She couldn't tear her gaze away from him, and he couldn't look away from her. It seemed like a miracle to see him again, to... feel him. To look at his handsome face and the glow in his eyes that he didn't hide from her. To feel his hands on hers as he held her. They were breathing heavily, lost in the sight of each other—and their lips collided.
The kiss was hungry and desperate, so endlessly desperate that she felt it to her very toes.
His lips on hers, his hands on her back, his arms around her, holding her close. The feeling was so... beautiful. So liberating. So unimaginably... complete. Is this what it felt like to meet your soulmate? The one you were meant for?
Hungrily, his lips glided over hers, his hands roamed her body. She clung to him and pressed herself against him, because at any moment thoughts threatened to return. Reason. The... truth.
Because although this first kiss felt like liberation and was unimaginably radiant and honest, it was still... forbidden.
Forbidden... forbidden... forbidden...
The word echoed through her head and seemed to reach his as well, for they sprang apart and stared at each other in disbelief. If she had ever doubted his feelings, a single look at his face proved her wrong.
"Ava..." His voice sounded choked.
She perceived the sound of wingbeats, something she should have heard long ago. Four more dragonslanded on the hill. The earth trembled as the gigantic creatures touched down, and this vibration seemed to carry away the last traces of their kiss.
"Kilian, is everything alright?" It was Rob who came running first. He eyed his leader with a frown, then followed his gaze to Ava, who could only tear her eyes away from Kilian with great effort. When she finally managed it, Allan hugged her.
"Ava, you survived!" He pulled her to him like a long-time friend, although they had only met once. As he gently pushed her away, he examined her body. "Are you hurt? Do we need to bandage you up?"
She shook her head, then gulped, because the kiss still burned on her lips. She shouldn't think about it anymore, she knew that it was a one-time thing that could never happen again. Never. "Except for a few bruises, I got away with just a scare."
"Thanks to the holy dragon. We feared the worst. Kilian was yelling at everyone until we finally found you."
She glanced briefly at Kilian, who was deep in conversation with Rob and two other dragon fighters. A warm feeling tried to nest in her heart, but she smothered the flame in its infancy. "How did you find me?"
Allan grinned. "I'd like to say it was me, but the biggest help came from the smallest."
She frowned in confusion until she understood. "The little dragon."
Allan nodded. "Suddenly he sensed you, not five minutes ago. That's the only reason we could find you."
Her heart swelled. "Where is he?"
"He wanted to come along, but we unanimously decided that a few hours after being born is still tooyoung to go into battle. He's in a cave with Lilly and your friend, guarded by four dragons."
"Guarded well enough so the king won't find him?"
Allan's look turned serious. "For the moment, but he can't stay there. As soon as you've said goodbye, the dragons will take him high into the mountains. They'll protect him there until he's old enough to carry a rider, if he wants to."
The first pain inside her was now joined by a second. Perhaps an even worse one. The prospect of having to say goodbye to the hatchling felt like someone was ripping out her heart. But she didn't say it out loud. She would hide it from the little dragon too. His safety was the top priority. He had to survive.
"Can I go to him?"
"Sure." He turned to Kilian and the other dragon fighters. "I'm taking Ava to the dragon child."
"I'll take her!" Kilian came over to them, but Rob held him back by the arm, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Could he see what had happened between them?
"We need to assess the situation first. There might be weak spots in their defenses that we can exploit. We haven't been this close to one of their retreats in a long time!"
Kilian took a deep breath and finally nodded, looking intently at Ava as if he wanted to say, "We'll talk later." But all that came over his lips was: "We shouldn't waste any time."
She didn't even know if she wanted to talk to him. There was nothing to say. Their love had no chance, so they shouldn't dwell on it unnecessarily. Forget it before it had really ignited. They could spare themselves the pain.
As if hearing her thoughts, he came to her and reached out his hand. "Are you really okay?"
Warmth flooded her, a complete heatwave allied with an uncontrollable longing, but she took a step back before he touched her. "Yes. Thank you for your help." It sounded hollow, but she couldn't manage more. She nodded to him, while locking her feelings inside. After all, she was a pro at that, wasn't she?
