Page 31 of Surge of Storms

Going to Dr. Abigail, I stand still as she takes one of the perfume bottles out. She sprays me four time, and a scent of green apples comes over me, tinged with something else. Something sharper.

“What do you think?” I ask the guys.

They all start sniffing, and then Granger gives me an apologetic look. “You still smell great.”

Dr. Duncan begins scribbling on a notepad, while Dr. Abigail puts that perfume bottle away and selects the next one. “That blocker contained synthetic chemicals we constructed to block pheromones. This one started with the building blocks of clove oil, cinnamon, peppermint, lemongrass, tea tree oil, and citrus, all things that have been shown to block pheromones, only we’ve enhanced them.”

She sprays me again several times, and I wrinkle my nose. This blocker is disgusting. Like, my sensitive nose wants to curl up and fall off of my face. The good news is that I suspect this one might work.

“What do you think?” I ask, stepping toward my men and doing a little spin.

Zane cocks his head. “You still smell good, Sam. Nothing can hide your natural scent from us.”

“Damn it,” I curse.

Dr. Duncan takes more notes and Dr. Abigail sprays me with the third blocker. I’m still hopeful until I see my men’s apologetic stares. My stomach drops, and I have the urge to kick something. So I smell just awful, but male dragons will still want to get in my pants. Just great.

“Well, that was disappointing,” Dr. Abigail says, but then smiles. “But we won’t give up. We’ll keep at it until we find a solution.”

I force myself to return her smile. “Well, thanks for all your hard work. I appreciate it.”

Flopping back onto Zane’s lap, I let a sigh slip out before I can stop it.

He pulls me closer. “Do not worry, Sam. I will mate you many times and ensure you are safe.”

I laugh. “Thanks so much.”

He kisses the top of my head. “You’re welcome. Now, we should go visit my orange princess. She likely misses us.”

“That cat is perfectly fine without us.”

He laughs. “Oh no, my Miu likes her attention.”

I doubt it. And as I look at my other men, I can tell they doubt it too, but we’re all smiling because Zane loves that cat so much. “Let’s go visit the damn cat.”

Beneath me, Zane squeals in excitement.

TWELVE

Samantha

The city is startingto get busy again, at least compared to the week before. Half the people are still only going out when absolutely necessary, seeing this new “age” as that of an apocalypse that they need to survive. The Time of Dragons, they are calling it. The other half of the people are carrying on, more or less, the way they always have. No one seems to be lingering outside, but most of the shops are open, and people are out and about.

Which is good for us.

It’s given me a chance to explore a bit, which has led me to realize just how much I love shiny things now. Evander had already sent our driver back with armfuls of items, including a Fabergé egg, decorated sea shells, and some holographic paintings.

Shiny things are pretty.

I lick my ice cream, clutching the cone in my hand, as I eye a car that honked at another car for not going quickly enough at the stop light. It’s hard not to roll my eyes. People are always so damn impatient.

On all sides of me, my guys walk. Aydan had chosen some kind of rainbow sherbert, Granger had gotten his classic mint chocolate chip, and Evander had chocolate. Just plain chocolate. Then there was Zane… He’d convinced the lady to put all four of our flavors on one cone, and now he’s licking his ice cream like a mad man as it slowly drips down, mixing the flavors together.

“What do you think?” I ask him.

He continues to rapidly lick. “I like yours the best.”

“Love Drunk,” I tell him the name of it. My ice cream has vanilla ice cream, raspberry, chocolate chunks, and caramel. It’s so good it should be illegal.

---