“I won’t let anyone hurt you—not even yourself, Liane,” Erich growled.
She slid down an inch, felt his member twitch, and tightened her grip with her thighs, which didn’t make this any less erotic.
“You might impale me at this rate.” She said it as a joke, but her voice was husky, and his fingers flexed against her butt as the muscles on his stomach tensed.
Now wasn’t the time for aerial flirting. Think of Ludwig. Think of Ludwig.
“Don’t tempt me,” Erich said, with a possessive growl that sent another lightning bolt through her.
She felt as if there were a thread being pulled taut between them, and it made her desire for him more intense. She met his golden gaze and felt something sizzle through her. But she wasn’t an animal, and neither was he, current appearance withstanding.
“He’s my best friend, Erich. I can’t turn my back on him.”
“You have to trust he knows what he’s doing. If we turn back around, this chance he gave us will be squandered. The fate of the continent rests on the sword inside your back.” Erich bit out each syllable. Ludwig was the self-sacrificing type, and that was what terrified her, but he also wasn’t the type to rush in without a plan. She had to believe they’d meet again.
They were beyond the city walls, and Erich was slowly losing altitude. Veins bulged in his neck as he fought to keep them both aloft. They were still in view of the cannons on the parapets, and they were turning them in their direction. They were going to shoot unless she did something. Liane concentrated her power into a glow, the only thing she was good at. If they knew he had her in his arms, then maybe they wouldn’t shoot. Otherwise, she’d just made them a massive glowing target.
The light emanated around them, and Erich looked down at her glowing body, a crease forming between his brows, as she gestured behind them to the city watch who had signaled to stop. They’d stepped back from their weapons, seemingly afraid of catching Liane in the crossfire or sending her and Erich both crashing to the ground. The light, or the threat of immediate danger, seemed to give Erich a second wind, and he flapped his wings harder, flying higher up into the sky to hide beneath the cover of the clouds beyond the reach of any projectiles.
They flew a great distance above the clouds before Erich seemed to feel it was safe enough to dip down again. It was a clear night, and the waning moon provided ample light to illuminate the countryside. When she wasn’t staring down death, it was rather breathtaking. Treetops swayed in the breeze, and in the distance, farmhouse windows glowed orange against the blue-black sky. They passed over ripening fields of yellow wheat and green rolling hills dotted with sheep and cattle. From this vantage point, she felt as if she’d been transported to another world entirely. She could have flown with Erich for an eternity through the night, her hands roaming over his rippling, scaled chest. But the further they got from the city, the more that tugging sensation grew. But, this time, it wasn’t toward Erich but somewhere out there.
They were flying toward it, and she felt her chest tighten and her scar throb. The closer she got, the more she felt the sensation of water lapping over her. Like lying in a shallow stream as a child. It was the call of the magic vein; she’d felt it in the forest runes and beneath the temple. And she knew intuitively she was where she should be. Erich’s strength was waning in earnest, and once more, they were losing altitude.
The pull of magic was no longer gentle. What had started as a prickle along her spine had grown to become a throbbing sensation as if the sword would cut its way out of her body. She was the sheath from which it longed to be drawn. Then Erich swooped down, gliding to a clearing amongst some trees.
Her head was spinning as they touched down, and it took a few moments to readjust from that weightless feeling flying had given her before she could unwrap her legs from around Erich and plant her feet on the ground. His hands lingered on her hips, stabilizing her. The tips of his claws lightly pressed into her. Erich’s gaze was hooded as he met her eyes, and she felt a pleasant shiver rush over her body. She shouldn’t want this, but she left her hand pressed against his chest and was excited by the rapid cadence of his breaths.
The memory of his tongue on her sex was enough to have her pressing her thighs together in anticipation.
He was the first to pull away, and he half turned his body from her as he clenched his fists at his sides.
“We’ll wait here for the others, then decide our next move.” His shoulders were tense and muscled. White opalescent scales led to his luminescent leathery wings. She reached out to stroke one of his wings, and it was smooth and soft, like fine riding leathers. He shuddered under her touch and pulled his wings tight to his body.
“Don’t. If you keep going, I won’t be able to control myself.”
“I’m not afraid,” she said and took a step toward him and placed her palm in the center of his back between his wings.
Erich spun and caught her wrist in a clawed hand. “But I am.”
Her pulse jumped, but she didn’t shrink away from him.
“Are you afraid of hurting me?” she guessed.
“Yes,” he croaked. And she realized his hand was shaking. He let her go.
She stood back, wanting to give him space. Maybe she should be afraid, but she found this form as alluring as his full dragon form—the interplay of man and dragon, where scales faded into flesh. His face was human with white scales along his cheekbones and brow, and the wings were large enough to carry both their weights over large distances. How could she have thought something this beautiful was corruption?
“Did you hurt someone when you were like this?”
“No, this has never happened to me before.” He held up his hands, turning them over as if they were those of a stranger. And maybe they were.
“Why did it happen? Because of the moon?” she asked. She knew so little about his transformation and anything to do with creatures like him. But in the books that she’d read, it’d said those who served the Nameless were strengthened by moonlight. Dragons were said to have disappeared centuries ago. Maybe they were all living double lives like Erich.
“Part of it is the progression of my curse, and the other part is you...” He inclined his head toward her.
“Does it make you want to hurt me?”
“Not hurt you...” His eyes were heavy lidded, and Liane felt heat warming her cheeks.
