Behind us, I sense Kelan and Darial move, the pressure of their emotions cascading through my mind, carrying hope and longing that mirrors my own.
Aura exhales slowly, then she nods.
“I don’t know what I am yet,” she says. “Or what I’ll become. But… Iseeyou, Ronyn. It’s like I know you inside out, and my heart?” She shakes her head, her eyes widening. “My heart feels like it’s yours… I don’t understand—”
Her fingers grip my shirt.
“Let them show you, too,” I whisper, kissing her again,reassuring her that it will be okay. She’ll see their souls and love them, too. They are good men and good dragons, a rare combination.
“Okay.”
I let out a shudder of relief, and for the first time in my long existence, I allow myself to believe that my fate may not be a curse after all.
14
AURA
Ronyn’s truth lingers inside me well after his hands fall away.
His memories aren't images so much asfeelingsof vast loneliness, unyielding devotion, and the pain of centuries spent waiting for someone he never dared to believe would arrive.
Me.
I sit motionless, afraid that if I move too quickly, the fragile equilibrium between us will shatter. My lips still tingle from our kiss, which was warm and bruising in the sweetest way, and my heart is swollen and full. I press my fingertips to the center of my chest, concerned that this sweet feeling might ebb away before I can truly appreciate it.
Ronyn’s memories have done more than reveal his truth. They have implanted in my heart a feeling I don’t recognize but that warms me from within. It’s both hunger and satiety. I long to be close to Ronyn, but he is within me also.
I always doubted love, but this? The way he sees me.There is no doubt in my mind or my heart that he will want me until my last breath.
Ronyn watches me as if I might bolt. Firelight catches on the scatter of scales along his collarbone; dark, burnished red, edged in shadow. The dragon below his skin is restless but restrained, a powerful presence held in careful check.
He is built like a weapon, with impossibly broad shoulders that taper to a narrow waist, muscle layered upon bone with strength that arises from centuries of survival rather than vanity. Scars cross his skin in pale, uneven lines; old wounds that speak of old battles. His face is severe in a way that makes my breath stall. Dark lashes frame eyes of molten amber, bright and watchful, forever assessing the world for threats that might never come. There’s nothing soft about him at first glance. He doesn't have Darial's easy charm or Kelan’s authority, but when his gaze settles on me, everything changes because, for all his severity, he cannot conceal the devotion that radiates from him.
When I move even slightly, his body responds without conscious thought. Heat flares below his skin, the outline of scales rippling along his throat before smoothing away again. His jaw tightens as he reins the dragon back, as though holding himself together requires constant effort.
He smells like fire and warm iron. It’s a scent that should warn me away.
Instead, it calls to me.
Ronyn touches my cheek, his fingertips caressing my skin, waking nerves, and sending a tingle down my spine. He glances at Kelan, who approaches slowly.
“Will you allow me to show you?”
My life has been shaped by other people’s decisions for as long as I can remember. As a child, every minute wasmonitored and scheduled. In Blackwood Forest, at the wolf camp, Gregory controlled and manipulated me until I forgot what it was to be free. Even magic chose me without asking.
But these men… these dragons… for all their power, are the ones to ask for my consent.
“I want to know,” I say, surprised by my firmness. “If I’m going to stay here, and if I’m going to trust you… I need to understand who you are. All of you.”
Kelan’s silver eyes soften, and as Ronyn climbs to his feet, he kneels.
The gesture steals my breath.
An alpha dragon, powerful enough to bend magic and command the skies, lowers himself before me until we are at eye level. Heat rolls off him in waves now, his control slipping just enough that faint scales ripple along his forearms, catching the blaze like shards of obsidian.
“I'm Kelan,” he says seriously. “And everything I am is bound to you.”
He reaches out, stopping inches from my face. “May I?”
