Twin Dragons: Dragon Lords of Valdier Book 7 by S. E. Smith Page B

energy. You feel up to a little session in the
training room?”
    Calo glanced at the closed doors to the
repair bay. “What of our mate?” He asked.
    “Both Creon’s and our symbiots are in there.
I think Carmen will be safe. I did not get the feeling the old man
would harm her,” Cree said.
    “What about our mate?” Calo asked.
    Cree paused, glancing at the closed door. He
closed his eyes and touched the symbiot wrapped around his wrist.
Warmth, happiness, and something else flowed through it to him. He
opened his eyes and looked at his brother. A slightly confused
smile quirked his lips upward.
    “They are with the boy,” Cree responded.
“They are not leaving any time soon from the feel of it.”
    “Then, I accept your challenge,” Calo
laughed, lunging and slapping the back of Cree’s head. “First point
to me!”
    “That wasn’t fair,” Cree growled, taking off
after his brother who was already jogging back down the corridor.
“You’re mine, brother! Prepare to taste defeat.”

Chapter 7
    Melina silently laughed as the two massive
gold symbiots rolled over each other as they tried to get closer to
her. The golden creatures had burst through the door shortly after
the warrior had left. She had been stunned when they ran straight
for her. As soon as they did, the one that belonged to Carmen
brushed up against her one last time before walking over to lay at
Carmen’s feet.
    Melina listened as her grandfather talked
with the other woman. She was fascinated to see another human.
Carmen was the first one Melina had seen in four years. The fact
that Carmen was a woman made her all the more interesting, as far
as Melina was concerned.
    Reaching up to finger her hair, Melina
noticed that it was growing longer. She liked that she wouldn’t
have to cut it again. She hated having it so short, but it had been
too dangerous to let it grow longer. She had been having a hard
enough time concealing that she was a woman since her body suddenly
decided to start blossoming. Since the Antrox abandoned the mine,
though, her grandfather had not mentioned cutting it and she hadn’t
said anything to remind him.
    Today was also the first day she had not
bound her breasts in the last two years. She blushed as she
remembered how her nipples had hardened when the huge warrior came
into the room. She decided it must have been a combination of the
coarse material of her shirt and the cooler air of the warship. The
material had rubbed against the tips, making them extremely
sensitive.
    She glanced over to where her Gramps and
Carmen were sitting. She wished she could go over and sit with
them. It had been so long since she had talked to another living
creature besides her grandfather and the Pactors.
    A sigh escaped her as she slid down to the
floor next to a tall stack of crates. Gramps and she had talked
last night about whether she should continue to act like a deranged
boy. He thought it would be safer. While this species seemed to be
nicer than the Antrox, they were still aliens.
    “Just for a little while longer, Melina,”
Gramps had said. “Once we’re back on the farm, you’ll never have to
pretend you’re a boy again.”
    Deep down, she knew her grandfather was
right. What was a few more months compared to the last four years?
Besides, she had new creatures to talk to and she could listen. It
wasn’t like she had a lot of things she wanted to talk about
anyway.
    “At least I can talk to you,” she whispered
as she reached out to touch the new symbiots that had arrived. “I
wonder what you are?”
    She jerked when her hands suddenly sunk into
both of the creatures. Fear rose inside her when she tried to pull
back, but couldn’t. She opened her mouth to scream for her Gramps
when warmth wound up through her arms. It was almost like they were
trying to tell her something.
    “I… I don’t understand,” she whispered in a
trembling voice.
    Images began to flicker through her mind.
Melina tried to pull back