Another sound, an exhalation, followed by the opposite—he inhaled as though scenting the air. And every small hair on Aria’s body stood on end.
She rolled off the bed. Ensuring Mai was tucked beneath her hair, she picked up the tail spike leaning against the wall and slipped it through the looped scale at her waist. It was almost drained of its power and would soon disintegrate to ash; she would have to shift to Dragon soon and grow a new one. But depleted or not, a warrior never left her weapon behind, even when she intended to stare at the stars.
She slid the door open to exit onto the balcony and into the cool night air.
The stars sparkled down at her, inviting her to visit. That she couldn’t do so only added to her general state of frustration.
Mai squeaked at her. After a moment, Aria glanced at the roof. Perhaps there were other options to spreading her wings.
After all, when in doubt, Dragons went up.
* * *
The door sliding open woke up Lucas.
He lay and blinked up at the ceiling while his heart pounded and his blasted body ached. Despite the shower, along with vivid visualization with appropriate consequences, here he was, lying in the bed, aching, stiff, and ready to go another round.
The dream danced through his head. He’d been a Dragon. A sleek Dragon with scales the color of ink. And Aria had been there, her Dragona form stunning in glittering red and gold.
He’d grabbed her by the throat.
It had shocked him, at first, that compulsion to dive down and grab her, to haul her high above the clouds. Where had that come from? He knew nothing of Dragon mating, but he was quite certain that was what he’d been about to do.
It was what his body clamored for him to do now.
He glanced over to the other bed and saw it was empty. The sliding door to the balcony stood ajar. Only then did he realize it was what had awakened him.
Aria was out there.
He rose and fetched his cloak off the nearby chair. Not so much for the cool air, as for its disguising properties.
Bloody body.
He slipped out onto the balcony, but there was no sign of Aria. A soft chittering sound drew his attention upward.
Aria sat on the roof, petting Mai. The shrew’s brilliant blue eyes almost glowed in the darkness.
“Are you okay?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah. Just needed some air.”
Lucas’s heart twisted at the longing in her voice. She was a Dragon, and she wanted to soar. What was stopping her from leaving and never coming back? But if she desired to go, did he have the right to stop her? He swallowed hard. “I can hold her for you if you need to fly.”
Her hand stilled the stroking, as though she sensed the worry running beneath his words. She drew her knees up tighter. “No. It’s okay. This is fine. I’m too weak to safely shift right now.”
The knot within him loosened, just a little. “Do you mind company?”
Her eyes met his in the darkness, but they gleamed amber at him before she said, “There’s lots of room.”
Well, it wasn’t a no. So he put a foot on the railing and pulled himself up onto the roof. He watched her body language as he settled into a cross legged position. She seemed okay with him only being a foot away. In fact, she didn’t seem to even really notice him. Her face was unreadable in the darkness.
Lucas looked up at the stars and struggled for a way to reach her.
“I envy your ability to fly.”
She shot him a look. “You can fly too. Anytime you like.” He caught the twitch of her mouth. “But you might want to practice landings.”
“Hey, I might have been fine. You didn’t exactly give me a chance to try.”
