Injuries in dragon form were always better treated while they were stillin dragon form. Shifting while injured was a recipe for disaster. Thankfully, they healed fast,especiallyin their dragon form. Though that could be as much of a curse as a blessing if something healed incorrectly, particularly a wing that they needed in order to fly.
When I stepped closer, the heat radiating off Orsen’s dragon made me sweat, the temperature potent. His eyes were also so typicallyOrsen. The same deep juniper color, only his pupils were now slits. The wing in question was down, almost pressed against the ground, so I could easily see it.
If he stood to full height, I would have needed severalladders to get up to his wing.Jeez, this is so wild.
“Can you straighten the wing?” I asked. “I can’t see any broken skin or bones, so I think it’s safe to stretch out.”
The dragon did as he was told, a gruff sound emanating from his vibrating chest as he straightened the limb. He was easily the size of a double-decker bus. Never had I worked with such a… well, such asizabledragon. While I was confident in my skills, this was new, and getting a good look was going to be tricky.
Thankfully, with slow, precise movements, the wing straightened, and nothing appeared to pop out uncomfortably.
“It’s probably just a sprain and a few bent scales,” I explained loud enough so Nix, who was behind us, could hear.
“Sweet! I thought it wasn’t too bad, but it’s always best to check. Plus, any excuse to see you, princess.”
“It’s always best to get help, but you guys heal freakishly fast in dragon form, so you’re fine,” I spoke softly, gently running my hand over Orsen’s wing. “It looks like you're going to be just fine. Nothing some excellent healing can’t fix.”
The large, ropey muscles under my hands shuddered, and I yanked them away immediately. “Does that hurt?” I asked, frowning.
Sprained and bruised wings could be painful, but usually, a human’s touch was nothing; it was like being tickled with a feather at most. Being more tentative, I probed the joint further, looking for something I might have missed.
Behind me, Nix chuckled. “He’s nothurting,Ro…”
A squeak of shock left me as I quickly pulled my hand back again. Orsen growled at that, so I paused, hovering my fingers in the air, just above the leathery expanse of his wing, unsure what to do.
In the blink of an eye, bones crunched and muscles ripped; the sounds of the shift were familiar, but Orsen was fast, so much more so than I expected. Everythingabout him indicated he was a damn powerful dragon, and I stumbled, losing my footing.
One second, I was standing with my hand outstretched, reaching for his wing, and the next, I was in the arms of avery nakedOrsen.
Oh no.
A hand slid around my waist as the other reached up to my neck, gently gripping it. Through my thin shirt, I could feel every plane of his firm body.
He was hard.Everywhere.
His length pressed against my stomach and set every nerve in my body alight, zinging with something I couldn’t name. I needed to move. I had to step back and put some distance between us. That was the smart thing to do. I’d already seen what Orsen could do this close up. If I didn’t back away, he’d probably try to kiss me again. Like he had when I first saw him. When he’d demanded my mouth… When he’d used that tongue to?—
But then his thumb swept over my cheek, and I shivered, goose bumps rippling across my body. His scent was everywhere, bathing the space around me in warm oak. I still wasn’t moving, some strange magic working through my entire nervous system.
“Rowan…” he whispered, low and demanding.
NotEmmeline. Notmate.
Rowan.
Oh fuck.
Orsen
She was touching me.
Rowan was actuallytouchingme.
My dragon was in fucking heaven, bouncing up and down inside me like a kid in a fucking candy shop.
Mate! Mate’s hands are on us.
The human side of me was almost as excited that Rowan was so close. When she had first stepped into the clearing, her eyes had grown wide, and her breathing had hitched at the sight of me. My dragon was pretty damn intimidating, I could admit that. But seeing my size affect her was something else.
