Page 10

He shook his head. “No. Our beasts do not speak. Not in the way you would think. But he can communicate, and eventually, you will learn to understand it.”

“Okay.” Kai’s mind raced with many questions about the dragon, but she felt she was running out of time to ask.

“This is only the first meet.”

Aodh slipped his hand around her neck and pulled her into him. His kiss was powerful but brief.

Kai inhaled the smoked-cinnamon aroma that clung to Aodh and let it calm her racing heart. She reminded herself that the dragon would be the man she cared about. The man with whom she was falling in love.

Regardless of her anxiety, she was also ready to meet his beast. If she had to go through the dragon to be Aodh’s mate, she would brave it. After breathing deep, she stepped back and tipped up her chin. She met Aodh’s eyes. “Let’s do this.”

A small cerulean-violet flame, a combination of joy and lust, danced briefly in his gaze as he offered her a broad smile.

His confidence in her made Kai’s heart swell with pride.

Having him believe in her did something to Kai.

She wanted to prove to him that she could be the woman he needed by his side.

He didn’t need someone like the fierce, lissome Ninki, and he’d have her.

Her father was a military man, a soldier, and that same intrepidness ran in her blood.

As if recognizing her emotions, Aodh said, “That’s the bravery he’ll need to see. Don’t lose that, Kai.”

With that proclamation, Aodh took a step back, then another.

“I won’t—”

Before she could complete her declaration, the room filled with the most enormous creature she had ever seen. One moment, Aodh was there, and then he was gone without a cracking, swirling wind, or even a shimmer she could detect before she was eye to scales with a beast.

She rolled her lips into her mouth and bit down hard to keep the scream charging up her throat locked in. Her knees trembled, and she stepped out to keep them from knocking and drawing the attention of the gigantic being before her.

As she took in the massive reptile, its monochrome burnt-orange body appropriated all the open space except for the small area she stood in. She kept reminding herself, ‘This is Aodh. This is Aodh.’

She wasn’t sure what she expected the dragon to do, but for a long moment, he just stood there, holding his head as high as he could in a confined space for the giant beast. His multiple horns scraped the stone ceiling twenty-five feet above Kai’s head.

His chest and underbelly were puffed out, seeming to stretch the pale-orange hue of his center scales.

The only thing that moved was his thick, long tail that swished along the floor behind him, wrapping around the left side of his legs and then the right ones.

The speared tip scraped as it passed the glass of the big balcony window loudly.

Kai just waited for it to shatter behind him.

Recalling Aodh’s last words about her being brave, she swallowed hard and willed her body to relax. It took her about three times before she suppressed the violent shakes that wanted to erupt, but she got things under control.

As she gazed up, up, up at the dragon, who looked down at her, a single word entered her mind—pride.

Does this beast somehow want me to acknowledge him by admiring him first? If she weren’t so apprehensive, she would have laughed. However, standing before something that could eat her in one bite or toast her to a crisp in one breath was not even close to a laughing matter.

“You’re bigger than I thought,” were the first stupid words that tumbled out of her mouth. The only thing she would think would be more idiotic was if she were to have just started with ‘hi.’

The gigantic head rotated, and a low, grumbling sound happened in the depths of its chest.

Kai wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign.

She swallowed and licked her lips, trying to moisten her dry mouth. “I’m not sure if you understand me.” She shook her hands out at her side to loosen them.

Even from a distance, she could tell when his eyes tightened, and he stared at her, taking in her gestures.

Don’t make sudden moves so he doesn’t think you’re about to try anything .

She held her palms up so he could see them, that they were empty, as she continued to babble, “You’re beautiful.”

No, he was extraordinary.

The rumbling sound came again, but this time it was lighter, more rhythmic as if he liked what she said. The same boulder-moving sound Aodh made when speaking in their Drahk language.

Before she knew what was happening, the massive head was right in front of her.

She squeaked. The sound belted out of her mouth at his smooth, rapid movement.

Two white puffs of smoke shot from his flat, open nostrils at the end of his snout.

