I’m fine when she first slips into it. Mostly. But then she pulls her red hair free from the collar, and the leather settles properly over her shoulders, a little too big, unmistakably mine.
The sight of her in my clothes spikes my pulse in a way that feels dangerously close to losing control, like I’ve handed her something far more intimate than leather and warmth.
Cal shifts at the back of my mind, amused.
I shut him down.
I’m already burning too much magic keeping her steady, keeping myself steady, and my focus is stretched thin enough without him.
“I, uh, don’t usually ride that much anymore.” I finish, shifting my focus somewhere safer. “And you’ve probably noticed I run a little hot. Another trait from Cal.”
“I still object,” Ahria’s tail flicks again, heat rolling off her scales as I move toward her.
“Yeah well, you object a lot,”I reply evenly.“And do I need to remind you of the deal you already made with Cal?”
Another puff of smoke billows from her nose as she narrows her violet eyes on me, but she knows I'm right and lowers a wing so I can climb up.
Swinging into place, I settle just behind the rise of her neck. Below, Lyra hesitates.
“Come on.” I slide down slightly, my leather trousers dragging over hot scales with a dry scrape, and extend my hand out toward her.
Watching her glance between me and the dragon below, I start to worry she’s going to walk away, but then it settles, and with a heavy exhale, she reaches up and curls her fingers around mine.
She’s strong enough to climb up by herself, but she’s never flown, so I use the momentum to guide her into the shallow dip behind Ahria’s shoulders, directly in front of me.
Too close.
Close enough that I can feel the tension in her spine. Close enough that when I breathe in, the sweet, sharp citrus scent floods through me, mixed with something softer beneath it, something I don’t trust myself to name. Something unmistakablyher.
My muscles tense as want tears through me, fast and reckless. I shift back a fraction, hoping she doesn’t feel the heat climbing under my skin.
What the hell is wrong with me? God I need to focus. I need to get through this without giving her more reasons to hate me.
“Place your hands here,” I say, doing my best to sound calm as I show her where to set her fingers along the ridges in Ahria’s scales, careful not to let my fingers brush hers. “When you bond, you’ll be able to talk with her and riding will feel like instinct, but for now, just hold on and remember I’m right behind you, okay?”
In front of me, Lyra nods once and reaches forward. Her hands close around the dark green scales and a slight tremor slips through them as the old burn scar pulls pale across the back of her hand.
“I can do this,” I hear her mutter.
Beneath us, Ahria’s breathing deepens, her chest expanding.“She trembles, I thought you were controlling her emotions?”
“I am.”My temple ticks once.“She’s just adjusting. Give her time.”
Ahria doesn't reply, instead she releases a low rumble of displeasure. The sound reverberates across her body and up through my legs as her wings unfurl. With a powerful crack, they spread wide behind us, swallowing the moonlight whole. Then she coils, shifting one leg back, claws biting deeper into the earth.
“Stay low,” I tell Lyra. “Let Ahria take the wind. It’ll break around her, not you. Ready?”
But before she can reply, Ahria surges forward
I tense my legs to try to brace her, but the movement is violent and immediate—no warning, no gradual build.
Earth slams beneath us as she thunders across it, each stride a bone-rattling impact that drives up through my spine, kicking up dust in choking bursts.
Lyra’s breath punches out in a gasp as her hands clamp onto my arms, dragging them around her middle.
I draw her in close as Ahria’s head drops low beneath us and her wings beat down. One more pounding stride, one final impact against the earth?—
—and the ground vanishes.
