Winning Skyhunter (Stonefire Dragons Universe 1)

His cousin finally removed the metal and Asher slumped in his seat, doing his best to stay awake even though his entire body screamed for him to fall into blissful unconsciousness.

"Did you change your mind?"

He could barely make his lips move, but he murmured, "Never."

The hot metal contacted with his skin again, and all Asher could do was sit there and scream until the blackness consumed him.

Asher sat up, taking a moment to realize he was no longer dreaming and reliving the memory.

His dragon said softly, I'm here. That bastard can't hurt us anymore.

Running a hand through his sweat-dampened hair, Asher nearly jumped when a warm hand touched his shoulder.

Honoria's sleepy voice filled the room. "Are you okay, Ash? Did you have a flashback?"

He could brush it off as a bad dream, deflect questions, and try to distract his female another way.

However, Asher had been keeping his past from everyone but the counselor. And while he'd rather Honoria not know about his bloody barbaric imprisonment, not telling her would only keep her at arm’s length.

She deserved better.

His dragon chimed in. Tell her. She deserves more than our dick. She should know all of our weaknesses, too.

Picking at the sheet with his fingers, he forced himself to answer. "It was one of my nightmares." He paused, and added softly, "As you know, I was tortured during the five years I was imprisoned. Every once in a while, one of the sessions haunts my dreams."

Just hearing Honoria's voice helped to soothe his soul. "If you want to talk, we can. But if you need time, that's okay, too. I love you, Ash, and I just want you to know that I'll always be here if you need me. Don't forget that."

He risked meeting Honoria's eyes, and the love shining there banished his remaining tension from the nightmare. "One day, I will. Maybe not quite yet." He took her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed the back of it. "But just know it's not because I don't want to tell you. It's just difficult, especially since I came out of it mostly intact, unlike my sister."

Poor Aimee. She'd been so young and determined to follow in his footsteps.

Remembering his teenage sister as she raised her chin in defiance and brushed off any warnings of danger about resisting Marcus, made his throat close up.

His dragon sent threads of comfort to him. We will find a way to help her.

Honoria's voice prevented him from replying. "I only know the bare minimum about what happened to your sister. Maybe if you can't talk about your own trials during that time, then how about Aimee's? I can't help her, either, if I don't know what's wrong."

Yes, if he could help his sister even a little, so she could at least talk with others again, then maybe he'd be ready to share his own horrors.

So he briefly told Honoria about how his sister didn't talk with people or her dragon; about how flashing dragon eyes caused her to scream and run away; and about how she wouldn't even set foot outside the cottage, not even to merely see the sky again.

When he finished, Honoria merely stared at him a second. He could tell her brain was whirring. It wasn't long before she spoke again. "I have an idea, if you're willing to hear it?"

Squeezing her hand, he murmured, "Of course."

"Well, how much do you know about Arabella MacLeod?"

"The mate of Lochguard's leader?"

She bobbed her head. "Yes, that's what she is now. However, her past is what I'm talking about."

"I don't know much, beyond the fact something happened with dragon hunters and they set her on fire."

"Right, but she also didn't talk with her dragon for nearly a decade. I don't know all the particulars, but she was afraid to do so, and hid away from everyone but her brother and her clan leader. It took meeting Finn to bring her out completely."

He frowned. "I hope you're not suggesting we look for Aimee's true mate and hope kicking off the mate-claim frenzy brings her back."

"No, no, of course not. Arabella should be attending the gathering with the two other clans next week. What if we ask her to meet with Aimee? I don't know if anything would come of it, but it's at least a shot. Arabella has experiences I could never dream of and might be able to get through to your sister."