Page 53 of Aria's Desire

He searched her face, but seeing only sincerity, the distress in his eyes bled away, replaced with heat, possessiveness, and masculine pride.

Snorting at that last, she shook her head. “Help me find somewhere to sit before I fall on my ass, would you? Can’t feel my damn legs.”

His answer was a low, smug chuckle and to scoop her up into his arms.

“I am claimed!” he bellowed, causing the crowd to erupt into cheers.

In a whisper, he added for her ears only, “As are you, mysarasha.”

Warmth bloomed in her chest… but so, too, did worry.

Chapter 28

After the ceremony, they followed Hampha into a large building, accompanied by most of the rest of the village. The walls were lined with long, stone tables. In the middle was an open space surrounding a bonfire. The high ceiling was dotted with skylights and a larger opening directly over the large fire through which she could see the moons beginning to rise. There were three grills set up along the back wall, two of which had massive beasts spitted over them, being tended to by multiple people each.

As soon as the adults were inside, children poured in from a side door like a pack of wild animals recently set loose from captivity. They raced around, finding their parents or making a beeline for the food, talking a mile a minute, giggling, yelling, and shoving.

Aria was struck again by how incredibly cute the Gaiaeshi children were, charmed by the racket they made and their wildness. Little girls with sparse racks of horns just beginning to grow from their brows wore colorful linen dresses, or leather breeches and bright tunics. Little boys, their brows graced with adorable little buds where their spiraling ram-like horns would one day be, ran around shirtless with either breeches or loincloths.

One little boy, who looked to be maybe five, if she had to guess, started to run by but glanced in their direction and skidded to a stop. Eyes wide, he turned and boldly approached, looking entranced.

Following his gaze, Aria wasn’t at all surprised to find his gaze was fixed on Sin. He stopped about three feet away, strikingly familiar orange eyes taking her dragon in from head to boots.

“Hello, little one,” Sin rumbled.

“Are you the big monsrr in the sky?” the little boy asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.

Aria flinched when he called Sin a monster, but her dragon only dropped to one knee and nodded solemnly, a gentle smile curling his lips. “I am.”

The kid’s face lit up. “My siser was scared, but I wasn’t. You’re pretty.”

“Thank you,” Sin rumbled, looking equal parts charmed and taken aback at the compliment.

The kid looked at Aria assessingly before addressing Sin. “Is dat your mate?”

Sin glanced at her, his expression turning wistful for a second before he hid it and answered, “She is.”

“Even doe she doesn't have horns?”

“Even so.”

“Does she think you’re pretty?”

“I do,” Aria answered quietly, meeting Sin’s gaze when he looked over at her in surprise. “I think he’s beautiful.”

“That’s good! Can you fly?”

“I- yes,” he replied haltingly, forcing his gaze off of her and back to the boy.

The kid frowned, and lifted up on tiptoe to peer over Sin’s shoulder before dropping back down. “Where do you keep your wings?”

“Ah. No, I can only fly as the dragon.”

“Are you sure? Have you tried? My sires say you hafta try first. You can’t give up before ademptin even if it looks hard or you don’ think you can do it.”

“I… no. I haven’t tried.”

The kid nodded in understanding then patted Sin’s shoulder. “You try now. I will wait.”

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