“Of course.”
“Speaking of which, this is dangerous.”
“What is?”
“This.” I waved at the edge beyond the arch. “No railings? Really?”
He grinned. “What do I need with a railing?”
I snorted. “Yeah, I guess you'd be fine if you accidentally stepped off.”
“Are you worried about accidentally stepping off the edge?”
“Kinda.”
“Why? I will be here whenever you are. I won't allow you to fall.”
“What if you're in bed, and I'm over here enjoying the view, and—”
“You happen to jump over the side?” Shale lifted a brow.
“Yeah, all right. It just makes me nervous.”
“I like the feeling of being in the sky.”
“I get that.” I turned to look at him. “I enjoyed flying in Gunrel's claws.”
Something shifted in Shale's face.
Before I could ask him about it, the thunder of dragon wings echoed across the sky. One of the King's guards was doing his nightly patrol around the castle.
Shale's arms tightened around me and he pulled me away from the arch as he hissed in the direction of the patrolling dragon.
“Shale?” I asked.
He growled at me as he tossed me onto the bed. “Cover yourself!” Then he stalked to the edge of the tower and glared at the sky, watching his knight until he completed his rounds and landed. Only then did he come to bed.
By that time, I was under the blankets, staring at him in shock. There had been a lot of shocks during the three days we'd spent together. First, was the fact that he kept me there that long. Three days. Most of that time we spent fucking. Oh, we paused to see to our other needs, but then we'd go right back to the sex. The second shock was how much I enjoyed it. I'd had marathon sex before and it had left me aching, especially down there. There's only so much rubbing and stretching that place can take. But sex with Shale always felt good, even afterward. I never pushed him away unless I was so tired that I started to fall asleep with him inside me. Then I called for a break. But other than that, I was fine. The third surprise was the way he treated me. After his warning about being incapable of love, I expected him to be, not exactly reserved but maybe less affected. He was affected. Very affected. Wild even. Primal. He often fucked with animal-like abandon. And then there were times when he behaved like this.
“What's going on, Shale?” I asked when he got into bed. “You nearly attacked the servant who delivered our breakfast yesterday because they looked at me. And now this?”
Shale frowned from me to the sky and back. “I don't know. I'm feeling strange. I think I've gotten possessive of you. My dragon must like you.”
“Your dragon? But your dragon was . . .”
“Mated, yes. We were mated. But his love was—” he cut himself off.
“Please, just tell me. What happened? How did you survive?”
Shale's jaw hardened. His whole demeanor hardened. “That's none of your concern.”
“Was it a spell? It was, right?”
His expression went slack.
“Do you think I'd judge you for using magic to survive? I would never judge anyone on what they do to survive. And magic is as commonplace as sunlight on Serai. It makes sense to me that you would use it.”
“I will not speak to you about this,” Shale said firmly.
