Pulling off my shirt, I give him my back. “Laugh it up while you can, but see if you still think it’s funny the day you crash into the side of a mountain because you’re too busy staring at my tits bouncing all over the place.”
With a deft flick of his wrist, he unhooks my bra. “A sacrifice I’m willing to bear.” Stone and Kodiak solemnly nod in support.
Holding my shirt to my chest for a semblance of coverage, I shake my head. “How benevolent of you. Seriously though, put some halter tops on the list for our next shopping trip.”
“Consider it done,” Stone announces, hopping up to sit on one of the tables. “Now, enough stalling.”
Now that my anger has dissipated, I was worried it’d be harder to connect with her, but weirdly enough, it’s even easier this time. All I have to do is recall the ache in my shoulder blades, the feel of the wind beneath my wings. Visualizing myself as human, but with her golden wings.
My wings,I correct.Not two beings warring for control over one body, but two sides of the same coin.
There’s a sharp pinch, but it fades quickly, leaving only a heavy weight on my back, and I have to adjust my stance to keep from toppling over. It takes a minute before I can extend and retract them, not enough muscle memory for it to feel natural. Similar to staring at your arm and consciously trying to tell it to move instead of just… doing it. But as soon as I stop overthinking everything, the movements come easier.
“Perfect.” Raiden reverently traces the top of one wing. Cupping my jaw, his gaze holds me captive. “Absolutely perfect.”
Throat suddenly dry, my voice comes out raspier than I intended. “I believe this means you owe me a secret.”
His lip twitches. “That I do.”
As the silence stretches on past his breaking point, Kodi finally tosses his hands up in the air and stomps off to the other side of the warehouse. “Come on, Stone.”
Stone hops down from the table with a smirk. “Let the lovebirds have their dirty little secret. Gives us time to plan out our next date, and I’m thinking Raiden will sadly be busy that night.” The two of them disappear to conspire, leaving us with the illusion of privacy.
Raiden raises an eyebrow. “Promise you won’t tell anyone? Kodi would never let me live it down.”
“If you secretly like butt stuff and are about to ask me to peg you, it’s downright cruel not to let me share that with anyone.”
He snorts. “Sorry to disappoint you, but that isn’t it.”
“That didn’t sound like ano.” At his hard stare, I hold my hands up in surrender. “Discussion tabled, we’ll circle back in a few years. You were saying?”
He rolls his eyes. “There’s a room in the castle that even the others don't know about.”
My ears perk up in interest. “What's in it?
“My… collection.”
“Of?”
He mumbles something too low for me to hear.
“Come again?”
Scrubbing a hand down his face, he releases a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping. “Ceramic unicorns.”
It takes a considerable effort to force my face to remain impassive. “Any particular reason?”
“They combine two of my favorite things; horses and swords. Like rhinoceroses, but prettier. Dragons like pretty things. And violence,” he defends, and I finally break.
Grabbing the back of his neck, I pull him into a laughing kiss that’s more teeth than lips since I can’t stop smiling. “Your secret’s safe with me, but for what it's worth, I highly doubt they'd give you shit for it. Kodi reads romance novels, after all.”
He tilts his head in acknowledgment. "You've got a point. To be fair, though, now it's more fun to keep it a secret and drive him crazy."
Finally retracting my wings, I redress as the others grab our bags and unbar the door. My shoulders ache, and I already dread how much effort I’m going to have to put in to build up the muscles in my back necessary to fly half-shifted. Still, I feel lighter than I have in… ever. At peace for the first time in my life. Today may have started off rocky, but wound up to be cathartic in the best of ways, and I’m more confident that we actually have a shot of pulling this off.
Armor back in place, I try to ignore the way my backpack makes one of the plates dig into my lower back as we make our way back to the hotel. It’s a temporary evil that offers all of us peace of mind, but it’s still uncomfortable.
One I’m grateful for as a shrill scream sets off a stampede of people and I’m roughly shoved out of someone’s way, slamming into Stone’s side and sending us both sprawling into oncoming traffic.
