Page 51 of Cage Me

He could practically feel the depths of hell creeping up on them now.

“Azy?” She wouldn't look at him. Why wouldn't she look at him? “Azynsa, what's going on right now?”

He wanted touch her, feel their bond. For the first time since he had first seen her in all her sword and glory coming to his rescue, there was a wall between them. He didn't think he had put it there. He only wanted to protect her, to keep her safe.

“For a long time, I feel like I have been in reaction mode. When my father died, I thought I would fall apart. He was my whole world.” She finally looked up at him and tears shimmered in her eyes.

Damn. Their time together had only been about escaping and mating. He swore as soon as possible they were safe and had a little breathing room they would spend long days and nights simply talking.

“I'm sorry about your father. I didn't know. I promise I will be there for you through this.”

Azy took a step back. “You're not listening. It's not about him. It's about me. When the Mami Wata showed up, I never questioned whether I wanted to change my whole life. I didn't think I had a choice at the time, so I went with them.”

Cage wouldn’t have felt like he had a choice then either. He understood what it meant to fulfill family and heritage expectations. Sometimes, no, all the time, he did what was right for the gold wyr. The Mami Wata had done what was right for Azynsa.

Everyone needed to be taken care of sometimes. That’s what family was for. His brother Wyvern’s had proven that to him more times than he could count.

A shimmer of light flashed at her neck and spread outward like a layer of protection over her. His own shard responded in kind.

But, then the light faded, sinking into the skin at her chest. “Not once did anyone ask me what I wanted.”

Well, shit. He certainly hadn't. He never questioned that Azy would be his mate. He had worried they weren't right for each other, but had decided all on his own he would make it work between them. What if that's not what she wanted?

He swallowed hard pushing back the dread in his question, so as to make his delivery flat. He didn't want to influence her response with his own need, as great as it was. “What do you want?”

Azy's face snapped up. The tears were gone, replaced with an emotion he wasn't sure he understood. Surprised that he had asked? Determination to fulfill her own wishes now? Was there anything in there for him?

“I'm not entirely sure. But, I know I don't want to leave here. I don't want to run anymore. It's all we have been doing.”

“We've been surviving. We had to escape, I had to rescue you.” He absolutely understood the look on her face now. It was an all-out fuck you.

“Maybe I didn't want to be rescued. Do I look like a damsel in distress, dragon?”

Azy was anything but that. “I don't think that for a second.”

Cage licked his lips and looked up at the sun. He needed some divine inspiration to help him say the right thing. His gut said to tell her that he was a warrior, that it was his job to protect her. His gut also slapped him for even thinking about that dumbass move. “It was killing me.”

They stared at each other for a moment. He hadn’t said enough for her to get his real meaning. Already his vulnerability with her had him raw. “I could feel your pain as if it was my own. I felt your sadness, your determination, you overwhelms me with your need for justice. I couldn't sit by and watch hell consume you.”

He prayed she would understand.

She crossed the space between them and placed her hand on his cheek. He leaned into her wanting much more than this simple connection.

“Cage. I get it. I felt the same about Fallyn. Maybe we were both wrong.”

He put his hand over hers and looked down into her honey eyes searching for clues how to soothe her and make this right. If he had a chance, he needed to take himself out of the equation. “What do you want?”

“I don't want to run.”

“I know. But, what do you want?”

She twisted her hand and took Cage’s in it. She brought it to her lips kissing his palm in the same way he had done to her.

“I want this to end. The Black Dragon has terrorized too many people's lives. Mine, yours, Fallyns, the Mami Wata and your gold dragons. We need to end it. Let's take the battle to him. What I want is to destroy him”

Ninety percent of Cage’s entire life was about being a warrior, fighting the plague of demon dragons without question. He fought for what was right. He never asked for anything in return. That was not the Dragon warrior way.

He brushed off fear like it barely existed, nothing more than dust motes compared to clouds. He knew now that was because he hadn't fully experienced true fear.

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