Page 11 of Mating Her Dragon

“Because an RV does not drive like a dragon,” he grumbled, trying with all his might not to smile.

Sydney burst out laughing, and that was all it took. The dam on his laughter broke, and together, the couple laughed until tears filled their eyes.

Taking a deep breath, he thought about what lie ahead. No Commander waited on the other end of a comm line. No enemy coordinates blinked on a map. No destination had been handed down by Fate, Prophecy, or the particular whims of the Universe that had run both their lives for as long as either could remember.

The truck's navigation screen blinked politely: Where to?

Sydney looked over at him, winked, and said, "Your call."

His first instinct was to turn the question straight back to her, the way he'd turned every question of want back to her for two straight days. Some habits ran deeper than he liked to admit.

Then he stopped himself. This decision was his.

"West," Garrett said.

Sydney smiled, slow and pleased, and settled back into her seat. "West it is."

He put the truck in gear and pulled out of the driveway with the Airstream trailing smooth and steady behind them. Valentine, Texas began sliding away in the rearview mirror, and it felt right… It felt… good.

For the first several miles, he waited for the feeling. The one that always came– the low, insistent pull of duty telling him he was doing something wrong, that he should turn around, that somewhere out there someone needed him, and a Guardsman did not simply drive toward an ocean because he wanted to see it.

The feeling never arrived. If anything, he felt freer with every mile they covered.

Sydney had her bare feet propped up on the dashboard, even though he had informed her, on no fewer than seven occasions, that this was unsafe. Music drifted low from the speakers, something with too much fiddle in it for his taste and entirely too much of Sydney's taste in it for him to complain. Somewhere in the back of both their minds, through the Mating Bond, Kara was already offering unsolicited commentary on the truck's fuel efficiency, and Han would add a groan or a grumble every once in a while.

And Garrett understood, with a clarity that settled into his bones like sunlight, that for the first time in over a hundred years, nobody had sent him where he was going. He had chosen it.

He glanced sideways at Sydney, watched her smile out at the passing fields, and thought– not yet, not today, but someday, when she was ready and not one second before– I want you to choose me the same way.

For now, being with her was enough.

The road stretched out ahead of them, wide open and entirely their own, and Garrett Acheson drove west.

3

One hour into the great Acheson-Kavanaugh Road Trip, and Sydney had already learned something critical: traveling with a centuries-old Dragon Guardsman was going to be an experience.

Garrett drove like he was transporting nuclear material through hostile territory. He checked the mirrors every eight seconds. Speed was locked exactly at the limit, not a mile over, not a mile under. His following distance was so precise she was fairly sure he'd calculated it down to the foot. And every twelve seconds, without fail, his eyes flicked to the side mirror to confirm the Airstream was still trailing behind them, as if it might make a break for freedom the instant he stopped watching it.

Sydney put her bare feet back up on the dashboard. Crossing them at the ankle, she bounced the top foot to the beat of the music floating out of the radio.

"Feet," Garrett said, without looking away from the road.

"They're attached to me. It's fine."

"Off the dashboard."

"You're very bossy for somebody whose vacation was my idea."

"The Guardsman is correct," Han rumbled, low and steady, from somewhere in the back of the Bond, the first thing he'd volunteered since Valentine.

"The Guardsman is irritating," Kara shot back immediately, without missing a beat.

"See?" Sydney said aloud, grinning at Garrett. "Democracy."

"That is not what democracy means."

"Two against one. That's a vote."