the mating ceremony the next day, he'd have a mate and a new daughter.
Two people who would get to know the real him and not merely the fact he was a unicorn dragon.
Blake kissed Dawn's cheek and motioned toward where Sasha stood, at the edge of the landing area, near the six-foot-high rock walls filled with cubbies for clothing and items. "Speaking of which, I want to make sure you can see and touch my dragon before we're dragged into more paperwork and planning for tomorrow. Between Daisy's arrival and the mating ceremony, we won't have a spare moment after this for a while. So you should go stand by Sasha so I can shift."
She touched his cheek one last time—he would never tire of her soft, warm touch—and then went to stand by her friend.
Once Dawn was in place, Blake focused solely on his female. None of the other dragon-shifters lingering about mattered.
His dragon grunted. Good. Then let's get started.
Blake quickly shed his clothes and tossed them to the side—he'd opted to not stand naked waiting for Dawn since the human was adjusting to the idea of casual nudity—and closed his eyes to concentrate.
He imagined wings sprouting from his back, his nose elongating into a snout, and his form growing and stretching until he finally stood in his large dragon form.
With a deep inhalation, he opened his eyes and found Dawn's gaze.
She stood in awe, and it took an elbow jab from Sasha to break the spell.
As she walked slowly toward him, Blake noticed from the corner of his eyes that a few people moved closer toward him.
His dragon spoke up. Ignore them. Dawn is all that matters.
And he did exactly that, watching the play of emotions over her face as she drew closer. The awe was soon replaced with wonder and then curiosity.
Since he couldn't talk in his dragon form, Blake lowered his head so that when Dawn was near enough, he could gently bump her shoulder.
She laughed at the contact and then raised a hand to touch his snout. Her voice chased away his annoyance at a few teenagers edging ever closer to his tail. She said, "I'm not sure how else to say it, but you're beautiful, Blake."
As she stroked his snout, his dragon hummed. The sound made Dawn smile even wider.
His beast said, See? Only Dawn matters. And she thinks I'm beautiful.
I know, and you're never going to forget to remind me of that, are you?
Of course not.
As his human stroked upward, toward his ear, Blake lowered his head more. Then she found the patch of skin without scales behind his ear and focused her attention there. As he leaned into her caress, he knew she must've received some hints from Sasha about what to do.
Then he felt someone touching his tail, where his spot was, and he froze.
Dawn must've noticed the tensing of his muscles because she leaned to the side and frowned. She shouted, "It's not polite to touch someone without permission. Would you want someone grabbing your tail in front of your friends or mate?"
The touch vanished, and a surly teenage voice filled his ears. "No."
"Right, then be off and leave him alone."
He glanced over his shoulder, and to Blake's surprise, the teenagers were grumbling but walking away.
Dawn patted his side. "I will never have your strength, speed, or super senses, but I can certainly try to get the children to leave you alone. It may not always work, but there's almost a 'mother tone' that seems to work on a lot of kids. So I'll try my best, and I'm sure Daisy will help me chase off the unwanted attention, too. She'll take the responsibility very seriously, I think."
If he could've smiled in his dragon form, he would have. The thought of Dawn and Daisy shooing away unwanted spectators was too amusing.
His dragon spoke up. See? She is perfect for us in so many ways, much more than the fact she's so open in bed and can even make you laugh when no one else can.
Sasha's voice broke through his conversation. "Dawn, I hate to break this up, but we have that meeting at the school soon. I'll give you and Blake a few minutes alone and wait just outside the wall here." The dark-haired dragonwoman shot a few glances at the lingering dragon-shifters. "We will all give them some privacy, won't we?"
With a few grumbles, the others left. Sasha winked and also disappeared beyond the wall surrounding the landing area.
His