Page 93 of Dark Shadow of Guilt

As she trailed Dom to the gym, Madeline’s wings scraped the tile. He signaled her to the middle of the floor mat, surrounded by weights and a few machines.

She frowned, shifting her left shoulder high to lift a damn wing.No go.It still dragged. So, Maddy shuffled onto the mat, her damn feathered accessories drooping and useless.

When she stood facing Dom, he spun her around. Though unable to control her new appendages, she felt Dom’s touch on them as he examined her.

“Now that I’m looking closely, your wings aren’t covered by a smooth leather-like skin.”

She twisted her neck to look over her shoulder. “Really? So, no bat wings.”

“Correct. You do have some leathery feathers. Not all. Many of your primaries and secondaries are blonde, like your hair but darker near the base and lighter at the tips.”

“What does that mean?”

He chuckled, pivoting her around again to face him. “Fuck if I know. Odd. But we’ll think about that later. More important things to do now.”

Dom shushed out his glorious black wings until they spanned wall to wall. And the gym was very big. “These are a web of bone and muscle. They allow you to control your flight, tightening or changing shape to give more lift, less drag, greater maneuverability.”

“Uh huh.” Madeline rounded her shoulders, trying to flip out her wings as Dom had. Instead of complying, they stayed limp on the mat. She thought the right one had twitched, though. “I understand, but I can’t do anything with them. Except screw up.”

“You can, but...” He swiped a palm down his jaw. “You can’t control them with the muscles you’re trying to use. These,” he tapped her breasts, “will lower your wings.” He grinned. “Not your breasts, which are lovely, but the pecs under them. But your supracoracoideus will raise them.”

“The what?”

He patted her back. “Think of them as a pulley with a rope that wraps around your shoulder blades. Focus on tugging the rope to lift your wings.”

She rolled her shoulders.

“No. It’s not your shoulders. The controlling muscles are beneath them. Not above. Concentrate and use them as a pulley. Try again.”

Madeline closed her eyes. She envisioned a cord that looped over her shoulder blades and connected to strange muscles. Mentally, she hand-over-handed it until her left wing wiggled, rising slightly off the floor.

“You got it.” Dom gave her an encouraging smile.

The wing flopped to the mat. “I felt it for a minute.” Excited, Madeline almost jumped up and down. “A kiss would probably encourage me.”

Dom curled his hands around her waist and lifted her for a brief kiss.

“That was fast.”

“But proportionate.”

“Stingy.”

Dom grinned, but then turned serious. “Each of your wings operates independent of the other. Each has a separate muscle to raise or lower it.”

“How can I concentrate on two of these things? I can’t even control one.”

“Think of walking. You don’t worry about which muscles to use, do you? Your legs operate independently.”

“True.” Madeline squeezed her lips together to help her focus. Her left wing flicked out to the side.

“Great. Now, hold it there.”

For a moment, she did. When she exhaled, the wing flopped to the ground. “That’s hard, but I’m getting the gist.”

“Of course. You’ve never used those muscles before.” Dom combed fingers through his hair. “Maybe you never had them.”

“Okay.” Madeline chewed her thumbnail. “Let me practice. Go do something. Stop staring at me while I learn to move these fucking beauties.”

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