The memories of last night are fuzzy. Closer to feelings than thoughts. Aerin remembers being joyous, feeling safe and content. She wonders vaguely if Malice remembers more than she does, if he had a front row seat to her stripping for the Dragon.
Aerin pulls herself out of Malice’s arms and uses her magic to bring her clothes into her waiting hand. Feeling Malice shift behind her, she pulls her clothes on with her back to the Fae. Once covered, she looks at him.
Malice gives nothing away. Instead, he spends a long moment scanning their surroundings from where he is seated in the grass next to her. When his blue eyes finally meet hers, he scans her body in much the same way. Clinical. Aerin swears it’s easier to read the Dragon than the Fae in front of her.
Getting to his feet Malice tucks his wings in tight before offering to help her up. Aerin takes his hand. He avoids looking at her as he helps her up. Light hangs just above the horizon. They’ve been out here all night.
“We—”
“I’ll do it,” Malice cuts her off quickly. “I’ll bond to you.”
“What?” Aerin’s mouth falls open in shock. For weeks there hadn’t been a single hint of Malice budging on the blood-bond. Even after they kissed, he kept his distance.
“We need to get back,” Malice says instead of offering any sort of explanation.
She wants to protest, wants him to tell her everything he keeps locked in his head. Instead, Malice unfurls his wings.
“I’ll fly us.” Malice holds out his hand. Not offering but demanding.
Aerin enjoys the flicker of emotion over his features as her own wings burst from her back. Large with golden feathers they practically touch the ground behind her. Malice’s eyes track over them as he stands stock still.
“You’re not who everyone thinks you are.” He sounds critical in his assessment.
“Neither are you,” Aerin accuses. Malice’s jaw flexes, teeth held tight. “Land at the wall and I’ll disguise us to slip back inside.” Before he can reply, Aerin pumps her wings and takes off into the sky.
They fly quickly and land at the edge of the forest.
“When we cross, act casual. I’ll use my magic so you appear as an Ursine Shifter, and I’ll be a Lion, until we get back to myapartment. We’ll go straight there, yeah?” Aerin spits out the plan.
Malice is tense all over, like he’s thinking too many things all at once. His hair is disheveled, face tired.
“Hey.” Aerin offers her hand. Malice stares at it before snapping his gaze up to hers.
“You should have left when I told you to.” Malice’s voice is cold, hard. The words hit Aerin like a blow. Malice storms away, disappearing through the wall.
The magic of the wall ripples over Aerin like a heavy blanket. When she steps through to the other side, she appears as a Lion Shifter. Malice stands as an Ursine shifter a few feet away.
They walk side by side in silence towards her apartment. Part of Aerin wants to be mad at Malice. The vindictive part who blames him for everything. The part who sees him as the force that separated her from her brother. The part who sees him as a stubborn, controlling Fae, just like her father. The part that aches, knowing she has other bond-mates out there, and yet this Dragon-Fae will be her first bonded-mate.
The other part of Aerin, the quiet part that is often buried, desperately wants to talk to Malice. To understand him. To discover him, like a gem hidden deep inside a mine.
The quiet part wins as she says, “It seemed to go alright, last night.”
Malice stiffens.
“I am not privy to those interactions but judging by the fact that you’re neither Dragon food nor torched, I’d have to agree with you.”
Aerin wonders if he’s exaggerating.
“So, you didn’t see me naked?” Aerin smiles, attempting at jest. The smile only widens when Malice stumbles a step, furiously blushing. Aerin knows he didn’t mean to have such an outward reaction to her words, but Aerin’s magic is tricky.Malice doesn’t justlooklike an Ursine Shifter right now, heisone. And because the Dragon-Fae isn’t used to that, he struggles to control his outward responses the way he usually does.
“Why were you naked?” Malice straightens his posture, grinding his molars as he tries to control the reactions in this body.
“Don’t think about it too hard Grizzly, otherwise those pants will become awfully tight,” Aerin teases, smiling once again.
“Why do you do that?” he snarls, making Aerin jump. Aerin’s heart pounds in her chest at his irritation, she finds herself disappointed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aerin answers petulantly. They step onto the red-brick bridge that spans the slow-moving river.
