Page 15 of Monsters of Air

Those needy, heated feelings did not leave.

They followed me into my sleep where Landers was waiting on his giant bed, every inch of him bare, those massive wings unfurled and fluttering. I curled into him, his wings encircling around us as he pulsed and throbbed against my belly. As he…

“Rayna, it’s time to go,” Da said in a harsh whisper, pulling me out of my dream. I gasped, jerked, realizing too late that my hand was between my thighs and the blanket pulled down awkwardly.

Shitting hell!

Da was staring at me with a look that almost screamed that everything hadn’t just stayed in my dream. Oh fuck! What did I say?

Looking at him again, I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to know anything.

This could not be happening.

I made a noise and rolled over, taking the blanket with me and pulling the pillow over my head.

“Go away! The sun isn’t even awake yet,” I gave him my best moan, but he just clicked his tongue in that impatient way he always did when I was little and didn’t want to milk the cows.

“I already told you we were going to leave early. The quicker we get away from those dragon’s the better.” His last words were a snarl. Yep, I had been talking in my sleep, in the worst possible way…

By the goddess, if someone just killed me now it might not be a wholly bad thing.

I groaned and rolled back over, knowing there was no way out of this. Glancing out the window, I tried to get a sense of the time. Everything was so black, even those street lights were out. It had to be the middle of the night.

What the hell was he thinking?

“Can we even consider this morning?” I asked, scowling at the dark. “We never get up this early, even at the farm.”

“Rayna. Let’s go.” He stalked away, going to the door, and waiting, his back to me.

His anger was a tangible force in the room, the second I sat up it hit me full in the face. My stomach dropped. He was pissed. What exactly had I said when I had been sleeping?

Keeping my mouth shut, I forced myself out of bed and quickly got dressed in the clothes he had laid out for me. We didn’t say anything to each other. He just stood there waiting, staring at my hair every few minutes the same way he had last night. Except now he had added scowling at the door and the wall to his repertoire.

My heart ached, that twisted thought from last night ringing in my ears.

My kind.

His kind.

Da peeked out into the hallway, motioning me to follow him. He already had everything packed, all of the bags in the hall, sitting in the silence like a bomb about to go off. The inn was such a contrast to how it had been.

Clearly, the party was over, and everyone was in their beds, sleeping through their hangovers. As I should have been, not that I had anything to drink. My head was spinning like I had though, and that pain in my chest was back. The throbbing grew as I followed Da down the stairs on silent feet.

We passed by the reception desk, and the innkeeper who was dozing off in his chair there. His snore was a low whistle, the sound masking our shuffles as we darted out the door and back into the stables.

Back to the horses, and the journey, and away from Landers. Away from them all. I swore I could smell them; that smell of warm wind brushing against my skin, the smell of freedom that was tinged with a strong undertone of something musky. My skin heated, the tiny hairs on my arm standing on end. My body practically hummed with need for them, something screaming at me to stay.

“Da, is this a good idea? Leaving in the middle of the night like this?” I asked.

“Yes.” He grabbed my arm and led me toward the exit, not even leaving room for a rebuttal. “Come, the horses are already waiting.”

There was a gasp behind us and I turned to see the innkeeper standing in the archway, gaping at me, trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes. “What the... Hair?”

I hadn’t even bothered to put the hood up, and now this man was staring at me wide eyed. He didn’t seem scared though, not like Da did. There was only awe in his eyes, like he was ready to bow down and kiss my feet or some shit.

Which was almost scarier.

“Hood up,” Da snapped at me as he pulled me out of view of the innkeeper and into the stable. The door snapped shut with a loud bang.

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