We will see how he likes being ignored.
I refuse to say a word.
“You know you can’t just waltz into the Kingdom in your human form?” My tone is an angry and annoyed sound that even I shake my head at.
I was doing so well with my vow of silence too.
But seriously, I can’t offer the Prince a man full of hostility in place of a mystical and beautiful dragon. That’s not a good trade at all. No one wants a man when they could have a dragon instead.
I’ll take my white dragon over a white knight any day.
… That sounds a little disgustingly romantic. That’s not what I meant at all.
The quietness is pushing into my chest in the form of anxiety with each passing second.
“You can’t walk in there as a man, Rime.” The words shriek from my lips, and the tone of my anger has him halting in an instant.
He stares down at me, his jaw ticking just slightly. He’s intimidating, I’ll admit it. But something about him doesn’t scare me. I know what a cruel man looks like, and the hard features of the man before me aren’t it. He’s just used to being closed off I think. I can’t imagine how shut off he felt growing up without much human contact.
He helped me. He pushed aside his cold demeanor long enough to help me. I don’t believe there’s really a malicious bone in his body.
While his gaze is locked with mine, shimmering scales begin creeping across his jaw line. They look snow kissed, and it takes me a moment to realize what’s happening.
His palm connects with my shoulder. More glittering scales begin ripping through his flesh and that sexy smile pulls across his lips just as he shoves me hard away from him.
My ass hits the ground, my palms stinging against the earth as I watch, in awe of the man before me who transforms with swirling magic into a massive, roaring dragon.
A shadow falls over me as his wings spread wide and he takes flight. A cold chill hits the air, and I barely have time to raise my hand as a heavy frost rains down from the dragon’s mouth. The ice clatters to the ground, breaking like glass around me but not on me. Fine particles of snow glisten against my long hair, blanketing my skirt, and I tip my head up to meet the flakes. Several land against my lips, and I breathe them in like it’s the first breath of air I’ve ever experienced. In a way, it is. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt snow. The winter temperature here never lowers long enough for the frost to settle in.
In my entire life, I’ve never realized I wanted something that I’ve never even had.
His long wings soar for a moment before he glides lower. With grace and beauty, he lands before me, his head held obnoxiously high.
The small and helpless dragon I found weeks ago no longer exists. He’s the largest beast I’ve ever seen. Muscle lines his arms. His solid frame, and even his tail, is a weapon to be feared.
He’s in his dragon form, but he’s still not the favorite, quiet little creature I loved. He stares down at me with impatience, and it takes me a moment to stand, dusting my skirt off as I try to find my confidence again in front of this mountain of an animal.
His wing lowers to me, and I stare at that offering for a moment. It’s held out purposefully to me, bending against the ground at my feet. Hesitantly, I place my foot against his smooth scales. Wings are fragile, made up of delicate bones and thin structure. But he doesn’t seem to flinch away from me as I brace my foot against his upper wing. I reach for something, anything to grab onto.
There’s nothing. Only smooth scales and hard muscle.
Without warning, his cold snout brushes against the curve of my ass and he pushes. I bite back my shriek of fear as he helps me up. My hair is across my face, stuck to my lips, and a mess of dark locks blocks my sight when I finally settle in against his spine. I barely have time to push my hair back before his wings are beating down on the dusty earth. I meld my body against his, wishing I had something to hold on to.
Would he let me fall?
If I fell, there’d be no more secrets between us. He’d definitely see my magic come out during a life or death situation.
Another sheet of ice and snow rips through him, and the tension in my shoulders leaves me as the flakes begin to flurry around me. I lift myself just slightly to see the world below us pass by in colors of late summer. The leaves are tinged with amber colors like autumn is just seconds away from turning the world around me into crisp beauty. Another shaking roar rumbles within him and he rains down more of the pretty flakes and glittering ice. The wide fields below are a blanket of white glistening in the warm sunlight.
It’ll all be gone in a matter of minutes.
But it’s here now.
I raise my hand to the cold winds and let the damp flakes kiss my skin, sending a shiver all through me. Rime peers back at me from the corner of his icy eye, and I lift both hands letting my legs lock firmly around him. He pauses for only a second before an earth-shaking roar tears through him with another bout of ice and snow. My chin tips up to the feel of it against my skin and I let out an excited yell to match his roar.
For only a moment, I feel alive and wild.
For only a moment, I’m every bit the free-spirited drifter I’ve appeared to be for the last five years.
