Page 23 of Thrilled By Her Protector

There was a little bite to her voice, and Zircon scratched his neck. These women might think they were all powerful seeing as how they were Wyverns like him, but he’d seen Jennifer fly and there was nothing more stunning than her in her feathers.

“You’re on. Let’s go,” Jennifer said, dropping her panties into his outstretched hand.

Fuck. He didn’t even know why he’d been standing like that. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Doubt began to surface, but he shook it off as one by one the female shifted into their Wyverns.

They were smaller than his beast. More compact, but no less lethal. Jennifer grinned, and he knew she was determined. Fuck. This could be bad.

“Jenn, you don’t have to race anyone. We were just going to fly,” he said.

“You know me better than that, Conny,” she replied, and winked.

Fuck if his cock didn’t go hard a steel, throbbing with need all over again. The saucy little minx was driving him wild. Being that close to her without any clothes on had him losing his mind. He had one last glance at her supple peach of an ass before the air surrounding her skin began to shimmer and glow.

One minute she was all creamy skin and dark tresses, and the next she was her enormous Great Horned Owl with a wingspan of over ten feet. Her feathers were so damn beautiful, a symphony of creams and dark browns, varying in length and thickness, but all serving a purpose. The darkest colors formed at the tufts of her ears and the tips of her powerful wings.

Her eyes were enormous and golden brown. She seemed to see right through to his very soul, and he often wondered if she could see right to his heart. To his undying love for her.

She was beautiful, his Jennifer. Beautiful and deadly. Cunning and swift. But he worried about the Drakein females. Did they play by the same rules? He didn’t know for certain, but he would never let anyone harm a single feather of Jennifer’s.

The woman was nature’s finest aerial predator. An apex hunter with keen eyesight, deadly talons, and a beak that could crush grown men’s skulls. He’d seen it. And he’d been amazed. She took his breath away as she soared above him. Then he saw Aliza’s blue Wyvern nosedive straight for her.

Fury tainted Zircon’s vision, but it got him moving. His Wyvern burst from his body, shredding his human skin as he blurred to Jennifer’s side. His intention was to force Aliza from her path, but he needn’t have bothered.

Jennifer’s Owl was faster than she looked for all her size, and she lifted her wings, moving silently out of Aliza’s path. The blue Wyvern screeched as she pulled up, she was miffed at missing her target. But her annoyance was nothing compared to Zircon’s anger. He roared loudly, sending lightning bolts flashing through the sky.

The other Drakeins growled softly, each flying below them, baring their throats to his dominance. He did not enjoy cowing anyone, but he needed one thing understood and he needed it understood very fucking clearly. Anyone trying to harm Jennifer would have to deal with him.

Mine.

ChapterNine

What was he doing? Jennifer’s Owl whistled in annoyance. She flew past the big oaf’s head and ruffled his nose with her tail feathers. Didn’t he know she and Aliza were working out their differences?

Well, maybe he didn’t know. After all, what he saw was basically a girl fight for his attention, though Jennifer would never go that far. Still, the woman had been gunning for her since day one. Might as well blow off steam.

Zircon flicked an annoyed crystalline blue eye in her direction, but she just sped off and tapped Aliza’s beast’s tail with her talons. The female growled, puffing blue smoke from her draconian nostrils as she turned midair to face the Owl. But she understood, clever creature. And then they were off.

If Owls could laugh, she’d be hysterical as she sped through the skies. As a child, she’d dreamed of racing Dragons. Now she was bolting over the Wessex compound with Drakeins, er, Wyverns, and she wanted to smile and whoop with joy. Maybe some dreams really came true.

Aliza loosed a flash of blue flame in the air. Jennifer felt Zircon’s presence beside her, and she knew he was keeping pace easily. But that was because Jennifer hadn’t pushed herself yet. She was waiting for the right moment. Just when Aliza looked cocky, too comfortable with her headlong lead, Jennifer went for broke.

Tearing through the great blue expanse, she soundlessly maneuvered herself to catch the perfect wave of wind, then she pushed herself harder, coming to a full stop a full second before the Wyverns touched ground a few feet away from her.

“I won!” she cheered, switching back to her skin in a shimmer of magic and energy.

She’d practiced long and hard to be able to move between feathers and skins seamlessly. The first few years her shifts had hurt like hell, but they were pretty painless now.

“Are you okay? Dammit, Jenn, you could have been killed on impact!”

Zircon’s worried face filled her line of sight and before she could talk herself out of it, she jumped on him, crushing him to her in a tight hug. He seemed completely frozen beneath her arms, and Jennifer could have cried. There was a time when he would have reveled in her touch. Had she lost that? Had she killed what could have been already?

But then she couldn’t breathe, and she realized he was hugging her back. Her lungs burned, but she didn’t care. It felt good. His embrace felt really good.

“Yes, you won. Tricky those wings of yours. I never heard you change pace.”

“Oh, yes. It’s a perk of being an Owl,” Jennifer replied.

Zircon had released her quickly and was already sliding his legs into his jeans. She got one look at his perfect glutes, hissing when she noticed Aliza doing the same.

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