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I looked up at him with gratitude. This was a huge change from what my father had done. He had browbeaten me and shamed me until I forced myself to shift, and it had been a really bad experience. I flushed and looked down, plucking at a string on my robe. “I don’t think I want to, Dominic.”
He kissed the back of my neck and nuzzled my hair. “Then we’ll wait until you decide you do. We have all the time in the world.”
I turned to throw my arms around him in gratitude for not pressing the issue. In truth, Iwasscared of heights, though I didn’t like to say so. It was kind of ridiculous for a dragon.
“Come on,” he said, urging me to move so he could get to his feet. He held out a hand to me. “Come and fly with me, then.”
“Oh, no.” I got to my feet too and started backing off. “You just go ahead and do your thing. I’ll be fine here until you get back.”
He stepped closer and grabbed my hand to pull me over into his arms. “I’d never drop you or scare you,” he said softly in my ear, like he knew I was afraid. But he was so sweet and comforting about it, I found I didn’t really care.
“Well…” I said, wavering.
“I’ll shift into my dragon and then you climb up between my wings. There’s a little indentation there so you can settle in. Then grab hold of my scales—they’re loose enough near my wings for you to hold onto and stay safe. I’ll just fly out over the mountains a little way and then come back.”
I could see he really wanted me to agree, so I took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”
He gave me such a beautiful smile in return and seemed so pleased to share his love of flying with me that I was glad I’d agreed. He stepped away from me then, took off his robe, and before I could say another word, he stepped away from me and his entire body shimmered—like a heat mirage in the desert. Or the way I thought a mirage might look, since I’d never actually seen one.
His body did some kind of strange, shivery movement anyway and then the air grew thick around us and with a loud popping sound, his human body disappeared, and a huge Dragon stood beside me, a beautiful, fully transformed one. He was so big his head stretched up past the roof, and his length almost covered the entire rooftop. I had backed away fearfully as it happened, because I’d never even seen a Dragon so large, but the huge beast made a soft whuffing noise that stopped me. I looked up and saw Dominic’s beautiful amber eyes.
Gods, he was beautiful—massive, with a broad wingspan. He shook himself like a dog and stretched his gorgeous, gossamer wings out behind him. He stood about twenty feet tall, and his scales were a bright, iridescent red. His face was fierce and bad-tempered looking, but he had ridiculously long eyelashes and the same pretty eye color I was already crazy about.
I had seen my father and my brothers in their dragons, and they were nowhere as beautiful as this. Their dragons had been smaller for one thing—only about twelve to fifteen feet tall and they’d been green. They had nice wings, but nothing like Dominic’s. His were almost as long as his body on either side of him, yet the skin looked so delicate the moonlight shone right through them.
As I stood there goggling at him in awe, he stepped closer, then bent down toward me and wrapped his long tail around my legs, pulling me closer. He was careful to keep the sharp little barb on the end of his tail well away from me.
And then he spoke to me—inside my head! I was so amazed he had to repeat himself a couple of times.
Jax? Do you understand me? If you can hear me, nod your head.
I nodded and his eyes gleamed.I knew you’d be able to. It’s one of the signs of a true mate. Fly with me, love.
I went closer and climbed onto that long, thick leg, looking back up to see if he approved. His eyes were still warm, so I clambered up until I could settle myself between his massive wings. I dug in my knees and reached out for his scales, like he’d told me and sure enough, there were a few loose enough for me to hold them in my hands, and they didn’t move at all. They had a loose side, but they were firmly implanted nearer the middle of his back and not going anywhere. I took a handful in each hand and called out to him.
“I think I’m ready. Don’t go too fast, please. And don’t do anything tricky.”
I didn’t know what I meant by that last part, but I figured he did. He turned to look at me to make sure I was properly settled and then he lumbered over to the roof’s edge. The next minute, he leaped out into the void, and we dropped for a few seconds of time that caused my heart to race. Then he seemed to catch the wind beneath him, and he soared up toward the stars.
I had to catch my breath then for a whole other reason. The Milky Way from earth looks like a cloud in the night sky—like a dim, milky glowing band arching across the night sky. I remember when I was a little kid, looking up at the sky and my nana used to tell me stories about how the Milky Way came to be in the sky. She said it was the tail of a Sea Dragon, who had fought an epic battle with her enemy, who just happened to be a Babylonian god. She ultimately lost the fight, but she had fought so bravely that the god had thrown her long, beautiful tail up in the sky to honor her, and there it remained until this day.
Dominic was as good as his word and didn’t try to do any fancy loop de loops or show off his skills in any way. We simply sailed out into the night, and over the mountains below. I soon lost track of time as we flew under the moon and stars, and felt the cool wind in my hair, which was streaming out behind me. I realized that for the first time in a long while I was actually having fun. It had been so long I had almost forgotten how.
We soared out over the valley below, almost up into the low-hanging clouds, but I wasn’t afraid. I knew he would allow no harm to come to me. After a few minutes, I’d relaxed enough to gaze down at the ground with interest. We circled over the mountains closest to the lodge and then he selected a rock outcropping on a nearby cliffside that was large enough for us to land on. When we set down, it was smooth again, and he turned his huge head to look at me.
Are you all right?I heard inside my head. It was a long way down to the valley below, but I wasn’t afraid at all. I nodded happily, and then said the words out loud.
“You were right. This is amazing. Thank you for taking me flying, Dominic.”
I’ll always take care of you, Jax.
His words were like warm honey running through my body, and I leaned forward, spread my arms wide, as if to hug him and sent him my thoughts about how wonderful I thought he was.
We flew for another hour or so, and then he flew back to the lodge. He landed gently back on the rooftop deck and bent down again to let me climb down, before he did the shimmer thing again and stood there in front of me in all his naked glory. And hewasglorious.
I ran over and threw myself at him, and he caught me and whirled me around, laughing. “Did you enjoy it then?”
“I did! I loved it!”
