Page 14
Jules
Thorn Mountain—The Secret Pool
Alaric lands with a gentle thud, wings flaring wide before folding against his back like velvet shadows.
The ground quakes softly beneath his massive form, the scent of scorched wind and ancient power curling through the air.
The moment his Dragon touches the ground, I’m breathless. And not just from the flight, but from the place he’s brought me to.
I don’t know where to look first, so I look down. At my Dragon lover.
He’s so big. Like really big.
I mean, hello? He’s a mother-freaking Dragon.
But I don’t scream. I don’t faint. I don’t run.
I just can’t stop staring.
Because wow.
Just wow.
I should be used to this place by now.
This realm.
This magic.
The impossible beauty that seems to thread itself through every rock, every breeze, every word that slips from his lips.
But Alaric, in his full Draconian form?
That hits entirely different.
He is majesty carved from starlight.
Power born of the oldest myths.
Grace so staggering it steals the breath from my lungs.
His scales shimmer like liquid armor.
Like midnight threaded with silver, like someone gathered stardust and shadows and whispered life into them.
They ripple over him as he moves, catching the sunlight through the canopy above in dazzling bursts.
And then he turns. Slowly.
His majestic head swiveling toward me. Those eyes— molten and intelligent —find mine.
And everything in me stops.
Because he isn’t just some mythical creature anymore.
He’s him.
He’s Alaric.
And he’s looking at me like I’m his.
Like I’m something wondrous. Something rare.
Can you even imagine that?
Meeting an insanely hot guy who steals you from your home, brings you to another realm, turns into a creature of legend, and then looks at you like you’re made of magic?
Oh my God. Do I sound nuts?
“Not at all. It is very astute of you, Myrrin ,” his voice rumbles through my mind—rich and deep, like thunder veiled in silk.
“All Dragons come from magic.”
Of course they do.
“I knew it,” I breathe aloud, clutching the leather straps that serve as makeshift reins.
“You’re made of it. Nightfall. Stars. Fire, air, bone, flesh and something else. Something almost holy.”
I pause and take a breath before saying aloud that thing I never dreamed I’d ever say.
“Magic is real.”
He lets out a breath that stirs my hair, and the corners of his mouth curl in what I swear is a smile.
Or the Dragon version of one.
“Yes. And now you’re part of it, too.”
Me?
A part of this?
Something expands in my chest— an ache I’ve carried for so long I didn’t even know it had a name.
He steps into a clearing at the edge of a secluded glade, his tail sweeping behind him like a banner.
His presence shakes the very trees.
Birds— creatures that shimmer like crystal-laced finches —flutter above.
Light dances off the pool beside us, fed by a waterfall so clear and bright it looks like it fell from the moon.
“Climb down, my viyella .”
The way he says it. Like it means something special.
His voice, even like this, sinks into my bones and wraps around my heart.
That word— viyella —it sounds like a spell.
Like a sacred promise only the stars would dare witness.
And fool or not, I want to believe it.
I slide my leg over and begin to climb down, my hands trailing over the smooth, warm scales of his flank.
They’re sleek and solid beneath my palms, humming with energy.
“Smooth on the way down,” he warns gently.
“But do not try from the other direction. My scales are armor. A defense. They would slice your delicate skin without meaning to.”
I reach the ground and exhale, legs shaking from more than just the ride. I brush my hands down the leather leggings he had fashioned for me, enchanted to be warm and soft and protective.
“I hope you know,” I say, daring a smile, “you’ve completely ruined me for all other men.”
A low growl rumbles from deep within his chest.
“There are no other men for you,” he growls, voice thick with dark certainty.
The air thrums in response, a subtle storm of want curling between us.
His next words feel like a thunderclap inside my soul.
“You are mine, Myrrin . And I swear to you, I don’t share.”
And maybe I should argue.
Maybe I should challenge that possessiveness.
But I don’t want to.
Because somewhere in the wild, aching truth of me, I want to be his.
Entirely. Unapologetically.
The air charges again. Sparks flit across my skin, tingling with awareness.
And then, with a mighty growl, I watch as his form begins to change.
Scales dissolve into skin.
Wings tuck and fade.
Horns retract, becoming smaller, and dark waves of tousled hair tumble to his broad shoulders.
His muscles shift beneath golden-tan skin.
Ancient runes pulse faintly along his arms, his chest, and across his collarbones like branded whispers of his power.
He becomes Alaric again.
The man.
The Demon.
The Dragon tucked back inside, but still present.
He is all three at all times
All him.
And heaven help me—I think I’m already starting to fall in love with every part of him.
We’re in a secluded glade, ringed by ancient trees whose silver leaves shimmer in the filtered light.
A waterfall spills from the jagged mouth of a cliff, its waters glowing a bright, impossible shade of teal.
The falls crash into a crystalline pool that stretches like a hidden gem across the mossy earth, steaming slightly with warmth.
Birdsong echoes through the air—only it’s not birds, exactly.
I catch sight of creatures flitting between branches, their feathers glittering like crushed gemstones.
And down near the edge of the clearing, a fox-shaped animal curls in a patch of sun. Its fur ripples with threads of gold.
A little farther away, tiny critters, almost like bunnies, sniff around, nibbling on sweet grass.
“Are those, I mean, they look like?” I start, eyes wide.
“Those are some of the benevolent creatures of Nightfall,” Alaric answers, his voice emoting power, but wrapped in velvet.
“You might see echoes of their Earthbound kin, but they carry the realm’s magic in every hair and bone.”
I watch as the fox lifts its head and stares back at me with eyes too intelligent to be anything but sentient.
Then it yawns and returns to its nap.
“Wow,” I whisper.
Alaric’s gaze, however, is on me. And when I turn to meet it, I feel the shift.
We are alone here.
Completely.
The air thickens with something warm, heady, and unmistakable.
I glance at the pool tucked behind a cluster of massive boulders, a natural bath carved by the falls. It’s partially hidden from the main glade, perfectly private.
Steam curls up from its surface, and the water glows faintly.
“Can we swim in there?” I ask, already imagining what it might feel like to slip in.
He dips his head, the corner of his mouth twitching with a barely there smile.
“Yes, if you like. These falls feed the Nightfall River. Its waters run through the entire realm. There is no purer current.”
I step toward the pool, but I feel him mobbing behind me. It’s unmistakably him.
His energy, his focus.
When I turn back, my breath catches.
Alaric is naked.
Like, completely naked.
One moment he was clothed in his billowy shirt and tight black pants—and the next?
Gone.
Just seven feet of muscled, tattooed, gorgeous male, standing there like temptation incarnate.
And then I feel it.
Cool air brushes across my own skin.
I look down, and yep.
No clothes.
“Oh my God,” I gasp, covering myself as instinctively as I can with my hands and a twist of my hips.
Alaric’s grin is wicked.
Unapologetic.
“You really have to warn a girl before you do that,” I scold, trying to sound more offended than I feel.
Because truthfully?
I’m kind of thrilled.
Excited.
Heart pounding.
His eyes are fiery, drinking me in like I’m his next sin, and I shiver under the weight of that gaze.
“I could feel your curiosity,” he says, his voice like midnight silk. “I merely acted on it.”
“That’s not how consent works,” I mutter, but I’m smiling.
Blushing even though my pussy is clenching on air, my sex soaked with anticipation.
Alaric steps toward the water, and I follow— because how could I not?
With every breath I take, the magic of Nightfall seems to wrap tighter around my skin.
I’m glowing. Floating. And for the first time, I wonder if I was made for this place.
Or maybe this place was made for me.