Page 22 of The Pleasure Contract

I still give him a shove right in the middle of his naked chest for it, though.

Az moves with my half-hearted attack, even though I know no amount of shoving on my part could move that giant of a male – not even with my whole strength.

He chuckles and finally swings his leg over the back of the saddle to seat himself directly behind me. Somehow he still feels like a massive presence, even without being in my line of sight, like my whole body is aware of the mass of strength and warmth and… life behind me.

Az grips the multiple reins that control both heads in one hand, his other coming to firmly span my middle, keeping me secure… and somehow making me feel anything but. He makes a quiet clicking noise with his mouth, and the drak starts to move beneath us – still on the ground, but slowly walking now, its gigantic frame lumbering around in its enclosure.

“Will you tell me about your mother?” Az asks from behind me, the heat from his chest seeping through to the back of my neck and down my spine.

“Now?!” I ask, my frame turning rigid.

Az effortlessly steers the drak with the slightest bit of pressure from the reins in his one hand. He doesn’t answer straight away, but after a moment, he comments, “You are very tense.”

I want to bite back that ‘Of course I’m tense – I’m sat on top of a double-headed alien dragon… thing’. But I don’t.

Az leans closer, the warmth of him enveloping my whole back. He must duck down because when he murmurs, “Loosen your hips, little female,” I can feel the heat of his breath on my neck and shoulder. That one big hand that spanned my front slides to my side. “Move with the drak, not against her,” he says, gently guiding my hips to ride the movements of the colossal creature. “That’s it,” he murmurs, and I can imagine the way his hips must be moving behind me in the saddle, too.

Now, why is that so hot?

“I will not press you for your secrets, Lois,” he says before sliding his hand back to my front, securing me tightly against him. “Not tonight, at least,” he adds, giving a little whistle sound and a kick of his boots in the stirrups. Before I get the chance to turn and tell him not to bother, Lady throws her head back and roars. The giant, webbed wings behind us stretch and perform a few practice beats, whipping the dusty ground below us up into little tornadoes.

And then, we leap up into the air, and my stomach feels like it’s fallen clean out of my body.

There’s screaming, too – screaming coming from me, but I can hardly hear it with the night air violently whipping past my ears.

The shimmery forcefield thing seems to melt away as we approach it, and distantly I wonder if a drak can only fly free when mounted by a certain rider?

I can feel Az chuckle at my back, as he holds me tighter while we climb higher and higher, and higher still – gaining height with every powerful flap of the beast’s wings.

Is this thing aiming for outer space? Because I’ve been there, and I don’t want to go back.

Az gives the reins a shake, and suddenly we stop ascending to just glide.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” I mutter to myself, my fingers gripping the saddle pommel so tightly it hurts.

“You can open your eyes now, Lois,” I hear from behind me.

Had I even closed them? I hadn’t noticed. The only thing I’d been aware of was the fact that my heart had been trying to break out of my ribs with the force of a battering ram.

I hold my breath and do as he says, gasping at the sight of the city lights far below. That pommel I’m still gripping onto for dear life now not feeling like enough to keep me anchored onto the back of this thing as we float way too fucking high. “I need-” I squeak, one hand daring to leave the leather to start patting uselessly around me, behind me onto Az’s thigh, then to the hand spanning my middle.

“What do you need?” he asks calmly in my ear.

“Something more secure to hold onto. Or a-a… seatbelt or something! I feel like I’m one gust of wind away from falling off this thing!”

Az chuckles again and removes his hand from my middle. At first, I miss it instantly – it had been the only bit of security I had felt. But he offers it to me, a massive palm right in front of me. “Hold onto me, if you like.”

I don’t even hesitate. I grab that hand and forearm with both of mine, wrapping it tightly to my chest like I was a toddler with separation anxiety at daycare drop-off.

I feel Az stiffen a little behind me, but I’m too batshit terrified to analyze it.

“Uh…” he clears his throat and tries again. “Here, lean back against me. It will make you feel more secure.”

I do as he says, my shoulder blades pressing against his front. It helps… I think. With his arm banded up and across my chest, it kind of feels like being strapped in a very solid, very secure seat – a warm seat that breathes and shifts its lower half behind me.

My ‘seat’ unfurls its hand from my tight grip and gently holds my jaw from beneath. “Back a little more,” Az urges until I let my head fall back against his clavicle. “That’s it,” he coos, his thick, calloused thumb softly stroking along my jaw as I feel my head tuck perfectly under his chin.

I try to catch my breath now that I feel almost completely surrounded by Az. “We are…” I start, still feeling jittery from nerves. “We are so high up. Crazy high up. Stupid high up. Why would anyone want to be this high up, Az? Why?!”