Page 55 of Red Dragon’s Flame

He decided that while they were in bed would be a good time.

Not so much. Devon—less inhibited about stating her opinions than she’d been at first—gave him her ‘Fuck you, Starthrower’ look. “A bar? All those people, crowded together? Are you high?”

He’d been afraid that’s how she would feel. But… she’d missed so much in her life. He was determined that it was going to be a long one, but just in case… she should have some fun.

He ran his fingers down her arm, watching the flames dance. “I really want to take you on a date. And this is kind of the only game in town.” He could see her softening and said, “It isn’t quite like other bars. You know that Tristan and Mayah and their team go all over the world, rescuing shifters that have been captured?”

She nodded. “Shifter trafficking. Labs and things. It’s awful what people will do.”

“Right. Well, they bring most of them here, to the village. Gerard has set up—well, halfway houses, I guess you’d call it. Safe places, with healers to help them deal with their trauma, and prepare them to reintegrate back into life.”

“I know,” Devon said. “Michelangela told me. I think that’s awesome.”

Mikah traced her collarbone. “Well, a lot of them are like you. They’re uncomfortable in crowds, or it sets off their animals. So the bar is in two halves. One’s like a normal bar, and the other is for anyone who needs… social distancing? No crowding allowed. Both halves open onto the stage, so if there’s a band or anything, it doesn’t matter which side you’re on.”

He ran his fingers across the tips of her breasts and added, “There’s karaoke.”

Her face lit up. “I’ve always wanted to do karaoke!”

“I know.” He kissed her softly, then did it again because he loved kissing her. “You told me. You want to go? You’ll have your fire-shielding amulet, so it doesn’t matter if you get a little flamey. And we can stay on the social distancing side. If you get uncomfortable, we’ll just leave. No big deal.”

She hesitated.

“We don’t have to,” he told her. “We can have a private date, instead.”

She was running her own fingers over his chest, tracing the line of his pecs. “But you want to do normal people stuff.”

He gave a huff of laughter. “I’m not sure you can really categorize karaoke in a werewolf bar as ‘normal people stuff’, but I thought you might like it.”

She leaned in and kissed his neck, right in the place he liked best. “Okay. Let’s try. But if my alleged phoenix freaks and burns the place down, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“If you set the place on fire, I’ll put it out.”

So… that was how Devon let herself get talked into going to a bar. She wouldn’t have done it for anyone but Mikah.

The village was about a mile from the castle—a leisurely fifteen or twenty-minute walk. There was even moonlight, and stars bright overhead. A perfect first date recipe.

The walk actually took about half an hour. Mikah kept stopping to kiss her, and Devon kept stopping to gaze up at the stars.

Finally she said, “They’re different. From home, I mean. There’s completely different constellations, no Big Dipper, not anything I’ve ever seen before. We really are in a different place.”

“Yeah,” Mikah said. “I remember the first time I flew at night on earth, I didn’t recognize anything. It was so strange.”

She knew by now he hadn’t grown up here or on earth, but in the Dragonlands. He’d been brought here about thirty years ago, by an evil sorcerer who was now dead.

So he’d seen stars in three worlds. It was such a strange idea, and yet here he was next to her, big and warm and familiar, kissing her under an alien sky.

And it felt so right.

She asked, “Are there stories about the stars, like on earth?”

Mikah curled his hand around hers and started walking again. “Yeah, actually. Emon made them up, when he and Trish first met. And now he tells them to their daughter.”

Devon had met Kendra, an adorable and imperious seven-year-old, who could turn into a black dragon the size of a compact car.

“I’d like to hear them sometime,” she said.

“I’ll learn them, and tell them to you,” he promised.