Mated to the Earth Dragon (Elemental Mates 2)

Her heart racing, Autumn grabbed hold of it with trembling fingers. She pulled herself up onto his back by it—which turned out easier than it had looked. There were ridges that ran across his wings, and once she figured out what to do, it was a little like pulling herself up a ladder.

“I still don’t believe dragons are real,” she said, her voice trembling a little as she settled into place on his back.

Through the silence, she felt a wave of amusement wash over her—almost as if Damon was laughing in her mind.

Then the urgency flooded back in. She felt his muscles tense beneath her as he gathered himself. She remembered what he’d said—to hold on tightly—and clenched her hands around the ridges closest to her.

And then he beat his wings, and they lifted off the ground.

A surprised gasp escaped her. She pressed herself against his neck, her arms going around it when she caught a glimpse of the ground suddenly terrifyingly far below.

This wasn’t a plane—on the plane, she’d felt safe. It had been almost like sitting on a bus, and there had been seat belts.

Here, if she let go, she’d slip and fall, and keep falling until she hit the ground below...

You’re safe, something seemed to whisper in her mind.

Regardless, she kept clutching at him tightly, her eyes closed as she trembled. She only dared to open them again when nothing terrifying had happened for a minute or two.

She was just in time to see a cloud rapidly coming closer.

Moments later, they were enveloped by it. Everything around her was white. She couldn't even make out her own legs and arms.

She blinked against the wisps of whiteness, then tentatively stuck out her tongue to see what a cloud tasted like.

Disappointingly enough, it mostly tasted of cold air and wind. Again she felt a sensation like soft laughter in the back of her mind.

For long minutes, they continued like this. Damon was using the clouds to hide from the fire dragons, she realized, tightening her arms around him again as she imagined the others closing up from behind.

Also, if the fire dragons couldn’t see them in here, that meant that they wouldn’t be able to see the dragons attack until it was too late...

But Damon had been certain that he’d be able to outrun them, and what did she know of dragons? She’d just have to trust him.

And all alone on a dragon’s back up in the sky, it wasn’t like she had any other options.

When they finally rose above the clouds fifteen minutes later, she’d begun to relax. As terrifying as it had been at first to imagine herself slipping, it turned out that riding on a dragon was remarkably comfortable.

Perhaps it was just that Damon took care not to endanger her, but so far, after her initial terror, she hadn’t once been afraid of losing her grip.

And it was strangely warm on his back, too. When she’d sat on the plane, she’d been able to watch ice form on the outside of her window—but Damon’s body was hot beneath her, and the air around her was pleasantly warm, so much so that she would have stripped out of her coat, if she’d dared.

“Dragons,” she murmured, feeling the wind tear the words from her lips.

It was ridiculous. She knew dragons weren’t real.

But this time, when she felt Damon’s amusement wash through her, she found herself laughing out loud together with him.

***

She’d lost all sense of time. It felt like no time at all had passed, but when Damon began to make his descent back through the clouds, the ground beneath them had changed distinctly from what she remembered.

This was no longer the national park they’d just left. Instead, the landscape below was a pleasant green, lakes and rivers stretching as far as she could see, with mountains rising to their right. Every now and then, she could make out small houses.

They were all alone in the sky—no matter how she twisted, she couldn’t see anything but sky and clouds in all directions. Had they truly managed to escape?

When Damon slowed even more, she immediately forgot all thought of their pursuers. Instead, she clutched tightly at him once more, her heart starting to pound again when she caught a glimpse of the ground rushing towards them.

The roar of wind filled her ears now as Damon’s wings kept beating—and then, suddenly, they stopped.