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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Stephanie
My breath lurched outof me as the ground was sucked away beneath us. Instinctively, I reached for reins. There were none, of course. My fingers buried in Talga’s feathers, my hold tight and my eyes wide.
But, despite the shock of our sudden ascension, I wasn’t afraid.
I wasexhilarated.
I’d never had much of a fear of heights, and as Talga’s wings beat, drawing us ever upwards, I could almost imagine the motion was the rhythmic beat of hooves beneath me.
Sometimes, when I’d ridden at home, I had felt like I was flying.
Now I really was.
Even the possessive bar of Errok’s grip around my waist couldn’t dampen the explosive feeling of freedom. I gasped, then whooped, my voice shattering into a breathless laugh as the wind whipped around us. My hood flew back, and I thanked past me for putting on lots of sunscreen this morning, because there was no way I’d be able to fasten my hood so that it would stay up properly now.
I smiled so hard it made my face hurt. I was kind of glad that Errok was behind me. I didn’t want him to see that something he’d done, something he’d provided, was making me this happy. No doubt he’d find some way to lord it over me.But then again, back in the Sea Sands, he said he’d teach me to ride, to fly, no strings attached...
Fuck it.This flight had already put me in too good of a mood to stay pissed at Errok. At least for right now.
Grinning widely, I twisted my head back as I said, “This is-”
I stopped short, his expression stealing my words.
Like me, Errok was smiling. A broad, beautiful cut of joy across the lower half of his face. The wind whipped at his long hair, sending it snapping in dark tendrils behind him. His sight stars, ones I’d seen hazy with feverish pain too many times, were now brighter than the blinding sky and fierce with exultant power. He wasn’t looking at me, but rather ahead, extraordinary happiness pouring out of him and raining down on the mountains that flashed like pointed sapphires beneath us.
He felt what I felt. The freedom.
He called out light-hearted commands to Talga, and she obeyed instantly. I had to admit I liked how he spoke to Talga. He was firm, of course, but there was an undeniable kindness and respect in his voice when he spoke to her.He’s nicer to her than he is to most people.
As someone who had been frequently accused of the same thing, usually by my own boyfriends, I... I kind of liked that. I could never be with someone who didn’t respect and care for his mount.
If he’d wanted to impress me, he should have just shown me this from the beginning, I thought, in awe of him for the very first time. I was in awe because this was no calculated display of strength. This wasn’t something designed to make me swoon. This was sincere, inimitable power. True mastery. And his joy in it, the love in it, could not be faked.This is his domain. As obnoxious as he’d been, I felt a stab of sympathy for him being stuck in Thaleo’s mountain for the past few days. A creature like Errok wasn’t meant to be lying in bed. He was meant to be doingthis.
And I was irritatingly grateful that I got to do it beside him.
I felt more at home in that moment than I had since I’d been on Earth.
Yes. I felt more at home, carving through an alien sky on Talga’s back with Gahn Errok, than I had at the settlement. Than I had with the other human women, even.
It scared me.
