This is nuts. I didn’t sign up to free climb down the freaking cliff.
I cling to the weathered stone, scraping my cheek against the rough slate as I look down. Below me are clouds. Below them, the snow-frosted tops of pine trees.
I can’t do this. I love rock climbing, but not this much. And not under these conditions.
I close my eyes and try to bring up the feeling of the dream.
Help me, Dragon. You got me into this mess. Show me the way out.
Gabriel
After my meeting with Tabitha, I was too restless to do anything. The need to claim her, to fill her with my seed and brand her with my tongue consumed me.
I don’t like having her here against her will. While she doesn’t seem overly stressed or frightened, I know she’s not happy with me.
“Bring Tabitha lunch in her room,” I instruct Buttons. “She wished to be alone for a while.”
So stay the fuck away from her.
I don’t say that part because it’s not right. I want her to rely on Buttons, to trust him if she cannot trust me.
But that does nothing to stop the billows of steam trailing from my nose.
Buttons gives me an astute look. “Of course, Master Dieter. I will make sure she has everything she needs for a quiet afternoon. Do you require anything?”
“No,” I snap.
“Perhaps some fresh air would help. Stretching your…wings a bit?”
A growl rumbles in my throat. My dragon threatening to erupt.
Buttons is right.
I’m losing control, and I can’t let that happen. I can’t let my dragon take charge. He’s way too dangerous.
“I think you’re right. I will patrol the boundaries of my land. I must ensure my mate’s safety.” Stretching my wings will take the edge off, let my dragon out of the cage for a while, so I can keep control.
I don’t want to forcibly claim my bride. Nor do I want to rush her.
“She is safe here,” he says in a soft voice. Like he’s speaking to my dragon, not me. He must see how close to the surface the dragon is.
How much danger he is in.
A cold shudder runs through me at the idea of ever harming these humans who are here at my service. They wouldn’t deserve that fiery fate.
I have to be vigilant. Have to keep myself in control.
I manage to incline my head at Buttons who bows in return, and then I take off swiftly for the castle keep. The moment I hit the fresh air, I break into a run, throwing off my clothes as I go. I shift mid-stride, taking flight the moment my clothes hit the frozen earth. Once I’m in the air, I turn invisible to protect the villagers from my secret. They will only feel the wind whipping off my wings when I fly above them.
The freezing air helps cool my distemper, and I beat my wings to take me higher and higher, soaring into the clouds until I break above them, where the air is thin, but the sun shines.
There I can breathe. I duck my head and pump my wings, glorying in the sensation of wind across my scales, the speed I can move at when I let myself go.
I fly for over an hour, maybe two, until my blood has cooled, and the fires within me are down to glowing embers. Pumping my sore wings, I turn back.
Gabriel! I hear Tabitha. Or I sense her. She’s speaking to me, in my mind.
Oh, fates.
She’s calling for help.
Tabitha
My cuff beeps in my ear, and I startle.
The rock under my foot gives way, and I slide a foot or two before my feet find a ledge. I cement my trembling body to the rough rock face, my scream cutting off when I lose my breath. My cuffs are beeping like crazy again, drowning out the thud of my pounding heart.
A shadow glides over the rock face I instinctively hunch, pressing my scraped face and hands to become one with the cliff.
A blast of wind buffets my legs. Smoke plumes above my head. There’s something behind me, its hot breath surrounding me.
Inch by inch, I twist my head around. And there he is: the dragon from my dream, the sun, and sky glinting off of red gold scales.
Magnificent. Beautiful. Furious.
The huge wings beat the air in a lazy rhythm. Soft gusts surround me.
“Hi, Gabriel,” I say weakly.
Its clawed hand descends. My primal monkey brain can't take it, and I scream.
Then my stomach tumbles to my feet. The world flips and falls away, the ground far below, tilting at dizzying speed. I'm wedged against hard scales. I can't move. The dragon's got his claws around me. I'm safely in his grip, but my legs are cold where they're sticking out from my bunched-up joggers. I angle my head and get a dizzying view of the ground below. It’s like peering from the window of a small airplane, except the freezing wind rushes over my face. My scream stabs my ears.