None of his accomplishments had happened by accident. He was proud of the dedicated work that had brought him to this moment, walking down this scenic hillside under the clouds of Lachesis, in the company of Rio and his adoptive mother.
But he hadn’t gotten here by following his desires.
The key to success as a career soldier for the Invicta was suppressing one’s own wants to serve the homeland.
His only directive now was to protect the child.
The problem was that his dragon was screaming in his head, sending his senses into a tailspin and threatening to ruin all he had worked so hard to accomplish.
Mate, the dragon roared in anguish.
The scent of the woman washed over him in waves. Not even the foul ejection of the whelp could cover her exquisite fragrance.
We cannot claim her, he told the dragon desperately. Our directive is to protect the child.
There is no directive that says it is forbidden to claim our mate, the dragon pointed out.
But Rexx had not reached his position by finding loopholes.
He stole a glance at the woman, hoping to discover some reason not to want her.
But she was a perfect feast for the senses. Her hair was an unusual color that shone like burnished copper in the murky light. Her sweet scent filled his chest.
She was murmuring something to the baby in a low, musical tone, a rapturous expression on her face.
Well, she should be happy. The baby was exceptional.
Rexx had not only cared for his physical needs, but his intellectual needs as well. Each night, he read to the boy from a book of old Imberian mythology, hoping to encourage his imagination and interest in books as well as to honor his heritage.
After all, it was the fault of the Invicta warriors like Rexx that these babies were the last of the Imberian people. Long before Rexx had hatched, his people made a grave military error that accidentally destroyed the peaceful race. After a long legal proceeding, they had finally been