I decided we need to be moving much faster than we have. “Let’s do it. It’s the only way.”
“Agreed,” he said, beginning to strip his tunic.
“Wha—” Button by button, my gaze followed his fingers. Heat rose to my cheeks, and I swallowed.
Warmth stirred inside me, and I knew I shouldn’t enjoy watching him undress so much.
He smirked. “You think I can afford new clothes every time I shift, on a first mate’s salary?” He bent to unlace his boots, and then his leathers and under garments hit the floor. I drank him in, flashbacks from last night heated my cheeks. To distract myself, I tied his boot laces together to keep them safer. He laid out his tunic and set the folded leathers and under garments in the middle while I watched with interest, ignoring the fact that he was naked. He held out his hand for his boots and put them on top, then wrapped the tunic around the bundle, leaving the sleeves free.
He picked up the parcel and lifted it over my head, setting it on my back, then put one sleeve under my left arm and the other over my right shoulder, tying them in a knot on my chest.
I looked up into his eyes. “Clever.”
He smiled, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “Ready?”
I nodded, lost for words.
“I’ll go out into the clearing and shift. Wait until I’ve shifted before you come out, then climb on. Okay?”
I watched as he stepped out, feeling oddly detached. I’d seen him as his dragon, but I was about to watch the male that was inside me last night turn into a dragon before my eyes. It did not disappoint. His skin scaled over in shiny, tough-looking, sunrise-colored scales, limbs stretched and changed. He was even more magnificent in the morning light. His color flowed molten, burnt orange in parts to almost yellow in parts, but as the color darkened between his scales, he had blue undertones. Wings grew out of his back and spread, and the structure of them was also in deep blues, like between his scales. It was as if he was colored like my favorite part of the day. When the light first crests the horizon. He looked back at me with the bright dragon eyes of his majestic beast form.
I stared for a long moment until he tilted his head with a huff. That spurred me into action. I approached his flank, assessing my options for mounting, and quickly decided that using his bent leg as a step was my best bet. In a surprisingly practiced move, I hopped up, leant forward, and slung my leg over his back.
“Just like mounting Finn,”I chuckled mind to mind.
“Watch it,”he shot back.
I snorted.
Settling in, in front of his wings, I found reliable handholds in the spines that jutted out of his leathery skin. I was confident I could make it work.
“Are we going then?”I asked, fighting the urge to tap my heels at his sides.
“Wait,” he muttered, cocking his head and staring into the trees. He huffed out a short plume of smoke suddenly and lowered slightly, tensing. “Hold on!”he yelled into my head, and we launched.
I held on for my life as we shot into the sky, trying to look back at what had him spooked. Below, that itchy feeling I’d been having revealed itself as dozens of undead bled into the clearing. That was shocking enough, but then I saw the weapon they’d used to capture us before.
Panic filled my throat, and I barely bit back a scream. Drawing more attention to us wouldn’t do any good. I had to help him the best I could. I glanced back to see what they were doing.
“They’re going to fire,” was all I could get out to warn him before a missile of some kind shot past us, trailing a rope.
They’d missed, but I knew they were reloading.
The loud crack cut through the air a second time, and this time, they did not miss.
Faolan roared in agony, pounding his wings to get us out of their range. The rope snared us, and I looked back to find a bolt with barbs through his wing. He yanked at it, and the barbs ripped into his skin but didn’t shake loose. He roared and twisted, spitting a stream of fire their way.
We were too high for his fire to reach them, surely? Then I realized he was burning the rope. Another shot was fired, and it hit him in his other wing.
We dropped.
Crying out in a guttural pain I never wanted to hear again, he fought as I hung on, unable to stop them from attacking him.
He spread his wings again, beating them against the pull of the ropes and trying to keep us airborne.
Why in the God of Light’s name did I not have some more useful power? What could I even do except escape by myself? What use could I ever be to him?
Another shot fired and anchored in his wing just as he burned through the rope of the first. He went to work on the second, but they’d come prepared. They had to know we’d fight back this time.
