“Is what?”
“Being intimate with another.”Her tongue barely pressed between her lips, wetting them.
“No, it’s never like this,” I said out loud. “At least it’s never been for me.”
“So this is…”
“Nothing.” Sorrow laced my words. “It can’t be anything.”
“But I know you feel it, too.”
“I can’t feel it, and it’s better if you don’t feel it either. We’ll just make it harder on ourselves.”
“Fine.” She tried to pull her wrist back. but I didn’t let go of it.
I brought it to my lips and brushed them over her skin.
Leaving her would be the death of me.
THIRTY-ONE
FAOLAN
After true night fell, I scooped her into my arms and took to the sky. I’d decided not to fully shift into my dragon form as we would be more easily spotted by searching eyes. And if I was being completely honest with myself, I couldn’t resist the chance to hold her. Even for a short period of time. I craved it, knowing I would soon have to let her go for good.
She wrapped her arms around my neck and snuggled into me for warmth, and I knew walking away would be the hardest thing I ever had to do. The scent of her hair alone would now live with me for as long as the Goddess granted me. To say nothing of the way her curves fit against the planes of my body. I shouldn’t even admit to myself how much I liked our size difference. It would only make me want her more than I did, and it was already painful to resist her advances.
“You are very quiet,”she said softly into my mind.
I almost jolted from the unexpected intrusion into my thoughts. I was not used to this bond thing yet!“Sorry, just watching the sky for light from a town,”I said hastily. I could hardly say I was smelling your hair and lamenting my future alone, could I?
“Do you see one?”Her mind sounded sleepy. Was everything about her made to torment me? I was starting to believe I’d died and this was some version of endless torture in the underworld. What else could explain finding her and counting down the days until I gave her up?
“Not yet, but the coast is ahead some way, so towns will start to pop up the closer we get.”
She didn’t reply, and we flew in silence for a while.
“Are you cold?”I asked when she nuzzled into my chest.
“A little, but I’ll be okay.”
“I’ll warm you,”I said, not leaving any room for argument. Using air magic innate to where I was born, I heated a pocket around us and pulled her in tighter.
She sighed in pleasure at the immediate difference, and I cursed the idea when she no longer needed to nuzzle into me quite so much. Probably a terrible decision, as every nuzzle sent a wave of pleasure down my spine, but I’d never really been known for good decision-making. Why start now?
I looked down to see her smiling with closed eyes, enjoying the warmth, and my eyes trailed down over her—fuck!
Nope, eyes up.
“Caly…”I warned, my body betraying me. I was nearly feral with desire to have her right here.
“Yes?” she purred, the heat of her word on my neck.
I exhaled, finding my resolve.“We should find an inn to get you warm.”
“You should sleep as well. You’re still injured.”
“There is a town up ahead,”I said, masking my emotion in my internal voice.