Weirdly enough, the white clouds were both hot and cool around her, and they carried a more sulfuric-cinnamon scent to them than Aodh the man’s. It was how she assumed an active volcano might smell. It wasn’t offensive to her. She saw it more as a representative of the beast’s power.

It held fire in its core.

It brought her a sense of comfort, whereas Aodh’s scent ignited her body and made her sex ache for him. She didn’t have a lustful desire for the large beast, but she felt something, a connection. She couldn’t explain it.

She continued to assess him, taking in the width of his muzzle with its flat nose and wide mouth being nothing more than a long slit concealing what she was sure were terrifying teeth.

His jaw appeared strong, but the leathery skin seemed smooth, making her want to touch it.

Run her fingers across the skin and test the texture.

Instead, she kept her hands back, not wanting to reach for him without being invited.

She allowed her gaze to travel up the bridge of his nose until she was staring into eyes transfixed on her.

Aodh’s eyes, except instead of his pupils being round, they were vertical slits, as black as the obsidian that adorned Aodh’s sword. His hearthstone. Their hearthstone.

At the top of his giant head, quadruple the size of her entire body, were horns, eight of them. They appeared rough and jagged as if he’d been through more than a few battles.

A loud, long snort came from him as if he were smelling her, gathering her scent. Hopefully, not to see if she was a tasty morsel or not.

With anyone else, she may have been ashamed or embarrassed to have someone sniffing her, especially after the maddening encounter she and Aodh had in the forest. However, with this dragon, she hoped he could smell Aodh on her. Know she was his, theirs.

Mate, Aodh had called her. Does the dragon see me in the same way? How will I know if I have its approval?

“Oof.” The sound toppled out when the dragon bumped against her belly, knocking Kai back a few steps. “Hey!” She gave him a look, one that her mother would give to her and her sister when they were acting out of order. It usually made them get in line real quick.

It was apparent to her that the beast was unperturbed by her admonishing tone because he did it again.

“Oof, ah!” This time his head-butting knocked her on her ass. Staring up from the floor, she scowled at the giant guy. “I’d tell you to use your words, but since you don’t seem to have any, we need to figure out how you can get your point across.”

Like one of the stray dogs she would encounter around the district, the beast tilted its head and seemed to give her a perplexed look, as if trying to comprehend her words as its features furrowed a bit between the eyes.

Kai got up to her feet and dusted off her sore backside. This time, she caught his advancing movement and quickly put her hands out, pressing them against the center of his top lips. “No!”

Instead of growling or proceeding to butt against her again, the beast did something she didn’t expect. It bowed its head, resting its gigantic chin on the floor at her feet, then turned left and right as if rubbing along her palms.

The urge to touch him assailed her again. A part of her felt like maybe he also wanted her to do it. Slowly, she slid her hands up along his snout between his gaping nostrils. Thick, coarse leather was the feel of the dragon’s skin. Beneath her palm, it felt impenetrable, like tough as armor.

The beast stunned her again when he laid down on the floor, not only his head but he pressed his underbelly to the ground as well. Even his tail stopped swishing around. Which she was very thankful for since she didn’t want to be impaled or sliced in two by it.

Not lifting her hands away, she stepped to the side and glided along his top lip.

She prayed he didn’t open his mouth because she wasn’t ready to be up close and personal with his teeth just yet.

His eye closest to her tracked her. She kept her actions slow, not wanting to make any sudden movements.

She dragged her hands closer to the flat circular nodules along the side of his head as she continued.

“Wow, you are one amazing bea— dragon.” She wasn’t trying to offend the massive reptile.

She saw the intense amethyst change to his irises. It fascinated her that the dragon showed his emotions similar to Aodh and his people, but not by flames. And there weren’t any changes to his scales.

Kai realized the beast was offering her a bit of trust when she saw his lid lower as if he were enjoying her touch.

Feeling bolder, she sailed along his side, stroking his broad neck.

Then she came in contact with the dense, broad scales covering all his body but his head and wings.

By their looks, they were as sharp as a blade.

They reminded her of Aodh’s sword that had seemed to cleave through the forest floor as she dragged it behind her.

She made sure she petted him in the direction his scales lay.