Asha twisted his lips and gestured, obviously uncomfortable at his earlier admission. “So, my change was very abrupt. I got a little too stimulated, a little too much moonlight, and I was flying on Heckle—my mate’s wyvern.”
“Terrifies me, but it’s wonderful at the same time.” Varis rubbed at his cheek and sighed.
“Oh, I was a little uneasy at first, but the moment we dropped off that mountainside, it was like my wings within me were free. I felt like I could fly.” Asha chewed on a knuckle for a moment before leaning forward conspiratorially. “It was like being drunk and shedding my skin at the same time. But I’ll be honest, the weeks leading on to my change were like living in a giant scab, and that was just the point where it peeled off.”
Varis shuddered at the analogy. “I could have done without that, but you are certain it is apt?”
Asha’s face flamed pink as he cleared his throat. “How… Howbrashdo you wish for this conversation to get?”
“I will not ask for details you do not wish to give.” Varis leaned forward conspiratorially and waited.
“When you shift into your superior form for the first time—please do yourself a favor and couple.” Asha cleared his throat and whispered, “Two.”
“Two?” Varis blinked innocently.
“Erm… Their superior form… They havetwo.”
“They can go twice?” Varis avoided laughing, because even in the form Varis had seen, Ghreid was good to come off more than twice.
“No. Theyhave two.” Asha pointed at his lap. “And the arrival? I thought I’d died. My mind whites out and… It’s amazing. I was always meant to be this thing. It’s an ache in my very soul when I cannot show my scales. And the dragon in my heart, my very soul grows feral when I cannot show my scales for too long, when I cannot enter my superior form.”
“So you are saying I will still beme?” Varis reached out and took Asha’s hand and stared into his eyes.
“You won’t look the same. That body. That thing you are now, sort of sloughs off and you are born anew, but the mind is the same. Maybe a little bolder, but how much of that was freedom and how much was the dragon, is up to interpretation.” Asha cleared his throat. “We’re very amorous creatures, ashen. Dragons.”
“Oh. You get hornier?” Varis stifled a laugh as Asha’s flush reignited.
“If that’s the way you wish to word it, then yes. I have always loved flowers, and I don’t know if meeting Rath made me accept it or if it is the dragon in me demanding it. But I grow weary if I do not seek him frequently. The wait after I laid my eggs, to heal, was torturous.”
“And how was that?” That was something Varis had never asked before.
“A few months of being fat, a few hours of discomfort, followed by a few torturous days of healing and then some of the laziest, best coupling you can imagine. Something about brooding makes a dragon very amorous.” Asha cleared his throat.
Varis nodded sagely. “So. Any tips?”
“The sooner you take your dragon, wed your mate, and surrender to it, the better. I made Rath give me an oath not to have sex before we were wed, and I regret nothing more. Fates’ sake, I hated the wait.”
“Were you this impatient before?” Varis raised a brow.
“Never. This, 100 percent is the dragon.” Asha laughed and leaned back in his chair. “I’m no good at being…open…about this sort of thing. Lyss, my fr—maidser—” Asha puzzled for a moment. “My companion and dearest aide, who has been with me since we were little ones. She says that I’m the same Asha, different pants. She also makes comments on my love life, but she’s never been one to mince words. Especially not when regaling me of tales of her exploits.”
He shuddered.
“She engage a lot of men?” Varis glanced out at the turgid sea.
“Women. Woman… She was taken advantage of by men and found herself a partner in another woman. Thethingsthose two get up to.” Asha pursed his lips. “Not that I really comprehend. I’ve never even seen a woman’s genitals before. Not up close, at any rate.”
The sour look on his face faded quickly. “At any rate, if she or Jeron might be better suited to teach you… Jeron was my mate’s bedservant.”
“That is right… Rydel was a bedservant at one point! I should speak with—” Varis halted at Asha’s sour expression.
“Ask Jeron. Rydel is…professional.” Asha bit his lower lip. and Varis could practically hear theuptightin the silence between words.
“Is Jeron with you on this trip? I was aware you had an attendant.” Varis gave Asha a hopeful smile.
“Yes. He’s resting after the long journey. He’ll be leaving tomorrow, though. We’re here for a week and he needs time off. He says he doesn’t, but the poor man needs to visit his family and sleep in for a minute.” Asha sighed heavily.
“That’s the mark of a good man, right there.” Varis gestured toward Asha. “Your help doesn’t want a day off and you have to make them. And you take the initiative to see when they need it. I like that.”
