I dipped my head. Talking in this form was difficult. My vocal cords were now better suited for hissing and growling.
Cautiously, she reached out a hand, ran it over my foreleg, and whispered, “Amazing.”
My hearing was incredible in this form.
I dipped one wing to the ground, forming a ramp for her to get on my back.
Elle glanced at my face.
I gently rustled my wing.
She crept closer and traced the fine bones in my wing, sending shocks of sensation through me. When I shivered, she startled, then relaxed as I pushed my wing back into her hand.
I tilted my wing at her again, and finally she understood and climbed up. Through the sensitive skin, I could feel her fingers trembling, but I sensed no true fear.
When she was seated securely on my back, I gave an experimental flap of my wings. Her tiny fingers gripped my neck, her heels dug in, and I took off.
She whooped with joy, and I flapped my wings harder.
15
Az’zael
Morning light streamed through the window, and Elle rolled over and snuggled closer to me, her blonde hair spilling across my chest. I cupped the back of her head with one palm and wrapped my wings around us both, savoring how well she fit on top of me.
We’d had a delightful date in the park, and she’d spend the night in my bed. Life couldn’t get more perfect. At least until she agreed to mate me.
A horrific beeping interrupted my thoughts.
Elle jerked awake and rolled right into my wings. I cursed as she pinched the delicate skin.
“Shit. Sorry,” she muttered as we disentangled ourselves.
She grabbed her phone, tapped the screen, and the screeching stopped. “I have to go.”
“Already?” That squawking phone probably meant something.
“I’ve got a shift today.”
“I don’t understand why youchooseto work,” I grumbled.
“Isn’t running the city with Niemrin a job? You don’t need the money, so why doyoudo it?”
“Running the city isn’t work, it’s acalling. I would do it even if the city didn’t contribute to my hoard.” I frowned. “Although the otherdragons would make fun of me. I would be a terrible dragon if my city didn’t prosper.”
Everyone from Udar to my parents to Tika would tease me. Dragons claiming cities had only come back into fashion in the last decade or so, but we were a competitive species. The richer and more prosperous my city was, the betterIwas.
Then it hit me. “Is serving acalling? Oh. Okay. I’ll buy you a restaurant, and then you can do it as much or as little as you like.” I grinned. She’d been trying to tell me what she needed, and I’d been too stupid to see it.
She gaped at me. “Serving isn’t a calling. It’s just how I support myself.”
I frowned. “I’ll support you.”
Did she notwantme to provide for her? Perhaps she would have already agreed to be my mate if I’d shown her a halfway decent library, something to support her intellectually as well as financially. She must have noticed how much Tika insulted it, and I couldn’t even guess what Udar had said about me when he visited her behind my back.
I didn’t think it would matter to a human, but the brief glimpse I’d had of her apartment revealed two bookshelves overflowing with books. The depressing little home didn’t have space for a real library. And she’d shown an interest in my library the last time she was here.
Elle sighed. “You’ve been good to me, but sometimes this feels like a rabbit hole I’ve accidentally fallen down and in another second I’ll be yanked right back out of it.”
