“Because being inside you is my favorite place.” The low growl in his tone caused her toes to curl.
“How could I forget?” she huffed, trying to stem another surge of desire. “Put me down. I need to freshen up.”
“No hot water. It’s quite icy.”
“You forget, I lived in England,” she said dryly. “Ice water’s a way of life there.”
“Okay then. Bathroom’s back there.” He pointed past the enormous bed. “Behind the overlapping wall. It’s basic. Another thing to fix, along with building a hearth for you.”
He eased out of her and set her on her feet. Her knees promptly gave way, and she grabbed his shirt for balance. “Seriously, no legs.”
He chuckled, pulled off his t-shirt to clean himself, then zipped up. “We’ll practice fighting and weapons again when you return. And when we’re done, you can choose where you’d like to be fucked next.”
She snorted and shuffled toward the bathroom, then spun back, smoothing her shirt over her bare thighs. “You saidrut. Does this mean you go into heat?”
He looked up from dropping more stars into the pouch. “All male dragons do. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time before that happens. For now, we need to get your skills a little more honed.”
Right.And her wariness of the upcoming battle returned. Heck, it stayed in her mind like an enormous bruise—the innocents to save and evil to destroy.
In the dark hours of early morning, in the abbey courtyard, Ash watched her mate, dressed in his usual black, as he checked their backpack, then slung it over one shoulder.
His tied-back hair gleamed like polished silver in the cold moonlight. He glanced up, his expression sharp, deadly. “Ready?”
Ready? She would never truly be ready for something this terrifying. Nor was she about to let that bloody usurper win. She’d do everything in her power to help Race.
Hands raised, he opened a swirling portal?—
“Race, wait.” She grasped his arm. “This rut you mentioned, what happens to you?”
For a heartbeat, surprise flickered across his face. Then his expression softened, and his warm fingers cupped the entirety ofher chilled left cheek. “Stop worrying, heart-fire. There’s time for all this to be over before it becomes an issue. Come.”
He grasped her hand and leaped through the portal?—
Into heat. The stench of iron and smoke hit, and Ash gasped.
Chaos erupted, and ear-splitting yells rang out.
Race scooped her into his arms and ran, the scrape of his boots skidding across glassy ground echoing around them. The warded black basin blurred beneath them. Her heart in her throat, Ash pressed her face into his chest, then the air crackled, and they left the brutal, ravaged place behind as Race dematerialized them.
When they eventually reformed, the chill of Kraevyr Peak enclosed her, even though sunlight filtered through the treetops. She couldn’t feel her legs as Race lowered her to her feet, and she grasped his arm for support.
Breathing harshly, Ash frowned. The air felt different—thinner,stretched, as if the atmosphere itself were being pulled taut. A faint ringing built behind her ears, the same pressure shift she always sensed before a storm broke, long before her powers manifested.
Wonderful. Just what they needed on top of everything else.
Race grasped her hand and headed for the narrow entrance, their boots crunching over gravel. He entered the cave, the smoke vent above letting in only a dim wash of daylight.
“Seriously, next honeymoon, I’m picking the Maldives.”
Race chuckled, dropping the pack on a rock. He summoned a ball of fire in his palm, its glow licking over the faded carvings of wings and flames along the walls—remnants of a lost era when the crown still sat on the true king’s head.
She groaned, sinking onto a stone seat near the firepit, her pulse still hammering from escaping the portal guards.
Race circled the perimeter, lighting the wall torches, brightening the place. “They should be here soon. It’s best to keep our mated status quiet.”
Her heart tripped. She wanted to blurt it out to the entire world that this immortal was hers. But he had a point. “Yeah, I don’t want to become a target for bloody Flaeron or any of his goons.”
“Not while I breathe,” Race muttered.
