Greely splashed around in her tub of algae infused water croaking out every foul word she knew. The winter blues were bad enough, but to be a frog blasted with alligator skin…gah, the humiliation.
“How you doing in here, Gree?”
“Riiibit!”
“Couple more minutes then?”
A couple more, hell, maybe a few months spent babying her skin would return her to toad-like, but she’d never have the smooth suppleness she once had without the right setting. What would it be like being a beautiful frog with warty, itchy skin? She already had dating woes, with one man being the biggest problem by far, but what would this do to her chances of finding Mr. Right?
“Gree?” Karma was back and Greely thanked her lucky stars for such a good friend. Shifting in her current state was damned painful, so to have someone willing to lift her out of the tub was a god-send.
“Riiibit.”
“Sweetie, I think I may have found the solution to your problem, but you need to trust me…think you can do that?”
Trust Karma? Well, of course, she did. Though her tone didn’t sound very encouraging. What had she done? Gone to Lex for an elixir of some sort? Contacted others in the frog community for advice? Man she hoped that was not it…better to take a chance on the elixir.
“Hello, Fair One.”
Greely looked up at the mountain of a man sitting on the tub ledge and fell from the lily pad she rested on. Erol, blacksmith extraordinaire, sexy as hell and mega old fashioned dragon. How could Karma have done this to her? This man had been the cause of some of her dirtiest fantasies and real-life mortifications and now he was seeing her at her worst. Some friend.
“Riiibit…Riiibit…Riiiiibit!”
“Hear him out, Gree…he may have the answer to your problem.”
Right, how could a fire-breathing dragon help?
“Miss Greely, your lovely skin has been sorely abused in this dry mountain air, but I have a cream below my grotto that will heal you. Would you grant me your trust long enough to get you to the pool of nutritive dung saliva or PONDS for short?”
Greely swam back and forth in the pool afraid to trust the dragon, but equally fearful of not. She had to do something…one could not live in a bathtub. “Ribit.”
“Thank you, Fair One.” Erol addressed her friend once more. “Please get me a towel we can soak in this water and wrap around her for transport to the underground beach.”
##
Greely snuggled into the damp towel he gently warmed with his fire. They’d descended to the beach where it was always summer-like as it was warmed from the hot springs surrounding the area. The air in his grotto would be warm and moist, just what his mate needed. He hoped she would trust him to get her down there.
“Fair One,” he spoke as he removed her from the cotton cocoon. “It is time to enter the water. The grotto his far enough down that you will not be able to hold your breath, therefore I will need to assist you…but I will need more trust then I’ve asked of you so far.
“Riiibit?”
Erol handed her over to her friend and proceeded to allow his dragon freedom. Once changed he stooped down to Karma’s level and looked Greely in the eye. “There is only one place I can carry you safely down. Please know you can trust me.”
The sudden burn into the air warmed the area he wanted her placed…
##
Greely looked into the yawning cavern of the dragon’s mouth and thought this went way beyond trust. No way would Karma put her inside with those sharp teeth and flicker of fire at the back of his throat. She was wrong, though, because that was exactly what her friend did.
~~~
Serena
