But he wasn’t there.
And then he was. A golden blur, totally out of control, plummeting like a rock toward the jungle with wings wildly flapping.
No.
Aria folded her wings to her body. She had to catch him before he hit the ground.
* * *
Lucas’s entire focus was on the red and gold Dragona flitting beneath him.
She was stunningly beautiful. Her scent drifted to him on the air currents, and it drove him wild. So much so that his entire body went tight as a board, and he spent much of his time hiding his reaction by dancing with the clouds.
It was the reason he’d chosen the female form to begin with, but it seemed his biology had other plans. At some point in their graceful spirals, it had morphed him from female to male. And even as he reasoned that shifting back would be wise, another waft of her rich scent traveled in her wake, and took his willpower along with it.
Every twitch of her wings that carried her away was a move he copied with far less grace. The big flight muscles across his chest ached from the unaccustomed exercise, and as he banked again, there was a warning twinge. But he was only peripherally aware of the discomfort.
Every sense he possessed was honed on her.
When Aria dove into the clouds, following her was unquestioned. He folded his wings, and let gravity take hold.
It turned out that falling was easy. Braking not so much.
They plunged past the clouds and into the open sky beyond, and Aria put herself into a flatter trajectory. Lucas moved to copy her—
His wings caught the buffeting air; it crashed up against the spread membranes. And with an agonizing, shearing pain, his overburdened chest muscles gave way.
Lucas was only peripherally aware of plunging past Aria. He was too preoccupied with trying to live as the wind twisted his unresponsive wings, sending him into a dizzying spiral.
Aria appeared as a red blur with each spin.
“Lucas,” she shouted into the screaming wind. “Angle yours wings, don’t just opens them.”
He tried to angle them, but the damage to the flight muscles was too great and they refused to respond. He continued to corkscrew, he couldn’t get control.
Aria’s form appeared above him. She snatched at him, talons grabbing for the base of his wings. At first the talons skidded off his scales, but she managed to snag first one, then the other.
His death spiral almost took her with him, twisting her and threatening the stability of her own dive. If he hadn’t been so much smaller than her, she wouldn’t have stood a chance.
She spread her wings wide. He caught the flash of her teeth as she grimaced against the wind threatening to snap her own muscle and bone.
The trees rushed toward them, but slower, now. Aria flapped as hard as she could, and they slowed even more. But it wasn’t going to be enough...
A huge shadow blocked the sunlight, and talons wrapped around Aria’s shoulders. Air crackled against wing membranes.
“I’ve gots yous,” Tyrez rumbled, as the trees solidified from blurs, to leafy canopies sparkling in the sun.
Lucas trembled not just with relief, but with shame. He hung limp from her claws, but kept his head ducked as Tyrez carried them both back to the ledge.
The big Dragon hovered until Lucas’s feet touched down. The second Aria released him he bolted without looking back. He was small enough to pass through the cave door in Dragon form.
Carried back like a baby. How could Aria ever see him as her mate? He was pathetic.
Cara stood in the hall. He was already half human, staggering as his legs morphed, supporting himself off the wall.
“Lucas—”
“Not now, Cara,” he ground out, reaching his room and slamming the door.
