Page 57 of Ashborne: Defiance

‘What has gotten into you? We need to land!’

Suddenly, I could smell her—those hints of vanilla and apple, which, despite her new, clean clothes, made no sense. She’d been living outdoors, and hadn’t touched soap in a week.

Hope and desire hummed in my belly until I gritted my teeth against the rising drive.

‘Pick a place. Now,’ I sent to Kham. ‘I need to relieve myself.’

He grunted, but called to Koa and banked slightly east.

Koa’s shrieked reply startled Grace out of her sleep. She sat up straight with a little jerk and overbalanced. I had to catch her. There was a strangled moment when she’d tipped forward, and I curled around her, which brought my crotch up hard against her ass, and she gasped, then pushed herself back, which rubbed us together and… oh shit.

‘Land. Now, Kham,’ I snapped.

He’d already started descent, but Grace was still bleary, so I had to repeat the instructions until she could take them in.

“Lean back and pull up—just like we did last time. I’ve got you, you won’t fall.”

The words were far more breathless than they should have been. But Grace just nodded and leaned back as I’d told her.

Right into my chest.

Right against my lap. Where I was hard.

Shit.

As Kham wheeled in a wide spiral, descending as quickly as was safe, I closed my eyes and prayed for control—but that only heightened my other senses, drawing her scent into my nose, making me hyper-aware of her breasts pressed over my arm that was clamped around her middle. Even though she was awake, I needed to hold her into the landing because it was the hardest part to ride.

The dragons had sighted a long, wide meadow with a thicket of trees and a small lake nearby, that would be perfect for a rest. But the longer I held Grace, the more my body responded, until I was tight and aching, and knew she couldn’t possibly have missed the insistence.

But she said nothing.

Then Kham touched down, and the initial jolt bounced her off his spine. I caught her weight and pulled her back down, which only pressed her ass harder against me. My head tipped forward and I inhaled her as we bounced through the landing together, then as Kham slowed from a gallop to a trot I shuddered. And groaned.

I held her to me until he’d come to a complete stop.

There was a moment—just a breath—when my nose was against her hair and my arm wrapped around her ribs, and her body pressed against mine, when the temptation to stop fighting almost overwhelmed me.

I inhaled deeply, catching that hint of her scent again. She didn’t move and I wondered if she was dazed, or perhaps falling back asleep.

But then she lifted one arm and placed it gently over mine, her small hand cupped over my fist, that held her against me.

My breath rushed out of me like I’d been punched. I let her go, grabbed her hips and pushed her forward.

“Lean forward, over his neck and pull your leg over, but rest over his withers, don’t lean into your feet yet,” I muttered. “You’ll be stiff. Hang there for as long as you need until your legs will take your weight. You may need to roll your ankles for a time…”

She followed my instructions. As she lifted her leg over, I grasped her ankle to stop her kicking me, but had to close my eyes, because she was in trousers and—

Dear God, this was torture.

Kham crooned at me, which was a surprise. I expected his censure again. I was grateful for his grace, because my body trembled and my loins ached. Grace was still working to get her feet to take her weight.

I kept her clipped into the safety strap as she began, in case she lost her footing—and it was a good thing I did, because three steps down, one knee gave, and she fell.

Her head flew up, she instinctively reached for me, eyes wide, and gasped my name. But it was too late. She dropped.

My heart leaped into my throat and I almost dived off Kham’s back before the strap caught her. She gave a surprised cry of pain, but then swung at its end, hanging off her belt, shaking her head.

“I’ll have to practice that,” she said breathlessly.